{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42921/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42921","id":"gutenberg_42921","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42921","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Superstition"],"text":"A WORLD OF WONDERS.\n\n\n\n\n  A WORLD OF WONDERS,\n  WITH\n  ANECDOTES AND OPINIONS\n  CONCERNING\n  POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.\n\n\n  EDITED BY\n  ALBANY POYNTZ.\n\n\n  LONDON:\n  RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,\n  Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.\n  1845.\n\n\n\n\n  LONDON:\n  Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIt is surprising, considering the gigantic strides effected by modern\nscience, how many of the errors and prejudices engendered by the ignorance\nof the dark ages remain current in the world in its present days of\nenlightenment. Like the winged seeds of certain weeds, their light and\nimpalpable nature renders them only the more difficult of extirpation.\n\nA cursory review and refutation of these popular prejudices and vulgar\nerrors has been attempted in the following Manual. A more scientific\nanalysis of so spreading a field would have expanded into a Cyclop\u00e6dia.\nBut the ancient traditions and modern instances collected in its pages may\nafford the reader amusement and instruction for the passing hour, as well\nas an incentive to more profound investigations in hours to come.\n\n      LONDON,\n  NOVEMBER, 1845.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                              PAGE\n\n  CHAPTER I.\n    LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS                                      1-10\n\n  CHAPTER II.\n    INCOMBUSTIBLE MEN                                        11-22\n\n  CHAPTER III.\n    VENTRILOQUISTS                                           23-31\n\n  CHAPTER IV.\n    POPE JOAN AND THE WANDERING JEW                          32-36\n\n  CHAPTER V.\n    THE FABLES OF HISTORY                                    37-45\n\n  CHAPTER VI.\n    MELONS AND MONSTERS                                      46-53\n\n  CHAPTER VII.\n    THE JEWS                                                 54-60\n\n  CHAPTER VIII.\n    VERBAL DELICACY                                          61-64\n\n  CHAPTER IX.\n    AEROLITES AND MIRACULOUS SHOWERS                         65-74\n\n  CHAPTER X.\n    NOSTRUMS AND SPECIFICS                                   75-82\n\n  CHAPTER XI.\n    PHYSIOGNOMISTS                                           83-95\n\n  CHAPTER XII.\n    LAST WORDS OF DYING PERSONS                              96-98\n\n  CHAPTER XIII.\n    THE ANTIPODES--MORNING AND EVENING DEW                  99-102\n\n  CHAPTER XIV.\n    PERPETUAL LAMPS AND ARCHIMEDES                         103-109\n\n  CHAPTER XV.\n    THE LYNX AND THE CAMELEON                              110-115\n\n  CHAPTER XVI.\n    WILD WOMEN                                             116-118\n\n  CHAPTER XVII.\n    SYBILS                                                 119-123\n\n  CHAPTER XVIII.\n    FORTUNE-TELLERS AND CHIROMACY                          124-130\n\n  CHAPTER XIX.\n    ALBERTUS MAGNUS AND NOSTRADAMUS                        131-137\n\n  CHAPTER XX.\n    LEECHES, SERPENTS, AND THE SONG OF THE DYING SWAN      138-146\n\n  CHAPTER XXI.\n    NEGROES                                                147-160\n\n  CHAPTER XXII.\n    FASCINATION; OR, THE ART OF PLEASING                   161-170\n\n  CHAPTER XXIII.\n    THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE                                171-177\n\n  CHAPTER XXIV.\n    GIANTS AND DWARFS                                      178-183\n\n  CHAPTER XXV.\n    ASTROLOGY                                              184-190\n\n  CHAPTER XXVI.\n    THE MOON AND LUNAR INFLUENCE                           191-193\n\n  CHAPTER XXVII.\n    APPARITIONS                                            194-201\n\n  CHAPTER XXVIII.\n    NOBILITY AND TRADE                                     202-208\n\n  CHAPTER XXIX.\n    MERIT AND POPULARITY                                   209-219\n\n  CHAPTER XXX.\n    COMETS                                                 220-223\n\n  CHAPTER XXXI.\n    POPULAR ERRORS                                         224-232\n\n  CHAPTER XXXII.\n    DREAMS                                                 233-237\n\n  CHAPTER XXXIII.\n    PREJUDICES ATTACHED TO CERTAIN ANIMALS                 238-243\n\n  CHAPTER XXXIV.\n    CONTENT AND COURTESY                                   244-248\n\n  CHAPTER XXXV.\n    THE DIVINING ROD                                       249-254\n\n  CHAPTER XXXVI.\n    BEES AND ANTS                                          255-260\n\n  CHAPTER XXXVII.\n    PREPOSSESSIONS AND ANTIPATHIES                         261-265\n\n  CHAPTER XXXVIII.\n    THE INFLUENCE OF BELLS UPON THUNDER STORMS             266-269\n\n  CHAPTER XXXIX.\n    SMALL POX AND VACCINATION                              270-273\n\n  CHAPTER XL.\n    PRECOCIOUS AND CLEVER CHILDREN                         274-279\n\n  CHAPTER XLI.\n    EDUCATION OF CHILDREN                                  280-282\n\n  CHAPTER XLII.\n    PREJUDICES OF THE FRENCH                               283-288\n\n  CHAPTER XLIII.\n    MONSTROUS BIRTHS                                       289-293\n\n  CHAPTER XLIV.\n    THE ICHNEUMON AND THE HALCYON                          294-295\n\n  CHAPTER XLV.\n    SORCERERS AND MAGICIANS                                296-300\n\n  CHAPTER XLVI.\n    MALE AND FEMALE                                        301-307\n\n  CHAPTER XLVII.\n    MINOR SUPERSTITIONS                                    308-309\n\n  CHAPTER XLVIII.\n    SOMNAMBULISM                                           310-314\n\n  CHAPTER XLIX.\n    A FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT GHOSTS AND VAMPIRES, AND\n    LOUP-GAROUX                                            315-344\n\n  CHAPTER L.\n    APOCRYPHAL ANIMALS                                     345-352\n\n  CHAPTER LI.\n    PROFESSIONS ESTEEMED INFAMOUS                          353-356\n\n  CHAPTER LII.\n    SUPERNATURAL HUMAN BEINGS                              357-361\n\n\n\n\nA WORLD OF WONDERS.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nLONGEVITY OF ANIMALS.\n\n\nMost scholars are familiar with the quotation \"cervi dicuntur diutissime\nvivere,\" which has rendered proverbial the longevity of the stag. Among\nbirds, crows and parrots have also been said to attain miraculous length\nof days; among fishes, the carp and pike; among reptiles, the tortoise.\nBut modern investigation has sufficiently proved that the number of\ncenturies, variously assigned as the natural age of these birds, beasts\nand fishes, was, in the first instance, the invention of poets and\nfabulists, carelessly adopted as authentic by lovers of the marvellous.\n\nIt is now ascertained that aloes frequently flower three times in a\nhundred years, and that three generations of the stag are included\nwithin the same space of time.\n\nHesiod, an ancient Greek poet whose works have only partially reached us,\nwas the first to institute a comparative inquiry into the age of the crow\nand the stag. Hesiod assigns eighty-six years as the average span of human\nlife; yet he asserts that the rook attains eight hundred and sixty-four\nyears, and the crow thrice as many. Towards the stag, he is still more\nliberal; declaring that these animals have been known to attain their\nthirty-fifth century. Considering the age we assign to the world itself\nwhen Hesiod flourished in it, no great experience as to the average\nexistence of so sempiternal an animal could have influenced his opinion.\n\nAccording to many ancient writers besides Hesiod, the stag is the longest\nlived of animals; and the Egyptians have adopted it as the emblem of\nlongevity. Pliny relates that one hundred years after the death of\nAlexander, several stags were taken in the different forests of Macedonia,\nto whose necks that great monarch had, with his own hand, attached\ncollars. This extension of existence is, however, scarcely worth\nrecording, in comparison with the instance commemorated by French\nhistorians, of a stag taken in the forest of Senlis, in the year 1037;\nhaving a collar round its neck on which was inscribed, \"C\u00e6sar hoc me\ndonavit.\"\n\nA miraculous interpretation was assigned to this inscription, which has\nconsequently formed the ground-work of a popular error in France. The\n\"C\u00e6sar\" of the legend was admitted, without further examination, to be\nJulius C\u00e6sar, thereby allotting ten centuries as the age of the animal;\nnay, seventy-seven years more, seeing that Julius C\u00e6sar conquered Gaul\nforty-two years before the birth of Christ. Nevertheless since the days of\nJulius, the title of C\u00e6sar had been bestowed on a sufficient number of\nimperial potentates to explain the inscription on the collar upon more\nrational grounds: the C\u00e6sar who had thus adorned the stag being in all\nprobability its contemporary. But this was too simple an interpretation to\nbe acceptable to those wonder-seeking times.\n\nAristotle decided the age of the stag, not from the showing of poets and\ntraditions, but from the indications of experiment. Having dissected a\nconsiderable number of these animals, he pronounced their ordinary age to\nbe was from thirty to thirty-six years. Buffon was of a similar opinion,\nwhich has been adopted by most succeeding naturalists. It has been\nestablished as a law of comparative physiology, that the life of a\nmammiferous animal is in proportion to its period of gestation, and the\nduration of its growth. The sheep and goat, who bear their young five\nmonths, and whose growth lasts two years, live from eight to ten, The\nhorse, which is borne ten months, and whose growth requires from five to\nsix years, lives from thirty to forty. We are, of course, speaking of the\nhorse in its natural state, uninjured by premature and excessive labour.\nWhen submitted to the hands of man, the noble animal is condemned to\npremature old age, by the application of spur and thong before it attains\nsufficient strength for the unnatural speed it is compelled to attempt,\nand the burthens it is forced to bear. Nor, even under these\ncircumstances, is it allowed to attain the span of life assigned by\nnature; the hand of the knacker being put in request to end its days, the\nmoment its services cease to be profitable to its master.\n\nThe camel, which is borne ten months, and requires four years for its\nbodily development, usually attains the age of fifty. The elephant,\nrequiring a year's gestation, attains the climax of its growth at thirty,\nand lives to a hundred. The gestation of a stag, therefore, being but of\neight months, there is no reason to infer a deviation in its favour from\nthe laws governing the nature of all other animals of the same genus.\n\n\"The stag,\" says Buffon, \"whose growth requires six years, lives from\nthirty to forty. The prodigious age originally ascribed to this animal, is\na groundless invention of the poets, of which Aristotle demonstrated the\nabsurdity.\"\n\nA variety of instances of the miraculous longevity of animals may be found\nin the works of the early German naturalists. It is related in the\ncollection of Voyages and Travels of Malte Brun, on the showing of these\nauthorities, that the Emperor Frederick II. having been presented with a\nsingularly fine pike, caused it to be thrown into a pond adjoining his\npalace of Kaiserslautern, after affixing to it a collar bearing the\nfollowing Greek inscription: \"I am the first fish cast into this pond by\nthe hands of the Emperor Frederick II.; October 5th, 1230.\"\n\nAfter remaining two hundred and sixty years in the pond, the pike was\ntaken in 1497, and carried to Heidelberg, to be served at the table of the\nElector Philip; when the collar and inscription were subjected to the\nexamination of the curious. The pike, at that time, weighed three hundred\nand fifty pounds, and was nineteen feet in length--a miraculous fish in\nevery respect; for how are we to suppose that an inscription upon an\nelastic collar would otherwise remain legible at the close of several\ncenturies? This story is evidently one of the marvels that figure so\nprofusely in the chronicles of old Germany during the middle ages.\n\nIt has, however, often been asserted that aquatic animals are longer-lived\nthan others, from being cold-blooded, and losing nothing from\ntranspiration; though, from their peculiar nature, the fact is very\ndifficult of demonstration. Fordyce made some curious experiments upon the\ntenacity of life in fishes; by placing gold fishes in a variety of vessels\nfilled with water; which, at first, he refreshed every day; then, every\nthird day, with which refreshment, and without other nourishment, they\nlived for fifteen months. He next distilled the water; increased the\nproportion of air in the vessels; and closed the apertures, so that no\ninsect could possibly penetrate. Nevertheless, the fish lived as before,\nand were in good condition.\n\nThe experimentalist now decided that the decomposition of the air afforded\nthem sufficient nutriment; by this theory invalidating the proverb 'that\nit is impossible to live on air.'\n\nWithout impugning the authenticity of these experiments, or the easy\nsustenance of fishes, we may be permitted to observe that a variety of\ncircumstances are unfavourable to the fact of their miraculous longevity.\nIn the first place, their organization, especially that of the carp which\nis supposed to be one of the longest-lived of fishes, is peculiarly\ndelicate; and the muscular effort to move in an element eight hundred\ntimes heavier than atmospheric air, must be apt to exhaust the energies of\nlife. Such are the suggestions of common sense; too often unavailing\nagainst the marvels of tradition, accepted by the credulity of mankind.\n\nThe Parisians delight in boasting of the age of the venerable carp in the\nreservoirs at Fontainebleau and Chantilly; the former especially, as\ncontemporary with Francis I. Other credulous persons declare that there\nexist gigantic carp many centuries old, in the water beneath the Cathedral\nof Strasbourg--a fact easily asserted because impossible to disprove.\n\nWith respect to the tame old carp at Fontainebleau, which come to the\nsurface of the water to be fed by every visitor to that curious old\npalace, the only grounds for asserting their great age is the inconclusive\nfact, that there were tame old grey carp in the moat of Fontainebleau in\nthe reign of Francis I., as at the present time. But who is to prove that\nthey are identical? There were also troops and courtiers at Fontainebleau\nat both epochs, whom it would be just as reasonable to assert were the\nsame persons. The only difference is that the generations of men are\nvisibly renewed; while the carp in the old moat slip away unnoticed, and\nare succeeded by a younger fry.\n\nThe longevity of certain species of the feathered kind has been just as\nmuch exaggerated as that of the stag and the carp. Willoughby states in\nhis work on Ornithology, that a friend of his possessed a gander eighty\nyears of age; which in the end became so ferocious that they were forced\nto kill it, in consequence of the havock it committed in the barn-yard.\nHe also talks of a swan three centuries old; and several celebrated\nparrots are said to have attained from one hundred to one hundred and\nfifty years.\n\nThe experiments of able naturalists afford the best answer to such\nstatements. According to the best established authorities, pigeons, fowls,\nand ducks, live, in a natural state, from ten to twelve years. Magpies,\ncrows, and jays, evince symptoms of caducity at the same age. Professor\nHufeland, of Jena, who has devoted considerable time and attention to the\nstudy of the duration of life, assures us that the great eagle, and other\nbirds of the larger kind, such as the pelican and ostrich, are very\nlong-lived and of vigorous constitution. Specimens of the eagle tribe have\nbeen known, however, to survive in a menagerie upwards of a hundred years.\n\nHufeland relates that a Mr. Selwand, of London, received in 1793, from the\nCape of Good Hope, a falcon wearing a golden collar inscribed \"To His\nMajesty, King James of England, 1610.\" The bird was supposed to have\nbelonged to James I., and having escaped from its keepers, in order to\navoid recapture, to have traversed Europe and Africa, to end its days in a\nstate of nature among the Hottentots! Destiny, however, was not to be\ndefied; and the prisoner was recaptured in its old age, and sent back to\nEngland. This incident probably originated in a hoax upon the credulity\nof Mr. Selwand, practised by one of his colonial correspondents. Moreover,\nHufeland, after publishing his conviction of the prodigious longevity of\nthe eagle tribe, was himself very likely to become the object of one of\nthose mystifications, for which the supporters of new theories are\nconsidered fair game.\n\nCredulity is unfortunately a weakness common to the human race; and a\ntendency to exaggeration is scarcely less universal. Between the two\nfailings, monstrous stories obtain circulation; and as it is easier to\nassent than examine, the world becomes overrun with errors and prejudices.\nA curious anecdote related from mouth to mouth, becomes exaggerated into a\nmiracle. Thus, as regards the longevity of parrots, a bird of this species\nwhich happens to survive three generations of the same family, though the\nperiod may not exceed thirty years, is talked of in the circle of their\nacquaintance as a Nestor or Methuselah; till, at last, from exaggeration\nto exaggeration, its age becomes converted into a miracle. No one,\nhowever, can personally attest the age of a parrot beyond fifty or sixty\nyears. All the rest must be hearsay.\n\nAmong curious examples of longevity in animals, the dog of Ulysses is\ncited, by many ancient authors, for the intelligence displayed in his\nrecognition of his master after twenty years' absence. A mule, which\nlived to the age of ninety years, at Athens, has also been frequently\ncited.\n\nThe historian, M\u00e9z\u00e9ray, relates, on the authority of Flodard, that Loup\nAsnard, Duke of Aquitaine, on coming to do homage to Raoul, King of\nFrance, about the beginning of the tenth century, appeared before the\nmonarch mounted on a horse a hundred years old. Such exceptions, however,\neven if authentic, tend no more to prove the longevity of dogs, horses or\nmules, than the incontestible fact that certain men, even in modern times,\nhave survived to the age of a century and a half, tend to establish that\nperiod as the span of human existence.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nINCOMBUSTIBLE MEN.\n\n\nThere are instances in which it may be fairly said that seeing is not\nbelieving. In the case of a variety of persons who have exhibited\nthemselves, in different times and countries, as endowed with the natural\npower of resistance to fire, the frightful feats displayed serve only to\nconvince the spectator, that the incombustibility of the exhibitants is\nbut a skilful effort of legerdemain.\n\nIt may be observed that the persons who pretend to this miraculous\nfaculty, seldom expose themselves to the hazard of the investigations of\nthe scientific world. For the exhibition of their exploits, they usually\nprefer small towns to great cities. In former days, incombustible men\nassumed, in Spain, the name of _saludores_; and most of those who have\nsince exhibited in public their insensibility to fire, are descendants or\nimitators of these Spanish mountebanks. The _saludores_, however,\npretended to a power of curing all sorts of diseases by means of their\nsaliva; whereas, the incombustible individuals who have figured in France\nand Germany, pretend only to handle fire with impunity, to swallow boiling\noil, walk upon glowing embers, or even among flames; all which exploits\nthey accomplish with perfect self-possession. So long as two hundred years\nago, however, the _saludores_ were recognised as impostors. Leonard Vain\nrelates a story of one of them, who, having pretended to the faculty of\nsustaining the heat of a kindled oven, was forced by the populace into\none, without sufficient preparation; on opening which, at the close of an\nhour, the man was found to be calcined. A somewhat severe mode of\npunishing imposture!\n\nThis example, however, did not serve to extinguish the race; and in 1806,\na man who called himself the miraculous Spaniard, opened an exhibition in\nParis, where he renewed all the skilful marvels of his predecessors, by\nwalking barefooted on red hot iron, drawing heated bars across his arms,\nface and tongue, dipping his hands in molten lead, and swallowing, as if\nwith zest, a glass of boiling oil. This exhibition, to which the idlers of\nthe French capital resorted, produced a careful examination into the\nprecedents of antiquity for similar instances of incombustibility.\n\nSome cited the well-known lines of Virgil, with reference to the\nexhibitions of the priests of Apollo, on Mount Soracte, where they walked\nunhurt, in presence of the worshippers of their divinity, upon burning\nembers. Others quoted the equally doubtful authority of Pliny; who relates\nthe same fact, adding that the privilege of incombustibility was\nhereditary in a specific family; a fact the more remarkable, because all\nthe modern jugglers in this branch of the black art, pretend to descend\nfrom St. Catherine.\n\nVarro, less credulous than Pliny, expressly states that the priests of the\nTemple of Soracte possessed the secret of a composition which rendered\nthem fire-proof.\n\nLong after Varro, Strabo related that the votaries of the goddess Feronia\nobtained, as the price of their devotions, the faculty of walking unhurt\nover burning piles; and that the exhibition of this miraculous power\nbefore her altars, attracted numerous spectators.\n\n\"The worship of the goddess Feronia,\" says Strabo, \"is much in vogue; her\ntemple being remarkable as the site of a miracle. Those persons whose\nprayers the goddess deigns to propitiate, are enabled to defy the most\nardent flames. This miracle is renewed at her annual festival.\"\n\nIt is also related that, not far from the city of Thyane, the birth-place\nof Apollonius, there was a celebrated temple dedicated to Diana Persica;\nthe virgins devoted wherein to the worship of the goddess of Chastity,\npossessed the power and privilege of treading unhurt upon burning embers.\nA confirmation of these wonders is to be found in Aristotle and Apuleius.\n\nWhen the visitors of the miraculous Spaniard had satisfied themselves,\nthat antiquity supplied a variety of examples in substantiation of the\npower to which he pretended, modern history was searched for further\nattestation; when it appeared that Ambrose Par\u00e9 and Cardan, depose to\nhaving seen mountebanks so inured to the effects of molten lead and\nboiling oil, that they were able to wash their faces and hands, unhurt,\nwith those terrible materials. Delrio, Delancre, and Bodin, advance many\ncurious facts of a similar nature.\n\nHad these incombustible individuals existed in the days when trial by\nordeal was still a form of law; or, rather, had the Art of Chemistry\nattained at that period the power of hardening the human skin into\nresistance of fire, the secret would have been invaluable.\n\nIn those barbarous ages, a culprit sentenced to the fiery ordeal of\nwalking upon heated ploughshares, or plunging his limbs into boiling oil,\nwas tacitly condemned to death. We may infer, however, that Kings, Queens,\nand Dignitaries of the Church were of a less combustible nature than\nhumbler mortals; for when these were forced to submit to the terrible\nordeal of fire, it was observed that they escaped unsinged; while serfs\nand beggars, burnt like tinder: an understanding with the cruel\nexecutioners of these savage laws, being essential to establish the\ninnocence of an accused person.\n\nIt would appear as though a sinister influence had always attached itself\nto the ill-fated See of Autun; for one of the first instances on record of\nthe ordeal of fire being applied to a member of the hierarchy, was that of\nSimplicius, Bishop of Autun, who, after submitting to it in his life-time,\nwas canonized after death. Two later Bishops of Autun--the Abb\u00e9 Roquette,\nsaid to be the original of the Tartuffe of Moli\u00e8re, and the Prince de\nTalleyrand, one of the most remarkable personages of modern times, have\ncertainly not experienced the same posthumous distinction.\n\nSimplicius, being a married man, when called to the honours of the See of\nAutun, repudiated his wife, to whom he was tenderly attached. He was,\nnevertheless, accused of retaining her conjugally in his palace after his\npromotion to the mitre; in disproof of which, he submitted, and caused his\nbeloved wife to submit to the fiery ordeal in presence of a vast\ncongregation; when, both having escaped unhurt, Simplicius was eventually\npromoted to the honour of the Calendar.\n\nSt. Brie, the successor of St. Martin in the See of Tours, was also\naccused of having become a father, to the discredit of his episcopal\nfunctions; a charge he is said to have defeated by bestowing powers of\nspeech upon the infant, thereby enabling it to name its real father. In\naddition to this exculpation, he submitted to the fiery ordeal; and having\ngathered up his robe, and filled it with burning embers, proceeded in this\nguise to the tomb of his predecessor, St. Martin, without experiencing the\nslightest injury. It is not added in the legend, whether the garments of\nthe Bishop were also uninjured.\n\nOne of the most celebrated trials by fire on record, is that of\nThuitberge, wife of Lothaire, King of France. Having been accused of more\nthan becoming intimacy with the young Prince, her brother, and condemned\nto the ordeal, she had the good fortune to find a champion willing to\nundertake it in her behalf. These champions or proxies were tantamount to\nthe special pleaders of the present day, being mostly hired by fee or\nreward for the purpose. The champion of Thuitberge managed to establish\nher innocence, by plunging his arm without injury into a cauldron of\nboiling water; after which, Lothaire was compelled to admit the injustice\nof his accusation, and retain her as his wife. Even at that epoch,\nhowever, mistrust had arisen on this score; and certain servitors of the\nKing openly insinuated the existence of chemical compositions, by the\napplication of which a man might fortify his flesh against the action of\nboiling fluids. Appeal from the decision of an ordeal was, however,\ndecided to be impossible.\n\nA celebrated Father of the Oratoire, the P\u00e8re Lebrun, published a recipe\npurporting to insure impunity against fire; consisting of equal parts of\nalcohol, sulphur, ammonia, essence of rosemary, and onion juice. At the\nmoment P\u00e8re Lebrun was devoting himself to experiments on the mysteries of\nincombustibles, an English practician, named Richardson, was amazing the\nworld of science by the performance of prodigies. This person contrived to\nwalk upon burning embers, to place burning sulphur upon his hand, then\ntransferring it to his tongue, allow it to consume away without apparent\ninjury. He also allowed a piece of meat, or an oyster, to be cooked upon\nhis tongue; the fire for the purpose being kept up in a live coal by a\npair of bellows. He was also able to grasp a red hot bar of iron, and even\nseize it between his teeth; to swallow molten glass and a mixture of\nburning pitch and sulphur, so that the flames burst from his mouth as from\nthat of a furnace; just as common mountebanks emit fire from their mouths\nby means of a coal wrapt in tow, which has been previously steeped in\nspirits of wine.\n\nThese experiments attracted so much attention, that scientific men\nconsidered them deserving notice; and in 1677, Dodart, of the French\nAcademy of Sciences, addressed a letter on the subject to the Journal de\nScience, proving that such phenomena might be achieved by time, address,\nand perseverance, without the intervention of chemical agency. The\nordinary hardening of the hands and feet by labour and exercise, certainly\ninduce a belief that perseverance in the same means might be made to\nproduce absolute callosity.\n\nIt is well known, that bakers are remarkable for the muscularity of their\narms and slightness of their legs; while dancers have usually slender arms\nand muscular legs. The difference of exercise, necessitated by their\nseveral professions, producing diverse development of limb. On the other\nhand, there is no need to compare the sole of the foot of a lady who\nseldom goes out, unless in a carriage, or treads on any other material\nthan luxurious carpets, with that of a peasant who goes bare-footed on the\nflinty road, without inconvenience, to be assured that the same degree of\nboiling water which could be sustained by the latter without\ninconvenience, would blister the delicate epidermis of the former.\n\nDodart observes that, in the ordinary circumstances of life, some people\nare able to swallow their food much hotter than others; and that, as\nregards the experiments of Richardson, charcoal loses its heat the moment\nit is extinguished, and is easily extinguished by means of the human\nsaliva. It is a common trick of jugglers to put lighted tapers into their\nmouths; and in the attempts made by Richardson to cook a piece of meat\nupon his tongue, the slice was made so to envelop the ember, as to secure\nhis mouth from contact with the fire; while the bellows used during the\nprocess, on pretence of keeping up the flame, were on the contrary,\nintended to cool the mouth. As to the mixtures of boiling wax, pitch and\nsulphur, Dodart states their temperature to have been such, that he could\nhold his finger in them two seconds without pain. It is well known that\nthe workmen in the foundries are so inured to heat, as to touch, without\ninjury, metals in a state of fusion; frequently plunging their hands into\nmolten lead, in order to recover articles of value. Moreover, as regards\nany ignited substance placed in the mouth, it naturally becomes\nextinguished the moment the lips are reclosed; the gas from the human\nlungs tending especially to that purpose.