{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_38448/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_38448","id":"gutenberg_38448","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38448","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Magic","Occultism"],"text":"Produced by Chris Curnow, Cathy Maxam and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  MODERN MAGIC.\n\n  BY\n\n  M. SCHELE DE VERE.\n\n  _Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem\n  Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat._\n\n  HORACE.\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n  NEW YORK:\n  G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS,\n  FOURTH AVENUE AND TWENTY-THIRD STREET.\n  1873.\n\n\n\n\n  Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1878, by\n  G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS,\n  In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.\n\n  LANGE, LITTLE & HILLMAN,\n  PRINTERS, ELECTROTYPERS AND STEREOTYPERS,\n  108 TO 114 WOOSTER STREET, N. Y.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe main purpose of our existence on earth--aside from the sacred and\nparamount duty of securing our salvation--is undoubtedly to make\nourselves masters of the tangible world around us, as it stands revealed\nto our senses, and as it was expressly made subject to our will by the\nCreator. We are, however, at the same time, not left without information\nabout the existence of certain laws and the occurrence of certain\nphenomena, which belong to a world not accessible to us by means of our\nordinary senses, and which yet affect seriously our intercourse with\nNature and our personal welfare. This knowledge we obtain sometimes, by\nspecial favor, as direct revelation, and at other times, for reasons as\nyet unknown, at the expense of our health and much suffering. By\nwhatever means it may reach us, it cannot be rejected; to treat it with\nridicule or to decline examining it, would be as unwise as\nunprofitable. The least that we can do is to ascertain the precise\nnature of these laws, and, after stripping these phenomena of all that\ncan be proved to be merely incidental or delusive, to compare them with\neach other, and to arrange them carefully according to some standard of\nclassification. The main interest in such a task lies in the discovery\nof the grain of truth which is often found concealed in a mass of\nrubbish, and which, when thus brought to light, serves to enlarge our\nknowledge and to increase our power. The difficulty lies in the absence\nof all scientific investigation, and in the innate tendency of man to\ngive way, wantonly or unconsciously, to mental as well as to sensual\ndelusion.\n\nThe aim of this little work is, therefore, limited to the gathering of\nsuch facts and phenomena as may serve to throw light upon the nature of\nthe magic powers with which man is undoubtedly endowed. Its end will be\nattained if it succeeds in showing that he actually does possess powers\nwhich are not subject to the general laws of nature, but more or less\nindependent of space and time, and which yet make themselves known\npartly by appeals to the ordinary senses and partly by peculiar\nphenomena, the result of their activity. These higher powers, operating\nexclusively through the spirit of man, are part of his nature, which has\nmuch in common with that of the Deity, since he was created by God \"in\nHis own image,\" and the Lord \"breathed into his nostrils the breath of\nlife and man became a living _soul_.\" This soul is not, as materialists\nmaintain, merely the sum of all perceptions obtained by the collective\nactivity of bodily organs--a conclusion which would finally make it the\nproduct of mere material atoms, subject to constant physical and\nchemical changes. Even if it were possible--which we deny--to reduce our\nwhole inner life, including memory, imagination, and reason, to a system\nof purely physical laws, and thus to admit its destruction at the moment\nof death, there would still remain the _living soul_, coming directly\nfrom the Most High, and destined to continue throughout eternity. This\nsoul is, hence, independent of time. Nor is it bound by space, except so\nfar as it can commune with the outer world only by means of the body,\nwith which it is united in this life. The nature of this union is a\nmystery as yet unfathomed, but precisely because it is such a mystery,\nwe have no right to assume that it is altogether indissoluble during\nlife; or, that it ceases entirely at the moment of death. There is, on\nthe contrary, overwhelming evidence that the soul may, at times, act\nindependently of the body, and the forces developed on such occasions we\nhave, for the sake of convenience rather than on account of the special\nfitness of the term, preferred to call _magic_ powers.\n\nThere is no evidence whatever before us as to the mutual relations of\nsoul and body after death. Here, necessarily, all must be mere\nspeculation. Nothing more, therefore, will be claimed for the following\nsuggestions. When the body becomes unfit to serve any longer as an abode\nand an instrument to the soul, the tie which was formed before or at the\nmoment of birth is gradually loosened. The soul no longer receives\nimpressions from the outer world such as the body heretofore conveyed to\nit, and with this cessation of mutual action ends, also, the community\nof sensation. The living soul--in all probability--becomes conscious of\nits separation from the dead body and from the world; it continues to\nexist, but in loneliness and self-dependence. Its life, however, becomes\nonly the more active and the more self-conscious as it is no longer\nconsumed by intercourse with the world, nor disturbed by bodily\ndisorders and infirmities. The soul recalls with ease all long-forgotten\nor much-dimmed sensations. What it feels most deeply at first is, we\nmay presume, the double grief at being separated from the body, with\nwhich it has so long been closely connected, and at the sins it has\ncommitted during life. This repentance will be naturally all the\nheartier, as it is no longer interrupted by sensual impressions. After a\nwhile this grief, like all sorrows, begins to moderate, and the soul\nreturns to a state of peace: sooner, of course, in the case of persons\nwho in their earthly life already had secured peace by the only means\nrevealed to man; later, by those who had given themselves entirely up to\nthe world and their passions. At the same time the living soul enters\ninto communion with other souls, retaining, however, its individuality\nin sex, character, and temper, and, possibly, proceeds on a course of\ngradual purification, till it reaches the desired haven in perfect\nreconciliation with God. During this intermediate time there is nothing\nknown to us which would absolutely forbid the idea that these living\nsouls continue to maintain some kind of intercourse with the souls of\nmen on earth, with whom they share all that constitutes their essential\nnature, save only the one fact of bondage to the body. Nor is there any\nreason why the soul in man should not be able, by its higher powers, to\nperceive and to consort with souls detached from mortal bodies, although\nthis intercourse must needs be limited and imperfect because of the\nvast difference between a free soul and one bound to an earthly, sinful\nbody. For man, when he dies, leaves behind in this world the body, dead\nand powerless, a corpse. He continues, however, to live, a soul, with\nall the peculiar powers which make up our spiritual organism; that is to\nsay, the true man, in the higher sense of the word, exists still, though\nhe dwell in another world. This soul has now no longer earthly organs of\nsense to do its bidding, but it still controls nature which was made\nsubject to its will; it has, moreover, a new set of powers which\nrepresent in the higher world its higher body, and the character of its\nnew active life will be all the more elevated, as these organs are more\nspiritual. Man cannot but continue to develop, to grow, and to ripen, in\nthe next world as he did in this; his nature and his destiny are alike\nincompatible with sudden transitions and with absolute rest. The soul\nmust become purer and more useful; its organs more subtle and more\npowerful, and it is of this life of gradual improvement and purification\nthat we may occasionally obtain glimpses by that communion which no\ndoubt still exists between earth-bound souls and souls freed from such\nbondage.\n\nThere are, it is well known, many theologians who sternly deny any such\nfurther development of man's spiritual part, and insist upon looking at\nthis life as the only time of probation accorded to him, at the end of\nwhich immediate and eternal judgment is rendered. Their views are\nentitled to the utmost consideration and respect. But different opinions\nare entertained by some of their brethren, not less eminent in piety,\nprofound learning, and critical acumen, and hence at least equally\ndeserving of being attentively listened to and carefully regarded. So it\nis also with the belief in the possibility of holding intercourse with\ndisembodied spirits. Superficial observers are ready to doubt or to\ndeny, to sneer haughtily, or to scoff contemptuously. But men of great\neminence have, from time immemorial, treated the question with great\nattention and deep interest. Melanchthon wrote: \"I have myself seen\nghosts, and know many trustworthy people who affirm that they have not\nonly seen them, but even carried on conversations with them\" (De Anima\nRecogn.: Wittemb. 1595, p. 317), and Luther said nearly the same; Calvin\nand Knox also expressed similar convictions. A faith which has lasted\nthrough all ages of man's history, and has such supporters, cannot but\nhave some foundation, and deserves full investigation. Alchemy, with its\nvisionary hopes, contained, nevertheless, the germ of modern chemistry,\nand astrology taught already much that constitutes the astronomy of our\nday. The same is, no doubt, the case with Modern Magic, and here, also,\nwe may safely expect to find that \"out of darkness cometh light.\"\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n  I.\n  WITCHCRAFT                 13\n\n  II.\n  BLACK AND WHITE MAGIC      43\n\n  III.\n  DREAMS                     94\n\n  IV.\n  VISIONS                   116\n\n  V.\n  GHOSTS                    155\n\n  VI.\n  DIVINATION                270\n\n  VII.\n  POSSESSION                340\n\n  VIII.\n  MAGNETISM                 376\n\n  IX.\n  MIRACULOUS CURES          429\n\n  X.\n  MYSTICISM                 448\n\n\n\n\nMODERN MAGIC.\n\n\n\n\nI.\n\nWITCHCRAFT.\n\n    \"Witchcraft is an illegitimate miracle; a miracle is legitimate\n    witchcraft.\"\n\n    --JACOB BOEHME.\n\n\nPerhaps in no direction has the human mind ever shown greater weakness\nthan in the opinions entertained of witchcraft. If Hecate, the oldest\npatroness of witches, wandered about at night with a gruesome following,\nand frightened lovers at their stealthy meeting, or lonely wanderers on\nopen heaths and in dark forests, her appearance was at least in keeping\nwith the whole system of Greek mythology. Tacitus does not frighten us\nby telling us that witches used to meet at salt springs (Ann. xiii. 57),\nnor the Edda when speaking of the \"bearers of witches' kettles,\" against\nwhom even the Salic Law warns all good Christians. But when the Council\nof Ancyra, in the fifth century, fulminates its edicts against women\nriding at night upon weird animals in company with Diana and Herodias,\nthe strange combination of names and the dread penalties threatened,\nmake us almost think of witches as of real and most marvelous beings.\nAnd when wise councillors of French Parliaments and gray dignitaries of\nthe Holy German Empire sit in judgment over a handful of poor old women,\nwhen great English bishops and zealous New England divines condemn\nlittle children to death, because they have made pacts with the Devil,\nattended his sabbaths, and bewitched their peaceful neighbors--then we\nstand amazed at the delusions, to which the wisest and best among us are\nliable.\n\nChristianity, it is true, shed for a time such a bright light over the\nearth, that the works of darkness were abhorred and the power of the\nEvil One seemed to be broken, according to the sacred promises that the\nseed of woman should bruise the serpent's head. Thus Charlemagne, in his\nfierce edict issued after the defeat of the Saxons, ordered that death\nshould be inflicted on all who after pagan manner gave way to devilish\ndelusions, and believed that men or women could be witches, persecuted\nand killed them; or, even went so far as to consume their flesh and give\nit to others for like purposes! But almost at the same time the belief\nin the Devil, distinctly maintained in Holy Writ, spread far and wide,\nand as early as the fourth century diseases were ascribed not to organic\ncauses, but to demoniac influences, and the Devil was once more seen\nbodily walking to and fro on the earth, accompanied by a host of smaller\ndemons. It was but rarely that a truly enlightened man dared to combat\nthe universal superstition. Thus Agobard, archbishop of Lyons, shines\nlike a bright star on the dark sky of the ninth century by his open\ndenunciation of all belief in possession, in the control of the weather\nor the decision of difficulties by ordeal. For like reasons we ought to\nrevere the memory of John of Salisbury, who in the twelfth century\ndeclared the stories of nightly assemblies of witches, with all their\nattending circumstances, to be mere delusions of poor women and simple\nmen, who fancied they saw bodily what existed only in their imagination.\nThe Church hesitated, now requiring her children to believe in a Devil\nand demons, and now denouncing all faith in supernatural beings. The\nthirteenth century, by Leibnitz called the darkest of all, developed the\nworship of the Evil One to its fullest perfection; the writings of St.\nAugustine were quoted as confirming the fact that demons and men could\nand did intermarry, and the Djinns of the East were mentioned as spirits\nwho \"sought the daughters of men for wives.\" The first trace of a\nwitches' dance is found in the records of a fearful Auto-da-fe held in\nToulouse in the year 1353, and about a century later the Dominican monk,\nJaquier, published the first complete work on witches and witchcraft. He\nrepresented them as organised--after the prevailing fashion of the\nday--in a regular guild, with apprentices, companions, and masters, who\npractised a special art for a definite purpose. It is certainly most\nremarkable that the same opinion, in all its details, has been\nentertained in this century even, and by one of the most famous German\nphilosophers, Eschenmayer. While the zeal and madness of\ndevil-worshippers were growing on one side, persecution became more\nviolent and cruel on the other side, till the trials of witches assumed\ngigantic proportions and the proceedings were carried on according to a\nregular method. These trials originated, invariably, with theologians,\nand although the system was not begun by the Papal government it\nobtained soon the Pope's legal sanction by the famous bull of Innocent\nVIII., _Summis desiderantes_, dated December 4, 1484, and decreeing the\nrelentless persecution of all heretical witches. The far-famed _Malleus\nmaleficatum_ (Cologne, 1489), written by the two celebrated judges of\nwitches, Sprenger and Gremper, and full of the most extraordinary views\nand statements, reduced the whole to a regular method, and obtained a\nvast influence over the minds of that age. The rules and forms it\nprescribed were not only observed in almost all parts of Christendom,\nbut actually retained their force and legality till the end of the\nseventeenth century. Nor were these views and practices confined to\nCatholic countries; a hundred and fifty years after the Reformation, a\ngreat German jurist and a Protestant, Carpzon, published his _Praxis\nCriminalis_, in which precisely the same opinions were taught and the\nsame measures were prescribed. The Puritans, it is well-known, pursued a\nsimilar plan, and the New World has not been more fortunate in avoiding\nthese errors than the Old World. A curious feature in the\nabove-mentioned works is the fact that both abound in expressions of\nhatred against the female sex, and still more curious, though\ndisgraceful in the extreme, that the special animosity shown by judges\nof witchcraft against women is solely based upon the weight which they\nattached to the purport of the Mosaic inhibition: \"Thou shalt not suffer\na _witch_ to live\" (Exodus xii. 18).\n\nThese are dark pages in the history of Christendom, blackened by the\nsmoke of funeral piles and stained with the blood of countless victims\nof cruel superstition. For here the peculiarity was that in the majority\nof cases not the humble sufferers whose lives were sacrificed, but the\nhaughty judges were the true criminals. The madness seems to have been\ncontagious, for Protestant authorities were as bloodthirsty as\nCatholics; the Inquisition waged for generations unceasing war against\nthis new class of heretics among the nations of the Romanic race.\nGermany saw great numbers sacrificed in a short space of time, and in\nsober England, even, three thousand lost their lives during the Long\nParliament alone, while, according to Barrington, the whole number who\nperished amounted to not less than thirty thousand! If only few were\nsacrificed in New England, the exception was due more to the sparse\npopulation than to moderation; in South America, on the contrary, the\npersecution was carried on with relentless cruelty. And all this\nhappened while fierce war was raging almost everywhere, so that, while\nthe sword destroyed the men, the fire consumed the women! Occasionally\nmost startling contrasts would be exhibited by different governments. In\nthe North, James I., claiming to be as wise as Solomon, and more learned\nthan any man in Christendom, imagined that he was persecuted by the Evil\nOne on account of his great religious zeal, and saw in every Catholic an\ninstrument of his adversary. His wild fancy was cunningly encouraged by\nthose who profited by his tyranny, and Catholics were represented as\nbeing, one and all, given up to the Devil, the mass and witchcraft, the\nthree unholy allies opposed to the Trinity! In the South, the Republic\nof Venice, with all its petty tyranny and proverbial political cruelty,\nstood almost alone in all Christendom as opposed to persecutions of\nwizards and witches, and fought the battle manfully on the side of\nenlightenment and Christian charity. The horrors of witch-trials soon\nreached a height which makes us blush for humanity. The accused were\ntortured till they confessed their guilt, so that they might lose not\nonly life upon earth, but also hope for eternity. If, under torture,\nthey declared themselves innocent, but ready to confess their guilt and\nto die, they were told that in such a case they would die with a\nfalsehood on their lips, and thus forfeit salvation. Some of the\nsufferers were found to have a stigma on their bodies, a place where the\nnerves had been paralysed, and no pain was consequently felt--this was a\nsure sign of their being witches, and they were forthwith burnt; if they\nhad no such stigma, the judge decided that the Devil marked only his\ndoubtful adherents, and left his trusty followers unmarked! The terror\nbecame so great that in the seventeenth century repentant \"witches\nabounded, because it had become customary\" merely to hang or to\ndecapitate those who confessed, while all others were burned alive.\nHundreds suffering of painful diseases or succumbing to unbearable\nprivations, forthwith fancied themselves bewitched, or actually sought\nrelief from the ills of this life by voluntarily appearing before the\nnumerous tribunals for the trial of witchcraft. The minds of men were so\nthoroughly blinded, that even when husbands testified the impossibility\nof their wives having attended the witches' sabbath, because they had\nbeen lying all night by their side in bed, they were told, and quite\nready to believe, that a phantom had taken the place of their absent\nwives! In one of the most famous trials five women confessed, after\nsuffering unspeakable torture, that they had disinterred an infant, the\nchild of one of their number, and supped upon it with the Devil; the\nfather of the child persevered till the grave was opened, and behold,\nthe child's body was there unharmed! But the judges declared it to be a\nphantom sent by the Evil One, since the confession of the criminals was\nworth more than mere ocular proof, and the women were burnt accordingly.\n(Horst. Demonomagie, i. p. 349.) The most signal proof of the absurdity\nof all such charges was obtained in our own country. Here the number of\nthose who complained of being plagued and injured by demoniac agencies\nbecame larger in precise proportion as trials increased and\ncondemnations succeeded. But when nineteen of the accused had been\nexecuted, and the judges becoming appalled at the daily growing number\nof complaints, set some of the prisoners free, and declined to arrest\nothers, there was suddenly an end of these grievances, no more accounts\nof enchantment and witchcraft were heard, and soon the evil disappeared\nentirely.\n\nIt was a similar return to reason which at last led in Europe also to a\nreaction. The Doge of Venice and the Great Council appealed to the pope,\nLeo X., to put a curb upon the intemperate zeal of his ministers, and he\nsaw himself forced to check the merciless persecution. Occasionally\nvoices had been raised, already before that public appeal, condemning\nsuch wholesale slaughter; among these were men like Bacon of Verulam,\nReginald Scotus, and, marvel of marvels, two famous Jesuits, Tanner and\nSpee. And yet even these merciful and enlightened men never, for a\nmoment, doubted the genuineness of witchcraft and its fatal effects.\nFather Spee, a most learned man, writing against the ceaseless\npersecutions of pretended witches, nevertheless declared, in 1631, in\nhis renowned _Cautio criminalis_, by far the best work written on that\nside of the question, that \"there are in the world some few wizards and\nenchanters, which could not be denied by any body without frivolity and\ngreat ignorance,\" and even Bayle, while condemning the cruelty of\nwitches' trials, seriously proposes to punish witches for their\n\"ill-will.\" Vaude, the well-known librarian of Cardinal Mazarin, wrote\nan able work as an apology of all the great men who had been suspected\nof witchcraft, including even Clemens V., Sylvester II., and other\npopes, and a renowned Capuchin monk, d'Autun, pursued the same subject\nwith infinite subtlety of thought and great happiness of diction in his\n_L'incredulite savante et la credulite ignorante_. A witch was, however,\nstill condemned to be burned in 1698, in Germany; fortunately the judge,\na distinguished jurist of the University of Halle, was remonstrated with\nby an esteemed colleague, and thus induced to examine himself as well as\nthe whole grievous subject with unsparing candor. This led him to see\nclearly the error involved in trials of witchcraft, and he wrote, in\n1701, a most valuable and influential work against the Crime of Magic.\nHe succeeded, especially, in destroying the enormous prestige heretofore\nenjoyed by Del Rio's great work _Disquisitiones magicae_, the favorite\nhand-book of judges of all lands, which was even adopted, though from\nthe pen of a Jesuit, by the Protestants of Germany. In no case, however,\nwere the personal existence of the Devil, and his activity upon earth,\ndenied by these writers; on the contrary, it is well known that Luther,\nMelanchthon, and even Calvin, continued always to speak of Satan as\nhaving a corporeal existence and as being perceptible to human senses.\nThe negation contended for applied only to his direct agency in the\nphysical world; his moral influence was ever readily admitted. Sporadic\ncases of witchcraft, and their trial by high courts of justice, have\ncontinued to occur down to our day. Maria Theresa was the first\nperemptorily to forbid any further persecutions on account of\n_Veneficium_, as it had become the fashion to call the acts of magic by\nwhich men or beasts were said to be injured. There are, however, writers\nwho maintain, in this century, and in our generation, even, the direct\nagency of the Devil in daily life, and see in demoniac sufferings the\npunishment of the wicked in this life already.\n\nThe question of how much truth there may have been in this belief in\nwitchcraft, held by so many nations, and persevered in during so many\ncenturies, has never yet been fully answered. It is hardly to be\npresumed that during this long period all men, even the wisest and\nsubtlest, should have been completely blinded or utterly demented. Many\nhistorians as well as philosophers have looked upon witchcraft as a mere\ncreation of the Inquisition. Rome, they argue, was in great danger, she\nhad no new dogma to proclaim which would give food to inquiring minds,\nand increase the prestige of her power; she was growing unpopular in\nmany countries heretofore considered most faithful and submissive, and\nshe was engaged in various dangerous conflicts with the secular powers.\nIn this embarrassment her Inquisitors looked around for some means of\nescape, and thought a remedy might be found in this new combination of\nthe two traditional crimes of heresy and enchantment. Witchcraft, as a\ncrime, because of the deeds of violence with which it was almost\ninvariably associated, belonged before the tribunal of the secular\njudge; as a sin it was to be punished by the bishop, but as heresy it\nfell, according to the custom of the day, to the share of neither judge\nnor bishop, but into the hands of the Inquisition.\n\nThe extreme uniformity of witchcraft from the Tagus to the Vistula, and\nin New England as in Old England, is adduced as an additional evidence\nof its having been \"manufactured\" by the Inquisition. Nothing is gained,\nhowever, by looking upon it as a mere invention; nor would such an\nexplanation apply to the wizards and witches who are repeatedly\nmentioned and condemned in Holy Writ. Witchcraft was neither purely\nartificial, a mere delusion, nor can it be accounted for upon a purely\nnatural basis. The essential part in it is the magic force, which does\nnot belong to the natural but to the spiritual part of man. Hence it is\nnot so very surprising, as many authors have thought it, that thousands\nof poor women should have done their best to obtain visions which only\nled to imprisonment, torture, and death by fire, while they procured for\nthem apparently neither comfort nor wealth, but only pain, horror, and\ndisgrace. For there was mixed up with all this a sensation of pleasure,\nvague and wild, though it was in conformity with the rude and coarse\nhabits of the age. It is the same with the opium eater and hasheesh\nsmoker, only in a more moderate manner; the delight these pernicious\ndrugs afford is not seen, but the disease, the suffering, and the\nwretched death they produce, are visible enough. The stories of witches'\nsabbaths taking place on certain days of the year, arose no doubt from\nthe fact that the prevailing superstition of the times regarded some\nseasons as peculiarly favorable for the ceremony of anointing one's self\nwith narcotic salves, and this led to a kind of spiritual community on\nsuch nights, which to the poor deluded people appeared as a real meeting\nat appointed places. In like manner there was nothing absolutely absurd\nor impossible in the idea of a compact with the Devil. Satan presented\nhimself to the minds of men in those ages as the bodily incarnation of\nall that is evil and sinful, and hence when they fancied they made a\nleague with him, they only aroused the evil principle within themselves\nto its fullest energy and activity. It was in fact the selfish, covetous\nnature of man, ever in arms against moral laws and the commandments of\nGod, which in these cases became distinctly visible and presented itself\nin the form of a vision. This evil principle, now relieved from all\nconstraint and able to develop its power against a feebly resisting\nsoul, would naturally destroy the poor deluded victim, in body and in\nspirit. Hence the trials of witchcraft had at least some justification,\nhowever unwise their form and however atrocious their abuses. The\nmajority of the crimes with which the so-called witches were charged,\nwere no doubt imaginary; but many of the accused also had taken real\ndelight in their evil practices and in the grievous injury they had done\nto those they hated or envied. Nor must it be forgotten that the age in\nwhich these trials mainly occurred was emphatically an age of\nsuperstition; from the prince on his throne to the clown in his hut,\neverybody learnt and practiced some kind of magic; the ablest statesmen\nand the subtlest philosophers, the wisest divines and the most learned\nphysicians, all were more or less adepts of the Black Art, and many\namong them became eminently dangerous to their fellow-beings. Others,\nceaselessly meditating and brooding over charms and demoniac influences,\nfinally came to believe in their own powers of enchantment, and\nconfessed their guilt, although they had sinned only by volition,\nwithout ever being able really to call forth and command magic powers.\nStill others labored under a regular panic and saw witchcraft in the\nsimplest events as well as in all more unusual phenomena in nature. A\nviolent tempest, a sudden hailstorm, or an unusual rise in rivers, all\nwere at once attributed to magic influences, and the authorities urged\nand importuned to prevent a recurrence with all its disastrous\nconsequences by punishing the guilty authors. Has not the same insane\nfury been frequently shown in contagious diseases, when the common\npeople believed their fountains poisoned and their daily bread infected\nby Jews or other suspected classes, and promptly took justice into their\nown hands? It ought also to be borne in mind, as an apology for the\nhorrible crimes committed by judges and priests in condemning witches,\nthat in their eyes the crime was too enormous and the danger too\npressing and universal to admit of delay in investigation, or mercy in\njudgment. The severe laws of those semi-barbarous times were immediately\napplied and all means considered fair in eliciting the truth. Torture\nwas by no means limited to trials of witches, for some of the greatest\nstatesmen and the most exalted divines had alike to endure its terrors.\nMoreover no age has been entirely free from similar delusions, although\nthe form under which they appear and the power by which they may be\nsupported, differ naturally according to the spirit of the times.\nScience alone cannot protect us against fanaticism, if the heart is once\nled astray, and fearful crimes have been committed not only in the name\nof Liberty but even under the sanction of the Cross. Basil the Great\nalready restored a slave _ad integrum_, who said he had made a pact with\nthe Devil, but the first authentic account of such a transaction occurs\nin connection with an Imperial officer, Theophilus of Adana, in the days\nof Justinian. His bishop had undeservedly humiliated him and thus\naroused in the heart of the naturally meek man intense wrath and a\nboundless desire of revenge. While he was in this state of\nuncontrollable excitement, a Jew appeared and offered to procure for him\nall he wanted, if he would pledge his soul to Satan. The unhappy man\nconsented, and was at once led to the circus where he saw a great number\nof torch-bearers in white robes, the costume of servants of the church,\nand Satan seated in the midst of the assembly. He obeyed the order to\nrenounce Christ and certified his apostacy in a written document. The\nnext day already the bishop repented of his injustice and restored\nTheophilus in his office, whereupon the Jew pointed out to him how\npromptly his master had come to his assistance. Still, repentance comes\nto Theophilus also, and in a new revelation the Virgin appears to the\ndespairing man after incessant prayer of forty days and nights--a fit\npreparation for such a vision. She directs him to perform certain\natoning ceremonies and promises him restoration to his Christian\nprivileges, which he finally obtains by finding the certificate of his\napostasy lying on his breast, and then dies in a state of happy relief.\nAfter that similar cases of a league being made with Satan occur quite\nfrequently in the history of saints and eminent men, till the belief in\nits efficacy gradually died out and recent efforts like those recorded\nby Goerres (III. p. 620) have proved utterly fruitless.\n\nAmong the magic phenomena connected with witchcraft, none is more\ncurious than the so-called witches' sabbath, the formal meeting of all\nwho are in league with Satan, for the purpose of swearing allegiance to\nhim, to enjoy unholy delights, and to introduce neophytes. That no such\nmeeting ever really took place, need hardly be stated. The so-called\nsabbaths were somnambulistic visions, appearing to poor deluded\ncreatures while in a state of trance, which they had produced by\nnarcotic ointments, vile decoctions, or even mere mental effort. For the\nmost skillful among the witches could cause themselves to fall into the\nWitches' Sleep, as they called this trance, whenever they chose; others\nhad to submit to tedious and often abominable ceremonies. The knowledge\nof simples, which was then very general, was of great service to cunning\nimpostors; thus it was well known that certain herbs, like aconite,\nproduce in sleep the sensation of flying, and they were, of course,\ndiligently employed. Hyosciamus and taxus, hypericum and asafoetida were\ngreat favorites, and physicians made experiments with these salves to\ntry their effect upon the system. Laguna, for instance, physician to\nPope Julius III., once applied an ointment which he had obtained from a\nwizard, to a woman, who thereupon fell into a sleep of thirty-six hours'\nduration, and upon being aroused, bitterly complained of his cruelty in\ntearing her from the embraces of her husband. The Marquis d'Agent tells\nus in his _Lettres Juifs_ (i. l. 20), that the celebrated Gassendi\ndiscovered a drug which a shepherd used to take whenever he wished to go\nto a witches' assembly. He won the man's confidence, and, pretending to\njoin him in his journey, persuaded him to swallow the medicine in his\npresence. After a few minutes, the shepherd began to stagger like an\nintoxicated person, and then fell into profound sleep, during which he\ntalked wildly. When he roused himself again many hours afterwards, he\ncongratulated the physician on the good reception he had met at Satan's\ncourt, and recalled with delight the pleasant things they had jointly\nseen and enjoyed! The symptoms of the witches' sleep differ, however;\nwhile the latter is, in some cases, deep and unbroken, in other cases\nthe sleepers become rigid and icy cold, or they are subject to violent\nspasms and utter unnatural sounds in abundance. The sleep differs,\nmoreover, from that of possessed people in the consciousness of bodily\npain which bewitched people retain, while the possessed become\ninsensible. Invariably the impression is produced that they meet kindred\nspirits at some great assembly, but the manner of reaching it differs\ngreatly. Some go on foot; but as Abaris already rode on a spear given to\nhim by Apollo (Iamblichus De Vita, Pyth. c. 18), others ride on goats.\nIn Germany a broomstick, a club, or a distaff, became suitable vehicles,\nprovided they had been properly anointed. In Scotland and Sweden the\nchimney is the favorite road, in other countries no such preference is\nshown over doors and windows. The expedition, however joyous it may be,\nis always very fatiguing, and when the revellers awake they feel like\npeople who have been dissipated. The meetings differ in locality\naccording to size: whole provinces assemble on high, isolated mountains,\namong which the Brocken, in the Hartz Mountains, is by far the most\nrenowned; smaller companies meet near gloomy churches or under dark\ntrees with wide-spreading branches.\n\nIn the north of Europe the favorite resort is the Blue Mountain,\npopularly known as Blokulla, in Sweden, and as Blakalla in Norway, an\nisolated rock in the sea between Smoland and Oland, which seems to have\nhad some association in the minds of the people with the ancient\nsea-goddess Blakylle. In Italy the witches loved to assemble under the\nfamous walnut tree near Benevent, which was already to the Longobards an\nobject of superstitious veneration, since here, in ancient times, the\nold divinities were worshipped, and afterwards the _strighe_ were fond\nof meeting. In France they had a favorite resort on the Puy de Dome,\nnear Clermont, and in Spain on the sands near Seville, where the\n_hechizeras_ held their sabbaths. The Hekla, of Iceland, also passes\nwith the Scandinavians for a great meeting-place of witches, although,\nstrangely enough, the inhabitants of the island have no such tradition.\nIt is, however, clear that in all countries where witchcraft prospered,\nthe favorite places of meeting were always the same as those to which,\nin ancient times, the heathens had made pilgrimages in large numbers, in\norder to perform their sacrifices, and to enjoy their merry-makings.\n\nIn precisely the same manner the favorite seasons for these ghastly\nmeetings correspond almost invariably with the times of high festivals\nheld in heathen days, and hence, they were generally adopted by the\nearly Christians, with the feast and saints' days of Christendom. Thus\nthe old Germans observed, when they were still pagans, the first of May\nfor two reasons: as a day of solemn judgment, and as a season for\nrejoicing, during which prince and peasant joined in celebrating the\nreturn of summer with merry songs and gay dances around the May-pole.\nThe witches were nothing loth to adopt the day for their own festivities\nalso, and added it to the holidays of St. John the Baptist and St.\nBartholomew, on which, in like manner, anciently the holding of public\ncourts had brought together large assemblies. The meetings, however,\nmust always fall upon a Thursday, from a determined, though yet\nunexplained association of witchcraft with the old German god of\nthunder, Donar, who was worshipped on the Blocksberg, and to whom a goat\nwas sacrificed--whence also the peculiar fondness of witches for that\nanimal. The hours of meeting are invariably from eleven o'clock at night\nto one or two in the morning.\n\nThe assembly consists, according to circumstances, of a few hundred or\nof several thousands, but the female sex always largely prevails. For\nthis fact the famous text-book of judges of witchcraft, the _Malleus_,\nassigned not less than four weighty reasons. Women, it said, are more\napt to be addicted to the fearful crime than men because, in the first\nplace, they are more credulous; secondly, in their natural weakness they\nare more susceptible; thirdly, they are more imprudent and rash, and\nhence always ready to consult the Devil, and fourthly and mainly,\n_femina_ comes from _fe_, faith and _minus_, less, hence they have less\nfaith!\n\nThe guests appear generally in their natural form, but at times they are\nrepresented as assuming the shape of various animals; the Devil's\nfollowers having a decided preference for goats and for monkeys,\nalthough the latter is a passion of more recent date. The crowd is\nnaturally in a state of incessant flowing and ebbing; the constant\ncoming and going, crowding and pressing admits of not a moment's quiet\nand even here it is proven that the wicked have neither rest nor peace.\n\nAmong this crowd flocks are seen, consisting of toads and watched over\nby boys and girls; in the centre sits Satan on a stone, draped in weird\nmajesty, with terrible but indistinct features, and uttering short\ncommands with an appalling voice of unnatural and unheard of music. A\nqueen in great splendor may sit by his side, promoted to the throne from\na place among the guests. Countless demons, attending to all kinds of\nextraordinary duties, surround their master; or, dash through the crowd\nscattering indecent words and gestures in all directions. English\nwitches meet, also, innumerable kittens on the Sabbath and show the\nscars of wounds inflicted by the malicious animals. Every visitor must\npay his homage to the lord of the feast, which is done in an\nunmentionable manner; and yet they receive nothing in return--according\nto their unanimous confessions--except unfulfilled promises and delusive\npresents. Even the dishes on the table are but shams; there is neither\nsalt nor bread to be found there. They are bound, besides, to pledge\nthemselves to the performance of a certain number of wicked works, which\nare distributed over the week, so that the first days are devoted to\nordinary sins and the last to crimes of special horror. Music of\nsurpassing weirdness is heard on all sides, and countless couples whirl\nabout in restless, obscene dances; the couples joining back to back and\ntrying in vain to see each other's faces. Very often young children are\nbrought up by their mothers to be presented to the Master; when this is\ndone, they are set to attend the flocks of toads till the ninth year,\nwhen they are called up by the Queen to abjure their Christian faith and\nare regularly enrolled among witches.\n\nThe descriptions of minor details vary, of course according to the\nindividual dispositions of the accused, whose confessions are invariably\nuniform as to the facts stated heretofore. The coarser minds naturally\nsee nothing but the grossest indecency and the vilest indulgences, while\nto more refined minds the apparent occurrences appear in a light of\ngreater delicacy; they hear sweet music and witness nothing but gentle\naffection and brotherly love. But in all cases these witches' sabbaths\nbecome a passion with the poor deluded creatures; they enjoy there a\nparadise of delight,--whether they really indulge in sensual pleasure or\nsurrender mind and will so completely to the unhallowed power that they\ncease to wish for anything else, and are plunged in vague, unspeakable\npleasure. And yet not even the simple satisfaction of good looks is\ngranted them; witches are as ugly as angels are fair; they emit an evil\nodor and inspire others with unconquerable repugnance.\n\nHow exclusively all these descriptions of witches' sabbaths have their\norigin in the imagination of the deluded women is seen from the fact\nthat they vary consistently with the prevailing notions of those by whom\nthey are entertained; with coarse peasants, the meetings are rude feasts\nfull of obscene enjoyments; with noble knights, they become the rovings\nof the wild huntsman, or a hellish court under the guise of a Venus'\nmountain; with ascetic monks and nuns, a subterranean convent filled\nwith vile blasphemies of God and the saints. This only is common to all\nsuch visions, that they are always conceived in a spirit of bitter\nantagonism to the Church: all the doctrines not only but also the\nceremonies of the latter are here travestied. The sabbath has its\nmasses, but the host is desecrated, its holy water obtained from the\nlord of the feast; its host and its candles are black, and the _Ite\nmissa est_ of the dismissing priest is changed into: \"Go to the Devil!\"\nHere, also, confession is required; but, the penitent confesses having\nomitted to do evil and being guilty of occasional acts of mercy and\ngoodness; the penalty imposed is to neglect one or the other of the\ntwelve commandments.\n\nWhen witches were brought to trial, one of the first measures was to\nsearch for special marks which were believed to betray their true\ncharacter. These were especially the so-called witches' moles, spots of\nthe size of a pea, on which for some reason or other the nerves had lost\ntheir sensibility, and where, in consequence, no pain was felt. These\nwere supposed to have been formed by being punctured, the Evil One\nperforming the operation with a pin of false gold, with his claws or his\nhorns. Other evidences were found in the peculiar coloring of the eyes,\nwhich was said to represent the feet of toads; in the absence of tears\nwhen the little gland had been injured, and, above all, in the specific\nlightness of the body. In order to ascertain the latter the accused were\nbound hand and foot crosswise, tied loosely to a rope, and then, three\ntimes, dropped into the water. If they remained floating their guilt was\nestablished; for either they had been endowed by their Master with\nsafety from drowning, or the water refused to receive them because they\nhad abjured their baptism! It need not be added that the executioners\nsoon found out ways to let their prisoners float or sink as they\nchose--for a consideration.\n\nWitches' trials began in the earliest days of Christianity, for the\nEmperor Valens ordered, as we learn from Ammianus Marcellinus, all the\nwizards and enchanters to be held to account who had endeavored by\nmagic art to ascertain his successor. Several thousands were accused of\nwitchcraft, but the charge was then, as in almost every later age, in\nmost cases nothing more than a pretext for proceedings against obnoxious\npersons. The next monster process, as it began to be called already in\nthose early days, was the persecution of witches in France under the\nMerovingians. The child of Chilperic's wife had died suddenly and under\nsuspicious circumstances, which led to the imprisonment of a prefect,\nMummolus, whom the queen had long pursued with her hatred. He was\naccused of having caused her son's death by his charms, and was\nsubjected to fearful tortures in company with a number of old women.\nStill, he confessed nothing but that the latter had furnished him with\ncertain drugs and ointments which were to secure to him the favor of the\nking and the queen. A later trial of this kind, in which for a time calm\nreason made a firm stand against superstition, but finally succumbed\ningloriously, is known as the _Vaudoisie_, and took place in Arras in\n1459. It was begun by a Count d'Estampes, but was mainly conducted by a\nbishop and some eminent divines of his acquaintance, whose inordinate\nzeal and merciless cruelty have secured to the proceedings a peculiarly\npainful memory in the annals of the church. A large number of perfectly\ninnocent men and women were tortured and disgracefully executed, but\nfortunately the death of the main persecutor, DuBlois, made a sudden end\nto the existence of witchcraft in that province. One of the most\nremarkable trials of this kind was caused by a number of little\nchildren, and led to most bloody proceedings. It seems that in the year\n1669 several boys and girls in the parish of Mora, one of the most\nbeautiful parts of the Swedish province of Dalarne, and famous through\nthe memory of Gustavus Vasa and Gustavus III., were affected by a\nnervous fever which left them, after their partial recovery, in a state\nof extreme irritability and sensitiveness. They fell into fainting fits\nand had convulsions--symptoms which the simple but superstitious\nmountaineers gradually began to think inexplicable, and hence to ascribe\nto magic influences. The report spread that the poor children were\nbewitched, and soon all the usual details of satanic possession were\ncurrent. The mountain called Blakulla, in bad repute from of old, was\npointed out as the meeting-place of the witches, where the annual\nsabbath was celebrated, and these children were devoted to Satan. Church\nand State combined to bring their great power to bear upon the poor\nlittle ones, an enormous number of women, mostly the mothers of the\nyoung people, were involved in the charges, and finally fifty-two of the\nlatter with fifteen children were publicly executed as witches, while\nfifty of the younger were condemned to severe punishment! More than\nthree hundred unfortunate children under fourteen had made detailed\nconfessions of the witches' sabbath and the ceremonies attending their\ninitiation into its mysteries. A similar fearful delusion took hold of\nGerman children in Wuertemberg, when towards the end of the seventeenth\ncentury a large number of little boys and girls, none of whom were older\nthan ten years, began to state that they were every night fetched away\nand carried to the witches' sabbath. Many were all the time fast asleep\nand could easily be roused, but a few among them fell regularly into a\ntrance, during which their little bodies became cold and rigid. A\ncommission of great judges and experienced divines was sent to the\nvillage to investigate the matter, and found at last that there was no\nimposture attempted, but that the poor children firmly believed what\nthey stated. It became, however, evident that a few among them had\nlistened to old women's tales about witches, with eager ears, and, with\ninflamed imaginations, retailed the account to others, till a deep and\npainful nervous excitement took hold of their minds and rapidly spread\nthrough the community. Many of the children were, as was natural at\ntheir age, led by vanity to say that they also had been at the sabbath,\nwhile others were afraid to deny what was so positively stated by their\ncompanions. Fortunately the commission consisted, for once, of sensible\nmen who took the right view of the matter, ordered a good whipping here\nand there, and thus saved the land from the crime of another witches'\ntrial.\n\nOur own experiences in New England, at the time when Sir William Phipps\nwas governor of the colonies, have been forcibly reported by the great\nCotton Mather. Nearly every community had its young men and women who\nwere addicted to the practices of magic; they loved to perform\nenchantments, to consult sieves and turning keys, and thus were\ngradually led to attempt more serious and more dangerous practices. In\nSalem, men and women of high standing and unimpeached integrity, even\npious members of the church, were suddenly plagued and tortured by\nunknown agencies, and at last a little black and yellow demon appeared\nto them, accompanied by a number of companions with human faces. These\napparitions presented to them a book which they were summoned to sign or\nat least to touch, and if they refused they were fearfully twisted and\nturned about, pricked with pins, burnt as if with hot irons, bound hand\nand foot with invisible fetters, and carried away to great distances.\nSome were left unable to touch food or drink for many days; others,\nattempting to defend themselves against the demons, snatched a distaff\nor tore a piece of cloth from them, and immediately these proofs of the\nreal existence of the evil spirits became visible to the eyes of the\nbystanders. The magic phenomena attending the disease were of the most\nextraordinary character. Several men stated that they had received\npoison because they declined to worship Satan, and immediately all the\nusual sequences of such treatment appeared, from simple vomiting to most\nfearful suffering, till counteracting remedies were employed and began\nto take effect. In other cases the sufferers complained of burning rags\nbeing stuffed into their mouths, and although nothing was seen, burnt\nplaces and blisters appeared, and the odor and smoke of smouldering rags\nbegan to fill the room. When they reported that they were branded with\nhot irons, the marks showed themselves, suppuration took place, and\nscars were formed which never again disappeared during life--and all\nthese phenomena were watched by the eager eyes of hundreds. The\nauthorities, of course, took hold of the matter, and many persons of\nboth sexes and all ages were brought to trial. While they were tortured\nthey continued to have visions of demoniac beings and possessed men and\nwomen; when they were standing, blindfolded, in court, felt the approach\nof those by whom they pretended to be bewitched and plagued, and\nurgently prayed to be delivered of their presence. Finally many were\nexecuted, not a few undoubtedly against all justice, but the better\nsense of the authorities soon saw the futility, if not the wickedness of\nsuch proceedings, and an end was made promptly, witchcraft disappearing\nas soon as persecution relaxed and the sensation subsided.\n\nSimilar trials have nevertheless continued to be held in various parts\nof Europe during the whole of the last century, and many innocent lives\nhave been forfeited to this apparently ineradicable belief in\nwitchcraft. Even after torture was abandoned in compliance with the\nwiser views of our age, long imprisonment with its attending sufferings\nand great anxiety as to the issue, proved fully sufficient to extort\nvoluntary confessions, which were, of course, of no value in themselves,\nbut served the purpose of keeping alive the popular superstition. In\n1728 a specially fearful trial of this kind took place in Hungary,\nduring which nearly all the disgraceful scenes of mediaeval barbarity\nwere reenacted, and which ended in a number of cruel executions. The\nlast witches' trial in Germany took place in 1749, when the\nmother-superior of a convent near Wuerzburg, in Bavaria, known as Emma\nRenata, was condemned to be burnt, but by the leniency of the\nauthorities, was allowed to die by decapitation. Switzerland was the\nscene of the last of these trials ever held, for with this act of\njustice, as it was called by the good people of Glarus, the persecution\nended.\n\nEven in England, however, the feeling itself seems to have lingered long\nafter actual trials had ceased. Thus it is well known that the terrible\ntrial of witches held at Marlboro, under Queen Elizabeth, led to the\nestablishment of a so-called witches' sermon to be delivered annually at\nHuntingdon, and this custom was faithfully observed down to the latter\npart of the eighteenth century. Nearly about the same time--in 1743--an\nearnest effort was made in Scotland to kindle once more the fire of\nfierce persecution. In the month of February of that year, the Associate\nPresbytery, in a public document addressed to the Presbytery of the\nSeceded Churches, required for certain purposes a solemn acknowledgment\nof former sins, and a vow to renounce them forever. Among these sins\nthat austere body enumerated the \"_abolition_ of the death penalty for\nwitchcraft,\" since the latter was forbidden in Holy Writ, and the\nleniency which had taken the place of the former severity in punishing\nthis crime, had given an opening to Satan to tempt and actually to\nseduce others by means of the same old accursed and dangerous\nsnares.--(_Edinb. Rev._, Jan. 1847.)\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\nBLACK AND WHITE MAGIC.\n\n    \"Peace!--the charm's wound up.\"\n\n    --MACBETH.\n\n\nThe most startling of all scenes described in Holy Writ--as far as they\nrepresent incidents in human life--is, no doubt, the mysterious\ninterview between unfortunate King Saul and the spirit of his former\npatron, the prophet Samuel. The poor monarch, abandoned by his friends\nand forsaken by his own heart, turns in his utter wretchedness to those\nwhom he had but shortly before \"put out of the land,\" those godless\npeople who \"had familiar spirits and the wizards.\" Hard pressed by the\nancient enemy of his people, the Philistine, and unable to obtain an\nanswer from the great God of his fathers, he stoops to consult a witch,\na woman. It seems that Sedecla, the daughter of the Decemdiabite--for so\nPhilo calls her according to Des Mousseaux--had escaped by her cunning\nfrom the fate of her weird sisters, and, having a familiar spirit,\nforetold the future to curious enquirers at her dwelling in Endor. At\nfirst she is unwilling to incur the penalty threatened in the king's\ndecree, but when the disguised monarch, with a voice of authority\npromises her impunity, she consents to \"bring up Samuel.\" As soon as\nthe fearful phantom of the dread prophet appears, she becomes\ninstinctively aware of the true character of her visitor, and, far more\nafraid of the power of the living than of the appearance of the\ndeparted, she cries out trembling: \"Why hast thou deceived me? Thou art\nSaul!\" Then follows the appalling scene in which Samuel reproves the\nmiserable, self-despairing king, and foretells his death and that of his\nsons.\n\nThere can be no doubt that we have here before us an instance of genuine\nmagic. The woman was evidently capable of casting herself into a state\nof ecstasy, in which she could at once look back into the past and\nforward into the future. Thus she beholds the great prophet, not sent by\nGod from on high, as the Holy Fathers generally taught, but according to\nthe then prevailing belief, rising from Sheol, the place of departed\nspirits, and then she utters, unconsciously, his own words. For it must\nnot be overlooked that Samuel makes no revelations, but only repeats his\nformer warnings. Saul learns absolutely nothing new from him; he only\nhears the same threatenings which the prophet had pronounced twice\nbefore, when the reckless king had dared to sacrifice unto God with his\nown hand (I. Sam. xiii.), and when he had failed to smite the Amalekite,\nas he was bidden. Possessed, as it were, by the spirit of the living\nSamuel, the woman speaks as he had spoken in his lifetime, and it is\nonly when her state of exaltation renders her capable of looking into\nthe future also, that she assumes the part of a prophetess herself, and\nforetells the approaching doom of her royal visitor.\n\nThat the whole dread scene was fore-ordained and could take place only\nby the will of the Almighty, alters nothing in the character of the\nwoman with the familiar spirit. It is a clear case of necromancy, or\nconjuring up of the spirits of departed persons, such as has been\npractised among men from time immemorial. Among the chosen people of God\npersons were found from the beginning of their history who had familiar\nspirits, and Moses already fulminates his severest anathemas against\nthese wizards (Lev. xx. 27). They appear under various aspects, as\ncharmers, as consulters of familiar spirits, as wizards, or as\nnecromancers (Deut. xviii. 11); they are charged with passing their\nchildren through the fire, with observing times (astrologers); with\nusing enchantments; or they are said in a general way to \"use\nwitchcraft\" (II. Chron. xxxiii. 6). That other nations were not less\nfamiliar with the art of evoking spirits, we see, for instance, in the\n\"Odyssey,\" which mentions numerous cases of such intercourse with\nanother world, and speaks of necromancers as forming a kind of close\nguild. In the \"Persius\" of AEschylus the spirit of Darius, father of\nXerxes, is called up and foretells all the misfortunes that are to\nbefall poor Queen Atossa. The greatest among the stern Romans could not\nentirely shake off the belief in such magic, in spite of the\nmatter-of-fact tendencies of the Roman mind, and the vast superiority of\ntheir intelligence. A Cato and a Sylla, a Caesar and a Vespasian, all\nadmitted, with clear unfailing perception, the small grains of truth\nthat lay concealed among the mass of rubbish then called magic. Even\nChristian theology has never absolutely denied the existence of such\nextraordinary powers over the spirits of the departed, although it has\nconsistently attributed them to diabolic influences.\n\nIn this point lies the main difference between ancient and modern magic.\nFor the oldest Magi whom we know were the wise men of Persia, called,\nfrom _mah_ (great), Mugh, the great men of the land. They were the\nphilosophers of their day, and, if we believe the impartial evidence of\nGreek writers--not generally apt to overestimate the merits of other\nnations--they were possessed of vast and varied information. Their aim\nwas the loftiest ever conceived by human ambition; it was, in fact,\nnothing less than the erection of an intellectual Tower of Babel. They\ndevoted the labors of a lifetime, and the full, well-trained vigor of\ntheir intelligence to the study of the forces of nature, and the true\ncharacter of all created beings. Among the latter they included\ndisembodied spirits as well as those still bound up with bodies made of\nearth, considering with a wisdom and boldness of conception never yet\nsurpassed, both classes as one and the same eternal creation. The\nknowledge thus acquired they were, moreover, not disposed merely to\nstore away in their memory, or to record in unattractive manuscripts;\nthey were men of the world as well as philosophers, and looked for\npractical results. Here the pagan spirit shone forth unrestrained; the\nend and aim of all their restless labors was Power. Their ambition was\nto control, by the superior prestige of their knowledge, not only the\nmechanical forces of Nature, but also the lesser capacities of other\ncreated beings, and finally Fate itself! Truly a lofty and noble aim if\nwe view it, as in equity we are bound to do, from their stand-point, as\nmen possessing, with all the wisdom of the earth, as yet not a particle\nof revealed religion.\n\nIt was only at a much later period that a distinction was made between\nWhite Magic and Black Magic. This arose from the error which gradually\noverspread the minds of men, that such extraordinary powers--based,\noriginally, only upon extraordinary knowledge--were not naturally given\nto men; but, could only be obtained by the special favor of higher\nbeings, with whom the owner must needs enter into a perilous league. If\nthese were benevolent deities, the results obtained by their assistance\nwere called White Magic; if they were gods of ill-repute, they granted\nthe power to perform feats of Black Magic, acts of wickedness, and\ncrimes. Christianity, though it abolished the gods of paganism,\nmaintained, nevertheless, the belief in extraordinary powers accorded by\nsupernatural beings, and the same distinction continued to be made.\nPious men and women performed miracles by the aid of angels and saints;\nwicked sinners did as much by an unholy league with the Evil One. The\nEgyptian charmer, of Apulejus, who declared that no miracle was too\ndifficult for his art, since he exercised the blind power of deities who\nwere subject to his will, only expressed what the lazzarone of Naples\nfeels in our day, when he whips his saint with a bundle of reeds, in\norder to compel him to do his bidding. Magicians did not change their\ndoctrine; they hardly even modified their ceremonies; their allegiance\nonly was transferred from Jupiter to Jehovah, even as the same column\nthat once bore the great Thunderer on Olympus, is now crowned by a\nstatue of Peter Boanerges. Nor has the race of magicians ever entirely\ndied out; we find enough notices in classic authors, whose evidence is\nunimpeachable, to know that the Greeks were apt scholars of the ancient\nMagi and transferred the knowledge they had thus obtained and long\njealously guarded, to the priests of Egypt, who in their turn became the\nmasters of the two mightiest nations on earth. First Moses sat at their\nfeet till, at the age of forty, he \"was learned in all the wisdom of the\nEgyptians,\" and could successfully cope with their \"magicians and\nsorcerers.\" Then the land of the Nile fell into the hands of the Romans,\nand poverty and neglect drove the wise men of Egypt to seek refuge in\nthe capital of the world, where they either lived upon the minor arts\nand cunning tricks of their false fate, or, being converted to\nChristianity, infected the pure faith with their ill-applied knowledge.\nCertain portions of true magic survived through all persecutions and\nrevolutions; some precious secrets were preserved by the philosophers of\nlater ages and have--if we believe the statements made by trustworthy\nwriters of every century--ever since continued in the possession of\nFreemasons and Rosicrucians; others became mixed up with vile\nsuperstitions and impious practices, and only exist now as the Black Art\nof so-called magicians and witches.\n\nWherever magic found a fertile soil among the people, it became a\nscience, handed down from father to son, and such we find it still in\nthe East Indies and the Orient generally; when it fell into the hands of\nskeptics, or weak, feeble-minded men, it degenerated with amazing speed\ninto imposture and common jugglery. What is evident about magic is the\nwell-established fact that its ceremonies, forms, and all other\naccessories are almost infinite in variety since they are merely\naccidental vehicles for the will of man, and real magicians know very\nwell that the importance of such external aids is not only overrated but\naltogether fallacious. The sole purpose of the burning of perfumes, of\nimposing ceremonies and awe-inspiring procedures, is to aid in producing\nthe two conditions which are indispensable for all magic phenomena: the\nmagician must be excited till his condition is one resembling mental\nintoxication or becomes a genuine trance, and the passive subject must\nbe made susceptible to the control of the superior mind. For it need not\nbe added, that the latter will all the more readily be affected, the\nfeebler his will and the more imperfect his mental vision may be by\nnature or may have been rendered by training and careful preparation.\nHence it is that the magic table of the dervish; the enchanted drum of\nthe shaman; the medicine-bag of the Indian are all used for precisely\nthe same purpose as the ring of Hecate; the divining rod and the magic\nwand of the enchanter. Legend and amulet, mummy and wax-figure, herb and\nstone, drug and elixir, incense and ointment, are all but the means,\nwhich the strong will of the gifted Master uses in order to influence\nand finally to control the weaker mind. Thus powerful perfumes, narcotic\nodors, and anaesthetic salves are employed to produce enervation and\noften actual and complete loss of self-control; in other cases the\nneophyte has to turn round and round within the magic circle, from east\nto west, till he becomes giddy and utterly exhausted. It is very curious\nto observe how, as far as these preparations go, in the most distant\ncountries and among the most different forms of society the same means\nare employed for the same purpose: the whirling dance of the fanatic\ndervish is perfectly analogous to the wild raving of our Indian\nmedicine-man, who ties himself with a rope to a post and then whirls\naround it in fierce fury. Thus, also, the oldest magicians speak with\nprofound reverence of the powers of a little herb, known to botanists as\n_Hypericum perforatum L._, and behold! in the year 1860 a German author\nof eminence, Justinus Kerner, still taught seriously, that the leaves\nof that plant were the best means to banish evil spirits! Mandrake and\nelder have held their own in the false faith of nations from the oldest\ntimes to our day, and even now Germans as well as slaves love to plant\nthe latter everywhere in their graveyards, as suggestive of the realm of\nspirits!\n\nWhite Magic, though strictly forbidden by the Church in all ages, seems\nnevertheless to have had irresistible attractions for wise and learned\nmen of every country. This charm it owes to the many elements of truth\nwhich are mixed up with the final error; for it aims at a thorough\nunderstanding of the mysteries of Nature--and so far its purpose is\nlegitimate and very tempting to superior minds--but only in order to\nobtain by such knowledge a power which Holy Writ expressly denies to\nman. When it prescribes the study of Nature as being the outer temple of\nGod and represents all the parts of this vast edifice, from the central\nsun of the universe to the minutest living creation, as bound up by a\ncommon sympathy, no objection can be made to its doctrines, and even the\ngreatest minds may fairly enroll themselves here as its pupils. But when\nit ascribes to this sympathy an active power and attributes to secret\nnames of the Deity, to certain natural products, or to mechanically\nregulated combinations of the stars, a peculiar and supernatural effect,\nit sinks into contemptible superstition. Hence the constant aim of all\nWhite Magic, the successful summoning of superior spirits for the\npurpose of learning from them what is purposely kept concealed from the\nmind of man, has never yet been reached. For it is sin, the same sin\nthat craved to eat from the tree of knowledge. Hence, also, no\nbeneficial end has ever yet been obtained by the practices of magic,\nalthough wise and learned men of every age have spent their lives and\nrisked the salvation of their souls in restless efforts to lift the veil\nof Isis.\n\nBlack Magic, the Kishuph of the Hebrews, avows openly its purpose of\nforming a league with evil spirits in order to attain selfish ends,\nwhich are invariably fatal to others. And yet it is exactly here that we\nmeet with great numbers of well-authenticated cases of success, which\npreclude all doubt and force us to admit the occasional efficiency of\nsuch sinful alliances. The art flourishes naturally best among the\nlowest races of mankind, where gross ignorance is allied with blind\nfaith, and the absence of inspiration leaves the mind in natural\ndarkness. We cannot help being struck here also with the fact that the\nmeans employed for such purposes have been the same in almost all ages.\nReaders of classic writers are familiar with the drum of Cybele--the\nLaplanders have from time immemorial had the same drum, on which heaven,\nhell, and earth are painted in bright colors, and reproduce in pictorial\nwriting the letters of the modern spiritualist. A ring is placed upon\nthe tightly stretched skin, which slight blows with a hammer cause to\nvibrate, and according to the apparently erratic motions of the ring\nover the varied figures of gods, men, and beasts, the future is\nrevealed. The consulting savage lies on his knees, and as the pendulum\nbetween our fingers and the pencil of Planchette in our hand write\napparently at haphazard, but in reality under the pressure of our\nmuscles acting through the unconscious influence of our will, so here\nalso the beats of the hammer only seem to be fortuitous, but, in\nreality, are guided by the ecstatic owner. For already Olaf Magnus\n(\"Hist. Goth.\" L. 3, ch. 26) tells us that the incessant beating of the\ndrum, and the wild, exulting singing of the magician for hours before\nthe actual ceremony begins, cause him to fall into a state of\nexaltation, without which he would be unable to see the future. That the\ndrum is a mere accident in the ceremony was strikingly proved by a\nLaplander, who delivered up his instrument of witchcraft to the pious\nmissionary (Tornaeus) by whom he had been converted, and who soon came\nto complain that even without his drum he could not help seeing hidden\nthings--an assertion which he proved by reciting to the amazed minister\nall the minute details of his recent journey. Who can help, while\nreading of these savage magicians, recalling the familiar ring and\ndrumstick in the left hand of the Roman Isis--statues with a drum above\nthe head, or the rarely missing ring and hammer in the hands of the\nEgyptian Isis? It need hardly be added that the Indians of our continent\nhave practised the art with more or less success from the day of\ndiscovery to our own times. Already Wafer in his \"Descr. of the Isthmus\nof Darien\" (1699) describes how Indian sorcerers, after careful\npreparation, were able to inform him of a number of future events, every\none of which came to pass in the succeeding days. The prince of Neu-Wied\nagain met a famous medicine-man among the Crea Indians, whose prophecies\nwere readily accepted by the whites even, and of whose power he\nwitnessed unmistakable evidence. Bonduel, a well-known and generally\nperfectly trustworthy writer, affirms, from personal knowledge, that\namong the Menomonees the medicine-men not only practise magic, but are\nable to produce most astounding results. After beating their drum,\nBonduel used to hear a heavy fall and a faint, inarticulate voice,\nwhereupon the tent of the charmer though fifteen feet high, rose in the\nair and inclined first on one and then on the other side. This was the\ntime of the interview between the medicine-man and the evil spirit.\nSmall doll-like figures of men also were used, barely two inches long,\nand tied to medicine-bags. They served mainly to inflame women with\nloving ardor, and when efficient could drive the poor creatures to\npursue their beloved for days and nights through the wild forests. Other\nmissionaries also affirm that these medicine-men must have been able to\nread the signs and perhaps to feel in advance the effects of the weather\nwith amazing accuracy, since they frequently engaged to procure storms\nfor special purposes, and never failed. It is interesting to notice\nthat according to the unanimous testimony of all writers on Indian\naffairs, these medicine-men almost invariably find a violent and\nwretched death.\n\nIt is not without interest to recall that the prevailing forms of the\nmagic of our day, as far as they consist of table-moving,\nspirit-rapping, and the like, have their origin among the natives of our\ncontinent. The earliest notice of these strange performances appeared in\nthe great journal of Augsburg, in Germany (_Allgemeine Zeitung_), where\nAndree mentioned their occurrence among Western Indians. Sargent gave us\nnext a more detailed description of the manner in which many a wigwam or\nlog-cabin in Iowa became the scene of startling revelations by means of\na clumsy table which hopped merrily about, or a half-drunk, red-skinned\nmedium, from whose lips fell uncouth words. (Spicer, \"Lights and\nSounds,\" p. 190.) It was only in 1847 that the famous Fox family brought\nthese phenomena within the pale of civilization: having rented a house\nin Hydeville, N. Y., already ill-reputed on account of mysterious\nnoises, they reduced these knockings to a kind of system, and, by means\nof an alphabet, obtained the important information that they were the\nwork of a \"spirit,\" and that his name was Charles Ray. Margaret Fox\ntransplanted the rappings to Rochester; Catherine, only twelve years\nold, to Auburn, and from these two central places the new Magic spread\nrapidly throughout the Union. Opposition and persecutions served, as\nthey are apt to do, only to increase the interest of the public. A Mrs.\nNorman Culver proved, it is true, that rappings could easily be produced\nby certain muscular movements of the knee and the ankle, and a committee\nof investigation, of which Fenimore Cooper was a member, obtained ample\nevidence of such a method being used; but the faith of the believers was\nnot shaken. The moving of tables, especially, furnished to their minds\nnew evidence of the actual presence of spirits, and soon circles were\nestablished in nearly all the Northern and Western States, formed by\npersons of education without regard to confession, who called themselves\nSpiritualists or Spiritists, and their most favored associates Media. A\nnumber of men, whose intelligence and candor were alike unimpeachable,\nbecame members of the new sect, among them a judge, a governor of a\nState, and a professor of chemistry. They organized societies and\ncircles, they published journals and several works of interest and\nvalue, and produced results which more and more strengthened their\nconvictions.\n\nThe new art met, naturally, with much opposition, especially among the\nministers and members of the different churches. Some of the opponents\nlaughed at the whole as a clever jugglery, which deserved its great\nsuccess on account of the \"smartness\" of the performers; others\ndenounced it as a heresy and a crime; the former, of course, saw in it\nnothing but the hand of man, while the latter admitted the agency of\nspirits, but of spirits from below and not from above. An amusing\nfeature connected with public opinion on this subject was, that when\ntrade was prosperous and money abundant, spiritualism also flourished\nand found numerous adherents, but when business was slow, or a crisis\ntook place, all minds turned away from the favorite pastime, and\ninstinctively joined once more with the pious believers in the\ndenunciation of the new magic. Thus a kind of antagonism has gradually\narisen between orthodox Christians and enthusiastic spiritualists; the\ncontroversy is carried on with great energy on both sides, and, alas! to\nthe eye of the general observer, magic is gaining ground every day, at\nleast its adherents increase steadily in numbers, and even in social\nweight. (Tuttle, \"Arena of Nature.\") Not long ago the National\nConvention of Spiritualists, at their great meeting at Rochester, N.Y.\n(August, 1868), laid down nineteen fundamental principles of their new\ncreed; their doctrines are based upon the fact that we are constantly\nsurrounded by an invisible host of spirits, who desire to help us in\nreturning once more to the father of all things, the Great Spirit.\n\nModern magic met with the same opposition in Europe. The French Academy,\nclaiming, as usually, to be supreme authority in all matters of science,\ndeclined, nevertheless, to decide the question. Arago, who read the\nofficial report before the august body, closed with the words: \"I do not\nbelieve a word of it!\" but his colleagues remembered, perhaps, that\ntheir predecessors had once or twice before committed themselves\ngrievously. Had not the same Academy pronounced against the use of\nquinine and vaccination, against lightning-rods and steam-engines? Had\nnot Reaumur suppressed Peyssonel's \"Essay on Corals,\" because he thought\nit was madness to maintain their animal nature; had not his learned\nbrethren decreed, in 1802, that there were no meteors, although a short\ntime later two thousand fell in one department alone; and had they not,\nmore recently still, received the news of ether being useful as an\nanaesthetic with scorn and unanimous condemnation? Perhaps they recalled\nDr. Hare's assertion that our own Society for the Advancement of Useful\nKnowledge had, in 1855, refused to hear a report on Spiritualism,\npreferring to discuss the important question: \"Why do roosters always\ncrow between midnight and one o'clock?\" At all events they heard the\nreport and remained silent. In the same manner Alexander von Humboldt\nrefused to examine the question. This indifference did not, however,\ncheck the growth of Spiritualism in France, but its followers divided\ninto two parties: spiritualists, under Rivail, who called himself Allan\nCardec, and spiritists, under Pierard. The former died in 1869, after\nhaving seen his _Livre des Esprits_ reappear in fifteen editions; to\nseal his mission, he sent, immediately after his death, his spirit to\ninform his eager pupils, who crowded around the dead body of their\nleader, of his first impressions in the spirit world. If the style is\nthe man (_le style c'est l'homme_), no one could doubt that it was his\nspirit who spoke.\n\nPerhaps the most estimable high-priest of this branch of modern magic is\na well known professor of Geneva, Roessinger, a physician of great\nrenown and much beloved by all who know him. He is, however, a rock of\noffense to American spiritualists, because he has ever remained firmly\nattached to his religious faith, and admits no spiritual revelations as\ngenuine which do not entirely harmonize with the doctrines of Christ and\nthe statements of the Bible. Unfortunately this leads him to believe\nthat his favorite medium, a young lady enjoying the mystic name of\nLibna, speaks under the direct inspiration of God himself! In England\nthe new magic has not only numerous but also influential adherents, like\nLord Lytton and the Darwinian Wallace; papers like the _Star_ and\njournals like the _Cornhill Magazine_, support it with ability, and\nnames like Home in former years and Newton in our day, who not only\nreveal secrets but actually heal the sick, have given a new prestige to\nthe young science. The works of Howitt and Dr. Ashburner, of Mrs. Morgan\nand Mrs. Crossland have treated the subject under various aspects, and\nin the year 1871, Crookes, a well-known chemist, investigated the\nphenomena of Home's revelations by means of an apparatus specially\ndevised for the purpose. The result was the conviction that if not\nspiritual, they were at least not produced by any power now known to\nscience.--_Quart. Journ. of Science_, July, 1871.\n\nIn Germany the new magic has been far less popular than elsewhere, but,\nin return, it has been there most thoroughly investigated. Men of great\neminence in science and in philosophy have published extensive works on\nthe subject, which are, however, more remarkable for zeal and industry\nthan for acute judgment. Gerster in Regensburg claimed to have invented\nthe Psychography, but Szapary in Paris and Cohnfeld in Berlin discovered\nat the same time the curious instrument known to us as Planchette. The\nmost practical measure taken in Germany for the purpose of ascertaining\nthe truth was probably the formation of a society for spirit studies,\nwhich met for the first time in Dresden in 1869, and purposes to obtain\nan insight into those laws of nature which are reported to make it\npossible to hold direct and constant intercourse with the world of\nspirits. Here, as in the whole tendency of this branch of magic, we see\nthe workings not merely of idle curiosity but of that ardent longing\nafter a knowledge of the future and a certainty of personal eternity,\nwhich dwells in the hearts of all men.\n\nThe phenomena of modern magic were first imperfect rappings against the\nwall, the legs of a table or a chair, accompanied by the motion of\ntables; then followed spirit-writing by the aid of a psychograph or a\nsimple pencil, and finally came direct \"spirit-writings,\" drawings by\nthe media, together with musical and poetical inspirations, the whole\nreaching a climax in spirit-photographs. The ringing of bells, the\ndancing of detached hands in the air, the raising up of the entire body\nof a man, and musical performances without human aid were only\naccomplished in a few cases by specially favored individuals. Two facts\nalone are fully established in connection with all these phenomena: one,\nthat some of the latter at least are not produced by the ordinary forces\nof nature; and the other, that the performers are generally, and the\nmedium always, in a more or less complete state of trance. In this\ncondition they forget themselves, give their mind up entirely into the\nhands of others--the media--and candidly believe they see and hear what\nthey are told by the latter is taking place in their presence. Hence\nalso the well-established fact that the spirits have never yet revealed\na single secret, nor ever made known to us anything really new. Their\nstyle is invariably the same as that in which ecstatic and\nsomnambulistic persons are apt to speak. A famous German spiritualist,\nHornung, whose faith was well known, once laid his hands upon his\nplanchette together with his wife, and then asked if there really was a\nworld of spirits? To the utter astonishment of all present, the\npsychograph replied No! and when questioned again and again, became\ntroublesome. The fact was simply that the would-be magician's wife did\nnot believe in spirits, and as hers was the stronger will, the answer\ncame from her mind and not from her husband's. On the other hand, it\ncannot be denied that media--most frequently delicate women of high\nnervous sensibility, and almost always leading lives of constant and\nwearying excitement--become on such occasions wrought up to a degree\nwhich resembles somnambulism and may really enable them, occasionally,\nin a state of clairvoyance, to see what is hidden to others. It is they\nwho are \"vitalized,\" as they call it, and not the knocking table, or the\nwriting planchette, and hence arises the necessity of a medium for all\nsuch communications. That there are no spirits at work in these\nphenomena requires hardly to be stated; even the most ardent and\nenthusiastic adherents of the new magic cannot deny, that no original\nrevelation concerning the world of spirits has yet been made, but that\nall that is told is but an echo of the more or less familiar views of\nmen. It is far more interesting to notice, with Coleman, the electric\nand hygroscopic condition of the atmosphere, which has evidently much to\ndo with such exhibitions. The visions of hands, arms, and heads, which\nmove about in the air and may occasionally even be felt, are either mere\nhallucinations or real objective appearances, due to a peculiar\ncondition of the air, and favorably interpreted by the predisposed mind.\nHence, also, our own continent is, for its superior dryness of\natmosphere, much more favorable to the development of such phenomena\nthan that of Europe.\n\nSpiritualists in the Old as in the New World are hopeful that the new\nmagic will produce a new universal religion, and a better social order.\nIn this direction, however, no substantial success has yet been\nobtained. Outsiders had expected that at least an intercourse with\ndeparted spirits might be secured, and thus the immortality of man might\nbe practically demonstrated. But this also has not yet been done. What\nthen can we learn from modern magic? Only this: that there are evidently\nforces in nature with whose character and precise intent we are not yet\nacquainted, and which yet deserve to be studied and carefully analyzed.\nModern magic exhibits certain phenomena in man which are not subject to\nthe known laws of nature, and thus proves that man possesses certain\npowers which he fails or does not know how to exert in ordinary life.\nWhere these powers appear in consequence of special preparation or an\nexceptional condition of mind, they are comparatively worthless, because\nthey are in such cases merely the result of physical or mental disease,\nand we can hope to profit only by powers employed by sound men. But\nwhere these powers become manifest by spontaneous action, apparently as\nthe result of special endowment, they deserve careful study, and all the\nrespect due to a new and unknown branch of knowledge.\n\nNor must it be overlooked, that, although modern magic as a science is\nnew, most of the phenomena upon which it is based, were well known to\nthe oldest nations. The Chinese, who seem to have possessed all the\nknowledge of mankind, ages before it could be useful to them, or to\nothers, and to have lost it as soon as there was a call for it, had,\ncenturies ago, not only moving tables, but even writing spirits. Their\nmodern planchette is a small board, which they let float upon the water,\nwith the legs upward; they rest their hands upon the latter, and watch\nthe gyrations it makes in the water. Or they hold a small basket with a\ncamel's-hair brush attached to one end suspended over a table upon which\nthey have strewn a layer of flour; the brush begins to move through the\nflour and to draw characters in it, which they interpret according to\ntheir alphabet. The priests of Buddha in Mongolia, also, have long since\nemployed moving tables, and for a good purpose, usually to detect\nthieves. The lama, who is appealed to for the purpose, sits down before\na small four-legged table, upon which he rests his hands, whilst reading\na book of devotion. After perhaps half an hour, he rises, and as he does\nso, holding his hand steadily upon the table, the table also rises and\nfollows his hand, which he raises till hand and table are both level\nwith his eyes. Then the priest advances, the table precedes him, and\nsoon begins to move at such a rate that it seems to fly through the air,\nand the lama can hardly follow. Sometimes it falls down upon the very\nspot where the stolen goods are hidden; at other times it only indicates\nthe direction in which they are to be sought for; and not unfrequently\nit refuses altogether to move, in which event the priest abandons the\ncase as hopeless. (_Nord. Biene_, April 27, 1853.) Here also it is\nevident that the table is not the controlling agent, but the will of the\nlama, whom it obeys by one of those mysterious powers which we call\nmagic. It is the same force which acts in the divining rod, the\npendulum, and similar phenomena.