{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_10088/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_10088","id":"gutenberg_10088","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10088","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Ancient","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Occultism"],"text":"[Transcriber's note: The spelling peculiarities of the original have been\nretained in this etext.]\n\n\n\nTHAUMATURGIA,\n\nOR\n\nELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVELLOUS.\n\nBY\n\nAN OXONIAN.\n\n1835\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \"Bombastes kept the devil's bird,\n  Shut in the pommel of his sword,\n  And taught him all the cunning pranks,\n  Of past and future mountebanks.\"\n    _Hudibras_.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nDemonology--The Devil, a most unaccountable personage--Who is he?--His\npredilection for old women--Traditions concerning evil spirits &c.\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nMagic and Magical rites.\n\nJewish magi.\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nOn the several kinds of magic.\n\nAugury, or divinations drawn from the flight and feeding of birds.\n\nAruspices, or divinations drawn from brute or human sacrifices.\n\nDivisions of divination by the ancients--prodigies, etc.\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nHistory of Oracles--The principal oracles of antiquity.\n\nThe oracle of Jupiter Hammon. The oracle of Delphos, or Pythian Apollo.\n\nCeremonies practised on consulting oracles.\n\nOracles often equivocal and obscure.\n\nUrim and Thummim.\n\nReputation of oracles, how lost.\n\nCessation of oracles.\n\nHad demons any share in the oracles?\n\nOf oracles, the artifices of priests of false divinities.\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nThe British Druids, or magi--Origin of fairies--Ancient\nsuperstitions--Their skill in medicine, etc.\n\nThe British magi.\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nAesculapian mysteries, etc.\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nInferior deities attending mankind from their birth to their decease.\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nJudicial astrology--Its chemical application to the prolongation of life\nand health--Alchymical delusions.\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nAlchymical and astrological chimera.\n\nThe Horoscope, a tale of the stars.\n\nThe Fated Parricide; an oriental tale of the stars.\n\nApplication of astrology to the prolongation of life, etc.\n\nAdvertisement.\n\nSpring.                \\\nSummer.                |_ influences of,\nAutumn.                |\nthe winter quarter.    /\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nOneirocritical presentiment, illustrating the cause, effects, principal\nphenomena, and definition of dreams, etc.\n\nCause of Dreams.\n\nPoetical illustrations of the effects of the imagination in dreams.\n\nPrincipal phenomena in dreaming.\n\nDefinition of dreams.\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nOn Incubation, or the art of healing by visionary divination.\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nOn amulets, charms, talismans--Philters, their origin and imaginary\nefficacy, etc.\n\nAmulets used by the common people.\n\nEccentricities, caprices, and effects, of the imagination.\n\nDoctrine of Effluvia--Miraculous cures by means of charms, amulets, etc.\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nOn talismans--some curious natural ones, etc.\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nOn the medicinal powers attributed to music by the ancients.\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nPresages, prodigies, presentiments, etc.\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nPhenomena of meteors, optic delusions, spectra, etc.\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nElucidation of some ancient prodigies.\n\nMagical pretensions of certain herbs, etc.\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nThe practice of Obeah, or negro witchcraft--charms--their knowledge of\nvegetable poison--secret poisoning.\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nOn the origin and superstitious influence of rings.\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nCelestial influences--omens--climacterics--predominations.--Lucky and\nunlucky days.--Empirics, etc.\n\nAbsurdities of Paracelsus, and Van Helmont.\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nModern empiricism.\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nThe Rosicrucians or Theosophists.\n\nTHAUMATURGIA,\n\nOR\n\nELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVELLOUS.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\nDEMONOLOGY--THE DEVIL, A MOST UNACCOUNTABLE PERSONAGE--WHO IS HE?--HIS\nPREDILECTION FOR OLD WOMEN--TRADITIONS CONCERNING EVIL SPIRITS, &C.\n\nChildren and old women have been accustomed to hear so many frightful\nthings of the cloven-footed potentate, and have formed such diabolical\nideas of his satanic majesty, exhibiting him in so many horrible and\nmonstrous shapes, that really it were enough to frighten Beelzebub\nhimself, were he by any accident to meet his prototype in the dark,\ndressed up in the several figures in which imagination has embodied him.\nAnd as regards men themselves, it might be presumed that the devil could\nnot by any means terrify them half so much, were they actually to meet\nand converse with him face to face: so true it is that his satanic\nmajesty is not near so black as he is painted.\n\nHowever useful the undertaking might prove, to give a true history of\nthis \"tyrant of the air,\" this \"God of the world,\" this \"terror and\noverseer of mankind,\" it is not our intention to become the devil's\nbiographer, notwithstanding the facility with which the materials might\nbe collected. Of the devil's origin, and the first rise of his family,\nwe have sufficient authority on record; and, as regards his dealings, he\nhas certainly always acted in the dark; though many of his doings both\nmoral, political, ecclesiastical, and empirical, have left such strong\nimpressions behind them, as to mark their importance in some\ntransactions, even at the present period of the christian world. These\ndiscussions, however, we shall leave in the hands of their respective\nchampions, in order to take, as we proceed, a cursory view of some of\nthe _diableries_ with which mankind, in imitation of this great master,\nhas been infected, from the first ages of the world.\n\nThe Greeks, and after them the Romans, conferred the appellation of\nDemon upon certain _genii_, or spirits, who made themselves visible to\nmen with the intention of either serving them as friends, or doing them\nan injury as enemies. The followers of Plato distinguished between their\ngods--or _Dei Majorum Gentium_; their demons, or those beings which were\nnot dissimilar in their general character to the good and bad angels of\nChristian belief,--and their heroes. The Jews and the early christians\nrestricted the name of Demon to beings of a malignant nature, or to\ndevils properly so called; and it is to the early notions entertained by\nthis people, that the outlines of later systems of demonology are to be\ntraced.\n\nIt is a question, we believe, not yet set at rest by the learned in\nthese sort of matters, whether the word _devil_ be singular or plural,\nthat is to say, whether it be the name of a personage so called,\nstanding by himself, or a noun of multitude. If it be singular, and used\nonly personal as a proper name, it consequently implies one imperial\ndevil, monarch or king of the whole clan of hell, justly distinguished\nby the term DEVIL, or as our northern neighbours call him \"the muckle\nhorned deil,\" and poetically, after Burns \"auld Clootie, Nick, or\nHornie,\" or, according to others, in a broader set form of speech, \"the\ndevil in hell,\" that is, the \"devil of a devil,\" or in scriptural\nphraseology, the \"great red dragon,\" the \"Devil or Satan.\" But we shall\nnot cavil on this mighty potentate's name; much less dispute his\nidentity, notwithstanding the doubt that has been broached, whether the\nsaid devil be a real or an imaginary personage, in the shape, form, and\nwith the faculties that have been so miraculously ascribed to him; for\n\n  If it should so fall out, as who can tell,\n  But there may be a God, a heav'n and hell?\n  Mankind had best consider well,--for fear\n  It be too late when their mistakes appear.\n\nThe devil has always, it would seem, been particularly partial to old\nwomen; the most ugly and hideous of whom he has invariably selected to\ndo his bidding. Mother Shipton, for instance, our famous old English\nwitch, of whom so many funny stories are still told, is evidently very\nmuch wronged in her picture, if she was not of the most terrible aspect\nimaginable; and, if it be true, Merlin, the famous Welch fortune-teller,\nwas a most frightful figure. If we credit another story, he was begotten\nby \"_old nick_\" himself. To return, however, to the devil's agents being\nso infernally ugly, it need merely be remarked, that from time\nimmemorial, he has invariably preferred such _rational_ creatures as\nmost belied the \"human form divine.\"\n\nThe sybils, of whom so many strange prophetic things are recorded, are\nall, if the Italian poets are to be credited, represented as very old\nwomen; and as if ugliness were the _ne plus ultra_ of beauty in old age,\nthey have given them all the hideousness of the devil himself. It will\nbe seen, despite of all that has been said to the disadvantage of the\ndevil, that he has very much improved in his management of worldly\naffairs; so much so, that, instead of an administration of witches,\nwizzards, magicians, diviners, astrologers, quack doctors, pettifogging\nlawyers, and boroughmongers, he has selected some of the wisest men as\nwell as greatest fools of the day to carry his plans into effect. His\nsatanic majesty seems also to have considerably improved in his taste;\nowing, no doubt, to the present improving state of society, and the\nuniversal diffusion of useful knowledge. Indeed, we no longer hear of\ncloven-footed devils, only in a metaphorical sense--fire and brimstone\nare extinct or nearly so; the embers of hell and eternal damnation are\nchiefly kept alive and blown up by ultras among the sectaries who are\ninvariably the promoters of religious fanaticism. Beauty, wit, address,\nwith the less shackled in mind, have superseded all that was frightful,\nand terrible, odious, ugly, and deformed. This subject is poetically and\nmore beautifully illustrated in the following demonological stanzas,\nwhich are so appropriate to the occasion, that we cannot resist quoting\nthem as a further prelude to our subjects:\n\n  When the devil for weighty despatches\n    Wanted messengers cunning and bold,\n  He pass'd by the beautiful faces\n    And picked out the ugly and old.\n\n  Of these he made warlocks and witches\n    To run of his errands by night,\n  Till the over-wrought hag-ridden wretches\n    Were as fit as the devil to fright.\n\n  But whoever has been his adviser,\n    As his kingdom increases in growth,\n  He now takes his measures much wiser,\n    And trafics with beauty and youth.\n\n  Disguis'd in the wanton and witty,\n    He haunts both the church and the court;\n  And sometimes he visits the city,\n    Where all the best christians resort.\n\n  Thus dress'd up in full masquerade,\n    He the bolder can range up and down\n  For he better can drive on his trade,\n    In any one's name than his own.\n\nTo be brief, the devil, it appears, is by far too cunning still for\nmankind, and continues to manage things in his own way, in spite of\nbishops, priests, laymen, and new churches. He governs the vices and\npropensities of men by methods peculiarly his own; though every crime or\nextortion, subterfuge or design, whether it be upon the purse or the\nperson, will not make a man a devil; it must nevertheless be confessed,\nthat every crime, be its magnitude or complexion what it may, puts the\ncriminal, in some measure, into the devil's power, and gives him an\nascendancy and even a title to the delinquent, whom he ever afterwards\ntreats in a very magisterial manner.\n\nWe are told that every man has his attendant evil genius, or tutelary\nspirit, to execute the orders of the master demon--that the attending\nevil angel sees every move we make upon the board; witnesses all our\nactions, and permits us to do mischief, and every thing that is\npernicious to ourselves;--that, on the contrary, our good spirit,\nactuated by more benevolent motives, is always accessary to our good\nactions, and reluctant to those that are bad. If this be the case, it\nmay be fairly asked, how does it happen that those two contending\nspirits do not quarrel and give each other black eyes and broken heads\nduring their rivalship for pre-eminence? And why does the evil tempting\nspirit so often prevail?\n\nInstead of literally answering these difficult questions, it may be\nresolved into a good argument, as an excellent allegory to represent the\nstruggle in the mind of man between good and evil inclinations. But to\ntake them as they actually are, and merely to talk by way of natural\nconsequence--for to argue from nature is certainly the best way to get\nto the bottom of the devil's story,--if there are good and evil spirits\nattending us, that is to say, a good angel and a devil, then it is no\nunjust reproach to say, when people follow the dictates of the latter,\nthat _the devil's in them_, or that _they are devils_! or, to carry the\nsimile a point farther, that as the generality, and by far the greatest\nnumber of people follow and obey the evil spirit and not the good one,\nand that the power predominating is allowed to be the nominating power,\nit must then of course be allowed that the greater part of mankind have\nthe devil in them, which brings us to the conclusion of our argument;\nand in support of which the following stanzas come happily to our\nrecollection.\n\n  To persons and places he sends his disguises,\n    And dresses up all his banditti,\n  Who, as pickpockets flock to country assizes,\n    Crowd up to the court and the city.\n\n  They're at every elbow, and every ear,\n    And ready at every call, Sir;\n  The vigilant scout, plants his agents about,\n    And has something to do with us all, Sir.\n\n  In some he has part, and some he has whole,\n    And of some, (like the Vicar of _Baddow_)\n  It can neither be said they have body or soul;\n    And only are devils in shadow.\n\n  The pretty and witty are devils in masque;\n    The beauties are mere apparitions;\n  The homely alone by their faces are known,\n    And the good by their ugly conditions.\n\n  The beaux walk about like the shadows of men,\n    And wherever he leads them they follow;\n  But tak'em, and shak'em, there's not one in ten\n    But's as light as a feather, and hollow.\n\n  Thus all his affairs he drives on in disguise,\n    And he tickles mankind with a feather,\n  Creeps in at one's ear, and looks out at our eyes,\n    And jumbles our senses together.\n\n  He raises the vapours and prompts the desires,\n    And to ev'ry dark deed holds the candle;\n  The passions inflames and the appetite fires,\n    And takes every thing by the handle.\n\n  Thus he walks up and down in complete masquerade\n    And with every company mixes;\n  Sells in every shop, works at every trade,\n    And ev'ry thing doubtful perplexes.\n\nThe Jewish traditions concerning evil spirits are various, some of which\nare founded on Scripture, some borrowed from the opinions of the Pagans,\nsome are fables of their own invention, and some are allegorical.\n\nThe demons of the Jews were considered either as the distant progeny of\nAdam or Eve, resulting from an improper intercourse with supernatural\nbeings, or of Cain. As the doctrine, however, was extremely revolting\nto some few of the early Christians, they maintained that demons were\nthe souls of departed human beings, who were still permitted to\ninterfere in the affairs of the Earth, either to assist their friends or\nto persecute their enemies. But this doctrine did not obtain.\n\nAbout two centuries and a half ago an attempt, in a condensed form, was\nmade, to give the various opinions entertained of demons at an early\ndate of the christian era; and it was not until a much later period of\nChristianity, that a more decided doctrine relative to their origin and\nnature was established. These tenets involved certain very knotty points\nrespecting the fall of those angels, who, for disobedience, had\nforfeited their high abode in Heaven. The gnostics of early christian\ntimes, in imitation of a classification of the different orders of\nspirits by Plato, had attempted a similar arrangement with respect to an\nhierarchy of angels, the gradation of which stood as follows.\n\nThe first, and highest order, was named SERAPHINS; the second,\nCHERUBINS; the third was the order of THRONES; the fourth, of DOMINIONS;\nthe fifth, of VIRTUES; the sixth, of POWERS; the seventh, of\nPRINCIPALITIES; the eighth, of ARCHANGELS; the ninth, and lowest, of\nANGELS. This fable was, in a pointed manner, censured by the Apostles:\nyet strange to say, it almost outlived the pneumatologists of the middle\nages. These schoolmen, in reference to the account that Lucifer rebelled\nagainst heaven, and that Michael the archangel warred against him, long\nagitated the momentous question, what order of angels fell on the\noccasion. At length it became the prevailing opinion that Lucifer was of\nthe order of Seraphins. It was also proved after infinite research, that\nAgares, Belial, and Barbatos, each of them deposed angels of great rank,\nhad been of the order of Virtues; that Beleth, Focalor, and Phoenix, had\nbeen of the order of Thrones; that Gaap had been of the order of Powers,\nand Virtues; and Murmur of Thrones and Angels. The pretensions of many\nnoble devils were, likewise, canvassed, and, in an equally satisfactory\nmanner, determined; a multiplicity of incidents connected therewith were\narranged, which previously had been matter of considerable doubt and\ndebate. These sovereign devils, to each of whom was assigned a certain\ndistrict, had many noble spirits subordinate to them whose various ranks\nand precedence were settled with all the preciseness of heraldic\ndistinction:--there were, for instance, devil-dukes; devil-marquises;\ndevil-earls; devil-knights; devil-presidents, devil-archbishops, and\nbishops; prelates; and, without question, devil-physicians, and\napothecaries.\n\nIn the middle ages, when conjuration had attained a certain pitch of\nperfection, and was regularly practised in Europe, devils of distinction\nwere supposed to make their appearance under decided forms, by which\nthey were as well recognised, as the head of any ancient family would be\nby his crest and armorial bearings. The shapes they were accustomed to\nadopt were registered among their names and characters.\n\nAlthough the leading tenets of Demonology may be traced to the Jews and\nearly Christians, yet they were matured by our early communications with\nthe Moors of Spain, who were the chief philosophers of the dark ages,\nand between whom and the natives of France and Italy, a great\ncommunication existed. Toledo, Seville and Salamanca, became the\ngreatest schools of magic. At the latter city predilections on the black\nart from a consistent regard to the solemnity of the subject were\ndelivered within the walls of a vast and gloomy cavern. The schoolmen\ntaught that all knowledge might be obtained from the assistance of the\nfallen angels. They were skilled in the abstract sciences, in the\nknowledge of precious stones, in alchymy, in the various languages of\nmankind and of the lower animals; in the Belles-Lettres, Moral\nPhilosophy, Pneumatology, Divinity, Magic, History, and Prophecy. They\ncould controul the winds and waters, and the stellar influences. They\ncould cause earthquakes, induce diseases or cure them, accomplish all\nvast mechanical undertakings, and release souls out of Purgatory. They\ncould influence the passions of the mind, procure the reconciliation of\nfriends or of foes, engender mutual discord, induce mania, melancholy,\nor direct the force and objects of human affection. Such was the\nDemonology taught by its orthodox professors. Yet other systems of it\nwere devised, which had their origin in the causes attending the\npropagation of christianity; for it must have been a work of much time\nto eradicate the almost universal belief in the pagan deities, which had\nbecome so numerous as to fill every creek and corner of the universe\nwith fabulous beings. Many learned men, indeed, were induced to side\nwith the popular opinion on the subject, and did nothing more than\nendeavour to unite it with their acknowledged systems of Demonology.\nThey taught that the objects of heathen reverence were fallen angels in\nleague with the Prince of Darkness, who, until the appearance of our\nSaviour, had been allowed to range on the earth uncontrolled, and to\ninvolve the world in spiritual darkness and delusion.\n\nAccording to the various ranks which these spirits held in the vast\nkingdom of Lucifer, they were suffered, in their degraded state, to take\nup their abode in the air, in mountains, in springs, or in seas. But\nalthough the various attributes ascribed to the Greek and Roman deities,\nwere, by the early teachers of christianity, considered in the humble\nlight of demoniacal delusions, yet, for many centuries they possessed\ngreat influence over the minds of the vulgar. The notion of every man\nbeing attended by an evil genius was abandoned much earlier than the far\nmore agreeable part of the same doctrine which taught that, as an\nantidote to their influence, each individual was also accompanied by a\nbenignant spirit. \"The ministration of angels,\" says a writer in the\nAthenian Oracle, \"is certain; but the manner _how_, is the knot to be\nuntied.\" It was an opinion of the early philosophers that not only\nkingdoms[1] had their tutelary guardians, but that every person had his\nparticular genius or good spirit, to protect and admonish him through\nthe medium of dreams and visions. Such were the objects of superstitious\nreverence derived from the Pantheons of Greece and Rome, the whole synod\nof which was supposed to consist of demons, who were still actively\nbestirring themselves to delude mankind. But in the west of Europe, a\nhost of other demons, far more formidable, were brought into play, who\nhad their origin in Celtic, Teutonic, and even in Eastern fables; and as\ntheir existence, as well as influence, was boldly asserted, not only by\nthe early christians, but even by the reformers, it was long before the\nrites to which they were accustomed were totally eradicated.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Thus the Penates, or household gods presided over new-born infants.\nEvery thing had its guardian or peculiar genius: cities, groves,\nfountains, hills, were all provided with keepers of this kind, and to\neach man was allotted no less than two--one good, the other bad (Hor.\nLib. II. Epist. 2.) who attended him from the cradle to the grave. The\nGreeks called them _demons_. They were named _Praenestites_, from their\nsuperintending human affairs.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nMAGIC AND MAGICAL RITES, &C.\n\nFew subjects present to a philosophic eye more matter of curious,\nimportant and instructive research than the natural history of religion.\nSome sort of religious service has been found to prevail in all ages and\nnations, from the most rude and barbarous periods of human society, to\nthose of cultivation and refinement. In these periods are to be traced\nspecimens strongly marked with exertions of the feelings, and faculties\nof men in every situation almost that can be supposed. It is from the\ncontemplation of these exertions that we learn what sort of creature man\nis; that we discover the extent of his powers, and the tendency of his\ndesires: and that we become acquainted with the force of culture and\ncivilization upon him, by comparing the degrees of improvement he has\nattained in the various stages of society through which he has passed.\n\nIt seems to be a principle established by experience, that mankind in\ngeneral have at no time been able, by the operation of their own mutual\npowers, to ascend in their inquiries to the great comprehensive\nfoundation of true religion,--the knowledge of a first cause. This idea\nis too grand, too distinct, or too refined for the generality of the\nhuman race. They are surrounded by sensible objects, and strongly\nattached to them; they are in a great measure unaccustomed to the most\nsimple and obvious degrees of abstraction, and they can scarcely\nconceive anything to have a real existence that may not become an object\nof their senses. Possessed of such sentiments and views, they are fully\nprepared in embracing all the follies and absurdities of superstition.\nThey worship every thing they either love or fear, in order to procure\nthe continuance of favours enjoyed, or to avert that resentment they may\nhave reason to dread. As their knowledge of nature is altogether\nimperfect, and as many events every moment present themselves, upon\nwhich they can form no theoretical conclusion, they fly for satisfaction\nto the most simple, but most ineffectual of all solutions--the agency of\ninvisible beings, with which, in their opinion, all nature is filled.\nHence the rise of Polytheism and local deities, which have overspread\nthe face of the earth, under the different titles of guardian gods or\ntutelary saints. Hence magnificent temples and splendid statues have\nbeen erected to aid the imagination of votaries, and to realize objects\nof worship, which, though supposed to be always hovering around, seldom\ncondescend to become visible.\n\nAfter obtaining some information concerning present objects, the next\ncause of solicitude and inquiry to the mind of man, is to penetrate a\nlittle into the secrets of futurity. The same tutelary gods who bestowed\ntheir care, and exerted their powers to procure present pleasure and\nhappiness for mankind, were supposed not averse to grant them, in this\nrespect also, a little indulgence. Hence the famous oracular responses\nof antiquity; hence the long train of conjurers, fortune-tellers,\nastrologers, necromancers, magicians, wizards, and witches, that have\nbeen found in all places and at all times; nor have superior knowledge\nand civilization been sufficient to extirpate such characters, by\ndemonstrating the futility and absurdity of their views.\n\nAmong the ancients, this superstition was a great engine of state. The\nrespect paid to omens, auguries and oracles, was profound and universal;\nand the persons in power monopolized the privilege of consulting and\ninterpreting them. They joined the people in expressing their\nveneration; but there is little reason to doubt that they conducted the\nresponses in such a manner as best suited the purposes of government. On\nthis account, it would not be difficult for the oracle to emit\npredictions, which, to all those unacquainted with the secret, would\nappear altogether astonishing and unaccountable. It would seem that this\nprinciple alone is sufficient to explain all the phenomena of ancient\noracles.\n\nThough devination has long ceased to be an instrument of government,\nabundance of designing persons have not been wanting in latter ages, who\nfound much interest in taking advantage of the weakness or credulity of\ntheir fellow creatures. Against this pestilent and abandoned race of\nmen, most civilized countries have enacted penal laws. But what rendered\nsuch persons peculiarly detestable in modern times, was the\ncommunication which they were supposed to hold with the devil, to whom\nthey sold themselves, and from whom, in return, they derived their\ninformation. And by this principle the penal statutes, instead of\nextirpating, inflamed the evil. They alarmed the imaginations of the\npeople; they tempted them to impute the cause of their misfortunes and\ndisappointment to the malice or resentment of their neighbours; they\ninduced them to trust to their suspicions, much more than to their\nreason; and they multiplied witches and wizards, by putting into\npossession of every foolish informer the means of punishment. In several\ncountries of Europe, these statutes still subsist; they were not\nabolished in Britain till a period still at no great distance. Since the\nabolition of persecution, the faith of witchcraft has disappeared even\namong the vulgar. It was long found inconsistent with any considerable\nprogress in philosophy.\n\nFor these reasons we read, with some degree of astonishment, a treatise\non this exploded subject, by a philosopher, an eminent physician, a\nprivy counseller of the then Empress Queen, and a professor in the\nuniversity of Vienna. It was long doubted whether the professor was in\nearnest, but the world was at length forced to admit, that the great\nAntonius de Haen certainly believed in witchcraft, and reckoned the\nknowledge of it, in treating a disease, of great importance to a\nphysician--to the acquisition of which useful knowledge, he dedicated a\ngreat part of his time. In the year 1758, three old women, condemned to\ndeath for witchcraft, were brought by order of the Empress from Croatia\nto Vienna, to undergo an examination, with regard to the equity of the\nsentence pronounced against them. The question was not whether the crime\nexisted; the only object of inquiry respected the justice of its\napplication. The author, and the illustrious van Swieten, were appointed\nto make the investigation. After reading over the depositions, produced\non the trials with the greatest care, and interrogating the culprits\nthemselves _most vigorously_ by means of a Croatian interpreter, these\ngreat physicians discovered that the _three old_ women were not witches,\nand prevailed with the Empress to send them home in safety. It was this\ncircumstance that induced de Haen to write on magic.\n\nThat some judgment may be formed of de Haen's very extraordinary and\ncurious production written in the latter part of the eighteenth century,\nwe shall here furnish our readers with an abstract of its principles and\nreasoning, to which we shall subjoin some remarks.\n\nBy the crime of magic, the author informs us, he means any improper\ncommunication between men and evil spirits, whether it be called\ntheurgy, soothsaying, necromancy, chiromancy, incantation or witchcraft.\nHe proposes to prove, in the first place, that such a communication\ndoes actually exist. He quotes the Egyptian magicians, the witch of\nEndor, the possessions mentioned in the New Testament, and many more\nexceptionable authorities from the fathers, and canons of the church. He\nis positive the incantations of the Egyptian magicians were real\noperations of infernal agents, and that the accounts of them, delivered\nby Moses, can admit no other construction.\n\nMay not the sincere believer in the divine authority of the scriptures\nreasonably hesitate concerning this conclusion? Or rather, does not such\nan interpretation justly expose revelation to reproach? The plain\ndictates of the best philosophy are, that nothing is more simple,\nregular, and uniform than the ordinary course of nature; and that this\ncourse can neither be suspended nor altered, but by its author, nor can\nby him be permitted to be interrupted by any inferior being, unless for\nthe most important reasons. It does not appear what good end could be\ngained, on the part of Providence, by the permission of these magical\nenchantments, supposing them supernatural; and if we imagine the Devil\nto have acted spontaneously, with a view to support his power and\ninfluence, he most manifestly erred in his design. Nothing could be more\nimpolitic than his appearance in a field of combat, where he well knew\nhe must sustain an ignominious defeat. Or if he worked effectually to\nsupport the power and influence of his servants the magicians, he should\nhave counteracted, not repeated, the miraculous exhibitions of Moses.\nThat the magicians possessed no power sufficient for this purpose is\nobvious, from their not exerting it. That Pharoah expected no such\nexertion from them is evident from his never requesting it, and from his\napplication to Moses and Aaron. The truth seems to be, that Pharoah\nconceived Moses and Aaron to be magicians like his own. He wished to\nsupport the character of the latter; and he concluded this would be\neffectually done, if they could only furnish a pretence for affirming\nthat they had performed every wonder accomplished by the former. Without\nsome such supposition of collusion, two of the miracles attempted by the\nmagicians are perfectly absurd and contradictory. They pretended to turn\nwater into blood, when there was not one drop of water in all the land\nof Egypt, which Aaron had not previously converted into that substance.\nThey pretended to send frogs over the land of Egypt, when every corner\nof it was swarming with that loathsome reptile. It is further remarkable\nthat, with the three first only of Moses's miracles they proposed to\nvie; on the appearance of the fourth, they fairly resigned the contest,\nand acknowledged very honestly that the hand of God was visible in the\nmiracles of Moses;--a plain confession that no supernatural power\noperated in their own.\n\nDe Haen considers the case of the witch of Endor as an authority still\nmore direct. He maintains that Samuel was actually called up, either\nunder corporeal or fantastic form, and foretold Saul the fate of his\nengagements with the Philistines. Let us attend to the circumstances of\nthe story, and examine whether it is absolutely necessary to have\nrecourse to this supernatural hypothesis. The mind of Saul was\ndistracted and agitated beyond measure by the most critical and alarming\nsituation of his affairs; his distress was so great that, forgetting his\ndignity and safety, he dismissed his attendants, laid aside his royal\nrobes, was unable to eat bread, and, dressed like the meanest of his\npeople, he took his journey to the abode of the conjurer. In this state\nof mind, prepared for imposition, he arrives during the night at her\nresidence. He prevails with her, by much solicitation, and probably by\nample rewards, to call up Samuel. To discompose still further the\ndisordered mind of Saul, she announces the pretended approach of the\napparition by a loud acclamation, tells the king she knew him, which\ntill now she affected not to do, and describes the resurrection of the\nprophet, under the awful semblance of God's rising out of the earth.\n\nDuring all this time the king had seen nothing extraordinary, either\nbecause he was not allowed light sufficient for that purpose, or was not\nadmitted within the sphere of vision. He entreats an account of the\npersonage who approached, and the conjurer describes the well-known\nappearance of Samuel. The prophet sternly challenges the king for\ndisturbing his repose, tells him that David was intended to be King of\nIsrael, that himself would be defeated by the Philistines, and that he\nand his sons would fall in battle. The king enters into no conversation\nwith the apparition; but unable any longer to support his agitation,\ndrops lifeless on the ground. The conjurer returns to Saul, presses him\nto take some food which she had prepared. He at last complies; and\nhaving finished his repast, departs with his servants before the\nmorning. The whole of this scene, it is evident, passed in darkness. It\ndoes not appear that Saul ever saw the prophet; and it surely required\nno supernatural intelligence to communicate all the information he\nobtained. This would readily be suggested by the despondency of the\nking, the strength of his enemies, and the disposition of the whole\npeople of the Jews alienated from him, and inclined towards his\nsuccessor. The witch of Endor, therefore, might be a common\nfortune-teller, and her case exhibits no direct proof of supernatural\npossession.\n\nWe do not pretend to account so easily for many of the possessions\nrecorded in the New Testament, though few of these only are applicable\nto the case of sorcery. We are well aware, that several writers of\neminence, who cannot be supposed to entertain the least unfavourable\nsentiments of revelation, have undertaken to explain these possessions,\nwithout having recourse to any thing supernatural, by representing them\nas figurative descriptions of particular and local diseases.\n\nWe mean not to adopt, or defend the views of such authors, though we may\nperhaps be allowed to observe that, were their opinions supported in a\nsatisfactory manner, christianity would lose nothing by the attempt. It\nwould be exempted, by this means, from a little cavilling and ridicule,\nto which some of its enemies reckon it at present exposed, and the\ndesign could not in the least derogate from its divinity, as the\ninstantaneous cure of a distemper cannot be considered less miraculous\nthan the expulsion of the devil. At any rate, these possessions are all\nextraordinary; appeared on some most extraordinary occasion; and from\nthem, therefore, no general conclusion can be drawn to the ordinary\ncases of common life.\n\nWe shall now translate a specimen of de Haen's[2] authorities, extracted\nfrom the fathers. The following from Jerome will need no comment. This\nfather, in his life of St. Hilario the hermit, relates that a young man\nof the town of Gaza in Syria, fell deeply in love with a pious virgin in\nthe neighbourhood. He attacked her with looks, whispers, professions,\ncaresses, and all those arguments which usually conquer yielding\nvirginity; but finding them all ineffectual, he resolved to repair to\nMemphis, the residence of many eminent conjurers, and implore their\nmagic aid. He remained there for a year, till he was fully instructed in\nthe art. He then returned home, exulting in his acquisitions, and\nfeasting his imagination with the luscious scenes he was now confident\nof realizing. All he had to do was to lodge secretly some hard words and\nuncouth figures, engraved on a plate of brass, below the threshold of\nthe door of the house in which the lady lived. She became perfectly\nfurious, she tore her hair, gnashed her teeth, and repeated incessantly\nthe name of the youth, who had been drawn from her presence by the\nviolence of her despairing passion. In this situation she was conducted\nby her relations to the cell of old Hilario. The devil that possessed\nher, in consequence of the charm, began immediately to howl, and to\nconfess the truth. \"I have suffered violence,\" said he; \"I have been\nforced hither against my inclination. How happy was I at Memphis,\namusing my friends with visions! O the pains, the tortures which I\nsuffer! You command me to dislodge, and I am detained fast by the charm\nbelow the threshold. I cannot depart, unless the young man dismiss me.\"\nSo cautious, however, was the saint, that he would not permit the magic\nfigures to be searched for, till he had released the virgin, for fear he\nshould seem to have intercourse with incantations in performing the cure\nor to believe that a devil could even speak truth. He observed only that\ndemons are always liars, and cunning to deceive.\n\nDe Haen imputes to the power of magic the miracles,[3] as they are\ncalled, of the famous Apollonius Thyanaeus. He seems to entertain no\nscruple about their authority. As several of the enemies of revelation\nhave held forth Thyanaeus as a rival of Jesus Christ, a specimen of his\nperformances may amuse our readers. During an assembly of the people at\nEphesus, a great flight of birds approached from a neighbouring wood;\none bird led all the rest. \"There is nothing wonderful,\" says Thyanaeus,\nto the astonished people, \"in this appearance. A boy passing along a\nparticular street has carelessly scattered in it some corn which he\ncarried; one bird has tasted the food, and generously calls the rest to\npartake the repast.\" The hearers repaired to the spot, and found the\ninformation true.\n\nBeing called to allay a pestilence which raged at Ephesus, he ordered an\nold beggar to be burned under the stones near the temple of Hercules, as\nan enemy to the gods. He commanded the people again to remove the\nstones, that they might see what sort of animal had been put to death.\nThey found not a man, but a dog. The plague, however, ceased.\n\nA married woman of rank being dead, was carried out to be burned in an\nopen litter, followed by her husband dissolved in tears. Apollonius\napproaching, requests him to stop the procession, and he would put an\nend to his grief. He asked the name of the woman, touched her, and\nmuttered over her some words. She immediately revived, began to speak,\nand returned again to her own house. Fleury, who relates the miracle,\nremarks that some people doubted whether the woman had been really dead,\nas they had observed something like breath issue from her mouth. Others\nimagined she had been seized only with a tedious faint, and that the\noperation of the cold dews and damps upon her body might naturally\nrecover her. On Fleury's remark de Haen most sagely observes, that the\npersons who observed the woman breathing could not surely have\nsuppressed the joyful news, and would certainly have stopped the\nprocession before the philosopher arrived.\n\nDe Haen's second attempt is to recite all the objections that have been\nmade against sorcery, and to subjoin to each a distinct refutation.\nThere is nothing in this part of the work that merits any attention. He\nconcludes in these words: \"I may then with confidence affirm, that the\nart of magic most certainly exists. History, sacred and prophane;\nauthority human and divine; experiments the most unquestionable and\nunexceptionable, all concur to demonstrate its reality.\"\n\nThe last part of de Haen's work relates to the discovering and treating\nof magical diseases, to explain which seems to have been the chief\npurpose of the author in composing his book. Much caution, he observes,\nand attention are necessary on this head; and the physician should not\nreadily admit the imputation of witchcraft. No absence of the ordinary\nsymptoms, no uncommon alteration of the course of the distemper, are\nsufficient to infer this conclusion, because these may arise from\nunknown natural causes. What then are the marks of certain incantations?\nDe Haen holds the following to be indisputable: \"if, in any uncommon\ndisease, there shall be found, in the stuffing of the cushions, or\ncielings of the room in which the patient lies, in the feather or the\nchaff of his bed, about the door, or under the threshold of his house,\nany strange characters, images, bones, hair, seeds, or roots of plants;\nand if upon the removal of these, or upon conveying the patient into\nanother apartment, he shall suddenly recover; or if the patient himself,\nor his friends, shall be so wicked as to call a wizzard to their aid, by\nwhom the malady shall be removed; or if insects and animals which do\nnot lodge in the human body; if stones, metals, glass, knives, plaited\nhair, pieces of pitch, be ejected from particular parts of the body, of\ngreater size, and weight and figure, than could be supposed to make\ntheir way through these parts, without much greater demolition and\ndelaceration of the passages; in all these cases, the disease is\nunquestionably magical.\"\n\nThe author proceeds to enquire whether the physician may presume to\nremove the instruments of incantation in order to relieve the patient\nwithout incurring the accusation of impiety by interfering with the\nimplements and furniture of the devil; and concludes very formally that,\nafter approaching them with all due ceremony and respect, after\nimploring with suitable devotion and ardour, the protection and\ndirection of heaven in such a perilous undertaking, he may attempt to\nintermeddle, and may occasionally expect a successful issue.\n\nSuch are the views, reasonings, and conclusions of, at the time, one of\nthe first physicians and philosophers of Germany;--views and reasonings\nwhich would have been received with eagerness and applause two hundred\nyears ago, but which the philosophy and improvements of later times seem\nto have banished to the abodes of ignorance and barbarity.\n\nThe origin of almost all our knowledge may be traced to the earlier\nperiods of antiquity. This is peculiarly the case with respect to the\narts denominated magical. There were few ancient nations, however\nbarbarous, which could not furnish many individuals to whose spells and\nenchantments the power of nature and the material world were supposed to\nbe subjected. The Chaldeans, the Egyptians, and indeed all the oriental\nnations were accustomed to refer all natural effects, for which they\ncould not account to the agency of demons, who were believed to preside\nover herbs, trees, rivers, mountains, and animals. Every member of the\nhuman body was under their power, and all corporeal diseases were\nproduced by their malignity. For instance, if any happened to be\naffected with a fever, little anxiety was manifested to discover its\ncause, or to adopt rational measures for its cure; it must no doubt have\nbeen occasioned by some evil spirit residing in the body, or\ninfluencing, in some mysterious way, the fortunes of the sufferer. That\ninfluence could be counteracted only by certain magical rites; hence the\nobservance of those rites soon obtained a permanent establishment in the\nEast. Even at the present day, many uncivilized people hold that all\nnature is filled with genii, of which some exercise a beneficent, and\nothers a destructive power. All evils with which man is afflicted, are\nconsidered the work of these imaginary beings, whose favour must he\npropitiated by sacrifices, incantations, and songs. If the Greenlander\nbe unsuccessful in fishing, the Huron in hunting, or in war; if even the\nscarcely half reasoning Hottentot finds every thing is not right in his\nmind, body, or fortune, no time must be lost before the spirit be\ninvoked. After the removal of some present evil, the next strongest\ndesire in the human mind is the attainment of some future good. This\ngood is often beyond the power, and still oftener beyond the inclination\nof man to bestow; it must therefore be sought from beings which are\nsupposed to possess considerable influence over human affairs, and which\nbeing elevated above the baser passions of our nature, were thought to\nregard with peculiar favour all who acknowledged their power, or invoked\ntheir aid: hence the numerous rites which have, in all ages and\ncountries, been observed in consulting superior intelligences, and the\nequally numerous modes in which their pleasure has been communicated to\nmortals.\n\nThe Chaldean magi were chiefly founded on astrology, and were much\nconversant with certain animals, metals and plants, which they employed\nin all their incantations; the virtue of which was derived from stellar\ninfluence. Great attention was always paid to the positions and the\nconfigurations presented by the celestial sphere; and it was only at\nfavourable seasons that the solemn rites were celebrated. Those rites\nwere accompanied with many peculiar and fantastic gestures, by leaping,\nclapping of hands, prostrations, loud cries, and not unfrequently with\nunintelligible exclamations. Sacrifices, and burnt offerings were used\nto propitiate superior powers; but our knowledge of the magical rites\nexercised by certain oriental nations, the Jews only excepted, is\nextremely limited. All the books professedly written on the subject,\nhave been, swept away by the torrent of time. We learn, however, that\nthe professors among the Chaldeans were generally divided into three\nclasses; the _Ascaphim_, or charmers, whose office it was to remove\npresent, and to avert future contingent evils; to construct talismans,\netc. The _Mecaschephim_, or magicians, properly so called, who were\nconversant with the occult powers of nature, and the supernatural world;\nand the _chasdim_, or astrologers, who constituted by far the most\nnumerous and respectable class. And from the assembly of the wise men on\nthe occasion of the extraordinary dream of Nebuchadnezzar, it would\nappear that Babylon had also her oneirocritici, or interpreters of\ndreams--a species of diviners indeed, to which almost every nation of\nantiquity gave birth.\n\nLike the Chaldean astrologers, the Persian magi, from whom our word\nmagic is derived, belong to the priesthood. But the worship of the gods\nwas not their chief occupation; they were also great proficients in the\narts. They joined to the worship of the gods, and to the profession of\nmedicine and natural magic, a pretended familiarity with superior\npowers, from which they boasted of deriving all their knowledge. Like\nPlato, who probably imbibed many of their notions, they taught that\ndemons hold a middle rank between gods and men; that they (the demons)\npresided not only over divinations, auguries, conjurations, oracles, and\nevery species of magic, but also over sacrifices, and prayer, which in\nbehalf of men is thus presented, and rendered acceptable to the gods.\nIndeed, the austerity of their lives[4] was well calculated to\nstrengthen the impression which their cunning had already made on the\nmultitude, and to prepare the way for whatever impostures they might\nafterwards practise.\n\nWe are less acquainted with Indian magic than with that practised by\nany other Eastern nations. It may, however, be reasonably enough\ninferred that it was very similar to that for which the magi in general\nwere held in such high estimation: although they were excluded, as\nbeings of too sacred a nature, from the ordinary occurrences of life.\nTheir Brahmins, or Gymnosophists, were regarded with as much reverence\nas the magi, and probably were more worthy of it. Some of them dwelt in\nwoods, and others in the immediate vicinity of cities. Their skill in\nmedicine was great; the care which they took in educating youth, in\nfamiliarizing it with generous and virtuous sentiments, did them\npeculiar honour; and their maxims and discourses, as recorded by\nhistorians, prove that they were much accustomed to profound reflection\non the principles of civil polity, morality, religion and philosophy.\n\n\nJEWISH MAGI.\n\nOf the magi of the Jews, it is proved by Lightfoot,[5] that after their\nreturn from Babylon, having entirely forsaken idolatry, and being no\nlonger favoured with the gift of prophecy, they gradually abandoned\nthemselves, before the coming of our Saviour, to sorcery and divination.\nThe Talmud, still regarded with a reverence bordering on idolatry,\nabounds with instructions for the due observance of superstitious rites.\nAfter their city and temple were destroyed, many Jewish impostors were\nhighly esteemed for their pretended skill in magic; and under pretence\nof interpreting dreams, they met with daily opportunities of practising\nthe most shameful frauds. Many Rabbins were quite as well versed in the\nschool of Zoroaster, as in that of Moses. They prescribed all kinds of\nconjuration, some for the cure of wounds, some against the dreaded bite\nof serpents, and others against thefts and enchantments. Their\ndivinations were founded on the influence of the stars, and on the\noperations of spirits, they did not, indeed, like the Chaldean magi,\nregard the heavenly bodies as gods and genii, but they ascribed to them\na great power over the actions and opinions of men.\n\nThe magical rites of the Jews were, and indeed are still, chiefly\nperformed on various important occasions, as on the birth of a child,\nmarriages, etc. On such occasions the evil spirits are supposed to be\nmore than usually active in their malignity, which can only be\ncounteracted by certain enchantments.[6] They believe that Lilis will\ncause all their male children to die on the eighth day after their\nbirth; girls on the twenty-first.[7] The following are the means adopted\nby the German Jews to avert this calamity. They draw arrows in circular\nlines with chalk or charcoal on the four walls of the room in which the\naccouchement takes place, and write upon each arrow: _Adam, Eve! make\nLilis go away!_ They write also on certain parts of the room the name of\nthe three angels who preside over medicine, _Senai, Sansenai and\nSanmangelof_, after the manner taught them by Lilis herself when she\nentertained the hope of causing all the Jews to be drowned in the Red\nSea.\n\nJosephus, the historian of the Jews, does not allow to magic so ancient\nan origin among them, as many Jewish writers do. He makes Solomon the\nfirst who practised an art which is so powerful against demons; and the\nknowledge of which, he asserts, was communicated to that prince by\nimmediate inspiration. The latter, continues this historian, invented\nand transmitted to posterity in his writings, certain incantations for\nthe cure of diseases, and for the expulsion and perpetual banishment of\nwicked spirits from the bodies of the possessed. It consisted, according\nto his description, in the use of a certain root, which was sealed up,\nand held under the nose of the person possessed; the name of Solomon,\nwith the words prescribed by him, was then pronounced, and the demon\nforced immediately to retire. He does not even hesitate to assert, that\nhe himself has been an eye witness of such an effect produced on a\nperson named Eleazer, in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian and his\nsons. Nor will this relation surprise us, when we consider the rooted\nmalignity entertained by the Jews to the christian religion, and this\nwriter's attempt to appreciate the miracles of our Saviour, by ascribing\nthem to magical influence, and by representing them as easy of\naccomplishment to all acquainted with the occult sciences.\n\nInnumerable are the devices contained in the Cabala for averting\npossible evils, as the plague, disease, and sudden death. It directs how\nto select and combine some passages of scripture, which are believed\nboth to render supernatural beings visible, and to produce many\nwonderful and surprising effects. The most famous wonders have been\naccomplished by means of the name of God. The sacred word Jehovah is,\nwhen read with points, multiplied by the Jewish doctors into twelve,\nforty-two, and seventy-two letters, of which words are composed that are\nthought to possess miraculous energy. By these, say they, Moses slew the\nEgyptians; by these Israel was preserved from the destroying angel of\nthe wilderness; by these Elijah separated the waters of the river, to\nopen a passage for himself and Elisha, and by these it has been as\ndaringly and impudently asserted, that our blessed Saviour, the eternal\nSon of God, cast out evil spirits. The name of the devil is likewise\nused in their magical devices. The five Hebrew letters of which that\nname[8] is composed, exactly constitute the number 364, one less than\nthe days of the whole year. They pretended that, owing to the wonderful\nvirtue of the number comprised in the name of Satan, he is prevented\nfrom accusing them for an equal number of days: hence the stratagem\nbefore alluded to, for depriving the devil of the power of doing them\nany harm on the only day on which that power is granted to him.\n\nIn allusion to the cabalists, Pliny says, \"There is another sect of\nmagicians of which Moses and Latopea, Jews, were the first authors.\" It\nwas the prevailing opinion among the Hebrews, that the Cabala was\ndelivered by God to Moses, and thence through a succession of ages, even\nto the times of Ezra, preserved by tradition only, without the help of\nwriting, in the same manner as the doctrine of Pythagoras was delivered\nby Archippus and Lysiades, who kept schools at Thebes in Greece, where\nthe scholars learned all their master's precepts by heart, and employed\ntheir memories instead of books. So certain Jews, despising letters,\nplaced all their learning in memory, observation, and verbal tradition;\nwhence it was called by them Cabala, that is, a receiving from one to\nanother by the ear an art said to be very ancient and only known to the\nchristians in later times.\n\nThe Jews divided the Cabala into three parts; the first containing the\nknowledge of _Bresith_, which they call also cosmology, the object of\nwhich is to teach and explain the force and efficacy of things created,\nnatural or celestial; expounding also the laws and mysteries of the\nBible according to philosophical reasons, which on that account differs\nlittle from natural magic, a science in which King Solomon is said to\nhave excelled. We find, therefore, in the sacred histories of the Jews,\nthat he was wont to discourse from the cedar of the forests of Lebanon\nto the low hyssop of the valley; as also of cattle, birds, reptiles, and\nfish, all which contain within themselves a kind of magical virtue.\nMoses also, in his expositions upon the Pentateuch, and most of the\nTalmudists, have followed the rules of the same art.\n\nThe other division of the Cabala contains the knowledge of things more\nsublime, as of divine and angelical powers, the contemplation of sacred\nnames and characters; being a certain kind of symbolical theology, in\nwhich the letters, figures, numbers, names, points, lines, accents, etc.\nare esteemed to contain the significations of most profound things and\nwonderful mysteries. This part again is twofold--_Authmantick_, handling\nthe nature of angels, the powers, names, characters of spirits and souls\ndeparted--and _Theomantick_, which searches into the mysteries of the\nDivine Majesty, his emanations, his names, and _Pentacula_, which he who\nattains to is supposed to be endowed with most wonderful power. It was,\nthey say, by virtue of this art, that Moses wrought so many miracles;\nthat Joshua commanded the sun to stand still; that Elias called down\nfire from heaven; that Daniel the prophet muzzled the lions' mouths; and\nthat the three children sang in the fiery furnace. And, what is more,\nthe perfidious and unbelieving Jews, did not stick to aver, that our\nSaviour himself wrought all his miracles by virtue of this art, and that\nhe discovered several of its secrets, containing a variety of charms\nagainst devils, and also, as Josephus writes, against diseases. \"As for\nmy part,\" says Cornelius Agrippa, in allusion to this subject, \"I do not\ndoubt but that God revealed many things to Moses and the prophets, which\nwere contained under the covert of the words of the law, which were not\nto be communicated to the profane vulgar: so for this art, which the\nJews so much boast of, which I have with great labour and diligence\nsearched into, I must acknowledge it to be a mere rhapsody of\nsuperstition, and nothing but a kind of theurgic magic before spoken of.\nFor if, as the Jews contend, coming from God, it did any way conduce to\nperfection of life, salvation of men, truth of understanding, certainly\nthat spirit of truth, which having forsaken the synagogue, is now come\nto teach us all truth, had never concealed it all this while from the\nchurch, which certainly knows all those things that are of God; whose\ngrace, baptism, and other sacraments of salvation, are perfectly\nrevealed in all languages;--for every language is alike, so that there\nbe the same piety; neither is there any other name in heaven or on\nearth, by which we can be saved, but only the name of Jesus. Therefore\nthe Jews, most skilful in divine names, after the coming of Christ, were\nable to do nothing, in comparison of their forefathers:--the Cabala of\nthe Jews, therefore, is nothing else, but a most pernicious\nsuperstition, the which by collecting, dividing, and changing several\nnames, words, and letters, dispersed up and down in the bible, at their\nown good will and pleasure, and making one thing out of another, they\ndissolve the members of truth, raising up sentences, inductions, and\nparables of their own, apply thereto the oracles of divine scripture to\nthem, defaming the scriptures, and affirming their fragments to consist\nof them, blaspheme the word of God by their wrested suppositions of\nwords, syllables, letters and numbers; endeavouring to prop up their\nvillainous inventions, by arguments drawn from their own delusions.\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[2] Antonio de Haen, S.C.R.A. Majestate a consiliis anticis, et\nArchiatri, medicinae in alma et antiquissimo universitate professoris\nprimarij, plurium eruditorium societatem socii, de magia liber. 8vo.\nVienna.\n\n[3] Many significations have been attached to the word miracle, both by\nthe ancients and moderns. With us a miracle is the suspension or\nviolation of the laws of nature; and a miracle, which can be explained\nupon physical principles, ceases to be such. Whatever surpassed their\ncomprehension was regarded by the ancients as a miracle, and every\nextraordinary degree of information attained by an individual, as well\nas any unlooked-for occurrence, was referred to some peculiar\ninterposition of the deity. Hence among the ancients, the followers of\ndifferent divinities, far from denying the miracles performed by their\nopponents, admitted their reality, but endeavoured to surpass them; and\nthus in the \"life of Zoroaster,\" we find that able innovator frequently\nentering the lists with hostile enchanters, admitting but exceeding the\nwonderful works they performed; and thus also when the thirst of power,\nor of distinction, divided the sacerdotal colleges, similar trials of\nskill would ensue, the successful combatant being considered to derive\nhis knowledge from the more powerful god. That the science on which each\nparty depended was derived from experimental physics, may be proved. 1.\nby the conduct of the Thaumaturgists, or wonder-workers: 2. from what\nthey themselves had said concerning magic; the genii invoked by the\nmagicians, sometimes denoting physical or chemical agents employed,\nsometimes men who cultivated the science.\n\n[4] All the three orders of Magi enumerated by Porphyry, abstained from\nwine and women, and the first of these orders from animal food.\n\n[5] Vol. ii. p. 287.\n\n[6] See Tobit. chap. viii. v. 2 and 2.\n\n[7] Elias, as quoted by Becker.\n\n[8] There is no mention made of the word _Devil_ in the Old Testament,\nbut only of _Satan_: nor do we meet with it in any of the heathen\nauthors who say anything about the devil in the signification attached\nto it among christians; that is, as a creature revolted from God. Their\ntheology went no farther than to evil genii, or demons, who harassed and\npersecuted mankind, though we are still aware that many curious\n_nick_-names are given to the prince of darkness both by ancient and\nmodern writers.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nON THE SEVERAL KINDS OF MAGIC.\n\nThe pretended art of producing, by the assistance of words and\nceremonies, such events as are above the natural power of men, was of\nseveral kinds, and chiefly consisted in invoking the good and\nbenevolent, or the wicked and malignant spirits. The first, which was\ncalled Theurgia, was adopted by the wisest of the Pagan world, who\nesteemed this as much as they despised the latter, which they called\nGoetia.\n\nTheurgia was by the philosophers accounted a divine art, which only\nserved to raise the mind to higher perfection, and to exalt the soul to\na greater degree of purity; and they who by means of this kind of magic,\nwere imagined to arrive at what is called intuition, wherein they\nenjoyed an intimate intercourse with the deity, were believed to be\ninvested with divine power; so that it was imagined nothing was\nimpossible for them to perform; all who made profession of this kind of\nmagic aspired to this state of perfection. The priest, who was of this\norder, was to be a man of unblemished morals, and all who joined with\nhim were bound to a strict purity of life. They were to abstain from\nwomen, and from animal food; and were forbid to defile themselves by the\ntouch of a dead body. Nothing was to be forgotten in their rites and\nceremonies; the least omission or mistake, rendered all their art\nineffectual: so that this was a constant excuse for their not performing\nall that was required of them, though as their sole employment (after\nhaving arrived to a certain degree of perfection, by fasting, prayer,\nand other methods of purification) was the study of universal nature,\nthey might gain such an insight into physical causes, as would enable\nthem to perform actions, that should fill the vulgar with astonishment;\nand it is hardly to be doubted, but this was all the knowledge that many\nof them aspired to. In this sort of magic, Hermes Tresmegistus and\nZoroaster excelled, and indeed it gained great reputation among the\nEgyptians, Chaldeans, Persians, Indians and Jews. In times of ignorance,\na piece of clock-work, or some other curious machine, was sufficient to\nentitle the inventor to the works of magic; and some have even asserted,\nthat the Egyptian magic, rendered so famous by the writings of the\nancients, consisted only in discoveries drawn from the mathematics, and\nnatural philosophy, since those Greek philosophers who travelled into\nEgypt, in order to obtain a knowledge of the Egyptian sciences, returned\nwith only a knowledge of nature and religion, and some rational ideas\nof their ancient symbols.\n\nBut it can hardly be doubted, that magic in its grossest and most\nridiculous sense was practised in Egypt, at least among some of the\nvulgar, long before Pythagoras or Empedocles travelled into that\ncountry. The Egyptians had been very early accustomed to vary the\nsignification of their symbols, by adding to them several plants, ears\nof corn, or blades of grass, to express the different employments of\nhusbandry; but understanding no longer their meaning nor the words that\nhad been made use of on these occasions, which were equally\nunintelligible, the vulgar might mistake these for so many mysterious\npractices observed by their fathers; and hence they might conceive the\nnotion, that a conjunction of plants, even without being made use of as\na remedy, might be of efficacy to preserve or procure health. \"Of\nthese,\" adds the Abb\u00e9 Pluche, \"they made a collection, and an art by\nwhich they pretended to procure the blessings, and provide against the\nevils of life.\" By the assistance of these, men even attempted to hurt\ntheir enemies; and indeed the knowledge of poisonous or useful simples,\nmight on particular occasions give sufficient weight to their empty\ncurses and innovations. But these magic incantations, so contrary to\nhumanity, were detested, and punished by almost all nations; nor could\nthey be tolerated in any.\n\nPliny, after mentioning an herb, the throwing of which into an army, it\nwas said, was sufficient to put it to the route, asks, where was this\nherb when Rome was so distressed by the Cambri and Teutones? Why did not\nthe Persians make use of it when Lucullus cut their troops to pieces?\n\nBut amongst all the incantations of magic, the most solemn, as well as\nthe most frequent, was that of calling up the spirits of the dead; this\nindeed was the very acm\u00e9 of their art; and the reader cannot be\ndispleased with having this mystery here elucidated. An affection for\nthe body of a person, who in his life time was beloved, induced the\nfirst natives to inter the dead in a decent manner, and to add to this\nmelancholy instance of esteem, those wishes which had a particular\nregard to their new state of existence. The place of burial, conformable\nto the custom of characterising all beloved places, or those\ndistinguished by a memorable event, was pointed out by a large stone or\npillar raised upon it. To this place families, and when the concern was\ngeneral, multitudes repaired every year, when, upon this stone, were\nmade libations of wine, oil, honey, and flour; and here they sacrificed\nand ate in common, having first made a trench in which they burnt the\nentrails of the victim into which the libation and the blood were made\nto flow. They began with thanking God with having given them life, and\nproviding them necessary food; and then praised him for the good\nexamples they had been favoured with. From these melancholy rites were\nbanished all licentiousness and levity, and while other customs changed,\nthese continued the same. They roasted the flesh of the victim they had\noffered, and eat it in common, discoursing on the virtues of him they\ncame to lament.