\n\nAbout the year 1774, there lived at the foundry of Laune, a man who could\nwalk unharmed over bars of red-hot iron, and hold burning coals in his\nhands. The skin of this man was observed to emit a sort of unctuous\ntranspiration, which served as his preservative.\n\nThese facts suffice to prove that the miraculous Spaniard, who affected\npreternatural incombustibility, had no need of magic for the working of\nhis wonders. For another case, equally remarkable, we are indebted to\nSementini, an eminent Professor of Chemistry at Naples.\n\nA Sicilian, named Lionetti, came to that city for the purpose of\nexhibiting feats of incombustibility; and soon excited public astonishment\nby his power of drawing a red-hot plate of iron over his hair without\nsingeing it, on which he afterwards stamped with his naked feet. He also\ndrew rods of red-hot iron through his mouth, swallowed boiling oil, dipped\nhis fingers in molten lead, and dropped some on his tongue. He fearlessly\nexposed his face to the flames of burning oil; poured sulphuric or\nmuriatic acid upon lighted embers, and imbibed the fumes; ending by\nallowing a thick gold pin to be thrust deep into his flesh.\n\nThe Neapolitans were as much enchanted by the feats of Lionetti as the\nParisian with those of the incombustible Spaniard. But at Naples,\nSementini, who was on the watch, perceived that, at the moment the\nfire-proof man applied the heated materials to his skin, there escaped a\nwhitish vapour. Instead of swallowing a glass of boiling oil, according to\nhis announcement, he introduced only a quarter of a spoonful into his\nmouth, and a few drops of molten lead upon his tongue, which was covered\nwith a white fur, like the secretion perceptible in cases of fever. When\nhe took the hot iron between his teeth, symptoms of suppressed pain were\nperceptible; and the edges of his teeth were evidently charred by previous\nperformances of a similar description. From these appearances, Sementini\ninferred that Lionetti made use of certain preparations which secured him\nagainst the influence of heat, by hardening the epidermis; and that his\nskin having become callous from use, was in itself able to resist, to a\ncertain degree, the action of fire. These conclusions, which concur with\nthose made by Dodart, in the case of Richardson, were verified by personal\nobservation and careful experiment.\n\nAfter many fruitless attempts to discover the chemical agents used by the\nIncombustibles, the persevering Sementini found that by frequent frictions\nof sulphuric acid, he was able to inure his flesh to the contact of\nred-hot iron; and we are bound to admire the patience and courage of those\nwho, for the benefit of scientific discovery, attempt experiments of so\npowerful and perilous a nature. To have exposed a fallacy in matters of\nscience, is equal to the discovery of a fact; and the extirpation of a\nsingle error or false conclusion from the popular mind, is an act\ndeserving of gratitude.\n\nSementini found that by bathing the parts thus deprived of their usual\nsensitiveness with a solution of alum, their former sensibility to heat\nwas restored; and one day, happening to smear with soap the parts he had\nre-softened in this manner with alum, he found, to his great surprise,\nthat they became hardened anew against the action of heat. The\nexperimentalist instantly applied to his tongue a preparation of soap, and\nfound that it enabled him to defy the contact of iron heated to a white\nheat. To neutralize the faculty thus acquired, he had only to sprinkle his\ntongue with sugar; a new application of soap serving at any moment to\nrender it fire-proof.\n\nBy these experiments, in various countries, the pretension to a\nsupernatural power of incombustibility has been reduced to its true level.\nThe Priests of Soracte, the Virgins of Diana, the Champion of Queen\nThuitberge, and the Bishop of Autun, were doubtless adepts in the art of\nthe miraculous Spaniard; and according to the recipe of Sementini, a man\nmay be enabled to defy the element of fire as successfully as an expert\nswimmer overmasters that of water, or an experienced a\u00ebronaut of air.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nVENTRILOQUISTS.\n\n\nVentriloquists are a better order of jugglers than the Incombustibles. The\nfeats of the latter are doubtless more surprising--the former, far more\namusing. To behold a man expose himself to even the semblance of a cruel\ntorture, affords a disgusting species of excitement; and such exhibitions\nas those we have described, the feat of swallowing naked swords, or the\nfavourite practice of placing in contact with half-tamed beasts of prey a\nhuman being who submits to the risk for the sake of a scanty remuneration,\nis an order of public entertainment that does little honour to the taste\nof the listless spectator.\n\nTo witness feats of ventriloquism, on the contrary, is a diverting and\nharmless pastime; though, had Messieurs Comte and Alexandre exhibited\ntheir marvellous powers in the olden time, there is some probability that\nthey might have been exposed to jeopardy as sorcerers and magicians, or\nto exorcism, as possessed of devils.\n\nVentriloquism derives its name from an error of the ancients. So far from\nbeing effected through the body, the mouth is the sole instrument of the\nart or faculty we call ventriloquism. The first inference formed on this\nsubject was by the Greeks, who conceived the oracles of the Pythoness to\nconsist of the emanation of the soul from the viscera; and as the lips of\nventriloquists assumed the same form in the exercise of their art as those\nof the Pythoness during her pretended inspirations, they ascribed the\neffort to the same region of the body.\n\nArchbishop Eustatius, in treating of the Witch of Endor, attributes the\nexploits of the magician Ob, in invoking the shade of Samuel, and\nobtaining a reply from the apparition, to a devil, or the power of\nventriloquism. In the Book of the Septanti, the Witch of Endor is\ndescribed as a ventriloquist.\n\nFather Delrio, as an interpreter of the opinion of the ancients, and Henri\nBoguet, the great legist, declared from the bench, that all persons\nendowed with a natural power of ventriloquism, had hoarse, harsh voices,\nand that the spirit by which they were possessed, must be dislodged by\nexorcism.\n\nIn the earlier days of ventriloquism, from the Witch of Endor downwards,\nthe art appears to have been almost peculiar to the female sex; though in\nour own times professed only by males. In the fifteenth century, Rolande\ndu Vernois, accused of the exercise of ventriloquism, was condemned and\nburnt as a witch; and about the middle of the sixteenth, the inhabitants\nof Lisbon were amazed by the feats of a woman named Cecilia, who possessed\nthe art of causing her voice to issue from her elbow, foot, or any other\npart of her body. In exhibiting this apparently preternatural power, she\npretended to have an invisible colleague, named Pierre Jean, with whom she\nappeared to hold conversations; an exploit that exposed her to a charge of\nwitchcraft. She was tried for magic, and exiled to the Island of St.\nThomas, in remission of a sentence to be burnt alive.\n\nIn the same century, a little old woman who had very much the air of a\nwitch, and whose voice appeared to issue from the centre of her body, made\nher appearance in Italy, where she was arraigned for sorcery; but her\nfurther history is unrecorded.\n\nA female ventriloquist, named Barbara Jacobi, narrowly escaped being burnt\nat the stake in 1685, at Haarlem, where she was an inmate of the public\nhospital. The curious daily resorted thither to hear her hold a dialogue\nwith an imaginary personage with whom she conversed as if concealed behind\nthe curtains of her bed. This individual, whom she called Joachim, and to\nwhom she addressed a thousand ludicrous questions, which he answered in\nthe same familiar strain, was for some time supposed to be a confederate.\nBut when the bystanders attempted to search for him behind the curtains,\nhis voice instantly reproached them with their curiosity from the opposite\ncorner of the room. As Barbara Jacobi had contrived to make herself\nfamiliar with all the gossip of the city of Haarlem, the revelations of\nthe pretended familiar were such as to cause considerable embarrassment to\nthose who beset her with impertinent questions.\n\nThe celebrated Thi\u00e9met used to exhibit at Paris a scene of a similar\nnature, afterwards copied in London in the Monopolylogues of Matthews.\nHaving concealed himself in a sentry-box, which occupied the centre of his\nsmall stage, the distant sound of a horn became audible; then, the cry of\na pack of hounds gradually approaching; during the intervals of which, a\nmiller and his wife were heard familiarly conversing in bed concerning\ntheir household affairs. In the midst of their conversation, a knock was\nheard; and a strange noise became audible from without, entreating the\nmiller to rise and show the way through the forest to a young Baron, who\nhad lost the track of the hounds. The miller promised compliance; when an\naltercation ensued between him and his wife; the former wishing to rise,\nthe latter preventing him with a declaration that she had not courage to\nbe left alone in the mill. At length, the miller gets the better; and,\nhaving risen, is about to put on his clothes, when the sobs and cries of\nhis abandoned spouse determine him to return to bed; and the scene used to\nterminate with a loud exclamation on the part of the lady when the cold\nknees of the miller apprized her of his return. This somewhat too familiar\nexhibition used to elicit roars of laughter from the most fashionable\naudiences; nor, till Thi\u00e9met issued from his sentry-box, could they be\nprevailed upon to believe that he had been alone.\n\nVentriloquism is, in truth, the working of a curious problem in acoustics;\nthe art resulting from a careful computation of distances and effects in\nthe science of sound. The resources afforded by such an art to the\npriesthood of antiquity, who were thus enabled to create an oracle\nwherever they thought proper, may easily be understood. When exercised\nwith dexterity, it was no wonder that the bewildered populace should\nexclaim, like the Sybil of Cum\u00e6, \"Deus! ecce Deus!\" Dodona and Delphos are\nnow generally believed to have been simply the scene of a clever\nexhibition of ventriloquism. Fontenelle, and the learned Benedictine, Dom\nCalmet, have both written extensively on the subject; the latter, more\nespecially, labouring to prove that a variety of marvels related by\nLucian, Philostratus, Iamblicus, and other eminent authors, are easily\nexplained by ventriloquism.\n\nMany French historians attribute to the same origin the apostrophe of the\npretended Spectre in the Forest of Mans, which so terrified the feeble\nCharles VI., as to deprive him of reason. Such was the opinion of the Abb\u00e9\nde la Chapelle; who, in 1772, published a volume on ventriloquism, in\nwhich, among other examples, he cites the wonderful faculty of a grocer\nnamed St. Gilles, residing at St. Germain en Laye; who, when visited by\nthe Abb\u00e9, made his voice appear to issue from every part of the house. St.\nGilles appears to have been a facetious personage as well as a skilful\nventriloquist; for as he was one day walking in the forest of St. Germain,\nwith a rich Prebendary, celebrated for his avarice and clerical abuses, a\nvoice was heard to reproach him with his pluralities and covetousness,\nthreatening to bury him under the ruins of his prebendal house, unless he\nreformed the errors of his ways. The grocer being careful to assume an\nappearance of the same terror that paralyzed his companion, the priest\nregarded this interposition as the voice of his good angel; and instantly\nproceeding to the nearest church, dropped the whole contents of his purse\ninto the poor's box; and on his return to Paris, devoted the remainder of\nhis days to repentance and good works.\n\nOn another occasion, St. Gilles exercised his art in restoring family\npeace to a young couple. The husband who had abandoned a young and lovely\nwife, having accompanied him into the depths of the forest of St. Germain\nfor a morning walk, was also addressed by a supernatural voice,\nthreatening him with eternal punishment unless he renounced his dissolute\nhabits, and returned to the bosom of domestic life; a stratagem which\nproduced the happiest results.\n\nOne of the most skilful proficients in the art, appears to have been a\nBaron von Mengen, a German nobleman, as celebrated at Vienna, as St.\nGilles in France. The Baron never appeared in society without carrying a\ndoll in his pockets, with which he used to hold imaginary conversations.\nAn English traveller, amazed by the wit and wisdom of the doll, became at\nlength so excited by curiosity, as to insinuate his hand into the Baron's\npocket, in the hope of discovering his secret; when the doll instantly\nshrieked aloud, and bitterly reproached the Englishman for his breach of\ndecorum. The amazement of the abashed foreigner increasing, the Baron\nproduced his doll, and explained the nature of the mystery.\n\nPhilippe, a favourite actor of the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre des Vari\u00e9t\u00e9s, on his marriage\nwith Mademoiselle Volnais, the actress, proceeded with her into Lorraine\nto visit an estate they had purchased; when the tenants having thought\nproper to favour them with a magnificent reception, in the course of the\nday, the bridegroom, deserting his place of honour, strolled out among the\nrevellers. While he appeared to be only conversing in a grave manner with\nthe Mayor of the place, to the dismay of the simple villagers, strange\nvoices were heard to issue from tuns of wine, reproaching them with their\nexcesses; and from wheelbarrows, reproving them for their idleness. The\nwhole village fancied itself bewitched; while Philippe enjoyed, for the\nfirst time of his life, on his own account, a talent he had so often\nexercised for the amusement of others.\n\nComte, the best ventriloquist now extant, has performed a thousand similar\nexploits. When on his travels in Belgium, he caused the voice of Margaret\nof Austria, to issue from her tomb in the Church of Bron, addressing a\nreprimand to the verger. At Rheims, he was nearly the cause of\ndepopulating the quarter of St. Nicholas, by causing voices to issue from\na variety of graves in the church-yard; while at Nevers, he revived the\nmiracle of Balaam, by enabling an overladen ass to reproach its master\nwith his cruelty.\n\nAnother time, Monsieur Comte, when travelling by night in a diligence, the\ntravellers of which had fallen asleep, roused them from their slumbers by\na confusion of voices of robbers at the windows, calling aloud upon the\npostillions to stop. The greatest consternation prevailed; when Monsieur\nComte offered to negociate for them with the robbers, and become the\ndepositary of their purses for the purpose. Having alighted from the\ncarriage for this object, he was heard conversing in the dark road with a\nvariety of voices, breathing the most frightful threats; and the\ntravellers considered themselves fortunate in being allowed to purchase\ntheir lives by the cession of all they had about them. When daylight\nbroke, their adroit fellow-traveller restored their property; the mere\nmention of his name sufficing to explain the nature of the jest which had\nproduced their alarm.\n\nOn another occasion, he preserved the statues and carvings of a village\nchurch from mutilation, by causing a voice to issue from the altar,\ncommanding the forbearance of the rustic population. He was, however, very\nnear falling a victim to the marvels of his art, at Fribourg; where the\npopulace, asserting him to be a sorcerer, fell upon him, and would have\nthrown him into a heated oven to be consumed, but for the intervention of\nthe authorities.\n\nNevertheless, in defiance of these well-known facts, ventriloquism still\nappears miraculous to the vulgar. Thirty years ago, the learned Abb\u00e9 Fiard\nwrote a treatise to prove that the ancients were justified in their belief\nthat it proceeded from spiritual possession. Fortunately, the great\nmajority are content to accept it as a fertile source of recreation,\nwithout troubling themselves concerning the origin of the faculty.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nPOPE JOAN AND THE WANDERING JEW.\n\n\nIn the history of the world a variety of imaginary personages have found a\nplace, whom it has become difficult to dislodge. Created in the first\ninstance by the blunders of some careless writer, or by the sickly fancy\nof some unsound judgment, they are adopted by popular favour, tricked up\naccording to its caprices, and committed to the hands of tradition to\nmislead the opinions of posterity. The pretensions of a false Demetrius, a\nfalse Dauphin, a false Heraclius, a Lambert Simnel, or a Perkin Warbeck,\nare more easily disproved and set aside than those of the mere shadows\nwhich flit over the surface of history; too impalpable to be seized upon\nand compelled to render an account of themselves.\n\nAmong these phantoms are Pope Joan, and the Wandering Jew; of whom every\none has heard something, though nothing to the purpose. Yet these\nimaginary personages are too closely connected with the mysteries of our\nfaith to be otherwise than generally interesting.\n\nFor how many years did the legend of the Wandering Jew, the porter of\nPilate, condemned to roam the earth till the second coming of Christ, and\nhaving his necessities provided for by five-pence, which remained\ninexhaustibly in his purse, obtain favour with the world--perpetually\nrenewed and brightened by the inventive hand of genius! Even now, though\nno longer an article of belief among the enlightened classes, his story\nobtains sufficient credit with the vulgar to merit a certain degree of\nexamination.\n\nThe first writer who signalized the existence of the Wandering Jew, was\nMatthew Paris, an English chronicler of the thirteenth century; who was\nperhaps ignorant that he was only renewing a fable of the Greeks; Suidas\nhaving recorded that a Greek named Pas\u00e8s possessed a miraculous piece of\nmoney, which as often as he expended it returned again into his pocket.\n\nSome inventors have too much modesty to pretend to originality. So it was\nwith Matthew Paris; who affected to have learned the legend of the\nWandering Jew from an Armenian Bishop, who spent some time in England.\nThis eastern dignitary, he asserts, had actually seen and conversed with\nthe Wandering Jew, whose name he stated to be Cartophilax; that he was\nporter to the tribunal to which Jesus was conveyed by the Roman soldiers;\nand had familiarly known the Virgin Mary and the Apostles. All the\nromantic incidents of his story which have passed into an article of\npopular faith, were first related by Matthew Paris.\n\nBut may there not have been some allegorical or concealed sense connected\nwith the first creation of the Wandering Jew? At this period, Jews were\nobjects of universal persecution, and often publicly burnt. Is it not\nlikely enough that Matthew Paris intended to typify the whole persecuted\nand wandering people of the Jews in the person of Cartophilax; or, may he\nnot have purposed to afford a means of safety and impunity to any Jew who\nsaw fit to take up the character?\n\nFor thirteen centuries, then--as for eighteen, now--the Jewish people had\nbeen driven from place to place, tracked like a beast of prey, and\nsubjected to every species of ignominy. Their destiny, in short, was a\nmere extended exemplification of the fortunes of the Wandering Jew. May\nnot, moreover, the eternal five-pence have been intended to show, that\nwherever he finds himself, a Jew can never be long in want of money?\nMontesquieu only expresses the general opinion on this subject, in saying,\n\"Wherever you find gold, you will find a Jew.\"\n\nThis theory will probably be regarded as more apocryphal than the\nexistence of Cartophilax! Nevertheless we would rather pin our faith on a\nfanciful interpretation, than admit that a writer of so much moment to the\nHistory of the World as the famous Matthew Paris, could voluntarily shake\nthe stability of his Chronicles by the wanton fabrication of such a\nmiracle.\n\nThe invention of Pope Joan is still more easily accounted for; as\noriginating in the desire of the Reformed Church to expose to contempt the\nhonour of the See of Rome. No contemporary writer so much as alludes to\nher existence; nor till sixty years after the period assigned as that of\nher adventures, do we find the monk Radulphus relating the scandalous\nchronicle of her pretended pontificate. A story of this description once\nset afloat, will never want for commentators; and a variety of other\nwriters instantly seized upon it, improving the details at leisure.\n\nSeldom, however, has an imposture been adopted by such grave judgments, or\npromulgated by such authoritative voices, as that of Pope Joan. But the\nfact is that party spirit, or rather sectarian spirit, blinded the eyes of\nthese abettors of fraud. At the moment of the grand schism originating the\nReformed Church, the partizans of the new Faith seized upon the old wife's\ntale of Pope Joan, and converted it into a serious argument against the\ninfallibility of Rome.\n\n\"You boast of the assistance of divine grace, you pretend to the\ninspiration of the Holy Ghost,\" said they to the Catholics; \"that it\ndirects your councils and suggests your elections. How came it, then, that\nwith so omniscient a counsellor, you were deluded into promoting a woman\nto the Papal See?--The single name of Pope Joan ought to suffice to attest\nthe incompetency of your Church!\"\n\nThe history of this pretended personage has been too often related, and is\nof too gross a nature to deserve recital. Even the historians who have\nbeen most serious in its attestation, disagree in the leading incidents;\nsome of them naming the female Pope Agnes, some Joan, and some Gilberta.\nVoltaire, who was little prone to defend the purity of the See of Rome,\nutterly discredits her existence; and in all Protestant countries, where\nthe fable was first called into existence, the name of Pope Joan is cited\nonly as a matter of jest and derision.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nTHE FABLES OF HISTORY.\n\n\nIt is surprising how many of the facts of history have been reduced into\nfictions by the careful investigations of modern enlightenment. For\ncenturies, it was established as an undeniable enormity of the empire,\nthat the Emperor Justinian put out the eyes of Belisarius. Tragedies,\noperas and romances, were grounded upon this cruel incident; and the arts\nhave lent their aid to the perpetuation of a popular error.\n\nLet us examine the real state of the case. In 563, a conspiracy was\ndiscovered against the Emperor Justinian; and the conspirators were\narrested on the eve of executing their criminal design. Certain of his\nfavourites, envious of the great name of Belisarius, suborned false\nwitnesses, whose testimony made it appear that he was included in the\nplot; upon which, Justinian indulged in the bitterest reproaches against\nhis perfidy. Belisarius, strong in his sense of innocence, and the\nconsciousness of the great services he had rendered to the empire,\ndisdained to justify himself; and Justinian, weak, versatile, and\nmistrustful, influenced by a paltry pusillanimity, caused him to be\nstripped of his offices, made prisoner in his house, and deprived of all\nattendants or companions.\n\nThis state of things continued for the space of seven months; when the\ninnocence of Belisarius was, by the intervention of others, brought to\nlight; and he was at once restored to his former honours and the\nconfidence of his master. So far from being deprived of sight, and guided\nabout by a youth, as our imaginations have been misled into depicting him\nby a variety of artists and men of letters, Belisarius died at an advanced\nage in the full enjoyment of his senses.\n\nThe two first authors who thought proper to load the memory of Justinian\nwith the odium of having put out the eyes of Belisarius, were Crinitus and\nRaphael Maff\u00e9i, both belonging to the sixteenth century. No anterior\nwriter makes the smallest allusion to this act of barbarity; which, had it\nbeen authentic, could scarcely have been buried in obscurity for a period\nof ten centuries. The event which probably gave rise to so monstrous a\nsupposition was, the disgrace of Carpocratian; who, after being the chief\nfavourite of Justinian, was driven into exile in Egypt, and compelled to\nbeg his bread on the highways. But even in this instance, the fallen man\nwas not deprived of sight.\n\nOne day, a village priest who was preaching in France, on the instability\nof riches and the misfortunes of the great, perceiving his simple flock to\nbe melted into tears by the pathetic nature of his recital, comforted them\nby adding, \"Nevertheless, my brethren, take comfort, for, after all, these\ntraditions may be greatly exaggerated.\" It were as well, perhaps, if\nhistorians were equally candid, more especially the one who first treated\nof the cruel fortunes of Belisarius.\n\nThis great man had, in truth, no need of factitious enhancements to secure\nthe sympathies of the sixteenth century; the nobleness of his character\nhaving fully equalled the greatness of his exploits. As the conqueror of\nthe Goths, he sustained the fortunes of the empire; sacrificing himself\nfor his master, and refusing a crown when the throne was easily\naccessible. After he had achieved the conquest of Italy, the jealousy of\nJustinian recalled him from his command. Yet when the fortunes of his\ncountry stood a second time in need of his sword, he did not hesitate to\nlay down his resentment, and take up arms for its defence.\n\nA far more authentic instance of undeserved misfortune is the case of\nOedipus, who, born the heir of the throne, was secretly removed from the\npalace in consequence of a prediction that he would become the murderer\nof his father. To avoid the accomplishment of the oracle, the infant was\nabout to be destroyed; the servant, to whom the task was assigned, having\nliterally pierced his feet, and suspended him to the branches of a tree;\nwhen unfortunately a shepherd, taking pity on the tortured babe, relieved\nhim and conveyed him to the Court of the Queen of Corinth, by whom, being\nchildless, he was reared as her son. At eighteen years of age, an oracle\nenjoined him to go in search of his parents; and on his travels, having\nkilled a man by whom he was insulted, the victim proved to be his father.\n\nOedipus arrives at Thebes. A riddle is proposed to him, the sense of which\nhe is so unfortunate as to guess; and having by this feat rid the country\nof the Sphinx, he receives the promised reward in the hand of the Queen of\nThebes, who, in process of time, proves to be the mother of her young\nhusband. In consequence of this parricide and incest, a frightful\npestilence afflicts Thebes; and Oedipus in despair, puts out his own eyes,\nbanishes himself from his native country, and is followed into exile by\nhis daughter Antigone, who officiates as his guide.\n\nSuch misfortunes naturally inspired the minds of the heathens with a\nbelief in the doctrine of fatality--a blind interpretation of events which\nalso served to induce a belief in the marvellous, and confirm half the\npreposterous superstitions perpetuated by the weakness of the human race.\n\nNothing can be more groundless, by the way, than our vain assertion of\nbeing the only created beings who \"contemplate Heaven with brow erect.\"\nNot only do we share this distinction with the ourang-outangs, but with a\nvariety of birds, such as the crane and the ostrich; which, on this point,\nare better qualified than ourselves, seeing that instead of the upper\neyelid falling, the lower eyelid rises over the eye; thus leaving them\nmore at liberty to raise their eyes to Heaven.\n\nFalse pretensions and vulgar errors of this kind abound in the world:--as\nfor instance, the belief that the pelican pierces her bosom to feed her\nlittle ones with her blood--that the scent of bean-flowers produces\ndelirium--that the mole is blind--that the dove is a model of gentleness\nand conjugal fidelity; and how often are the questions still mooted\nwhether Hannibal really worked a passage through the Alps with\nvinegar--whether the coffin of Mahomet be really suspended at Mecca\nbetween two loadstones--whether shooting stars be fragments of shattered\nplanets, or souls progressing from purgatory--whether beasts of prey are\nafraid of fire; and whether human nature have ever exhibited affinities\nwith the brute creation in the form of fauns, dryads, satyrs, or\ncentaurs.\n\nThe fable of the centaurs explains itself naturally enough by the wonder\ncreated in the world by the first man hardy enough to reduce the horse to\na state of submission, and convert it into a domestic animal. We know that\na man on horseback has been regarded as a complex animal by many savage\nnations; just as the Peruvians, when attacked by the artillery of Pizarro,\nbelieved their invaders to be Gods, seeing that thunder was at their\ndisposal.