\n\nThe name of Medium is an American invention, and is based upon the\nassumption that only a few favored persons are able to enter into direct\ncommunication with spirits, who may then convey the revelations they\nreceive to others. They are generally children and young persons, but\namong grown men also certain constitutions seem to be better adapted to\nsuch purposes than others. In almost all cases it has been observed,\nthat the electric condition of the medium is a feature of greatest\nimportance; the more electricity he possesses, the better is he able to\nproduce magic phenomena, and when his supply is exhausted by a long\nsession, his power also ceases. Hence, perhaps, the peculiar\nqualification of children; while, on the other hand, the fact that they\nnot unfrequently are able to answer questions, in languages, of which\nthey are ignorant, proves that they also do not themselves give the\nreply, but only receive it from the questioner, and state it as it\nexists in the mind of the latter. Hence, also, the utter absurdity of\nso-called spirit paintings, and, still worse, of poetical effusions like\nMr. Harris' \"Lyric of the Golden Age,\" in eleven thousand four hundred\nand thirty wretched verses. For what the \"circle\" does not know\nindividually or collectively, the medium also is not able to produce.\nThis truth is made still more evident by the latest phenomena developed\nin spiritualistic circles, the so-called trance speaking, which may be\nheard occasionally in New York circles, and which requires no\ninterposition of a medium. For here, also, we are struck by the utter\nabsence of usefulness in all these revelations; the inspired believers\nspeak, they recite poetry, but it remains literally _vox et praeterea\nnihil_, and we are forcibly reminded of the words of AEschylus, who\nalready said in his \"Agamemnon\" (v. 1127),\n\n    \"Did ever seers afford delight?\n     The long practised art of all the seers whom\n     Ever the gods inspired, revealed\n     Naught but horrors and a wretched fate.\"\n\nAmong the media of our day, Home is naturally _facile princeps_. A\nScotchman by birth, he claims that his mother already possessed the gift\nof Second Sight, and that in their home near Edinburgh similar\nendowments were frequent among their neighbors. At the age of three\nyears he saw the death of a cousin, who lived in a distant town, and\nnamed the persons who were standing around her couch; he conversed\nconstantly in his childish way with spirits and heard heavenly music;\nhis cradle was rocked by invisible hands, and his toys came unaided into\nhis hands. When ten years old he was taken to an aunt in America, in\nwhose house he had no sooner been installed than chairs and tables, beds\nand utensils, began to move about in wild disorder, till the terrified\nlady sent the unlucky boy away. Attending once an exhibition of\ntable-moving he fell into fits and suddenly became cataleptic; during\nthe paroxysm he heard a summoning, then the spirits announced the\nwrecking of two sailors, the table began to rock as in a storm, the\nwhistling of the wind through the tackle, the creaking of the vessel,\nand the dull, heavy thud of the waves against her bows, all were\ndistinctly heard, and finally the table was upset, while the spirits\nannounced the name and the age of the perishing seamen. From that day\nHome carefully cultivated his strange gifts, and developed what he\nconsidered a decided talent for reading the future. As a young man he\nreturned to Europe and soon became famous. Florence was, for a time, the\nprincipal stage of his successes; here he not only summoned the spirits\nof the departed, but was raised by invisible powers from the ground and\nhovered for some time above the heads of his visitors. The superstitious\nItalians finally became excited and threatened him with death, from\nwhich a Count Branichi saved him at great personal peril. In Naples the\nspirits suddenly declared their intention to leave him on February 10,\n1856, and to remain absent for a whole year; they did so, and during the\ninterval Home enjoyed better health than ever in his life! In Rome he\nbecame a Catholic, and good Pio Nono himself offered him his crucifix to\nkiss, with the words: \"That is the only true magic wand!\"--unfortunately\nthis was not Home's view always; at least we find him in 1864 in the\nsame city in conflict with the papal police, who ordered him to cease\nall intercourse \"with higher as well as with lower spirits,\" and finally\ncompelled him to leave the Eternal City. He then claimed publicly,\nwhat, it must not be forgotten, he had consistently maintained from the\nbeginning of his marvelous career, that he was the unwilling agent of\nhigher powers, which affected him at irregular times, independent of his\nwill, and often contrary to his dearest wishes. It must be added that he\ngave the strongest proof of his sincerity by never accepting from the\npublic pecuniary compensation for the exhibition of peculiar powers.\n\nHis exterior is winning; he is of medium height, light-haired and\nlight-complexioned, of slender figure; simple and well-bred in his\nmanners, and of irreproachable morale. The highest circles of society\nhave always been open to him, and his marriage with a daughter of the\nRussian general Stroll has given him wealth and an agreeable position in\nthe world. As the spirits had predicted, they returned on the 10th of\nFebruary, 1857, and announced themselves by repeated gentle\nknockings--in other words, Home's former nervous disease returned, and\nwith it his exceptionable powers. He was then in Paris, and soon excited\nthe attention of the fair but superstitious Empress, whose favor he\nspeedily obtained by a revelation concerning the \"Empereur de l'avenir,\"\nas the spirits had the gallantry to call her infant son. Napoleon also\nbegan to take an interest in the clever, talented man, whose special\ngifts did not prevent him from being a pliant courtier and a cunning\nobserver. He showed himself grateful for the kindness with which Eugenie\nprovided for his sister's education by exerting his powers to the\nutmost at the Tuileries, and by revealing to the Emperor the secrets he\nhad skillfully elicited during his spiritual sessions, from statesmen\nand generals. At the house of Prince Murat he performed, perhaps, the\nmost surprising feats he has ever accomplished: seated quietly in his\narm-chair, he caused tables to whirl around, the clocks in two rooms to\nstand still or to go at will, all the bells in the house to ring\ntogether or separately, and handkerchiefs to escape irresistibly from\nthe hands and the pockets of several persons, the Emperor included. Then\nthe floor seemed to sink, all the doors of the house were slammed to and\nopened again, the gaslights became extinct, and when they as suddenly\nblazed up again, Home had disappeared without saying good-bye. The\nguests left the house quietly and in a state of great and painful\nexcitement. At another exhibition in Prince Napoleon's house, a renowned\njuggler was present by invitation to watch Home, but he declared, soon,\nthat there was no jugglery, such as he knew, in what he saw, and the\nmeeting, during which the most startling phenomena were exhibited, ended\nby Home's falling into a state of fearful catalepsy. Perhaps nothing can\nspeak more clearly of the deep interest felt in the modern magician by\nthe highest in the land, than the fact that more than once private\nsessions were held at the Tuileries, at which, besides himself, the\nEmperor and the Empress, only one person was allowed to be present, the\nDuke of Montebello. It is said, though not by Home himself, that at one\nof these meetings the sad fate of the Empire was clearly predicted, and\neven the time of the Emperor's death ascertained. One achievement of\nmodern magic in which Home is unique, is the raising of his body into\nthe air; no other person having as yet even attempted the same exploit.\nHe is lifted up in a horizontal position, sometimes only to a short\ndistance from the floor, but not unfrequently, also, nearly to the\nceiling; on one occasion, in Bordeaux, he remained thus suspended in the\nsight of several persons for five minutes. Another speciality of his, is\nthe lengthening of his body. According to a statement deserving full\ncredit (\"Human Nature,\" Dec. 1868), he can, when in a state of trance,\nadd four inches to his stature! Finally, he has been repeatedly seen\npassing in the air out of one window of the room in which his visitors\nwere assembled, and returning through another window, an exhibition\nwhich almost always ended in the complete exhaustion and apparent\nillness of the magician.\n\nHome himself maintains that he performs no miracles, and is not able to\ncause the laws of nature to be suspended for a moment, but that he is\ngifted with an exceptional power to employ faculties which he possesses\nin common with all his brethren. In him they are active; in the vast\nmajority of men they lie dormant, because man is no longer conscious of\nthe full and absolute control over Nature, with which he has been\nendowed by the Creator. He adds that it is faith alone, without the aid\nof spirits, which enables him to cause mysterious lights to be seen, or\nheavy pieces of furniture to move about in the air, and to produce\nstrange sounds and peculiar visions in the mind of his friends. On the\nother hand, when he is lifted up into the air, or enabled to read the\nfuture, and to reveal what absent persons are doing at the moment, he\nprofesses to act as a willingless instrument of spirits, having neither\nthe power to provoke his ability to perform these feats, nor to lay it\naside at will. Occasionally he professes to be conscious of an electric\ncurrent, which he is able to produce at certain times and in a certain\nstate of mind; this emanation protects his body against influences fatal\nto others, and enables him, for instance, to hold live coals in his\nhand, and to thrust his whole head into the chimney fire. This \"certain\nstate of mind,\" as he calls it, is simply a state of trance. Hence the\nextremely variable nature of his performances, and his great reluctance\nto appear as a magician at the request of others. Nor is he himself\nalways quite sure of his own condition; thus, in the winter of 1870,\nwhen he wished to exhibit some of the simplest phenomena in the presence\nof a number of savants in St. Petersburg, he failed so completely in\nevery effort, that the committee reported him virtually, though not in\nterms, an impostor. The same happened to him at a first examination held\nby Mr. Crookes, a well-known professor of chemistry, in company with\nMessrs. Cox and Huggins; they did not abandon their purpose, however,\nand at the next meeting, when certain antipathic spectators were no\nlonger present, Home displayed the most remarkable phenomena. The\ncommittee came to the conclusion that he was enabled to perform these\nfeats by means of a new \"psychic force,\" which it was all-important for\nmen of science to investigate thoroughly.\n\nThe number of men and women who possess similar endowments, though\ngenerally in an inferior degree only, is very great, especially in the\nUnited States. Only one feature is common to them all--the state of\ntrance in which they are enabled to produce such startling phenomena--in\nall other respects they differ widely, both as to the nature of their\nperformances and as to their credibility. For, from the first appearance\nof media in spiritualistic circles, in fact, probably already in the\nexhibitions of the Fox family, delusion and willful deception have been\nmixed up with actual magic. Tables have been moved by clever\nlegerdemain; spirit rappings have been produced by cunning efforts of\nmuscles and sinews; ventriloquists have used their art to cause\nextraordinary noises in the air, and Pepper's famous ghosts have shown\nthe facility with which the eye may be deceived and the other senses be\ntaken captive. The most successful deception was practised by the\nso-called Davenport Brothers, whose well-known exhibitions excited\nuniversal interest, as long as the impression lasted that they were the\nwork of invisible spirits, while they became even more popular and\nattractive when their true nature had been discovered, on account of the\nexquisite skill with which these juggling tricks were performed.\n\nThe masters of physical science have amply proved that table-moving is a\nsimple mechanical art. Faraday and Babinet already called attention to\nthe fact that the smallest muscles of the human body can produce great\neffects, when judiciously employed, and cited, among other instances,\nthe so-called Electric Girl, exhibited in Paris, who hurled a chair on\nwhich she had been sitting, by muscular power alone, to a great\ndistance. The same feat, it is well-known, has been repeatedly\naccomplished by other persons also. Like muscular efforts are made--no\ndoubt often quite unconsciously--by persons whose will acts\nenergetically, and when several men co-operate the force of vibrations\nproduced in a kind of rhythmical tact, becomes truly astounding. We need\nonly remember, that the rolling of a heavily laden cart in the streets\nmay shake a vast, well-built edifice from roof to cellar, and that the\nregular tramp of a detachment of men has more than once caused\nsuspension bridges, of great and well-tried strength, to break and to\nbury hundreds of men under their ruins. Thus a few children and delicate\nwomen alone can, by an hour's steady work and undivided attention, move\ntables of such weight that a number of strong men can lift them only\nwith difficulty. The only really new force which has ever appeared in\nthis branch of modern magic is the Od of Baron Reichenbach; its\npresence and efficacy cannot be denied, although the manner in which it\noperates is still a mystery. In the summer of 1861 the German baron\nfound himself in a company of table-movers at the house of Lord William\nCowper, the son-in-law of Lord Palmerston. To prove his faith he crept\nunder the heavy dining-table, resting with his full weight on one of the\nthree solid feet and grasping the other two firmly with his hands. The\nwood began to emit low, electric sounds, then came louder noises as when\nfurniture cracks in extremely dry weather, and finally the table began\nto move. Reichenbach did his best to prevent the movement, but the table\nrushed down the room, dragging the unlucky baron with it, to the intense\namusement of all the persons present. The German savant maintains that\nthis power, possessed only by the privileged few who are peculiarly\nsensitive, emanates from the tips of the fingers, becomes luminous in\nthe dark, and acts like a lever upon all obstacles that come in its way.\nAs the existence of Od is established beyond all doubt, and its effects\nare admitted by all who have studied the subject, we are forced to look\nupon it as at least one of the mysterious elements of modern magic.\n\nThe Od is, as far as we know, a magnetic force; for as soon as certain\npersons are magnetized they become conscious of peculiar sensations,\nheat or cold, headache or other pains, and, if predisposed, of a\nstartling increase of power in all their senses. They see lights of\nevery kind, can distinguish even minute objects in a dark room, and\nbehold beautiful white flames upon the poles of magnets. Reichenbach\nobtained, as he believed, two remarkable results from these first\nphenomena. He concluded that polar lights, aurora boreales, etc., were\nidentical with the magnetic light of the earth, and he discovered that\nsensitive, sickly persons, who were peculiarly susceptible to magnetic\ninfluences, ought to lie with the head to the north, and the feet to the\nsouth in order to obtain refreshing sleep. The next step was an effort\nto identify the Od with animal magnetism; Reichenbach found that\ncataleptic patients who perceived the presence of magnets with exquisite\naccuracy, and followed them like mesmerized persons, were affected alike\nby his own hands or those of other perfectly sound, but strongly\nmagnetic men. He could attract such unfortunate persons by his\noutstretched fingers, and force them to follow him in a state of\nunconsciousness wherever he led them. According to his theory, the two\nsides of man are of opposite electric nature and a magnetic current\npasses continually from one side to the other; sensitive persons though\nblind-folded, know perfectly well on which side they approach others.\n\nGradually Baron Reichenbach extended the range of his experiments,\nemploying for that purpose, besides his own daughter, especially a Miss\nNowotny, a sad sufferer from cataleptic attacks. She was able to\ndistinguish, by the sensations which were excited in her whole system,\nmore than six hundred chemicals, and arranged them, under his guidance,\naccording to their electro-chemical force. Another sick woman, Miss\nMaiss, felt a cool wind whenever certain substances were brought near\nher, and by these and similar efforts in which the baron was aided by\nmany friends, he ascertained the fact, that there is in nature a force\nwhich passes through all substances, the human body included, and is\ninherent in the whole material world. This force he calls the Od. Like\nelectricity and magnetism, this Od is a polar force, and here also\nopposite poles attract, like poles repel each other. The whole subject,\nalthough as yet only in its infancy, is well deserving of careful study\nand thorough investigation.\n\nThe manifestations of so-called spirits have naturally excited much\nattention, and given rise to the bitterest attacks. In England,\nespecially, the learned world is all on one side and the Spiritualists\nall on the other; nor do they hesitate to say very bitter things of each\nother. The _Saturday Review_, more forcibly than courteously, speaks of\nAmerican spiritualists thus: \"If this is the spirit world, and if this\nis spiritual intelligence, and if all the spirits can do, is to whisk\nabout in dark rooms, and pinch people's legs under the table, and play\n'Home, Sweet Home,' on the accordeon, and kiss folks in the dark, and\npaint baby pictures, and write such sentimental, namby-pamby as Mr.\nColeman copies out from their dictation--it is much better to be a\nrespectable pig and accept annihilation than to be cursed with such an\nimmortality as this.\" To which the _Spiritual Magazine_ (Jan., 1862),\ndoes not hesitate to reply. \"We shall not eat breakfast bacon for some\ntime, for fear of getting a slice of the editor of the _Saturday\nReview_, in his self-sought appropriate metempsychosis.\" It must be\nborne in mind, however, that spiritualists everywhere appeal to their\nown reason as the highest tribunal before which such questions can be\ndecided, and to the laws of nature, because as they say, they are\nidentical with the laws of practical reason. They believe, as a body,\nneither in angels nor in demons. Their spirits are simply the purified\nsouls of departed men. Protestant theologians, who admit of no\npurgatory, see in these exhibitions nothing but the deeds of Satan.\nCatholic divines, on the other hand, and Protestant mystics, who, like\nthe German, Schubert, believe that there exist what they curiously\nenough call a \"more peaceful infernal spirit,\" ascribe them to the\nagency of evil spirits. In the great majority of cases, however, the\nspirits have clearly shown themselves nothing else but the product of\nthe media. The latter, invariably either of diseased mind by nature or\nover-excited for the occasion, believe they see and hear manifestations\nin the outer world, which in reality exist only in their own\nconsciousness. A Catholic medium is thus visited by spirits from heaven\nand hell, while the Protestant medium never meets souls from purgatory.\nNothing has ever been revealed concerning the future state of man, that\nwas not already well known upon earth. Most diverting are the\njealousies of great spirits, of Solomon and Socrates, Moses and\nPlato--when the media happen to be jealous of each other! A somewhat\nsatirical writer on the subject explains even the fact that spirits so\noften contradict each other and say vile things of sacred subjects, by\nthe inner wickedness of the media, which comes to light on such\noccasions, while they carefully conceal it in ordinary life! If these\nspirits are really the creations of the inner magic life, of which we\nare just learning to know the first elementary signs, then the powers\nwhich are hidden within us may well terrify us as they appear in such\nexhibitions, while we will not be surprised at the manner in which many\nan ordinary mortal appears here as a poet or a prophet--if not as a\nwicked demon. Nor must it be overlooked that our memory holds vast\ntreasures of knowledge of which we are utterly unconscious until, under\ncertain circumstances, one or the other fact suddenly reappears before\nour mind's eye. The very fact that we can, by a great effort and\ncontinued appeals to our memory, recall at last what was apparently\nutterly forgotten, proves the presence of such knowledge. A state of\nintense excitement, of fever or of trance, is peculiarly favorable to\nthe recovery of such hidden treasures, and there can be no doubt that\nmany a medium honestly believes to receive a new revelation, when only\nold, long forgotten facts return to his consciousness. Generally\nhowever, we repeat, nothing is in the spirit that is not in the medium.\nThe American spiritualist conjures up only his own countrymen, and\noccasionally some world-renowned heroes like Napoleon or Caesar,\nShakespeare or Schiller, while the cosmopolitan German receives visits\nfrom men of all countries. Finally it must be borne in mind that,\naccording to an old proverb, we are ever ready to believe what we wish\nto see or hear, and hence the amazing credulity of the majority of\nspiritualists. Even skeptics are not free from the influence of this\ntendency. When Dr. Bell, the eminent physician of Somerville, Mass.,\ninvestigated these phenomena of modern magic, many years ago, he\npromptly noticed that the spirits never gave information which was not\nalready in the possession of one or the other person present. Only in a\nfew cases he acknowledged with his usual candor, and at once, at the\nmeeting itself, that a true answer was returned. But when he examined,\nafter his return home, these few exceptional revelations, he discovered\nthat he had been mistaken, and that these answers had been after all as\nillusory as the others.\n\nThere can be no doubt therefore, that modern magic, as far as it\nconsists in table-moving and spirit-rapping, with their usual\naccompaniments, is neither the work of mechanical jugglery exclusively,\nnor, on the other hand, the result of revelations made by spirits. In\nthe mass of accumulated evidence there remain however, after sifting it\ncarefully, many facts which cannot be explained according to the\nordinary course of nature. The power which produces these phenomena\nmust be classified with other well-known powers given to man under\nexceptional circumstances, such as the safety of somnambulists in\ndangerous places; the cures performed by faith, and the strange\nexhibitions made by diseased persons, suffering of catalepsy and similar\naffections. If men, under the influence of mesmerism, in a state of\necstatic fervor, or under the pressure of strong and long-continued\nexcitement, show powers which are not possessed by man naturally, then\nmodern magic also may well be admitted as one of the means by which such\nextraordinary, and as yet unexplored forces are brought to light. All\nthat can be reasonably asked of those who so peremptorily challenge our\nadmiration, and demand our respect for the new science, is that it shall\nbe proved to be useful to man, and this proof is, as yet, altogether\nwanting.\n\nIn Mexico the preparation for acts of magic seems to have been downright\nintoxication; at least we learn from Acosta, in his _Hist. nat. y moral\nde los Indias_ (lv.), that the priests, before sacrificing, inhaled\npowerful perfumes, rubbed themselves with ointments made of venomous\nanimals, tobacco and hempseed, and finally drank chica mixed with\nvarious drugs. Thus they reached a state of exaltation in which they not\nonly butchered numbers of human beings in cold blood, and lost all fear\nof wild beasts, but were also able to reveal what was happening at a\ngreat distance, or even future events. We find similar practices, also,\nnearer home. The Indians of Martha's Vineyard had, before they were\nconverted, their skillful magicians, who stood in league with evil\nspirits, and as pawaws discovered stolen things, injured men at a\ndistance, and clearly foretold the coming of the whites. The pious\nBrainert gives us full accounts of some of the converted Delawares, who,\nafter baptism, felt the evil spirit depart from them, and lost the power\nof magic. One, a great and wicked magician, deplored bitterly his former\ncondition, when he was a slave of the evil one, and became, in the good\nmissionary's words: \"an humble, devout, hearty, and loving Christian.\"\nIt is more difficult to explain the magic of the so-called Archbishop\nBeissel, the head of the brotherhood at Ephrata, in Pennsylvania, who,\naccording to contemporary authorities \"oppressed by his magic the father\nand steward of the convent, Eckerling, to such a degree, that he left\nhis brethren and sought refuge in a hermit's hut in the forest!\" The\nspirits of departed brethren and sisters returned to the refectory at\nthis bishop's bidding; they partook of bread and meat, and even\nconversed with their successors. There can be no doubt that Beissel,\nabundantly and exceptionally gifted, possessed the power to put his\nunhappy subordinates, already exhausted by asceticism of every kind,\ninto a state of ecstasy, in which they sincerely believed they saw these\nspirits, and were subjected to magic influences. That such power has by\nno means entirely departed from our continent, may be seen in the\natrocities perpetrated at the command of the negroes' Obee, of which\nwell-authenticated records abound in Florida and Louisiana, as well as\nin Cuba.\n\nThe Indo-Germanic race has known and practised black magic from time\nimmemorial, and the Vendidad already explains it as an act which\nAhriman, the Evil Spirit, brought forth when overshadowed by death. In\nEgypt it flourished for ages, and has never become entirely extinct.\nJannes and Jambres, who led the priests in their opposition to Moses (2.\nTim. iii. 8), have their successors in our day, and the very miracles\nperformed by these ancient charmers have been witnessed again and again\nby modern travelers. Holy Writ abounds with instances of every kind of\nmagic; it speaks of astrology, and prophesying from arrows, from the\nentrails of animals, and from dreams; but, strangely enough, the\ncharming of serpents and the evil eye are not mentioned, if we except\nBalaam. The Kabbalah, on the contrary, speaks more than once of the evil\neye (ain hara), and all the southern nations of Europe, as well as the\nSlavic races, fear its weird power.\n\nThe eye is, however, by no means employed only to work evil; by the side\nof their _mal occhio_ the Italians have another gift, called\n_attrativa_, which enables man, apparently by the force of his eye only,\nto draw to himself all whom he wishes to attract. The well-known Saint\nFilippo Neri thus not only won all whom he wished to gain over, by\nlooking at them, but even dogs left their beloved masters and followed\nhim everywhere. Cotton Mather tells us in his \"Magnolia\" that quakers\nfrequently by the eye only--though often, also, by anointing or\nbreathing upon them--compelled others to accompany them, to join their\ncommunion, and to be in all things obedient to their bidding. Tom Case,\nhimself a quaker, certainly possessed the power of overwhelming those at\nwhom he looked fixedly for a while, to such a degree that they fell down\nas if struck with epilepsy; once, at least, he turned even a mad bull,\nby the force of his eye, till it approached him humbly and licked his\nhand like a pet dog. Even in our own age Goethe has admitted the power\nof certain men to attract others by the strength of their will, and\nmentions an instance in which he himself, ardently wishing to see his\nbeloved one, forced her unconsciously to come and meet him halfway.\n(Eckermann, iii. 201.)\n\nIt avails nothing to stigmatize a faith so deeply rooted and so\nuniversal as mere superstition. Among the mass of errors which in the\ncourse of ages have accumulated around the creed, the little grain of\ntruth, the indubitable power of man's mind to act through the eye, ought\nnot to be overlooked.\n\nIt is the same with the magic known as such to the two great nations of\nantiquity. If the Greeks saw in Plato the son of Apollo, who came to his\nmother Perictione in the shape of a serpent, and in Alexander the Great\nthe son of Jupiter Ammon, they probably intended merely to pay the same\ncompliment to their countrymen which modern nations convey by calling\ntheir rulers Kings and Kaisers \"by the Grace of God.\" But the\nconsistency with which higher beings came to visit earth-born man in the\nshape of favored animals, is more than an accident. The sons of God came\nto see the daughters of men, though it is not said in what form they\nappeared, and the suggestion that they were the \"giants upon the earth,\"\nmentioned in Holy Writ, is not supported; but exactly as the gods came\nfrom Olympus in the shape of bulls and rams, so the evil spirits of the\nMiddle Ages appeared in the shape of rams and cats. A curious instance\nof the mixture of truth and falsehood appears in this connection. It is\nwell-known that the Italians of the South look upon Virgil as one of the\ngreatest magicians that ever lived, and ascribe to his tomb even now\nsupernatural power. The poet himself had, of course, nothing whatever to\ndo with magic; but his reputation as a magician arose from the fact\nthat, next to the Bible, his verses became, at an early period, a\nfavorite means of consulting the future. _Sortes Virgilianae_, the lines\nwhich upon accidentally opening the volume first met the eye, were a\nleading feature of the art known as stichomania.\n\nThe story of the greatest magician mentioned in the New Testament has\nbeen thoroughly examined, and the main features, at least, are well\nestablished. Simon Magus was a magician in the sense in which the\nancients used that term; but he possessed evidently, in addition, all\nthe powers claimed by better spiritualists, like Home in our day. A\nnative of Gitton, a small village of Samaria, he had early manifested\nsuperior intellectual gifts, accompanied by an almost marvelous control\nover the minds of others. By the aid of the former he produced a lofty\ngnostic system, which crumbled, however, to pieces as soon as it came\ninto contact with the inspired system of Christianity. His influence\nover others led him, in the arrogance which is inherent to natural man,\nto consider himself as the Great Divine Power, which appeared in\ndifferent forms as Father, Son, and Spirit. He professed to be able to\nmake himself invisible and to pass, unimpeded, through solid\nsubstances--precisely as was done in later ages by Saint Dominic and\nother saints (Goerres. Mystic, ii. 576)--to bind and to loosen others as\nwell as himself at will; to open prison doors and to cause trees to grow\nout of the bare ground. Before utterly rejecting his pretensions as mere\nlies and tricks, we must bear in mind two facts: first, that modern\njugglers in India perform these very tricks in a manner as yet\nunexplained, and secondly, that he, in all probability, possessed merely\nthe power of exciting others to a high state of exaltation, in which\nthey candidly believed they saw all these things. At all events, his\nmagic deeds were identical with the miracles of later saints, and as\nthese are enthroned in shrine and statue in Rome, so the Eternal City\nerected to Simon Magus, also, a statue, and proclaimed him a god in the\ndays of Claudius! Another celebrated magician of the same race, was\nSedechias (Goerres. Mystic, iv. ii. 71), who lived in the days of Saint\nLouis, and who, once, in order to convince the skeptics of his day of\nthe real existence of spirits, such as the Kabbalah admits, ordered them\nto appear in human form before the eyes of the monarch. Instantly the\nwhole plain around the king's tent was alive with a vast army; long rows\nof bright-colored tents dotted the lowlands, and on the slopes around\nwere encamped countless troops; whilst mounted squadrons appeared in the\nair, performing marvelous evolutions. This was probably the first\ninstance of those airy hosts, which have ever since been seen in various\ncountries.\n\nThe Christian era gave to magic phenomena a new and specific character;\nwhat was a miracle in apostolic times remained in the eyes of the\nmultitude a miracle to our day, when performed by saints of the\nchurch--it became a crime and an abomination when the authors were\nlaymen, and yet both differed in no single feature. The most remarkable\nrepresentative of this dual nature of supernatural performances is, no\ndoubt, Dr. Faust, whom the great and pious Melanchthon states to have\nwell known as a native of the little village of Knittlingen, near his\nown birth-place, and as a man of dissolute habits, whom the Devil\ncarried off in person. His motto, which has been discovered under a\nportrait of his (Hauber's \"Bibl. Mag.\"), was characteristic of his\nfaith: _Omne bonum et perfectum a Deo, imperfectum a diabolo_. His vast\nlearning, his great power over the elements, and the popular story of\nhis pact with the Evil One, made him a hero among the Germans, of whose\nnational tendencies he was then the typical representative.\nUnfortunately, however, nearly every Christian land has had its own\nFaust; such was, for instance, in Spain the famous Dr. Toralba, who\nlived in the sixteenth century, and by the aid of a servile demon read\nthe future, healed the sick, traveled through the air, and even when he\nfell into the hands of the Inquisition, obtained his release through the\nGreat Admiral of Castile. Gilles de Laval, who was publicly burnt in\n1440, and Lady Fowlis, of Scotland, are parallel cases.\n\nOne of the most absurd ceremonies belonging to black magic, was the\nwell-known Taigheirm, of the Scotch Highlands, a demoniac sacrifice\nevidently handed down from pagan times. The so-called magician procured\na large number of black cats, and devoted them, with solemn\nincantations, and while burning offensive incense of various kinds, to\nthe evil spirits. Then the poor victims were spitted and slowly roasted\nover a fire of coals, one after the other, but so that not a second's\npause occurred between the death of one and the sufferings of the next.\nThis horridly absurd sacrifice had to be continued for three days and\nnights, during which the magician was not allowed to take any food or\ndrink. The consequence was, that if he did not drop down exhausted and\nperish miserably, he became fearfully excited, and finally saw demons in\nthe shape of black cats who granted him all he desired (Horst.\n\"Deuteroscopia,\" ii. 184). It need hardly be added that in the state of\nclairvoyance which he had reached, he only asked for what he well knew\nwas going to happen, and that all the fearful visions of hellish spirits\nexisted only in his overwrought imagination. But it will surprise many\nto learn that such \"taigheirms\" were held as late as the last century,\nand that a place is still shown on the island of Mull, where Allan\nMaclean with his assistant, Lachlain Maclean, sacrificed black cats for\nfour days and nights in succession. The elder of the two passed for a\nkind of high-priest and chief magician with the superstitious islanders;\nthe other was a young unmarried man of fine appearance, and more than\nordinary intelligence. Both survived the fearful ceremony, but sank\nutterly exhausted to the ground, unable to obtain the revelation which\nthey had expected; nevertheless they retained the gift of second sight\nfor their lives.\n\nIt must not be imagined, finally, that the summoning of spirits is a\nlost art; even in our day men are found who are willing to call the\ndeparted from their resting-place, and to exhibit them to the eyes of\nliving men. The best explanation of this branch of magic was once given\nby a learned professor, whom the Prince Elector of Brandenburg,\nFrederick II., sent for from Halle, in order to learn from him how\nspirits could be summoned. The savant declared that nothing was easier,\nand supported his assertion by a number of actual performances. First\nthe spectator was prepared by strong beverages, such as the Egyptian\nsorcerers already used to employ on similar occasions, and by the\nburning of incense. Soon he fell into a kind of half-sleep, in which he\ncould still understand what was said, but no longer reflect upon the\nsense of the words; gradually his brain became so disturbed, and his\nimagination so highly excited, that he pictured to himself images\ncorresponding to the words which he heard, and called them up before his\nmind's eye as realities. The magician, protected against the effects of\nthe incense by a sponge filled with an alcoholic mixture, then began to\nconverse with his visitor, and tried to learn from him all he could\nconcerning the person the latter wished to see, his shape, his clothes,\netc. Finally the victim was conducted into a dark room, where he was\nsuddenly asked by a stern, imperious voice: \"Do you not see that woman\nin white?\" (or whatever the person might be,) and at once his\nover-excited imagination led him to think that he really beheld what he\nexpected or wished to see. This was allowed to go on till he sank down\nexhausted, or actually fainted away. When he recovered his\nconsciousness, he naturally recollected but imperfectly what he had seen\nwhile in a state of great excitement, and his memory, impaired by the\nintermediate utter exhaustion and fainting, failed to recall the small\nerrors or minute inaccuracies of his vision. All that was left of the\nwhole proceeding was a terrifying impression on his mind that he had\nreally seen the spirits of departed friends.\n\nSuch skillful manoeuvres were more than once employed for sinister\npurposes. Thus it is a well-known historical fact that the men who\nobtained control over King Frederick William II., after his ascension to\nthe throne, and held it for a time by the visions which they showed him,\nemployed means like these to summon the spirits he wished to see. The\nmaster in this branch of black magic was undoubtedly Joseph Balsamo, the\nCount Cagliostro of French history. He was neither a magician in the\ntrue sense of the word, nor even a religious enthusiast, but merely an\naccomplished juggler and swindler, who had acquired, by natural\nendowment, patient study, and consummate art, a great power over the\nminds of others. He played upon the imagination of men as upon a\nfamiliar instrument, and the greatest philosophers were as easily\nvictimized by him as the most clear-sighted women, in spite of the\nnatural instinct which generally protects the latter against such\nimposition. His secret--as far as the summoning of the spirits of the\ndeparted is concerned--has died with him, but that enlightened,\nconscientious men candidly believed they had been shown disembodied\nspirits, is too well established by memories of French and Dutch writers\nto be doubted. In the meetings of his \"lodges of Egyptian Freemasons\"\nhe, as Grand Cophtha, or those whom he had qualified by breathing upon\nthem, employed a boy or a girl, frequently called up at haphazard from\nthe street, but at other times carefully prepared for the purpose, to\nlook into the hand or a basin of water. The poor child was, however,\nfirst made half-unconscious, being anointed with the \"oil of wisdom,\" no\ndoubt an intoxicating compound, and after numerous ceremonies, carried\ninto a recess called the Tabernacle, and ordered to look into the hand\nor a basin of water. After the assembly had prayed for some time, the\n\"Dove,\" as they called the child, was asked what he saw. Ordinarily he\nbeheld first an angel or a priest--probably the image of Cagliostro\nhimself in his sacerdotal robes--but frequently also monkeys, the\noffspring of a skeptical imagination. Then followed more or less\ninteresting revelations, some utterly absurd, others of real interest,\nand at times actual predictions of future events. Cagliostro himself,\nduring his last trial before the Inquisition of Rome, while readily\nconfessing a large number of impostures, stoutly maintained the\ngenuineness of these communications and insisted that they were the\neffects of a special power granted by God. His assertion has some value,\nas the shrewd man knew very well how much more he was likely to gain by\na prompt avowal than by such a denial; his wife, also, although his\naccomplice in former years, and now by no means disposed to spare her\nquasi-husband, always stated that this was a true mystery which she had\nnever been able to fathom. If we add to these considerations the fact\nthat numerous masters of lodges, even in Holland and England, obtained\nthe same results, and that they cannot all have been impostors or\ndeluded victims, there remains enough in these well-established\nphenomena to ascribe them to a mysterious, magic power. (_Compendio\ndella vita, etc. di G. Balsamo_, Roma, 1791.) It is in fact quite\nevident that the unfortunate juggler possessed in a very rare degree a\npower akin to that practised by a Mesmer, a Home, and other men of that\nclass, without having the sense to understand its true nature or the\nambition to employ it for other than the lowest selfish purposes. Trials\nof magicians, who have conjured up the dead and compelled them to reveal\nthe future, are still taking place every now and then; in the year 1850\nnot less than four men, together with their associates, were accused of\nthis crime in enlightened Germany, and the proceedings in one case,\nwhich occurred in Munich, created no small sensation.\n\nBlack magic, therefore, must also be looked upon as by no means a mere\nillusion, much less as the work of evil spirits. The results it obtains\nat times are the work of man himself, and exist only within his own\nconscience. But if man can produce such marvelous effects, which lie\napparently beyond the range of the material world, how much more must\nthe Creator and Preserver of all things be able to call forth events\nwhich transcend--to our mind--the limits of the tangible world. Such\noccurrences, when they have a higher moral or religious purpose in view,\nwe call Miracles, and they remain incomprehensible for all whose\nknowledge is confined to the physical world. Above the laws of nature\nthere rules the Divine Will, which can do what Nature cannot do, and\nwhich we can only begin to understand when we bear in mind the fact that\nby the side of the visible order of the world or above it, there exist\nspiritual laws as well as spiritual beings. In a miracle, powers are\nrendered active which ordinarily remain inactive, but which exist none\nthe less permanently in the world. Hence all great thinkers have readily\nadmitted the existence of miracles: a Locke and a Leibnitz as well as,\nmore recently, a Stahl and a Schopenhauer. Locke, in his \"Discourse of\nMiracles,\" goes so far as to call them the very credentials of a\nmessenger sent from God, and asserts that Moses and Christ have alike\nauthenticated the truth and the divine character of their revelations by\nmiracles. Even their possible continuance is believed in by those who\nhope that men will ever continue among us who \"have tasted the good word\nof God and _the powers of the world to come_.\" (Hebrews vi. 5.)\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nDREAMS.\n\n    \"To sleep--perchance to dream.\"\n\n    --HAMLET.\n\n\nOf the two parts of our being, one, spiritual and heaven-born, is always\nactive, the other, the bodily, earth-born part, requires frequent and\nregular rest in sleep. During this time of repose, however, the mind\nalso ceases apparently its operations, merely, however, because it has\nno longer servants at its command, who are willing and able to give\nexpression to its activity. When the senses are asleep the mind is\ndeprived of the usual means of communication with the outer world; but\nthis does not necessarily condemn it to inaction. On the contrary, it\nhas often been maintained that the mind is most active and capable of\nthe highest achievements when released from its usual bondage to the\nsenses. Already AEschylus in his \"Eumenides\" says:\n\n    The mind of sleepers acts more cunningly;\n    The glare of day conceals the fate of men.\n\nIt seems, however, as if the intermediate state between the full\nactivity of wakeful life and the complete repose of the senses in sound\nsleep, is most favorable to the development of such magic phenomena as\noccur in dreams. The fact that the susceptibility of the mind is at\nthat time peculiarly great is intimately connected with the statement\nrecorded in Holy Writ, that God frequently revealed His will to men in\ndreams. If we admit the antiquity of the book of Job, we see there the\nearliest known announcement of this connection. \"In a dream, in a vision\nof the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the\nbed; then He openeth the ears of men and sealeth their instruction\"\n(xxxiii. 15). Next we are told that \"God came to Abimelech in a dream by\nnight\" (Gen. xx. 3), and from that time we hear of similar revelations\nmade by night in dreams throughout the whole history of the chosen\npeople. Frequently, however, the dreams are called visions. Thus Balaam\nprophesied: \"He hath said, which heard the words of God and knew the\nknowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty,\nfalling into a trance, but having his eyes open.\" Daniel had his secret\n\"revealed in a night vision,\" but such favor was denied to Saul, for\n\"the Lord answered him not, neither by dream nor by Urim, nor by\nprophets.\" To Solomon, on the contrary, \"the Lord appeared in a dream by\nnight\" many times; Joel was promised that \"old men should dream dreams\nand young men shall see visions,\" a pledge quoted by St. Peter as having\nbeen amply fulfilled in his day (Acts ii. 17). For dreams did not lose\ntheir importance at the coming of Christ. To his reputed father \"the\nAngel of the Lord appeared in a dream,\" bidding him to take Mary to his\nwife; again he was warned in a dream \"not to return to Herod,\" and the\nLord spake \"to Paul in the night by a vision\" more than once, as he was\nby a dream also sent to Macedonia.\n\nWhat in these and similar cases is accepted as divine inspiration, is in\nsecular history generally looked upon as mysterious, magic revelation;\nbut the phenomena remain the same in all instances, and those appearing\nin dreams are identical with the symptoms exhibited in revelations\noccurring during the day, when the favored recipient is wide awake.\nClairvoyance by night differs in no way from clairvoyance during the\nday; a state of ecstasy, a trance, is necessary in either case. That\nprophetic dreams generally remain unknown--outside of Holy Writ--must be\nascribed to the fact that they leave no recollection behind, unless they\nare continued into a state of half-sleep, from which a sudden awakening\ntakes place; and soon then they are invariably clothed in some allegoric\nform, and become liable to be erroneously or, at least, imperfectly\ninterpreted. Thus dreams, like trances, often prefigure death under the\nform of a journey, and represent the dying man as an uprooted tree, a\nwithered flower, or a drowning swimmer. The early Christians, foreseeing\nmartyrdom, very frequently received in dreams an intimation of their\nimpending fate under such symbolic forms, and, what was quite peculiar\nto their visions was that they often extended to the pagan jailors and\nkeepers, whose minds had been excited by witnessing the sufferings and\nthe constancy of their victims, and who, in many cases, became, in\nconsequence of these dreams, converts to the new faith. The facility,\nhowever, with which such symbols can be misunderstood, has been as fatal\nto dreams in the estimation of most men, as the inaccurate manner in\nwhich the real revelation is often presented to the still half-sleeping\nmind. Hence the popular belief that dreams \"go by contraries,\" as vulgar\nslang expresses it. This faith is based upon the well-established fact\nthat a genuine dream, in the act of impressing itself upon memory, often\nsuffers not only mutilation but actual reversion. Thus Rogers saw, in a\ndream, Hikey, a small, weak man, murder a powerful giant, Caulfield--in\nthe actual encounter, which he had really foreseen, the latter killed\nhis puny antagonist. It is, therefore, as dangerous to \"believe in\ndreams,\" as to deny their value altogether and to ascribe all\nrealizations of dreams, with, Macnish, to mere accident. (\"Sleep,\" p.\n81.) Men of cool judgment and clear mind have at all times been found on\nthe side of believers, and even our great Franklin, with his eminently\npractical mind and well-known aversion to every kind of superstition,\nfirmly trusted in views which he believed to have come to him in dreams.\n\nAntiquity believed in dreams, not only as means by which the Gods\nrevealed their will, but as special favors accorded to fortunate men.\nThus we are told that once two men were traveling together from Arcadia\nto Megara; when they reached the city, one of the two remained at an\ninn, while the other went to stay with a a friend. Both, wearied by the\njourney, retired to rest; but the traveler who was at a private house\ndreamt in the night that his friend urged him to come to his assistance,\nas the innkeeper was about to murder him. Terrified by the vivid dream,\nhe jumped up; but, upon reflection, he concluded that the whole was but\nan idle fancy, and lay down again. Thereupon the dream was repeated; but\nthis time his friend added, that it was too late to come to his aid now,\nas he had been murdered, and his body would in the morning be carried\nout of the city, concealed under a load of manure. This second dream\nmade such an impression upon the Arcadian that he went at an early hour\nto the city gate, and to his amazement soon saw a wagon loaded with\nmanure approaching the place where he stood. He stopped the driver and\nasked him what he had hidden in his wagon? The man fled, trembling; the\nbody of the murdered friend was found, and the treacherous innkeeper\npaid with his life for his crime. (Cicero, _De divin._)\n\nOne of the oldest of well-authenticated dreams in Christian times,\nrevealed to St. Basil the death of Julian the Apostate. It seemed to him\nin his sleep that he saw the martyr Mercurius receive from God the order\nto kill the tyrant, and after a short time return and say: \"O Lord,\nJulian is killed as Thou hast commanded!\" The saint was so firmly\nconvinced of having received a direct revelation from heaven, that he\nimmediately made the news known to the people, and thus gained new honor\nwhen the official information at last arrived. (_Vita S. Basil._, etc.,\np. 692.) Here, also, the deep-seated hatred of the Christian priest\nagainst the Emperor, who dared to renew the worship of the ancient gods\nof the Pagans, no doubt suggested the vivid dream, while, on the other\nhand, the transmission of the actual revelation was so imperfect as to\nchange the real occurrence--Julian's death by a Persian lance--according\nto the familiar way of thinking of St. Basil, into his execution at\ndivine command by a holy martyr. There is no lack of renowned men of all\nages who have had their remarkable dreams, and who have, fortunately for\nfuture investigation, recorded them carefully. Thus Melanchthon tells us\nthat he was at a convent with a certain Dr. Jonas, when letters reached\nhim requesting him to convey to his friend the sad news of his\ndaughter's sudden death. The great reformer was at a loss how to\ndischarge the painful duty, and driven by an instinctive impulse, asked\nDr. Jonas whether he had ever had any remarkable dreams. The latter\nreplied that he had dreamt, during the preceding night, of his return\nhome, and of the joyful welcome he had met from all his family, except\nhis oldest daughter, who had not appeared. Thereupon Melanchthon told\nhim that his dream had been true, and that he would never see his\ndaughter again, as she had been summoned to her eternal home. Petrarch\nhad a dream which was evidently also the reflex of his thoughts in the\nday-time, but accompanied by a direct revelation. He had been, for some\ndays, very anxious about the health of his patron, a Colonna, who was\nBishop of Lombez, and one night saw himself in a dream walking by his\nfriend's side, but unable to keep pace with him; the bishop walked\nfaster and faster, bidding him stay behind, and when the poet insisted\nupon following him, he suddenly assumed a death-like appearance, and\nsaid, \"No, I will not have you go with me now!\" During the same night in\nwhich Petrarch had this dream in Parma, the bishop died at his palace in\nLombez. The well-known Thomas Wotton, also, dreamt a short time before\nhis death, while residing in Kent, that he saw five persons commit a\nrobbery at Oxford. On the following day he added a postscript to a\nletter which he had written to his son Henry, then a student at that\nuniversity, in which he mentioned his dream, and asked if such a robbery\nhad really taken place. The letter reached the young man on the morning\nafter the crime had been committed, when town and university were alike\nin a state of intense excitement. He made the letter immediately known\nto the authorities, who found in the account of the dream so accurate a\ndescription of the robbers, that they were enabled at once to ascertain\nwho were the guilty persons, and to have them arrested before they could\nescape. (Beaumont, p. 223.) The great German poet Gustav Schwab received\nthe first intimation of the French Revolution in 1848 through a\nremarkable dream which his daughter had in the night preceding the 24th\nof February. She had been attacked by a malignant fever, and was very\nrestless and nervously excited; during that night she saw, in her\nfeverish dreams, the streets of Paris filled with excited crowds, and\nwas forced to witness the most fearful scenes. When her father came to\nher bedside next morning, she gave him a minute description of the\nbuilding of barricades, the bloody encounters between the troops and the\ncitizens, and of a number of sad tragedies which she had seen enacted in\nthe narrow and dark streets of the great city. The father, though deeply\nimpressed by the vivid character of the dream, ascribed it to a\nreminiscence of the scenes enacted during the Revolution of 1789, and\ndismissed the subject, although his child insisted upon the thoroughly\nmodern character of the buildings, and the costumes and manners of all\nshe had seen. Great was, therefore, the amazement of the poet and of all\nwho had heard of the dream, when, several days afterwards, the first\nnews reached them of the expulsion of the Orleans family, and much\ngreater still when the papers brought, one by one, descriptions of the\nscenes which the feverish dream had enabled the girl to see in minute\ndetail, and yet with unerring accuracy. It is true that the poet, in\nwhose biography the dream with all the attending circumstances is\nmentioned at full length, had for years anticipated such a revolution,\nand often, with a poet's graphic power, conjured up the scenes that\nwere likely to happen whenever the day of the tempest should arrive.\nThus his daughter's mind had, no doubt, long been filled with images of\nthis kind, and was in a state peculiarly susceptible for impressions\nconnected with the subject. There remains, however, the magic phenomenon\nthat she saw, not a poet's fiction, but actual occurrences with all\ntheir details, and saw them in the very night during which they\nhappened. In the papers of Sir Robert Peel was found a note concerning\nhis journey from Antibes to Nice, in 1854. He was on board the steamer\nErculano, which, on the 25th of April, so violently collided with\nanother steamer, the Sicilia, that it sank immediately, and two-thirds\nof the passengers perished. Among those who were rescued were the great\nEnglish statesman and the maid of two ladies, the wife and the daughter\nof a counselor of a French court of justice at Dijon. The young girl had\nhad a presentiment of impending evil, but her wish to postpone the\njourney had been overruled. The father, also, though knowing nothing of\nthe precise whereabouts of his beloved ones, had been much troubled in\nmind about their safety, and in the very night in which the accident\nhappened, saw the whole occurrence in a harassing dream. He distinctly\nbeheld the vessel disappear in the waves, and a number of victims, among\nwhom were his wife and his child, struggling for life, till they finally\nperished. He awoke in a state of great anguish, summoned his servants to\nkeep him company, and told them what he had dreamt. A few hours later\nthe telegraph informed him of the accident, and of his own grievous\naffliction. (_Journ. de l'ame_, Fevr. 1857, p. 253.)\n\nWhile in these dreams events were made known which happened at the same\ntime, in other dreams the future itself is revealed. Cicero, in his work\non Divination (I. 27, and II. 66), and Valerius Maximus have preserved a\nnumber of such dream-visions, which were famous already in the days of\nantiquity; a dream concerning the tyrant Dionysius was especially well\nknown.\n\nIt seems that a woman, called Himera, found herself in a dream among the\ngods on Olympus, and there saw chained to the throne of Jupiter a large\nman with red hair and spotted countenance. When she asked the divine\nmessenger who had carried her to those regions, who that man was, he\ntold her it was the scourge of Italy and Sicily, a man who, when\nunchained, would destroy many cities. She related her dream on the\nfollowing morning to her friends, but found no explanation, till several\nyears afterwards, when Dionysius ascended the throne. She happened to be\nin the crowd which had assembled to witness the triumph of the new\nmonarch, and when she saw the tyrant, she uttered a loud cry, for she\nhad recognized in him the man in chains under Jupiter's throne. The cry\nattracted attention; she was brought before Dionysius, forced to relate\nher dream, and sent to be executed. Equally well known was the\nremarkable dream which Socrates had a short time before his death. His\nsentence had already been passed, but the day for its execution was not\nyet made known, when Crito, one of his friends, came to him and informed\nhim that it would probably be ordered for the next morning. The great\nphilosopher replied with his usual calmness: \"If such is the will of the\ngods, be it so; but I do not think it will be to-morrow. I had, just\nbefore you entered, a sweet dream. A woman of transcending beauty, and\ndressed in a long white robe, appeared to me, called me by name, and\nsaid, 'In three days you will return to your beloved Phthia' (Socrates'\nnative place).\" He did not die till the third day.\n\nAlexander the Great came more than once, during his remarkable career,\nin peculiar contact with prophetic dreams. He was thus informed of the\ncoming of Cassander long before he ever saw him, and even of the\ninfluence which the still unknown friend would have on his fate. When\nthe latter at last appeared at court, Alexander looked at him long and\nanxiously, and recognized in him the man he had so often seen in his\ndreams. It so happened, however, that before his suspicions assumed a\npositive form, a Greek distich was mentioned to him, written to prove\nthe utter worthlessness of all dreams, and the effect of these lines,\ncombined with the discovery that Cassander was the son of his beloved\nAntipater, induced him to lay aside all apprehensions. Nevertheless, his\nfriend subsequently poisoned him in cold blood. Not less famous was the\ndream which warned Caius Gracchus of his own sad fate. He saw in his\nsleep the shadow of his brother Tiberius, and heard him announce in a\nclear voice, that Caius also would share his tragic end, and be murdered\nlike himself in the Capitol. The great Roman frequently related this\ndream, and the historian Coelius records that he heard it repeated\nduring Gracchus' life-time. It is well known that the latter afterwards\nbecame a tribune, and was killed while he held that office, in the same\nmanner as his brother. Cicero also had his warning dream. He was\nescaping from his enemies, who had driven him out of Rome, and seeking\nsafety in his Antium villa. Here he dreamt, one night, that, as he was\nwandering through a waste, deserted country, the Consul Marius met him,\naccompanied by the usual retinue, and adorned with all the insignia of\nhis rank, and asked him why he was so melancholy, and why he had fled\nfrom Rome. When he had answered the question, Marius took him by his\nright hand, and summoning his chief officer to his side, ordered him to\ncarry the great orator to the temple of Jupiter, built by Marius\nhimself, while he assured Cicero he would there meet with new hopes. It\nwas afterwards ascertained that at the very hour of the dream, the\nSenate had been discussing in the temple of Jupiter the speedy return of\nCicero. It would have been well for the great Caesar, also, if he had\ndeigned to listen to the warning voice of dreams, for in the night\nbefore his murder, his wife, Calphurnia, saw him, in a dream, fall\nwounded and copiously bleeding into her arms, and there end his life.\nShe told him of her dream, and on her knees besought him not to go out\non that day; but Caesar, fearing he might be suspected of giving undue\nweight to a woman's dreams, made light of her fears, went to the Senate,\nand met his tragic fate. Among later Romans the Emperor Theodosius was\nmost strikingly favored by dreams, if we may rely upon the statement of\nAmmianus Marcellinus (I. 29). Two courtiers, anxious to ascertain who\nshould succeed the Emperor Valens on the throne, employed a kind of\nmagic instrument, resembling the modern psychograph, and succeeded in\ndeciphering the letters Theod. Their discovery became known to the\njealous emperor, who ordered not only Theodorus, his second secretary of\nstate, to be executed, but with him a large number of eminent personages\nwhose names began with the ominous five letters. For some unknown\nreasons, Theodosius, then in Spain, escaped his suspicions, and yet it\nwas he, who, when Valens fell in the war against the Goths, was summoned\nhome by the next emperor, Gratianus, to save the empire and assume the\nsupreme command of the army. When the successful general returned to\nByzantium to make his report to the emperor, he had himself a dream in\nwhich he saw the great Patriarch of Antioch, Meletius, invest him with\nthe purple, and place the imperial crown upon his head. Gratianus,\nstruck by the brilliancy of the victory obtained at the moment of\nsupreme danger, made Theodosius Emperor of the East, and returned to\nRome. During the following year (380) a great council was held in\nConstantinople, and here, amid a crowd of assembled dignitaries of the\nchurch, Theodosius instantly recognized the Bishop of Antioch, whom he\nhad never seen except in his dream.\n\nIt is not generally known that the prediction of future greatness which\nShakespeare causes the three witches to convey to Macbeth, rests on an\nhistoric basis. The announcement came to him, however, probably not at\nan actual meeting, but by means of a prophetic dream, which presented to\nthe ambitious chieftain the appearance of an encounter with unearthly\nagents. This presumption is strengthened by the first notice of the\nmysterious event, which occurs, it is believed, in \"Wyntownis Cronykil,\"\nwhere Macbeth is reported to have had a vivid dream of three weird\nwomen, who foretold him his fate. Boethius derived his information from\nthis source, and for unknown reasons added not only Banquo as a witness\nof the scene, but described it, also, first of all chroniclers, as an\nactual meeting in a forest.\n\nThe report that the discovery of the famous Venus of Milo was due to a\ndream, is not improbable, but is as yet without sufficient\nauthentication. The French Consul, Brest, who was a resident of Milo,\ndreamed, it is stated, two nights in succession, that he had caused\ndiggings to be made at a certain place in the island and that his\nefforts had been rewarded by the discovery of a beautiful statue. He\npaid no attention to the dream; but it was repeated a third time, and\nnow so distinctly that he not only saw clearly all the surroundings,\nbut, also, the traces of a recent fire on the spot that had been pointed\nout to him before. When he went on the following day to the place, he\ninstantly recognized the traces of fire, began his researches, and\ndiscovered not only the Venus, now the glory of the Louvre, but, also,\nseveral other most valuable statues. The well-known dream concerning\nMajor Andre is open to the same objections, although it is quoted in\ngood faith by Mrs. Crowe (i., p. 59). We are told that the Rev. Mr.\nCunningham, the poet, saw in a dream a man who was captured by armed\nsoldiers and hanged on a tree. To his utter consternation, he recognized\non the following day, in Major Andre, who was then for the first time\npresented to him, the person he had seen in his dream. The latter was\nthen just on the point of embarking for America, where he met with his\nsad fate.\n\nA large number of dreams which are looked upon as prophetic, are nothing\nmore than the result of impressions made on the mind during sleep by\nsome bodily sensation. A swelling or an inflammation, for instance, is\nfrequently announced beforehand by pain in the affected part of the\nbody; the mind receives through the nerves an impression of this pain\nand clothes it, during sleep and in a dream, into some familiar garb,\nthe biting of a serpent, the sting of an insect, or, even, the stab of\na dagger. An occasional coincidence serves to lend prestige to such\nsimple and perfectly natural dreams. Thus Stilling (\"Jenseits,\" p. 284)\nrecords the well-known story of a young man in Padua, who dreamed one\nnight that he was bitten by one of the marble lions which stand before\nthe church of St. Justina. Passing by the place, on the following day,\nwith some companions, he recalled the dream, and putting his hand into\nthe mouth of one of the lions, he said, defiantly: \"Look at the fierce\nlion that bit me last night.\" But at the same moment he uttered a\npiercing cry and drew back his hand in great terror: a scorpion, hid in\nthe lion's mouth, had stung him, and the poor youth died of the venom.\nThe German poet Conrad Gessner dreamed, in a similar manner, that a\nsnake bit him in his left breast; the matter was completely forgotten,\nwhen five days later a slight rising appeared on the spot, which\nspeedily developed itself into a fatal ulcer, and caused his death in a\nshort time.\n\nFar more interesting, and occasionally productive of good results, are\ndreams which might be called retrospective, inasmuch as they reveal\nevents of the past, which stand in some connection with present or\nimpending necessities. Many of these, no doubt, arise simply from the\nrecovery of forgotten facts in our memory; others, however, cannot be\nthus explained. Justinus tells us of Dido's dream, in which she saw her\ndeparted husband, Sichaeus, who pointed out to her his concealed\ntreasures and advised her to seek safety in flight. St. Augustine also\nhas an account of a father who after death appeared to his son and\nshowed him a receipted account, the loss of which had caused his heir\nmuch anxiety. (_De cura pro mortuis_, ch. xi.) After Dante's death the\nthirteenth canto of his Paradise could nowhere be found, and the\napparent loss filled all Italy with grief and sorrow. His son, Pietro\nAlighieri, however, saw a long time afterwards, in a dream, his father,\nwho came to his bedside and told him that the missing papers were\nconcealed under a certain plank near the window at which he had been in\nthe habit of writing. It was only when all other researches had proved\nvain, that, attention was paid to the dream; but when the plank was\nexamined the canto was found in the precise place which the dream had\nindicated.\n\nA similar dream of quite recent occurrence was accidentally more\nthoroughly authenticated than is generally the case with such events.\nThe beautiful wife of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild of Paris had lost a\nvaluable ring while hunting in the woods near her castle of Ferrieres.\nIt so happened that early associations made the jewel specially dear to\nher, and she felt the loss grievously; a reward of fifteen hundred\nfrancs was, therefore, offered at once for its recovery. The night after\nthe hunt, the daughter of one of the keepers saw in a dream an unknown\nman of imposing appearance, who told her to go at daybreak to a certain\ncrossroad in the forest, where she would find the ring at the foot of a\nbeech-tree, close to the highway. She awakes, dresses herself at once,\nand goes to the place of which she has dreamed; after half an hour's\nwalk she reaches the crossroads and almost at the same moment sees\nsomething glittering and shining like a firefly, picks it up, and\nbehold! it is the ring. The girl had not even seen the hunt, nor did she\nknow anything of the loss of the jewel; the whole occurrence, and the\nplace where it was lost, all were pointed out to her in her dream. (_Le\nMonde Illustre_, Dec. 15, 1860).\n\nIt has already been mentioned that the question has often been mooted\nwhether the mind was really quite at rest during sleep, or still\noperative in dreams. Some authors deny its activity altogether; others\nadmit a partial activity. The philosopher Kant went so far as to\nmaintain that perceptions had during sleep were clearer and fuller than\nthose of the day, because of the perfect rest of the other senses.\nRecollection, alone, he added, was missing, because the mind acted in\nsleep without the cooperation of the body.\n\nThere are, however, certain facts which seem to prove that the mind\ndoes, at least, not altogether cease its activity while the body is\nasleep. How else could we explain the power many persons undoubtedly\npossess to awake at a fixed hour, and the success with which, more than\nonce, great mental efforts have been made during profound sleep? Of the\nlatter, Tartini's famous sonata is a striking instance. He had\nendeavored in vain to finish this great work; inspiration would not\ncome, and he had abandoned the task in despair. During the night he had\na dream in which he once more tried his best, but in vain; at the moment\nof despair, however, the Devil appeared to him and promised to finish\nthe work in return for his soul. The composer, nothing loath, surrenders\nhis soul and hears his magnificent work gloriously completed on the\nviolin. He wakes up in perfect delight, goes to his desk, and at once\nwrites down his \"Devil's Sonata.\" Even children are known occasionally\nto be able to give intelligent answers while fast asleep; the questions,\nhowever, must be in accordance with the current of their thoughts,\notherwise they are apt to be aroused. A case is quoted by Reil of two\nsoldiers who used, at times, to keep up an uninterrupted conversation\nduring a whole night, while they were to all appearances fast asleep. A\nlady, also, was unable to refuse answers to questions put to her at\nnight, and had at last to lock herself in carefully whenever she went to\nsleep.\n\nHence it is that some of the most profound thinkers who have discussed\nthe subject of dreams, like Descartes and Leibnitz, Jouffroy and Dugald\nStewart, Richard and Carus, with a number of others, assert the\nuninterrupted wakefulness of the mind. Some authors believe that the\nspiritual part of man needs no sleep, but delights in the comfort of\nfeeling that the body is in perfect repose, and of forgetting, by these\nmeans, for a time the troubles of daily life, and the responsibilities\nof our earthly existence. They base this view upon the fact, that, as\nfar as we can judge, the mind is, during sleep, independent of the body\nand the outer world. Thinking is quite possible during sleep without\ndreaming, and certain bodily sensations, even, are correctly perceived,\nas when we turn over in our sleep, because lying on one side produces\npain or uneasiness. We not only talk while we are asleep, but laugh or\nweep, sigh or groan. A slight noise, a whispered word, affect the course\nof our thoughts, and produce new images in our dreams, as certain\naffections and even the pressure upon certain organs are sure to produce\ninvariably the same dreams. Space and time disappear, however, and\nnaturally, because we can measure them only by the aid of our senses,\nand these are, for the time, inactive. Hence Dugald Stewart ascribes the\nmanner in which a moment's dream often comprises a year, or a whole\nlifetime, to the fact that, when we are asleep, the images created by\nour imagination appear to be realities, while those which we form when\nwe are awake are known to us to be mere fictions, and hence not subject\nto the laws of time.\n\nIt will not surprise us, therefore, to find that this activity of the\nmind, deprived of the usual means of making itself known to others by\ngesture, sound, or action, seeks frequently a symbolical utterance, and\nthis is the grain of truth here also hid under the vast amount of\nrubbish, known as the interpretation of dreams. Troubles and\ndifficulties may thus appear as storms; sorrow and grief as tears;\ntroubled waters may represent pain, and smooth ice impending danger; a\ndry river-bed an approaching famine, and pretty flowers great joy to\ncome, provided, always, we are disposed to admit a higher class of\nprophetic dreams. Such a view is supported by high authority, for since\nthe days of Aristotle, great writers, divines as well as philosophers,\nhave endeavored to classify dreams according to their nature and\nimportance. The great reformer, Melanchthon, in his work on the soul,\ndivided them into common dreams, void of importance; prophetic dreams,\narising from the individual gifts of the sleeper; divine dreams,\ninspired by God either directly or through the agency of angels, and\nfinally, demoniac dreams, such as the witches' sabbath. One great\ndifficulty attending all such classification arises, however, from the\nwell-known fact, already alluded to, that external sensations are by far\nthe most frequent causes of dreams. Even these have been systematically\narranged by some writers, most successfully, perhaps, in the work of\nMaine de Biran, but he overlooks again the numerous cases in which\nexternal noises and similar accidents produce a whole train of thoughts.\nThus Pope dreamed of a Spaniard who impudently entered his library,\nransacked the books on the shelves, and turned a deaf ear to all his\nremonstrances. The impression was so forcible that he questioned all his\nservants, and investigated the matter thoroughly, till he was finally\nforced to acknowledge that the whole transaction was a dream caused by\nthe fall of a book in his library, which he heard in his sleep. A still\nmore remarkable case occurred once in a hotel in Dantzic, where not one\nperson only, but all the guests, without exception, dreamed of the\nsudden arrival of a number of travelers, who disturbed the whole house,\nand took possession of their rooms with unusual clatter and noise. Not\none had arrived, but during the night a violent storm had arisen,\ncausing doors to slam and window-shutters to flap against the house,\nnoises which had aroused in more than fifty people precisely the same\nimpressions.\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\nVISIONS.\n\n    Concipiendis visionibus quas phantasias vocant.\n\n    --QUINTILIAN.\n\n\nVisions, that is, the perception of apparently tangible objects in the\nouter world, which only exist in our imagination, have been known from\ntime immemorial among all nations on earth. They are, in themselves,\nperfectly natural, and can frequently be traced back without difficulty\nto bodily affections or a disordered state of the mind, so that many\neminent physicians dispose of them curtly as mere incidental symptoms of\ncongestion or neuralgia. They may present real men and things, known\nbeforehand, and now reproduced in such a manner as to appear\nobjectively; or they may be ideal forms, the product of the moment, and\nincompatible with the laws of actual life. Persons who have visions and\nknow nothing of their true nature, are apt to become intensely excited,\nas if they had been transferred into another world. The images they\nbehold seem to them of supernatural origin, and may inspire them with\nlofty thoughts and noble impulses, but only too frequently they disturb\ntheir peace of mind and lead them to crime or despair.\n\nWhen visions extend to other senses besides sight, and the peculiar\nstate of mind by which they are caused affects different parts of the\nbody at once, they are called hallucinations; most frequent among insane\npeople, of whom, according to Esquirol, eighty in a hundred are thus\naffected, they are generally quite insignificant; while visions through\nthe eye, are often accompanied by very remarkable magic phenomena. Thus\nthe visions which great men like Cromwell and Descartes, Byron or\nGoethe, record of their own experience, were evidently signs of the\ngreat energy of their mental life, while in others they are as clearly\nsymptoms of disease. Ascribed by the ancients to divine influence,\nChristianity has invariably denounced them--when not indubitably\ninspired by God, as in the case of the martyr Stephen and the apostle\nSt. John--as works of the Devil. At all times they have been\ncommunicated to others, either by contagion or, in rare cases, by the\nimposition of hands, as they have been artificially produced. Thus\nextreme bodily fatigue and utter prostration after long illness are apt\nto cause hallucinations. Albert Smith, for instance, while ascending\nMont Blanc, and feeling utterly exhausted, saw all his surroundings\nclearly with his eyes, and yet, at the same time, beheld marvelous\nthings with the so-called inner sense. A Swiss who, in 1848, during a\nsevere cold, crossed from Wallis to Kandersteg by the famous Gemmi Pass,\neight thousand feet high, saw on his way a number of men shoveling the\nsnow from his path, fellow-travelers climbing up on all sides, and\nrolling masses of snow which changed into dogs; he heard the blows of\naxes and the laughing and singing of distant shepherds, while his road\nwas utterly deserted, and not a human soul within many miles. His hands\nand feet were found frozen when he arrived at last at his quarters for\nthe night, and ten days later he died from the effects of his exposure.\nDuring the retreat of the French from Russia the poor sufferers, frozen\nand famished, were continually tormented by similar hallucinations,\nwhich increased their sufferings at times to such a degree as to lead\nthem to commit suicide. Another frequent cause of visions is\nlong-continued fasting combined with more or less ascetic devotion. This\nis said to explain why the prophets of the Old Testament were so\nvigorously forbidden to indulge in wine or rich fare. Thus Aaron was\ntold: \"Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee,\nwhen ye go into the tabernacle\" (Levit. x. 9); Moses remained forty\ndays, and \"neither did eat bread nor drink wine,\" when he was on Mount\nSinai (Deuter. ix. 9); the Nazarites were ordered not to \"drink any\nliquor of grapes, nor to eat moist grapes or dried,\" and even to abstain\nfrom vinegar (Numbers vi. 3), and Daniel and his companions had nothing\nbut \"pulse to eat and water to drink\" (Dan. i. 12), in order to prepare\nthem for receiving \"wisdom and knowledge and the understanding of dreams\nand visions.\"\n\nNarcotics also, and, in our day, most of the anaesthetics can produce\nvisions and hallucinations, but the result is in all such cases much\nless interesting than when they are produced spontaneously. Tobacco and\nopium, betel, hasheesh, and coca are the principal means employed; but\nSiberia has besides its narcotic mushrooms, Polynesia its ava, New\nGranada and the Himalaya the thorn-apple, Florida its emetic apalachine,\nand the northern regions of America and Europe have their ledum. The\nmost effective among these narcotics seems to be the Indian hemp, since\nthe visions it produces surpass even the marvelous effects of opium, as\nhas been recently again most graphically described by Bayard Taylor.\nLaughing-gas, also, has frequently similar effects, and affords,\nbesides, the precious privilege of freedom from the painful, often\nexcruciating consequences of other narcotics. When perfumes are employed\nfor the express purpose of producing visions, it is difficult to\nascertain how much is due to their influence, and how much to the\nover-excited mind of the seer. Benvenuto Cellini describes--though\nprobably not in the most trustworthy manner--the amazing effect produced\nupon himself and a boy by his side, by the perfumes which a priest burnt\nin the Coliseum. The whole vast building seemed to him filled with\ndemons, and the boy saw thousands of threatening men, four huge giants,\nand fire bursting out in countless places. The great artist was told, at\nthe same time, that a great danger was threatening him, and that he\nwould surely lose his beloved Angelica within the month; both events\noccurred as predicted, and thus proved that in this case at least magic\nphenomena had accompanied the visions. (_Goethe, B. Cellini_, l. iv. ch.\n2.)\n\nAmong other external causes which are apt to produce visions, must be\nmentioned violent motions, especially when they are revolving, as is the\ncase with the Shamans of the Laplanders and the dancing Dervishes of the\nEast; self-inflicted wounds, such as the priests of Baal caused in order\nto excite their power of divination, and long-continued imprisonment, as\nillustrated in the well-known cases of Benvenuto Cellini and Silvio\nPellico. The latter was constantly tormented by sighs or suppressed\nlaughter which he heard in his dungeon; then by invisible hands pulling\nat his dress, knocking down his books or trying to put out his light,\ntill he began seriously to suspect that he might be the victim of\ninvisible malignant powers. Fortunately all these phenomena disappeared\nat break of day, and thus his vigorous mind, supported by true piety,\nwas enabled to keep his judgment uninjured.\n\nDiseases of every kind are a fruitful source of visions and some are\nrarely without them; but the character of visions differs according to\nthe nature of the affections. Persons who suffer with the liver have\nmelancholy, consumptive patients have cheerful visions. Epileptics often\nsee fearful spectres during their paroxysms, and persons bitten by mad\ndogs see the animal that has caused their sufferings. The case of the\nbookseller Nicolai in Berlin is well known; the disease of which he\nsuffered, is not only very common in some parts of Russia, but\nproductive of precisely the same symptoms. The patients experience first\na sensation of great despondency, followed by a period of profound\nmelancholy, during which they see themselves surrounded by a number of\npersons, with whom they converse and quarrel, half conscious of their\nown delusion and yet not able to master it wholly. They are generally\nbled, whereupon the images become transparent and shrink into smaller\nand smaller space, till they finally disappear entirely. Affections of\nthe heart and the subsequent unequal distribution of the blood through\nthe system are apt to produce peculiar sounds, which at times fashion\nthemselves into loud and harmonious pieces. The excitement usually\nattendant upon specially fatal plagues and contagious diseases increases\nthe tendency which the latter naturally have to cause hallucinations.\nDuring a plague in the reign of Justinian, men were seen walking through\nthe crowd and touching here and there a person; the latter were at once\nattacked by the disease and invariably succumbed. Upon another such\noccasion marks and spots appeared on the clothing of those who had\ncaught the contagion, as if made by invisible hands, the sufferers began\nnext to see a number of spectres and died in a short time. The same\nsymptoms have accompanied the cholera in modern times, and more than\nonce strange, utterly unknown persons were not only seen but heard, as\nthey were conversing with others; what they said was written down in\nmany cases, and proved to be predictions of approaching visits of the\ndread disease to neighboring houses. A magic power of foresight seems in\nthese cases to be developed by the extreme excitement or deep anxiety,\nbut the unconscious clairvoyance assumes the form of persons outside of\ntheir own mental sphere, within which they alone existed.\n\nBy far the most frequent causes of visions are, however, those of\npsychical nature, like fixed ideas, intense passions, or deep-rooted\nprejudices, and concealed misdeeds. When they are produced by such\ncauses they have often the appearance of having led to the commission of\ngreat crimes. Thus Julian the Apostate, who had caused the image of his\nguardian angel to be put upon all his coins and banners, naturally had\nthis form deeply impressed upon his mind. In the night before a decisive\nbattle, he saw, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, this protecting\ngenius in the act of turning away from him, and this vision made so deep\nan impression upon his mind that he interpreted it as an omen of his\nimpending death. On the following day he fell in battle. The fearful\npenalty inflicted upon Charles IX. by his own conscience is well known;\nafter the massacre of St. Bartholomew he saw, by day and by night, the\nforms of his victims around him, till death made an end to his\nsufferings. On our own continent, one of the early conquerors gave a\nstriking instance of the manner in which such visions are produced. He\nwas one of the adventurers who had reached Darien, and was on the point\nof plundering a temple; but, a few days before, an Indian woman had told\nhim that the treasures it held were guarded by evil spirits, and if he\nentered it the earth would open and swallow up the temple and the\nconquerors alike. Nothing daunted, he led his men to the attack; but, as\nthey came in sight, he suddenly saw, in the evening light, how the\ncolossal building rocked to and fro as in a tempest, and thoroughly\nintimidated he rode away with his followers, leaving the temple and its\ntreasures unharmed. That visions are apt to precede atrocious crimes is\nquite natural, since they are in such cases nothing but the product of\nthe intense excitement under which murders are often committed; but, it\nwould be absurd to look upon them as motive causes. Ravaillac had\nconstant visions of angels, saints, and demons, while preparing his mind\nfor the assassination of Henry IV., and the young student who attempted\nthe murder of Napoleon at Schoenbrunn repeatedly saw the genius of\nGermany, which appeared to him and encouraged him to free his country\nfrom the usurper. Persons who attempt to summon ghosts are very apt to\nsee them, because their mind is highly wrought up by their proceedings\nand they confidently expect to have visions. But some men possess a\nsimilar power without making any special effort or peculiar\npreparations, their firm volition sufficing for the purpose. Thus Talma\ncould at all times force himself to see, in the place of the actual\naudience before whom he was acting, an assembly of skeletons, and he is\nsaid never to have acted better than when he gave himself up to this\nhallucination. Painters, also, frequently have the power to summon\nbefore their mind's eye the features of those whose portrait they are\npainting; Blake, for instance, was able actually to finish likenesses\nfrom images he saw sitting in the chair where the real persons had been\nseated.