\n\nAll other feasts were distinguished by names suitable to the ceremonies\nthat attended them. These funeral meetings were simply called the manes,\nthat is, the assembly. Thus the manes and the dead were words that\nbecame synonimous. In these meetings, they imagined that they renewed\ntheir alliance with the deceased, who, they supposed, had still a regard\nfor the concerns of their country and family, and who, as affectionate\nspirits, could do no less than inform them of whatever was necessary for\nthem to know. Thus, the funerals of the dead were at last converted into\nmethods of divination, and an innocent institution of one of the\ngrossest pieces of folly and superstition. But they did not stop here;\nthey became so extravagantly credulous, as to believe that the phantom\ndrank the libations that had been poured forth, while the relations were\nfeasting on the rest of the sacrifice round the pit: and from hence they\nbecame apprehensive lest the rest of the dead should promiscuously\nthrong about this spot to get a share of the repast they were supposed\nto be so fond of, and leave nothing for the dear spirit for whom the\nfeast was intended. They then made two pits or ditches, into one of\nwhich they put wine, honey, water, and flour, to employ the generality\nof the dead; and in the other they poured the blood of the victim; when\nsitting down on the brink, they kept off, by the sight of their swords,\nthe crowd of dead who had no concern in their affairs, while they called\nhim by name, whom they had a mind to cheer and consult, and desired him\nto draw near.[9]\n\nThe questions made by the living were very intelligible; but the answers\nof the dead were not so easily understood; the priests, therefore, and\nthe magicians made it their business to explain them. They retired into\ndeep caves, where the darkness and silence resembled the state of death,\nand there fasted, and lay upon the skins of the beasts they had\nsacrificed, and then gave for answer the dreams which most affected\nthem; or opened a certain book appointed for that purpose, and gave the\nfirst sentence that offered.[10] At other times the priest, or any person\nwho came to consult, took care at his going out of the cave, to listen\nto the first words he should hear, and these were to be his answer. And\nthough they had not the most remote relation to the mutter in question,\nthey were twisted so many ways, and their sense so violently wrested,\nthat they made them signify almost anything they pleased. At other times\nthey had recourse to a number of tickets, on which were some words or\nverses, and these being thrown into an urn, the first that was taken out\nwas delivered to the family.[11] Health, prosperity in worldly affairs,\nand all that was intermixed in the good or evil of this world were\nregulated by the responses or signs which these equivocal, not to say\nless than absurd, means afforded, of prying into the womb of future\nevents.\n\n\nAUGURY, OR DIVINATIONS DRAWN FROM THE FLIGHT AND FEEDING OP BIRDS.\n\nThe superstitious fondness of mankind for searching into futurity has\ngiven rise to an infinite variety of extravagant follies. The Romans,\nwho were remarkably fertile in these sorts of demonological inventions,\nsuggested numerous ways of divination. With them all Nature had a voice,\nand the most senseless beings, and most trivial things, the most\ntrifling incidents, became presages of future events; which introduced\nceremonies founded on a mistaken knowledge of antiquity, the most\nchildish and ridiculous, and which were performed with all the air of\nsolemnity and sanctity of devotion. Augury, or divinations founded on\nthe flight of birds, were not only considered by the Egyptians as the\nsymbols of the winds, but good and bad omens of every kind were founded\nor rather derived from the flying of the feathered tribe. The birds at\nthis time had become wonderfully wise; and an owl, to whom, for reasons\nnot precisely known, light is not so agreeable as darkness, could not\npass by the windows of a sick person in the night, where the creature\nwas not offended by the glimmerings of a light or candle, but his\nhooting must be considered as prophesying, that the life of the poor man\nwas nearly wound up.\n\nAmongst the Romans, these auguries were taken usually upon an eminence:\nafter the month of March they were prohibited in consequence of the\nmoulting season having commenced; nor were they permitted at the waning\nof the moon, nor at any time in the afternoon, or when the air was the\nleast ruffled by winds or clouds. The feeding of the sacred chickens,\nand the manner of their taking the corn that was offered to them, was\nthe most common method of taking the augury. Observations were also made\non the chattering or singing of birds, the hooting of crows, pies,\nowls, etc., and from the running of beasts, as heifers, asses, rams,\nhares, wolves, foxes, weasels and mice, when these appeared in uncommon\nplaces, crossed the way, or ran to the right or left. They also\npretended to draw a good or bad omen from the most trifling actions or\noccurrences of life, as sneezing, stumbling, starting, numbness of the\nlittle finger, the tingling of the ear, the spilling of salt upon the\ntable, or the wine upon one's clothes, the accidental meeting of a bitch\nwith whelp, etc. It was also the business of the augur to interpret\ndreams, oracles, and prodigies.\n\nNothing can be so surprising than to find so wise and valorous a people\nas the Romans addicted to such childish fooleries. Scipio, Augustus, and\nmany others, without any fatal consequences, despised the _sacred_\nchickens, and other arts of divination: but when the generals had\nmiscarried in any enterprise, the people laid the whole blame on the\nnegligence with which these oracles had been consulted: and if an\nunfortunate general had neglected to consult them, the blame of\nmiscarriage was thrown upon him who had preferred his own forecast to\nthat of the fowls; while those who made these kinds of predictions a\nsubject of raillery, were accounted impious and profane. Thus they\nconstrued, as a punishment of the gods, the defeat of Claudius Pulcher;\nwho, when the sacred chickens refused to eat what was set before them,\nordered them to be thrown into the sea; \"If they won't eat,\" said he,\n\"they shall drink.\"\n\n\nARUSPICES, OR DIVINATIONS DRAWN FROM BRUTE, OR HUMAN SACRIFICES.\n\nIn the earliest ages of the world, a sense of piety and a regard to\ndecency had introduced the custom of never sacrificing to Him, whence\nall blessings emanated, any but the soundest, the most healthy, fat and\nbeautiful animals; which were always examined with the closest and most\nexact attention. This ceremonial, which doubtless had its origin in\ngratitude, or in some ideas of fitness and propriety, at length,\ndegenerated into trifling niceties and superstitious ceremonies. And it\nhaving been once imagined that no favour was to be looked for from the\ngods, when the victim was imperfect, the idea of perfection was united\nwith abundance of trivial circumstances. The entrails were examined with\npeculiar care, and if the whole was without blemish, their duties were\nfulfilled; under an assurance that they had engaged the gods to be on\ntheir side, they engaged in war, and in the most hazardous undertakings,\nwith such a confidence of success, as had the greatest tendency to\nprocure it. All the motions of the victims that were led to the altar,\nwere considered as so many prophecies. If the victim advanced with an\neasy and natural air, in a straight line, and without offering any\nresistance,--if he made no extraordinary bellowing when he received the\nblow,--if he did not get loose from the person who led him to the\nsacrifice, it was deemed a certain prognostic of an easy and flowing\nsuccess.\n\nThe victim was knocked down, but before its belly was ripped open, one\nof the lobes of the liver was allotted to those who offered the\nsacrifice, and the other to the enemies of the state. That which was\nneither blemished nor withered, of a bright red, and neither smaller nor\nlarger than it ought to be, prognosticated great prosperity to those for\nwhom it was set apart; that which was livid, small or corrupted,\npresaged the most fatal mischiefs. The next thing to be considered was\nthe heart, which was also examined with the utmost care, as was the\nspleen, the gall, and the lungs; and if any of these were let fall, if\nthey smelt rank or were bloated, livid or withered, it presaged nothing\nbut misfortunes.\n\nAfter the examination of the entrails was over, the fire was kindled,\nand from this also they drew several presages. If the flame was clear,\nif it mounted up without dividing, and went not out till the victim was\nentirely consumed, this was a proof that the sacrifice was accepted; but\nif they found it difficult to kindle the fire, if the flame divided, if\nit played around instead of taking bold of the victim, if it burnt ill,\nor went out, it was a bad omen. The business, however, of the Aruspices\nwas not confined to the altars and sacrifices, they had an equal right\nto explain all other portents. The Senate frequently consulted them on\nthe most extraordinary prodigies. The college of the Aruspices, as well\nas those of the other religious orders, had their registers and\nrecords, such as memorials of thunder and lightning,[12] the Tuscan\nhistories,[13] etc.\n\n\nDIVISIONS OP DIVINATION BY THE ANCIENTS--PRODIGIES, ETC.\n\nDivination was divided by the ancients into artificial and natural. The\nfirst is conducted by reasoning upon certain external signs, considered\nas indications of futurity; the other consists in that which presages\nthings from a mere internal sense, and persuasion of the mind, without\nany assistance of signs; and is of two kinds, the one from nature, and\nthe other by influx. The first supposes that the soul, collected within\nitself, and not diffused or divided among the organs of the body, has\nfrom its own nature and essence, some fore-knowledge of future things;\nwitness, for instance, what is seen in dreams, ecstasies, and on the\nconfines of death. The second supposes the soul after the manner of a\nmirror to receive some secondary illumination from the presence of God\nand other spirits. Artificial divination is also of two kinds: the one\nargues from natural causes, as in the predictions of physicians relative\nto the event of diseases, from the tongue, pulse, etc. The second the\nconsequence of experiments and observations arbitrarily instituted, and\nis mostly superstitious. The systems of divination reduceable under\nthese heads are almost incalculable. Among these were the Augurs or\nthose who drew their knowledge of futurity from the flight, and various\nother actions of birds; the Aruspices, from the entrails of beasts;\npalmestry or the lines of the hands; points marked at random; numbers,\nnames, the motions of a scene, the air, fire, the Praenestine, Homerian,\nand Virgilian lots, dreams, etc.\n\nWhoever reads the Roman historians[14] must be surprised at the number of\nprodigies which are constantly recorded, and which frequently filled the\npeople with the most dreadful apprehensions. It must be confessed, that\nsome of these seem altogether supernatural; while much the greater part\nonly consist of some of the uncommon productions of nature, which\nsuperstition always attributed to a superior cause, and represented as\nthe prognostication of some impending misfortunes. Of this class may be\nreckoned the appearance of two suns, the nights illuminated by rays of\nlight, the views of fighting armies, swords, and spears, darting through\nthe air; showers of milk, of blood, of stones, of ashes, of frogs,\nbeasts with two heads, or infants who had some feature resembling those\nof the brute creation. These were all dreadful prodigies, which filled\nthe people with inexpressible astonishment, and the Roman Empire with an\nextreme perplexity; and whatever unhappy circumstance followed upon\nthese, was sure to be either caused or predicted by them.[15]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[9] Homer gives the same account of those ceremonies, when Ulysses\nraised the soul of Tiresias; and the same usages are found in the poem\nof Silius Italicus. And to these ceremonies the scriptures frequently\nallude, when the Israelites are forbid to assemble upon high places.\n\n[10] The magical slumbers produced in the cave of Trophonius are justly\nascribed to medicated beverages. Here, the votary if he escaped with\nlife, had his health irreparably injured, and the whole class of\nartificial dreams and visions, the effect of some powerful narcotic\nacting upon the body after the mind had been predisposed for a certain\ntrain of ideas.\n\n[11] The _sortes praenestinae_ were famous among the Greeks. The method\nby which these lots were conducted was to put so many letters or even\nwhole words, into an urn; to shake them together, and throw them out;\nand whatever should chance to be made out in the arrangement of these\nletters or words, composed the answer of the oracle. The ancients also\nmade use of dice, drawing tickets, etc., in casting or deciding results.\nIn the Old Testament we meet with many standing and perpetual laws, and\na number of particular commands, prescribing and regulating the use of\nthem. We are informed by the Scripture that when a successor to Judas in\nthe apostolate was to be chosen, the lot fell on St. Mathias. And the\ngarment or coat without a seam of our Saviour was lotted for by the\nJews. In Cicero's time this mode of divination was at a very low ebb.\nThe _sortes Homericae_ and _sortes Virgilianae_ which succeeded the\n_sortes Praenestinae_, gave rise to the same means used among christians\nof casually opening the sacred books for directions in important\ncircumstances; to learn the consequence of events and what they had to\nfear among their rulers.\n\n[12] Kennet's Roman Antiquities, Lib. XI, C. 4.\n\n[13] Romulus, who founded the institution of the Aruspices, borrowed it\nfrom the Tuscans, to whom the Senate afterwards sent twelve of the sons\nof the principal nobility to be instructed in these mysteries, and the\nother ceremonies of their religion. The origin of this act among the\npeople of Tuscany, is related by Cicero in the following manner: \"A\npeasant,\" says he, \"ploughing in the field, his ploughshare running\npretty deep in the earth, turned up a clod, from whence sprung a child,\nwho taught him and the other Tuscans the art of divination.\" (Cicero, De\nDivinat. l. 2.) This fable, undoubtedly means no more, than that this\nchild, said to spring from the clod of earth, was a youth of a very mean\nand obscure birth, but it is not known whether he was the author of it,\nor whether he learnt it of the Greeks or any other nations.\n\n[14] Particularly Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Pliny, and Valerius\nMaximus.\n\n[15] Nothing is more easy than to account for these productions, which\nhave no relation to any events that may happen to follow them. The\nappearance of two suns has frequently happened in England, as well as in\nother places, and is only caused by the clouds being placed in such a\nsituation, as to reflect the image of that luminary; nocturnal fires,\nenflamed spears, fighting armies, were no more than what we call the\nAurora Borealis or northern lights, or ignited vapours floating in the\nair; showers of stones, of ashes, or of fire, were no other than the\neffects of the eruptions of some volcano at a considerable distance;\nshowers of milk were caused by some quality in the air, condensing, and\ngiving a whitish colour to the water; and those of blood are now well\nknown to be only the red spots left upon the earth, on stones and leaves\nof trees, by the butterflies which hatch in hot and stormy weather.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nHISTORY OF ORACLES--THE PRINCIPAL ORACLES OF ANTIQUITY.\n\nFew superstitions have been so famous, and so seductive to the minds of\nmen during a number of ages, as oracles. In treaties of peace or truces,\nthe Greeks never forgot to stipulate for the liberty of resorting to\noracles. No colony undertook new settlements, no war was declared, no\nimportant affair begun, without first consulting the oracles.\n\nThe most renowned oracles were those of Delphos, Dodona, Trophonius,\nJupiter Hammon, and the Clarian Apollo. Some have attributed the oracles\nof Dodona to oaks, others to pigeons. The opinion of those\npigeon-prophetesses was introduced by the equivocation of a Thessalian\nword, which signified both a pigeon and a woman; and gave room to the\nfable, that two pigeons having taken wing from Thebes, one of them fled\ninto Lybia, where it occasioned the establishing of the oracle of\nJupiter Hammon; and the other, having stopped in the oaks of the forest\nof Dodona, informed the inhabitants of the neighbouring parts, that it\nwas Jupiter's intention there should be an oracle in that place.\nHerodotus has thus explained the fable: there were formerly two\nPriestesses of Thebes, who were carried off by Phenecian merchants. She\nthat was sold into Greece, settled in the forest of Dodona, where great\nnumbers of the ancient inhabitants of Greece went to gather acorns. She\nthere erected a little chapel at the foot of an oak, in honour of the\nsame Jupiter, whose priestess she had been; and here it was this ancient\noracle was established, which in after times became so famous. The\nmanner of delivering the oracles of Dodona was very singular. There were\na great number of kettles suspended from trees near a copper statue,\nwhich was also suspended with a hunch of rods in its hand. When the wind\nhappened to put it in motion, it struck the first kettle, which\ncommunicating its motion to the next, all of them tingled, and produced\na certain sound which continued for a long time; after which the oracle\nspoke.\n\n\nTHE ORACLE OP JUPITER HAMMON.\n\nThis oracle, which was in the desert, in the midst of the burning sands\nof Africa, declared to Alexander that Jupiter was his father. After\nseveral questions, having asked if the death of his father was suddenly\nrevenged, the oracle answered, that the death of Philip was revenged,\nbut that the father of Alexander was immortal. This oracle gave occasion\nto Lucan to put great sentiments in the mouth of Cato. After the battle\nof Pharsalia, when Cesar began to be master of the world. Labrenus said\nto Cato: \"As we have now so good an opportunity of consulting so\ncelebrated an oracle, let us know from it how to regulate our conduct\nduring this war. The gods will not declare themselves more willingly for\nany one than Cato. You have always been befriended by the gods, and may\ntherefore have the confidence to converse with Jupiter. Inform\nyourselves of the destiny of the tyrant and the fate of our country;\nwhether we are to preserve our liberty, or to lose the fruit of the war;\nand you may learn too what that virtue is to which you have been\nelevated, and what its reward.\"\n\nCato, full of the divinity that was within him, returned to Labrenus an\nanswer worthy of an oracle: \"On what account, Labrenus, would you have\nme consult Jupiter? Shall I ask him whether it be better to lose life\nthan liberty? Whether life be a real good? We have within us, Labrenus,\nan oracle that can answer all these questions. Nothing happens but by\nthe order of God. Let us not require of him to repeat to us what he has\nsufficiently engraved in our hearts. Truth has not withdrawn into those\ndeserts; it is not graved on those sands. The abode of God is in heaven,\nin the earth, in the sea, and in virtuous hearts. God speaks to us by\nall that we see, by all that surrounds us. Let the inconstant and those\nthat are subject to waver, according to events, have recourse to\noracles. For my part, I find in nature every thing that can inspire the\nmost constant resolution. The dastard, as well as the brave, cannot\navoid death. Jupiter cannot tell us more.\" Cato thus spoke, and quitted\nthe country without consulting the oracle.\n\n\nTHE ORACLE OF DELPHOS, OR PYTHIAN APOLLO.\n\nDiodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and several other authors relate, that a\nherd of goats discovered the oracle of Delphos, or of the Pythian\nApollo. When a goat happened to come near enough the cavern to breathe\nair that passed out of it, she returned skipping and bounding about, and\nher voice articulated some extraordinary sounds; which having been\nobserved by the keepers, they went to look in, and were seized with a\nfury which made them jump about, and foretel future events. Coretas, as\nPlutarch tells, was the name of the goat-herd who discovered the oracle.\nOne of the guardians of Demetrius, coming too near the mouth of the\ncavern, was suffocated by the force of the exhalations, and died\nsuddenly. The orifice or vent-hole of the cave was covered with a tripod\nconsecrated to Apollo, on which the priestesses, called Pythonesses,[16]\nsat, to fill themselves with the prophetic vapour, and to conceive the\nspirit of divination, with the fervor that made them know futurity, and\nforetel it in Greek hexameters. Plutarch says, that, on the cessation of\noracles, a Pythoness was so excessively tormented by the vapour, and\nsuffered such violent convulsions, that all the priests ran away, and\nshe died soon after.\n\n\nCEREMONIES PRACTISED ON CONSULTING ORACLES.\n\nPausanias describes the ceremonies that were practiced for consulting\nthe oracle of Trophonius. Every man that went down into his cave, never\nlaughed his whole life after. This gave occasion to the proverbial\nsaying concerning those of a melancholy air: \"He has consulted\nTrophonius.\" Plato relates, that the two brothers, Agamedes and\nTrophonius, having built the temple of Apollo, and asked the god for a\nreward what he thought of most advantage to men, both died in the night\nthat succeeded their prayer. Pausanias gives us a quite different\naccount. In the palace there built for the King Hyrieus, they so laid a\nstone, that it might be taken away, and in the night they crept in\nthrough the hole they had thus contrived, to steal the king's treasures.\nThe king observing the quantity of his gold diminished, though no locks\nnor seals had been broken open, fixed traps about his coffers, and\nAgamedes being caught in one of them, Trophonius cut off his head to\nprevent his discovering him. Trophonius having disappeared that moment,\nit was given out that the earth had swallowed him on the same spot; and\nimpious superstition went so far as to place this wicked wretch in the\nrank of the gods, and to consult his oracle with ceremonies equally\npainful and mysterious.\n\nTacitus thus speaks of the oracle of the Clarian Apollo: Germanicus\nwent to consult the oracle of Claros. It is not a woman that delivers\nthe oracle there, as at Delphos, but a man chosen out of certain\nfamilies, and always of Miletum. It is sufficient to tell him the number\nand names of those who come to consult him; whereupon he retires into a\ngrot, and having taken some water out of a well that lies hid in it, he\nanswers you in verses to whatever you have thought of, though this man\nis often very ignorant.\n\nDion Cassius explains the manner in which the oracle of Nymphoea, in\nEpirus, delivered its responses. The party that consulted took incense,\nand having prayed, threw the incense into the fire, the flame pursued\nand consumed it. But if the affair was not to succeed, the incense did\nnot come near the fire, or if it fell into the flame, it started out and\nfled. It so happened for prognosticating futurity, in regard to every\nthing that was asked, except death and marriage, about which it was not\nallowed to ask any questions.\n\nThose who consulted the oracle of Amphiarus, lay on the skins of\nvictims, and received the answer of the oracle in a dream. Virgil\nattests the same thing of the oracle of Faunus in Italy.\n\nA governor of Cilicia, who gave little credit to oracles, and who was\nalways surrounded by unbelieving Epicureans sent a letter sealed with\nhis signet to the oracle of Mopsus, requiring one of those answers that\nwere received in a dream. The messenger charged with the letter brought\nit back in the same condition, not having been opened; and informed\nhim, that he had seen in a dream a very well made man, who said to him\n'Black' without the addition of even another word. Then the governor\nopening the letter, assured the company, that he wanted to know of the\ndivinity, whether he should sacrifice a white or black bull.\n\nIn the temple of the goddess of Syria, when the statue of Apollo was\ninclined to deliver oracles, it deviated, moved, and was full of\nagitations on its pedestals. Then the priests carrying it on their\nshoulders, it pushed and turned them on all sides, and the high-priest,\ninterrogating it on all sorts of affairs, if it refused its consent, it\ndrove the priests back; if otherwise, it made them advance.\n\nSuetonius says, that, some months before the birth of Augustus, an\noracle was current, importing, that nature was labouring at the\nproduction of a king, who would be master of the Roman Empire; that the\nSenate in great consternation, had forbid the rearing of any male\nchildren who should be born that year, but that the senators whose wives\nwere pregnant, found means to hinder the inscribing of the decree in the\npublic registers. It seems that the prediction, of which Augustus was\nonly the type, regarded the birth of Jesus Christ, the spiritual king of\nthe whole world; or that the wicked spirit was willing, by suggesting\nthis rigorous decree to the Senate, to depose Herod; and by this\nexample, to involve the Messiah in the massacre that was made by his\norders of all the children of two years and under. The whole world was\nthen full of the coming of the Messiah. We see by Virgil's fourth\neclogue, that he applies to the son of the Consul Asinius Pollio the\nprophecies which, from the Jews, had then passed into foreign nations.\nThis child the object of Virgil's flattery, died the ninth day after he\nwas born. Tacitus, Suetonius, and Josephus, applied to Vespasian the\nprophecies that regarded the Messiah.\n\n\nORACLES OFTEN EQUIVOCAL AND OBSCURE.\n\nThe oracles, were often very equivocal, or so obscure that their\nsignification was not understood but after the event. A few examples,\nout of a great many, will be sufficient.\n\nCroesus, having received from the Pythoness, this answer, that by\npassing the river Halys, he would destroy a great empire, he understood\nit to be the empire of his enemy, whereas he destroyed his own. The\noracle consulted by Pyrrhus, gave him an answer, which might be equally\nunderstood of the victory of Pyrrhus, and the victory of the Romans his\nenemies.\n\n  Aio te Aeacida, Romanos vincere posse.\n\nThe equivocation lies in the construction of the Latin tongue, which\ncannot be rendered in English. The Pythoness advises Croesus to guard\nagainst the mule.[17] The king of Lydia understood nothing of the\noracle, which denoted Cyrus descended from two different nations, from\nthe Medes by Mandana his mother, the daughter of Astyages; and by the\nPersians by his father Cambyses, whose race was by far less grand and\nillustrious. Nero had for answer from the oracle of Delphos, that\nseventy-three might prove fatal to him, he believed he was safe from all\ndanger till age, but, finding himself deserted by every one, and hearing\nGalba proclaimed emperor, who was seventy-three years of age, he was\nsensible of the deceit of the oracle.\n\nSt. Jerome observes, that, if the devils speak any truth, by whatever\naccident they always join lies to it and use such ambiguous expressions,\nthat they may be equally applied to contrary events.\n\n\nURIM AND THUMMIM.\n\nWhilst the false oracles of demons deceived the idolatrous nations,\ntruth had retired from among the chosen people of God. The septuagint\nhave interpreted _Urim_ and _Thummim_, manifestation and truth, [Greek:\ndaelosin is alaetheian]; which expresses how different those divine\noracles were from the false and equivocal demons. It is said, in the\nBook of Numbers, that Eleazar, the successor of Aaron, shall interrogate\nUrim in form, and that a resolution shall be taken according to the\nanswer given.\n\nThe Ephod applied to the chest of the sacerdotal vestments of the\nhigh-priest, was a piece of stuff covered with twelve precious stones,\non which the names of the twelve tribes were engraved. It was not\nallowed to consult the Lord by Urim and Thummim, but for the king, the\npresident of the sanhedrim, the general of the army, and other public\npersons, and on affairs that regarded the general interest of the\nnation. If the affair was to succeed, the stones of the ephod emitted a\nsparkling light, or the high-priest inspired predicted the success.\nJosephus, who was born thirty-nine years after Christ, says that it was\nthen two hundred years since the stones of the ephod had given an answer\nto consultations by their extraordinary lustre.\n\nThe Scriptures only inform us, that Urim and Thummim were something that\nMoses had put in the high-priest's breast-plate. Some Rabbins by rash\nconjectures, have believed that they were two small statues hidden\nwithin the breast-plate; others, the ineffable name of God, graved in a\nmysterious-manner. Without designing to discern what has not been\nexplained to us, we should understand by _Urim_ and _Thummim_, the\ndivine inspiration annexed to the consecrated breast-plate.\n\nSeveral passages of Scripture leave room to believe, that an articulate\nvoice came forth from the propitiatory, or holy of holies, beyond the\nveil of the tabernacle, and that this voice was heard by the\nhigh-priest. If the Urim and Thummim did not make answer, it was a sign\nof God's anger. Saul abandoned by the spirit of the Lord, consulted it\nin vain, and obtained no sort of answer. It appears by some passages of\nSt. John's Gospel, that in the time of Christ, the exercise of the\nchief-priesthood, was still attended with the gift of prophecy.\n\n\nREPUTATION OF ORACLES, HOW LOST.\n\nWhen men began to be better instructed by the lights philosophy had\nintroduced into the world, the false oracles insensibly lost their\ncredit. Chrysippus filled an entire volume with false or doubtful\noracles. Oenomanus,[18] to be revenged of some oracle that had deceived\nhim, made a compilation of oracles, to shew their absurdity and vanity.\nBut Oenomanus is still more out of humour with the oracle for the answer\nwhich Apollo gave the Athenians, when Xerxes was about to attack Greece\nwith all the strength of Asia. The Pythian declared, that Minerva, the\nprotectress of Athens, had endeavoured in vain to appease the wrath of\nJupiter; yet that Jupiter, in complaisance with his daughter, was\nwilling the Athenians should secure themselves within wooden walls; and\nthat Salamis should behold the loss of a great many children, dead to\ntheir mothers, either when Ceres was spread abroad, or gathered\ntogether. At this Oenomanus loses all patience with the Delphian God:\n\"This contest,\" exclaims he, \"between father and daughter, is very\nbecoming the deities! It is excellent that there should be contrary\ninclinations and interests in heaven! Poor wizzard, thou art ignorant\nwho the children are that shall see Salamis perish; whether Greeks or\nPersians. It is certain they must either be one or the other; but thou\nneedest not have told so openly that thou knowest not what. Thou\nconcealest the time of the battle under these fine poetical expressions\n'_either when Ceres is spread abroad, or gathered together_:' and thou\nwouldst cajole us with such pompous language! who knows not that if\nthere be a sea-fight, it must either be in seed-time or harvest? It is\ncertain it cannot be in winter. Let things go how they will, thou wilt\nsecure thyself by this Jupiter whom Minerva is endeavouring to appease.\nIf the Greeks lose the battle, Jupiter proved inexorable to the last; if\nthey gain it, why then Minerva at length prevailed.\"[19]\n\nEusebius has preserved some fragments of this criticism on oracles by\nOenomanus. \"I might,\" says Origen, \"have recourse to the authority of\nAristotle, and the Peripatetics, to make the Pythoness much suspected. I\nmight extract from the writings of Epicurus and his sectators an\nabundance of things to discredit oracles; and I might shew that the\nGreeks themselves made no great account of them.\"\n\nThe reputation of oracles was greatly lessened when they became an\nartifice of politics. Themistocles, with a design of engaging the\nAthenians to quit Athens, in order to be in a better condition to resist\nXerxes, made the Pythoness deliver an oracle, commanding them to take\nrefuge in wooden walls. Demosthenes said, that the Pythoness\nphilippised, to signify that she was gained over by Philip's presents.\n\n\nCESSATION OF ORACLES.\n\nThe cessation of oracles is attested by several prophane authors, as\nStrabo, Juvenal, Lucien.\n\nLucan, and others, Plutarch accounts for the cause of it, either that\nthe benefits of the gods are not eternal, as themselves are; or that the\ngenii who presided over oracles, are subject to death; or that the\nexhalations of the earth had been exhausted. It appears that the last\nreason had been alleged in the time of Cicero, who ridicules it in his\nsecond book of Divination, as if the spirit of prophecy, supposed to be\nexcited by subterranean effluvia, had evaporated by length of time, as\nwine or pickle by being kept is lost.\n\nSuidas, Nicephorus, and Cedrenus relate, that Augustus having consulted\nthe oracle of Delphos, could obtain no other answer but this: 'the\nHebrew child whom all the gods obey, drives me hence, and sends me back\nto hell: get out of this temple without speaking one word.' Suidas adds,\nthat Augustus dedicated an altar in the Capitol, with the following\ninscription:\n\n  \"_To the eldest Son of God_.\"\n\nNotwithstanding these testimonies, the answer of the oracle of Delphos\nto Augustus seems very suspicious. Cedrenus cites Eusebius for this\noracle, which is not now found in his works; and Augustus' peregrination\ninto Greece was eighteen years before the birth of Christ.\n\nSuidas and Cedrenus give an account also of an ancient oracle delivered\nto Thules, a king of Egypt, which they say is well authenticated. This\nking having consulted the oracle of Seraphis, to know if there ever was,\nor would be, one so great as himself, received this answer:--\"First,\nGod, next the word, and the spirit with them. They are equally eternal,\nand make but one whose power will never end. But thou, mortal, go hence,\nand think that the end of man's life is uncertain.\"\n\nVan Dale, in his Treatise of oracles, does not believe that they ceased\nat the coming of Christ. He relates several examples of oracles\nconsulted till the death of Theodosius the Great. He quotes the laws of\nthe Emperors Theodosius, Gratian, and Valentinian, against those who\nconsulted oracles, as a certain proof that the superstition of oracles\nstill existed in the time of those emperors.\n\n\nHAD DEMONS ANY SHARE IN THE ORACLES?\n\nThe opinion of those who believe that the demons had no share in the\noracles, and that the coming of the Messiah made no change in them: and\nthe contrary opinion of those who pretend that the incarnation of the\nword imposed a general silence on oracles, should be equally rejected.\nThe reasons appear from what has been said, and therefore two sorts of\noracles ought to be distinguished, the one dictated by the spirits of\ndarkness, who deceived men by their obscure and doubtful answers, the\nother the pure artifice and deceit of the priests of false\ndivinities.[20] As to the oracles given out by demons, the reign of\nSatan was destroyed by the coming of the Saviour; truth shut the mouth\nof falsehood; but Satan continued his old craft among idolaters. All the\ndevils were not forced to silence at the same time by the coming of the\nMessiah; it was on particular occasions that the truth of christianity,\nand the virtue of Christians imposed silence on the devils. St.\nAthanasius tells the pagans, they have been witnesses themselves that\nthe sign of the cross puts the devils to flight, silences oracles, and\ndissipates enchantments.\n\nThis power of silencing oracles, and putting the devils to flight, is\nalso attested by Arnobius, Lactantius, Prudentius, Minutius, Felix, and\nseveral others. Their testimony is a certain proof that the coming of\nthe Messiah had not imposed a general silence on oracles.\n\nThe Emperor Julian, called the Apostate, consulting the oracle of\nApollo, in the suburbs of Antioch, the devil could make him no other\nanswer, than that the body of St. Babylas, buried in the neighbourhood,\nimposed silence on him. The Emperor, transported with rage and vexation,\nresolved to revenge his gods, by eluding a solemn prediction of Christ.\nHe ordered the Jews to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem; but in beginning\nto dig the foundations, balls of fire burst out, and consumed the\nartificers, their tools and materials. These facts are attested by\nAmmianus Marcellinus, a pagan, and the emperor's historian; and by St.\nChrysostom, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and Theodoret, Sozomen and Socrates,\nin their ecclesiastical histories. The sophist Libanius, who was an\nenemy of the Christians, confessed also that St. Babylas had silenced\nthe oracle of Apollo, in the suburbs of Antioch.\n\nPlutarch relates that the pilot Thamus heard a voice in the air, crying\nout:--\"The great Pan is dead:\" whereupon Eusebius observes, that the\ndeaths of the demons were frequent in the reign of Tiberius, when Christ\ndrove out the wicked spirits. The same judgments may be passed on\noracles as on possessions. It was on particular occasions, by the divine\npermission, that the Christians cast out devils, or silenced oracles, in\nthe presence and even by the confession of the pagans themselves. And\nthus it is we should, it seems, understand the passages of St. Jerom,\nEusebius, Cyril, Theodoret, Prudentius, and other authors, who said,\nthat the coming of Christ had imposed silence on the oracles.\n\n\nOF ORACLES, THE ARTIFICES OP PRIESTS OP FALSE DIVINITIES.\n\nAs regards the second sort of oracles, which were pure artifices and\ncheats of the priests of false divinities, and which probably exceeded\nthe numbers of those that immediately proceed from demons, they did not\ncease till idolatry was abolished, though they had lost their credit for\na considerable time before the coming of Christ. It was concerning this\nmore common and general sort of oracles that Minutius Felix said, they\nbegan to discontinue their responses, according as men began to be more\npolite. But, howsoever decried oracles were, impostors always found\ndupes; the grossest cheats having never failed.\n\nDaniel discovered the imposture of the priests of Bel, who had a private\nway of getting into the temple, to take away the offered meats, and made\nthe king believe that the idol consumed them. Mundus, being in love with\nPaulina, the eldest of the priestesses of Isis, went and told her that\nthe god Anubis, being passionately fond of her, commanded her to give\nhim a meeting. She was afterwards shut up in a dark room, where her\nlover Mundus (whom she believed to be the god Anubis,) was concealed.\nThis imposture having been discovered, Tiberius ordered those detestable\npriests and priestesses to be crucified, and with them Iolea Mundus's\nfree woman, who had conducted the whole intrigue. He also commanded the\ntemple of Isis to be levelled with the ground, her statue to be thrown\ninto the Tiber, and, as to Mundus, he contented himself with sending him\ninto banishment.\n\nTheophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, not only destroyed the temples of the\ngods, but discovered the cheats of the priests, by shewing that the\nstatues, some of which were of brass, and others of wood, were hollow\nwithin, and led into dark passages made in the wall.\n\nLucius in discovering the impostures of the false prophet Alexander,\nsays, that the oracles were chiefly afraid of the subtilties of the\nEpicureans and Christians. The false prophet Alexander sometimes feigned\nhimself seized with a divine fury, and by means of the herb sopewort,\nwhich he chewed, frothed at the mouth in so extraordinary a manner, that\nthe ignorant people attributed it to the power of the god he was\npossessed by. He had long before prepared the head of a dragon made of\nlinen, which opened and shut its mouth by means of a horses hair. He\nwent by night to a place where the foundations of a temple were digging,\nand having found water, either of a spring or rain that had settled\nthere, he hid in it a goose egg, in which he had inclosed a little\nserpent that had just been hatched. The next day, very early in the\nmorning, he came quite naked into the street, having only a scarf about\nhis middle, holding in his hand a scythe, and tossing about his hair as\nthe priests of Cybele; then getting on the top of a high altar, he said\nthat the place was happy to be honoured by the birth of a god.\nAfterwards running down to the place where he had hid the goose egg, and\ngoing into the water, he began to sing the praises of Apollo and\nAesculapius, and to invite the latter to come and shew himself to men;\nwith these words he dips a bowl into the water and takes out a\nmysterious egg, which had a god enclosed in it, and when he held it in\nhis hand, he began to say that he held Aesculapius, whilst all were\neager to have a sight of this fine mystery, he broke the egg, and the\nlittle serpent starting out, twisted itself about his fingers.\n\nThese examples shew clearly, that both Christians and pagans were so\nfar agreed as to treat the greater number of oracles as purely human\nimpostures.\n\nFrom the very nature of things, much that now serves for amusement must\nformerly have been appropriated to a higher destination. Ventriloquism\nmay be quoted as a case in point, affording a ready and plausible\nsolution of the oracular stones and oaks, of the reply which the seer\nNessus addressed to Pythagoras, (Jamblichus, Vit. Pyth. xxxiii.) and of\nthe tree which at the command of the Gymnosophists, of upper Egypt,\nspoke to Apollonius, \"The voice,\" says Philostratus (Vit. Ap. xi. 5)\n\"was distinct but weak, and similar to the voice of a woman.\" But the\noracles, at least if we ascend to their origin, were not altogether\nimpostures. The pretended interpreters of the decrees of destiny were\nfrequently plunged into a sort of delirium, and when inhaling the fumes\nof some intoxicating drug or powerful gas or vapour, or drinking some\nbeverage which produced a temporary suspension of the reason, the mind\nof the enquirer was predisposed to feverish dreams:[21] if priestcraft\nwere concerned in the interpretation of such dreams, or eliciting senses\nfrom the wild effusions of the disordered brain of the Pythoness,\nScience presided over the investigation of the causes of this phrenzy,\nand the advantages which the Thaumaturgists might derive from it.\nJamblicus states (de Mysterius C. xxix) that for obtaining a revelation\nfrom the Deity in a dream, the youngest and most simple creatures were\nthe most proper for succeeding: they were prepared for it by magical\ninvocations and fumigations of particular perfumes. Porphyry declares\nthat these proceedings had an influence on the imagination; Jamblicus\nthat they rendered them more worthy of the inspiration of the Deity.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[16] The responses here were delivered by a young priestess called\nPythia or Phoebas, placed on a tripos, or stool with three feet, called\nalso cortina, from the skin of the serpent Python with which it was\ncovered, it is uncertain after what manner these oracles were delivered,\nthough Cicero supposes the Pythoness was inspired, or rather intoxicated\nby certain vapours which ascended from the cave. Some say that the\nPythoness being once debauched, the oracles were afterwards delivered by\nan old woman in the dress of a young maid.\n\n[17] This answer of the oracle brings to our recollection the equally\nremarkable injunction of a modern seer to Sir William Windham, which is\nrelated in the memoirs of Bishop Newton. \"In his younger years, when Sir\nWilliam was abroad upon his travels, and was at Venice, there was a\nnoted fortune-teller, to whom great numbers resorted, and he among the\nrest; and the fortune-teller told him, that he must beware of a white\nhorse. After his return to England, as he was walking by Charing-Cross,\nhe saw a crowd of people coming out and going in to a house, and\ninquired what was the meaning of it, was informed that Duncan Campbell,\nthe dumb fortune-teller lived there. His curiosity also led him in, and\nDuncan Campbell likewise told him that he must beware of a white horse.\nIt was somewhat extraordinary that two fortune-tellers, one at Venice\nand the other in London, without any communication, and at some distance\nof time, should both happen to hit upon the same thing, and to give the\nvery same warning. Some years afterwards, when he was taken up in 1715,\nand committed to the Tower upon suspicion of treasonable practices,\nwhich never appeared, his friends said to him that his fortune wan now\nfulfilled, the Hanover House was the white horse whereof he was\nadmonished to beware. But some time after this, he had a fall from a\nwhite horse, and received a blow by which he lost the sight of one of\nhis eyes.\"\n\n[18] \"When we come to consult thee,\" says he to Apollo, \"if thou seest\nwhat is in the womb of futurity, why dost thou use expressions which\nwill not be understood? If thou dost, thou takest pleasure in abusing\nus: if thou dost not, be informed of us, and learn to speak more\nclearly. I tell thee, that if thou intendest an equivoque, the Greek\nword whereby thou affirmest that Croesus should overthrow a great\nempire, was ill-chosen; and that it could signify nothing but Croesus\nconquering Cyrus. If things must necessarily come to pass, why dost thou\namuse us with thy ambiguities? What dost thou, wretch as thou art, at\nDelphi, employed in muttering idle prophecies!\"--See \"_Demonologia, or\nNatural Knowledge revealed_\" p. 162.\n\n[19] See _Demonologia_, p, 163.\n\n[20] \"Among the more learned, it is a pretty general opinion that all\nthe oracles were mere cheats and impostures; calculated either to serve\nthe avaricious ends of the heathenish priests, or the political views of\nthe princes. Bayle positively asserts, that they were mere human\nartifices, in which the devil had no hand. In this opinion he is\nstrongly supported by Van Dale, a Dutch physician, and M. Fontenelle,\nwho have expressly written on the subject.\"--_Vide Demonologia_, op.\ncitat. p. 159.\n\n[21] We learn from Herodotus (iv. 75) that the Scythians and Tartars\nintoxicated themselves by inhaling the vapour of a species of hemp\nthrown upon red hot stones. And the odour of the seeds of henbane alone,\nwhen its power is augmented by heat, produces a choleric and quarrelsome\ndisposition, in those who inhale the vapour arising from them in this\nstate. And in the \"Dictionnaire de M\u00e9decine,\" (de l'Encyclop\u00e9die\nM\u00e9thodique, vii, art. Jusquiaume) instances are quoted, the most\nremarkable of which is, that if a married pair who, though living in\nperfect harmony every where else, could never remain for a few hours in\nthe room where they worked without quarrelling. The apartment of course\nwas thought to be bewitched, until it was discovered that a considerable\nquantity of seeds of henbane were deposited near the stove, which was\nthe cause of their daily dissensions, the removal of which put an end to\ntheir bickerings. The same effects that were produced by draughts and\nfumigations would follow from the application of liniments, of \"Magical\nUnctions,\" acting through the absorbent system, as if they had been\nintroduced into the stomach: allusions to these ointments are constantly\nrecurring in ancient authors. Philostratus, in his life of Apollonius\n(iii. 5) states that the bodies of his companions, before being admitted\nto the mysteries of the Indian sages, were rubbed over with so active an\noil, that it appeared as if they were bathed with fire.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n\nTHE BRITISH DRUIDS, OR MAGI--ORIGIN OF FAIRIES--ANCIENT\nSUPERSTITIONS----THEIR SKILL IN MEDECINE, &C.\n\nThe British Druids, like the Indian Gymnosophists, or the Persian Magi,\nhad two sets of doctrines; the first for the initiated; the second for\nthe people. That there is one God the creator of heaven and earth, was a\nsecret doctrine of the Brachmans. And the nature and perfection of the\ndeity were among the druidical arcana.\n\nAmong the sublimer tenets of the druidical priesthood, we have every\nwhere apparent proofs of their polytheism: and the grossness of their\nreligious ideas, as represented by some writers, is very inconsistent\nwith that divine philosophy which has been considered as a part of their\ncharacter. These, however, were popular divinities which the Druids\nostensibly worshipped, and popular notions which they ostensibly\nadopted, in conformity with the prejudices of the vulgar. The Druids\nwell knew that the common people were no philosophers. There is reason\nalso, to think that a great part of the idolatries were not sanctioned\nby the Druids, but afterwards introduced by the Phoenician colony. But\nit would be impossible to say how far the primitive Druids accommodated\nthemselves to vulgar superstition, or to separate their exterior\ndoctrines and ceremonies from the fables and absurd rites of subsequent\ntimes. It would be vain to attempt to enumerate their gods: in the eye\nof the vulgar they defied everything around them. They worshipped the\nspirits of the mountains, the vallies, and the rivers. Every rock and\nevery spring were either the instruments or the objects of admiration.\nThe moonlight vallies of Danmonium were filled with the fairy people,\nand its numerous rivers were the resort of genii.\n\nThe fiction of fairies is supposed to have been brought, with other\nextravagancies of a like nature from the Eastern nations, whilst the\nEuropeans and Christians were engaged in the holy war: such at least is\nthe notion of an ingenious writer, who thus expresses himself: \"Nor were\nthe monstrous embellishments of enchantments the invention of romancers,\nbut formed upon Eastern tales, brought thence by travellers from their\ncrusades and pilgrimages, which indeed, have a cast peculiar to the wild\nimagination of the Eastern people.\"[22]\n\nThat fairies, in particular, came from the East, we are assured by that\nlearned orientalist, M. Herbelot, who tells us that the Persians called\nthe fairies _Peri_, and the Arabs _Genies_, that according: to the\nEastern fiction, there is a certain country inhabited by fairies, called\nGennistan, which answers to our _fairy-land_.[23] Mr. Martin, in his\nobservations on Spencer's Fairy Queen, is decided in his opinion, that\nthe fairies came from the East; but he justly remarks, that they were\nintroduced into the country long before the period of the crusades. The\nrace of fairies, he informs us, was established in Europe in very early\ntimes, but, \"_not universally_.\" The fairies were confined to the north\nof Europe--to the _ultima Thule_--to the _British isles_--to the\n_divisis orbe Britannis_. They were unknown at this remote era to the\nGauls or the Germans: and they were probably familiar to the vallies of\nScotland and Danmonium, when Gaul and Germany were yet unpeopled either\nby real or imaginary beings. The belief indeed, of such invisible agents\nassigned to different parts of nature, prevails at this very day in\nScotland, Devonshire and Cornwall, regularly transmitted from the\nremotest antiquity to the present times, and totally unconnected with\nthe spurious romance of the crusader or the pilgrim. Hence those\nsuperstitious notions now existing in our western villages, where the\nspriggian[24] are still believed to delude benighted travellers, to\ndiscover hidden treasures, to influence the weather, and to raise the\nwinds. \"This,\" says Warton, \"strengthens the hypotheses of the northern,\nparts of Europe being peopled by colonies from the east!\"\n\nThe inhabitants of Shetland and the Isles pour libations of milk or\nbeer through a holed-stone, in honour of the spirit Brownie; and it is\nprobable the Danmonii were accustomed to sacrifice to the same spirit,\nsince the Cornish and the Devonians on the border of Cornwall, invoke to\nthis day the spirit Brownie, on the swarming of their bees.\n\nWith respect to rivers, it is a certain fact that the primitive Britons\npaid them divine honours; even now, in many parts of Devonshire and\nCornwall, the vulgar may be said to worship brooks and wells, to which\nthey resort at stated periods, performing various ceremonies in honour\nof those consecrated waters: and the Highlanders, to this day, talk with\ngreat respect of the genius of the sea; never bathe in a fountain, lest\nthe elegant spirit that resides in it should be offended and remove; and\nmention not the water of rivers without prefixing to it the name of\n_excellent_; and in one of the western islands the inhabitants retained\nthe custom, to the close of the last century, of making an annual\nsacrifice to the genius of the ocean. That at this day the inhabitants\nof India deify their principal rivers is a well known fact; the waters\nof the Ganges possess an uncommon sanctity; and the modern Arabians,\nlike the Ishmaelites of old, concur with the Danmonii in their reverence\nof springs and fountains. Even the names of the Arabian and Danmonian\nwells have a striking correspondence. We have the _singing-well_; or the\n_white-fountain_, and there are springs with similar names in the\ndeserts of Arabia. Perhaps the veneration of the Danmonii for fountains\nand rivers may be accepted as no trivial proof, to be thrown into the\nmass of circumstantial evidence, in favour of their Eastern original.\nThat the Arabs in their thirsty deserts, should even adore their wells\nof \"springing water,\" need not excite our surprise, but we may justly\nwonder at the inhabitants of Devonshire and Cornwall thus worshipping\nthe gods of numerous rivers, and never failing brooks, familiar to every\npart of Danmonium.\n\nThe principal times of devotion among the Druids\nwere either mid-day or midnight. The officiating Druid was cloathed in a\nwhite garment that swept the ground; on his head, he wore the tiara; he\nhad the _anguinum_ or serpent's egg, as the ensign of his order; his\ntemples were encircled with a wreath of oak-leaves, and he waved in his\nhand the magic rod. As regards the Druid sacrifice there are vague and\ncontradictory representations. It is certain, however, that they offered\nhuman victims to their gods. They taught that the punishment of the\nwicked might be obliterated by sacrifices to Baal.[25] The sacrifice of\nthe black sheep, therefore, was offered up for the souls of the\ndeparted, and various species of charms exhibited. Traces of the holy\nfires, and fire worship of the Druids[26] may be observed in several\ncustoms, both of the Devonians and the Cornish; but in Ireland may still\nbe seen the holy fires in all their solemnity. The Irish call the month\nof May _Bel-tine_, or fire of Belus; and the first of May Lubel-tine, or\nthe day of Belus's fire. In an old Irish glossary, it is mentioned that\nthe Druids of Ireland used to light two solemn fires every year, through\nwhich all four-footed beasts were driven, as a preservative against\ncontagious distempers. The Irish have this custom at the present moment,\nthey kindle the fire in the milking yards; men, women, and children pass\nthrough or leap over it, and their cattle are driven through the flames\nof the burning straw, on the _first of May_; and in the month of\nNovember, they have also their fire feasts when, according to the custom\nof the Danmonians, as well as the Irish Druids, the hills were enveloped\nin flame. Previously to this solemnity (on the eve of November) the fire\nin every private house was extinguished; hither, then, the people were\nobliged to resort, in order to rekindle it. The ancient Persians named\nthe month of November, _Adur or fire_ Adur, according to Richardson was\nthe angel presiding over that element, in consequence of which, on the\nninth, his name-day, the country blazed all around with flaming piles,\nwhilst the magi, by the injunction of Zoroaster, visited with great\nsolemnity all the temples of fire throughout the empire; which, on this\noccasion, were adorned and illuminated in a most splendid manner. Hence\nour British illuminations in November had probably their origin. It was\nat this season that _Baal Samham_ called the souls to judgment, which,\naccording to their deserts, were assigned to re-enter the bodies of men\nor brutes, and to be happy or miserable during their next abode on the\nearth.\n\nThe primitive Christians, attached to their pagan ceremonies, placed\nthe feast of All-Souls on the la Samon, or the second of November. Even\nnow the peasants in Ireland assemble on the vigil of la Samon with\nsticks and clubs, going from house to house, collecting money,\nbread-cake, butter, cheese, eggs, etc., for the feast; repeating verses\nin honour of the solemnity, and calling for the black sheep. Candles are\nsent from house to house and lighted up on the Samon. (The next day.)\nEvery house abounds in the best viands the master can afford; apples and\nnuts are eaten in great plenty; the nutshells are burnt, and from the\nashes many things are foretold. Hempseed is sown by the maidens, who\nbelieve that, if they look back, they shall see the apparition of their\nintended husbands. The girls make various efforts to read their destiny;\nthey hang a smock before the fire at the close of the feast, and sit up\nall night concealed in one corner of the room, expecting the apparition\nof the lover to come down the chimney and turn the _shimee_: they throw\na ball of yarn out of the window, and wind it on the reel within,\nconvinced that if they repeat the Paternoster backwards, and look at the\nball of yarn without, they shall then also see his apparition. Those who\ncelebrate this feast have numerous other rites derived from the Pagans.\nThey dip for apples in a tub of water, and endeavour to bring up one\nwith their mouths; they catch at an apple when stuck on at one of the\nend of a kind of hanging beam, at the other extremity of which is fixed\na lighted candle, and that with their mouths only, whilst it is in a\ncircular motion, having their hands tied behind their backs.[27]\n\n\nTHE BRITISH MAGI.\n\nThe Druids, who were the magi of the Britons, had an infinite number of\nrites in common with the Persians. One of the chief functions of the\nEastern magi, was divination; and Pomponius Mela tells us, that our\nDruids possessed the same art. There was a solemn rite of divination\namong the Druids from the fall of the victim and convulsions of his\nlimbs, or the nature and position of his entrails. But the British\npriests had various kinds of divination. By the number of criminal\ncauses, and by the increase or diminution of their own order, they\npredicted fertility or scarcity. From the neighing or prancing of white\nhorses, harnessed to a consecrated chariot--from the turnings and\nwindings of a hare let loose from the bosom of the diviner (with a\nvariety of other ominous appearances or exhibitions) they pretended to\ndetermine the events of futurity.[28]\n\nOf all creatures the serpent exercised, in the most curious manner, the\ninvention of the Druids. To the famous _anguinum_ they attributed high\nvirtues. The _anguinum_ or serpent's egg, was a congeries of small\nsnakes rolled together, and incrusted with a shell, formed by the saliva\nor viscous gum, or froth of the mother serpent. This egg, it seems was\ntossed into the air, by the hissings of its dam, and before it fell\nagain to the earth (where it would be defiled) it was to be received in\nthe sagus or sacred vestment. The person who caught the egg was to make\nhis escape on horseback, since the serpent pursues the ravisher of its\nyoung, even to the brink of the next river. Pliny, from whom this\naccount is taken (lib. 29. C. 3.) proceeds with an enumeration of other\nabsurdities relating to the anguinum. This _anguinum_ is in British\ncalled _Glain-neider_, or the serpent of glass; and the same\nsuperstitious reverence which the Danmonii universally paid to the\nanguinum, is still discoverable in some parts of Cornwall. Mr. Llhuyd\ninforms us that \"the Cornish retain a variety of charms, and have still\ntowards the Land's-End, the amulets of Maen-Magal and Glain-neider,\nwhich latter they call _Melprer_, and have a charm for the snake to make\nit, when they find one asleep, and stick a hazel wand in the centre of\nher spirae,\" or coils.\n\nWe are informed by Cambden that, \"in most parts of Wales, and\nthroughout all Scotland and Cornwall, it is an opinion of the vulgar,\nthat about midsummer-eve (though in the time they do not all agree) the\nsnakes meet in companies, and that by joining heads together and\nhissing, a kind of bubble is formed, which the rest, by continual\nhissing, blow on till it passes quite through the body, when it\nimmediately hardens, and resembles a glass-ring, which whoever finds\nshall prosper in all his undertakings. The rings thus generated are\ncalled _Gleiner-nadroeth_, or snake-stones. They are small glass\namulets, commonly about half as wide as our finger rings, but much\nthicker, of a green colour usually, though sometimes blue, and waved\nwith red and white.\"\n\nCarew says, that \"the country people, in Cornwall, have a persuasion\nthat the snake's breathing upon a hazel wand produces a stone ring of\nblue colour, in which there appears the yellow figure of a snake, and\nthat beasts bit and envenomed, being given some water to drink wherein\nthis stone has been infused, will perfectly recover the poison.\"[29]\n\nFrom the animal, the Druids passed to the vegetable world; and these\nalso displayed their powers, whilst by the charms of the misletoe, the\nselago, and the samopis, they prevented or repelled diseases. From the\nundulation or bubbling of water stirred by an oak branch, or magic wand,\nthey foretold events that were to come. The superstition of the Druids\nis even now retained in the western counties. To this day, the Cornish\nhave been accustomed to consult their famous well at Madem, or rather\nthe _spirit_ of the well, respecting their future destiny.\n\n\"Hither,\" says Borlase, \"come the uneasy, impatient, and superstitious,\nand by dropping pins[30] or pebbles into the water, and by shaking the\nground round the spring, so as to raise bubbles from the bottom, at a\ncertain time of the year, moon and day, endeavour to remove their\nuneasiness; yet the supposed responses serve equally to encrease the\ngloom of the melancholy, the suspicions of the jealous, and the passion\nof the enamoured. The Castalian fountain, and many others among the\nGrecians were supposed to be of a prophetic nature. By dipping a fair\nmirror into a well, the Patraeans of Greece received, as they supposed,\nsome notice of ensuing sickness or health from the various figures\npourtrayed upon the surface. The people of Laconia cast into a pool,\nsacred to Juno, cakes of bread corn: if the cakes sunk, good was\nportended; if they swam, something dreadful was to ensue. Sometimes the\nsuperstitious threw three stones into the water, and formed their\nconclusions from the several turns they made in sinking.\" The Druids\nwere likewise able to communicate, by consecration, the most portentous\nvirtues to rocks and stones, which could determine the succession of\nprinces or the fate of empires. To the Rocking or Logan stone, several\nof which remain still in Devonshire and Cornwall, in particular, they\nhad recourse to confirm their authority, either as prophets or judges,\npretending that its motion was miraculous. These religious rites were\ncelebrated in consecrated places and temples, in the midst of groves.\nThe mysterious silence of an ancient wood diffuses even a shade of\nhorror over minds that are yet superior to superstitious credulity.\nTheir temple was seldom any other than a wide circle of rocks\nperpendicularly raised. An artificial pile of large flat stone usually\ncomposed the altar; and the whole religious mountain was usually\nenclosed by a low mound, to prevent the intrusion of the profane. \"There\nwas something in the Druidical species of heathenism,\" exclaims Mr.\nWhitaker, in a style truly oriental, \"that was well calculated to arrest\nthe attention and impress the mind. The rudely majestic circle of stones\nin their temples, the enormous Cromlech, the massy Logan, the huge\nCarnedde, and the magnificent amphitheatre of woods, would all very\nstrongly lay hold upon that religious thoughtfulness of soul, which has\never been so natural to man, amid all the wrecks of humanity--the\nmonument of his former perfection!\" That Druidism, as existing\noriginally in Devonshire and Cornwall, was immediately transported, in\nall its purity and perfection, from the East, seems extremely probable.\n\nAmong the sacred rites of the Druids there were none more celebrated\nthan that they used of the misletoe of the oak. They believed this tree\nwas chosen by God himself. The misletoe was what they found but seldom:\nwhenever, therefore, they met with it, they fetched it with great\nceremony, and did it on the sixth day of the moon, with which day they\nbegan both their months and their years. They gave a name to this shrub,\ndenoting that it had the virtue of curing all diseases. They sacrificed\nvictims to it, believing that, by its virtue, the barren were made\nfruitful. They looked upon it likewise as a preservative against all\npoisons. Thus do several nations of the world place their religion in\nthe observation of trifles.\n\nThe Druids were also extremely superstitious in relation to the herb\n_selago_, which they reckoned a preservative against sore eyes, and\nalmost all misfortunes. Another herb called samotis, which they imagined\nhad a virtue to prevent diseases among cattle, they were very\nceremonious about gathering. The person was obliged to be clad in white,\nand was not suffered to handle it; and the ceremony was preceded by a\nsacrifice of bread and wine.\n\nThe Druids had another superstition amongst them, in regard to their\nserpents' eggs, which they supposed were formed of the saliva of many of\nthose creatures, at a certain time of the moon: these they looked upon\nas a sure prognostic of getting the better of their enemies. These, with\nmany other ridiculous fooleries, were imposed upon the credulous people,\nas they were very much attached to divination. The Druids regarded the\nmisletoe as an antidote against all poisons, and they preserved their\nselago against all misfortunes. The Persians had the same confidence in\nthe efficacy of several herbs, and used them in a similar manner. The\nDruids cut their misletoe with a golden hook, and the Persians cut the\ntwigs of _Ghez_, or _haulm_, called _bursam_, with a peculiar sort of\nconcentrated knife. The candidates for the British throne had recourse\nto the fatal stone to determine their pretensions; and on similar\noccasions the Persians had recourse to the _Artizoe_.\n\nFrom every view of the Druid religion, Mr. Polwhele concludes that it\nderived its origin from the Persian magi. Dr. Borlasse has drawn a long\nand elaborate parallel between the Druids and Persians, where he has\nplainly proved that they resembled each other, as strictly as possible,\nin every particular of religion.[31]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[22] Supplement to the translated preface to Jarvis's Don Quixote.\n\n[23] That the Druids worshipped rocks, stones, and fountains, and\nimagined them inhabited, and actuated by _divine intelligences of a\nlower rank_, may plainly be inferred from their stone monuments. These\ninferior deities the Cornish call _spriggian, or spirits_, which answer\nto genii or fairies; and the vulgar in Cornwall still discourse of them,\nas of real beings.\n\n[24] See Macpherson's Introduction to the history of great Britain and\nIreland.\n\n[25] This idol, which is called by the Septuagint, Baal, is mentioned in\nother parts of scripture by other names. To understand what this god\nwas, we may observe, that the deities of the Greeks and Romans come from\nthe East; and it is a tradition among the ancient and modern heathens\nthat this idol was an obscure deity, which may plead excuse for not\ntranslating some passages concerning it; and this is agreeable to Hosea\n(ix. 10). They _went out_ into _Baal Pheor_, and _separated themselves\nto their shame_. And it is the opinion of Jerome, who quotes it from an\nancient tradition of the Jews, that _Baal Pheor_ is the _Priapus_ of the\nGreeks and Romans; and if you look into the vulgar latin (1 Kings xv.\n13.) we shall find it thus rendered, _and Asa, the King removed_ Maacha,\n_his mother from being queen, that she might no longer be high Priestess\nin the sacrifices of Priapus_. And he destroyed the grove she had\nconsecrated, and broke the most filthy idol, and burnt it at the brook\n_Kedron_. Dr. Cumberland inserts, that the import of the word _Peor_, or\n_Baal Pheor_, is he that shews boastingly or publicly, his nakedness.\nWomen to avoid barrenness, were to sit on this filthy image, as the\nsource of fruitfulness; for which Lactantius and Augustine justly deride\nthe heathens.\n\n[26] There was an awful mysteriousness in the original Druid sacrifice.