\n\nAs to fauns and satyrs, which probably consisted of shepherds whose lower\nextremities were clad in goat skins, Herodotus declares that a whole\nnation of them existed among the mountains of Scythia. Plutarch relates\nthat, in the time of Sylla, a faun was caught at Nymphea near Apollonia,\nwhich was brought as a present to the Dictator. The creature could utter\nno articulate sound,--its voice consisting of a noise between the cry of a\ngoat and the neighing of a horse; but exhibited social qualities, and was\nmuch addicted to female society. This was probably some deaf and dumb\nidiot, left by unnatural parents to perish in infancy, and miraculously\npreserved; as in the case of Peter, the Wild Boy, found during the last\ncentury in the forests of Westphalia, and maintained at the cost of the\nKing of England to a good old age. A similar specimen of degraded humanity\nwas exhibited at Paris under the name of the Savage of Aveyron; and the\nhistorical fable of Valentine and Orson was probably founded on some\nsimilar circumstance.\n\nAccording to Philostratus, a satyr was taken in Ethiopia of so mild and\ngentle a disposition, as to have been easily tamed; and that certain of\nthe simeous tribes, such, for instance, as the ourang-outang called the\nWild Man of the Woods, should have been considered a satyr by both Greeks\nand Romans, on a first inspection seems natural enough. St. Jerome, in his\nlife of St. Anthony, asserts that he encountered a satyr in the desart,\nand that they conversed and breakfasted together.\n\nWe should have thought these holy personages more in danger of an\nencounter with wild beasts; concerning which peril, a passing remark may\nbe made, that the idea of frightening them away by fire is a popular\nprejudice. Tavernier relates that some soldiers having lighted a great\nfire to preserve themselves from the damp, in a forest of Africa, were set\nupon by a lion, and that one of the men was greatly injured by this\nmidnight intruder, which was luckily shot dead by one of his comrades.\n\nAs regards the popular opinion concerning the tomb of Mahomet, it is now\nproved to be at Medina instead of Mecca, where the belief of many\ncenturies assigned it a place; but so far from being suspended in the air\nby a loadstone, the coffin lies on the ground surrounded by an iron\nbalustrade. A learned Jesuit, by dint of many patient experiments,\nascertained the possibility of sustaining a human body in the air by the\npower of the loadstone. But the quantity employed only served to realize\nthe miracle for the space of two seconds. On the discovery of the singular\nproperties of the loadstone, as affecting the polarization of the needle,\nthe vulgar naturally began to endow it with miraculous powers. In 1765,\nthe Journal Encyclop\u00e9dique published an Essay attributing to the loadstone\nthe power of curing the tooth-ache; the person afflicted being required to\nturn his face towards the North Pole, and touch the aching tooth with the\nsouthern point of a magnetic needle. The system was pursued for a time by\na variety of quack dentists, but soon fell to the ground.\n\nWith respect to shooting stars, philosophy remains undecided as to their\norigin. But vulgar superstition clings to the belief that any wish formed\nduring the transit of one of these luminous bodies will be accomplished.\nThis idea probably purported in the first instance to demonstrate the\ntransitory nature of human wishes, as exemplified in the momentary glimpse\nof the meteor. Some philosophers attribute shooting stars to the encounter\nof the electric fluid with inflammable molecules in the atmosphere.\nDescartes asserts that they are terrestrial particles which, meeting in\nthe air the second element, take fire and fall back to earth; leaving\nwhere they fall a viscous matter. The truth is that they have never been\nknown to fall back upon the earth. Monsieur Biot has hazarded a conjecture\nthat they may be fragments of comets, falling with immense rapidity\nthrough the realms of space.\n\nIf this point of popular prejudice remain unremoved, nothing can be more\ncertain than that the mole possesses organs of vision--though small; and\nthat the fable of the maternal tenderness of the pelican, originated in\nthe flexible pouch in which she deposits the fish she collects for her own\nfood, and that of her young. The proverbial fidelity of the dove to her\nmate has been equally disproved by naturalists; no person having ever kept\na pair of doves without noticing that they are birds of a peculiarly\nirascible and quarrelsome nature.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nMELONS AND MONSTERS.\n\n\nIt might form an important matter of inquiry for naturalists, whether the\nfruits appropriated by Providence to certain climates, do not become\nunwholsome when transferred to others by the intervention of art. Certain\nit is, that in various countries of the South, melons constitute an\narticle of national food; whereas, in the North, they pass for one of the\nmost pernicious productions of the vegetable kingdom; being the first\narticle of food interdicted during the prevalence of the cholera.\n\nThe origin of the melon, however, appears very uncertain. Far from being\nindigenous in Italy, it was asserted by the Roman naturalists to have been\nbrought from Africa by Metellus; while others believe it to have been\nderived from their earlier Asiatic conquests. Scipio is said by some to\nhave first introduced it into Rome. From whatever source derived, the\ngardeners of Greece and Rome made the culture of the melon a subject of\nespecial study. Pliny spoke of the delicacy and flavour of the fruit as\nwell as of its indigestibility. It may be observed, however, that in the\nmore ancient bas-reliefs and frescoes of fruit found in Herculaneum, the\nmelon does not appear.\n\nThe modern arts of horticulture have added innumerable varieties of the\nmelon to the round and oblong species known to the Romans; and Godoy, the\nPrince of Peace, devoted himself in Spain to the improvement of this\nfavourite fruit. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that the fine kind\ncalled the Cantalupe, reached us from that country; the name being derived\nfrom the village of Cantalupi near Rome, famous for the cultivation of its\nmelons. In Spain and France, the melon is eaten with roast meat, at\ndinner; in England and Russia, it is eaten with sugar at dessert. By many\npeople the crudeness is qualified with pepper and ginger; but the Bavarian\nmother of the Regent, Duke of Orleans, provoked much criticism in Paris by\npowdering her slice of melon with Spanish snuff, according to the custom\nin some parts of Germany.\n\nA strange object of luxury in the same country consists in snails. A large\nwhite species of snail, much cultivated at Ulm, is sent to various parts\nof Germany. One of the popular errors concerning these snails, is the\nopinion that when decapitated the body will produce a new head.\nSpallanzani and Voltaire tried the experiment on innumerable snails, and\nattest that a head was really reproduced. It is well known that the body\nof a fly will exist some time after being deprived of its head; and that,\non crushing the shell of a snail, the creature is able to repair, by\ndegrees, its shattered dwelling. But in spite of the authority of\nSpallanzani and Voltaire, we have no faith in the power of reproduction of\na second head. Valmont de Bomare, after decapitating fifteen hundred,\ndecided that the opinion was erroneous; and, unwilling to suppose that two\nsuch great authorities had imposed on public credulity, concludes that in\ntheir reluctance to the task, they merely cut off the nose and ears of the\nsensitive snails without effecting a positive decapitation. A fact untrue\nof the snail, however, has been proved as regards several varieties of\npolypi, which are able to reproduce themselves from fragments of a\ndismembered polypus. There is one species of polypus susceptible of being\ncompletely turned inside out, like a glove, without injury to the vital\npower!\n\nTurenne, who wrote a Treatise on the nature of snails, may be called the\nAttila of the species, since he admits having decapitated thousands and\nthousands. He even affects compunction on the subject, after the example\nof the Greek physician, Herophilus, who dissected seven hundred bodies in\nillustration of his anatomical lectures in the theatre of Alexandria.\nTurenne asserts that, if Valmont de Bomare and Adanson found no renovation\nof head in the snails they decapitated, it was because they failed to\nsupply their victims with the food which snails are organized to imbibe\nthrough the pores of their bodies by crawling over vegetable matter, even\nwhen deprived of their heads. He declares that a period of two years is\nindispensable for the reproduction of a head.\n\nThe discoveries of modern navigators have unquestionably added to our\nmenageries a vast variety of animals unknown to the ancients, or known\nonly by hearsay, and esteemed apocryphal. But, on the other hand, various\nanimals with which the ancients pretended to be familiar have wholly\ndisappeared; such as sphinxes and griffins, the phoenix, the salamander,\nthe unicorn, besides many-headed serpents and dragons, which we now\nabandon to the emblazonment of heraldry.\n\nThe most famous dragons of antiquity were those which drew through the air\nthe car of Medea. The philosophic Possidonius--who made war so valiantly\nagainst the gout, which he maintains to be no evil--speaks of a dragon\nwhich covered an acre of ground; and could swallow a knight on horseback\nwith as much ease as the whale did Jonas. This was, however, an\ninsignificant reptile compared with the one discovered in India by St.\nMaximus, Archbishop of Tyre, which covered five acres of ground.\n\nBoth in sacred and profane history, dragons have honourable mention.\nCadmus is related to have destroyed a dragon; the garden of the Hesperides\nwas guarded by a dragon; St. George triumphed over a dragon; and the\nDragon of Wantley has become proverbial in English song. St. Augustin,\nBishop of Hippona, speaks with authority of the existence of dragons;\ndescribing them as winged serpents which conceal themselves in caverns\nduring the day-time, though they occasionally venture forth and rise into\nthe air. From this it was inferred, by early naturalists, that the dragon\nof the ancients was one of the larger serpent tribes, having a\ncartilaginous substance similar to the wings of the bat, or flying-fish,\nattached to its body.\n\nSuetonius declares that the Emperor Tiberius possessed a pet dragon, which\nwas completely tame and used to eat out of his hand; probably an iguano,\nthe sort of lizard which forms a luxurious object of food in the West\nIndies; and which, though perfectly harmless, has a frightful appearance.\nCrinitus records that, in the time of the Emperor Maurice, there was an\ninundation of the Tiber, which left behind it, on the land, an enormous\ndragon. The same writer mentions that the Emperor Augustus kept a\nprodigious dragon in his palace, which he used to lead about with a\nstring. A constellation serves to attest the existence of the dragon of\nLernia.\n\nThe tame dragon of the imperial palace was probably a tame boa-constrictor\nsimilar to the one formerly kept in the library of the late Sir Joseph\nBanks.\n\nVarious are the records in ancient authors of prodigious serpents. Pliny\ndeclares that, in Africa, the army of Regulus was kept in check by an\nenormous serpent; a statement confirmed by Aulus Gellius and other\nhistorians, and admitted by Rollin and Bossuet in their Histoire\nuniverselle, and Histoire ancienne. Follard refutes it in his Commentary\non Polybius; conceiving the fact of a serpent of one hundred and twenty\nfeet keeping at bay a large army and its engines of war to be an insult to\nthe prowess of the Roman warriors. The following is the opinion the\ncelebrated Lac\u00e9p\u00e8de on this subject.\n\n\"Travellers who have penetrated into the interior of Africa,\" says he,\n\"give an account of prodigious serpents, who advance among the bushes and\ntowering reeds of some vast jungle, like a huge beam suddenly endowed with\nmotion. Herds of gazelles and other timid animals take flight on their\napproach; nor can iron penetrate the skin of the monster, which is,\nindeed, appalling when extended to its utmost length, and ravenous after\nfood. The only chance of its extermination is by setting fire to the\nnearest bushes of the jungle; and thus raising, as it were, a rampart of\nfire between you and the gigantic reptile.\n\n\"Such, probably, was the serpent which arrested the progress of the Roman\narmy on the coast of Africa. To compute its length at one hundred and\ntwenty feet, after Pliny, would probably be an exaggeration; but the Roman\nnaturalist adds that its skin remained some time suspended, as a trophy,\nin a temple in Rome. Unless we deny all authenticity to history,\ntherefore, we are bound to believe in the existence of a prodigious\nserpent, which when irritated by hunger, was known to attack the Roman\nsoldiers; and against which, in the sequel, they had successful recourse\nto their engines of war.\"\n\nIn the same manner, a distorted account may hereafter reach posterity of\nthe death of Chuny, the famous elephant, which so long inhabited a\nmenagerie in London; until becoming rabid from the effect of high feeding\nand long confinement, a party of military was called in to despatch the\ninfuriated animal by a discharge of musketry, which was with some\ndifficulty effected.\n\nTo attest the authenticity of the serpent of the time of Regulus, Pliny\nexpressly adds that the tradition is the more credible, because, in former\ntimes, the serpents called boas, frequently found in Italy, were of such\nprodigious size that, during the reign of the Emperor Claudius, so large\na one was found on the Vatican hill, that after its destruction, a child\nwas exhibited entire in its stomach. For many centuries, no boas have been\nfound in Italy; though naturalists accord in asserting them to have\nexisted there in the olden time; just as the kingdom of England, now\nwholly free from the larger beasts of prey, was formerly overrun with\nwolves.\n\nSt. Isidore of Seville discredits the existence of the Lernian hydra;\ninferring from its name that hydra only implied some torrent or lake which\nHercules effectually confined within banks; thus giving rise to the\ntradition of his having crushed it with his club. The traditionary\nmonster, called a gargouille, said to have lived near Rouen, and to have\nswallowed a prodigious number of victims, is now admitted to have been\nsimply a whirlpool in the Seine, destroyed by an alteration in the banks\neffected by St. Romain, when Bishop of that See. The anniversary of this\nevent, regarded as the deliverance of the city from a monster, was\ncelebrated at Rouen till the period of the first Revolution; a prisoner\nbeing annually delivered by the city on the Festival of St. Romain in\nhonour of the miracle. The gargouille or whirlpool, of Rouen, was but a\nmodern edition of the hydra.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTHE JEWS.\n\n\nWe have already alluded incidentally to the Jews. But the children of\nIsrael have been too long and too perseveringly an object of persecution\nto all Christian nations, not to demand a more extended consideration.\n\nMankind, in the present age, though scarcely less disposed than of old to\nexercise the tyrannical influence of the strong over the weak, appear to\nhave substituted political for religious animosities; and the war of sects\nhas been converted into the feuds of parties. The days of the fagot and\nthe pile are happily at an end; and instead of martyrs, sacrificed in the\nname of religion, the victim is forced to exclaim on the scaffold: \"Oh,\nliberty! in thy name, how many crimes are committed!\" The number of human\nvictims sacrificed to religious intolerance in the various countries of\nthe world, would, however, afford grounds for a fearful computation.\n\nThe very existence of the Jews may be regarded as among the miracles of\nthe Christian religion. A wandering nation, without King, without country,\nwithout secular laws, maintained together only by the strength of a common\nworship, could never have resisted the persecutions and proscriptions of\ncenturies, but for the intervention of the chastening hand of God. Even in\nthe countries where their existence is the happiest, stigmatized by public\ndetestation, and in highly Catholic nations treated as lepers, as parias,\nas infected sheep--condemned to the hardest, and most ignominious\ntasks--beaten, spat upon, despoiled, plundered, tortured, massacred--a\nprey to the cupidity of the great, and the brutality of the little--such\nis the history of the Jews from the days of Titus to the present time.\nNevertheless, they not only subsist, but flourish, in spite of the\nuniversal prejudice against the name; maintaining unchanged, their laws,\ncustoms, usages, and even physiognomy. The abhorrence with which they are\nregarded by other nations, has necessitated intermarriages from generation\nto generation, which serve to maintain the pure identity of the race.\n\nThe Romans not only detested the Jews for the same motive which produced\ntheir hatred of the Christians, namely--the impossibility of converting\nthem to the worship of the false Gods of Paganism, but confounded Jews and\nChristians together in a common persecution. Yet this equality before the\ntribunals and executioners of the Emperors and Pro-Consuls of Rome, never\navailed to diminish the mutual hatred subsisting between them. No\namalgamation was possible between them, even amid the flames of a funeral\npile. Nero, on one occasion, attempted to illuminate Rome by means of Jews\nsteeped in resinous matter, and thus committed to the flames.\n\nNo sooner had the Christians obtained supreme power, than they began, in\ntheir turn, to inflict upon the remnant of Israel all the persecutions\nthey had themselves sustained at the hands of the Romans. The Jews were\ncompelled to wear a cap surmounted by horns, to show that they were\npre-destined to eternal punishment; and in a Council held at the Lateran,\nat the commencement of the thirteenth century, they were forced to adopt\nfor robes, stuff of a yellow colour, bearing the representation of a wheel\nor rack. During Passion Week, and at Easter, it was lawful to attack them\nwith any degree of ferocity. In many cities, it was the custom to inflict\ncorporeal punishment on a Jew publicly, every Good Friday, before the\ngreat door of the Cathedral; in some, a positive crucifixion took place!\n\nEight times have the Jews been driven out of France. Dagobert enjoined\nthem to embrace Christianity, on pain of banishment; Robert the Pious\nissued the same edict; Philip Augustus, after crucifying several at Bray\nsur Seine, caused all their synagogues to be burned, seized their\npossessions, released their creditors, appropriated to himself a fifth of\ntheir substance, and the remainder to landholders of adjoining estates.\nPhilippe le Bel dismissed them the kingdom, leaving them only the funds\nindispensable for the journey. Nevertheless they returned, to be again\nexiled by Charles VI. Under Louis XIII, was issued a new edict of\nbanishment. It was only under Louis XVI, one of the most humane of Kings,\nthat the Jews were restored to rights of citizenship in France. Nor was\ntheir condition better, at the same epochs, in Great Britain and other\nadjacent countries.\n\nA singular chance directed the attention of Napoleon to the condition of\nthe Jews. A representation of Racine's \"Esther\" was given one night at the\nOpera for a benefit; and the following morning, Talma happening to\nbreakfast with the Emperor, the conversation turned on the performance of\nthe night before. As they were discussing the character of Mardoch\u00e9e,\nChampagny, afterwards Duc de Cadore, made his appearance, who was at that\ntime Minister of the Interior. Napoleon instantly began interrogating him\nconcerning the position and resources of the Jews in France; and desired\nthat a report might be drawn up on the subject, and speedily submitted to\nhim.\n\nChampagny lost no time in obeying; and the results of this accidental\ncircumstance was the removal of the civil disabilities of the Jews.\n\nThe prejudice, however, attached for so many years to the remnant of\nIsrael, is far from extirpated; and though in more than one country of\nEurope, the honours of chivalry have been bestowed upon wealthy Jews,\ninfluential in the financial operations of the kingdom, and consequently\nin its politics, the popular feeling against them is unchanged. It is even\ncarried to a most unreasonable degree; and the Jews are reproached with\nthe very pursuits and professions forced upon their adoption by Christian\npersecution. Commercial speculations were of course the sole resource of a\npeople without country, and without protection; and though we are indebted\nto them for the useful financial substitute of bills of exchange, we use\nthe name of Jew almost synonymously with that of extortioner, without\nregard to their commercial importance and utility.\n\nThe emancipation accorded them in France, was given chiefly for\nconsiderations developed ten years before by Monsieur de Clermont\nTonnerre, and other celebrated orators before the National Assembly.\n\n\"The Code of Moses,\" argued they, \"is conceived in a twofold spirit--a\nreligious, and a legislative. The political laws which it contains, have\nceased to be important--being only applicable to a nation nationally\ncombined and organized; whereas the Jews are a scattered and wandering\ntribe, rather than a nation. The religious laws are a case of conscience;\nserving to enlighten the spirit, and guide the social morality of the\nchildren of Israel. From the period of the destruction of the Temple, the\nJews have politically ceased to exist; and these religious laws may be\nsaid to operate in France, upon Frenchmen of the Jewish persuasion; in\nPoland, upon Poles of the Jewish persuasion; in Germany, upon Germans of\nthe Jewish persuasion, and so forth.\"\n\nUpon this showing, civil rights were conceded to them in France, on\ncondition of their contributing their quota to the maintenance of the laws\nand Government of the country in which they were naturalized.\n\nTill this epoch, a prejudice had prevailed in France that it was an\narticle of faith and duty among the Jews, to deceive and defraud a\nChristian whenever it lay in their power; and that they were bound, from\nthe moment of their birth, by the Jewish law, to a strong animosity\ntowards us Christian people. Horrible rumours have been revived, at\ndifferent times, in different countries, of secret sacrifices of the Jews,\nin which the blood of a Christian was a necessary component.\n\nThese questions were openly met and discussed in a manly and temperate\nmanner, in the great Sanhedrim, composed of the highest and most\nenlightened Jewish authorities; when a peremptory denial was established\nto all these injurious charges. Prejudices nearly as absurd, and quite as\ngroundless formerly existed in England against the Catholics; the removal\nof their civil disabilities being equally the result of the progress of\npublic enlightenment.\n\nAs regards the question of usury so often imputed to the Jews, experience\nhas proved of late years, that the most notorious extortioners of this\ndescription are of the Christian faith; and it is a question of ethics to\ninquire whether there be greater turpitude in openly demanding an interest\nof thirty per cent for a loan of money, or in obtaining the same profit by\nsale or barter of commodities. A considerable number of tradesmen who\npride themselves upon their strict integrity, require a much higher ratio\nof profit than the per centage of the money-lending Jews; nor is it\nnecessary to remind the reader that some of the most eminent bankers in\nEurope, renowned equally for their probity and liberality, are of the\nJewish persuasion.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nVERBAL DELICACY.\n\n\nThere are certain words which appear to offend public delicacy more than\nthe very objects they designate; till it might almost be inferred that all\nthe sensitiveness of human nature had concentrated itself in the ear. The\nstudy of ancient and modern languages will attest the truth of this\nassertion; for many things are to be learned in a vocabulary besides the\nidiom it pretends to teach.\n\nThe stern Romans, for instance, who affected so stoical a disregard of\ndeath, would not allow the word to be pronounced in their presence; though\nthe lives of their children was by the law placed at their mercy. Their\nsense of delicacy would have been offended had it been mentioned before\nthem that such a one was \"dead.\" It was necessary to say, \"he hath lived.\"\nIn the noble defence of Milo, by Cicero, he dared not qualify by the\nappropriate word the act of assassination committed by the slaves of his\nclient; but declared by periphrasis that under these circumstances, \"the\nslaves of Milo did what it became them to do.\"\n\nTo the title of King, the Romans had vowed an eternal hatred, created by\nthe traditionary opprobrium of the Tarquins, and their contempt of the\ninnumerable Kings subjected to their arms, and dragged behind their\ntriumphal cars. But when C\u00e6sar proclaimed himself Emperor, and assumed a\nmore sovereign power than the history of nations had as yet recorded, the\nRoman people applauded the kingly office presented to them under any other\nthan the name abhorred. The same circumstance occurred in France at the\ncommencement of the present century. The French, after devoting themselves\nto the extermination of Kings, hailed with delight the coronation of an\nEmperor; though to proclaim himself \"King\" would have ensured the\npremature downfall of Napoleon.\n\nOf late years, the ears of the world have become more than ever chaste and\nrefined; and certain words freely used by Shakspeare, in presence of the\nCourt of the Virgin Queen, and by Moli\u00e8re, in presence of that of the most\ndignified of European monarchs, are now utterly proscribed, and expunged\nfrom the modern stage. The fluctuations of opinion on these points, are\nhighly diverting. Dean Swift relates that, in his early days, the word\n\"whiskers\" could not be mentioned in a lady's presence; a fact we should\nbe inclined to class among the ingenious fictions of the Dean of St.\nPatrick; but that at the present day, that rational nation, the Americans,\nhave not courage to pronounce the word leg, even in talking of the limb of\na table or of a partridge. The false delicacy of the English takes refuge\nin a foreign language. All such articles of dress or furniture as are held\nof a nature unmentionable to ears polite, are named in French; as if the\nword _chemise_ were a less explicit designation of an indispensable under\ngarment than the matter of fact word shift! All this is contemptible\nhyprocrisy, and a silly compromise with common sense. Such an abbreviation\nas crim. con. conveys fully as indelicate an allusion as the same words\nwritten and pronounced in full.\n\nThe author of the School for Scandal objected to so great a variety of\nwords as coarse and indelicate from female lips, that there sometimes\nexisted a difficulty in narrating to him the ordinary events of life.\n\nOn the other hand, it is surprising how much may be effected by a change\nof name with those whose ears are more impressionable than their\nunderstanding. The French had signified pretty loudly at the revolution\ntheir national opposition to a conscription, and to the _droits r\u00e9unis_.\nAgainst these exercises of administrative tyranny, they were prepared to\nbreak into rebellion. Instead, however, of arguing with their pertinacity,\nthe Government wisely applauded it; substituting for a conscription, the\nrecruiting system, and for the _droits r\u00e9unis_ the _contributions\nindirectes_. We should be glad if any one would point out to us what was\nchanged in these two important departments of public service, besides the\nname? This paltering, in a double sense, reminds us of the story of a\nFrenchman, who was examining a library with persons more enlightened than\nhimself. \"Ah! there are the works of my friend, Cicero,\" cried he.\n\"_Cic\u00e9ron, c'est le m\u00eame que Marc-Tulle._\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nAEROLITES AND MIRACULOUS SHOWERS.\n\n\nThe fall of a\u00ebrolites, often termed by the vulgar a shower of stones, is\neither more frequent than in days of yore, or attracts more general\nattention.\n\nThe record of similar phenomena has, however, been handed down to us by\nthe ancients; for we are told of a shower of stones which, in the days of\nTullus Hostilius, fell upon the city immediately after the ruin of Alba.\n\n\"While the Senate was occupied in its deliberations,\" says Livy, \"a shower\nof stones fell from Heaven upon the Alban Mount. The Prince, astonished at\nthe report of such a phenomenon, sent to ascertain the truth, and found\nthat a shower of pebbles had really fallen, similar to hailstones.\"\n\nBefore the time of the Romans, the Greeks had witnessed similar phenomena.\nIn the Thracian Chersonesus there fell a huge greyish stone, which excited\nthe greatest consternation.\n\nA stone existed in Rome known as the stone of the Mother of the Gods,\nwhich had originally fallen from the sky, like that of the Thracian\nChersonesus. It fell at Pessinuntum, in Phrygia, where the priests held it\nin great veneration. The oracle at Rome having given out that the fortunes\nof the Republic were secure if it could possess itself of this inestimable\ntreasure, the Senate sent an embassy into Phrygia by Scipio Nasica, who\nenlarged upon the ties existing between the Phrygians and Romans through\n\u00c6neas; and skilfully setting forth the power of Rome and the protection\nshe was able to concede to the Pessinuntians, the priests gave up the\nsacred stone. It was immediately carried in procession to Rome, exposed to\npublic view, and an annual festival instituted in its honour.