\n\nWhile visions are quite common, delusions of the other senses are less\nfrequent. The insane alone hear strange conversations. Hallucinations of\nthe taste cause patients to enjoy delightful dishes, or to partake of\nspoiled meat and other unpalatable viands, which have no existence.\nSweet smells and incense are often perceived, bad odors much less\nfrequently. The touch is of all senses the least likely to be deceived;\nstill deranged people occasionally feel a slight touch as a severe blow,\nand persons suffering from certain diseases are convinced that ants,\nspiders, or other insects are running over their bodies.\n\nThe favorite season of visions is night--mainly the hour about\nmidnight--and in the whole year, the time of Advent, but also the nights\nfrom Christmas to New Year. This is, of course, not a feature of\nsupernatural life, but the simple effect of the greater quiet and the\nmore thoughtful, inward life, which these seasons are apt to bring to\nbusy men. The reality of our surroundings disappears with the setting\nsun, and in deep night we are rendered almost wholly independent of the\ninfluence exercised in the day by friends, family, and even furniture.\nAll standards of measurement, moreover, disappear, and we lose the\ncorrect estimate of both space and time. Turning our thoughts at such\ntimes with greater energy and perseverance inward, our imagination has\nfree scope, and countless images appear before our mind's eye which are\nnot subject to the laws of real life. Darkness, stillness, and solitude,\nthe three great features of midnight seasons, all favor the full\nactivity of our fancy, and set criticism at defiance by denying us all\nmeans of comparison with real sounds or sights. At the same time, it is\nasserted, that under such circumstances men are also better qualified to\nperceive manifestations which, during the _turba_ of daily life, are\ncarelessly ignored or really imperceptible to the common senses. So long\nas the intercourse with the world and its exigencies occupy all our\nthoughts, and self-interest makes us look fixedly only at some one great\npurpose of life, we are deaf and blind to all that does not clearly\nbelong to this world. But when these demands are no longer made upon us,\nand especially when, as in the time of Advent, our thoughts are somewhat\ndrawn from earthly natures, and our eyes are lifted heavenward, then we\nare enabled to give free scope to our instincts, or, if we prefer the\nreal name, to the additional sense by which we perceive intangible\nthings. A comparison has often been drawn between the ability to see\nvisions and our power to distinguish the stars. In the day, the\nbrilliancy of the sun so far outshines the latter, that we see not a\nsingle one; at night they step forth, as it were, from the dark, and the\ndeeper the blackness of the sky, the greater their own brightness. Are\nthey, on that account, nothing more than creatures of our imagination,\nset free by night and darkness?\n\nAs for the favorite places where visions most frequently are seen, it\nseems that solitudes have already in ancient times always been looked\nupon as special resorts for evil spirits. The deserts of Asia, with\ntheir deep gullies and numerous caves, suggested a population of shy and\nweird beings, whom few saw and no one knew fully. Hence the fearful\ndescription of Babylon in her overthrow, when \"Their houses shall be\nfull of doleful creatures, and owls shall dwell there and satyrs shall\ndance there.\" (Isaiah xiii. 21). The New Testament speaks in like manner\nof the deserts of Palestine as the abode of evil spirits, and in later\ndays the Faroe Islands were constantly referred to as peopled with weird\nand unearthly beings. The deserts of Africa are full of Djinns, and the\nvast plains of the East are peopled with weird apparitions. The\nsolitudes of Norwegian mountain districts abound with gnomes and\nsprites, and waste places everywhere are no sooner abandoned by men than\nthey are occupied by evil spirits and become the scenes of wild and\ngruesome visions.\n\nWell-authenticated cases of visions are recorded in unbroken succession\nfrom the times of antiquity to our own day, and leave no doubt on the\nmind that they are not only of common occurrence among men, but\ngenerally, also, accompanied by magic phenomena of great importance. The\nancients saw, of course, most frequently their gods; the pagans, who had\nbeen converted to Christianity, their former idols threatening them with\ndire punishment; and Christians, their saints and martyrs, their angels\nand demons. Thus all parties are supported by authorities in no way\npeculiar to one faith or another, but common to all humanity; and the\nbattle is fought, for a time at least, between faith and faith, and\nbetween vision and vision. A famous rhetor, Aristides, who is mentioned\nin history as one of the mightiest champions polytheism ever has been\nable to raise against triumphant Christianity, saw, in his hours of\nexaltation, the great AEsculapius, who gave him directions how to carry\non his warfare. At such times his public addresses became so attractive\nthat thousands of enthusiastic hearers assembled to hang upon his lips.\nThe story of the genius of Socrates is well known; Aulus Gellius tells\nus how the great sage was seen standing motionless for twenty-four hours\nin the same place, before joining the expedition to Potidea, so absorbed\nin deep thought that it seemed as if his soul had left the body. Dion,\nPlato's most intimate friend, saw a huge Fury enter his house and sweep\nit with a broom; a conspiracy broke out, and he was murdered, after\nhaving lost his only son a few days before. (Plutarch's \"Life of Dion,\"\n55.) The same Simonides, who according to Valerius Maximus (_De\nSomniis_, l. i. ch. 5), had escaped from shipwreck by the timely warning\nof a spirit, was once dining at the magnificent house of Skopas at\nCranon, in Thessaly, when a servant entered to inform him that two\ngigantic youths were standing at the door and wished to see him\nimmediately. He went out and found no one there; but, at the same\nmoment, the roof and the walls of the dining-room fell down, burying all\nthe guests under the ruins (Phaedrus' Fab., iv. 24). The ancients looked\nupon the vision, in both cases, as merely effects of the prophetic power\nof the poet, which saved him from immediate death; once in the form of a\nspirit and the second time in the form of the Dioscuri. For, as\nSimonides had shortly before written a beautiful poem in honor of Castor\nand Pollux, his escape and the friendly warning were naturally\nattributed to the heroic youths, who constantly appear in history as\nprotective genii. In Greece they were known to have fought, dressed in\ntheir purple cloaks and seated on snow-white horses, on the side of the\nLocri, and to have announced their victory on the same day in Olympia,\nand Sparta, in Corinth, and in Athens (Justin, ix. 3). In Rome they were\ncredited with the victory on the banks of Lake Regillus, and reported to\nhave, as in Greece, dashed into the city, far ahead of all messengers,\nto proclaim the joyful news. During the Macedonian war they met Publius\nVatinius on his way to Rome and informed him that, on the preceding day,\nAEmilius Paulus had captured Perseus. Delighted with the news, the\nprefect hastens to the Senate; but is discredited and actually sent to\njail on the charge of indulging in idle gossip, unworthy of his high\noffice. It was only when at last messengers came from the distant army\nand confirmed the report of Perseus' captivity, that the unlucky prefect\nwas set free again and honored with high rewards.\n\nIn other cases the warning genius was seen in visions of different\nnature. Thus Hannibal was reported to have traced in his sleep the whole\ncourse and the success of all his plans, by the aid of his genius, who\nappeared to him in the shape of a child of marvelous beauty, sent by the\ngreat Jupiter himself to direct his movements, and to make him master of\nItaly. The child asked him to follow without turning to look back, but\nHannibal, yielding to the innate tendency to covet forbidden fruit,\nlooked behind him and saw an immense serpent overthrowing all\nimpediments in his way. Then came a violent thunderstorm with fierce\nlightnings, which rent the strongest walls. Hannibal asked the meaning\nof these portents, and was told that the storm signified the total\nsubjection of Italy, but that he must be silent and leave the rest to\nfate. That the vision was not fully realized, was naturally ascribed to\nhis indiscretion. The genius of the two Consuls, P. Decius and Manlius\nTorquatus, assumed, on the contrary, the shape of a huge phantom which\nappeared at night in their camp at the foot of Vesuvius, and announced\nthe decision that one leader must fall in order to make the army\nvictorious. Upon the strength of this vision the two generals decided\nthat he whose troops should first show signs of yielding, should seek\ndeath by advancing alone against the Latin army. The legions of Decius,\ntherefore, no sooner began to fall back, than he threw himself, sword in\nhand, upon the enemy, and not only died a glorious death for his\ncountry, but secured a brilliant victory to his brethren.\n\nAt a later period a genius saved the life of Octavian, when he and\nAntony were encamped at Philippi, on the eve of the great battle against\nBrutus and Cassius. The vision appeared not to himself, however, but to\nanother person, his own physician, Artorus, who, in a dream, was ordered\nto advise his master to appear on the battle-field in spite of his\nserious indisposition. Octavian followed the advice and went out, though\nhe had to be carried by his men in a litter; during his absence the\nsoldiers of Brutus entered the camp and actually searched his tent, in\nwhich he would have perished inevitably without the timely warning. Of a\nvery different nature was the vision of Cassius, the lieutenant of\nAntony, who, during his flight to Athens, saw at night a huge black\nphantom, which informed him that he was his evil spirit. In his terror\nhe called his servants and inquired what they had seen, but they had\nnoticed nothing. Thus tranquilized, he fell asleep again, but the\nphantom returned once more, and disturbed his mind so painfully that he\nremained awake the rest of the night, surrounded by his guards and\nslaves. The vision was afterwards interpreted as an omen of his\nimpending violent death.\n\nThe Emperor Trajan was saved from death during a fearful earthquake by a\nman of colossal proportions, who came to lead him out of his palace at\nAntioch; and Attila, who, to the surprise of the world, spared Rome and\nItaly at the request of Pope Leo the Great, mentioned as the true motive\nof his action the appearance of a majestic old man in priestly garments,\nwho had threatened him, drawing his sword, with instant death if he did\nnot grant all that the Roman high-priest should demand.\n\nIn other cases, which are as numerous as they are striking, the genius\nassumes the shape of a woman. Thus Dio Cassius (\"Hist. Rome,\" l. lv.),\nas well as Suetonius (\"Claudius,\" l. i), relate that when Drusus had\nravaged Germany, and was on the point of crossing the Elbe, the\nformidable shape of a gigantic woman appeared to him, who waded up to\nthe middle of the stream and then called out: \"Whither, O Drusus? Canst\nthou put no limit to thy thirst of conquest? Back! the end of thy deeds\nand of thy life is at hand!\" History records that Drusus fell back\nwithout apparent reason, and that he died before he reached the banks of\nthe Rhine. Tacitus tells us, in like manner, a vision which encouraged\nCurtius Rufus at the time when he, a gladiator's son, and holding a most\nhumble position, was accompanying a quaestor on his way to Africa. As he\nwalked up and down a passage in deep meditation, a woman of unusual\nsize appeared to him and said: \"Thou, O Rufus, shalt be proconsul of\nthis province!\" The young man, perhaps encouraged and supported by a\nvision which was the result of his own ambitious dreams, rose rapidly by\nhis eminent ability, and after he had reached the consulate, really\nobtained the province of Africa (Ann., xi. 21). The younger Pliny, who\ntells the same story in his admirable letter to Sura on the subject of\nmagic, adds that the genius appeared a second time to the great\nproconsul, but remained silent. The latter saw in this silence a warning\nof approaching death, and prepared for his end, which did not fail soon\nto close his career.\n\nIt is very striking to see how in these visions also the inner life of\nman was invariably clearly and distinctly reflected. The ambitious youth\nsaw his good fortune personified in the shape of a beautiful woman,\nwhich his excited imagination called Africa, and which he hoped some\ntime or other to call his own. Brutus, on the contrary, full of\nanticipations of evil, and suffering, and perhaps unconsciously, bitter\nremorse on account of Caesar's murder, saw his sad fate as a hideous\ndemon. The army, also, sharing, no doubt, their leader's dark\napprehensions, looked upon the black AEthiopian who entered the camp as\nan evil omen. The appointed meeting at Philippi was merely an evidence\nof the superior ability of Brutus, who foresaw the probable course of\nthe war and knew the great strategic importance of the famous town.\n\nIn the same manner a tradition was long cherished in Augsburg of a\nfanatic heroine on horseback, who appeared to Attila when he attempted\nto cross the river Lech on his way from Italy to Pannonia. She called\nout to him: \"Back!\" and made a deep impression upon his mind. The\npicture of the giant woman was long preserved in a Minorite convent in\nthe city, and was evidently German in features and in costume. It is by\nno means impossible that the lofty but superstitious mind of the\nruthless conqueror, after having long busied itself with his approaching\nattack upon a mighty, unknown nation, personified to himself in a\nmomentary trance the genius of that race in the shape of a majestic\nwoman.\n\nThis was all the more probable as Holy Writ also presents to us a whole\nseries of mighty women who exercised at times a lasting influence on the\nfate of the chosen people, and the world's history abounds with similar\ninstances. There was Deborah, \"a prophetess who judged Israel at that\ntime,\" and went to aid in the defeat of Sisera, and there was Huldah,\nthe prophetess, who warned Josiah, king of Judah. We have the same grand\nimages in Greek and in Roman history, and German annals mention more\nthan one Jettha and Velleda. The series of warnings given by the more\ntender-hearted sex runs through the annals of modern races from the\noldest times to our own day. One of the latest instances happened to a\nking well known for his sneering skepticism and his utter disbelief of\nall higher powers. This was Bernadotte, who forsook his benefactor in\norder to mount the throne of Sweden, and turned his own sword against\nhis former master. Long years after the fall of Napoleon, he was on the\npoint of sending his son Oscar with an army against Norway, and met with\nmuch opposition in the Council of State. Full of impatience and\nindignation, he mounted his horse and rode out to cool his heated mind;\nas he approached a dark forest near Stockholm, he saw an old woman\nsitting by the wayside, whose quaint costume and wild, disheveled hair\nattracted his attention. He asked her roughly what she was doing there?\nHer reply was: \"If Oscar goes into the war which you propose, he will\nnot strike but receive the first blow.\" The king was impressed by the\nwarning and returned, full of thoughts, to his palace; after a sleepless\nnight he informed the Council of State that he had changed his views,\nand would not send the prince to Norway (_La Presse_, May 4, 1844). Even\nif we accept the interview with the woman as a mere vision, the effect\nof the king's long and anxious preoccupation with an important plan upon\nthe success of which the security of his throne and the continuation of\nhis dynasty might depend, the question still remains, why a man of his\ntastes and haughty skepticism should have clothed his doubts in words\nuttered by an old woman, dressed in fancy costume?\n\nThe number of practical, sensible men who have, even in recent times,\nbelieved themselves under the special care and protection of a genius\nor guardian angel, is much larger than is commonly known. The ancients\nlooked upon a genius as a part of their mythology; and modern\nChristians, who cherish this belief, refer to the fact that the Saviour\nsaid of little children: \"In heaven their _angels_ do always behold the\nface of my Father\" (Matt. xviii. 10). These visions--for so they must be\ncalled--vary greatly in different persons. To some men they appear only\nwhen great dangers are threatening or sublime efforts have to be made;\nwhile in others, they assume, by their frequency, a more or less\npermanent form, and may even be inherited, becoming tutelary deities of\ncertain houses, familiar spirits, or specially appointed guardian angels\nof the members of a family or single individuals. Hence, the well-known\naccounts of the genius of Socrates and the familiar spirits of the\nBible, in ancient times. Hence, also, the almost uninterrupted line of\nsimilar accounts through the Middle Ages down to our own day. Thus,\nCampanella stated that whenever he was threatened with misfortune, he\nfell into a state half way between waking and sleeping, in which he\nheard a voice say: \"Campanella! Campanella!\" and several other words,\nwithout ever seeing a person. Calignan, Chancelor of Navarre, heard in\nBearn, his name called three times, and then received a warning from the\nsame voice to leave the town promptly, as the plague was to rage there\nfearfully. He obeyed the order, and escaped the ravages of the terrible\ndisease (Beaumont, \"Tractat.,\" etc., p. 208). The Jesuit Giovanni\nCarrera had a protecting genius, whom he frequently consulted in cases\nof special difficulty. He became so familiar with him, that he had\nhimself waked every night for his prayers, but when at times he\nhesitated to rise at once, the spirit abandoned him for a time, and\nCarrera could only induce him to come back by long-continued praying and\nfasting (\"Hist. S. J.,\" iii. p. 177).\n\nThe Bernadottes had a tradition that one of their ancestors had married\na fairy, who remained the good genius of the family, and long since had\npredicted that one of that blood would mount a throne. The Bernadotte\nwho became a king never forgot the prophecy, and was largely influenced\nby it, when the Swedish nobles offered him the throne. It is well known\nthat Napoleon himself either believed, or affected to believe, in a good\ngenius, who guided his steps and protected him from danger. He appeared,\naccording to his own statements, sometimes in the shape of a ball of\nfire, which he called his \"star,\" or as a man dressed in red, who paid\nhim occasional visits. General Rapp relates that, in the year 1806, he\nonce found the Emperor in his room, apparently absorbed in such deep\nmeditation that he did not notice his entrance, but that, when fairly\naroused, he seized Rapp by the arm and asked him if saw that star? When\nthe latter replied that he saw nothing, Napoleon continued: \"It is my\nstar; it is standing just above you. It has never forsaken me; I see it\non all important occasions; it orders me to go on, and has always been\na token of success.\" The story, coming from General Rapp himself, is\nquoted here as endorsed by the great historian, Amedee Thierry.\n\nDes Mousseaux reports the following facts upon the evidence of\ntrustworthy personal friends. (_La Magie_, etc., p. 366.) A Mme. N., the\ndaughter of a general, was constantly visited by her mother, who had\ndied long ago, and received from her frequent information of secret\nthings, which procured for herself the reputation of being a prophetess.\nAt one time her mother's spirit warned her to try and prevent her\nhusband, who would die by suicide, from carrying out his purpose. Every\nprecaution was taken, and even the knives and forks were removed after\nmeals; but it so happened that a soldier of the National Guard came into\nthe house and left his loaded gun in an anteroom. The lady's husband\nunfortunately chanced to see it, took it and blew his brains out on the\nspot.\n\nA peculiarly interesting class of visions are those to which great\nartists have, at times, owed their greatest triumphs. Here, also, the\nline between mere delusion and real magic phenomena is often so faint as\nto escape attention. For artists must needs cultivate their imagination\nat the expense of other faculties, and naturally live more in an ideal\nworld than in a real world. Preoccupied as they are, by the nature of\ntheir pursuits, with images of more than earthly beauty, they come\neasily to form ideals in their minds, which they endeavor to fix first\nupon their memory, and then upon canvas or in marble, on paper or in\nrapturous words. Raphael Sanzio had long in vain tried to portray the\nHoly Virgin according to a vague ideal in his mind; at last he awoke one\nnight and saw in the place where his sketch was hanging a bright light,\nand in the radiance the Mother of Christ in matchless beauty, and with\nsupernatural holiness in her features. The vision remained deeply\nimpressed upon his mind, and was ever after the original of which even\nhis best Madonnas could only be imperfect copies. Benvenuto Cellini,\nwhen sick unto death, repeatedly saw an old man trying to pull him down\ninto his boat, but as soon as his faithful servant came and touched him,\nthe hideous vision disappeared. The artist had evidently a picture of\nCharon and his Acherontic boat in his mind, which was thus reproduced in\nhis feverish dreams. On another occasion, when he had long been in\nprison, and in despair contemplated suicide, an \"unknown being\" suddenly\nseized him and hurled him back to a distance of four yards, where he\nremained lying for hours half dead. In the following night a \"fair\nyouth\" appeared to him and made him bitter reproaches on account of his\nsinful purpose. The same youthful genius appeared to him repeatedly when\na great crisis approached in his marvelously adventurous life, and more\nthan once revealed to him the mysteries of the future. (Goethe's \"Benv.\nCell.\" i. p. 375.) Poor Tasso had fearful hallucinations during the time\nwhen his mind was disordered, but above them all hovered, as it were,\nthe vision of a glorious Virgin surrounded by a bright light, which\nalways comforted and probably alone saved him from self-destruction.\nLike Raphael, Dannecker also had long tried in vain to find perfect\nexpression for his ideal of a Christ on the Cross; one night, however,\nhe also saw the Saviour in a dream, and at once proceeded to form his\nmodel, from which was afterwards copied the well-known statue of\ntranscendent beauty and power.\n\nPaganini used to tell with an amusing air of assumed awe and reverence,\nthat his mother had seen, a few days before his birth, an angel with two\nwings and of such dazzling splendor that she could not bear to look at\nthe apparition. The heavenly messenger invited her to express a wish,\nand promised that it should be fulfilled. Thereupon she begged him on\nher knees to make her Nicolo a great violinist, and was told that it\nshould be so. The vision--perhaps nothing more than a vivid form of\nearnest desire and fervent prayer--had, no doubt, a serious influence on\nthe great artist, who was himself strangely susceptible to such\nimpressions. (_Moniteur_, Sept. 30, 1860.)\n\nNothing can here be said, according to the purpose of these sketches, of\nthe long series of visions vouchsafed to martyrs and saints; their\nhistory belongs to theology. But holy men have, independent of their\nreligious convictions, often been as famous for their visions as for the\npiety of their hearts, and their achievements in the world. Loyola, for\ninstance, with his faculties perpetually strained to the utmost, and\nwith his thoughts bent forever upon a grand and holy aim, could not well\nfail to rise to a state of psychic excitement which naturally produced\nimpressive visions. Hence he continually saw strange sights and heard\nmysterious voices, the effect now of extreme despondency and now of\nrestored confidence in God and in himself as the agent of the Most High.\nAnd yet these visions never interfered with the clearness of his\njudgment nor with his promptness and energy in acting. Luther, also, one\nof the most practical men ever called upon to act and to lead in a great\ncrisis, had visions; he saw the Devil and held loud discussions with\nhim; he suffered by his persecutions, and made great efforts to rid\nhimself of his unwelcome guest, while engaged in his great work, the\ntranslation of the Bible. For he was, after all--and for very great and\ngood purposes--only a man of his age, imbued with the universal belief\nin the personal existence and constant presence of Satan, and felt, at\nthe same time, that he was engaged in a warfare upon the results of\nwhich depended not only the earthly welfare, but the eternal salvation\nof millions.\n\nIt is difficult to say whether Mohammed, who had undoubtedly visions\ninnumerable, received any aid from his hallucinations in devising his\nnew faith. Men of science tell us that he suffered of _Hysteria\nmuscularis_, a disease not uncommon in men as well as in women, which\nproduces periodical paroxysms and is characterized by an alternate\ncontraction and expansion of the muscles. When the attack came the\nprophet's lips and tongue would begin to vibrate, his eyes turned up,\nand the head moved automatically. If the paroxysms were very violent he\nfell to the ground, his face turned purple, and he breathed with\ndifficulty. As he frequently retained his consciousness he pretended\nthat these symptoms were caused by angels' visits, and each attack was\nfollowed by a new revelation. The disease was the result of his early\nlawless life and of the freedom which he claimed, even in later\nyears--pleading a special dispensation from on high as a divinely\ninspired prophet. It is not to be wondered at that the new religion,\nspringing from such a source, and proclaimed amid the mountains and\nsteppes of Arabia, which, according to popular belief, are all alive\nwith djinns and demons, should be largely based upon visions and\nhallucinations.\n\nThe important part which visions hold in the history of the various\nreligions of the earth lies beyond our present purpose; we know,\nhowever, that the records of ancient temples, of prophets, saints, and\nmartyrs, and of later convents and churches, abound with instances of\nsuch so-called revelations from on high. They have more than once served\nat critical times to excite individuals and whole nations to make\nsublime efforts. One of the best known cases of the former class is that\nof Constantine the Great, who told Eusebius of Caesarea, affirming his\nstatement with a solemn oath, that he saw in 312, shortly before the\ndecisive battle at Rome against his formidable adversary Magentius, a\nbright cross in the heavens, surrounded by the words: _In hoc signo\nvinces_. But this vision stood by no means alone. He himself beheld,\nbesides, in a dream during the following night, the Saviour, who ordered\nhim to use in battle henceforth a banner like that which he had seen in\nhis vision. Nazarius, a pagan, also speaks of a number of marvelous\nsigns in the heavens seen in Gaul immediately before the emperor's great\nvictory. Nor can it be doubted that this vision not only inspired\nConstantine with new hopes and new courage, enabling him to secure his\ntriumph, but also induced him, after his success, to avow himself openly\na convert to the faith of Christ.\n\nThe visions of that eminent man Swedenborg are too well known to require\nhere more than a mere allusion. Beginning his intercourse with the\nsupernatural world at the ripe age of forty-five, he soon gave himself\nup to it systematically, and felt compelled to make his daily\nconversations, as well as the revelations he received from time to time,\nduly known to the public. Thus he wrote with an evident air of firm\nconviction: \"I had recently a conference with the Apostle Paul;\" and at\nanother time he assured a Wuertemberg prelate, \"I have conferred with St.\nPaul for a whole year, especially about the words in Romans iii. 28.\nThree times I have conversed with St. John, once with Moses, and a\nhundred times with Luther, when the latter confessed that he had taught\n_fidem solam_ contrary to the warning of an angel, and that he had\nstood alone when renouncing the pope. With angels, finally, I have held\nconstant intercourse for the last twenty years, and still hold daily\nconversations.\"\n\nClassic as well as Christian art, is indebted to visions for more than\none signal success. On the other hand, they have as frequently been made\nto serve vile purposes, mainly by feeding superstition and supporting\nreligious tyranny. We need only recall the terrible calamity caused by a\nwretched shepherd boy in France, who, in 1213, saw, or pretended to see,\nheavenly visions, ordering him to enlist his comrades, and with their\naid, to rescue the Holy Land from the possession of infidels. Thousands\nof little children were seized by the contagious excitement, and leaving\ntheir home and their kindred, followed their youthful leader, unchecked\nby the authorities, because of the interpretation applied to the words\nof Jesus: \"Suffer little children to come unto Me!\" Not one of them ever\nreached Palestine, as all perished long before they had reached even\nSouthern France.\n\nIt is not exactly a magic phenomenon, but certainly a most startling\nfeature in visions, that the minds of many men should be able, by their\nown volition, to create images and forms so perfectly like those\nexisting in the world around us, that the same minds are incapable of\ndistinguishing where hallucination and reality touch each other. This\nfaculty varies, of course, as much as other endowments: sometimes it\nproduces nothing but vague, shapeless lights or sounds; in other\npersons it is capable of calling up well-defined forms, and of causing\neven words to be heard and pain to be inflicted. During severe suffering\nin body or soul, it may become a comforter, and in the moment of passing\nthrough the valley of the shadow of death, it is apt to soothe the\nanguish, by visions of heavenly bliss, but to an evil conscience it may\nalso appear as an avenger, by prefiguring impending judgment and\ncondemnation. It is this influence on the lives of men, and their great\nmoral importance, which lends to visions--and in a certain degree even\nto hallucinations--additional interest, and makes it our duty not to set\nthem aside as mere idle phantoms, but to try to ascertain their true\nnature and final purpose. This is all the more necessary, as in our day\nvisions are considered purely the offspring of the seer's own mental\nactivity, a truth abundantly proven by the simple fact that blind or\ndeaf people are quite as capable of having visions and hallucinations,\nas those who have the use of all their senses.\n\nThus these magic phenomena have, in an unbroken chain, accompanied\nalmost all the great men who are known to history, from the earliest\ntime to our own day. In modern times they have often been successfully\ntraced to bodily and mental disorders; but this fact diminishes in no\nway the interest which they have for the student of magic. The great\nPascal, who was once threatened with instant death by the upsetting of\nhis carriage, henceforth saw perpetually an abyss by his side, from\nwhich fiery flames issued forth; he could conceal it by simply placing a\nchair or a table between it and his eyes. In the case of the English\npainter Blake, who had visions of historic personages which appeared to\nhim in idealized outlines, his periodical aberrations of mind were\naccepted as sufficient explanation. The bookseller Nicolai, of Berlin,\non the contrary, who, like Beaumont, saw hundreds of men, women, and\nchildren accompanying him in his walks or visiting him in his chamber,\nfound his ghostly company dependent on the state of his health. When he\nwas bled or when leeches were applied, the images grew pale, and\ndisappeared in part or dissolved entirely. A peculiarity of his case\nwas, that he never saw visions in the dark, but all his phantasms\nappeared in broad daylight, or at night when candles had been brought in\nor a large fire was burning in the fireplace. Captain Henry Bell had\nbeen repeatedly urged by a German friend of his, Caspar von Sparr, to\ntranslate the Table-talk of Martin Luther, which, having been suppressed\nby an edict of the Emperor Rudolphus, had become very rare, and of which\nSparr had sent him a copy, discovered by himself in a cellar where it\nhad lain buried for fifty-two years. Captain Bell commenced the work;\nbut abandoned it after a little while. A few weeks later a white-haired\nold man appeared to him at night, pulling his ear and saying: \"What!\nwill you not take time to translate the book? I will give you soon a\nplace for it and the necessary leisure.\" Bell was much startled; but\nnevertheless neglected the work. A fortnight after the vision he was\narrested and lodged in the gate-house of Westminster, where he remained\nfor ten years, of which he spent five in the translation of the work.\n(Beaumont, \"Tractat.,\" p. 72.) Even religious visions have by no means\nceased in modern times, and more than one remarkable conversion is\nascribed to such agency. We do not speak of so-called miracles like that\nof the children of Salette in the department of the Isere, in 1849, or\nthe recent revelations at Lourdes, and in Southern Alsace, which were\npublicly endorsed by leading men of the church, and have furnished rich\nmaterial even for political demonstrations. The vision of Major\nGardiner, also, who, just before committing a sinful action, beheld the\nSaviour and became a changed man, has been so often published and so\nthoroughly discussed that it need not be repeated here. The conversion\nof young Ratisbone, in 1843, created at the time an immense sensation.\nHe was born of Jewish parents, but, like only too many of his race, grew\nup to become a freethinker and a scoffer, rejecting all faiths as idle\nsuperstitions. One day he strolled into the church Delle Fratte in Rome,\nand while sunk in deep meditation, suddenly beheld a vision of the\nVirgin Mary, which made so deep an impression upon him that it changed\nthe whole tenor of his life. He gave up the great wealth to which he had\nfallen heir, he renounced a lovely betrothed, and resolutely turning his\nback upon the world, he entered, as a novice, into a Jesuit convent;\nthus literally forsaking all in order to follow Christ.\n\nThe magic phenomena accompanying visions, have, among nations of the\nSclavic race, not unfrequently a specially formidable and repellent\ncharacter, corresponding, no doubt, with the temperament and turn of\nimagination peculiar to that race. The Sclaves are apt to be ridden by\ninvisible men, till they drop down in a swoon; they are driven by wild\nbeasts to the graves of criminals, where they behold fearful sights, or\nthey are forced to mingle with troops of evil spirits roving over the\nwide, waste steppes, and they invariably suffer from the sad effects of\nsuch visions, till a premature death relieves them after a few months.\nIn Wallachia a special vision of the so-called Pickolitch is quite\ncommon, and has, in one case at least, been officially recorded by\nmilitary authorities. A poor private soldier, who had already more than\nonce suffered from visions, was ordered to stand guard in a lonely\nmountain pass, and forced by the rules of the service to take his place\nthere, although he begged hard to be allowed to exchange with a brother\nsoldier, as he knew he would come to grief. The officer in command,\nstruck by the earnestness of his prayer, promised to lend him all\npossible assistance, and placed a second sentinel for his support close\nbehind him. At half past ten o'clock the officer and a high civil\nfunctionary saw a dark figure rush by the house in which they were; they\nhastened at once to the post, where two shots had fallen in rapid\nsuccession, and found the inner sentinel, the still smoking rifle in\nhand, staring fixedly at the place where his comrade had stood, and\nutterly unconscious of the approach of his superior. When they reached\nthe outer post they found the rifle on the ground, shattered to pieces,\nand the heavy barrel bent in the shape of a scythe, while the man\nhimself lay at a considerable distance, groaning with pain, for his\nwhole body was so severely burnt that he died on the following day. The\nsurvivor stated that a black figure had fallen, as if from heaven, upon\nhis comrade and torn him to pieces in spite of the two shots he had\nfired at it from a short distance, then it had vanished again in an\ninstant. The matter was duly reported to headquarters, and when an\ninvestigation was ordered, the fact was discovered that a number of\nprecisely similar occurrences had already been officially recorded. The\nvision is, of course, nothing more than a product of the excited\nimagination of the mountaineers, who lend the favorite shape of a\n\"Pickolitch\" to the frequent, bizarre-looking masses of fog and mist\nwhich rise in their dark valleys, hover over gullies and abysses, and\ndriven by a sudden current of wind, fly upward with amazing rapidity,\nand thus seem to disappear in an instant. The apprehension of the poor\nsentinel, on the other hand, was a kind of clairvoyance produced by the\ncombined influence of local tradition, the nightly hour and the dark\npass, upon a previously-excited mind, while the vision of the two\nofficers was a similar magic phenomena, the result of the impressions\nmade upon them by the instant prayer of the victim, and a hot discussion\nabout the reality of the \"Prikolitch.\" The sentinel probably saw a weird\nshape and fired; the gun burst and killed him outright, setting fire to\nhis clothes, a supposition strengthened by the statement that the poor\nfellow, anticipating a meeting with the spectre, had put a double charge\ninto his rifle. The accident teaches once more that a mere denial of\nfacts and a haughty smile at the idea of visions profit us nothing,\nwhile a calm and careful examination of all the circumstances may throw\nmuch light upon their nature, and help, in the course of time, to\nextirpate fatal superstitions, like those of the \"Prikolitch.\"\n\nIt is interesting to see how harmless and even pleasant are, in\ncomparison, the visions of men with well-trained minds and kindly\ndispositions. The bookseller Nicolai entertained his phantom-guests, and\nwas much amused, at times, by their conversation. Macnish (\"Sleep,\" p.\n194) tells us the same of Dr. Bostock, who had frequent visions, and of\nan elderly lady whom Dr. Alderson treated for gout, and who received\nfriendly visits from kinsmen and acquaintances with whom she conversed,\nbut who disappeared instantly when she rang for her maid. Another\npatient of Dr. Alderson's, who saw himself in the same manner surrounded\nby numbers of persons, even felt the blows which a phantom-carter gave\nhim with his whip. Although in all these cases the visions disappeared\nafter energetic bleeding and purging, the phenomena were nevertheless\nreal as far as they affected the patient, and have in every instance\nbeen fully authenticated and scientifically investigated. The well-known\nauthor, Macnish, himself was frequently a victim of this kind of\nself-delusion; he saw during an attack of fever fearful hellish shapes,\nforming and dissolving at pleasure, and during one night he beheld a\nwhole theatre filled with people, among whom he recognized many friends\nand acquaintances, while on the stage he saw the famous Ducrow with his\nhorses. As soon as he opened his eyes the scene disappeared, but the\nmusic continued, for the orchestra played a magnificent march from\nAladdin, and did not cease its magic performance for five hours. The\nvision of the eye seems thus to have been under the influence of his\nwill, but his hearing was beyond his control.\n\nA very interesting class of visions accompanied by undoubted magic\nphenomena, and as frequent in our day as at any previous period, is\nformed by those which are the result of climatic and topographic\npeculiarities. We have already stated that the peculiar impression made\nupon predisposed minds by vast deserts and boundless wastes is\nfrequently ascribed, by the superstitious dwellers near such localities,\nto the influence of evil spirits. Such a vision is the Ragl of Northern\nAfrica, which occurs either after fatiguing journeys through the dry,\nhot desert, in consequence of great nervous excitement, or as one of the\nsymptoms of typhoid fever in native patients. Seeing and hearing are\nalike affected, the other senses only in rare cases. Ordinarily the eye\nsees everything immensely magnified or oddly changed; pebbles become\nhuge blocks of stone, faint tracks in the hot sand change into broad\ncauseways or ample meadows, and distant shadows appear as animals,\nwells, or mountain-dells. If the moon rises the vision increases in size\nand distinctness; the scene becomes animated, men pass by, camels follow\neach other in long lines, and troops are marching past in battalions.\nThen the ear also begins to succumb to the charm; the rustling of dry\nleaves becomes the sweet song of numerous birds; the wind changes into\ncries of despair, and the noise of falling sand into distant thunder.\nThe brain remains apparently unaffected, for travelers suffering of the\nRagl are able to make notes and record the symptoms, although the\nnote-book looks to them like a huge album with costly engravings. There\ncan be little doubt that the great afflux of blood to the eyes and the\nears is the first cause of these phenomena, but the peculiar nature of\nthe visions remains still a mystery. One striking peculiarity is their\nunvarying identity in men of the same race and culture; Europeans have\ntheir own hallucinations which are not shared by Africans; the former\nsee churches, houses, and carriages, the latter mosques, tents, and\ncamels, thus proving here also the fact that these delusions of the\nsenses are produced in the mind and not in the outer world. Travelers\nwho suffer from hunger or from the dread effects of the simoon are\nnaturally more subject to the Ragl than others; the visions generally\nappear towards midnight and continue till six or seven o'clock in the\nmorning, while during the day they are only seen in cases of aggravated\nsuffering. Another peculiarity is the fact that these visions connect\nthemselves only with small objects and moderate sounds; the gentle\nfriction of a vibrating tassel on his camel's neck appeared to the great\nexplorer Richardson like the clacking of a mill-wheel, but the words\nshouted by his companion sounded quite natural. Thus he saw in every\nlittle lichen a green garden spot, but the stars he discerned distinctly\nenough to direct his way by them even when suffering most intensely from\nthe Ragl.\n\nThe Fata Morgana of the so-called Great Desert in Oregon, in which the\nwaters of the Paducah, Kansas, and Arkansas lose themselves to a great\nextent, is a kindred affection. Here also phantoms of every kind are\nseen, gigantic horsemen, colossal buildings, and flitting fires; but the\nabsence of heat makes the visions less frequent and less distinct. The\nIndians, however, like the Moors of Africa, dread these apparitions and\nascribe them to evil spirits. These phenomena have besides a special\ninterest, by proving how constantly in all these questions of modern\nmagic facts are combined with mere delusions. The flitting fires, to\nwhich we alluded, for instance, are not mere visions, but real and\ntangible substances, the effect of gaseous effusions which are quite\nfrequent on these steppes. So it is also with the local visions peculiar\nto mountain regions, like the Little Gray Man of the Grisons in\nSwitzerland and the gnomes of miners in almost all lands. The dwellers\nin Alpine regions acquire--or even inherit, it may be--a peculiar power\nof divination with regard to the weather; they feel instinctively, and\nwithout ever giving themselves the trouble of trying to ascertain the\nreason, the approach of fogs and mists, so dangerous to the welfare of\ntheir herds and their own safety. This presentiment is clothed by local\ntraditions and their own vivid imaginations in the familiar shape of\nsupernatural beings, and what was at first perhaps merely a form of\nspeech, has gradually become a deep-rooted belief handed down from\nfather to son. They end by really seeing--with their mind's eye--the\nrising mists and drifting fogs in the shape which they have so often\nheard mentioned, or give to rising gases, far down in the bowels of the\nearth, the form of familiar gnomes. These visions are hence not\naltogether produced by the imagination, but have, so to say, a grain of\ntruth around which the weird form is woven.\n\nA numerous class of visions, presenting some of the most interesting\nphenomena of this branch of magic, must be looked upon as the result of\nthe innate desire to fathom the mystery of future life. The human heart,\nconscious of immortality by nature and assured of it by revelation,\ndesires ardently to lift the veil which conceals the secrets of the life\nto come. Among other means to accomplish this, the promise has often\nbeen exacted of dear friends, that they would, after death, return and\nmake known their condition in the other world. Such compacts have been\nmade from time immemorial--but so far their only result has been that\nthe survivors have believed occasionally that they have received visits\nfrom deceased friends--in other words, that their state of great\nexcitement and eager expectation has caused them to have visions. It\nremains true, after all, that from that bourne no traveler ever returns.\nNevertheless, these visions have a deep interest for the psychologist,\nas they are the result of unconscious action, and thus display what\nthoughts dwell in our innermost heart concerning the future.\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\nGHOSTS.\n\n    \"Sunt aliquid manes; letum non omnia finit.\"\n\n\nThere are few subjects, outside of the vexed questions of Theology, on\nwhich eminent men of all nations and ages have held more varied views\nthan so-called ghosts. The very term has been understood differently by\nalmost every great writer who has approached the boundary line of this\ndepartment of magic. The word which is now commonly used in order to\ndesignate any immaterial being, not made of the earth, earthy, or\nperhaps, in a higher sense, the \"body spiritual\" of St. Paul, was in the\nearly days of Christianity applied to the visible spirits of deceased\npersons only. In the Middle Ages again, when everything weird and\nunnatural was unhesitatingly ascribed to diabolic agency, these\nphenomena, also, were regarded as nothing else but the Devil's work.\nTheologians have added in recent days a new subject of controversy to\nthis vexed matter. The divines of the seventeenth and eighteenth century\ndenied, of course, the possibility of a reappearance of the spirits of\nthe departed, as they were in consistency bound to deny the existence of\na purgatory, and yet, from purgatory alone were these spirits,\naccording to popular belief, allowed to revisit the earth--heaven and\nhell being comparatively closed places. As the people insisted upon\nseeing ghosts, however, there remained nothing but to declare them to be\ndelusions produced for malign purposes by the Evil One himself; and so\ndecided, not many generations ago, the Consistory of Basle in an appeal\nmade by a German mystic author, Jung Stilling. And yet it is evident\nthat a number of eminent thinkers, and not a few of the most skeptic\nphilosophers even, have believed in the occurrence of such visits by\ninmates of Sheol. Hugo Grotius and Puffendorf, whose far-famed worldly\nwisdom entitles their views to great respect, Machiavelli and Boccaccio,\nThomasius and even Kant, all have repeatedly admitted the existence of\nwhat we familiarly call ghosts. The great philosopher of Koenigsberg\nenters fully into the subject. \"Immaterial beings,\" he says, \"including\nthe souls of men and animals, may exist, though they must be considered\nas not filling space but only acting within the limits of space.\" He\nadmits the probability that ere long the process will be discovered, by\nwhich the human soul, even in this life, is closely connected with the\nimmaterial inmates of the world of spirits, a connection which he states\nto be operative in both directions, men affecting spirits and spirits\nacting upon men, though the latter are unconscious of such impressions\n\"as long as all is well.\" In the same manner in which the physical world\nis under the control of a law of gravity, he believes the spiritual\nworld to be ruled by a moral law, which causes a distinction between\ngood and evil spirits. The same belief is entertained and fully\ndiscussed by French authors of eminence, such as Des Mousseaux, De\nMirville, and others. The Catholic church has never absolutely denied\nthe doctrine of ghosts, perhaps considering itself bound by the biblical\nstatement that \"the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints\nwhich slept, arose and came out of the graves and went into the holy\ncity and appeared unto many.\" (St. Matt. xxvii. 52.) Tertullian, St.\nAugustine, and Thomas de Aquinas, all state distinctly, as a dogma, that\nthe souls of the departed can leave their home, though not at will, but\nonly by special permission of the Almighty. St. Augustine mentions\nsaints by whom he was visited, and Thomas de Aquinas speaks even of the\nreturn of accursed inmates of hell, for the purpose of terrifying and\nconverting criminals in this world. The \"Encyclopedia of Catholic\nTheology\" (iv. p. 489) states that \"although the theory of ghosts has\nnever become a dogma of the Holy Church, it has ever maintained itself,\nand existed in the days of Christ, who did not condemn it, when it was\nmentioned in his presence.\" (St. Matt. xiv. 26; St. Luke xxiv. 37.)\n\nCalmet, the well-known Benedictine Abbot of Senon, in Lorraine, who was\none of the most renowned theological writers of the eighteenth century,\nsays (i. 17): \"Apparitions of ghosts would be more readily understood if\nspirits had a body; but the Holy Church has decided that angels, devils\nand the spirits of the departed are pure immaterial spirits. Since this\nquestion transcends our mental faculties, we must submit to the judgment\nof the Church, which cannot err.\" Another great theologian, the German\nBengel, on the contrary, assumed that \"probably the apparitions of the\ndeparted have a prescribed limit and then cease; they continue probably\nas long as all the ties between body and soul are not fully dissolved.\"\nThis question of the nature of our existence during the time immediately\nfollowing death, is, it is well known, one of the most vexed of our day,\nfor while most divines of the Protestant Church assume an immediate\ndecision of our eternal fate, others admit the probability of an\nintermediate state, and the Catholic Church has its well-known\nprobationary state in purgatory. It may as well be stated here at once\nthat the whole theory of ghosts is admissible only if we assume that\nthere follows after death a period during which the soul undergoes, not\nan immediate rupture, but a slow, gradual separation from its body,\naccompanied by a similar gradual adaptation to its new mode of\nexistence. Whether the spirit, during this time, is still sufficiently\nakin to earthy substances to be able to clothe itself into some material\nperceptible to the senses of living men, is of comparatively little\nimportance. The idea of such an \"ethereal body\" is very old, and has\nnever ceased to be entertained. Thus, in 1306, already Guido de la\nTones, who died in Verona, appeared during eight days to his wife, his\nneighbors, and a number of devout priests, and declared in answer to\ntheir questions that the spirits of the departed possessed the power to\nclothe themselves with air, and thus to become perceptible to living\nbeings. Bayle also, in his article on Spinoza (note 2), advocates the\npossibility, at least, of physical effects being produced by agents\nwhose presence we are not able to perceive by the use of our ordinary\nsenses. Even so eminently practical a mind as Lessing's was bewildered\nby the difficulties surrounding this question, and he declared that\n\"here his wits were at an end.\"\n\nAnother great German writer, Goerres, in his \"Christian Mystic\" (iii. p.\n307), not only admits the existence of ghosts, but explains them as \"the\nhigher prototypal form of man freed from the earthy form, the spectrum\nrelieved of its envelope, which can be present wherever it chooses\nwithin the prescribed limits of its domain.\" This view is, however, not\nsupported by the experience of those who believe they have seen ghosts;\nfor the latter appear only occasionally in a higher, purified form,\nresembling ethereal beings, as a mere whitish vapor or a shape formed of\nfaint light; by far more generally they are seen in the form and even\nthe costume of their earthy existence. The only evidence of really\nsupernatural or magic powers accompanying such phenomena consists in the\nineffable dread which is apt to oppress the heart and to cause intense\nbodily suffering; in the cold chill which invariably precedes the\napparition, and in the profound and exquisitely painful emotion which is\nnever again forgotten throughout life.\n\nAs yet, the subject has been so little studied by candid inquiries, that\nthere are but a few facts which can be mentioned as fully established.\nThe form and shape under which ghosts appear, are the result of the\nimagination of the ghost seer only, whether he beholds angels or devils,\nmen or animals. If his receptive power is highly developed, he will see\nthem in their completeness, and discern even the minutest details; weak\npersons, on the other hand, perceive nothing more than a faint, luminous\nor whitish appearance, mere fragmentary and embryonic visions. These\npowers of perception may, however, be improved by practice, and those\nwho see ghosts frequently, are sure to discover one feature after\nanother, until the whole form stands clearly and distinctly before their\nmind's eye. The ear is generally more susceptible than the eye to the\napproach of ghosts, and often warns the mind long before the apparition\nbecomes visible. The noises heard are apt to be vague and ill defined,\nconsisting mainly of a low whispering or restless rustling, a strange\nmoving to and fro, or the blowing of cold air in various directions.\nMany sounds, however, are so peculiar, that they are never heard except\nin connection with ghosts, and hence, baffle all description. It need\nnot be added, that the great majority of such sounds also exist only in\nthe mind of the hearer, but as the latter is, in his state of\nexcitement, fully persuaded that he hears them, they are to him as real\nas if they existed outside of his being. Nor are they always confined to\nthe ghost seer. On the contrary, the hearing of such sounds is as\ncontagious as the seeing of such sights; and not only men are thus\naffected, and see and hear what others experience, but even the higher\nanimals, horses and dogs, share in this susceptibility. When ghosts\nappear to speak, the voice is almost always engastrimantic, that is, the\nghost seer produces the words himself, in a state of ecstatic\nunconsciousness, and probably by a kind of instinctive ventriloquism. To\nthese phenomena of sight and hearing must be added, thirdly, the\noccasional violent moving about of heavy substances. Furniture seems to\nchange its place, ponderous objects disappear entirely, or the whole\nsurrounding scene assumes a new order and arrangement. These phenomena,\nas far as they really exist, must be ascribed to higher, as yet\nunexplained powers, and suggest the view entertained by many writers on\nthe subject, that disembodied spirits, as they are freed from the\nmechanical laws of nature, possess also the power to suspend them in\neverything with which they come in contact. The last feature in\nghost-seeing, which is essential, is the cold shudder, the ineffable\ndread, which falls upon poor mortal man, at the moment when he is\nbrought into contact with an unknown world. Already Job said: \"Fear came\nupon me and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit\npassed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up\" (iv. 14, 15). This\nsense of vague, and yet almost intolerable dread, resembles the agony of\nthe dying man; it is perfectly natural, since the seeing of ghosts, that\nis, of disembodied spirits, can only become possible by the more or\nless complete suspension of the ordinary life in the flesh. For a\nmoment, all bodily functions are suspended, the activity of the brain\nceases, and consciousness itself is lost as in a fit of fainting. This\nrarely happens without a brief instinctive struggle, and the final\nvictory of an unseen and unknown power, which deprives the mind of its\nhabitual mastery over the body, is necessarily accompanied by intense\npain and overwhelming anguish.\n\nWell-authenticated cases of the appearance of spirits of departed\npersons are mentioned in the earliest writings. Valerius Maximus relates\nin graphic words the experience of the poet Simonides, who was about to\nenter a vessel for the purpose of undertaking a long journey with some\nof his friends, when he discovered a dead body lying unburied on the\nsea-shore. Shocked by the impiety of the unknown man's friends, he\ndelayed his departure to give to the corpse a decent funeral. During the\nfollowing night, the spirit of this man appeared to him and advised him\nnot to sail on the next day. He obeys the warning; his friends leave\nwithout him, and perish miserably in a great tempest. Deeply moved by\nhis sad loss, but equally grateful for his own miraculous escape, he\nerected to the memory of his unknown friend a noble monument in verses,\nunmatched in beauty and pathos. Phlegon, also, the freedman of the\nEmperor Hadrian, has left us in his work, _De Mirabilibus_, one of the\nmost touching instances of such ghost-seeing; it is the well-known story\nof Machates and Philimion, which Goethe reproduced in his \"Bride of\nCorinth.\" Nor must we forget the numerous examples of visions in dreams,\nby which the Almighty chose to reveal His will to his beloved among the\nchosen people--a series of apparitions, which the Church has taken care\nto continue during the earlier ages, in almost unbroken succession from\nsaint to saint. Pagans were converted by such revelations, martyrs were\ncomforted, the wounded healed, and even an Emperor, Constantine, cured\nof leprosy, by the appearance of the two apostles, Peter and Paul.\n\nThe truth, which lies at the bottom of all such appearances, is\nprobably, that ghostly disturbances are uniformly the acts of men, but\nof men who have ceased for a time to be free agents, and who have, for\nreasons to be explained presently, acquired exceptional powers. Thus, a\nfamous jurist, Counselor Hellfeld, in Jena, was one evening on the point\nof signing the death warrant of a cavalry soldier. The subject had\ndeeply agitated his mind for days, and before seizing his pen, he\ninvoked, as was his custom in such cases, the \"aid of the Almighty\nthrough His holy spirit.\" At that moment--it was an hour before\nmidnight--he hears heavy blows fall upon his window, which sound as if\nthe panes were struck with a riding-whip. His clerk also hears the blows\ndistinctly, and begins to tremble violently. This apparent accident\ninduces the judge to delay his action; he devotes the next day to a\ncareful re-perusal of the evidence, and is now led to the conviction\nthat the crime deserves only a minor punishment. Ere the year has\nclosed, another criminal is caught, and volunteers the confession that\nhe was the perpetrator of the crime for which the soldier was punished.\nIn that solemn moment, it was, of course, only the judge's own mind,\ndeeply moved and worn out by painful work, which warned him in a\nsymbolic manner not to be precipitate, and the very fact that the blows\nsounded as if they had been produced by a whip proved his unconscious\nassociation of the noise with the cavalry soldier. And yet he and his\nclerk believed and solemnly affirmed, that they had heard the mysterious\nblows! This dualism, which, as it were, divides man into two beings, one\nof whom follows and watches the other, while both are unconscious of\ntheir identity, is the magic element in these phenomena. This\nunconsciousness, proving--as in dreams--the inactivity of our reason,\nproduces the natural effect, that we fancy all ghostly appearances are\nfoolish, wanton and wicked. The fact is, moreover that they almost\nalways proceed from a more or less diseased or disturbed mind, and\nacquire importance only in so far as it is our duty here also to\neliminate truth from error. Thus only can we hope to counteract their\nmischievous tendency, and to prevent still stronger delusions from\nobtaining a mastery over weak minds. This is the purpose of a club\nformed in London in 1869, the members of which find amusement and useful\nemployment in investigating all cases of haunted houses and other\nghostly appearances.\n\nThat the belief in ghostly disturbances is not a modern error, we see\nfrom St. Augustine, who already mentions the farm of a certain Hasparius\nas disquieted by loud noises till the prayer of a pious priest restored\npeace. The Catholic Church has a St. Caesarius, who purified in like\nmanner the house of the physician Elpidius in Ravenna, which was filled\nwith evil spirits and only admitted the owner after he had passed\nthrough a shower of stones. Another saint, Hubertus, was himself annoyed\nby ghosts in his residence at Camens, and never succeeded in obtaining\npeace till he died, in 958. Wicked or interested men take, of course,\nbut too readily advantage of the credulity of men and employ similar\ndisturbances for personal purposes; such was the case with the ghosts\nthat haunted the Council house in Constance and the palace at Woodstock\nin Cromwell's time. The case of a scrupulously conscientious Protestant\nminister in Germany, which created in 1719 a great excitement throughout\nthe empire, is well calculated to show the real nature of a number of\nsuch ghostly disturbances. He had been called to the death-bed of a\nnotorious sinner, a woman, who desired at the last moment to receive the\ncomforts of religion. Unfortunately he reached her house too late; she\nwas already unconscious, and died in his presence, as he thought,\nunreconciled with her God and with himself, whom she had often insulted\nand cursed in life. Deeply disturbed he returned home, and after having\ndwelt upon the painful subject with intense anxiety for several days he\nbegan to hear footsteps in his house. Gradually they became more\nfrequent; then he distinguished them clearly as a woman's step, and at\nlast they were accompanied by the dragging of a gown. Watches were set,\nsand was strewn, dogs were kept in the house--but all in vain; no trace\nof man was found, and still the sounds continued. The unhappy man prayed\nday and night, and the noise disappeared for a fortnight. When he ceased\npraying they returned, louder than ever. He sternly bids the ghost\ndesist, and behold! the ghost obeys. When he asks if it is a good angel\nor a demon, no answer is given; but the question: Art thou the Devil?\nfinds an immediate reply in rapid steps up and down the house--for the\npoor man's mind was filled with the idea that such things can be done\nonly by the Evil One. At last he summons all his remaining energy and in\na tone of command he orders the ghost to depart and never to reappear.\nFrom that moment all disturbances cease--and very naturally, for the\nhaunted, disturbed man, had fully recovered the command over himself;\nthe dualism that produced all the spectral phenomena had ceased, and the\nrestored mind accomplished its own cure. As these phenomena are thus\nproduced from within, it appears perfectly natural also that they should\nbe reported as occurring most frequently in the month of November.\nReligious minds and superstitious dispositions have brought this fact\ninto a quaint connection with the approach of Advent-time, but the cause\nis probably purely physical; the dark and dismal month with its dense\nfogs emblematic of coming winter predisposes the mind to gloomy thoughts\nand renders it less capable of resisting atmospheric influences.\n\nA very general belief ascribes such disturbances, under the name of\n\"haunted houses,\" to the souls of deceased persons who can find no rest\nbeyond the grave. The series of ghost stories based upon this\nsupposition begins with the account of Suetonius and continues unbroken\nto our day. Then it was the spirit of Caligula, which could not be quiet\nso long as his body, which had only been half burned, remained in that\ndisgraceful condition. Night after night his house and his garden were\nvisited by strange apparitions, till the palace was destroyed by fire\nand the emperor's sisters rendered the last honors to his remains.\n\nThus the disposition of modern inquiries to trace back all popular\naccounts of great events, all familiar anecdotes and fairy tales, and\neven proverbs and maxims, to the ancients, has been fully gratified in\nthis case also. They were not only known to antiquity, but formed a\nstaple of popular tales. Thus the younger Pliny tells us one which he\nhad frequently heard related. At Athens there stood a large, comfortable\nmansion, which, however, was ill-reputed. Night after night, it was\nsaid, chains were heard rattling, first at a distance, and then coming\nnearer, till a pale, haggard shape was seen approaching, wearing beard\nand hair in long dishevelled locks and clanking the chains it bore on\nhands and feet. The occupants of the house could not sleep, were\nterrified, sickened and died. Thus it came about that the fine building\nstood empty, year after year, and was at last offered for sale at a low\nprice. About that time the philosopher Athenodorus came to Athens and\nsaw the notice; he had his suspicions aroused by the small sum demanded\nfor the house, inquired about the causes and rented the house. For he\nwas a man of courage and meant to fathom the mystery.\n\nOn the evening of the first day he dismissed his servants and remained\nalone in the front room, writing and occupying himself, purposely, with\ngrave and abstract questions, so as to allow no opening for his\nimagination. As soon as all was quiet around him the clanking and\nrattling of chains begins; but he pays no heed and continues to write.\nThe noise approaches and enters the room; as he looks up he sees the\nwell-known weird shape before him. It beckons him, but he demands\npatience and writes on as before; then the ghost shakes his chains over\nhis head and beckons once more imperatively. Now he rises, takes his\nlamp, and follows his visitor through the passages into a court-yard,\nwhere the ghost disappears. The philosopher pulls up some grass on the\nspot and marks the place. On the following day he appeals to the\nauthorities to cause the place to be dug up; and when this is done, the\nbones of an old man, loaded with heavy chains, are found. From that time\nthe house was left undisturbed, as if the departed had only desired to\ninduce some intelligent person to bestow upon him the honors of a\ndecent burial, which among the ancients were held all-important.\n(\"Letter to Sera,\" l. vii. 27.) The story told by Lucian\n(\"Philopseudes,\" xxx.) is almost identical with that of Pliny. Here,\nalso, a house in Corinth, once belonging to Eubatides, was left\nunoccupied, for the same reasons, and began to decay, when the\nPythagorean, Arignotus, determined to ascertain the reality of these\nnightly appearances. He goes there after midnight, places his lamp on\nthe floor, lies down and begins to read. Soon a horrible monster\nappears, black as night, and changes from one disgusting beast into\nanother, till at last it yields to the stern command of the intrepid\nphilosopher and disappears in a corner of the large room. When day\nbreaks, workmen are brought in to take up the floor; a skeleton is found\nand decently interred, and from that day the house is left to its usual\npeace and quiet. (\"Epist.\" l. vii. 27.) Plutarch, also, in his \"Life of\nCimon,\" states that the baths at Chaeronea were haunted by the ghost of\nDamon, who had there found his death; the doors were walled up and the\nplace forsaken, but up to his day no relief had been devised, and\nfearful sights and terrible sounds continued to render the place\nuninhabitable.\n\nNor are Eastern lands unacquainted with this popular belief. Egypt has\nits haunted houses in nearly every village, and in Cairo there are a\ngreat number, while in Tunis whole streets were abandoned to ghostly\noccupants. In Nankin a great mandarin owned a spacious building which\nhe could neither occupy himself nor rent to others, because of its evil\nreputation. At last the Jesuit Riccius, a missionary, offered to take it\nfor his order; the fathers moved into it, conquered the ghosts by some\nmeans best known to themselves, and not only obtained a good house but\ngreat prestige with the natives for their triumph over the spirits (C.\nHasart. _Hist. Eccles. Sinica_, p. 4, ch. iii.).\n\nThe same singular belief is not only met with in every age and among the\nmost enlightened nations, but even in our own century a similar case\noccurred and is well authenticated. The Duke Charles Alexander of\nWuertemberg of unholy memory, died at the town of Ludwigsburg, perhaps by\nmurder. For years afterwards the palace was the scene of most violent\ndisturbances; even the sentinels, powerful and well-armed men, were\nbodily lifted up and thrown across the parapet of the terrace. At other\ntimes the whole building appeared to be filled with people; doors were\nopened and closed, lights were seen in the apartments and dim figures\nflitted to and fro. Large detachments of troops under the command of\nofficers, specially selected for the purpose, were ordered to march\nthrough the palace more than once, on such occasions, but never\ndiscovered a trace of human agency (Kerner. _Bilder._ p. 143). Even the\ngreat Frederick of Prussia, a man whose thoroughly skeptical mind might\nsurely be supposed to have been free from all superstition, was once\nforced to admit his inability to explain by natural causes an occurrence\nof the kind. A Catholic priest in Silesia lost his cook, who had been\nspecially dear to him; her ghost--as it was called--continued to haunt\nthe house, and, most strange of all, not in order to disturb its peace,\nbut to perform the usual domestic service. The floors were swept, the\nfires made, and linen washed, all by invisible hands. Frederick, who\naccidentally heard of the matter, ordered a captain and a lieutenant of\nhis guard to investigate it; they were received by the beating of drums\nand then allowed to witness the same household performances. When the\ngrim old captain broke out in a fearful curse, he received a severe box\non the ears and retreated utterly discomfited. Upon his report to the\nking the house was pulled down and a new parsonage erected at some\ndistance from the place. The occurrence is mentioned in many historical\nworks and quoted without comment even by the great historian Menzel.\nAnother striking case of a somewhat different character, was fully\nreported to the Colonial Office in London. The scene was a large vault\nin the island of Barbadoes, hewn out of the live rock and accessible\nonly through a huge iron door, fastened in the usual way by strong bolts\nand a lock, the key to which was kept at the Government House. During\nthe year 1819 it was opened four times for purposes of interment, and\neach time it was observed that all the coffins in the vault had been\nviolently thrown about. The Governor, Lord Combermere, went himself,\naccompanied by his staff and a number of officers, to examine the place,\nand found the vault itself in perfect order and without a trace of\nviolence. He ordered the door to be closed with cement and placed his\nseal upon the latter, an example followed by nearly all the bystanders.\nEight months later, the 28th of April, 1820, he had the vault opened in\nthe presence of a large company of friends and within sight of a crowd\nof several thousands. The cement and the seals were found to be perfect\nand uninjured; the sand which had been carefully strewn over the floor\nof the vault showed no footmark or sign whatever, but the coffins were\nagain thrown about in great confusion. One, of such weight that it\nrequired eight men to move it, was found standing upright, and a child's\ncoffin had been violently dashed against the wall. A carefully drawn up\nreport with accompanying drawings was sent home, but no explanation has\never been discovered. Scientific men were disposed to ascribe the\ndisturbance to earthquakes, but the annals of the island report none\nduring those years; there remains, however, the possibility that the\nexamination of the vault was after all imperfect, and that the sea might\nhave had access to it through some hidden cleft. In that case an\nunusually high tide might very well have been the invisible agent.\n\nEven the Indian of our far West cherishes the same superstitious belief,\nand in his lodge on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, he hears\nmysterious knockings. To him they are the kindly warning of a spirit,\nwhom he calls the Great Bear, which announces some great calamity.\n\nThat certain localities seem to be frequented by ghosts, that is, to be\nhaunted, with special preference, must be ascribed to the contagious\nnature of such mental affections as generally produce these phenomena.\nThis is, moreover, by no means limited, as is commonly believed, to\nNorthern regions, where frequent fogs and dense mists, short days and\nlong nights, together with sombre surroundings and awe-inspiring sounds\nin nature, combine to predispose the mind to expect supernatural\nappearances. Thus, for instance, fair Suabia, one of the most favored\nportions of Germany, sweet and smiling in its fertile plains, and by no\nmeans specially gruesome, even in the most secluded parts of the Black\nForest, teems with haunted localities. Dr. Kerner's home, Weinsberg,\nenjoyed ghostly visits almost in every house; the neighborhood was\nsimilarly favored, and even in the open country there are countless\npeasants' cottages and noblemen's seats, which are frequented by ghosts.\nOne of the most attractive estates in Wuertemberg was purchased in 1815\nby a distinguished soldier, whose dauntless courage had caused him to\nrise rapidly from grade to grade under the eye of the great Napoleon.\nSoon after his arrival his wife was aroused every night by a variety of\nmysterious noises, rising from weird, low whinings to terrific\nexplosions. The colonel also heard them, and tried his best to ascertain\nthe cause. Night after night, moreover, the great castle clock, which\nwent perfectly well all day long, struck at wrong hours, and was found\nall wrong in the morning. The disturbing powers soon became personal;\nfor one night, when the colonel, sitting at the supper table, and\nhearing the usual sounds, said angrily, \"I wish the ghost would make\nhimself known!\" a fearful explosion took place, knocking down the\nspeaker and bringing all the inmates of the house to the room. Search\nwas immediately instituted, and the main weight of the great clock was\ndiscovered to be missing. A new weight had to be ordered, and only long\nafterwards the old one was found wedged in between two floors above the\nclock. Nor were the disturbances confined to the castle: at midnight the\nhorses in the stable became restless and almost wild, tearing themselves\nloose and sweating till they were covered with white foam. One night the\ncolonel went to the stable, mounted his favorite charger, who had borne\nhim in the din and roar of many a battle, and awaited the striking of\nmidnight. Instantly the poor animal began to tremble, then to rear and\nkick furiously, until his master, famous as a good horseman, could hold\nhim in no longer, and was carried around the stable by the maddened\nhorse so as to imperil his life. After an hour, the poor creatures began\nto calm down, but stood trembling in all their limbs; the colonel's own\nhorse succumbed to the trial and died in the morning. A new stable had\nto be built, which remained free from disturbances.\n\nBy far the most remarkable and, strange enough, at the same time the\nbest authenticated of all accounts of disturbances caused by recently\ndeparted friends is found in a memoir written by the sufferer herself,\nand addressed to the famous Baron Grimm under the pseudonym of Mr. Meis.\nThrough the latter the story reached Goethe, who at once appropriated it\nin all its details, and merely changing the name of the principal to\nAntonelli, inserted it in his \"Conversations of German Emigrants.\" The\nsame event is fully related in the \"Memoirs of the Margravine of\nAnspach\" as \"a story which at that time created a great sensation in\nParis, and excited universal curiosity.\" But even greater authority yet\nis given to this account by the fact that it was officially recorded in\nthe police reports of Paris, from which it has been frequently extracted\nfor publication. Mdlle. Hippolyte Clairon makes substantially the\nfollowing statements: \"In the year 1743 my youth and my success on the\nstage procured for me much attention from young fops and elderly\nprofligates, among whom, however, I found frequently a few better men.\nOne of these, who made a deep impression upon me, was a Mr. S., the son\nof a merchant from Brittany, about thirty years old, fair of features,\nwell made, and gifted with some talent for poetry. His conversation and\nhis manners showed that he had received a superior education, and that\nhe was accustomed to good society, while his reserve and bashfulness,\nwhich prevented him from allowing his attachment to be seen, made him\nall the dearer to me. When I had ascertained his discretion, I permitted\nhim to visit me, and gave him to understand that he might call himself\nmy friend. He took this patiently, seeing that I was still free and not\nwithout tender feelings, and hoping that time might inspire me with a\nwarmer affection. Who knows what might have happened! But I used to\nquestion him closely, both from curiosity and from prudence, and his\ncandid answers destroyed his prospects; for he confessed that,\ndissatisfied with his modest station in life, he had sold his property\nin order to live in Paris in better society, and I did not like this.\nMen who are ashamed of themselves are not, it seems to me, calculated to\ninspire others with respect. Besides, he was of a melancholy and\ndissatisfied temper, knowing men too well, as he said, not to despise\nand avoid them. He intended to visit no one but myself, and to induce me\nalso to see no one but him. You may imagine how I disliked such ideas. I\nmight have been held by garlands, but did not wish to be bound with\nchains. From that moment I saw that I must disappoint his hopes, and\ngradually withdrew from his society. This caused him a severe illness,\nduring which I showed him all possible attention. But my steady refusal\nto do more for him only deepened the wound, and at the same time the\npoor young man had the misfortune of being stripped of nearly all his\nproperty by his faithless brother, to whom he had intrusted the sale of\nall he owned, so that he saw himself compelled to accept small sums from\nme for the payment of his daily food and the necessary medicines.\n\n\"At last he recovered part of his property, but his health was ruined;\nand as I thought I was rendering him a real service by widening the\ndistance between us, I refused henceforth to receive his letters and his\nvisits.\n\n\"Thus matters went on for two years and a half, when he died. He had\nsent for me, wishing to enjoy the happiness of seeing me once more in\nhis last moments, but my friends would not allow me to go. He had no one\nnear him except his servants and an old lady, who had of late been his\nonly companion. Our lodgings were far apart: his near the\nChaussee-d'Antin, where only a few houses had as yet been built, and\nmine near the Abbey of St. Martin. My daily guests were an agent, who\nattended to all my professional duties, Mr. Pipelet, well known and\nbeloved by all who knew him, and Rosely, one of my fellow-comedians, a\nkind young man full of wit and talent. We had modest little suppers, but\nwe were merry and enjoyed ourselves heartily. One evening I had just\nbeen singing several pretty airs which seemed to delight my friends,\nwhen the clock struck eleven, and at the same moment an extremely sharp\ncry was heard. Its plaintive sound and long duration amazed everybody; I\nfainted away and remained for nearly a quarter of an hour unconscious.\n\n\"My agent was in love with me and so mad with jealousy that when I\nrecovered, he overwhelmed me with reproaches, and said the signals for\nmy interview were rather loud. I told him that as I had the right to\nreceive when and whom I chose, no signals were needed, and this cry had\nsurely been heart-rending enough to convince him that it announced no\nsweet moments. My paleness, my tremor, which lasted for some time, my\ntears flowing silently and almost unconsciously, and my urgent request\nthat somebody would stay up with me during the night, all these signs\nconvinced him of my innocence. My friends remained with me, discussing\nthe fearful cry, and determining finally to station guards around the\nhouse.\n\n\"Nevertheless the dread sound was repeated night after night; my\nfriends, all the neighbors, and even the policemen who were stationed\nnear us, heard it distinctly; it seemed to be uttered immediately under\nmy window, where nothing could ever be seen. There was no doubt\nentertained as to the person for whom it was intended, for whenever I\nsupped out, no cry was heard; but frequently after my return, when I\nentered my room and inquired about it of my mother and my servants, it\nsuddenly pierced the air anew. Once the president of the court, at whose\nhouse I had been entertained, proposed to see me home in safety; at the\nmoment when he wished me good-night at the door, the cry was heard right\nbetween us, and the poor man had to be lifted into his carriage more\ndead than alive.\n\n\"Another time my young companion, Rosely, a clever, witty man, who\nbelieved in nothing in heaven or on earth, was riding with me in my\ncarriage on our way to a friend who lived in a distant part of the city.\nWe were discussing the fearful torment to which I was exposed, and he,\nlaughing at me, at last declared he would never believe it unless he\nheard it with his own ears, and defied me to summon my lover. I do not\nknow how I came to yield, but instantly the cry was repeated three\ntimes, and with overwhelming fierceness. When our carriage reached the\nhouse, the servants found us both lying unconscious on the cushions, and\nhad to summon assistance before we recovered. After this I heard nothing\nfor several months, and began to hope that all was over. But I was sadly\nmistaken.\n\n\"The members of the king's troop of comedians had all been ordered to\nappear at Versailles, in honor of the dauphin's marriage, and as we were\nto spend three days there, lodgings had been provided. It so happened,\nhowever, that a friend of mine, Mme. Grandval, had been forgotten, and\nseeing her trouble, I at last offered her, towards three o'clock in the\nmorning, to share my room, in which there were two beds. This forced me\nto take my maid into my own bed, and as she was in the act of coming, I\nsaid to her: 'Here we are at the end of the world, the weather is\nabominable, and the cry would find it hard to follow us here!' At that\nmoment it resounded close to us; Mme. Grandval jumped up terribly\nfrightened, and ran through the whole house, waking everybody, and\nkeeping us all in such a state of excitement that not an eye was closed\nthe whole night. Seven or eight days later, as I was chatting merrily\nwith a number of friends, at the striking of the hour, a shot was\nheard, coming apparently through my window. We all heard it and saw the\nfire, but the pane was not broken. Everybody thought at once of an\nattempt to murder me, and some friends hastened instantly to the Chief\nof Police. Men were immediately sent to search the houses opposite, and\nfor several days and nights the street was strictly guarded by a number\nof soldiers; my own house was searched from roof to cellar, and friends\ncame in large companies to assist in watchings: nevertheless, the shot\nfell night after night at the same hour, for three months, with\nunfailing accuracy. No clue was found and no sign was seen save the\nsound of the shot and the sight of the fire. Daily reports of the\noccurrence were sent to the headquarters of the police, new measures\nwere continually devised and applied, but the authorities were baffled\nas well as all who tried to fathom the mystery. I became at last quite\naccustomed to the disturbance, and was in the habit of speaking of it as\nthe doing of a _bon diable_, because he contented himself so long a time\nwith jugglers' tricks; but one night as I had stepped through the open\nwindow out upon a balcony, and was standing there with my agent by my\nside, the shot suddenly fell again and knocked us both back into the\nroom, where we fell down as if dead. When we recovered our\nconsciousness, we got up, and after some hesitation, confessed to each\nother that our ears had been severely boxed, his on the right side and\nmine on the left, whereupon we gave way to hearty laughter. The next\nnight was quiet, but on the following day I was riding with my maid to\na friend's house, where I had been invited to meet some acquaintances.\nAs we passed through a certain part of the city, I recognized the houses\nin the bright moonlight, and said jestingly: 'This looks very much like\nthe part of town where poor S. used to live.' At the same moment a near\nchurch clock struck eleven, and instantly a shot was fired at us from\none of the buildings, which seemed to pass through our carriage. The\ncoachman thought we had been attacked by robbers, and whipped his horses\nto escape; I knew what it meant, but still felt thoroughly frightened,\nand reached the house in a state little suited for social enjoyment.\nThis was, however, the last time my unfortunate friend used a gun.\n\n\"In place of the firing there came now a loud clapping of hands, with\ncertain modulations and repetitions. This sound, to which I had become\naccustomed on the stage by the kindness of my friends, did not disturb\nme as much as my companions. They would station themselves around my\ndoor and under my window; they heard it distinctly, but could not see a\ntrace of any person. I do not remember how long this continued; but it\nwas followed by the singing of a sweet, almost heavenly melody, which\nbegan at the upper end of the street and gradually swelled till it\nreached my house, where it slowly expired. Then the disturbance ceased\naltogether.