\nDescanting upon the human sacrifices of various countries, Mr. Bryant\ninforms us, that among the nations of Canaan, _the_ victims _were chosen\nin a peculiar manner_; their own children, and whatsoever was nearest\nand dearest to them, were thought the most worthy offerings to their\ngods! The Carthagenians, who were a colony from Tyre, carried with them\nthe religion of their mother country and instituted the same worship in\nthe parts where they were seated. Parents offered up their own children\nas dearest to themselves, and therefore the more acceptable to the\ndeity: they sacrificed \"the fruit of their body for the sin of their\nsoul,\" The Druids, no doubt, were actuated with the same views.\n\n[27] There is no sort of doubt that _Baal_ and _Fire_ were principal\nobjects of the ceremonies and adoration of the Druids. The principal\nseason of these, and of their feasts in honour of Baal, was new year's\nday, when the sun began visibly to return towards us; the custom is not\nyet at an end, the country people still burning out the old year and\nwelcoming in the new by fires lighted on the top of hills, and other\nhigh places. The next season was the month of May, when the fruits of\nthe earth began, in the Eastern countries, to be gathered, and the first\nfruits of them consecrated to Baal, or to the _Sun_, whose benign\ninfluence had ripened them; and one is almost persuaded that the dance\nround the May pole, in that month, is a faint image of the rites\nobserved on such occasions. The next great festival was on the 21st of\nJune, when the sun, being in Cancer, first appears to go backwards and\nleave us. On this occasion the Baalim used to call the people together,\nand to light fires on high places, and to cause their sons, and their\ndaughters, and their cattle to pass through the fire, calling upon Baal\nto bless them, and not forsake them.\n\n[28] In Devonshire and Cornwall it is still considered ominous if a hare\ncrosses a person on the road.\n\n[29] See _Carew's Survey of Cornwall_, p. 22. Mr. Carew had a stone-ring\nof this kind in his possession, and the person who gave it to him\navowed, that \"he himself saw a part of the stick sticking in it,\"--but\n\"_Penes authorem sit fides_,\" says Mr. Carew.\n\n[30] The same superstition still exists in Devonshire.\n\n[31] See account of Druidism in Polewhele's Historical Views of\nDevonshire, vol. 1.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n\nAESCULAPIAN MYSTERIES, &C.\n\nApollo is said to have been one of the most gentle, and at the same\ntime, as may be inferred from his numerous issue, one of the most\ngallant of the heathen deities. The first and most noted of his sons was\nAesculapius, whom he had by the nymph Coronis. Some say that Apollo, on\naccount of her infidelity, shot his mother when big with child with him;\nbut repenting the fact, saved the infant, and gave him to Chiron to be\ninstructed in physic.[32] Others report, that as King Phlegyas, her\nfather was carrying her with him into Peloponnesus, her pains surprised\nher on the confines of Epidauria where, to conceal her shame, she\nexposed the infant on a mountain. The _truth_, however is, that this\nAesculapius was a poor infant cast away, a dropt child, laid in a wood\nnear Epidaurus, by his unnatural parents, who were afterwards ashamed to\nown him; he was shortly afterwards found by some huntsmen, who, seeing a\nlighted flame or glory surrounding his head, looked upon it as a\nprognostic of the child's future glory. The infant was delivered by them\nto a nurse named Trigo, but the poets say he was suckled by a goat. He\nstudied physic under Chiron the centaur, by whose care he made such\nprogress in the medical art, as gained him so high a reputation that he\nwas even reported to have raised the dead. His first cures were wrought\nupon Ascles, King of Epidaurus, and Aunes, King of Daunia, which last\nwas troubled with sore eyes. In short, his success was so great, that\nPluto, seeing the number of his ghosts daily decrease, complained to\nJupiter, who killed him with his thunderbolts. Such was his proficiency\nin medical skill, that he was generally esteemed the god of physic.\n\nIn the city of Tetrapolis, which belonged to the Ionians, Aesculapius\nhad a temple full of rare cures, dedicated to him by those who ascribed\ntheir recovery to him; and its walls were covered and hung with\nmemorials of the miracles he had performed.\n\nCicero reckons up three of the names of Aesculapius. The first the son\nof Apollo, worshipped in Arcadia, who invented the probe and bandages\nfor wounds; the second the brother of Mercury, killed by lightning; and\nthe third the son of Arsippus Arsione, who first taught the art of\ntooth-drawing and purging. Others make Aesculapius an Egyptian, King of\nMemphis, antecedent by a thousand years to the Aesculapius of the\nGreeks. The Romans numbered him among the Dii Adcititii, of such as were\nraised to heaven by their merit, as Hercules, Castor and Pollux. The\nGreeks received their knowledge of Aesculapius from the Phoenicians and\nEgyptians. His chief temples were at Pergamus, Smyrna, and Trica, a city\nof Ionia, and the isle of Coos, or Cos; in which all votive tablets were\nhung up,[33] shewing the diseases cured by his assistance: but his most\nfamous shrine was at Epidaurus, where every five years in the spring,\nsolemn games were instituted to him nine days after the Isthmian games\nat Corinth.\n\nIt was by accident that the Romans became acquainted with Aesculapius. A\nplague happened in Italy, the oracle was consulted, and the reply was\nthat they should fetch the god Esculapius from Epidaurus. An embassy was\nappointed of ten senators, at the head of whom was Q. Ogulnius. These\ndeputies, on their arrival, visiting the temple of the god, a huge\nserpent came from under the altar, and crossing the city, went directly\nto their ship, and lay down in the cabin of Ogulnius;[34] upon which they\nset sail immediately, and arriving in the Tiber, the serpent quitted the\nship, and retired to a little island opposite to the city, where a\ntemple was erected to the god, and the pestilence ceased.\n\nThe animals sacrificed to Aesculapius were the goat; some say on\naccount of his having been nursed by this animal; others because this\ncreature is unhealthy, as labouring under a perpetual fever. The dog and\nthe cock were sacrificed to him, on account of their fidelity and\nvigilance; the raven was also devoted to him for its forecast, and being\nskilled in divination. Authors are not agreed as to his being the\ninventor of physic, some affirming he perfected that part only which\nrelates to the regimen of the sick.\n\nThe origin of this fable is as follows:--the public sign or symbol\nexposed by the Egyptians in their assemblies, to warn the people to mark\nthe depth of the inundation of the Nile, in order to regulate their\nploughing accordingly, was the figure of a man with a dog's head,\ncarrying a pole with serpents twisted round it, to which they gave the\nname of Anubis,[35] Thaaut,[36] and Aesculapius.[37] In process of time,\nthey made use of this representation for a real king, who by the study\nof physic, sought the preservation of his subjects. Thus the dog and the\nserpents became the characteristics of Aesculapius amongst the Romans\nand Greeks, who were entirely strangers to the original meaning of these\nhieroglyphics.\n\nAesculapius was represented as an old man, with a long beard, crowned\nwith a branch of bay tree; in his hands was a staff full of knots, about\nwhich a serpent had twisted itself: at his feet stood an owl or a\ndog--characteristics of the qualities of a good physician, who must be\nas cunning as a serpent, as vigilant as a dog, as cunning and\nexperienced as an old bashaw, to handle a thing so difficult as physic.\nAt Epidaurus his statue was of gold and ivory,[38] seated on a throne of\nthe same materials, with a long beard, having a knotty stick in one\nhand, the other entwined with a serpent, and a dog lying at his feet.\nThe Phliasians depicted him as beardless, and the Romans crowned him\nwith a laurel, to denote his descent from Apollo. The knots in his staff\nsignify the difficulties that occur in the study of medicine. He had by\nhis wife Epione two sons, Machaon and Podalirius, both skilled in\nsurgery, and who are mentioned by Homer as having been present at the\nsiege of Troy, and who were very serviceable to the Greeks. He had also\ntwo daughters, called Hygiaea and Jaso.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[32] Ovid, who relates the story of Coronis in his fanciful way, tells\nus that Corvus, or the raven, who discovered her armour, had by Apollo,\nhis feathers changed from _black_ to _white_.\n\n[33] From these tablets, or votive inscriptions, Hippocrates is said to\nhave collected his aphorisms.\n\n[34] The Romans who sent for Aesculapius from Epidaurus, when their city\nwas troubled with the plague, say, that the serpent that was worshipped\nthere for him followed the ambassadors of its own accord to the ship\nthat transported it to Rome, where it was placed in a temple built in\nthe isle called Tiberina. In this temple the sick people were wont to\nlie, and when they found themselves no better, they reviled Aesculapius:\nso impatiently ungrateful and peevish were often the afflicted, that\nthey made no scruple to reproach the very god who administered to their\nmaladies.\n\n[35] From Hannobeach, which, in the Phoenician language, signifies the\n_barker_, or _warner_, Anubis.\n\n[36] This word signifies the dog.\n\n[37] From _Aeish_, man, and _caleph_, dog, comes _Aescaleph_, the\nman-dog, or Aesculapius.\n\n[38] This image was the work of Thrasymedes, the son of Arignotus, a\nnative of Paros.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n\nINFERIOR DEITIES ATTENDING MANKIND PROM THEIR BIRTH TO THEIR DECEASE.\n\nIt would be almost an endless task to enter into a detail of all the\ninferior deities of the Greeks and Romans; our object being to refer to\nsuch only as preside over the health of the human race, every part and\nparcel of whom had their presiding genius.--During pregnancy, the\ntutelar powers were the god Pelumnus,[39] and the goddesses\nIntercedonia,[40] and Deverra.[41] The import of these words seems to\npoint out the necessity of warmth and cleanliness to ladies in this\ncondition.\n\nBesides the superior goddesses Jemo-Lucien, Diana Hythia, and Latona,\nwho all presided at the birth, there were the goddesses Egeria,[42]\nProsa,[43] and Manageneta,[44] who with the Dii Nixii,[45] had all the care\nof women in labour.\n\nTo children, Janus performed the office of door-keeper or midwife; and\nin this quality was assisted by the goddess Opis or Ops;[46] Cuma rocked\nthe cradle, while Carmenta sung their destiny; Levana lifted them up\nfrom the ground;[47] and Vegetanus took care of them when they cried;\nRumina[48] watched them while they suckled; Polina furnished them with\ndrink; and Edura with food or nourishment; Osslago knit their bones; and\nCarna[49] strengthened their constitutions. Nudina[50] was the goddess of\nchildren's purification; Stilinus or Statanus instructed them to walk,\nand kept them from falling; Fabulina learnt them to prattle; the goddess\nPaventia preserved them from frights;[51] and Camaena taught them to\nsing.\n\nNor was the infant, when grown to riper years, left without his\nprotectors; Juventas was the god of youth; Agenoria excited men to\naction; and the goddesses Stimula and Strenua inspired courage and\nvivacity; Horta[52] inspired the fame or love of glory; and Sentra gave\nthem the sentiments of probity and justice; Quies was the goddesses of\nrepose or ease,[53] and Indolena, or laziness, was deified by the name of\nMurcia;[54] Vacua protected the idle; Adeona and Abeona, secured people\nin going abroad and returning;[55] and Vibilia, if they wandered, was so\nkind as to put them in the right way; Fessonia refreshed the weary and\nfatigued; and Meditrina healed the sickly;[56] Vitula was the goddess of\nmirth and frolic;[57] Volupia the goddess who bestowed pleasure;[58]\nOrbona was addressed, that parents might not love their offspring;\nPellonia averted mischief and danger; and Numeria taught people to cast\nand keep accounts; Angerona cured the anguish or sorrow of the mind;[59]\nHaeres Martia secured heirs the estates they expected; and Stata or\nStatua Mater, secured the forum or market place from fire; even the\nthieves had a protectress in Laverna;[60] Averruncus prevented sudden\nmisfortunes; and Conius was always disposed to give good advice to such\nas wanted it; Volumnus inspired men with a disposition to do well; and\nHonorus raised them to preferment and honours.\n\nNor was the marriage state without its peculiar defenders. Five deities\nwere esteemed so necessary, that no marriages were solemnized without\nasking their favours; these were Jupiter-Perfectus, or the Adult, Juno,\nVenus, Suadela,[61] and Diana. Jugatinus tied the nuptial knot; Domiducus\nushered the bride home; Domitius took care to keep her there, and\nprevent her gadding abroad; Maturna preserved the conjugal union entire;\nVirginensis[62] loosed the bridle zone or girdle; Viriplaca was a\npropitious goddess, ready to reconcile the married couple in case of any\naccidental difference. Matuta was the patroness of matrons, no maid\nbeing suffered to enter her temple. The married was always held to be\nthe only honourable state for woman, during the times of pagan\nantiquity. The goddess Vacuna,[63] is mentioned by Horace (Lib. 1. Epist.\nX. 49.) as having her temple at Rome; the rustics celebrated her\nfestival in December, after the harvest was got in (Ovid. Fast. Lib.\nXI).\n\nThe ancients assigned the particular parts of the body to particular\ndeities; the head was sacred to Jupiter; the breast to Neptune; the\nwaist to Mars; the forehead to Genius; the eye-brows to Juno, the eyes\nto Cupid; the ears to Memory; the right hand to Fides or Veritas; the\nback to Pluto; the knees to Misericordia or mercy; the legs to Mercury;\nthe feet to Thetis; and the fingers to Minerva.[64]\n\nThe goddess who presided over funerals was Libitina,[65] whose temple at\nRome, the undertakers furnished with all the necessaries for the\ninterment of the poor or rich; all dead bodies were carried through the\nPorto Libitina; and the Rationes Libitinae mentioned by Suetonius, very\nnearly answer to our bills of mortality.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[39] Either from _pilum_, a pestle; or from _pello_, to drive away;\nbecause he procured a safe delivery.\n\n[40] She taught the art of cutting wood with a hatchet to make fires.\n\n[41] The inventress of brooms.\n\n[42] From casting out the birth.\n\n[43] Aulus Gellius.\n\n[44] Aelian.\n\n[45] From _erritor_, to struggle. See Ausonius, Idyll 12.\n\n[46] Some make her the same with Rhea or Vesta.\n\n[47] Among the Romans the midwife always laid the child on the ground,\nand the father or somebody appointed, lifted it up; hence the expression\nof _tollere liberos_, to educate children.\n\n[48] This goddess had a temple at Rome, and her offerings were milk.\n\n[49] On the Kalends of June, sacrifices were offered to Carna, of bacon\nand bean flour cakes; whence they were called Fabariae.\n\n[50] Boys were named always on the ninth day after the birth, and girls\non the eighth.\n\n[51] From Pavorema vertendo.\n\n[52] She had a temple at Home which always stood open.\n\n[53] She had a temple without the walls.\n\n[54] Murcia had her temple on Mount Aventine.\n\n[55] From _abeo_, to go away; and _adeo_, to come.\n\n[56] The festival of this goddess was in September, when the Romans\ndrank new wine mixed with old, by way of physic.\n\n[57] From _vitulo_, to leap or advance.\n\n[58] From _voluptas_, pleasure.\n\n[59] In a great murrain which destroyed their cattle, the Romans invoked\nthis goddess, and she removed the plague.\n\n[60] The image was a head without a body. Horace mentions her (Lib. 1.\nEpist. XVI. 60). She had a temple without the walls, which gave the name\nto the Porta Lavernalis.\n\n[61] The goddess of eloquence, or persuasion, who had always a great\nhand in the success of courtship.\n\n[62] She was also called Cinxia Juno.\n\n[63] She was an old Sabine deity. Some make her the same with Ceres; but\nVarro imagines her to be the goddess of victory.\n\n[64] From this distribution arose, perhaps, the scheme of our modern\nastrologers, who assign the different parts of the body to the different\nconstellations, or signs of Zodiac: as the head to Aries, the neck to\nTaurus, the shoulders to Gemini, the heart to Cancer, the breast to Leo,\nand so on. The pretended issues of astrology have been always\ninseparable from stellar influence, and the zodiac has ever been the\nfruitful source of its solemn delusions.\n\n[65] Some confound this goddess with Proserpine, others with Venus.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n\nJUDICIAL ASTROLOGY--ITS CHEMICAL APPLICATION TO THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE\nAND HEALTH--ALCHYMICAL DELUSIONS.\n\nThe study of astrology, so flattering to human curiosity got into favour\nwith mankind at a very early period,--especially with the weak and\nignorant. The first account, of it we meet with is in Chaldea; and at\nRome it was known by the name of the \"Babylonish calculation,\" against\nwhich Horace very wisely cautioned his readers.[66] It was doubtless the\nfirst method of divination, and probably prepared the mind of man for\nall the various methods since employed of searching into futurity; a\nbrief view therefore of the rise of this pretended science cannot he\nimproper in this place, especially as the history of these absurdities\nis the best method of confuting them. Others have ascribed the invention\nof this deception to the Arabs;--be this as it may, Judicial\nAstrology[67] has been too much used by the priests and physicians of all\nnations to encrease their own power and emolument. They maintain that\nthe heavens are one great book, in which God has written the history of\nthe world; and in which every man may read his own fortune and the\ntransactions of his time. In this department of astrology (judicial) we\nmeet with all the idle conceits about the horary reign of planets, the\n_doctrine of horoscopes, the distribution of the houses, the calculation\nof nativities, fortunes, lucky and unlucky_ hours, and other ominous\nfatalities. They assert that it had its rise from the same hands as\nastronomy itself;--that while the ancient Assyrians, whose serene\nunclouded sky favoured their celestial, observations, were intent on\ntracing the paths and periods of the heavenly bodies, they discovered a\nconstant settled relation or analogy between them and things below;\nhence they were led to conclude these to be the fates or destinies\n(Parcae) so much talked of, which preside at our birth, and dispose of\nour future state.\n\nThe Egyptians, who derived their astrological superstitions from the\nChaldeans, becoming ignorant of the astronomical hieroglyphics, by\ndegrees looked upon the names of the signs as expressing certain powers\nwith which they were invested, and as indications of their several\noffices. The sun, on account of its splendour and enlivening influence,\nwas imagined to be the great mover of nature; the moon held the second\nrank of powers, and each sign and constellation a certain share in the\ngovernment of the world. The ram, (Aries [symbol: Aries]) had a strong\ninfluence over the young of the flocks and herds; the balance, (Libra\n[symbol: Libra]) could inspire nothing but inclinations to good order\nand justice; and the scorpion, (Scorpio [symbol: Scorpio]) to excite\nonly evil dispositions. In short, each sign produced the good or evil\nintimated by its name.\n\nThus, if a child happened to be born at the instant when the first star\nof the ram rose above the horizon, (when, in order to give this nonsense\nthe air of a science, the star was supposed to have its greatest\ninfluence,) he would be rich in cattle; and he who should enter the\nworld under the crab, would meet with nothing but disappointments, and\nall his affairs go backwards and downwards. The people were to be happy\nwhose king entered the world under the sign Libra; but completely\nwretched if he should light under the horrid sign scorpion. Persons born\nunder capricorn ([symbol: Capricorn]) especially if the sun at the same\ntime ascended the horizon, were sure to meet with success, and rise\nupwards like the wild goat and the sun which then ascends for six months\ntogether. The lion, (Leo [symbol: Leo]) was to produce heroes; and the\nvirgin (Virgo [symbol: Virgo]) with her ear of corn to inspire chastity,\nand to unite virtue with abundance. Could anything he more extravagant\nand ridiculous!\n\nThe case was exactly the same with respect to the planets, whose\ninfluence is only founded on the wild supposition of their being the\nhabitations of the pretended deities, whose names they bear, and the\nfabulous characters the poets have given them. Thus, to Saturn, [symbol:\nSaturn], they gave languid and even destructive influences, for no other\nreason but because they had been pleased to make this planet the\nresidence of Saturn, who was painted with grey hairs and a scythe. To\nJupiter [symbol: Jupiter] they gave the power of bestowing crowns and\ndistributing long life, wealth, and grandeur, merely because it bears\nthe name of the father of life. Mars [symbol: Mars] was supposed to\ninspire a strong inclination for war, because it was believed to be the\nresidence of the god of war. Venus [symbol: Venus] had the power of\nrendering men voluptuous and fond of pleasure, because they had been\npleased to give it the name of one who by some was thought to be the\nmother of pleasure. Mercury [symbol: Mercury], though almost always\ninvisible, would never have been thought to superintend the property of\nstates, and the affairs of wit and commerce, had not men, without the\nleast reason, given it the name of one who was supposed to be the\ninventor of civil polity.\n\nAccording to Astrologers, the power of the ascending planet is greatly\nincreased by that of an ascending sign; then the benign influences are\nall united, and fall together on the head of all the happy infants who\nat that moment enter the world; yet can anything be more contrary to\nexperience, which shews us, that the characters and events produced by\npersons born under the same aspect of the stars, are so far from being\nalike, that they are directly opposite.\n\n\"What completes the ridicule,\" says the Abb\u00e9 La Pluche, to whom we are\nobliged for these judicious observations, \"is, that what astronomers\ncall the first degree of the ram, the balance, or of sagitarius, is no\nlonger the first sign, which gives fruitfulness to the flocks, inspires\nmen with a love of justice, or forms the hero. It has been found that\nall the celestial signs have, by degrees, receded from the vernal\nequinox, and drawn back to the East: notwithstanding this, the point of\nthe zodiac that cuts the equator is still called the first degree of the\nram, though the first star of the ram be thirty degrees beyond it, and\nall the other signs in the same proportion. When, therefore, any one is\nsaid to be born under the first degree of the ram, it was in reality one\nof the degrees of pisces that then came above the horizon: and when\nanother is said to be born with a royal soul and heroic disposition,\nbecause at his birth the planet Jupiter ascended the horizon, in\nconjunction with the first star of sagitary, Jupiter was indeed at that\ntime in conjunction with a star thirty degrees eastward of sagitary, and\nin good truth it was the pernicious scorpion that presided at the birth\nof this happy, this incomparable child.\" And so it would, as Shakspeare\nsays, \"if my mother's cat had kittened. This,\" says our sagacious bard,\n\"is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sick in\nfortune, (after the surfeit of our own behaviour) we make guilt of our\ndisasters, the sun, the moon, and the stars; as if we were villains by\nnecessity; fools, by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and\ntreachers, (traitors) by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and\nadulterers, by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all\nthat we are evil in by a divine thrusting on; an admirable evasion of a\nwhoremaster to lay his goatish tricks to the charge of a star! My father\ncompounded with my mother under the dragon's tail; and my nativity was\nunder _Ursa major_; so that it follows I am rough and treacherous.--Tut!\nI should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament\ntwinkled at my bastardizing.\" Thus it is evident, that astrology is\nbuilt upon no principles, that it is founded on fables, and on\ninfluences void of reality. Yet absurd as it is, and even was, it\nobtained credit; and the more it spread, the greater injury was done to\nthe cause of virtue. Instead of the exercise of prudence and wise\nprecautions, it substituted superstitious forms and childish practices;\nit enervated the courage of the brave by apprehensions grounded on puns,\nand encouraged the wicked, by making them lay to the charge of a planet\nthose evils which only proceeded from their own depravity.\n\nBut not content with such absurdities, which destroyed the very idea of\nliberty, they asserted that these stars, which had not the least\nconnection with mankind, governed all the parts of the human body, and\nridiculously affirmed that the ram presided over the head, the bull over\nthe gullet, the twins over the breast, the scorpion over the entrails,\nthe fishes over the feet, etc. The juggles of astrology have been\nadmirably ridiculed by Butler in the following lines:\n\n  Some by the nose with fumes trepan 'em,\n  As Dunstan did the devil's grannam;\n  Others, with characters and words,\n  Catch 'em, as men in nets do birds;\n  And some with symbols, signs, and tricks,\n  Engrav'd in planetary nicks,\n  With their own influence will fetch 'em\n  Down from their orbs, arrest and catch 'em;\n  Make 'em depose and answer to\n  All questions, ere they let them go.\n  Bombastus kept a devil's bird\n  Shut in the pummel of his sword,\n  And taught him all the cunning pranks\n  Of past and future mountebanks.\n    _Hudibras_, part ii. canto 3.\n\nBy means of the zodiac, astrologers pretended to account for the various\ndisorders of the body, which were supposed to be in a good or had\ndisposition, according to the different aspects[68] of these signs. To\nmention only one instance, they pretended that great caution ought to be\nused in taking medicine under Taurus, or the bull; because, as this\nanimal chews his cud, the person would not be able to keep it in his\nstomach.\n\nEach hour of the day had also its presiding star. The number seven, as\nbeing that of the planets, became of mighty consequence. The seven days\nin the week,--a period of time handed down by tradition, happened to\ncorrespond with the number of the planets: and therefore they gave the\nname of a planet to each day; and from thence some days in the week were\nconsidered more fortunate or unlucky than the rest; and hence seven\ntimes seven, called the climacterical period of hours, days, or years,\nwere thought extremely dangerous, and to have a surprising effect on\nprivate persons, the fortunes of princes, and the government of states.\nThus the mind of man became distressed by imaginary evils, and the\napproach of these moments, in themselves as harmless as the rest of\ntheir lives, has by the strength of the imagination, brought on the most\nfatal effects.\n\nNay, the influence of the planets were extended to the bowels of the\nearth, where they were supposed to produce metals. From hence it appears\nthat when superstition and folly are once on foot, there is no setting\nhounds to their progress. Gold, as a matter of course, must be the\nproduction of the sun, and the conformity in point of colour,\nbrightness, and value, was a sensible proof of it. By the same mode of\nreasoning, the moon produced all the silver, to which it was related by\ncolour; Mars, all the iron, which ought to be the favourite metal of the\ngod of war. Venus presided over copper, which she might be well supposed\nto produce, since it was found in abundance in the isle of Cyprus, the\nsupposed favourite residence of this goddess. In the same strain, the\nother planets presided over the other metals. The languid Saturn\ndomineered over the lead mines, and Mercury, on account of his activity,\nhad the superintendency of quicksilver; while it was the province of\nJupiter to preside over tin, as this was the only metal left him, it\nwould appear, a kind of \"Hobson's choice.\"\n\nThis will explain the manner in which the metals obtained the names of\nthe planets; and from this opinion, that each planet engendered its own\npeculiar metal, they at length formed an idea that, as one planet was\nmore powerful than another, the metal produced by the weakest was\nconverted into another by the predominating influence of a stronger orb.\n\nLead, though really a metal, and as perfect in its kind as any of the\nrest, was considered only half a metal, which, in consequence of the\nlanguid influences of old Saturn, was left imperfect; and, therefore,\nunder the auspices of Jupiter, it was converted into tin; under that of\nVenus, into copper: and at last into gold, under some particular aspects\nof the sun. From hence, at length, arose the extravagant opinion of the\nalchymists, who, with amazing sagacity, endeavoured to find out means\nfor hastening these changes or transmutations, which, as they conceived,\nthe planets performed too slowly. The world, however, became at length\nconvinced that the art of the alchymist was as ineffectual as the\ninfluences of the planets, which, in a long succession of ages, had\nnever been known to change a mine of lead to that of tin or any other\nmetal.[69]\n\nThe first author we are acquainted with who talks of making gold by the\ntransmutation of one metal, by means of an alcahest[70] into another, is\nZozimus the Pomopolite, who lived about the commencement of the fifth\ncentury, and who has a treatise express upon it, called, \"The divine art\nof making gold and silver,\" in manuscript, and is, as formerly, in the\nlibrary of the King of France.\n\nAs regards the universal medicine, said to depend on alchemical\nresearch, we discover no earlier or plainer traces than in this author,\nand in Aeneas Gazeus, another Greek writer, towards the close of the\nsame century;[71] nor among the physicians and materialists, from Moses\nto Geber the Arab,[72] who is supposed to have lived in the seventh\ncentury. In that author's work, entitled the \"Philosopher's stone,\"\nmention is made of medicine that cures all leprous diseases. This\npassage, some authors suppose, to have given the first hint of the\nmatter, though Geber himself, perhaps, meant no such thing; for, by\nattending to the Arabic style and diction of this author, which abounds\nin allegory, it is highly probable that by man he means gold, and by\nleprous, or other diseases, the other metals, which, with relation to\ngold, are all impure.\n\nThe origin and antiquity of alchymy have been much controverted. If any\ncredit may be placed on legend and tradition, it must be as old as the\nflood--nay, Adam himself is represented to have been an alchymist. A\ngreat part, not only of the heathen mythology, but of the Jewish\nScriptures, are supposed to refer to it. Thus, Suidas[73] will have the\nfable of the philosopher's stone to be alluded to in the fable of the\nArgonauts; and others find it in the book of Moses, as well as in other\nremote places. But, if the era of the art be examined by the test of\nhistory, it will lose much of its fancied antiquity. The manner in which\nSuidas accounts for the total silence of alchymy among the old writers\nis, that Dioclesian procured all the books of the ancient Egyptians to\nbe burnt; and that it was in these the great mysteries of chemistry were\ncontained.[74] Kercher asserts, that the theory of the philosopher's\nstone is delivered at large in the table of Hermes, and the ancient\nEgyptians were not ignorant of the art, but declined to prosecute it.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[66]\n\n------ nec Babylonios Tentaris numeros.--Lib, 1. ad XI.\n\nThat is, consult not the tables of planetary calculations used by\nastrologers of Babylonish origin.\n\n[67] This conjectural science is divided into natural and judicial. The\nfirst is confined to the study of exploring natural effects, as change\nof weather, winds and storms--hurricanes, thunder, floods, earthquakes,\nand the like. In this sense it is admitted to be a part of natural\nphilosophy. It was under this view that Mr. Good, Mr. Boyle, and Dr.\nMead pleaded for its use. The first endeavours to account for the\ndiversity of seasons from the situations, habitudes, and motions of the\nplanets; and to explain an infinity of phenomena by the contemplation of\nthe stars. The honourable Mr. Boyle admitted, that all physical bodies\nare influenced by the heavenly bodies; and the doctor's opinion, in his\ntreatise concerning the power of the sun and moon, etc. is in favour of\nthe doctrine. But these predictions and influence are ridiculed, and\nentirely exploded by the most esteemed modern philosophers, of which the\nreader may have a learned specimen in Rohault's Tract. Physic. pt. II. c\n27.\n\n[68] By aspect is to be understood an angle formed by the rays of two\nplanets meeting on the earth, able to execute some natural power or\ninfluence.\n\n[69] Those who wish to read a curious monument of the follies of the\nalchymists, may consult the diary of Elias Ashmole, who is rather the\nhistorian of this vain science, than an adept. It may amuse literary\nleisure to turn over his quarto volume, in which he has collected the\nworks of several English alchymists, to which he has subjoined his\ncommentary. It affords curious specimens of Rosicrucian mysteries; and\nhe relates stories, which vie for the miraculous, with the wildest\nfancies of Arabian invention.\n\n[70] Alcahest, in chemistry, (an obsolete term,) means a most pure and\nuniversal menstruum or dissolvent, with which some chemists have\npretended to resolve all bodies into their first elements, and perform\nother extraordinary and unaccountable operations.\n\n[71] In this writer we find the following passage: \"Such as are skilled\nin the ways of nature, can take; silver and tin, and changing their\nnature, can turn them into gold.\" He also tells us that he was \"wont to\ncall himself a _gold-melter_ and a _chemist_.\"\n\n[72] The principal Authors on alchymy are Geber, the Arab, Friar Bacon,\nSully, John and Isaac Hallendus, Basil Valentine, Paracelsus, Van\nZuchter, and Sendirogius.\n\n[73] Corringius calls this statement in question, and asks how Suidas,\nwho lived but five hundred yours between them, should know what happened\neight hundred years before him? To which Borrichius the Dane, answers,\nthat he had learnt it of Eudemus, Helladius, Zozimus, Pamphilius, and\nothers, as Suidas himself relates.\n\n[74] It does not appear that the Egyptians transmuted gold; they had\nways of separating it from all kinds of bodies, from the very mud of the\nNile, and stones of all kinds: but, adds Kercher, these secrets were\nnever written down, or made public, but confined to the royal family,\nand handed down traditionally from father to son.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n\nALCHYMICAL AND ASTROLOGICAL CHIMERA.\n\nHaving so far explained the fragile basis on which human knowledge may\nbe said to have depended, during the obscurity and barbarity of the\nmiddle ages, when the progress of true knowledge was obstructed by the\nmost absurd fancies, and puerile conceits: when conjectures, caprices,\nand dreams supplied the place of the most useful sciences, and of the\nmost important truths, the subsequent illustrative reflections may serve\nas a guide to direct the attention of the reader to other delusions,\nwhich arose out of the general chaos.\n\nChemistry, a science so essentially requisite to explain the phenomena\nof known and unknown substances, was studied chiefly by jugglers and\nfanatics;--their systems, replete with metaphysical nonsense, and\ncomposed of the most crude and heterogeneous materials, served rather to\nnourish superstition than to establish facts, and illustrate useful\ntruths. Universal remedies, in various forms, met with strenuous\nadvocates and deluded consumers. The path of accurate observation and\nexperiment was forsaken: instead of penetrating into the mysterious\nrecesses of nature, they bewildered themselves in the labyrinth of\nfanciful speculation; they overstepped the bounds of good sense,\nmodesty, and truth; and the blind led the blind. The prolongation of\nlife too was no longer sought for in a manner agreeable to the dictates\nof nature; even this interesting branch of human pursuits was rendered\nsubservient to chemistry, or rather to the confused system of alchymy.\nOriginal matter was considered as the elementary cause of all beings, by\nwhich they expected literally to work miracles, to transmute the base\ninto noble metals, to metamorphose man in his animal state by chemical\nprocesses, to render him more durable, and to secure him against early\ndecline and dissolution. Millions of vessels, retorts, and phials, were\neither exposed to the action of the most violent artificial heat, or to\nthe natural warmth of the sun; or else they were buried in some dunghill\nor other fetid mass, for the purpose of attracting this _original\nmatter_, or obtaining it from putrescible substances.\n\nAs the metal called gold always bore the highest value, these crude\nphilosophers concluded, from a ridiculous analogy, that its value with\nrespect to the preservation of health and the cure of diseases, must\nlikewise surpass that of all other remedies. The nugatory art of\ndissolving it, so as to render it potable, and to prevent it from again\nbeing converted into metal, employed a multitude of busy idiots, not\nonly in concealed corners, but in the splendid laboratories of the\ngreat. Sovereigns, magistrates, counsellors, and impostors, struck with\nthe common frenzy, entered into friendship and alliance, formed private\nfraternities, and sometimes proceeded to such a pitch of extravagance,\nas to involve themselves and their posterity in ruinous debts. The real\nobject of many was, doubtless, to gratify their avarice and desire of\naggrandisement: although this sinister motive was concealed under the\nspecious pretext of searching for a remedy that should serve as a\ntincture of life, both for the healthy and diseased, yet some among\nthese whimsical mortals were actuated by more honourable motives,\nzealous only for the interest of truth, and the well-being of their\nfellow creatures.\n\nThe common people, in some countries, particularly Italy, Germany, and\nFrance often denied themselves the common necessaries of life, to save\nas much as would purchase a few drops of the tincture of gold, which was\noffered for sale by some superstitious or fraudulent chemist: and so\nthoroughly persuaded were they of the efficacy of this remedy, that it\nafforded them in every instance the most confident and only hope of\nrecovery. These beneficial effects were positively promised, but were\nlooked for in vain. All subduing death would not submit to be bribed\nwith gold, and disease refused to hold any intercourse with that\npowerful deity, who presides over the industry and commerce of all\nnations.\n\nAs, however, these diversified and almost numberless experiments were\nfrequently productive of useful inventions in arts and manufactures;\nand, as many chemical remedies of real value were thereby accidentally\ndiscovered, great and almost general attention to those bold projectors\nwas constantly kept alive and excited. Indeed, we are indebted to their\ncurious observations, or rather perhaps to chance, for several valuable\nmedicines, the excellence of which cannot be disputed, but which,\nnevertheless, require more precaution in their use and application, and\nmore perspicuity and diligence in investigating their nature and\nproperties than the original preparers of such articles were able or\nwilling to afford. All their endeavours to prolong life, by artificial\nmeans, could not be attended with beneficial effects; and the\napplication of the remedies thus contrived, must necessarily, in many\ncases, have proved detrimental to the health of the patient.\n\nIn proof of this assertion, it will be sufficient to give a slight\nsketch of the different views and opinions of the gold-makers,\nRosicrucians, manufacturers of astralian salts, drops of life, and\ntinctures of gold, hunters after the philosopher's stone, and other\nequally absurd chimera.\n\nSome of these extravagant enthusiasts fancied that life resembled a\nflame, from which the body derived warmth, spirit, and animation. They\nendeavoured to cherish and increase the flame, and supplied the body\nwith materials to feed it, as we pour oil into a burning lamp. Others\nimagined they had discovered something invisible and incorporeal in the\nair, that important medium which supports the life of man. They\npretended to catch, refine, reduce, and materialize this indefinable\nsomething, so that it might be swallowed in the form of powders, and\ndrops; that, by its penetrating powers, it might insinuate itself into\nthe whole animal frame, invigorate, and consequently qualify it for a\nlonger duration.\n\nOthers again were foolish enough to indulge a notion that they could\ndivest themselves of the properties of matter during this life; that in\nthis manner they might be defended against the gradual approaches of\ndissolution, to which every animal body is subject: and that thus\nfortified, without quitting their terrestrial tabernacle, they could\nassociate at pleasure with the inhabitants of the spiritual world. The\nsacred volume itself was interpreted and commented upon by alchymists,\nwith a view to render it subservient to their intended designs.\nIndisputable historical facts, recorded in this invaluable book, were\ntreated by them as hieroglyphical symbols of chemical processes: and the\nfundamental truths of the christian religion were applied, in a wanton\nand blasphemous manner, to the purposes of making gold, and distilling\nthe elixir of life.\n\nThe world of spirits was also invaded, and summoned, as it were, to\ncontribute to the prolongation of human life. Spirits were supposed to\nhave the dominion of air, fire, earth, and water; they were divided into\ndistinct classes, and particular services ascribed to each. The\nmalevolent spirits were opposed and counteracted by various means of\nprevention: the good and tutelary were obliged to submit to n sort of\ngentle, involuntary servitude. From invisible beings were expected and\ndemanded visible means of assistance--riches, health, friends, and long\nlife. Thus the poor spirits were profanely maltreated, nay, sometimes\nseverely punished, and even miserably flogged in effigy, when they\nbetrayed symptoms of disaffection, or want of implicit fealty.\n\nAs men had thus, in their weakness and folly, forsaken the bounds of\nthis terrestrial sphere, it will easily be believed, that, with the help\nof an exuberant imagination, they would make a transition to the higher\nregions--to the celestial bodies and the stars to which, indeed, they\nascribed no less a power than that of deciding the destinies of men, and\nwhich, consequently, must have had a considerable share in shortening or\nprolonging the duration of human life--every nation or kingdom was\nsubjected to the dominion of its particular planet the time of whose\ngovernment was determined; and a number of ascendant powers were\nfictitiously contrived, with a view to reduce, under its influence,\nevery thing which was produced and born under its administration. The\nprofessors of astrology appeared as the confidents of these invisible\nrulers, and the interpreters of their will; they were well versed in the\nart of giving a respectable appearance to this usurped dignity. Provided\nthey could but ascertain the hour and minute of a person's birth, they\nconfidently took upon themselves to predict his mental capacities,\nfuture vicissitudes of life, and the diseases he would be visited with,\ntogether with the circumstances, the day and hour of his death.[75]\n\nNot only the common people, but persons of the highest rank and\nstations, nay, even men the most distinguished for their rank and\nabilities, did homage to those \"gods of their idolatry,\" and lived in\ncontinual dread of their occult powers. With anxious countenance and\nattentive ears, they listened to the cantrip effusions of these\npretended oracles, which prognosticated the bright or gloomy days of\nfuturity. Even physicians were solicitous to qualify themselves for\nappointments no less lucrative than respectable:--they forgot, over the\ndazzling hoards of Mammon, that they are peculiarly and professedly the\npupils of nature.--The curious student in the universities found\neverywhere public lecturers, who undertook to instruct him in the\nprofound arts of divination, chiromancy, and the _cabala_.\n\nAmong other instances, the following anecdote is related of the noted\nThurneisen, who, in the seventeenth century, was invested, at Berlin,\nwith the respectable offices of printer to the court, bookseller,\nalmanack-maker, astrologer, chemist, and first physician. Messengers\ndaily arrived from the most respectable houses in Germany, Poland,\nHungary, Denmark, and even from England, for the purpose of consulting\nhim respecting the future fortunes[76] of their new-born infants,\nacquainting him with the hour of the nativity, and soliciting his advice\nand directions as to their management. Many volumes of this singular\ncorrespondence are still preserved in the royal library at Berlin. The\nbusiness of this fortunate adept increased so rapidly, that he found it\nnecessary to employ a number of subaltern assistants, who, together with\ntheir master, realized considerable fortunes. He died in high reputation\nand favour with his superstitious contemporaries.\n\nThe famous Melancthon was a believer in judicial astrology, and an\ninterpreter of dreams. Richelieu and Mazarin were so superstitious as to\nemploy and pension Morin, another pretender to astrology, who cast the\nnativities of these two able politicians. Nor was Tacitus himself, who\ngenerally appears superior to superstition, untainted with this folly,\nas may be seen from his twenty-second chapter of the sixth book of his\nAnnals.\n\nIn the time of the civil wars, astrology was in high repute. The\nroyalists and the rebels had their astrologers as well as their\nsoldiers; and the predictions of the former had a great influence over\nthe latter. When Charles the first was imprisoned, Lilly, the famous\nastrologer, was consulted for the hour that should favour his escape;\nand in Burnet's History of his own Times, there is a story which\nstrongly proves how much Charles II was bigotted to judicial astrology,\na man, though a king, whose mind was by no means unenlightened. The most\nrespectable characters of the age, Sir William Dugdale, Elias\nAshmole,[77] Dr. Grew, and others, were members of the astrological club.\nCongreve's character of Foresight, in Love for Love, was then no\nuncommon person, though the humour, now, is scarcely intelligible.\nDryden cast the nativities of his sons; and what is remarkable, his\nprediction relating to his son Charles, was accomplished. The incident\nbeing of so late a date, one might hope that it would have been cleared\nup; but, if it be a fact, it must be allowed that it forms a rational\nexultation for its irrational adepts. Astrologers were frequently, as\nmay easily be understood, put to their wit's end when their predictions\ndid not come to pass. Great winds were foretold, by one of the craft,\nabout the year 1586. No unusual storms, however, happened. Bodin, to\nsave the reputation of the art, applied it as a figure to some\nrevolutions in the state, of which there were instances enough at that\ntime.\n\nAt the commencement of the 18th century, the _Illuminati_, a sect of\nastrologers, had excited considerable sensation on the continent.\nBlending philosophy with enthusiasm, and uniting to a knowledge of every\nchemical process a profound acquaintance with astronomy, their influence\nover the superstitious feelings of the people was prodigious; and in\nmany instances the infatuation was attended with fatal consequences. We\nshall relate the following, as nearer home than many now before us.\n\n\nTHE HOROSCOPE, A TALE OF THE STARS.\n\nOn the summit of St. Vincent's rocks, in the neighbourhood of Clifton,\nlooking on the Avon, as it rolls its lazy courses towards the Bristol\nChannel, stands an edifice, known by the name of \"Cooke's Folly.\" It\nconsists of a single round tower, and appears at a distance rather as\nthe remnant of some extensive building, than a complete and perfect\nedifice, as it now exists. It was built more than two centuries ago, by\na man named Maurice Cooke; not, indeed, as a strong hold from the arms\nof a mortal enemy, but as a refuge from the evils of destiny. He was the\nproprietor of extensive estates in the neighbourhood; and while his lady\nwas pregnant with her first child, as she was one evening walking in\ntheir domains, she encountered a strange looking gipsey, who, pestering\nher for alms, received but a small sum. The man turned over the coin in\nhis hand, and implored a larger gift. \"That,\" said the lady, \"will buy\nyou food for the present.\"\n\n\"Lady,\" said the gipsey, \"it is not food for the wretched body that I\nrequire; the herbs of the field, and the waters of the ditch, are good\nenough for that. I asked your alms for higher purposes. Do not distrust\nme, if my bearing be prouder than my garments; do not doubt the strength\nof my sunken eye, when I tell you that I can read the skies as they\nrelate to the fate of men. Not more familiar is his hornbook to the\nscholar, than are the heavens to my knowledge.\"\n\n\"What, thou art an astrologer?\"--\"Aye, lady! my fathers were so before\nme, even in the times when our people had a home amidst the pyramids of\nthe mighty--in the times when you are told the mightier prophets of the\nIsraelites put the soothsayers of Egypt to confusion; idle tales! but if\ntrue, all reckless now. Judah's scattered sons are now desolate as\nourselves; but they bend and bow to the laws and ways of other land--we\nremain in the stern stedfastness of our own.\"\n\n\"If then,\" returned the lady, \"I give thee more money, how will it be\napplied?\"\n\n\"That is not a courteous question, but I will answer it. The most\ncunning craftsman cannot work without his tools, and some of mine are\nbroken, which I seek to repair: another crown will be enough.\"\n\nThe lady put the required sum into his hand, and at the same time\nintimated a desire to have a specimen of his art.\n\n\"Oh! to what purpose should that be? why, why seek to know the course\nof futurity? destiny runs on in a sweeping and resistless tide. Enquire\nnot what rocks await your bark: the knowledge cannot avail you, for\ncaution is useless against stern necessity.\"--\"Truly, you are not likely\nto get rich by your trade, if you thus deter customers.\"--\"It is not for\nwealth I labour: I am alone on the earth, and have none to love. I will\nnot mix with the world lest I should learn to hate. This present is\nnothing to me. It is in communion with the spirits who have lived in the\ntimes that are past, and with the stars--those historians of the times\nto come--that I feel aught of joy. Fools sometimes demand the exertions\nof my powers, and sometimes I gratify their childish curiosity.\"\n--\"Notwithstanding I lie under the imputation of folly, I\nwill beg that you predict unto me the fate of the child which I shall\nbear.\"--\"Well, you have obliged me, and I will comply. Note the precious\nmoment at which it enters the world, and soon after you shall see me\nagain.\"\n\nWithin a week the birth of an heir awoke the clamorous joy of the\nvassals, and summoned the strange gipsey to ascertain the necessary\npoints. These learned, he returned home; and the next day presented Sir\nMaurice with a scroll, containing the following lines:\n\n \"Twenty times shall Avon's tide\n  In chains of glistening ice be tied--\n  Twenty times the woods of Leigh\n  Shall wave their brunches merril\n  In spring burst forth in mantle gay,\n  And dance in summer's scorching ray:\n  Twenty times shall autumn's frown,\n  Wither all their green to brown--\n  And still the child of yesterday\n  Shall laugh the happy hour away.\n  That period past, another sun\n  Shall not his annual journey run,\n  Before a secret silent foe,\n  Shall strike that boy a deadly blow.\n  Such, and sure his fate shall be:\n  Seek not to change his destiny.\"\n\nThe knight read it; and in that age, when astrology was considered a\nscience as unerring as holy prophecies, it would have been little less\nthan infidelity to have doubted the truth of the prediction. Sir\nMaurice, however, was wise enough to withhold the paper from his lady;\nand in answer to her inquiries, continually asserted that the gipsey was\nan impostor, and that the object of his assuming the character was\nmerely to increase her alms.\n\nThe fated child grew in health and beauty; and as we are the most\nusually the more strongly attached to pleasures in proportion to the\nbrevity of continuance, so did the melancholy fate of his son more\nfirmly fix him in the heart of Sir Maurice. Often did the wondering lady\nobserve the countenance of her husband with surprise, as watching the\nendearing sportiveness of the boy, his countenance, at first brightened\nby the smile of paternal love, gradually darkened to deepest grief, till\nunable to suppress his tears, he would cover the child with caresses,\nand rush from the room. To all inquiries, Sir Maurice was silent, or\nreturned evasive answers.\n\nWe shall pass over the infancy of young Walter, and resume the narrative\nat the period in which he entered into his twentieth year. His mother\nwas now dead, and had left two other children, both girls, who, however,\nshared little of their father's love, which was almost exclusively fixed\non Walter, and appeared to encrease in strength as the fatal time grew\nnear.\n\nIt is not to be supposed that he took no precaution against the\npredicted event. Sometimes hope suggested that a mistake might have been\nmade in the horoscope, or that the astrologer might have overlooked some\nsign which made the circumstance conditional; and in unison with the\nlatter idea he determined to erect a strong building, where, during the\nyear in which his doom was to be consumated, Walter might remain in\nsolitude. He accordingly gave directions for raising a single tower,\npeculiarly formed to prevent ingress, except by permission of its\ninhabitants. The purpose of this strange building, however, he kept\nsecret; and his neighbours, after numerous vain conjectures, gave it the\nname of \"Cooke's Folly.\"\n\nWalter, himself, was kept entirely ignorant of the subject, and all his\ninquiries were answered with tears. At length the tower was completed,\nand furnished with all things necessary for comfort and convenience; and\non the eve of Walter's completing his twentieth year, Sir Maurice shewed\nhim the gipsey's scroll, and begged him to make use of the retreat\nprepared for him till the year expired. Walter at first treated the\nmatter lightly, laughed at the prophecy, and declared he would not lose\na year's liberty if all the astrologers in the world were to croak their\nridiculous prophecies against him. Seeing, however, his father so\nearnestly bent on the matter, his resolution began to give way, and at\nlength he consented to the arrangement. At six the following morning,\ntherefore, Walter entered the tower, which he fastened within as\nstrongly as iron burs would admit, and which was secured outside in a\nmanner equally firm. He took possession of his voluntary prison with\nmelancholy feelings, rather occasioned by the loss of present pleasure,\nthan the fear of future pain. He sighed as he looked upon the wide\ndomain before him, and thought how sad would it be to hear the joyous\nhorn summoning his companions to the chase, and find himself prevented\nfrom attending it--to hear the winter wind howling round his tower, and\nrushing between the rocks beneath him, and miss the cheerful song and\nmerry jest, which were wont to make even the blast a pleasant sound.\nCertainly his time passed as pleasantly as circumstances permitted. He\ndrew up in a basket, at his meal hours, every luxury which the season\nproduced. His father and sisters daily conversed with him from below,\nfor a considerable time; and the morris-dancers often raised his\nlaughter by their grotesque movements.\n\nWeeks and months thus passed, and Walter still was well and cheerful.\nHis own and his sisters' hopes grew more lively, but the anxiety of Sir\nMaurice increased. The day drew near which was to restore his son to his\narms in confident security, or to fulfil the prediction which left him\nwithout an heir to his name and honours.\n\nOn the preceding afternoon Walter continually endeavoured to cheer his\nparent, by speaking of what he would do on the morrow; desired his\nsisters to send round to all their friends, that he might stretch his\nlimbs once more in the merry dance; and continued to talk of the future\nwith much confidence, that even Sir Maurice caught a spark of hope from\nthe fiery spirits of the youth.\n\nAs the night drew on, and his sisters were about to leave him, promising\nto wake him at six by a song, in answer to their usual inquiry if he\nwanted anything more that night, \"Nothing,\" said he, \"and yet the night\nfeels chilly, and I have little fuel left--send me one more faggot.\"\nThis was sent him, and as he drew it up, \"This,\" said he, \"is the last\ntime I shall have to dip for my wants, like an old woman for water:\nthank God! for it is wearisome work to the arm.\"\n\nSir Maurice still lingered under the window in conversation with his\nson, who at length complained of being cold and drowsy. \"Mark,\" said he,\nas he closed the window, \"mark father, Mars, the star of my fate, looks\nsmilingly to-night, all will be well.\" Sir Maurice looked up--a dark\ncloud spot suddenly crossed the planet, and he shuddered at the omen.\nThe anxious father could not leave the spot. Sleep he knew it was vain\nto court, and he therefore determined to remain where he was. The\nreflexions that occupied his mind continually varied: at one time he\npainted to himself the proud career of his high spirited boy, known and\nadmired among the mighty of his time; a moment after he saw the\nprediction verified, and the child of his love lying in the tomb. Who\ncan conceive his feelings as hour dragged after hour, while he walked to\nand fro, watching the blaze of the fire in the tower, as it brightened\nand sunk again--now pacing the court with hasty steps, and now praying\nfervently for the preservation of his son? The hour came. The cathedral\nbell struck heavy on the father's heart, which was not to be lightened\nby the cheerful voices of his daughters, who came running full of hope\nto the foot of the tower. They looked up, but Walter was not\nthere;--they called his name, he answered not. \"Nay,\" said the youngest,\n\"this is only a jest; he thinks to frighten us, but I know he is safe.\"\nA servant had brought a ladder, which he ascended, and he looked in at\nthe window. Sir Maurice stood immoveable and silent.--He looked up, and\nthe man answered the anxious expression of his eyes. \"He is asleep,\"\nsaid he. \"He is dead!\" murmured the father.\n\nThe servant broke a pane of glass in the window, and opening the\ncasement, entered the room. The father, changing his gloomy stedfastness\nfor frenzied anxiety, rushed up the ladder. The servant had thrown aside\nthe curtains and the clothes, and displayed to the eyes of Sir Maurice,\nhis son lying dead, a serpent twined round his arm, and his throat\ncovered with blood. The reptile had crept up the faggot last sent him,\nand fulfilled the _prophecy_.\n\nTo this happy effort of the imagination in favour of prying into\nfuturity, may be added, with the same intention.\n\n\nTHE FATED PARRICIDE; AN ORIENTAL TALE OF THE STARS.\n\nIbrahim was universally celebrated for his riches and magnificence. His\narmies were formidable, his victories splendid, and his treasury\ninexhaustible. He enjoyed, moreover, what was ten thousand times more\nsolid and more valuable than riches--the love and veneration of his\nsubjects; and he had a beautiful young wife, in whose endearing\ntenderness alone he could find happiness--if happiness could be found on\nearth. All these advantages entitled Ibrahim to the appellation of the\nSolomon of his age; and yet Ibrahim was not happy. A son was wanting to\ncrown his felicity. In vain did a heart formed for all the charities of\nthe wedded state, endeavour to supply the refusal of nature, by the\nadoption of a son; in vain did gratitude endeavour to deceive his heart,\nby caresses which any other would have thought to be the natural\neffusions of filial sensibility, of filial piety and affection; that\nheart incessantly perceived a solitude within itself. Even the\nconsolatory visions of hope began to grow less frequent, when heaven at\nlast heard his prayers, Alas! in the very instant that Fortune gratifies\nour fondest wishes, she often betrays us; and her smiles are a thousand\ntimes more fatal than her frowns. The birth of the prince was\ncelebrated throughout the empire by the customary public demonstrations\nof joy. The felicity of Ibrahim was complete. He was perpetually\nrevolving in his mind the sentiments and hopes which the nation would\nform of the royal infant. Scarce was he born, when paternal solicitude\nembraced, as it were, his whole life. Impatient to know his destiny,\nthat solicitude plunged into futurity, determined, if possible, to wrest\nfrom time, the secrets of which he was the hoary-headed guardian.\n\nIn Ibrahim's dominions were some sages particularly honoured with the\nconfidence of heaven. He commanded them to consult the stars, and to\nreport their answer. \"Tremble,\" said the sages; \"thou unfortunate\nfather, tremble! Never before have the skies presented such inauspicious\nomens. Let him fly; let this son, too dear to you, fly; let him avoid,\nif possible, the meeting with any savage beasts. His seventh year is the\nfatal one; and if he should happen then, to escape the misfortune that\nhangs over him, ah! do not wish him to live. His father, his very\nfather, will not be able to escape from the hand of a parricide.\"\n\nThis answer threw the sultan into the deepest consternation. He did not\nsink, however, into absolute despondency; his courage soon revived. He\ndetermined to take all the precautions which paternal tenderness could\nsuggest, to defeat the prediction of the astrologers. He, therefore,\ncaused a kind of subterranean palace to be made on the summit of a lofty\nmountain. The labour and expense of the excavation was prodigious.\nExtensive walks were formed, with a variety of apartments, in which\nevery thing was provided that could contribute to the conveniences, and\neven the luxuries of life. In this magnificent cavern, Ibrahim, as it\nwere, inhumed his son, together with his governess, of whose care, and\nfidelity he had no doubt. Provisions were constantly carried thither at\nstated periods. The king forgot not a single day to visit the mountain\nthat contained his beloved treasure, and to be satisfied of his safety\nwith his own eyes. With what delight did he behold the growing beauties\nof his son! With what pleasure and rapture did he listen to his\nsprightly saillies of wit, his smart repartees, and those pretty\n_nothings_ which a father, in particular, is fond to recollect and to\nrepeat; at which the most rigid gravity may smile, and which are worth\nall the understanding of riper years. He was perpetually counting the\nhours and minutes that he had to spend with his son; and he incessantly\nreproached himself, for not seeing him more frequently.\n\nShah Abbas, for such was his name, at length reached his seventh year,\nthat fatal year, which Ibrahim would fain have delayed, even at the\nexpense of his crown. He would never leave his son a minute. But, alas!\nis it possible to escape our destiny? Summoned one day to his palace by\naffairs of the most pressing exigency, he left the mountain with extreme\nreluctance. Never had Shah Abbas appeared wore amiable in his father's\neyes, never had Ibrahim appeared more affectionate to his son! Each was\ntormented by an uneasy sensation, an unaccountable presentiment that\nthey were to meet there no more!\n\nSome robbers were hunting wild beasts: the ardour of the pursuit brought\nthem to this mountain. A lion that fled from them, perceived the\nsubterraneous passage, and took refuge in it. The robbers, who durst not\nfollow him, waited, however, for the sequel of this adventure. On a\nsudden, they heard a violent scream, and presently all was silent. This\nsilence suggested to them, that the cavern now contained, not a living\ncreature, but the lion. They threw down a quantity of stones, which soon\nput an end to the existence of the formidable animal. They then\ndescended into the cavern, securing themselves from all further danger\nfrom the lion by cutting off his head. Wandering through every part of\nthis subterraneous palace, they were astonished at the prodigious riches\nwhich they beheld. They perceived a slaughtered woman: this was the\nprince's governess. By her side lay a child covered with blood, who\nshewed, however, some signs of life. They examined his wounds: they\nfound not one of them dangerous. The captain of these banditti, after\nstripping the cavern of its valuable contents, dressed the young\nprince's wounds himself, and effected a cure. The growing qualities of\nShah Abbas endeared him to the chief, who adopted him as his son, and\ndistinguished him as such by all the tenderness of a paternal heart.\n\nSome years had elapsed since Ibrahim had first deplored the loss of a\nson, who, having been constantly ignorant of the name and titles of his\nfather, had been unable to explain his origin to the robbers, was soon\nto become their chief. Such were the unaccountable caprices of fortune,\nwhich led to the completion of the prophecy, that had destined him to\nbecome one day a parricide. Ibrahim was wont to divert his grief by the\npleasures of the chase; and this exercise soon became almost his only\noccupation. One evening that he had strayed, with a very slender escort,\ninto the defiles of a very solitary mountain, a troop of robbers rushed\nupon him. The combat for sometime was furious. An arrow pierced the\nking; it excited the spirit of vengeance in his attendants, and they\nfought, determined to conquer or die. They were soon victorious. The\nmurderer was taken, and conducted to the metropolis, that he might\nundergo the punishment due to his crime.\n\nIbrahim, on the bed of death, summoned the astrologers to attend him,\nand thus addressed them: \"I was to have perished, you told me, by the\nhand of a son; but it is the hand of a robber that has inflicted the\nblow.\"--\"Sire,\" answered the sages, \"forbear to seek an explanation. The\nrobber\"... They proceed no further. The young robber appears, and\nrelates his history. Ibrahim, while he bowed in submission to God, and\nadored His inscrutable decrees, blessed Him also for having restored his\nson; and the tears which he saw flow from the eyes of Shah Abbas, were a\nconsolation in his dying moments.\n\n\nAPPLICATION OF ASTROLOGY TO THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE, &C.\n\nAstrology was also made subservient to the means of prolonging human\nlife; but how an art which determines the fate of mortals, and\nascertains the impassable limits of the grave, could consistently be\nmade subservient to such a purpose, we are rather at a loss to conceive,\nunless accounted for as follows. The teachers of divination maintained,\nthat not only men, but all natural bodies, plants, animals, nay even\nwhole countries, including every place and family, were under the\ngovernment of some particular planet. As soon as the masters of the\noccult science had discovered by their tables, under what constellation\nthe misfortune or distemper of any person originated, nothing farther\nwas required, than that he should remove to a dwelling ruled by an\nopposite planet, and confine himself exclusively to such articles of\nfood and drink as were under the influence of a different star. In this\nartificial manner they contrived to form a system, or peculiar\nclassification of planets, namely, Lunar, Solar, Mercurial and the\nlike--and hence arose a confused map of dictated rules, which, when\nconsidered with reference to the purposes of health, cleanliness,\nexercise etc. form remarkable contrasts to those of the Greeks. But this\npreventive and repulsive method was not merely confined to persons who\nsuffered under some bodily disorder: even individuals, who enjoyed a\ngood state of health, if an unlucky constellation happened to forebode\na severe disease, or any other misfortune, were directed to choose a\nplace of residence influenced by a more friendly star--or to adopt such\naliment only, as being under the auspices of a propitious star, might\ncounteract the malignant influence of its antagonist.