\n\nA similar stone, which stood near the Temple of Delphos, was equally\nvenerated, and endowed with a still more marvellous origin; being supposed\nto issue from the belly of Saturn, the God of the stone eaters. Tradition\nrecorded that Saturn, having swallowed it, and found it difficult of\ndigestion, threw it up again, when it fell in Greece. Upon this point,\nPausanias and Nonnus concur with the tradition.\n\nIn the sixteenth century, a descent of stones took place on Mount Lebanon,\naccompanied by a luminous globe. Various other instances might be cited\nfrom the ancients; but these may suffice to establish proof of identity\nbetween the modern and ancient phenomena. In most instances, they have\nbeen supposed to be of divine origin and of ominous nature. Damascius\nmentions that a physician of his day, named Eusebius, carried one about\nhis person, which conduced greatly to the relief of his patients.\n\nIn the sixteenth century, it is stated that there fell near the Adda, in\nItaly, nearly twelve hundred stones, one of which weighed one hundred, and\nanother sixty pounds. True is it that Cardan makes the assertion, which is\ntherefore doubtful. But Gassendi, who is deserving of credit, states that\non the 27th of November, 1627, with a clear atmosphere, at ten A.M., he\nsaw a luminous stone, about four feet in diameter, descend from Heaven\nupon Mount Vaisian. It was enveloped in a luminous circle of various\ncolours, and passed at a hundred paces from two men, who estimated its\nelevation at thirty-six feet. It gave out a hissing noise like a rocket,\naccompanied with a smell of sulphur, and fell two hundred feet from the\nspectators, plunging itself three feet into the soil. It was of a metallic\nhue, and weighed fifty-four pounds; and is still to be seen at Aix, in\nProvence. The largest ever known, fell at Ensisheim, in Alsace, in 1492;\nits weight being near three hundred pounds. In the Abb\u00e9 Richard's Natural\nHistory of the Air, there is a description of a fall of stones which\ntook place in 1768, in Maine; from which we extract the following passage:\n\n\"During a hurricane that took place near the Ch\u00e2teau of Luc\u00e9, in the\nProvince of Maine, a clap of thunder was heard, followed by a noise\nsimilar to the roar of a wild beast; which was audible for many leagues\nround. Some persons in the parish of P\u00e9rign\u00e9 thought they perceived a\ndense body fall with great velocity into a meadow near the high road to\nMans; and on hurrying to the spot, found the stone imbedded in the ground.\nAt first, it was hot; but soon cooling, they were enabled to examine it at\nleisure. It weighed seven pounds and a half, and was in form triangular;\nor rather it had three protuberances, of which the one plunged in the\nearth was grey, and the two others black. A fragment being submitted to\nthe examination of the Royal Academy of Sciences, for analysis, they\npronounced it neither to originate in thunder, nor to have fallen from the\nskies, nor to be composed of mineral particles fused by the action of the\nelectric fluid; but a species of pyrites, giving out a smell of sulphur\nduring its solution. One hundred grains of this substance yielded, upon\nanalysis, eight grains and a half of sulphur, thirty-six of iron, and\nfifty-five and a half of vitrifiable earth.\" The evidence of science,\nhowever, seldom reaches the ear of the vulgar; and it would be difficult\nto persuade the populace that a\u00ebrolites do not fall from the sky.\n\nAristotle, in mentioning the stone that fell in Thrace, rejects the idea\nof its coming from the heavens; and Pliny confesses that most naturalists\nare of the same opinion. This was a step towards the extinction of a\npopular error. Fr\u00e9ret denies the existence of atmospheric stones, and\ndeclares them to be volcanic emissions driven by the force of the winds.\nHe supposes Mount Albano to have been formerly a volcano; and that the\nstones that fell must have issued from a re-opening of the crater.\nFalconet, the sculptor, wrote a volume to prove that Pliny was in error\nconcerning atmospheric stones. While the learned world was thus at\nvariance, the multitude was justified in asserting them to fall from the\nmoon, since men of science were unable to prove the contrary.\n\nOn the 26th of April, 1803, there fell a vast number of atmospheric stones\nat Aigle, in the department of Orne. The peasants of the place, thinking\nit was the end of the world, fell on their knees invoking divine mercy;\nand even their betters shared their alarm. This phenomenon happened most\nopportunely, as the world of science, both in Paris and London, was just\nthen discussing similar occurrences which had taken place in India and\nProvence; and after most diligent inquiry, the Institute resolved to\ndespatch one of its members to the spot. Monsieur Biot, an enthusiast in\nthe cause of science, arrived on the spot on the 16th of July, and\ncollected the following facts.\n\n\"About one o'clock, P.M., the sky being calm, with only a few greyish\nclouds above the horizon, which did not diminish the fineness of the\nweather, a luminous globe was seen, from Caen, from Pont Audemer, from the\nvicinity of Alen\u00e7on, Falaise, and Verneuil, rushing with great velocity\nthrough the atmosphere; and immediately afterwards, a violent explosion\nwas heard at Aigle and thirty leagues round; lasting six minutes, and\nresembling a discharge of artillery followed by that of musketry, and\nterminating as with a roll of drums.\n\n\"A small cloud of rectangular form seemed to have been the origin of all\nthis terrible noise; the broader side of which was towards the west. It\nappeared to be motionless throughout the phenomenon; vapours being emitted\nafter each discharge. The cloud was very high in the air. The inhabitants\nof two villages, situated a league asunder, perceived it as if exactly\nsuspended above their heads. A hissing noise, similar to a stone hurled\nfrom a sling, was heard wherever it hovered; and at the same time,\nnumerous solid bodies fell, which being collected, proved to be meteoric\nstones.\n\n\"When tested, they were found to contain sulphur, iron in the metallic\nstate, magnesia and nickel; which, in the mineral kingdom have no\nanalogy.\"\n\nMonsieur Biot also stated that the direction of the meteor was precisely\nthat of the magnetic meridian; an important remark, as a guide for future\nobservations. The great point gained in this inquiry, is that the highest\norder of science, agreeing with the earliest professors, adopts what by\nprogressive science was denied.\n\nThe fact of showers of stones being established, all that remains to be\nproved is their origin. Some still assert that they fall from the moon;\nothers attribute them to volcanos. Neither fact can be proved; and the\ndescent of a\u00ebrolites at present remains a mystery.\n\nOne phenomenon often succeeds another; and shortly after the fall of\nstones at Aigle, a shower of peas took place in Spain, and the kingdom of\nLeon. This last phenomenon occurred in the month of May of the same year;\nand, in Spain, fifteen quintals of an unknown seed were collected after a\nviolent storm; being round in form, white in colour, less than peas in\nsize, and resembling no known seed. They seemed, however, to belong to the\nleguminous family of plants. Cavanilla, the botanist, analized them\nwithout being able to determine their class. These productions, at least,\ncould neither be supposed to come from the moon, nor to have a volcanic\norigin. Some of the seeds were sown in the Botanic Garden of Madrid, but\nwithout result. This is, however, by no means a solitary instance of a\nmiraculous shower.\n\nPliny, Livy, Solinus, and Julius Obsequius have recorded showers of blood,\nmilk, wool, money, and pieces of flesh! Those authors make frequent\nmention of such occurrences; dupes, no doubt, to the traditions of the\nancients. Lamothe Levayer, however, surpasses them all, and mentions the\nfall of a man from the sky. Unless from a balloon, or the scaffolding of\nsome lofty building, we must be permitted to doubt; though he may,\nperhaps, allude to some individual carried up by the force of a whirlwind;\nfor in the autumn of 1812, on the road to Genoa, a mule was raised up by\nthe wind, sustained during thirty seconds in the air, then disappeared in\na ravine, where it probably perished.\n\nIf we deny the existence of showers of blood, we must admit that there\nhave been phenomena such as to justify impostors in propagating such\ndelusions. During the Siege of Genoa, in 1774, there fell a red rain upon\nthe suburb of San Pietro d'Arena, which caused much consternation among\nthe inhabitants; the wind having carried up a quantity of red earth, which\nproved the cause of general alarm. A similar phenomenon took place, near\nHermanstadt, in Transylvania.\n\n\"On the 17th of May, 1810,\" says a German journal, \"there was a rain of\nblood which lasted a quarter of an hour, accompanied by a violent storm,\nand gusts of wind towards the south-west. Being collected on the spot by a\nphysician, and submitted to the chemical tests of sulphurated nitrous,\nmuriatic acid, acetate of lead, lime water, mercury, and saponaceous\nspirit, it exhibited neither precipitation, nor loss of colour. Tested\nwith a solution of alum and fixed alkali, the precipitate induced a belief\nthat the colouring matter of this strange rain pertained to the vegetable\nkingdom.\n\nTo elucidate the mystery of the rain at Hermanstadt, it sufficed to\ninquire in what point was the wind. For on examining the localities in the\nsouthwesterly direction, the hills proved to be clothed with fir, in\nbloom, and the rain of blood was instantly explained. For in the North of\nEurope rains of a reddish yellow, impregnated with the bloom of the fir,\nconstantly occur.\n\nIn 1608, the walls of Aix in Provence were covered with red spots, which\nthe people conceived to be blood. But Peiresc, a man of profound science,\nundeceived them by proving them to be the spots left by a species of\nbutterfly on emerging from its crysalis; the number having been immense\nthat year at Aix.\n\nTill balloons and other a\u00ebrial carriages are used as engines of warfare,\nwe despair of having to record an authentic shower of blood, or any other\nthan common place hail, rain, and snow. There is an instance of a shower\nof money, or rather of false coinage, mentioned by Dion Cassius; who\nstates that a certain rain turned copper white, assigning to it the hue of\nsilver, which lasted for three days. This is far from miraculous; as it\nrequires only a portion of volatilized mercury to mingle with the rain, as\nin the instance of the fir bloom, to produce such an effect.\n\nShowers of milk are explained by cretaceous matter carried into the air by\nwhirlwinds. The shreds of human flesh we read of are the red fragments\nvomited by volcanoes; while showers of wool consist of the down of certain\ntrees, such as willows and osiers. Showers of cinders are of course the\nresult of volcanic eruption. The wind conveys them a prodigious distance;\nfor when Herculaneum and Pompeii were imbedded in lava, the ashes fell at\nRome, and even in Africa.\n\nAbout a century ago, the deck of a vessel sailing from Marseilles to\nMartinique was covered with ashes some inches deep, which were known to\nproceed from an earthquake in the Island of St. Vincent. No other cause\ncould be assigned, though the vessel was one hundred leagues from the\nisland. The velocity of a cannon-ball or shell has been calculated; but\nthat of the wind, like the origin of the meteoric stones, remains a\nproblem.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nNOSTRUMS AND SPECIFICS.\n\n\nThe title of \"Talisman\" might be fairly prefixed to this chapter; but we\nwill content ourselves with the word nostrum. Considering the number of\nthese specifics, and the blind confidence of the world in their efficacy,\nthe credulous must be surprised at the ailments which still afflict\nhumanity. Previous to the introduction of quinine, the ague was supposed\nto be cured by dipping in three holy waters, in three different churches,\non the same Sunday; a difficult remedy for people residing where there is\nonly one church! A variety of charms for the ague are still in popular\nuse.\n\nUnsuccessful gamesters used formerly to make a knot in their linen; of\nlate years they have contented themselves with changing their chair as a\nremedy against ill-luck. As a security against cowardice, it was once only\nnecessary to wear a pin plucked from the winding sheet of a corpse. To\ninsure a prosperous accouchement to your wife, you had but to tie her\ngirdle to a bell and ring it three times. To get rid of warts, you were to\nfold up in a rag as many peas as you had warts, and throw them upon the\nhigh road; when the unlucky person who picked them up became your\nsubstitute. In the present day, to cure a tooth-ache, you go to your\ndentist. In the olden time you would have solicited alms in honour of St.\nLawrence, and been relieved without cost or pain.\n\nThe greater number of these charms or remedies were not resorted to by the\nmultitude alone, but recommended by Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus. In the\ntreaty on superstitions by the learned Cur\u00e9, Thiers, these remedies are\nrecorded; being about as effective as the talismans of the ancients,\nincluding the famed Palladium of Troy.\n\nRome had faith in celestial bucklers, and the stone of the Mother of the\nGods. Virgil was skilled in the composition of talismans; a brazen fly\nattributed to him attained more celebrity in his time than the immortal\n\"Georgics.\" This fly being suspended from one of the gates of Naples, the\ncharm proved so effective, that not a fly entered that city for a space of\neight years. A trumpet held by a statue, also invented by Virgil,\npossessed the power of laying the dust in his garden!\n\nGregory of Tours mentions that the city of Paris was secured from rats,\nsnakes, and fires, during a long period by means of a rat, a snake, and\ndormouse of brass, which were destroyed by the Vandals. Pliny suggests\nthat Milo of Crotona was indebted for his prodigious strength to a\ntalisman, as we know that of Samson to have lain in his hair. The Egyptian\nwarriors wore figures of scarabs, in order to fortify their courage; and\nDr. Hufeland informs us that a German army having been defeated by the\nFrench in the olden time, talismans were found upon the bodies of the dead\nand wounded.\n\nAmong the first talismans was that mentioned by Suidas as worn by the\nKings of Egypt to endow them with the love of justice. Pericles was proud\nof wearing a talisman presented to him by the Grecian ladies. Macrobus\nrelates that the victors in the public games used to procure themselves\nlittle boxes, in which mathematicians had inclosed preservatives against\nenvy; while Thiers informs us that an illustrious astrologer invented a\ntalisman for intercepting the approach of flies to a house; when to his\nhorror, no sooner was it suspended, than a fly, more daring than the rest,\ndeposed a contemptuous mark of disregard upon the charm. The absurdity of\nthese inventions, it is needless to assert; but let us consider the\nsubject of the ancient talismans simply as subjects only of curiosity.\n\nTalismans were cast in metal melted under the influence of a\nconstellation communicating some specific virtue. Amulets, talismans of a\nsecondary order, but equally efficacious, were formed of plants, figures\ndesigned on ivory, metals, or precious stones. Such designs were called\n\"_gamahez_\"--whence the word \"_cameo_;\"--and were preservatives against\nfever, rheumatism, gout, tooth-ache, paralysis, apoplexy, cold, and other\ndiseases. The Platonists were great champions of amulets and talismans.\nGaffard wrote a treatise in assertion of their efficacy, and to defend\nthem against the imputation of magic. Not many years ago, the ladies of\nParis used to wear iron rings, manufactured by the celebrated locksmith,\nGeorget, which, like the galvanic rings now in fashion, were considered a\nguarantee against the headache. A few uneradicated roots of popular\nprejudice will always remain to produce a new crop.\n\nHow were simple mortals to suppose themselves in error when following such\nexamples as Cato, Varro, and Julius C\u00e6sar? The two first conceived that no\nevil could overtake them so long as they made use of certain mysterious\nwords; and C\u00e6sar, after falling out of his chariot, would not resume his\nplace till he had recited certain words to which he attributed the virtue\nof warding off falls.\n\nFather Thiers relates that, in his time, the Benedictines of Germany and\nFrance pretended to possess medals which protected them and their cattle\nfrom accidents, sorcery, and witchcraft. According to his version, about\nthe year 1647, there was a vigorous crusade against sorcery, and many\nmagicians were executed. At Straubing, several declared, when legally\nexamined, that their maledictions were of no effect upon either the cattle\nor inhabitants of the Castle of Nattemberg, in which were deposited\ncertain medals of St. Benedict, of which they gave the precise\ndescription. A certain number of initials were inscribed upon them, which\nbeing filled up with Latin words, signified \"Divine cross, guide my steps,\nbanish Satan, cease to tempt me, I know thy poisons, and will eschew\nthem.\" No sooner did the monks hear of this discovery than they began\ncasting medals of a peculiar kind, which soon abounded in Germany.\n\nThe French Benedictines became equally zealous; and having struck a\nsimilar medal, published that it contained a charm against witchcraft and\ndisease, and was a guarantee against all ailings of man or beast; the\nformer requiring only to carry them in their pockets, the latter suspended\nbell-fashion from their necks.\n\nFather Thiers so far from accrediting the efficacy of these medals,\ndeclares that the French Benedictines ought to be too enlightened to\nencourage such absurdities. But whether in good or bad faith, certain it\nis that they made a speculation of trading with the medals. Thiers also\ntreats as impostors the curers of burns, and preventers of fire, who\npretend to disregard the danger of fire arms. According to a popular\ntradition, a burn was cured by saying: \"Fire lose thy heat, as Judas did\nhis colour when he betrayed the Lord.\" A chimney on fire was extinguished\nby making three crosses upon the chimney-piece. Any fire was quickly\nsubdued by throwing an egg into the flames, which had been laid on the\nThursday, or Friday of Holy Week, during the celebration of divine\nservice. No fire arms availed against a person repeating thrice, \"Malatus\ndives fulgiter regissa,\" or wearing a band with a mystical inscription,\nevery letter being separated by a cross. The learned father declares such\npractices to be absurd, and relates the following anecdote.\n\n\"An old woman of Louvain, who had an affection of the eyes was assured she\nhad only to pronounce a few mysterious words to be cured. She instantly\naddressed a young scholar of the University, offering to present him with\na new coat if he would write the words she dictated to him. The youth\nconsented, and seemed to write as she dictated. But on delivering to her\nthe sealed document, he enjoined her not to open it till she was cured, on\nwhich she presented him the new coat and withdrew. Shortly afterwards,\nher eyes being recovered, she confided her secret to a neighbour suffering\nfrom the same affliction; who taking the mysterious paper into her care,\nreceived the same benefit. Enchanted by their good fortune, they\ndetermined to know the secret, and broke the seal of the document; which\nwas found to contain the following phrase, which the youth had maliciously\ninserted. 'May the devil tear out thine eyes, old witch, and fill up the\nsockets with burning embers.'\"\n\nIn the beginning of the last century, there were individuals who professed\nto have a powder which extinguished fire. This was contained in a barrel,\nand thrown into the flames. The barrel was in fact double, the external\none being full of water, the internal charged with gunpowder sufficient to\ncause an explosion; and the water so dispersed, of course, extinguished\nthe fire, if inconsiderable. Had the authors of this invention not kept it\nsecret, we might have respected them; for though it produced no great\nresult, an idea though only half conceived may be the forerunner of more\nimportant discoveries. Attempts have been made of late years to guarantee\nthatched roofs against fire, by impregnating them with a preparation of\nwhich we know not the composition. The success, though not complete,\nshould not be discouraged; for repeated experiments may be finally\nsuccessful. Flowers of sulphur are often employed for the extinction of\nfires in chimnies, possessing properties which render the action of fire\nless intense.\n\nHowever absurd the miraculous virtues attributed to talismans and amulets,\nin some cases, the security they inspire may be of use to those who have\nfaith in their power. Imagination counts for something in the moral\norganisation of man; and through the constant action and reaction of the\none on the other, the body may be at times advantageously soothed by the\nserenity conferred on the mind through the influence of the fancy.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nPHYSIOGNOMISTS.\n\n\nThe world and its inhabitants are still exposed to a variety of grievous\nafflictions and visitations in spite of the infallible nostrums for\npreventing them, in general use; which appears surprising when we consider\nthe number of able scientific men constantly devoted to the study of our\nphysical nature, and the plausible novel theories which they every now and\nthen unfold to the world. Let those who devote themselves to the study of\nphysiological science persevere in their researches; which if not valuable\nto others are at least amusing to themselves. According to the Abb\u00e9\nCottin's line,\n\n  \"The pleasure is to learn and not to know.\"\n\nBetween the successive systems of Lavater and Gall, we give the decided\npreference to the latter; the studies and experiments upon which are\nfounded on principles equally applicable to all human beings, whatever\ntheir condition, sex, age, or habits; whether belonging to an\nuncultivated or civilised state; while all other systems for promoting the\nknowledge of human character, gravitate in a sphere more or less\nexceptional; so that the application could never become general. An\neminent magistrate used to pretend that he could capitally convict a man\nby a sight of his handwriting; and many people affect to pronounce upon\nthe shades and variations of human character on a similar indication.\n\nConsidering the number of persons ignorant of the calligraphic art, we\nalmost prefer the system of the barber of Picard, who needed only to shave\na man to judge of his disposition!\n\nAll the inferential systems that now command our attention were subjects\nof contemplation to the ancients. Human physiognomy, above all, must have\never presented a subject of powerful interest. It is a daily object of\nreflection to all men, though unperceived by ourselves. A countenance\npleases or displeases us at first sight; yet we know not whether it be\nbeauty that charms, or the want of it that repels us. A face which charms\none man, disgusts another. Such a person is said to have a happy\ncountenance, such another, an unhappy one, on which the former may be\nfelicitated, the latter pitied; but it is most unfair to deduce from such\nevidence the existence of good qualities in the one, or vices and defects\nin the other. Such, however, is the elementary study of Physiognomy, and\nsuch the delusion which our antipathies often create.\n\nDimension and proportion first attracted the attention of the\nphilosophers. Aristotle compares a man whose head possesses extraordinary\nvolume to an owl; while Albertus Magnus looks upon him as an idiot; and\nthe physician, Porta, significantly informs us that Vitellius had an\nimmense head. If, on the contrary, a man possess a cerebrum of the usual\ncircumference, but exceeding by a little the volume of ordinary heads, the\nsame authors regard him as a man of superior intelligence, endowed with a\nnoble soul, a brilliant and fertile imagination; and, as an example,\nadduce the head of Plato which exceeded in proportion the remainder of his\nbody. Alexander the Great had a small head, compared even with his person,\nwhich as is well known was diminutive.\n\nThe quality and colour of the hair was likewise a subject of speculative\ntheory for the ancients. Lank hair was considered indicative of\npusillanimity and cowardice; yet the head of Napoleon was guiltless of a\ncurl! Frizzly hair was thought an indication of coarseness and clumsiness.\nThe hair most in esteem, was that terminating in ringlets. Dares, the\nhistorian, states that Achilles and Ajax Telamon had curling locks; such\nalso was the hair of Cymon, the Athenian. As to the Emperor Augustus,\nnature had favoured him with such redundant looks, that no hair-dresser\nin Rome could produce the like. Auburn or light brown hair was thought the\nmost distinguished, as portending intelligence, industry, a peaceful\ndisposition, as well as great susceptibility to the tender passion. Castor\nand Pollux had brown hair; so also had Menelaus. Black hair does not\nappear to have been esteemed by the Romans; but red was an object of\naversion. Ages before the time of Judas, red hair was thought a mark of\nreprobation, both in the case of Typhon, who deprived his brother of the\nsceptre of Egypt, and Nebuchednezzar who acquired it in expiation of his\natrocities. Even the donkey tribe suffered from this ill-omened\nvisitation, according to the proverb of \"wicked as a red ass.\" Asses of\nthat colour were held in such detestation among the Copths, that every\nyear they sacrificed one by hurling it from a high wall.\n\nNext in importance to the hair, were the ears; the size and shape of which\nharmless cartilages, supplied important conjectures. According to\nAristotle, large ears are indicative of imbecility; while small ones\nannounce madness. Ears which are flat, point out the rustic and brutal\nman. Those of the fairest promise, are firm and of middling size. Happy\nthe man who boasts of square ears; a sure indication of sublimity of soul\nand purity of life. Such, according to Suetonius, were the ears of the\nEmperor Augustus.\n\nHaving considered the conformation of the head, the colour and quality of\nthe hair, and the shape of the ears, let us treat of the complexion; of\nwhich the most unfavourable is the yellow, livid, or leaden, like those of\nCaligula, Attila, and the most notorious tyrants of the olden time. The\neyes should neither be too large nor too little; the first announcing\nlaziness, like those of the ox. Such were the eyes of Domitian, the\nvainest, most inert, and cowardly of men. Upon this point, Aristotle is at\ncomplete variance with Homer; who is so enraptured with large eyes, that,\nin order to define the beauty of those of Juno, he names her _Boopis_ or\n\"ox-eyed.\" Neither large nor small eyes afford proof of intellect; and no\nperson who is not afflicted with squinting has any right to complain.\n\nIt is usual to consider large eyes the finest, a prejudice so universal,\nthat it is commonly said, \"She is ugly, certainly; but then she has such\nfine eyes!\"--or, \"She is a pretty woman; but her eyes are too small.\"\nWhereas neither form nor dimension constitutes the beauty or influence of\neyes; but rather their expression. The colour of eyes is a mere matter of\ntaste; though Aristotle asserts that persons gifted with almond shaped\nblue eyes, are frank and intelligent; with brown, clever and good; with\ngreen, courageous and enterprising. As to black eyes, Aristotle pronounces\nthem to be the sure prognostics of timidity and pusillanimity. Red eyes\nare indicative of bad temper. The gossips of France have quite as good a\ntheory as that of Aristotle; viz: that \"Les yeux bleus vont aux cieux; les\nyeux gris, en Paradis; les yeux noirs, en purgatoire, les yeux verts, en\nenfer!\"\n\nBushy eyebrows are indicative of a brutal obstinate and impious character;\nlong eyebrows, of arrogance, and insolence; spare eyebrows, of effeminacy\nand cowardice. But if they are thick, flexible, and parallel, you may rely\non a sound judgment and superior wisdom. Such are ever the brows of\nJupiter; attesting the theory of Aristotle.\n\nThe question of noses occupies a prominent place in theories of the human\nphysiognomy. The flat nose is indicative of a propensity to pleasure and\nluxury; the pointed, of ill-temper and frivolity; a deviation from the\nstraight line, of a disposition to malice and repartee. Since the days of\nAristotle, this opinion has been permanent; a crooked nose, being the\nattribute of a satirical mind. The owner of a diminutive nose, is usually\ncunning and dissimulating; of a large nose, imprudent and discourteous.\n\nLet us here observe, that if there be one feature in the human face more\ncharacteristic than another, it is the nose. Examine the head of a\nskeleton which exhibits trace of human features, save the nasal bone;\nwhich though prominent, is an integral part of the cerebral globe. Now if\nthe brain be the seat of intelligence, may not the nose be influenced by\nits propinquity to the brain? Humbly submitting this question to the\nconsideration of science, we proceed to consider the theories of other\nspeculators.\n\nAmongst Europeans, the Italians rank first for beauty of nose; the Dutch,\nfor the excessive ugliness of that feature. The English nose is apt to be\nthick and cartilaginous; that of the Jews, somewhat crooked. In France,\nalmost every man of genius has had a well-formed nose. Short and flat\nnoses, so censured by Aristotle, still rank low in the science of\nphysiognomy. Socrates, however, was a singular instance of a hideous nose.\nBoerhaave and Gibbon possessed one of the same disagreeable form.