\n\n\"The only light that was ever thrown upon the mystery came from an old\nlady who called on me on the pretext of wishing to see my house which I\nhad offered for rent. I was very much struck by her venerable appearance\nand her evident emotion. I offered her a chair and sat down opposite to\nher, but was for some time unable to say a word. At last she seemed to\ngather courage and told me that she had long wished to make my\nacquaintance, but had not dared to come so long as I was constantly\nsurrounded by hosts of friends and admirers. At last she had happened to\nsee my advertisement and availed herself of the opportunity in order to\nsee me--and to visit my house, which had a deep though melancholy\ninterest in her eyes. I guessed at once that she was the faithful friend\nwho alone remained by the bedside of poor S., when he was prostrated by\na fatal disease and refused to see anybody else. For months, she now\ntold me, he had spoken of nothing save of myself, looking upon me now as\nan angel and now as a demon, but utterly unable to keep his thoughts\nfrom dwelling uninterruptedly upon the one subject which filled his mind\nand his heart alike. I tried to explain to the old lady how I had fully\nappreciated his good qualities and noble impulses, finding it, however,\nimpossible to fall in with his peculiar views of society and to promise,\nas he insisted I should do, to forsake all I loved for the purpose of\nliving with him in loneliness and complete retirement. I told her, also,\nthat when he sent for me to see him in his last moments, my friends\nprevented my going, and that I felt myself that the sight of his death\nunder such circumstances would have been dangerous in the extreme to my\npeace of mind, besides being utterly useless to the dying man. She\nadmitted the force of my reasoning, but repeated that my refusal had\nhastened his end and deprived him at the last moment of all\nself-control. In this state of mind, when a few minutes before eleven,\nthe servant had entered and assured him in answer to his passionate\ninquiry, that no one had come, he had exclaimed: 'The heartless woman!\nShe shall gain nothing by her cruelty, for I will pursue her after death\nas I have pursued her during life!' and with these words on his lips he\nhad expired.\"\n\nThe impression produced by this thoroughly authenticated recital is a\nstrong argument in favor of a continued connection after death of the\nhuman soul with the world in which we live. There was a man whose whole\nexistence was absorbed by one great and all-pervading passion; it\nbrought ruin to his body and disabled his mind from correcting the\nvagaries of his fancy. He died in this state, with a sense of grievous\nwrong and intense thirst of revenge uppermost in his mind. Then follow a\nnumber of magic phenomena, witnessed, for several years, by thousands of\nattached friends and curious observers, defying the vigilance of\nsoldiers and the acuteness of police agents. These disturbances, at\nfirst bearing the stamp of willful annoyance, gradually assume a milder\nform, as if expressive of softening indignation; they become weaker and\nless frequent, and finally cease altogether, suggestive of the peace\nwhich the poor erring soul had at last found, by infinite mercy and\ngoodness, when safely entering the desired haven.\n\nOn the other hand--for contrasts meet here as well as elsewhere--these\nphenomena have been frequently ascribed to purely physical causes, and\nin a number of cases the final explanation has confirmed this\nsuggestion. A hypochondriac artist, for instance, was nightly disturbed\nby a low but furious knocking in his bed, which was heard by others as\nwell as by himself. He prayed, he caused priests to come to his bedside,\nhe had masses read in his behalf, but all remained in vain. Then came a\nplain, sensible friend, who, half in jest and half in earnest, covered\nhis big toe with a brass wire which he dipped into an alkaline solution,\nand behold, the knockings ceased and never returned! (Dupotel, \"Animal\nMagn.\") In another case a somnambulistic woman frightened herself as\nwell as others by most violent knockings whenever she was disappointed\nor thwarted; her physician, suspecting the cause, finally gave her\nantispasmodic remedies, and it soon appeared that in her nervous spasms\nthe muscles had been vibrating forcibly enough to produce these\ndisturbances. Since these discoveries it has been found that almost\nanybody may produce such knockings--which stand in a suspicious\nrelationship to spirit-rappings--by exerting certain muscles of the leg;\nsome men, who have practised this trick for scientific purposes, like\nProfessor Schiff, of Florence, are able to imitate almost all the\nvarious knockings generally ascribed to ghosts and spirits. The public\nperformances of Mr. Chauncey Burr, in New York, gave very striking\nillustrations of this power, and a Mr. Shadrach Barnes rapped with his\ntoes to perfection.\n\nIn a large number of cases such phenomena appear in connection with\npersons who suffer of some nervous disease, and then the knockings are,\nof course, produced unconsciously, and may be accompanied by evidences\nof exceptional powers. It need not be added, however, that the two\nsymptoms are not necessarily of the same nature; generally the\nmechanical knockings precede the development of ecstatic visions. A girl\nof eleven years, the child of humble Alsatian parents, presented, in\n1852, this succession of symptoms very strikingly. The child had a habit\nof falling asleep at all hours; at once mysterious knockings began to\nperform a dance or a march, and continued daily for more than an hour.\nAfter some time the poor girl began, also, to talk in her sleep, and to\nconverse with the knocking agent. She would order him to beat a tattoo,\nor to play a quickstep, and immediately it was done. The directions of\nbystanders, even when not uttered but merely formed earnestly in their\nmind, were obeyed in like manner. Finally the child, getting no doubt\nworse and unmercifully excited by the crowds of curious people who\nthronged the house, began to admonish her audience, and to preach and\npray; during these exhortations no knockings were heard, but she became\nclairvoyant and recognized all the persons present, even with her eyes\nclosed. She fancied that a black man with a red shawl produced the\nknockings and delivered the speeches. Her clairvoyance became at last so\nstriking that her case excited the deepest interest of persons in high\nsocial position, and several physicians examined it with great care. Her\ndisease was declared to be neurosis coeliaca (\"Magicon,\" v. 274).\n\nA very peculiar and utterly inexplicable phenomenon belonging to this\nclass of ghostly appearances is the complete removal of persons by an\nunseen power. The idea of such occurrences must have been current among\nthe Jews, for when \"there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire\n... and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven\" (II. Kings ii. 11),\nthe sons of the prophets did not at once resign themselves, but sent\nfifty strong men to seek him, \"lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord\nhath taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley\"\n(v. 16). In the New Testament the same mysterious removal is mentioned\nin the case of Philip, after his interview with the Ethiopian, whom he\nbaptized. \"The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch\nsaw him no more,\" and \"Philip was found at Azotus\" (Acts viii. 39, 40).\nWhat in these cases was done by divine power, is said to be occasionally\nthe work of an unknown and unseen force. Generally, no doubt, men or\nchildren lose themselves by accident, either when they are already from\nillness or other cause in a state of semi-consciousness, or when they\nbecome so bewildered and frightened by the accident itself, that they\nfancy they must have been carried away by a mysterious power. The best\nauthenticated case is reported in Beaumont (p. 65). An Irish steward,\ncrossing a field, saw in it a large company feasting, and was invited to\njoin their meal. One of them, however, warned him in a whisper not to\naccept anything that should be offered. Upon his refusal to eat, the\ntable vanished and the men were seen dancing to a merry music. He was\nagain invited to join, and when he refused, all disappeared, and he\nfound himself alone. He hurried home thoroughly terrified, and fainted\naway in his room. During the night he dreamt--or really saw--that one of\nthe mysterious company appeared at his bedside and announced to him that\nif he dare leave the house on the following day, he would be carried\naway. He remained at home till the evening, when, thinking himself safe,\nhe stepped across the threshold. Instantly his companions saw him, with\na rope around his body, hurried away so fast that they could not follow.\nAt last they meet a horseman whom they request by signs to arrest the\nunhappy victim; he seizes the rope and receives a smart blow, but\nrescues the steward. Lord Orrery desired to see the man, and when the\nlatter presented himself before the earl, he reported that another\nnightly visitor had threatened him as before. He was, thereupon, placed\nin a large room under the guard of several stout men; a number of\ndistinguished persons, two bishops among them, went constantly in and\nout. In the afternoon he was suddenly lifted into the air; a famous\nboxer, Greatrix, who had been specially engaged to guard him, and\nanother powerful man, seized him by the shoulders, but he was dragged\nfrom their grasp and for some time carried about high above their heads,\ntill at last he fell into the arms of some of his keepers. During the\nnight the same apparition stood once more by his bed-side, inviting him\nto drink of a gray porridge, which would cure him of all ills and\nprotect him against further violence. He suffered himself to be\npersuaded, when the visitor made himself known as a former friend who\nhad to attend those mysterious meetings in punishment of the dissolute\nlife he had led upon earth, and who now wished to save another unhappy\nfellow-being from a like sad fate. At the same time he reminded him of\nhis neglect to pray, and then disappeared. The steward speedily\nrecovered from his fright, and was no further molested. There can be\nlittle doubt that the man was ill at ease in body and in conscience, and\nthat this double burden was too heavy to bear for his mind; his thoughts\nbecame disordered, till he felt an apparently external power stronger\nthan his own will, and thus not only imagined strange visions, but\nactually obeyed erratic impulses of his diseased mind, as if they were\nacts of violence from without.\n\nA favorite pastime of these pseudo-ghosts is the throwing of stones at\nthe buildings or even into the rooms of those whom they wish to annoy.\nGood Cotton Mather loved to tell stories of such perverse proceedings,\nand states at length the sufferings of George Walton, at Portsmouth, in\n1682. Invisible hands threw such a hailstorm of stones against his\nhouse, that the door was burst open, although the inhabitants, when hit\nby the stones, only felt a slight touch. Then the stones began to fly\nabout inside, and to destroy the window-panes from within; when picked\nup by some of the witnesses, they proved to be burning hot; they were\nmarked and placed upon a table, whereupon they commenced to fly about\nonce more. It is characteristic of the whole proceeding that the only\nperson really injured by the operation was the owner of the house, a\nquaker! The learned author delights also in recitals of children who\nwere plagued by evil spirits, having forks and knives, pins and sharp\nscissors stuck into their backs, and whose food, at the moment when it\nwas to be carried from the plate to the mouth, flew away, leaving yarn,\nashes, and vile things to reach the palate! At other times the\ndisturbance assumes a somewhat more dignified form, and appears as the\nringing of bells. Thus Baxter tells us of a house at Colne Priory, in\nEssex, where, for a time, every morning at two o'clock a large bell was\nheard, while in the parish of Wilcot, a smaller bell waked the vicar\nnight after night with its tinkling, and yet could not be heard outside\nof the dwelling. Physicians know very well how readily the pressure of\nblood to certain vessels in the head produces the impression of the\nringing of bells, and experience tells us how easily men are made to\nbelieve that they see or hear what others assure them is seen or heard\nby everybody. Even the great John Wesley seems not to have been fully\nconvinced of the purely natural character of such disturbances, when\nthey annoyed his venerable father at Epworth Rectory; and Dr. Priestley,\na calm and cautious writer, says of these phenomena: \"It is perhaps the\nbest-authenticated and the best-told story of the kind that is anywhere\nextant, on which account, and to exercise the ingenuity of some\nspeculative person, I thought it not undeserved of being published.\" It\nseems that in 1716 the rectory became the scene of strange disturbances,\nwhich were at first ascribed to one of the minister's enemies, Jeffrey.\nThe inmates heard an incessant walking about, sighing and groaning,\ncackling and crowing; a hand-mill was set whirling around by invisible\nhands, and the Amen! with which Wesley's father ended the family prayer\nwas accompanied by a noise like thunder. Even the faithful watchdog was\ndisturbed and his instinct overawed, for he sought refuge with men, and\nbarked furiously, till his excitement rose to a state resembling\nmadness, he even anticipated the coming of the disturbance, and\nannounced it by his intense agitation.\n\nThe subject is one of extreme difficulty because of the large number of\ncases in which all such disturbances have been clearly traced to the\nagency of dissatisfied servants, hidden enemies, or envious neighbors,\nwhose sole purpose was a desire to drive the occupant from his house, or\nto diminish its value. It is characteristic of human nature that the\ncunning and the skill displayed on such occasions even by ignorant\nservants and awkward rustics are perfectly amazing, a fact which proves\nanew the assertion of old divines, that the Devil is vastly better\nserved than the Lord of Heaven. Even the best authenticated case of such\nmysterious disturbances, Kerner's so-called Seeress of Prevorst, is not\nentirely free from all suspicion. Mrs. Hauffe, a lady of delicate\nhealth, great nervous irritability, and a mind which was, to say the\nleast, not too well balanced, became the patient of Dr. Justinus Kerner,\nin southern Germany. Besides her mysterious power to reveal unknown\nthings, to read the future, and to prescribe for herself and others, of\nwhich mention has been made before; she was also pursued by every\nvariety of strange noises. Plates and glasses, tables and chairs were\nviolently thrown about in the house in which she lived; a medicine phial\nrose slowly into the air and had to be brought back by one of the\nbystanders, and an easy-chair was lifted up to the ceiling, but came\ndown again quite gently. The suffering woman was the only one who knew\nthe cause of these phenomena; she ascribed them all to a dark spirit,\nBelon's companion, who appeared to her as a black column of smoke, with\na hideous head, and whose approach oppressed even some of the\nbystanders--especially the patient's sister. He was not content with\ndisturbing Mrs. Hauffe only, but carried his wantonness even into the\nhomes of distant friends and kinsmen. A pious minister, who frequently\nvisited the poor sufferer, was contagiously affected by the ill-fated\natmosphere of her house; night after night he was waked up, by a \"bright\nspirit,\" who coughed and sighed and sobbed in his presence, till a\nfervent prayer drove him away; if the poor divine, however, prayed only\nfaintly or entertained doubts in his heart, the spirit mocked him with\nincreased energy. Later even the minister's wife succumbed, saw the same\nluminous appearances and heard the same mysterious noises, till the\nwhole matter was suddenly brought to an end by an amulet! To this class\nof occurrences belongs also the experience of the Rev. Dr. Phelps of\nStratford, Connecticut. One fine day he found, upon returning from\nchurch, that all the doors of his house, which he had carefully locked,\nwere open and everything in the lower rooms in a state of boundless\nconfusion. Nothing, however, had been stolen. In the upper story a room\nwas found to be occupied by eight or ten persons diligently reading in\nan open Bible, which each one held close to his face. Upon examination\nthese readers were discovered to be bundles of clothes carefully and\nmost cunningly arranged so as to represent living beings. Everything was\ncleared away and the room was locked; but in three minutes, the\nclothing, which had been put aside, disappeared, and when the door was\nopened the same scene was presented. For seven long months the house was\nhaunted by most extraordinary phenomena; noises of every kind were\nheard by day as well as by night; utensils and window-panes were broken\nbefore the eyes of numerous witnesses by invisible hands, and the son of\nthe house, eleven years old, was bodily lifted up and carried away to\nsome distance. The most searching inquiry led to no result, until at\nlast Dr. Phelps, almost in despair, applied to some spiritualists, and\nin consequence of the hints he received was enabled to bring the\ndisturbances to a speedy end (_Rechenberg_, p. 58).\n\nStone-throwing seems to be a favorite amusement with Eastern ghosts\nalso; at least we are told that it is quite frequent in the western part\nof the Island of Java, where the Sunda people live amid gigantic\nmountains and still active volcanoes. They believe in good and evil\nspirits, and are firmly convinced that constant intercourse is kept up\nbetween earth-born men and heavenly beings. The whole Indian Archipelago\nis filled with the latter, and hence, the throwing of stones, sand and\ngravel, by invisible hands, has a name of its own, it is called\nGundarua. Some thirty years ago, a German happened to be\nAssistant-Resident at Sumadang, in the service of the Dutch government.\nHis wife had taken a fancy to a native child ten years old, who was\nallowed to go in and out the house at will. One morning during the\nGerman's absence, the child's white dress was found to be soiled all\nover with red betel-juice, and at the moment when her patroness made\nthis discovery, a stone fell apparently from the ceiling, at her feet.\nThe same phenomenon was repeated over and over again, till the lady, in\nher distress, appealed to a neighboring native sovereign, who promised\nhis assistance. He sent immediately a large force of armed men, who\nsurrounded the house and watched the room; nevertheless, the red spots\nreappeared and stones fell as before. Towards evening, a Mohammedan\nmufti, of high rank, was sent for; but he had scarcely opened his Koran,\nto read certain sentences for the purpose of exorcising the demons, when\nthe sacred book was hurled to one side and the lamp to another. The lady\ntook the child to the prince's residence to spend the night there, and\nno disturbance occurred. But when her husband, for whom swift messengers\nhad been sent out, returned on the following day, the same trouble\noccurred; the child was spit at with betel-juice and stones kept falling\nfrom on high. Soon the report reached the Governor-General at\nBreitenzorg, who thereupon sent a man of great military renown, a Major\nMichiels, to investigate the matter. Once more the house was surrounded\nby an armed force, even the neighboring trees were carefully guarded,\nand the major took the little girl upon his knees. In spite of all these\nprecautions, her dress was soon covered with red spots, and stones flew\nabout as before. No one, however, was injured. They were gathered up,\nproved to be wet or hot, as if just picked up in the road, and at night\nfilled a huge box. The same process continued, when a huge sheet of\nlinen had been stretched from wall to wall, so as to form an inner\nceiling under the real ceiling; and now not only stones, but also fruit\nfrom the surrounding trees, freshly gathered, and mortar from the\nkitchen fell into the newly formed tent. At the same time the furniture\nwas repeatedly disturbed, tumblers and wineglasses tossed about, and\nmarks left on the large mirror as if a moist hand had been passed over\nthe surface. The marvelous occurrences were duly reported to the home\ngovernment, and the king, William II., ordered that no pains should be\nspared to clear up the matter. But no explanation was ever obtained;\nonly the fact was ascertained that similar phenomena had been repeatedly\nobserved in other parts of the island also, and were considered quite\nordinary occurrences by the natives. Certain families, it may be added,\nclaim to have inherited from their ancestors the power to make\nthemselves invisible, a gift which is almost invariably accompanied by\nthe Gundarua; as these native families gradually die out, the symptoms\nof the latter also disappear more and more. There is no doubt that here,\nas in the Russian _poganne_ (cursed places which are haunted by ghosts),\nthe belief in such appearances, bequeathed through long ages from father\nto son, has finally obtained a force which renders it equal to reality\nitself. Reason is not only biased, but actually held bound; the mind is\nwrought up to a state of excitement in which it ceases to see clearly,\nand finally visions assume an overwhelming force, which ends in symptoms\nof what is called magic. The same law applies, for instance, to the\nancient home of charmers and magicians, the land of the Nile, where\nalso the studies of the ancient Magi have been assumed by a succession\nof learned men, till they were taken up by fanatic Mohammedans, whose\ncreed arranges invisible beings, angels, demons, and others, in regular\norder, and assigns them a home in distinct parts of the universe. It is\nnot without interest to observe that even Europeans, after a long\nresidence in the Orient, become deeply imbued with such notions, and men\nlike Bayle St. John, in his account of magic performances which he\nwitnessed, do not seem able to remain altogether impartial.\n\nOne of the most remarkable phenomena belonging to this branch of magic\nis the appearance of living or recently deceased persons to friends or\nsupplicants. The peculiarity in this case consists in the constantly\nchanging character of the appearance: the double--as it is called--is\nthe vision of the dying man, which appears to others or to his own\nsenses. The former class of cases was well known in antiquity, for\nPythagoras already had, according to popular report, appeared to\nnumerous friends before he died. Herodotus and Maximus Tyrius state\nboth, that Aristaeus sent his spirit into different lands to acquire\nknowledge, and Epimenides and Hernestinus, from Claromenae, were\npopularly believed to be able to visit, when in a state of ecstasy, all\ndistant countries, and to return at pleasure. St. Augustine, also,\nstates (\"Sermon,\" 123) that he, himself, had appeared to two persons who\nhad known him only by reputation, and advised them to go to Hippons in\norder to obtain their health there by the intercession of St. Stephen.\nThey really went to the place and recovered from their disease. At\nanother time his form appeared to a famous teacher of eloquence in\nCarthage and explained to him several most difficult passages in\nCicero's writings (_De cura pro mortuis_, ch. ii). The saints of the\nCatholic church having possessed the gift of being in several places at\nonce, apparently so very generally, that the miracle has lost its\ninterest, except where peculiar circumstances seem to suggest the true\nexplanation. Such was, for instance, the last-mentioned case, recited by\nSt. Augustine (_De Civ. Dei._ l. 8. ch. 18). Praestantius requested a\nphilosopher to solve to him some doubts, but received no answer. The\nfollowing night, however, when Praestantius lay awake, troubled by his\ndifficulties, he suddenly saw his learned friend standing by his bedside\nand heard from his lips all he desired to know. Upon meeting him next\nday, he inquired why he had been unwilling to explain the matter in the\ndaytime, and thus caused himself the trouble of coming at midnight to\nhis house. \"I never came to your house,\" was the reply, \"but I dreamt\nthat I did.\" Here was very evidently a case of magic activity on the\npart of the philosopher, whose mind was, in his sleep, busily engaged in\nsolving the propounded mystery and thus affected not himself only, but\nhis absent friend likewise.\n\nThe story of Dr. Donne's vision is well known, and deserves all the more\nserious attention as his candor was above suspicion, and his judgment\nheld in the highest esteem. He formed part of an embassy sent to Henry\nIV. of France, and had been two days in Paris, thinking constantly and\nanxiously of his wife, whom he had left ill in London. Towards noon he\nsuddenly fell into a kind of trance, and when he recovered his senses\nrelated to his friends that he had seen his beloved wife pass him twice,\nas she walked across the room, her hair dishevelled and her child dead\nin her arms. When she passed him the second time, she looked sadly into\nhis face and then disappeared. His fears were aroused to such a degree\nby this vision that he immediately dispatched a special messenger to\nEngland, and twelve days later he received the afflicting news that on\nthat day and at that hour his wife had, after great and protracted\nsuffering, been delivered of a still-born infant (Beaumont, p. 96). In\nMacnish's excellent work on \"Sleep,\" we find (p. 180) the following\naccount: \"A Mr. H. went one day, apparently in the enjoyment of full\nhealth, down the street, when he saw a friend of his, Mr. C., who was\nwalking before him. He called his name aloud, but the latter pretended\nnot to hear him, and steadily walked on. H. hastened his steps to\novertake him, but his friend also hurried on, and thus remained at the\nsame distance from him; thus the two walked for some time, till suddenly\nMr. C. entered a gateway, and when Mr. H. was about to follow, slammed\nthe door violently in his face. Perfectly amazed at such unusual\nconduct, Mr. H. opened the door and looked down the long passage, upon\nwhich it opened, but saw no one. Determined to solve the mystery, he\nhurried to his friend's house, and there, to his great astonishment,\nlearnt that Mr. C. had been confined to his bed for some days. It was\nnot until several weeks later that the two friends met at the house of a\ncommon acquaintance; Mr. H. told Mr. C. of his adventure, and added\nlaughingly, that having seen his double, he was afraid Mr. C. would not\nlive long. These words were received by all with hearty laughter; but\nonly a few days after this meeting the unfortunate friend was seized\nwith a violent illness, to which he speedily succumbed.\" What is most\nremarkable, however, is that Mr. H. also followed him, quite\nunexpectedly, soon to the grave. Whatever may have been the nature of\nthe event itself, it cannot be doubted that the minds of both friends\nwere far more deeply impressed by its mysteriousness than they would\nprobably have been willing to acknowledge to themselves, and that the\nnervous excitement thus produced brought out an illness lurking already\nin their system, and rendered it fatal. A very remarkable case was that\nof a distinguished diplomat, related by A. Moritz in his \"Psychology.\"\nHe was lying in bed, sleepless, when he noticed his pet dog becoming\nrestless, and apparently disturbed to the utmost by a rustling and\nwhisking about in the room, which he heard but could not explain.\nSuddenly a kind of white vapor rose by his bed-side, and gradually\nassumed the outline and even the features of his mother; he especially\nnoticed a purple ribbon in her cap. He jumped out of bed and endeavored\nto embrace her, but she fled before him and as suddenly vanished,\nleaving a bright glare at the place where she had disappeared. It was\nfound, afterwards, that at that hour--10 o'clock A. M.--the old lady had\nbeen ill unto death, lying still and almost breathless on her couch; she\nhad felt the anguish of death in her heart, and had thought so anxiously\nof her son and her sister, that her first question when she recovered\nwas, whether she had not perhaps been visited by the two persons who had\nthus occupied her whole mind. It was also ascertained that, contrary to\na life's habit, she had on that day worn a purple ribbon in her\nnight-cap. A German professor once succeeded in establishing the\nconnection which undoubtedly exists between the will of certain persons\nand their appearance to others. He had only been married a year in 1823,\nwhen he was compelled to leave his wife and to undertake a long and\nperilous journey. Once, sitting in a peculiarly sad and dejected mood\nalone in a room of his hotel, he longed so ardently for the society of\nhis wife, that he felt in his heart as if, by a great effort of will, he\nshould be able to see her. He made the effort, and, behold! he saw her\nsitting at her work-table, busily engaged in sewing, and himself, as was\nhis habit, on a low foot-stool by her side. She tried to conceal her\nwork from his eyes. A few days later a messenger reached him, sent by\nhis wife, who was in great consternation and anxiety. On that day she\nalso had suddenly seen her husband seated by her side, attentively\nwatching her at work, and continuing there till her father entered the\nroom, upon which the professor had instantly disappeared. When he\nreturned to his house he made minute inquiries as to the work he had\nseen in the hands of his wife, and this was of such peculiar character\nas to exclude all ideas of a mere dream on his part. Here also the\nsupreme will of the professor must have endowed him for the moment with\nexceptional powers, enabling him to make himself visible to his wife,\nwhile the latter, with the ardent love which bound her to her husband,\nwas at the same moment sympathetically excited, and thus enabled to\nsecond his will, and to behold him as she was accustomed to see him most\nfrequently.\n\nOwen in his \"Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World,\" reports fully\na remarkable case here repeated only in outline. Robert Bruce, thirty\nyears old, served as mate on board a merchant vessel on the line between\nLiverpool and St. John in New Brunswick. When the ship was near the\nbanks he was one day about noon busy calculating the longitude, and\nthinking that the captain was in his cabin--the next to his own--he\ncalled out to him: How have you found it? Looking back over his\nshoulder, he saw the captain writing busily at his desk, and as he heard\nno answer, he went in and repeated his question. To his horror the man\nat the desk raised his head and revealed to him the face of an entire\nstranger, who regarded him fixedly. In a state of great excitement he\nrushed to the upper deck, where he found the captain and told him what\nhad occurred. Thereupon both went down; there was no one in the cabin,\nbut on the captain's slate an unknown hand had written these words:\nSteer NW.! No effort was spared to solve the mystery; the whole vessel\nwas searched from end to end, but no stranger was discovered; even the\nhandwriting of every member of the crew was examined, but nothing found\nresembling in the least degree the mysterious warning. After some\nhesitation the captain decided, as nothing was likely to be lost by so\ndoing, to obey the behest and ordered the helmsman to steer northwest. A\nfew hours later they encountered the wreck of a vessel fastened to an\niceberg, with a large crew and a number of passengers, in expectation of\ncertain death. When the unfortunate men were brought back by the ship's\nboats, Bruce suddenly started in utter amazement, for in one of the\nsaved men he recognized, by dress and features, the person he had seen\nat the captain's desk in the cabin. The stranger was requested to write\ndown the words: Steer NW.! and when the words were compared with those\nstill standing on the slate, they were identical! Upon inquiry it turned\nout that the shipwrecked man had at noon fallen into a deep sleep,\nduring which he had seen a ship approaching to their rescue. When he had\nbeen waked half an hour later he had confidently assured his\nfellow-sufferers that they would be rescued, describing even the vessel\nthat was to come to their assistance. Words cannot convey the amazement\nof the unfortunate men when they saw, a few hours afterwards, a ship\nbear down upon them, which bore all the marks predicted by their\ncompanion, and the latter assured Robert Bruce that everything on board\nthe vessel appeared to him perfectly familiar.\n\nCases in which men have been seen at the same time at two different\nplaces are not less frequent, though here the explanation is much less\neasy. A French girl, Emilie Sagee, had even to pay a severe penalty for\nsuch a peculiarity: she was continually met with at various places at\nonce, and as she could not give a satisfactory excuse for being at one\nplace when her duties required her to be at another, she was suspected\nof sad misconduct. She lived as governess in a boarding-school in\nLivonia, and the girls of the institute saw her at the same time sitting\namong them and walking below in the garden by the side of a friend, and\nnot unfrequently two Miss Sagees would be seen standing before the\nblackboard, looking exactly alike and performing the same motions,\nalthough one of them only wrote with chalk on the board. Once, while she\nwas helping a friend to lace her dress behind, the latter looked into\nthe mirror and to her horror saw two persons standing there, whereupon\nshe fell down fainting. The poor French girl lost her place not less\nthan nineteen times on account of her double existence (Owen,\n\"Footfalls,\" etc., p. 348).\n\nOccasionally this \"double\" appears to others at the same time that it is\nseen by the owner himself. Thus the Empress Elizabeth, of Russia, was\nseen by a Count O. and the Imperial Guards, seated in full regalia on\nher throne, in the throne-room, while she was lying fast asleep in her\nbed. The vision was so distinct, and the terror of the beholders so\ngreat, that the Empress was actually waked, and informed of what had\nhappened, by her lady-in-waiting, who had herself seen the whole scene.\nThe dauntless Empress did not hesitate for a moment; she dressed hastily\nand went to the throne-room; when the doors were thrown open, she saw\nherself, as the others had seen her; but so far from being terrified\nlike her servants, she ordered the guard to fire at the apparition. When\nthe smoke had passed away, the hall was empty--but the brave Empress\ndied a few months latter (_Bl. aus Prevost_, V. p. 92). Jung Stilling\nmentions another striking illustration. A young lieutenant, full of\nhealth and in high spirits, returns home from a merry meeting with old\nfriends. As he approaches the house in which he lives, he sees lights in\nhis room and, to his great terror, himself in the act of being undressed\nby his servant; as he stands and gazes in speechless wonder, he sees\nhimself walk to his bed and lie down. He remains for some time\ndumbfounded and standing motionless in the street, till at last a dull,\nheavy crash arouses him from his revery. He makes an effort, goes to the\ndoor and rings the bell; his servant, who opens the door, starts back\nfrightened, and wonders how he could have dressed so quickly and gone\nout, as he had but just helped him to undress. When they enter the\nbedroom, however, they are both still more amazed, for there they find a\nlarge part of the ceiling on the bed of the officer, which is broken to\npieces by the heavy mortar that had fallen down. The young lieutenant\nsaw in the warning a direct favor of Providence and lived henceforth so\nas to show his gratitude for this almost miraculous escape (\"Jenseits,\"\np. 105).\n\nNot unfrequently the seeing of a \"double\" is the result of physical or\nmental disease. Persons suffering of catalepsy are especially prone to\nsee their own forms mixing with strange persons, who people the room in\nwhich they are confined. Insanity, also, very often begins with the\nidea, that the patient's own image is constantly by his side,\naccompanying him like his shadow wherever he goes, and finally\nirritating him beyond endurance. In these cases there is, of course,\nnothing at work but a diseased imagination, and with the return of\nhealth the visions also disappear.\n\nPerhaps the most important branch of this subject is the theory,\ncherished by all nations and in all ages, that the dying possess at the\nlast moment and by a supreme effort, the mysterious power of making\nthemselves perceptible to friends at a distance. We leave out, here\nalso, the numerous instances told of saints, because they are generally\nclaimed by the Catholic Church as miracles. One of the oldest\nwell-authenticated cases of the kind, occurred at the court of Cosmo\nde' Medici, in 1499. In the brilliant circle of eminent men which the\ngreat merchant prince had gathered around him, two philosophers, Michael\nMercatus, papal prothonotary, and Marsilius Ficinus were prominent by\ntheir vast erudition, their common devotion to Platonic philosophy, and\nthe ardent friendship which bound them to each other. They had solemnly\nagreed that he who should die first, should convey to the other some\ninformation about the future state. Ficinus died first, and his friend,\nwriting early in the morning near a window, suddenly heard a horseman\ndashing up to his house, checking his horse and crying out: \"Michael!\nMichael! nothing is more true than what is said of the life to come!\"\nMercatus immediately opened the window and saw his bosom friend riding\nat full speed down the road, on his white horse, until he was out of\nsight. He returned, full of thought, to his studies; but wrote at once\nto inquire about his friend. In due time the answer came, that Ficinus\nhad died in Florence at the very moment in which Mercatus had seen him\nin Rome. Our authority for this remarkable account is the Cardinal\nBaronius, who knew Mercatus and heard it from his own lips; but the\ndates which he mentions do not correspond with the annals of history. He\nplaces the event in the year 1491, but Michele de' Mercati was papal\nprothonotary under Sixtus V. (1585-90) and could, therefore, not have\nbeen the friend of Ficinus, the famous physician and theologian, who\nwas one of Savonarola's most distinguished adherents.\n\nNor can we attach much weight to the old ballads of Roland, which recite\nin touching simplicity the anguish of Charlemagne, when he heard from\nafar the sound of his champion's horn imploring him to come to his\nassistance, although the two armies were at so great a distance from\neach other that when the Emperor at last reached the ill-fated valley of\nRonceval, his heroic friend had been dead for some days. Calderon\ndepicts in like manner, but with the peculiar coloring of the Spanish\ndevotee, how the dying Eusebio calls his absent friend Alberto to his\nbedside, to hear his last confession, and how the latter, obeying the\nmysterious summons, hastens there to fulfil his solemn promise.\n\nA well-known occurrence of this kind is reported by Cotton Mather as\nhaving taken place in New England. On May 2d, 1687, at 5 o'clock A. M.,\na young man, called Beacon, then living in Boston, suddenly saw his\nbrother, whom he had left in London, standing before him in his usual\ncostume, but with a bleeding wound in his forehead. He told him that he\nhad been foully murdered by a reprobate, who would soon reach New\nEngland; at the same time he described minutely the appearance of his\nmurderer, and implored his brother to avenge his death, promising him\nhis assistance. Towards the end of June official information reached the\ncolony that the young man had died on May 2d, at 5 o'clock A. M., from\nthe effects of his wounds. But here, also, several inconsistencies\ndiminish the value of the account. In the first place, the narrator has\nevidently forgotten the difference in time between London and Boston in\nAmerica, or he has purposely falsified the report, in order to make it\nmore impressive. Then the murderer never left his country; although he\nwas tried for his crime, escaped the penalty of death by the aid of\ninfluential friends. It is, however, possible that he may have had the\nintention of seeking safety abroad at the time he committed the murder.\n\nThe apparition of the great Cardinal of Lorraine at the moment of death,\nis better authenticated. D'Aubigne tells us (_Hist. Univer._ 1574, p.\n719) that the queen Catherine of Medici, was retiring one day, at an\nearlier hour than usual, in the presence of the King of Navarre, the\nArchbishop of Lyons, and a number of eminent persons, when she suddenly\nhid her eyes under her hands and cried piteously for help. She made\ngreat efforts to point out to the bystanders the form of the Cardinal,\nwhom she saw standing at the foot of her bed and offering her his hand.\nShe exclaimed repeatedly: \"Monsieur le Cardinal, I have nothing to do\nwith you!\" and was in a state of most fearful excitement. At last one of\nthe courtiers had the wit to go to the Cardinal's house, and soon\nreturned with the appalling news that the great man had died in that\nvery hour. To this class of cases belongs also the well-known vision of\nLord Lyttleton, who had been warned that he would die on a certain day,\nat midnight, and who did die at the appointed hour, although his\nfriends had purposely advanced every clock and watch in the house by\nhalf an hour, and he himself had gone to bed with his mind relieved of\nall anxiety. Jarvis, in his \"Accreditated Ghost Stories,\" p. 13, relates\nthe following remarkable case: \"When General Stuart was Governor of San\nDomingo, in the early part of our war of independence, he was one day\nanxiously awaiting a certain Major von Blomberg, who had been expected\nfor some time. At last he determined to dictate to his secretary a\ndispatch to the Home Government on this subject, when steps were heard\noutside, and the major himself entered, desiring to confer with the\nGovernor in private. He said: 'When you return to England, pray go into\nDorsetshire to such and such a farm, where you will find my son, the\nfruit of a secret union with Lady Laing. Take care of the poor orphan.\nThe woman who has reared him has the papers that establish his\nlegitimacy; they are in a red morocco pocket-book. Open it and make the\nbest use you can of the papers you will find. You will never see me\nagain.' Thereupon the major walked away, but nobody else had seen him\ncome or go, and nobody had opened the house for him. A few days later,\nnews reached the island that the vessel on which Blomberg had taken\npassage, had foundered, and all hands had perished, at the very hour\nwhen the former had appeared to his friend the Governor. It became also\nknown that the two friends had pledged each other, not only that the\nsurvivor should take care of the children of him who died first, but\nalso that he should make an effort to appear to him if permitted to do\nso. The Governor found everything as it had been told him; he took\ncharge of his friend's son, who became a _protege_ of Queen Charlotte,\nwhen she heard the remarkable story, and was educated as a companion of\nthe future George IV.\"\n\nLord Byron tells the following story of Captain Kidd. He was lying one\nnight in his cabin asleep, when he suddenly felt oppressed by a heavy\nweight apparently resting on him; he opened his eyes, and by the feeble\nlight of a small lamp he fancied he saw his brother, dressed in full\nuniform, and leaning across the bed. Under the impression that the whole\nis a mere idle delusion of his senses, he turns over and falls asleep\nonce more. But the sense of oppression returns, and upon opening his\neyes he sees the same image as before. Now he tries to seize it, and to\nhis amazement touches something wet. This terrifies him, and he calls a\nbrother officer, but when the latter enters, nothing is to be seen.\nAfter the lapse of several months Captain Kidd received information that\nin that same night his brother had been drowned in the Indian Sea. He\nhimself told the story to Lord Byron, and the latter endorsed its\naccuracy (_Monthly Rev._, 1830, p. 229).\n\nOne of the most remarkable interviews of this kind, which continued for\nsome time, and led to a prolonged and interesting conversation during\nwhich the three senses of sight, hearing, and touch, were alike\nengaged, is that which a Mrs. Bargrave had on the 8th of September,\n1805. According to an account given by Jarvis (\"Accred. Ghost Stories,\"\nLond., 1823), she was sitting in her house in Canterbury, in a state of\ngreat despondency, when a friend of hers, Miss Veal, who lived at Dover,\nand whom she had not seen for two years and a half, entered the room.\nThe two ladies had formerly been very intimate, and found equal comfort,\nduring a period of great sorrow, in reading together works treating of\nfuture life and similar subjects. Her friend wore a traveling suit, and\nthe clocks were striking noon as she entered; Mrs. Bargrave wished to\nembrace her, but Miss Veal held a hand before her eyes, stating that she\nwas unwell and drew back. She then added that she was on the point of\nmaking a long journey, and feeling an irresistible desire to see her\nfriend once more, she had come to Canterbury. She sat down in an\narmchair and began a lengthened conversation, during which she begged\nher friend's pardon for having so long neglected her, and gradually\nturned to the subject which had been uppermost in Mrs. Bargrave's mind,\nthe views entertained by various authors of the life after death. She\nattempted to console the latter, assuring her that \"a moment of future\nbliss was ample compensation for all earthly sufferings,\" and that \"if\nthe eyes of our mind were as open as those of the body, we should see a\nnumber of higher beings ready for our protection.\" She declined,\nhowever, reading certain verses aloud at her friend's request, \"because\nholding her head low gave her the headache.\" She frequently passed her\nhand over her face, but at last begged Mrs. Bargrave to write a letter\nto her brother, which surprised her friend very much, for in the letter\nshe wished her brother to distribute certain rings and sums of money\nbelonging to her among friends and kinsmen. At this time she appeared to\nbe growing ill again, and Mrs. Bargrave moved close up to her in order\nto support her, in doing so she touched her dress and praised the\nmaterials, whereupon Miss Veal told her that it was recently made, but\nof a silk which had been cleaned. Then she inquired after Mrs.\nBargrave's daughter, and the latter went to a neighboring house to fetch\nher; on her way back she saw Miss Veal at a distance in the street,\nwhich was full of people, as it happened to be market-day, but before\nshe could overtake her, her friend had turned round a corner and\ndisappeared.\n\nUpon inquiry it appeared that Miss Veal, whom she had thus seen, whose\ndress she had touched, and with whom she had conversed for nearly two\nhours, had died the day before! When the question was discussed with the\nrelatives of the deceased, it was found that she had communicated\nseveral secrets to her Canterbury friend. The fact that her dress was\nmade of an old silk-stuff was known to but one person, who had done the\ncleaning and made the dress, which she recognized instantly from the\ndescription. She had also acknowledged to Mrs. Bargrave her\nindebtedness to a Mr. Breton for an annual pension of ten pounds, a fact\nwhich had been utterly unknown during her lifetime.\n\nIn Germany a number of such cases are reported, and often by men whose\nnames alone would give authority to their statements. Thus the\nphilosopher Schopenhauer (_Parerga_, etc., I. p. 277) mentions a sick\nservant girl in Frankfort on the Main, who died one night at the Jewish\nhospital of the former Free City. Early the next morning her sister and\nher niece, who lived several miles from town, appeared at the gate of\nthe institution to make inquiries about their kinswoman. Both, though\nliving far apart, had seen her distinctly during the preceding night,\nand hence their anxiety. The famous writer E. M. Arndt, also, quotes a\nnumber of striking revelations which were in this manner made to a lady\nof his acquaintance. Thus he was once, in 1811, visiting the Island of\nRuegen, in the Baltic, and having been actively engaged all day, was\nsitting in an easy-chair, quietly nodding. Suddenly he sees his dear old\naunt Sophie standing before him; on her face her well-known sweet smile,\nand in her arms her two little boys, whom he loved like his own. She was\nholding them out to him as if she wished to say by this gesture: \"Take\ncare of the little ones!\" The next day his brother joined him and\nbrought him the news that their aunt had died on the preceding evening\nat the hour when she had appeared to Arndt. Wieland, even, by no means\ngiven to credit easily accounts of supernatural occurrences, mentions\nin his \"Euthanasia\" a Protestant lady of his acquaintance, whose mind\nwas frequently filled with extraordinary visions. She was a\nsomnambulist, and subject to cataleptic attacks. A Benedictine monk, an\nold friend of the family, had been ordered to Bellinzona, in\nSwitzerland, but his correspondence with his friends had never been\ninterrupted for years. Years after his removal the above-mentioned lady\nwas taken ill, and at once predicted the day and hour of her death. On\nthe appointed day she was cheerful and perfectly composed; at a certain\nhour, however, she raised herself slightly on her couch, and said with a\nsweet smile, \"Now it is time for me to go and say good-bye to Father C.\"\nShe immediately fell asleep, then awoke again, spoke a few words, and\ndied. At the same hour the monk was sitting in Bellinzona at his\nwriting-table, a so-called pandora, a musical instrument, by his side.\nSuddenly he hears a noise like an explosion, and looking up startled,\nsees a white figure, in whom he at once recognizes his distant friend by\nher sweet smile. When he examined his instrument he found the\nsounding-board cracked, which, no doubt, had given rise to his hearing\nwhat he considered a \"warning voice.\" The Rev. Mr. Oberlin, well-known\nand much revered in Germany, and by no means forgotten in our own\ncountry, where a prosperous college still bears his name, declares in\nhis memoirs that he had for nine years constant intercourse with his\ndeceased wife. He saw her for the first time after her death in broad\ndaylight and when he was wide awake; afterwards the conversations were\ncarried on partly in the day and partly at night. Other people in the\nvillage in which he lived saw her as well as himself. Nor was it by the\neye only that the pious, excellent man judged of her presence;\nfrequently, when he extended his hand, he would feel his fingers gently\npressed, as his wife had been in the habit of doing when she passed by\nhim and would not stop. But there was much bitterness and sorrow also\nmixed up with the sweetness of these mysterious relations. The\npassionate attachment of husband and wife could ill brook the terrible\nbarrier that separated them from each other, and often the latter would\nlook so wretched and express her grief in such heartrending words that\nthe poor minister was deeply afflicted. The impression produced on his\nmind was that her soul, forced for unknown reasons to remain for some\ntime in an intermediate state, remained warmly attached to earthly\nfriends and lamented the inability to confer with them after the manner\nof men. After nine years the husband's visions suddenly ended and he was\ninformed in a dream that his wife had been admitted into a higher\nheaven, where she enjoyed the promised peace with her Saviour, but could\nno longer commune with mortal beings.\n\nIt is well known that even the great reformer, Martin Luther, knew of\nseveral similar cases, and in his \"Table Talk\" mentions more than one\nremarkable instance.\n\nAnother well-known and much discussed occurrence of this kind happened\nin the days of Mazarin, and created a great sensation in the highest\ncircles at Paris. A marquis of Rambouillet and a marquis of Preci,\nintimate friends, had agreed to inform each other of their fate after\ndeath. The former was ordered to the army in Flanders, while the other\nremained in the capital. Here he was taken ill with a fever, several\nweeks after parting with his friend, and as he was one morning towards 6\no'clock lying in bed awake, the curtains were suddenly drawn aside, and\nhis friend dressed as usual, booted and spurred, was standing before\nhim. Overjoyed, he was about to embrace him, but his friend drew back\nand said that he had come only to keep his promise after having been\nkilled in a skirmish the day before, and that Preci also would share his\nfate in the first combat in which he should be engaged. The latter\nthinks his friend is joking, jumps up and tries to seize him--but he\nfeels nothing. The vision, however, is still there; Rambouillet even\nshows him the fatal wound in his thigh from which the blood seems still\nto be flowing. Then only he disappears and Preci remains utterly\novercome; at last he summons his valet, rouses the whole house, and\ncauses every room and every passage to be searched. No trace, however,\nis found, and the whole vision is attributed to his fever. But a few\ndays later the mail arrives from Flanders, bringing the news that\nRambouillet had really fallen in such a skirmish and died from a wound\nin the thigh; the prediction also was fulfilled, for Preci fell\nafterwards in his first fight near St. Antoine (Petaval, _Causes\nCelebres_, xii. 269).\n\nThe parents of the well-known writer Schubert were exceptionally endowed\nwith magic powers of this kind. The father once heard, as he thought in\na dream, the voice of his aged mother, who called upon him to come and\nvisit her in the distant town in which she lived, if he desired to see\nher once more before she died. He rejected the idea that this was more\nthan a common dream; but soon he heard the voice repeating the warning.\nNow he jumped up and saw his mother standing before him, extending her\nhand and saying: \"Christian Gottlob, farewell, and may God bless you;\nyou will not see me again upon earth,\" and with these words she\ndisappeared. Although no one had apprehended such a calamity, she had\nactually died at that hour, after expressing in her last moments a most\nanxious desire to see her son once more.\n\nTangible perceptions of persons dying at a distance are, of course, very\nrare. Still, more than one such case is authoritatively stated; among\nthese, the following: A lawyer in Paris had returned home and walked, in\norder to reach his own bedroom, through that of his brother. To his\ngreat astonishment he saw the latter lying in his bed; received,\nhowever, no answer to his questions. Thereupon he walked up to the bed,\ntouched his brother and found the body icy cold. Of a sudden the form\nvanished and the bed was empty. At that instant it flashed through his\nmind that he and his brother had promised each other that the one dying\nfirst should, if possible, give a sign to the survivor. When he\nrecovered from the deep emotion caused by these thoughts, he left the\nroom and as he opened the door he came across a number of men who bore\nthe body of his brother, who had been killed by a fall from his horse\n(_La Patrie_, Sept. 22, 1857). The Count of Neuilly, also, was warned in\na somewhat similar manner. He was at college and on the point of paying\na visit to his paternal home, when a letter came telling him that his\nfather was not quite well and that he had better postpone his visit a\nfew days. Later letters from his mother mentioned nothing to cause him\nany uneasiness. But several days afterward, at one o'clock in the\nmorning, he thought, apparently in a dream, that he saw a pale ghastly\nfigure rise slowly at the lower end of his bed, extend both arms,\nembrace him and then sink slowly down again out of sight. He uttered\nheart-rending cries, and fell out of his bed, upsetting a chair and a\ntable. When his tutor and a man-servant rushed into the room, they found\nhim lying unconscious on the floor, covered with cold, clammy\nperspiration and strangely disfigured. As soon as he was restored to\nconsciousness, he burst out into tears and assured them that his father\nhad died and come to take leave of him. In vain did his friends try to\ncalm his mind, he remained in a state of utter dejection. Three days\nlater a letter came from his mother, bringing him the sad news, that\nhis father had died on that night and at the hour in which he had\nappeared by his bedside. The unfortunate Count could never entirely get\nrid of the overwhelming impression which this occurrence had made on his\nmind, and was, to the day of his death, firmly convinced of the reality\nof this meeting (_Dix Annees d' emigration._ Paris, 1865).\n\nWe learn from such accounts that there prevails among all men, at all\nages, a carefully repressed, but almost irresistible belief in\nsupernatural occurrences, and in the close proximity of the spirit\nworld. This belief is neither to be treated with ridicule nor to be\nobjected to as unchristian, since it is an abiding witness that men\nentertain an ineradicable conviction of the immortality of the soul. No\narguments can ever destroy in the minds of the vast majority of men this\ninnate and intuitive faith. We may decline to believe with them the\nexistence of supernatural agencies, as long as no experimental basis is\noffered; but we ought, at the same time, to be willing to modify our\nincredulity as soon as an accumulation of facts appear to justify us in\nso doing. Our age is so completely given up to materialism with its\nceaseless hurry and worry, that we ought to hail with a sense of relief\nnew powers which require examination, and which offer to our\nintellectual faculties an untrodden field of investigation, full of\nincidents refreshing to our weary mind, and promising rich additions to\nour store of knowledge.\n\nIt can hardly be denied that there is at least a possibility of the\nexistence of a higher spiritual power within us, which, often slumbering\nand altogether unknown, or certainly unobserved during life, becomes\nsuddenly free to act in the hour of death. This may be brought about by\nthe fact that at that time the strength of the body is exhausted, and\nearthly wants no longer press upon us, while the spiritual part of our\nbeing, largely relieved of its bondage, becomes active in its own\npeculiar way, and thus acquires a power which we are disposed to call a\nmagic power. This power is, of course, not used consciously, for\nconsciousness presupposes the control over our senses, but it acts by\nintuitive impulse. Hence the wide difference existing between the\nso-called magic of charmers, enchanters, and conjurors, justly abhorred\nand strictly prohibited by divine laws, and the effects of such supreme\nefforts made by the soul, which depend upon involuntary action, and are\nnever made subservient to wicked purposes.\n\nThe results of such exertions are generally impressions made apparently\nupon the eye or the ear; but it need not be said that what is seen or\nheard in such cases, is merely the effect of a deeply felt sensation in\nour soul which seeks an outward expression. If our innermost being is\nthus suddenly appealed to, as it were, by the spirit of a dying friend\nor companion, his image arises instantaneously before our mind's eye,\nand we fancy we see him in bodily form, or our memory recalls the\nfamiliar sounds by which his appearance was wont to be accompanied.\nDying musicians remind distant friends of their former relations by\nsweet sounds, and a sailor, wounded to death, appears in his uniform to\nrelatives at home. The series of sights and sounds by which such\nintercourse is established, varies from the simplest and faintest vision\nto an apparently clear and distinct perception of well-known forms, and\nconstitute feeble, hardly perceptible, sighs or sobs to words uttered\naloud, or whole melodies clearly recited. If a living person, by such an\nunconscious but all-powerful effort of will, makes himself seen by\nothers, we call the vision a \"double,\" in German, a \"Doppelgaenger;\" if\nhe produces a state of dualism, such as has been mentioned before, and\nsees his own self in space before him, we speak of second sight.\n\nSuch efforts are, however, by no means strictly limited to the moment of\ndissolution, when soul and body are already in the act of parting. They\noccur also in living persons, but almost invariably only in diseased\npersons. The exceptions belong to the small number of men in whom great\nexcitement from without, or a mysterious power of will, cause a state of\necstasy; they are, in common parlance, \"beside themselves.\" In this\ncondition, their soul is for the moment freed from the bondage in which\nit is held by its earthy companion, and such men become clairvoyants and\nprophets, or they are enabled actually to affect other men at a\ndistance, in various ways. Thus it may very well be, that strange\nvisions, the hearing of mysterious voices, and especially the most\nfamiliar phenomenon, second sight, are in reality nothing more than\nsymptoms of a thoroughly diseased system, and this explains very simply\nthe frequency with which death follows such mysterious occurrences.\n\nMen have claimed--and proved to the satisfaction of more or less\nconsiderable numbers of friends--that they could at will cause a partial\nand momentary parting between their souls and their bodies. Here also\nantiquity is our first teacher, if we believe Pliny (_Hist. Nat._ vii.\nc. 52), Hermotimus could at his pleasure fall into a trance and then let\nhis soul proceed from his body to distant places. Upon being aroused, he\nreported what he had seen and heard abroad, and his statements were, in\nevery case, fully confirmed. Cardanus, also, could voluntarily throw\nhimself into a state of apparent syncope, as he tells us in most graphic\nwords (_De Res. Var._ v. iii. l. viii. c. 43). The first sensation of\nwhich he was always fully conscious, was a peculiar pain in the head,\nwhich gradually extended downward along the spine, and at last spread\nover the extremities--evidently a purely nervous process. Then he felt\nas if a \"door was opened, and he himself was leaving his body,\"\nwhereupon he not only saw persons at a distance, but noticed all that\nbefell them, and recalled it after he had recovered from the trance. An\nold German Abbe Freitheim, of whose remarkable work on _Steganographie_\n(1621), unfortunately only a few sheets have been preserved, claims the\npower to commune with absent friends by the mere energy of his will. \"I\ncan,\" says he, \"make known my thoughts to the initiated, at a distance\nof many hundred miles, without word, writing or cypher, by any\nmessenger. The latter cannot betray me, for he knows nothing. If needs\nbe, I can even dispense with the messenger. If my correspondent should\nbe buried in the deepest dungeon I could still convey to him my thoughts\nas clearly, as fully, and as frequently as might be desirable, and all\nthis, quite simply, without superstition, without the aid of spirits.\"\n\nThe famous Agrippa (_De occulta philos., Lugduni_, III. p. 13) quotes\nthe former writer, and asserts that he also could, by mere effort of\nwill, in a perfectly simple and natural manner convey his thoughts not\nto the initiated only, but to any one, even when his correspondent's\npresent place of residence should be unknown. The most remarkable, and,\nat the same time, the best authenticated case of this kind, is that of a\nhigh German official mentioned in a scientific paper (_Nasse.\nZeitschrift fuer psychische Aerzte_, 1820), and frequently copied into\nothers. A Counsellor Wesermann claimed to be able to cause distant\nfriends to dream of any subject he might choose. Whenever he awoke at\nnight and made a determined effort to produce such an effect, he never\nfailed, provided the nature of the desired dream was calculated to\nstartle or deeply excite his friends. His power was tested in this\nmanner. He engaged to cause a young officer, who was stationed at\nAix-la-Chapelle, nearly fifty miles from his own home, to dream of a\nyoung lady who had died not long ago. It was eleven o'clock at night,\nbut by some accident the lieutenant was not at home in bed, but at a\nfriend's country-seat, discussing the French campaign. Suddenly the\ncolonel, his host, and he himself see at the same time the door open, a\nlady enter, salute them sadly, and beckon them to follow her. The two\nofficers rise and leave the room after her, but once out of doors, the\nfigure disappears, and when they inquire of the sentinels standing guard\noutside, they are told that no one has entered. What made the matter\nmore striking yet, was the fact that although both men had seen the door\nopen, this could not really have been so, for the wood had sprung and\nthe door creaked badly whenever it was opened. The same Wesermann could,\nin like manner, cause his friends to see his own person and to hear\nsecrets which he seemed to whisper into their ears whenever he chose;\nbut he admitted upon it that his will was not at all times equally\nstrong, and that, hence, his efforts were not always equally successful.\nCases of similar powers are very numerous. A very curious example was\npublished in 1852, in a work on \"Psychologic Studies\" (Schlemmer, p.\n59). The author, who was a police agent in the Prussian service,\nasserted that persons who apprehended being conducted to gaol with\nspecial anxiety, often made themselves known there in advance,\nannouncing their arrival by knocks at the gates, opening of doors, or\nfootsteps heard in the room set aside for examining new comers. One day,\nnot the writer only, but all the prisoners in the same building, and\neven the sentinel at the gate heard distinctly a great disturbance and\nthe rattling of chains in a cell exclusively appropriated to murderers.\nThe next day a criminal was brought who had expressed such horror of\nthis gaol, and made such resistance to the officials who were to carry\nhim there, that it had become necessary, after a great uproar, to chain\nhim hands and feet. It is well known that the mother of the great\nstatesman Canning at one time of her life suffered under most mysterious\nthough harmless nightly visitations. Her circumstances were such that\nshe readily accepted the offer of a dwelling which stood unoccupied,\nwith the exception of the basement, in which a carpenter had his\nworkshop. At nightfall he and his workmen left the house, carefully\nlocking the door, but night after night, at twelve o'clock precisely,\nwork began once more in the abandoned part of the house, as far as the\near could judge, and the noise made by planing and sawing, cutting and\ncarving increased, till the fearless old lady slipt down in her stocking\nfeet and opened the door. Instantly the noise was hushed, and she looked\ninto the dark deserted room. But as soon as she returned to her chamber\nthe work began anew, and continued for some time; nor was she the only\none who heard it, but others, the owner of the house included, heard\neverything distinctly.\n\nThe following well-authenticated account of a posthumous appearance, is\nnot without its ludicrous element. A court-preacher in one of the\nlittle Saxon Duchies, appeared once in bands and gowns before his\nsovereign, bowing most humbly and reverently. The duke asked what he\ndesired, but received no answer except another deep reverence. A second\nquestion meets with the same reply, whereupon the divine leaves the\nroom, descends the stairs and crosses the court-yard, while the prince,\nmuch surprised at his strange conduct, stands at a window and watches\nhim till he reaches the gates. Then he sends a page after him to try and\nascertain what was the matter with the old gentleman, but the page comes\nrunning back almost beside himself, and reports that the minister had\ndied a short while before. The prince refuses to believe his report, and\nsends a high official, but the latter returns with the same report and\nthis additional information: The dying man had asked for writing\nmaterials, in order to recommend his widow to his sovereign, but had\nhardly commenced writing the letter when death surprised him. The\nfragment was brought to the duke and convinced him that his faithful\nservant, unable to reach him by letter, and yet nervously anxious to\napproach him, had spiritually appeared to him in his most familiar\ncostume (Daumer, _Mystagog._ I. p. 224).\n\nBefore we regret such statements or treat them with ridicule, it will be\nwell to remember, that men endowed with an extraordinary power of\ncontrolling certain faculties of body and soul, are by no means rare,\nand that the difference between them and those last mentioned, consists\nonly in the degree. We speak of the power of sight and limit it\nordinarily to a certain distance--and yet a Hottentot, we are told, can\nperceive the head of a gazelle in the dry, uniform grass of an African\nplain, at the distance of a thousand yards! Many men cannot hear sounds\nin nature which are perfectly audible to others, while some persons hear\neven certain notes uttered by tiny insects, which escape altogether the\naverage hearing of man. Patients under treatment by Baron Reichenbach,\nsaw luminous objects and the appearance of lights hovering above ground,\nwhere neither he nor any of his friends could perceive anything but\nutter darkness, and the special gift with which some persons are endowed\nto feel, as it were, the presence of water and of metals below the\nsurface, is well authenticated. Poor Caspar Hauser, bred in darkness and\nsolitude, felt various and deep impressions upon his whole being during\nthe first months of his free life, whenever he came in contact with\nplants, stones or metals. The latter sent a current through all his\nlimbs; tobacco fields made him deadly sick, and the vicinity of a\ngraveyard gave him violent pains in his chest. Persons who were\nintroduced to him for the first time, sent a cold current through him;\nand when they possessed a specially powerful physique, they caused him\nabundant perspiration, and often even convulsions. The waves of sound he\nfelt so much more acutely than others, that he always continued to hear\nthem with delight, long after the last sound had passed away from the\nears of others. It may be fairly presumed that this extreme\nsensitiveness to outward impressions is originally possessed by all men,\nbut becomes gradually dulled and dimmed by constant repetition; at the\nsame time it may certainly be preserved in rare privileged cases, or it\nmay come back again to the body in a diseased or disordered condition,\nand at the moment of dissolution.\n\nNor is the power occasionally granted to men to control their senses\nlimited to these; even the spontaneous functions of the body are at\ntimes subject to the will of man. An Englishman, for instance, could at\nwill modify the beating of his heart (Cheyne, \"New Dis.,\" p. 307), and a\nGerman produced, like a veritable ruminant, the antiperistaltic motions\nof the stomach, whenever he chose (Blumenbach, _Phys._ Sec. 294). Other men\nhave been known who could at any moment cause the familiar \"goose-skin,\"\nor perspiration, to appear in any part of the body, and many persons can\nmove not only the ears--a lost faculty according to Darwin--but even\nenlarge or contract the pupil of the eye, after the manner of cats and\nparrots. Even the circulation of the blood has been known, in a few rare\ncases, to have been subject to the will of men, and the great\nphilosopher Kant did not hesitate to affirm, supported as he was by his\nown experience, that men could, if they were but resolute enough,\nmaster, by a mere effort of the will, not a few of their diseases.\n\nA striking evidence of the comparative facility with which men thus\nexceptionally gifted, may be able to imitate certain magic phenomena,\nwas once given by an excellent mimic, whom _Richard_ describes in his\n_Theorie des Songes_. He could change his features so completely that\nthey assumed a deathlike appearance; his senses lost gradually their\npower of perception, and the vital spirit was seen to withdraw from the\nouter world. A slow, quivering motion passed through his whole system\nfrom the feet upward, as if he wished to rise from the ground. After a\nwhile all efforts of the body to remain upright proved fruitless; it\nlooked as if life had actually begun to leave it already. At this moment\nhe abandoned his deception and was so utterly exhausted that he heard\nand saw but with extreme difficulty.\n\nIn the face of these facts the possibility at least cannot be denied\nthat certain specially endowed individuals may possess, in health or in\ndisease, the power to perceive phenomena which appear all the more\nmarvelous because they are beyond the reach of ordinary powers of\nperception.\n\nIn our own day superstition and wanton, or cunningly devised, imposture\nhave been so largely mixed up with the subject, that a strong and very\nnatural prejudice has gradually grown up against the belief in ghosts.\nEvery strange appearance, every mysterious coincidence, that escaped the\nmost superficial investigation, was forthwith called a ghost. History\nrecords, besides, numerous cases in which the credulity of great men has\nbeen played upon for purposes of policy and statecraft. When the German\nEmperor Joseph showed his great fondness of Augustus of\nSaxony--afterwards king of Poland--his Austrian counsellors became\nalarmed at the possible influence of such intimacy of their sovereign\nwith a Protestant prince, and determined to break it off. Night after\nnight, therefore, a fearful vision arose before the German emperor,\nrattling its chains and accusing the young prince of grievous heresy.\nAugustus, however, known already at that time for his gigantic strength,\nasked Joseph's permission to sleep in his room; when the ghost appeared\nas usual, the young prince sprang upon him, and feeling his flesh and\nblood, threw him bodily out of a window of the second story into a deep\nfosse. The unfortunate king of Prussia, Frederick William II., fell soon\nafter his ascension of the throne into the hands of designing men, who\ndetermined to profit by his great kindness of heart and his tendency to\nmysticism, and began to work upon him by supernatural apparitions. One\nof the most cunningly devised impostures of the kind was practised upon\nKing Gustavus III. of Sweden by ambitious noblemen of his court.\n\nThe scene was the ancient Lofoe church in Drotingholm, a favorite\nresidence of former Swedish monarchs. The king's physician, Iven Hedin,\nlearnt accidentally from the sexton that his master had been spending\nseveral nights in the building, in company with a few of his courtiers.\nAlarmed by this information he persuaded the sexton to let him watch the\nproceedings from a secret place in the old steeple of the church. An\nopportunity came in the month of August, 1782, and he had scarcely taken\npossession of his post when two of the royal secretaries came in, closed\nthe door, and arranged a curious contrivance in the body of the\nbuilding. To his great surprise and amusement the doctor saw them fasten\nsome horse-hairs to the heavy chandeliers suspended from the lofty\nceiling, and then pin to them masks sewed on to white floating garments.\nFinally large quantities of incense were scattered on the floor and set\non fire, while all lights, save a few thin candles, were extinguished.\nThen the king was ushered in with five of his courtiers, made to assume\na peculiar, very irksome position, and all were asked to hold naked\nswords upon each other's breasts. Thereupon the first comer murmured\ncertain formulas of conjuration, and performed some ceremonies, when his\ncompanion slowly drew up one of the masks. It was fashioned to resemble\nthe great Gustavus Adolphus, and in the dimly-lighted church, filled\nwith dense smoke, it looked to all intents and purposes like a ghost\narising from the vaults underneath. It disappeared as slowly into the\ndarkness above, and was immediately followed by another mask\nrepresenting Adolphus Frederick, and even the physician, who knew the\nsecret, could not repress a shudder, so admirably was the whole\ncontrived. Then followed a few flashes of lightning, during which the\nhorse-hairs were removed, lights were brought in, and the king, deeply\nmoved and shedding silent tears, escorted from the building. The\nfaithful physician watched his opportunity, and when a favorable hour\nappeared, revealed the secret to his master, and thus, fortunately for\nSweden, defeated a very dangerous and most skillfully-conducted\nconspiracy.\n\nEven ventriloquism has lent its aid to many an historical imposture, as\nin the case of Francis I. of France, whose valet, Louis of Brabant,\npossessed great skill in that art, and used it unsparingly for his own\nbenefit and to the advantage of courtiers who employed him for political\npurposes. He even persuaded the mother of a beautiful and wealthy young\nlady to give him her daughter's hand by imitating the voice of her\nformer husband, and commanding her to do so in order to release him from\npurgatory!\n\nWe fear that to this class of ghostly appearances must also be counted\nthe almost historical White Lady of the Margraves of Brandenburg.\n\nReport says that she represents a Countess Kunigunde of Orlamuende, who\nlived in the fourteenth century and killed her two children, for which\ncrime she was executed by order of a Burggrave of Nuremberg. History,\nhowever, knows nothing of such an event, and the White Lady does not\nappear till 1486, when she is first seen in the old palace at Baireuth.\nThis was nothing but a trick of the courtiers; whenever they desired to\nleave the dismal town and the uncomfortable building, one of the court\nladies personated the ghost, and occasionally, even two white ladies\nwere seen at the same time. In 1540 the ghost met with a tragic fate;\nit had appeared several times in the castle of Margrave Albert the\nwarrior, and irritated the prince to such a degree that he at last\nseized it one night and hurled it headlong down the long staircase. The\nmorning dawn revealed his chancellor, Christopher Strass, who had\nbetrayed his master and now paid with a broken neck for his bold\nimposture. After this catastrophe the White Lady was not seen for nearly\na hundred years, when she suddenly reappeared in Baireuth. In the year\n1677 the then reigning Margrave of Brandenburg found her one day sitting\nin his own chair and was terrified; the next day he rode out, fell from\nhis horse, and was instantly killed. From this time the White Lady\nbecame a part of the history of the house of Brandenburg, accompanying\nthe princes to Berlin and making it her duty to forewarn the illustrious\nfamily of any impending calamity. King Frederick I. saw her distinctly,\nbut other sovereigns discerned only a vague outline and now and then the\nnose and eyes, while all the rest was closely veiled. In the old palace\nat Baireuth there exist to this day two portraits of the White Lady, one\nin white, as she appeared of old, and very beautiful, the other in black\nsatin, with her hair powdered and dressed after more modern\nfashion--there is no likeness between the two faces. The ghost was\nevidently a good patriot, for she disturbed French officers who were\nquartered there, in the new palace as well as in the old, and as late as\n1806 thoroughly frightened a number of generals who had laughed at the\ncredulity of the Germans. In 1809 General d'Espagne roused his aides in\nthe depth of night by fearful cries, and when they rushed in he was\nfound lying in the centre of the room, under the bedstead. He told them\nthat the White Lady, in a costume of black and white, resembling one of\nthe portraits, had appeared and threatened to strangle him; in the\nstruggle she had dragged the bedstead to the middle of the room and\nthere upset it. The room was thoroughly searched at his command, the\nhangings removed from the walls, and the whole floor taken up, but no\ntrace was found of any opening through which a person might have\nentered; the doors had been guarded by sentinels. The general left the\nplace immediately, looking upon the vision as a warning of impending\nevil, and, sure enough, a few days later he found his death upon the\nbattle-field of Aspern. Even the great Napoleon, whose superstition was\ngenerally thought to be confined to his faith in his \"star,\" would not\nlodge in the rooms haunted by the White Lady, and when he reached\nBaireuth in 1812, a suite of rooms was prepared for him in another wing\nof the palace. It was, however, noticed that even there his night's rest\nmust have been interrupted, for on the next morning he was remarkably\nnervous and out of humor, murmuring repeatedly \"_Ce maudit chateau_,\"\nand declaring that he would never again stay at the place. When he\nreturned to that neighborhood in 1813, he refused to occupy the rooms\nthat had been prepared for him, and continued his journey far into the\nnight, rather than remain at Baireuth. The town was, however, forever\nrelieved of its ill-fame after 1822. It is not without interest that in\nthe same year the steward of the royal palace died, and report says in\nhis rooms were found a number of curiosities apparently connected with\nthe White Lady's costume; if this be so, his ardent patriotism and\nfierce hatred of the French might well furnish a cue to some of the more\nrecent apparitions. The White Lady continued to appear in Berlin, and\nthe terror she created was not even allayed by repeated discoveries of\nmost absurd efforts at imposture. Once she turned out to be a white\ntowel agitated by a strong draught between two windows; at another time\nit was a kitchen-maid on an errand of love, and a third time an old cook\ntaking an airing in the deserted rooms. She appeared once more in the\nmonth of February, 1820, announcing, as many believed, the death of the\nreigning monarch, which took place in June; and quite recently (1872)\nsimilar warning was given shortly before the emperor's brother, Prince\nAlbrecht, died in his palace.\n\nWhite ladies are, however, by no means an exclusive privilege of the\nhouse of Brandenburg; Scotland has its ancient legends, skillfully used\nin novel, poem and opera, and Italy boasts of a Donna Bianca, at\nColalta, in the Marca Trivigiana, of whom Byron spoke as if he had never\ndoubted her existence. Ireland has in like manner the Banshee, who warns\nwith her plaintive voice the descendants of certain old families,\nwhenever a great calamity threatens one of the members. Curiously\nenough she clings to these once powerful but now often wretchedly poor\nfamilies, as if pride of descent and attachment to old splendor\nprevailed even in the realms of magic.\n\nHistorical ghosts play, nevertheless, a prominent part in all countries.\nLilly, Baxter and Clarendon, all relate the remarkable warnings which\npreceded the murder of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. In this case the\nwarning was given not to the threatened man, but to an old and faithful\nfriend, who had already been intimate with the duke's father. He saw the\nlatter appear to him several nights in succession, urging him to go to\nthe duke, and after revealing to him certain peculiar circumstances, to\nwarn him against the plots of his enemies, who threatened his life.\nParker was afraid to appear ridiculous and delayed giving the warning.\nBut the ghost left him no peace, and at last, in order to decide him,\nrevealed to him a secret only known to himself and his ill-fated son.\nThe latter, when his old friend at last summoned courage to deliver the\nmysterious message, was at first inclined to laugh at the warning; but\nwhen Parker mentioned the father's secret, he turned pale and declared\nonly the Evil One could have entrusted it to mortal man. Nevertheless,\nhe took no steps to rid himself of his traitorous friend and continued\nhis sad life as before. The father's ghost thereupon appeared once more\nto Parker, with deep sadness in his features and holding a knife in his\nhand, with which, he said, his unfortunate son would be murdered.\nParker, whose own impending death had been predicted at the same time,\nonce more waited upon the great duke, but again in vain; he was rudely\nsent back and requested not to trouble the favorite's peace any more by\nhis foolish dreams. A few days afterwards Lieutenant Felton assassinated\nthe duke with precisely such a knife as Parker had seen in his visions.\n\nA similar occurrence is related of the famous Duchess of Mazarin, the\nfavorite of Charles II., and Madame de Beauclair, who stood in the same\nrelation to James II. The two ladies, who were bosom friends, had\npledged their word to each other, that she who died first should appear\nto the survivor and inform her of the nature of the future state. The\nduchess died; but as no message came from her, her friend denied stoutly\nand persistently the immortality of the soul. But many years later, when\nthe promise was long forgotten, the duchess suddenly was seen one night,\ngliding softly through the room and looking sweetly at her friend,\nwhispering to her: \"Beauclair, between twelve and one o'clock to-night\nyou will be near me.\" The poor lady died at the appointed hour (Nork.\n\"Existence of Spirits,\" p. 260). Less well-authenticated is the account\nof a warning given to King George I. shortly before his death, although\nit was generally believed throughout England at the time it occurred.\nThe report was that the Queen, Sophia, repeatedly showed herself to her\nhusband, beseeching him to break off his intercourse with his beautiful\nfriend, Lady Horatia. As these requests availed nothing, and the monarch\nrefused even to believe in the reality of her appearance, she at last\ntied a knot in a lace collar, declaring that \"if mortal fingers could\nuntie the knot, the king and Lady Horatia might laugh at her words.\" The\nfair lady tried her best to undo it, but giving it up in despair, she\nthrew the collar into the fire; the king, highly excited, snatched the\nlace from the burning coals, but in so doing, touched with it the light\ngauze dress of his companion. In her terror she ran with great swiftness\nthrough room after room, thus fanning the flames into a blaze, and\nperished amid excruciating pains. The king, it is well known, died only\ntwo months later.\n\nA case which created a very great sensation at the time when it\nhappened, and became generally known through the admirable manner in\nwhich it was narrated by the eloquent Bernardin de St. Pierre (_Journal\nde Trevoux_, vol. viii.), was that of the priest Bezuel. When a young\nman of 15, and at college, he contracted an intimate friendship with the\nson of a royal official, called Desfontaines. The two friends often\nspoke of future life, and when parted in 1696, they signed with their\nblood a solemn compact, in which they agreed that the first who died\nshould appear after death to the survivor. They wrote to each other\nconstantly, and frequently alluded in their letters to the agreement. A\nyear after their parting, Bezuel happened to be, one day, in the\nfields, delivering a message to some workmen, when he suddenly fell down\nfainting. As he was in perfect health, he knew not what to think of this\naccident, but when it occurred a second and a third time, at the same\nhour, on the two following days, he became seriously uneasy. On the last\noccasion, however, he fell into a trance, in which he saw nothing around\nhim, but beheld his friend Desfontaines, who seized him by the arm and\nled him some thirty yards aside. The workmen saw him go there, as if\nobeying a guardian hand, and converse with an unseen person for three\nquarters of an hour. The young man heard here from his friend's lips,\nthat he had been drowned while bathing in the river Orne on the day and\nat the hour when Bezuel had had his first fainting fit, that a companion\nhad endeavored to save him, but when seized by the foot by the drowning\nman, had kicked him on the chest, and thus caused him to sink to the\nbottom. Bezuel inquired after all the details and received full answers,\nbut none to questions about the future life; nevertheless, the\napparition continued to speak fluently but calmly, and requested Bezuel\nto make certain communications to his kinsmen, and to repeat the \"seven\npenitential psalms,\" which he ought to have said himself as a penance.