\n\nIt was also pretty generally believed and maintained, that a sort of\nintimate relation or sympathy subsisted between metals and plants: hence\nthe names of the latter were given to the former, in order to denote\nthis supposed connexion and affinity. The corresponding metals were\nmelted into a common mass, under a certain planet, and were formed into\nsmall medals, or coins, with the firm persuasion, that he who carried\nsuch a piece about his person, might confidently expect the whole favour\nand protection of the planet, thus represented.[78] Thus we perceive how\neasy the transition is from one degree of folly to another; and this may\nhelp to account for the shocking delusions practised in the\nmanufacturing and wearing of metallic amulets of a peculiar mould, to\nwhich were attributed, by a sort of magic influence, the power and\nprotection of the respective planet: these charms were thought to\npossess virtue sufficient to overrule the bad effects presaged by an\nunlucky hour of birth, to promote to places of honour and profit, and to\nbe of potent efficacy in matters of commerce and matrimony. The German\nsoldiers, in the dark and superstitious ages, believed that if the\nfigure of Mars, cast and engraved under the sign of the Scorpion, were\nworn about the neck, it would render them invulnerable, and insure\nsuccess to their military enterprises--hence the reason why amulets were\nthen found upon every soldier, either killed in battle or taken\nprisoner.\n\nWe shall so far conclude these observations on the chimera of astrology\nand medicine with the following remarks in the words of Chamber against\nKnight's work,[79] which defends this fanciful science, if science it may\nbe called. \"It demonstrates nothing while it defends every thing. It\nconfutes, according to Knight's own ideas: it alleges a few scattered\nfacts in favour of astrological productions, which may be picked up in\nthat immensity of fabling which disgraces history. He strenuously\ndenies, or ridicules, what the greatest writers have said of this\nfanciful art, while he lays great stress on some passages from obscure\nauthors, or what is worse, from authors of no authority.\"--The most\npleasant part, however, is at the close where he defends the art from\nthe objections of Mr. Chamber by recrimination. Chamber had enriched\nhimself by medical practice, and when he charges the astrologers by\nmerely aiming to gain a few beggarly pence, Sir Christopher catches\nfire, and shews by his quotations, that if we are to despise an art by\nits professors attempting to subsist, or for the objections which may be\nraised against its vital principles, we ought by this argument most\nheartily to despise the medical science, and medical men; he gives all\nhere he can collect against physic and physicians, and from the\nconfessions of Galen and Hippocrates, Avicenna and Agrippa, medicine is\nmade to appear a vainer science than even astrology itself.\n\nLilly's opinions, and his pretended science, were such favourites of\nthe age, that the learned Gataker[80] wrote professedly against this\npopular delusion. At the head of his star-expounding friends, Lilly not\nonly formally replied to, but persecuted Gataker annually in his\npredictions, and even struck at his ghost, when beyond the grave.\nGataker died in July 1654, and Lilly, having written in his almanack for\nthat year, for the month of August, the following barbarous latin line--\n\n    Hoc in tumbo, jacet presbyter et nebulo!\n  Here in this tomb lies a presbyter and a knave,\n\nhad the impudence to assert, that he had predicted Gataker's death! But\nthe truth is, it was an empty epitaph to the \"Lodgings to let:\" it stood\nempty, reader, for the first passenger that the immortal ferryman should\ncarry over the Styx.\n\nBut hear that arch imposter Old Patridge of more modern date whose\n_gulleries_ appear to have no end. \"The practice of astrology is divided\ninto speculative and theoretical.\" (Astronomy and judicial astrology).\nThe first teaches us how to know the stars and planets, and to find\ntheir places and motions. The second directs us to the knowledge of the\ninfluence and operations of the stars and planets upon sublunary bodies,\nand without this last the former is of little use. Astronomy cannot\ndirect and inform us of the secret influences and operations of the\nstars and planets, without the assistance of' the _most sublime_ art of\nastrology. For astronomy is conversant about the subject of this art,\nand doth furnish the astrologer with matter whereon to exercise his\njudgment, but astrology disposes this matter into predictions, or\nrational conjectures, as time and occasion require.\n\n\"The practice again is subdivided into two parts, or quadripartite, as\nPtolomy (lib. 2) declares: the first considers the general state of the\nworld, and from eclipses and comets, great conjunctions, annual\nrevolutions, quarterly ingressions and lunations, also the rising,\nculminating, and setting of the fixed stars, together with the\nconfigurations of the planets both to the sun and among themselves,\njudgment is deduced, and the astrologer doth frame his annual\npredictions of all sensitive and vegetative things lying in the air,\nearth, or water; of plague, plenty, dearth, mutations of the air, wars,\npeace, and other general accidents of countries, provinces, cities, etc.\n\n\"The second of these subdivided parts, in particular, respects only the\nprivate state of every single man and woman, which must be performed\nfrom the scheme of the nativity, the knowledge of which is of most\nexcellent use to all persons. Therefore let the nativities of children\nbe diligently observed for the future, that is to say, the day, hour,\nand minute of birth as near as can be, which will be of use to the\nastrological physician, for the most principal conjecture of the\nmalignity of the disease, whether it be curable, or shall end with\ndeath, depends upon the knowledge of the nativity; and very rarely any\ndisease invades a person, but some unfortunate direction of the\nluminaries or ascendant to the body, or beams of malignant planets\npreceded the same, or did then operate, or at least some evil\nrevolution, profection or transit, which cannot be discovered by any\nother way but by astrology. Moreover, it would be convenient that the\ntrue time of the first falling sick be observed precisely, and by that,\ntogether with the nativity, be judiciously compared, the physician shall\ngain more credit than by all his other skill; and herein, the\nastrologer's foresight shall often contradict the judgment of the\nphysician; for when the astrologer foretells a phlegmatic man, that at\nsuch a time he shall be afflicted with a choleric disease, the doctor\nwill perceive by his physical symptoms, the astrologer, from his\nknowledge in more secret causes of nature, hath excelled him in his art.\n\n\"Now if God Almighty do not countermand or check the ordinary course of\nnature, or the matter of elementary bodies here below be not\nunproportionable, and thereby unapt to receive their impressions, there\nis no reason why, in a natural and physical necessity, astrological\npredictions should not succeed and take effect, and by how much the\nknowledge which we have by the known causes is more demonstrative and\ninfallible than that which we have either by signs or effects, so much\nby this companion doth Astrology appear worthy to be preferred before\nPhysic.\" Cardan, who was an excellent physician saith: \"If by the art of\nAstrology he had not better attained to the knowledge of his diseases,\nthan the physician that would have administered to him by his skill, he\nhad been assuredly cured by death, rather than preserved alive by\nphysic. (Vide his Comment. upon Ptol. Quidrepart.) From hence it appears\nit is necessary that the physician should be skilful in astrology, but\non the contrary, _ex quovis legno non fit Mercurius_, every astrologer\ncannot be a physician; if the nativity be but precisely known, or if,\nbut _tempus ablatum_ or _suppositum_, and withal some notable accidents\nof sickness, danger of drowning, peril by fire, marriage, or other, the\nlike accidents may be foreseen.\"\n\nThe astrologers were a set of cunning, equivocal rogues; the more\ncautious of whom only uttered their prognostications in obscure and\nambiguous language, which might be applied to all things, times,\nprinces, and nations whatever. An almanack maker, a Spanish friar,\npredicted, in clear and precise words, the death of Henry the Fourth of\nFrance; and Pierese, though he had no faith in star-gazing, yet, alarmed\nat whatever menaced the life of a beloved sovereign, consulted with some\nof the king's friends, and had the Spanish almanack laid before his\nMajesty, who courteously thanked them for their solicitude, but utterly\nslighted the prediction: the event occurred, and in the following year,\nthe Spanish _Lilly_ spread his own fame in an new almanack. This\nprediction of the friar, was the result either of his being acquainted\nwith the plot, or from his being made an instrument for the purposes of\nthose who were.\n\nCornelius Agrippa rightly designates astrologers \"a perverse and\npreposterous generation of men, who profess to know future things, but\nin the meantime are altogether ignorant of past and present; and\nundertaking to tell all people most obscure and hidden secrets abroad,\nat the same time, know not what happens in their own houses.\"\n\n  But this Agrippa, for profound\n  And solid lying, was renown'd:\n  The Anthroposophus, and Floud,\n  And Jacob Behmen, understood;\n  Knew many an amulet and charm\n  That would do neither good nor harm.\n  He understood the speech of birds\n  As well as they themselves do words;\n  Could tell what subtlest parrots mean\n  That speak and think contrary, clean;\n  What member 'tis of whom they talk,\n  Why they cry, rope and--walk, knave, walk.\n  He could foretell whatever was\n  By consequence to come to pass;\n  As death of great men, alterations,\n  Diseases, battles, inundations:\n  All this without th' eclipse o' th' sun,\n  Or dreadful comet, he hath done\n  By inward light, a way as good,\n  And easy to be understood:\n  But with more lucky hit than those\n  That use to make the stars depose\n  As if they were consenting to\n  All mischief in the world men do:\n  Or like the devil, did tempt and sway 'em\n  To rogueries, and then betray 'em.\n\nWe shall conclude our astrological strictures with the following\nadvertisement, which affords as fine a satirical specimen of quackery as\nis to be met with. It is extracted from \"poor Robin's\" almanack for\n1773; and may not be without its use, to many at the present day. We\nwill vouch for it being harmless, but as we are not in the secret of all\nthat it contains, our readers must endeavour to get the information that\nmay be wanted, on certain important points, from other quarters. It will\nshew, however, that the almanack astrologers did not live upon the best\nterms, but like their predecessors, were constantly abusing and\nattacking each other.\n\n\nADVERTISEMENT.\n\n\"The best time to cut hair. How moles and dreams are to be interpreted.\nWhen most proper season to bleed. Under what aspect of the moon best to\ndraw teeth, and cut corns. Pairing of nails, on what day unlucky. What\nthe kindest sign to graft or inoculate in; to open bee-hives, and kill\nswine. How many hours boiling my Lady Kent's pudding requires. With\nother notable questions, fully and faithfully resolved, by me Sylvester\nPatridge, student in physic and astrology, near the Gun in Moorfields.\"\n\n\"Of whom likewise may be had, at reasonable rates, trusses, antidotes,\nelixirs, love-powders. Washes for freckles, plumpers, glass-eyes, false\ncalves and noses, ivory-jaws, and a new receipt to turn red hair into\nblack.\"\n\nOld Robin's almanack was evidently the best of the time, and free from\nall the astrological cant with which Patridge's Merlinus Liberatus was\nfilled; against which Poor Robin did not a little declaim. The motto to\nhis title runs thus:--\n\n \"We use no weather-wise predictions\n  Nor any such-like airy fictions;\n  But (which we think is much the best)\n  Write the plain truth, or crack a jest:\n  And (without any further pretence)\n  Confess we write, and think of the pence:\n  For that's the aim of all who write,\n  Profit to gain, mixed with delight.\"\n\nPoor old Robin attacked the astrologers of his day with no little\nvehemence: \"How different a task is it,\" says he, \"for man to behave so\nin this world as to please all the people that inhabit it! A man who\nmakes use of his best endeavours to please every body is sure to please\nbut very few, and by that means displease a great many; which may very\npossibly be the case with poor Robin this year. But (be that as it will)\n_old Bob_ is sometimes well pleased, when rogues, prick-eared coxcombs,\nfools, and such like, are the most displeased at him: be it therefore\nknown, that it is only men of sense and integrity, (whether they have\nmuch money or no money) that he has any, (the least) regard for: I see\nvery plainly, that an humble man is (generally) accounted _base_; if\notherwise, he is esteemed _proud_; a bold look is looked upon as\n_impudence_; if modest, (then to be sure) he must be _hypocritical_; if\nhis behaviour is grave, it is owing to a _sullenness_ of temper; if\naffable, he is but _little_ regarded; if strictly just, then _cruel_\nmust be his character; but, if merciful and forbearing, then (of\nconsequence) a silly, sheepish-headed fool! Now, I challenge all the\nASS-TROLOGERS and CONJURERS, throughout the whole kingdom, to\ndemonstrate that all the whimsey-headed opinions which different men\nretain of different actions, together with their being so vastly\ndifferent at different times, one from another; I say, I call upon them\nALL to prove, that they are (wholly) owing to the STARRY influences!\nThere being, (I believe) in general as many different ideas and\nconceptions in the mind of mankind, as there are variety of complexions\nand countenances.\"\n\nHis observations on the four _unequal_ quarters of the year, as he terms\nthem, are no less satirical, humorous, and full of truth, and so much in\n\"opposition\" with others of the trade, that poor old Robin, in good\nsense and trite remarks, carries away the palm from all his predecessors\nand contemporaries; indeed, he is so little of an astrologer, that,\ninstead of consulting the angles, aspects, conjunctions and trines, of\nthe planets, he is vulgar enough to attach more importance to the\nsubstantials and doings of this nether world. We present our readers\nwith the following as a specimen, which, though in his usual way, a\nlittle rough-mouthed, occasionally is free from that almanack-cant which\ncharacterises the vocations of his fellow-labourers in the same field.\n\n\nSPRING,\n\nwhich, being the most delightful season in the whole year, as it comes\nthe next after a long and cold winter makes it as welcome as it is\ndelightful; for now the lengthening days afford full time for every body\nbut drunkards and watchmen to finish their respective day's works by\nday-light, besides some time to spare to walk abroad, to see the fine\nnew livery with which Dame Flora has now decked out Mother Earth. In the\nopening of the Spring, when all nature begins to recover herself, the\nsame animal pleasure which makes the bird sing, and the whole brute\ncreation rejoice, rises very sensibly in the hearts of mankind. This\nquarter will bring whole shoals of mackerel, and plenty of green pease;\nlikewise gooseberries, cherries, cheese-cakes, and custards.\n\nBut, let us now moralize,--and improve these vernal delights into real\nvirtue; and, when we find within ourselves a secret satisfaction arising\nfrom the beauties of the creation, may we consider to whom we stand\nindebted for all these various gratifications and entertainments of\nsense; who it is that opens thus his hand, and fills the world with\ngood! But so soon as this quarter is ended; i.e. there, or then, or\nthereabout, for in this case a day or two can break no great squares--I\nsay this quarter (as usual) will be followed by the\n\n\nSUMMER,\n\nwhen, and at which time the days will have attained their greatest, and\nconsequently the nights the shortest lengths. June, in which month this\nquarter is said to begin, will retain some likeness, if not exhibit the\nperfections of the Spring; but the two next succeeding months will\nperhaps have less vigour, but a greater degree of heat; for, as they\npass on, they will be ripening the fruits of the earth; whilst the Dog\nstar is shooting his rays amongst, the industrious farmer will have\nbusiness enough upon his hands: for now he expects to be reaping and\ngathering together the returns of his labour; but then he must expect,\nnevertheless, to bear the heat and burthen of the day.\n\nThis quarter very justly represents a man in the full vigour of health\nand strength; the beauty of the Spring is gone! The strength of Summer\nis of short continuance! It will very soon be succeeded by Autumn: thus,\nand thus (O reader) do then consider, hast thou seen the seasons, two,\nthree, or four times return in regular succession: remember that the\ntime is coming, when all opportunities of this sort will be for ever hid\nfrom thine eyes: remember if forty years have passed thee, I say, I\nwould have thee remember, that thy spring is gone, thy summer almost\nspent! Have then, therefore, a very serious retrospective view of thy\npast, and, (if it please God) a fixed resolution to amend thy prolonged\nlife: then being now arrived almost on the eve of\n\n\nAUTUMN\n\nwhich begins this year (as usual) when, or then, or thereabouts, the\ntime the Summer quarter ends--namely, when the nights begin to grow\nlonger and the days shorter: this is the time when the barns are filled\nwith wheat, which soon must be thrashed out, in order to be sowed again.\nThis also is the time when the orchards abound with fruits of the kind,\nand consequently the properest time to make cider.\n\nLamentable now must be the case of those poor women who, in this\nquarter, happen to long for green pease or strawberries; for I dare\nassure them, upon the _honest word_ of an astrologer, that they can get\nnone on this side of next Easter. Some now-abouts under the notion of\nsoldiers, shall sally out at night upon _Pullen_, or perhaps lie in\nembuscade for a rope of onions, as if they were Welsh freebooters. Loss\nof time and money may be recovered by industry: but to be a fool-born,\nor a rogue in nature, are diseases incurable.\n\nRemember that in any quarter of the year, this is almost always a\ncertain presage of a wedding, when all parties are agreed, and the\nparson in readiness; and then you must be sure to have money in\nreadiness too, or your intended marriage may happen to prove a\nmiscarriage. But those who are able to pay for tying the knot, when it\nis fairly tied, may go home to dinner and be merry; go to the tavern and\nbe merry; go to supper and be merry; rise next morning and be merry: and\nlet the world know, that a married life is a plentiful life, when people\nhave good estates; a fruitful life when they have many children; and an\nhappy life, when man and wife love each other as they ought to do, and\nnever quarrel nor disagree.\n\n\nOF THE WINTER QUARTER.\n\nBut now comes on the cold, dirty, dithering, pouting, rainy, shivering,\nfreezing, blowing, stormy, blustering, cruel quarter called winter; the\nvery thoughts of it are enough to fright one; but that it very luckily\nhappens to be introduced (this year) by a good, fat merry Christmas: yet\nit is the last and worse, and very much resembles extreme old age\naccompanied by poverty; this quarter is also pretty much like Pharoah's\nlean kine; for it generally (we find) eats up and devours most of the\nproduce of the preceding seasons: now the sun entering the southern\ntropic, affords us the least share of his light, and consequently the\nlongest long nights: yet, nevertheless, in this uncomfortable quarter,\nyou may possibly pick up some crumbs of comfort, provided you have good\nhealth, good store of the ready Rhino, a good wife, and other good\nthings about you: and especially a good conscience: for then the starry\ninfluences must necessarily appear very benign, notwithstanding the\ninclemency of the weather; for in such cases there will be frequent\n_conjunctions_ of sirloins and ribs of beef; _aspects_ of legs and\nshoulders of mutton, with _refrenations_ of loins of veal, shining near\nthe watery triplicity of plumb-porridge--together with trine and sextile\nof minced pies; collared brawn from the Ursus major, and sturgeon from\nPisces--all for the honour of Christmas: and I think it is a much\npleasanter sight than a Covent-Garden comedy, to see a dozen or two of\nhusbandmen, farmers, and honest tenants, at a nobleman's table (who\nnever raised their rents) worry a sirloin, and hew down, (I mean cut up)\na goose like a log: while a good Cheshire cheese, and plenty of nappy\nale, and strong March beer, washes down the merry goblets, sets all\ntheir wit afloat, and sends them to their respective homes, as happy as\nkings.\n\n  And now, kind loving readers, every one,\n  God send y'a good new-year, when the old one 's gone.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[75] The following prediction, and the verification of it are of so\nrecent a date, that we cannot resist giving it a place in our pages. In\nthe account of the late Captain Flinder's voyage of discovery, is the\nmelancholy relation of the loss of the master, Mr. Thistle, with seven\nothers, in a boat, on the inhospitable shores of Terra Australia. To\nthis narrative, the following note is subjoined, which we shall here\nquote in Captain Flinder's own words: \"This evening, Mr. Fowler, the\nlieutenant, told me a circumstance which I thought very extraordinary,\nand it afterwards proved to be more so. While we were lying at Spithead,\nMr. Thistle was one day waiting on shore, and having nothing else to do,\nwent to a certain old man, named Pine, to have his fortune told. The\ncunning man informed him that he was going on a long voyage, and that\nthe ship, on arriving at her destination, would be joined by another\nvessel. That such was intended, he might have learnt privately; but he\nadded that Mr. Thistle would be lost before the other vessel joined. As\nto the manner of his loss the magician refused to give any information.\nMy boat's crew, hearing what Mr. Thistle said, went to consult the wise\nman, and after the prefatory information of a long voyage, they were\ntold that they would be shipwrecked, but not in the ship they were going\nout in; whether they would escape and return to England, he was not\npermitted to reveal. This tale Mr. Thistle often told at the mess-table;\nand I remarked, with some pain, in a future part of the voyage, that\nevery time my boat's crew went to embark in the Lady Nelson, there was\nsome degree of apprehension amongst them, that the time of the predicted\nshipwreck was arrived. I make no comment, (says Capt. Flinders,) upon\nthis story, but to recommend a commander, if possible, to prevent any of\nhis crew from consulting fortune-tellers.\"--It should be observed that,\nstrange as it may appear, every particular of these predictions came\nexactly to pass, for the master and his boat's crew were lost before the\nInvestigator was joined by the Lady Nelson, from Port-Jackson; and when\nthe former ship was condemned, the people embarked with their commander\non board the Porpoise, which was wrecked on a coral reef, and nine of\nthe crew were lost.\n\n[76] In 1670, the passion for horoscopes and expounding the stars,\nprevailed in France among the first rank. The new-born child was usually\npresented naked to the astrologer, who read the first lineaments in its\nforehead, and the transverse lines in its hands, and thence wrote down\nits future destiny. Catherine de M\u00e9dicis carried Henry IV, when a child,\nto old Nostradamus, who antiquaries esteem more for his Chronicle of\nProvence than for his vaticinating powers. The sight of the revered\nseer, with a heard which \"streamed like a meteor in the air,\" terrified\nthe future hero, who dreaded a whipping from so grave a personage.\n\n[77] The Chaldean Sages were nearly put to the route by a quarto pack of\nartillery, fired on them by Mr. John Chamber, in 1691. Apollo did not\nuse Marsyas more inhumanly than his scourging pen this mystical race;\nand his personalities made them sorely feel it. However, a Norwich\nknight, the very Quixote of Astrology, arrayed in the enchanted armour\nof his occult authors, encountered this pagan in a most stately\ncarousal. He came forth with \"A Defence of Judicial Astrologye, in\nanswer to a treatise lately published by Mr. John Chamber. By\nChristopher Knight. Printed at Cambridge, 1693.\"\n\n[78] Vide Amulets passim.\n\n[79] Lilly's work, a voluminous quarto monument of the folly of the age,\nwas sold originally for four guineas; it is entitled \"Christian\nAstrology,\" modestly treated, in three books, by William Lilly, student\nin Astrology, 2nd. edition 1659. Every page is embellished with a\nhoroscope which, sitting on the pretending tripod, he explains with the\nutmost facility. There is also a portrait of this arch rogue and\nstar-gazer, an admirable illustration for Lavater. As to Lilly's great\nskill in prophecy, there goes a pleasant story related by a kinsman of\nDr. Case, his successor--namely--that a person wanting to consult him on\na certain point coming to his house one morning, Lilly himself going to\nthe door, saw a piece of filthy carrion which some one, who had more wit\nthan manners, had left there: and being much offended at its unsightly\nappearance wished heartily he did but know who had treated him in that\nmanner by leaving such an unwelcome legacy, as it were, in his very\nteeth, that he might punish them accordingly; which his customer\nobserving when the conjurer demanded his business, \"Nothing at all,\"\nsaid he, \"for I'm sure if you can't find out who has defiled your own\ndoor, it is impossible you should discover anything relating to me,\" and\nwith this caustic remark he left him.\n\n[80] The Reverend and learned Thomas Gataker, with whom Lilly was\nengaged in a dispute, in his Annotations on the tenth chapter of\nJeremiah and 10th verse, called him a \"blind buzzard,\" and Lilly\nreflected again on his antagonist in his _Annus Tenebrosus_. Mr.\nGataker's reply was entitled Thomas Gataker, B.D. his Vindication of the\nannotation by him published upon these words, \"thus saith the Lord,\"\n(Jer. x. 2) against the scurrilous aspersions of that grand impostor\nWilliam Lilly; as also against the various expositions of two of his\nadvocates Mr. John Swan, and another by him cited but not named. Together\nwith the Annotations themselves, wherein the pretended grounds of\njudiciary astrology, and the scripture proofs produced to it, are\ndiscussed and refuted. London, 1653, in 4th part 192. Our author making\nanimadversions on this piece in his English Merlin, 1654 produced a\nthird piece from Mr. Gataker, called a Discourse apologetical, wherein\nLilly's lewd, and loud lies in his Merlin or Pasquil for 1654, are\nclearly laid open; his shameless desertion of his own cause further\ndiscovered, his abominable slanders fully refuted, and his malicious and\n_murtherous_ mind, inciting to a general massacre of God's ministers,\nfrom his own pen, evidently known, etc. London 1654.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n\nONEIROCRITICAL PRESENTIMENT, ILLUSTRATING THE CAUSE, EFFECTS, PRINCIPAL\nPHENOMENA, AND DEFINITION OF DREAMS, ETC.\n\nAs we shall have to speak of the art practised through the medium,\ntermed incubation, of curing diseases, it may be proper to say something\npreviously on the interpretation of dreams through whose agency these\nevents were said to be realized.\n\nOneirocritics, or interpreters of dreams, were called conjecturers, a\nvery fit and proper name for these worldly wise men, according to the\nfollowing lines, translated from Euripides--\n\n  He that conjectures least amiss\n    Of all, the best of prophets is.\n\nTo the delusion of dreams not a few of the ancient philosophers lent\nthemselves. Among these were Democritus, Aristotle, and his follower\nThemistius, Siresius the Platonic; who so far relied on dreams which\nsome accident or other brought about, that they thence endeavoured to\npersuade men there are no dreams but what are founded on realities. For,\nsay they, as the celestial influences produce various forms and changes\nin corporeal matter, so out of certain influences, predominating over\nthe power of the fancy, the impression of visions is made, being\nconsentaneous, through the disposition of the heavens, to the effect\nproduced; more especially in dreams, because the mind, being then at\nliberty from all corporeal cares and exercises, more freely receives the\ndivine influences: it happens, therefore that many things are revealed\nto them that are asleep, which are concealed from them that are awake.\nWith these and such reasons it is pretended that much is communicated\nthrough the medium of dreams:\n\n  When soft sleep the body lays at ease,\n    And from the heavy mass the fancy frees,\n  Whate'er it is in which we take delight,\n    And think of most by day we dream at night.\n\nThe transition from sleep is very natural to that of dreams, the\nwonderful and mysterious phenomena of that state, the ideal transactions\nand vain illusions of the mind. According to Wolfius, an eminent\nphilosopher of Silesia, every dream originates in some sensation, and is\ncontinued by the succession of phantoms; but no phantasm can arise in\nthe mind without some previous sensation. And yet it is not easy to\nconfirm this by experience, it being often difficult to distinguish\nthose slight sensations, which give rise to dreams, from phantasms, or\nobjects of imagination.[81] The series of phantasms which thus constitute\na dream, seems to be accounted for by the law of the imagination, or\nassociation of ideas; though it may be very difficult to assign the\ncause of every minute difference, not only in different subjects, but in\nthe same, at different times, and in different circumstances. And hence\nM. Formey, who adopts the opinion of Wolfius, concludes, that those\ndreams are supernatural, which either do not begin by sensation, or are\nnot continued by the law of imagination.[82]\n\nThe opinion is as old as Aristotle, who asserted, that a dream is only\nthe [Greek: Phantasma] or _appearance_ of things, excited in the mind,\nand remaining after the objects are removed.[83] The opinion of\nLucretius, translated in our motto, was likewise that of Tully.[84] Locke\nalso traces the origin of dreams to previous sensations. \"The dreams of\nsleeping men,\" says this profound philosopher, \"are all made up of the\nwaking man's ideas, though for the most part oddly put together.\"[85] And\nDr. Hartley, who explains all the phenomena of the imagination by his\ntheory of vibrations and associations, says, that dreams are nothing but\nthe imaginations or reveries of sleeping men, and that they are\ndeducible from three causes--viz, the impressions and ideas lately\nreceived, and particularly those of the preceding day, the state of the\nbody, more especially of the stomach and brain, and association.[86]\n\nMacrobius mentions five sorts of dreams. 1st. vision--2nd. a discovery\nof something between sleeping and waking--3rd. a suggestion cast into\nour fancy, called by Cicero, _visum_,--4th. an ordinary dream--and\nfifth, a divine apparition or revelation in our sleep; such as were the\ndreams of the prophets, and of Joseph, as also of the Eastern Magi.\n\n\nCAUSE OF DREAMS.\n\nAvicen makes the cause of dreams to be an ultimate intelligence moving\nthe moon in the midst of that light with which the fancies of men are\nilluminated while they sleep. Aristotle refers the cause of them to\ncommon sense, but placed in the fancy. Averroes, an Arabian physician,\nplaces it in the imagination; Democritus ascribes it to little images,\nor representations, separated from the things themselves; Plato among\nthe specific and concrete notions of the soul; Albertus to the superior\ninfluences, which continually flow from the sky, through many specific\nchannels.\n\nSome physicians attribute the cause of dreams to vapours and humours,\nand the affections and cares of persons predominant when awake; for, say\nthey, by reason of the abundance of vapours, which are exhaled in\nconsequence of immoderate feeding, the brain is so stuffed by it, that\nmonsters and strange chimera are formed, of which the most inordinate\neaters and drinkers furnish us with sufficient instances. Some dreams,\nthey assert, are governed partly by the temperature of the body, and\npartly by the humour which mostly abounds in it; to which may be added\nthe apprehensions which have preceded the day before; and which are\noften remarked in dogs, and other animals, which bark and make a noise\nin their sleep. Dreams, they observe, proceed from the humours and\ntemperature of the body; we see the choleric dreams of fire, combats,\nyellow colours, etc. the phlegmatic of water baths, of sailing on the\nsea; the melancholies of thick fumes, deserts, fantasies, hideous faces,\netc. they that have the hinder part of their brain clogged, with viscous\nhumours, called by physicians Ephialtes incubus, dream that they are\nsuffocated. And those who have the orifice of their stomach loaded with\nmalignant humours, are affrighted with strange visions, by reason of\nthose venemous vapours that mount to the brain and distemper it.\n\n\nPOETICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF THE IMAGINATION IN DREAMS.\n\nWere we to enter more profoundly into the mysterious phenomena of\ndreams, our present lucubrations might become too abstruse; and, after\nall, no philosophical nor satisfactory account can be given of them.\nSuch of our readers therefore, as may wish for a more minute inquiry\ninto the opinions above stated, we beg leave to refer to the respective\nauthors whom we have already quoted. The reader, who is fond to find\namusement even in a serious subject, from the scenes of nocturnal\nimagination, will be glad, perhaps for a moment, to be transported into\nthe regions of poetic fancy. And here we find that the fancy is not more\nsportive in dreams, than are the poets in their descriptions of her\nnocturnal vagaries. On the effects of the imagination in dreams, the\nfollowing effusion, put into the mouth of the volatile Mercurio, is an\nadmirable illustration:--\n\n  O, then I see, Queen Mab has been with you.\n  She is the fancy's midwife, and she comes\n  In shape no bigger than an agate stone\n  On the fore-finger of an Alderman,\n  Drawn with a team of little atomies,\n  Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep:\n  Her waggon spokes made of long spinners' legs;\n  The cover of the wings of grasshoppers;\n  The traces of the smallest spider's web;\n  The collars of the moonshine's watery beams;\n  Her whip of cricket's bone; the lash of film;\n  Her waggoner, a small grey coated gnat,\n  Not half so big as a round little worm,\n  Prickt from the lazy finger of a maid.\n  Her chariot is an empty hazel nut,\n  Made by the joiner squirril, old grub,\n  Time out of mind the fairies' coachmakers:\n  And in this state she gallops night by night,\n  Thro' lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;\n  On courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies strait;\n  O'er lawyers' fingers, who strait dream on fees;\n  O'er ladies lips, who strait on kisses dream,\n  Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plague,\n  Because their breath with sweetmeats tainted are.\n  Sometimes she gallops o'er a lawyer's nose,\n  And then dreams he of smelling out a suit,\n  And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pig tail,\n  Tickling the parson as he lies asleep;\n  Then dreams he of another benefice;\n  Sometimes she driveth o'er a soldier's neck\n  And then he dreams of cutting foreign throats,\n  Of breaches, ambuscades, Spanish blades,\n  Of healths fire fathom deep; and then anon\n  Drums in his ears, at which he starts and wakes,\n  And being thus frighted, swears a pray'r or two,\n  And sleeps again.\n\nLucretius, and Petronius in his poem on the vanity of dreams, had\npreceded our immortal bard in a description of the effects of dreams on\ndifferent kinds of persons. Both the passages here alluded to, only\nserve to shew the vast superiority of Shakspeare's boundless genius:\ntheir sense is thus admirably expressed by Stepney:\n\n  At dead of night imperial reason sleeps,\n  And fancy with her train, her revels keeps;\n  Then airy phantoms a mix'd scene display,\n  Of what we heard, or saw, or wish'd by day;\n  For memory those images retains\n  Which passion form'd, and still the strongest reigns.\n  Huntsmen renew the chase they lately run,\n  And generals fight again their battles won.\n  Spectres and fairies haunt the murderer's dreams;\n  Grants and disgraces are the courtier's themes.\n  The miser spies a thief, or a new hoard;\n  The cit's a knight; the sycophant a lord,\n  Thus fancy's in the wild distraction lost,\n  With what we most abhor, or covet most.\n  Honours and state before this phantom fall;\n  For sleep, like death, its image, equals all.\n\nChaucer in his tale of the Cock and Fox, has a fine description, thus\nversified by Dryden:--\n\n  Dreams are but interludes which fancy makes:\n  When monarch reason sleeps, this mimic wakes;\n  Compounds a medley of disjointed things,\n  A court of coblers and a mob of kings:\n  Light fumes are merry, grosser fumes are sad:\n  Both are the reasonable soul run mad;\n  And many monstrous forms in sleep we see,\n  That neither were, or are, or e'er can be.\n  Sometimes forgotten things, long cast behind,\n  Rush forward in the brain, and come to mind.\n  The nurse's legends are for truth received,\n  And the man dreams but what the boy believed,\n  Sometimes we but rehearse a former play,\n  The night restores our actions done by day;\n  As hounds in sleep will open for their prey.\n  In short, the farce of dreams is of a piece\n  In chimeras all; and more absurd or less.\n\nShakspeare again:--\n\n                         I talk of dreams,\n  Which are the children of an idle brain,\n  Begot of nothing but vain phantasy,\n  Which is as thin of substance as the air,\n  And more inconsistant than the wind.\n\nNor must Milton be omitted--\n\n                            In the soul\n  Are many lesser faculties, that serve\n  Reason as chief; among these Fancy next\n  Her office holds; of all external things,\n  Which the five watchful senses represent,\n  She forms imaginations, airy shapes,\n  Which reason joining, or disjoining, frames,\n  And all that we affirm, or what deny, or call\n  Our knowledge or opinion; then retires\n  Into her private cell, when nature rests.\n  Oft in her absence mimic fancy wakes,\n  To imitate her; but misjoining shapes,\n  Wild works produces oft, but most in dreams\n  Ill matching words or deeds, long past or tale.\n\n\nPRINCIPAL PHENOMENA IN DREAMING.\n\nFrom these practical descriptions let us proceed to take a view of the\nprincipal phenomena in dreaming. And first, Mr. Locke's beautiful _modes\nof_ which will greatly illustrate the preceding observations.\n\n\"When the mind,\" says Locke, \"turns its view inward upon itself, and\ncontemplates its own actions, _thinking_ is the first that occurs. In it\nthe mind observes a great variety of modifications, and from thence\nreceives distinct _ideas_. Thus the perception, which actually\naccompanies, and is annexed to any impression on the body, made by an\nexternal object, being distinct from all other modifications of\nthinking, furnishes the mind with a distinct idea which we call\n_sensation_; which is, as it were, the actual entrance of an idea into\nthe understanding by the senses.\n\n\"The same idea, when it occurs again without the operation of the like\nobject on the external sensory, is _remembrance_: if it be sought after\nby the mind, and with pain and endeavour found, and brought again in\nview, it is _recollection_: if it be held there long under\nconsideration, it is _contemplation_; when ideas float in our mind\nwithout any reflexion or regard of the understanding, it is that which\nthe French call _r\u00e9verie_;[87] our language has scarce a name for it.\nWhen the ideas that offer themselves (for as I have observed in another\nplace, while we are awake, there will always be a train of ideas\nsucceeding one another in our minds) are taken notice of, and, as it\nwere, registered in the memory, it is _attention_; when the mind, with\ngreat earnestness, and of choice, fixes its view on any idea, considers\nit on all sides, and will not be called off by the ordinary\nsolicitations of other ideas, it is what we call _intention_ or _study_.\nSleep without dreaming is rest from all these: and _dreaming_ itself, is\nthe having of ideas (while the outward senses are stopped, so that they\nreceive not outward objects with their usual quickness) in the mind, not\nsuggested by any external objects, or known occasion, nor under any\nchoice or conduct of the understanding at all, and whether that which we\ncall _ecstasy_, be not dreaming with the eyes open, I leave to be\nexamined.\"\n\nDr. Beattie, in his \"Dissertations moral and critical,\" has an\ningenious essay on this subject, in which he attempts to ascertain, not\nso much the _efficient_ as the _final_ causes of the phenomenon, and to\nobviate those superstitions in regard to it, which have sometimes\ntroubled weak minds. He labours, with great earnestness, to shew, that\ndreams may be of use in the way of physical admonition: that persons,\nwho attend to them with this view, may make important discoveries with\nregard to their health; that they may be serviceable as the means of\nmoral improvement; that, by attending to them, we may discern our\npredominant passions, and receive good hints for the regulation of them;\nthat they may have been intended by Providence to serve as an amusement\nto the mental powers; and that dreaming is not universal, because,\nprobably, all constitutions do not require such intellectual amusement.\nIn observations of this kind, we may discover the ingenuity of fancy and\nthe sagacity of conjecture. We may find amusement in the arguments, but\nwe look in vain for satisfaction. Nature, certainly, does nothing in\nvain, yet we are far from thinking, that man is able, in every case, to\ndiscover her intentions. Final causes, perhaps, ought never to be the\nsubject of human speculation, but when they are plain and obvious. To\nsubstitute vain conjectures, instead of the designs of Providence, on\nsubjects where those designs are beyond our reach, serves only to\nfurnish matter for the cavils of the sceptical, and the sneers of the\nlicentious.\n\nAmong the many striking phenomena in our dreams, it may be observed,\nthat, while they last, the memory seems to lie wholly torpid, and the\nunderstanding to be employed only about such objects as are then\npresented, without comparing the present with the past. When we sleep,\nwe often converse with a friend who is either absent or dead, without\nremembering that the grave or the ocean is between us. We float, like a\nfeather, upon the wind; for we find ourselves this moment in England,\nand the next in India, without reflecting that the laws of nature are\nsuspended, or inquiring how the scene could have been so suddenly\nshifted before us. We are familiar with prodigies; we accommodate\nourselves to every event, however romantic; and we not only reason, but\nact upon principles, which are in the highest degree absurd and\nextravagant. Our dreams, moreover, are so far from being the effect of a\nvoluntary effort, that we neither know of what we shall dream, or\nwhether we shall dream at all.\n\nBut sleep is not the only time in which strange and unconnected objects\ninvolve our ideas in confusion. Besides the _r\u00e9veries_ of the day,\nalready spoken of, we have, in a moral view, our _waking-dreams_, which\nare not less chimerical, and impossible to be realized, than the\nimaginations of the night.\n\n  Night visions may befriend----\n  Our waking dreams are fatal. How I dreamt\n  Of things impossible (could sleep do more?)\n  Of joys perpetual in perpetual change!\n  Of stable pleasures on the tossing wave!\n  Eternal sunshine in the storms of life!\n  How richly were my noon-tide trances hung,\n  With gorgeous tapestries of pictur'd joys!\n  Till at deaths' toll,----\n  Starting I woke, and found myself undone.\n\nMany of the fabulous stories of ghosts or apparitions have originated\nunquestionably in dreams. There are times of slumber when we are\nsensible of being asleep. \"When the thoughts are much troubled,\" says\nHobbes, \"and when a person sleeps without the circumstance of going to\nbed, or pulling off his clothes, as when he nods in his chair, it is\nvery difficult to distinguish a dream from a reality. On the contrary,\nhe that composes himself to sleep, in case of any uncouth or absurd\nfancy, easily suspects it to have been a dream.\"[88] On this principle,\nHobbes has ingeniously accounted for the spectre which is said to have\nappeared to Brutus; and the well-known story told by Clarendon, of the\napparition of the duke of Buckingham's father will admit of a similar\nsolution. There was no man at that time in the kingdom so much the topic\nof conversation as the duke; and, from the corruptness of his character,\nhe was very likely to fall a sacrifice to the corruptness of the times.\nSir George Villiers is said to have appeared to the man at\nmidnight--there is therefore the greatest probability that the man was\nasleep; and the dream affrighting him, made a strong impression, and was\nlikely to be repeated.\n\nHistory furnishes us with numerous instances of a forecast having been\ncommunicated through the medium of dreams, some of which are so\nextraordinary as almost to shake our belief that the hand of Providence\nis not sometimes evident through their instrumentality. Cicero, in his\nfirst book on Divination, tells us, that Heraclides, a clever man, and\nwho had been a disciple of Plato, writes that the mother of Phalaris saw\nin a dream the statues of the gods which she had consecrated in the\nhouse of her son; and among other things, it appeared to her, that from\na cup which Mercury held in his hand, he had spilled some blood from it,\nand that the blood had scarcely touched the ground, than rising up in\nlarge bubbles it filled the whole house. This dream of the mother was\nafterwards but too truly verified in the cruelty of the son. Cyrus\ndreamt that seeing the sun at his feet, he made three different\nunsuccessful attempts to lay his hand upon it, at each of which it\nevaded him. The Persian Magi who interpreted this dream told him that\nthese three attempts to seize the sun signified that he would reign\nthirty years. This prediction was verified: he died at the age of\nseventy, having begun to reign when he was forty years old.\n\n\"There is doubtless,\" says Cicero, \"something even among barbarians\nwhich marks that they possess the gift of presentiment and divination.\"\nThe Indian Calanus mounting the flaming faggot on which he was about to\nbe burnt, exclaimed \"O what a fine exit from life, when my body, like\nthat of Hercules, shall be consumed by the fire, my spirit will freely\nenjoy the light.\" And Alexander having asked if he had anything to say,\nhe replied, \"Yes, I shall soon see you,\" which happened as he foretold,\nAlexander having died a few days afterwards at Babylon. Xenophon, an\nardent disciple of Socrates, relates that in the war which he made in\nfavour of young Cyrus, he had some dreams which were followed by the\nmost miraculous events. Shall we say that Xenophon does not speak truth,\nor is too extravagant? What! so great a personage, and so divine a\nspirit as Aristotle, can he be deceived? Or does he wish to deceive\nothers, when he tells us of Eudemus of Cyprus, one of his friends,\nwishing to go into Macedonia, passed by Pheres, a celebrated town in\nThessaly, which at that time was under the dominion of the tyrant\nAlexander; and that having fallen very sick, he saw in a dream a very\nhandsome young man, who told him that he would cure him, and that the\ntyrant Alexander would shortly die, but as to himself, he would return\nhome at the end of five years. Aristotle remarks that the two first\npredictions were, indeed, soon accomplished; that Eudemus recovered, and\nthat the tyrant was killed by his wife's brothers; but that at the\nexpiration of five years, the time at which it was hoped Eudemus,\naccording to the dream, was to return to Sicily, his native country,\nnews were received that he had been killed in a combat near Syracuse;\nwhich gave rise to another interpretation of the dream, namely, that,\nwhen the spirit or soul of Eudemus left his body, it went thence\nstraight to his own house.--A cup of massy gold having been stolen from\nthe temple of Hercules, this god appeared in a dream to Sophocles three\nconsecutive times, and pointed out the thief to him; who was put to the\ntorture, confessed the delinquency, and gave up the cup. The temple\nafterwards received the name of Hercules Indicator.\n\nAn endless variety of similar instances, both from ancient and modern\nhistory, might be adduced of the singularity of dreams, as well as their\ninstrumentality in revealing secrets which, without such agency, had\nlain for ever in oblivion; these, however, are sufficient for our\npurpose here; and the occurrence of one of a very recent date, connected\nwith the discovery of the body of the murdered Maria Martin, in the red\nbarn, is still fresh in the recollection of our readers. That there is a\nridiculous infatuation attached by some people to dreams, which have no\nmeaning, and which are the offsprings of the day's thoughts, even among\npersons whose education should inform them better, particularly among\nthe fair sex, cannot be denied; indeed, a conversation seldom passes\namong them, but some inconsistent dream or other, form a leading feature\nof their gossip; and doubtless is with them an hysterical symptom.\n\nSometimes in our sleeping dreams, we imagine ourselves involved in\ninextricable woe, and enjoy at waking, the ecstasy of a deliverance from\nit. \"And such a deliverance,\" says Dr. Beattie, \"will every good man\nmeet with at last, when he is taken away from the evils of life, and\nawakes in the regions of everlasting light and peace; looking back upon\nthe world and its troubles, with a surprise and satisfaction similar in\nkind (though far higher in degree) to that which we now feel, when we\nescape from a terrifying dream, and open our eyes to the sweet serenity\nof a summer morning.\" Sometimes, in our dreams, we imagine scenes of\npure and unutterable joy; and how much do we regret at waking, that the\nheavenly vision is no more! But what must the raptures of the good man\nbe, when he enters the regions of immortality, and beholds the radiant\nfields of permanent delight! The idea of such a happy death, such a\nsweet transition, from the dreams of earth to the realities of heaven,\nis thus beautifully described by Dryden, in his poem entitled Eleonora:\n\n \"She passed serenely, with a single breath;\n  This moment perfect health, the next was death;\n  One sigh did her eternal bliss assure;\n  So little penance needs when souls are pure.\n  As gentle dreams our waking thoughts pursue;\n  Or, one dream past, we slide into a new;\n  So close they follow and such wild order keep,\n  We think ourselves awake and are asleep;\n  So softly death succeeded life in her:\n  She did but dream of heaven and she was there.\"\n\n\nDEFINITION OF DREAMS.\n\nDreams are vagaries of the imagination, and in most instances proceed\nfrom external sensations. They take place only when our sleep is\nunsound, in which case the brain and nervous system are capable of\nperforming certain motions. We seldom dream during the first hours of\nsleep; perhaps because the nervous fluid is then too much exhausted; but\ndreams mostly occur towards the morning, when this fluid has been, in\nsome measure, restored.\n\nEvery thing capable of interrupting the tranquillity of mind and body,\nmay produce dreams; such are the various kinds of grief and sorrow,\nexertions of the mind, affections and passions, crude and undigested\nfood, a hard and inconvenient posture of the body. Those ideas which\nhave lately occupied our minds or made a lively impression upon us,\ngenerally constitute the principal subject of a dream, and more or less\nemploy our imagination, when we are asleep.\n\nAnimals are likewise apt to dream, though seldom; and even men living\ntemperately, and enjoying a perfect state of health, are seldom\ndisturbed with this play of the fancy. And, indeed, there are examples\nof lively and spirited persons who never dream at all. The great\nphysiologist Haller considers dreaming as a symptom of disease, or as a\nstimulating cause, by which the perfect tranquillity of the sensorium is\ninterrupted. Hence, that sleep is the most refreshing, which is\nundisturbed by dreams, or, at least, when we have the distinct\nrecollection of them. Most of our dreams are then nothing more than\nsports of the fancy, and derive their origin chiefly from external\nimpressions; almost every thing we see and hear, when awake, leads our\nimagination to collateral notions or representations, which, in a\nmanner, spontaneously, and without the least effort, associate with\nexternal sensations. The place where a person whom we love formerly\nresided, a dress similar to that which we have seen her wear, or the\nobjects that employed her attention, no sooner catch our eye, than she\nimmediately occupies our mind. And, though these images associating with\nexternal sensations, do not arrive at complete consciousness within the\npower of imagination, yet even in their latent state they may become\nvery strong and permanent.\n\nCicero furnishes us with a story of two Arcadians, who, travelling\ntogether, arrived at Megara, a city of Greece, between Athens and\nCorinth, where one of them lodged in a friend's house, and the other at\nan inn. After supper, the person who lodged at the private house went to\nbed, and falling asleep, dreamed that his friend at the inn appeared to\nhim and begged his assistance, because the innkeeper was going to kill\nhim. The man immediately got out of bed much frightened at the dream;\nbut recovering himself, and falling asleep again, his friend appeared to\nhim a second time, and desired that, as he would not assist him in time,\nhe would take care at least not to let his death go unpunished; that the\ninnkeeper having murdered him had thrown his body into a cart and\ncovered it with dung; he therefore begged that he would be at the city\ngate in the morning, before the cart was out; struck with this new\ndream, he went early to the gate, saw the cart, and asked the driver\nwhat was in it; the driver immediately fled, the dead body was taken\nout of the cart, and the innkeeper apprehended and executed.\n\nIt is very frequently observed, that in a dream a series of\nrepresentations is suddenly interrupted, and another series of a very\ndifferent kind occupies its place. This happens as soon as an idea\nassociates itself; which, from whatever cause, is more interesting than\nthat immediately preceding. The last then becomes the prevailing one,\nand determines the association. Yet, by this too, the imagination is\nfrequently reconducted to the former series. The interruption in the\ncourse of the preceding occurrences is remarked, and the power of\nabstracting similarities is in search of the cause of this irregularity.\nHence, in such cases, there usually happens some unfortunate event or\nother, which occasions the interruption of the story. The representing\npower may again suddenly conduct us to another series of ideas, and thus\nthe imagination may be led by the subreasoning power before defined,\nfrom one scene to another. Of this kind, for instance, is the following\nremarkable dream, as related and explained in the works of professor\nMaas of Halle: \"I dreamed once,\" says he \"that the Pope visited me. He\ncommanded me to open my desk, and carefully examined all the papers it\ncontained. While he was thus employed, a very sparkling diamond fell out\nof his triple crown into my desk, of which, however, neither of us took\nany notice. As soon as the Pope had withdrawn, I retired to bed, but was\nsoon obliged to rise, on account of a thick smoke, the cause of which I\nhad yet to learn. Upon examination I discovered, that the diamond had\nset fire to the papers in my desk, and burnt them to ashes.\"\n\nOn account of the peculiar circumstances by which this dream was\noccasioned, it deserves the following short analysis. \"On the preceding\nevening,\" says professor Maas, \"I was visited by a friend with whom I\nhad a lively conversation, upon Joseph IInd's suppression of monasteries\nand convents. With this idea, though I did not become conscious of it in\nmy dream, was associated the visit which the Pope publicly paid the\nEmperor Joseph at Vienna, in consequence of the measures taken against\nthe clergy; and with this again was combined, however faintly, the\nrepresentation of the visit, which had been paid me by my friend. These\ntwo events were, by the subreasoning faculty, compounded into one,\naccording to the established rule--that things which agree in their\nparts, also correspond as to the whole;--hence the Pope's visit, was\nchanged into a visit made to me. The subreasoning faculty then, in order\nto account for this extraordinary visit, fixed upon that which was the\nmost important object in my room, namely, the desk, or rather the papers\ncontained in it. That a diamond fell out of the triple crown was a\ncollateral association, which was owing merely to the representation of\nthe desk. Some days before when opening the desk, I had broken the glass\nof my watch, which I held in my hand, and the fragments fell among the\npapers. Hence no farther attention was paid to the diamond, being a\nrepresentation of a collateral series of things. But afterwards the\nrepresentation of the sparkling stones was again excited, and became the\nprevailing idea; hence it determined the succeeding association. On\naccount of its similarity, it excited, the representation of fire, with\nwhich it was confounded; hence arose fire and smoke.--But, in the event,\nthe writings only were burnt, not the desk itself; to which, being of\ncomparatively less value, the attention was not at all directed.\" It is\nfarther observable, that there are in the human mind certain obscure\nrepresentations, and that it is necessary to be convinced of the reality\nof these images, if we are desirous of perceiving the connexion, which\nsubsists among the operations of the imagination. Of the numerous\nphenomena, founded on obscure ideas, and which consequently prove their\nexistence, we shall only remark the following. It is a well known fact,\nthat many dreams originate in the impressions made in the body during\nsleep; and they consist of analogous images or such as are associated\nwith sensations that would arise from these impressions, during a waking\nstate. Hence, for instance, if our legs are placed in a perpendicular\nposture, we are often terrified by a dream that implies the imminent\ndanger of falling from a steep rock or precipice. The mind must\nrepresent to itself these external impressions in a lively manner,\notherwise no ideal picture could be thus excited; but, as we do not\nbecome at all conscious of them, they are but faintly and obscurely\nrepresented.\n\nIf we make a resolution to rise earlier in the morning than usual; and\nif we impress the determination on our mind, immediately before going to\nrest, we are almost certain to succeed. Now it is self-evident that this\nsuccess cannot be ascribed to the efforts of the body, but altogether to\nthe mind, which probably, during sleep perceives and computes the\nduration of time, so that it makes an impression on the body, which\nenables us to awake at an appointed hour. Yet all this takes place,\nwithout our consciousness, and the representations remain obscure. Many\nproductions of art are so complicated, that a variety of simple\nconceptions are requisite to lay the foundation of them; yet the artist\nis almost entirely unconscious of these individual notions. Thus a\nperson performs a piece of music, without being obliged to reflect, in a\nconscious manner, on the signification of the notes, their value, and\nthe order of the fingers he must observe; nay even without clearly\ndistinguishing the strings of the harp, or the keys of the harpsichord.\nWe cannot attribute this to the mechanism of the body, which might\ngradually accustom itself to the accurate placing of the fingers. This\ncould be applied only where we place a piece of music, frequently\npractised; but it is totally inapplicable to a new piece, which is\nplayed by the professor with equal facility, though he has never seen it\nbefore. In the latter case there must arise, necessarily, an ideal\nrepresentation, or an act of judgment, previous to every motion of the\nfinger.\n\nThese arguments, we trust, are sufficient, to evince the occurrence of\nthese obscure notions and representations, from which all our dreams\noriginate. Before, however, we close this subject, we shall relate the\nfollowing extraordinary dream of the celebrated Galileo, who at a very\nadvanced age had lost his sight. In one of his walks over a beautiful\nplain, conducted by his pupil Troicelli, the venerable sage related the\nfollowing dream to him. \"Once,\" said he, \"my eyes permitted me to enjoy\nthe charms of these fields. But now, since their light is extinguished,\nthese pleasures are lost to me for ever. Heaven justly inflicts the\npunishment which was predicted to me many years ago. When in prison, and\nimpatiently languishing for liberty, I began to be discontented with the\nways of Providence; Copernicus appeared to me in a dream; his celestial\nspirit conducted me over luminous stars, and, in a threatening voice,\nreprehended me for having murmured against him, at whose _fiat_ all\nthese worlds had proceeded from nothing. 'A time shall come (said he)\nwhen thine eyes shall refuse to assist thee in contemplating these\nwonders.'\"\n\nWe shall now proceed to notice the subject of dreams in another point of\nview--that is, as being employed as a medium of divination in the cure\nof diseases, in which the fancies of the brain appear, in reality, to as\nlittle advantage as they do with reference to any other considerations\nin which such pretended omens exist.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[81] Wolfius, Psychol. Empir. Sect. 123.\n\n[82] M\u00e9m. de l'acad. de Berlin, tom. ii. p. 316.\n\n[83] Arist. de insomn. cap 3.\n\n[84] Quae in vita usurpant homines, cogitant, curant, vident quaeque\nagunt vigilantes, agitantque, ea cuique in somno accidunt. _De Div._\n\n[85] Essay on Human Understanding, book, chap. i. sect 17.\n\n[86] Obs, on Man, vol. 1, sect. 5.\n\n[87] There is a phenomenon in the mind, which, though it happen to us\nwhile we are perfectly awake, yet approaches the nearest to sleep of any\nI know. It is called the _Reverie_, or, as some term it, the _brown\nstudy_, a sort of middle state between waking and sleeping; in which,\nthough our eyes are open, our senses seem to be entirely shut up, and we\nare quite insensible of every thing about us, yet we are all the while\nengaged in a musing indolence of thought, or a supine and lolling kind\nof roving from one fairy scene to another, without any self-command;\nfrom which, if any noise or accident rouse us, we wake as from a real\ndream, and are often as much at a loss to tell how our thoughts were\nemployed, as if we had waked from the soundest sleep. This is frequently\ncalled _dreaming_, sometimes _absence_, a thing often observed in lovers\nand people of a melancholy or indeed speculative turn.--_Fordyce's\nDialogues concerning education, vol. II. p. 255._\n\n[88] Leviathan, part. 1. c. 1.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n\nON INCUBATION; OR THE ART OF HEALING BY VISIONARY DIVINATION.\n\nMedicine unquestionably ranks among the most ancient of all human\nsciences. In the infant state of society, when simplicity of manners\ncharacterised the pursuits of mankind, medical assistance was little\nwanted; but when the nature of man degenerated, and vice and luxury\ncorrupted his habits of innocence and temperance, diseases sprung up\nwhich those aids alone could check or eradicate. The knowledge of them\nat first could not fail to be empirical and precarious. The sick were\nplaced in the high ways, that travellers and passers by might assist\nthem with their counsel; and at length the priesthood appropriated this\nprivilege exclusively to themselves.\n\nIt was not merely the sacerdotal dignity which rendered them objects of\nawe and reverence to the illiterate multitude; the priests were regarded\nas the depositaries of science and learning; and proved themselves as\nskilful as they were successful, in cementing their influence by those\narts which were best calculated to inflame the prejudices of the vulgar\nin their favour.\n\nIt is the work of ages to wean men and nations from popular illusions,\nand the deep-rooted opinions transmitted from sire to son: it cannot\ntherefore surprise us, that even when the intellectual energy of Greece\nwas signalizing itself by efforts which have commanded the admiration of\nafter ages, it should still remain a popular dogma in medicine \"that\npersons labouring under bodily infirmity, might be thrown into a state\nof charmed torpor, in which, though destitute of any previous medical\nknowledge, they would be enabled to ascertain the nature of their\nmalady, as well as of the diseases of others, and devise the means of\ntheir cure.\" Upon this dogma was founded the mystery of incubations, or\nthe art of healing by visionary divination.\n\nIt is not our object here to discuss whether a man can be capable of\ndivination: such a power, however, was assigned to him, not only by the\nvulgar, but by the greater number of the philosophical sects of\nantiquity; and it does appear to savour a little of temerity, that\nEpicurus and the cynics should have ventured to reject a belief so\nuniversally and strenuously maintained, and resting on an infinity of\ntraditions and accounts of prophets, in whom Greece had abounded from\nher earliest times, and of whose divine gift of prophecy the firmest\nconviction was currently entertained. Aeschylus, Plutarch, Apuleius, and\nother Greek authors, bear ample testimony of this persuasion, and tell\nus that by uncommon and irregular motions of the body intoxicating\nvapours, or certain holy ejaculations, men might be thrown into an\nenchanted trance; in which, being in a state between sleeping and\nwaking, they were unsusceptible of external impressions and obtaining a\nglimpse of futurity, were gifted with the power of prophecy. Here their\nallusion, however, only concerns the celebrated divinations of the\nPythia.[89] We must therefore, probe somewhat deeper, in order to\nillustrate that species of divination which was the result of dreams,\nand a source of divination on the nature of diseases and their remedies.\n\nThis kind of superstition was in no less acceptation than the former\namong the ancients, whose temples were constantly crowded with the sick,\nand reverberated with their supplications for divinatory dreams, which\nwere regarded as an immediate gift from the gods. Indeed, the celestial\norigin of dreams was universally admitted by the nations of antiquity,\nand thence also their efficacy as oracles. Nothing could be more natural\nthan such an idea. From the crude and imperfect notions which long\nprevailed with respect to the soul, it was scarcely possible for them to\nascribe the impressions, which their memory retained of the creation of\ntheir fancy during their slumbers, to the instrumentality of their own\nconceits; they could not fail therefore to impute them to the\ninterposition of some foreign agent, and to whom more naturally could\nthey refer them than to a divinity? When awake, they imagined themselves\nalways attended by the gods in person, and ascribed every thought, and\nresolved every appearance or accident, which deviated from the common\ncourse of nature, to the immediate influence of a superintending deity.