\n\nThe mouth attracted the notice of the ancients as much as the nose. A\nmoderate mouth was, in their estimation, a symbol of courage, capacity,\nand nobleness of heart. The indication indeed was infallible when\naccompanied with a square and well-formed chin, an expansive forehead, and\nfirm and rosy cheeks. The Greeks did not confine their observations to the\nhead and face in forming a judgment of the moral and intellectual\nfaculties; but regarded every component part of the human frame. Since,\nhowever, we are more discreetly clothed than the Greeks, we decline\nfollowing their researches. The eyelids, nails, moles, and even teeth,\nwere taken into consideration: more especially the latter, as indicative\nof the workings of the mind. If authentic, the science of physiognomy\nwould be universally studied, for how useful would it be to detect the\ngood or evil qualities of man or woman by a glance at their faces! As it\nstands at present, however, many false inferences would be made. For\ninstance, we are told that well shaped blue eyes, portend intelligence and\nfrankness; qualities incompatible with a sound nose. But if found\ntogether, as is often the case, what is to be decided between two positive\ncontradictions, the nose rendering impossible the virtues promised by the\neyes? The indications of the mouth and eyebrows may be equally at\nvariance; and physiognomy presents a tissue of similar contradictions.\n\nHaving established the fallacy of the physiognomical system, we must\nnevertheless render homage to the sagacity of Lavater, to his ingenious\nand fascinating system, and conscientious enthusiasm for an art which he\nhas enriched with much valuable observations, and endeavoured to elevate\ninto a science. Lavater was sincerely devoted to his art, which\npredominated over every other idea, and exalted his imagination to such a\ndegree, that he became rather the poet than the disciple of physiognomy.\nGifted with a highly impressionable nature, the countenances of certain\npersons used to haunt his memory; and in early life, he made such\nstriking inferences from certain physiognomies, that he was induced to\npersist in his studies.\n\n\"My first attempts,\" said he, \"were pitiful. Required to furnish a\ndiscourse to the Society of Sciences at Zurich, I decided upon the theme\nof physiognomy, and composed it with heedlessness and precipitation.\n\n\"I was censured, praised, and laughed at; and could not refrain from\nsmiling, well aware how much of this was undeserved. At this moment, my\nphysiognomical convictions are so strong that I decide upon certain faces\nwith as absolute a certainty as of my existence.\"\n\nThe sincerity of Lavater is undeniable. But even had we his convictions,\nwe should hesitate to decide in favour of the infallibility or\napplicability of his system; which is more the result of a peculiar\npersonal sagacity, constantly on the watch, than the efficacy of the art.\nA man may be born a physiognomist. But to become one by mere force of\nstudy, is next to impossible.\n\nZopirus was doubtless a great physiognomist. One day, on entering the\nschool of Socrates, he pronounced, at a glance, a man who was present to\nbe extremely vicious; and his conjecture was correct. But such sweeping\napplications of the art of physiognomy would sanction calumny, by allowing\nthe accidents of nature to be made a test of character; when the\ninfluence of religion, reason, or education might have successfully\nsubdued them. Were such a verdict held good, a fatal impediment would be\nplaced against all moral improvement. Refinement of intellect is often\nconnected with a coarse exterior; and the most prepossessing physiognomy\nwith the grossest violations of decency. \"A pretty woman deficient in\nsense,\" says Madame de Sta\u00ebl, \"is a flower without fragrance;\" and how\nmany scentless flowers of this kind are to be met with in society!--The\nface of the esteemed La Fontaine was that of an idiot. Jean Jacques\nRousseau was remarkable for a stupid serenity of countenance, wholly at\nvariance with the impetuous and volcanic nature of his mind. The face of\nF\u00e9n\u00e9lon was devoid of all expression. I have heard of two brothers, one\npossessing a charming countenance, and yet a rascal; the other, a\nvillainous face, yet a perfectly honest man. Moreover, our features are\nconstantly varying; and if our moral and intellectual faculties are to be\ninferred from these changes, how are we to establish or follow up any\nfixed principle, amid such a labyrinth of confusion? A system based upon\nthe general development of the brain is far more rational; because the\nlobes of the brain are born with us, and if time develop them, it is in\nmanifest proportions.\n\nWe admit, therefore, the talents of certain individuals for pronouncing\nupon the characters of men, according to their physiognomy; and that they\nmay, by constant practice, enhance this personal aptitude. Individuals\neducated for a diplomatic career, ought not to neglect this study,\nproficiency in which is essential to their success. To divine, yet never\nbe divined; to read the physiognomy of others, while your own is devoid of\nexpression, formed one of the grand secrets of Monsieur de Talleyrand.\nMost people who converse with a multiplicity of persons become\nphysiognomists; and if mistaken in their judgments, are less often so than\nthose who have intercourse with few. But the civilized man is so different\nfrom the being pure from the hands of his Creator, that any system\ncomprising confusedly the state of nature and of civilization must\nnecessarily be fallacious.\n\nStudy Lavater, therefore, and practice his art as a recreation among\nfriends; but make no serious conclusions drawn from physiognomical rules,\nwhich abound in contradictions.\n\nLet us now proceed to point out the similitudes of feature betwixt certain\nmen and certain animals. Though we were created after the image of God,\nmany theorists establish physiognomical analogies between man and the\nanimal race. These speculators pretend that every human being had his\ncorrespondent beast in this world; just as every good Christian has his\npatron among the elect of Paradise. Charles Lebrun, the favourite painter\nof Louis XIV, was a zealous adherent to this theory. Before his time,\nPorta had devoted his attention to this ancient supposition; and\ncongratulated himself upon having detected a likeness between the face of\na setter and that of the divine Plato; an idea which prompted further\nspeculation. That a painter continually watching nature under every aspect\nshould be allured by such a theory, in which his practised eye has\ncompared and approximated objects, and detected similitudes unintelligible\nto the vulgar, cannot be surprising. A mere hint, or trace suffices him\nfor the composition of a face, just as Cuvier recomposed the Mastodon by\nmerely seeing one of the bones.\n\nAfter profound studies, Charles Lebrun concluded that every human face had\nfeatures more or less correspondant with those of the various animal\nspecies. His opinion rested upon a diagram, uniting a quantity of designs\nwith an explanatory text. The designs still exist, but the text is not\nforthcoming; though something is known of it by means of one of his pupils\nwho survived him. Lebrun could distinguish by a glance at an animal's\nhead, whether it were carnivorous, or herbivorous, timid, or bold,\npeaceful, or ferocious. To the bump on the higher part of the nose, he\nassigned the locality of courage. To ascertain this endowment, either in\nman or animals, therefore, you had only to cast an eye on the nose. \"All\nmen of eminence,\" said he, \"have well proportioned noses, of which the\naquiline has ever been esteemed the most distinguished; probably from its\nsimilitude to the beak of the king of the air--the eagle. The Persians\nesteemed the aquiline nose so highly, that supreme power was inaccessible\nwithout it. Cyrus, Artaxerxes, and every monarch who ever swayed the\neastern world, boasted of this mark of distinction.\n\nLike all new theories, the paradoxes of Lebrun commanded much attention,\npresenting a subject of inexhaustible controversy, as coming within the\nscope of every one's observation. According to the system of Lebrun, the\nGreat Cond\u00e9 enjoyed the distinction of possessing the most heroic nose in\nthe kingdom, which, of course, brought the system into credit. Examine the\ndesigns of Lebrun. The analogy between certain men and animals there\nportrayed, is most striking. But the skill of a clever artist contrives\nand exaggerates resemblances, like the wit of the caricaturist, whose\nmonstrosities, however absurd, often exhibit a remarkable degree of\nlikeness.\n\nAs regards mere physical analogy, nothing can be cleverer than the works\nof Grandville, whose animals seem to emulate our absurdities, habits, and\nmanners. But Lebrun and his disciples looked upon the thing seriously;\ninstituting pernicious deductions from certain accidents of form, and\ntending to approximate enlightened man to the brute creation. The\nmaterialism thus inculcated, would lead to the most serious moral\nresults.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nLAST WORDS OF DYING PERSONS.\n\n\nAre the last words of the dying to be considered prophetic? Is a\nsupernatural intelligence vouchsafed to the last efforts of expiring\nnature? Examples are cited in substantiation of this belief; but the\nsubject is one demanding the most serious consideration. Napoleon was of\nopinion that Hannibal was the greatest warrior of antiquity; founding his\nopinion upon the fact that the Roman historians, in describing his\ncharacter, must have rather disparaged than aggrandised the great enemy of\nRome. This luminous appreciation acquires to be constantly kept in view.\nEvery historian is more or less biassed with regard to the personages he\ndescribes. He relates events after their accomplishment, and occasionally\nmiraculous incidents to enhance the value of his recital.\n\nThe words spoken on death-beds may have been accidentally realized; as\noften occurs to the prophesies of the living. But this does not confer\nthe gift of prophecy upon every death-bed.\n\nFerdinand IV., King of Castille, having been cited by one of his victims\nto appear in the presence of God; died on the thirtieth day. But the most\nremarkable summons of this nature was that made by Jacques Molay, Grand\nMaster of the Templars, to Philip le Bel and Clement V., to appear in the\npresence of God forty days before the end of the year. At the time\nspecified, Clement was carried to the tomb; but Philip did not follow him\nuntil a year later, 1314, the martyrdom of the Templars having taken place\nin 1312. It is true that Ferdinand IV. condemned to death the Brothers\nCarvajal, unjustly accused of the murder of a Spanish gentleman; and that\ntheir citation to the King in their dying moments was accomplished to a\nday. But the health of the monarch was, at the time of their condemnation,\nmuch impaired by the excesses of the table; so that his approaching end\nseemed certain. As we observed respecting talismans, some imaginations are\nworked upon by encouragement, while others are affected in the contrary\nsense; and it needed no miracle for the menace of the Carvajals to hasten\nthe end of the King of Castille.\n\nSometimes a careless word or sentence acquires, by accident, a semblance\nof importance. At the death of Louis XV., all France recalled to mind the\nwords the Bishop of Senez had pronounced before him: \"In forty days,\nNineveh shall be destroyed.\" Louis XV. died on the fortieth day, and the\nBishop was thought a prophet; a mere figure of eloquence having become\nmetamorphosed into a prediction.\n\nMuch such a prophecy was uttered in the Church of Notre Dame, by a priest\nnamed Beauregard, some years previous to the Revolution. \"Thy temples\nLord,\" said he, \"shall be thrown down and pillaged, thy name blasphemed,\nthy rites proscribed. Great God! what do I hear! The holy canticles with\nwhich these vaults once echoed, are drowned by profane and lascivious\nsongs; and the infamous divinities of paganism usurp the place of God, the\nCreator, sitting on the throne of the Holy of Holies, and receiving the\nsacred incense of our altars.\"\n\nThese words became remarkable when realized at the Revolution. But when\nthey were uttered, the Revolution was already impending. Beauregard,\nendowed with a zealous and vehement nature, touched upon the probable\nconsequence of a philosophy which he contemplated with horror; thus\nbecoming an unconscious refutation of the proverb, that \"No man is a\nprophet in his own country.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nTHE ANTIPODES--MORNING AND EVENING DEW.\n\n\nIt is a gratifying thing when popular prejudices are overcome by the\nprogress of public enlightenment. The existence of the antipodes was\nformerly disbelieved. Before the spherical form of our globe was\nascertained, how was it possible to suppose that there existed human\nbeings under our feet standing with their head downwards?\n\nTill the Newtonian theory was developed, it seemed impossible but that\npersons so placed must fall into the realms of endless space. There is a\ngeneral disposition in human nature to believe all that is impossible as\nwell as to doubt every thing that really exists; and such was the\nincredulity of the world with regard to the antipodes.\n\nThe ancients, who admitted many absurdities, denied the existence of the\nantipodes. The Fathers of the Church followed in their steps; some indeed\npronounced it heresy to hold such a belief. St. Augustin expressly says,\n\"Take heed lest thou believe such a fable.\" In his treatise on the Acts\nof the Apostles, there is an argument remarkable enough, considering that\nthe rotundity of the earth was then unknown. \"Faith teaches us, that all\nmen are from Adam. But if there were other men under the earth, they could\nnot be of Adam. How could they have found their way to the antipodes? Not\nby land, for the antipodes are cut off from our hemisphere by boundless\nseas. Not by sea; for the most experienced pilot would not dare launch his\nvessel in such boundless space. It is, therefore, evident that the\ndoctrine of the antipodes is false and heretical.\" Time and experience\nhave taught us the folly of deciding upon topics exceeding our\ncomprehension. Yet, perhaps, even now we deny a host of truths, which at\nsome time may give us an insight into futurity. In great as well as\ntrifling things, every day brings its tribute to the cause of truth. The\nantipodes are admitted to exist. The earth revolves round the sun, though\nonce supposed to be stationary in its place in the heavens; while the dew,\nwhich our ancestors believed to descend from heaven, is known to be an\nemanation from the earth.\"\n\nSuch an error was pardonable enough. The dews are often made use of in\nHoly Writ as a term of comparison; and the mercy of the Lord is implored\nto descend upon his people like the dews from heaven. After many\nexperiments in elucidation of the origin of dew, a scientific observer\nobtained the following results.\n\nHaving placed some plants under glass bells, he examined them the\nfollowing morning, and finding them to be covered with dew like those left\nin the air, he cut shreds of flannel; and placing them at graduated\nheights, found that those nearest the earth were first wet, and that the\ndew gradually rose towards the highest. Upon weighing the shreds, he found\nthose below to be the most saturated. Lastly, upon examining plants grown\nin green-houses, he felt convinced that they also imbibed abundant dew.\nThese experiments excited attention; and Muschembroek, the author, had\nmany imitators. Among others, Dufay, who placed a double ladder thirty-two\nfeet high, in the centre of a garden, suspending tablets of glass at\ndifferent altitudes; so that each was equally exposed to the action of the\natmosphere. He remained at the foot of the ladder to watch the progress of\nthe phenomenon, and found that the tablets nearest the earth were the\nfirst moist, and that the humidity ascended gradually to the highest.\nSeveral other men of science repeated the same experiment with similar\nresults.\n\nThe problem was thus solved, and proof obtained that dew ascended from the\nearth. To the joy, however, of some, a doubt presented itself. By renewed\nexperiments it was found that this dew from the earth did not equally\naffect all bodies, and was partial in its bearing. For instance, it\nappeared to avoid gold, silver, metal, and polished marbles; while it\nadhered to glass, oily and resinous substances.\n\nPlace a gold or plated vessel under a crystal vase in a garden during the\nnight, and in the morning you will find the edges perfectly dry, while the\ncrystal vase will be wet. The cause of this difference is not accounted\nfor. Reaumur supposes, but does not affirm, that the golden vessel,\ncontaining more caloric than the crystal, repels the dew, while the latter\nattracts it.\n\nIn confirmation of this supposition, Reaumur proposed the following\nexperiment. Place a china cup upon a stone within a hot-bed; and further\non, and beyond the influence of the hot-bed, another cup of similar form,\nsubstance, and diameter; this will be charged with dew, the other will\nremain dry. In explanation of this difference, it may be imagined that the\nphenomenon of which they sought the solution, originated in electricity;\nan opinion, however, which has no influence over the main discovery that\ndews arise from the ground, instead of falling from the skies, as asserted\nby the mythology of the ancients, and the tropes of Scripture.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nPERPETUAL LAMPS AND ARCHIMEDES.\n\n\nStability is not the characteristic of man or his works. The discovery of\nperpetual motion has long been the object of our ambition; the sole\napproach to which appears to be our futile perseverance in the pursuit.\nLet us be content, therefore, with aspiring to duration, a sufficient\ntriumph for perishable man; and be it noted that this quality, though\nimpressed by human art upon inert matter, such as the Pyramids of Egypt,\nis incompatible with the mutability of our social institutions.\n\nThe word perpetual has been too often and too easily applied. The\nmarvellous is too often substituted for the true, just as great vices are\nmore widely apparent than great virtues. Who has not heard, for instance,\nof perpetual lamps, miraculous as the Wonderful Lamp of the Arabian Tales!\n\nThe Pagan priesthood originated these fabulous sepulchral lights; and\nthose of our own faith who had the weakness to adopt their deception,\nendangered our confidence by recourse to unworthy trickeries. Pausanias\nmentions a lamp of massive gold, consecrated by Callimachus, and endowed\nwith such properties as to endure a year without deterioration. Another is\nsaid to have existed in a temple in England. Pope Gelasius affirms, in the\nacts of St. Sylvester, that in the Baptistery of Rome, there was a lamp\nwhich had burned without intermission since the reign of Constantine,\nviz., half a century. That the dark ages should have admitted such marvels\nis not surprising. But one of the illuminati of the sixteenth century,\nFortunio Liceti, composed a treaty concerning the existence of such lamps,\nasserting that, upon opening the tomb of the giant Pallas, a lamp was\nfound which had been burning since the times of the pious \u00c6neas. Another\nwas stated to have been found in the tomb of Tullia, during the\nPontificate of Paulinus, about fifteen centuries and a half after its\nconstruction. In the reign of Justinian, a portrait of our Saviour was\ndiscovered at Edessa with a lamp unrenovated from the period of the\nChristian era, that is, during a period of five centuries. Fortunio cites\na vast number of similar examples; from which he infers that the Romans\npossessed the secret of making inextinguishable lamps. His conviction\nupon the subject is such, that he attempts to explain the possibility by\na theory that the combustion of the smoke produced fresh oil for the\nnourishment of the lamp. This must surely have been the far-famed oil of\nthe Phoenix.\n\nIt is scarcely worth while to controvert such absurdities; the fable of\nperpetual lamps having faded before the dawning light of reason. Is it,\nhowever, to be credited, that the genius of Descartes did not secure him\nagainst this vulgar error? The views of that great man on the subject\ndeserve to be quoted as a proof of the aberrations to which superior minds\nare subject. \"After considering the fire produced by gunpowder,\" says\nDescartes, \"which is the most transitory in existence, let us inquire\nwhether there can exist a flame, enduring without the aid of fresh matter\nfor its support, like those found in the tombs of the ancients shut up for\ncenturies. I will not vouch for the truth of their existence; but think it\npossible that in a vault so close that the air could never be disturbed,\nthe parts of the oil transformed into smoke, and from smoke into soot,\nmight, by sub-formation, arch themselves over the flame so as to protect\nit from the air, and render it so weak as to lose the power of consuming\neither oil or wick, so long as there should remain a shred unburnt by\nwhich means the primary element existent in the flame and identified with\nthe little self-formed vault, might revolve therein like a little star.\nIt necessarily follows that the second element became expelled on all\nsides, while trying to penetrate the pores still remaining in the little\ndome; and the flame which remained feeble while the place was closed,\nbrightened the moment it was opened, and the external air admitted. The\nsurrounding smoke dispersed, the flame recovers its vigour for a moment,\nand then expires. Such lamps, in fact, become perpetual, only from having\nexhausted their oil.\"\n\nThis statement is extracted from the Fourth Book of the Principles of\nPhilosophy of Descartes. In spite of the respect due to his name, we see\nin it only a tissue of verbosity exhibiting science at a nonplus, and\nadvocating a groundless theory. But such a chimera on the part of so\neminent a man, ought to afford consolation to second-rate capacities, as a\nproof that no one is exempt from delusions.\n\nFrom Descartes, let us turn to Archimedes, who conferred ten-fold power\nupon the arm of man by arming it with the lever; and with becoming\ndeference avow our want of faith in the mirror by the burning reflections\nof which he managed to destroy the Roman galleys!\n\n\"Combustible bodies,\" observes Descartes, \"cannot be ignited by means of\nmirrors unless comprehended in the necessary focus. Geometry shows us that\nthe distance of a focus of a concave mirror is equal to the half of its\nsphere; that is, if the mirror have been set from a sphere of a radius of\none foot, the distance of the focus will be of six inches. A sphere having\na radius of one foot, gives, therefore, but a focus of six inches, so that\nto establish a focus at two hundred feet, would require a sphere with a\nradius of four hundred feet, or eight hundred in diameter! Besides, how\ncould Archimedes procure such a mirror, when the art of casting mirrors\nwas unknown, and the manufacture of glass in its infancy? That it was a\nmetallic mirror is difficult to conceive. Such were the solutions\nattempted of an insoluble problem. Doubtful anecdotes are so often and so\nboldly adopted by the authors of antiquity, that we may regard as\nunsubstantiated all facts upon which they are silent. Neither Livy,\nDiodorus, nor Polybius mention the mirror of Archimedes; so that the\ninvention is probably modern, and most likely a fable of the sixteenth\ncentury, prolific in inventions and amplifications. The press, then in its\ninfancy, delighted in the propagation of marvels and fallacies attributed\nby their imbecile authors to the ancients, so as to assign them some\nsemblance of truth. Among such inventions was the mirror of Archimedes.\n\nGallienus, indeed, mentions the burning of the fleet by Archimedes; but is\nmute on the subject of the mirror, which he could scarcely have omitted,\nhad the fact been genuine. Tzetzes and Zoronas are the first who mention\nit; the former in the following words:\n\n\"When the Roman galleys were within arrow-shot, Archimedes caused an\nhexagonal mirror to be made, and other smaller ones, each having\ntwenty-four angles, which were placed at a proportionate distance, and\ncould be worked by their hinges and certain metallic blades; their\nposition being such that the rays of the sun reflected upon their surface,\nproduced a fire which destroyed the Roman galleys, though at the distance\nof a bow-shot.\"\n\nThe author does not condescend to give his authority; relying for the\nevidence of his authenticity upon his confederate, Zoronas, who relates\nthat, at the Siege of Constantinople, under the reign of Anastasius,\nProbus burnt the enemy's fleet by means of brazen mirrors. He states that\nthe invention was not new, but belonged to Archimedes, who, as testified\nby Dion, used them at the Siege of Syracuse by Marcellus.\n\nThe mutual confederacy of a couple of mountebanks is as easily understood\nas it would be susceptible of annihilation; did not such men as Kirchen\nand Buffon become sureties, not for what Archimedes has done, but for what\nhe was capable of effecting. Previous to Descartes, the former had\nasserted the possibility of igniting combustible matter at a great\ndistance by means of small plane mirrors, which could be managed so that\nthe rays might be directed upon any given object. This was simply a\ntheory; but Buffon decided upon making the experiment, the result of which\nis well known. He caused to be constructed one hundred and sixty-eight\nlittle mirrors six inches by eight, and directing their rays towards a\npoint, succeeded in igniting a body at a considerable distance. By this he\ndiscovered a new principle, viz: that the action of the solar rays\nreflected is in direct ratio of the diameter of the focus; proving,\nmoreover, that by multiplying the mirrors, an indefinite line of\ncombustion might be established.\n\nCan we infer, however, from these experiments of Buffon, that Archimedes\nactually destroyed the Roman galleys? We think not; considering the\nsilence of the Roman writers on the subject, and the progress of science\nin the time of Buffon, with reference to its discoveries in the time of\nthe Siege of Syracuse by Marcellus. Whether this mirror existed or not,\nhowever, Archimedes must be admitted to be one of the greatest geniuses\nthe World of Science ever produced.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nTHE LYNX AND THE CAMELEON.\n\n\nThe title of this chapter seems to promise a fable rather than a\ndissertation; and a very amusing one might be grounded on the attributes\nof the two animals, considering the perspicacity affected by poor\nshort-sighted mortals, and the mutability of colour of so many a human\nmind. It is not, however, as emblems that we are about to treat of the\nlynx and the cameleon.\n\nThe lynx figures extensively in the poetry of the ancients. Not only do\nthey attribute miraculous properties to the eyes of the animal, as being\nable to see through walls, but Pliny assures us that the excrements of the\nlynx were transformed into amber, rubies, and carbuncles. The nature or\nhabits of this animal were so delicate, however, that its secretions were\nas difficult to discover as those of cats; in consequence of which much\ntreasure was lost! They might as well have asserted at once, that jewels\nfound in mines were the produce of antediluvian lynxes. They proceeded,\nhowever, to attribute the optical powers of the lynx to a variety of\nindividuals; nor have modern writers hesitated to follow their example.\n\nValerius Maximus, Varro, and even Cicero, speak with ecstasies of the\npowers of vision of the Sicilian, Strabo; who, from Cape Lilyboeum could\ndescry Carthage, and count the vessels sailing out of the port; the\ndistance being forty-five leagues! These worthies forgot, that even had\nthe sight of Strabo been still more powerful, the intermediary obstacles\ncaused by the rotundity of the globe must have circumvented his view.\nC\u00e6sar is said to have seen from Gaul all that passed in a port in Britain;\nprobably by a figure of speech purporting that he knew all that passed in\nconquered countries, just as the eye of Napoleon was said to survey at\nonce his whole empire.\n\nAbout the year 1725, the marvellous history of a Portuguese woman set the\nwhole world of science into confusion, as will be found by referring to\nthe Mercure de France. This female was said to possess the gift of\ndiscovering treasures. Without any other aid than the keen penetration of\nher eyes, she was able to distinguish the different strata of earth, and\npronounce unerringly upon the utmost distances at a single glance. Her eye\npenetrated through every substance, even the human body; and she could\ndiscern the mechanism, and circulation of all animal fluids, and detect\nlatent diseases; although less skilful than the animal magnetiser, she did\nnot affect to point out infallible remedies. Ladies could learn from her\nthe sex of their forthcoming progeny. In short, her triumphs were\nuniversal.\n\nThe King of Portugal, greatly at a loss for water in his newly built\npalace, consulted her; and after a glance at the spot, she pointed out an\nabundant spring, upon which his Majesty rewarded her with a pension, the\nOrder of Christ, and a patent of nobility.\n\nIn the exercise of her miraculous powers, certain preliminaries were\nindispensable. She was obliged to observe a rigid fast; indigestion, or\nthe most trifling derangement of the stomach, suspending the marvellous\npowers of her visual organs.\n\nThe men of science of the day were of course confounded by such prodigies.