\nIt also mentioned the work in which Desfontaines had been engaged up to\nthe day of his death, and some names which he had cut in the bark of a\ntree near the town in which he lived. Then it disappeared. Bezuel was\nnot able to carry out his friend's wishes, although the arm by which he\nhad been seized, reminded him daily of his duty by a severe pain; after\na month, the drowned man appeared twice more, urging his requests, and\nsaying each time at the end of the interview, \"_bis, bis_,\" just as he\nhad been accustomed to do when in life. At last the young priest found\nthe means to do his friend's bidding; the pain in the arm ceased\ninstantly and his health remained perfect to the end of his life. When\nhe reached Caen where Desfontaines had perished, he found everything\nprecisely as he had been told in his visions, and two years afterwards\nhe discovered by chance even the tree with the names cut in the bark.\nThe amiable Abbe de St. Pierre does his best to explain the whole\noccurrence as a natural series of very simple accidents; there can be,\nhowever, no doubt of the exceptionable character of the leading features\nof the event, and the priest, from whose own account the facts are\nderived, must evidently in his trance have been endowed with powers of\nclairvoyance.\n\nIn the first part of this century a book appeared in Germany which led\nto a very general and rather violent discussion of the whole subject. It\nwas written by a Dr. Woetzel, whose mind had, no doubt, been long\nengaged in trying to solve mysteries like that of the future life, since\nhe had early come in contact with strange phenomena. The father of a\ndear friend of his having fainted in consequence of receiving a serious\nwound, was very indignant at being roused from the state of perfect\nbliss which he had enjoyed during the time. He affirmed that in the\nshort interval he had visited his brother in Berlin, whom he found\nsitting in a bower under a large linden-tree, surrounded by his family\nand a few friends, and engaged in drinking coffee. Upon entering the\ngarden, his brother had risen, advanced towards him and asked him what\nhad brought him so unexpectedly to Berlin. A few days after the\nfainting-fit a letter arrived from that city, inquiring what could have\nhappened on that day and at that hour, and reciting all that the old\ngentleman had reported as having been done during his unconsciousness!\nNor had the latter been seen by his brother only, but quite as\ndistinctly by the whole company present; his image had, however,\nvanished again as soon as his brother had attempted to touch him\n(Woetzel, p. 215). From his work we learn that he had begged his wife on\nher death-bed to appear to him after death, and she had promised to do\nso; but soon after her mind became so uneasy about the probable effects\nof her pledge, that her husband released her, and abandoned all thoughts\non the subject. Several weeks later he was sitting in a locked room,\nwhen suddenly a heavy draught of air rushed through it, the light was\nnearly blown out, a small window in an alcove sounded as if it were\nopened, and in an instant the faint luminous form of his wife was\nstanding before the amazed widower. She said in a soft, scarcely audible\nvoice: \"Charles, I am immortal; we shall see each other again.\" Woetzel\njumped up and tried to seize the form, but it vanished like thin mist,\nand he felt a strong electric shock. He saw the same vision and heard\nthe same words repeatedly; his wife appeared as he had last seen her\nlying in her coffin; the second time a dog, who had been often petted by\nher, wagged his tail and walked caressingly around the apparition. The\nbook, which appeared in 1804, and gave a full account of all the\nphenomena, met with much opposition and contempt; a number of works were\nwritten against it, Wieland ridiculed it in his \"Euthanasia,\" and others\ndenounced it as a mere repetition of former statements. The author was,\nhowever, not abashed by the storm he had raised; he offered to swear to\nthe truth of all he had stated before the Great Council of the\nUniversity of Leipzig, and published a second work in which he developed\nhis theory of ghosts with great ability. According to his view, the\nspirits of the departed are for some time after death surrounded by a\nluminous essence, which may, under peculiarly favorable circumstances,\nbecome visible to human eyes, but which, according to the weakness of\nour mind, is generally transformed by the imagination only into the more\nfamiliar form of deceased friends. He insists, besides, upon it that all\nhe saw and heard was an impression made upon the outer senses only, and\nthat nothing in the whole occurrence originated in his inner\nconsciousness. As there was nothing to be gained for him by his\npersistent assertions, it seems but fair to give them all the weight\nthey may deserve, till the whole subject is more fully understood.\n\nAnother remarkable case is that of a Mr. and Mrs. James, at whose house\nthe Rev. Mr. Mills, a Methodist preacher, was usually entertained when\nhis duties brought him to their place of residence. One year he found\nthey had both died since his last visit, but he staid with the orphaned\nchildren, and retired to the same room which he had always occupied. The\nadjoining room was the former chamber of the aged couple, and here he\nbegan soon to hear a whispering and moving about, just as he used to\nhear it when they were still alive. This recalled to him the reports he\nhad heard in the town, that the departed had been frequently seen by\ntheir numerous friends and kinsmen. The next day he called upon a plain\nbut very pious woman, who urged him to share her simple meal with her;\nhe consented, but what was his amazement when she said to him at the\nclose of the meal: \"Now, Mr. Mills, I have a favor to ask of you. I want\nyou to preach my funeral sermon next Sunday. I am going to die next\nFriday at three o'clock.\" When the astonished minister asked her to\nexplain the strange request, she replied that Mr. and Mrs. James had\ncome to her to tell her that they were ineffably happy, but still bound\nby certain ties to the world below. They had added that they had not\ndied, as people believed, without disposing of their property, but that,\nin order to avoid dissensions among their children, they had been\nallowed to return and to make the place known where the will was\nconcealed. They had tried to confer with Mr. Mills, but his timidity had\nprevented it; now they had come to her, as the minister was going to\ndine that day at her house. Finally they had informed her of her\napproaching death on the day she had mentioned. The Methodist minister\nlooked, aided by the heirs and a legal man, for the will and found it at\nthe place indicated. Nanny, the poor woman, died on Friday, and her\nfuneral sermon was preached by him on the following Sunday (Rechenberg,\np. 182).\n\nA certain Dr. T. Van Velseu published in 1870, in Dutch, a work, called\n_Christus Redivivus_, in which he relates a number of very remarkable\nappearances of deceased persons, and among these the following: \"A\nfriend of the author's, a man of sound, practical mind, and a declared\nenemy of all superstition, lost his mother whom he had most assiduously\nnursed for six weeks and who died in full faith in her Redeemer. A few\ndays later his nephew was to be married in a distant province, but\nalthough no near kinsman of his, except his mother, could be present,\nhe, the uncle, could not make up his mind so soon after his grievous\nloss, to attend a wedding. This decision irritated and wounded his\nsister deeply and led to warm discussions, in which other relatives also\ntook her side, and which threatened to cause a serious breach in the\nfamily. The mourner was deeply afflicted by the scene and at night,\nhaving laid the matter before God, he fell asleep with the thought on\nhis mind: 'What would your mother think of it?' Suddenly, while yet wide\nawake, he heard a voice saying: 'Go!' Although he recognized the voice\ninstantly, he thought it might be his sister's and drew the bed-curtain\naside, to see who was there. To his amazement he saw his mother's form\nstanding by his bedside; terrified and bewildered he dropped the\ncurtain, turned his face to the wall and tried to collect his thoughts,\nbut at the same time he heard the same voice say once more: 'Go!' He\ndrew the curtain again and saw his mother as before, looking at him with\ndeep love and gentle urgency. This excites him so that he can control\nhimself no longer; he jumps up and tries to seize the form--it draws\nback and gradually dissolves before his eye. Now only he recalls how\noften he has conversed with his mother about the future life and the\npossibility of communication after death; he becomes calm, decides to\nattend the wedding and sleeps soundly till the morning. The next day he\nfinds his heart relieved of a sore burden; he joins his friends at the\nwedding and finds, to his infinite delight, that by his presence only a\nserious difficulty is avoided and peace is preserved in a numerous and\ninfluential family. In this case the effect of the mind on the\nimagination is strikingly illustrated, and although the vision of the\nmother may have existed purely in the son's mind, the practical result\nwas precisely the same as if a spirit had really appeared in tangible\nshape so as to be seen by the outward eye.\"\n\nIn some instances phenomena, like those described, are apparently the\nresult of a disturbed conscience, and occur, therefore, in frequent\nrepetition. Already Plutarch, in his \"Life of Cimon,\" tells us that the\nSpartan general, Pausanias, had murdered a fair maiden, Cleonice,\nbecause she overthrew a torch in his tent and he imagined himself to be\nattacked by assassins. The ghost of the poor girl, whom he had\ndishonored in life and so foully killed, appeared to him and threatened\nhim with such fearful disgrace, that he was terrified and hastened to\nHeraclea, where necromancers summoned the spirits of the departed by\ntheir vile arts. They called up Cleonice, at the great commander's\nrequest, and she replied reluctantly, that the curse would not leave him\ntill he went to Sparta. Pausanias did so and found his death there, the\nonly way, says the historian of the same name, in which he could ever be\nrelieved of such fearful guilt. Baxter, also, tells us (p. 30) of a Rev.\nMr. Franklin, whose young son repeatedly saw a lady and received at her\nhands quite painful correction. Thus, when he was bound apprentice to a\nsurgeon, in 1661, and refused to return home upon being ordered to do\nso, she appeared to him, and when he resisted her admonitions,\nenergetically boxed his ears. The poor boy was in bad health and seemed\nto suffer so much that at last the surgeon determined to consult his\nfather, who lived on the island of Ely. On the morning of the day which\nhe spent travelling, the boy cried out: \"Oh, mistress, here's the lady\nagain!\" and at the same time a noise as of a violent blow was heard.\nThe child hung his head and fell back dead. In the same hour the surgeon\nand the boy's father, sitting together in consultation, saw a lady enter\nthe room, glance at them angrily, walk up and down a few times and\ndisappear again.\n\nThe fancy that murdered persons reappear in some shape after death for\nthe purpose of wreaking their vengeance upon their enemies, is very\ncommon among all nations, and has often been vividly embodied in legends\nand ballads. The stories of Hamlet and of Don Giovanni are based upon\nthis belief, and the older chronicles abound with similar cases\nbelonging to an age when violence was more frequent and justice less\nprompt than in our day. Thus we are told in the annals of the famous\ncastle of Weinsberg in Suabia--justly renowned all over the world for\nthe rare instance of marital attachment exhibited by its women--that a\nsteward had wantonly murdered a peasant there. Thereupon disturbances of\nvarious kinds began to make the castle uninhabitable; a black shape was\nseen walking about and breathing hot and hateful odors upon all it met,\nwhile the steward became an object of special persecution. The\ntownspeople at first were skeptic and laughed at his reports, but soon\nthe black visitor was seen on the ramparts of the town also and created\nwithin the walls the same sensation as up at the castle. The good\ncitizens at last observed a solemn fast-day and performed a pilgrimage\nto a holy shrine at Heilbrum. But all was in vain, and the disturbances\nand annoyances increased in frequency and violence, till at last the\nunfortunate steward died from vexation and sorrow, when the whole ceased\nand peace was restored to town and castle alike (Crusius, \"Suabian\nChron.\" ii. p. 417).\n\nAnother case of this kind is connected with a curious token of gratitude\nexhibited by the gratified victim. A president of the Parliament of\nToulouse, returning from Paris towards the end of the seventeenth\ncentury, was compelled by an accident to stop at a poor country tavern.\nDuring the night there appeared to him an old man, pale and bleeding,\nwho declared that he was the father of the present owner of the house,\nthat he had been murdered by his own son, cut to pieces, and buried in\nthe garden. He appealed to the president to investigate the matter and\nto avenge his murder. The judge was so forcibly impressed by his vision\nthat he ordered search to be made, and lo! the body of the murdered man\nwas found, and the son, thunderstruck by the mysterious revelation,\nacknowledged his guilt, was tried, and in course of time died on the\nscaffold. But the murdered man was not satisfied yet; he showed himself\nonce more to the president and asked how he could prove his gratitude?\nThe latter asked to be informed of the hour of his death, that he might\nfitly prepare himself, and was promised that he should know it a week in\nadvance. Many years afterwards a fierce knocking was heard at the gate\nof the president's house in Toulouse; the porter opened but saw no one;\nthe knocking was repeated, but this time also the servants who had\nrushed to the spot found nobody there; when it was heard a third time\nthey were thoroughly frightened and hastened to inform their master. The\nlatter went to the door and there saw the well-remembered form of his\nnightly visitor, who told him that he would die in eight days. He told\nhis friends and his family what had happened, but only met with\nlaughter, as he was in perfect health and nothing seemed more improbable\nthan his sudden death. But as he sat, on the eighth day, at table with\nhis family, a book was mentioned which he wished to see, and he got up\nto look for it in his library. Instantly a shot is heard; the guests\nrush out and find him lying on the floor and weltering in his blood.\nUpon inquiry it appeared that a man, desperately in love with the\nchamber-maid and jealous of a rival, had mistaken the president for the\nlatter and murdered him with a pistol (De Segur, _Galerie morale et\npolitique_, p. 221).\n\nAmong the numerous accounts of visions which seem to have been caused by\nan instinctive and perfectly unconscious perception of human remains,\nthe story of the Rev. Mr. Lindner, in Koenigsberg, is perhaps the best\nauthenticated, and from the character of the man to whom the revelation\nwas made, the most trustworthy. It is fully reported by Professor\nEhrmann of Strasburg, in _Kies. Archiv._ x. iii., p. 143. The minister,\na modest, pious man, awoke in the middle of the night, and saw, by the\nbright moonlight which was shining into the room, another minister in\ngown and bands, standing before his open bible, apparently searching for\nsome quotation. He had a small child in his arms, and a larger child\nstood by his side. After some time spent in speechless astonishment, Mr.\nLindner exclaimed: \"All good spirits praise God!\" whereupon the stranger\nturned round, went up to him and offered three times to shake hands with\nhim. Mr. Lindner, however, refused to do so, gazing at the same time\nintently at his features, and after a while he found himself looking at\nthe air, for all had disappeared. It was a long time afterwards, when\nsauntering through the cloisters of his church, he was suddenly arrested\nby a portrait which bore all the features of the minister he had seen on\nthat night. It was one of his predecessors in office, who had died\nnearly fifty years ago in rather bad odor, reports having been current\nat the time, as very old men still living testified, that he had had\nseveral illegitimate children, of whose fate nothing was known. But\nthere was a still further sequel to the minister's strange adventure. In\nthe course of the next year his study was enlarged, and for that purpose\nthe huge German stove had to be removed; to the horror of the workmen\nand of Mr. Lindner, who was promptly called to the spot, the remains of\nseveral children were found carefully concealed beneath the solid\nstructure. As there is no reason to suspect self-delusion in the\nreverend man, and the vision cannot well be ascribed to any outward\ncause, it must be presumed that his sensitive nature was painfully\naffected by the skeletons in his immediate neighborhood, and that this\nunconscious feeling, acting through his imagination, gave form and shape\nto the impressions made upon his nerves.\n\nIn another case the principal person was a candidate of divinity,\nBilling, well known as being of a highly sensitive disposition and given\nto hallucinations; the extreme suffering which the presence of human\nremains caused to his whole system had been previously already observed.\nThe great German fabulist, Pfeffel, a blind man, once took Billing's arm\nand went with him into the garden to take an airing. The poet noticed\nthat when they came to a certain place, the young man hesitated and his\narm trembled as if it had received an electric shock. When he was asked\nwhat was the matter, he replied, \"Oh, nothing!\" But upon passing over\nthe spot a second time, the same tremor made itself felt. Pressed by\nPfeffel, the young man at last acknowledged that he experienced at that\nspot the sensation which the presence of a corpse always produced in\nhim, and offered to go there with the poet at night in order to prove to\nhim the correctness of his feelings. When the two friends went to the\ngarden after dark, Billing perceived at once a faint glimmer of light\nabove the spot. He stopped at a distance of about ten yards, and after a\nwhile declared that he saw a female figure hovering above the place,\nabout five feet high, with the right arm across her bosom and the left\nhand hanging down by her side. When the poet advanced and stood on the\nfatal spot, the young man affirmed that the image was on his right or\nhis left, before or behind him, and when Pfeffel struck around him with\nhis cane, it produced the effect as if he were cutting through a flame\nwhich instantly reunited. The same phenomena were witnessed a second\ntime by a number of Pfeffel's relations. Several days afterwards, while\nthe young man was absent, the poet caused the place in the garden to be\ndug up, and at a depth of several feet, beneath a layer of lime, a human\nskeleton was discovered. It was removed, the hole filled up, and all\nsmoothed over again. After Billing's return the poet took him once more\ninto the garden, and this time the young man walked over the fatal spot\nwithout experiencing the slightest sensation (_Kieser, Archiv._, etc.,\np. 326).\n\nIt was this remarkable experience which led Baron Reichenbach to verify\nit by leading one of his sensitive patients, a Miss Reichel, at night to\nthe great cemetery of Vienna. As soon as she reached the place she\nperceived everywhere a sea of flames, brightest over the new graves,\nweaker over others, and quite faint here and there. In a few cases these\nlights reached a height of nearly four feet, but generally they had more\nthe appearance of luminous mists, so that her hand, held over the place\nwhere she saw one, seemed to be enveloped in a cloud of fire. She was in\nno way troubled by the phenomena, which she had often previously\nobserved, and Baron Reichenbach thought he saw in them a confirmation of\nhis theory about the Od-light. There can be, however, little doubt that\nthe luminous appearance, perceptible though it be only to unusually\nsensitive persons, is the result of chemical decomposition, which has a\npeculiar influence over these persons.\n\nHence, no doubt, the numerous accounts of will-o'-the-wisps and ghostly\nlights seen in graveyards; the frightened beholder is nearly always\nlaughed at or heartily abused, and more than one poor child has fallen a\nvictim to the absurd theory of \"curing it of foolish fears.\" There can\nbe no doubt that light does appear flickering above churchyards, and\nthat there is something more than mere idle superstition in the\n\"corpse-candles\" of the Welsh and in the \"elf-candles\" of the Scotch,\nwhich are seen, with foreboding weight, in the house of sickness,\nbetokening near dissolution. At the same time, it is well known that\nliving persons also have, under certain circumstances, given out light,\nand especially from their head. The cases of Moses, whose face shone\nwith unbearable brightness, and of the martyr Stephen, are familiar to\nall, and the halo with which artists surround the heads of saints bears\neloquent evidence of the universal and deeply-rooted belief. But science\nalso has fully established the fact that light appears as a real and\nunmistakable luminous efflux from the human body, alike in health and\nin mortal sickness. By far the most common case of such emission of\nlight is the emission of sparks from the hair when combed. Before and\nduring the electrical \"dust-storms\" in India, this phenomenon is of\nfrequent occurrence in the hair of both sexes. In dry weather, and when\nthe hair also is dry, and especially immediately before thunderstorms,\nthe same sparks are seen in all countries. Dr. Phipson mentions the case\nof a relative of his, \"whose hair (exactly one yard and a quarter long),\nwhen combed somewhat rapidly with a black gutta-percha comb, emits\nsheets of light upward of a foot in length,\" the light being \"composed\nof hundreds of small electric sparks, the snapping noise of which is\ndistinctly heard.\"\n\nBut electric light is sometimes given off by the human body itself, not\nmerely from the hair. A memorable instance of this phenomenon is\nrecorded by Dr. Kane in the journal of his last voyage to the Polar\nregions. He and a companion, Petersen, had gone to sleep in a hut during\nintense cold, and on awaking in the night, found, to their horror, that\ntheir lamp--their only hope--had gone out. Petersen tried in vain to get\nlight from a pocket-pistol, and then Kane resolved to take the pistol\nhimself. \"It was so intensely dark,\" he says, \"that I had to grope for\nit, and in so doing, I touched his hand. At that instant the pistol--in\nPetersen's hand--became distinctly visible. A pale bluish light,\nslightly tremulous, but not broken, covered the metallic parts of it.\nThe stock, too, was distinctly visible as if by reflected light, and to\nthe amazement of both of us, also the thumb and two fingers with which\nPetersen was holding it--the creases, wrinkles and circuit of nails\nbeing clearly defined upon the skin. As I took the pistol my hand became\nilluminated also.\" This luminous and doubtless electric phenomenon took\nplace in highly exceptional circumstances, and is the only case recorded\nin recent times. But a far more remarkable phenomenon of a similar kind\nis mentioned by Bartholin, who gives an account of a lady in Italy, whom\nhe rightly styles _mulier splendens_, whose body became\nphosphorescent--or rather shone with electric radiations--when slightly\nrubbed with a piece of dry linen. In this case the luminosity appears to\nhave been normal, certainly very frequent under ordinary circumstances,\nand the fact is well attested. Mr. B. H. Patterson mentions in the\njournal _Belgravia_ (Oct., 1872), that he saw the flannel with which he\nhad rubbed his body, emit blue sparks, while at the same time he heard a\n\"crackling\" sound. These facts prove that the human body even in\nordinary life, is capable of giving out luminous undulations, while\nscience teaches us that they appear quite frequently in disease. Here\nagain, Dr. Phipson mentions several cases as the result of his reading.\nOne of these is that of a woman in Milan, during whose illness a\nso-called phosphoric light glimmered about her bed. Another remarkable\ncase is recorded by Dr. Marsh, in a volume on the \"Evolution of Light\nfrom the Human Subject,\" and reads thus: \"About an hour and a half\nbefore my sister's death, we were struck by luminous appearances\nproceeding from her head in a diagonal direction. She was at the time in\na half-recumbent position, and perfectly tranquil. The light was pale as\nthe moon, but quite evident to mamma, myself, and sisters, who were\nwatching over her at the time. One of us at first thought it was\nlightning, till shortly afterwards we perceived a sort of tremulous\nglimmer playing around the head of the bed, and then, recollecting that\nwe had read something of a similar nature having been observed previous\nto dissolution, we had candles brought into the room, fearing that our\ndear sister would perceive the luminosity, and that it might disturb the\ntranquillity of her last moments.\"\n\nThe other case relates to an Irish peasant, and is recorded from\npersonal observation by Dr. Donovan, in the _Dublin Medical Press_, in\n1870, as follows: \"I was sent to see Harrington in December. He had been\nunder the care of my predecessor, and had been entered as a phthisical\npatient. He was under my care for about five years, and I had\ndiscontinued my visits, when the report became general that mysterious\nlights were seen every night in his cabin. The subject attracted a great\ndeal of attention. I determined to submit the matter to the ordeal of my\nown senses, and for this purpose I visited the cabin for fourteen\nnights. On three nights only I witnessed anything unusual. Once I\nperceived a luminous fog resembling the aurora borealis; and twice I saw\nscintillations like the sparkling phosphorescence exhibited by\nsea-infusoria. From the close scrutiny I made, I can with certainty say,\nthat no imposition was either employed or attempted.\"\n\nThe only explanation ever offered by competent authority of the luminous\nradiations from persons in disease, ascribes them to an efflux or escape\nof the nerve-force, which is known to be kindred in its nature to\nelectricity, transmuting itself into luminosity as it leaves the body.\nThe Seeress of Prevorst reported that she saw the nerves as shining\nthreads, and even from the eyes of some persons rays of light seemed to\nher to flash continually. Other somnambulists also, as well as\nmesmerized persons, have seen the hair of persons shine with a multitude\nof sparks, while the breath of their mouth appeared as a faint luminous\nmist.\n\nThe same luminosity is, finally, perceived at times in graveyards, and\nwould, no doubt, have led to careful investigation more frequently, if\nobservers had not so often been suspected of superstitious\napprehensions. In the case of Baron Reichenbach's patients, however, no\nsuch difficulty was to be feared; they saw invariably light, bluish\nflames hovering over many graves, and what made the phenomena more\nstriking still, was the fact that these moving lights were only seen on\nrecent graves, as if naturally dependent upon the process of\ndecomposition. If we connect this with our experience of luminosity seen\nin decaying vegetables, in spoiled meat, and in diseased persons, we\nshall be prepared to believe that even so-called ghost stories, in which\nmysterious lights play a prominent part, are by no means necessarily\nwithout foundation.\n\nCases in which deceased persons have made themselves known to survivors,\nor have produced, by some as yet unexplained agency, an impression upon\nthem through other senses than the sight, are very rare. Occasionally,\nhowever, the hearing is thus affected, and sweet music is heard, in\ntoken, as it were, of the continued intercourse between the dead and the\nliving. One instance may serve as an illustration.\n\nThe Countess A. had all her life been remarkable for the strange delight\nshe took in clocks; not a room in her castle but had its large or small\nclock, and all these she insisted upon winding up herself at the proper\ntime. Her favorite, however, was a very curious and most costly clock in\nher sitting-room, which had the form of a Gothic church, and displayed\nin the steeple a small dial, behind which the works were concealed; at\nthe full hour a hymn was played by a kind of music-box attached to the\nmechanism. She allowed no one to touch this clock, and used to sit\nbefore it, as the hand approached the hour, waiting for the hymn to be\nheard. At last she was taken ill and confined for seven weeks, during\nwhich the clock could not be wound up, and then she died. For special\nreasons the interment had to take place on the evening of the next day,\nand, as the castle was far from any town, the preparations took so much\ntime that it was nearly midnight before the body could be moved from the\nbedroom to the drawing-room, where the usual ceremonies were to be\nperformed. The transfer was accomplished under the superintendence of\nher husband, who followed the coffin, and in the presence of a large\nnumber of friends and dependents, while the minister led the sad\ncortege. At the moment when the coffin approached the favorite clock, it\nsuddenly began to strike; but instead of twelve, it gave out thirteen\nstrokes, and then followed the melody of a well-known hymn:\n\n    \"Let us with boldness now proceed\n     On the dark path to a new life.\"\n\nThe minister, who happened to have been sitting a little while before by\nthe count's side, just beneath the clock, and had mournfully noticed its\nsilence after so many years, was thunderstruck, and could not recover\nhis self-control for some time. The count, on the contrary, saw in the\naccident a solemn warning from on high, and henceforth laid aside the\nfrivolity which he had so far shown in his life as well as in his\nprinciples (\"Evening Post\" [Germ.], 1840. No. 187).\n\nThere are finally certain phenomena belonging to this part of magic,\nwhich have been very generally attributed to an agency in which natural\nforces and supernatural beings held a nearly equal share. They suggest\nthe interesting but difficult question, whether visions and ecstasy can\nextend to large numbers of men at once? And yet without some such\nsupposition the armies in the clouds, the wild huntsman of the Ardennes,\nand like appearances cannot well be explained. Here also no little\nweight must be attached to ancient superstitions which have become, as\nit were, a part of a nation's faith. Thus all Northern Germany has from\nthe earliest days been familiar with the idea of the great Woden ranging\nthrough its dark forests, at the head of the Walkyries and the heroes\nfallen in battle, while his wolves and his raven followed him on his\nnightly course. When Christianity changed the old gods of the German\nrace into devils and demons, Woden became very naturally the wild\nhuntsman, who was now escorted by men of violence, bloody tyrants, and\ncriminals, often grievously mutilated or altogether headless. There can\nbe little doubt but that these visions also rested upon some natural\nsubstructure: exceptional atmospheric disturbances, hurricanes coming\nfrom afar and crashing through mighty forests, or even the modest tramp\nof a band of poachers heard afar off, under favorable circumstances by\ntimid ears. The very fact that the favorite time for such phenomena is\nthe winter solstice favors this supposition. They are, however, by no\nmeans limited to seasons and days, for as late as 1842 a number of\nwheat-cutters left in a panic the field in which they were engaged,\nbecause they believed they heard Frau Holle with her hellish company,\nand saw Faithful Eckhard, as he walked steadily before the procession,\nwarning all he met to stand aside and escape from the fatal sight. An\noccurrence of the kind, which took place in 1857, was fortunately fully\nexplained by careful observers: the cause was an immense flock of wild\ngeese, whose strange cries resembled in a surprising manner the barking\nof a pack of hounds during a hunt. Another occurrence during the night\nof January 30, 1849, threw the whole neighborhood of Basle in\nSwitzerland into painful consternation. The air was suddenly filled with\na multitude of whining voices, whose agony pierced the hearts of all who\nheard them; men and beasts seemed to be suffering unutterable anguish,\nand to be driven with furious speed from the mountain-side into a valley\nnear Magden; here all ended in an instant amid rolling thunder and\nfearful flashes of lightning. A fierce storm arising in distant clefts\nand crevices, and carrying possibly fragments of rock, ice, and moraine\nalong with it, seems here to have been the determining cause.\n\nAnother class of phenomena of this kind relates to the great battles\nthat have at times decided the fate of the world. Thus Pausanias already\ntells us (\"Attica,\" 32), and so do other historians of Greece, how the\nPlain of Marathon resounded for nearly four centuries every year with\nthe clash of arms and the cries of soldiers. It was evidently the deep\nand lasting impression made upon a highly sensitive nation, which here\nwas bequeathed from generation to generation, and on the day of the\nbattle, when all was excitement, resulted in the perception of sounds\nwhich had no real existence. Events of such colossal proportions, which\ndetermine in a few hours the fate of great nations, leave naturally a\npowerful impress upon contemporaries not only, but also upon the\nchildren of that race. Such was, among others, the fearful battle on the\nCatalaunian Fields, in which the Visi-Goths and Aetius conquered Attila,\nand one hundred and sixty-two thousand warriors were slain. It was at\nthe time reported that the intense bitterness and exasperation of the\narmies continued even after the battle, and that for three days the\nspirits of the fallen were contending with each other with unabated\nfury. The report grew into a legend, till a firm belief was established\nthat the battle was fought year after year on the memorable day, and\nthat any visitor might behold the passionate spirits as they rose from\ntheir graves, armed with their ancient weapons and filled with\nundiminished fury. One by one the soldiers of the two armies, it was\nsaid, leave their lowly graves, rise high into the air, and engage in\ndeadly but silent strife, till they vanish in the clouds. It is well\nknown how successfully the great German painter, Kaulbach, has\nreproduced the vision in his magnificent fresco of the \"Hunnenschlacht.\"\nIn other countries these ghostly visions assume different forms. Thus\nthe neighborhood of Kerope, in Livonia, is in like manner renowned for a\nlong series of fearful butcheries during the wars between the German\nknights and the Muscovites. There also, night after night, the shadowy\nbattle is fought over again; but the clashing of arms and the hoarse\nwar-cries are distinctly heard, and the pious traveler hastens away from\nthe blood-soaked plains, uttering his prayers for the souls of the\nslain. In the Highlands of Scotland also, and on the adjoining islands,\nmost weird and gruesome sights have been watched by young and old in\nevery generation. The dark, dismal atmosphere of those regions, the\ndense fogs and impenetrable mists, now rising from the sea, and now\ndescending from the mountains, and the fierce, inclement climate, have\nall combined for ages to predispose the mind for the perception of such\nstrange and mysterious phenomena. Nearly every clan and every family has\nits own particular ghost, and besides these the whole nation claims a\nnumber of common visions and prophetic spirits, whose harps and wild\nsongs are heard faintly and fearfully sounding on high. A friend of Mr.\nMartin, the author of a work on \"Second Sight,\" used to recite several\nstanzas belonging to such a prophetic song, which he had heard himself\non a sad November day, as it came to him through the drooping clouds and\nsweeping mists from the summit of a lonely mountain. At funerals also,\nwonderful voices were heard high in the air, as they accompanied the\nchanting of the people below, with a music not born upon earth, and\nfilling the heart with strange but sweet sadness. Nearly the same\nvisions are seen and the same songs are heard in Sweden and Norway,\nproving conclusively that like climatic influences produce also a\nsimilar magic life, in individuals not only, but in whole nations. For\neven if we are disposed to look upon these phenomena as merely strange\nappearances of clouds and mists, accompanied by the howling and\nwhistling of the wind and the tumbling down of rocks and gravel, there\nremains the uniformity with which thousands of every generation\ninterpret these sights and sounds into weird visions and solemn\nchantings.\n\nIt is, however, not quite so evident why the peculiar class of visions\nwhich is often erroneously called second sight--the beholding of a\n\"double\"--should be almost entirely confined to these same northern\nregions. It is, of course, not unknown to other lands also, and even\nHoly Writ seems to justify the presumption that the idea of a \"double\"\nwas familiar to the people of Palestine. For the poor damsel Rhoda, who\n\"for gladness\" did not open the door at which Peter knocked, after he\nhad been miraculously liberated, but ran to announce his presence to the\nfriends who were assembled at the house of Mark's brother, was first\ncalled mad, and then told: \"It is his angel\" (Acts xii. 13). They\nevidently meant, not that it was the spirit of their deceased friend,\nsince they would have been made aware of his death, but a phantom\nrepresenting his living body. But the number of authentic cases of\npersons who have seen their own form, is vastly greater at the North\nthan anywhere else. The Celtic superstition of the \"fetch,\" as the\nappearance of a person's \"double\" is there called, is too well known to\nrequire explanation. But the vision itself is one of the most\ninteresting in the study of magic, since it exhibits most strikingly the\ngreat power which the human soul may, under peculiar circumstances,\ngain and exercise over its own self, leading to complete self-delusion.\n\nA case in which this strange abdication of all self-control led to most\ndesirable consequences, is mentioned by Dr. Mayo. A young man recently\nfrom Oxford once saw a friend of his enter the room in which he was\ndining with some companions. The new comer, just returning from hunting,\nseemed to them to look unusually pale and was evidently in a state of\ngreat excitement. After much urging he at last confessed that he had\nbeen seriously disturbed in mind by a man who had kept him close company\nall the way home. This stranger, on horseback like himself, had been his\nexact image, down to a new bridle, his own invention, which he had tried\nthat day for the first time. He fancied that this \"double\" was his own\nghost and an omen of his impending death. His friends advised him to\nconfer with the head of his college; this was done, and the latter gave\nhim much good advice, adding the hope that the warning would not be\nallowed to pass unimproved. It is certain that the apparition made so\nstrong an impression upon the young man as to lead to his entire\nreformation, at least for a time.\n\nIt is claimed by many writers that there are persons who continually\nhave visions, because they live in constant communication with spirits,\nalthough in all cases they have to pay a fearful penalty for this sad\nprivilege. They are invariably diseased people, mostly women, who fall\ninto trances, have cataleptic attacks, or suffer of even more painful\nmaladies, and during the time of their affliction behold and converse\nwith the inmates of another world. The most renowned of these seers was\na Mrs. Hauffe, who has become well known to the reading world through\nDr. J. Kerner's famous work, \"The Seeress of Prevorst.\" A peculiar\nfeature in her case was the fact that the visions she had were\ninvariably announced to bystanders by peculiar sounds, heard by all who\nwere present. The forms assumed by her mysterious visitors varied almost\ninfinitely; now it was a man in a brown gown, and now a woman in white.\nOften, when the spirits appeared in the open air, and she tried to\nescape from them by running, she was bodily lifted up and hurried along\nso fast that her companions could not keep pace with her. It was only\nlater in life that she fell as a patient into the hands of Dr. Kerner,\nwho was quite distinguished as a poet, and had a great renown as a\nphysician for insane people of a special class. His house at Weinsberg\nin Wuertemberg, was filled to overflowing with persons of all classes of\nsociety, from the highest to the lowest, and all had visions. Nor was\nthe doctor himself excluded; he also was a seer, and has given in the\nabove-mentioned book a full and most interesting account of the diseases\nin connection with which magic phenomena are most frequently observed.\nBy the aid of careful observation of actual facts, and using such\nrevelations vouchsafed to him and others as he believed fully\ntrustworthy, he formed a regular theory of visions. First of all he\nadmits that the privilege of communing with spirits is a grievous\naffliction, and that all of his more thoughtful patients continually\nprayed to be delivered of the burden. It is evident from all he states\nthat not only the body, but the mind also suffers--and in many cases\nsuffers unto destruction--under the effects of such exceptional powers;\nthat in fact the lines of separation between this life and another life\ncan never be crossed with impunity. His most interesting patient, Mrs.\nHauffe, presents the usual mixture of mere fanciful imagery with\noccasional flashes of truth; her genuine revelations were marvelous, and\ncan only be explained upon the ground of real magic; but with them are\nmixed up the most absurd theories and the most startling contradictions.\nShe insisted, however, upon the fact that only those spirits could\ncommune with mortal man who were detained in the middle realm--between\nheaven and hell--the spirits of men who were in this life unable, though\nnot unwilling, to believe that \"God could forgive their sins for the\nsake of Christ's death.\" She was often tried by Dr. Kerner and others;\nshe was told that certain still living persons had died, and asked to\nsummon their spirits, but she was never misled. There can be no doubt\nthat the poor woman was sincere in her statements; but she was\napparently unable to distinguish between real visions in a trance and\nthe mere offspring of her imagination. That her peculiarities were\nclosely connected with her bodily condition is, moreover, proved by the\nfact that her whole family suffered in similar manner and enjoyed\nsimilar powers; a brother and a sister, as well as her young son, all\nhad visions and heard mysterious noises. The latter were, in fact,\nperceptible to all the inmates of the strange house; even the great\nskeptic, Dr. Strausz, who once visited it, heard \"long, fearful\ngroanings\" close to his amiable hostess, who had fallen asleep on her\nsofa. Nor were the ghosts content with disturbing the patients and their\nexcellent physician; they made themselves known to their friends and\nneighbors, also, and even the good minister in the little town had much\nto suffer from nightly knockings and strange utterances.\n\nDr. Kerner himself heard many spirits, but saw only one, and that only\nas \"a grayish pillar;\" on the other hand he witnessed countless\nmysterious phenomena which occurred in his patients' bedrooms. Now he\nbeheld Mrs. Hauffe's boots pulled off by invisible hands, while she\nherself was lying almost inanimate, in a trance, on her bed, and now he\nheard her reveal secrets which, upon writing to utterly unknown persons\nat a great distance, proved to be correctly stated. What makes a\nthorough investigation of all these phenomena peculiarly difficult, is\nthe fact that Dr. Kerner's house became an asylum for somnambulists as\nwell as for real patients, and that by this mixture the scientific value\nof his observations, as regards their psychological interest, is\nseriously impaired. He himself was a sincere believer in magic\nphenomena; almost all of his friends and neighbors, from the humblest\npeasant to the most cultivated men of science, believed in him and his\nstatements, and there can be no doubt that astonishing revelations were\nmade and extraordinary powers became manifest in his house. But here,\nalso, the difficulty of separating the few grains of truth from the\ngreat mass of willful, as well as of unconscious delusion, is almost\noverwhelming, and our final judgment must be held in suspense, till more\nlight has been thrown on the subject. Dr. Kerner's son, who succeeded\nhis father at his death in 1862, still keeps up the remarkable\nestablishment at Weinsberg; but exclusively for the cure of certain\ndiseases by magnetism.\n\n\n\n\nVI.\n\nDIVINATION.\n\n    \"There shall not be found among you any one that useth divination.\"\n\n    --DEUT. xviii. 9.\n\n\nThe usual activity of our mind is limited to the perception of the world\naround us, and its life, as far as the power of our senses reaches; it\nmust, therefore, necessarily be confined within the limits of space and\ntime. There are, however, specially favored men among us who profess an\nadditional power, or even ordinary men may be thus endowed under\npeculiar circumstances, as when they are under the influence of nervous\naffections, trances, or even merely in an unusual state of excitement.\nThen they are no longer subject to the usual laws of distance in space,\nor remoteness in time; they perceive as immediately present what lies\nbeyond the reach of others, and the magic power by which this is\naccomplished is called Divination. This vision is never quite clear, nor\nalways complete or correct, for even such exceptionable powers are in\nall cases more or less subject to the imperfections of our nature;\nhabitual notions, an ill-executed imagination, and often a disordered\nstate of the system, all interfere with its perfect success. These\nimperfections, moreover, not only affect the value of such magic\nperceptions, but obscure the genuine features by a number of false\nstatements and of erroneous impressions, which quite legitimately excite\na strong prejudice against the whole subject. Hence, especially, the\nrigor of the Church against divination in every form; it has ever\nascribed the errors mixed up with the true parts of such revelations to\nthe direct influence of the Evil One. The difficulty, however, arises\nthat such magic powers have nothing at all to do with the question of\nmorality; the saint and the criminal may possess them alike, since they\nare elements of our common nature, hidden in the vast majority of cases,\nand coming into view and into life only in rare exceptional instances.\n\nDivination, as freed from the ordinary limits of our perceptions,\nappears either as clairvoyance, when things are seen which are beyond\nthe range of natural vision, or as prophecy, when the boundary lines of\ntime are overstepped. The latter appears again in its weakest form as a\nmere anticipation of things to come, or rises to perfection in the\nactual foretelling of future events. It is sad enough to learn from the\nexperience of all nations that the occurrences thus foreseen are almost\ninvariably great misfortunes, yet our surprise will cease if we remember\nthat the tragic in life exercises by far the greatest influence on our\nmind, and excites it far beyond all other events. Nor must we overlook\nthe marvelous unanimity with which such magic powers are admitted to\nexist in Man by all nations on earth. The explanation, also, is\ninvariably the same, namely, that Man possessed originally the command\nover space and time as well as God himself, but that when sin came into\nthe world and affected his earth-born body, this power was lost, and\npreserved only to appear in exceptional and invariably most painful\ncases. So thought the ancients even long before revelation had spoken.\nThey believed that Man had had a previous god-like existence before\nappearing upon earth, where he was condemned to expiate the sins of his\nformer life, while his immortal and divine soul was chained to a\nperishing earthy body. Plato, Plutarch, and Pythagoras, Cicero (in his\nbook _De Divinatione_), and even Porphyrius, all admit without\nhesitation the power of divination, and speak of its special vigor in\nthe moments preceding death. Melanchthon ascribed warning dreams to the\nprophetic power of the human soul. Brierre de Boismont also is forced to\nadmit that not all cases of clairvoyance and prophesying are the results\nof hallucination by diseased persons; he speaks, on the contrary, and in\nspite of his bitter skepticism, of instances in which the increased\npowers of perception are the effect of \"supernatural intuition.\"\n\nOne of the most prolific sources of error in Divination has ever been\nthe variety of means employed for the purpose of causing the preparatory\nstate of trance. It is well known in our day that the mind may be most\nstrangely affected by innumerable agencies which are apparently purely\nmechanical, and often utterly absurd. Such are an intent gazing at\nhighly-polished surfaces of metal, or into the bright inside of a gold\ncup, at the shining sides of a crystal, or the varying hues of a glass\nglobe; now vessels filled with pure water, and now ink poured into the\nhand of a child, answer the same purpose. Fortune-telling from the lines\nof the hand or the chance combinations of playing-cards are, in this\naspect, on a par with the prophecies of astrologers drawn from the\nconstellations in the heavens. It need hardly be added that this almost\ninfinite variety of more or less absurd measures has nothing at all to\ndo with the awaking of magic power, and continues in use only from the\nprestige which some of the means, like the cup of Joseph and the mirror\nof Varro, derive from their antiquity. Their sole purpose is uniformly\nto withdraw the seer's attention from all outward objects, and to make\nhim, by steadily gazing at one and the same object, concentrate his\nthoughts and feelings exclusively upon his own self. Experience has\ntaught that such efforts, long continued, result finally in utter loss\nof feeling, in unconsciousness, and frequently even in catalepsy. It is\ngenerally only under such peculiarly painful circumstances that the\nunusual powers of our being can become visible and begin to operate.\nWhile these results may be obtained, as recent experiments have proved,\neven by mere continued squinting, barbarous nations employ the most\nviolent means for the same purpose--the whirling of dervishes, the\ndrumming and dancing of northern shamans, the deafening music of the\nMoors, are all means of the same kind to excite the rude and fierce\nnature of savages to a state of excessive excitement. In all cases,\nhowever, we must notice the comparative sterility of such divination,\nand the penalty which has to be paid for most meagre results by injuries\ninflicted upon the body, and by troubles caused in the mind, which, if\nthey do not become fatal to life, are invariably so to happiness and\npeace. That the sad privilege may have to be paid for with life itself,\nwe learn already from Plutarch's account of a priestess who became so\nfurious while prophesying, that not only the strangers but the priests\nthemselves fled in dismay, while she herself expired a few hours later\n(II. p. 438).\n\nThe state in which all forms of divination are most apt to show\nthemselves is by theologians called _ecstasis_, when it is caused by\nmeans specially employed for the purpose and appears as a literally\n\"being beside one's self\"; by its side they speak of _raptus_, when the\nabnormal state suddenly begins during an act of ordinary life, such as\nwalking, working, or even praying. The distinction is of no value as to\nthe nature of the magic powers themselves, which are in all cases the\nsame; it refers exclusively to the outer form.\n\nOne of the simplest methods is the Deasil-walking of the Scotch\nHighlanders: the seer walks rapidly three times, with the sun, around\nthe person whose future is to be foretold, and thus produces a trance,\nin which his magic powers become available. Walter Scott's \"Chronicles\nof the Canongate\" gives a full account of this ceremony. Robin Oig's\naunt performs the ceremony, and then warns him in great terror, that she\nhas seen a bloody dagger in his hand, stained with English blood, and\nbeseeches him to stay at home. He disregards the omen, kills the same\nnight an Englishman, a cattle-dealer, and pays for the crime with his\nlife.\n\nIn the East, on the contrary, the usual form is to employ a young boy,\ntaken at haphazard from the street, and to force him to gaze intently at\nIndian ink poured into the hollow of the hand, at molten lead, wax\npoured into cold water, the paten of a priest or a shining sword, with\nwhich several men have been killed. General readers will recall the\nfamous boy of Cairo, who saw thus, in the dark, glittering surface of\nink, the great Nelson--curiously enough as in a mirror, for he reported\nthe image to be without the left arm and to wear the left sleeve across\nthe breast, while the great admiral had lost his right arm and wore the\nright sleeve suspended. Burke, in his amusing \"Anecdotes of the\nAristocracy,\" etc. (I. p. 124), relates how the \"magician\" Magraubin in\nAlexandria appeared with a ten-year-old Coptic boy before the officers\nof H. M's. ship _Vanguard_. After burning much incense and uttering many\nunintelligible formulas he rolled a paper in the shape of a cornucopia,\nfilled it with ink, and bade the boy tell them what he saw. As usual, he\nsaw first a broom sweeping, and was thoroughly frightened. When a young\nmidshipman asked him to inquire what would be his fate, he described\ninstantly a sailor with gold on the shoulders, fighting against Indians\ntill he fell dead; then came friends and buried him under a tree on a\nhill. The midshipman, Croker, returned home, abandoned the sea, and\nbecame a landowner in one of the midland counties of England, where he\noften laughed at the absurd prediction. Long years afterwards, however,\nwhen there was a sudden want of seamen, he was recalled into service and\nsent on a long cruise. He rose to become a captain, and while in command\nof a frigate fell, upon the island of Tongataboo, in a skirmish with the\nnatives, whereupon he was interred there under a lofty palm-tree which\nstood on a commanding eminence. The same author repeats (I. p. 357) the\nwell-known story of Lady Eleanor Campbell, which is in substance as\nfollows:\n\nPoor Lady Primrose, a daughter of the second Earl of Loudoun, had for\nyears endured the saddest lot that can befall a noble woman: she had\nbeen bound by marriage to a husband whose dissolute habits and untamable\npassions inspired her with fear, while his short love for her had long\nsince turned into bitter hatred. At last he formed the resolution to rid\nhimself forever of his wife, whose very piety and gentleness were a\nstanding reproof to his villainy. By a rare piece of good luck she was\nawake when he came from his deep potations, a bare sword in his hand,\nand ready to kill her; she saw him in the mirror before which she\nhappened to be sitting, and escaped by jumping from a window and\nhastening to her husband's own mother. After this attempt at her life\nhe disappeared, no one knew whither, but the poor lady, forsaken and yet\nnot a widow, could not prevent her thoughts from dwelling, by day and by\nnight, year after year, upon the image of her unfortunate husband and\nhis probable fate in foreign lands. It was, therefore, not without a\npardonable interest that she heard, one winter, people talk of a\nforeigner who had suddenly appeared in Canongate and created a great\nsensation throughout Edinburgh by his success in showing to inquiring\nvisitors what their absent friends were doing. Her intense anxiety about\nher husband and her natural desire to ascertain whether she was still a\nwife or already a widow, combined to tempt her to call on the magician;\nshe went, therefore, with a friend, both disguised in the tartans and\nplaids of their maids. Before they reached the obscure alley to which\nthey had been directed, they lost their way, and were standing helpless,\nexposed to the cold, stormy weather, when suddenly a deep voice said to\nthem: \"You are mistaken, ladies, this is not your way!\" \"How so?\" asked\nLady Primrose, addressing a tall, gentlemanly looking man, with a stern\nface of deep olive color, in which a pair of black eyes shone like\nstars, and dressed in an elegant but foreign-looking costume. The answer\ncame promptly: \"You are mistaken in your way, because it lies yonder,\nand in your disguise, because it does not conceal you from him who can\nlift the veil of the Future!\" Then followed a short conversation in\nwhich the stranger made himself known as the magician whom they were\nabout to visit, and, by some words whispered into the lady's ear, as a\nman who not only recognized her as Lady Primrose, but who also was\nperfectly well acquainted with all the intimate details of her history.\nAmazed and not a little frightened, the two ladies accepted his\ncourteous invitation to follow him, entered the house, and were shown\ninto a simply furnished room, where the stranger begged them to wait for\nhim, till all was ready for the ceremony by which alone he could satisfy\ntheir curiosity. After a short pause he reappeared in the traditional\ncostume of a magician, a long tunic of black velvet which left his\nbreast, arms, and hands free, and requested Lady Primrose to follow him\ninto the adjoining room. After some little hesitation she left her\ncompanion and entered the room, which was perfectly plain, offering\nnothing to attract the eye save the dark curtains before the windows, an\nold-fashioned arm-chair, and a kind of altar of black marble, over which\na large and beautiful mirror was suspended. Before the latter stood a\nsmall oven, in which some unknown substance burnt with a blue light,\nwhich alone feebly lighted up the room. The visitor was requested to sit\ndown, to invoke help from above, and to abstain from uttering a sound,\nif she valued her life and that of the magician. After some simple but\napparently most important ceremonies, the magician threw a pinch of red\npowder upon the flame, which instantly changed into bright crimson,\nwhile a few plaintive sounds were heard and red clouds seemed to rise\nbefore the mirror, broken at short intervals by vivid flashes of\nlightning. As the mist dispersed the glass exhibited to the lady's\nastonished eye the interior of a church, first in vague outlines\nundulating as passing clouds seemed to set them in motion, but soon\ndistinctly and clear in the minutest details. Then a priest appeared\nwith his acolytes at the altar, and a wedding party was seen standing\nbefore him, among whom Lady Primrose soon recognized her faithless\nhusband. Before she could recover from her painful surprise she saw a\nstranger hastily entering the church, wrapped in his cloak; at the\nmoment when the priest, who had been performing the usual ceremony, was\nabout to join the hands of the couple before him, the unknown dropped\nhis cloak and rushed forward. Lady Primrose saw it was her own brother,\nwho drew his sword and attacked her husband; suddenly a thrust was made\nby the latter which threatened to be fatal, and the poor lady cried out:\n\"Great God, they will kill my brother!\" She had no sooner uttered these\nwords than the whole scene in the mirror became dim and blurred, the\nclouds rose again and formed dense masses, and soon the glass resumed\nits ordinary brightness and the flame its faint blue color. The\nmagician, apparently much excited, informed the lady that all was over,\nand that they had escaped a most fearful danger, incurred by her\nimprudence in speaking. He would accept no reward, stating that he had\nmerely wished to oblige her, but would not have dared do so much, if he\nhad foreseen the peril to which they had both been exposed. Lady\nPrimrose, accompanied by her friend, reached home in a state of extreme\nexcitement, but immediately wrote down the hour and the day of her\nstrange adventure, with a full account of all she had seen in the magic\nmirror. The paper thus drawn up she sealed in the presence of her\ncompanion and hid it in a secret drawer. Not long afterwards her brother\nreturned from the Continent, but for some time refused to speak at all\nof her husband; it was only after being long and urgently pressed by the\npoor lady, that he consented to tell her, how he had heard of Lord\nPrimrose's intention to marry a very wealthy lady in Amsterdam, how by\nmere chance he had entered the church where the marriage ceremony was to\nbe performed, and how he had come out just in time to prevent his\nbrother-in-law from committing bigamy. They had fought for a few minutes\nwithout doing each other any injury, and after being separated, he had\nremained, while Lord Primrose had disappeared, no one knew whither. Upon\ncomparing dates and circumstances, it appeared that the mirror had\npresented the scene faithfully in all its details; but the ceremony had\ntaken place in the morning, the visit to the magician at night, so that\nthe latter had, after all, only revealed an event already completed.\nThere remains, however, the difficulty of accounting for the means by\nwhich in those days--about 1700--an event in Amsterdam could possibly\nhave been known in Edinburgh, the night of the same day on which it\noccurred.\n\nIn France, under Louis XIV., a glass of water was most frequently used\nas a mirror in which to read the future. The Duke of St. Simon reports\nthat the Duke of Orleans was thus informed that he would one day become\nRegent of France. The Abbe Choisy mentions a remarkable occurrence which\ntook place at the house of the Countess of Soissons, a niece of the\ngreat Cardinal Mazarin. Her husband was lying sick in the province of\nChampagne, and she was anxious to know whether she ought to undertake\nthe long and perilous journey to him or not; in this dilemma a friend\noffered to send for a diviner, who should tell her the issue of her\nhusband's illness. He brought her a little girl, five years old, who, in\nthe presence of a number of distinguished persons of both sexes, began,\nunder the nobleman's direction, to tell what she saw in a glass of\nwater. When she began by saying that the water looked as if it were\ntroubled, the poor lady was so frightened that her friend suggested he\nwould ask the spirit to show the child not her husband himself, but a\nwhite horse, if the Count was dead, and a tiger if he was alive. Then he\nasked the girl what she saw now? \"Ah!\" she cried out at once, \"what a\npretty white horse!\" The company, however, refused to be content with\none trial; five times in succession the test was altered, and in such a\nmanner that the little child could not possibly be aware of the choice,\nbut in each case the answer was unfavorable to the absent Count. It\nappeared, afterwards, that he had really died a day or two before the\nconsultation. One of the most striking cases of such exceptional\nendowment was a Frenchman, Cahagnet, who in his work, _Lumiere des\nMorts_ (Paris, 1851), claimed to see remote objects and persons. He used\nto make a mental effort, upon which his eyes became fixed and he saw\nobjects at a great distance, reading the title and discerning the\nprecise shape of books in public libraries, or watching absent friends\nengaged in unusual occupations! This state of clairvoyance, however,\nnever lasted more than sixty seconds, nor could he ever see the same\nobject twice--limitations of his endowment which secured for him greater\ncredit than he would have otherwise possessed. Occasionally he would\nassist the effort he had to make by fixedly gazing at some shining\nobject, such as a small flaw in a mirror or a glass. Another restraint\nunder which he labored, and which yet increased the faith of others,\nconsisted in this, that such sights as presented themselves\nspontaneously to him proved invariably to be true, while the visions\nwhich he purposely evoked were not unfrequently unfounded in fact.\n\nAmong recent magicians of this class, a Parisian, Edmond, is perhaps the\nmost generally known. He is a man without education, who leads a life of\nasceticism, and is said to equal the famous Lennormand in his ability to\nguess the future by gazing intently at certain cards. The latter,\nalthough not free from the charge of charlatanism, possessed\nundoubtedly the most extraordinary talent of divining the thoughts of\nthose who came to consult her, and an almost marvelous tact in\nconnecting the knowledge thus obtained with the events of the day. She\nbegan her career already as a young girl at a convent-school, where her\nplaymates asked her laughing who would be the next abbess, and she\nmentioned an entirely unknown lady from Picardy as the one that would be\nappointed by the king. Contrary to all expectations the favorite\ncandidates were put aside, and the unknown lady appointed, although\neighteen months elapsed before her prophecy was fulfilled. As early as\n1789 she predicted the overthrow of the French government, and during\nthe Revolution her reputation was such that the first men of the land\ncame to consult her. The unfortunate princess Lamballe and Mirabeau,\nMme. de Stael and the king himself, all appeared in her stately\napartments. Her efforts to save the queen, to whose prison she managed\nto obtain access, were unsuccessful; but when her aristocratic\nconnections caused her to be imprisoned herself, even the noble and\nvirtuous Mme. Tallien sought her society. The new dynasty, whose members\nwere almost without exception more or less superstitious, as it is the\nnature of all Corsicans, consulted her frequently; the great Napoleon\ncame to her in 1793, when he was disgusted with France, and on the point\nof leaving the country; he sent for her a second time in 1801 to confer\nwith her at Malmaison, and the fair Josephine actually conceived for\nher a deep and lasting attachment. Afterwards, however, she became as\nobnoxious to the Emperor as his inveterate enemy, Mme. de Stael; she was\nrepeatedly sent to prison because she predicted failures, as in the case\nof the projected invasion of England, or because she revealed the secret\nplans of Napoleon. The Emperor Alexander of Russia also consulted her in\n1818, and of the Prussian king, Frederick William III., it is at least\nreported that he visited her incognito. After the year 1830 she appeared\nbut rarely in her character as a diviner; she had become old and rich,\nand did not perhaps wish to risk her world-wide reputation by too\nnumerous revelations. She maintained, however, for the rest of her life\nthe most intimate relations with many eminent men in France, and when\nshe died, in 1843, seventy-one years old, leaving to her nephew a very\nlarge fortune, her gorgeous funeral was attended by a host of\ndistinguished personages, including even men of such character as\nGuizot. And yet she also had not disdained to use the most absurd and\napparently childish means in order to produce the state of ecstasy in\nwhich she alone could divine: playing-cards fancifully arranged, the\nwhite of an egg, the sediment of coffee, or the lines in the hand of her\nvisitors. At the same time, however, she used the information which she\ncasually picked up or purposely obtained from her great friends with\ninfinite cunning and matchless tact, so that the better informed often\nasked her laughingly if her familiar spirit Ariel was not also known as\nTalleyrand, David, or Geoffroy? The charlatanism which often and most\njustly rendered her proceedings suspicious to sober men, was in fact\npart of her system; she knew perfectly well the old doctrine, _mundus\nvult decipi_, and did not hesitate to flatter the fondness of all\nFrenchmen for a theatrical _mise en scene_.\n\nDryden's famous horoscope of his younger son Charles was probably\nnothing more than one of those rare but striking coincidences of which\nthe laws of probability give us the exact value. He loved the study of\nastrology and never omitted to calculate the nativity of his children as\nsoon as they were born. In the case of Charles he discovered that great\ndangers would threaten him in his eighth, twenty-third, and thirty-third\nor forty-third year; and sure enough those years produced serious\ntroubles. On his eighth birthday he was buried under a falling wall; on\nthe twenty-third he fell in Rome from an old tower, and on his\nthirty-third he was drowned in the Thames.\n\nDivination by means of bones--generally the shoulder bones of rams--is\nquite common among the Mongols and Tongoose, and the custom seems to\nhave remained unchanged through centuries. For Purchas already quotes\nfrom the \"Journal\" of the Minorite monk Guillaume de Rubruguis, written\nin 1255, a description of the manner in which the Great Khan of Mongolia\ntried to ascertain the result of any great enterprise which he might\ncontemplate. Three shoulder bones of rams were brought to him, which he\nheld for some time in his hands, while deeply meditating on the subject;\nthen he threw them into the fire. After they were burnt black they were\nagain laid before him and examined; if they had cracked lengthways the\nomen was favorable, if crossways the enterprise was abandoned. Almost\nidentically the same process is described by the great traveler Pallas,\nwho witnessed it repeatedly and obtained very startling communications\nfrom the Mongol priests. But here also violent dancing, narcotic\nperfumes, and wild cries had to aid in producing a trance. The\nLaplanders have, perhaps, the most striking magic powers which seem to\nbe above suspicion. At least we are assured by every traveler who has\nspent some time among them, from Caspar Peucer (\"Commentaries,\" etc.,\nWittebergae, 1580, p. 132) down to the tourists of our days (\"Six Months\nin Lapland,\" 1870), that they not only see persons at the greatest\ndistance, but furnish minute details as to their occupation or\nsurroundings. After having invoked the aid of his gods the magician\nfalls down like a dead man and remains in a state of trance for\ntwenty-four hours, during which foreigners are always warned to have him\ncarefully guarded, \"lest the demons should carry him off.\" During this\ntime the seer maintains that his \"soul opens the gates of the body and\nmoves about freely wherever it chooses to go.\" When he returns to\nconsciousness he describes accurately and minutely the persons about\nwhom he has promised to give information. In the East Indies it is well\nknown clairvoyance has existed from time immemorial, and the kind of\ntrance which consists in utter oblivion of actual life and perfect\nabstraction of thought from this world is there carried out to\nperfection. The faithful believer sits or lies down in any position he\nmay happen to prefer for the moment, fixes his eyes intently upon the\npoint of his nose, mutters the word One, and finally beholds God with an\ninner sense, in the form of a white brilliant light of ineffable\nsplendor. Some of these ascetics pass from a simple trance to a state of\ncatalepsy, in which their bodies become insensible to pain--but this\nkind of _ecstasis_ is not accompanied by divination.\n\nAnother branch of divination conquers the difficulty which distance in\nspace opposes to our ordinary perceptions. In all such cases it is of\ncourse not our hearing or smelling which suddenly becomes miraculously\npowerful, but another magic power, which causes impressions on the\nmind like those produced by the eye and the ear. The oldest\nwell-authenticated instance of magic hearing is probably that of\nHyrcanus, the high-priest of the Jews, who while burning incense in the\ntemple, heard a voice saying: \"Now Antiochus has been slain by thy\nsons.\" The news was immediately proclaimed to the people, and some time\nafterward messengers came announcing that Antiochus had thus perished as\nhe approached Samaria, which he desired to relieve from the besieging\narmy under the sons of Hyrcanus (Josephus, \"Antiq.\" lxiii. ch. 19). A\nstill more striking instance is also reported by a trustworthy author\n(Theophylactos Simocata, l. viii. ch. 13). A man in Alexandria, Egypt,\nsaw, as he returned home about midnight, the statues before the great\ntemple moved aside from their seats, and heard them call out to him that\nthe Emperor had been slain by Phocas (602). Thoroughly frightened he\nhastened to the authorities, reporting his adventure; he was carried\nbefore Peter, the Viceroy of Egypt, and ordered to keep silence. Nine\ndays later, however, the official news came that the Emperor had been\nmurdered. It is evident that the knowledge of the event came to him in\nsome mysterious way, and for an unknown purpose; but that what he saw\nand heard, was purely the work of his imagination, which became the\nvehicle of the revelation.\n\nThere exists a long, almost unbroken series of similar phenomena through\nthe entire course of modern history, of which but a few can here find\nspace. Richelieu tells us in his _Memoires_ (\"Coll. Michaud--Poryoulat,\"\n2d series, vii. p. 23), that the _Prevost des Marechaux_ of the city of\nPithiviers was one night engaged in playing cards in his house, when he\nsuddenly hesitated, fell into a deep musing, and then, turning to his\ncompanions, said solemnly: \"The king has just been murdered!\" These\nwords made a deep impression upon all the members of the assembly, which\nafterward changed into genuine terror, when it became known that on that\nsame evening, at the same hour of four o'clock, P. M., Henry IV. had\nreally been murdered. Nor was this a solitary case, for on the same day\na girl of fourteen, living near the city of Orleans, had asked her\nfather, Simonne, what a king was? Upon his replying that it was the man\nwho commanded all Frenchmen, she had exclaimed: \"Great God, I have this\nmoment heard somebody tell me that he was murdered!\" It seems that the\nminds of men were just then everywhere deeply interested in the fate of\nthe king, and hence their readiness to anticipate an event which was no\ndoubt very generally apprehended; even from abroad numerous letters had\nbeen received announcing his death beforehand. In the two cases\nmentioned this excitement had risen to divination. The author of the\nfamous _Zauber Bibliothek_, Horst, mentions (i. p. 285) that his father,\na well-known missionary, was once traveling in company with the renowned\nHebrew scholar Wiedemann, while a third companion, ordinarily engaged\nwith them in converting Jews, was out at sea. It was a fine, bright day;\nno rain or wind visible even at a distance. Wiedemann had walked for\nsome time in deep silence, apparently engaged in praying, when suddenly\nhe stopped and said: \"Monsieur Horst, take your diary and write down,\nthat our companion is at this moment exposed to great peril by water.\nThe storm will last till night and the danger will be fearful; but the\nLord will mercifully preserve him and the vessel, and no lives will be\nlost. Write it down carefully, so that when our friend returns, we may\njointly thank God for His great mercy.\" The missionary did so, and when\nthe three friends were united once more their diaries were compared,\nand it appeared that the statement had been exact in all its details.\n\nClairvoyance, as far as it implies the seeing of persons or the\nwitnessing of events at a great distance, is counted among the most\nfrequent gifts of early saints, and St. Augustine mentions a number of\nremarkable cases. Not only absent friends and their fate were thus\nbeheld by privileged Christians, but even the souls of departing saints\nwere seen as they were borne to heaven by angelic hosts. The same\nexceptional gifts were apparently granted to the early Jesuit fathers;\nthus Xavier once saw distinctly a whole naval expedition sailing against\nthe pirates of Malacca and defeating them in a great naval battle. He\nhad himself caused the fleet to be sent from Sumatra, and remained\nduring the whole time in a trance. He had fallen down unconscious at the\nfoot of the altar, where he had been fervently praying for a long time,\nand during his unconsciousness he saw not only a general image of what\nwas occurring at a distance of 200 Portuguese leagues, but every detail,\nso that upon recovering from the trance he could announce to his\nbrethren the good news of a great victory, of the loss of only three\nlives, and of the very day and hour on which the official report would\nbe received (Orlandini, l. vii. ch. 84). Queen Margaret, not always\nreliable, still seems to state well-known facts only, when she tells us\nin her famous _Memoires_ (Paris, 1658) the visions of her mother, the\ngreat Queen Catherine de Medici. The latter was lying dangerously ill\nat Metz, and King Charles, a sister, and another brother of Margaret of\nValois, the Duke of Lorraine, and a number of eminent persons of both\nsexes, were assembled around what was believed to be her death-bed. She\nwas delirious, and suddenly cried out: \"Just see how they run! my son is\nvictorious. Great God! raise him up, he has fallen! Do you see the\nPrince of Conde there? He is dead.\" Everybody thought she was delirious,\nbut on the next evening a messenger came bringing the news of the battle\nof Jarnac, and as he mentioned the main events, she calmly turned to her\nchildren, saying: \"Ah! I knew; I saw it all yesterday!\" It seems as if\nin times of great and general expectation, when bloody battles are\nfought, and the destiny of empires hangs in the scales, the minds of the\nmasses become so painfully excited that the most sensitive among them\nfall into a kind of trance, and then perceive, by magic powers of\ndivination, what is taking place at great distances. This\nover-excitement is, moreover, not unknown to men of the highest\ncharacter and the greatest erudition. Calvin, whose stern, clear-sighted\njudgment abhorred all superstition, nevertheless once saw a battle\nbetween Catholics and Protestants with all its details. Swedenborg,\nwhose religious enthusiasm never interfered with his scrupulous candor,\nsaw more than once with his mind's eye events occurring at a distance of\nhundreds of miles. His vision of the great fire at Stockholm is too well\nauthenticated to admit of doubt. Not less reliable are the accounts of\nanother vision he had at Amsterdam in the presence of a large company.\nWhile engaged in animated conversation, he suddenly changed countenance\nand became silent; the persons near him saw that he was under the\ninfluence of some strong impression. After a few moments he seemed to\nrecover, and overwhelmed with questions, he at last reluctantly said:\n\"In this hour the Emperor Peter IV. of Russia has suffered death in his\nprison!\" It was ascertained afterwards that the unfortunate sovereign\nhad died on that day and in the manner indicated.\n\nAmong modern seers the most remarkable was probably the well-known poet,\nEmile Deschamps, who published in 1838 interesting accounts of his own\nexperiences. When he was only eight years old it was decided that he\nshould leave Paris and be sent to Orleans; this troubled him sorely, and\nin his great grief he found some little comfort in setting his lively\nfancy to work and to imagine what the new city would be like. When he\nreached Orleans he was extremely surprised to recognize the streets, the\nshops, and even the names on the sign-boards, everything was exactly as\nhe had seen it in his day-dreams. While he was yet there he saw his\nmother, whom he had left in Paris, in a dream rising gently heavenwards\nwith a palm-branch in her hand, and heard her voice, very faint but\nsilvery, call to him, \"Emile, Emile, my son!\" She had died in the same\nnight, uttering these words with her departing breath. Later in life he\noften heard strange but enchanting music while in a state of partial\necstasis; he saw distant events, and, among others, distinctly described\na barricade, the defenders of the adjoining house, and certain events\nconnected with the fight at that spot, as they had happened in Paris on\nthe same day (_Le Concile de la libre pensee_, i. p. 183).\n\nA still higher power of divination enables men to read in the faces and\nforms of others, even of totally unknown persons, not only the leading\ntraits of their character, but even the nature of their former lives.\nThere can be no doubt that every important event in our life leaves a\nmore or less perceptible trace behind, which the acute and experienced\nobserver may learn to read with tolerable distinctness and accuracy. It\nis well known how the study of the human face enables us thus to discern\none secret after another, and how really great men have possessed the\npower to judge of the capacity of generals or statesmen to serve them,\nby natural instinct and without any effort. We say of specially endowed\nmen of this class, that they \"can read the souls of men,\" and what is\nmost interesting is the well-established fact that the purer the mind\nand the freer from selfishness and conceit, the greater this power to\nfeel, as it were, the character of others. Hence the superiority of\nwomen in this respect; hence, especially, the unfailing instinct of\nchildren, which enables them instantly to distinguish affected love from\nreal love, and makes them shrink often painfully from contact with evil\nmen.\n\nWhen this power reaches in older men a high degree of perfection, it\nenters within the limits of magic, and in this form was well known to\nthe ancients. The Neo-Platonic Plotinus is reported by Porphyrius to\nhave been almost marvelously endowed with such divining powers; he\nrevealed to his pupils the past and the future events of their lives\nalike, and once charged the author himself with cherishing thoughts of\nsuicide, when no one else suspected such a purpose. In like manner, we\nare told, Ancus Naevius, the famous augur of the first Tarquins, could\nread all he desired to know in the faces of others. The saints of the\nchurch were naturally as richly endowed, and from Filipo Neri to Xavier\nnearly all possessed this peculiar gift of divination. But other men,\nalso, and by no means always those most abundantly endowed with mental\nsuperiority, have frequently a peculiar talent of this kind. Thus the\nwell-known writer Zschokke, the author of the admirable work, \"Hours of\nDevotion,\" gives in his autobiographical work, _Selbstschau_, a full\naccount of his peculiar gifts as a seer, which contains the following\nprincipal facts: At the moment when an utter stranger was first\nintroduced to him, he saw a picture of his whole previous life rising\ngradually before his mind's eye, resembling somewhat a long dream, but\nclear and closely connected. During this time he would, contrary to his\ngeneral custom, lose sight of the visitor's face and no longer hear his\nvoice. He used to treat these involuntary revelations at first as mere\nidle fancies, till one day he was led by a kind of sportive impulse to\ntell his family the secret history of a seamstress who had just left the\nroom, and whom he had never seen before. It was soon ascertained that\nall he had stated was perfectly true, though known only to very few\npersons. From that time he treated these visions more seriously, taking\npains to repeat them in a number of cases to the persons whom they\nconcerned, and to his own great amazement they turned out in every case\nto be perfectly accurate. The author adds one case of peculiarly\nstriking nature: \"One day,\" he says, \"I reached the town of Waldshut,\naccompanied by two young foresters, who are still alive. It was dusk,\nand tired by our walk we entered an inn called The Grapevine. We took\nour supper at the public table in company with numerous guests, who\nhappened to be laughing at the oddities and the simplicity of the Swiss,\ntheir faith in Mesmer, in Lavater's 'System of the Physiognomy,' etc.\nOne of my companions, hurt in his national pride, asked me to make a\nreply, especially with regard to a young man sitting opposite to us,\nwhose pretentious airs and merciless laughter had been peculiarly\noffensive. It so happened that, a few moments before, the main events in\nthe life of this person had passed before my mind's eye. I turned to him\nand asked him if he would answer me candidly upon being told the most\nsecret parts of his life by a man who was so complete a stranger to him\nas I was? That, I added, would certainly go even beyond Lavater's power\nto read faces. He promised to confess it openly, if I stated facts.\nThereupon I related all I had seen in my mind, and informed thus the\nwhole company at table of the young man's history, the events of his\nlife at school, his petty sins, and at last a robbery which he had\ncommitted by pilfering his employer's strong-box. I described the empty\nroom with its whitewashed walls and brown door, near which on the right\nhand, a small black money-box had been standing on a table, and other\ndetails. As long as I spoke there reigned a deathlike silence in the\nroom, which was only interrupted by my asking the young man, from time\nto time, if all I said was not true. He admitted everything, although\nevidently in a state of utter consternation, and at last, deeply touched\nby his candor, I offered him my hand across the table and closed my\nrecital.\"\n\nThis popular writer, a man of unblemished character, who died in 1850,\nregretted by a whole nation, makes this account of his own prophetic\npower still more interesting by adding that he met at least once in his\nlife another man similarly endowed. \"I once encountered,\" he says,\n\"while travelling with two of my sons, an old Tyrolese, a peddler of\noranges and lemons, in a small inn half concealed in one of the narrow\npasses of the Jura Mountains. He fixed his eyes for some time upon my\nface, and then entered into conversation with me, stating that he knew\nme, although I did not know him, and then began, to the intense delight\nof the peasants who sat around us and of my children, to chat about\nmyself and my past life. How the old man had acquired his strange\nknowledge he could not explain to himself or to others, but he evidently\nvalued it highly, while my sons were not a little astonished to discover\nthat other men possessed the same gift which they had only known to\nexist in their father.\"\n\nIt must not be forgotten that the human eye has, beyond question, often\na power which far transcends the ordinary purposes of sight, and\napproaches the boundaries of magic. There is probably no one who cannot\nrecall scenes in which the soothing and cheering expression of gentle\neyes has acted like healing balm on wounded hearts; or others, in which\nglances of fury and hatred have caused genuine terror and frightened the\nconscience. History records a number of instances, from the glance of\nthe Saviour, which made Peter go out and weep bitterly, to the piercing\neye of a well-known English judge, which made criminals of every rank in\nsociety feel as if their very hearts lay open to the divining eye of a\nmaster. This peculiar and almost irresistible power of the eye has not\ninaptly been traced back to the gorgon head of antiquity--a frightful\nimage from Hades with a dread glance of the eye, as it is called by\nHomer (Il. viii. 349; Odyss. xi. 633). The same fearful expression,\nchilling the blood and almost arresting the beating of the heart, is\nfrequently mentioned in modern accounts of visions. Thus the Demon of\nTedworth recorded by Glanvil (\"Sadd. Triumph.