\nIt was under such impressions that so many nations originally rested\ntheir belief in divinatory dreams. The records of antiquity therefore\nabound in instances (for the greater part of an early date) where the\nactions of men have been the result of a dream, whose conceit was\nentirely at variance with the real state of their affairs. It was not\nlong before the diversity of dreams awakened their attention: some were\nconnected and simple, others were obscure, and made up of curious\nfancies, though not incapable of being resolved by the windings and\nturnings of allegory.\n\nIt was no unnatural transition from the received belief in dreams, to\nthe idea that they might become the medium of seeking instruction from\nthe gods: hence the institution of oracles, whose responses were given\nin dreams; and the addition of sleeping chambers to many temples, such\nas those in Epidaurus and at Oropos. Here it was, that after pious\nceremonies and prayers, men laid themselves down in expectation of\ndreams; when the expectation was realized, though the dream proved ever\nso confused or intricate, the dreamer always succeeded in reconciling\nit to his circumstances: his own belief and priestly wiles, readily\neffected the solution. The conceit of dreams, according to the votary's\nwishes, was so powerfully promoted by the preparatory initiation he had\nundergone, that it would have been somewhat extraordinary had he been\naltogether disappointed. He was generally anxious to increase the fame\nof his divinity by his dream, and possessed a high veneration and deep\nimpression of the miracles which that divinity had wrought. With these\npredispositions he resorted to the temple, where he had a whole day\nbefore him to ponder on his malady, and on every sort of remedy that\nmight have been suggested to him; how natural was it, therefore, for his\nbusy imagination to fix, in his sleep, upon one particular remedy more\nforcibly than upon another? Add to this, the solemn lonely hour of night\nwas the appointed hour for his sleep, which was preceded by prayer and\nother inspiring ceremonies, that would naturally elevate his devotion to\nthe highest pitch. He had also previously perambulated the temple, and\nwith a full heart surveyed the offerings of those whose sickness had\ndeparted from them.\n\nIf all these preparations were unavailing, the officiants of the temple\nhad still means in reserve, by which the credulous should be thrown into\nthat bodily state which was indispensable to the divinatory sleep: of\nthese, succeeding instances will be hereafter produced. In those days,\nthere were however, some men from whom the somniferous faculty was\nwithheld: they were, therefore, admonished to repeat their prayers and\noblations, in order to win the divinity's favour: and the ultimate and\ncustomary resort was, if success did not crown his perseverance, to\npronounce it a token, that such patients were an eyesore to the\ndivinity.\n\nFrom this divinatory sleep, arose the vulgar expressions in Greece\n[Greek: enkoimasdai], and [Greek: enkoimaesis][90] The latin terms are\n_incubare_ and _incubatio_ an exact translation of the Greek words. It\nappears, therefore, that the Romans and Greeks were equally acquainted\nwith the institution; though we find but very little mention made of it\nby the Latin writers, yet this is no argument against its prevalence\namong the Romans, as we are left with as scanty accounts of many other\nsuperstitions which were in vogue amongst them. It is highly probable\nthat it was not by any means so popular in Rome as in Greece; and the\ncause of this may, perhaps, be found in the reflecting disposition and\nsober character of the haughty Roman, to which the light and volatile\ntemperament of the Grecian, formed so striking a contrast.\n\nThat incubation was a ready means of diving into the future, needs no\ndemonstration. Although its practice was chiefly resorted to in cases\nwhere medical aid was desired, it was still made use of in every other\ncase, in which the ancient oracles were consulted. Whether it arose in\nGreece, or migrated thither from the East, is a point with which the\nancients have left us unacquainted, though they advert to its prevalence\namongst those who were called barbarians. Strabo has several instances\nof it, and particularly mentions a place in the Caspian sea, where such\nan oracle existed;[91] he also relates, in his celebrated account of\nMoses, that this law-giver laid it down, in common with the priests of\nEsculapius, that to those who led a chaste and virtuous life the deity\nwould vouchsafe prophetical visions in his sanctuary; but to those who\nwere of idle and impure habits, they would be denied.[92]\n\nPomponius Mela even mentions a savage nation, in the interior of\nAfrica, who laid themselves down to sleep on the grave-stones of their\nancestors, and looked upon the dreams they had on those spots as oracles\nfrom the dead.[93] We shall see, hereafter, that this superstition was\nequally indigenous among the Egyptians. Although it be doubtful whether\nthe Greeks owed this species of divination to their own invention or\nnot, its existence may at least be traced as far as the earliest ages of\ntheir history; notwithstanding no positive mention of it has been made\neither by Homer or the authors following him.\n\nThe oracular power of dreams, and the sanctuaries where they are\nsupposed to be dispersed, have been diffusely treated of in the\ncompilations of Van Dale and other learned writers. These species of\noracles were in high estimation, even in the most enlightened and\nflourishing periods of Greece; it is somewhat singular, however, that no\npeople cherished them more devoutly than the Spartans, who depended\naltogether upon oracles in their weightiest affairs of state. Of all the\ncivilized nations of Greece, Sparta always approved herself the most\nsuperstitious; her advancement was rather the effect of her policy, than\nof any stimulus given to her civilization by science. This consideration\nwill enable us to account for the powerful influence which, even in the\nlatest stages of Lacedemonian story, attached to the responses of\nPassiphae, a local goddess of Thalame, but little known beyond the\nconfines of Laconia. The extent of their influence is particularly\nevident in the history of Agis and Cleomenes.[94]\n\nThe greater part of these somnambulistic oracles were ascribed to\npersons who had distinguished themselves as great dreamers when on\nearth. In old times there was a description of prophets who pretended to\nprepare themselves for the foreboding of future events through the\nmedium of sacred dreams. They were classed under the appellation of\n[Greek: Oneiroploi], to which rank the most celebrated Vates of the\nheroic age belonged. In this way it was that a sacred spot was dedicated\nto Calchus, whence he gave his responses in dreams after his decease:\nthis spot lay in Daunia, on the coast of the Adriatic. The supplicant's\noffices began with the offering up of a ram, on whose skin he laid\nhimself down, and in this situation, received the instruction he sought\nfor.[95] Amphilocus, a contemporary soothsayer, who accompanied the\nEpigoni in the first Theban war, had a similar oracle at Mallos, in\nCilicia, which Pausanias asserts, even at the close of the second\ncentury, to have been the most credible of his age; it is also mentioned\nby Dion Cassius, in his history of Commodus.[96]\n\nThe most famous, however, of this class of oracles, was that of\nAmphiaraus, the father of Amphilocus, which was one of the five\nprincipal oracles of Greece; he had signalized himself as a sapient\nsoothsayer in the first Theban war; and his oracle was situated at\nOropos, on the borders of Boetia and Attica. Of all others this deserves\nour most particular attention, as it was resorted to more frequently in\ncases of infirmity and disease, than in any other circumstances. His\nresponses were always delivered in dreams, in whose interpretation, as\nhe was the first to possess that faculty. Pausanias says he received\ndivine honours. Those who repaired to Amphiaraus's oracle to supplicate\nhis aid, laid themselves down in the manner we have just related, after\nseveral preparatory lustrations and sacrifices, on the skin of a ram\nslain in honour of the god, and awaited the dreams, which were to\nunfold the means of their different cures.\n\nLustrations and sacrifices were not, however, the only preparatives for\ninducing the visionary disposition. The priests subjected the patients\nto various others, which Philostratus affirms[97] to have been very\ninstrumental towards rendering the sleeper's mind clear and unclouded.\nPart of these preparatives consisted in one day's abstinence from\neating, and three, nay, even in some cases, fifteen days' abstinence\nfrom wine, the common beverage of the Greeks. This was the practice also\nwith other oracles; nor were the priests in the meantime insensible to\ntheir own interests on these occasions; for those who were cured by\nAmphiaraus's revelations were permitted to bathe in the sacred waters of\na fountain, into which they were enjoined to cast pieces of gold and\nsilver, which were destined, most probably, to sweeten the labours of\nhis officiants.\n\nThe oracles, whose intervention was principally or altogether sought for\nthe healing of the sick by means of divination founded on dreams, were\nscattered over Greece, Italy, Egypt, and other countries. As regards\nthose of Egypt, it may be remarked, that although many of the Egyptians\nbelieved there were thirty-six demons, or aerial deities, each of whom\nhad the care of a certain portion of the human frame, and when that\nportion was diseased, would heal it on the patient's earnest prayer, yet\na variety of their oracles, such as those of Serapis, Isis, and Phthas,\nthe Hephaestos of the Greeks, appertained to the class, which is the\npresent object of our inquiry.\n\nThe oracle Serapis was situated near Canopus; it was visited with the\nhighest veneration by the wealthiest and most illustrious Egyptians, and\ncontained ample records of miraculous cures which that god had performed\non sleepers.[98] Isis, it is said, effected similar cures in her\nlifetime, whence it became her office, in her after state of\ndeification, to reveal in dreams the most efficacious remedies to the\nsick. Indeed the healing powers of this goddess were such, that, as we\nare told by Diodorus,[99] the remedies she prescribed never failed of\ntheir effect, and that convalescents were daily seen returning from her\ntemple, many of whom had been abandoned as incurable by the physicians.\n\nThe third oracle of the sick was consecrated to Phthas, and lay near\nMemphis, but it is seldom mentioned by the ancients.[100]\n\nIn Italy there existed two oracles, whose responses were imparted in\ndreams, before the worship of Esculapius was introduced from Greece. One\nof them only belongs to this place, that of the physician Podalirus, in\nDaunia,[101] which is mentioned by Lycophron.[102] Subsequently it is well\nknown incubation was practised after the Grecian form in the Roman\ntemple of Aesculapius on the Insula Tiberina.[103]\n\nThis description of oracles abounded throughout Greece; the most\nmemorable of which was that on the Asiatic coast, between Trattis and\nNyssa, which is more particularly described by Strabo than any other.\nNot far from the town of Nyssa, says he, there is a place called\nCharaka, where we find a grove and temple sacred to Pluto and\nProserpine, and close to the grove a subterraneous cave, of a most\nextraordinary nature. It is related of it, that diseased persons, who\nhave faith in the remedies predicted by those deities, are accustomed to\nresort to it and pass some time with experienced priests, who reside\nnear the cave. These priests lay themselves down to sleep in the cave,\nand afterwards order such medicine as have been revealed to them there,\nto be furnished to their patients in the temple. They frequently conduct\nthe sick themselves into the cave, where they remain for several days\ntogether, without touching a morsel of food; nor are the profane\nwithheld from a participation in the _divinatory_ sleep, though this is\nnot permitted otherwise than under the controul, and with the sacred\nsanction, of the priests. There is, however, nothing more surprising\nabout this place than that it is esteemed _noxious and fatal to the\nhealthy_.[104] This last remark of our geographer, proves how jealous the\npriestly physicians were of their medical monopoly, and how fearful lest\nthe _saner_ part of mankind should detect and expose the pretended\nvirtues of their medical sanctuary.\n\nWe have hitherto mentioned the name of Aesculapius but casually, though\nthere was no god of antiquity more celebrated for curing every species\nof malady by the incubatory process. He was particularly designated by\nthe Greeks as \"the sender of dreams,\" [Greek: Oneiropompon]; nor could\nany other deity boast of so great a number of those oracles. The most\ndistinguished of these was the oracle of Epidaurus, in the Argivian\nterritory; from which spot his worship extended over a great proportion\nof the old world;--hither, as being the place of his birth and the site\nof his richest temple, crowds of sick persons constantly repaired in\nquest of dreams. The success attending them was diligently set forth on\nevery wall of the temple; where the _tabulae votivae_ recorded the names\nof those who had been healed, the nature of their maladies, and the cure\nwhich the god prescribed. Similar circumstances are related of his\nTemple at Triccae, in Thessaly, where Esculapius was held in great\nveneration at a very early period; there appears also to have been\nanother such temple either at or near Athens,[105] where we must look for\nthe scene of the ridiculous cure which Aristophanes makes Aesculapius to\nperform on the blind god of riches. Though there is undoubtedly a rich\nvein of the burlesque in the Plutus of the Grecian dramatist, yet we may\ngather much concerning our present subject from the scene in which the\nslave, who had attended Plutus in the Temple, relates the whole process\nof his master's wife. Here also the night was the chosen period of\nincubation. Before the signal for sleep was given, the officiants of the\ntemple extinguished all the lights in the sick men's chamber; thus\ninvolving them in a solemn stillness and obscurity highly favourable to\nthe work in hand, but in a particular manner to the subterfuge of the\npriests, who enacted the nocturnal apparition of Aesculapius to his sick\nclient.\n\nThis passage in Plutus is certainly the earliest circumstantial\nrelation we possess of the practice of this species of incubation.[106]\nThe license permitted to Grecian comedy was such as to authorise the\nridicule and contempt of the most popular deities; we are not, therefore\nto conclude from the scenes that there were many unbelievers, or that\nthis ancient system of cure had sunk into disrepute: for the history of\nour comedian's great contemporary, Hippocrates, informs us, that at this\nvery time the temple of Aesculapius at Cos abounded in tablets, on which\nthe sick attested the remedies that had been revealed to them during\nincubation, and that he himself was highly indebted to them for much of\nhis medical knowledge.\n\nWere it not authenticated by the most undeniable testimonies, it would\nappear incredible that the impostures of the disciples of Aesculapius,\nand the common faith in his regenerative powers, should have survived\nwith equal potency and acceptation during the ages immediately\nsucceeding the Christian era. It must not however, be forgotten, that\nthese were the times also, when an infinity of superstitious of every\ndescription disgraced the Roman world; although it would have appeared a\nnecessary consequence, that their prevalency should have been checked by\nthe increasing determination of learning and science.\n\nIf at this period the number of dreaming patients had fallen off at Cos\nand Epidaurus, the deficiency was amply compensated by the growing\npopularity of Aesculapius's shrines at Rome, Pergamus, Alaea, Mallos,\nand other places, where the ancient rituals were faithfully preserved.\nThe highest magistrates in the Roman states not only countenanced, but\npatronised the superstition; Marcus Aurelius, by the friendship with\nwhich he honoured the Paphlagonian imposter Alexander, and Caracalla, by\nthe journey he undertook to Pergamus, to obtain the cure of a disease\nwhich inflicted him. This Alexander, the Cagliostro of his age, whose\nmemoirs have been handed down to us by Lucian, made shift to father a\nnew species of juggling upon the ancient process of incubation: for he\npretends that it was necessary for him to sleep for a night in the\nsealed scrips which contain the queries he was to have resolved for\nthose who visited his oracle.[107] During this interval he dexterously\nopened the scrips, and sealed them up again; pretending that the\nresponses which he delivered to the querists in the morning, had been\nrevealed to him by the deity in a dream.\n\nThe priests of Aesculapius possessed a never failing source of\ninformation on the recipes or votive tablets with which these temples\nabounded. These were sometimes engraven on pillars, as at Epidaurus; of\nwhich Pausanias says there were six remaining in his time, and besides\nthese, one in particular removed from the rest, on which it was recorded\nthat Hippolytus had sacrificed twenty horses, in return for his having\nbeen restored to life by him. Five memorials only of this kind have\nreached the present age. One of them is to be found in the beginning of\nGalen's fifth book de Compos, medic.: it is taken from the temple of\nPhthas, near Memphis, and is the least interesting of the whole. Its\nsubject is the use of the Diktamnus, borrowed from Heras of Cappadocia,\na medical writer, frequently quoted by Galen. The remaining four are\nmuch more important: they were engraven on a marble slab,[108] of later\ndate at Rome, and are thought, with much probability, to have belonged\nto the Aesculapian temple in the Insula Tiberina. The present\ntranslation, in which some errors either of the artist or copyist are\nrectified, is extracted from the first volume of Gruter's Corp.\nInscriptionum. The narrations are perspicuous and laconic.\n\n1. \"In these latter days, a certain blind man, by name Caius, had this\noracle vouchsafed to him--'that he should draw near to the altar after\nthe manner of one who could see; then walk from right to left, lay the\nfive fingers of his right hand on the altar, then raise up his hand and\nplace it on his eyes.' And behold! the multitude saw the blind man open\nhis eyes, and they rejoiced, such splendid miracles should signalize the\nreign of our Emperor Antoninus.\"\n\n2. \"To Lucius, who was so wasted away by pains in his side, that all\ndoubted of his recovery, the god gave this response: 'Approach thou the\naltar; take ashes from it, mix them up with wine and then lay thyself on\nthy sore side.' And the man recovered, and openly returned thanks to the\ngod amidst the congratulations of the people.\"\n\n3. \"To Julian who spitted blood, and was given over by every one, the\ngod granted this response: 'Draw near, take pine apples from off the\naltar, and eat them with wine for three days. And the man got well, and\ncame and gave thanks in the presence of the people.\"\n\n4. \"A blind soldier, Valerius Asper by name, received this answer from\nthe god: that he should mix the blood of a white cock with milk, make an\neye ointment therewith, and rub his eyes with it for three days. And lo!\nthe blind recovered his sight, and came, and publicly gave thanks to the\ngod.\"\n\nThe success with which the Priests of Aesculapius carried on their\nimpostures, and the popularity which their dexterous management, no less\nthan the vulgar credulity obtained for them, will cease to surprise us\non maturer consideration. It could not be a difficult task for them to\ngive the minds of their patients whatever bias was best adapted to their\npurposes. These credulous beings passed several days and nights in the\ntemple, and their imagination could not fail to be powerfully impressed\nwith what was diligently told them of the prescriptions and cures of\nAesculapius; nor to retain during their slumbers many lively impressions\nof their meditations by day; their priestly nurses too were neither so\nblind to their own interests, nor so careless of their reputations as to\nomit the prescribing of such modes of diet and medical remedies as were\ncalculated to appease their patients' sufferings. Besides which, however\ndelusive and empirical their outward ceremonials and bold pretensions\nmight have been, we should remember, that priests, having some\nacquaintance with the science of medicine, were generally selected to\nofficiate on those spots where the incubitary process[109] was the order\nof the day. To this acquaintance were added the results of daily\nexperience, and the frequent opportunities which the incessant demands\nof the infirm upon their skill afforded them of correcting previous\nerrors and improving their practical knowledge: of gradually\nascertaining the various kinds and appearances of human disorders; and\nof digesting such data as would enable them, with the least possible\nchance of failure, to prescribe the modes of cure and treatment suitable\nto the various stages and species of the applicant's maladies. With such\nmeans, it would have been not a little singular if the priests of\nAesculapius had failed in converting the popular veneration to his\ncredit and their own emolument.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[89] The Priestess of Apollo, by whom he delivered oracles. She was\ncalled Pythia from the god himself, who was styled Apollo Pythius, from\nhis slaying the serpent Python. The Priestess was to be a pure virgin.\nShe sat on the covercle or lid of a brazen vessel, mounted on a tripod,\nand thence, after a violent enthusiasm, she delivered his oracles; i.e.\nshe rehearsed a few ambiguous and obscure verses, which were taken for\noracles.\n\n[90] These words are but ill explained by the best Greek Lexicographers.\nServius ad Virg., Aen. vii. 88, says: _Incubare dicuntur proprie hic,\nqui dormiunt accipienda responsa_. Tertullian de Anima, C. 49, thence\ncalls them _Incubatores fanorum_.\n\n[91] Lib. XI. p. 108. Paris, fol. 1620.\n\n[92] Ibid. lib. XVI. p. 761.\n\n[93] De situ orbis, lib. I. cap. 1.\n\n[94] Plutarch apud Agis et Cleomen. Cicero (de Div. 1. c. 48) probably\nalludes to this oracle, when he says, that the Ephori of Sparta were\naccustomed to sleep in the temple of Pasiphae on state emergencies.\nThere was a similar oracle in the neighbourhood of Thalame, not fur from\nAetylum, sacred to Ino.\n\n[95] Strabo, lib. VI. p, 284.\n\n[96] Pausanias, 1, 35.\n\n[97] De vita Apoll. Thyan, 11. 37.\n\n[98] Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 801. Anian. Exped. Alex, vii. 6.\n\n[99] In Egypt lib. I, 25.\n\n[100] Galen de comp. Med. p. Gen v. 2.\n\n[101] Podalirius and Machaon, the two sons of Esculapius. The state of\nmedicine at the time of the Trojan war was very imperfect, as we find\nexemplified by these two acting as surgeons general to the Grecian army.\nTheir simple practice consisted chiefly in extracting darts or arrows,\nin staunching blood by some infusion of bitter herbs, and sometimes they\nadded charms or incantations; which seemed to be a poetical way of\nhinting, that frequently wounds were healed or diseases cured in a\nmanner unaccountable by any known properties they could discover either\nin the effects of their rude remedies, or in the then known powers of\nthe human body to relieve itself. In Homer's description of the wound\nwhich Ulysses, when young, received in his thigh from the tusk of an\nenraged wild boar, the infusion of blood was stopped by divine\nincantations and divine songs, and some sort of bandage which must have\nacted by pressure. If any virtue could have acted as a charm, the very\nverse that describes the wound might have as good a right to such a\nclaim as any other; but, in what manner the surgeons of ancient Greece,\nbefore the discovery of the circulation of the blood, might apply\nbandages for the purposes here mentioned, is not easily explained;\nthough doubtless these bandages must have acted like a tourniquet, which\nis now the most effectual remedy for compressing a wounded artery, and\nthereby stopping an hemorrhage.\n\n[102] Alexand. 1050.\n\n[103] Suet. Claid. c. 28.\n\n[104] Strabo. lib. xiii. Pausan. lib. ii.\n\n[105] Scholia ad Plut. v. 621\n\n[106] Aristoph, Plut act. ii, sc. 6, and iii. sc 2.\n\n[107] Luciani, oper. t. ii. ed Reitzii.\n\n[108] It is often called by antiquaries _Tabella Marmorea apud\nMaffaeos_, as it was first preserved in the collection.\n\n[109] It is somewhat singular, that Cicero's treatise on divination, as\nwell as the works of Hippocrates and Galen, should be so destitute of\ninformation on the subject of a mode of cure which was of such long\nstanding, and so universally esteemed. From the two last, one should at\nleast have expected something more satisfactory: Cos being the\nbirthplace of the one, and Pergamus of the other.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n\nON AMULETS, CHARMS, TALISMANS--PHILTERS, THEIR ORIGIN AND IMAGINARY\nEFFICACY, ETC.\n\nAmulets are certain substances worn about the neck or other parts of the\nbody, under the superstitious impression of preventing diseases, of\ncuring, or removing them.\n\nThe origin of amulets may be traced to the most remote ages of mankind.\nIn our researches to discover and fix the period when remedies were\nfirst employed for the alleviation of bodily suffering, we are soon lost\nin conjecture or involved in fable. We are unable, indeed, to reach the\nperiod in any country, when the inhabitants were destitute of medical\nresources, and even among the most uncultivated tribes we find medicine\ncherished as a blessing and practised as an art. The feelings of the\nsufferer, and the anxiety of those about him, must, in the rudest state\nof society, have incited a spirit of industry and research to procure\nease, the modification of heat and cold, of moisture and dryness; and\nthe regulation and change of diet and habit, must intuitively have\nsuggested themselves for the relief of pain; and when these resources\nfailed, charms, amulets, and incantations, were the natural expedients\nof the barbarians, ever more inclined to indulge the delusive hope of\nsuperstition than to listen to the voice of sober reason.\n\nTraces of amulets may be discovered in very early history, though Dr.\nWarburton is evidently in error when he fixes the origin of these\nmagical instruments to the age of the Ptolomies, which was not more than\nthree hundred years before Christ. This assertion is refuted by Galen,\nwho informs us the Egyptian King Nechepsus, who lived 630 years before\nChrist, had written, that a green jasper cut into the form of a dragon\nsurrounded with rays, if applied externally, would strengthen the\nstomach and organs of digestion. This opinion, moreover, is supported by\nscripture: for what were the earrings which Jacob buried under the oak\nof Sechem, as related in Genesis, but amulets. And Josephus in his\nantiquities of the Jews,[110] informs us that Solomon discovered a plant\nefficacious in the cure of epilepsy, and that he employed the aid of a\ncharm, for the purposes of assisting its virtues. The root of the herb\nwas concealed in a ring, which was applied to the nostrils of the\ndemoniac; and Josephus remarks that he saw himself a Jewish priest\npractise the art of Solomon with complete success in the presence of the\nEmperor Vespasian, his sons and the tribunes of the Roman army. From\nthis art of Solomon, exhibited through the medium of a ring or seal, we\nhave the Eastern stories which celebrate the seal of Solomon, and record\nthe potency of his sway over the various orders of demons or of genii,\nwho were supposed to be the invincible tormentors or benefactors of the\nhuman race.\n\nNor were such means confined to dark and barbarous ages. Theophrastus\npronounced Pericles to be insane in consequence of seeing him with an\namulet suspended from his neck. And in the declining era of the Roman\nEmpire, we find this superstitious custom so general that the Emperor\nCaracalla was induced to make a public edict, ordering, that no man\nshould wear any superstitious amulets about his person.\n\nAll remedies working as it were sympathetically, and plainly unequal to\nthe effect, may be termed amulets; whether used at a distance by another\nperson, or carried immediately about the patient. By the Jews, amulets\nwere called _kamea_, and by the Greeks _phylacteries_. The latins called\nthem _amuleta_ or _ligatura_; the catholics _agnus dei_, or consecrated\nrelics; and the natives of Guinea _fetishes_. Various kinds of\nsubstances are employed by different people, and which they venerate and\nsuppose capable of preserving them from danger and infection, as well as\nto remove disease when present. Plutarch says of Pericles, an Athenian\ngeneral, that when a friend come to see him, and inquired after his\nhealth he reached out his hand and shewed him his amulet; by which he\nmeant to intimate the truth of his illness, and, at the same time, the\nconfidence he placed in these popular remedies.\n\nAmulets are still prevalent in catholic countries at the present day;\nthe Spaniards and Portuguese maintain their popularity. Among the Jews\nthey are equally venerated. Indeed, there are few instances of ancient\nsuperstition some portion of which has not been preserved, and not\nunfrequently have they been adopted by men of otherwise good\nunderstanding, who plead in excuse, that they are innoxious, cost\nlittle, and if they can do no good, they can do no harm.\n\nLord Bacon, whom no one can suspect of ignorance, says, that if a man\nwear a bone ring or a planet seal, strongly believing, by that means,\nthat he might obtain his mistress, and that it would preserve him unhurt\nat sea, or in a battle, it would probably make him more active and less\ntimid; as the audacity they might inspire would conquer and bind weaker\nminds in the execution of a peculiar duty.\n\n\nAMULETS USED BY THE COMMON PEOPLE.\n\nA variety of things are worn about the person by the common people for\nthe cure of ague; and, upon whatever principle it may be accounted for,\nwhether by the imagination or a natural termination of the disease, many\nhave apparently been cured by them, where the Peruvian bark, the boasted\nspecific, had previously failed. Dr. Willis says that charms resisting\nagues have often been applied to the wrist with success. ABRACADABRA,\nwritten in a peculiar manner, that is, in the form of a cone, it is\nsaid, has cured the ague; the herb lunaria, gathered by moon-light, has,\non some high authorities, performed surprising cures. Perhaps it was\ngathered during the invocating influence of the following charm, which\nmay be found in the 12th book, chap. XIV. p. 177 of \"Scot's discovery of\nwitchcraft,\" which is headed thus:--\n\n \"_Another charme that witches use at the gathering of\n  their medicinal herbs._\"\n\n  Haile be thou holy herbe,\n  Growing in the ground.\n  And in the mount Calvaire\n  First wert thou found.\n  Thou art good for many a sore,\n  And healest many a wound,\n  In the name of sweet Jesus\n  I take thee from the ground.\n\nWe are told that Naaman was cured by dipping seven times in the river\nJordan. Certain formalities were also performed at the pool of Bethesda.\nDr. Chamberlayne's anodyne necklaces, were, for a length of time,\nobjects of the most anxious maternal solicitude, until their occult\nvirtues became lost by the reverence for them being destroyed; and those\nwhich succeeded them have long since run their race or nearly so.\n\nThe grey limewort was at one time supposed to have been a specific in\nhydrophobia--that it not only cured those labouring under this disorder,\nbut by carrying it about the person, it was reputed to possess the\nextraordinary power of preventing mad dogs from biting them. Calvert\npaid devotions to St. Hubert for the recovery of his son, who was cured\nby this means. The son also performed the necessary rites at the shrine,\nand was cured not only of the hydrophobia \"but of the worser phrensy\nwith which his father had instilled him.\" Cramp-rings were also used;\nand eelskins to this day are tied round the legs as a preventive of this\nspasmodic affection; and by laying sticks across the floor, on going to\nbed, cramp has also been prevented.\n\nNumerous are the charms and incantations used at the present day for the\nremoval of warts, many cases of which are not a little surprising. And\nwe are told by Lord Verulam, who is allowed to have been as great a\ngenius as this country ever produced, that, when he was at Paris, he had\nabove a hundred warts on his hands; and that the English ambassador's\nlady, then at court, and a woman far above superstition, removed them\nall by only rubbing them with the fat side of the rind of a piece of\nbacon, which they afterwards nailed to a post, with the fat side towards\nthe south. In five weeks, says my Lord, they were all removed. The\nfollowing are his Lordship's observations, in his own words, relative to\nthe power of amulets. After deep metaphysical observations on nature,\nand arguing in mitigation of sorcery, witchcraft, and divination,\neffects that far outstrip the belief in amulets, he observes \"We should\nnot reject all of this kind, because it is not known how far those\ncontributing to superstition, depend on natural causes. Charms have not\nthe power from contract with evil spirits, but proceed wholly from\nstrengthening the imagination: in the same manner that images and their\ninfluence, have prevailed on religion, being called from a different way\nof use and application, sigils, incantations, and spells.\"\n\n\nECCENTRICITIES, CAPRICES, AND EFFECTS, OF THE IMAGINATION.\n\nA certain writer, apologizing for the irregularities of great genii,\ndelivers himself as follows: \"The gifts of imagination bring the\nheaviest task upon, the vigilance of reason; and to bear those faculties\nwith unerring rectitude or invariable propriety, requires a degree of\nfirmness and of cool attention, which does not always attend the higher\ngifts of the mind. Yet, difficult as nature herself seems to have\nreduced the task of regularity to genius, it is the supreme consolation\nof dullness, to seize upon those excesses, which are the overflowings of\nfaculties they never enjoyed.\"[111] Are not the _gifts of imagination_\nmistaken here for the strength of passions? Doubtless, where strong\npassions accompany great parts, as perhaps they often do, the\nimagination may encrease their force and activity: but, where passions\nare calm and gentle, imagination of itself should seem to have no\nconflict but speculatively with reason. There, indeed, it wages an\neternal war; and, if not contracted and strictly regulated, it will\ncarry the patient into endless extravagancies. The term patient is here\nproperly used, because men, under the influence of imagination, are most\ntruly distempered. The degree of this distemper will be in proportion to\nthe prevalence of imagination over reason, and, according to this\nproportion, amount to more or less of the whimsical; but when reason\nshall become, as it were, extinct, and imagination govern alone, then\nthe distemper will be madness under the wildest and most fantastic\nmodes. Thus, one of those invalids, perhaps, shall be all sorrow for\nhaving been most unjustly deprived of the crown; though his vocation,\npoor man! be that of a school-master. Another, like Horace's madman, is\nall joy; and it may seem even cruelty to cure him.\n\nThe operations and caprices of the imagination are various and endless;\nand, as they cannot be reduced to regularity or system, so it is highly\nimprobable that any certain method of cure should ever be found out for\nthem. It has generally been thought, that matter of fact might most\nsuccessfully be opposed to the delusions of imagination, as being proof\nto the senses, and carrying conviction unavoidably to the understanding;\nbut we rather suspect, that the understanding or reasoning faculty, has\nlittle to do in all these cases: at least so it should seem from the two\nfollowing facts, which are by no means badly attested.\n\nFienus, in his curious little book, _de Viribus Imaginationis_, records\nfrom Donatus the case of a man, who fancied his body encreased to such a\nsize, that he durst not attempt to pass through the door of his chamber.\nThe physician believing that nothing could more effectually cure this\nerror of imagination, than to shew that the thing could actually be\ndone, caused the patient to be thrust forcibly through it: who, struck\nwith horror, and falling suddenly into agonies, complained of being\ncrushed to pieces, and expired soon after.[112]\n\nThe other case, as related by Van Swieten, in his commentaries upon\nBoerhaave, is that of a learned man, who had studied, till be fancied\nhis legs to be of glass: in consequence of which he durst not attempt to\nstir, but was constantly under anxiety about them. His maid bringing one\nday some wood to the fire, threw it carelessly down; and was severely\nreprimanded by her master, who was terrified not a little for his legs\nof glass. The surly wench, out of all patience with his megrims, as she\ncalled them, gave him a blow with a log upon the parts affected; which\nso enraged him, that he instantly rose up, and from that moment\nrecovered the use of his legs.--Was reason concerned any more here; or\nwas it not rather one blind impulse acting against another?\n\nImagination has, unquestionably, a most powerful effect upon the mind,\nand in all these miraculous cures, is by far the strongest ingredient.\nDr. Strother says, \"The influence of the mind and passions works upon\nthe mind and body in sensible operations like a medicine, and is of far\nthe greater force than exercise. The countenance betrays a good or\nwicked intention; and that good or wicked intention will produce in\ndifferent persons a strength to encounter, or a weakness to yield to the\npreponderating side.\" Dr. Brown says, \"Our looks discover our passions,\nthere being mystically in our faces certain characters, which carry in\nthem the motto of our souls, and, therefore, probably work secret\neffects in other parts.\" This idea is beautifully illustrated by Garth\nin his Dispensatory, in the following lines:--\n\n \"Thus paler looks impetuous rage proclaim,\n  And chilly virgins redden into flame.\n  See envy oft transformed in wan disguise,\n  And mirth sits gay and smiling in the eyes,\n  Oft our complexions do the soul declare,\n  And tell what passions in the features are.\n  Hence 'tis we look the wond'rous cause to find,\n  How body acts upon impassive mind.\"\n\nOn the power and pleasure of the imagination, from the pleasures and\npains it administers here below, Addison concludes that God, who knows\nall the ways of afflicting us, may so transport us hereafter with such\nbeautiful and glorious visions, or torment us with such hideous and\nghastly spectres, as might even of themselves suffice to make up the\nentire heaven or hell of any future being.\n\n\nDOCTRINE OF EFFLUVIA--MIRACULOUS CURES BY MEANS OF CHARMS, AMULETS,\nETC.\n\nDr. Willis, in his Treatise on nervous disorders, does not hesitate to\nrecommend amulets in epileptic disorders. \"Take,\" says he, \"some fresh\npeony roots, cut them into square bits, and hang them round the neck,\nchanging them as often as they dry.\" It is not improbable that the hint\nwas taken from this circumstance for the anodyne necklaces, which, some\ntime ago, were in such repute, as the Doctor, some little way further\non, prescribes the same root for the looseness, fevers, and convulsions\nof children, during the time of teething, mixed, to make it appear more\nmiraculous, with some elk's hoof.\n\nSt. Vitus's dance is said to have been cured by the afflicted person\npaying a visit to the tomb of the saint, near Ulm, every May. Indeed,\nthere is no little reason in this assertion; for exercise and change of\nair will change many obstinate diseases. The bite of the tarantula is\ncured by music; and this only by certain tunes. Turner, whose ideas are\nso extravagantly absurd, where he asserts, that the symptoms of\nhydrophobia may not appear for forty years after the bite of the dog,\nand who maintains that \"the slaver or breath of such a dog is\ninfectious;\" and that men bitten by mad dogs, will bite like dogs again,\nand die mad; although he laughs at the anodyne necklaces, argues much in\nthe same manner. It is not, indeed, so very strange that the effluvia\nfrom external medicines entering our bodies, should effect such\nconsiderable changes, when we see the efficient cause of apoplexy,\nepilepsy, hysterics, plague, and a number of other disorders, consists,\nas it were, in imperceptible vapours.--Blood-stone (Lapis Aetites)\nfastened to the arm by some secret means, is said to prevent abortion.\nSydenham, in the iliac passion, orders a live kitten to be constantly\napplied to the abdomen; others have used pigeons split alive, applied to\nthe soles of the feet, with success, in pestilential fevers and\nconvulsions. It was doubtless the impression that relief might be\nobtained by external agents, that the court of king David advised him to\nseek a young virgin, in order that a portion of the natural heat might\nbe communicated to his body, and give strength to the decay of nature.\n\"Take the heart and liver of the fish and make a smoke, and the devil\nshall smell it and flee away.\" During the plague at Marseilles, which\nBelort attributed to the larvae of worms infecting the saliva, food, and\nchyle; and which, he says, \"were hatched by the stomach, took their\npassage into the blood, at a certain size, hindering the circulation,\naffecting the juices and solid parts.\" He advised amulets of mercury to\nbe worn in bags suspended at the chest and nostrils, either as a\nsafeguard, or as means of cure; by which method, through the\n_admissiveness_ of the pores, effluvia specially destructive of all\nvenomous insects, were received into the blood. \"An illustrious prince,\"\nBelort says, \"by wearing such an amulet, escaped the small-pox.\"\n\nClognini, an Italian physician, ordered two or three drachms of crude\nmercury to be worn as a defensive against the jaundice; and also as a\npreservative against the noxious vapours of inclement seasons: \"It\nbreaks,\" he observes, \"and conquers the different figured seeds of\npestilential distempers floating in the air; or else, mixing with the\nair, kills them where hatched.\" By others, the power of mercury, in\nthese cases, has been ascribed to an elective faculty given out by the\nwarmth of the body, which draws out the contagious particles. For,\naccording to this entertained notion, all bodies are continually\nemitting effluvia, more or less, around them, and some whether they are\ninternal or external. The Bath waters, for instance, change the colour\nof silver in the pocket of those who use them. Mercury produces the same\neffect; Tartar emetic, rubbed on the pit of the stomach, produces\nvomiting. Yawning and laughing are infectious; so are fear and shame.\nThe sight of sour things, or even the idea of them, will set the teeth\non edge. Small-pox, itch, and other diseases, are contagious; if so, say\nthey, mercurial amulets bid fair to destroy the germ of some complaints\nwhen used only as an external application, either by manual attrition,\nor worn as an amulet. But medicated or not, all amulets are precarious\nand uncertain, and in the cure of diseases are, by no means, to be\ntrusted to.\n\nThe Barbary Moors, and generally throughout the Mahommedan dominions,\nthe people are strikingly attached to charms, to which, and nature, they\nleave the cure of almost every disorder; and this is the most strongly\nimpressed upon them from their belief in predestination, which,\naccording to their creed, stipulates the evil a man is to suffer, as\nwell as the length of time it is ordained he should live upon the land\nof his forefathers; consequently they imagine that any interference from\nsecondary means would avail them nothing, an opinion said to have been\nentertained by William III, but one by no means calculated for nations,\nliberty, and commerce; upon the principle that when the one was\nentrenched upon, men would probably be more sudden in their revenge, and\ndislike physic and occupation; and when actuated with religious\nenthusiasm, nothing could stand them in any service.\n\nThe opinion of an old navy surgeon,[113] on the subject, is worth\nrecording here. \"A long and intense passion on one object, whether of\npride, love, fear, anger, or envy, we see have brought on some universal\ntremors; on others, convulsions, madness, melancholy, consumption,\nhectics, or such a chronical disorder as has wasted their flesh, or\ntheir strength, as certainly as the taking in of any poisonous drugs\nwould have done. Anything frightful, sudden, or surprising, upon soft,\ntimorous natures, not only shews itself in the continuance, but produces\nsometimes very troublesome consequences--for instance, a parliamentary\nfright will make even grown men _bewray_ themselves, scare them out of\ntheir wits, turn the hair grey. Surprise removes the hooping cough;\nlooking from precipices or seeing wheels turn swiftly will give\ngiddiness. Shall then these little accidents, or the passions, (from\ncaprice or humour, perhaps,) produce those effects, and not be able to\ndo anything by amulets? No; as the spirits, in many cases, resort in\nplenty, we find where the fancy determines, giving joy and gladness to\nthe heart, strength and fleetness to the limbs, and violent\npalpitations. To amulets, under strong imagination, is carried with more\nforce to a distempered part, and, under these circumstances, its natural\npowers exert better to a discussion.\n\n\"The cures compassed in this manner,\" says our author, \"are not more\nadmirable than many of the distempers themselves. Who can apprehend by\nwhat impenetrable method the bite of a mad dog, or tarantula, can\nproduce these symptoms? The touch of a torpedo numbness? If they are\nallowed to do these, doubtless they may the other; and not by miracles,\nwhich Spinoza denies the possibility of, but by natural and regular\ncauses, though inscrutable to us. The best way, therefore, in using\namulets, must be in squaring them to the imagination of patients: let\nthe newness and surprise exceed the invention, and keep up the humour by\na long scroll of cures and vouchers; by these and such means, many\ndistempers have been cured. Quacks again, according to their boldness\nand way of addressing (velvet and infallibility particularly) command\nsuccess by striking the fancies of an audience. If a few, more sensible\nthan the rest, see the doctor's miscarriages, and are not easily gulled\nat first sight, yet, when they see a man is never ashamed, in time, jump\nin to his assistance.\"\n\nThere is much truth and pertinence in some of the above remarks, and\nthey apply nearly to the general practice of the present day. The farces\nand whims of people require often as much discrimination on the part of\nthe physician as the disease itself. Those who know best how to flatter\nsuch caprices, are frequently the best paid for their trouble. Nervous\ndiseases are always in season, and it is here that some professional\ndexterity is pardonable. Nature, when uninterrupted, will often do more\nthan art; but our inability upon all occasions to appreciate the efforts\nof nature in the cure of diseases, must always render our notion, with\nrespect to the powers faith, liable to numerous errors and deceptions.\nThere is, in fact, nothing more natural, and at the same time more\nerroneous, than to lay the cure of a disease to the door of the last\nmedicine that had been prescribed. By these means the advocates of\namulets and charms, have ever been enabled to appeal to the testimony of\nwhat they are pleased to call experience in justification of their\npretensions, and egregious superstitions; and cases which, in truth,\nought to have been classed, or rather designated, as lucky escapes, have\nbeen triumphantly pulled off as skilful cures; and thus, medicines and\nmedical practitioners, have alike received the meed of unmerited praise,\nor the stigma of unjust censure. Of all branches of human science,\nmedicine is one of the most interesting to mankind: and, accordingly as\nit is erroneously or judiciously cultivated, is evidently conducive to\nthe prejudice or welfare of the public. Of how great consequence is it,\nthen, that our endeavours should be exerted in stemming the propagation\nof errors, whether arising from ignorance, or prompted by motives of\nbase cupidity, in giving assistance to the disseminations of useful\ntruths, and to the perfection of ingenious discoveries.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[110] Lib. viii. chap. 2. 5.\n\n[111] Langhorne's Life of Mr. Collins\n\n[112] Reverii Praxis Medica, p. 188.\n\n[113] John Ailkin, author of the Navy Surgeon, 1742. Sec Demonologia, p.\n64 et seg.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n\nON TALISMANS--SOME CURIOUS, NATURAL ONES, ETC.\n\nThe Egyptian amulets are not so ancient as the Babylonian talismans, but\nin their uses they were exactly similar. Some little figures, supposed\nto have been intended as charms, have been found on several mummies,\nwhich, at various times, have been brought to Europe. Plutarch informs\nus that the soldiers wore rings, on which the representation of an\ninsect resembling our beetle, was inscribed; and we learn from Aelian,\nthat the judges had always suspended round their necks a small figure of\nTruth formed of emeralds. The superstitious belief in the virtues of\ntalismans is yet far from being extinct, the Copths, the Arabians, the\nSyrians, and, indeed, almost all the inhabitants of Asia, west of the\nGanges, whether Christians or mahometans, still use them against\npossible evils.\n\nThere is little distinction between talismans, amulets and the\ngree-grees of the Africans as regards their pretended efficacy; though\nthere is some in their external configuration. Magical figures, engraven\nor cut under superstitious observances of the characterisms and\nconfigurations of the heavens, are called talismans; to which\nastrologers, hermetical philosophers, and other adepts, attribute\nwonderful virtues, particularly that of calling down celestial\ninfluences.[114]\n\nThe talismans of the Samothracians, so famous of old, were pieces of\niron formed into certain images, and set in rings. They were reputed as\npreservatives against all kinds of evils. There were other talismans\ntaken from vegetables, and others from minerals. Three kinds of\ntalismans were usually distinguished 1st. the _astronomical_ known by\nthe signs or constellations of the heavens engraven upon them, with\nother figures, and some unintelligible characters; 2nd. the _magical_,\nbearing very extraordinary figures, with superstitious words and names\nof angels unheard of; 3rd. the _mixt_ talismans, which consist of signs\nand barbarous words; but without any superstitious ones, or names of\nangels.\n\nIt has been asserted and maintained by some Rabins, that the brazen\nserpent raised by Moses in the wilderness, for the destruction of the\nserpents that annoyed the Israelites, was properly a talisman. All the\nmiraculous things wrought by Apollonius Tyanaeus are attributed to the\nvirtue and influence of _talismans_; and that wizard, as he is called,\nis even said to be the inventor of them. Some authors take several\nRunic medals,--medals, at least, whose inscriptions are in the Runic\ncharacters,--for talismans, it being notorious that the northern\nnations, in their heathen state, were much devoted to them, M. Keder,\nhowever has shown, that the medals here spoken of are quite other things\nthan talismans.\n\nIt appears from the Evangelists[115] that, when St. Paul, after he had\nbeen shipwrecked, and escaped to the island of Malta, a viper fastened\non his hand as he was laying a bundle of sticks, he had gathered, on the\nfire; and that, by a miracle, and to the great astonishment of the\nspectators, inhabitants of the island, he not only suffered no harm, but\nalso cured, by the divine power, the chief of the island, and a great\nnumber of others, of very dangerous maladies. There remain still in that\nisland, as so many trophies gained by the Apostle over that venemous\nbeast, a great many small stones representing the eyes and tongues of\nserpents, and considered for several centuries past, as powerful amulets\nagainst different sorts of distempers and poisons. As the virtue of\nthese stones is still much boasted of by the Maltese, and as some, on\nthe contrary, maintain that they are the petrified teeth of a fish\ncalled lamia, it will not be irrelevant here to relate some observations\nfrom the best authors on this interesting subject, so much to our\npurpose.\n\nIt is said that those eyes and tongues of serpents are only found by the\nMaltese when they dig into the earth, which is whitish throughout the\nisland, or draw up stone, especially about the cave of St. Paul. This\nstone is so soft, that, like clay, it may be cut through with any sharp\ninstrument, and made to receive easily different figures, for building\nthe walls of their houses and ramparts; but, when it has been imbibed\nwith a sufficient quantity of rain or well water, it changes into a\nflint that resists the cutting of the sharpest instrument: whence the\nhouses that are built of it in the two cities, appear as hewn out of one\nsolid rock, and become harder, the more they are exposed to the\ninclemencies of the weather. This hardness may, with good reason, be\nascribed to the salt of nitre, which contracts a certain viscidity from\nthe rain wherewith it is mixed, and which easily penetrates into these\nstones, because their substance is spongy and cretaceous, and adheres to\nthe tongue as hartshorn.\n\nIt is in these stones that not only the eyes and tongues of serpents are\nfound, but also their viscera and other parts: as lungs, liver, heart,\nspleen, ribs, and so resembling life, and with such natural colours,\nthat one may well doubt whether they are the work of nature or art; the\nfigure of the eyes and tongues is very different. Some are elliptic,\nbut, for the greater part round: some represent an hemisphere, others a\nsegment, others an hyperbola. The glossopetrae are naturally of a conic\nfigure, representing acute, obtuse, regular, and irregular cones. They\nare also of different colours, especially the eyes; for some of them are\nof an ash-colour, others liver colour, some brown, others blackish; but\nthese, as most rare, are most esteemed. Bracelets are frequently made\nof them and set in gold: some representing an entire eye with a white\npupil, and these are the most beautiful. Several are likewise found of\nan orange colour.\n\nThe virtues attributed by the Maltese to those eyes and tongues, and to\nthe white earth which is found in the island, particularly in St. Paul's\ncave, and which is kept for use by the apothecaries, as the American\nbole, are very singular; for they reckon them not only a preservative\nagainst all sorts of poison, and an efficacious remedy for those who\nhave taken poison, but also good in a number of diseases. They are taken\ninternally, infused in water, wine, or in any other convenient liquor;\nor let to lie for some hours in vessels made of the white earth; or the\nwhite earth is taken itself dissolved in those liquors. The eyes set as\nprecious stones in rings, and so as to touch immediately the flesh, are\nworn by the inhabitants on the fingers; but the tongues are fastened\nabout the arm, or suspended from the neck.\n\nPaul Bucconi, a Sicilian nobleman, treated this notion of the eyes and\ntongues of serpents as a mere vulgar error; and maintains that they\neither constitute a particular species of stone produced in the earth,\nor in the stones of the island of Malta, as in their matrix; or that\nthey are nothing more than the petrified teeth of some marine fish;\nwhich is also the opinion of Fabius Columna, Nicholas Steno and other\nphysicians and anatomists.\n\nIt seems to this noble author that the glossopetrae should be classed in\nthe animal kingdom, because, being burnt, they are changed into cinders\nas bones, before they are reduced into a calx or ashes, whilst calcined\nstones are immediately reduced into a calx. He further says, that the\nroots of the glossopetrae are often found broken in different ways,\nwhich is an evident argument that they have not been produced by nature,\nin the place they are digged out of, because nature forms other fossils,\nfigured entirely in their matrix, without any hurt or mutilation. Add to\nthis, that the substance is different in different parts of the\nglossopetrae; solid at the point, less solid at the root, compact at the\nsurface, porous and fibrous in the interior: besides, the polished\nsurface, contrary to the custom of nature, which forms no stone, whether\ncommon or precious, is polished; and, lastly, the figure that varies\ndifferent ways, as well as the size, being found great, broad,\ntriangular, narrow, small, very small, pyramidal, straight, curved\nbefore, behind, to the right and to the left, in form of a saw with\nsmall teeth, furnished with great jags or notches, and frequently\nabsolutely pyramidal without notches; all these particulars favour his\nopinion. But, as he thence believes he has proved that the glossopetrae\nshould not be classed amongst stones, so also what he has said may prove\nthat they are the natural teeth of those fishes, which are called, by\nlithographers, lamia, aquila, requiem, (shark) etc. and therefore there\nscarce remains any reason for a further doubt on this head.\n\nThere are representations of curiosities, which we shall give an account\nof from the Ephemerides of the Curious. It is customary to see at\nBatavia, in the island of Java, the figure of serpents impressed on the\nshells of eggs, Andrew Cleyerus, a naturalist of considerable note,\nsays, that when he was at Batavia in 1679, he had seen himself, on the\n14th of September, an egg newly laid by a hen, of the ordinary size, but\nrepresenting very exactly, towards the summit of the other part of the\nshell, the figure of a serpent and all its parts, not only the\nlineaments of the serpent were marked on the surface, but the three\ndimensions of the body were as sensible as if they had been engraved by\nan able sculptor, or impressed on wax, plaister or some other like\nmatter. One could see very plainly the head, ears, and a cloven tongue\nstarting out of the throat; the eyes were sparkling and resplendent, and\nrepresented so perfectly the interior and exterior of the parts of the\neye, with their natural colours, that they seemed to behold with\nastonishment the eyes even of the spectators. To account for this\nphenomenon, it may be supposed that, the hen being near laying, a\nserpent presented itself to her sight, and that her imagination, struck\nthereby, impressed the figure of the serpent on the egg that was ready\nto press out of the ovarium.\n\nAn egg equally wonderful, was laid by a hen at Rome on the 14th. of\nDecember, 1680. The famous comet that appeared then on the head of\nAndromeda, with other stars, were seen represented on its shell.\nSebastian Scheffer says, that he had seen an egg with the representation\nof an eclipse on it. Signor Magliabecchi, in his letter to the academy\nof the Curious, on the 20th. of October 1682, has these words; \"Last\nmonth I had sent me from Rome, a drawing of an egg found at Tivoli, with\nthe impression of the sun and the transparent comet with a twisted\ntail.\"\n\nThere are also representations of Indian nuts, or small cocos, with the\nhead of an ape. The nut has been exactly engraved in the Ephemerides of\nthe Curious, both as to size and form, and covered with its shell, as\nexpressed there by cyphers and other figures which represent the same\nnut stripped of its covering, and exhibiting the head of an ape. This\nnut seems pretty much like the foreign fruit described by Clusius,\nExoticorum lib. a, which John Bauhin (Hist. Plant. Universal Lib. 3)\nretaining the description of Clusius, calls, \"a nut resembling the\nareca,\" and which C. Bauhin (Pinac. lib. II, sect. 6) calls, the fruit\nof the fourteenth of Palm-tree, that bears nuts, or a foreign fruit of\nthe same sort as the areca.\n\nThis fruit with its shell, is, as Clusius says, an inch and a half in\nlength, but is somewhat more than an inch thick. Its shell or\nmembraneous covering, is about the thickness of the blade of a knife,\nand outwardly of an ash colour mixed with brown. Clusius was in the\nright to say, that the shell of this nut was formed of several fibrous\nparts, but those fibres resemble rather those of the shell of a coco,\nthan the fibrous parts of the back of the areca nut. He, moreover, has\nvery properly observed, that this shell is armed, at its lower part,\nwith a double calyx and that the opposite part terminates in a point;\nbut it is necessary to observe, that this point is not formed by the\nprolongation of the shell, as the figure he has given of it seems to\nspecify; but that from the middle of the upper part of the fruit, there\njuts out a sort of small needle.\n\nThe shell being taken off, the nut is found to be hard, ligneous,\noblong, of unequal surface, furrowed, and of a chesnut yellow. One of\nits extremities is roundish, and the other, by the reunion and\nprolongation of three sorts of tubercles, terminates in a point; those\nprotuberances being so formed, that the middlemost placed between the\ntwo others, has the appearance of a nose, and the two lateral\nprotuberances resemble flat lips. On each side of that which forms what\nwe call the nose, a small hole or nook is perceived, capable of\ncontaining a pea; but does not penetrate deep, and is surrounded with\nblack filaments, sometimes like eye-brows and eyelashes, so that the nut\non that side resembles an ape or a hare.\n\nThis _lusus naturae_, or sport of nature, has a very pretty effect, but\nis oftener found in stones than other substances. A great variety of\nsuch rare and singular productions of nature may be seen at the British\nMuseum: but nothing can be more extraordinary in this respect than what\nis related concerning the agate of Pyrrhus, which represented,\nnaturally, Apollo holding a lyre, with the nine muses distinguished each\nby their attributes. In all probability, there is great exaggeration in\nthis fact, for we see nothing of the kind that comes near this\nperfection. However, it is said, that, at Pisa, in the church of St.\nJohn, there is seen, on a stone, an old hermit perfectly painted by\nnature, sitting near a rivulet, and holding a bell in his hand; and\nthat, in the temple of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, there is to be\nseen, on a white sacred marble, an image of St. John the Baptist,\ncloaked with a camel's skin, but so far defective that nature has given\nhim but one foot.\n\nThere is an instance in the Mercury of France, for July 1730, of some\ncurious sports of nature on insects. The rector of St. James at Land,\nwithin a league of Rennes, found in the month of March, 1730, in the\nchurch-yard, a species of butterfly, about two inches long, and\nhalf-an-inch broad, having on its head the figure of a death's-head, of\nthe length of one nail, and perfectly imitating those that are\nrepresented on the church ornaments which are used for the office of the\ndead. Two large wings were spotted like a pall, and the whole body\ncovered with a down, or black hair, diversified with black and yellow,\nbearing some resemblance to yellow.\n\nThese freaks of nature are equally extended to animate as to inanimate\nbodies; and the human species, as well as the brute creation, affords\nnumerous specimens, not only of redundance and deficiency in her work,\nbut a variety of other phenomena not well understood. The march of\nintellect, however, it is to be hoped, will be as successful in this\ninstance, as in obliterating the hobgoblins of astrologers and quacks\nwho so long have ruled the destiny and health of their less sagacious\nfellow-creatures;--and when the public shall become persuaded of the\nadvantages which science may derive from occurrences similar to those we\nshall enumerate in the next chapter, it will be more disposed to offer\nthem to the consideration of scientific men.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[114] The author of a book, entitled \"_Talismans justifi\u00e9s_\" pronounces\na talisman to be the seal, figure, character, or image of a heavenly\nsign, constellation or planet, engraven on a sympathetic stone, or on a\nmetal corresponding to the star, etc. in order to receive its\ninfluences.\n\n[115] Acts of the Apostles, chap. xxviii. v. 3.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n\nON THE MEDICINAL POWERS ATTRIBUTED TO MUSIC BY THE ANCIENTS.\n\nThe power of music over the human mind, as well as its influence on the\nanimal creation, has been variously attested; and its curative virtues\nhave been no less extolled by the ancients.[116] Martianus Capella assures\nus, that fevers were removed by songs, and that Asclepiades cured\ndeafness by the sound of the trumpet. Wonderful indeed! that the same\nnoise which would occasion deafness in some, should be a specific for it\nin others! It is making the viper cure its own bite. But, perhaps\nAsclepiades was the inventor of the _acousticon_, or ear-trumpet, which\nhas been thought a modern discovery; or of the speaking-trumpet, which\nis a kind of cure for distant deafness. These would be admirable proofs\nof musical power![117] We have the testimony of Plutarch, and several\nother ancient writers, that Thaletas the Cretan, delivered the\nLacedemonians from the pestilence by the sweetness of his lyre.\n\nXenocrates, as Martianus Capella further informs us, employed the sound\nof instruments in the cure of maniacs; and Apollonius Dyscolus, in his\nfabulous history (Historia Commentitia) tells us, from Theophrastus's\nTreatise upon Enthusiasm, that music is a sovereign remedy for a\ndejection of spirits, and disordered mind; and that the sound of the\nflute will cure epilepsy and the sciatic gout. Athenaeus quotes the same\npassage from Theophrastus, with this additional circumstance, that, as\nto the second of these disorders, to render the cure more certain, the\nflute should play in the Phrygian mode. But Aulus Gellius, who mentions\nthis remedy, seems to administer it in a very different manner, by\nprescribing to the flute-player a soft and gentle strain, _si modulis\nlenibus_ says he, _tibicen incinet_: for the Phrygian mode was\nremarkably vehement and furious.\n\nThis is what Coelius Aurelianus calls _loca dolentia decantare_,\nenchanting the disordered places. He even tells us how the enchantment\nis brought about upon these occasions, in saying that the pain is\nrelieved by causing a vibration of the fibres of the afflicted part.\nGalen speaks seriously of playing the flute on the suffering part, upon\nthe principle, we suppose, of a medicated vapour bath.\n\nThe sound of the flute was likewise a specific for the bite of a viper,\naccording to Theophrastus and Democritus, whose authority Aulus Gellius\ngives for his belief of the fact. But there is nothing more\nextraordinary among the virtues attributed to music by the ancients,\nthan what Aristotle relates in its supposed power of softening the\nrigour of punishment. The Tyrhenians, says he, never scourge their\nslaves, but by the sound of flutes, looking upon it as an instance of\nhumanity to give some counterpoise to pain, and thinking by such a\ndiversion to lessen the sum total of the punishment. To this account may\nbe added a passage from Jul. Pallus, by which we learn, that in the\n_triremes_, or vessels with three banks of oars, there was always a\n_tibicen_, or flute-player, not only to mark the time, or cadence for\neach stroke of the oar, but to sooth and cheer the rowers by the\nsweetness of the melody. And from this custom Quintilian took occasion\nto say, that music is the gift of nature, to enable us the more\npatiently to support toil and labour.[118]\n\nThese are the principal passages which antiquity furnishes, relative to\nthe medicinal effects of music; in considering which, reliance is placed\non the judgment of M. Burette, whose opinions will come with the more\nweight, as he had not only long made the music of the ancients his\nparticular study, but was a physician by profession. This writer, in a\ndissertation on the subject, has examined and discussed many of the\nstories above related, concerning the effects of music in the cure of\ndiseases. He allows it to be possible, and even probable, that music, by\nreiterated strokes and vibrations given to the nerves, fibres, and\nanimal spirits, may be of use in the cure of certain diseases; yet he by\nno means supposes that the music of the ancients possessed this power in\na greater degree than the modern music, but rather that a very coarse\nand vulgar music is as likely to operate effectually on such occasions\nas the most refined and perfect. The savages of America pretend to\nperform these cures by the music and jargon of their imperfect\ninstruments; and in Apulia, where the bite of the tarantula is pretended\nto be cured by music, which excites a desire to dance, it is by an\nordinary tune, very coarsely performed.