\nBut instead of questioning the woman, they consulted the works of their\npredecessors; not forgetting the inevitable Aristotle. By dint of much\nresearch, they found a letter from Huygens asserting that there was a\nprisoner of war at Antwerp, who could see through stuffs of the thickest\ntexture provided they were not red. The wonderful man was cited in\nconfirmation of the wonderful woman, and vice vers\u00e2.\n\nThe Antwerp lynx, meanwhile, had attained considerable credit, from the\nfact of two ladies visiting him in person, upon which he burst into\nimmoderate laughter. On the cause of his mirth being inquired into, he\nstated that one of them had on no under garment, the truth of which\nstatement caused the ladies to take a hasty departure, in the dread of\nrevelations still more indiscreet.\n\nIn the beginning of the present century there lived a physician at Lyons,\nwho seriously asserted that one of his patients had the power of reading\nletters, though sealed. This was evidently a device to obtain notoriety,\nand fill his purse at the expense of a credulous public. For what, in\nfact, can be more grossly absurd than the assertion that either human\neyes, or those of the lynx possess the faculty of reading through opaque\nbodies? Many attempts have been recently made by the upholders of\nMagnetism to exhibit similar impositions.\n\nFrom the lynx we proceed to the cameleon; hoping to exonerate this much\ndefamed animal from the imputations of mutability so long lavished upon\nits nature. Instead of being adopted as the symbol of fickleness, the\ncameleon ought, in fact, to become the emblem of frankness and truth,\nbetraying in its changes of hue every impression of which it is\nsusceptible.\n\nThe ancients denied the existence of the cameleon, treating it as an ideal\nanimal devoid of natural colour. They conceded to it, on the other hand,\na radiant body, and the faculty of existing without food. Such were the\nopinions of Pliny, Aristotle, and Oelian. But Daubenton and Lac\u00e9p\u00e8de\ndevoted serious attention to the nature of the cameleon; and the scrutiny\nof science has served to rectify a popular error.\n\nCameleons have been brought alive to France, and a pair is now living in\nthe Zoological Gardens of England. But till lately, they were known in\nEurope only through the preparations of our Museums of Natural History.\nThis singular animal belongs to the lizard tribe, and is found in hot\nclimates. Its length is from thirteen to fourteen inches; of which the\ntail counts for half. The head is surmounted by a kind of cartilaginous\npyramid inclining backwards. The mouth is so formed as scarcely to afford\na view of its disproportionably large swallow. For some time too, the\ncameleon passed for being devoid of hearing; but Camper has established\nthat it possesses that faculty, though in a limited degree. The organs of\nsight on the other hand, are so acute as to exceed by far those of the\nlynx. It can turn its eyes in every direction; moves with deliberate\ndignity, and feeds on insects. But is not entitled to the encomiums of the\nancients with respect to sobriety; though it can fast for a period\nexceeding a year. Of a pacific nature, it has numerous enemies; and being\ntimid to excess, its endless variations of hue are perceptible through a\nvery transparent skin. Heat and light influence the changes of its\ncolours; which vary between yellow, red, black, green, and white.\n\nMademoiselle de Scudery possessed a pair of cameleons, from observations\nupon which, it was seen that adjacent colours produced no effect upon\nthem; other colours than those near them often manifesting themselves on\nthe body. Bichat supposed that the mutations of the cameleon proceeded\nfrom the quantity of air contained in the arterial blood; an opinion the\nbetter founded, that this animal is able to fill itself with air and\ndischarge it at will. When asleep, or cold, or dead, the hue of the\ncameleon is white. Such is the exact truth concerning two animals which\npoets and historians have invested with fabulous properties; and to which\nmankind have often been assimilated--by analogies now admitted to be\ngroundless.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nWILD WOMEN.\n\n\nNo age has been exempt from popular delusions; but there are certain\nprejudices peculiar to certain localities. One of the characteristic\nsuperstitions of Germany subsisted so lately as the middle of the last\ncentury, as may be seen by a tradition of the date of 1753.\n\n\"At that time,\" said the peasants of Gr\u00f6dich, \"it was not uncommon to see\nwild women issue from the Wunderburg, and approach the youths and maidens\nattending their herds near the cavern of Glanegg, whom they asked for\nbread. Sometimes, they would come out to glean in the fields; leaving the\nmountain betimes, and at nightfall returning to their haunts without even\nsharing the meals of their fellow-gleaners.\n\nOne day, a little boy mounted upon a cart-horse, approached the\nWunderburg, when the wild women rushed forward, and would have carried\nhim off. The father, however, ran up and protected him. Unaware of the\nmysteries connected with that awful mountain, he demanded what they meant\nby attempting to carry off his son; to which the savages replied: 'that\namong them he would be better taken care of, and that no harm should\nhappen to him in their abode.' But the father held fast his child, and the\nwomen went weeping away.\"\n\nAnother time these wild women entered K\u00fcgelstadt, a village beautifully\nsituated upon the same mountain, and carried off a boy watching a herd. At\nthe end of a year he returned, dressed in green, and sat on the trunk of a\ntree at the foot of the mountain.[1] The woodsmen and his parents went the\nnext day in search of him, but in vain; nor was the youth ever beheld\nagain. A wild woman from the mountain went towards the village of Anif,\nabout half a league from Wunderburg, where she hollowed out a place of\nshelter in the earth.\n\n    [1] The reader will be struck by the affinity between this Legend, and\n    the Ettrick Shepherd's beautiful tale of \"Kilmeny,\" taken from a\n    Highland tradition.\n\nHer hair was of great length and beauty falling to her feet, and proved\nhighly attractive to a peasant who chanced to encounter her, and who at\nlength ventured to make an avowal of his passion. The wild woman inquired\nwhether he were married; and the peasant not daring to own the truth,\nanswered in the negative.\n\nShortly afterwards, his wife, terrified by his absence from home, came in\nsearch of him; but instead of upbraiding him with his infidelity, fled in\ndismay at the sight of the lady of the beautiful locks. The mysterious\nwoman now upbraided him with his want of veracity; assuring him that had\nhis wife testified the smallest jealousy, she would have killed him on the\nspot. Bidding him be more faithful in future to the marriage tie, she\nbestowed a bag of money upon him, and was never again seen in the\nneighbourhood of Gr\u00f6lich.\n\nThis story was treated as a jest by several French writers of the last\ncentury. Yet the age, so severe upon the credulity of the simple peasants\nof Wunderburg, believed in the devices of Cagliostro and the miracles of\nMesmer! The extremes of science and ignorance may consequently be said to\nmeet in the bewildering mazes of superstition.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nSYBILS.\n\n\nThe existence of one or more Sybils in the ancient world has been\ndistinctly proved. Classic authors are unanimous upon the subject. Suidas\ntells us that there were fourteen; Varro, ten. Oelian asserts that there\nwere only four; while Martinus Capella reduces them to two.\n\nDr. Petit, however, the author of the Essay \"De Sybilla,\" reduces them to\none. Let us grant that the Sybil of Cum\u00e6 was the only authentic Sybil,\nwhether originating in Ionia, Syria, or Campania. Let us even establish\nthat her name was Demo, according to Pausanias, though Virgil declares\nthat she was called Deiphobe, and was the daughter of Glaucus. Suidas\ncalls his fourteen by the common name of Eriphile; Aristotle styles the\nSybil, Malanchrenes. After due consideration of these names, certain\nwriters unanimously adopted that of Amalthea. Be it our business to\ninquire into the question upon the only reasonable grounds, namely, in a\nsymbolical sense. A man had need to belong to Rome or Greece to entertain\na due respect for the subject; where the existence of supernatural beings\nplaced by the Gods between heaven and earth, and predominating over Kings\nand their subjects, was regarded as a blessing. In those times, such\ncreations had a salutary influence of which we cannot now appreciate the\nvalue. The ancient social institutions, of so many centuries past, are\nscarcely to be understood from books; since those by which we are actually\nsurrounded are not altogether comprehensible.\n\nGreat was the veneration conceded to the Sybils in Greece and Rome; in\nproof of which we need only cite the Sybilline volume--to discredit which\nin the olden time, would have been a matter of danger.\n\nIt is known to all that a venerable Sybil came to Tarquin, and offered to\nsell him nine volumes of her prophecies, when her price being taxed as\nexorbitant, she threw three volumes into the fire, still requiring the\nsame price for the remaining six. Still denied her price by Tarquin, three\nmore of the books shared the same fate; and on her adhering to her\noriginal demand for the remaining three; Tarquin assembled the Augurs, who\nadvised the purchase, and the monarch was forced to submit to the terms of\nthe Sybil.\n\nFrom that moment, the Sybilline leaves became objects of veneration. They\nwere made over to the custody of the priests, and consulted upon\noccasions of importance after a decree of the Senate. These volumes were\ndestroyed in the conflagration of the Capitol, eighty-three years before\nChrist; a severe calamity to the Romans, who looked upon the Sybilline\nbooks as a sacred charta. It is remarkable, that after the destruction of\nthese volumes, the Republic gradually declined, and fell under the yoke of\nthe Emperors.\n\nImmense as was the loss of the volumes, considering their influence over\nthe minds of the people, the Augurs and Senate hoped to replace the loss.\nZealous missionaries were sent to all the cities of Europe, Asia and\nAfrica, which affected to possess Sybilline verses; and more than two\nthousand were brought back. But we are to conclude they were far from\ngenuine, as the Sybilline oracles declined in credit. Augustus suppressed\nmany of the verses, and the rest were burned by Stilicon, father-in-law of\nthe Emperor Honorius.\n\nIn all countries of the ancient world, Virgins were objects of worship;\nand even as connected with Pagan idolatries, there is something beautiful\nand touching in the homage paid to virginal purity, more particularly in\ncontrast with the ferocity of manners of the early Romans. The most abject\ncorruption respected the worship of virginity. No virgin could be\nimmolated by the Romans; and Octavia was reduced to infamy ere she could\nbe lawfully sacrificed to the vengeance of Nero. The Sybils were sacred\nvirgins, which accounted for the veneration paid to them and their\noracles. St. Jerome expressly states that the gift of prophecy was\nbestowed upon them in honour of their purity. As to the Sybil of Cum\u00e6, she\nwas said to have rejected the advances of Apollo himself, though the God\noffered to endow her with eternal youth and beauty; to which she preferred\nthe infirmities of mortal decrepitude in order to live and die in\nchastity.\n\nAs society is now constituted, nothing founded on error, or the frauds\nusually called pious, can be termed justifiable. Tarquin and the Augurs\nprobably understood the inauthenticity of the Sybilline books; but it was\ntheir cue to create a deep veneration for them, and assign a divine origin\nto the laws, which in those days might not otherwise have been respected\nby the people.\n\nIn the time of Cicero, the Romans had learned to blush for their own\ncredulity; and in the following centuries, were confounded at seeing the\nFathers of the Christian Church return indirectly to ideas long fallen\ninto desuetude. St. Ambrose, however, denounced such doctrines; declaring\nto the early Christians who were disposed to seek in the Sybilline books\nexposition of their faith, that they were the idle production of fanatical\nwomen.\n\nThe Sybils of old were apparently prophetesses after the manner of Joanna\nSouthcote and Madame Krudener in the present century. The Sybilline\nbooks, as existent in the days of St. Ambrose, teemed with frauds and\nanachronisms, proving the ignorance of their authors, as much as the\ncredulity of those who believed in them. The events of the Christian\ndispensation are as clearly announced in them as in the Holy Writ. The\npersonages are even mentioned by their proper names. Isaiah wrote: \"A\nvirgin shall conceive.\" The Sybil is made to say, \"The Virgin Mary shall\nconceive, and shall bring forth Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem.\" The Sybil\nalso announces the Baptism of the Messiah in the Jordan; the coming of the\nHoly Ghost under the form of a dove; the circumstances of the Passion; and\nthe preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles. She pretends to have\nwitnessed events long after the coming of the Messiah; relates the second\nconflagration of the Temple of Vesta, which took place one hundred and\nseventy years after Jesus Christ, in the reign of Commodus, and affects to\nhave been in Noah's Ark; yet is so ignorant of the Holy Writings, that she\nsupposes Noah to have sojourned therein only forty and one days; while\nMoses states him to have been an entire year. She also places Mount Ararat\nin Phrygia instead of Armenia.\n\nSuch was the value of the last edition of the Sybilline volumes;\nconceived, no doubt, with good intentions; but, as articles of faith,\nlittle better than a fiction.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nFORTUNE-TELLERS AND CHIROMANCY.\n\n\nOf the numerous family of impostors, composed of mountebanks, gypsies,\nchiromancers, fortune-tellers, and sorcerers; the gypsies date from the\nfifteenth century, and were first seen in Bohemia, in strange garbs, with\nswarthy faces, and pretending to great proficiency in the art of\nsoothsaying.\n\nThey made their appearance in Paris, 1442; proclaiming themselves to be\npilgrims wandering in expiation of their sin. Among them, were a Duke, a\nCount, and ten Cavaliers. The remainder, one hundred and twenty in number\nwere on foot. These strangers were lodged at the Holy Chapel, to which the\nParisians flocked to obtain a view of them. They had sallow complexions\nand black frizzly hair, and spoke an unknown tongue. The females who\naccompanied them, devoted themselves to fortune-telling.\n\nThe Bishop of Paris eventually excommunicated them, and had them expelled\nthe city; a persecution which served to create an interest in their\nfavour; and returning to Paris, they multiplied both in that city and in\nother parts of France to such a degree that, in 1560, the States of\nOrleans found it necessary to rid the kingdom of them; and subject them to\nthe pain of the gallies if they dare return. Treated with merciless\nseverity, they gradually disappeared; taking refuge in Germany, Hungary,\nEngland, and the banks of the Danube; where they have remained ever since.\n\nGypsies are known by different names, according to the countries they\ninhabit; and constitute a wandering tribe in all the civilized states of\nEurope, still retaining their pristine habits and customs.\n\nPublic curiosity has long been directed towards the origin of the gypsies.\nTheologians first traced them to Cain on the following grounds: when by\nthe murder of his brother, the elder born of Adam had brought upon himself\nthe supreme malediction, a mark was set upon him to secure his\nrecognition, at that time mankind were white. The Almighty is supposed to\nhave changed the complexion of Cain, that all men might know him. The\ngypsies, therefore, who exhibit such remarkable complexions, and lead such\nvagabond lives, had every appearance of being a proscribed race; and the\nprogeny of the first murderer. Other theologians make the gypsies descend\nfrom Shem, the son of Noah, or Cham, the inventor of magic; for the\ngypsies pretend to be magicians, and to descend from Cham. Father Delrio\nasserts their sorcery to be so effective, that if you give them a piece of\nmoney, the others in your purse invariably take flight to join their\nfellow.\n\nThe gypsies, uncertain of their origin, suppose themselves to have been\nexpelled from Egypt, and condemned to wander the world for having refused\nhospitality to Joseph and the Holy Virgin, when they took refuge on the\nbanks of the Nile. But even in Egypt, the gypsies are declared to be of\nforeign origin; so that the problem has still to be decided.\n\nThese people ground their predictions upon an inspection of the palm of\nthe hand. Juvenal distinctly alludes to female drawers of horoscopes.\n\"Such a woman,\" said he, \"exhibits her hand and forehead to the diviner.\"\n\nThe chiromantic principle has much analogy with those of judiciary\nastrology; and Aristotle cites chiromancy as a positive science.\nChiromancers divide the hand into several regions, each presided by a\nplanet. The thumb belongs to Venus, the index to Jupiter, the middle\nfinger to Saturn, the annulary to the Sun, the auricular to Mercury, the\ncentre of the hand to Mars, the remainder to the Moon. The direction of\nthe line of life is still undecided by chiromancers; some placing it\nbetween the thumb and index, traversing the centre of the palm; while the\nHebrew cabalists make it diverge in a quarter of a circle from the middle\nof the wrist to the first joint of the index. To denote long life, this\nline should be deeply defined; when feeble and superficial, it implies a\nlimited existence, (even if the person so qualified should have survived\nhis eightieth year!)\n\nThe triangle in the palm of the hand is consecrated to Mars; the three\nlines of which it is formed being regarded by chiromancers as most\nimportant, and comprehending the united indications of mind and body. The\nhepatic line proceeds from the liver, and forms one of the large sides of\nthe triangle. When deeply indicated, it is characteristic of an exalted\nsoul and magnanimous character; but accompanied by a propensity to anger\nand despondency. The mediana, which forms the base of the triangle,\nimplies frankness, sprightliness, and the love of pleasure. Should the\nthumb and its root be furrowed with numerous lines, crossing at right\nangles, or forming ellipses, stars, and repeated circles, you are favoured\nby Venus; but should you possess the ring of Gyges, beware of her wrath.\nThis name implies the circular line of the thumb, and indicates an\ninfamous death. Adrian Sicler declares in 1639, a notorious villain who\nmet his fate on the wheel had this awful sign on the first phalanx.\n\nBetween chiromancers and fortune-tellers with cards, the sole difference\nconsists in the means employed; and if you watch the sleight of hand of\nthe latter, instead of listening to their chattering, you will be amazed\nby their dexterity.\n\nCard-conjurors are mere upstarts by comparison with chiromancers, who were\nconsulted by Augustus in the zenith of his power. Their art cannot have\nexisted previous to the days of Charles VI., for whose diversion cards\nwere invented.\n\nThe miserable personal plight of these foreshowers of the future, is\nsingularly at variance with their reputation. How many of them grovel in\nfilthy retreats; where for the smallest sum, they dispense their promises\nof fame and fortune. It is lamentable to think how many dupes such\nimpostors still command. Fortune-tellers captivate the confidence of the\nvulgar, by predicting circumstances of frequent and common-place\noccurrence, with the certainty of occasionally hitting home. Should one of\nthese by accident make a fortunate guess, his fame is established. But\ntheir extortions are unimportant compared with the debasement of faculties\napparent in those who consult them; whom they disgust with their useful\ncallings by fostering hopes of impossible eventualities; or keep weak\nminds in a state of terror for the mere guerdon of a piece of silver.\n\nThere are examples of people being so awe-struck by the predictions of\njugglers, as to fall their victim. A person has been known to die at\nforty, merely because that term of life was assigned him by a\nfortune-teller. A slight illness having brought to mind the fatal\nprediction at the appointed period, cerebral fever ensued which ended in\ndeath. Such a fact is mentioned by Dr. Bruhier in his work upon the\nCaprices of the Imagination.\n\nThough evil is said never to exist without corresponding good, it would be\ndifficult to point out a compensation for the mischiefs of fortune-tellers\nand card-conjurors. Their predictions have often proved fatal in private\nlife, and they have exercised their evil influence by urging Princes to\nacts of cruelty. The Emperor Valens having incensed his subjects by his\ntyrannies, certain of them, meditating his overthrow, consulted a\nsoothsayer, who predicted future events by means of a cock. A circle being\ndescribed with the letters of the alphabet around it, a grain of corn was\ndropped on each, and a cock placed in the centre. The letters from which\nhe pecked the corn were immediately taken up and a horoscope grounded upon\nthem; and the cock having, in the present instance, pecked up grains from\nletters T. H. E. O. D., the conspirators concluded that the empire ought\nto belong to Theodore, the Secretary of Valens, a man of merit, and\ngenerally esteemed.\n\nThe crown was offered to him, which he was rash enough to accept; but the\nplot being discovered, he and his accomplices were executed. Not satisfied\nwith this act of vengeance, Valens banished all those whose names began by\nthe letters selected by the cock. But this did not prevent Theodosius the\nGreat from being his successor.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nALBERTUS MAGNUS AND NOSTRADAMUS.\n\n\nIn the year 1248, the Emperor William of Holland arrived at Cologne on the\nanniversary of the festival of the Epiphany; when Albertus the Great,\ninvited him and his whole Court to a banquet in a garden near the Convent\nof the Preaching Friars. The Emperor accepted the offer: but on the\nappointed day, there was a great fall of snow; and the Emperor and his\nCourt were much disconcerted by the invitation.\n\nBut though inclined to avoid exposure to such inclemency of weather, they\nadhered to their engagement and proceeded to the scene of the\nentertainment, where they found the tables spread, but the trees and turf\ncovered with snow. The guests were of course indignant at so absurd an\narrangement; but Albertus had contrived that no one could go out of the\ngarden, by placing at every entrance guards of imposing stature. The\nEmperor and Princes having seated themselves, the dishes were placed on\nthe table; when the day became gradually fine, and the snow disappearing\nas if by enchantment, the shrubs and flowers recovered their verdure and\nperfume; while the trees suddenly presented fruits in luscious maturity,\nwith innumerable birds perched upon their branches warbling heart-stirring\nmusic.\n\nThe heat increasing, the guests were forced to throw off their outward\ngarb; but no one could conjecture whence or by whom the dishes of the\nfeast were produced; the menials who served them being strangers, richly\nattired, and of the most courteous deportment. The feast being at an end,\nservitors and birds vanished; the turf lost its verdure, the flowers their\nodour; and the snow re-appeared as if in the gloom of winter. The outward\ngarments of the guests were, of course, resumed; and all persons repaired\nto a vast hall, where a good fire was blazing.\n\nThe Emperor, gratified with this wonderful entertainment, endowed the\nconvent of which Albertus was a member with a valuable estate; expressing\ngreat esteem for the skill and dexterity of his entertainer.\n\nSuch is the monkish legend; nor is it worth while to contest such\nabsurdities, no one being weak enough to believe seriously in tales of\nenchantment worthy only to figure in the pages of a romance.\n\nMany such marvels are recorded of Albertus, entitling us to believe him a\nsorcerer, and the ally of Satan. But he is known to have been, like Friar\nBacon, one of the most enlightened men of the thirteenth century; and it\noften happens, that in order to enhance the fame of illustrious persons,\ntheir biographers have resource to exaggerations that deteriorate their\nwell-won fame. Such was the case with Nostradamus; who, in spite of\nhimself, was made a prophet. The real name of Nostradamus, was Michael of\nNotre-Dame, but a custom prevailed in his time of latinizing names; and\nNostradamus was one of the high-sounding titles likely to ensure\npopularity. Among the French, it enjoyed equal fame with that of Matthew\nL\u00e4nsberg among the Germans.\n\nThe family of Nostradamus was of Jewish extraction, and proclaimed itself\ndescended from Issachar; a personage reputed to have been profoundly\nversed in chronological science. Michael was born, December 14, 1503, at\ntwelve precisely, in the village of St. Remi, in Provence. He studied at\nAvignon, where he distinguished himself in rhetoric; then proceeded to\nMontpellier for the study of medicine. Having attained the degree of\nDoctor at twenty-six, an unusual occurrence, he was considered the\nsuccessor of Hippocrates and Galen; but disdaining all earthly vocations,\nhe devoted himself to astrology, and mysterious speculations upon the\nfuture.\n\nNostradamus first published his Ephemeris, proclaiming agricultural\nepochs, eclipses, phases of the moon, the returns of the season, and the\nvariations of atmosphere; and predicted the approach of epidemics, the\nprogress of governments, the births and marriages of the great; peace,\nwar, land, and sea fights, and many other things, which, as a matter of\ncourse, must be realized in some part or other of the world. His\npredictions were so fortunate, that he was soon acknowledged to be a\nprophet; every one seeking to benefit by his vast enlightenment. The wily\nman, aware that speculation upon popular prejudices is a sure road to\nfortune, and seeing the love of the marvellous predominate, soon laid\naside his almanack, and gave full play to his fecund imagination as a\nsoothsayer.\n\nHad Nostradamus been only a man of profound science, he would have pined\nin obscurity; but as affording diversion for the Court of France, his fame\nsoon prevailed throughout Europe. When his predictions first appeared, in\n1555, they had such success, that Henry II. and Catherine de Medicis\ninvited him to Paris.\n\nEnriched by their munificence, he returned to his vocation in Provence;\nand four years later, the Duke of Savoy and Marguerite of France, on their\nway to Nice, visited Nostradamus at Salon. The Duchess being _enceinte_,\nthe Duke desired to know the probable sex of the issue; a tolerable safe\norder of prediction as the chances of verification are even. In this case,\nhe foretold a son who afterwards became the greatest Captain in\nEurope--Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy.\n\nThe system of Nostradamus was partly original; but grafted upon several\nothers. He not only consulted the stars to cast a nativity, but the form\nand features of the party. The Governor of Henry IV. wishing to have the\nhoroscope of his youthful master, applied to him, when he demanded to see\nthe royal youth naked. Henry at first resisted, thinking it a trick, and\nthat they perhaps meant to castigate him unjustly; but finally consented,\nand after the examination, it was predicted that he would become King of\nFrance, and enjoy a long reign.\n\nThese facts are avouched by the biographers of Nostradamus; who, though he\npredicted the future to others, was unable to foresee his approaching end.\nHe died in July 1566, aged sixty-two; but his fame survived him, and his\ntomb became a kind of shrine, being inscribed with testimonials to his\nprofound science and miraculous qualities. Louis XIII. visited it in 1622,\nand Louis XIV. in 1660.\n\nLike most men possessed of high renown, who profit by the credulity of\ntheir contemporaries, he had a host of fanatical adulators. Among them,\nnone more enthusiastically devoted than a man named Chavigny, who\nabandoned every thing to follow the fortune of the prophet, and received\nhis last sigh. Chavigny became the interpreter and eulogist of his great\nmaster, as he had been the depository of his secrets. He even ventured\nupon some posthumous predictions.\n\nInconsolable for the loss of his illustrious master, Chavigny abandoned\nProvence, and settled at Lyons; where he solaced his regrets by reflecting\nupon the predictions and discoveries of the great astrologer. He commented\nupon three hundred stanzas of the great work of Nostradamus, the result of\nthirty years' study; and published the first part of the \"French Janus,\"\nor rather, a partial explanation of his prophecies. In this curious work,\nChavigny collated, compared and approximated the stanzas bearing reference\nto the events of his own century; and composed a chronological table, so\nremarkable for order and method, as to impose upon superficial minds. So\nsingularly happy are some of the stanzas of Nostradamus, and their\nassociations with history are so striking, that the renowned Doctor might\nalmost pass for having been inspired. Such, at least, is the opinion of\nmany who have strictly examined the work.\n\nIn 1695, one Guinaud, one of the royal pages and a zealous supporter of\nNostradamus, proposed to reconcile the prophecies of Nostradamus with\nhistory, from the time of Henry II. till that of Louis XIV. Presuming upon\nhis genius for exposition, he undertook to prove that nothing could be\nclearer and less mysterious than the predictions of his favourite\nastrologer.