\" 4th ed. p. 270),\nconsisted of the vague outlines of a human face, in which only two\nbright, piercing eyes could be distinguished. In other cases, a faint\nvapor, barely recalling a human shape, arises before the beholder, and\nabove it are seen the same terrible eyes\n\n    \"Sent from the palace of Ais by fearful Persephoneia.\"\n\nMagic divination in point of time includes the class of generally very\nvague and indefinite perceptions, which we call presentiments. These\nare, unfortunately, so universally mixed up with impressions produced\nafter the occurrence--_vaticinium post eventum_--that their value as\ninteresting phenomena of magic is seriously impaired. There remains,\nhowever, in a number of cases, enough that is free from all spurious\nadmixture, to admit of being examined seriously. The ancients not only\nbelieved in this kind of foresight, but ascribed it with Pythagoras to\nrevelations made by friendly spirits; in Holy Writ it rises almost\ninvariably, under direct inspiration from on high, to genuine prophecy.\nIt reveals not only the fate of the seer, but also that of others, and\neven of whole nations; the details vary, of course, according to the\nprevailing spirit of the times.\n\nWhen Narses was ruling over Italy, a young shepherd in the service of\nValerianus, a lawyer, was seized by the plague and fell into syncope. He\nrecovered for a time, and then declared that he had been carried to\nheaven, where he had heard the names of all who in his master's house\nshould die of the plague, adding that Valerianus himself would escape.\nAfter his death everything occurred as he had predicted. An English\nminister, Mr. Dodd, one night felt an irresistible impulse to visit a\nfriend of his who lived at some distance. He walked to his house, found\nthe family asleep, but the father still awake and ready to open the door\nto his late visitor. The latter, very much embarrassed, thought it best\nto state the matter candidly, and confessed that he came for no\nostensible purpose, and really did not know himself what made him do so.\n\"But God knew it,\" was the answer, \"for here is the rope with which I\nwas just about to hang myself.\" It may well be presumed that the Rev.\nMr. Dodd had some apprehensions of the state of mind of his friend; but\nthat he should have felt prompted to call upon him just at that hour,\nwas certainly not a mere accident.\n\nThe family of the great Goethe was singularly endowed with this power of\npresentiment. The poet's grandfather predicted both a great\nconflagration and the unexpected arrival of the German Emperor, and a\ndream informed him beforehand of his election as alderman and then as\nmayor of his native city. His mother's sister saw hidden things in her\ndreams. His grandmother once entered her daughter's chamber long after\nmidnight in a state of great and painful excitement; she had heard in\nher own room a noise like the rustling of papers, and then deep sighs,\nand after a while a cold breath had struck her. Some time after this\nevent a stranger was announced, and when he appeared before her holding\na crumbled paper in his hand, she had barely strength enough to keep\nfrom fainting. When she recovered, her visitor stated that in the night\nof her vision a dear friend of hers, lying on his deathbed, had asked\nfor paper in order to impart to her an important secret; before he could\nwrite, however, he had been seized by the death-struggle, and after\ncrumpling up the paper and uttering two deep sighs he had expired. An\nindistinct scrawl was all that could be seen; still the stranger had\nthought it best to bring the paper. The secret concerned his now\norphaned child, a girl whom Goethe's grandparents thereupon took home\nand cared for affectionately (_Goethe's Briefwechsel_, 3d ed., II. p.\n268).\n\nBourrienne tells us in his _Memoires_ several instances of remarkable\nforebodings on the part of Napoleon's first wife, Josephine. Her mind\nwas probably, by her education and the peculiar surroundings in which\nshe passed her childhood, predisposed to receive vivid impressions of\nthis kind, and to observe them with great care and deep interest. Thus\nshe almost invariably predicted the failure of such of her husband's\nenterprises as proved unsuccessful. After Bonaparte had moved into the\nTuileries on the 18th Brumaire, she saw, while sitting in the room of\npoor Marie Antoinette, the shadow of the unfortunate queen rise from the\nfloor, pass gently through the apartment, and vanish through the window.\nShe fainted, and from that day predicted her own sad fate. On another\noccasion the spirit of her first husband, Beauharnais, appeared before\nher with a gesture of solemn warning; she immediately turned to\nNapoleon, exclaiming: \"Awake, awake, you are threatened by a great\ndanger!\" There seemed to be, for some days, no ground for apprehension,\nbut so strong were her fears that she secretly sent for the minister of\npolice and entreated him to take special measures for the safety of the\nFirst Consul. At eight o'clock of the evening of the same day the latter\nleft the Tuileries on his way to the opera; a terrible explosion was\nheard in the Rue St. Nicaise, where conspirators attempted to blow up\nthe dictator, and he narrowly escaped with his life. Josephine at once\nhastened to his side, and after having most tenderly cared for the\nwounded, embraced Napoleon in public with tears streaming down her face,\nand implored him hereafter to listen more attentively to her warnings.\nNapoleon, however, though superstitious enough firmly to believe in what\nhe called his \"star,\" and even to see it shining in the heavens when no\none else beheld it, never would admit the value of his wife's\nforebodings.\n\nPresentiments of this kind are most frequently felt before death, and it\nis now almost universally believed that the impending dissolution of the\nbody relieves the spirit in many cases fully enough from its bondage to\nendow it with a clear and distinct anticipation of the coming event. A\nlarge number of historical personages have thus been enabled to predict\nthe day, and many even the hour of their own death. The Connetable de\nBourbon, who was besieging Rome, addressed, according to Brantome (_Vies\ndes gr. capitaines_, ch. 28), on the day of the final assault, his\ntroops, and told them he would certainly fall before the Eternal City,\nbut without regret if they but proved victorious. Henry IV. of France,\nfelt his death coming, according to the unanimous evidence of Sully,\nL'Etoile, and Bassompierre, and said, before he entered his coach on the\nfatal day: \"My friend, I would rather not go out to-day; I know I shall\nmeet with misfortune.\" On the 16th of May, 1813, four days before the\nbattle of Bautzen, two of Napoleon's great officers, the Duke of Vicenza\nand Marshal Duroc, were in attendance at Dresden while the emperor was\nholding a protracted conference with the Austrian ambassador. The clock\nwas striking midnight, when suddenly Duroc seized his companion by the\narm and with frightfully altered features, looking intently at him, said\nin trembling tones: \"My friend, this lasts too long; we shall all of us\nperish, and he last of all. A secret voice tells me that I shall never\nsee France again.\" It is well known that on the day of the battle a\ncannon-ball which had already killed General Kirchner, wounded Duroc\nalso mortally, and when he lay on his deathbed he once more turned to\nthe Duke of Vicenza and reminded him of the words he had spoken in\nDresden.\n\nThe trustworthy author of \"Eight Months in Japan,\" N. Luehdorf, tells us\n(p. 158) a remarkable instance of unconscious foreboding on the part of\na common sailor. The American barque _Greta_ was in 1855 chartered to\ncarry a great number of Russians, who had been shipwrecked on board the\nfrigate _Diana_ during an earthquake at Simoda to the Russian port of\nAyan. A sailor on board was very ill, and shortly before his death told\nhis comrades that he would soon die, but that he was rather glad of it,\nas they would all be captured by the English, with whom Russia was then\nat war. The report of his prediction reached the captain's cabin, but\nall the officers agreed that such an event was next to impossible; a\ndense fog was making the ship perfectly invisible, and no English fleet\nhad as yet appeared in the Sea of Okhotsk, where the Russians had\nneither vessels nor forts to tempt the British. The whole force of\nEngland in those waters was at that moment engaged in blockading the\nRussian fleet in the Bay of Castris in the Gulf of Tartary. Nevertheless\nit so chanced that a British steamer, the corvette _Barracouta_, hove in\nsight on the 1st of August and captured the vessel, making the Russians\nprisoners of war.\n\n\nSECOND SIGHT.\n\nA special kind of divination, which has at times been evidenced in\ncertain parts of Europe, and is not unknown to our North-western\nIndians, consists in the perception of contemporaneous or future events,\nduring a brief trance. Generally the seer looks with painfully raised\neyelids, fixedly into space, evidently utterly unconscious of all around\nhim, and engaged in watching a distant occurrence. A peculiar feature of\nthis phenomenon, familiar to all readers as second sight, is the\nexclusion of religious or supernatural matters; the visions are always\nstrictly limited to events of daily life: deaths and births, battles and\nskirmishes, baptisms and weddings. The actors in these scenes are often\npersonally unknown to the seer, and the transactions are as frequently\nbeheld in symbols as in reality. A man who is to die a violent death,\nmay be seen with a rope around his neck or headless, with a dagger\nplunged into his breast, or sinking into the water up to his neck; the\nsick man who is to expire in his bed, will appear wrapped up in his\nwinding sheet, in which case his person is more or less completely\nconcealed as his death is nearer or farther off. A friend or a messenger\ncoming from a great distance, is seen as a faint shadow, and a murderer\nor a thief, as a wolf or a fox. Another peculiar feature of second sight\nis the fact that the same visions are very frequently beheld by several\npersons, although the latter may live far apart and have nothing in\ncommon with each other. The phenomena are sporadic in Germany and\nSwitzerland, in the Dauphine and the Cevennes; they occur in larger\nnumbers and are often hereditary in certain families, in Denmark, the\nScotch Highlands and the Faroe Islands. In Gaelic, the persons thus\ngifted are called Taishatrim, seers of shadows, or Phissichin,\npossessing knowledge beforehand. Hence, they have been most thoroughly\nstudied in those countries, and Mr. Martin has gathered all that could\nbe learnt of second sight in the Shetlands, in a work of great\ninterest. Here the phenomena are not unfrequently accompanied by magic\nhearing also, as when funerals are seen in visions, and at the same time\nthe chants of the bystanders and even the words of the preacher are\ndistinctly heard. The most marked form of this feature is the taisk or\nwraith, a cry uttered by a person who is soon to die, and heard by the\nseer. The dwellers on those remote islands are also in the habit of\nsmelling an odor of fish, often weeks and months before the latter\nappear in their waters. A special kind of divination exists in Wales and\non the Isle of Man, where the approaching death of friends is revealed\nby so-called body lights, caulawillan cyrth.\n\nThe entirely unselfish character of second sight must not be overlooked,\nas far as it increases in a high degree the value of such phenomena and\nadds to their authenticity. In the great majority of cases the persons\nand events seen under such circumstances are of no interest to the seer;\nthey are frequently utterly strange and unknown to him, and hence find\nno sympathy in his heart. It appears as if, by some unknown and hence\nmagic process, a window was opened for the soul to look out and behold\nwhatever may happen to be presented to the inner vision; this image is\nthen transferred to the outer eye, and the seer's imagination makes him\nbelieve that he sees in reality what is revealed to him by this\nmysterious process. Hence also the facts that the persons gifted with\nsecond sight, so far from laboring under diseases of any kind, are\nalmost without exception simple, frugal men, free from chronic\naffections, and perfect strangers to hysterics, spasms, or nervous\nsufferings. Insanity and suicide are as unknown to them as drunkenness,\nand no case of selfish interest or willful imposture has ever been\nrecorded in connection with second sight. This does not imply, however,\nthat efforts have not been made by others to profit by the strange gifts\nof such persons; but even the career of the famous Duncan Campbell, a\ndeaf and dumb Scot, who, in the beginning of the last century, created\nan immense sensation in London, only proved anew the well-known\ndisinterestedness of these seers. In many instances the gift of second\nsight is treated with indifference, and hardly noticed. Such was the\ncase with Lord Nelson, who is reported to have exhibited the gift of a\nkind of second sight, at least in two well-authenticated cases, related\nby Sir Thomas Hardy to Admiral Dundas, and quoted by Dr. Mayo, as he had\nthe account from the latter. Captain Hardy heard Nelson order the\ncommander of a frigate to shake out all sails to sail towards a certain\nplace where he would in all probability meet the French fleet, and as\nsoon as he had made it out, to run into a certain port and there to wait\nfor Nelson's arrival. When the officer had left the cabin, Nelson turned\nto Hardy, saying: \"He will go to the West Indies; he will see the\nFrench; he will make the port I told him to make, but he will not wait\nfor me--he will sail for England.\" The commander actually did so. In\nthis case, however, Nelson may possibly have only given a striking\nevidence of his power to read the character of men, and to draw his\nconclusions as to their probable action. In the following instance his\nknowledge appeared, on the contrary, as a magic phenomenon. It was\nshortly before the battle of Trafalgar, when an English frigate was made\nout at such a distance that her position could not be accurately\nascertained. Suddenly Nelson turned to Hardy, who was standing by his\nside, and said: \"The frigate has sighted the French.\" Hardy had nothing\nto say in reply. \"She sights the French; she will fire presently.\" In an\ninstant the low sound of a signal-shot was heard afar off!\n\nIn other cases the curious gift is borne with great impatience, and\nbecomes a source of intense suffering. This is certainly very pardonable\nin men who read impending death in the features of others, and hence are\ncontinually subject to heart-rending impressions. Sometimes the moribund\nappears as if he had been lying in his grave already for several days,\nat other times he is seen wrapped up in his shroud or in the act of\nexpiring. In some parts of Germany the approaching death of a neighbor\nis announced by the appearance of Death itself, not in the familiar\nmythological form, but as a white, luminous appearance, which either\nstops before the house of the person who is to die soon, or actually\nenters it and places itself by the side of the latter. Occasionally the\nimage is seen to fill the seat or to walk in a procession in the place\nof a man as yet in perfect health, who nevertheless soon falls a victim\nto some disease or sudden attack.\n\nSecond sight is, like all similar magic phenomena, frequently mentioned\nin the writings of the ancients. Homer mentions a case in his \"Odyssey\"\n(xx. v. 351). Apollonius of Tyana was delivering an oration at Ephesus,\nwhen he suddenly stopped in the middle of a sentence and beheld in a\nvision the Emperor Domitian at Rome, in the act of succumbing to his\nmurderers. He fell into a kind of trance, his eyes became fixed, and he\nexclaimed in an unnatural voice: \"Down with the tyrant!\" (_Vita Apoll.\nZenobis Anolo interprete._ Paris, 1555, l. viii. p. 562.) Henry IV.,\nwhen still Prince of Navarre, saw on the eve of St. Bartholomew several\ndrops of blood falling upon the green cloth of the card-table at which\nhe was seated in company with several courtiers; the latter beheld the\nfearful and ominous sight as well as he himself. German writings abound\nwith instances of men having seen their own funeral several days before\ntheir death, and in many instances the warning is reported to have had a\nmost salutary effect in causing them to repent of their sins and to\nprepare for the impending summons. One of the most remarkable instances\nis that of a distinguished professor of divinity, Dr. Lysius, in\nKoenigsberg. He had inherited special magic powers through many\ngenerations from an early ancestor, who saw a funeral of very peculiar\nnature, with all the attending circumstances, long before it actually\ntook place. He himself had his first revelation when, lying in bed\nawake, he saw suddenly his chamber quite light, and something like a\nman's shadow pass him, while on his mind, not on his ear, fell the\nwords: _Umbra matris tuae_. Although his mother had just written to him\nthat she was in unusually good health and spirits, she had died that\nvery night. On another occasion he astonished his friends by telling\nthem what a superb new building he had seen erected in Koenigsberg,\ngiving all the details of church and school-room to a little gate in a\nnarrow alley. Many years afterwards such a building was really erected\nthere, and he himself called to occupy part of it, when that little gate\nbecame his favorite entrance. Although he had many such visions, and his\nwife, succumbing to the contagious influence of magic powers, also\nforesaw more than one important event, he sternly refused to attach any\nweight to his own forebodings or those of other persons. Thus a poor\nwoman, possessing the gift of second sight, once came to some members of\nhis family and told them she had seen seven funerals leave his house;\nwhen this was reported to him, he denounced the superstition as\nunchristian, and forbade its being mentioned again in his presence. But,\nalthough there was not a sick person in the house at the time, and even\nthe older members of the family were unusually hale and hearty, in a few\nweeks every one in the house was dangerously ill, the head of the family\nalone excepted, and as three only escaped, the seven deaths which had\nbeen foreseen actually took place.\n\nThe annals of Swedish history (Arndt, _Schwed. Gesch._ p. 317) record a\nremarkable case of this kind. The scene was the old castle of Gripsholm,\nnear Stockholm, a place full of terrible reminiscences, and more than\nonce made famous by strange mysteries. A great state dinner given to a\nprince of Baden, had just ended, when one of the guests, Count Froelich,\nsuddenly gazed fixedly at the great door of the dining-hall, and when he\nregained his composure, declared he had just seen their princely guest\nwalk in, wearing a different uniform from that in which he was actually\ndressed, as he sat in the place of honor. It was, however, a custom of\nthe prince's to wear one costume one day and another the next day, and\nthus to change regularly; Count Froelich had seen him in that which he\nwould accordingly wear the next day. The impression was beginning to\nwear away, and the accident was nearly forgotten, when suddenly a great\ndisturbance was heard without, servants came running in, women were\nheard crying, and even the officers on guard were seriously disturbed.\nThe report was that \"King Eric's ghost\" had been seen. On the following\nday the Prince of Baden was thrown from his carriage and instantly\nkilled; his body was brought back to Gripsholm.\n\nHere also we meet again with the exceptional powers granted to Goethe.\nHe had just parted with one of his many loves, the fair daughter of the\nminister of Drusenheim, Friederike, and was riding in deep thought upon\nthe footpath, when he suddenly saw, \"not with the eyes of the body, but\nof the spirit,\" his own self in a new light gray coat, laced with gold,\nriding towards him. When he made an effort to shake off the impression,\nthe vision disappeared. \"It is strange, however,\" he tells us himself,\n\"that I found myself eight years later riding on that same road, in\norder to see Friederike once more, and was then dressed, by accident and\nnot from choice, in the costume of which I had dreamt\" (_Aus Meinem\nLeben_, iii. p. 84). A kindred spirit, Sir Humphry Davy, had once a\nvision, which strangely enough was fulfilled more than once. In his\nattractive work (\"Consolations in Travel,\" p. 63), he relates how he\nsaw, when suffering of jail fever, the image of a beautiful woman, with\nwhom he soon entered into a most interesting conversation. He was at the\ntime warmly attached to a lady, but the vision represented a girl with\nbrown hair, blue eyes and blooming complexion, while his lady-love was\npale and had dark eyes and dark hair. His mysterious visitor came\nfrequently, as long as he was really sick, but as his strength returned,\nher visits became rarer, and at last ceased altogether. He forgot it\nentirely; but ten years later he suddenly met in Illyria, a girl of\nabout fourteen or fifteen years, who strikingly resembled the image he\nhad seen, and now recalled in all its details. Another ten years passed,\nand the great chemist met once more in traveling, a person who as\nstrikingly resembled his first vision, and became indebted to her tender\ncare and kindness for the preservation of his life.\n\nIn some parts of the world this gift of second sight assumes very\npeculiar forms. In Africa, for instance, and especially in the countries\nadjoining the Sahara, men and women are found who possess alike the\npower of seeing coming events beforehand. More than once European\ntravelers have been hospitably received by natives who had been warned\nof their coming. Richardson tells us in his graphic account of his\n\"Mission to Central Africa,\" that his arrival had thus been announced to\nthe chief and the people of Tintalus in these words: \"A caravan of\nEnglishmen is on the way from Tripoli, to come to you.\" The seer was an\nold negro-woman, a reputed witch, who had a great reputation for\nanticipating events. In the Isle of France--we learn from James Prior in\nhis \"Voyage in the Indian Seas\"--there are many men who can see vessels\nat a distance of several hundred miles. One of them described accurately\nand minutely the wreck of a ship on the coast of Madagascar, from whence\nit was to bring provisions. A woman expecting her lover on board another\nship, inquired of one of these seers if he could give her any comfort:\nhe replied promptly that the vessel was only three days' sail from the\nisland, and that her friend was then engaged in washing his linen. The\nship arrived at the appointed time, and the man corroborated the seer's\nstatement. The great navigator relates even more surprising feats\naccomplished by the director of signals, Faillafe, who saw vessels\ndistinctly at a distance of from sixty to one hundred sea miles. Their\nimage appeared to him on the horizon in the shape of a light brown\ncloud with faint outlines, but yet distinctly enough to enable him to\ndistinguish the size of the vessel, the nature of its rigging, and the\ndirection in which it was sailing.\n\nSecond hearing seems to be limited to the eastern part of Scotland,\nwhere it occurs occasionally in whole families. Mrs. Crowe mentions, for\ninstance, a man and his wife in Berwickshire, who were both aroused at\nnight by a loud cry which they at once recognized as peculiar to their\nson. It appeared afterwards that he had perished at sea in that night\nand at the same hour when the cry was heard (I. p. 161). In another case\na man in Perthshire was waked by his wife, who told him that no doubt\ntheir son had been drowned, for she had distinctly heard the splash as\nhe fell into the water, and had been aroused by the noise. Here also the\nforeboding proved true: the man had fallen from the yardarm, and\ndisappeared before a boat could be lowered, although his fall had been\nheard by all aboard.\n\nIt must finally be mentioned that second sight has been noticed not in\nmen only, but even in animals. Horses especially seem to be extremely\nsensitive to all magic influences, and accounts of their peculiar\nconduct under trying circumstances are both numerous and perfectly well\nauthenticated. Thus a minister in Lindholm, the Rev. Mr. Hansen, owned a\nperfectly gentle and good-natured horse, which all of a sudden refused\nto stand still in his stable, began to tremble and give all signs of\ngreat fear, and finally kicked and reared so wildly that he had to be\nremoved. As soon as he was placed in another stable he calmed down and\nbecame perfectly quiet. It was at last discovered that a person endowed\nwith second sight had ascribed the strange behavior of the horse to the\nfact that a coffin was being made before his open stable, and that the\nhorse could not bear the sight. The man was laughed at, but not long\nafter the minister's wife died, and for some special reasons the coffin\nwas actually made in full view of the former stable of the horse (Kies.\n_Arch._ viii. p. 111). Dogs also have been reported in almost\ninnumerable cases to have set up a most painful howling before the\napproaching death of inmates of a house where they were kept.\n\nIn England and in Germany especially, they are considered capable of\nseeing supernatural beings. When they are seen to cower down of a\nsudden, and to press close to the feet of their masters, trembling often\nin all their limbs, and looking up most piteously, as if for help,\npopular belief says: \"All is not right with the dog,\" or \"He sees more\nthan men can see.\" The memory of Balaam's ass rises instinctively in our\nmind, and we feel that this part of creation, which groaneth with us for\nsalvation, and which was included among those for whose sake the Lord\nspared Nineveh, may see what is concealed from our eyes. Samuel Wesley\ntells us expressly how a dog, specially bought for the purpose of\nfrightening away the evil-disposed men who were at first suspected of\ncausing the nightly disturbances at the parsonage, barked but once the\nfirst night, and after that exhibited, upon the recurrence of those\nnoises, quite as much terror as the children.\n\nNor are dogs and horses the only animals considered capable of\nperceiving by a special instinct of their own the working of\nsupernatural agencies. During a series of mysterious disturbances in a\nGerman village, the chickens fled in terror from the garden, and the\ncattle refused to enter the enclosure, when the appearances were seen.\nSwiss herdsmen have a number of stories concerning \"feyed\" places in the\nAlps, to which neither caress nor compulsion can induce their herds to\ngo, even when pasture is rare everywhere else, and rich grass seems to\ntempt them to come to the abhorred meadows. Storks have been known to\nhave abandoned the rooftree on which for years they had built their\nnest, and in every case the forsaken house was burnt during the summer.\nThis and other peculiarities of sagacious animals have been especially\nnoticed in Denmark, where all animals are called _synsk_, seers, when\nthey are believed to possess the gift of second sight.\n\n\nORACLES AND PROPHECIES.\n\nThe highest degree of divination is the actual foretelling of events\nwhich are yet to happen. The immediate causes which awaken the gift are\nof the most varied character, and often very curious. Thus a young\nFlorentine, Gasparo, who had been wounded by an arrow, and could not be\nrelieved, began in his fearful suffering to pray incessantly, day and\nnight; this excited him to such a degree that he finally foretold not\nonly the name of his visitors, but also the hour at which they would\ncome, and finally the day of his complete recovery; he also knew, by the\nsame instinct, that later in life he would go to Rome and die there.\nWhen the iron point was at last removed from his wound, his health began\nto improve, and at once his prophetic gift left him and never returned.\nHe went, however, to Rome, and really died in the Eternal City\n(Colquhoun, p. 333). The priests of Apollo, at Colophon, intoxicated\nthemselves with the water of his fountain, which was as famous for\nbestowing the gift of prophecy as AEsculapius' well at Pergamus and the\nsprings near his temple at Pellena. In other temples vapors were inhaled\nby the prophetic priests. In the prophet-schools of the Israelites music\nseems to have played a prominent part, for Samuel told Saul he would\nmeet at the hill of Gad \"a company of prophets coming down from the high\nplace with a psaltery and a tabret and a pipe before them.\" The Jews\npossessed, however, also other means to aid in divining: Joseph had his\ncup, a custom still prevalent in the East; and the High Priest, before\nentering into the Holiest, put on the Thummim with its six dark jewels\nand the Urim with its six light-colored jewels, whereupon the brilliant\nsparkling of the precious stones and the rich fumes of incense combined\nwith the awful sense of the presence of Jehovah in predisposing his\nmind to receive revelations from on high. The false prophets of Baal, on\nthe contrary, tried to produce like effects by bloody means: \"They cut\nthemselves with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them,\"\nand then they prophesied. It has already been mentioned that in India\nthe glance was fixed upon the navel, until the divine light began to\nshine before the mind's eye--in other words, until a trance is induced,\nand visions begin to appear. The changes which immediately precede\ndissolution seem, finally, to be most favorable to a development of\nprophetic powers. Already Aretaeus, the Cappadocian, said that the mind\nof many dying persons was perfectly clear, penetrating and prophetic,\nand mentions a number of cases in which the dying had begun to converse\nwith the dead, or foretold the fate of those who stood by their bedside.\nThus Homer also makes dying Hector warn Achilles of his approaching end,\nand Calanus, when in the act of ascending the funeral pile, replies to\nAlexander's question if he had any request to make: \"No, I have nothing\nto ask, for I shall see you the day after to-morrow!\" And on that day\nthe young conqueror died.\n\nSuetonius reports that the Emperor Augustus was passing away almost\nimperceptibly, when he suddenly shuddered and said that forty youths\nwere carrying him off. It so happened that when the end came, forty men\nof his body-guard were ordered to raise and convey the body to another\nroom in the palace. There are a few cases known in which apparently\ndying persons, after delivering such prophecies, have recovered and\nretained the exceptional gift during the remainder of their lives, but\nthese instances are rare and require confirmation.\n\nAs all magic phenomena are liable to be mixed up with delusion and\nimposture, so divination of this kind also has been frequently imitated\nfor personal or political purposes. The ancient oracles already gave\nfrequently answers full of irony and sly humor. The story of King\nAlexander of Epirus is well known, who was warned by the oracle at\nDodona to keep away from the Acherusian waters, and then perished in the\nriver Acheros, in Italy. Thus Henry IV. of England had been told that he\nwould die at Jerusalem; he thought only of Palestine, but met his death\nunconsciously in a room belonging to the Abbey of Westminster, which\nbore the name of the holy city. In Spain, Ferdinand the Catholic\nreceived warning that he would die at Madrigal, and hence carefully\navoided the city of that name; but when his last illness overtook him at\nan obscure little town, he found that it was called Madrigaola, or\nLittle Madrigal. The historian Mariana (_Hist. de rebus Hisp._, l. xxii.\nchap. 66) also mentions the despair of the famous favorite Don Alvarez\nde Luna, whom an astrologer had warned against Cadahalso, a village near\nToledo; the unfortunate man died on the scaffold which is also called\ncadahalso. In France it was the fate of the superstitious queen,\nCatherine de Medici, to experience a similar mortification: the famous\nNostradamus had predicted that she would die in St. Germain, and she\ncarefully avoided that palace; but when her last end came, she found\nherself sinking helpless into the arms of a courtier called St. Germain.\n\nNor is there any want of false prophecies from the time when Jeremiah\ncomplained that \"a wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the\nland; the people prophesy falsely\" (Jer. v. 30), to the great money\ncrisis in 1857, which filled the land with predictions of the\napproaching end. Periods of great political or religious excitement\ninvariably produce a few genuine and a host of spurious prophets, which\nrepresent the sad forebodings filling the mind of a distressed nation\nand avail themselves of the credulity of all great sufferers. Some of\nthe most absurd prophecies have nevertheless caused a perfect panic,\nextending in some cases throughout whole countries. Thus in 1578 a\nfamous astrologer, the father of all weather prophecies in our almanacs,\npredicted that in the month of February, 1524, when three planets should\nenter at once the constellation of the fishes, a second deluge would\ndestroy the earth. The report reached the Emperor Charles V., who\nsubmitted the matter to his Spanish theologians and astrologers. They\ninvestigated it with solemn gravity and found it very formidable; from\nSpain the panic spread through the whole of Europe. When February came\nthousands left their houses and sought refuge on mountain and hill-top;\nothers hoped to escape on board ships, and a rich president at Toulouse\nactually built himself a second ark. When the deluge did not take place,\ndivines and diviners were by no means abashed; they declared that God\nhad this time also taken pity upon sinful men in consideration of the\nfervent prayer of the faithful, as he had done before in the case of\nNineveh. The fear of the last judgment has at all times so filled the\nminds of men as to make them readily believe a prediction of the\napproaching end of the world, an event which, it is well known, the\napostles, Martin Luther, and certain modern divines, have persistently\nthought immediately impending. Sects have arisen at various epochs who\nhave looked forward to the second Advent with a sincerity of conviction\nof which they gave striking and even most fearful evidence. The\nMillerites of the Union have more than once predicted the coming of\nChrist, and in anticipation of the near Advent, disposed of their\nproperty, assumed the white robes in which they were to ascend to\nheaven, and even mounted into the topmost branches of trees to shorten\nthe journey. In Switzerland a young woman of Berne became so excited by\nthe coming of judgment, which she fixed upon the next Easter day, that\nshe prophesied daily, gathered a number of followers around her, and\nactually had her own grandfather strangled in order to save his soul\nbefore the approaching Advent. (Stilling, \"Jenseits,\" p. 117.)\n\nNot unfrequently prophecies are apparently delivered by intermediate\nagents, angels, demons or peculiarly marked persons. It was no doubt an\neffect of the deep and continued excitement felt by Caius Cassius, that\nhis mind was filled with the image of murdered Caesar, and hence he could\nvery easily fancy he saw his victim in his purple cloak, horse and rider\nof gigantic proportions, suddenly appear in the din of the battle at\nPhilippi, riding down upon him with wild passion. It is well known that\nthe impression was strong enough to make him, who had never yet turned\nhis back upon the enemy, seek safety in flight, and cry out: \"What more\ndo you want if murder does not finish you?\" (Valer. Max. I. 8.)\n\nIt must lastly be borne in mind, that prophecies have not remained as\nsterile as other magical phenomena. Already Herder mentions the\nadvantages of ancient oracles. He says (_Ideen zur Phil. d. Geschichte_,\niii. p. 211): \"Many a tyrant and criminal was publicly marked by the\ndivine voice (of oracles), when it foretold their fate; in like manner\nit has saved many an innocent person, given good advice to the helpless,\nlent divine authority to noble institutions, made known works of art,\nand sanctioned great moral truths as well as wholesome maxims of state\npolicy.\" It need hardly be added that the prophets of Israel were the\nmain upholders of the religious life as well as of the morality of the\nchosen people; while the priests remained stationary in their views, and\ncontented themselves with performing the ceremonial service of the\ntemple, the prophets preserved the true faith, and furthered its\ngradually widening revelation. In their case, however, divination was so\nclearly the result of divine inspiration, that their prophecies can\nhardly be classed among magic phenomena. The ground which they have in\ncommon with merely human forebodings and divinings, is the state of\ntrance in which alone prophets seem to have foretold the future, whether\nwe believe this ecstatic condition to have been caused by music,\nlong-protracted prayer or the direct agency of the Holy Spirit.\n\nThis ecstasy was in the case of almost all the oracles of antiquity\nbrought on by inhaling certain gases which rose from the soil and\nproduced often most fearful symptoms in the unfortunate persons employed\nfor the purpose. At the same time they were rarely free from an addition\nof artifice, as the priests not only filled the mind of the pythoness\nbeforehand with thoughts suggested by their own wisdom and political\nexperience, but the latter also frequently employed her skill as a\nventriloquist, in order to increase the force of her revelations. Hence\nthe fact, that almost all the Greek oracles proceeded from deep caves,\nin which, as at Dodona and Delphi, carbonic gas was developed in\nabundance; hence, also, the name of _ventriloqua vates_, which was\ncommonly given to the Delphi Pythia. The oldest of these oracles, that\nat Dodona, foretold events for nearly two thousand years, and even\nsurvived the almost universal destruction of such institutions at the\ntime of Christ; it did not actually cease till the third century, when\nan Illyrian robber cut down the sacred tree. The oracle of Zeus\nTrophonius in Boeotia spoke through the patients who were brought to the\ncaves, where they became somnambulists, had visions and answered the\nquestions of the priests while they were in this condition. The Romans\nalso had their somnambulist prophets from the earliest days, and\nwhenever the state was in danger, the Sibylline books were consulted.\nChristianity made an end to all such divination in Italy as in Greece.\nIt is strange that the vast scheme of Egyptian superstition shows us no\noracles whatever; but among the Germans prophets were all the more\nnumerous. They foretold war or peace, success or failure, and exercised\na powerful influence on all affairs. One of the older prophetesses,\nVeleda, who lived in an isolated tower, and allowed herself to be but\nrarely consulted, was held in high esteem even by the Romans. The Celts\nhad in like manner prophet-Druids, some of whom became well known to the\nRomans, and are reported to have foretold the fate of the emperors\nAurelian, Diocletian and Severus.\n\nWe have the authority of Josephus for the continuance of prophetic power\nin Israel even after the coming of Christ. He tells us of Jesus, the son\nof Ananus, who ran for seven years and five months through the streets\nof Jerusalem, proclaiming the coming ruin, and, while crying out \"Woe is\nme!\" was struck and instantly killed by a stone from one of the siege\nengines of the Romans. (Jos., l. vi. c. 31.) Josephus himself passes\nfor a prophet, having predicted the fall of the city of Jotapata\nforty-seven days in advance, his own captivity, and the imperial dignity\nof Vespasian as well as of Titus. Of northern prophets, Merlin is\nprobably the most widely known; he was a Celtic bard, called Myrdhin,\nand his poems, written in the seventh century, were looked upon as\naccurate descriptions of many subsequent events, such as the exploits of\nJoan of Arc. In the sixteenth century Nostradamus took his place, whose\nprophetic verses, _Vraies Centuries et Propheties_, are to this day\ncurrent among the people, and now and then reappear in leading journals.\nHe had been a professor of medicine in the University of Montpellier,\nand died in 1566, enjoying a world-wide reputation as an astrologer. His\nbrief and often enigmatical verses have never lost their hold on\ncredulous minds, and a few striking instances have, even in our century,\nlargely revived his credit. Such was, for instance, the stanza (No. 10):\n\n    _Un empereur naitre pres d'Italie,\n     Qui a l'empire sera vendu tres cher;\n     Diront avec quels gens il se rallie,\n     Qu'on trouvera moins prince que boucher,_\n\nwhich was naturally applied to the great Napoleon and his marshals.\n\nAnother northern prophet, whose predictions are still quoted, was the\nArchbishop of Armagh, Malachias, who, in 1130, foretold the fate of all\ncoming popes; as in almost all similar cases, here also the accidental\ncoincidences have been carefully noted and pompously proclaimed, while\nthe many unfulfilled prophecies have been as studiously concealed. It is\ncurious, however, that he distinctly predicted the fate of Pius VI.,\nwhom he spoke of as \"_Vir apostolicus moriens in exilo_\" (he died, 1799,\nan exile, in Valence), and that he characterized Pius IX. as \"Crux de\nCruce.\" St. Bridget of Sweden had the satisfaction of seeing her\nprophecies approved of by the Council of Basle; they were translated\nsubsequently into almost every living language, and are still held in\nhigh esteem by thousands in every part of Europe. The most prominent\nname among English prophets is probably that of Archbishop Usher, who\npredicted Cromwell's fate, and many events in England and Ireland, the\nresult, no doubt, of great sagacity and a remarkable power of\ncombination, but exceeding in many instances the ordinary measure of\nhuman wisdom. An entirely different prophet was Rice Evans (Jortin,\n\"Rem. on Eccles. Hist.,\" p. 377), who, fixing his eye upon the hollow of\nhis hand, saw there images of Lord Fairfax, Cromwell, and four other\ncrowned heads appearing one after another; thus, it is said, he\npredicted the Protectorate and the reign of the four sovereigns of the\nhouse of Stuart. Jane Leade, a most extraordinary and mysterious person,\nfounded in 1697, when she had reached the age of seventy-four, her\nso-called Philadelphian Society, a prominent member of which was the\nfamous Pordage, formerly a minister and then a physician. This very vain\nwoman maintained that she was inspired in the same manner as St. John\nin Patmos, and that she was compelled by the power of the Holy Spirit to\nforetell the future. In spite of her erroneous announcement of the near\nMillennium, she foretold many minor events with great accuracy, and was\nhighly esteemed as a prophet. Dr. Pordage had mainly visions of the\nfuture world, which were all characterized by a great purity of heart\nand wildness of imagination. Swedenborg also had many prophetic visions,\nbut their fulfillment belongs exclusively to future life, and their\ngenuineness, firmly believed by the numerous and enlightened members of\nthe New Church, cannot be proved to others in this world.\n\nOne of the most remarkable cases of modern prophesying which has been\nofficially recorded, is connected with the death of Pope Ganganelli. The\nlatter heard that a number of persons in various parts of Italy had\npredicted that he would soon end his life by a violent death. He\nattached sufficient importance to these reports to hand the matter over\nto a special commission previously appointed to examine grave charges\nwhich had been brought against the Jesuits, perhaps suspecting that the\nOrder of Jesus was not unconnected with those predictions. Among the\npersons who were thereupon arrested was a simple, ignorant peasant-girl,\nBeatrice Rensi, who told the gendarme very calmly: \"Ganganelli has me\narrested, Braschi will set me free,\" implying that the latter would be\nthe next pope. The priest at Valentano, who was arrested on the same\nday (12th of May, 1774), exclaimed quite joyously: \"What happens to me\nnow has been predicted three times already; take these papers and see\nwhat my daughter (the Rensi) has foretold.\" Upon examination it appears\nthat the girl had fixed the pope's day upon the day of equinoxes, in the\nmonth of September; she announced that he would proclaim a year of\nabsolution, but not live to see it; that none of the faithful would kiss\nhis foot, nor would they take him, as usual, to the Church of St. Peter.\nAt the same time she spoke of a fierce inward struggle through which the\nHoly Father would have to pass before his death. Soon after these\npredictions were made officially known to the pope, the bull against the\norder of Jesuits was laid before him; the immense importance of such a\ndecree, and the evident dangers with which it was fraught, caused him\ngreat concern, and when he one night rose from his bed to affix his\nsignature, and, frightened by some considerations, threw away the pen\nonly to take it up at last and sign the paper, he suddenly recalled the\nprophecy of the peasant-girl. He drove at once to a great prelate in\nRome, who had formerly been the girl's confessor, and inquired of him\nabout her character; the priest testified to her purity, her unimpeached\nhonesty, and her simplicity, adding that in his opinion she was\nevidently favored by heaven with special and very extraordinary powers.\nGanganelli was made furious by this suggestion, and insisted upon it\nthat his commission should declare all these predictions wicked lies,\nthe inspirations of the Devil, and condemn the sixty-two persons who had\nbeen arrested to pay the extreme penalty in the Castle of St. Angelo on\nthe 1st of October. In the meantime, however, his health began to\nsuffer, and his mind was more and more deeply affected. Beatrice Rensi\nhad been imprisoned in a convent at Montefiascone; on the 22d of\nSeptember she told the prioress that prayers might be held for the soul\nof the Holy Father; the latter informed the bishop of the place, and\nsoon the whole town was in an uproar. Late in the afternoon couriers\nbrought the news that Ganganelli had suddenly died at eight o'clock in\nthe morning; the body began to putrefy so promptly that the usual\nceremonies of kissing the pope's feet and the transfer to St. Peter's\nbecame impossible! The most curious effects of the girl's predictions\nappeared however, when the Conclave was held to elect a successor. Many\nCardinals were extremely anxious that Braschi should not be elected,\nlest this should be interpreted as a confirmation of the prediction, and\nhence as the work of the Evil One; others again looked upon the girl's\nwords as an indication from on high; they carried the day. Braschi was\nreally chosen, and ascended the throne as Pius VI. The commission,\nhowever, continued the work of investigation, and finally acquitted the\nJesuits of the charge of collusion; Beatrice Rensi's predictions were\ndeclared to be supernatural, but suggested by the Father of Lies, the\naccused were all set free. The Bishop of Montefiascone, Maury, reported\nofficially in 1804 that the girl had received a pension from Rome until\nthe French invasion, then she left the convent in which she had\npeacefully and quietly lived so long, and was not heard of again.\n\nThe famous predictions of Jacques Cazotte, a man of high literary renown\nand the greatest respectability, were witnessed by persons of\nunimpeachable character and have been repeatedly mentioned as authentic\nby eminent writers. Laharpe--not the tutor of the Russian Emperor\nAlexander--reports them fully in his _OEuvres choisies_, etc. (i. p.\n62); so do Boulard, in his _Encycl. des gens du Monde_, and William\nBurt, who was present when they were made, in his \"Observations on the\nCuriosities of Nature.\" It is well known that Cazotte had joined the\nsect of Martinists, and among these enthusiasts increased his natural\nsensitiveness and his religious fervor. With a mind thus predisposed to\nreceive strong impressions from outside, and filled with fearful\napprehensions of the future, it was no wonder that he should fall\nsuddenly into a trance and thus be enabled by extraordinary magical\ninfluences to predict the horrors of the Revolution, the sad fate of the\nking and the queen, and his own tragic end.\n\nThe report of his predictions as made by Jean de Laharpe, who only died\nin 1823, and with his well-established character and high social\nstanding vouched for the genuineness of his experience, is substantially\nas follows: He had been invited, in 1788, to meet at the palace of the\nDuchess de Gramont some of the most remarkable personages of the day,\nand found himself seated by the side of Malesherbes. He noticed at a\ncorner of the table Cazotte, apparently in a deep fit of musing, from\nwhich he was only roused by the frequent toasts, in which he was forced\nto join. When at last the guests seemed to be overflowing with fervent\npraises of modern philosophy and its brilliant victory over old\nreligious superstitions, Cazotte suddenly rose and in a solemn tone of\nvoice and with features agitated with deep emotion said to them:\n\"Gentlemen, you may rejoice, for you will all see that great and\nimposing revolution, which you so much desire. You, M. Condorcet, will\nexpire lying on the floor of a subterranean prison. You, M. N., will die\nof poison; you, M. N., will perish by the executioner's hand on the\nscaffold.\" They cried out: \"Who on earth has made you think of prisons,\npoison, and the executioner? What have these things to do with\nphilosophy and the reign of reason, which we anticipate and on which you\nbut just now congratulated us?\" \"That is exactly what I say,\" replied\nCazotte, \"in the name of philosophy, of reason, of humanity, and of\nfreedom, all these things will be done, which I have foretold, and they\nwill happen precisely when reason alone will reign and have its\ntemples.\" \"Certainly,\" replied Chamfort, \"you will not be one of the\npriests.\" \"Not I,\" answered the latter, \"but you, M. de Chamfort, will\nbe one of them and deserve to be one; you will cut your veins in\ntwenty-two places with your razor, and yet die only several months\nafter that desperate operation. You, M. Vicque d'Azyr, will not open\nyour veins, because the gout in your hands will prevent it, but you will\nget another person to open them six times for you the same day, and you\nwill die in the night succeeding. You, M. Nicolai, will die on the\nscaffold, and you, M. Bailly, and you, M. Malesherbes.\" \"God be\nthanked,\" exclaimed M. Richer, \"it seems M. Cazotte only deals with\nmembers of the Academy.\" But Cazotte replied instantly: \"You also, M.\nRicher, will die on the scaffold, and they who sentence you, and others\nlike you, will be nevertheless philosophers.\" \"And when is all this\ngoing to happen?\" asked several guests. \"Within at most six years from\nto-day,\" was the reply. Laharpe now asked: \"And about me you say\nnothing, Cazotte?\" The latter replied: \"In you, sir, a great miracle\nwill be done; you will be converted and become a good Christian.\" These\nwords relieved the company, and all broke out into merry laughter. Now\nthe Duchess of Gramont also took courage, and said: \"We women are\nfortunately better off than men, revolutions do not mind us.\" \"Your sex,\nladies,\" answered Cazotte, \"will not protect you this time, and however\ncareful you may be not to be mixed up with politics, you will be treated\nexactly like the men. You also, Duchess, with many ladies before and\nafter you, will have to mount the scaffold, and more than that, they\nwill carry you there on the hangman's cart, with your hands bound behind\nyour back.\" The duchess, perhaps looking upon the whole as a jest,\nsaid, smiling: \"Well, I think I shall at least have a coach lined with\nblack.\" \"No, no,\" replied Cazotte, \"the hangman's cart will be your last\ncarriage, and even greater ladies than you will have to ride in it.\"\n\"Surely not princesses of the royal blood?\" asked the duchess. \"Still\ngreater ones,\" answered Cazotte. \"But they will not deny us a\nconfessor?\" she continued. \"Yes,\" replied the other, \"only the greatest\nof all who will be executed will have one.\" \"But what will become of\nyou, M. Cazotte?\" asked the guests, who began at last to feel thoroughly\nuncomfortable. \"My fate,\" was the reply, \"will be the fate of the man\nwho called out, Woe! over Jerusalem, before the last siege, and Woe!\nover himself, while a stone, thrown by the enemy, ended his life.\" With\nthese words Cazotte bowed and withdrew from the room. However much of\nthe details may have been subsequently added to the prediction, the fact\nof such a prophecy has never yet been impugned, and William Burt, who\nwas a witness of the scene, emphatically endorses the account.\n\nEven the stern Calvinists have had their religious prophets, among whom\nDu Serre is probably the most interesting. He established himself in\n1686 in the Dauphine, but extended his operations soon into the\nCevennes, and thus prepared the great uprising of Protestants there in\n1688, which led to fearful war and general devastation. Special gifts of\nprophecy were accorded to a few generally uneducated persons; but in\nthese they appeared very strikingly, so that, for instance, many young\ngirls belonging to the lowest classes of society, and entirely\nunlettered, were not only able to foretell coming events, but also to\npreach with great eloquence and to interpret Holy Writ. These phenomena\nbecame numerous enough to induce the _camisards_, as the rebellious\nProtestants of the Cevennes were called, finally to form a regular\nsystem of inspiration. They spoke of four degrees of ecstasis: the first\nindication, the inspiring breath, the prediction, and the gifts; the\nlast was the highest. The spirit of prophecy could be communicated by an\ninspired person to others; this was generally done by a kiss. Even\nchildren of three and four years were enabled to foretell the future,\nand persevered, although they were often severely punished by their\nparents, whom the authorities held responsible for their misconduct, as\nit was called. (_Theatre Sacre des Cevennes_, p. 66.)\n\nNor has this gift of prophesying been noticed only in men of our own\nfaith and our race.\n\nAn author whose trustworthiness cannot be doubted for a moment, Jones\nForbes, gives in his \"Oriental Memoirs\" (London, 1803), an instance of\nthe prophesying power of East Indian magicians, which is as well\nauthenticated as remarkable. A Mr. Hodges had accidentally made the\nacquaintance of a young Brahmin, who, although unknown to the English\nresidents, was famous among the natives for his great gifts. They became\nfast friends, and the Indian never ceased to urge Hodges to remain\nstrictly in the path of duty, as by so doing he was sure to reach the\nhighest honors. In order to enforce his advice he predicted that he\nwould rise from the post he then occupied as Resident in Bombay to\nhigher places, till he would finally be appointed governor. The\nprediction was often discussed among Hodges' friends, and when fortune\nfavored him and he really obtained unusually rapid preferment, he began\nto rely more than ever on the Indian's prediction. But suddenly a severe\nblow shattered all his hopes. A rival of his, Spencer, was appointed\ngovernor, and Hodges, very indignant at what he considered an act of\nunbearable injustice, wrote a sharp and disrespectful letter to the\nGovernor and Council of the Company. The result was his dismissal from\nthe service and the order to return to Europe. Before embarking he sent\nonce more for his friend, who was then living at one of the sacred\nplaces, and when he came informed him of the sad turn in his affairs and\nreproached him with his false predictions. The Indian, however, was in\nno way disconcerted, but assured Hodges that although his adversary had\nput his foot on the threshold, he would never enter the palace, but that\nhe, Hodges, would, in spite of appearances, most surely reach the high\npost which he had promised him years ago. These assurances produced no\ngreat effect, and Hodges was on the point of going on board the ship\nthat was to carry him to Europe, when another vessel sailed into the\nharbor, having accomplished the voyage out in a most unusually short\ntime, and brought new orders from England. The Court of Directors had\ndisapproved of Spencer's conduct as Governor of Bengal, revoked his\nappointment, dismissed him from service, and ordered Hodges to be\ninstalled as Governor of Bombay! From that day the Brahmin obtained\ndaily more influence over the mind of his English friend, and the latter\nundertook nothing without having first consulted the strangely gifted\nnative. It became, however, soon a matter of general remark, that the\nBrahmin could never be persuaded to refer in his predictions to the time\nbeyond the year 1771, as he had never promised Hodges another post of\nhonor than that which he now occupied. The explanation of his silence\ncame but too soon, for in the night of the 22d of February, 1772, Hodges\ndied suddenly, and thus ended his brilliant career, verifying his\nfriend's prophecy in every detail.\n\n\nTHE DIVINING ROD.\n\nThe relations in which some men stand to Nature are sometimes so close\nas to enable them to make discoveries which are impossible to others.\nThis is, for instance, the case with persons who feel the presence of\nwaters or of metals. The former have, from time immemorial, generally\nused a wand, the so-called divining rod, which, according to Pliny, was\nalready known to the ancient Etruscans as a means for the discovery of\nhidden springs. An Italian author, Amoretti, who has given special\nattention to this subject, states that at least every fifth man is\nsusceptible to the influence of water and metals, but this is evidently\nan overestimate. In recent times many persons have been known to possess\nthis gift of discovering hidden springs or subterranean masses of water,\nand these have but rarely employed an instrument. Catharine Beutler, of\nThurgovia, in Switzerland, and Anna Maria Brugger of the same place,\nwere both so seriously affected by the presence of water that they fell\ninto violent nervous excitement when they happened to cross places\nbeneath which larger quantities were concealed, and became perfectly\nexhausted. In France a class of men, called _sourciers_, have for ages\npossessed this instinctive power of perceiving the presence of water,\nand others, like the famous Abbe Paramelle, have cultivated the natural\ngift till they were finally enabled, by a mere cursory examination of a\nlandscape, to ascertain whether large masses of water were hidden\nanywhere, and to indicate the precise spots where they might be found.\n\nWhy water and metals should almost always go hand in hand in connection\nwith this peculiar gift, is not quite clear; but the staff of Hermes,\nhaving probably the form of the divining rod, was always represented as\ngiving the command over the treasures of the earth, and the Orphic Hymn\n(v. 527) calls it, hence, the golden rod, producing wealth and\nhappiness. On the other hand, the _Aquae Virgo_, the nymph of springs,\nhad also a divining rod in her hand, and Numa, inspired by a water\nnymph, established the worship of waters in connection with that of the\ndead. For here, also, riches and death seem to have entered into a\nstrange alliance. Del Rio, in his _Disquisitiones magicae_, mentions thus\nthe Zahuri of Spain, the lynx-eyed, as he translates the name, who were\nable on Wednesdays and Saturdays to discover all the veins of metals or\nof water beneath the surface, all hidden treasures, and corpses in their\ncoffins. There is at least one instance recorded where a person\npossessed the power to see even more than the Zahuris. This was a\nPortuguese lady, Pedegache, who first attracted attention by being able\nto discover subterranean springs and their connections, a gift which\nbrought her great honors after she had informed the king of all the\nvarious supplies of water which were hidden near a palace which he was\nabout to build. Shafts were sunk according to her directions, and not\nonly water was found, but also the various soils and stones which she\nhad foretold would have to be pierced. She also seems to have cultivated\nher talent, for we hear of her next being able to discover treasures,\neven valuable antique statues, in the interior of houses, and finally\nshe reached such a degree of intuition, that she saw the inner parts of\nthe human body, and pointed out their diseases and defects.\n\nSavoy seems to be a specially favorable region for the development of\nthis peculiar gift, for if in Cornwall one out of every forty men is\nbelieved to possess it, in Savoy the divining rod is in the hands of\nnearly every one. But what marks the talent in this case as peculiar is\nthat it is by no means limited to the discovery of water, but extends to\nother things likewise. A very wealthy family, called Collomb, living in\nCessens, boasted of more than one member who was able, by the aid of the\nrod and with bandaged eyes, to discover not only pieces of money, but\neven needles, evidently cases of personal susceptibility to the presence\nof metals, aided by electric currents. Once, at least, the gift was made\nuseful. A number of bags filled with wheat had been stolen from a\nneighboring house, and the police were unable to discover the\nhiding-place. At the request of his friends one of the Collombs\nundertook the search with the aid of the divining rod; he soon found the\nwindow through which the bags had been handed out; he then followed the\ntrack along the banks of the river Cheran, and asserted that the thief\nhad crossed to the other side. At that time nothing more was discovered;\nbut soon afterwards a miller living across the river was suspected, the\nbags were found, and the culprit sent to the galleys. (_Revue\nSavoisienne_, April 15, 1852.) Dr. Mayo mentions, mainly upon the\nauthority of George Fairholm, a number of instances in which persons\nbelonging to all classes of society have exhibited the same gift, but\nascribes its efficacy to the presence of currents of Od.\n\nThe divining rod, originally a twig of willow or hazel, is often made of\nmetal, and the impression prevails that in such cases an electric\ncurrent, arising from the subterranean water or metals, enters the\ndiviner's body by the feet, passes through him, and finally affects the\ntwo branches of the rod, which represent opposite poles. It is certain\nthat when the electric current is interrupted, the power of the divining\nrod is suspended. Dr. Mayo tells us of a lady of his acquaintance in\nSouthampton, who at his request used a divining rod of copper and iron\nwire, made after the fashion of the usual hazel rod; it answered the\npurpose fully, but when the ends touched by her hands were covered with\nsealing-wax, it became useless; as soon as she put her fingers in\ncontact with the unprotected wire, the power instantly returned. This\ncertainly seemed to be strong evidence of the existence of an electric\ncurrent. Nevertheless, many believe that the divining rod acts in all\ncases simply as an extension of the arms, and thus serves to make the\nvibrations of the muscles more distinct. It is by this theory they\nexplain the fact which has caused serious trouble to careful inquirers\nlike Count Tristan and Dr. Mayo, that the gift of using the divining rod\nvaries with the state of health in the individuals in whom it has been\ndiscovered.\n\n\n\n\nVII.\n\nPOSSESSION.\n\n    \"Thereupon St. Theophilus made a pact with the Devil.\"\n\n    --ACTA, S. S., 4 February.\n\n\nMany forms of insanity, it is well known, are accompanied by the fixed\nidea that the sufferer is continually associated with another being, a\nfriend or an enemy, a man, an animal, or a mere shadow. Somnambulists,\nalso, not unfrequently fancy that they obtain their exceptional\nknowledge of hidden things, not by intuition or instinct, but through\nthe agency of a medium, whom they look upon as an angel or a demon.\nThere is, however, a third class of cases, far more formidable than\neither of those mentioned, in which the mind is disturbed, and magic\nphenomena are produced by an agency apparently entirely independent of\nthe patient himself. Such are possession, vampirism and\nzoanthropy--three frightful forms of human suffering, which are\nfortunately very rare, being limited to certain localities in space, to\na few short periods in time, and to men of the lowest grade only.\n\nPossession is that appalling state of mind which makes the patient\nbelieve that he is in the power of a foreign evil being, which has for\nthe time full control over his body. This power it abuses by plaguing\nthe body in every imaginable way, by distorting the features till they\nassume a scornful, diabolical expression, and above all, by causing the\nsufferer to give utterance to cynical remarks and horrible blasphemy.\nAll these phenomena are based upon the division of the patient's\nindividuality, which cannot be remedied by any effort of his own, and\nwhich makes him look upon the evil principle in his nature as something\noutside of himself, and no longer under his control. The phenomena which\naccompany possession are too fearful in their nature, and yet at the\nsame time too exceptional to keep us altogether and easily from\nbelieving, as many thoughtful and even pious men have thought, that in\nthese cases a real demon takes possession of the afflicted. The bitter\nhatred against religion, which is always a symptom of possession, would\nnaturally tend to enforce such a presumption. The possessed know not\nonly their own sins, but also those of the bystanders, and use this\nknowledge with unsparing bitterness and cruel scorn; at the same time\nthey feel the superiority of others with whom they may come in contact,\nas the demoniacs of the Bible never failed to recognize in Christ the\nSon of God. From the numerous cases of modern possession which have been\ninvestigated, we derive the following information as to its real nature.\nPossession is invariably a kind of insanity, which is accompanied by\nexceptional powers, producing magic phenomena; it is also invariably\npreceded by some grave disorder or dangerous disease. The former may be\nof purely mental nature, for violent coercion of will, sudden and\nsubversive nervous shocks or long-continued enforcement of a hateful\nmode of life, are apt to produce the sad effect. Hence its frequent\noccurrence in monasteries, orphan asylums and similar institutions,\nwhere this kind of insanity is, moreover, liable to become epidemic. At\nother times the cause is a trivial one, and then a peculiar\npredisposition must be presumed which only needed a decisive act to\nbring the disturbed mind to its extremity. But possession is not merely\nan affection of the mind, it is also always a disease of the body, which\nin the bewildered and disordered imagination of the patient becomes\npersonified in the shape of a demon; hence the graver the disease, the\nfiercer the demon. As sickness worries the patient, robs him of his\nappetite and makes all he used to like distasteful to him, so the demon\nalso suffers no enjoyment; interferes with every pleasure, and\nconsistently rages especially against religion, which alone could give\nconsolation in such cases. The outbursts of rage in demoniacs, when\nefforts are made to exorcise or convert them, even although nothing but\nprayers may be attempted, is ascribed to an instinctive repugnance of\nthe sufferers for means which they feel to be utterly inappropriate to\ntheir case--very much as if men, mad with hunger, were to be fed with\nmoral axioms. Possession is finally sometimes limited to parts of the\nbody; as when a demoniac is spoken of who was dumb (Matt. ix. 32), and\nanother who was blind and dumb (Matt. xii. 22). In other cases the body\nis endowed with supernatural strength, and four or five powerful men\nhave been known to be scarcely able to hold a frail girl of fifteen.\n\nA peculiar feature in possession is, that during the most violent\nattacks of apparent fury, accompanied by hideous cries and frightful\ncontortions, the pulse is not quickened and the physical strength of the\npatient does not seem in the least diminished. The disease, however,\nnaturally affects his whole system and exhausts it in time. The\npossessed man, who unlike somnambulists retains, during the paroxysms,\nfull control over all his senses, never speaks of the demon that\npossesses him, but the demon speaks of him as of a third person, and at\nthe same time of himself, a feature which powerfully contributes to the\npopular belief of actual demons dwelling in these unfortunate persons.\nAnd yet, after the paroxysm is over, the poor sufferer knows nothing of\nthe horrible things he has done, and of the fearful words he has\nuttered; if he is told what has occurred, he is terribly shocked, and\nbitterly repents his misdoings.\n\nThe paroxysms are twofold: in the body they appear as violent\nconvulsions accompanied by a contraction of the throat and the _globulus\nhystericus_; saliva forms in abundance, black, coal-like lumps are\nthrown up and the breath is hot and ill-smelling. In this mental form\nthey appear as a raging of the demon against the possessed and against\nreligion--in fact a struggle of the patient with himself and his former\nconvictions. Occasionally the good principle within him assumes, in\ncontradistinction to the demon who personifies the evil principle, the\nform of a guardian angel, who comforts the poor sufferer as he is tossed\nto and fro like a ship in a tempest, and promises him assistance. Nor is\nthe demon always alone; there may be, as Holy Writ teaches, seven,\nthousands, or their name may be \"Legions,\" for these visionary beings\nare only so many representatives of certain evil principles at work in\nthe soul of the possessed. Some patients have been enabled to trace this\nconnection and to discover that each symptom of their disease was thus\npersonified by a separate demon to whom in their paroxysms they ascribed\nthe infliction: Lucifer caused pricking and stinging pains, Anzian\ntearing and scratching, Junian convulsions of limbs, etc. The fearful\nsuffering which demoniacs have to undergo and the still more harassing\nconflicts in their soul drive them frequently to despair and engender\nthoughts of suicide. During these paroxysms the struggle between light\nand darkness, heaven and hell, eternal bliss and damnation, angel and\ndevil, is carried on with such energy and dramatic truthfulness that\nthose who witness it are apt to become deeply excited and often suffer\nnot a little from the violent transitions from sympathy to horror and\nfrom heartfelt pity to unspeakable disgust. As soon as the dualism in\nthe soul relaxes, and with it the disease becomes milder, the demon also\ngrows more quiet; a happy moment of rest ensues, which the exorciser\ncalls the period of conversion; and when this has once taken place the\npatient is no longer able to distinguish the demon as apart from\nhimself, the contradistinction exists no more, and he is reconciled to\nhis true self.\n\nThere is no instance known in which an intelligent, well-educated person\nhas become possessed; the terrible misfortune falls exclusively upon\nrude and coarse natures, a fact which explains the coarseness and\nrudeness of so-called demons. Medicinal remedies are seldom of much\navail, as the disease has already reached a stage in which the mind is\nat least as much affected as the body. Exorcising has frequently been\nsuccessful, but only indirectly, through the firm faith which the\nsufferer still holds in his innermost heart. The great dogma that Christ\nhas come into this world to destroy the works of the Evil One, has\nprobably been inculcated into his mind from childhood up, and can now\nbegin once more, after long obscuration, to exercise its supreme power.\nThe cure depends, however, not only on the presence of such faith, but\nrather on the supremacy which the idea of Christ's power gains over the\nidea of the devil's power. Hence the symptoms of possession not\nunfrequently cease under a fervent invocation of the Saviour, if the\nexorciser is able by his superior energy of will to create in the\npatient a firm faith in the power of the holy name. This expulsion of\nthe demon is, of course, nothing more than the abandonment of the\nstruggle by the evil principle in the sufferer's soul, by which the good\nimpulses become once more dominant, and a healthy, natural state of\nmind and body is restored.\n\nIt must, however, not be overlooked that the views of possession have\nchanged essentially in different nations and ages. At the time of\nChrist's coming the belief in actual possession, the dwelling of real\ndemons in the body of human beings, was universal, and to this belief\nthe language of Holy Writ naturally adapts its records of miracles.\n\nThe Kabbalah as well as the Talmud contain full accounts of a kingdom of\nhell, opposed to the heavenly kingdom, with Smaal as head of all\nsatanism or evil spirits, defying Jehovah. The latter are allowed to\ndwell upon earth side by side with the sons of Adam, and occasionally to\npossess them and to live in their souls as in a home of their own. In\nother cases it was the spirit of a deceased person which, condemned for\nsins committed during life to wander about as a demon, received\npermission to enter the soul of a living being. The New Testament\nmentions at least seven cases of possession, from the woman whose\nsuffering was simply ascribed to the Devil's agency, to Mary Magdalene\nwho was relieved of seven demons, and the Gadarene, who had a \"legion\"\nof devils. The Catholic Church also has always taught the existence of\nevil spirits; doctrinal works, however, mention only one, Diabolus or\nSatanas. Although the Church adheres consistently to the theory of\nactual possession, it teaches that demons cannot wholly take possession\nof a human soul, but only force it to obedience or accept voluntary\nsubmission. Hence their power over the body also never becomes absolute,\nbut is always shared with the soul of the sufferer. Among Protestants\nmany orthodox believers look upon possession as a mere delusion\npractised by the Evil One; others admit its existence, but attribute it\nto the souls of deceased persons and not to demons. This was the\ndoctrine of the ancient Greeks, who, like the Romans, seem to have known\nbut a few rare cases of possession, which they ascribed to departed\nspirits. Thus Philostratus, in his life of Apollonius (l. iii. ch. 38),\nmentions a young man who was for two years possessed by a demon\npretending to be the spirit of a soldier killed in battle. Nearly all\nnations on earth have records of possession. Thus cases occurring in\nChina and Japan and in the Indies are attributed to the influence of\ncertain deities, as the Hindoos know neither a hell nor a devil. Early\ntravelers, like Blom and Rochefort, report, in like manner, that in some\nof the islands of the Caribbean Sea evil spirits are believed to obtain\nat times possession of women and then to enable them to foretell the\nfuture. According to Ellis the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands were\nmuch plagued by evil spirits dwelling in some of their brethren.\n\nIt was only towards the latter part of the last century that possession\nwas found to be nothing more than a peculiar disease arising from the\ncombination of an unsound mind with an unsound body. This discovery was\nfirst made by Farmer in England, and by Semler in Germany; since that\ntime the symptoms of the character of the affection have been very\ngenerally studied and thoroughly investigated.\n\nThus it has been discovered that similar phenomena are occasionally\nobserved in typhus and nervous fevers. First the patients fancy they\nfeel somebody breathing by their side, or blowing cold air upon their\nhead; after long unconsciousness they are apt to imagine that they are\ndouble, and have been known to hesitate where to carry the spoon\ncontaining their medicine. In still more marked cases, persons who have\nsuffered from the effects of some great calamity, and have thus been\nbrought to the verge of the grave, have even acted two different\nindividualities, of which one was pious and the other impious, or one\nspeaking the patient's native tongue and the other a foreign language.\nAs they recovered and as the return of health brought back bodily and\nmental strength, this dualism also ceased to be exhibited during the\nparoxysm, and finally disappeared altogether.\n\nPossession is generally announced some time beforehand by premonitory\nsymptoms, but the first cause is not always easily ascertained. When we\nare told that certain cases have originated in a hastily spoken word, a\nfierce curse or an outburst of passion, we only learn thus what was the\nfirst occasion on which the malady has been noticed, but not what was\nthe first cause. This lies almost invariably in moral corruption; the\nlust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of the heart are\nby far the most frequent sources of the frightful disease. Occasionally\na very great and sudden grief, like the unexpected death of a beloved\nperson, or too great familiarity with evil thoughts in books or in\nconversation, produce the same effect--in fact all the various causes\nwhich result in insanity may produce also possession. Nor must serious\nbodily injuries be forgotten. A student of the University of Halle\nconsidered himself possessed, and the case puzzled experienced\nphysicians for some time, till it was ascertained that he had received a\nviolent blow upon the head, which required trepanning. Before the\noperation could be undertaken, however, matter began to ooze out from\nthe ear, and he suddenly was relieved from the paroxysms and all\nthoughts of possession. Convents are naturally very frequently scenes of\npossession--the inmates are either troubled by bitter remorse for sins\nwhich have led them to seek refuge in a holy place, where they cannot\nfind peace, or they succumb to the rigor of severe discipline and are\nunable to endure the constant privation of food or sleep. The sin\nagainst the Holy Ghost, which unfortunate persons have imputed to\nthemselves, has produced many a case of possession. When the mind is\nthus predisposed by great anguish of soul or a long-continued inward\nstruggle, the most trifling incident suffices in determining the\noutbreak of the disease. One patient became possessed because his wife\ntold him to go to the Devil, and another because he had in jest\nexorcised a demon in a playmate; now a man curses himself in a moment of\npassion, and then a boy drinks hastily a glass of cold water when\noverheated, and both fall victims to the disease.\n\nThe magic phenomena accompanying possession are by far the most\nremarkable within the whole range of modern magic, but a number of the\nmore striking are frequently identical with those seen in religious\necstasy. Demoniacs also exhibit the traces of injuries inflicted by\ndemons, as saints show the stigmas, and their wounds heal as little as\nthose of stigmatized persons. They share in like manner with religious\nenthusiasts paroxysms during which they remain suspended in the air, fly\nup to the ceiling or are carried to great distances without touching the\nground. The strength of the possessed is amazing. A monk, known in\necclesiastical history as Brother Rafael of Rimini, could not be bound\nby any ropes or chains; as soon as he was left alone he broke the\nstrongest fetters, raced up the roof of the church, ran along the\ntopmost ridge, and was often found sitting on the great bell, to which\nno one else had ever been able to gain access. At last the demons led\nhim to the top of the steeple itself and were about to hurl him down, as\nhe said; the abbot and his monks and an immense crowd of people\nassembled below, and besought him to invoke the aid of their patron\nsaint so as to save body and soul. It does not appear by what miraculous\ninfluence a change was wrought in the poor man; but he did raise his\nvoice, which had not been heard to address a saint for many years, and\ninstantly his mind returned, he found his way down to the church and was\ncured.\n\nThe most frequent symptom in possession is a strong antipathy against\neverything connected with religion; the holy names of God and Christ,\nthe presence of priests, the singing of hymns and the reciting of\nprayers, excite intense pain, and provoke outbursts of fury. Even young\nchildren manifest this aversion, especially when they have previously\nbeen forced to attend church, and to engage in devotional exercises\nagainst their inclination. Hence it is, also, that paroxysms are most\nfrequent at the regular hours of divine service, or break forth suddenly\nat the sight of a procession or the hearing of ringing bells. The\nsymptom itself arises naturally from the imaginary conflict between a\ngood and an evil principle, the latter being continually in arms against\nanything that threatens to crush its own power. All the other symptoms\nof this fearful disease occur, also, in St. Vitus' dance, in catalepsy,\nand even in ordinary trances; only they appear more marked, and make a\ngreater impression upon bystanders, because they are apparently caused\nby a foreign agent, the possessing demon, and not by the patient\nhimself. As the digestive organs are in all such cases sympathetically\nexcited, and seriously affected, a desire for unnatural food is very\nfrequent; the coarsest victuals are preferred; unwholesome, and even\ninjurious substances are eagerly devoured; and medicines as well as\nstrengthening food are vehemently rejected. The sufferer is apt to\ninterpret this as a new plague, his demon refusing him his legitimate\nsustenance, and compelling him to feed like an animal.\n\nOne of the most remarkable historical cases of apparent possession\naccompanied by magic phenomena, was that of Mirabeau's grandmother.\nMarried when quite young to the old marquis, she tried after his death\nto protect herself against the temptations of the world, and of her own\nheart, by ascetic devotion. In her eighty-third year, she was attacked\nby gout which affected her brain, and she became insane, in a manner\nwhich according to the views of her days was called possession. It was\nfound necessary to shut her up in a bare room with a pallet of straw,\nwhere no one dared enter but her valet, a man seventy years old, with\nwhom she had fallen in love! For, strange as it may appear, her fearful\naffliction restored to her the charms of youth; she, who had been\nreduced to a skeleton by old age and unceasing devotion, suddenly\nregained the plumpness of her early years, her complexion became fair\nand rosy, her eyes bright and even, her hair began to grow out once\nmore. But, alas! her tongue, also, had changed; once afraid to utter a\nword that could be misinterpreted, the unruly member now sent forth\nspeeches of incredible licentiousness, and overwhelmed the old servant\nwith terms of endearment and coarse allusions. At the same time the\nretired ascetic became a violent blasphemer, and would allow no one to\nenter her chamber who had not first denied God, threatening to kill him\nwith her own hands if he refused. For four long years the unfortunate\nlady endured her fearful affliction, till death relieved her of her\nsufferings--but the student of history traces to her more than one of\nthe startling features in the character of her grandson, the Mirabeau of\nthe Revolution. (Buelau, _Geh. Gesch._, xii.)\n\nRelief is generally possible only when a powerful hold has been obtained\nupon the mind of the patient; after that appropriate remedies may be\napplied, and the body will be restored to its natural healthy condition.\nIn a few cases remarkable incidents have produced a cure, such as the\nsudden clanking of chains, or a peculiarly fervent and impressive\nprayer. Even a night's sound sleep, induced by utter exhaustion, has had\nthe happiest effect.\n\nIt seems as if, the train of thoughts once forcibly interrupted, a\nreturn to reason and an abandonment of fixed ideas become possible. Even\na specially violent paroxysm may be salutary; probably by means of the\nsevere struggle and extreme excitement which it is apt to produce. Many\npatients, under such circumstances, fall prostrate on the ground, losing\ntheir consciousness, and awake after a while as from a dream, without\nbeing able to remember what has happened. In other cases the\nhallucination continues to the last moment, and leads the patient to\nimagine that the demon leaves him in the shape of a black shadow, a\nbird, or an insect. Such recoveries are almost invariably accompanied\nby violent efforts to discard foreign matters, which have been lodged in\nthe system, and largely contributed to produce the disease. Exorcism\nhas, of course, no direct effect: even when the power to \"cast out\ndevils\" (Mark xvi. 17) is given, it is not said by what means the\ncasting out is to be accomplished, except that it must be done in the\nSaviour's name. The formalities, carefully regulated and prescribed by\nmany decrees of the Church since the third century, do no good except so\nfar as they re-awaken faith, impart hope, and free the mind from\ndistressing doubts. Ignatius Loyola never cured possessed persons\notherwise than by prayer. As early as the sixteenth century a case is\nrecorded clearly illustrating the true nature of exorcism. A demon was,\nafter many fruitless attempts, at last driven out by a particle of the\ncross of our Saviour, but in departing he declared in a loud voice that\nhe knew full well the nature of the piece of wood; it was cut from a\ngallows and not from the true cross, nevertheless he was forced to go\nbecause the exorcist willed it so, and the patient believed in his\npower. The same rule applies to cures achieved by relics; not that these\nhad any effect, but in the long-cherished faith of the possessed, that\nthey might and could wield such power over evil spirits.\n\nThe main point is here also the energy of will in the exorciser, and\nthat this special gift is by no means confined to men was strikingly\nillustrated by a famous lady, the wife of a Marquis de la Croix, who was\na Spanish general and Viceroy of Galicia. In her youth a matchless\nbeauty with almost perfect classical features, she retained an imposing\ncarriage and bewitching grace throughout a long life, and even in old\nage commanded the admiration of all who came in contact with her, not\nonly by the superiority of her mind but also by the beauty of her eyes\nand the charming expression of her features. After the death of her\nhusband she had much to endure from neglect in the great world, from\nsickness and from poverty, doubly hard to bear because standing in\npainful contrast to the splendor of her former life. The effects of a\nviolent attack of sickness produced at last a partial disturbance of her\nmind, which showed itself in visions and the power to drive demons from\nthe possessed. Her theory was that as the sins of men caused their\ndiseases, and as the Devil was the cause of all sins, sickness was\ninvariably produced by demoniac agency; she distinguished, however,\nbetween sufferers who had voluntarily given themselves up to sin, and\nthus to the service of the Devil, and those who had unawares fallen into\nhis hands. Her practice was simple and safe: she employed nothing but\nfervent prayer and the imposition of hands, which she had moistened with\nholy water or oil. In the course of time she found her way to Paris, and\nthere met, amid many skeptics, also with countless believers, some of\nwhom belonged not only to the highest classes of society, but even to\nthe sect of Free-thinkers, then prominent in the French capital. Such\nwere Marshal Richelieu, Count Schomberg, an intimate of the famous\ncircle-meeting at Baron Holbach's house, and even the illustrious\nBuffon. When she was engaged in exorcising, her imposing stature, her\nimperious eye and commanding voice aided her at least as much as her\nperfect faith and striking humility, so that her patients, after a short\ndemur, willingly looked upon her as a saint who might, if she but chose,\nperform miracles. With such a disposition obedience was no longer\ndifficult, and the remarkable lady healed all manners of diseases, from\nmodest toothache to rabid madness. Even when she was unsuccessful, as\nfrequently happened, she won all hearts by her marvelous gentleness and\nhumble piety. Thus, when a possessed man was brought to her in the\npresence of an illustrious company, and all her efforts and prayers were\nfruitless, she placed herself bravely between the enraged man and her\nfriends whom he threatened to attack. He began to foam at the mouth, and\namid fearful convulsions and dread imprecations, broke out into a long\nseries of terrible accusations against the poor lady, charging her with\nall her real and a host of imaginary sins, till she could hardly stand\nup any longer. She listened, however, with her arms folded over her\nbosom and her eyes raised to heaven, and when the madman at last sank\nexhausted to the ground, she fell upon her knees and said to the\nbystanders: \"Gentlemen, you see here a punishment ordained by God for\nthe sins of my youth. I deserve this humiliation in your presence, and I\nwould endure it before all Paris if I could thus make atonement for my\nmisdeeds.