[119]\n\nBaglivi refines on the doctrine of effluvia, by ascribing his cures of\nthe bite of the tarantula to the peculiar undulation any instrument or\ntune makes by its strokes in the air; which, vibrating upon the external\nparts of the patient, is communicated to the whole nervous system, and\nproduces that happy alteration in the solids and fluids which so\neffectually contributes to the cure. The contraction of the solids, he\nsays, impresses new mathematical motions and directions to the fluids;\nin one or both of which is seated all distempers, and without any other\nhelp than a continuance of faith, will alter their quality; a philosophy\nas wonderful and intricate as the nature of the poison it is intended to\nexpel; but which, however, supplies this observation, that, if the\nparticles of sound can do so much, the effluvia of amulets may do more.\n\nCredulity must be very strong in those who believe it possible for music\nto drive away the pestilence. Antiquity, however, as mentioned above,\nrelates that Thaletas, a famous lyric poet, contemporary with Solon, was\ngifted with this power; but it is impossible to render the fact\ncredible, without qualifying it by several circumstances omitted in the\nrelation. In the first place, it is certain, that this poet was received\namong the Lacedemonians during the plague, by command of an oracle: that\nby virtue of this mission, all the poetry of the hymns which he sung,\nmust have consisted of prayers and supplications, in order to avert the\nanger of the gods against the people, whom he exhorted to sacrifices,\nexpiations, purifications, and many other acts of devotion, which,\nhowever superstitious, could not fail to agitate the minds of the\nmultitude, and to produce nearly the same effects as public fasts, and,\nin catholic countries, processions, as at present, in times of danger,\nby exalting the courage, and by animating hope. The disease having,\nprobably, reached its highest pitch of malignity when the musician\narrived, must afterwards have become less contagious by degrees; till,\nat length, ceasing of itself, by the air wafting away the seeds of\ninfection, and recovering its former purity, the extirpation of the\ndisease was attributed by the people to the music of Thaletas, who had\nbeen thought the sole mediator, to whom they owed their happy\ndeliverance.\n\nThis is exactly what Plutarch means, who tells the story; and what Homer\nmeant, in attributing the curation of the plague among the Greeks, at\nthe siege of Troy, to music:\n\n  With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends,\n  The Poeans lengthen'd till the sun descends:\n  The Greeks restor'd, the grateful notes prolong;\n  Apollo listens and approves the song.[120]\n\nFor the poet in these lines seems only to say, that Apollo was rendered\nfavourable, and had delivered the Greeks from the scourge with which\nthey were attacked, in consequence of Chriseis having been restored to\nher father, and of sacrifices and offerings.\n\nM. Burette thinks it easy to conceive, that music may be really\nefficacious in relieving, if not in removing, the pains of sciatica; and\nthat independent of the greater or less skill of the musician. He\nsupposes this may be effected in two different ways: first, by\nflattering the ear, and diverting the attention; and, secondly, by\noccasioning oscillations and vibrations of the nerves, which may,\nperhaps, give motions to the humours, and remove the obstructions which\noccasion this disorder. In this manner the action of musical sounds\nupon the fibres of the brain and animal spirits, may sometimes soften\nand alleviate the sufferings of epileptics and lunatics, and calm even\nthe most violent fits of these two cruel disorders. And if antiquity\naffords examples of this power, we can oppose to them some of the same\nkind said to have been effected by music, not of the most exquisite\nsort. For not only M. Burette, but many modern philosophers, physicians,\nand anatomists, as well as ancient poets and historians, have believed,\nthat music has the power of affecting, not only the mind, but the\nnervous system, in such a manner as will give a temporary relief in\ncertain diseases, and, at length, even operate a radical cure.\n\nIn the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1707 and 1708, we meet\nwith many accounts of diseases, which, after having resisted and baffled\nall the most efficacious remedies in common use, had, at length, given\nway to the soft impressions of harmony. M. de Mairan, in the Memoirs of\nthe same Academy, 1737, reasons upon the medicinal powers of music in\nthe following manner:--\"It is from the mechanical and involuntary\nconnexion between the organ of hearing, and the consonances excited in\nthe outward air, joined to the rapid communication of the vibrations of\nthis organ to the whole nervous system, that we owe the cure of\nspasmodic disorders, and of fevers attended with a delirium and\nconvulsions, of which our Memoirs furnish many examples.\"\n\nThe late learned Dr. Branchini, professor of physic at Udine, collected\nall the passages preserved in ancient authors, relative to the medicinal\napplication of music, by Asclepiades; and it appears from this work that\nit was used as a remedy by the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and\nRomans, not only in acute, but chronical disorders. This writer gives\nseveral cases within his own knowledge, in which music has been\nefficacious; but the consideration as well as the honour of these, more\nproperly belong to _modern_ than to ancient music.\n\nMusic, of all arts, gives the most universal pleasure, and pleases\nlongest and oftenest. Infants are charmed with the melody of sounds, and\nold age is animated by enlivening notes. The Arcadian shepherds drew\npleasure from their reeds; the solitude of Achilles was cheered by his\nlyre; the English peasant delights in his pipe and tabor; the\nmellifluous notes of the flute solace many an idle hour; and the\ncharming of snakes and other venomous reptiles, by the power of music,\nis well attested among the Indians. \"Music and the sounds of\ninstruments,\" says Vigneul de Marville, \"contribute to the health of the\nbody and mind; they assist the circulation of the blood, they dissipate\nvapours, and open the vessels, so that the action of perspiration is\nfreer.\" The same author tells a story of a person of distinction, who\nassured him, that once being suddenly seized with a violent illness,\ninstead of a consultation of physicians, he immediately called a band of\nmusicians, and their violins acted so well upon his inside, that his\nbowels became perfectly in tune, and in a few hours were harmoniously\nbecalmed.\n\nFarinelli, the famous singer, was sent for to Madrid to try the effect\nof his magical voice on the king of Spain. His Majesty was absorbed in\nthe deepest melancholy; nothing could excite an emotion in him; he lived\nin a state of total oblivion of life; he sat in a darkened chamber,\nentirely given up to the most distressing kind of madness. The\nphysicians at first ordered Farinelli to sing in an outer room; and for\nthe first day or two this was done, without producing any effect on the\nroyal patient. At length it was observed, that the king, awakening from\nhis stupor, seemed to listen; on the next day tears were seen starting\nfrom his eyes: the day after he ordered the door of his chamber to be\nleft open, and at length the perturbed spirit entirely left our modern\nSaul, and the _medicinal_ music of Farinelli effected what medicine\nitself had denied.\n\n\"After food,\" says Sir William Jones,[121] \"when the operations of\ndigestion and absorption gives so much employment to the vessels, that a\ntemporary state of mental repose, especially in hot climates, must be\nfound essential to health, it seems reasonable to believe that a few\nagreeable airs, either heard or played without effort, must have all the\ngood effects of sleep, and none of its disadvantages; putting, as Milton\nsays, '_the soul in tune_' for any subsequent exertion; an experiment\noften made by myself. I have been assured by a credible witness, that\ntwo wild antelopes often used to come from their woods to the place\nwhere a more savage beast, Serajuddaulah, entertained himself with\nconcerts, and that they listened to the strains with the appearance of\npleasure, till the monster, in whose soul there was no music, shot one\nof them to display his archery.\" A learned native told Sir William Jones\nthat he had frequently seen the most venomous snakes leave their holes\nupon hearing tunes on a flute, which, as he supposed, gave them peculiar\ndelight.\n\nOf the surprising effects of music, the two following instances, with\nwhich we shall close these remarks, are related in the history of the\nRoyal Academy of Society of Paris.\n\nA famous musician, and great composer was taken ill of a fever, which\nassumed the continued form, with a gradual increase of the symptoms. On\nthe second day he fell into a very violent delirium, almost constantly\naccompanied by cries, tears, terrors, and a perpetual watchfulness. The\nthird day of his delirium one of those natural instincts, which make, as\nit is said, sick animals seek out for the herbs that are proper to their\ncase, set him upon desiring earnestly to hear a little concert in his\nchamber. His physician could hardly be prevailed upon to consent to it.\nOn hearing the first modulations, the air of his countenance became\nserene, his eyes sparkled with a joyful alacrity, his convulsions\nabsolutely ceased, he shed tears of pleasure, and was then possessed for\nmusic with a sensibility he never before had, nor after, when he was\nrecovered. He had no fever during the whole concert, but, when it was\nover, he relapsed into his former condition.\n\nThe fever and delirium were always suspended during the concert, and\nmusic was become so necessary to the patient, that at night he obliged a\nfemale relation who sometimes sat up with him, to sing and even to\ndance, and who, being much afflicted, was put to great difficulty to\ngratify him. One night, among others, he had none but his nurse to\nattend him, who could sing nothing better than some wretched country\nballads. He was satisfied to put up with that, and he even found some\nbenefit from it. At last ten days of music cured him entirely, without\nother assistance than of being let blood in the foot, which was the\nsecond bleeding that was prescribed for him, and was followed by a\ncopious evacuation.\n\nThis account was communicated to the Academy by M. Dodart, who had it\nwell authenticated.\n\nThe second instance of the extraordinary effect of music is related of a\ndancing-master of Alais, in the province of Languedoc. Being once\nover-fatigued in Carnival time by the exercise of his profession, he was\nseized with a violent fever, and on the fourth or fifth day, fell into a\nlethargy, which continued upon him for a considerable time. On\nrecovering he was attacked with a furious and mute delirium, wherein he\nmade continual efforts to jump out of bed, threatened, with a shaking\nhead and angry countenance, those who attended him, and even all that\nwere present; and he besides obstinately refused, though without\nspeaking a word, all the remedies that were presented to him. One of the\nassistants bethought himself that music perhaps might compose a\ndisordered imagination. He accordingly proposed it to his physician, who\ndid not disapprove the thought, but feared with good reason the\nridicule of the execution which might still have been infinitely\ngreater, if the patient should happen to die under the operation of such\na remedy.\n\nA friend of the dancing master, who seemed to disregard the caution of\nthe physician, and who could play on the violin, seeing that of the\npatient hanging up in the chamber, laid hold of it, and played directly\nfor him the air most familiar to him. He was cried out against more than\nthe patient who lay in bed, confined in a straight jacket; and some were\nready to make him desist; when the patient, immediately sitting up as a\nman agreeably surprised, attempted to caper with his arms in unison with\nthe music; and on his arms being held, he evinced, by the motion of his\nhead, the pleasure he felt. Sensible, however, of the effects of the\nviolin, he was suffered by degrees to yield to the movement he was\ndesirous to perform,--when, strange as it may appear, his furious fits\nabated. In short, in the space of a quarter of an hour, the patient fell\ninto a profound sleep, and a salutary crisis in the interim rescued him\nfrom all danger.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[116] Dr. Burney's History of Music.\n\n[117] It has been asserted by several moderns, that deaf people can hear\nbest in a great noise; perhaps to prove that Greek noise could do\nnothing which the modern cannot operate as effectually: and Dr. Willis\nin particular tells us of a lady who could hear only while a drum was\nbeating, in so much that her husband, the account says, hired a drummer\nas her servant, in order to enjoy the pleasures of her conversation.\n\n[118] Many of the ancients speak of music as a recipe for every kind of\nmalady, and it is probable that the Latin was _praecinere_, to charm\naway pain, _incantare_ to enchant, and our own word _incantation_, came\nfrom the medical use of song.\n\n[119] M. Burette, with Dr. Mead, Baglivi, and all the learned of their\ntime throughout Europe, seem to have entertained no doubt of this fact,\nwhich, however, philosophical and curious enquirers have since found to\nbe built upon fraud and fallacy. Vide Serrao, _della Tarantula o vero\nfalangio di Puglia._\n\n[120] Pope's translation of the Iliad, Book 1.\n\n[121] See a curious Dissertation on the musical modes of the Hindoos by\nSir W. Jones.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n\nPRESAGES, PRODIGES, PRESENTIMENTS, ETC.\n\nThe common opinion of comets being the presages of evil is an old pagan\nsuperstition, introduced and entertained among Christians by their\nprejudice for antiquity; and which Mr. Bayle says is a remnant of pagan\nsuperstition, conveyed from father to son, ever since the first\nconversion from paganism; as well because it has taken deep root in the\nminds of men, as because Christians, generally speaking, are as far gone\nin the folly of finding presages in every thing, as infidels themselves.\nIt may be easily conceived how the pagans might be brought stedfastly to\nbelieve that comets, eclipses, and thunderstorms, were the forerunners\nof calamities, when man's strong inclination for the marvellous is\nconsidered, and his insatiable curiosity for prying into future events,\nor what is to come to pass. This desire of peeping into futurity, as has\nalready been shown, has given birth to a thousand different kinds of\ndivination, all alike whimsical and impertinent, which in the hands of\nthe more expert and cunning have been made most important and\nmysterious tools. When any one has been rogue enough to think of making\na penny of the simplicity of his neighbours, and has had the ingenuity\nto invent something to amuse, the pretended faculty of foretelling\nthings to come, has always been one of the readiest projects. From hence\nalways the assumption of judiciary astrology. Those who first began to\nconsult the motions of the heavens, had no other design in view, than\nthe enriching their minds with so noble a knowledge; and as they had\ntheir genius bent on the pursuit of useful knowledge, they never dreamed\nof converting astrology or a knowledge of the stars to the purpose of\npicking the pockets of the credulous and ignorant, of whose blind side\nadvantage was taken by these sideral sages to turn them to account by\nmaking them believe that the doctrine of the stars comprehended the\nknowledge of all things that were, or are, or ever shall be; so that\nevery one, for his money, might come to them and have their fortune\ntold.\n\nThe better to gull the world, the Star-gazers assert that the heavens\nare the book in which God has written the destiny of all things; and\nthat it is only necessary to learn to read this book, which is simply\nthe construction of the stars, to be able to know the whole history of\nwhat is to come to pass. Very learned men, Origen and Plotinus among the\nrest, were let into the secret, and grew so fond of it, that the\nformer,[122] willing to support his opinion by something very solid,\ncatches at the authority of an Apocryphal book, ascribed to the\npatriarch Joseph, where Jacob is introduced speaking to his twelve sons:\n\"I have read in the register of heaven what shall happen to you and your\nchildren.\"[123] But comets were the staple commodity that turned\nprincipally to account. In compliance, however, with the impressions of\nfear which the strangeness and excessive length of these stars made upon\nmankind, the Astrologers did not hesitate to pronounce them of a malign\ntendency; and the more so when they found they had, by this means, made\nthemselves in some degree necessary, in consequence of the impatient\napplications that were made to them as from the mouth of an oracle, what\nparticular disaster such and such a comet portended.\n\nEclipses furnished more frequent occasions for the exercise of their\ntalent. From this worthy precedent of Judicial Astrology, others took\nthe hint and invented new modes of divination, such as Geomancy,\nChiromancy, Onomancy, and the like; till the world by degrees became so\noverrun with superstition, that the least trifle was converted into a\npresage or presentiment; and the more so when this kind of knowledge\nbecame the business of religion; and when the substance of divine\nworship consisted in the ordinances of Augurs who, to make themselves\nnecessary in the world, were obliged to keep up and quicken men's\napprehensions of the wrath of God, took special care to cultivate\ncomets, and bring it into a proverb, that \"so many comets so many\ncalamities.\" They knew, as Livy expresses it, that it was best to fish\nin troubled waters, where, speaking of a contagious distemper, which,\nfrom the country villages, spread over the city, occasioned by an\nextraordinary drought in the year of Rome 326, he observes how, at last,\nit infected the mind,[124] by the management of those who lived in the\nsuperstition of the people; so that nothing was to be seen or heard\nexcept some new fangled ceremony or other in every corner. \"The devil,\"\nas Bayle says, \"who had a hopeful game on't, and saw superstition the\nsurest way to get himself worshipped under the name of the false gods,\nin a hundred various ways, all criminal and abominable in the sight of\nthe sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, never failed, on the appearance\nof any rare meteor, or uncommon star, to exert his imposing arts, and\nmake idolaters believe, they were the signs of divine wrath, and that\nthey were all undone unless they appeased their gods by sacrifices of\nmen and brute beasts.\"\n\nPoliticians have also lent a helping hand to give presages a reputation,\nas an excellent scheme, either to intimidate the people, or to raise\ntheir drooping spirits. Had the Roman soldiers been free thinkers,\nDrusus, the son of Tiberius, had not been so fortunate as to quell a\ndesperate mutiny among the legions of Pannonia, who utterly refused to\nobey his commands; but an eclipse, which critically intervened, broke\ntheir refractory spirits to such a degree, that Drusus, who managed\ntheir panic fear with great dexterity and address, did what he liked\nwith them.\n\nAn eclipse of the moon put the army of Alexander the Great into such a\nconsternation, some days before the battle of Arbela, that the soldiers,\nunder the impression that heaven was against them, were very reluctant\nto advance; and their devotion turning to downright disobedience,\nAlexander commanded the Egyptian astrologers, who were the deepest\nversed in the mystery of the stars, to give their opinions of this\neclipse in the presence of all the officers of his army. Without giving\nthemselves much trouble to explain the physical cause which it was their\ninterest to conceal from the people, the wise men declared that the sun\nwas on the side of the Grecians, and the moon for the Persians; and that\nthis planet was never in an eclipse, but it threatened them with some\nmighty disaster: of this they quoted several ancient examples among the\nkings of Persia, who, after an eclipse, had always found their gods\nunpropitious in the day of battle. \"Nothing,\" says Quintus Curtius,[125]\n\"is so effectual as superstition for keeping the vulgar under. Be they\never so unruly and inconstant, if once their minds are possessed with\nthe vain visions of religion, they are all obedience to the soothsayer,\nwhatever becomes of the general.\" The answer of the Egyptian astrologers\nbeing circulated among the soldiers, restored their confidence and their\ncourage.\n\nOn another occasion Alexander, just before he passed the river\nGranicus, observing the circumstance of time, which was the month\nDesius, reckoned unfortunate to the Macedonians from all antiquity, it\nmade the soldiers melancholy; he immediately ordered this dangerous\nmonth to be called by the name of that which preceded it, well knowing\nwhat power and influence vain religious scruples have over little and\nignorant minds. He sent private orders to Aristander his chief\nsoothsayer, just offering up a sacrifice for a happy passage, to write\non the liver of the victim with a liquor prepared for that purpose, that\nthe gods had \"granted the victory to Alexander.\" The notice of this\nmiracle filled the men with invincible ardour; and now they rent the air\nwith acclamations, exclaiming that the day was their own, since the gods\nhad vouchsafed them such plain demonstrations of their favour. The\nhistory, indeed, of this mighty conqueror, affords more such examples of\nartifice, though he always affected to conquer by mere dint of bravery.\nBut what is still more extraordinary, this very hero, who palmed so\noften such tricks upon others, was himself caught in his turn, as being\nwell as exceedingly superstitious by fits. We say nothing of\nThemistocles,[126] who, in the war between Xerxes and the Athenians,\ndespairing to prevail upon his countrymen by force of reasoning to quit\ntheir city, and betake themselves to sea, set all the engines of\nreligion to work; forged oracles, and procured the priests to circulate\namong the people, that Minerva had fled from Athens, and had taken the\nway which led to the port. Philip of Macedon, whose talent lay in\nconquering his enemies by good intelligence, purchased at any price, had\nas many oracles at command as he pleased; and hence Demosthenes justly\nsuspecting too good an understanding between Philip and the Delphian\npriestess, rallied her with so much acrimony upon her partiality to that\nprince. It is equally obvious how the same reasons of state, which kept\nup the popular superstition for other prodigies, should take care to\nencourage it with regard to comets and other celestial appearances.\n\nPanegyrists have also done their parts to promote the superstition of\npresages, as well as the flattering of poets and orators. When a hero is\nto be found and extolled, they exclaim, that _all nature adores him;\nthat she exerts her utmost powers to serve him; that she mourns at his\nmisfortunes, promises him long before hand to the world; and when the\nworld, by its sins, is unworthy to possess him longer, heaven, which\ncalls him home, hangs out new lights, etc._ With this hyperbole M.\nBalzac regaled Cardinal Richelieu, adding, that _to form such a\nminister, universal nature was on the stretch; God gives him first by\npromise, and makes him the expectation of ages_. For this he was\nattacked by the critics, but he defended himself; alleging, that other\npanegyrics had gone some notes higher: he, for example, among the\nancients, who said of certain great souls that _all the orders of heaven\nwere called together to fancy a fine destiny for them_, and that\nillustrious nation who wrote that _the eternal mind was wrapt in deep\ncontemplation, and big with the vast design, when it conceived such a\ngenius as Cardinal Hippolito d'Este_. Why could not this same writer\nhave thought of one example more, such as that of the priest who told\nthe Emperor Constantine that _divine Providence, not content with\nqualifying him for the empire of the world, had formed virtues in his\nsoul, which should entitle him to reign in heaven with his only son_.\nThus have flatterers seized the most surprising natural effects to\nenhance their hero's glory, and make their court to great men. The poets\nof the time of Augustus vied with each other in persuading the world\nthat the murder of Julius Caesar was the cause of all the prodigies that\nfollowed. Horace, for instance, in one of his odes, attempts to prove\nthat the overflowings of rivers were reckoned among bad presages; and\npretends that the Tiber had not committed all those ravages, but in\ncomplaisance to his wife Ilia, who was bent on the death of his kinsman\nCaesar; and that all the other calamities which subsequently afflicted\nor threatened the Roman empire, were the consequences of his\nassassination. If Virgil may be credited,[127] the sun was so troubled at\nthe death of Caesar that it went into deep mourning, and so obscured his\nbeams, that the world was alarmed lest it never should appear again. In\nthe mean time, no sooner was the comet observed, which followed this\nmurder, than another set of flatterers pretended that it was Caesar's\nsoul received into the order of the Gods; and they dedicated a temple[128]\nto the comet, and set up the image of Caesar with a star on his\nforehead.\n\nIt appears from the sermons of the ancient fathers, that the Christians\nof that time believed they gave great relief to the moon in an eclipse,\nby raising hideous shouts to the skies, which they imagined recovered\nher out of her fainting fit, and without which she must inevitably have\nexpired. St. Ambrose, the author of the 215th sermon _de tempore_, bound\nup with those of St. Austin, and St. Eloy, Bishop of Noyon, declaim\nparticularly against this abuse. It appears also from the Homilies of\nSt. Chrysostom, St. Basil, St. Austin, and others, that the Christians\nof their days drew several kinds of presages from persons sneezing at\ncritical times; from meeting a cat, a dog, or an ill-looking (squinting)\nwoman, a maiden, one blind of an eye, or a cripple; on being caught by\nthe cloak on stepping out of a door, or from a sudden catch in one's\njoint or limb.\n\nSt. Eloy tells his people plainly, that whoever pays attention to what\nhe meets at his first going out or coming in, or to any particular\nvoice, or to the chirping of a bird, is so far a Pagan. Indeed, all\nthese, and innumerable others of the same description of superstitious\namong Christians, are remnants of ancient paganism; as they have been\ndenounced by the censures of popes, provincial councils, synodical\ndecrees, and other grave authorities. And, though there were not such a\ncloud of witnesses, there would be no difficulty in proving the disease\nof pagan origin. For, independent of those who preached the gospel of\nour Saviour, having never promulgated such notions, we learn from\nseveral ancient authorities, that the Gentiles had all these\nsuperstitions in the highest regard. It was one general opinion among\nthem, that the eclipses of the moon were the consequence of certain\nmagic words by which sorcerers could wrench her from the skies, and drag\nher near enough the earth to cast a frothy spittle on their herbs--one\nof the principal ingredients in their incantations. To rescue the moon\nfrom the supposed torture she was in, and to frustrate the charm, it was\nnecessary to prevent her from hearing the magic words, by drowning in\nnoise and hideous outcries, for which purpose the people used to\nassemble during an eclipse of the moon with _rough_ music, such as\nfrying pans, brazen vessels, old tin kettles, etc. According to Pietro\ndella Voile, the Persians keep up the same ridiculous ceremony to this\nday. It is likewise, according to Tavernier, observed in the kingdom of\nTunquin, where they imagine the moon to be, at that time, struggling\nwith a dragon. It is to the same source that we owe the imaginary raging\nheat of the dog-star--the pretended presages of several evils ascribed\nto eclipses, and all the allusions of astrology.\n\nIn a treatise written by Abogard, Bishop of Lyons, in 833, composed to\nundeceive a world of people, who were persuaded that there were\nenchanters who could command thunder, and hail, and tempest, to destroy\nthe fruits of the earth; and that they drove a great trade by this\nmystery with the people of a certain country called Magonia, who came\nonce a year, sailing in large fleets through the air, to freight with\nthe blighted corn, for which they paid down ready money to the\nenchanters. So little was this matter doubted, that one day the bishop\nhad enough to do to save three men and a woman from being stoned to\ndeath, the people insisting they had just fallen overboard from one of\nthese a\u00ebrial ships.\n\nWe do not here examine whether, in those days, the people literally were\nmore superstitious and credulous than in the days of paganism. It is\nenough to say, that they were of very easy belief; and hence men began\nto write their histories in the style of romance, mixing up a thousand\nfables with the deeds of great men, such as Roland, nephew to\nCharlemagne; which so suited the taste of the age, that no book would\nafterwards go down in any other style--witness, for instance, the Manual\nof Devotions by James de Voragine, archbishop of Genoa, composed towards\nthe latter end of the thirteenth century; and in which Melchior Canus, a\nlearned Spanish bishop, is so scandalized in his eleventh book of Common\nPlaces. Another doctor of divinity,[129] speaking of the depraved state of\nthe times, says, \"It was the error, or rather folly, of some of the\nancients, to think, that in writing the actions of illustrious men, the\nstyle must sink, unless they mixed up with it the ornaments, for so they\ncalled them, of poetical fiction, or something of this sort; and,\nconsequently, thus blended truth with fable.\" This being the prevailing\nfashion of the times, we are inclined to believe, that in the histories\nof the crusades, many apocryphal subjects are introduced, which ought,\nconsequently, to be read _cum grano salis_. This is decidedly the\nopinion of Pere Maimbourg,[130] who, after the relation of the battle of\nIconium, won by Frederick of Barbarossa, 1190, says, \"What was chiefly\nwonderful after this battle, was the conqueror's sustaining little or no\nloss, which most people ascribed to the particular protection of St.\nVictor and St. George, names oftenest invoked in the Christian army,\nwhich many of them said they saw engaging at the head of the squadrons.\nWhether in reality there might be something in it extraordinary, which\nhas often happened, as the Scriptures inform us; or whether, by often\nhearing of celestial squadrons appearing at the battle of Antioch in the\nfirst crusade, warm imaginations possessed with the belief, and\npenetrated with these ideas, formed new apparitions of their own, but\nsure it is, that one Louie Helfenstein, a gentleman of reputation, and\nfar from a visionary, affirmed to the emperor, on his oath, and on the\nvow of a pilgrim devoted to the holy sepulchre and the crusade, that _he\noften saw St. George charge at the head of the squadrons, and put the\nenemy to flight_; which was afterwards confirmed by the Turks\nthemselves, owning that they saw some troops in white charge in the\nfirst ranks in the Christian army, though there were really none of that\nlivery. No one, I know, is bound (continues P. Maimbourg) to believe\nvisions of this kind, subject for the most part to notorious illusion:\nbut I know too, that an historian is not of his own authority, to reject\nthem, especially when supported by such remarkable testimony.\n\n\"And though he be at liberty to believe or not, yet he has no regret, by\nsuppressing them, to deprive the reader of his liberty, when he meets\nwith passages of this kind, of judging as he thinks fit.\" This\nreflection (says Bayle) from so celebrated an historian, not suspected\nof favouring the Hugonot incredulity, is a strong presumption on my\nside.\n\nThe abuse of presentiments has been carried to the very Scriptures. We\nare told, that the manner of Tamerlane giving his blessing to his two\nsons, by bowing down the head of the elder, and chucking the youngest\nunder the chin, was a presage of the elevation of the latter in\nprejudice to the former, was grounded on the 48th chapter of Genesis,\nwhere Jacob is represented laying his right hand on the head of the\nyounger, forseeing by inspiration that he would be the greater of the\ntwo. Meanwhile there is a difference between the two benedictions. The\nTartar, wholly destitute of the knowledge of future events, did not\ndiversify the motion of his hands, on purpose to establish a presage;\nand God never vouchsafing this knowledge to infidels, did not guide his\nhands in a particular manner to form a presage of what should befal his\nchildren;--whereas Jacob, on the contrary, filled with the spirit of\nprophecy, whereby he saw the fortunes of his children, directed his\nwords and actions according to this knowledge; by which means both\nbecame presages.\n\nPresages, presentiments, and prodigies, might be multiplied ad\ninfinitum. Whoever reads the Roman historians will be surprised at their\nnumber, and which frequently filled the people with the most dreadful\napprehensions. It must be confessed, that some of these seem altogether\nsupernatural; while much the greater part only consist of some of the\nuncommon productions of nature, which superstition always attributed to\na superior cause, and represented as the prognostications of some\nimpending misfortunes. Of this class may be reckoned the appearance of\ntwo suns;[131] the nights illuminated by rays of light; the views of\nfighting armies; swords and spears darting through the air; showers of\nmilk, of blood, of stones, of ashes, or of fire; and the birth of\nmonsters, of children, or of beasts who had two heads; or of infants who\nhad some feature resembling those of the brute creation. These were all\ndreadful prodigies which filled the people with inexpressible\nastonishment, and the whole Roman empire with an extreme perplexity; and\nwhatever unhappy event followed, repentance was sure to be either caused\nor predicted by them.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[122] Euseb. Praep. Evang. l. 6. c. 9.\n\n[123] Legi in tabulis coeli quaecunque contingent vobis et Feliis\nvestris.\n\n[124] Nec corpora modo affecta tabo, sed animos quoque multiplex\nreligio, et pleraque externa invasit, novos ritus sacrificando\nvaticinandoque, inferentibus in domos, quibus quaestui sunt capti\nsuperstitione animi. L. 4, dec. 1.\n\n[125] Tacit, Annal. lib. 1, et ib. 4, cap. 10.\n\n[126] Plutarch in his life.\n\n[127] Georg. l. 1.\n\n[128] Suetonius in vita Caesaris.\n\n[129] Petseus, in Galfredo Monimetensi.\n\n[130] Hist. Crusade, l. 5.\n\n[131] Nothing is more easy than to account for these productions, which\nhave no relation to any events, no more than comets, that may happen to\nfollow them. The appearance of two suns has frequently happened in\nEngland, as well as in other places, and is only caused by the clouds\nbeing placed in such a situation as to reflect the image of that\nluminary; nocturnal fires, inflamed spears, fighting armies, were no\nmore than what we call aurora borealis, northern lights, or inflamed\nvapours floating in the air; showers of stones, of ashes, or of fire,\nwere no other than the effects of the eruptions of some volcano at a\nconsiderable distance. Showers of milk were only caused by some quality\nin the air condensing and giving a whitish colour to the water, etc.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n\nPHENOMENA OF METEORS, OPTIC DELUSIONS, SPECTRA, ETC.\n\nThe meteors known to the ancients were called [Greek: Lampdes Pithoi]\nBolides, Faces, Globi, etc. from particular differences in their shape\nand appearance, and sometimes under the general term of comets. In the\nPhilosophical Transactions, they are called, indiscriminately,\nfire-balls, or fiery meteors; and names of similar import have been\napplied to them in the different languages of Europe. The most material\ncircumstances observed of such meteors may be brought under the\nfollowing heads: 1. Their general appearance. 2. Their path. 3. Their\nshape or figure. 4. Their light and colour. 5. Their height. 6. The\nnoise with which they are accompanied. 7. Their fire. 8. Duration, 9.\nTheir velocity. Under these different heads meteors have been\ninvestigated by the scrutinizing of philosophy, and many superstitious\nnotions, long entertained concerning them, entirely exploded. Meteoric\nphenomena, it has been demonstrated, all proceed from one common\ncause--irregularity in the density of the atmosphere. When the\natmospheric fluid is homogenous and of equal density, the rays of light\npass without obstruction or alteration in their shape or direction; but\nwhen they enter from a rarer into a denser medium, they are refracted or\nbent out of their course; and this with greater or less effect according\nto the different degrees of density in the media, or the deviation of\nthe ray from the perpendicular. If the second medium be very dense in\nproportion, the ray will be both refracted and reflected; and the object\nfrom which it proceeds, will assume a variety of grotesque and\nextraordinary shapes, and it will sometimes appear as in a reflection\nfrom a concave mirror, dilated in size, and changed in situation.\n\nThe following striking effects are known to proceed from this simple\ncause.\n\nThe first is the mirage, seen in the desert of Africa. M. Monge, a\nmember of the National Institute, accompanied the French army into\nEgypt. In the desert, between Alexandria and Cairo, the mirage of the\nblue sky was inverted, and so mingled with the sand below, as to impart\nto the desolate and arid wilderness an appearance of the most rich and\nbeautiful country. They saw, in all directions, green islands,\nsurrounded with extensive lakes of pure and transparent water. Nothing\ncould be conceived more lovely and picturesque than this landscape. On\nthe tranquil surface of the lakes, the trees and houses, with which the\nislands were covered, were strongly reflected with vivid hues, and the\nparty hastened forward to enjoy the cool refreshments of shade and\nstream, which these populous villages preferred to them. When they\narrived, the lake, on whose bosom they floated, the trees, among whose\nfoliage they were embowered, and the people who stood on the shore\ninviting their approach, had all vanished, and nothing remained but an\nuniform and irksome desert of sand and sky, with a few naked huts and\nragged shrubs. Had they not been undeceived by their nearer approach,\nthere was not a man in the French army who would not have sworn, that\nthe visionary trees and lakes had a real existence in the midst of the\ndesert.\n\nThe same appearance precisely was observed by Dr. Clarke at Raschid, or\nRosetta. The city seemed surrounded by a beautiful sheet of water, and\nso certain was his Greek interpreter, who was acquainted with the\ncountry, of this fact, that he was quite indignant at an Arab, who\nattempted to explain to him, that it was a mere optical delusion. At\nlength, they reached Rosetta in about two hours, without meeting any\nwater; and, on looking back on the sand they had just crossed, it seemed\nto them, as if they had just waded through a vast blue lake.\n\nA similar deception takes place in northern climates. Cities,\nbattlements, houses, and all the accompaniments of populous places, are\nseen in desolate regions, where life goes out, and where human foot has\nnever trod. When approached they vanish, and nothing remains but a\nrugged rock, or a misshapen iceberg.\n\nCaptain Scoresby, in his voyage to the arctic regions, on the coast of\nEast Greenland, constantly saw those visionary cities, and gives some\nhighly curious plates of the appearances they presented. They resembled\nthe real cities seen on the coast of Holland, where towers, and\nbattlements, and spires, \"bosomed high in tufted trees,\" rise on the\nlevel horizon, and are seen floating on the surface of the sea. Among\nthe optic deceptions noticed by Captain Scoresby, was one of a very\nsingular nature. His ship had been separated by the ice, from that of\nhis father for some time; and he was looking for her every day, with\ngreat anxiety. At length, one evening, to his utter astonishment, he saw\nher suspended in the air in an inverted position, traced on the horizon\nin the clearest colours, and with the most distinct and perfect\nrepresentation. He sailed in the direction in which he saw this\nvisionary phenomenon, and actually found his father's vessel by its\nindication. He was divided from him by immense masses of icebergs, and\nat such a distance that it was quite impossible to have seen the ship in\nher actual situation, or seen her at all, if her spectrum, or image, had\nnot been thus raised several degrees above the horizon into the sky, by\nthis most extraordinary refraction, in the same manner as the sun is\noften seen, after he is known to have set, and actually sunk far below\nthe line of direct vision.\n\nThe _Fata Morgana_ are further illustrations of this optic delusion.\nThis phenomenon is seen at the Pharo of Messina, in Sicily, under\ncertain circumstances. The spectator must stand with his back to the\neast, on an elevated place behind the city, commanding a view of the\nbay, and having the mountains, like a wall, opposite to him, to darken\nthe back ground of the picture; no wind must be abroad to ruffle the\nsurface of the sea; and the waters must be pressed up by currents, as\nthey sometimes are, to a considerable height in the middle of the\nstrait, and present a slight convex surface. When all these\ncircumstances occur, as soon as the sun rises over the heights of the\nCalabrian shore, and makes an angle of 45\u00ba with the horizon, all the\nobjects on the shore at Reggio are transferred to the middle of the\nstrait, and seen distinctly on the surface of the water, forming an\nimmoveable landscape of rocks, trees, and houses, and a moveable one of\nmen, horses, and cattle; these are formed into a thousand separate\ncompartments, presenting most beautiful and ever varying pictures of\nanimate and inanimate nature, on the swelling surface of the water,\nbroken by the currents, present separate plates of convex mirrors to\nreflect them; they then as suddenly disappear, as the broad aquatic\nmirror of the current passes on.\n\nSometimes the atmosphere is so dense that the objects are seen, like\nCaptain Scoresby's ship, snatched up into the regions of the air, thirty\nor forty feet above the level of the sea; and in cloudy weather, nearer\nto the surface, bordered with vivid prismatic colours. Sometimes\ncolonades of temples and churches, with cross-crowned spires, are all\nrepresented as floating on the sea, and by a sudden change of\nrepresentation, the pillars are curved into arcades, and the crosses are\nbent into crescents, and all the edifices of the floating city undergo\nthe most extraordinary and fantastic mutations. All these images are so\ndistinct, and produce objects seemingly as palpable as they are visible,\nas sensible to touch as to sight, that the people of the country are\nfirmly persuaded of their reality. They consider the edifices as the\nenchanted palaces of the fairy Morgana, and the moving objects as living\nthings which inhabit them. Whenever the optic phenomenon occurs, they\nmeet together in crowds, with an intense curiosity, mixed with awe and\napprehension, which is not removed by an acquaintance with those natural\ncauses, by which Mr. Swinburn and other foreign travellers, who have\nwitnessed the scene, are able to account for it.\n\nThe lakes of Ireland are equally susceptible of producing those vivid\ndelusions, and the imagination of the people, as lively as that of the\nSicilians, clothes them with an equal reality. There is scarcely a loch\nin that country, in which the remains of cities have not been at various\ntimes discovered; and many men have been met with who would solemnly\nswear they saw, and who no doubt did see, representations of them in\ncertain states of the atmosphere. The most celebrated is that which\noccurs on the lake of Killarney. This romantic sheet of water is bounded\non one side by a semi-circle of rugged mountains, and on the other by a\nflat morass, and the vapour generated in the mass, and broken by the\nmountains, continually represent the most fantastic objects; and often\nthose on shore are transferred to the water, like the Fata Morgana.\n\nMany of the rocks are distinguished for their marked and lengthened\nechoes, and the structure, which in acoustics reflects sounds to the\near, from a point from whence they did not come, reflects images on the\neye, from a place very different from where the objects stood which\nproduced them. Frequently men riding along shore, are seen as if they\nwere moving across the lake, and this has given rise to the story of\nO'Donougho. This celebrated chieftain was, according to the tradition of\nthe country, endued with the gift of magic; and, on one occasion, his\nlady requested him to change his shape, that she might see a proof of\nit. He complied, on condition that she would not be terrified, as such\nan effect on her must prove fatal to him. Her mind failed her, however,\nin the experiment, and at the sight of some horrible figure he assumed,\nshe shrieked, and he disappeared through the window of his castle, which\noverhung the lake. From that time he continues an enchanted being,\ncondemned to ride a horse, shod with silver, over the surface of the\nlake, till his horse's shoes are worn out. On every May morning he is\nvisible, and crowds assemble on the shore to see him. Many affirm they\nhave seen him; and one person relates many particulars of his\napparition, that the deception must have proceeded from some real\nobject, a man riding along shore, and transferred to the middle of the\nwater, by the optic delusion of the Fata Morgana.\n\nBut perhaps the most wonderful, and apparently preternatural effect\narising from this cause, is the _spectre of the Hartz Mountains_ in\nHanover. There is one particular hill, called the Brocken, in which he\nappears, terrifying the credulous, and gratifying the curious to a very\nhigh degree. The most distinct and interesting account is given by Mr.\nHawe, who himself was a witness to it. He had climbed to the top of the\nmountain thirty times, and had been disappointed, but he persevered, and\nwas at length highly gratified. The sun rose about four o'clock in a\nserene sky, free from clouds, and its rays passed without obstruction,\nover another mountain, called the Heinschoe. About a quarter past five\nhe looked round to see if the sky was clear, and if there was any chance\nof his witnessing what he so ardently wished, when suddenly he saw the\nAchtermanshoe, a human figure of monstrous size turned towards him, and\nglaring at him. While gazing on this gigantic spectre with wonder mixed\nwith an irrepressible feeling of awe and apprehension, a sudden gust of\nwind nearly carried off his own hat, and he clapped his hand to his head\nto detain it, when to his great delight the colossal spectre did the\nsame. He then changed his body into a variety of attitudes, all which\nthe figure exactly imitated, but at length suddenly vanished without any\napparent cause, and again as suddenly appeared. He called the landlord\nof the inn, who had accompanied him, to stand beside him, and in a\nlittle time two correspondent figures, of dilated size, appeared on the\nopposite mountain. They saluted them in various ways by different\nmovements of their bodies, all which the giants returned with perfect\npoliteness, and then vanished. A traveller now joined Mr. Hawe and the\ninnkeeper, and they kept steadily looking for their aerial friends, when\nthey suddenly appeared again three in number, who all performed exactly\nthe same movements as their correspondent spectators. Having continued\nthus for some time, appearing and disappearing alternately, sometimes\nfaintly, and sometimes more distinct, they at length faded away not\nagain to return. They proved, however, that the preternatural spectre,\nwhich had so long filled the country with awe and terror, was no unreal\nbeing, still less an existence whose appearance suspended the ordinary\nlaws of God and Nature; that, on the contrary, it was the simple\nproduction of a common cause, exhibited in an unusual manner, but as\nregular an effect, and as easy to be accounted for, as the reflection of\na face in a looking glass.\n\nThis constitution of the atmosphere, and its capability of dilating\nobjects, and altering their position by reflection and refraction, will\neasily account for many phenomena which have been considered miraculous\nand preternatural in early ages, by the ignorant; and in our own, by the\nweak and superstitious. Such was probably the origin of the crosses seen\nby Constantine and Constantius in the first ages of Christianity, and\nsuch was that of the cross which appeared in the sky in France, to which\nso many bore attestation. A large cross of wood, painted red, had been\nerected beside the church, as a part of the ceremony they were\nperforming. In the winter, when the air is most frequently condensed by\ncold, and its different strata of various degrees of tenacity, on a\nclear evening after rain, when particles of humidity, still floating in\nthe air gives it greater power of reflection and refraction, when the\nsun was setting, and his horizontal beams found most favourable to\nproduce meteoric phenomena, the spectrum of this wooden cross was cast\non the concave surface of some atmospheric mirror, and so reflected\nback to the eyes of the spectators from an opposite place, retaining\nexactly the same shape and proportions, but dilated in size, and changed\nin position; and it was moreover tinged with red, the very colour of the\nobject of which it was the reflected image. This delusive appearance\ncontinued till the sun was so far sunk below the horizon, as to afford\nno more light to illumine the object, and the image ceased when the rays\nwere no longer distinctly reflected.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n\nELUCIDATION OF SOME ANCIENT PRODIGIES.\n\nMany of the prodigies recorded by the ancients, admit of a natural\nexplanation; and an attentive examination will show that a small number\nof causes, which may be discerned and developed, will serve for the\nexplanation of nearly the whole of them. There are two reasons for our\nbelieving accounts of prodigies:--\n\n1. The number and agreement of these accounts, and the confidence to\nwhich the observers and witnesses are entitled.\n\n2. The possibility of dissipating what is wonderful, by ascertaining any\none of the principal causes which might have given to a natural fact a\ntinge of the marvellous.\n\nNow, as regards the first reason, the ancients have recorded various\noccurrences: for instance, a shower of quicksilver at Rome is mentioned\nby Dion Cassius, in the year 197 of our era, and a similar event is\nrelated under the reign of Aurelian. If we attend to phenomena taking\nplace in our time, such as a shower of blood, tremendous hail stones\nweighing a pound each, and containing a stone within them; showers of\nfrogs, and other almost unaccountable occurrences, we must consign them\nto, \"the annals in which science has inserted the facts, she has\nrecognized as such, without as yet pretending to explain them.\"\n\nRespecting the second reason, the deceptive appearance which nature\nsometimes assumes, the exaggeration, almost unavoidable, by partially\ninformed observers, of the details of a phenomenon, or its duration;\nimproper, ill-understood, or badly translated expressions, figurative\nlanguage, and a practical style; erroneous explanations of emblematical\nrepresentations; apologues and allegories adopted as real facts. Such\nare the causes, which, singly or together, have frequently swollen with\nprodigious fictions the page of history; and it is by carefully removing\nthis envelope, that elucidations must be sought of what has hitherto\nbeen improperly and disdainfully rejected. A few examples will\nillustrate these several positions.\n\nThe river Adonis being impregnated, during certain seasons, with volumes\nof dust raised from the red soil of that part of Mount Libanus near\nwhich it flows, gave rise to the fable of the periodical effusion of the\nblood of Adonis. There is a rock near the Island of Corfu, which bears\nthe resemblance of a ship under sail: the ancients adapted the story to\nthe phenomenon, and recognised in it the Phenician ship, in which\nUlysses returned to his country, converted into stone by Neptune, for\nhaving carried away the slayer of his son Polyphemus. A more extensive\nacquaintance with the ocean, has shown that this appearance is not\nunique; a similar one on the coast of Patagonia, has more than once\ndeceived both French and English navigators; and rock Dunder, in the\nWest Indies, bears a resemblance, at a distance equally illusive. There\nis another recorded by Captain Hardy, in his recent travels in Mexico,\nnear the shore of California; and the \"story of the flying Dutchman,\" is\nfounded on a similar appearance at the Cape of Good Hope, connected with\na tradition which has been long current there among the Dutch colonists.\nAnother instance is afforded by the chimaera, the solution of which\nenigma, as given by Ovid, is so fully substantiated by the very\nintelligent British officer who surveyed the Caramania a few years\nsince. Scylla the sea monster, which devoured six of the rowers of\nUlysses, M. Salverte, a recent compiler on the marvellous, is tempted to\nregard as an overgrown polypus magnified by the optical power of poetry,\nthough we are disposed to give the credit to an alligator, or its mate,\na crocodile; and this occurrence is not so fictitiously represented, as\nit is supposed to be.\n\n\nMAGICAL PRETENSIONS OF CERTAIN HERBS, ETC.\n\nIn the enumeration of plants possessing magical properties, Pliny\nmentions those which, according to Pythagoras, have the property of\nconcealing water. Elsewhere, without having resource to magic, he\nassigns to hemp an analogous quality. According to him, the juice of\nthis plant poured into water becomes suddenly inspissated and\ncongealed. It is probable enough, that he indicated a species of mallow,\nthe hemp-leaved marsh-mallow, of which the mucilaginous juice produces\nthis effect to a certain point, and an effect which may also be obtained\nfrom every vegetable as rich in mucilage.\n\nOf vegetable productions, many produce intoxicating effects, such as\nberries of the night-shade,[132] scammony, and various species of fungi.\nThese unquestionably have been made subservient to demonological\npurposes, which, with the ignorant, have passed off for supernatural\nagency. The priests, to whom the little comparative learning of the dark\nages attached, knew well how to impose upon the credulous: but\nimposition was not always their object; an extent of benevolence\nprevailed which contemplated the relief of their fellow creatures\nafflicted with sickness.\n\nIt was maintained by the Egyptians that, besides the gods, there were\nmany demons which communicated with mortals, and which were often\nrendered visible by certain ceremonies and songs; that genii exercised\nan habitual and powerful influence over every particle of matter; that\nthirty-six of these beings presided over the various members of the\nhuman body; and thus, by magical incantations, it might be strengthened,\nor debilitated, afflicted with, or delivered from disease. Thus, in\nevery case of sickness, the spirit presiding over the afflicted part,\nwas first duly invoked. But the magicians did not trust solely to their\nvain invocations; they were well acquainted with the virtues of certain\nherbs, which they wisely employed in their attempts at healing. These\nherbs were greatly esteemed: such, for instance, as the _cynocephalia_,\nor, as the Egyptians themselves termed the _asyrites_,[133] which was used\nas a preventive against witchcraft; and the nepenthes which Helen\npresented in a potion to Menelaus, and which was believed to be powerful\nin banishing sadness, and in restoring the mind to its accustomed, or\neven to greater, cheerfulness, were of Egyptian growth. But whatever may\nbe the virtues of such herbs, they were used rather for their magical,\nthan for their medicinal qualities; every cure was cunningly ascribed to\nthe presiding demons, with which not a few boasted that they were, by\nmeans of their art, intimately connected.\n\nThere can be no question, as attested by the earliest records, that the\nancients were in possession of many potent remedies. Melampus of Argos,\nthe most ancient Greek physician with whom we are acquainted, is reputed\nto have cured one of the Argonauts of barrenness, by exhibiting the rust\nof iron dissolved in wine, for the space of ten days. The same physician\nused hellebore as a purgative on the daughters of King Proteus, who were\nlabouring under hypochondriasis or melancholy. Bleeding was also a\nremedy of very early origin, and said to have been first suggested by\nthe hypopotamus or sea horse, which at a certain time of the year was\nobserved to cast itself on the sea shore, and to wound itself among the\nrocks or stones, to relieve its plethora. Podalerius, on his return from\nthe Trojan war, cured the daughter of Damaethus, who had fallen from a\nheight, by bleeding her in both arms. Opium, the concrete juice of the\npoppy, was known in the earliest ages; and probably it was opium that\nHelen mixed with wine, and gave to the guests of Menelaus, under the\nexpressive name of _Nepenthe_, to drown their cares, and encrease their\nhilarity. This conjecture, in a considerable degree, is supported from\nthe fact, that Homer's Nepenthe was procured from the Egyptian Thebes,\nwhence the tincture of opium, according to the nomenclature of the\npharmacopeia about fifty years ago, and still known by this name in the\nolder writers; and, if Dr. Darwin may be credited, the Cumaean Sybil\nnever sat on the portending tripod without first swallowing a few drops\nof juice of the cherry-laurel.\n\nThere is every reason to believe that the Pagan priesthood were under\nthe influence of some narcotic preparation during the display of their\noracular power, but the effects produced would seem rather to resemble\nthose of opium, or perhaps of stramonium, than of prussic acid, which\nthe cherry-laurel water is known to contain.\n\nThe priests of the American Indians, says Monardur, whenever they were\nconsulted by the chief gentlemen, or _caciques_, as they are called,\ntook certain leaves of the tobacco, and cast them into the fire, and\nthen received the smoke thus produced by them into their mouths, which\ncaused them to fall upon the ground. After having remained in this\nposition for some time in a state of stupor, they recovered, and\ndelivered the answers, which they pretended to have received during the\nsupposed intercourse with the world of spirits.\n\nThe narcotic, or sedative influence of the garden radish, was known in\nthe earliest times. In the fables of antiquity we read, that, after the\ndeath of Adonis, Venus, to console herself, and repress her desires, lay\ndown upon a bed of lettuces. The sea onion, or squill, was administered\nby the Egyptians, in cases of dropsy, under the mystic title of the eye\nof Typhon. The practices of incision and scarification, were employed in\nthe Greek camp at the siege of Troy; and the application of spirits to\nwounds, was likewise understood; for we find Nestor applying a poultice\ncompounded of cheese, onion, and meal, mixed up with the wine of\nPramnos, to the wounds of Machaon.\n\nTo bring some inactive substance into repute, as promising some\nextraordinary, nay, wonderful medicinal properties, requires only the\nsanction of a few great names; and when once established on such a\nbasis, ingenuity, argument, and even experiment, may open their\notherwise powerful batteries in vain. In this manner all the quack\nmedicines, ever held in any estimation, got into repute. And the same\nvulgar prejudice, which induces people to retain an accustomed remedy\nupon bare assertion and presumption, either of ignorance or partiality,\nwill, in like manner, oppose the introduction of any innovation in\npractice with asperity, and not unfrequently with a quantum sufficit of\nscrutiny and abuse, unless, indeed, it be supported by authorities of\nstill greater weight and consideration.\n\nThe history of many articles of diet, as well as medicine, amply prove\nhow much their reputation and fate have depended upon some authority or\nother. Ipecacuanha had been imported into England for many years, before\nHelvetius, under the patronage of Louis XIV, succeeded in introducing it\ninto practice in France; and, to the Queen of Charles II., we are\nindebted for the introduction of that popular beverage, tea, into\nEngland. Tobacco has suffered as many variable vicissitudes in its fame\nand character. It has been successively opposed and commended by\nphysicians, condemned and praised by priests and kings, and proscribed\nand protected by governments, until, at length, this once insignificant\nproduction of a little island, has succeeded in propagating itself\nthrough every climate and country. Nor is the history of the potatoe\nless remarkable or less strikingly illustrative of the imperious\ninfluence of authority. This valuable plant, for upwards of two\ncenturies, received an unprecedented opposition from vulgar prejudice,\nwhich all the philosophy of the age was unable to dissipate, until Louis\nXIV. wore a bunch of the flowers of the potatoe, in the midst of his\ncourt, on a day of mirth and festivity. The people then, for the first\ntime, obsequiously acknowledged its utility, and began to express their\nastonishment at the apathy which had so long prevailed with regard to\nits general cultivation.\n\nAnother instance may be furnished of overbearing authority, in giving\ncelebrity to a medicine, or in depriving it of that reputation to which\nits virtues entitle it, is seen in the history of the Peruvian bark.\nThis famed medicine was imported into Spain by the Jesuits, where it\nremained seven years, before a trial was given to it. A Spanish priest\nwas the first to whom it was administered, in the year 1639, and even\nthen its use was extremely limited; and it would undoubtedly have sunk\ninto oblivion, but for the supreme power of the church of Rome, under\nwhose protecting auspices it gained a temporary triumph over the\npassions and prejudices which opposed its introduction. Pope Innocent X.\nat the intercession of the Cardinal de Lugo, who was formerly a Spanish\nJesuit, ordered the bark to be duly examined, and on the favourable\nreport, which was the result of this examination, it immediately rose\ninto high favour and celebrity.\n\nThe root of the male fern, a nostrum for the cure of the tape worm, was\nsecretly retailed by Madame Noufleur. This secret was purchased by Louis\nXV. for a considerable sum of money. It was not until this event that\nthe physicans discovered, that the same remedy had been administered in\nthe same complaint by Galen. The history of popular remedies in the cure\nof gout, is equally illustrative of this subject. The Duke of Portland's\ncelebrated powder was nothing less than the _deacintaureon_ of Caelius\nAurelianus, or the _antidotus et duobus centaurae generibus_ of Aetius,\nthe receipt for which, a friend of his grace brought with him from\nSwitzerland, into which country, in all likelihood, it had been\nintroduced by the early medical writers, who had transcribed it from the\nGreek volumes, soon after their arrival into the western part of\nEurope.[134]\n\nThe active ingredient of a no less celebrated preparation for the same\ncomplaint, the _Eau m\u00e9dicinale_ de Husson, a medicine brought into\nfashion by M. de Husson, a military officer in the service of Louis XVI\nhas been discovered to be the meadow saffron. Upon searching after and\ntrying the properties of this herb, it was observed that similar effects\nin the cure of the gout were ascribed to a certain plant, called\nhermodaclyllus, by Oribasius (an eminent physician of the 4th century)\nand Aetius, who flourished at Alexandria towards the end of the 5th\ncentury, but more particularly by Alexander of Tralles, a physician of\nAsia Minor, whose prescription consisted of hermodaclyllus, ginger,\npepper, cummin seed, aniseed, and scammony, which he says will enable\nthose who take it to walk immediately. On an inquiry being immediately\nset on foot for the discovery of this unknown plant, a specimen of it\nwas procured at Constantinople, and it actually did turn out to be a\nspecies of meadow saffron, the colchicum autumnale of Linnaeus.\n\nThe celebrated fever powder of Dr. James was evidently not his original\ncomposition, but an Italian nostrum, invented by a person of the name of\nLisle; a receipt for the preparation of which is to be found at length\nin Colborne's complete English Dispensary for the year 1756. The various\nsecret preparations of opium which have been extolled as the discovery\nof modern days, may be recognised in the works of ancient authors. The\nuse of prussic acid in the cure of consumptions, lately suggested by M.\nMagendie, at Paris, is little more than the revival of the Dutch\npractice in this disorder; for Linnaeus informs us, that distilled\nlaurel water was frequently used in the cure of pulmonary\nconsumption.[135]\n\nWe shall conclude these observations with a few remarks on what are\ntermed _patent medicines, nostrums_, or _quack medicines_, and their\nboasted pretensions in general. There is, in fact, but one state of\nperfect health, yet the deviations from this state, and the general\nspecies of diseases are almost infinite. Hence it will easily be\nunderstood, that in the classes of medical remedies, there must likewise\nhe a great variety, and that some of them are even of opposite\ntendencies. Such are both the warm and cold bath considered as medical\nremedies. Though opposite to each other in their sensible effects, each\nof them manifests its medical virtues, yet only in such a state of the\nbody as will admit of using it with advantage. From these premises, it\nis evident that an universal remedy, or one that possesses healing\npowers for the _cure of all diseases_, is, in fact, a non-entity, a mere\ndelusion, the existence of which is physically impossible, as the mere\nidea of such a thing involves a contradiction. How, for instance, can it\nhe conceived, that the same remedy should be capable of restoring the\ntone of the muscular fibres, when they are relaxed, and also have the\npower of relaxing them when they are too rigid; that it should coagulate\nthe fluids when in a state of resolution, and again attenuate them when\nthey are too viscid; that it should moderate the nerves when in a state\nof preturnatural sensibility, and likewise restore them to their proper\ndegree of irritability when they are in a contrary state.\n\nThe belief in an universal remedy has long been abandoned, even among\nthe vulgar, and long exploded in those classes of society, which are not\ninfluenced by prejudice, or tinctured with fanaticism. It is, however,\nsincerely to be regretted, that the daily press continues to be\ninundated with advertisements; and that the lower, and less informed\nclass of the community, are still imposed upon by a set of privileged\nimpostors, who frequently puzzle the intelligent to decide, whether the\nimpudence or the industry with which they endeavour to establish the\nreputation of their respective poisons, be the most prominent feature in\ntheir character. In illustration of this last observation, it may\nfurther be observed, that most of the nostrums advertised as cough\ndrops, etc., are preparations of opium, similar, but inferior, to the\nwell-known paregoric elixir of the shops, but disguised and rendered\nmore deleterious by the addition of heating and aromatic gums. The\ninjury which may be occasioned by the indiscriminate employment of such\nmedicines might be very serious and irremediable, as is well known to\nevery person possessing the smallest portion of medical knowledge. The\nboasted, though groundless pretensions of certain illiterate empirics to\ncure diseases which have eluded the skill and penetration of the\nfaculty, is another absurdity into which people of good common sense\nhave been most woefully entrapped. The lessons of experience ought to\nprove the most useful, as purchased at the greatest trouble and expense;\nbut if people choose to run over a precipice with their eyes open, they\nleave themselves nothing to regret, and the public less to lament, by\ntheir fall.