\n\nIn support of this opinion, he applies the following lines to the massacre\nof St. Bartholomew:\n\n  Le gros airain qui les heures ordonne;\n    Sur le tr\u00e9pas du tyran cassera;\n  Fleurs plainte et cris, eau glace, pain ne donne,\n    V.S.C. Paix, l'arm\u00e9e passera.\n\nThe explanation of Guinaud is, perhaps, more striking than the lines of\nNostradamus. The \"_gros airain_,\" he declares to be the little bell of the\npalaces. In the \"_tr\u00e9pas du tyran_,\" he foresees the death of Coligny; and\nin the initials \"_V.S.C._,\" he finds an unaccountable indication of Philip\nII. and Charles V.\n\nThe other analogies were equally far-fetched; and, as is not unusually the\ncase, the absurdity of the annotation was visited upon the original work.\n\nThe prophesies of Nostradamus, like those of Merlin, are now nothing more\nthan a literary curiosity.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nLEECHES, SERPENTS, AND THE SONG OF THE DYING SWAN.\n\n\nIn the conclusions of naturalists there is much to respect. But we must\nbeware of false inferences.\n\nFor instance, no one will deny that swallows skim the surface of the earth\non the approach of a storm. But it is simply because insects then swarm in\nthe lower regions of the atmosphere. The swallows seek their prey where\ninstinct teaches them that it is most abundant; not because a peculiar\nsympathy warns them of the coming storm. Swans, ducks, goslings, also,\nindicate hot weather by plunging oftener than usual, because the\ntemperature being oppressive, they seek a fresher one under the water.\n\nIn the list of meteorological animals, leeches hold a prominent place. An\nEnglish physician pretends that they are lively when the sky is clear and\nserene, and raise their heads above water to breathe the pure air. But if\nthe sky be gloomy and clouded, they conceal themselves in the mud, and\nare evidently agitated at the approach of storms. The following are the\nobservations of Dr. Vitet, in his \"Treaty on Medical Leeches.\"\n\n\"Close up a quantity of leeches in jars of equal size containing the same\nwater, and expose them together to the open air. Never will you see\nidentity of action. In one jar, they are at the surface, in another at the\nbottom, while in another they will be completely out of the water sticking\nto the cover. Again, you will see all the leeches of the same jar in all\nthese different positions; some adhering by their tails from the borders\nof the jar, others balancing themselves with the most perfect regularity.\nIt follows, therefore, that leeches are devoid of meteorological\nsusceptibility.\"\n\nHad not Dr. Vitet made his experiments on so large a scale, a single\nleech, well-watched, would always have been said to announce changes of\nweather and temperature. In the case of the Rana Arboria, or tree-frog,\nwhich is sometimes confined in a glass jar to form a sort of living\nweather-glass, it may be noticed that, when two frogs of the same species\nare kept in the same glass, one is sure to be found at the top of the\nladder and one at the bottom, proving how little such indications are to\nbe depended upon.\n\nTo leeches is attributed another peculiarity, equally groundless; the\nfaculty, namely, of ridding us of our corrupt blood, while they respect\nthe pure; a fact disproved by daily experience.\n\nAccording to a popular prejudice in many countries, snakes and vipers will\ncreep down the throats of persons imprudent enough to sleep in the open\nfields with their mouths open; and strange things are related on this\nsubject, especially in Germany.\n\nAbout fifty years ago, the German newspapers announced that in Styria a\nyoung girl being asleep with her mouth open, a viper made its way into her\nthroat. She was not aware of the fact; but a few days afterwards began to\nexperience an insupportable irritation. On a subsequent day, the viper\nreappeared by the channel it had penetrated, hissing and raising itself on\nits tail as if overjoyed at its emancipation; and immediately afterwards,\nthe girl vomited a quantity of viper's eggs. This anecdote so charmed the\nFrench journalists, that they republished it in various directions,\nneither suspecting that they were renewing a fable of the Greeks, nor\ninquiring whether vipers were oviparous.\n\nThe adventures of the Styrian girl was nearly forgotten, when a French\nsurgeon gave a fresh version of it in the following shape:\n\n\"In the month of June, 1806, a child of four years old having fallen\nasleep on the bank of the Canal de L'Ourcq with her mouth open, a snake\ncrept in and passed into her stomach, where it remained for nineteen days;\nat the expiration of which, the child accidentally drank a glass of white\nwine, when forth came the snake in the presence of her whole family!\"\nWitnesses were found to attest the fact; and the medical man who attended\nthe child, asserted the reptile to have been eighteen inches long! Dr.\nMasson, surgeon to the civil Hospitals of Paris, made a report upon the\nsubject to the Faculty of Medicine, attributing the attraction of the\nsnake to the child having fed upon bread and milk, the predilection of\nthose reptiles for that sustenance being well known.\n\nBefore we return to the above subject, we may as well inquire whether the\npredilection of snakes for milk be really true. The French peasants agree\nin this opinion with Pliny, Aldovrandus and Gesner. Yet all are wrong.\nSnakes are furnished with numerous little teeth at the extremity of their\nmouths, that their prey may not escape; so that if they sucked the cows as\nasserted by the peasants, their teeth must become inextricably entangled\nin the udder. The diminution of the milk in the dairies of the French\nprovinces, is nevertheless often most conveniently ascribed to the\ninterposition of snakes, innocent at least of this species of mischief.\n\nWe must, therefore, conclude that Dr. Masson's little patient was not the\nvictim of the passion of the snake in question for milk. Is it credible,\nhowever, that a snake eighteen inches long could introduce itself into the\nmouth of a sleeping child without awaking it, or creep down the \u00e6sophagus\nand into the stomach without being perceived? The marvellous snake was\nprobably nothing more than a worm such as is frequently ejected from the\nmouths of children.\n\nSnakes, vipers, and serpents have always been leading features in fable,\nand, at times, in history. Without alluding to the serpent-tempter, we\nhave the serpent of Aaron, which also serves as the attribute of\nEsculapius, and ornaments the Caduceus of Mercury. We have the serpent\nPython, and those which entwined themselves round the Laocoon and his\nsons; the serpent concealed under the flowers, whose sting caused the\ndeath of Eurydice; and finally, the asp of Cleopatra. But upon such\nmatters, the moderns have gone far beyond the ancients. If, for instance,\nthe asp which bit the bosom of Cleopatra had pertained to the species\nwhich Father Charleroix saw at Paraguay, it might have been the rival of\nAnthony; for the Padre expressly asserts that serpents are ever on the\nwatch to carry off females in the forests of that province. These may be\nconsidered rivals to the Great Sea Serpent of the Americans.\n\nBertholin, the learned Swedish doctor, relates strange anecdotes of\nlizards, toads and frogs; stating that a woman, thirty years of age, being\nthirsty, drank plentifully of water at a pond. At the end of a few months,\nshe experienced singular movements in her stomach, as if something were\ncrawling up and down; and alarmed by the sensation, consulted a medical\nman, who prescribed a dose of orvietan in a decoction of fumitary. Shortly\nafterwards, the irritation of the stomach increasing, she vomited three\ntoads and two young lizards, after which, she became more at ease. In the\nspring following, however, her irritation of the stomach was renewed; and\naloes and bezoar being administered, she vomited three female frogs,\nfollowed the next day by their numerous progeny. In the month of January\nfollowing, she vomited five more living frogs, and in the course of seven\nyears, ejected as many as eighty. Dr. Bertholin protests that he heard\nthem croak in her stomach! The utter incompatibility of the nature of\nthese reptiles with the temperature of the human stomach, renders denial\nof the truth of this scientific anecdote almost superfluous.\n\nThe Journal des D\u00e9bats, then called the Journal de l'Empire, published the\nfollowing circumstances as having taken place at Joinville, in the\nDepartment of the Meuse.\n\n\"Marie Ragot, a widow, having complained for two years of a distaste for\nfood, and suffered from internal cramps.\n\n\"These symptoms were at first attributed to an aneurism of the viscera;\nbut were soon found to proceed from some strange substance in the stomach.\nAfter two months, Marie Ragot ejected from her mouth a living reptile in\nthe presence of many; who, on seeing it creep away, in the hurry of the\nmoment, inconsiderately crushed it. This reptile belonging to the lizard\nclass, was thin and long, its colour light grey, brown on the back, and\ndark yellow under the belly. It had four small legs, each having\nnail-tipped feelers, a triangular head, rather obtuse at the nose, bent, a\nshort tail and filiform at the extremity. This is all we have been able to\nlearn, the witnesses having stupidly destroyed the reptile. Ragot died\nsoon afterwards, and it remains undecided whether her death was caused by\nthe reptile remaining so long in her stomach. The lizard we have described\nwas doubtless the grey common wall lizard. It is supposed to have crept\ninto her mouth when asleep.\"\n\nWhile occupied by consideration of the marvels of physiological history,\nwe must not omit to mention the song of the Dying Swan; formerly applied\nas a standard of composition for the highest pitch which melody could\nattain, and as typical of the last strains emanating from the soul of the\npoet. Virgil, F\u00e9n\u00e9lon and Shakspeare, are known as the Swan of Mantua,\nthe Swan of Cambray, and Swan of Avon. Pliny, whose propensity for handing\ndown popular fallacies we have already noticed, says, in treating of the\ngift of song conceded to swans by the poets: \"The doleful strain\nattributed to the swan, at the moment of death, is a prejudice disproved\nby experience.\" Modern observation confirms his opinion that the song of\nthe swan is a mere metaphor. To urge this matter further would be\nequivalent to pleading after judgment; had not Dr. Bertholin, who attended\nthe woman of the eighty frogs, endeavoured to revive the idea of the\nancients; quoting the declaration of one of his friends, Gr\u00e9goire\nWilhelmi, that having seen one of a flight of swans expire, the others\nhastened to its aid, giving forth harmonious sounds, as if singing the\nfuneral dirge of their departed companion.\n\nThis story is evidently a romantic fiction. But if the domestic swan be\nmute, it is not so with the wild one, which is guilty of the most\ndiscordant noises, instead of the fabulous harmony so long attributed to\nit. The Abb\u00e9 Arnaud carefully observed two wild swans which sought refuge\non the waters of Chantilly, more particularly, as regarded their cries.\nBuffon notices that they have a shrill, piercing shriek, far from\nagreeable, and are quite insensible to the sound of music.\n\nThe song of the swan, therefore, must be admitted to be as much a creation\nof the poets as the song of the syrens which, according to Homer,\nattracted the vessel of Ulysses.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nNEGROES.\n\n\nTwo important questions present themselves with regard to negroes: first,\nthe lawfulness or expediency of slavery; and secondly, the comparative\nequality of the whites and blacks. The History of the World teaches us\nthat slavery is independent of colour, and existed every where of old,\nunder every form of Government. But the abolition of slavery was the work\nof the Christian religion, of which it is one of the noblest mercies; and\nlet us never forget the saying of Montesquieu, \"that it is our business to\nprove the negroes less than men, lest they prove us to be less than\nChristians.\"\n\nThe celebrated Abb\u00e9 Gr\u00e9goire was one of the most zealous and persevering\nadvocates of the negroes. So enthusiastic was he in their cause, that he\nmight have been supposed to have undertaken it as a reproach to their\nwhite brethren.\n\nWith regard to the question of innate equality between the two races, we\ncannot conceive a more apt illustration than that made by a Creole child,\non hearing at his father's table, a discussion upon negroes, a subject on\nwhich most colonists differ entirely from the Abb\u00e9 Gr\u00e9goire.\n\nIn the course of dessert, a gentleman, who had been loudest in\nopprobriating the negroes, desired to be helped to grapes. The child\npertinaciously insisted on giving him white grapes instead of the black,\nto which he had pointed. \"One kind is as good as the other,\" said the\ngentleman, \"the only difference is in the colour of the skin.\" \"And why\nthen,\" cried the child, \"do you persist in refusing the same concession to\nthe poor negroes?\"\n\nThe scholiasts have written much which has tended only to render more\nobscure the origin of the negro race; some deriving it from Cain, and\nattributing its blackness to Divine wrath after the murder of Abel; others\nfrom Shem, the son of Noah, which is the opinion of Dr. Hanneman, as is\nseen in his Latin Treatise upon the colour of \"the Descendants of Shem.\"\nThe learned German quotes numerous proofs of the culpable conduct of Shem\ntowards his father; adding that Shem had long practised the art of magic,\nand being unable to transport into the ark all his works of witchcraft and\nmagic, had them engraved upon brass and stone, so as to find them after\nthe deluge. Hanneman cites the authority of Luther, who formally asserts\nthat the skin of Shem was blackened as a punishment for his irreverence;\nand quotes a passage from the learned Ulricius, who in his treaty De\nTacticis, established that the sons of Ham had white skins, those of\nJaphet a brownish complexion, while those of Shem were black as ebony.\n\nThe anatomist, Meiners, adopting the theory of the facial angle, excluded\nthe negroes from the human race, and placed them in the family of apes and\nourang-outangs.\n\nAccording to the Abb\u00e9 Gr\u00e9goire, all black skinned races descend from the\nEthiopian. He founds his opinion upon the works of Herodotus,\nTheophrastes, Pausanias, Athenoeus, Eusebius, Heliodorus, Josephus, Pliny,\nand Terence; all of whom, in speaking of negroes, call them Ethiopians. As\nregards their origin, all we know is, that the Ethiopians are from the\ninterior of Africa, and that their ancestors had short and woolly hair,\nblack skins, and thick lips.\n\nHow are we to conciliate these pretensions with the assertions of\nDiodorus, the Sicilian, supported by those of the learned Hearne? Some\naffirm, on the other hand, that the Egyptians descend direct from the\nEthiopians; the pure Egyptian race existing only in the Copts, who have\nwoolly hair, round heads, flattened noses, and protruding cheek-bones.\nSimilar signs certainly characterize both negroes and Ethiopians. Egypt\nwas the cradle of civilization, and if inhabited by the Ethiopian race,\nwith the negroes originated sciences, arts, and institutions. In that\ncase, the problem of equality of intelligence becomes painfully solved;\nand if we now possess a vast superiority of intellect over the negroes, we\nowe it to their ancestors, who were our masters in almost every branch of\npolite knowledge.\n\nWith regard to colour, Virgil has said, \"nimium ne crede colori.\" Dr.\nBeddoes, moreover, completely overcame the difficulty; for by frequently\nimmersing the hand of a negro in a solution of muriatic acid, he rendered\nit as white as ivory. In these speculative times, we should not be much\nsurprised to see a company established for washing the black population\nwhite. This might furnish matter for reflection to Mr. Williams, of\nVermont, who in his History of that State, requires four thousand years\nfor effecting the transition from black to white, through the sole\ninfluence of climate.\n\nMeiners, as we have seen, classes the negroes in the monkey tribe. How are\nwe to reconcile this sacrilegious classification with the dogmas of the\nchurch, which canonize two blacks, viz. St. Elesbaan, patron of the\nPortuguese and Spaniards, and the Queen of Sheba, the wife of Solomon?\nAnother great writer affirms, that black was the original colour of the\nhuman race; and that the white race is in a state of degeneration.\nMonsieur de Pauw shows the question of the negroes in another light,\nrefusing them an aptitude for civilization equal to the whites; but\nattributing their colour to the scorching heat of the sun, which, by\nwasting the brain, diminishes the faculties and organs of intelligence\nthat distinguish Europeans. Dr. Gall goes further, and pronounces the\nnegroes to be wholly deficient in the organs of music and mathematics.\n\nWe cannot, however, expect to find the organ of music prominent in the\norganization of man in a state of nature. As to the organ of mathematics,\nwere the negroes completely deficient in this, Meiners would be correct in\nhis assimilation; for the higher order of mathematics is not here implied,\nbut the simplest acts of calculation. No operation of the mind, however,\nis possible without the aid of a certain kind of calculation. Moreover,\nexperience tends to confute the system of Dr. Gall. It is well known that\nin Africa, there are nations far advanced in civilization; a false kind of\ncivilization, perhaps, and tainted with barbarism. They have no opera, for\ninstance, nor a jockey club, nor the excitement of breaking their necks at\nsteeple-chases. But they have cities, tribunals, laws, judges,\ninstitutions, and armies; they declare war and make peace; discuss the\ninterests of the State, raise taxes, and regulate the public expenditure.\nDenyan, who resided thirteen years in the kingdom of Juida, was astonished\nby their wonderful policy; affirming that their diplomatists were capable\nof competing with the most wary European cabinets.\n\nThe Daccas, who occupy the fertile point of Cape Verd, are organized into\na Republic, under directors, lieutenants, and a hierarchy, analagous to\nthe different States existing in Europe. Bornou is governed by a monarchy;\nbut the throne is both hereditary and elective at the death of the\nreigning Prince. His successors being selected from among his children\nwithout respect to primogeniture. The most worthy is nominated to reign.\nThe funeral discourse is a panegyric or a censure, according to the tenor\nof the reign of the deceased.\n\nThis is stronger evidence of civilization than to possess a tenor equal to\nRubini, or a dancer comparable with Taglioni.\n\nThe cities of Africa are not mere encampments. The capital of the Foulans\nhas seven thousand inhabitants. Mungo Park mentions that they are fond of\ninstruction, and read the books permitted by the Mahomedan religion with\ngreat assiduity. In his expedition to the interior of Africa, this\ncelebrated traveller expresses his surprise at meeting with so much\nunexpected magnificence. The city of Sego had thirty thousand inhabitants;\nher population being less than those of Jenna, Timbuctoo, and Haussa.\n\nBarrow extols the character and pleasing manners of the Boushouannas.\nTheir capital, Litah, has from twelve to fifteen thousand souls; ruled by\na patriarchal government. The chief executes the will of the people,\nemanating from a council composed of elders. Is such a council\ncharacteristic of barbarism? Or a proof that the moral organization of the\nnegroes is inferior to that of the whites?\n\nJudging from the narratives of travellers, the maritime populations are\ngenerally inferior to those of the interior. If this opinion be well\nfounded, there is every reason to infer that the circumstance arises from\nthe access of Europeans being less frequent with the interior than the\nlittoral. Often have we to deplore the demoralization we have conveyed to\ndistant countries. Is it just, therefore, to speak of the brutal barbarity\nof the negroes, when all we see of it is partly our own work?\n\nIf we proceed from nations to individuals, a whole catalogue of eminent\nblack men and mulattos presents itself. The name of Henry Diaz, demands a\nprominent place on the list. From a common slave, he became Colonel of a\nPortuguese regiment, which by his able tactics and daring courage often\ndefeated experienced Generals. In an engagement, in which, overpowered by\nnumbers, he perceived some troops on the point of giving way, he rushed\namong them exclaiming: \"Are these the brave companions of Henry Diaz?\" On\nhearing which, his men returned to the charge, and drove the enemy from\nthe field. In 1645, in the heat of battle, a ball penetrated his left hand\nwhich he was about to have amputated, when he exclaimed: \"Every finger of\nmy right hand shall learn to grasp the sword!\"\n\nThe famous St. George was a mulatto. His skill in fencing won him an\nEuropean reputation, and no one could surpass him in the art of\nequitation. Moreover, Dr. Gall would have been forced to admit his\nprodigious talent for music. Fifty years ago, the compositions of St.\nGeorge were eminently the fashion in the Parisian drawing-rooms.\n\nThe republican armies boasted among the bravest of the brave, General\nAlexander Dumas, who, though a mulatto, was surnamed by his companions in\narms, the Horatius Cocles of the Tyrol. Before Lille, accompanied only by\nfour of his men, he attacked a post of fifty Austrians, of whom he killed\nsix, and made sixteen prisoners. With the Army of the Alps, he scaled\nMount St. Bernard, stormed a redoubt, and turned the guns against the\nenemy. He was the father of the French dramatist, Alexander Dumas, who has\nimmolated as many victims in his dramas, as his father destroyed in the\nenemies of his country.\n\nJob-Ben-Solomon, son of the Mahomedan King of Banda, on the Gambia, was\ntaken prisoner in 1750, conducted to America, and sold as a slave. He had\na superior order of mind, understood Arabic, and was distinguished for his\ntalents. He enjoyed the friendship of Sir Hans Sloane, for whom he\ntranslated several Arabic manuscripts; and was treated with distinction by\nthe Court of London, till the African Company had him reconducted to his\nStates. At the death of his father, he assumed the sceptre, and after\nbeing the slave of Europeans, became the idol of his subjects. The history\nof Job-Ben-Solomon presents a victorious argument against the prejudice\nconcerning negroes, for in him there existed not only courage but\nintellect. A son of the King of Nimbana, who was educated in England, died\nsoon after his return to his native land; but during his stay in England,\nhe manifested great proofs of ability. He cultivated several sciences with\nsuccess, learnt several languages, and read the Bible in the original.\n\nRamsay, who passed twenty years of his life among the negroes, mentions\ntheir impressive eloquence when excited, as well as their talent for\nmimicry and acting, in which they were not inferior to some of the best\nperformers then known in England. In Africa, they have various national\nmusical instruments, of which sixteen are stringed; without counting their\nfamous balafon, resembling the once famed spinet. Vocal music is as\nfamiliar to them as instrumental; and their composers have been known to\nproduce melodies replete with grace. We may here quote Gossec, whose\nopinion on the subject of music is preferable to that of Dr. Gall, as\nbeing one of the greatest musical composers of his time; and in his famous\nopera of the \"Camp de Grand Pr\u00e9,\" he introduced a negro melody from St.\nDomingo, which met with immense success. The Abb\u00e9 Gr\u00e9goire also speaks of\ncertain itinerant negro minstrels, who sang, played, and narrated like the\nminstrels of old.\n\nThe negro race, therefore, have produced both heroes and artists, as well\nas figured with distinction in the sciences. Derrham, once a slave at\nPhiladelphia, was made over to a physician, who employed him in the\ncompounding of his medicines. But soon ambition laid hold of the soul of\nthe slave, he acquired French, English, Spanish, and Latin; and perfected\nhimself in the hygienic and therapeutic sciences with such success, that,\nin 1788, he was esteemed the most eminent practitioner in New Orleans, and\nconsulted from all parts of America.\n\nAnother negro, named Amo, claims attention as distinguished in the annals\nof science. A native of Guinea, he was brought to Amsterdam in 1707, and\npresented to the Duke Augustus of Wolfenb\u00fcttel, who sent him to study at\nHalle and Wittenberg. After distinguishing himself at both those\nUniversities, he publicly sustained a thesis upon the rights of the\nnegroes, \"de Jure Manorum.\" Amo was versed in astronomy; spoke Latin,\nGreek, Hebrew French, Dutch, and German, there were, indeed, few better\nlinguists. Some years ago, a Swedish professor having addressed one of our\nacademies in Latin, the different members, perplexed by their\ninsufficient acquaintance with that tongue, sent in great haste for one\nof their absent members, the only one qualified to answer the learned\nforeigner. This was the late Andrieux; but had the negro, Amo, been in the\nway, he might have supplied his place. Amo was not only a man of universal\ninformation, but had the art of imparting it to others. Differing from his\nwhite colleagues, he preferred instructing his scholars to the ambition of\nacquiring personal renown. His lectures, from the able manner in which he\ncombined the advantages of the ancient and modern systems, attracted\nnumerous auditors. He was invested with a diploma in 1744; the first\ninstance of a negro arriving at that distinction. Amo left a Dissertation\nupon Sensation considered as distinct from the Soul, and present to the\nbody. Frederick the Great, who then reigned in Prussia, conferred the\ndignity of Councillor of State upon Amo. But these honours, unprecedented\nfor a man of his colour, did not dazzle him so as to render him insensible\nto the land of his birth. Pining for his native air, he resolved, after\nthe death of his patron, the Duke of Brunswick, to return, after thirty\nyears' absence, to his birth-place, Axim, on the Gold Coast; nor was\nanything further heard of him in Europe after his departure for that\nobscure place.\n\nBuffon, who was the contemporary of Amo, did not distinguish himself by\nhis definition of the negro race. \"Negroes,\" said he, \"are tall, fat,\nwell-made, but devoid of mind and genius.\" The great naturalist looked no\ndeeper than the epidermis, and was greatly mistaken in asserting negroes\nto be tall and fat; as in general their stature scarcely equals our own.\n\nFather Charleroy, goes farther than Buffon, by stating that, the negroes\nof Guinea have but limited capacities, some being quite imbecile, and few\nbeing able to count beyond three; that they possess no memory, the past\nbeing as unknown to them as the future. \"On the other hand,\" he observes,\n\"they are docile, simple, humane, credulous, superstitious.\" This\ndefinition of Father Charleroy may apply to a certain number of negroes;\nbut it also applies to a certain number of whites. Buffon maintains that\nthe negroes colonized at Sierra Leone had only the occupations of women,\nand a disgust for all useful employment. Their dwellings he states to be\nmiserable hovels; declaring that they prefer sterile and wild spots to\nbeautiful valleys clothed with trees, and watered by the clearest streams.\nTheir roads, he adds, are twice as long as necessary; yet they always\nfollow the beaten track, insensible to the waste of time, which they never\ncalculate. M. Descourtils, who resided at St. Domingo, and closely\nobserved the negroes, declares them to be ignorant, superstitious, and\nbarbarous; their music being detestable and unmeaning. But though such\nasseverations may be founded to a certain degree on fact--after having\nshown the difference that exists between the maritime and fluvial tribes\nof Africa, and those settled in the interior--we are inclined to inquire\nwhether the negroes of America, more particularly those of St. Domingo,\nought to be selected as the standard of the negro race? Are not\ndisabilities attributed to colour which are, in truth, caused by slavery?\nHad not the Spartan Helots the same skin as Agis and Epaminondas? Yet what\ncould be more marked than their distinction of nature? Would it even be\nfair to judge the inhabitants of Paris and London by the swarms of footmen\nin those cities?\n\nNevertheless, we are bound to agree with the most experienced\nphysiologists, that, independent of colour, independent of cerebral\nconformation, independent of facial angularity, the most perfect specimens\nof the human race are to be found in the temperate regions. The History of\nthe World bears out the fact; and upon this point, the best intentions of\nphilanthropy fall to the ground. Religion and humanity call aloud for the\nabolition of slavery; while the massacres of St. Domingo prove the\nnecessity of its being prudent and progressive. At some still remote\nperiod, posterity will probably abjure the prejudice of the white race\nagainst the blacks. But this great revolution of popular feeling will not\nbe effected without long-established previous proof on the part of the\nnegro population, that the blessings of freedom have brought forth all the\nfruits anticipated by the advocates of abolition. To decide upon their\nequality of nature, in their present unequal condition, would be rash and\npremature.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nFASCINATION; OR, THE ART OF PLEASING.\n\n\nNo individual of the human race, but at the bottom of his heart is\nambitious to please! But the charm is not more unequal in distribution\nthan the means are various. So various, indeed, and so uncertain, that in\nour attempts to please we frequently produce the contrary effect.