\" (_Mem. du Baron de Gleichen_, p. 149.)\n\nOne of the most fearful features of possession is its tendency to spread\nlike contagion over whole communities. Many such cases are recorded in\nhistory. The monks of the Convent of Quercy were thus attacked in 1491,\nand suffered, from the oldest to the youngest, during four months,\nincredible afflictions. They ran like dogs through the fields, climbed\nupon trees, imitated the howling of wild beasts, spoke in unknown\ntongues, and foretold, at the same time, future events. (Goerres, iv.\nII.) In the year 1566 a similar malady broke out in the Orphan House at\nAmsterdam, and seventy poor children became possessed. They also climbed\nup the walls and on the roofs, swallowed hairs, needles, and pieces of\nglass and iron, and distorted their features and their limbs in a\nfearful manner. What, however, made the greatest impression upon the\ngood citizens of the town were the magic phenomena connected with their\ndisease. They spoke to the overseer and even to the chief magistrate of\ntheir secret affairs, made known plots hatched against the Protestants\nand foretold events which happened soon after. In a convent of nuns at\nYssel in the Netherlands, a single nun, Maria de Sains, caused one of\nthe most fearful calamities among her sisters that has ever been known.\nNaturally a woman of superior mind, but carried away by evil passions,\nshe finally succumbed to the struggle between the latter and the strict\nrules of her retreat; she began to accuse herself of horrible crimes\nand excesses. The whole country was amazed, for she had passed for a\ngreat saint, and now, of a sudden, she confessed that she had murdered\nnumberless little children, disinterred corpses, and carried poor girls\nto the meeting of witches. All these misdeeds, which existed only in her\ndisordered imagination, she ascribed to the agency of a demon, by whom\nshe was possessed, and before many weeks had passed, every nun and lay\nsister in the ill-fated convent was possessed in precisely the same\nmanner!\n\nOne of the most recent cases of possession is reported by Bishop Laurent\nof Luxemburg, in a pamphlet on the subject. In the year 1843 a woman,\nthirty-four years old, was brought to him who had been possessed since\nher fifteenth year, and who exhibited the remarkable phenomenon that in\nher sound moments she spoke no other language but the patois of her\nnative place, while in her paroxysms she used Latin, French, and German\nat will. When the good bishop threatened the demon, the latter attacked\nhim in return, troubling him with nightly visits and suggesting to him\nsinful doubts of the existence of God and the efficacy of Christ's\nsacrifice. This fact shows how easily such disturbances of mind can be\ntransferred to others, when disease or mental struggles have prepared a\nway. Fortunately the bishop first mastered his own doubts, and, thus\nstrengthened, obtained the same mastery over the possessed woman. He\ncommanded the demon to come out of her, whereupon she fell into\nconvulsions, speaking in a disguised tone of voice; but after a while\ndrew herself up, and now her face was once more free from anguish, and\n\"angel-like.\" Another bishop, who had been requested to exorcise\npossessed persons in Morzine, in the Chablais, was not so successful. At\nthis place, in 1837, a little girl, nine years old, in consequence of a\ngreat fright, fell into a deathlike sleep, which returned daily, and\nlasted about fifteen minutes. A month later, another girl, eleven years\nold, was attacked in the same way, and soon the number of afflicted\npersons rose to twenty, all girls under twenty years. After a while they\ndeclared that they were possessed by demons, and ran wild through the\nfields, climbed to the top of lofty trees, and fell into violent\nconvulsions. In vain did the local priest and his vicar attempt to\narrest the evil; the girls laughed them to scorn. When the civil\nauthorities interfered, they were met with insults and blows; the guilty\nwere fined, but the number steadily increased, and now grown women also\nwere found in the crowd. At last the official reports reached Paris, and\nthe minister sent the chief superintendent of insane asylums to the\nvillage. He immediately distributed all the affected among the adjoining\ntowns and hamlets, to break off the association, and sent the priest and\nhis vicar to their superior, the bishop of Annecy. A few only of the\nwomen recovered, several died and one man also succumbed; others, when\nthey returned to Morzine, relapsed, and in 1864 the malady began to\nspread once more so fearfully that the bishop of Annecy himself came to\nexorcise the possessed. Seventy of them were brought to the church,\nwhere the most fearful scenes took place; howling and yelling filled the\nsacred building, seven or eight powerful men scarcely succeeded in\nbringing one possessed child to the altar, and when there, the demoniacs\nbroke out in horrible blasphemies. The bishop, exhausted by the intense\nexcitement, and suffering from serious contusions inflicted upon him by\nthe unfortunate women, had to leave the place, unable to obtain any\nresults. Even as late as 1869 two demons were solemnly exorcised upon an\norder from the bishop of Strasbourg, and with the consent of the prefect\nof the department. The ceremony took place in the Chapel of St. George,\nin the presence of the lady-abbesses, under the direction of the\nVicar-General of the diocese, assisted by other dignitaries and the\nSuperior of the Jesuits. The two boys who were to be relieved had long\nbeen plagued with fearful visions and publicly given evidence of being\npossessed, for \"twenty or thirty times they had been led into a public\nsquare in the presence of large crowds, and there they had pulled\nfeathers out of a horrible monster which they saw above them in a\nthreatening attitude; these feathers they had handed to the bystanders,\nwho found that when they were burnt they left no ashes.\" When the two\nchildren were brought to the house of the Sisters of Charity, they\nbecame clairvoyant, and revealed to the good ladies, although they had\nnever seen them before, their family relations, their antecedents and\nmany secrets. They also spoke in unknown tongues, and exhibited all the\nordinary phenomena of possession. The official report containing these\nstatements, and closing with their restoration to health and reason, is\nso far trustworthy as it is signed by several hundred persons, among\nwhom the government authorities, officers, professors and teachers are\nnot wanting.\n\nThere can be little doubt that the dancing mania which broke out\nrepeatedly in various parts of the continent of Europe, was a kind of\npossession. The facts are recorded in history; the explanation only is\nleft as a matter of discussion. In 1374, when a new and magnificent\nchurch was to be consecrated, in Liege, large numbers of people came\nfrom North Germany; \"men and women, possessed by demons, half naked,\nwreaths on their heads, and holding each other's hands, performed\nshameless dances in the streets, the churches, and houses.\" When they\nfell down exhausted they had spasms, and convulsions; at their own\nrequest, friends came and pressed violently upon their chests, till they\ngrew better. Their number soon reached thousands, and other thousands\njoined them in Holland and Brabant, although the priests frequently\nsucceeded in exorcising them--whenever their mind was still sound enough\nto recall their early reverence for holy men and their faith in holy\nthings. Some time before, the good people of Perugia had taken it into\ntheir heads that their sins required expiation, and had begun to\nscourge themselves publicly in the most cruel manner. The Romans were\ninfected soon after, and copied their example; from thence the contagion\nspread, and soon all over Italy men, women, and children were seen\ninflicting upon themselves fearful punishment in order to drive out the\nevil spirits by whom they fancied themselves possessed. Noble and\nhumble, rich and poor, old and young, all joined the crowds which in the\ndaytime filled squares and streets, and at night, under the guidance of\npriests, marched with waving banners, and blazing torches, in vast\narmies through the land. Nor can we shut our eyes to the fact that the\nJumpers and Jerkers of the Methodist Church present to us instances of\nthe same mental disorder, caused by over-excitement, which in earlier\ndays was called possession, and that, hence, these aberrations, also,\ninfinitely varied as they are, according to the temper of men and the\nhabits of the locality in which they occur, must be numbered among the\nphenomena of modern magic.\n\n\nVAMPIRISM.\n\nOccasionally possession is not attributed to demons, but to deceased men\nwho come by night from their graves, and suck the blood of their\nvictims, whereupon the latter begin to decline and finally die a\nmiserable death, while the buried man lives and thrives upon his\nill-gotten food. This is vampirism, the name being derived from the once\nuniversal belief that there existed vampires, huge bats, who, whilst\nfanning sleeping men with their soft wings, feasted upon their life's\nblood and only left them when they had turned into corpses. Popular\ncredulity added a number of horrid details to the general outline, and\nbelieved that the wretched victims of vampirism became themselves after\ndeath vampires, and thus forever continued the fearful curse. It was\nlong thought that vampirism was known only to the nations of the Slavic\nrace, but recent researches have discovered traces of it in the East\nIndies, and in Europe among the Magyars. Even the Sanscrit already\nappears to have had a term of its own for the vampires--Pysachas,\n\"hostile beings, eager for the flesh and blood of living men, who\ngratify their cruel lust mainly at the expense of women when they are\nasleep, drunk, or insane.\"\n\nCareful writers like Calmet and others have, it is true, always\nmaintained that, while the existence of vampirism cannot be denied, the\nphenomena attending it are in all cases the creations of diseased minds\nonly. On the other hand, it is a well-established fact that the bodies\nof so-called vampires, when exhumed, have been found free from\ncorruption, while in all the corpses around them decomposition had long\nsince begun. In the face of such facts vampirism cannot be dismissed as\nsimply the product of heated and over-excited imaginations, although it\nmust be admitted that its true nature is still to all intents and\npurposes a profound mystery. According to popular belief the unusual\npreservation of the corpses indicates that death has not yet obtained\nfull dominion over the bodies, and that hence the soul has not yet\ndeparted to its eternal home. A kind of lower organic life, it is said,\ncontinues, and as long as this lasts, the soul wanders about, as in a\ndream, among the familiar scenes of its earthly life and makes itself\nknown to the friends of its former existence. The life thus extended\nrequires blood in order to sustain itself, and hence the minds of those\nwho come in magic contact with the soul of a vampire, become filled with\nsanguinary thoughts, which present themselves to their imagination as\nthe desire to suck blood and thus lead to the actual performance. The\nfact that vampirism is epidemic, like many similar mental diseases, has\nled to the belief that the living are brought into close connection with\nthe dead and are infected by them, while in reality there is no bond\nbetween them but a common misfortune. Nor must it be forgotten that in\nthis disease, as in the plague, the mere thought of being seized often\nsuffices to cause death without any warning symptoms, and hence the\ngreat number of deaths in localities where vampirism has been thought to\nprevail. For very few of those who are attacked succeed in escaping, and\nif they survive they retain for life the marks left by their wounds. The\npenalty, moreover, is not always undeserved; vampirism rarely if ever\nattacks men of pure hearts and sober minds; it is found, on the\ncontrary, exclusively among semi-barbarous nations and only in persons\nof rude, savage, and sinful disposition.\n\nTraces of vampirism have been discovered in the most distant parts of\nthe earth, and often without apparent connection. The \"Bruholaks\" of\nGreece, genuine vampires whose appearance was ascribed to the direct\ninfluence of the Evil One, may possibly have been imported by the\nnumerous immigrants of Slavic origin (Huet, _Pensees Diverses_, Paris,\n1722), but in Finland also the belief is, according to Castren, almost\nuniversal, that the spirits of the departed have the power to vex and\ntorment persons in their sleep, and to afflict them with sorrow and\ndisease. In the Sunda and Molucca islands genuine vampirism is well\nknown, and the Dyaks of Borneo also believe in an evil spirit who sucks\nthe blood of living persons till they expire.\n\nPoland and Western Russia have, however, been for two centuries the\nstage on which most of these dread tragedies have occurred. Men and\nwomen were reported to have been seen in broad daylight sucking the\nblood of men and beasts, while in other cases dogs and even wolves were\nsuspected of being upires or vampires, as blood-suckers are called in\nmost Slavic dialects. The terror grew as these reports found their way\ninto newspapers and journals, till fear drove men and women to resort to\nthe familiar remedy of mixing blood with the meal used for their bread;\nthey escaped not by any healing powers inherent in the horrid mixture,\nbut thanks to the faith they had in the efficacy of the prescription and\nthe moral courage exhibited in its application. To prevent the spreading\nof the epidemic the bodies of the vampires were disinterred, and when\nfound bleeding, were decapitated or impaled or burned in public. In some\nparts of Hungary the disease appeared in the shape of a white spectre\nwhich pursued the patients; they declined visibly and died in a week or\na fortnight. It was mainly in this country that physicians attending the\ndisinterment of suspected bodies noticed the presence of more or less\nconsiderable quantities of blood, which was still fluid and actually\ncaused the cheeks to look reddish. Some of the witnesses even thought\nthey noticed an effort to breathe, faint pulsations, and a slight change\nof features; these were, however, evidently nothing more than the\neffects of currents of air which accompanied the opening of the coffin.\nIt was here also that animals were first believed to have been attacked\nby vampires; cows were found early in the morning bleeding profusely\nfrom a wound at the neck, and horses standing in their stalls trembling,\ncovered with white foam, and so thoroughly terrified as to become unfit\nfor use.\n\nAnother period of excitement due to accounts of vampirism comprised the\nmiddle of last century, when all Europe was deeply agitated on the\nsubject. The Emperor of Germany and other monarchs appointed committees\nof learned men to investigate the matter; theologians and skeptics,\nphilosophers and physicians, took up the discussion, and hundreds of\nvolumes were published on the mysterious question, but no satisfactory\nresult was ever obtained. Many declared the whole a fable or merely the\neffect of diseased imaginations, others looked upon it as a malignant\nand epidemic disease, and not a few as the unmistakable work of the\ndevil. Learned men searched the writings of antiquity, and soon found\nmore traces of the fearful disease than they had expected. They\ndiscovered that in Thessaly, Epirus, and some parts of the Pieria, men\nwere reported by ancient writers as wandering about at night and tearing\nall whom they met to pieces. The Lamiae of the Greeks and the Strigae of\nthe Romans evidently belonged to the same category, while the later\nTympanites of the Greeks were persons who had died while under the ban\nof the church and were therefore doomed to become vampires. The Slavic\npopulation of Moravia and Bohemia was in those days especially rich in\ninstances of vampirism, and so many occurred in Hungary that the Emperor\nCharles IV. intrusted the investigation of the matter to a prince of\nWuertemberg, before whom a number of cases were fully authenticated. Men\nwho had died years before, were seen to return to their former homes,\nsome in the daytime, some at night, and the following morning those whom\nthey had visited were found dead and weltering in their blood. In a\nsingle village seventeen persons died thus within three months, and in\nmany instances, when bodies were disinterred, they were found looking\nquite alive. At this time the Sorbonne at Paris also took up the\nsubject, but came to no conclusion, save that they disapproved of the\npractice of disinterring bodies, \"because vampires, as cataleptics,\nmight be restored to life by bleeding or magnetic treatment,\" according\nto the opinion of the learned Dr. Pierard. (_Revue Spirit._, iv.)\n\nHere we come at last to the grain of truth around which this mass of\npopular superstition has gradually accumulated, and the ignorance of\nwhich has caused hundreds of innocent human beings to die a miserable\ndeath. There can be no doubt that cases of \"suspended animation\" or\napparent death have alone given rise to the whole series of fearful\ntales of vampirism. The very words of a recital belonging to the times,\nand to the districts where vampirism was prevalent, prove the force of\nthis supposition. Erasmus Francisci states that, in the duchy of Krain,\na man was buried and then suspected of being a vampire. When disinterred\nhis face was found rosy, and his features moved as if they attempted to\nsmile; even his lips opened as if gasping for air. A crucifix was held\nbefore his eyes and a priest called out with a loud voice: \"Peace! This\nis Jesus Christ who has rescued thy soul from the torment of hell, and\nsuffered death for thee!\" The sound seemed to penetrate to his ear, and\nslowly a few tears began to trickle down his cheeks. After a short\nprayer for his poor soul, his head was ordered to be cut off; a\nsuppressed cry was heard, the body turned over as if still alive, and\nwhen the head was severed a quantity of blood ran into the grave. It was\nas clear a case of a living man who had been buried before death as has\never been authenticated. Nor are such cases as rare as is popularly\nbelieved. High authorities assure us that, for instance, after\nimperfect poisoning, in several kinds of suffocation, and in cases of\nnew-born children who become suddenly chilled, a state of body is\nproduced which presents all the symptoms of complete suspension of the\nfunctions of life. Such apparent death is, according to the same high\nmedical authority, a period of complete rest, based upon a suspension of\nthe activity of the heart, the lungs, and all spontaneous functions,\nextending frequently to the sense of touch, and the intellect even. At\nthe same time the natural heat of the body sinks until it seems to have\ndisappeared altogether. The duration of this exceptional state is\nuncertain, at times the patient awakes suddenly, and in full possession\nof all his faculties; in other cases external means have to be employed\nto restore life. Among many well-authenticated cases of this kind, two\nof special interest are mentioned by Dr. Mayo. Cardinal Espinosa, the\nminister of Philip II. of Spain, died after a short period of suffering.\nHis rank required that he should be embalmed, and his body was opened\nfor the purpose. At the moment when lung and heart were laid open to\nview, the surgeon observed that the latter was still beating, and the\nCardinal, awaking, had actually strength enough to seize with his hand\nthe knife of the operator. The other case is that of a well-known French\nwriter, the Abbe Prevost, who fell down dead in the forest of Chantilly.\nHis apparently lifeless body was found, and carried to a priest's house\nin the neighborhood. The surgeon ascribed his death to apoplexy; but\nthe authorities ordered a kind of coroner's inquest, and the body was\nopened. During the operation the Abbe suddenly uttered a cry of\nanguish--but it was too late!\n\nIf a certain number of such cases of apparent death has really given\nrise to the faith in vampirism, then it is equally possible to suppose,\nthat this kind of trance--for which there may exist a special\npredisposition in one or the other race--may become at times epidemic.\nPersons of peculiar nervousness will be ready to be affected, and a\nlocality in which this has occurred may soon obtain an unenviable\nreputation. Even where the epidemic does not appear in full force, a\ndisturbed state of the nervous system will be apt to lead to dreams by\nnight, and to gossip in the daytime, on the fatally attractive subject,\nand the patient will soon dream, or really imagine, that a person who\nhas died of the disease has appeared to him by night, and drawn his\nstrength from him, or, in his excited fancy, sucked his life's blood. By\nsuch means even the popular way of speaking of nocturnal visits made by\nthe \"vampire's ghost\" is not so entirely unfounded as would appear at\nfirst sight, and the superstition is easily shown to be not altogether\nabsurd, but to be based upon a small substructure of actual truth.\n\nIt is remarkable, however, that the Germanic race has never furnished\nany instances of vampirism, although their ancient faith in a Walhalla,\nwhere their departed heroes feast sumptuously, and their custom to place\nfood in the graves of their friends would have seemed most likely to\nreconcile them to the idea that men continue to live in their graves.\n\nHow sadly persistent, on the other hand, such superstitions are among\nthe lower races, and in specially ignorant communities, may be gathered\nfrom the fact that, as late as 1861, two corpses were disinterred by the\npeasants of a village of Galicia, and decapitated. The people believed\nthem to be vampires, and to have caused a long-protracted spell of bad\nweather!\n\n\nZOANTHROPY.\n\nEven more fearful yet than vampirism is the disease, very common already\nin the days of antiquity, which makes men think that they have changed\ninto beasts, and then act as such, according to the logic of insanity.\nPetronius is probably the first to mention, in his \"Feast of\nTrimalchio,\" a case of lycanthropy, when Niceros relates how someone who\nwas journeying with him threw off his garments, changed into a wolf and\nran away into the forest. When he returned home, his account continues,\nhe found that a wolf had fallen upon his flock, but had been wounded by\na servant in the neck with a lance. Thereupon he goes to inquire after\nhis fellow-traveler, and finds him sick in bed with a physician by his\nside, who binds up an ugly wound in his neck. The well-known writer took\nthis episode from the Arcadians, a rude nation of shepherds, whose\nflocks were frequently attacked by wolves, and among whom stories of men\nchanged into wild beasts, were quite current. Nor must we forget, among\nhistoric personages, the daughter of King Proetus of Argos, who believed\nherself changed into a cow; and of Nebuchadnezzar, who according to his\nown touching account \"was driven from meat, did eat grass as oxen, and\nhis body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like\neagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws.\" (Daniel iv. 33.) The\nearly days of Christianity are naturally full of incidents of this kind,\nbut what is remarkable, zoanthropy was then already treated as a mere\ndelusion. The holy man Macarius once saw a large procession approaching\nhis hermitage in Egypt; it was headed by a number of persons who led a\nlarge and imposing-looking woman by a bridle, and followed by a crowd of\npeople of all ages. When they came near they told his disciples that the\nwoman had been changed into a mare, and had thus remained for three days\nand nights without food--would the saint pray over her and restore her\nto her natural condition? The delusion was so forcibly contagious that\nthe disciples also forthwith saw a mare, and not a woman, and refused to\nadmit the animal to the presence of the hermit! Fortunately the latter\nhad retained his self-control; he rebuked his followers, saying: \"You\nare the real beasts, that imagine you see something which does not\nexist. This woman has not been changed, but your eyes are deluded.\" Then\nhe poured holy water over her, and at once everybody saw her once more\nin her natural shape. He dismissed her and her escort with the words:\n\"Go more frequently to church and take the holy sacrament; then you\nwill escape such fearful punishment.\"\n\nDuring the Middle Ages a similar disease existed in many parts of\nEurope; men were changed into dogs or wolves, sometimes as a divine\npunishment for great crimes, at other times in consequence of a delusion\nproduced by Satan. Such unfortunate men walked on all fours, attacked\nmen and beasts, but especially children, killed and devoured them. They\nactually terrified many people into believing as confidently in this\ndelusion as they believed in it themselves! For this is one of the\nspecially fearful magic phenomena of zoanthropy that it is apt to\nproduce in healthy persons the same delusion as in the sufferer. Many\ncases also are recorded of persons lying in deep sleep, produced by\nnarcotic ointments, who, seeing visions, fancied that they were acting\nlike wolves. In the year 1598 such a disease raged as an epidemic in the\nJura mountains, till the French Parliament determined to make an end of\nit by treating all the afflicted either as insane or as persons\npossessed by the devil and therefore deserving instant death. Among\nSlavic nations and the Magyars lycanthropy is so closely connected with\nvampirism that it is not always easy to draw the line between the two\ndiseases. There can be no doubt, however, that it is merely a variety of\npossession, arising from the same unhappy state in which dualism is\ndeveloped in the soul, and two wills contend with each other for\nsuperiority to the grievous injury of mind and body. The only\ndistinctive feature is this, that in lycanthropy not only the functions\nof the brains but also those of the skin are disordered, and hence an\nimpression arises that the latter is hairy and shaggy after the manner\nof wild beasts.\n\nThe German Waehrwolf (were-wolf or man-wolf) is the same as the\nlycanthropos of the Scythians and Greeks and the _versipellis_ of the\nRomans; he was in German mythology connected with Woden. Hence,\nprobably, the readiness with which the disease during the Middle Ages\ntook hold of the minds of Germans; but at that period nearly all the\nnations of Europe firmly believed in the reality of such changes.\n\nAs late even as the beginning of the sixteenth century cases of this\nkind occurred in France, where the possessed were known as\n_loups-garoux_. A young man of Besancon was thus brought before the\nCouncilor of State, _De l'Ancre_, at Bordeaux, and accused of roving\nlike a wild animal through the neighboring forests. He confessed readily\nthat he was a huntsman in the service of his invisible master, the\ndevil, who had changed him into a wolf and forced him to range by the\nside of another more powerful wolf through the country. The poor fellow\nshared the usual fate of his fellow-sufferers, who were either subjected\nto a sharp treatment of exorcism or simply executed as heretical\ncriminals.\n\nIn our day lycanthropy is almost entirely limited to Servia and\nWallachia, Volhynia and White Russia. There, however, the disease breaks\nout frequently anew, and popular belief knows a variety of means by\nwhich a man may be changed into a wolf; the animal differs, however,\nfrom a genuine wolf in his docked tail and his marked preference for the\nblood of young children.\n\nIn Abyssinia there exists, according to Pearce, a belief that men are\noccasionally changed into hyenas--the wolves of that country--but this\nsad privilege is limited to workers in clay and iron, called Booda among\nthe Amharas, who wear a gold earring of special form as a distinction\nfrom other inferior castes.\n\nIt will thus be seen that, like all other varieties of possession,\nzoanthropy also is simply a kind of insanity, and our amusement at the\nmarvelous conduct of werewolves will vanish, if we recall the entire\nchange produced in man by the loss of reason. In that sad condition he\nendures fatigue, cold or heat, and hunger as no healthy man ever can\nlearn to do; he does not mind the severest castigation, for his body is\nalmost insensible, it ceases to be susceptible to contagious diseases\nand requires, in sickness, double or treble doses of medicine. If we\nonce know the precise nature of an insane person's hallucination, his\nactions will be apt to appear quite consistent, and thus lycanthropy\nalso not only produces the fine connection of a change into a wolf, but\ncauses the sufferer to conduct himself in all his ways like the animal\nwhich he represents.\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\nMAGNETISM.\n\n    \"Great is the power of the hand.\"\n\n    --ST. AUGUSTINE, _Op._, iv. 487.\n\n\nMesmer, who was the first to make the anaesthetic effects of certain\npassages of the hand over the bodies of patients known to the public,\nsought originally to explain them by the agency of electricity; but as\nearly as 1773 he ascribed them to magnetism. From that day he employed\nmagnets, and by passing them over the affected parts of his patients, he\nperformed remarkable cures for many years in the city of Vienna. He\nlooked upon the magnet as the physician, which cured the patient in the\nsame way in which it attracted iron. Soon after, however, he became\nacquainted with the famous Father Gassner, of Ratisbon, who had obtained\nprecisely the same results, without a magnet, by simple manipulations,\nand, henceforth, he also treated his patients with the hand only; but he\nretained the old name, looking now upon himself, and others who were\nendowed in the same manner, as possessing the powers of a strong magnet.\nIn the meantime one of his pupils, the Marquis de Puysegur, had quite\naccidentally discovered the peculiar nature of somnambulism, and with\nrare foresight profited by the moments of clear consciousness which at\ntimes interrupted the trance, in order to learn from his patients\nthemselves the means of curing their diseases. He had from that moment\ndevoted all the leisure of his life to the study of these singular but\nmost beneficial phenomena, employing only the simplest manipulations in\nplace of the more exciting means used by Mesmer, and doing an immense\namount of good by his judicious cures.\n\nMesmer, in the course of time, adopted the better method of his former\npupil, and now his system was complete. He used magnetism for purely\npractical purposes: he cured diseases by throwing well-qualified persons\ninto the peculiar sleep produced by magnetizing them, and availed\nhimself of the effects of this half-sleep upon their varied\nconstitutions, for his curative purposes. At the same time, however, he\nascribed the influence which he claimed to have over persons whom he had\nthus magnetized, to a most delicate, all-pervading medium; this, he\nmaintained, was the sole cause of motion, light, heat, and life itself\nin the universe, and this he stated he was communicating by his process\nof magnetizing in a sufficient degree to his patients to produce\nstartling but invariably beneficial results. It is well known how his\nremoval from Vienna, where he had begun his remarkable career, to Paris,\nincreased in almost equal proportions the number of enthusiastic\nadmirers, and of bitter adversaries. In spite of an unfavorable judgment\nrendered by a committee of the Academy in 1784, his new doctrines\nspread rapidly through all the provinces; so-called Harmonic Societies\nwere formed in almost every town, and numerous institutions sprang up\nfounded upon the new system of magnetizing patients. It is curious that\nof the nine members of that committee, among whom Franklin was not the\nleast renowned, only one, the great savant Jussieu, refused to sign the\nreport \"because it was founded upon a few isolated facts,\" and sent in a\nseparate memoir, in which he described animal heat as the universal\nagent of life. Equally curious objections were made by others; thus in\nanother report of the Academy, the king was requested to prohibit the\npractice of magnetism, because it was \"dangerous to the morals of the\npeople,\" and in the great hospital of the Charite, magnetic treatment\nwas forbidden, because \"the new system had caused for a long time warm\ndiscussions between the best informed men of science!\" Urged by repeated\npetitions, the Academy appointed, in 1825, a second committee to\ninvestigate the matter, which finally reported a firm conviction of the\ngenuineness and efficacy of magnetism, and recommended a further\nexamination of this important branch of psychology and natural science.\nA permanent committee was thereupon directed to take charge of the\nmatter, before which a very large number of important facts were\nauthenticated; but in 1840, and subsequently, once more, unfavorable\nreports were laid before the august body and adopted by small\nmajorities.\n\nIn England magnetism met with fierce and violent opposition, the faculty\nbeing no little incensed by this new and unexpected competitor for fees\nand reputation. Dr. Elliotson, a professor in the University of London,\nand director of a large hospital, had actually to give up his place,\nbecause of the hostility engendered by his advocacy of the new doctrine.\nAfterwards the controversy, though by no means less bitter, was carried\non with more courtesy, and the subject received, on the whole, all the\nattention it deserved. Germany alone has legally sanctioned magnetism as\na scientific method within the range of the healing art, and the leading\npowers, like Prussia, Austria, and Saxony, have admitted its practice in\npublic hospitals. Unfortunately, much deception and imposture appeared\nfrom the beginning in company with the numerous genuine cases, and led\nmany eminent men to become skeptics. The Russian government has limited\nthe permission to practice by magnetic cure to \"well-informed\"\nphysicians; but the Holy Curia, the pope's authority, after admitting\nmagnetism, first as a well-established fact, has subsequently prohibited\nit by a decree of the Inquisition (21st April, 1841) as conducive to\n\"infidelity and immorality.\" In spite of all these obstacles, magnetism,\nin its various branches of somnambulism and clairvoyance, of mesmerism\nand hypnotism, is universally acknowledged as a valuable doctrine, and\nhas led to the publication of a copious literature.\n\nMagnetizers claim--and not without some show of reason--that their art\nwas not unknown to antiquity, and is especially referred to in Holy\nWrit. They rest their claim upon the importance which has from time\nimmemorial been ascribed to the action of the hand as producing visions\nand imparting the gift of prophecy. When Elisha was called upon to\npredict the issue of the war against Moab, he sent for a minstrel, \"and\nit came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the _hand_ of the Lord\ncame upon him.\" (2 Kings iii. 15.) In like manner \"the _hand_ of the\nLord was upon Ezekiel\" among the captives by the river of Cheber and he\nprophesied (Ezekiel i. 3); years after he says again: \"The _hand_ of the\nLord was upon me in the evening\" (xxxiii. 22), and once more: \"the\n_hand_ of the Lord was upon me\" (xl. 1). It is evident that according to\nbiblical usage in these cases the manner of acting attributed to God is\ndescribed after the usage prevailing among men, and that the \"hand upon\nmen\" represented the usual method of causing them to fall into a trance.\nBut this placing the hand upon a person was by no means confined to\ncases of visions; it was employed also in blessings and in sacrifices,\nin consecrations and miraculous cures. Daniel felt a hand touching him,\nwhich \"set me upon my knees and the palms of my hands\" (Dan. x. 10),\nwhile soon after the same hand \"strengthened him\" (17); and even in the\nNew Testament a high privilege is expressed by the words: \"The _hand_ of\nthe Lord was with him.\" (Luke i. 66.) In other cases a finger is\nsubstituted for the hand, as when the magicians of Pharaoh said: \"This\nis the finger of God\" (Exodus viii. 19), and the two tables of testimony\nare said to have been \"written with the finger of God\" (Exodus xxxi.\n18); in the same manner Christ said: \"If I with the finger of God cast\nout devils.\" (Luke xi. 20.) What makes this reference to finger and hand\nin Eastern magic and in biblical language peculiarly interesting is the\nfact that neither Greeks nor Romans ever referred in like manner to such\nan agency. It is evident that these nations, possessing the ancient\nwisdom of the East and the revealed knowledge of the chosen people, were\nalone fully acquainted with the power which the hand of man can exercise\nunder peculiar circumstances, and hence looked upon it in God also, as\nthe instrument by which visions were caused and miracles performed.\nHence, no doubt, also the mysterious hand, which from time immemorial\nhas been used as one of the emblems of supreme power, often called the\nhand of justice, but evidently emblematic of the \"hand of God,\" which\nrests upon the monarch who rules \"by the grace of God.\" Magnetizers\nconnect all these uses made of the hand with their own method, which\nconsists almost invariably in certain passes made with the whole hand or\nwith one or more fingers.\n\nWhatever may be thought of this connection between the meaning of the\n\"hand\" in biblical language, and the magnetism of our day, there can be\nno doubt as to the fact that the ancients were already quite familiar\nwith the phenomena which have startled our century as something\nentirely new. The so-called temple-sleep of the Greeks was almost\nidentical with modern somnambulism; the only essential difference being\nthat then the gods of Olympus were seen, and lent their assistance, in\nthe place of the saints of the Middle Ages, and the mediums of our own\nday. Incense, mineral waters, narcotic herbs, and decoctions of\nStrychnos or Halicacabum, were, according to Pliny, employed to produce\nthe peculiar sleep. (\"Hist. Nat.\" l. xxi. ch. 31.) The patients fell\nasleep while lying on the skins of recently killed animals in the\nTemples of AEsculapius, and other beneficent deities, and in their sleep\nhad dreams with revelations prescribing the proper remedies. The priests\nalso, sometimes, dreamt for their visitors--for a consideration--or, at\nleast, interpreted the dreams of others. Even magnetism by touch was\nperfectly familiar to the ancients, as appears from words of Plautus:\n\"_Quid, si ego illum tractim tangam, ut dormiat?_\" (What if I were to\ntouch him at intervals so that he should fall asleep?) Plutarch even\nspeaks of magnetizing by touching with the feet, as practised by\nPyrrhus. Other writers discovered that the Sibyls of Rome, as well as\nthe Druids of the Celts, had been nothing more than well-trained\nsomnambulists, and ere long distinct traces of similar practices were\nfound in the annals of the Egyptians also.\n\nOne of the earliest cases, which was thoroughly investigated, and\ncarefully watched, is reported by Dr. Petetin, of Lyon, in his famous\n\"Memoir on Catalepsy and Somnambulism.\" (Lyon, 1787.) His patient was a\nlady who had nursed her child with such utter disregard of her own\nhealth that her whole system was undermined. After an attack of most\nviolent convulsions, accompanied with apparent madness, she suddenly\nbegan to laugh, to utter a number of clever and witty sayings, and\nfinally broke out into beautiful songs; but a terrible cough with\nhemorrhages ended the crisis. Similar attacks occurred with increasing\nfrequency, during which she could read, with closed eyes, what was\nplaced in her hand, state hour and minute on a watch by merely touching\nthe crystal, and mention the contents of the pockets of bystanders. She\nstated that she saw these things with varied distinctness; some clearly,\nothers as through a mist, and still others only by a great effort. The\nreporter expresses his belief that the stomach in this case performed\nall the functions of the senses, and that the epidermis, with its\nnetwork of fine nerves, acted in place of the usual organs. Petetin was\nalso the first to enter into direct relations with his somnambulist; he\ncould induce her at will to become clairvoyant, and make himself\nunderstood by her whenever he directed his voice toward the only\nsensitive part. Gradually, however, it was discovered that the degree of\nclose communication (_rapport_) between the two parties depended as\nlargely on the correspondence of character between them as on the energy\nof will in the magnetizer and the power of imagination possessed by the\npatient. Deleuse, one of the professors of the _Jardin des Plantes_, in\nParis, gave much attention to the subject, and in his numerous\npublications maintained the existence of a magnetic fluid by the side of\nthe superior power with which some men are endowed, and that both were\nemployed in influencing others. He was frequently, and violently,\nattacked on the score of his convictions, especially after several cases\nof cunning deception had become known. For very soon the innate desire\nfor notoriety led many persons to pretend somnambulism, and skillfully\nto imitate the phenomena of clairvoyance, displaying, as is not\nunfrequently the case, in these efforts a skill and a perseverance which\nwould have secured them great success in any legitimate enterprise. A\nnumber of volumes appeared, mostly in Germany, professing to contain\naccounts of marvelous cures achieved by magnetism, which upon\nexamination proved to be altogether fictitious. France, however,\nabounded more than any other country with impostors, and every kind of\ndeception and cheating was carried on there, at the beginning of this\ncentury, under the cloak of mesmerism. Young girls, stimulated by large\nrewards, and well trained by hospital surgeons, would submit to brutal\ntreatment, and profess to reveal, during well-simulated trances,\ninfallible remedies for grievous diseases. The followers of Mesmer\ndegraded his art by making it a merry pastime or a lucrative exhibition,\nwithout regard to truthfulness, and without reverence for science. Even\npolitical intriguers, and financial speculators, availed themselves of\nthe new discovery; precisely as in our day spirit-rapping and kindred\ntricks are used. In England, and in the Union, mesmerism fared little\nbetter; especially with us, it soon fell into the hands of quacks and\ncharlatans who made it a source of profit; at the same time it assumed\nvarious new names, as, electro-biology, hypnotism, and others.\n\nThe idea that somnambulism was the effect of angelic or demoniac\ninfluences was once largely entertained, but has long since given way to\nmore scientific views. But it cannot be said that the true nature of the\nactive principle has yet been fully ascertained, and so far the results\nof mesmerism must be classed among magic phenomena. What is alone\nclearly established is the power which the strong will of the magnetizer\nevidently exercises over the patient, and the fact that this energy acts\nthrough the hands as its organs. The patient, on his side, undergoes by\nsuch an exercise of a foreign will a complete change of his\nindividuality; the action of his brain is modified and he falls into\nmagnetic sleep. Many intelligent somnambulists have distinctly stated\nthat they obey the will of their master and not his hands; that\nmanipulation, in fact, merely serves to communicate this will to their\ninner sense. Whether the connection which evidently exists between the\ntwo parties is established merely for moral agencies or by an infinitely\nsubtle fluid, which may possibly be the Od of Baron Reichenbach--this\nquestion remains as yet undecided. So much only is quite certain that\nneither the will alone suffices to produce the magic phenomena of\nmagnetism, nor heat and electricity, as the physicist Parrot maintained;\nas little can electro-magnetism, unaided, be the cause of such results,\nthough the great Robiano stoutly asserted its power; man is a dualism of\nspirit and body, and both must be influenced alike and together, in\norder to obtain perfect mastery. The most plausible explanation yet\noffered by men of science is, that by the will of the magnetizer his own\nnervous and mental system assumes a certain condition which changes that\nof the subject into one of opposite polarity, paralyzes some of his\ncerebral functions and causes him to fall into a state resembling sleep.\nThe stronger and healthier man affects the nervous system of a feeble\nand less healthy man according to his own more or less strongly marked\nindividuality, and the spiritual influence naturally develops itself in\nthe same proportions as the material influence. Hence the thoughts and\nfeelings, the convictions and the faith of the magnetizer are reflected\nupon the mind of his subject. Even Mesmer himself had not yet reached\nthis point; he was, up to his death, content to ascribe the power of the\nmagnetizer to the waves of an universal fluid set in motion by the\nsuperior energy of specially endowed persons. According to his doctrine\nthoughts were conveyed by means of this mysterious fluid in precisely\nthe same manner in which light and sound are borne onward on the waves\nof the air that surrounds us. They proceed from the brain and the nerves\nof one person and reach those of another person in this imperceptible\nmanner; to dispatch them on their errand, volition is required; to\nreceive them, willingness and a certain natural predisposition, since\nthere are men incapable of being reached in this way, as there are\nothers who are deprived of sight or hearing. As the conveying fluid is\nfar more subtle than the thinnest air, permeates the whole universe and\nbears a close resemblance to the fluid which sets our nerves in motion,\nthere is no other limit to the effects of volition on the part of the\nso-called magnetizer than the strength of his will. If he possesses this\nin a sufficiently high degree, he can affect those who are subject to\nhis superiority even at the greatest distance. Moreover, if his\ninfluence is sufficiently effective the somnambulist acquires new and\nheretofore unknown powers; he sees the interior of his own body,\nrecognizes its defects and diseases, and by a newly-awakened instinct,\nperceives what is necessary to restore its perfect order. Such were the\nviews of Mesmer.\n\nBesides this theory a number of others have been published from time to\ntime, by men of science of almost all countries--even modern\nphilosophers, like the German Schopenhauer, having entered the lists in\ndefense of their favorite ideas. The most striking view published in\nrecent times, is found in the works of Count Robiano, a learned abbe and\na brilliantly successful magnetizer. He ascribes all the phenomena of\nsomnambulism to the purely physical activity of the nerves, and proposes\nto call his new physical science neururgy. He identifies the nervous\nfluid with galvanism and voltaic electricity, and asserts that by a\ngalvanic battery all the results can be obtained which mesmerism claims\nas its own. He also states that galvanic rings, bracelets, belts and\nnecklaces cause immediately somnambulism in well-qualified persons,\nwhile carbon held before the nostrils of somnambulists in deep sleep,\nawakes them instantly, and at the same time releases limbs held in\ncataleptic rigidity. Alabaster, soda, and wax have similar effects, but\nless promptly, and the wind from a pair of bellows has equal\npower. According to his theory, currents of what he calls the\ngalvanic-neururgic fluid, are capable of producing all the well-known\nsymptoms and phenomena of thought from idiocy to genius, and from\nunconscious sleep to the highest excitement; the process by which these\nresults can be obtained is a suspension of the vital equilibrium by\ndisease, intoxication, abstinence, long-continued fasting and prayer and\nthe like. If the marvelous fluid is unequally distributed through the\nsystem, catalepsy ensues. The novelty and force of Robiano's doctrines\nattracted much attention, but a series of experiments conducted by\neminent men soon proved that galvanism alone produced in no instance\nsomnambulism, but invariably required the aid of volition, which the\nlearned Italian in his modesty had probably underrated, if not\naltogether overlooked.\n\nIt is a matter more of curiosity than of real interest that the Chinese\nhave--now for nearly eleven hundred years--believed in an inherent\npower possessed by every human being, called yu-yang, which is identical\nwith an universal yu-yang. According to this view, every person endowed\nwith the proper ability can dispose of his own yu-yang and diffuse a\nportion of it over others, so as to cure their infirmities. The French\nmissionary Amyot communicated this to Puysegur (_Du Magnetisme Animal_,\nParis, 1807, p. 387), and looked upon the yu-yang as the universal vital\npower which produces everything.\n\nBefore we dismiss any such theory--in China or nearer home--with a\nsupercilious smile, it is well to recall the reception which the first\nrevelation of electricity in the human body met among our savants. The\ndoctrine had to pass through the usual three stages of contempt,\ncontroversy and final adoption. John Wesley, more than a hundred years\nago, said of it: \"With what vehemence has it been opposed! Sometimes, by\ntreating it with contempt, as if it were of little or no use; sometimes\nby arguments such as they were, and sometimes by such cautions against\nits ill effects, as made thousands afraid to meddle with it.\" Now, every\nelementary text-book teaches that all created living bodies are\nelectric, and that some persons, animals, and plants are so in a very\nhigh degree. To establish this truth poor puss has had to suffer much in\norder to give out electric sparks, and the sensitive plant has had to\nshow how its leaves\n\n    \"With quick horror fly the neighboring hand,\"\n\nwhich draws from them the electricity of which it contains more than\nother plants. Physicians have learnt that a person who has the small-pox\ncannot be electrified, the body being fully charged and refusing to\nreceive more electricity, while sparks may be drawn from the body of a\npatient dying with cholera. Now this once despised power, in the shape\nof voltaic electricity, adorns our tables with electro-plate works of\nart, carries our thoughts around the globe, blasts rocks, fires cannons\nand torpedoes, and even rings the bells of our houses. Now little chain\nbatteries, that can be carried in the waistcoat pockets, produce\npowerful shocks and cure grievous diseases, while tiny bands, which yet\ncan decompose water in a test-tube, are worn by thousands as a\nprotection against intense suffering and utter prostration. What in this\ncase happened to electricity may very well be the fate of the new power\nalso, which is the true agent in all that we carelessly call magnetism.\n\nSomnambulism and clairvoyance, by whatever means they may have been\ncaused, differ in this from dreams and feverish fancies, that the outer\nsenses are rendered inactive and in their place peculiar inner life\nbegins to act, while the subject is perfectly conscious. The magic\nphenomena differ naturally infinitely according to the varying natures\nof the patients. In the majority of cases sleep is the only result of\nmagnetizing; a few persons become genuine somnambulists and begin to\nspeak, first very indistinctly, because the organs of speech are\npartially locked and the consciousness is not fully aroused. As the\nspasms cease, speech becomes freer, and as the mind clears up, the\nthoughts also reveal themselves more distinctly. These symptoms are\nordinarily accompanied by others of varying character, from simple heat\nin the extremities and painful sobbing to actual syncope. In almost all\nsuch cases, however, the nervous system is suffering from a violent\nshock, and this produces spasms of more or less appalling violence. The\ntemper of the sufferers--for such they are all to some degree--varies\nfrom deep despondency to exulting blissfulness, but is as changeable as\nthat of children, and resembles but too frequently the capricious and\nunintelligible mental condition of insane persons.\n\nThose who are for the first time thrown into magnetic sleep generally\nfeel after awaking as if a great change had taken place in them; they\nare apt to remain serious, and apparently plunged in deep thought for\nseveral days. If their case is in unskillful hands, nervous disorders\nare rarely avoided; phantastic visions may be seen, and convulsions and\nmore threatening symptoms even may occur. Youth is naturally more\nsusceptible to the influence of magnetism than riper years; really old\npersons have never yet been put to sleep. In like manner women are more\neasily controlled than men, and hence more capable of being magnetized\nthan of magnetizing others. If men appear more frequently in the annals\nof this new branch of magic than women, this is due merely to the fact\nthat men appear naturally, and so far at least voluntarily more\nfrequently in public statements than women. The latter, moreover, are\nvery rarely found able to magnetize men, simply because they are less in\nthe habit of exerting their will for the purpose of influencing others;\nthe exceptions were mostly so-called masculine women. Over their own\nsex, however, they are easily able to obtain full control.\n\nAmong the curious symptoms accompanying the magic phenomena of this\nclass, the following deserve being mentioned. A distinguished physician,\nDr. Heller, examined the blood corpuscules of a person in magnetic sleep\nand found that their shape was essentially modified; they were raised\nand pointed so as to bear some resemblance to mulberries; at the same\ntime they exhibited a vibrating motion. Another symptom frequently\nobserved in mesmerism are electric shocks, which produce sometimes a\nviolent trembling in the whole person before the beginning of magnetic\nsleep and after it has ceased. As many as four thousand such shocks have\nbeen counted in an hour; they are especially frequent in hysterical\nwomen and then accompanied by severe pain, in men they are of rarer\noccurrence. Finally, it appears from a number of well-authenticated\ncases that magnetic convulsions are contagious, extending even to\nanimals. Persons suffering with catalepsy have more than once been\ncompelled to kill pet cats because the latter suffered in a similar\nmanner whenever the attacks came, and the same has been noticed in\nfavorite dogs which were left in the room while magnetic cures were\nperformed. This is all the more frequently noticed as many magnetizers\nlook upon convulsions as efforts made by nature to restore the system to\na healthy condition, and hence excite in their patients convulsions\nwithout magnetizing them fully.\n\nA new doctrine concerning the magic phenomena of magnetism establishes a\nspecial force inherent in all inorganic substances, and calls it\nSiderian. This theory is the result of the observation that certain\nsubstances, like water and metal, possess a special power of producing\nsomnambulism, and at one time a peculiar apparatus, called _baquet_, was\nmuch in use, by means of which several persons, connected with each\nother and with a vessel filled with water and pieces of metal, were\nrendered clairvoyant. The whole subject has not yet been fully\ninvestigated, and hence the conclusions drawn from isolated cases must\nbe looked upon as premature. It has, however, been established beyond\ndoubt that metals have a peculiar power over sensitive persons, in their\nnatural sleep as well as in the magnetic sleep. Many somnambulists are\npainfully affected by gold, others by iron; a very sensitive patient\ncould, after an instant's touch, distinguish even rare metals like\nbismuth and cobalt by the sensations which they produced when laid upon\nher heart. Dr. Brunner, when professor of physics in Peru, had a patient\nwho could not touch iron without falling into convulsions, and was made\nclairvoyant by simply taking her physician's pocket-knife in her hand.\n\nThis Siderian or Astral force, so called from a presumed influence\nexercised by the heavenly bodies, as well as by all inorganic\nsubstances, admits of no isolation, although it is possessed in varying\ndegrees by certain metals and minerals. It has no effect even upon the\nelectrometer or the magnetic needle; its force is radiating, quite\nindependent of light, but considerably increased by heat. Persons\nmagnetized by the mysterious force of the _baquet_ have, however, an\nastonishing power over the magnetic needle and can make it deflect by\nmotion, fixed glance, or even mere volition. In _Galignani's Messenger_\n(25th of October, 1851) the case of Prudence Bernard in Paris is\nmentioned, who forced the needle to follow the motions of her head.\n\nWhatever we may think of the value of this theory, it cannot be denied\nthat the effect which certain physical processes going on in the\natmosphere have on our body and mind alike is very striking and yet\nalmost entirely unknown. Science is leisurely gathering up facts which\nwill no doubt in the end furnish us a clue to many phenomena which we\nnow call magic, or even supernatural. Thus almost every hour of the day\nhas its peculiarity in connection with Nature: at one hour the\nbarometer, at another the thermometer reaches its maximum; at other\nperiods magnetism is at its highest or the air fullest of vapor, and to\nthese various influences the diseases of men stand in close relation.\nWhen Auroras are seen frequently the atmosphere is found to be\nsurcharged with electricity; they are intimately connected with gastric\nfevers, and according to some physicians, even with typhus and cholera.\nIt has also been ascertained that the progress of the cholera and the\nplague--perhaps also of common influenza--coincides accurately with the\nisogonic line; these diseases disappear as soon as the eastward\ndeclination of the magnetic needle ceases. In recent times a\ncorrespondence of the spots in the sun with earth-magnetism has also\nbeen observed. In like manner it has been established that continued\npositive electricity of the air, producing ozone in abundance, is apt to\ncause catarrhs, inflammations, and rheumatism, while negative\nelectricity causes nervous fevers and cholera. Even the moon has\nrecovered some of its former importance in its relations to the human\nbody, and although the superstitions of past ages with their absurd\nexaggerations have long since been abandoned, certain facts remain as\nevidences of a connection between the moon and some diseases. Thus the\nparoxysms of lunatics, epileptics, and somnambulists are undoubtedly in\ncorrespondence with the phases of the moon; madmen rave most furiously\nwhen the latter is full, and its phases determine with astonishing\nregularity the peculiar affections of women, as was triumphantly proven\nby the journal kept with admirable fidelity during the long life of Dr.\nConstantine Hering of Philadelphia.\n\nAnother name given to these phenomena is the Hypnotism of the English.\n(Braid, \"Neurohypnology,\" London, 1843.) This theory is based upon the\nfact that sensitive persons can be rendered clairvoyant by looking\nfixedly at some small but bright object held close to their face, and by\ncontinuing for some time to fix the mind upon the same object after the\neyelids have closed from sheer weariness. The method of producing this\nmagnetic sleep, and some of the symptoms peculiar to mesmerized persons,\nhas since been frequently varied. Dodds makes the patient take a disk of\nzinc, upon which a small disk of copper is laid, into his hand, and\nregard them fixedly; thus he produces what he calls electro-biology.\nCatton, in Manchester, England, prefers a gentle brushing of the\nforehead, and by this simple means causes magnetic sleep. Braid's\nexperiments, in which invariably over-excitement of nerves was followed\nby torpor, rigidity, and insensibility, have since been repeated by\neminent physicians with a view to produce anaesthesis during painful\noperations. They have met with perfect success; and the removal of the\nshining object, fresh air, and slight frictions, sufficed to restore\nconsciousness. The same results have been obtained in France, where,\naccording to a report made to the French Academy, in 1859, by the\nrenowned Dr. Velpeau, persons induced to look at a shining object, held\nclose between their eyes, began to squint violently, and in a few\nmoments to fall, utterly unconscious and insensible, into magnetic\nsleep. Maury explains the process as one of vertigo, which itself again\nis caused by the pressure of blood upon the brain, and adds, that any\npowerful impression produced upon the retina may have the same effect.\nHence, no doubt, the _mal occhio_ of the Italians, inherited from the\nevil eye of the ancients; hence the often almost marvelous power which\nsome men have exercised by the mere glance of the eye. The fixed look of\nthe magnetizer, which attracts the eye of the patient, and holds it, as\nit were, spell-bound, has very much the same effect, and when this look\nis carefully cultivated it may put others beside themselves--as was the\ncase with Urbain Graudier, who could, at any time, cause his arms to\nfall into a trance by merely fixing his eyes upon them for a few\nminutes.\n\nFrom all these experiments we gather, once more, that men can, by a\nvariety of means, which are called magnetism or mesmerism, influence\nothers who are susceptible, till the latter fall into magnetic sleep,\nhave cataleptic attacks, or become clairvoyant. It is less certain that,\nas many assert, these results are obtained by means of a most subtle, as\nyet unknown, fluid, which the magnetizer causes to vibrate in his own\nmind, and which passes from him, by means of his hands, into the\npatient, where it produces effects corresponding to those felt by the\nprincipal. To accomplish even this, it is absolutely necessary that the\nmagnetizer should not only possess a higher energy than his patient, but\nalso stand to him in the relation of the positive pole to the negative.\nThe extent of success is measurable by the strength of will on one hand,\nand the degree of susceptibility on the other; both may be infinitely\nvaried, from total absence to an overwhelming abundance. Practice, at\nleast, however, aids the magnetizer effectually, and certain French and\nItalian masters have obtained surprising results. The most striking of\nthese is still the cataleptic state, which they cause at will.\nBreathing, pulsation, and digestion continue uninterrupted, but the\nmuscles are no longer subject to our will; they cease to be active, and\nhence the patient remains immovable in any position he may be forced to\nassume.\n\nThe general symptoms produced by magnetizing are uniformly the same: as\nsoon as a sufficient number of passes have been made from the head\ndownward the patient draws a few deep inhalations, and then follow\nincreased animal heat and perspiration, the effect of greater activity\nof the nerves, while pain ceases and cheerfulness succeeds despondency.\nIf the passes are continued, these symptoms increase in force, produce\ntheir natural consequences, and, the functions becoming normal, recovery\ntakes place. Magnetic sleep is frequently preceded by slight\nfeverishness, convulsive trembling and fainting. The eyelids, half or\nentirely closed, begin to tremble, the eyeballs turn upward and inward,\nand the pupils become enlarged and insensible to light. The features\nchange in a striking manner, peculiar to this kind of sleep, and easily\nrecognized. After several experiments of this kind have been made upon\nsusceptible persons, the outward sleep begins to be accompanied by an\ninner awakening, at first in a half-dreamy state and gradually more\nfully, till conversation can be attempted.\n\nContrary to the general impression, faith does not seem to be an\nessential element of success, at least on the part of the patient, for\ninfants and very young children have been rendered clairvoyant as well\nas grown persons. On the other hand, natural susceptibility is\nindispensable, for Deleuse (_Def. du Magnetisme_, p. 156) states that in\nhis extended practice he found only one out of twenty persons fit to be\nmagnetized. Of those whom he could influence, only one in twenty could\nconverse in his sleep, and of five of this class not more than one\nbecame fully clairvoyant. Certain persons, though well endowed, impress\ntheir patients unfavorably, cause a sensation of cold instead of heat in\ntheir system, and produce a feeling of strong aversion. The most\nremarkable feature in all these relations, however, is the fact that the\npatient not unfrequently affects the magnetizer, and this in the most\nextraordinary manner. One physician took into the hand with which he had\ntouched a dying person, two finches; they immediately sickened and died\na few days later. Another, a physically powerful and perfectly healthy\nman, who was treating a patient suffering of _tic douloureux_ by means\nof magnetism, became unwell after a few days, and on the seventh day\nfell himself a victim to that painful disease, till he had to give up\nthe treatment. He handed his patient over to a brother physician, who\nsuffered in the same manner, and actually died in a short time.\n\nAfter continued practice has strengthened the magnetizer, his \"passes\"\noften become unnecessary, and he can at last, under favorable\ncircumstances, produce magnetic sleep by a simple glance or even the\nmere unuttered volition. Some physicians had only to say Sleep! and\ntheir patient fell asleep; others were able to move the sleepers from\ntheir beds by a slight touch with the tip of the thumb. One of this\nclass, after curing a poor boy of catalepsy, retained such perfect\ncontrol over him that he only needed to point at him with his finger, or\nto let him touch some metal which he had magnetized, in order to make\nhim fall down as if thunderstruck. The great German writer, known as\nJean Paul, relates of himself that he, \"in a large company and by merely\nlooking at her fixedly, caused a Mrs. K. twice to fall almost asleep and\nto make her heart beat and her color go, till S. had to help her.\" The\nAbbe Faria, who seems to have been specially endowed with such power,\nwould magnetize perfect strangers by suddenly stretching out his hands\nand saying in an authoritative tone: Sleep, I will it! He had a\nformidable competitor afterwards in Hebert, who played almost at will\nwith a large number of spectators in his crowded hall, making them\nfollow him wherever he led, or causing them to fall asleep by simply\nmaking passes over the inside of their hats. In the case of young girls\nhe produced rigidity of members with great facility, and then caused\nthem to assume any position he chose; his patients were utterly helpless\nand powerless. Dupotet, already mentioned, possessed similar influence\nover others; he once magnetized an athletic man of ripe years, by merely\nwalking around the chair on which he was seated, and forced him to turn\nwith him by jerks. On another occasion he made a white chalk-mark on the\nfloor, and then requested a gentleman to put both his feet upon the\nspot; while he remained quietly standing by the side of his friends.\nAfter a few minutes the stranger began to shut his eyes, and his body\ntrembled and swayed to and fro, till it sank so low that the head hung\ndown to the hips--at last Dupotet loosened the spell by upward passes.\nAn Italian, Ragazzoni, excited in 1859, no small sensation by his\nremarkable success as a magnetizer. Unlike other physicians, he used an\nabundance of gestures to accompany the active play of his expressive\nfeatures, and yet by merely breathing upon persons he could check their\nrespiration and the circulation of their blood; in like manner he caused\nthe chest to swell and paralyzed single limbs or the whole body. He\npushed needles through the hand or the skin of the forehead without\ncausing a sign of pain; he enabled his patients to guess his thoughts,\nand set them walking, running or dancing, although they were in one room\nand he in another. When he had paralyzed their senses, burning sulphur\ndid not affect their smell, nor brilliant light the open pupil; the\nringing of a large bell close to the ear and the firing of a pistol\nremained unheard. In fine, he repeated all the experiments already made\nby Puysegur with his patient, Victor, but generally without the use of\npasses. (Schopenhauer, _Ueber d. Willen in d. Natur._ 1867, p. 102.)\nMaury, who has given a most interesting and trustworthy account of\nsimilar cases (_Revue des Deux Mondes_, 1860, t. 25), states in speaking\nof General Noizet, that the latter caused him to fall asleep by saying:\n\"_Dormes!_\" Immediately a thick veil fell upon his eyes, he felt weak,\nbegan to perspire, and felt a strong pressure upon the abdomen. A second\nexperiment, however, was less successful.\n\nBesides passes, a variety of other means have been employed to produce\nmagnetic sleep and kindred phenomena. Dr. Bendsea, one of the earlier\npractitioners, frequently used metal mirrors or even ordinary\nlooking-glasses; another Dr. Barth, maintained that by touching or\nirritating any part of the outer skull, the underlying portions of the\nbrains could be excited. By thus pressing upon the organ of love of\nchildren, his patients would at once begin to think of children, and\noften caress a cushion. In this theory he is supported by Haddock, who\nfirst discovered that the magnetizer's will could force his patient to\nsubstitute his fancies for the reality, and, for instance, to believe a\nhandkerchief to be a pet dog or an infant, and an empty glass to be\nfilled with such liquids as he suggested. The influence in such cases\nmust, however, be rather ascribed to the fact that the magnetizers were\nalso phrenologists, than to the presumed organs themselves.\n\nIt must lastly be mentioned that some persons claim to possess the power\nto magnetize themselves, and Dupotet, a trustworthy authority in such\nmatters, supports the assertion. A case is mentioned in the _Journal de\nl'ame_ (iv. p. 103), of a man who could hypnotize himself from childhood\nup, by merely fixing his eye for some time upon a certain point; in\nlater years, probably by too frequent excitement of this kind, he was\napt to fall into trances and to see visions.\n\nThe sympathetic relations which by magnetism are established between two\nor more persons who are in a state of somnambulism or clairvoyance, is\ncommonly called _rapport_, although there is no apparent necessity for\npreferring a French word. The closest relations exist naturally between\nthe magnetizer and his subject, and the intensity of the rapport varies,\nof course, with the energy of will of the one, and the susceptibility of\nthe patient of the other. The same rapport exists, however, often\nbetween the patients of the same magnetizer, and may be increased by\nmerely joining hands, or a strong effort of will on the part of the\nphysician. It has often been claimed that mesmerism produces\nexceptionally by _rapport_ what in twins is the effect of a close\nnatural resemblance and contemporaneousness of organization.\nClairvoyants endowed with the highest powers which have yet been\nobserved, thus see not only their own body as if it were transparent,\nbut can in like manner watch what is going on within the bodies of\nothers, provided they are brought into _rapport_ with them, and hence\ntheir ability to prescribe for their ailments. Puysegur was probably the\nfirst to discover this peculiarity: he was humming to himself a\nfavorite air while magnetizing a peasant boy, and suddenly the latter\nbegan to sing the same air with a loud voice. Haddock's patients gave\nall the natural signs of pain in different parts of the body, when he\nwas struck or pinched, while at the very time they were themselves\ninsensible to pain. Dr. Emelin found that when he held his watch to his\nright ear, a female patient of his heard the ticking in her left ear; if\nhe held it to her own ear she heard nothing. He was, also, not a little\nastonished when another patient, in a distant town to which he traveled,\nrevealed to him a whole series of professional meditations in which he\nhad been plunged during his journey. And yet such a knowledge of the\nmagnetizer's thoughts is nothing uncommon in well-qualified subjects who\nhave been repeatedly magnetized. Mrs. Crowe mentions the case of a\ngentleman who was thus treated while he was at Malvern and his physician\nat Cheltenham. He was lying in magnetic sleep, when he suddenly sprang\nup, clapped his hands together, and broke out into loud laughter. His\nphysician was written to and replied that on the same day he had been\nbusy thinking of his patient, when a sudden knock at the door startled\nhim and made him jump and clap his hands together. He then laughed\nheartily at his folly! (I. p. 140.) Dupotet once saw a striking\nillustration of the _rapport_ which may exist between two patients of\nthe same magnetizer, even where the two are unknown to each other.\n\nHe was treating some of his patients in a hospital in St. Petersburg, by\nmeans of magnetism, and found, to his surprise, that whenever he put one\nof them to sleep in the upper story, the other in the lower story would\nalso instantly drop asleep, although she could not possibly be aware of\nwhat was going on upstairs. This happened, moreover, not once, but\nrepeatedly, and for weeks in succession. If both were asleep when he\ncame on his daily round, he needed only arouse one to hear the other\nawake with a start and utter loud cries.\n\nMagnetic sleep generally does not begin immediately, but after some\nintermediate danger; most frequently ordinary sleep serves as a bridge\nleading to magnetic sleep, and yet the two are entirely different\nconditions. When at last sleep is induced, various degrees of\nexceptional powers are exhibited, which are evidences of an inner sense\nthat has been awakened, while the outer senses have become inactive. The\npatient is, however, utterly unconscious of the fact that his eyes are\nclosed, and believes he sees through them as when he is awake. When\nsomnambulists are asked why they keep their eyes shut, they answer: \"I\ndo not know what you mean; I see you perfectly well.\" The highest\ndegree, but rarely developed in specially favored persons, consists of\nperfect clairvoyance accompanied by a sense of indescribable bliss; in\nthis state the spiritual and moral features of the patient assume a form\nof highest development, visions are beheld, remote and future things are\ndiscerned, and other persons may be influenced, even if they are at a\nconsiderable distance. It is in this condition that persons in magnetic\nsleep exhibit in the highest degree the magic phenomena of magnetism.\nThe latter are generally accompanied by a sensation of intense light,\nwhich at times becomes almost painful, and has to be allayed by the\nphysician, especially when it threatens to interfere with the\nunconscious conversations of the patient. This enjoyment has, however,\nto be paid for dearly, for it exhausts the sleeper, and in many\ninstances it so closely resembles the struggle of the soul when parting\nfrom the body in death, that dissolution seems to be impending.\nSomnambulists themselves maintain that such magnetic sleep shortens\ntheir lives by several years, and has to be interrupted in time to\nprevent it from becoming fatal. Recollection rarely survives magnetic\nsleep, but after awaking, vague and indistinct impulses continue, which\nstand in some connection with the incidents of such sleep. A well known\nmagnetizer, Mouillesaux, once ordered a patient, while sunk in magnetic\nsleep, to go on the following day and call on a person whom she did not\nlike. The promise was given reluctantly, but not mentioned again after\nshe awoke. To test the matter, the physician went, accompanied by a few\nfriends, on the next day, to that person's house, and, to their great\nsurprise, the patient was seen to walk up and down anxiously before the\ndoor, and at last to enter, visibly embarrassed. Mouillesaux at once\nfollowed her and explained the matter; she told him that from the moment\nof her rising in the morning she had been haunted by the idea that she\nought to go to this house, till her nervousness had become so painful as\nto force her to go on her unwelcome errand. (_Expose des Cures, etc._,\niii. p. 70.)\n\nThe power to perceive things present without the use of the ordinary\norgans, and to become aware of events happening at a distance, has been\nfrequently ascribed to an additional sense, possibly the Common Sense of\nAristotle. Its fainter operations are seen in the almost marvelous power\npossessed by bats to fly through minute meshes of silk nets, stretched\nout for the purpose, even when deprived of sight, and to find their way\nto their nests without a moment's hesitation. Cuvier ascribed this\nremarkable power to their exquisitely developed sense of touch, which\nwould make them aware of an almost imperceptible pressure of the air;\nbut while this might explain their avoiding walls and trees, it could\nnot well apply to slender silk threads. Another familiar illustration is\nfound in the perfectly amazing ability often possessed by blind, or\nblind and deaf persons, who distinguish visitors by means neither\ngranted nor known to their more fortunate brethren. It is generally\nbelieved that in such cases the missing senses are supplied by a\nsuperior development of the remaining senses, but even this assertion\nhas never yet been fully proved, nor if proved, would it supply a key to\nsome of the almost marvelous achievements of blind people.\n\nThis new or general sense seems only to awaken in exceptional cases and\nunder peculiar circumstances. That it never shows itself in healthy life\nis due to the simple fact that its power is then obscured by the\nunceasing activity of the ordinary senses. A peculiar, and as yet\nunexplained feature of this power is the tendency to ascribe its\nresults, not to the ordinary organs, but by a curious transposition to\nsome other part of the body, so that persons in magnetic sleep believe,\nas the magnetizer may choose, that they see, or smell, or hear by means\nof the finger-tips, the pit of the stomach, the forehead, or even the\nback of the head. It is true that savants like Alfred Maury (_Revue des\nDeux Mondes_, 1860, t. 25) and Dr. Michea ascribe these new powers only\nto an increased activity of the senses; but nothing is gained by this\nreasoning, as such an astounding increase of the irritability of the\nretina or the tympanum is as much of a magic phenomenon as the presumed\nnew sense. The simple explanation is that it is not the eye which sees\nnor the ear which hears, but that images and sound-waves are carried by\nthese organs to the great nervous centre, where we must look for the\ntrue source of all our perceptions. If in magnetic sleep the same images\nand waves can be conveyed by other means, the result will be precisely\nthe same as if the patient was observing with open eyes and ears.\n\nA lady treated by Despine thus heard with the palm of her hand and read\nby means of the finger-tips, which she passed rapidly over the letters\npresented to her in her sleep. At the same time she invariably ascribed\nthe sensations she experienced to the natural senses; flowers, for\ninstance, laid down unseen by her, so as barely to touch her fingers,\ncaused her to draw in air through the nostrils and to exclaim: Ah, how\nsweet that is! and if objects were placed against the sole of her foot,\nshe would often exclaim: \"What is that? I cannot see it distinctly.\"\nSomnambulists can, hence, carry on domestic work in the dark with the\nsame success as in broad daylight, and a patient whose case has been\nmost carefully investigated, could hem the finest linen handkerchiefs by\nholding the needle to her brow, high above her eyes. Thus persons have\nseen by means of almost every part of the body, a fact which has led\nmore than one distinguished physiologist to assume that, under special\ncircumstances, all the papillae of nerves in the epidermis may become\ncapable of conveying the sensual perceptions ordinarily assigned only to\ncertain organs, as the eye or the ear. Even this supposition, however,\nwould not suffice to explain the ability possessed by some magnetized\npersons to see and hear by means of their fingers, even without touching\nthe objects or when separated from the latter by an intervening wall.\n\nThe highest magic phenomena connected with magnetic sleep consist in the\nperception of hidden things and in the influence exercised over persons\nat a distance. Only a few of these can be explained by natural laws and\nby the increased power of the senses frequently granted to peculiarly\nconstituted or diseased persons. The senses, on the contrary, cease to\noperate, and man, for a time, becomes endowed with a higher power, which\nis probably part and portion of his spiritual being, as made after the\nimage of the Most High, but obscured and rendered inoperative by the\nsubjection of the soul to the earthborn body. Nor is this power always\nunder his control; as if to mark its supernatural character, the patient\nvery often perceives what is perfectly indifferent to himself, and is\nforced, almost against his own will, to witness or foresee events, the\nbearing of which he cannot discern. Generally, therefore, the importance\nof these revelations is of less interest than the manner in which they\nare made, which is invariably of the kind we call magic. This is still\nfurther attested by the difficulty, which is almost always felt, of\ntranslating them, as it were, into ordinary language, and hence the many\nallegoric and symbolic forms under which they are made known. Future\nevents are often not seen, but read in a newspaper or heard as recited\nby strangers; in other cases they are apparently imparted by the spirits\nof deceased persons. A very frequent form is the impression that the\nsoul leaves the body and, pursuing the track of a person to whom the\nmagnetizer points, with all the fidelity and marvelous accuracy of a\nwell-trained dog, finally reaches him and sees him and his surroundings.\nNor is the distance a matter of indifference; like the ordinary senses,\nthis new sense also seems to have its laws and its limits, and if the\ntask is too heavy and the distance too great, the perception remains\nvague and indefinite. Most important of all is the fact that, unlike\nspiritual visions, magnetism never enables the sleeper to go beyond the\nlimits of our earthly home. On the other hand, time is no more an\nobstacle than space, and genuine somnambulists have seen past and future\nevents as well as distant scenes. Mistakes, however, occur here as with\nall our other senses; as healthy persons see amiss or hear amiss, so\nmagnetic sleepers also are not unfrequently mistaken--errors to which\nthey are all the more liable as the impressions received by magic powers\nhave to be translated into the language adapted to ordinary senses.\n\nAmong somnambulists of this class Alexis is one of the best known, and\nhas left us an account of many experiments in his _Explication du\nSommeil Magnetique_. Alexis was once put into magnetic sleep by a friend\nof Dr. Mayo, and then ordered to go to Boppard, on the Rhine, and look\nfor him; Alexis, after some hesitation, stated that he had found him,\nand described--although he had never seen him before--his appearance and\ndress, not only, but also the state of mind in which he was at that\nmoment, all of which proved afterward to be perfectly correct. Alexis\ndeclared that his perceptions varied very much in clearness, and that\nhis power to see friends at a distance depended largely on the affection\nhe felt for them. In all instances his magic powers were far inferior to\nthose of his natural senses, although they never misled him, as the\nlatter had done occasionally. In the _Bibliotheque du Magnetisme Animal_\n(vii. p. 146), a remarkable case is reported as attested by undoubted\nauthority. The English consul, Baldwin, was, in 1795, visited by an\nItalian improvisatore, who happened to have a small medicine-chest with\nhim. In the consul's kitchen was a little Arab, a scullion, who suffered\nof a harassing cough, and whom his master magnetized in order to cure\nhim. While in his sleep the boy saw the medicine-chest, of which he had\nknown nothing before, and selected among the phials one with sugar of\nagrimonium, which relieved him of his troubles. The Italian, thereupon,\nasked also to be magnetized; fell promptly asleep, and wrote in this\ncondition, with closed eyes, a poem praising the art of magnetism.\nHaddock's famous subject, Emma, actually accomplished once the crucial\ntest of all magic phenomena--she proved the value of magnetism in a\nquestion of money. In the year 1849 three notes, amounting to L650, had\nbeen deposited in a bank, and disappeared in the most unaccountable\nmanner. One of the clerks confessed, that although he had received them,\nwrapped them up in paper, and placed them with a parcel of other notes,\nhe had forgotten to enter them regularly in the books. No trace could be\ndiscovered; at last the magnetized subject was consulted, and after some\nlittle time declared that the notes were lying in a certain room,\ninserted in a certain panel, which she described so accurately that upon\nsearch being instituted the missing notes were found, and the clerk's\ncharacter was cleared. Dr. Barth magnetized, in 1846, a lady who was\nfilled with anxiety about her husband in America, from whom she had not\nheard for a long time. After having been put into magnetic sleep several\ntimes, she once exclaimed: \"God be thanked, my poor husband is better. I\nam looking over his shoulder and see him write a letter addressed to me,\nwhich will be here in six or seven weeks. He tells me that he has been\nill for three months.\" Two months afterwards she actually received such\na letter, in which her husband informed her of his three months'\nillness, and regretted the pain he had probably caused her by his\nprotracted silence. A young lady, magnetized by Robert Napier in his\nhouse in Edinburgh, not only described her parents' house as it appeared\nat the moment, but also the home of a Miss B., in New South Wales, where\nshe had never been. In the garden of the house she saw a gentleman\naccompanied by a lady in black, and a dog of light color with dark\nspots; upon inquiry it appeared that Colonel B., the father of the young\nlady, had at that time actually been in the garden with his wife and his\ndog, although some of the minor details proved to have been incorrect.