\n\nIt was justly observed by the sagacious and intelligent Bacon, \"that a\nreflecting physician is not directed by the opinion which the multitude\nentertain of a favourite remedy, but that be must be guided by a sound\njudgment; and consequently, he is led to make very important\ndistinctions between those things which only by their name pass for\nmedical remedies, and others, which in reality possess healing powers.\"\nWe avail ourselves of the quotation, as it indirectly censures the\nconduct of certain medical practitioners, who do not scruple to\nrecommend what are vulgarly called patent and other quack preparations,\nthe composition of which is carefully concealed from the public. Having\nacquired their unmerited reputation by mere chance, and being supported\nby the most refined artifices, in order to delude the unwary, we are\nunable to come at the evidence of perhaps nine tenths of those who have\nexperienced their fatal effects, and who are now no longer in a\nsituation to complain.\n\nFrom universal remedies or panaceas, to nostrums and specifics, such,\nfor instance, as pretend to cure the _same_ disease in every patient, is\neasy and natural. With the latter also, impositions of a dangerous\ntendency are often practised. It may be asked how far they are\npracticably admissible, and in what cases they are wholly unavailing?\nThe answer is not difficult. In those diseases, which in every instance\ndepend upon the same cause, as in agues, the small-pox, measles, and\nmany other contagious distempers, the possibility of specifics, in a\nlimited sense, may be rationally, though hypothetically admitted. But in\neither maladies, the causes of which depend on a variety of other\nconcurrent circumstances, and the cure of which in different\nindividuals, frequently requires very opposite remedies, as in dropsy,\nvarious species of colds, the almost infinite variety of consumptions,\netc. a specific remedy is an imposition upon the common sense of\nmankind. Those who are but imperfectly acquainted with the various\ncauses from which the same disorder originates in different individuals,\ncan never entertain such a vulgar and dangerous notion. They will easily\nperceive, how much depends upon ascertaining with precision, the seat\nand cause of the complaint, before any medicine can be presented with\nsafety or advantage:--even life and death are, we are sorry to add, too\noften decided by the first steps. Different constitutions, different\nsymptoms, and stages of disease, all require more or less a separate\nconsideration. What is more natural than to place confidence in a\nremedy, which has been known to afford relief to others in the same kind\nof disposition? The patient anxiously enquires after a person who has\nbeen afflicted with the same malady; he is eager to know the remedy that\nhas been used with success; his friend or neighbour imparts to him the\nwished for intelligence; he is determined to give the medicine a fair\ntrial, and takes it with confidence. From what has been stated, it will\nnot be difficult to conceive, that if his case does not exactly\ncorrespond with that of his friend, any _chance_ remedy may prove\nextremely dangerous, if not fatal.\n\nHence it becomes evident, that the results are not to be depended upon,\nnor the chance risked. The physician is obliged to employ all his\nsagacity, supported by his own experience, as well as by that of his\npredecessors; and yet he is often under the necessity of discovering,\nfrom the progress of the disease, what he could not derive from the\nminutest research. How then can it be expected, that a novice in the art\nof healing should be more successful, when the whole of his method of\ncure is either the impulse of the moment, or the effect of his own\ncredulity? It may be therefore truly said, that life and death are\nfrequently entrusted to chance!\n\nThe late Dr. Huxham, a physician of some eminence in his day, when\nspeaking of Asclepiades, the Roman empiric, says: \"This man from a\n_declaimer_ turned _physician_, and set himself up to oppose all the\nphysicians of his time; and the novelty of the thing bore him out, as it\nfrequently doth the quacks of the present time; and ever _will while the\nmajority of the world are fools_.\" In another place, he curiously\ncontrasts the too timid practice of some regular physicians, with the\nhazardous treatment, which is the leading feature of quacks: \"The timid,\nlow, insipid practice with some, is almost as dangerous as the bold,\nunwarranted empiricism of others; time and opportunity, never to be\nregained, are often lost by the former; while with the latter, by a\n_bold push_, you are sent off the stage in a moment.\"\n\nFrom what has been said, it may confidently be asserted, that a\nuniversal remedy still remains as great a desideratum as the\nphilosopher's stone; and either can only obtain credit with the\nweak-minded, the credulous, or the fanatic. One of the most unfortunate\ncircumstances in the history of such medicines, is the insinuating and\ndangerous method, by which they are puffed into notice. And as we have\nlittle of the beneficial effects which they daily must produce, by being\npromiscuously applied, people attend only to the extraordinary\ninstances, perhaps not one in fifty, where they have afforded a\ntemporary or apparent relief. It is well known, that the more powerful\na remedy is, the more permanent and dangerous must be its effects on the\nconstitution; especially if it be introduced like many patent medicines,\nby an almost indefinite encrease of the dose. There is another\nconsideration, not apt to strike those who are unacquainted with the\nlaws of the animal economy. When it is intended to bring about any\nremarkable change in the system of an organized body, such means are\nobliged to be employed as may contribute to produce that change without\naffecting too violently the living powers, or without carrying their\naction to an improper length. Indeed, the patient may be gradually\nhabituated to almost any stimulus, but at the expence of a paralytic\nstroke on an impaired constitution. Such are among the melancholy\neffects of imposture and credulity! \"Were it possible,\" says a learned\nauthority, \"to collect all the cases of sacrifices to the mysterious\ninfatuation, it is probable that their number would exceed the enormous\nhavoc made by gunpowder or the sword.\" Another reputable writer makes\nthe following terse remark on this subject: \"As matters stand at\npresent,\" says he, \"it is easier to cheat a man out of his life, than of\na shilling: and almost impossible either to detect or punish the\noffender. Notwithstanding this, people still shut their eyes, and take\nevery thing upon trust, that is administered by any pretender to\nmedicine, without daring to ask him a reason for any part of his\nconduct. Implicit faith, every where else the object of ridicule, is\nstill sacred here.\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[132] The berries of the belladonna or deadly nightshade, produce, when\neaten, a furious madness, followed by sleep, which lasts for twenty-four\nhours. Such drugs as produce mental stupefaction, without impairing the\nphysical powers, may have given rise to the accounts of men being\ntransformed into brutes, so frequent in what are denominated the\nfabulous writers, while the evanescent but exquisite joys of an opposite\ndescription, an anticipation of what implicit obedience would ensure\nthem for ever, produced blind, furious, devoted adherents to any\nphilosophical speculator, who would venture to try so desperate an\nexperiment.\n\n[133] The Rowan tree or Mountain ash, is used by the Scottish peasantry\nwith the same view; and a small twig of it is sewed up in the cow's\ntail, to preserve the animal and its produce from the influence of\nwitches and warlocks.\n\n[134] See Pharmacologia, by Dr. Paris.\n\n[135] Vide \"Amenetates Academicae,\" vol. 4.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n\nTHE PRACTICE OF OBEAH, OR NEGRO WITCHCRAFT--CHARMS--THEIR KNOWLEDGE OP\nVEGETABLE POISONS--SECRET POISONING.\n\nObeah, a pretended sort of witchcraft, arising from a superstitious\ncredulity, prevailing among the negroes, has ever been considered as a\nmost dangerous practice, to suppress which, in our West India colonies,\nthe severest laws have been enacted. The Obeah is considered as a potent\nand most irresistible spell, withering and paralyzing, by indiscribable\nterrors and unusual sensations, the devoted victim. One negro who\ndesires to be revenged on another, and is afraid to make an open and\nmanly attack on his adversary, has usually recourse to this practice.\nLike the witches' cauldron in Macbeth, it is a combination of many\nstrange and ominous things. Earth gathered from a grave, human blood, a\npiece of wood fastened in the shape of a coffin, the feathers of the\ncarion crow, a snake or alligator's tooth, pieces of egg-shell, and\nother nameless ingredients, compose the fatal mixture. The whole of\nthese articles may not be considered as absolutely necessary to complete\nthe charm, but two or three are at least indispensable.[136]\n\nIt will of course be conceived, that the practice of OBEAH can have\nlittle effect, unless a negro is conscious that it is practised upon\nhim, or thinks so;[137] for, as the whole evil consists in the terrors of\na superstitious imagination, it is of little consequence whether it be\npractised or not, if he only imagines that it is. But if the charm fails\nto take hold of the mind of the proscribed person, another and more\ncertain expedient is resorted to--the secretly administering of poison\nto him. This saves the reputation of the sorcerer, and effects the\npurpose he had in view.\n\nAn OBEAH man or woman (for it is practised by both sexes) is a very\ndangerous person on a plantation; and the practice of it is made felony\nby law, punishable with death where poison has been administered, and\nwith transportation where only the charm has been used. But numbers\nhave, and may be swept off, by its infatuation, before the crime is\ndetected; for, strange as it may appear, so much do the negroes stand in\nawe of those _Obeah_ professors, so much do they dread their malice and\ntheir power, that, though knowing the havoc they have made, and are\nstill making, they are afraid to discover them to the whites; and,\nothers perhaps, are in league with them for sinister purposes of\nmischief and revenge.\n\nA negro, under the infatuation of Obeah, can only be cured of his\nterrors by being made a Christian: refuse him this boon, and he sinks a\nmartyr to imagined evils. A negro, in short, considers himself as no\nlonger under the influence of this sorcery when he becomes a christian.\nAnd instances are known of negroes, who, being reduced by the fatal\ninfluence of Obeah to the lowest state of dejection and debility, from\nwhich there were little hopes of recovery, have been surprisingly and\nrapidly restored to health and cheerfulness by being baptized\nchristians. The negroes believe also in apparitions, and stand in great\ndread of them, conceiving that they forbode death, or some other great\nevil, to those whom they visit; in short, that the spirits of the dead\ncome upon the earth to be revenged on those who did them evil when in\nlife. Thus we see, that not only from the remotest antiquity, but even\namong slaves and barbarians, the belief in supernatural agencies has\nbeen a popular creed, not, in fact, confined to any distant race or\ntribe of people; and, what is still more surprising, there is a singular\nand most remarkable identity in the notion or conception of their\ninfernal ministry.\n\nIn the British West Indies, the negroes of the windward coast are called\n_Mandingoes_, a name which is here taken as descriptive of a peculiar\nrace or nation. There seems reason, however, to believe, that a\n_Mandingo_ or _Mandinga_-man, is properly the same with an Obi-man. A\nlate traveller in Brazil gives us the following anecdotes of the\n_Mandinga_ and _Mandingueiro_ of the negroes in that country. \"One day,\"\nsays Mr. Koster, \"the old man (a negro named Apollinario) came to me\nwith a face of dismay, to show me a ball of leaves, tied up with a plant\ncalled _cypo_, which he had found under a couple of boards, upon which\nhe slept, in an out-house. The ball was about the size of an apple. I\ncould not imagine what had caused his alarm, until he said that it was\n_Mandinga_ which had been set for the purpose of killing him; and he\nbitterly bewailed his fate, that at his age, any one should wish to\nhasten his death, and to carry him from this world, before our lady\nthought fit to send him. I knew that two of the black women were at\nvariance, and suspicion fell upon one of them, who was acquainted with\nthe old _Mandingueiro_ of Engenho Velho; therefore she was sent for. I\njudged that the _Mandinga_ was not set for Apollonario, but for the\nnegress whose business it was to sweep the out-house. I threatened to\nconfine the suspected woman at Gara unless she discovered the whole\naffair. She said the Mandinga was placed there to make one of the\nnegresses dislike her fellow-slaves, and prefer her to the other. The\nball of _Mandinga_ was formed of five or six kinds of leaves of trees,\namong which was the pomegranate leaf; there were likewise two or three\nbits of rag, each of a peculiar kind; ashes, which were the bones of\nsome animals; and there might be other ingredients besides, but these\nwere what I could recognize. This woman either could not from ignorance,\nor would not give any information respecting the several things of which\nthe ball was composed. I made this serious matter of the _Mandinga_,\nfrom knowing the faith which not only many of the negroes have in it,\nbut also some of the mulatto people. There is another name for this kind\nof charm; it is called _feiti\u00e7o_, and the initiated are called\n_feiti\u00e7eros_; of these there was formerly one at the plantation of St.\nJoam, who became so much dreaded, that his master sold him to be sent to\nMaranham.\"\n\nSpeaking of the green-beads (_contas verdas_) which are another object\nof superstition in South America, and of the reliance placed upon them\nby the Valentoens, a lawless description of persons among the colonists\nof Brazil; the same author gives us this further view of the\n_Mandingueiros_ and their charms. \"These men,\" says he, \"wore on their\nnecks strings of green beads, which had either come from the coast of\nAfrica, bearing the wonderful property of conveying in safety their\npossessors through all descriptions of perils, or were charmed by the\nMandingueiros, African sorcerers, who had been brought over to the\nBrazils as slaves, and in secret continued the prohibited practice of\nimparting this virtue to them. Vincente had been acquainted with some of\nthe men, and was firmly persuaded of the virtues of the green beads.\nWhen I expressed my doubts of the efficacy of the beads, against a\nmusket ball well directed, his anger rose; but there was pity mingled\nwith it.\"\n\nLabat brings these stones from the Orellana, or river of the Amazons. \"I\nwas informed,\" says our author, \"that _Contas verdas_ came from Africa;\nbut some have found their way from the Orellana, and been put into\nrequisition by the _Mandingueiros_.\" Mr. Southey has also given an\naccount of the \"green stones of the Amazons,\" in his history of Brazil,\nvol. 1. p. 107.\n\nIn another place, some traveller presents us with the _Mandingueiros_ in\nthe new character of charmer of snakes. \"The Mandingueiros are famous,\namong other feats, for handling poisonous snakes, and can, by particular\nnoises or tunes, call those reptiles from their holes, and make them\nassemble around them. These sorcerers profess to render innoxious the\nbites of snakes, to persons who submit to their charms and ceremonies.\nOne of the modes which is adopted for this purpose, is that of allowing\na tame snake to crawl over the head, face, and shoulders of the person\nwho is to be _curado do cobras_, cured of snakes, as they term it. The\nowner of the snake repeats a certain number of words during the\noperation, of which, the meaning, if they contain any, is only known to\nthe initiated. The rattle-snake is said to be, above all other species,\nthe most susceptible of attention to the tunes of the Mandingueiros.\"\nThe above accounts I should not have related upon the authority of one\nor two authors, I have heard them repeated by several individuals, and\neven some men of education have spoken of the reputed efficacy of the\ntame snakes of the Mandingueiros, as if they were somewhat staggered in\ntheir belief of it. \"These men do certainly play strange tricks and very\ndexterously.\" The same writer also observes, \"One of the negroes whom I\nhad hired with the plantation of Jaguaribi, had one leg much thicker\nthan the other. This was occasioned, as he told me, by the bite of a\nrattlesnake; he said he had been _cured_ from the bites of snakes by a\ncertain _curador de cobra_, or Mandingueiro, and had therefore not died;\nbut that as the 'moon was strong,' he had not escaped receiving some\ninjury from the bite.\"\n\nBeaver, in his African Memoranda, says, \"There is another sort of people\nwho travel about in the country, called Mandingo-men, (these are\nMahommedans;) they do not work; they go from place to place, and when\nthey find any chiefs or people, whom they think they can make anything\nof, they take up their abode sometime with them, and make _gree-grees_,\nand sometimes cast seed from them for which they make them pay.\"\n\nOn this, and other occasion, the word _gree-gree_ is applied to a house\nwhence oracles are delivered: but it is also used for a charm or obi.\n\"They themselves,\" (the natives of the coast) says the author, last\nquoted, \"always wear _gree-grees_, or charms, which they purchase of the\n_Mandingoes_, to guard them against the effects of certain arms, or of\npoison, and on which they place the utmost reliance. They have one\nagainst poison; another against a musket; another against a sword; and\nanother against a knife; and, indeed, against almost every thing that\nthey think can hurt them. Mandingo priest, or _gris gris_ merchant, that\nis, a seller of charms, which carried about a person, secure the wearer\nfrom any evils,--such as poison, murder, witchcraft, etc. To this priest\nI had made some handsome presents, and he, in return, gave me twelve\ngris gris, and assured me that they would inevitably secure me from all\ndanger, at the same time he gave me directions how to dispose of them.\nSome were to be carried about my person; one secretly placed over each\narchway; another kept under my pillow, and another under the door of the\nhouse I was then building.\" The Byugas hold these people in great\nreverence, and say that they 'talk with God.'\n\nMr. Long, in his history of the West Indies, states that, under the\ngeneral name of Obi-men is also included the class of _Myal_ men, or\nthose who, by means of a narcotic poison, made with the juice of an herb\n(said to be the branched Calalue, a species of solanum) which occasions\na trance of a certain duration, endeavour to convince the deluded\nspectators of their power to reanimate dead bodies.\n\nAdditional particulars of this superstition preserved by Labat,\nEdwards, and others, are to be joined with those now produced;[138] but\nafter all, the questions to be solved are, whether Obi, Mandinga, and\n_gree gree_, are usually words of similar import, and whether those who\nare conversant in them are all alike, priests of one system of religious\nfaith and worship, or whether the one does not belong to the worship of\na good power, and the other to that of an evil one.\n\nIt is remarkable, that while the Etymology of _Obi_ has been sought in\nthe names of ancient deities of Egypt, and in that of the serpent in the\nlanguage of the coast, the actual name of the evil deity or _Devil_, in\nthe same language, appears to have escaped attention. That name is\nwritten by Mr. Edwards, _Obboney_; and the bearer of it is described as\na malicious deity, the author of all evil, the inflictor of perpetual\ndiseases, and whose anger is to be appeased only by human sacrifices.\nThis evil deity is the Satan of our own faith; and it is the worship of\nSatan which, in all parts of the world constitutes the essence of\nsorcery.\n\nIf this name of _Obboney_ has any relation to the Ob of Egypt, and if\nthe Ob, both anciently in Egypt, and to this day in the west of Africa,\nsignifies \"a serpent,\" what does this discover to our view, but that\nSatan has the name of _serpent_ among the Negro nations as well as among\nthose of Europe? As to how it has happened that the serpent, which, in\nsome systems, is the emblem of the good spirit, is in others the emblem\nof the evil one, that is a topic which belongs to a more extensive\nenquiry. This is enough for our present satisfaction to remember that\nthe profession of, and belief in sorcery or witchcraft, supposes the\nexistence of two deities, the one, the author of good, and the other the\nauthor of evil; the one worshipped by good men for good things, and for\ngood purposes: and the other by bad men for bad things and purposes; and\nthat this worship is sorcery and the worshippers sorcerers.\n\nIt will be seen above, that since African charms are to prevent evil,\nand others to procure it, the first belong to the worship, and are\nderived from the power, of the good spirit; and the second are from the\nopposite source. It is to be concluded, then, that the superstition of\n_Obi_ is no other than the practice of, and belief in the worship of\n_Obboney_ or _Oboni_, the evil deity of the Africans, the serpent of\nAfrica and of Europe, and the old serpent and Satan of the scriptures;\nand that the witchcraft of the negroes is evidently the same with our\nown. It might indeed be further shown, that the latter have their\ntemporary transformations of men into alligators, wolves, and the like,\nas the French have their loups-garoux, the Germans their war-wolves,\nwolf-men, and the rest.[139]\n\nThe negroes practising obeah are acquainted with some very powerful\nvegetable poisons, which they use on these occasions, and by which they\nacquire much extensive credit. Their fetiches are their household gods,\nor domestic divinities; one of whom is supposed to preside over a whole\nprovince, and one over every family. This idol is a tree, the head of an\nape, a bird, or any such thing, as their fancy may suggest. The negroes\nhave long been held famous in the act of secret or slow poisoning.\n\nIf doubts and difficulties envelope the discovery of poisons, whose\ndistinguishing character is the rapidity of these effects, how much\ngreater must be the uncertainty when we are required to ascertain the\nadministrations of what are called slow poisons. This subject, indeed,\nis so closely entwined with popular superstitions, that it is difficult\nto separate truth from falsehood. In Italy, for example, it was formerly\nsaid, that poisons were made to destroy life at any stated period--from\na few hows to a year. This, however, turns out to be a mere fiction;\nand, it is well understood, that we know of no substances that will\nproduce death at a determinate epoch. The following case of the late\nPrince Charles of Augustenburgh, nevertheless, shows that the idea of\nslow poison is still very prevalent, even among the physicians of\ncontinental Europe.\n\nPrince Charles of Augustenburgh, Crown Prince of Sweden, and the\npredecessor of Bernadotte, in that station, fell dead from his horse on\nthe 22nd of May, 1810, while reviewing troops in Scania. His death,\nduring that stormy period of public affairs, excited great attention,\nand an opinion soon spread abroad that he had been poisoned. The king\nordered a judicial investigation; and it appeared that Dr. Rossi, the\nphysician of the late Prince, had, without directions, proceeded to\ninspect the body twenty-four hours after death; that he had performed\nthis operation with great negligence, omitting many things which the law\npresented, which the assisting physicians proposed, and which were\nessential to render it satisfactory; and finally, that the coats of the\nstomach, instead of being preserved and submitted to chemical analysis\nwere, according to his own acknowledgment, thrown away. The royal\ntribunal adjudged him to be deprived of his appointment, and to be\nbanished from the kingdom. This decision would not of course, diminish\nthe suspicion already excited; and among other physicians, who were\nconsulted on the case, M. Lodin, professor of Medicine at Lynkoping,\npresented two memoirs, in which he stated it as his opinion, that a\n_slow poison_ of a vegetable nature, and probably analogous to the _aqua\ntofania_, had been administered to the Prince, and that this had caused\nthe apopletic fit of which he died. His reasons were:\n\n1. That the Prince had always enjoyed good health previous to his\narrival in Sweden, and, indeed, had not been ill, until after eating a\ncold pie at an inn, in Italy. He was shortly after seized with violent\nvomiting, while the rest of the company experienced no ill effects.\n\n2. The Prince was naturally very temperate.\n\n3. Ever since he arrived in Sweden he had experienced a loss of\nappetite, with cholic and diarrhoea; and\n\n4. That on dissection, the spleen was found of a black colour and in a\nstate of decomposition, and the liver indurated and dark coloured.\nWhilst during life he had experienced no symptoms corresponding to these\nappearances. Dr. Lodin confessed, however, that he was unacquainted with\nthe effects that indicate the administration of a slow poison, but\nthought the previous symptoms were such as might be expected from it.\n\nFor the credit of the profession, this conjectural opinion met with\ndecided reprobation from other medical men. It appeared that the Prince\nhad, for several days previously, been subject to giddiness and pain in\nthe head, and that all the symptoms were readily referable to a simple\ncase of apoplexy, while the appearances on dissection showed that rapid\ntendency to putrefaction, which is frequently observed in similar cases.\n\nThe public are highly indebted to professor Beckman for a very elaborate\narticle, in which he has concentrated nearly all that is known\nconcerning _secret poisoning_. Of this we shall here present our readers\nwith an abstract, as peculiarly adapted to the demonology of medicine,\naided with some facts from other sources.\n\nProfessor Beckman considers it unquestionable, that the ancients were\nacquainted with this kind of poison, and thinks that it may be proved\nfrom the testimony of Plutarch, Quintilian, and other respectable\nauthors. The former states that a slow poison, which occasioned heat, a\ncough, spitting of blood, a consumption, and weakness of intellect, was\nadministered to Aratus of Sicyon. Theophrastus speaks of a poison\nprepared from aconite, which could be moderated in such a manner as to\nhave effect in two or three months, or at the end of a year or two\nyears; and he also relates, that Thrasyas had discovered a method of\npreparing from other plants a poison which, given in small doses,\noccasioned a certain but easy death, without any pain, and which could\nbe kept back for a long time without causing weakness or corruption. The\nlast poison was much used at Rome, about two hundred years before the\nchristian era. At a later period, a female named Locusta, was the agent\nin preparing these poisons, and she destroyed, in this way, at the\ninstigation of Nero, Britannicus, son of Agrippina.\n\nThe Carthagenians seem also to have been acquainted with this act of\ndiabolical poisoning; and they are said, on the authority of Aulus\nGellius, to have administered some to Regulus, the Roman general.\nContemporary writers, however, it must be added, do not mention this.\n\nThe principal poisons known to the ancients were prepared from plants,\nand particularly aconite, hemlock, and poppy, or from animal substances;\nand among the latter none is more remarkable than that obtained from the\nsea-hare (_Lepus marinus_ or _Apylsia depilans_ of the system of\nnature). With this, Titus is said to have been dispatched by Domitian.\nThey do not seem to have been acquainted with the common mineral\npoisons.\n\nIn the year 1659, during the pontificate of Alexander VII, it was\nobserved at Rome, that many young women became widows, and that many\nhusbands died when they became disagreeable to their wives. The\ngovernment used great vigilance to detect the poisoners, and suspicion\nat length fell upon a society of young wives, whose president appeared\nto be an old woman, who pretended to foretel future events, and who had\noften predicted very exactly the death of many persons. By means of a\ncrafty female their practices were detected; the whole society were\narrested and put to the torture, and the old woman, whose name was\nSpara, and four others, were publicly hanged. This Spara was a Sicilian,\nand is said to have acquired her knowledge from Tofania at Palermo.\n\nTophania, or Tofania, was an infamous woman, who resided first at\nPalermo and afterwards at Naples. She sold the poison which from her\nacquired the name of Aqua della Toffana (it was also called _Acquetta di\nNapoli_, or _Acquetta_ alone), but she distributed her preparation by\nway of charity to such wives as wished to have other husbands. From four\nto six drops were sufficient to destroy a man; and it was asserted, that\nthe dose could be so proportioned as to operate in a certain time. Labat\nsays, that Tofania distributed her poison in small glass phials, with\nthis inscription--_Manna of St. Nicholas of Bavi_, and ornamented with\nthe image of the saint. She lived to a great age, but was at last\ndragged from a monastery, in which she had taken refuge, and put to the\ntorture, when she confessed her crimes and was strangled.\n\nIn no country, however, has the art of poisoning excited more attention\nthan it did in France, about the year 1670. Margaret d'Aubray, wife of\nthe Marquis de Brinvillier, was the principal agent in this horrible\nbusiness. A needy adventurer, named Godin de St. Croix, had formed an\nacquaintance with the Marquis during their campaigns in the\nNetherlands--became at Paris a constant visitor at his house, where in a\nshort time he found means to insinuate himself into the good graces of\nthe Marchioness. It was not long before this Marquis died; not, however,\nuntil their joint fortune was dissipated. Her conduct, in openly\ncarrying on this amour, induced her father to have St. Croix arrested\nand sent to the Bastile. Here he got acquainted with an Italian, of the\nname of Exili, from whom he learnt the art of preparing poisons.\n\nAfter a year's imprisonment St. Croix was released, when he flew to the\nMarchioness and instructed her in the art, in order that she might\nemploy it in bettering the circumstances of both. She assumed the\nappearance of a nun, distributed food to the poor, nursed the sick in\nthe H\u00f4tel Dieu, and tried the strength of her poisons, undetected, on\nthese hapless wretches. She bribed one Chauss\u00e9e, St. Croix's servant, to\npoison her own father, after introducing him into his service, and also\nher brother, and endeavoured to poison her sister. A suspicion arose\nthat they had been poisoned, and the bodies were opened, but no\ndetection followed at this time. Their villainous practices were brought\nto light in the following manner:--St. Croix, when preparing poison, was\naccustomed to wear a glass mask; but, as this happened once to drop off\nby accident, he was suffocated and found dead in his laboratory.\nGovernment caused the effects of this man, who had no family, to be\nexamined, and a list of them to be made out. On searching them, there\nwas found a small box, to which St. Croix had affixed a written paper\ncontaining a request, that after his death \"it might be delivered to the\nMarchioness de Brinvillier, who resides in the street Neuve St. Paul, as\nevery thing it contains concerns her, and belongs to her alone; and as,\nbesides, there is nothing in it that can be of use to any person except\nher; and in case she shall be dead before me, to burn it, and every\nthing it contains; without opening or altering any thing; and in order\nthat no one may plead ignorance, I swear by God, whom I adore, and all\nthat is most sacred, that I advance nothing but what is true. And if my\nintentions, just and reasonable as they are, be thwarted in this point,\nI charge their consciences with it, both in this world and the next, in\norder that I may unload mine, protesting that this is my last will. Done\nat Paris, this 25th May, in the afternoon, 1672. _De Sainte Croix_\"\n\nNothing could he a greater inducement to have it opened, than this\nsingular petition, and that being done, there was found in it a great\nabundance of poisons of every kind, with labels, on which their effects\nproved, by experiments on animals, were marked. The principal poison,\nhowever, was corrosive sublimate. When the Marchioness heard of the\ndeath of her lover and instructor, she was desirous to have the casket,\nand endeavoured to get possession of it by bribing the officers of\njustice; but as she failed in this, she quitted the kingdom. La\nChauss\u00e9e, however, continued at Paris, laid claim to the property of St.\nCroix, was seized and imprisoned, confessed more acts of villainy than\nwas suspected, and was in consequence broke alive upon the wheel, in\n1673,--The Marchioness fled to England, and from thence to Liege, where\nshe took refuge in a convent. Desgrais, an officer of justice, was\ndispatched in pursuit of her, and having assumed the dress of an Abb\u00e9,\ncontrived to entice her from this privileged place. Among her effects at\nthe convent there was found a confession, and a complete catalogue of\nall her crimes, in her own hand-writing. She was taken to Paris,\nconvicted, and on the 16th of July, 1676, publicly beheaded, and\nafterwards burnt.\n\nThe practice of poisoning was not, however, suppressed by this\nexecution, and it was asserted, that confessions of a suspicious nature\nwere constantly made to the priests. A court for watching, searching\nafter, and punishing prisoners was at length established in 1697, under\nthe title of _chambre de poison_, or _chambre ardente_. This was shortly\nused as a state engine, against those who were obnoxious to the court,\nand the names of individuals of the first rank, both male and female,\nwere prejudiced. Two females, la Vigreux and la Voison were burnt alive,\nby order of this court, in February, 1680. But it was abolished in the\nsame year.\n\nProfessor Beckman relates the following, as communicated to him by\nLinnaeus: \"Charles XI, King of Sweden, having ruined several noble\nfamilies by seizing on their property, and having, after that, made a\njourney to Torneo, he fell into a consumptive disorder, which no\nmedicine could cure. One day he asked his physician in a very earnest\nmanner what was the cause of his illness. The physician replied, 'Your\nMajesty has been loaded with too many maledictions.'--'Yes,' returned\nthe king, 'I wish to God that the reduction of the nobilities' estates\nhad not taken place, and that I had never undertaken a journey to\nTorneo.' After his death his intestines were found to be full of small\nulcers.\"\n\nThere has been a great diversity of opinions as to the nature of these\npoisons. That prepared by Tofania appears to have been a clear insipid\nwater, and the sale of aqua fortis was for a long time forbidden in\nRome, because it was considered the principal ingredient. This, however,\nis not probable.\n\nIn Paris, the famous _poudre de succession_ (also a secret poison) was\nat one time supposed to consist of diamond dust, powdered exceedingly\nfine; and at another time, to contain sugar of lead as the principal\ningredient. Haller was of this last opinion. In the casket of St. Croix\nwere found sublimate, opium, regulus of antimony, vitriol, and a large\nquantity of poison ready prepared, the principal ingredients of which\nthe physicians were not able to detect. Garelli, physician to Charles\nVI, King of the Two Sicilies, at the time when Tofania was arrested,\nwrote to the celebrated Hoffman, that the Aqua Tofania was nothing else\nthan crystallized arsenic, dissolved in a large quantity of water by\ndecoction, with the addition, (but for what purpose we know not) of the\nherb _Cymbalaria_, (probably the _Antirrhinum Cymbalaria_). And this\ninformation he observes, was communicated to him by his imperial majesty\nhimself, to whom the judicial procedure, confirmed by the confession of\nthe criminal, was transmitted. But it was objected to this opinion, that\nit differed from the ordinary effects of arsenic, in never betraying\nitself by any particular action on the human body.\n\nThe Abb\u00e9 Gagliani, on the other hand, asserts that it is a mixture of\nopium and cantharides, and that the liquor obtained from its\ncomposition, is as limpid as rock water, and without taste. Its effects\nare slow, and almost imperceptible. Beckman appears to favour this idea,\nand suggests that a similar poison is used in the East, under the name\nof _powst_, being water that had stood a night over the juice of\npoppies. It is given to princes, whom it is wished to despatch\nprivately; and produces loss of strength and understanding, so that they\ndie in the end, torpid and insensible.[140]\n\nThe following extract will show that secret poisoning has penetrated\ninto the forests of America. \"The celebrated chief, _Blackbird_ of the\nOmawhaws, gained great reputation as a medicine man; his adversaries\nfell rapidly before his potent spells. His medicine was arsenic,\nfurnished him for this purpose by the villainy of the traders.\"[141]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[136] Various etymologies have been suggested for the word obi. Mr.\nLong, in a paper transmitted several years since, by the agents of\nJamaica to the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council, and by the\nlatter subjoined to the report on the slave trade, expresses himself on\nthis subject as follows: \"From the learned Mr. Bryant's commentary on\nthe word OPH, we obtain a very probable etymology of the term; 'a\nserpent,' in the Egyptian language, was called _Aub_ or _Ob_.\"\n'_Obion_,' is still the Egyptian name of a serpent.' 'Moses, in the name\nof God, forbids the Israelites to inquire of the demon _Ob_, which is\ntranslated in our Bible, charmer or wizzard, _Divinator aut\nsorcilegus_.' The woman of Endor is called _Oub_ or _Ob_, translated\nPythonissa; and _Oubaois_ (he cites Horus Apollo) was the name of the\nBasilisk or royal serpent, emblem of the sun, and an ancient oracular\ndeity of Africa. Their etymology, if admitted, connects the modern\nsuperstitions of the west of Africa, with the ancient ones of the east\nof that continent, from which source they have also been spread in\nEurope. They are humble parts of the great system which is adorned with\nthe fables of Osiris and Isis; and they comprise not only the Obi of\nAfrica, but the witchcraft of our own country. That superstition is\nevery where connected with the worship of the serpent, and with the moon\nand the cat. Skulls and teeth of cats are among the principal\ningredients of the African charms or _Obies_.\n\n[137] Mr. Long gives the following account of the furniture of the house\nof an Obi-woman, or African witch in Jamaica: \"The whole inside of the\nroof, (which was of thatch) and every crevice of the walls were stuck\nwith the implements of her trade, consisting of rags, feathers, bones of\ncats, and a thousand other articles. Examining further, a large earthen\npot or jar, close covered, contained a prodigious quantity of round\nballs of earth or clay, of various dimensions, large and small, whitened\non the outside, and variously compounded, some with hair and rags, or\nfeathers of all sorts, and strongly bound with twine: others blended\nwith the upper section of the skulls of cats, or set round with cats'\nteeth and claws, or with human or dogs' teeth, and some glass beads of\ndifferent colours. There were also a great many egg-shells filled with a\nviscous or gummy substance, the qualities of which were neglected to be\nexamined; and many little bags filled with a variety of articles, the\nparticulars of which cannot, at this distance of time, be recollected.\"\nShakespeare and Dryden, have left us poetical accounts of the\ncomposition of European _Obies_ or charms, with which, and with more\nhistorical descriptions, the above may be compared. The midnight hours\nof the professors of Obi, are also to be compared with the witches of\nEurope. Obi, therefore, is the serpent-worship. The Pythoness, at\nDelphos, was an Obi-woman. With the serpent-worship is joined that of\nthe sun and moon, as the governors of the visible world, and emblems of\nthe male and female nature of the godhead; and to the cat, on account of\nher nocturnal prowlings, is ascribed a mysterious relationship to the\nmoon. The dog and the wolf, doubtless for the same reason, are similarly\ncircumstanced.\n\n[138] The superstition of Obi was never generally remarked upon in the\nBritish West Indies till the year 1760, when, after an insurrection in\nJamaica, of the Coromantyn or Gold Coast negroes, it was found that it\nhad been made an instrument for promoting that disturbance. An old\nCoromantyn negro, the chief instigator and oracle of the insurgents of\nthe parish of St. Mary, in which the insurrection broke out, who had\nadministered the _Fetiche_ or solemn oath to the conspirators, and\nfurnished them with a magical preparation, which was to make them\ninvulnerable, was at that time apprehended and punished, and a law was\nenacted for the suppression of the practice, under which several\nexamples were made, but without effecting for many years, any diminution\nof the evil sought to be remedied.\n\n[139] In Kosters's travels in Brazil, we read of a negro who was\nreported by one of his fellows to become occasionally _lobas homen_ or\nwolf-man. \"I asked him,\" said the author, \"to explain; when he said,\nthat the man was at times transformed into an animal, of the size of a\ncalf with the figure of a dog;\" and in the African memoranda is an\naccount of a negro who professed and even believed to have the power of\ntransforming himself into an alligator, in which state he devoured men.\nUpon being questioned by Captain Beaver, he answered, \"I can change\nmyself into an alligator, and have often done it.\" But though these may\nbe genuine African superstitions, and not such as have been introduced\nby the Portuguese, yet it is certain there is no part of Europe to which\nthey do not equally belong.\n\n[140] Beckman, vol 1, p. 74 to 103.\n\n[141] See Major Long's expedition, vol. 1. p. 226.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n\nON THE ORIGIN AND SUPERSTITIOUS INFLUENCE OP RINGS.\n\nThe ancient magicians, among other pretended extraordinary powers of\naccomplishing wonderful things by their superior knowledge of the secret\npowers of nature, of the virtues of plants and minerals, and of the\nmotions and influence of the stars, attached no small degree of mystic\nimportance to rings, the origin of which, their matter and uses,\ntogether with the supposed virtues of the stones set in them, afford a\nsubject squaring so much with our design, and so deserving of notice\nfrom the curious, that no apology need be made for discoursing on them.\n\nAccording to the accounts of the heathen mythologists, Prometheus, who,\nin the first times, had discovered a great number of secrets, having\nbeen delivered from the charms, by which he was fastened to mount\nCaucasus for stealing fire from heaven, in memory or acknowledgment of\nthe favour he received from Jupiter, made himself of one of those\nchains, a ring, in whose collet he represented the figure of part of the\nrock where he had been detained--or rather, as Pliny says, set it in a\nbit of the same rock, and put it on his finger. This was the first ring\nand the first stone. But we otherwise learn, that the use of rings is\nvery ancient, and the Egyptians were the first inventors of them; which\nseems confirmed by the person of Joseph, who, as we read (Genesis, chap,\nxi.) for having interpreted Pharoah's dream, received not only his\nliberty, but was rewarded with his prince's ring, a collar of gold, and\nthe superintendancy of Egypt.\n\nJosephus, in the third book of Jewish antiquities says, the Israelites\nhad the use of them after passing the Red Sea, because Moses at his\nreturn from Mount Sinai, found that they had forged the golden calf from\ntheir wives' rings, enriched with precious stones. The same Moses,\nupwards of 400 years before the wars of Troy, permitted the priests he\nhad established, the use of gold rings, enriched with precious stones.\nThe high priest wore upon his ephod, which was a kind of camail, rich\nrings, that served as clasps; a large emerald was set and engraved with\nmysterious names. The ring he wore on his finger was of inestimable\nvalue and celestial virtue. Had not Aaron, the high priest of the\nHebrews, a ring on his finger, whereof the diamond, by its virtues,\noperated prodigious things? For it changed its vivid lustre into a dark\ncolour, when the Hebrews were to be punished by death for their sins.\nWhen they were to fall by the sword it appeared of a blood colour; if\nthey were innocent it sparkled as usual.\n\nIt is observable that the ancient Hebrews used rings even in the time of\nthe wars of Troy. Queen Jezebel, to destroy Nabath, as it is related in\nthe first Book of Kings, made use of the ring of Ahab, King of the\nIsraelites, her husband, to seal the counterfeit letters that ordered\nthe death of that unfortunate man. Did not Judah, as mentioned in the\n38th chapter of Genesis, abuse his daughter-in-law, Thamar, who had\ndisguised herself, by giving her his ring and bracelets, as a pledge of\nthe faith he had promised her?\n\nThough Homer is silent in regard to rings, both in his Iliad and\nOdyssey, they were, notwithstanding, used in the time of the Greeks and\nTrojans; and from them they were received by several other nations. The\nLacedemonians, as related by Alexander, ab. Alexandro, pursuant to the\norders of their king, Lycurgus, had only iron rings, despising those of\ngold; either their king was thereby willing to retrench luxury, or to\nprohibit the use of them.\n\nThe ring was reputed, by some nations, a symbol of liberality, esteem,\nand friendship, particularly among the Persians, none being permitted to\nwear any, except they were given by the king himself. This is what may\nalso be remarked in the person of Apollonius Thyaneus, as a token of\nsingular esteem and liberality, received one from the great Iarchas,\nprince of the Gymnosophists, who were the ancient priests of India and\ndwelt in forests, as our ancient bards and druids, where they applied\nthemselves to the study of wisdom, and to the speculation of the heaven\nand stars. This philosopher, by the means of that ring, learned every\nday the secrets of nature.\n\nThough the ring found by Gyges, shepherd to the King of Lydia, has more\nof fable than of truth in it, it will not, however, be amiss, to relate\nwhat is said concerning Herodotus, Coelius, after Plato and Cicero, in\nthe third book of his Offices. This Gyges, after a great flood, passed\ninto a very deep cavity in the earth, where having found in the belly of\na brazen horse, with a large aperture in it, a human body of enormous\nsize, he pulled from off one of the fingers a ring of surprising virtue;\nfor the stone on the collet rendered him who wore it invisible, when the\ncollet was turned towards the palm of the hand, so that the party could\nsee, without being seen, all manner of persons and things. Gyges, having\nmade trial of its efficacy, bethought himself that it would be a means\nfor ascending the throne of Lydia, and for gaining the Queen by it. He\nsucceeded in his designs, having killed Candaules, her husband. The dead\nbody this ring belonged to was that of an ancient Brahman, who, in his\ntime, was chief of that sect.\n\nThe rings of the ancients often served for seals. Alexander the Great,\nafter the death and defeat of Darius, used his ring for sealing the\nletters he sent into Asia, and his own for those he sent to Europe. It\nis customary in Rome for the bridegroom to send the bride, before\nmarriage, a ring of iron, without either stone or collet, to denote how\nlasting their union ought to be, and the frugality they were to observe\ntogether; but luxury herein soon gained ground, and there was a\nnecessity for moderating it. Caius Marius did not wear one of gold till\nhis third consulship; and Tiberius, as Suetonius says, made some\nregulations in the authority of wearing rings; for, besides the liberty\nof birth, he required a considerable revenue, both on the father and\ngrandfather's side.\n\nIn a Polyglot dictionary, published in the year 1625, by John Minshew,\nour attention was attracted by the following observations, under the\narticle \"RINGFINGER.--Vetus versiculus singulis digitis Annulum trebuens\nMiles. Mercator. Stultus. Maritus. Amator. Pollici adscribitur Militi,\nseu Doctor. Mercatorem \u00e1 pollice secundum, stultorum, tertium. Nuptorum\nvel studiosorum quartum. Amatorum ultimum.\"\n\nBy which it appears, that the fingers on which annuli were anciently\nworn were directed by the calling, or peculiarity of the party. Were it\n\n  A soldier, or doctor, to him was assigned the thumb.\n  A sailor, the finger next the thumb.\n  A fool, the middle finger.\n  A married or diligent person, the fourth or ring finger.\n  A lover, the last or little finger.\n\nThe medicinal or curative power of rings are numerous and, as a matter\nof course, founded on imaginary qualities. Thus the wedding ring rubbing\nupon that little abscess called the stye, which is frequently seen on\nthe tarsi of the eyes, is said to remove it. Certain rings are worn as\ntalismans, either on the fingers or suspended from the neck; the\nefficacy of which may be referred to the effects usually produced by\nthese charms.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n\nCELESTIAL INFLUENCES--OMENS--CLIMACTERICS--PREDOMINATIONS--LUCKY AND\nUNLUCKY DAYS--EMPIRICS, &C.\n\nAstrologers, among other artifices, have used their best endeavours, and\nemployed all the rules of their art, to render those years of our age,\nwhich they call climacterics, dangerous and formidable.\n\nThe word climacteric is derived from the Greek, which means by a scale\nor ladder, and implies a critical year, or a period in a man's age,\nwherein, according Ficinusological juggling, there is some notable\nalteration to arise in the body, and a person stands in great danger of\ndeath. The first climacteric is the seventh year of a man's life; the\nothers are multiples of the first, as 21, 49, 56, 63, and 84, which two\nlast are called the grand climacterics and the danger more certain. The\nfoundation of this opinion is accounted for by Mark Ficimis as\nfollows:--There is a year, he tells us, assigned for each planet to rule\nover the body of a man, each of his turn; now Saturn being the most\n_maleficient_ (malignant) planet of all, every seventh year, which\nfalls to its lot, becomes very dangerous; especially those of\nsixty-three and eighty-four, when the person is already advanced in\nyears. According to this doctrine, some hold every seventh year an\nestablished climacteric; but others only allow the title to those\nproduced by multiplication of the climacterical space by an odd number,\n3, 5, 7, 9, &c. Others observe every ninth year as a climacteric.\n\nClimacteric years are pretended, by some, to be fatal to political\nbodies, which, perhaps, may be granted, when they are proved to be so\nmore than to natural ones; for it must be obvious that the reason of\nsuch danger can by no means be discovered, nor the relation it can have\nwith any other of the numbers above mentioned.\n\nThough this opinion has a great deal of antiquity on its side; Aulus\nGellius says--it was borrowed from the Chaldeans, who possibly might\nreceive it from Pythagoras, whose philosophy teemed much in numbers, and\nwho imagined a very extraordinary virtue in the number 7. The principal\nauthors on climacterics are--Plato, Cicero, Macrobius, Aulus Gellius.\nAmong the ancients--Argal, Magirus, and Solmatheus. Among the\nmoderns--St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, Beda and Boethius, all countenance\nthe opinion.\n\nThere is a work extant, though rather scarce, by Hevelius, under the\ntitle of _Annus Climactericus_, wherein he describes the loss he\nsustained by his observatory, &c. being burnt; which it would appear\nhappened in his grand climacteric, of which he was extremely\napprehensive.\n\nAstrologers have also brought under their inspection and controul the\ndays of the year, which they have presumed to divide into _lucky_ and\n_unlucky_ days; calling even the sacred scriptures, and the common\nbelief of christians, in former ages, to their assistance for this\npurpose. They pretend that the fourteenth day of the first month was a\nblessed day among the Israelites, authorised, as they pretend, by the\nseveral passages out of Exodus, v. 18:--\n\n\"In the first _month_, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye\nshall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day at even,\" v.\n40. Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt,\nwas four hundred and thirty years.\n\n41. \"And it came to pass, at the end of the four hundred and thirty\nyears, even the self same day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the\nLord went out from the land of Egypt.\"\n\n42. \"It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them\nout of the land of Egypt; that is that night of the Lord to be observed\nof all the children of Israel, in their generations.\"\n\n51. \"And it came to pass, the self same day, that the Lord did bring the\nchildren of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.\" Also\n_Leviticus, chap. 23, v. 5._ \"In the fourteenth day of the first month\nat even, is the Lord's passover.\" _Numbers, chap. 28, v. 10._ \"Four\nhundred and thirty years being expired of their dwelling in Egypt, even\nin the self same day they departed thence.\"\n\nWith regard to evil days and times, Astrologers refer to _Amos. chap. 5,\nv. 13._ \"Therefore, the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it\nis an evil time,\" and _chap. 6, v. 3_, \"Ye that put far away the evil\nday, and cause the seat of violence to come near;\" also _Psalm 37, v.\n19_, \"They shall not be ashamed in the evil time; and in the days of\nfamine, they shall be satisfied;\" and _Jeremiah, chap. 46, v. 21_, \"Also\nher hired men are in the midst of her, like fatted bullocks, for they\nare also turned back and are fled away together; they did not stand\nbecause the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of\ntheir visitation.\" And to _Job_ cursing the day of his birth, from the\nfirst to the eleventh verse. In confirmation of which may also be quoted\na calendar, extracted out of several ancient Roman Catholic prayer\nbooks, written on vellum, before printing was invented, in which were\ninserted the unfortunate days of each month, which it would be\nsuperfluous to cite here.[142]\n\nRoman History sufficiently proves that the nature of lucky and unlucky\ndays owes its origin to Paganism; where it is mentioned, that that very\nday four years, the civil wars were begun by Pompey, the father; Caesar\nmade an end of them with his son, Cneius Pompeius being slain; and that\nthe Romans counted the 13th of February an unlucky day, because, on that\nday they were overthrown by the Gauls at Alba; and the Fabii attacking\nthe city of the Recii, were all slain, with the exception of one man;\nalso from the calendar of Ovid's \"Fastorum,\" _Aprilis erat mensis\nGraecis auspicatissimus_; and from Horace, Book 2nd, Ode 13, cursing the\ntree that had nearly fallen upon it; _ille nefasto posuit die_.\n\nThe Pagans believed there were particular months and days which carried\nsomething fatal in them; those, for instance, upon which the state\nperhaps had lost a great battle; and under this impression, they never\nundertook any enterprise on these days and months. The twenty-fourth of\nFebruary in the Bisextile years was considered so unlucky, that\nValentinian (_Ammiam. Marcell. lib. 26. cap. 1._) being elected Emperor\nupon it, durst not appear in public under the apprehension of suffering\nthe fatality of the day. Many other particular days might be quoted upon\nwhich generals of armies have constantly been favoured with fortune.\nTimoleon (_Corn. Nepos_) won all his famous battles on his birthday.\nSoliman (_Duverdier. Hist. des Turcs_) won the battle of Mohac, and took\nthe fortress of Belgrade, and, according to some historians, the Isle of\nRhodes, and the town of Buda on the 26th of August. But we find, in like\nmanner, the same day lucky and unlucky to the same people. Ventidius, at\nthe head of the Roman army, routed the Parthians, and slew their young\nking Pacorus who commanded them, on the same day that Crassus, another\nRoman general, had been slain, and his whole army cut in pieces by the\nsame people. Lucullus having attacked Tigranes, king of Armenia,\nnotwithstanding the vain scruples of his officers, who desired him to\nbeware fighting on that day, which was noted in the Roman calendar as an\nunlucky one, ever since the fatal overthrow of the Romans by the Cimbri;\nbut he, (Lucullus) despising the superstition, gained one of the most\nmemorable battles recorded in Roman history, and changed the destiny of\nthe day as he promised those who would have dissuaded him from the\nenterprise. And Valentinian's unlucky day was that on which Charles V,\nanother Roman Emperor, promised himself the best good fortune. Friday is\ndeemed on unlucky day for engaging in any particular business, and there\nare few, if any, captains of ships who would sail from any port, on this\nday of the week for their destination.\n\nThe fishermen who dwell on the coasts of the Baltic never use their nets\nbetween All-saints and St Martin's; they would then be certain of not\ntaking any fish through the whole year: they never fish on St Blaise's\nday. On Ash Wednesday the women neither sew nor knit, for fear of\nbringing misfortune upon their cattle. They contrive so as not to use\nfire on St. Laurence's day; by taking this precaution they think\nthemselves secure against fire for the rest of the year.\n\nThis prejudice of lucky and unlucky days has existed at all times and in\nall nations; but if knowledge and civilization have not removed it, they\nhave at least diminished its influence. In Livonia, however, the people\nare more than ever addicted to the most superstitious ideas on this\nsubject. In a Riga journal (_Rigaische Stadblatter_, No. 3657, anno\n1822, edited by M. Sontag) there are several passages relative to a\nletter from heaven, and which is no other than a catalogue of lucky and\nunlucky days. This letter is in general circulation; every body carries\nit about him, and though strictly forbidden by the police, the copies\nare multiplied so profusely as to increase the evil all attempts to\ndestroy which have hitherto failed. Among the country people this idea\nis equivalent to the doctrine of fatality; and if they commit faults or\neven crimes, on the days which are marked as unlucky, they do not\nconsider themselves as guilty, because they were predestined.\n\nThe flight of certain birds, or the meeting of certain animals on their\nfirst going out in the morning, are with them good or bad omens. They do\nnot hunt on St. Mark's, or St. Catherine's day, on penalty of being\nunsuccessful all the rest of the year. It is a good sign to sneeze on\nChristmas day. Most of them are so prepossessed against Friday, that\nthey never settle any important business, or conclude a bargain on that\nday; in some places they do not even dress their children. They do not\nlike visits on Thursdays, for it is a sign they shall have troublesome\nguests the whole week.\n\nIn some districts of Esthonia, up the Baltic, when the shepherd brings\nhis flocks back from the pasture, in spring for the first time, he is\nsprinkled with water from head to foot under the persuasion that this\nmakes the cattle thrive. The malignity of beasts of prey is believed to\nbe prevented by designating them not by their proper names, but by some\nof their attributes. For instance, they call the fox _hallkuhl_ (grey\ncoat) the bear, _layjatyk_ (broad-foot), etc. etc. They also fancy that\nthey can oblige the wolf to take another direction by strewing salt in\nhis way. The howling of wolves, especially at day-break, is considered a\nvery bad omen, predicting famine or disease. In more ancient times, it\nwas imagined that these animals, thus asked their god to give them\nfood, which he threw them out of the clouds. When a wolf seizes any of\ntheir cattle, they can oblige him to quit his prey, by dropping a piece\nof money, their pipe, hat, or any other article they have about them at\nthe time. They do not permit the hare to be often mentioned, for fear of\ndrawing it into their corn-fields. To make hens lay eggs, they beat them\nwith an old broom. In families where the wife is the eldest child of her\nparents, it has been observed that they always sell the first calves,\nbeing convinced, that, if kept, they would not thrive. To speak of\ninsects or mischievous animals at meal-times, is a sure way to make them\nmore voracious.\n\nIf a fire breaks out, they think to stop its fury by throwing a black\nhen into the flames. This idea, of an expiatory sacrifice, offered to a\nmalevolent and tutelary power, is a remnant of paganism. Various other\ntraces of it are found among the Esthonians; for instance, at the\nbeginning of their meals, they purposely let fall a piece of new bread,\nor some drops of liquor from a bottle as an offering to the divinity.\n\nIt is very offensive to the peasants, for any one to look into their\nwells; they think it will cause the wells to dry up.\n\nWhen manna is carried into the fields, that which falls from the cart is\nnot gathered up, lest mischievous insects and blights come upon the\ncorn.\n\nWhen an old house is quitted for a new one they are attentive in noting\nthe first animal that dies. If it be an animal with hairy feet, the sign\nis good; but if with naked feet, some fowl, for instance, there will be\nmourning in the house; it is a sign of misery and bad success in all\ntheir undertakings. These, with a scrupulous adherence to lucky and\nunlucky days, are the prevailing popular superstitions in the three\nduchies; a great number of which, especially among the Esthonians, are\nconnected with their ancient mythology.\n\nIn reading that pleasant volume, by the late Sir Humphrey Davy, entitled\n_Salmonia_, it is impossible not to be struck with his remark respecting\nomens, which is here briefly noticed, with an account of others, which\nit is imagined have not yet found their way far into print, in order to\naccount for such seeming absurdities.\n\n\"The search after food,[143] as we agreed on a former occasion, is the\nprincipal cause why animals change their places. The different tribes of\nwading birds always migrate when rain is about to take place; and I\nremember once in Italy, having been long waiting, in the end of March,\nfor the arrival of double snipe, in the campagna of Rome; a great flight\nappeared on the third of April, and the day after, heavy rain set in,\nwhich greatly interfered with my sport. The vulture, upon the same\nprinciple, follows armies; and I have no doubt that the augury of the\nancients was a good deal founded upon the observation of the instinct of\nbirds. There are many superstitions of the vulgar owing to the same\nsource. For anglers, in spring, it is always unluckly to see single\nmagpies; but two may always be regarded as a favourable omen; and the\nreason is, that in cold and stormy weather, one magpie alone leaves the\nnest in search of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs of the\nyoung ones: but, when two go out together, it is only when the weather\nis mild and warm, and favourable for fishing.\n\n\"This reasoning will, in general, be found correct, and may be applied\nto solve many of the superstitions in the country; but the case of the\nmagpie is entitled to a little more consideration. The piannet, as we\ncall her in the North of England, is the most unlucky of all birds, to\nsee singly at any time; this, however, does not often happen, except a\nshort time during incubation; they either appear in pairs or in\nfamilies; but even this last appearance is as alarming to our\ngrandmothers. The following distich shows what each forbodes:--'One\nsorrow, two mirth, three a wedding, four death.' This bird, indeed,\nappears to have taken the same place with us, as an omen of evil, that\nthe owl had amongst the ancients. The nurse is often heard to declare\nthat she has lost all hopes of her charge when she has observed a\npiannet on the house-top.\n\n\"Another prejudice, indulged even by our good wives, is that of\ndestroying the feathers of the pigeon instead of saving them to stuff\nbeds, etc. They say, that if they were to do so, it would only prolong\nthe sufferings of the death-bed; and when these are more than usually\nsevere, it is attributed to this cause, and the reason given 'because\nthe bird has no gall' is to them quite conclusive, but to me, perfectly\nirrelevant and unsatisfactory. A belief amongst boys, that to harm or\ndisturb the nests of the redbreast or swallow is unlucky, appears very\ngeneral throughout the kingdom; and the keen bird-nester, who prides\nhimself on the quantity of eggs blown and strung bead-fashion, here\noften gets mortified by finding his trophies destroyed by the housewife\nwho considers their presence as affecting the safety of her crokery\nware. This belief may have been encouraged, if not invented, for a\nhumane purpose: but how are we to account for the efficacy of the Irish\nstone in curing swellings caused by venomous reptiles, by merely being\nrubbed upon the part affected? The fullest faith in the practice appears\nto have prevailed in the country at no distant period, and is yet far\nfrom extinct. The swallow and the cuckoo are generally hailed as\nharbingers of spring and summer, but, perhaps, many of our readers are\nnot aware that it is only lucky to hear the cuckoo, for the first time\nin the season, upon soft ground in contradistinction to hard roads, and\nwith money in the pocket, which the youngster is sagely advised to be\nsure then to turn over. Perhaps the season of the year may\nsatisfactorily explain all these observances. Several superstitious\ncustoms are mentioned regarding bees, some of which are not practised in\nthe north; yet it is fully believed that the death of the stock of hives\ntoo often foretells the flitting of the bee-master. Wet cold years,\nunfavourable to the insects, are also equally so to the farmer upon thin\nclays, which border the moors, where bees are mostly kept. Has the use\nof the mountain ash, 'rowan tree' [Pyrus aucuparia, _Gaertner_,] as a\ncharm against witchcraft, ever been accounted for? The belief in its\nefficacy must be very old if we are to credit some of Shakspeare's\ncommentators, who give this word as the true reading in Macbeth, instead\nof 'Aroint thee, witch!'\n\n\"It often happens that the careless observer has, for the first time,\nhis attention called forcibly to some appearance of nature by accidental\ncircumstances: if at all superstitious, he immediately prognosticates\nthe most disastrous consequences from that which a little observation\nwould have convinced him was but a phenomenon a little more conspicuous\nthan usual. The northern lights are said to have caused much\nconsternation when first observed; and they have lately been viewed with\nmore than ordinary interest, as it appears from the _Newcastle\nChronicle_, the last autumn (1830), when they were more than usually\nbrilliant, some of the inhabitants of Weardale were convinced they saw,\non one occasion, very distinctly, the figure of a man on a white horse,\nwith a red sword in his hand, move across the heavens; and are, no\ndoubt, now certain that it foretold the present eventful times. Even\nthis belief may be accounted for on such accidental coincidences, or\neven philosophically, by assuming as a fact that this phenomenon is the\nresult of an electrical change in the atmosphere, and that such a change\nusually precedes rain. Now, if such happen in spring or in summer, and\nbefore such a quantity of rain as is found to affect the harvest, it\nmay too often betoken scarcity, discontent, and turbulence, as such are\nthe times when all grievances, either real or imaginary, are brought\nforward for redress. The origin of the superstition of sailors, of\nnailing a horse-shoe to the mast, is to me unaccountable, unless it may\nhave been, like the following trial of the credulity of the\nsuperstitious by some person for amusement:--Sailors sometimes make a\nconsiderable pecuniary sacrifice for the acquisition of a child's caul,\nthe retaining of which is to infallibly preserve them from drowning.