\nShe also gave a minute and accurate account of the upper stories of\nNapier's house, where she had never been; but recognizing everything\nonly gradually, and correcting the mistakes which she had at first\ncommitted. Thus she spoke of Napier's old aunt as dressed in dark\ncolors; after a while she exclaimed: \"Oh, now I see she is dressed in\nwhite!\" It appeared afterward that the old lady had been sitting in a\ndeep arm-chair, overshadowed by the back of the chair, the gas-light\nbeing behind her; just at that moment, however, Napier's wife had come\nup, the aunt had leaned forward to speak to her, and thus being brought\ninto the light, had revealed her white night-dress. This case is\npeculiarly interesting as proving that the perceptions of somnambulists\nare dependent upon conditions similar to those which govern the ordinary\nsenses. (Colquhoun, p. 626.)\n\nAccording to such high authorities as Hufeland and others, magnetic\nsleep enables persons to see the interior of the bodies of others. He\nhimself heard one of his female patients, a woman without any knowledge\nof anatomy, describe quite accurately the inner structure of the ear,\nand of certain other parts of the body. (_Ueber Sympathie_, p. 115.) It\nseems to have been well ascertained that she had never had an\nopportunity of reading such a description, even if her memory had been\nretentive enough to enable her to recall and recite what she had thus\nchanced to read. The clairvoyant Alexis once saw through the clothing of\na visitor a scar, and after gazing at it--in his sleep--for a long time,\nhe came to the conclusion that it was the effect of a dog's bite, and\nfinally stated all the facts attending the accident of which the scar\nwas the sole remaining evidence. Even historical predictions made in\nmagnetic sleep are not wanting. The death of a king of Wuertemberg was\nthus foretold by two somnambulists, who were under medical treatment,\nand who warned their physicians, well-known and trustworthy\npractitioners of good standing, of the approaching event. The king's\ndeath took place without being preceded by any serious illness, and in\nthe manner minutely predicted by one of the patients; a confirmation\nwhich was all the more striking, as the prediction had been made in the\npresence of a number of distinguished men, among whom were a minister of\nthe kingdom and several divines. Another case is that of the Swedish\nking, Gustavus Vasa, who was assassinated in 1792, by Ankarstroem.\nAccompanied by his physician, he once called, as Count Haga, upon a\npatient treated by Aubry, a pupil of Mesmer. She recognized him\nimmediately, although plunged in magnetic sleep, told him that he\nsuffered of oppressions of the chest, the effect of a broken arm, and\nforetold him that his life was in danger and that he would be murdered.\nThe king was deeply impressed, and as his physician expressed doubt and\ncontempt in his face, he desired that the latter should be put _en\nrapport_ with the patient. No sooner was this done than the physician's\neyes fell, he sank into magnetic sleep, and when, after some time, he\nwas aroused he left the room in great agitation. (A. Gauthier. _Hist. du\nSomnamb._, ii. p. 246.)\n\nAn occasional phenomenon of magnetic sleep is the improvement of the\nlanguage of patients; this appears not only in the case of well-educated\npersons, whose diction assumes often a high poetical form, but far more\nstrikingly in unlettered and ignorant patients, who suddenly manifest an\nunexpected familiarity with the more refined form of their native\ntongue, and not unfrequently even with idioms of which they have\npreviously had no knowledge whatever. All these different symptoms have\nbeen authenticated by numerous and trustworthy witnesses. Humble\npeasant-women have used the most elegant forms of their native language;\ntravelers have unexpectedly recovered the use of idioms once known to\nthem, but long since forgotten; and, finally, a real gift of languages\nhas unmistakably enabled patients to use idioms with which they had\npreviously never come in contact. This phenomenon develops itself\noccasionally into poetical improvisations of considerable merit, and the\nbeautiful music which many hear in magnetic sleep, or just before dying,\nas if coming from another world, is, in like manner, nothing but a\nproduct of their own mental exaltation. Thus persons who spoke merely a\nlocal dialect, and were acquainted with no other form of their\nmother-tongue, when placed in magnetic sleep would speak the best\nEnglish or German, as if their mind, freed from all fetters, resumed\nonce more the original task of forming the language in accordance with\ntheir heightened capacities. Little children, whose education had\nscarcely begun, have been known to recite verses or to compose speeches,\nof which they would have been utterly incapable in a healthy state, and\nof which they had afterwards no recollection. Macnish mentions a young\ngirl who, when magnetized, always fell back into Welsh, which she had\nspoken as a child, but long since forgotten, and Lausanne mentions one\nof his patients, a Creole, who came at the age of five to France, and\nlate in life, when magnetized, spoke no longer French but the miserable\npatois of her early years. A young tanner in England, also, though\nutterly uneducated, like the peasant-boy of Puysegur, was able in\nmagnetic sleep to speak German. Whenever another person, at such a time,\nspoke to him in English, his lips began at once to move, and he\ntranslated what he heard into fair German verses. (Morin, _Journ. du\nMagn._ 1854, No. 199.)\n\nIt must not be overlooked that the gift of singing and of using poetical\nlanguage, often of great beauty, is not unfrequently developed in\nfever-patients also, and in insane persons.\n\nInsensibility to impressions from without is another phenomenon which\nmagnetic sleep has in common with many other conditions. It is produced\nby anaesthetics like chloroform and ether, by utter exhaustion in\nconsequence of long suffering, as was the case with martyrs and\nprisoners subjected to torture, and by excessive loss of blood. But in\nmagnetic sleep it reaches a higher degree than under other\ncircumstances; cataleptic patients, and even clairvoyants in moments of\ngreatest excitement, seem to be in a state in which the nerves cease to\nact as conveyers of impressions to the brain. This has often led to\nunwarrantable abuse; physicians, under the pretext of scientific\ninvestigation, inflicting severe injuries upon their patients, utterly\nunmindful of the fact that, however great the momentary insensibility\nmay be, the sense of pain returns at the instant of re-awaking. On the\nother hand, physicians have taken advantage of this state of\nunconsciousness of pain, in order to perform serious operations.\n\nThe first instance of a surgical operation being attempted while the\npatient was in mesmeric sleep, was that of Madame Plantin, a lady of\nsixty-four years, who suffered of cancer in the breast. A Mr. Chapelain\nprepared her by throwing her for several days into a trance by means of\nthe usual mesmeric passes. She then manifested the ordinary symptoms of\nsomnambulism, and conversed about the impending danger with perfect\ncalmness, while she contemplated it, when conscious, with the utmost\nhorror and apprehension. On the 12th of April, 1824, she was again\nthrown into a trance, and the painful and dangerous operation\naccomplished in less than a quarter of an hour, while she conversed with\nthe surgeon, the famous Dr. Ploquet, and showed in her voice, her\nbreathing, and her pulse not the slightest sign of excitement or pain.\nWhen the wound was bound up, she awoke, but upon hearing what had taken\nplace, she became so violently excited that the magnetizer had to cause\nher once more to fall asleep under his passes. And yet, in spite of this\nbrilliant success, when Dr. Warren of Boston asked the great surgeon\nwhy he had never repeated the experiment, the latter was forced to\nacknowledge that he had not dared do it, \"because the prejudice against\nmesmerism was so strong in Paris that a repetition would have imperiled\nhis position and his reputation!\"\n\nSince that time mesmerism has been repeatedly, and almost always\nsuccessfully employed as an anaesthetic; Dr. James Esdall, chief surgeon\nof the presidency of Calcutta, having reduced the application to a\nregular method. Dr. Forbes reports two cases of amputation of the thigh\nin magnetic sleep, which were successful, and similar experiments have\nbeen made in England, and in India, with the same happy result.\n\nIt is probably a feature connected with this insensibility that persons\nin magnetic sleep can with impunity take unusually large doses of\nmedicine, which they prescribe for themselves. For magnetic sleep seems\nto develop, as we have stated, among other magic phenomena, a peculiar\ninsight also, into diseases and their remedies. Although diseases may\nassume a variety of deceptive forms, the predictions made by magnetic\npatients, many months in advance, seldom fail to be verified. This is a\nmere matter of instinct, for ignorant persons and young children possess\nthe gift in equal degree with the best-informed and most experienced\npatients. The remedies are almost exclusively so-called simples--a hint\nof some value to physicians--but always prescribed with much judgment,\nand in a manner evincing rare medical tact. The dose, however, is\ngenerally twice or three times as much as is ordinarily given. Magnetic\npatients prescribe as successfully for others, with whom they are placed\n_en rapport_, as for themselves, since a state of perfect clairvoyance\nenables them to judge of other persons also with perfect accuracy. One\nof the most remarkable cases is mentioned by Schopenhauer. (\"Parerga,\"\netc., I. p. 246.) A consumptive patient in Russia directed, in her\nmagnetic sleep, the attending physician to put her for nine days into a\nstate of syncope. He did so reluctantly, but during this time her system\nseemed to enjoy perfect rest, and by this means she recovered. Haddock,\nalso, cured several persons at a distance, by following the directions\ngiven to him by a patient of his in her magnetic sleep; he handed her a\nlock of hair, or a few written lines, which sufficed to put her _en\nrapport_ with the absent sufferers.\n\nAmong the magic phenomena observed in magnetic sleep we must lastly\nmention ecstatic elevation in the air, the giving out of peculiar\nsounds, and the power to produce extraordinary effects at a distance.\nEven common somnambulists, it is well known, seem not to be in the same\ndegree subject to the laws of gravity as persons in a state of\nwakefulness: hence their amazing exploits in walking on roofs, gliding\nalong narrow cornices, or even running up perpendicular walls. Persons\nin magnetic sleep have been known to float on fresh water as well as in\nthe sea, although they were unable to swim, and sank, if they went into\nthe water when awake. Dupotel saw one of his patients running along the\nside of his room on a small strip of wood which was merely tacked on to\nthe wall, and could not have supported a small weight. This peculiar\npower is all the more fully authenticated as persons have fallen from\ngreat heights, while in magnetic sleep, without suffering any injury;\nbut if they are aroused, and then fall, they invariably become subject\nagain to the natural laws, and are often killed. This temporary\nsuspension of the law of gravity has been compared with similar\nphenomena in science. Thus it is well known that a galvanic stream\npassing through coils of copper wire will hold an iron needle suspended\nwithin the coils; and an iron ball dropped into a glass tube between two\npowerful magnets will in the same manner remain hanging free in the air.\nThe advocates of this theory reason that if magnetism can suspend the\nlaw of gravity in metals, it is at least possible that it may have a\nsimilar power in the human body. It has, besides, been observed that\ncertain affections, such as violent nervous fevers, increase the weight\nof sufferers considerably, while a state of trance diminishes it even\nmore strikingly.\n\nWith regard to the magic phenomena of increased intelligence,\nAbercrombie mentions the case of a girl who as a child had heard a\nrelative play the violin with a certain degree of mastery. Later in life\nshe became his patient, and in her magnetic sleep repeated unconsciously\nsome of the pieces in tones very pleasing and closely resembling the\nnotes of a violin. Each paroxysm, however, was succeeded by certain\nsymptoms of her disease. Some years afterwards she imitated in like\nmanner the sounds of a piano and the tones of several members of the\nfamily who were fond of singing, in such a manner that each voice could\nbe readily and distinctly recognized. Another year passed, and she\nconversed with a younger companion, whom she fancied she was instructing\non topics of political and religious interest, with surprising ability\nand a frequent display of wit. Henceforth she led two different kinds of\nlife; when awake she was stupid, awkward in her movements, and unable to\nappreciate music; in her sleep she became clever and showed amazing\ninformation and great musical talents. At a critical point in her life,\nwhen she was twenty-one years old, a complete change took place in the\npoor girl; her conversation in her magnetic sleep lost all its\nattractions; she mixed with it improper remarks, and a few months later\nshe had to be sent to an insane asylum.\n\nIt is only within the present generation that the power possessed by\nsome men to magnetize animals has been revived, although it was no doubt\nfully known to the ancients, and may in part explain the taming of\nvenomous serpents in the East. The most remarkable case is probably that\nof Mr. Jan, director of the Zoological Gardens at Milan, who \"charms\"\nserpents and lizards. In the year 1858 he was requested by a learned\nvisitor, Professor Eversmann, to allow him to witness some experiments;\nhe at once seized a lizard (L. viridis) behind the head and looked at\nit fixedly for a few moments; the animal lay quiet, then became rigid,\nand remained in any position which he chose to make it assume. Upon\nmaking a few passes with his forefinger it closed its eyes at his\ncommand. Mr. Jan discovered his gift accidentally one day when a whole\nbagful of lizards (L. ocellata) had escaped from him, and he forced them\nby his will and his eye, to return to his keeping. (_Der Zoolog.\nGarten._ Frankfort, 1861, p. 58.) A Frenchman, Treseau, exercised the\nsame power over birds, which he exhibited in 1860 in Paris. He\nmagnetized them with his hand and his breath, but as nine-tenths of the\npoor creatures died before they became inured to such treatment, no\nadvantage could be derived from his talent. (Des Mousseaux, p. 310.) A\ncountryman of his, Jacques Pelissier, is reported by the same authority\nto have been able to magnetize not only birds, which allowed themselves\nto be taken from the trees, but even hares, so that they remained\nsitting in their forms and were seized with the hand (p. 302).\n\n\nSOMNAMBULISM.\n\nIt is well known that somnambulism, in the ordinary sense of the word,\ndesignates the state of persons who suffer from an affection which\ndisturbs their sleep and causes them to perform strange or ordinary\nactions, as it may happen, in a state in which they are apparently half\nawake and half asleep. This disease is already mentioned in the most\nancient authors, and its symptoms are correctly reported in Aristotle.\n(_De Gener. Anim._) He states that the sufferers rise in their sleep,\nwalk about and converse, that they distinguish objects as if they were\nawake, ascend trees, pursue enemies, perform tasks, and then quietly\nreturn to bed. The state of somnambulism seems to be intermediate\nbetween ordinary dreaming and magnetic clairvoyance, and is probably the\neffect of a serious disturbance in our physical life, which causes the\nbrain to act in an unusual and abnormal manner. It has always been\nobserved at night only, and most frequently at full moon, since the moon\nseems to affect somnambulists not merely by her light, but in each of\nthe different phases in a peculiar manner. The immediate causes of\nnight-walking are often most trivial; as Muratori, for instance, tells\nus of a priest who became a somnambulist whenever he neglected for more\nthan two months to have his hair cut! Richard (_Theorie des Songes_, p.\n288) mentions an analogous case of an old woman whom he knew to be\nsubject to the same penalty.\n\nWhile nightmares oppress us and make apparently all motion impossible,\nsomnambulism, on the contrary, produces a peculiar facility of\nlocomotion and an irresistible impulse to mount eminences, favored\neither by an actual diminution of specific gravity, or by an increase of\npower. This tendency lies again half-way between the sensation of\nflying, which is quite common in dreams, and the actual elevation from\nthe ground and suspension in the air, which occur in extreme cases of\necstasy. The senses remain during night-walking in a state of\nsemi-activity; the somnambulist may appear as if fast asleep, seeing and\nhearing nothing, so that the loudest noises and even violent shaking do\nnot rouse him; or he may, like a dreamer, be partly under the influence\nof outward impressions. One will rise at night, go to the stable, saddle\nhis horse and ride into the woods, while another mounts the window-ledge\nand performs all the motions of a man on horseback. Many move with\nunfailing certainty on perilous paths, and find their way in deepest\ndarkness; others make blunders and fall, as Professor J. Feller did, who\nmistook an open window for a door. By what means they perceive the\nnature of their surroundings, is still unexplained; it may be the action\nof the ordinary senses, although these seem to be closed, or they may\npossess those exceptional faculties which constitute the magic phenomena\nconnected with somnambulism. Thus Forbes (_Brit. and For. Med. Rev._,\n1846) ascribes their power to an increased sensitiveness of the retina,\nand mentions the case of Dr. Curry, who suffered from this symptom to\nsuch a degree that he distinguished every object in a completely\ndarkened room with perfect ease. In somnambulists, however, the eyes are\ngenerally closed or violently turned up; and in the rare cases in which\nthey are open, they evidently see nothing. It is, besides, well\nestablished that people thus affected have continued to read, to play on\ninstruments, and even to write after they had fallen sound asleep, and\nwithout ever opening their eyes. The sensitiveness of the retina could\nhere not avail much. A case is mentioned of a father who rose at night,\ntook his child from the cradle, and with wide open eyes carried it up\nand down the room, seeing nothing, and in such a state of utter\nunconsciousness that his wife, walking by his side, could safely draw\nall his secrets from him without his becoming aware of the process or\nremembering it the next morning. At the age of forty-five he ceased to\nwalk in his sleep, but, instead, had prophetic dreams which revealed to\nhim the occurrences of the following day and later future events.\n(_Heer, Observ._) Gassendi (_Phys._, l. viii. ch. 8) mentions a young\nman, living in Provence, who rose in his sleep, dressed, drew wine in\nthe cellar, wrote up the accounts, and in the darkest night never\ntouched objects that were in his way. If he returned quietly to his bed,\nhe slept well, and strangely enough, recalled everything he had done in\nthe night; but if he was suddenly aroused in the cellar or in the\nstreet, he was seized with violent trembling and palpitations of the\nheart. At times he saw but imperfectly; then he fancied he had risen\nbefore daybreak, and lit a lamp. The _Encyclopedie Methodique_ reports\nthe case of a young priest who wrote his sermons at night, and with\nclosed eyes, and then read each page aloud, correcting and improving\nwhat he had written. A sheet of paper held between his eyes and his\nmanuscript did not disturb him; nor did he become aware of it if the\nlatter was removed and blank paper was substituted; in this case he\nwrote the corrections precisely where they would have been inserted in\nthe text. Macnish mentions (\"On Sleep,\" p. 148) the curious case of an\ninnkeeper in Germany, a huge mass of flesh, who fell asleep at all times\nand in all places, but who, when this happened while he was playing\ncards, nevertheless continued to follow suit, as if he could see what\nwas led. In 1832, when he was barely 50 years old, he literally fell\nasleep, paralysis killing him instantly during one of these attacks of\nsleep. The same author mentions somnambulists who in their sleep walked\nto the sea-shore and swam for some distance without being waked, and the\ncase of a Norwegian who during his paroxysms took a boat and rowed\nhimself about for some time. He was cured of his affection by a tub full\nof water, which was so placed that he had to step into it when leaving\nhis bed. In Scotland a peasant discovered from below the nest of a\nsea-mew, which hung at an inaccessible height upon a steep rock; some\nweeks afterwards he rose in his sleep, and to the horror of his friends,\nwho watched him from below, climbed to the place, took the birds, and\nsafely returned to his cabin. In former ages somnambulists were reported\nto have even committed murder in their sleep; a Parisian thus rose,\ndressed himself, swam across the Seine, killed his enemy, and returned\nthe same way without ever awaking; and an Englishman also is reported to\nhave murdered a boy, in a state of unconsciousness, while laboring\nunder this affection. Modern science, however, knows nothing of such\nextreme cases, and the plea has not yet been used by astute lawyers.\n\nSimple somnambulism is not unfrequently connected with magnetic\nsomnambulism, and may occasionally be seen even in trances during\ndaytime. In such cases persons who walk in their sleep may be questioned\nby bystanders, and in their answers prove themselves not unfrequently\nable to foretell future events, or to state what is occurring at a\ndistance; or they perform tasks in their sleep which they would not be\nable to accomplish when awake; they compose music, write poetry, and\nread works in foreign languages, without possessing the requisite\nknowledge and training. A poor basket-weaver in Germany once heard a\nsermon which moved him deeply; several weeks later he rose at night, and\nrepeated the whole sermon from beginning to end; his wife tried in vain\nto rouse him, and the next morning he knew nothing of what had happened.\nCases of scholars who, sorely puzzled by difficult problems, gave them\nup before retiring, and then, in the night, rose in a state of\nsomnambulism, and solved them easily, are by no means uncommon.\n\n\n\n\nIX.\n\nMIRACULOUS CURES.\n\n    \"Spiritus in nobis qui viget, illa facit.\"\n\n    --CORN. AGRIPPA, Ep. xiv.\n\n\nThe uniform and indispensable condition of all miraculous cures, whether\nproduced by prayer, imposition of hands, penitential castigation, or\nmagic power, is faith. Physician and patient alike must believe that\ndisease is the consequence of sin, and accept the literal meaning of the\nSaviour's words, when he had cured the impotent man near the pool called\nBethesda, and said: \"Behold, thou art made whole: _sin_ no more, lest a\nworse thing come unto thee.\" (St. John v. 14.) Like their great teacher,\nall the apostles and saints of the church have ever insisted upon\nrepentance in the heart before health in body could be accorded. It is\ninteresting to notice, moreover, that all Oriental sages, the Kabbalists\nand later Theosophists, have, without exception, adopted the same view,\nhowever widely they may have differed on other points. In one feature\nonly some disagreed: they ascribed to evil spirits what others\nattributed to sin; but the difference is only nominal, for men, by sin,\nenter into communion with evil spirits, and become subject to their\npower. Hence the woman \"which had a _spirit_ of infirmity eighteen\nyears\" was said to have been \"bound by Satan,\" and when she was healed\nshe was \"loosed from the bond.\" (Luke xiii. 16.)\n\nTo this common faith must be added on the part of the physician an\nenergetic will, and in the patient an excited imagination. The history\nof all ages teaches, beyond the possibility of doubt, that where these\nelements are present results have been obtained which excite the marvel\nof men by their astonishing promptness, and their apparent\nimpossibility. They seem generally to be the result of certain symbolic\nbut extremely simple acts, such as the imposition of hands--which may\npossibly produce a concentration of power--the utterance of a blessing,\nor merely a continued, fixed glance. The main point, however, is, of\ncourse, the psychical energy which is here made available by a process\nas yet unknown. Prayer is probably the simplest agency, since it\nnaturally encourages and elevates the innermost heart of man, and fills\nhim with that perfect hope and confidence which are necessary for his\nrecovery. This hope is, in the case of miraculous cures performed at the\nshrines of saints, materially strengthened by the collective force of\nall preceding cures, which tradition has brought to bear upon the mind,\nwhile the senses are powerfully impressed, at the same time, by the\nsurroundings, and especially the votive offerings testifying to the\nreality of former miracles. In the case of relics, where the Church sees\nsimply miracles, many men believe in a continuing magic power\nperceptible only to very sensitive patients; thus the great theologian,\nTholuk, ascribes to the \"handkerchiefs or aprons\" which were brought\nfrom the body of St. Paul, and drove away diseases and evil spirits\n(Acts xix. 12), a special curative power with which they were\nimpregnated. (_Verm. Schriften_, I. p. 80.) At certain times, when the\nmind of a whole people is excited, and hence peculiarly predisposed to\nmeet powerful impressions from specially gifted and highly privileged\npersons, such miraculous cures are, of course, most numerous and most\nstriking. This was the case, for instance, in the first days of\nChristianity, at the time of the Reformation, and during the years which\nsaw the Order of Jesuits established. There is little to be gained,\ntherefore, by confining the era of such phenomena to a certain\nperiod--to the days of the apostles, when alone genuine miracles were\nperformed, as many divines believe, or to the first three centuries\nafter Christ, during which Tholuk and others still see magic\nperformances. Magnetic and miraculous cures differ not in their nature,\nbut only in their first cause, precisely as the trance of somnambulists\nis identical with the trance of religious enthusiasts. The difference\nlies only in the faith which performs the cure; if it is purely human,\nthe effect will be only partial, and in most cases ephemeral; if divine\nfaith and the highest power co-operate, as in genuine miracles, the\neffect is instantaneous and permanent. Hence the contrast between the\nman who at the Lord's bidding \"took up his bed and walked\" and the\ncountless cripples who have thrown aside their crutches at the graves of\nsaints, only to resume them a day or two afterward, when, with the\nexcitement, the newly acquired power also had disappeared. But hence,\nalso, the resemblance between many acts of the early Jesuit Fathers and\nthose of the apostles; the intense energy of the former, supported by\npure and unwavering faith, produced results which were to all intents\nand purposes miraculous. With the death of men like St. Xavier, and the\nrise of worldly ambition in the hearts of the Fathers, this power\ndisappeared, and modern miracles have become a snare and a delusion to\nsimple-minded believers.\n\nThe faith in such psychical power possessed by a few privileged persons\nis as old as the world. Pythagoras performed cures by enchantment; AElius\nAristides, who had consulted learned physicians for ten years in vain,\nand Marcus Antoninus, were both cured by incubation. Tacitus tells us\nthat the Emperor Vespasian restored a blind man's sight by moistening\nhis eye with saliva, and to a lame man the use of his feet by treading\nhard upon him. (Hist. l. iv. c. 8.) Both cures were performed before an\nimmense crowd in Alexandria, and in both cases the petitioners had\nthemselves indicated the means by which they were to be restored, the\nemperor yielding only very reluctantly to their prayers and the urgent\nrequests of his courtiers. (Sueton., _Vita Vespas._) Pyrrhus, king of\nEpirus, had cured colic and diseases of the kidneys by placing the\npatient on his back and touching him with his big toe (Plutarch, _Vita\nPyrrhi_); and hence Vespasian and Hadrian both used the same method!\n\nThe imposition of hands, for the purpose of performing miraculous cures,\nhas been practised from time immemorial; Chaldees and Brahmins alike\nusing it in cases of malignant diseases. The kings of England and of\nFrance, and even the counts of Hapsburg in Germany, have ever been\nreputed to be able to cure goitres by the touch of their hands, and\nhence the complaint was called the \"king's evil.\" The idea seems to have\noriginated in the high north; King Olave, the saint, being reported by\nSnorre Sturleson as having performed the ceremony. From thence, no\ndoubt, it was carried to England, where Edward the Confessor seems to\nhave been the first to cure goitres. In France each monarch upon\nascending the throne received at the consecration the secret of the\n_modus operandi_ and the sacred formula--for here also the spoken word\nwent hand in hand with the magic touch. Philip I. was the first and\nCharles I. the last monarch who performed the cure publicly, uttering\nthe ancient phrase: \"_Le roi te touche, Dieu te guerisse!_\" In a\nsomewhat similar manner the Saludadores and Ensalmadores of Spain cured,\nnot goitres and stammering only, as the monarchs we have mentioned, but\nalmost all the ills to which human flesh is heir, by imposition of\nhands, fervent prayer and breathing upon the patient.\n\nSimilar gifts are ascribed to Eastern potentates, and the ruling\ndynasty in Persia claims to have inherited the power of healing the sick\nfrom an early ancestor, the holy Sheik Sephy. The great traveler Chardin\nsaw patients hardly able to crawl dragging themselves to the feet of the\nShah, and beseeching him only to dip the end of his finger into a bowl\nof water, and thus to bestow upon it healing power. It will excite\nlittle wonder to learn that those remarkable men who succeeded by the\nfire of their eloquence and the power of contagious enthusiasm to array\none world in arms against another, the authors of the Crusades, should\nhave been able to perform miraculous cures. Peter of Amiens and Bernard\nof Clairvaux obtained such a hold on the minds of faithful believers,\nthat their curse produced spasms and fearful sufferings in the guilty,\nwhile their blessing restored speech to the dumb, and health to the\nsick. Here also special power was attributed even to their clothes, and\nmany remarkable results were obtained by the mere touch. Spain, the home\nof fervent ascetic faith, abounds in saints who performed miracles, the\nmost successful of whom was probably Raimundus Normatus (so called\nbecause not born of woman, but cut from his dead mother's body by\nskillful physicians), who cured, during the plague of 1200, great\nnumbers of men by the sign of the cross. To this class of men belong\nalso, as mentioned before, the early fathers of the Society of Jesus,\nthough their powers were as different as their characters. Ignatius\nLoyola, who represented the intelligence of the new order, performed few\nmiraculous cures; Xavier, on the contrary, the man of brilliant fancy,\nwas successful in a great variety of cases. The first leaders, like\nLoinez, Salmeron and Bobadilla, had no magic power at all, but later\nsuccessors, like Ochioa Carrera and Kepel, displayed it in a surprising\ndegree, although Ochioa's gifts were distinctly limited to the healing\nof the sick by the imposition of hands. The whole period of this intense\nexcitement extended only over sixteen years, from 1540 to 1556, after\nwhich the vivid faith, which had alone made the cures possible,\ndisappeared. It is worth mentioning that the Jesuits themselves and most\nof their historians deny that they ever had power to perform miracles,\nand ascribe the cures to the faith of the patients alone. St. Xavier, it\nis well known, brought the dead to life again, and even if we assume\nthat they lay only in syncope and had not yet really died, the recovery\nis scarcely less striking. The most remarkable of these cases is that of\nan only daughter of a Japanese nobleman. Her death stunned the father, a\ngreat lord possessed of immense wealth, to such a degree that his\nfriends feared for his reason; at last they urged him to apply to the\ngreat missionary for help. He did so; the Jesuit, filled with\ncompassion, asked a brother priest to join him in prayer, and both fell\nupon their knees and prayed with great fervor. Xavier returned to the\npagan with joyous face and bade him take comfort, as his daughter was\nalive and well. The nobleman, very unlike the father in Holy Writ, was\nindignant, thinking that the holy man either did not believe his child\nhad died or refused to assist him; but as he went home, a page came\nrunning up to meet him, bringing the welcome message that his daughter\nwas really alive and well. She told him after his return, that her soul\nupon leaving the body had been seized by hideous shapes and dragged\ntowards an enormous fire, but that suddenly two excellent men had\ninterposed, rescuing her from their hands, and leading her back to life.\nThe happy father immediately returned with her to the holy man, and as\nsoon as his child beheld Xavier and his companion, she fell down at\ntheir feet and declared that they were the friends who had brought her\nback from the lower world. Shortly afterwards the father and his whole\nfamily became Christians. (Orlandini, Hist. Soc. Jesu., ix. c. 213.) The\ncase seems to be very simple, and is one of the most instructive of\nmodern magic. The girl was not dead, but lay in a cataleptic trance, in\nwhich she had visions of fearful scenes, and transformed the fierce hold\nwhich the disease had on her body into the grasp of hostile powers\ntrying to obtain possession of her soul. At the same time she became\nclairvoyant, and thus saw Xavier and his companion distinctly enough to\nrecognize them afterwards. The cure was accomplished by the Almighty in\nanswer to the fervent prayer of two pious men filled with pure faith,\naccording to the sacred promise: \"The effectual, fervent prayer of a\nrighteous man availeth much.\" All the more is it to be regretted that\neven in those days of genuine piety and rapturous faith, foreign\nelements should at once have been mixed up with the true doctrine; for\nalready Caspar Bersaeus ascribed some of his cures to the Holy Virgin;\nand soon the power passed away, when the honor was no longer given to\nHim to whom alone it was due.\n\nFrom that day the power to perform miraculous cures has been but rarely\nand exceptionably granted to a few individuals. Thus Matthias Will, a\nGerman divine of the seventeenth century, was as famous for his\nmarvelous power over the sick and the possessed as for his fervent\npiety, his incessant praying and fasting, and his utter self-abnegation.\nSufferers were brought to him from every part of Christendom, and\nhundreds who had been given up by their physicians were healed by his\nearnest prayers and the blessing he invoked from on high. His memory\nstill survives in his home, and an inscription on his tombstone records\nhis extraordinary powers. (Cath. Encycl., Suppl. I. 1320.) Even the\nJansenists, with all their hostility to certain usages of the Church,\nhad their famous Abbe Paris, whose grave in the Cemetery of St. Medard\nbecame in 1727 the scene of a number of miraculous cures, fully attested\nby legal evidence and amply described by Montgeron, a man whom the Abbe\nhad in his lifetime changed from a reckless profligate into a truly\npious Christian. (_La verite des miracles_, etc., Paris, 1737.) The\nmagic phenomena exhibited on this occasion were widely discussed and\ngreat numbers of books and pamphlets written for and against their\ngenuineness, until the subject became so obscured by party spirit that\nit is extremely difficult, in our day, to separate the truth from its\nlarge admixture of unreliable statements. A peculiar feature of these\nscenes--admitted in its full extent by adversaries even--was the perfect\ninsensibility of most of the enthusiasts, the so-called\n_Convulsionnaires_. Jansenists by conviction, these men, calm and cool\nin their ordinary pursuits, had been so wrought up by religious\nexcitement that they fell, twenty or more at a time, into violent\nconvulsions and demanded to be beaten with huge iron-shod clubs in order\nto be relieved of an unbearable pressure upon the abdomen. They endured,\nin this manner, blows inflicted upon the pit of the stomach which under\nordinary circumstances would have caused grievous if not fatal\nconsequences.\n\nThe above-mentioned witness, who saw their almost incredible sufferings,\nCarre de Montgeron, states that he himself used an iron club ending in a\nball and weighing from twenty to thirty pounds. One of the female\nenthusiasts complained that the ordinary blows were not sufficient to\ngive her relief, whereupon he beat her sixty times with all his\nstrength. But this also was unavailing, and a large and more powerful\nman who was standing near had to take the fearful instrument and with\nhis strong arms gave her a hundred additional blows! The tension of her\nmuscles must have been most extraordinary, for she not only bore the\nblows, which would have killed a strong person in natural health, but\nthe wall against which she was leaning actually began to tremble and\ntotter from the violent concussion. Nor were the blows simply resisted\nby the turgescence of the body; the skin itself seemed to have been\nmodified in a manner unknown in a state of health. Thus one of the\nbrothers Marion felt nothing of thrusts made by a sharp-pointed knife\nagainst his abdomen and the skin was in no instance injured. To do this\nthe trance in which he lay must necessarily have induced an entire\nchange of the organic atoms, and this is one of the most important magic\nphenomena connected with this class of visions, which will be discussed\nin another place.\n\nIt is well known that the cures performed at the grave of the Abbe Paris\nand the terrible scenes enacted there by these _convulsionnaires_\nexcited so much attention that at last the king saw himself compelled to\nput a stop to the proceedings. After a careful investigation of the\nwhole matter by men specially appointed for the purpose, the grounds\nwere guarded, access was prohibited, and the wags of Paris placed at the\nentrance the following announcement:\n\n    \"_Defense de par le Roy. Defense a Dieu,\n          De faire miracle en ce lieu!_\"\n\nIreland had in the seventeenth century her Greatrakes, who, according to\nunimpeachable testimony, cured nearly every disease known to man, by his\nsimple touch--and fervent prayer.\n\nValentine Greatrakes, of Waterford, in Ireland, had dreamt, in 1662,\nthat he possessed the gift to cure goitres by simple imposition of\nhands, after the manner of the kings of England and of France. It was,\nhowever, only when the dream was several times repeated that he heeded\nit and tried his power on his wife. The success he met with in his first\neffort encouraged him to attempt other cases also, and soon his fame\nspread so far that he was sent for to come to London and perform some\ncures at Whitehall. He was invariably successful, but had much to endure\nfrom the sneers of the courtiers, as he insisted upon curing animals as\nwell as men. His cures were attested by men of high authority, such as\nJohn Glanville, chaplain to Charles II., Bishop Rust, of Dromor, in\nIreland, several physicians of great eminence, and the famous Robert\nBoyle, the president of the Royal Society. According to their uniform\ntestimony Greatrakes was a simple-hearted, pious man, as far from\nimposture as from pretension, who firmly believed that God had entrusted\nto him a special power, and succeeded in impressing others with the same\nconviction. His method was extremely simple: he placed his hands upon\nthe affected part, or rubbed it gently for some time, whereupon the\npains, swellings, or ulcers which he wished to cure, first subsided and\nthen disappeared entirely. It is very remarkable that here also all\nseemed to depend on the nature of the faith of the patient, for\naccording to the measure of faith held by the latter the cure would be\neither almost instantaneous or less prompt, and in some cases requiring\nseveral days and many interviews. He was frequently accused of\npractising sorcery and witchcraft, but the doctors Faiselow and\nArtetius, as well as Boyle, defended him with great energy, while\ntestifying to the reality of his cures.\n\nOne of the best authenticated, though isolated, cases of this class is\nthe recovery of a niece of Blaise Pascal, a girl eleven years old. She\nwas at boarding-school at the famous Port Royal and suffered of a\nterrible fistula in the eye, which had caused her great pain for three\nyears and threatened to destroy the bones of her face. When her\nphysicians proposed to her to undergo a very painful operation by means\nof a red-hot iron, some Jansenists suggested that she should first be\nspecially prayed for, while at the same time the affected place was\ntouched with a thorn reported to have formed part of the crown of thorns\nof our Saviour. This was done, and on the following day the swelling and\ninflammation had disappeared, and the eye recovered. The young girl was\nofficially examined by a commission consisting of the king's own\nphysician, Dr. Felix, and three distinguished surgeons; but they\nreported that neither art nor nature had accomplished the cure and that\nit was exclusively to be ascribed to the direct interposition of the\nAlmighty. The young lady lived for twenty-five years longer and never\nhad a return of her affection. Racine described the case at full length,\nand so did Arnauld and Pascal, all affirming the genuineness of the\nmiraculous cure.\n\nDuring the latter part of the last century a Father Gassner created a\nvery great sensation in Germany by means of his marvelous cures and\noccasional exorcisms of evil spirits. He did not employ for the latter\npurpose the usual ritual of the Catholic Church, but simple imposition\nof hands and invocation of the Saviour. Nearly all the patients who were\nbrought to him he declared to be under the influence of evil spirits,\nand divided them into three classes: _circumsessi_, who were only at\ntimes attacked, _obsessi_, or bewitched, and _possessi_, who were really\npossessed. When a sick person was brought to him, he first ordered the\nevil spirit to show himself and to display all his powers; then he\nprayed fervently and commanded the demon, in the name of the Saviour, to\nleave his victim. A plain, unpretending man of nearly fifty years, he\nappeared dressed in a red stole after the fashion prevailing at that\ntime in his native land, and wore a cross containing a particle of the\nholy cross suspended from a silver chain around his neck. The patient\nwas placed before him so that the light from the nearest window fell\nfully upon his features, and the bystanders, who always crowded the\nroom, could easily watch all the proceedings. Frequently, he would put\nhis stole upon the sufferers' head, seize their brow and neck with\noutstretched hands, and holding them firmly, utter in a low voice a\nfervent prayer. Then, after having given them his cross to kiss, if they\nwere Catholics, he dismissed them with some plain directions as to\ntreatment and an earnest admonition to remain steadfast in faith.\nProbably the most trustworthy account of this remarkable man and his\ntruly miraculous cures was published by a learned and eminent\nphysician, a Dr. Schisel, who called upon the priest with the open\navowal that he came as a skeptic, to watch his proceedings and examine\nhis method. He became so well convinced of Father Gassner's powers that\nhe placed himself in his hands as a patient, was cured of gout in an\naggravated form, and excited the utmost indignation of his professional\nbrethren by candidly avowing his conviction of the sincerity of the\npriest and the genuineness of his cures.\n\nThere was, however, one circumstance connected with the exceptional\npower of this priest, which was even more striking than his cures. His\nwill was so marvelously energetic and his control over weaker minds so\nperfect that he could at pleasure cause the pulse of his patients to\nslacken or to hasten, to make them laugh or cry, sleep or wake, to see\nvisions, and even to have epileptic attacks. As may be expected, the\nmajority of his visitors were women and children, but these were\nliterally helpless instruments in his hands. They not only moved and\nacted, but even felt and thought as he bade them do, and in many cases\nthey were enabled to speak languages while under his influence of which\nthey were ignorant before and after. At Ratisbon a committee consisting\nof two physicians and two priests was directed to examine the priest and\nhis cures; a professor of anatomy carefully watched the pulse and the\nnerves of the patients which were selected at haphazard, and all\nconfirmed the statements made before; while three other professors, who\nhad volunteered to aid in the investigation, concurred with him in the\nconviction that there was neither collusion nor imposition to be\nsuspected. The priest, who employed no other means but prayer and the\ninvocation of God by the patients, was declared to be acting in good\nfaith, from pure motives, and for the best purposes; his cures were\nconsidered genuine. There was, however, in Father Gassner's case also an\nadmixture of objectionable elements which must not be overlooked. The\ndesire for notoriety, which enters largely into all such displays of\nextraordinary powers, led many persons who were perfectly sound to\npretend illness, merely for the purpose of becoming, when cured, objects\nof public wonder. On the other hand, the good father himself was, no\ndoubt, by his own unexpected success, led to go farther than he would\notherwise have done in his simplicity and candor. He formed a complete\ntheory of his own to explain the miracles. According to his view the\nfirst cause of all such diseases as had their origin in \"possession,\"\nwere the \"principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world,\nand spiritual wickedness in high places,\" which the apostle mentions as\nenemies more formidable than \"flesh and blood.\" (Ephes. vi. 12.) These,\nhe believed, dwelt in the air, and by disturbing the atmosphere with\nevil intent, produced illness in the system and delusions in the mind.\nIf a number combined, and with the permission of the Almighty poisoned\nthe air to a large extent, contagious diseases followed as a natural\nconsequence. Against these demons or \"wiles of the devil\" (Ephes. vi.\n11), he employed the only means sanctioned by Holy Writ--fervent prayer,\nand this, of course, could have no effect unless the patient fully\nshared his faith. This faith, again, he was enabled to awaken and to\nstrengthen by the supreme energy of his will, but of course not in all\ncases; where his prayer failed to have the desired effect he ascribed\nthe disease to a direct dispensation from on high, and not to the agency\nof evil spirits, or he declared the patient to be wanting in faith. In\nlike manner he explained relapses as the effects of waning faith. The\nstartling phenomena, however, which he thought it necessary to call\nforth in his patients, before he attempted their restoration, belong to\nwhat must be called the magic of our day. For these symptoms bore no\nrelation to the affection under which they suffered. Persons afflicted\nwith sore wounds, stiffened limbs, or sightless eyes, would, at his\nbidding, fall into frightful paroxysms, during which the breathing\nintermitted, the nose became pointed, the eyes insensible to the touch,\nand the whole body rigid and livid. And yet, when the paroxysm ceased at\nhis word, the patient felt no evil effects, not even fatigue, and all\nthat had happened was generally instantly forgotten. The case created an\nimmense sensation throughout Europe, and the great men of his age took\npart for or against the poor priest, who was sadly persecuted, and only\nnow and then found a really able advocate, such as Lavater. The\nheaviest penalty he had to bear was the condemnation of his own Church,\nwhich accompanied an order issued by the Emperor Joseph II.,\nperemptorily forbidding all further attempts. The pope, Pius VII., who\nhad directed the whole subject to be examined by the well-known\n_Congregatio SS. Rituum_, declared in 1777, upon their report, that the\npriest's proceedings were heretical and not any longer to be permitted,\nand ordered the bishop, under whose jurisdiction he lived, to prevent\nany further exercise of his pretended power. All these decrees of papal\ncouncils and these orders of imperial officials could, however, not undo\nwhat the poor priest had already accomplished, and history has taught us\nthe relative value of investigations held by biased priests, and those\ncarried out by men of science. We may well doubt the judgment of an\nauthority which once condemned a Galileo, and even now denounces the\npress as a curse; but we have no right to suspect the opinion of men\nwho, as physicians and scientists, are naturally disposed to reject all\nclaims of supernatural or even exceptional powers.\n\nIn more recent times a Prince Hohenlohe in Germany claimed to have\nperformed a number of miraculous cures, beginning with a Princess\nSchwarzenberg, whom he commanded \"in the name of Christ to be well\nagain.\" Many of his patients, however, were only cured for the moment;\nwhen their faith, excited to the utmost, cooled down again, their\ninfirmities returned; still there remain facts enough in his life to\nestablish the marvelous power of his strong will, when brought to bear\nupon peculiarly receptive imaginations, and aided by earnest prayer.\n(Kies., _Archiv._ IX. ii: 311.)\n\nSporadic cases of similar powers have of late shown themselves in Paris,\nin the interior of Russia, and in Ravenna, but the evidence upon which\nthe statements in public journals are made is so clearly unreliable that\nno important result can be hoped for from their investigation. The\npresent is hardly an age of faith, and enough has surely been said to\nprove that without very great and sincere faith miraculous cures cannot\nbe performed.\n\n\n\n\nX.\n\nMYSTICISM.\n\n    \"Credo quia absurdum est.\"\n\n    --TERTULLIAN.\n\n\nOne of the most remarkable classes of magic phenomena, which combines\nalmost all other known features of trances with the peculiar kind called\nstigmatization, is known as Mysticism in the more limited sense of that\nword. It bears this name mainly because it designates attempts made to\nunite in close communion humanity with divinity, and however imperfect\nthe success of all these efforts may be, on the whole, it cannot be\ndenied that in individual cases very startling results have been\nobtained. In order to attain their lofty aim, the mystics require an\nutter deadening of all human affections and all natural impulses, and a\nthorough change of their usual thoughts and feelings. Above all, the\nlust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of the heart are\nto be killed by pain; hence the mystics are quite content to suffer,\nchastise the body, deny themselves the simplest enjoyments, and rejoice\nin the actual infliction of wounds and mutilations. In return for this\ncomplete deadening of human affections they are filled with an ineffable\nlove of the divine Saviour, the Bridegroom, and the Holy Virgin, the\nBride, or even of purely abstract, impalpable beings. They enjoy great\ninner comforts, and a sense of happiness and peace which transcends all\ndescription. Whatever may, however, have been the direct cause of their\necstatic condition, disease, asceticism, self-inflicted torments, or\nlong-continued fervent prayer, this highest bliss is accorded to them\nonly during the time of trance. Unfortunately this period of happiness\nis not only painfully short, but also invariably followed by a powerful\nreaction; according to the laws of our nature, supreme excitement must\nneeds always subside into profound exhaustion, ecstatic bliss into\nheartrending despondency, and bright visions of heaven into despairing\nviews of unpardonable sins and a hopeless future. Hence the fearful\ndoctrines of the mystics of all ages, which prescribe continuous\nself-denial as the only way to reach God, who as yet is not to be found\nin the outward world, but only in the inner consciousness of the\nbeliever. If the sinner dare not hope to approach the Holy One, the\nrepentant believer also is in unceasing danger of losing again what he\nhas gained by fearful sacrifices. The union between him and his God must\nnot only be close, but uninterrupted, a doctrine which has led to the\ngreat favor bestowed by mystics upon images derived from earthly love:\nto them God is forever the bridegroom, the soul the bride, and the union\nbetween them the true marriage of the faithful. By such training,\nskillfully and perseveringly pursued, many persons, especially women,\nhave succeeded in so completely deadening all physical functions of\ntheir body as to reduce their life, literally, to the mere operations of\nsensation and vision. The sufferings produced by these efforts to\nsuppress all natural vitality, to kill, as it were, the living body,\nrendering the senses inactive, while still in the full vigor of their\nnatural condition, are often not only painful, but actually appalling. A\npoor woman, famous for her asceticism and her supernatural visions,\nMaria of Agreda, was never able to attend to her devotions in the dark,\nwithout enduring actual agony. Her spiritual light would suddenly become\nextinguished, fearful horrors fell upon her soul and caused her\nunspeakable anguish, terrible images as of wild beasts and fierce demons\nsurrounded her, the air was filled with curses and unbearable\nblasphemies, and even her body was seized with wild, convulsive\nmovements and violent spasms. No wonder, therefore, that numbers of\nthese mystics have lost their reason, and others have fallen victims to\nterrible diseases. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that many also\nhave been eminent examples of self-denial and matchless devotion, or\ngenuine heroes in combating for their sacred faith and the love of their\nbrethren. Their very errors were so attractive that the fundamental\nmistake was forgotten, and all felt how little, men who act upon mere\nordinary motives, are able to rise to the same height of self-sacrifice.\nNor must it be forgotten, in judging especially the mystics of our days,\nthat their sincerity can never be doubted: they have always acted, and\nstill act upon genuine conviction, and in the firm belief that their\nwork is meritorious, not in the eyes of men, but before the Almighty.\nThe ascetics of former ages are not so easily understood; they were men\nwho proposed not only to limit the amenities of life, but to make our\nwhole earthly existence subservient to purely divine purposes; and thus,\nfor instance, Francis of Assisi, prescribed absolute poverty as the rule\nof his order. The principal magic phenomena accompanying religious\necstasy are the insensibility of the body to all, even the most violent\ninjuries, and the perception of matters beyond the reach of our senses\nin healthy life. Rigid and long-continued fasting, reduced sleep on a\nhard couch, and an utter abstinence from all other thoughts or\nsentiments but such as connect themselves directly with a higher life,\nnever fail to produce the desired effect. By such means the whole nature\nof man is finally changed; not only in the legitimate relations existing\nbetween body and mind, but also in those which connect man with nature;\nthe changes are, therefore, as much physiological as psychical. They\nresult at last in the acquisition of a power which in the eyes of the\nmystics is identical with that promised in Mark xvi. 18. \"They shall\ntake up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt\nthem.\" Extraordinary as the accounts of the sufferings and the\nexceptional powers of mystics appear to us, they are in many instances\ntoo well authenticated to allow any serious doubt. Thus a famous\nascetic, Rosa of Lima, was actually injured by healthy food, but on many\noccasions instantaneously strengthened by a mere mouthful of bread\ndipped into pure water; Bernard of Clairvaux lived for a considerable\ntime on beech-leaves boiled in water, and Maria of Oignys once subsisted\nfor thirty-five days on the holy wafer of the sacrament, which she took\ndaily. Mystics who, like the latter, derived bodily sustenance as well\nas spiritual comfort from the Eucharist, are frequently mentioned in the\nannals of the Church. Others, again, succeeded by constant and extreme\nexcitement to heat their blood to such an extent that they became\ninsensible to outward cold, even when the frosts of winter became\nintolerable to others. The heart itself seems to be affected by such\nextreme elation; in Catherine of Siena its violent palpitations and\nconvulsive jerkings could be both seen and felt, when she was in a state\nof ecstasis, and the heart of Filippo Neri was found, after death, to\nhave been considerably enlarged, and actually to have broken two ribs by\nits convulsive spasms.\n\nAmong the rarer but equally well-established magic phenomena of this\nclass must be counted the temporary suspension of the law of gravity.\nLike the Brahmins of India, who have long possessed the power of raising\nthemselves unaided from the ground and of remaining suspended in the\nair, Christian mystics also have been seen, more than once, to hang as\nit were unsupported high above the ground. They quote, in support of\ntheir faith in such exceptional powers, the fact that Habakkuk also was\nseized by an angel and carried away through the air, while even the\nSaviour was taken by the devil to an exceeding high mountain on the top\nof the temple, cases in which the laws of gravity must have been\nsimilarly suspended.\n\nA large number of holy men, among whom were Filippo Neri, Ignatius\nLoyola, and the founder of the order of Dominicans, remained thus\nsuspended in the air for hours and days; one of them, the Carmelite monk\nP. Dominicus, in the presence of the king and queen of Spain and their\nwhole court. (Calmet, p. 153.) There are even cases known in which this\nraising of the body has happened to pious persons against their own\ndesire and to their great and sincere distress, as it attracted public\nattention in a most painful degree. To this class of phenomena belongs\nalso the luminous appearance which seems at times to accompany a high\nstate of religious excitement. This was already the case with Moses, who\n\"wist not that the skin of his face shone,\" and probably of Stephen\nalso, when those \"that sat in council, looking steadfastly on him, saw\nhis face as it had been the face of an angel.\"\n\nThe most startling of these phenomena, however, are those known as\nstigmatization, when the combined power of fervent, exalted faith and an\nover-excited imagination produces actual marks of injuries on the body,\nalthough no such injuries have ever been inflicted. The annals of the\nChurch abound with instances of women especially who, after long\nmeditation on the nature and the merits of crucifixion have borne the\nmarks of nails in hands and feet, an effect which the science of\nmedicine also admits as possible, inasmuch as similar results are of not\nunfrequent occurrence, at least in newborn infants, whose bodies are\nmarked in consequence of events which had recently made a peculiarly\ndeep impression upon the mothers.\n\nUnfortunately mysticism also has not been able to keep its votaries free\nfrom an admixture of imposture. False miracles are known to have\noccurred within the Church as well as without it, and credulity has\naccepted many a statement that could not have stood the simplest\ninvestigation. It becomes the careful student, therefore, here also to\ndistinguish with the utmost caution genuine and well-authenticated facts\nfrom reckless or willfully false statements. Even then, however, he\nought not to forget the words of Pascal, who, in speaking of the\napostles said: \"I am quite willing to believe stories for whose\ntruthfulness the witnesses have suffered death.\" It is even by no means\nimprobable that the spiritual world may have its changing productions as\nwell as the material world, and as the organisms of the Silurian period\nare impossible in our day, so-called magic results may have been\nobtained by certain former generations which lie beyond the power of our\nown. No one can with certainty determine, in this direction, what is\npossible and what is impossible; the power of man is emphatically a\nrelative one, and each exploit must, in fairness, be judged with a view\nto all the accompanying circumstances. It is as impossible for the men\nof our day to erect pyramids such as the old Egyptians built, as it is\nfor an individual in good health to perform feats of strength of which\nhe may be capable under the influence of high fever or violent\nparoxysms.\n\nA curious feature in these phenomena is the intimate relation in which\nsacred and so-called demoniac influences seem to stand with one another.\nThe saints are represented as tempted by evil spirits which yet have no\nexistence except in their own heart, and the possessed, on the other\nhand, occasionally have pious impulses and holy thoughts. In the former\ncase it is the innate sinfulness of the heart which creates images of\ndemons such as St. Anthony saw in the desert; in the latter case the\nguardian angels of men are said to come to their rescue. There are even\ninstances on record of men who have wantonly given themselves up to the\ntemporary influence of evil spirits--under the impression that they\ncould thus please God!--as travelers purposely suffer the evil effects\nof opium or hasheesh in order to test their powers. Thus mysticism\nfinally devised a complete system of angels, saints, and demons, whose\nvaried forms and peculiarities became familiar to votaries at an early\nperiod of their lives, and filled their minds with images which\nafterwards assumed an apparent reality during the state of trance. That\nthe physical condition enters as a powerful element in all these\nphenomena appears clearly from the fact that whenever women are liable\nto trances or visions of this kind the latter vary regularly with their\nstate of health, and in the majority of cases cease at a certain age.\nThis fact illustrates in a very characteristic manner the mutual\nrelations between body and soul; the condition of the former is\nreflected in the soul by sentiment and image, and the soul in precisely\nthe same manner impresses itself upon the body. Generally this is\nlimited to the face, where the features in their expression reproduce\nmore or less faithfully what is going on within; but in exceptional\ncases the psychical events cause certain mechanical or physical changes\nin the body which now and then result in actual illness or become even\nfatal. Experience proves that if the imagination is stimulated to\nexcessive activity, it can produce changes in the nature of the\nepidermis or even of the mucous membrane, which resemble in everything\nthe symptoms of genuine diseases. There are men who can, by an energetic\neffort of will, cause red spots, resembling inflammation, to appear in\nalmost every part of the body. In extreme cases this power extends to\nthe production of syncope, in which they become utterly insensible to\ninjuries of any kind, lose all power of motion, and even cease to\nbreathe. St. Augustine mentions a number of such cases. (_De civit.\nDei_, l. xiv. ch. 24.) The remarkable power of Colonel Townshend of\nfalling into a state of syncope is too well established to admit of any\ndoubt; he became icy cold and rigid, his heart ceased to beat and his\nlungs to breathe; the face turned deadly pale, the features grew sharp\nand pointed, and his eyes remained fixed. By an effort of his own will\nhe could recall himself to life, but one evening, when he tried to\nrepeat the experiment, after having made it in the morning successfully\nin the presence of three physicians, he failed to awake again. It\nappeared afterwards that his heart was diseased; he had, however, at the\nsame time, by careful attention and long practice, obtained almost\nperfect control over that organ. (Cheyne, \"Engl. Malady,\" London, 1733,\np. 307.) Indian fakirs have been known to possess a similar power, and\nhave allowed themselves to be buried in air-tight graves, where they\nhave been watched at times for forty days, by military guards, and yet\nat the expiration of that time have returned to life without apparent\ninjury. A similar power over less vital organs of the body is by no\nmeans rare; men are constantly found who can at will conceal their\ntongue so that even surgeons discover it but with difficulty; others,\nlike Justinus Kerner, can empty their stomachs of their contents as if\nthey were pockets, or contract and enlarge the pupils of the eyes at\npleasure. Nor are cases of Indians and negroes rare, who in their\ndespair have died merely because they willed it so. There can be no\ndoubt, therefore, that if mere volition can produce such extraordinary\nresults, still more exceptional effects may be obtained by fervent faith\nand an excessive stimulation of the whole nervous system, and much that\nappears either incredible or at least in the highest degree marvelous\nmay find an easy and yet satisfactory explanation.\n\nGenuine stigmatization, that is, the appearance of the five wounds of\nour Saviour, presents itself ordinarily only after many years of\nconstant meditation of his passion, combined with excessive fasting and\nother ascetic self-torment. The first stage is apt to be a vision of\nChrist's suffering, accompanied by the offer of a wreath of flowers or a\ncrown of thorns. If the mystic chooses the former, the result remains\nwithin the limits of the general effects of asceticism; should he,\nhowever, choose the crown of thorns, the stigmas themselves are apt to\nappear. This occurs, naturally, only in the very rare cases, where the\nmystic possesses that exceptional energy and intense plastic power of\nthe imagination which are requisite in order to suspend the natural\nrelations of soul and body. Then the latter, already thoroughly weakened\nand exhausted, becomes so susceptible to the influence of the soul, that\nit reproduces, spontaneously and unconsciously, the impressions deeply\nengraven on the mind, and during the next ecstatic visions the wounds\nshow themselves suddenly. Their appearance is invariably accompanied by\nviolent pain, which seems to radiate, in fiery burning darts from the\nwounds of the image of Christ. As the minds of mystics differ infinitely\nin energy of will and clearness of perception, the stigmas also are seen\nmore or less distinctly; and their nature varies from mere reddish\npoints, which become visible on the head, as the effect of a crown of\nthorns, to real bleeding wounds. The former are apt to disappear as the\nexcitement subsides or the will is weakened; the latter, however, are\npeculiar in this, that they do not continue to bleed, and yet, also, do\nnot heal up. In women, only, they are apt to break out again at regular\nintervals, for instance, on Fridays, when the mystic excitement again\nreaches its highest degree, or at other periods when pressure of blood\nseeks an outlet through these new openings. As such a state can continue\nonly by means of lengthened inflammation, stigmatization is always\naccompanied by violent pains and great suffering, especially during the\nbleeding.\n\nThe earliest of all cases of stigmatization--of which nearly seventy are\nfully authenticated--was that of Francis of Assisi, who, after having\nspent years in fervent prayer for permission to share the sufferings of\nthe Saviour, at last saw a seraph with six wings descend toward him, and\nbetween the wings the form of a crucified person. At the same moment he\nfelt piercing pains, and when he recovered from his trance he found his\nhands and feet, as well as his side, bleeding as from severe wounds, and\nstrange, dark excrescences, resembling nails, protruding from the wounds\nin his extremities. As this was the first case of stigmatization known,\nFrancis of Assisi was filled with grave doubts concerning the strange\nphenomenon, and carefully concealed it from all but his most intimate\nfriends. Still the wounds were seen and felt by Pope Alexander and a\nnumber of cardinals during his lifetime, and became an object of careful\ninvestigation after his death. (Philalethes' _Divina Comm., Paradiso_,\np. 144.) There is but one other case, as fully authenticated, in which a\nman was thus stigmatized; all other trustworthy instances are related of\nfemales. How close the connection is between the will and the appearance\nof these phenomena may be seen from one of the best-established cases,\nthat of Joanna of Burgos, in Spain, who had shed much blood every week\nfor twenty years in following the recital of the passion of our Saviour.\nWhen she was seventy years old, her superiors prevailed upon her, by\nspecial arguments, to pray fervently for a suspension of her sufferings.\nShe threw herself down before a crucifix, and remained there a day and a\nnight in incessant prayer; on the next morning the wounds had closed,\nand never again commenced bleeding. Another evidence of this feature\nlies in the fact that stigmatization occurs mainly in Italy, the land of\nimagination, and in Spain, the land of devotion; in Germany only a few\ncases are known, and not one in the North of Europe and in America.\n\nAmong the famous mystics who do not belong as saints or martyrs\nexclusively to the Church, stand first and foremost Henry Suso, of the\n\"Living Heart,\" and John Ruysbroek, the so-called Doctor Ecstaticus. The\nformer, who often had trances, and once lay for a long time in syncope,\nhas left behind him some of the most attractive works ever written by\nreligious enthusiasts. He lived in the fourteenth century, and when, two\nhundred years later, his grave was opened the body was found unchanged,\nand fervent admirers believed they perceived pleasing odors emanating\nfrom the remains. The Dutch divine Ruysbroek was even more renowned by\nhis holy life and admirable writings than by the many marvelous visions\nwhich he enjoyed. The same century produced the most famous preacher\nGermany has probably ever seen, John Capistran, who attracted the masses\nby the magic power of his individuality and held them spell-bound by his\nburning eloquence. A native of Capistrano, in the Abruzzi, where he was\nborn in 1385, he became first a lawyer, and gained great distinction as\nsuch in Sicily. Unfortunately he was engaged in one of the many petty\nwars which at that time distracted Italy; was made a prisoner and cast\nwith barbaric cruelty into a foul dungeon. Here he devoted himself to\nascetic devotion, and had a vision ordering him to leave the world. When\nhe regained his liberty, at the age of thirty, he entered the order of\nFranciscan monks, and soon became a preacher of world-wide renown.\nTraveling through Italy, Hungary, and Germany, he affected his audiences\nby his mere appearance, and produced truly amazing changes in the hearts\nof thousands. In Vienna he once preached, in the open air, before an\nassembly of more than a hundred thousand men; the people listened to him\nfor hours amid loud weeping and sobbing, and great numbers were\nconverted, including several hundred Jews. In Bohemia he induced in like\nmanner eleven thousand Hussites to return to the Catholic Church, among\nwhom were numerous noblemen and ministers. Similar successes were\nobtained in almost every large town of Germany, till he was recalled to\nthe South, when Germany became indebted to him and to John Corvin for\nits deliverance from the Turks and the famous victory of Belgrade in\n1456. During his whole career he continued to have ecstatic visions, to\nfall into trances of considerable duration, and to behold stigmas on his\nbody--yet, withal, he remained an eminently practical man, not only\nconverting many thousands from their religious errors, but turning them\nalso from vicious habits and criminal pursuits to a life of virtue. At\nthe same time he rendered signal services to his brethren in mere\nworldly matters, now pleading and now fighting for them with an energy\nand a success which alone would secure him a name in history. The\necstatic nature of another mystic, Vincentio Ferrer, produced a singular\neffect, which has never been noticed except in biblical history. He was\na native of Valencia, and, knowing no language but the local dialect of\nhis country, he continued throughout life to preach in his mother\ntongue--and yet he was understood by all who heard him! This result was\nat least partially explained by the astounding flexibility of his voice,\nwhich at all times adapted itself so completely to his feelings, that\nits tones found a responsive echo in every heart. In vain did the pope,\nBenedict XIII., offer him first a bishopric and afterwards a cardinal's\nhat; the pious monk refused all honors save one, the title of Papal\nMissionary, and in this capacity he passed through nearly every land in\nChristendom, preaching and exhorting day and night, exciting everywhere\nthe utmost enthusiasm and converting thousands from their evil ways. His\neloquence and fervor were so great that even learned men and fierce\nwarriors declared he spoke with the voice of an angel, and criminals of\ndeepest dye would fall down in the midst of great crowds, confessing\ntheir misdeeds and solemnly vowing repentance and amendment.\n\nThe greatest of all mystics, however, was the before-mentioned Filippo\nNeri, a saint of the Catholic Church, whose simple candor and truly\nChristian humility have procured for him the esteem and the admiration\nof men of all creeds and all ages. Even as a mere child he was already\nrenowned for his extraordinary gifts as well as for his fervent piety;\nwhile still a layman he had numerous visions and trances, and when in\nhis thirtieth year he had prayed for days and nights in the Catacombs of\nSt. Sebastian, his heart became suddenly so enlarged that some of the\nintercostal muscles gave way, and a great swelling appeared on the\noutside, which remained there throughout life, although without causing\nhim any pain. His inner fervor was so great as to keep his blood and his\nwhole system continually at fever heat, and although he lived\nexclusively upon bread, herbs, and olives, he never wore warm clothes,\neven in the severest winters, always slept with open doors and windows,\nand preferred walking about with his breast uncovered. During the last\nten years of his life his body was no longer able to sustain his\necstatic soul; whenever he attempted to read mass or to preach, his\nfeelings became so excited that his voice failed him, and he fell into a\ntrance of several hours' duration. It was in this condition that he was\nfrequently lifted up, together with the chair on which he sat, to a\nheight of several feet from the ground. What renders these magic\nphenomena peculiarly interesting, is the fact that Filippo Neri not only\nattached no special value to them, but actually did his best to conceal\nthem from the eyes of the world. As soon as they began to show\nthemselves, he ceased reading mass in the presence of others, and only\nallowed his attendant to re-enter his cell when the latter had convinced\nhimself, by peeping through a narrow opening in the door, that the\ntrance was over. When others praised his piety and marveled at these\nwonders, he invariably smiled and said: \"Don't you know that I am\nnothing but a fool and a dreamer?\"\n\nHe added that he would infinitely rather do works which should prove his\nfaith than be the recipient of miraculous favors. But his prestige was\nso great that whenever he was prevailed upon or thought it his duty to\nexert his influence, it was paramount, and secured to him a powerful\ncontrol in historical events. Thus it was when Pope Gregory XIV. had\nexcommunicated King Henry IV., and his successor, Clement VIII.,\ncontinued the fearful punishment in spite of all the entreaties of king\nand courtiers. Filippo Neri, foreseeing the dangers which were likely to\narise from such measures for the Church, and deeply concerned for the\nwelfare of the French people, retired to prayer, inviting the pope's\nconfessor to join him in his devotions. These had been continued for\nthree days without intermission, when at last the saint fell into a\ntrance, and upon re-awaking from it, told his companion: \"To-day the\npope will send for you to confess him. You will tell him, when his\nconfession is made: 'Father Filippo has directed me to refuse Your\nHoliness absolution, and ever to confess you again till you have\nrelieved the King of France from excommunication.'\" Clement, deeply\nmoved by this message, summoned immediately the council of cardinals,\nand Henry IV. was once more received into the bosom of the Church. In\nspite of this great influence, Neri sternly refused all honors and\ndignities, even the purple, which was offered to him three times, and\ndied in 1595, eighty years old, on the day and at the hour which he had\nlong since foretold. That his visions were accompanied by actual\nstigmatization has already been mentioned.\n\nOur own continent has had but one great mystic, Rosa of Lima, who is\nhence known as _primus Americae meridionalis flos_. She had inherited her\npeculiar organization from her mother, who had frequently seen visions,\nand when the child was three years old, changed her name from Isabel to\nRosa, because she had seen a rose suspended over the face of her\ndaughter. Much admired on account of her great beauty and rare\nsweetness, the young girl refused all offers, and preferred, in spite\nof the remonstrances of friends and of brutal ill-treatment on the part\nof her brothers, to enter a convent. On her way there, however, she felt\nher steps suddenly arrested by superior force, and saw in this\nsupernatural interruption a hint that she should leave the world even\nmore completely than she could have done as a nun of the Order of St.\nDominick. She built herself, therefore, a little cell in her father's\ngarden, and here led a life of ecstatic asceticism, during which she\noften remained for days and weeks without food, and became strangely\nintimate with birds and insects. Whenever she took the eucharist, she\nfelt marvelous happiness and fell into trances; in the intervals,\nhowever, she suffered intensely from that depression and utter despair\nwhich in such cases are apt to result from powerful reaction. She died\nquite young, exhausted by her ascetic life and continued excitement, and\nhas ever since been revered as the patron saint of Peru.\n\n\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nPROF. SCHELE DE VERE'S WORKS.\n\n\nWONDERS OF THE DEEP.\n\nBy M. SCHELE DE VERE, Professor of the University of Virginia. Third\nedition, 12mo, cloth, $1.50. Illustrated, cloth, gilt, $2.\n\n     CHIEF CONTENTS.\n\n     Pearls. Corals. Facts and Fables. Mercury. Oysters. Lighthouses.\n     Odd Fish. Knight in Armor. A Pinch of Salt. A Grain of Sand. The\n     Earth in Trouble.\n\n     \"One of the freshest, most scientific, and at the same time most\n     popular and delightful books of the kind we have ever read.\"--_St.\n     John's Telegraph._\n\n     \"These essays make a valuable addition to the standard literature\n     of the time. The author, who is one of the profoundest scientists\n     of the age and one of the most brilliant essayists of the country\n     has brought from the depths of the ocean vast stores of hidden\n     knowledge.... The charm of the book is the skillful and yet natural\n     way in which plain facts have been put. We were attracted toward\n     them by their freshness, and soon we are following on with intense\n     interest and enthusiasm. The chapters on \"Pearls,\" \"Corals,\"\n     \"Mercury,\" and \"A Pinch of Salt,\" and, in fact, nearly all the\n     others are absorbingly interesting.\"--_Newark, N. J., Register._\n\n\nSTRAY LEAVES FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE.\n\nNew edition, illustrated. 12mo, cloth, $1.50.\n\n     \"The book is peculiarly fascinating.\"--_Chicago Journal._\n\n     \"The entire work is full of charming description and pleasant\n     information.\"--_Courier-Journal, Louisville._\n\n     \"This little book will prove of great service to hundreds of\n     readers into whose hands it may fall.\"--_New Haven Palladium._\n\n     \"A better work for the young than half the story books\n     published.\"--_Rural New Yorker._\n\n\nTHE ROMANCE OF AMERICAN HISTORY.\n\n12mo, cloth extra, $1.50.\n\n     CONTENTS.\n\n     Lo! the Poor Indian. The Hidden River. Our First Romance. A Few\n     Town Names. Kaisers, Kings, and Knights. Lost Towns. Lost Lands.\n\n     \"We can only repeat that it is intensely interesting, and full of\n     instructive matter that every American should make himself familiar\n     with.\"--_Toledo Commercial._\n\n     \"In the selection of early historical curiosities the author has\n     evinced nice taste and tact, and he possesses in an eminent degree\n     the rare and invaluable art of investing the dry details of history\n     with a romantic color and hue.\"--_American Athenaeum._\n\n\nMODERN MAGIC.\n\n12mo, cloth.\n\n     CONTENTS.\n\n     Witchcraft. Black and White Magic. Dreams. Visions. Ghosts.\n     Divination. Possession. Magnetism. Miraculous Cases. Mysticism.\n\n--> For sale by all Booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by\n\nG. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, Publishers,\n\n_4th Ave. and 23d St., New York._\n\n\n\n\nIN COURSE OF PUBLICATION.\n\nPutnam's Elementary and Advanced Science Series,\n\n_Adapted to the requirements of Students in Science and Art Classes, and\nHigher and Middle Class Schools._\n\n\nELEMENTARY SERIES.\n\n_Printed uniformly in 16mo, fully Illustrated, cloth extra, price, 65\ncents each._\n\n     1. PRACTICAL PLANE AND SOLID GEOMETRY. By H. Angel, Islington\n       Science School, London.\n\n     2. MACHINE CONSTRUCTION AND DRAWING. By E. Tomkins, Queen's\n       College, Liverpool.\n\n     3A BUILDING CONSTRUCTION--STONE, BRICK AND SLATE WORK. By R. S.\n       Burn, C.E., Manchester.\n\n     3B BUILDING CONSTRUCTION--TIMBER AND IRON WORK. By R. S. Burn,\n       C.E., Manchester.\n\n     4. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE--SHIPBUILDING AND LAYING OFF. By S. J. P.\n       Thearle, F.R.S.N.A., London.\n\n     5. PURE MATHEMATICS. By Lewis Sergeant, B.A., (Camb.,) London.\n\n     6. THEORETICAL MECHANICS. By William Rossiter, F.R.A.S., F.C.S.,\n       London.\n\n     7. APPLIED MECHANICS. By William Rossiter, F.R.A.S., London.\n\n     8. ACOUSTICS, LIGHT AND HEAT. By William Lees, A.M., Lecturer on\n       Physics, Edinburgh.\n\n     9. MAGNETISM AND ELECTRICITY. By John Angell, Senior Science\n       Master, Grammar School, Manchester.\n\n     10. INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. By Dr. W. B. Kemshead, F.R.A.S., Dulwich\n       College, London.\n\n     11. ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. By W. Marshall Watts, D.Sc., (Lond.,)\n       Grammar School, Giggleswick.\n\n     12. GEOLOGY. By. W. S. Davis, LL.D., Derby.\n\n     13. MINERALOGY. By J. H. Collins, F.G.S., Royal Cornwall\n       Polytechnic Society, Falmouth.\n\n     14. ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY. By John Angell, Senior Science Master,\n       Grammar School, Manchester.\n\n     15. ZOOLOGY. By M. Harbison, Head-Master Model Schools, Newtonards.\n\n     16. VEGETABLE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. By J. H. Balfour, M.D.,\n       Edinburgh University.\n\n     17. SYSTEMATIC AND ECONOMIC BOTANY. By J. H. Balfour, M.D.,\n       Edinburgh University.\n\n     19. METALLURGY. By John Mayer, F.C.S., Glasgow.\n\n     20. NAVIGATION. By Henry Evers, LL.D., Plymouth.\n\n     21. NAUTICAL ASTRONOMY. By Henry Evers, LL.D.\n\n     22A STEAM AND THE STEAM ENGINE--LAND AND MARINE. By Henry Evers,\n       LL.D., Plymouth.\n\n     22B STEAM AND STEAM ENGINE--LOCOMOTIVE. By Henry Evers, LL.D.,\n       Plymouth.\n\n     23. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. By John Macturk, F.R.G.S.\n\n     24. PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY. By John Howard, London.\n\n     25. ASTRONOMY. By J. J. Plummer, Observatory, Durham.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:\n\n\nObvious typographical errors in punctuation and spelling have been\ncorrected without comment. One example of an obvious typographical error\nis on page 109 where the word \"utterred\" was changed to \"uttered\" in the\nphrase: \"... he uttered a piercing cry....\"\n\nIn addition to obvious errors the following changes have been made:\n\n     1. Page 376: The phrase \"as early in 1773\" was changed to \"as early\n     as 1773\".\n\n     2. Page 119: \"cocoa\" was changed to \"coca\" in the phrase, \"...\n     opium, betel, hasheesh, and coca....\"\n\n     3. Page 209: \"Aureditated\" was changed to \"Accredited\" to reflect\n     the correct title of Jarvis' book: \"Accredited Ghost Stories\".\n\n     4. Page 211: \"Aured.\" was changed to \"Accred.\" in the phrase,\n     \"Accred. Ghost Stories\".\n\n     5. Page 234: \"aids\" was changed to \"aides\" in the phrase, \"General\n     d'Espagne roused his aides....\"\n\n     6. On the ad page, the illustration of a hand symbol has been\n     replaced with \"-->\".\n\nThe spelling of most proper names has been left unchanged with the\nfollowing exceptions:\n\n     1. \"Goeethe\", \"Goethe\" and \"Goethe\" has been standardized to\n     \"Goethe\".\n\n     2. Page 109: \"Shilling\" was changed to \"Stilling\" (Jung Stilling,\n     author of \"Jenseits\" cf. pp. 156, 204, 320).\n\n     3. Page 235: \"Marca Erivigiana\" was changed to \"Marca Trivigiana\".\n\n     4. Page 260: \"Waltyries\" was changed to \"Walkyries\" in the phrase,\n     \"Walkyries and the heroes....\"\n\n     5. Page 376: \"Eassner\" was changed to \"Gassner\" (cf. p. 441) in the\n     phrase, \"... famous Father Gassner ... of Ratisbon....\"\n\n     6. Page 402: \"Mondez\" was changed to \"Mondes\" in the Journal title,\n     \"Revue des Deux Mondes\", (cf. p. 408).\n\nIn other cases, the author's original spelling and use of punctuation\nhas been left intact. Internal inconsistencies which have been retained\nin this transcription as in the original include (but are not limited\nto):\n\n     apostacy/ apostasy\n     pickolitch/ prickolitch\n     AEthiopian/ Ethiopian\n     aurora boreales/ aurora borealis\n\n     On page 319: \"... Thus in 1578 a famous astrologer, the father of\n     all weather prophecies in our almanacs, predicted that in the month\n     of February, 1524....\"\n\n     On page 287: the phrase, \"... mutters the word One....\" has been\n     retained as printed, but may be intended as \"... mutters the word\n     Om....\"\n\n     Item number 18 is missing from the Ad page.","title":"Modern Magic","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":119784}