\n\n\"Some years ago, a pretty wide district was alarmed by an account of the\nbeans [F\u00e0ba vulg\u00e0ris var. equina] being laid the wrong way in the pod\nthat year, which most certainly foreboded something terrible to happen\nin a short time, and this produced much consternation amongst those who\nallow their imaginations to run riot. The whole of the terrible omen was\nthis: the eye of the bean was in the pod towards the apex, instead of\nbeing towards the footstalk, as might appear at first sight to be its\nnatural position; and some were scarcely convinced that this was the\nnatural position of the beans in the pod ever since the creation, even\non being shown the pod of the preceding year with the seed in the same\nposition.\n\n\"As yet, however, I fear we must sum up in the words of Davy:--\n\n\"_Phys._ But how can you explain such absurdities as Friday being an\nunlucky day, and the terror of spilling salt, or meeting an old woman?\n\n\"_Poiet_. These, as well as the omens of death-watches, dreams, etc.\nare founded upon some accidental coincidences; but spilling of salt, on\nan uncommon occasion, may, as I have known it, arise from a disposition\nto apoplexy, shown by an incipient numbness in the hand, and may be a\nfatal symptom; and persons dispirited by bad omens sometimes prepare the\nway for evil fortune, for confidence of success is a great means of\ninsuring it. The dream of Brutus before the battle of Philippi probably\nproduced a species of irresolution and despondency which was the\nprincipal cause of his losing the battle; and I have heard that the\nillustrious sportsman, to whom you referred just now, was always\nobserved to shoot ill, because he shot carelessly, after one of his\ndispiriting omens.\n\n\"_Hal._ I have in life met with a few things which I have found it\nimpossible to explain, either by chance coincidences, or by natural\nconnections, and I have known minds of a very superior class affected by\nthem--persons in the habit of reasoning deeply and profoundly.\"\n\nThe number of remarkable events that happened on some particular days,\nhave been the principal means of confirming both pagans and Christians\nin their opinions on this subject. For instance, Alexander who was born\non the sixth of April, conquered Darius, and died on the same day. The\nEmperor Basianus Caracalla was born, and died on the sixth day of April.\nAugustus was adopted on the 19th of August, began his consulate,\nconquered the Triumviri, and died the same day. The christians have\nobserved that the 24th of February was four times fortunate to Charles\nthe fifth. That Wednesday was a fortunate day to Pope Sixtus the fifth;\nfor on a Wednesday he was born, on that day made a monk, on the same day\nmade a general of his order, on that day created a Cardinal, on that day\nelected Pope, and also on that day inaugurated. That Thursday was a\nfatal day to Henry the eighth, King of England, and his posterity, for\nhe died on a thursday; King Edward the sixth on a Thursday; Queen Mary\non a Thursday; and Queen Elizabeth on a Thursday.\n\nThe French have observed that the feast of Pentecoste had been lucky to\nHenry III, King of France for on that day he was born, on that day\nelected King of Poland, and on that day he succeeded his brother Charles\nIX, on the throne of France.\n\nThere are critical days observed by physicians, in continued fevers, a\ndoctrine which has been confirmed by the united testimony of De Haen and\nCullen; and these are the 3rd. 5th. 7th. 9th. 11th. 14th. 17th. and\n20th. By critical days are meant, any of the above days, on which the\nfever abates or terminates favourably, or on which it is exacerbated or\nterminates fatally.\n\nNatural astrology is confined to the study of exploring natural effects,\nin which sense it is admitted to be a part of natural philosophy. It was\nunder this view that Mr. Goad, Mr. Boyle, and Dr. Mead, pleaded for its\nuse. The first endeavours to account for the diversity of seasons from\nthe situations, habitudes and motions of the planets: and to explain an\ninfinity of phenomena by the contemplation of the stars. The Honourable\nMr. Boyle admitted, that all physical bodies are influenced by the\nheavenly bodies; and Doctor Mead's opinion, in his treatise concerning\nthe power of the sun and moon, etc. is in favour of the doctrine. But\nthese predictions and influences are ridiculed and entirely exploded by\nthe most esteemed modern philosophers, of which the reader may have a\nlearned specimen in Rohault's, Tractat. Physic, part II. c. 27.\n\nThe diseases of men, women, and children were supposed at times to be\nmore immediately caused by the influence of the seven planets. In order\nto comprehend this exploded doctrine, we shall here set down the\npretended governing and days, at what time they are supposed to have the\nmost influence:\n\n[Symbol: Sol]      Sol, or the sun governs on Sunday.\n[Symbol: Luna]     Luna, or the moon,         Monday.\n[Symbol: Mars]     Mars,                      Tuesday.\n[Symbol: Mercury]  Mercury,                   Wednesday.\n[Symbol: Jupiter]  Jupiter,                   Thursday,\n[Symbol: Venus]    Venus.                     Friday.\n[Symbol: Saturn]   Saturn,                    Saturday.\n\nSaturn reigning, is said to cause cold diseases, as the gout, leprosy,\npalsy, quartan agues, dropsies, catarrhs, colds, rheumatisms, etc.\n\nJupiter causes cramps, numbness, inflammations of the liver, head-aches,\npains in the shoulders, flatulency, inflammatory fevers, and all\ndiseases caused by putrefaction, apoplexy, and quinsies.\n\nMars, acute fevers and tartan agues, continual and intermitting fevers,\nimposthumes, erisepelas, carbuncles, fistulas, dysentery, and similar\nhot and dry diseases.\n\nSol causes rheums in the eyes, coldness in the stomach and liver,\nsyncope, catarrhs, pustular eruptions, hysterics, eruptions on the lower\nextremities.\n\nVenus causes sores, lientery, hysteria, sickness at the stomach, from\ncold and moist causes, disorders of the liver and lungs.\n\nMercury causes hoarseness and distempers in the senses, impediments in\nthe speech, falling sickness, coughs, jaundice, vomiting, catarrhs.\n\nThe moon causes palsy, cholic, dropsy, imposthumes, dysenteries, and all\ndiseases arising from obstructed circulation.\n\nThe means laid down for the prevention of these diseases are rational\nenough, at least some of them, such as temperance, moderate bleeding\n(whether or not indicated we are not told,) the use of laxatives at\nseasonable times, when a friendly planet, opposite to the malignant\nplanet you were born under, has dominion, by which the effect of its\ninfluence will be much abated, and a power given to nature to oppose its\nmalevolency, which, \"if well heeded, may be a main prevention of\ndangerous diseases.\" Thus every planet in the heavens carries with it a\ndiseased aspect, without, as it would appear, possessing any repelling\nor sanative powers to correct or ward off the sickly influence it is\nsupposed to entertain over the life and limbs of frail mortals; that, in\nthe sense of this absurd doctrine, or rather jargon, when Jupiter has\ndominion, it will be necessary to bleed and take calomel to guard\nagainst (not to attack it when it has taken place) inflammation of the\nliver; and when Mars presides, to send immediately for Van Butchel to\nfrighten away an imaginary fistula--absurd and ridiculous nonsense, too\nprevalent even at the present day; for what can bleeding and physicking\nat the spring and fall of the year be called but operations without\nreason, under suppositious stellar influence. \"Observe also to gather\nall your physic herbs in the hour of the friendly planet, that\ntemporises with what you were born under, and in so doing they will have\nmore strength, power, and virtue to operate in the medicines; but\nneither physic nor bleed on the third of January, the last of April, the\nfirst of July, the first of August, and the last and second day of\nOctober; for those astrologers, with whom physicians join, conclude it\nperilous, by reason of the bad influence then reigning; and if it change\nnot the distemper into another worse, it will augment it, and put the\nparty in great danger of death, _if he or she in this case be not lucky\nto escape_.\" It would be a waste of words to offer a single comment on\nsuch egregious stuff--\"do not bleed on the third of January,\" nor on\nsuch and such a day, (as if there could be stated times for bleeding\nbeyond those which are indicated by the presence of disease, and\nrequiring such evacuation,) is a practice we believe peculiar only to\nastrologers, and those who believe in such demonological cant. It is no\nless, however, a singular fact that men distinguished in every other\nrespect for their learning, should most particularly have indulged in\nthe superstition of judicial astrology. At the present time a belief in\nsuch subjects can only exist with those who may be said to have no\nbelief at all; for mere traditional sentiments can hardly be said to\namount to a belief.\n\nIt was astronomy that gave rise to judicial astrology, which, offering\nan ample field to enthusiasm and imposture, was eagerly pursued by many\nwho had no scientific purpose in view. It was connected with various\njuggling tricks and deceptions, affected an obscure jargon of language,\nand insinuated itself into every thing in which the hopes and fears of\nmankind were concerned. The professors of this pretended science were at\nfirst generally persons of mean education, in whom low cunning supplied\nthe place of knowledge. Most of them engaged in the empirical practice\nof physic, and some through the credulity of the times, even arrived at\na degree of eminence in it; yet although the whole foundation of their\nart was folly and deceit, they nevertheless gained many proselytes and\ndupes, both among the well-informed and the ignorant.\n\nAbout the middle of the seventeenth century, the passion for horoscopes\nand expounding the stars prevailed in France among people of the first\nrank. The new-born child was usually presented naked to the\nstar-expounder, who read the first lineaments on its forehead, and the\ntransverse lines in its hands, and thence wrote down its future destiny.\nIt has been reported of several persons famous for their astrological\nskill, that they have suffered a voluntary death merely to verify their\nown predictions. It is curious to observe the shifts to which these wise\nmen were frequently put when their predictions were not verified. Great\nwinds at one time were predicted by a famous adept in the art, but no\nunusual storms having happened, to save the reputation of the art, the\nprediction was applied figuratively to some revolutions in the state, of\nwhich there were instances enough at that time.\n\nThe life of the famous Lilly the astrologer, and the Sidrophel of\nButler, written by himself, is a curious work, containing much artless\nnarrative, but at the same time, so much palpable imposture, that it is\ndifficult to know when he is speaking what he really believes to be the\ntruth. In a sketch of the state of astrology in his day, the adepts\nwhose characters he has drawn were the lowest miscreants of the town.\nThey all, indeed, speak of each other as rogues and impostors; among\nwhom were Booker, George Wharton, and Gadbury, who gained a livelihood\nby practising on the credulity of even men of learning so late as 1650\nto the 18th century. In Ashmole's life an account of these artful\nimpostors may be read. Most of them had taken the air in the pillory,\nand others had conjured themselves up to the gallows.\n\nTo the astrologers of the 17th century, the quacks and impostors of the\nbeginning of the 19th are only equal. Quackery and astrology, the latter\nof which often served as a mask to the former, appear to have been at\none time a kind of Castor and Pollux; quackery, however, it would seem\nhas outlived astrology, for there are more who would swallow the nostrum\nof the quack than the flatulent bolus of the fortune-tellers. Both still\nhave their votaries. One Grigg, a poulterer in Surrey, was set in the\npillory at Croyden, (Temp. Edw. IV,) and again in the Borough, for\ncheating people out of their money by pretending to cure them with\ncharms, by simply looking at the patients, or by practices still more\nabsurd and questionable. Of such doctors there is no lack. This kind of\npractice offers one of the finest fields for deception of any species of\nempirical delusion held out to the public at the present day. Such\nindeed is the infatuation and credulity of the ignorant that, we are\nconfidently assured, a notorious German quack had within one year so\nmany half-guinea applications that he netted \u00a32000; and that the glass\nbottles in which the precious nostrums were conveyed from the sanctum\nsanctorum of the mendacious empiric in high Germany, who made his debut\nin this country by hawking about Dutch drops, amounted to as many\ntwo-pences. To those of either sex, who are weak-minded enough to trust\ntheir lives to the rash artifices of an ignorant pretender who affects\nto discover an occult quality in the constitution of the patient\ndenoting the existence of some internal complaint beyond that which less\nequivocal symptoms sufficiently present to the eye and knowledge of the\nregular practitioner--we can only say that we conceive them to be justly\npunished in the loss of their money, and the consequent ruin of their\nhealth.\n\nIn Stow's Chronicle we find that one of these said gentlemen was set on\nhorseback, his face towards the tail, which he held in his hand in the\nmanner of a bridle, while with a collar significative of his offence,\ndangling about his neck, he made a public entr\u00e9e into the city of\nLondon, conducted by Jack Ketch, who afterwards did himself the honour\nof scourging and branding the impostor, previous to banishment, which\ncompleted his sentence. In the reign of James I, a terrible sweep was\nmade among the quacks and advertising gentry. The council dispatched a\nwarrant to the magistrates of the city of London, to take up all reputed\nquacks, and bring them before the censors of the college, to examine how\nproperly qualified they were to be trusted, either with the limbs or\nlives of his majesty's lieges. This is all that is required at the\npresent day. Let the legislature controul this department instead of the\ncollege of physicians, who, as a body, can boast of as large an\nallowance of licensed ignorance as any corporate set of men in\nexistence. We say nothing of surgery, for this branch of knowledge\nleaves the world generally something to look at, hence so few pretenders\nto it; but physic buries all its blemishes with the unfortunate victim.\n\nThe country, even in this age of progressing wisdom, is deluged with\nquack medicines, which credulous people say are not directed against the\nconstitution, but only against the pocket, and that they are too insipid\nto do either good or harm; but were this the case, there would have been\nno occasion for the exemplary punishments with which it is recorded\nquacks of all sorts have at various times been visited. Be it known,\nthere can be no such thing invented by man as an universal remedy to\nprevent or cure all kinds of diseases; because that which would agree\nwith one constitution would disagree with another differently organised;\nand a quack nostrum, such as we see daily advertised, may certainly\nagree at one stage of a disease, but might go far in killing the patient\nat another. Besides, all these boasted specifics have been found to be\neither inert, ineffectual, or dangerous, and every pretender to them, in\ntimes less enlightened by the general march of intellect, has been\nconvicted either of gross ignorance or dishonesty. No one can vouch with\ncertainty for any particular kind of medicine,--that it will agree with\nthis or that individual, until acquainted with his peculiar\nconstitution; consequently it is the height of absurdity to prescribe\nphysic for a man without a knowledge of such circumstances to direct\nhim. Amulets, talismans, charms, and incantations, are innocent and\ninnoxious, and may impose only on credulity without any other untoward\nconsequence, leaving the patient in the same state in which he was\nfound; but so much cannot be said for quacks and quack-medicines which\nfrequently remove their deluded victims far beyond the reach of either\nphysic or philosophy.\n\nButler is said to be the author of the following character of a quack;\nand who can read it without being astonished at the prophetic\nintelligence with which it abounds, and which, unfortunately, admits of\na too close analogy with some very recent and untoward events, in the\nannals of modern empiricism. \"He is a medicine-monger, probationer of\nreceipts, and Doctor Epidemic; he is perpetually putting his medicines\nupon their trial, and very often finds them GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER, but\nstill they have some trick or other to come off, and avoid burning by\nthe hand of the hangman. He prints his trials of skill, and challenges\ndeath at so many several weapons; that, though he is sure to be foiled\nby every one, he cares not: for, _if he can but get money, he is sure to\nget off_; for it is but posting up diseases for poltroons in all the\npublic places of the town, and daring them to meet him again, and his\ncredit stands as fair with the rabble, as ever it did. He makes nothing\n* * * * * * * * * * *;--but will undertake to cure them and tie one hand\nbehind him, with so much ease and freedom, that his patients may surfeit\nand get drunk as often as they please, and follow their business without\nany inconvenience to their health or occasions; and recover with so much\nsecrecy, that they shall never know how it comes about. He professes \"no\ncure no pay,\" as well he may, for if nature does the work, he is paid\nfor it; if not, he neither wins nor loses; and like a cunning rook lays\nhis bets so artfully, that, let the chance be what it will, he either\nwins or saves. He cheats the rich for their money, and the poor for\ncharity, and, if either succeed, both are pleased, and he passes for a\nvery just and conscientious man: for as those that pay nothing ought at\nleast to speak well of their entertainments, their testimony makes way\nfor those who are able to pay for both. He finds he has no reputation\namong those that know him, and fears he is never like to have, and,\ntherefore, posts up his bills, to see if he can thrive better amongst\nthose who know nothing of him. He keeps his post continually, and will\nundertake to maintain it against all the plagues of Egypt. He sets up\nhis trade upon a pillar, or the corner of a street--These are his\nwarehouses, where all he has is to be seen, and a great deal more; for\nhe that looks further finds nothing at all.\"\n\n\nABSURDITIES OF PARACELSUS, AND VAN HELMONT.\n\nAlthough some of the first chemists were men of sense and learning, yet\nafter that chemistry began to be fashionable and much in vogue, there\nwere some of its professors, who although men of an uncommon turn of\ngenius, were as great enthusiasts, both in the chemical and medical\narts, as any other men ever were in religion. They not only pretended to\ntransmute some of the baser metals into gold, contrary to the nature of\nthings--and if they could have succeeded in that impossible work, it\nwould have rendered gold as plentiful, cheap, and less valuable than\niron, because it is less fit for instruments and mechanical uses--but\nthey also pretended infallibly to cure all diseases, by some of their\nnew invented chemical machines;--a thing equally as impossible as the\nother, and shewed their ignorance of the causes and nature of diseases.\nAs those who are the most ignorant are generally the greatest boasters,\nwe find that none of them were more so, than that vain, boasting,\nparadoxical enthusiast Paracelsus, who had acquired great riches by\ncuring a certain disease with a mercurial ointment, the knowledge of\nwhich secret he is said to have stolen from Jacobus Berengarius, of\nCaipo, in his travels thither. He was withal so illiterate, that he said\nphilosophy could be taught in no language but high Dutch; but the true\nreason was, that he neither understood philosophy nor any other\nlanguage. He also boasted that he was in possession of a nostrum which\nwould prolong man's life to the age of Methusaleh, though he died\nhimself at the age of forty-seven. He lived in the fifteenth century.\nThe cures he wrought were deemed so surprising in that age, that he was\nsupposed to have recourse to supernatural aid. In a picture of him at\nLumley Castle, he is represented in a close black gown, with both hands\non a great sword, on whose hilt is inscribed the word Azot. This was the\nname of his _familiar_ spirit, that he kept imprisoned in the pummel, to\nconsult on emergent occasions. The circumstance is thus alluded to by\nButler:--\n\n  Bombastes kept the Devil's Bird\n  Shut in the pummel of his sword;\n  And taught him all the cunning pranks,\n  Of past and future mountebanks.\n\nParacelsus was succeeded by his scholar van Helmont, who had much more\nlearning, but was as great an enthusiast, both in the chemical and\nmedical arts as his master, and embraced most of his paradoxical\nopinions; and, having more technical terms, he frequently used them\nrather to dazzle and confound the understandings of his readers, than to\ninform their judgments. By thus giving his writings a mystical air of\nwisdom, he rendered them obscure, and sometimes unintelligible;\nconsequently, more easily imposed them upon the public and vulgar, as\nsublime and useful truths. He also vainly boasted that he could cure any\nfever in four days' time, by sweating the patient with one draught of\nhis famous nostrum, the _Praecipitatus Diaphoreticus Paracelsi_; and\nfurther adds, \"that no man can deserve the name of a physician, who\ncannot cure any fever in four days' time.\" He, however, admits, that he\nsometimes added a little theriaca (treacle) and wine to it; which last,\nhe says, \"is not only a great cordial, but as a vehicle, is a proper\nmessenger to be sent on such an errand, as it knows the road, is well\nreceived wherever it goes, and readily admitted into the most private\napartments of the human body.\" Hence we believe that wine is not only a\ngood natured, but an intelligent being; though it sometimes deprives men\nof their senses for a time, when they take too much of it: and hence we\nsee also a specimen of our author's method of reasoning and writing.\n\nVan Helmont, like his great master, also boasted, that he could cure all\ninflammatory and other fevers, and even a pleurisy, without either\nbleeding, vomiting, purging, clysters, or blisters; and he quarrelled\nso much with the two last, that he calls clysters \"a beastly remedy,\"\nand says that blisters were invented by a wicked spirit, whom he calls\nMoloz, though Beelzebub might have been as good a name, since Dr.\nBaynard wittily observed, that he believed he was only a great\ncantharid. And both Helmont and the Doctor were so far right, that\nblistering was then, as well as now, much abused; and in truth they are\nmuch oftener applied than is either necessary or useful.\n\nThus these two eminent chemists, and too many of their followers,\nfrequently imposed their writings upon the unguarded reader, and\nthemselves upon the vulgar, for men of profound knowledge in the medical\nart, and as great adepts in chemistry: and being puffed up with the high\nopinion entertained of their new art, or new medicines, and their own\ngreat wisdom, they rejected the philosophical theory of medicine by\nGalen and Avicenna, then so much in vogue. They were right in doing\nthis, and might have done great service to mankind, if they had not set\nup their own imaginary chemical theory in its place, which was neither\nfounded upon observations, nature, nor reason, and had no existence but\nin their own vain imaginations. Thus they supposed a malignity which\ncaused all diseases, as well inflammatory as other fevers, and which was\nto be forced out of the body by sweating, with their hot therapeutics;\nthey, therefore, attacked all fevers with this chemical ammunition, and\nattempted to carry them with fire and storm, prescribing the\npraecipitatus diaphoreticus and sweating regimen, which must have been\nfatal to many, and no doubt would have been so to many more, if van\nHelmont had not allowed his patients to dilute the medicine with a thin\ndiet, which rendered the calorific method less fatal. But, as the\nlearned Dr. Friend judiciously remarks, if any did escape after that hot\nregimen, it was through a fiery trial.\n\nThus the chemists, without any rational theory, or regard to nature, and\nwhat she indicated or did;--without duly considering how the morbid\nmatter, which caused the disease, was to be concocted and fitted to be\ncarried off by some critical evacuation; or how to assist nature to\nbring that crisis on, according to the Hippocratic method;--without\nconsidering the benefit of the rational, cooling, antiphlogistic\npractice of the Arabians--they introduced their sudorific regimen\ninstead; and this regimen was soon after brought into use in England,\nand most other countries, where it continued to be the practice for many\nyears afterwards, as may be seen by the authors of those times, until\nthe judicious and honest Dr. Sydenham wisely rejected and exploded it,\nintroducing the rational method of Hippocrates and the cooling regimen\nof the Arabians, which he seems rather to have taken _ex ipsa re et\nratione_ from nature and reason, than from the works of the Arabian\nphysicians, with which he appears not to have been acquainted, as he\nnever mentions them.\n\nVan Helmont had several other famous nostrums, with which he pretended\nto perform wonders, as quacks have done in all ages, and as some do now:\nfor empiricism was never more in fashion than at the present day, and\nthe chemical art has supplied them with many more arcana and nostrums\nthan the ancients had in all their antidotes and theriacas, etc. since\nchemistry was made subservient to medicine. Van Helmont, nevertheless\nwas a learned man, and acquired a great name and reputation, at least\nfor some time; but, as neither his theory nor his practice were founded\non nature and reason, nor conformable to them, the more judicious\nphysicians soon saw their errors, as well as the fallacy of his new\ninvented chemical terms and unmeaning phrases, which only contained the\nshadow and not the substance of the medical science; therefore both his\nchemical theory and hot regimen, together with his writings, sunk soon\nafter his death, into a state of merited oblivion.\n\nNotwithstanding that the science of chemistry was greatly improved by\nthese extraordinary men, who invented or discovered many useful\nremedies, which they introduced into the practice of medicine in a no\nless extraordinary manner, and thereby pointed out the way for others to\nfollow them; yet we must allow that the more able and learned chemists\nhave greatly enriched and improved the materia medica since, by making\nmany curious experiments, and thereby discovering several new and very\nefficacious medicines, not only from the semi-metals, mercury and\nantimony, and the various chemical preparations from them, but from the\nmore perfect metals, and some other mineral bodies, as well as from a\ngreat variety of remedies which are prepared both from vegetable and\nanimal substances, as salts, oils, essences, spirits, tinctures,\nelixirs, extracts and many more needless here to be mentioned, but all\nof which are known to physicians. For all these we are indebted to the\nchemists who first invented and introduced them into practice; although\nthe use and application, as well as the methods of administering them to\nthe sick, to cure various other diseases than those they were first used\nfor, has been greatly improved by several learned and ingenious\nphysicians.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[142] See Demonologia, by J.S.F. p. 40.\n\n[143] See Magazine of Natural History, April, 1830.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\n\nMODERN EMPIRICISM.\n\nIn one respect we have but very little occasion to extol our own\nenlightened age at the expence of those ages which are so frequently and\njustly termed _dark_. We allude to the bold and artful designs of\nimposture, and particularly _medical imposture_. Daily are seen\nilliterate and audacious empirics sporting with the lives of a credulous\npublic, that seem obstinately resolved to shut their ears against all\nthe suggestions of reason and experience. The host of empirics,\nmountebanks, and self-dubbed hygeists, which infest the metropolis, and\nthe tinctures, cordials, pills, balms, and essences, so much extolled by\ntheir retailers, and swallowed by the public, are indeed so many proofs\nof the credulity of the age, that to say the least, the march of\nintellect has evidently made a _faux-pas_ in this direction.\n\nThe celestial beds, the enchanting magnetic powers introduced into this\ncountry by Messmer, a German quack, and his numerous disciples, the\nprevailing indifference to all dietetic precepts, the singular\nimposition practised on many females, in persuading them to wear the\ninert acromatic belts, the strange infatuation of the opulent in paying\nfive guineas for a pair of _metallic tractors_, not worth sixpence, the\ntables for blood-letting, and other absurdities still inserted in\npopular almanacs, (against all the rules of common sense)--all these\nyield in nothing to the absurdities and superstitious notions conveyed\nthrough the medium of astrology, dreams, and other ludicrous though by\nfar more imposing and interesting channels. The temple of the gulls is\nnow thronged with votaries as much as that of superstition formerly was;\nhuman reason is still a slave to the most tyrannical prejudices; and\ncertainly, there is no ready way to excite general attention and\nadmiration, than to deal in the mysterious and the marvellous. The\nvisionary system of Jacob B\u00f6hman has latterly been revived in some parts\nof Germany. The ghosts and apparitions which had disappeared from the\ntimes of Thomasius and Swedenborg, have again left their graves, to the\ngreat terror of fanaticism. New prophets announce their divine mission,\nand, what is worse, find implicit believers! The _inventors_ of _secret_\nmedicines are rewarded by patents, and obtain no small celebrity; while\nsome of the more conscientious, but less fortunate adepts, endeavour to\namuse the public with popular systems of medicine.\n\nOne of the most dazzling and successful inventors in modern times, was\nMessmer, who commenced his career of medical knight-errantry at Vienna.\nHis house was the focus of high life, the rendezvous of the gay, where\nthe young and opulent were enlivened and entertained with continual\nconcerts, routs, and illuminations. At a great expence, he imported into\nGermany the first _Harmonica_ from this country: he established cabinets\nof natural curiosities, and laboured constantly and secretly in his\nchemical laboratory; so that he acquired the reputation of being a great\nalchemist, a philosopher studiously employed in the most useful and\nimportant researches. In 1766, he first publicly announced the object\nand nature of his secret labours:--all his discoveries centered in the\n_magnet_, which, according to his hypothesis, was the best and safest\nremedy hitherto proposed against all diseases incident to the human\nbody.\n\nThis declaration of Messmer excited very general attention; the more so\nas about the same time he established a hospital in his own house, into\nwhich he admitted a number of patients _gratis_. Such disinterestedness\nprocured, as might be expected, no small addition to his fame. He was,\nbesides, fortunate in gaining over many celebrated physicians to his\nopinions, who lavished the greatest encomiums on his new art, and were\ninstrumental in communicating to the public a number of successful\nexperiments. This seems to have surpassed the expectations of Messmer,\nand induced him to extend his original plan further than it is likely he\nfirst intended. We find him soon after assuming a more dogmatical and\nmysterious air, when, for the purpose of shining exclusively, he\nappeared in the character of a _magician_:--his pride and egotism would\nbrook neither equal nor competitor.\n\nThe common loadstone, or mineral magnet, which is so well known, did\nnot appear to him sufficiently important and mysterious--he contrived an\nunusual one, to the effect of which he gave the name of '_animal\nmagnetism_'. After this, he proceeded to a still holder assumption,\neverywhere giving it out, that the inconceivable powers of this subtile\nfluid were centered in his own person. Now, the mona-drama began; and\nMessmer, at once the hero and chorus of the piece, performed his part in\na masterly manner. He placed the most nervous, hysteric, and\nhypocondriac patients opposite to him; and by the sole act of stretching\nforth his finger, he made them feel the most violent shocks. The effects\nof this wonderful power excited universal astonishment; its activity and\npenetration being confirmed by unquestionable testimonies, from which it\nappeared, that blows similar to those given by a blunt iron, could be\nimparted by the operator, while he himself was separated by two doors,\nnay, even by thick walls. The very looks of this prince of jugglers had\nthe power to excite painful cramps and twitches in his credulous and\npredisposed patients.\n\nThis wonderful tide of success instigated his indefatigable genius to\nbolder attempts, especially as he had no severe criticism to apprehend\nfrom the superstitious multitude. He roundly asserted things of which he\noffered not the least shadow of proof; and for the truth of which he had\nno other pledge to offer but his own high reputation. At one time he\ncould communicate his magnetic power to paper, wool, silk, bread,\nleather, stones, water, etc., at another he asserted that certain\nindividuals possessed a greater degree of susceptibility for this power\nthan others. It must be owned, however, that many of his contemporaries\nmade it their business to encounter his extravagant pretensions, and\nrefute his dogmatical assertions with the most convincing arguments.\nYet, he long enjoyed the triumph of being supported by blind followers,\nand their increasing number completely overpowered the suffrages of\nreason.\n\nMessmer, at length perceived that in his native country, he should never\nbe able to reach the point which he had fixed upon, as the termination\nof his magnetical career. The Germans began to discredit his pompous\nclaims; but it was only after repeated failures in some promised cures,\nthat he found himself under the necessity of seeking protection in\nParis. There he met with a most flattering reception, being caressed,\nand in a manner adored by a nation which has always been extravagantly\nfond of every new thing, whimsical and mysterious. Messmer well knew how\nto turn this natural propensity to the best advantage. He addressed\nhimself particularly to the weak; to such as wished to be considered men\nof profound knowledge, but who, when they were compelled to be silent\nfrom real ignorance, took refuge behind the impenetrable shield of\nmystery. The fashionable levity, the irresistible curiosity, and the\npeculiar turn of the Parisians, ever solicitous to have something\ninteresting for conversation, to keep their active imagination in play,\nwere exactly suited to the genius and talents of the inventor of animal\nmagnetism. We need not wonder, therefore, if he availed himself of their\nmoral and physical character, to ensure a ready faith in his doctrines,\nand success to his pretended experiments: in fact, he found friends and\nadmirers wherever he made his appearance. His first advertisement was\ncouched in the following high-sounding terms:\n\n\"Behold a discovery which promises unspeakable advantages to the human\nrace, and immortal fame to its author! Behold the dawn of an universal\nrevolution! A new race of men shall arise, shall overspread the earth,\nto embellish it by their virtues, and render it fertile by their\nindustry. Neither vice nor ignorance, shall stop their active career;\nthey will know our calamities only from the records of history. The\nprolonged duration of their life will enable them to plan and accomplish\nthe most laudable undertakings. The tranquil, the innocent\ngratifications of that primeval age will be restored, wherein man\nlaboured without toil, lived without sorrow, and expired without a\ngroan! Mothers will no longer be subject to pain and danger during their\npregnancy and child-birth: their progeny will be more robust and brave;\nthe now rugged and difficult path of education will be rendered smooth\nand easy; and hereditary complaints and diseases will be for ever\nbanished from the future auspicious race. Fathers rejoicing to see their\nposterity of the fourth and fifth generations, will only drop like fruit\nfully ripe, at the extreme point of age! Animals and plants, no less\nsusceptible of the magnetic power than man, will be exempt from the\nreproach of barrenness and the ravages of distemper. The flocks in the\nfields, and the plants in the gardens, will be more vigorous and\nnourishing, and the trees will bear more beautiful and grateful fruits.\nThe human race, once endowed with this elementary power, will probably\nrise to still more sublime and astonishing effects of nature: who indeed\nis able to pronounce, with certainty, how far this salutary influence\nmay extend?\"\n\n\"What splendid promises! What rich prospects! Messmer, the greatest of\nphilosophers, the most virtuous of men, the physician of mankind,\ncharitably opens his arms to all his fellow-mortals, who stand in need\nof comfort and assistance. No wonder that the cause of magnetism, under\nsuch a zealous apostle, rapidly gained ground, and obtained every day\nlarge additions to the number of its converts. To the gay, the nervous,\nand the dissipated of all ranks and ages, it held out the most\nflattering promises. Men of the first respectability interested\nthemselves in behalf of this new philosophy; they anticipated in idea,\nthe more happy and more vigorous race which would proceed, as it were,\nby enchantment, from the wonderful impulsive powers of animal magnetism.\nThe French were so far seduced by these flattering appearances, as to\noffer the German adventurer _thirty thousand livres_ for the\ncommunication of his secret art. He appears, however, to have understood\nhis own interest better than thus to dispose of his hypothetical\nproperty, which, upon a more accurate investigation might be objected\nto, as consisting of unfair articles of purchase. He consequently\nreturned the following answer to the credulous French ministers:\n\n\"That Dr. M. considered his art of too great importance, and the abuses\nit might lead to, too dangerous for him at present to make it public;\nthat he must therefore reserve to himself the time of its publication,\nand mode of introducing it to general use and observation--that he would\nfirst take proper measures to initiate or prepare the minds of men, by\nexciting in them a susceptibility of this great power; and that he would\nthen undertake to communicate his secret gradually, which he meant to do\nwithout hope of reward.\"\n\nMessmer, too politic to part with his secret for so small a premium, had\na better prospect in view; and his apparent disinterestedness and\nhesitation served only to sound an over-curious public, to allure more\nvictims to his delusive practices, and to retain them more firmly in\ntheir implicit belief. Soon after this he was easily prevailed upon to\ninstitute a private society, into which none were admitted, but such as\nbound themselves by a vow to perpetual secrecy. These pupils he agreed\nto instruct in his important mysteries, on condition of each paying him\n_one hundred louis_. In the course of six months, having had not less\nthan three hundred such pupils, he realized a fortune of _thirty\nthousand louis_.\n\nIt appears, however, that the disciples of Messmer did not adhere to\ntheir engagement: we find them separating gradually from their\nprofessor, and establishing schools for the propagation of his system,\nwith a view, no doubt, to reimburse themselves for the expenses of their\nown initiation into the magnetising art. But few of them having\nunderstood the terms and mysterious doctrines of their foreign master,\nevery new adept exerted himself to excel his fellow-labourers, in\nadditional explanations and inventions: others, who did not possess, or\ncould not spare the sum of one hundred louis, were industriously\nemployed in attempts to discover the secret, by their own ingenuity; and\nthus arose a great variety of magnetical sects. At length, however,\nMessmer's authority became suspected; his pecuniary acquisitions were\nnow notorious, and our _humane and disinterested philosopher_ was\nassailed with critical and satirical animadversions from every quarter.\nThe fertility of his process for medical purposes, as well as the bad\nconsequences it might procure in a moral point of view, soon became\ntopics of common conversation, and ultimately even excited the\napprehensions of government. One dangerous effect of magnetical\nassociations was, that young voluptuaries began to employ this art, to\npromote their libidinous and destructive designs.\n\nMatters having assumed this serious aspect, the French government, much\nto its credit, deputed four respectable and unprejudiced men, to whom\nwere afterwards added four others of great learning and abilities, to\ninquire into, and appreciate the merits of the new discovery of animal\nmagnetism. These philosophers, among whom we find the illustrious names\nof Franklin and Lavoisier, recognised, indeed, very surprising and\nunexpected phenomena in the physical state of magnetized individuals;\nbut they gave it as their opinion, that the powers of imagination, and\nnot animal magnetism, had produced these effects. Sensible of the\nsuperior influence, which the imagination can exert on the human body,\nwhen it is effectually wrought upon, they perceived, after a number of\nexperiments and facts frequently repeated, that _contact_, or touch,\n_imagination, imitation_, and _excited sensibility_, were the real and\nsole causes of these phenomena, which had so much confounded the\nilliterate, the credulous, and the enthusiastic; that this boasted\nmagnetic element had no real existence in nature, consequently that\nMessmer himself was either an arrant impostor, or a deluded fanatic.\n\nMeantime, this magnetic mystery had made no small progress in Germany. A\nnumber of periodical and other publications vindicated its claims to\npublic favour and attention; and some literary men, who had rendered\nthemselves justly celebrated by their former writings, now stepped\nforward as bold and eager champions in support of this mystical\ndoctrine. The ingenious Lavater undertook long journies for the\npropagation of magnetism and somnambulism:[144] and what, manipulations\nand other absurdities were not practised on hysterical young ladies in\nthe city of Bremen? It is farther worthy of notice, that an eminent\nphysician of that place, in a recent publication, does not scruple to\nrank magnetism among medical remedies! It must, nevertheless, be\nconfessed, that the great body of the learned, throughout Germany, have\nendeavoured, by strong and impartial criticism, to oppose and refute\nanimal magnetism, considered as a medical system. And how should it be\notherwise, since it is highly ridiculous to imagine that violent\nagitations, spasms, convulsions, etc. which are obviously symptoms of a\ndiseased state of body, and which must increase rather than diminish the\ndisposition to nervous diseases, can be the means of improving the\nconstitution and ultimately of prolonging human life? Every attentive\nperson must have observed, that too frequent intercourse between nervous\nand hypochondriac patients is infectious; and if this be the case,\npublic assemblies, for exhibiting magnetised individuals, can neither be\nsafe nor proper. It is no small proof of the good sense of the people of\nthis country, though they have at different times fallen into nearly\nsimilar delusions, that the professors of animal magnetism did not long\nmaintain their ground; they were soon exposed to public ridicule on the\nstage, and shortly became annihilated in their own absurdities.\n\nOther plans for the prolongation of life, little less absurd than\nanimal magnetism, which have, like every other imposture, \"fretted their\nhour,\" deserve to be noticed. The French and Germans have long stood\npre-eminent in the empirical world, though the merit of ingenious and\nmore plausible emanations of genius may fairly be attributed to the\nlatter. Animal magnetism; physiognomy, a rational though fallacious\nscience; phrenology, a doctrine abounding with many singular\nmanifestions, and possessing claims not to be put down by mere force of\nprejudice, are all of German origin.\n\nThe Count St. Germain, a Frenchman, realized large sums, by vending an\nartificial tea, chiefly composed of yellow saunders, senna leaves, and\nfennel seed, which was puffed off under the specious appellation of _Tea\nfor prolonging life_; which, at that time, was swallowed with such\nvoracity all over the continent, that few could subsist without it. Its\ncelebrity was of short duration, and none ever lived long enough to\nrealize its effects.\n\nThe Chevalier d'Ailhoud, another brazen-faced adventurer, presented the\nworld with a powder, which met with so large and rapid a sale, that he\nsoon accumulated money enough to purchase a whole county. This famous\npowder, however, instead of adding to the means of securing a long and\nhealthy life, is well known to produce constant indisposition, and at\nlength to cause a most miserable death; being composed of certain drugs\nof a poisonous nature, though slow in their operation.\n\nCount Cagliostro, styled the luminary of modern impostors and\ndebauchees, prepared a very common stomach elixir, which was sold at a\nmost exorbitant price under the name of \"_balm of life_\" It was\npretended, with the most unparalleled effrontery, that, by the use of\nthis medicine, the count had lived above 200 years, and that he was\nrendered invulnerable against every species of poison. These bold\nassertions could not fail to excite very general attention. During his\nresidence at Strasburg, while descanting, in a large and respectable\ncompany, on the virtues of his antidote, his pride met with a very\nmortifying check. A physician who was present, and who had taken part in\nthe conversation, quitting the room privately, went to an apothecary's\nshop, and ordering two pills of equal size to be made, agreeably to his\ndirections, suddenly appeared again before the count, and thus addressed\nhim:--\"Here, my worthy count, are two pills; the one contains a mortal\npoison, the other is perfectly innocent; choose one of these and swallow\nit, and I engage to take that which you leave. This will be considered\nas a decisive proof of your medical skill, and enable the public to\nascertain the efficacy of your extolled elixir.\" The count took the\nalarm, made a number of apologies, but could not be prevailed upon to\ntouch the pills. The physician swallowed both immediately, and proved by\nhis apothecary, that they might be taken with perfect safety, being only\nmade of common bread. Notwithstanding the shame of this detection,\nCagliostro still retained numerous advocates by circulating unfounded\nreports, and concealing his real character by a variety of tricks.\n\nThe inspired father Gassner, of Bavaria, ascribed all diseases,\nlameness, palsy, etc, to diabolical agency, contending from the history\nof Job, Saul, and others recorded in sacred writ, that Satan, as the\ngrand enemy of mankind, has a power to embitter and shorten our lives by\ndiseases. Vast numbers of credulous and weak-minded people flocked to\nthis fanatic, with a view of obtaining relief which he never had the\nmeans to administer. Multitudes of patients, afflicted with nervous and\nhypochondriacal complaints, besieged him daily; being all stimulated by\na wild imagination, eager to view and acknowledge the works of Satan!\nMen eminent for their literary attainments, even the natural\nphilosophers of Bavaria, were hurried away by the stream, and completely\nblinded by sanctified imposture.\n\nIt is no less astonishing than true, that so late as 1794, a Count Thun,\nat Leipzig, pretended to perform miraculous cures on gouty,\nhypochondriacal, and hysterical patients, merely by the imposition of\nhis sacred hands. He could not however raise a great number of disciples\nin a place that abounds with so many sceptics and unbelievers.\n\nThe commencement of the nineteenth century has been equally pregnant\nwith imposture. The delusions of Joanna Southcoat are too fresh in the\nrecollections of our readers to require notice here; yet, strange to\nsay, this fanatical old woman had her adherents and disciples; many of\nthem, in other respects, were keen and sensible men; nor has the\ndelusion altogether evaporated, though the sect is by no means powerful\nor strong; the first impressions are still retained by her half frantic\nand ridiculous devotees, who are only to be met with among the very\nlowest and illiterate orders of society.\n\nThe farce of the convert of Newhall, near Chelmsford, is of still more\nrecent date. Here we have a miracle performed by the holy Prince\nHohenlohe, at a distance of at least three hundred miles from the\npresence of his patient. Hearing of the wonderful cures performed by\nthis prince, one of the nuns in the above convent, who had been\nafflicted for a considerable length of time with a swelling and\ninflammation extending from the ball of the thumb along the fore arm,\nand up as high as the armpit, wrote to Prince Hohenlohe--having\npreviously been attended by the most eminent practitioners in London\nwithout any apparent benefit--to relieve her from her sufferings. This\nhe willingly undertook to do, but accompanied his consent with an\ninjunction that she should offer up her prayers on a certain day (May 3,\n1824,) held in reverence by the catholics, and at a certain hour,\npromising that he would be at his devotions at the same time. All this,\nthe afflicted nun attended to; immediately after her prayers, she\nexperienced a tingling sensation along the arm, and from that instant\nthe cure rapidly advanced until the diseased limb became as sound as the\nother.\n\nThe days of priestcraft and superstition, it was hoped, had been fast\nfleeting away before the luminous rays of science, even in those\ncountries where religious juggling had been most fostered and practised.\nBut for any man in this country to believe that such a miracle can be\nwrought by human agency, is of itself an awfully convincing proof that\nhe is ignorant of the Scriptures, and that his own mind is likely to\nbecome a prey to the wildest chimeras. Prince Hohenlohe's notoriety\nhowever as a worker of miracles was not confined to Newhall. His mighty\nprowess extended to the emerald isle; and several cures were performed\nat as great, or even at a greater distance, than that wrought at\nNewhall, and merely at the sound of his orisons. We hear of no miracles\nbeing wrought by, or upon protestants; consequently we leave them to the\ngloom of the cloister, whence they emanated, and where only they can be\nof use in a cause which requires the aid of stratagem to support it.\n\nA taste for the marvellous seems to be natural to man in every stage of\nsociety, and at almost every period of life; it cannot, therefore, be\nmuch a matter of astonishment, that, from the earliest ages of the\nworld, persons have been found, who, more idle and more ingenious than\nothers, have availed themselves of this propensity, to obtain an easy\nlivelihood by levying contributions on the curiosity of the public.\nWhether this taste is to be considered as a proof of the weakness of our\njudgment, or of innate inquisitiveness, which stimulates us to enlarge\nthe sphere of our knowledge, must be left to the decision of\nmetaphysicians; it is sufficient for our present purpose to know that it\ngave rise to a numerous class of impostors in the shape of quacks,\nmountebanks, poison-swallowers, fire-eaters, and pill-mongers.\n\nThere is another class of adepts, such as sleight of hand performers,\nslack rope dancers, teachers of animals to perform extraordinary tricks;\nin short, those persons who delude the senses, and practise harmless\ndeceptions on spectators, included under the common appellation of\njugglers. If these arts served no other purpose than that of mere\namusement, they yet merit a certain degree of encouragement, as\naffording at once a cheap and innocent diversion; jugglers of this class\nfrequently exhibit instructive experiments in natural philosophy,\nchemistry, and mechanics: thus the solar microscope was invented from an\ninstrument to reflect shadows, with which a savoyard amused a German\npopulace; and the celebrated Sir Richard Arkwright is said to have\nconceived the idea of the spinning machines, which have so largely\ncontributed to the prosperity of the cotton manufactories in this\ncountry, from a toy which he purchased for his child from an itinerant\nshowman. These deceptions have, besides, acted as an agreeable and most\npowerful antidote to superstition, and to that popular belief in\nmiracles, conjuration, sorcery, and witchcraft, which preyed upon the\nminds of our ancestors; and the effects of shadows, electricity,\nmirrors, and the magnet, once formidable instruments in the hands of\ninterested persons, for keeping the vulgar in awe, have been stripped of\ntheir terrors, and are no longer frightful in their most terrific forms.\n\n\nON THE TRANSFUSION OP BLOOD FROM ONE ANIMAL TO ANOTHER.\n\nAt a time when the shortness of human life was imputed to a distempered\nstate of the blood; when all diseases were ascribed to this cause,\nwithout attending to the whole of what relates to the moral and physical\nnature of man, a conclusion was easily formed, that a radical removal of\nthe corrupted blood, and a complete renovation of the entire mass by\nsubstitution was both practicable and effectual. The speculative mind\nof man was not at a loss to devise expedients, to effect this desirable\npurpose; and undoubtedly one of the boldest, most extraordinary, and\nmost ingenious attempts ever made to lengthen the period of human life\nwas made at this time. We allude here to the famous scheme of\n_transfusion_, or of introducing the blood of one animal into that of\nanother. This curious discovery is attributed to Andreas Libavius,\nprofessor of medicine and chemistry in the university of Halle, who, in\nthe year 1615, publicly recommended experimental essays to ascertain the\nfact.\n\nLibavius was an honest and spirited opposer of the Theosophic system,\nfounded by the bombastic Paracelsus, and supported by a numerous tribe\nof credulous and frantic followers. Although he was not totally exempt\nfrom the follies of that age, since he believed in the transmutation of\nmetals, and suggested to his pupils the wonderful power of potable gold,\nyet he distinguished rational alchemy from the fanatical systems then in\nrepute, and zealously defended the former against the disciples of\nGalen, as well as those of Paracelsus. He made a number of important\ndiscoveries in chemistry, and was unquestionably the first professor in\nGermany who gave chemical lectures, upon pure principles of affinity,\nunconnected with the extravagant notions of the theosophists.\n\nThe first experiments relative to the transfusion of the blood, appear\nto have been made, and that with great propriety, on the lower animals.\nThe blood of the young, healthy and vigorous, was transferred into the\nold and infirm, by means of a delicate tube, placed in a vein opened for\nthat purpose. The effect of this operation was surprising and important:\naged and decrepit animals were soon observed to become more lively, and\nto move with greater ease and rapidity. By the indefatigable exertions\nof Lower, in England, of Dennis in France, and of Moulz, Hoffman, and\nothers in Germany, this artificial mode of renovating the life and\nspirits was successfully continued, and even brought to some degree of\nperfection.\n\nThe vein usually opened in the arm of a patient was resorted to for the\npurpose of transfusion; into this a small tube was placed in a\nperpendicular direction; the same vein was then opened in a healthy\nindividual, but more frequently in an animal, into which another tube\nwas forced in a reclining direction; both small tubes were then slid\ninto one another, and in that position the delicate art of transfusion\nwas safely performed. When the operation was completed, the vein was\ntied up in the same manner as on blood-letting. Sometimes a quantity of\nblood was drawn from the patient, previously to the experiment taking\nplace. As few persons, however, were to be found, that would agree to\npart with their blood to others, recourse was generally had to animals,\nand most frequently to the calf, the lamb, and the stag. These being\nlaid upon a table, and tied so as to be unable to move, the operation\nwas performed in the manner before described. In some instances, the\ngood effects of these experiments were evident and promising, while they\nexcited the greatest hopes of the future improvement and progress of\nthis new art. But the unceasing abuses practised by bold and inexpert\nadventurers, together with the great number of cases, which proved\nunsuccessful, induced the different governments of Europe to put an\nentire stop to the practice, by the strictest prohibitions. And, indeed,\nwhile the constitutions and mode of living among men differ so\nmaterially as they now do, this is, and ever must remain, an extremely\nhazardous and equivocal, if not a desperate remedy. The blood of every\nindividual is of a peculiar nature, and congenial with that of the body\nonly to which it belongs, and in which it is generated. Hence our hope\nof prolonging human life, by artificial evacuations and injections, must\nnecessarily be disappointed. It must not, however, be supposed, that\nthese, and similar pursuits during the ages of which we treat, as well\nas those which succeeded, were solely or chiefly followed by mere\nadventurers and fanatics. The greatest geniuses of those times employed\ntheir wits with the most learned and eminent men, who deemed it an\nobject by no means below their consideration.\n\nThe method of supplying good for unsound teeth, though long laid aside,\nin consequence of the danger with which the practice was attended, by\nthe communication of disease from an unhealthy to a healthy person, was\nat one time as much the rage as the transfusion of blood. This practice,\nnotwithstanding the objections which stand opposed to it, might,\nnevertheless, be adopted with success on many occasions, could persons\nenjoying a sound and wholesome state of body be found to answer the\ndemand, however unnatural it may appear. A few untoward cases soon\nraised the hue and cry against the continuance of the practice, as in\nthe transfusion of blood, though the latter has recently been attempted\nin the case of an individual exhausted by excessive hermorrage with a\nsuccess which answered the expectation. There is little doubt that both\nthe transfusion of blood, and engrafting or transplanting of teeth, are\ncapable, with judgment and discrimination, of being made subservient in\na variety of cases; though the chances of general success militate\nagainst these experiments; for it is the unalterable plan of nature to\nproceed gradually in her operations; all outrage and extravagance being\nat variance with her established laws.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[144] The art of exciting sleep in persons under the influence of animal\nmagnetism, with a view to obtain or rather extort during this artificial\nsleep, their verbal declarations and directions for curing the diseases\nof both body and mind. Such, indeed, was the rage for propagating this\nmystical nonsense, that even the pulpit was occasionally resorted to, in\norder to make, not fair penitents, but fair proselytes.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\n\nTHE ROSICRUCIANS OR THEOSOPHISTS.\n\nThis remarkable sect was founded upon the doctrines of Paracelsus,\nduring the latter part of the sixteenth, and the beginning of the\nseventeenth centuries. The society was known by the name of the\nRosencrucians or Rosecrucians; and as it has not been without its\nfollowers and propagators in different shapes, even to the present time,\nwe shall here present the reader with a concise account of the origin\nand tenets of that fanatical sect.\n\nThe first intimation of the existence of this order we find announced to\nthe world in a book published in the German language, in the year 1614,\nwith the following title, \"_The universal and general Reformation of the\nworld, together with an account of the famous fraternity of the\nRosencrucians_.\" The work contains an intimation, that the members of\nthe society had been secretly engaged for a century preceding, and that\nthey had come to the knowledge of many great and important secrets,\nwhich, if communicated to the world, would promote the happiness of man.\n\nAn adventurer of the name of Christian Rosenkreuz is said to have\nfounded this order, in the fourteenth century after having been\npreviously initiated in the sublime wisdom of the east, during his\ntravels in Egypt and Fez. From what we are enabled to learn from this\nwork, the intention of the founder and the final aim of the society,\nappear to have been the accumulation of wealth and treasures, by means\nof secrets known only to the members; and by a proper distribution of\nthese treasures among princes and potentates, to promote the grand\nscheme of the society, by producing \"a general revolution of all\nthings.\" In their \"confession of faith,\" there are many bold and\nsingular dogmas; among others, that the end of the world is at hand;\nthat a general reformation of men and manners will speedily take place;\nthat the wicked shall be expelled or subdued, the Jews converted, and\nthe doctrine of Christ propagated over the whole earth. The\nRosencrucians not only believed that these events must happen, but they\nalso endeavoured to accelerate them by unremitted exertions. To their\nfaithful votaries and followers, they promised abundance of celestial\nwisdom, unspeakable riches, exemption from disease, an immortal state of\nman of ever blooming youth, and above all the _philosopher's stone_.\n\nLearning and improvement of the mind were, by this order, considered as\nsuperfluous and despised. They found all knowledge in the Bible; this,\nhowever, has been supposed rather a pretext to obviate a charge, which\nwas brought against them, of not believing in the Christian religion.\nThe truth is, they imagined themselves superior to divine revelation,\nand supposed every useful acquisition, every virtue to be derived from\nthe influence of the Deity on the soul of man. In this, as well as in\nmany other respects, they appear to be followers of Paracelsus, whom\nthey profess to revere as a Messenger of the divinity. Like him, they\npretend to cure all diseases; through _faith_ and the power of the\nimagination, to heal the most mortal disorders by a touch, or even by\nsimply looking at the patient. The universal remedy was likewise a grand\nsecret of the order, the discovery of which was promised to all its\nfaithful members.\n\nIt would be unnecessary to enumerate any more of such impious fancies,\nif the founder of this still lurking sect, now partly revivified, had\nnot asserted, with astonishing effrontery, that human life was capable\nof prolongation, like a fire kept up by combustible matter, and that he\nwas in the possession of a secret, which could verify this assertion. It\nis evident, however, from the testimony of Libavius, a man of\nunquestionable veracity, that this doughty champion in medical\nchemistry, or rather alchemy, Paracelsus, notwithstanding his bold\nassertions, died as before observed, at Sulzburgh in Germany, in the\nHospital of St. Stephen's in 1541: and that his death was chiefly\noccasioned by the singular and desolate mode of life, which he had for a\nlong time pursued. When a competent knowledge of the economy of the\nhuman frame is wanting, to enable a man to discriminate between internal\nand external causes and effects, it will be impossible to ascertain, or\nto counteract, the different causes by which our health is deranged.\nThis evidently was the case with Paracelsus, and many other\nlife-prolongers who have succeeded him; and should a fortunate\nindividual ever fix upon a remedy, possessing the power of checking\ndisease, or lengthening out human existence (an expectation never to be\nrealized) he will be indebted to chance alone for the discovery. This\nhas been the case in all ages, and still remains so.\n\nRemedies, from time to time, have been devised, not merely to serve as\nnostrums for all diseases, but also for the pretended purpose of\nprolonging life. Those of the latter kind have been applied with a view\nto resist or check many operations of nature, which insensibly consume\nthe vital heat, and other powers of life, such as respiration, muscular\nirritation, etc. Thus, from the implicit credulity of some, and the\nexuberant imagination of others, observation and experiments, however\nincompatible with sound reason and philosophy, have been multiplied,\nwith the avowed design of establishing proofs, or reputations of this or\nthat absurd opinion. In this manner have fanaticism and imposture\nfalsified the plainest truths, or forged the most unfounded and\nridiculous claims; insomuch that one glaring inconsistency has been\nemployed to combat another, and folly has succeeded folly, till a fund\nof materials has been transmitted to posterity, sufficient to form a\nconcise history on this subject. Men in all ages have set a just value\non life; and in proportion to the means of enjoyment, this value has\nbeen appreciated in a greater or less degree. If the gratification of\nthe sensual appetite formed the principal object of living, its\nprolongation would be to the epicure, as desirable as the prospect of an\nexistence to be enjoyed beyond the limits of the grave, is to the\nmoralist and the believer.\n\nThe desire of longevity appears to be inherent in all animated nature,\nand particularly in the human race; it is intimately cherished by us,\nthrough the whole duration of our existence, and is frequently supported\nand strengthened, not only by justifiable means, but also by various\nkinds of collusion. Living in an age when every branch of human\nknowledge is reduced to popular systems; when the vigils of reason are\nhallowed at the shrine of experiment and observation;--though we behold\nin the immense variety of things, the utter uselessness of attempting to\nrenovate a shattered constitution, or of improving a sound one to last\nbeyond a certain period; we nevertheless observe that in the\ninconceivable waste of elementary particles there prevails the strictest\neconomy. Nothing is produced in vain, nothing consumed without a cause.\nWe clearly perceive that all nature is united by indissoluble ties, that\nevery individual thing exists for the sake of another, and that no one\ncan subsist without its concomitant. Hence we conclude, that man himself\nis not an insulated being, but a necessary link in the great chain,\nwhich connects the universe. Nature is our safest guide, and she will be\nso with greater certainty, as we become better acquainted with her\noperations, especially with respect to those particulars which more\nnearly concern our physical existence. Thus, n source of many and very\nextensive advantages will be opened; thus, we shall reach our original\ndestination--namely, that of living long and in the enjoyment of sound\nhealth, to which, if purity of morals he added, the best hopes may be\nentertained of a happy state, in a future world, where its inhabitants\nnever die.","title":"Thaumaturgia; Or, Elucidations of the Marvellous","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":91928}