\n\nThis universal propensity has given rise to absurd prejudices and\nridiculous efforts; and to a thousand arts, and trickeries, affording an\namusing subject for consideration.\n\nThe desire of pleasing tended greatly to enhance, in the earlier stages of\nsociety, the reputation and influence of sorcerers, fairies, and\nsupernatural beings; whose power was often invoked to increase the\npersonal attractions of their votaries. The wild efforts of Medea to\nsecure the affections of her faithless Jason are sufficiently known. Love\npotions and philtres were a favourite resource of the ancients, never\nweary of consulting sorcerers and enchantresses concerning their aptitude\nto please. Virgil, Ovid, Tibullus, Propertius, all allude to the love\ncharms which could be procured at the hands of different magicians. Ovid,\nwho has so poetically described the delicate mysteries of the art of love,\nlaughs, it is true, at these incentives.\n\n\"Had magicians,\" says he, \"the power of inflaming lovers' hearts, would\nCirce have allowed Ulysses to abandon her?\"\n\nHorace accuses Canidia of killing children for the purpose of composing\nlove-potions; ignorant, apparently, that animal substances were\ninadmissible in their composition. Vervain and rue, with a few other\nmystic plants, gathered by the light of the moon, formed their chief\ningredients. According to some, a sovereign charm consists of _enula\ncampana_, or St. John's wort, plucked on the eve of that Saint, before\nsunrise, ambergris, and other substances, of which the virtue would be\nforfeited unless superscribed with the word \"Scheva.\"\n\nOne of the most ingenious authors of antiquity, Apuleius, has given, in\nhis work of the Golden Ass, a recipe for a love-charm composed of\ndifferent fishes; the claws of crayfish, crabs, and oyster shells. He was\naccused of having tried its influence in obtaining the affections of his\nwife to induce her to make a will in his favour. This recipe is the only\none of the kind not limited to the vegetable kingdom.\n\nPudentilla, a rich dowager, who had been a widow for fifteen years, chose\nfor her future husband, the young, handsome, and clever Apuleius, who,\naccording to the account of the \"Golden Ass,\" pleaded his cause as follows\nbefore the tribunal.\n\n\"I am accused,\" said he, \"of sorcery, because Pudentilla espoused me after\nfifteen years of widowhood. But would it not be better to inquire why she\nconsented to remain a widow so long? In support of the accusation of\nmagic, you say that I instructed fishermen to bring me fish for unlawful\npurposes. Ought I to have employed a lawyer, a blacksmith, or a\nbird-catcher? I am accused of collecting vermiculated oysters, striped\ncockle-shells, and sea crayfish. But when Aristotle, Democritus,\nTheophrastus, and other naturalists made collections of Natural History,\ndid you infer that it was for the confection of love-charms? A child\naccidentally fell down, in my presence, on my return home, and I am\naccused of sorcery! For the future, then, I presume I shall be bound to\nhold in leading strings all the children that approach me; and to prevent\nall little girls from stumbling, I must pick up the stones in the street,\nand do away with the threshold of my door, lest any one make a false step\nin entering my house. Pudentilla, it seems, informed her neighbours that\nI was a magician. She might have seen fit to call me a Consul; but would\nthat have elevated me to the consular dignity?\"\n\nHaving pleaded his own cause in this vein of pleasantry, the judges\nacquitted Apuleius, seeing clearly that so amiable and graceful a man\nneeded no love-charm for the conquest of the old widow.\n\nIn those times, sovereigns as well as subjects were in the habit of\npurchasing love-charms! According to Suetonius, Cesonia administered a\npotion to her husband, Caligula, which increased both his madness and his\ncruelty. The death of the poet Lucretius was caused by a similar potion\nadministered by his mistress, Lucilia. Eusebius mentions a Governor of\nEgypt, who died from the same cause, and there are innumerable instances\nof these potent decoctions producing insanity, as well as fatal\nenfeeblement of body. Ovid furnishes the true recipe for love: \"Ut ameris,\namabilis esto!\" \"To be loved, be amiable!\" But such a charm being out of\nthe reach of many, it seems easier to purchase cosmetics at the perfumers,\nwhich are about as effective in the creation of the tender passion as the\nmagic potions of darker ages.\n\nA pretension to youthful habits and appearance at an advanced period of\nlife, is perhaps one of the most effectual methods of becoming distasteful\nand ridiculous.\n\nStill, however, a suitable attention to the care and variations of the\ntoilet, proves a great enhancement to beauty in its civilized state; nor\ncan there be a more vulgar error than the dictum of the poet, proclaiming:\n\n  \"Beauty unadorned, adorned the most.\"\n\nIn the female bosom, the love of dress is an instinctive passion. Look at\ntwo children of the same age, a girl and a boy; the one will be seen to\ndelight in feats of strength and agility; the other, as if in evidence of\nthe desire of pleasing instinctive in the opposite sex, is sure to prefer\na doll, a ribbon, or a pretty frock, in place of the drum or gun chosen by\nthe boy. Both have intuitively adopted their different vocations. Both are\nambitious to conquer by means suitable to their several sexes.\n\nWhat prodigies of art have been effected in France in consequence of the\nlove of dress generated in the fair sex by a desire to please; from the\nperiod when the fair Gauls attired themselves in a sheep-skin fastened at\nthe throat with a thorn; but were not the less coquettish for this\nenforced simplicity.\n\nAt that period, their notions of coquetry consisted in having fanciful\ndesigns tattooed upon their persons; and instead of pearls and diamonds,\nby way of adornment, cockle-shells were suspended from their ears. Their\nsole cosmetic consisted in unguents, which we now abhor as characteristic\nof the Hottentots.\n\nCan the present inhabitants of Paris be really descended from these\nsavages? At that time all the elegance and refinement of dress, arising\nfrom the desire to please, were concentrated in Rome; nor have modern\ntimes raised the fair Parisians to a similar state of refinement. Juvenal\nrelates that it was thought indecent by the Roman ladies to spit or make\nuse of a handkerchief in public; and at Athens, the fair sex never\npresumed to leave their chambers when suffering from a cold. What would\nthey have thought of the disgusting habits of the Parisian belles, who\ncontaminate their handkerchiefs by taking snuff, and yet ornament them\nwith embroideries!--But the ladies of the antique world scrupulously\navoided all that could provoke disgust--an essential preliminary in the\nart of pleasing.\n\nIn the early age of the Republic, the most refined cleanliness\ndistinguished the habits of the fair Romans. Under the C\u00e6sars, and after\nthe conquest of the East, a taste for luxury, perfumes, and futilities of\nall kinds was first indulged; while the sumptuous prodigality of the table\nsurpassed all precedent. The science of cosmetics then attained\nperfection; and there appeared no limit to their coquetry.\n\nPliny states that the Roman ladies, in order to make their skin white,\nmade use of a juice expressed from the seeds of the wild grape;--while\nminium, white lead and chalk, filled up their wrinkles, and effaced\nunseemly spots.\n\n\"Tabula,\" said Martial, \"is afraid of the rain; and Sabilla of the sun;\nthe one alarmed for the solution of her complexion, the other lest the\nheat should evaporate the roses of her cheeks.\"\n\nOvid has transmitted to us a recipe for a paste to secure whiteness of\nskin, consisting of barley flour and lentils, eggs, hartshorn, narcissus\nbulbs, gum, and honey.\n\nPopp\u00e6a invented a paste, which was moulded like a mask upon the face, to\nbe worn in the house. This mask was called at Rome the husband's face,\nbecause it was only taken off for the suitor. When Popp\u00e6a travelled, she\nwas followed by a troop of donkeys, whose milk she used for her toilet;\nand in the baths of the Roman palaces, the most unlimited luxury\nprevailed. The ladies were served by numerous slaves, each having\nparticular attributions. One superintended the hair; another the\neye-brows; another the hands, which were dyed with pink; another, the\nface; while the rest were devoted to the care of the wardrobe and jewels.\n\nThese customs, handed down both by historians and poets, had solely for\ntheir object the desire to please; among women, the most ungovernable of\nall desires, and exceeding even the love of command. To please, however,\nis a preliminary to authority.\n\nIn modern times, the cosmetic art has become a branch of the sciences, and\nforms a considerable source of industry and revenue. The walls of our\ntowns are covered with announcements of miraculous discoveries, pastes and\ncapillary oils, odoriferous waters,--all and each being efficacious and\ninfallible. Red hair may be transformed into beautiful black\ntresses;--baldness may be made to give place to flowing locks; and all\nthese oils, pastes, and masks, which periodically change their name, are\nin fact the same villanous cosmetics which never yet restored elasticity\nto a withered skin, converted black to white, or bestowed curls upon a\nbald pate. Art is great, but Time far greater; nor are the ravages of\nyears to be concealed. In divers of these preparations of lead, bismuth\nand tin, the sulphurated and phosphoric properties produce the most\ninjurious effects. In others, the calcareous and aluminous substances\nobstruct the pores of the skin, and by hardening it, annihilate its\nelasticity. Minium, coral, and vegetable powders, are not less pernicious;\ntheir corroding action augmenting, instead of diminishing the ailments of\nthe teeth and gums.\n\nThese salutary observations were made long before our time; and it has\nbeen as often observed that for the preservation of the complexion,\ninnocuous substances should be employed such as milk, honey, cucumber, or\nmelon-juice, mallow-water, and above all, that best of cosmetics, fresh\nwater, which is within the reach of all, and wants no alluring aid of\nChinese engravings on gilded bottles to recommend its miraculous\nproperties.\n\nThe increased use of baths has fortunately rendered this cosmetic a matter\nof universal adoption; and nothing is more likely to confer softness of\nskin.\n\nAnne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV., had so fine a skin, that no\nlinen could be found sufficiently delicate for her use, which caused\nCardinal Mazarin to observe that in another world, her eternal punishment\nwould consist in sleeping in coarse sheets. All the cold cream in the\nworld would not have effected a change in the susceptible epidermis of\nAnne of Austria; and we repeat that cosmetics are both useless and\ndangerous.\n\nNot even the consummate art of Jezebel availed to repair the irretrievable\nravages of time. Young girls of redundant health have been known to\nswallow acids to counteract corpulency; after succeeding in which, they\ndie prematurely of pulmonary affections. An equally fatal result of the\ndesire to please is produced by over-lacing. Ladies desirous to conceal\ntheir obesity had far better rely upon a well-chosen dress than upon this\ninjurious expedient. On the other hand, a tight shoe only exhibits more\nprominently a foot of large dimensions. Nothing is more erroneous than\nthe proverb, \"that people must suffer in order to look well.\" To be\ngraceful, the movements of the body should be unrestrained.\n\nWe have already pointed out the distinction between the art of pleasing,\nand the desire of pleasing. The desire is common to all, the art limited\nto a few; and they who charm most are those who please naturally and\nwithout effort.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nTHE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE.\n\n\nHow was the world ever brought to believe that students, in rags,\npossessed the power of producing gold, when the misery of their personal\ncondition was so apparent? How could individuals, in the enjoyment of\ncompetence, ever be tempted to own themselves in the pursuit of chimerical\nopulence? How could an enlightened century give birth to so monstrous a\ndelusion?\n\nThe alchemists, though not comprised among sorcerers, and requiring a\nseparate notice, rivalled them in the pretence to magic; for their volumes\nabound in recipes for raising the dead, universal elixirs, the\nregeneration of old people, the transformation of the ugly into the\nbeautiful, and even the creation of men and animals, without other aid\nthan that of a few cinders and herbs!\n\nSuch miracles, however, were insignificant compared with the science of\nproducing gold; which, according to some was known to Job. The\nphilosopher's stone is said, by certain legends, to have been the origin\nof his fortune; and his poverty to have been occasioned by its loss. These\nalchemists do not explain how he came to forfeit the scientific powers\nwhich had originally produced the stone; such details being beneath the\nnotice of the grand science.\n\nThe philosopher's stone was, on the contrary, a creation of the fourteenth\ncentury, and much accredited among the scientific men of that day. Raymond\nLully, Nicholas Flamel, Arnaud de Villeneuve, Paracelsus, and several\nothers, were initiated into the secret. Nicholas Flamel was a celebrated\nalchemist, and having acquired an immense fortune, it was attributed to\nthe philosopher's stone, which of course stimulated the cupidity of the\nproselytes of alchemy. Eager was their pursuit of a study which was to\nendow them with boundless wealth; and these lunatics found coadjutors in\npersons of weak and credulous mind, while wiser men diverted themselves by\nsustaining their hopes, and affecting conviction of their success. Such\nwas Van Helmont, who published his belief in the existence of the\nphilosopher's stone, protesting that he had seen it, and tasted it; that\nwith a grain, he had produced several marks of pure gold.\n\nThe ardour with which conjectural sciences are adopted, proves a serious\ninjury to positive science. Many learned men asserted the possibility of\nthe transmutation of metals; among others, the famous Pica of Mirandola.\nAlchemists, however, were not unanimous concerning the principles of the\nart. Some placed its origin in Heaven, and looked upon the rays of the sun\nas its primitive source; the quintessence of which was called, in their\ngibberish, the powder of projection. Others maintained that its elements\nexisted throughout every department of nature, constituting the active\nprinciple of the universe. Some ascribed the principle to the metals\nthemselves. Mercury presented itself to them as the agent for producing\nsilver, according to the properties we have already described with\nreference to miraculous showers. According to them, mercury had only to be\ncondensed, its mobility fixed, and its different parts coagulated, to\ncreate silver. But by far the greater number indulged in still wider\nspeculations. Most of those who attempted the pursuit were brought to want\nand wretchedness; and one of them observed, in his last moments, that he\ncould not imagine a bitterer curse to bequeath than the love of alchemy!\n\nAll, however, were not martyrs to the art. Many of its advocates\nperambulated the world, finding dupes in Princes, Kings and Emperors, who\npaid dearly for their imaginary discoveries. These mountebanks were the\nonly real possessors of the philosopher's stone. After the treaty of\nWestphalia, in 1648, the Emperor Ferdinand was convinced that he had\nconverted half a pound of mercury into gold by means of a philosophical\ntincture; and in commemoration of the event, had a medal struck, bearing\nthe effigy of a youth with a face like a sun, shooting forth rays. On the\nreverse was inscribed, \"Glory to God for deigning to impart to his humble\ncreatures a portion of his infinite power.\"\n\nThe mountebank to whom this transmutation was attributed, by name\nRichthausen, was created a Baron; and repeated his experiments before the\nElector of Mayence and many other Sovereigns. His name was long celebrated\nin Germany; but his end is unknown. It is well known that Cardinal de\nRichelieu witnessed several experiments in pursuit of the philosopher's\nstone, generously rewarding the operator. This may have been an expedient\nof his Eminence in order to secure the services of these adroit\nindividuals; who, admitted into the bosom of illustrious families, became\na source of useful information. Voltaire relates that he saw one, Damusi,\nMarquis of Conventiglio, handsomely remunerated by certain rich noblemen,\nafter producing, in their presence, two or three crowns of gold.\n\nNo one has written more to the purpose on the subject of alchemists, than\nFontenelle. \"Nothing but the blindness induced by avidity,\" says he,\n\"could induce the belief that a man, possessing the power of making gold,\nmust receive gold from another, before he can exhibit his art. How can\nsuch a person stand in need of money? Nevertheless, these mountebanks, by\ntheir fanatical conduct, mysterious language, and exorbitant promises, far\nfrom rendering themselves objects of suspicion, acquire the utmost\ninfluence. Without deciding upon the impractibility of making gold,\nexperience teaches us that the extreme difficulty of the operation must\nrender it unavailable in practice, if not in theory. But supposing that by\nthe means of a sulphur of gold, completely separated from other\nprinciples, the point were gained by applying it to silver, so as to\nproduce a mass of gold of the same weight and volume, what would be the\nresult beyond a curious experiment effected at an enormous cost?\"\n\nIn this appreciation of alchemy, Fontenelle expresses himself with the\nscrupulousness worthy the philosopher who said that he would not have\nopened his hand had it been full of truth. In this instance he opens it\npartially, admitting an experimental possibility which he knew did not\nexist.\n\nNot only Kings and Emperors, but even the populace, delighting in the\nmarvellous, believed in the existence of the philosopher's stone; choosing\nto attribute several sudden accumulations of wealth to this mysterious\nsource. Raymond Lull\u00e9 had become rich by farming the duty imposed by\nEdward III. upon the exportation of wool from England to Flanders. Arnaud\nde Villeneuve, an eminent physician and chemist, effected cures by\nspecifics only known to himself, which were highly requited. Nicholas\nFlamel enriched himself by seizing the ledgers of the Jews when expelled\nfrom France; their creditors preferring a settlement with him, to paying\ntheir liabilities into the exchequer; in return for which, he effaced\ntheir names from the registers.\n\nThese mountebanks are now known to have made use of a hollow cane, the\nextremity being plugged with wax, by introducing which into the crucible,\non pretext of stirring up the different matters, as the wax melted the\ngold fell out, and the miracle appeared to be accomplished.\n\nOthers had their crucibles lined with a substance which yielded to the\naction of the fire, when the gold concealed behind it appeared. These\nclumsy tricks of legerdemain succeeded for several centuries; but\ncredulity flits round error, as the moth is attracted by the flame of the\ntaper, and is at length annihilated.\n\nIn the beginning of the last century, a well-known Princess was the victim\nof an absurd fraud. Being famed for her humanity, a wounded soldier\nknocked at the door of her palace, and solicited hospitality. Having been\nnobly received, on recovering from his wounds, he desired to offer some\nacknowledgment of gratitude previous to his departure. This man pretended\nto be possessed of three reeds, which, being placed in a crucible,\nconverted mercury into gold. These reeds he pretended to have discovered\nin a ruined Abbey in Wurzbourg; a fact which he disinterestedly\ncommunicated to the Princess; who, in return, loaded him with marks of\nmunificence. When, however, her Highness proceeded to apprize the Bishop\nof Wurzbourg of the treasure concealed in his diocese, no such Abbey as\nthe one described by the crafty soldier was found to be in existence. This\nkind of philosophers' stone is not a new invention, and there is little\nchance of the secret being lost.\n\nThere are still many persons engaged in the decomposition and\ntransmutation of metals;--viz: the coiners of base money. Even the Academy\nof Sciences of Paris has still one member devoted to the miracles of the\ncrucible--Baron Cagnard de la Tour; who has made many wonderful\nexperiments on the nature and reproduction of diamonds.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nGIANTS AND DWARFS.\n\n\n\"Have dwarfs and giants ever really existed?\"\n\n\"Only so long as no traveller penetrated the countries they were supposed\nto inhabit,\" would be the reasonable reply. For since the globe has been\nexplored in all directions, and tourists are compelled to be more measured\nin their narratives, travellers' wonders are greatly diminished.\n\nA belief in the existence of nations of giants and dwarfs was, however,\nlong entertained; one of the many errors bequeathed to us by antiquity,\nand adopted by modern credulity.\n\nThe ancients had their Titans and Cyclops; of whom Polyphemus, the most\ntowering, was three hundred feet high; while we moderns, more moderate,\nallow only ten feet to the Patagonian. From the period the Magellan\nregions became better known, their proportions were still further reduced;\nand we now allow only an average of seven feet. Credulity, distance, and\nthe love of the marvellous, tend greatly to the exaggeration of such\nallotments.\n\nThe Bible, like mythology, has its giants; but in most cases, they are\nexceptional; and it is undeniable that nature often digresses, and\nproduces individuals differing in stature from the ordinary standard of\nmankind.\n\nMost people have heard of B\u00e9b\u00e9, the famous dwarf of the King of Poland,\nwho came to Paris in the early part of the Consulate; and of Friand, the\ngiant, whose height exceeded seven feet two inches. But these two were\nexceptions, not the types of a race. Excepting the Greenlanders,\nLaplanders, and Samoyedes, there is little variation of stature among the\ndifferent populations of the globe, certainly not more than a tenth. As\nregards the inhabitants of the arctic regions, we must bear in mind that\ntheir stunted proportions are in harmony with the rigid, and unkindly\nnature of their climates; in proof of which may be cited the similarity of\nclimate between Lapland and certain vallies of the frozen regions of\nSwitzerland. A similar influence is manifest in the inhabitants of the two\nlocalities; the peasants of the Valais, afflicted with the goitre, having\nmore analogy with the Laplanders than with the fine population of\nSwitzerland.\n\nThere are few phenomenal races, though many individuals; just as the\nmonstrous fruits grown for horticultural prizes cannot be regarded as fair\nsamples of a species. It would be as rational to cite, by way of example,\nthe fabulous creations of Rabelais and Swift, the giant Gargantua, and the\nnation of Lilliputians.\n\nPolyphemus and his Cyclops are real, as they exist in the pages of Homer\nand Virgil; but ideal the moment Flasellus asserts that the remains of\nPolyphemus were found in Sicily, near Mount Eripana, of which he gives the\nfollowing account.\n\n\"The giant was seated with his left hand resting on the mast of a ship\nterminated like a club, and carrying fifteen hundred weight of lead. It\ncrumbled into dust upon being touched, except part of his skull; which\nwould have contained several bushels of corn. Three teeth of which the\nleast weighed one hundred ounces, and a thigh bone, one hundred and twenty\nfeet long, were still perfect.\" Between Homer, and Virgil, and Thomas\nFlasellus there is all the difference of ingenious fiction and the\ngrossest imposture produceable in prose.\n\nIn former days, the head of Adam was believed to have out-topped the\natmosphere, and that he touched the Arctic Pole with one hand, and the\nAntarctic with the other; one of the hyperbolical exaggerations of the\nrabbinical Scriptures. After Adam, the rabbins rank Og, the King of Basan,\nto whom Holy Writ assigns thirteen or fourteen feet, while the rabbinical\nwritings declare that the stature of Og was such that the waters of the\ndeluge only came up to his knee. In the war against the Israelites, he\nhurled a mountain against the enemy; but as he held it above his head, God\ndecreed that the ants should excavate it, so that it fell about his neck\nlike a collar. Moses, who was six ells high, profiting by the\ncircumstance, grasped a formidable axe, and making a spring of his own\nheight, could only strike the giant on the instep. The King, however,\nfell, and encumbered by the mountain, was put to death.\n\nPolyphemus, and all other giants might have danced upon the palm of King\nOg; and the thigh of the Cyclops would scarcely have furnished him a\ntoothpick. The Jewish rabbins affirm that the thigh bone of Og, the King\nof Basan, was about twelve leagues long. They do not, however, give the\nprecise measure.\n\nPomponius Mela, the most incredible of the authors of antiquity, states\nthat certain of the Indian tribes were of such exceeding stature, that\nthey mounted their elephants as we do our horses. Father Rhetel, a\nCapuchin friar, saw at Thessalonica the bones of a giant ninety-six feet\nlong; the skull of which could contain twenty-four bushels of corn.\nHerodotus states that the shoe of Perseus measured three feet. The wise\nPlutarch, himself adopted the history of the giant Ant\u00e6us, related by\nthat illustrious liar Gabirius. According to some historians, King\nTentradus was twenty-five feet high; Goliath was nine feet four inches;\nthe Emperor Maximin was more than eight; and the Elector of Brandenbourg,\nJoachim, had at his Court a man named Michael, who was about eight feet\nhigh. The height of Goliath, Maximin and Michael were mere instances of\nthe caprices of nature.\n\nThe early legends of stupendous giants arose from the fact, that the\nfossil remains of antediluvial animals were originally ascribed to the\nhuman race; whereas, geologists have never found, either in calcareous or\ngranitical formations, any bones of the human species which could have\npreceded the deluge.\n\nHaving dismissed the giants, let us consider the dwarfs, concerning whom\nour conclusions are the same:--that they are exceptions to the general\nrule. Nay, the impossibility of establishing a race has been proved by a\nGerman Princess, who having married and settled several couples of dwarfs,\nfailed in securing a diminutive progeny.\n\nThe existence of pygmies is the sole question concerning the dwarfish\nspecies requiring attention; but though so long credited by the ancients,\nit is now looked upon as fabulous. Aristotle, the evangelist of science,\naffirms that pygmies were not fabulous; and placed them near the source of\nthe Nile, in a country created purposely for them, in which the nature of\nevery thing was proportionate. Some authors have pronounced the pygmies to\nhave been twenty-eight inches high; but Juvenal only allows them a foot.\nThese ideal dwarfs must have been about the size of the young American,\npopularly known under the name of General Tom Thumb.\n\nThe pygmies are said to have been courageous and enterprising; dexterous\nwith the bow, and, according to Pliny, hewed down with an axe the corn,\nwhich to them was in about the proportions of the oaks of Dodona.\n\nThe most valorous exploit attempted by the pygmies was the siege of\nHercules. Pliny relates, that one day the son of Alcmena having fallen\nasleep in the country of the pygmies, their King assembling his troops,\nled a division against his right arm, surrounded his left, then at the\nhead of his troops charged the head, leaving the remainder of the army to\ncapture the feet. On awaking, Hercules spread out his cloak, and made the\nwhole army of pygmies prisoners. This is a pretty fable, and may have\noriginated the Lilliputians of the Dean of St. Patrick's. But we have no\nhesitation in affirming, that though the words giants and pygmies may\nserve as terms of comparison, they have no prototypes among the nations of\nthe earth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nASTROLOGY.\n\n\nAmong the most popular delusions of mankind, in earlier ages, were the\ndeductions drawn from the stars, under the name of astrology; a science so\nlong sustained by men of superior intellect, as to justify the credulity\nof the ignorant. Hippocrates consulted the moon before he administered\nmedicine to his patients. Horace, Virgil, Richelieu, Mazarin, believed in\njudicial astrology. Some attributed the honour of this discovery to\nAbraham, others to Zoroaster; while the Greeks claim it for one of the\nseven Sages of Greeks, Chilo of Lacedemonia, who professed to have\ndiscovered in the heavens the germ and principle of our various\ntemperaments.\n\nThe Romans adopted these astrological superstitions; and since that\nperiod, both the study of the moon and stars, with the view to\nprognostication, has proved a profitable pursuit. Petronius and the poet\nManilius assured their contemporaries that a child born under Aquarius,\ncould not fail to prefer fountains and cascades. But they forgot that\nAquarius was known long before the invention of fountains. Astrology was\nthen in its infancy, but like a youth improved by his travels, it acquired\nstrength and consistency among the Arabs.\n\nLong before the Arabs, however, the great Hermes had asserted: \"As men\nhave seven apertures in the head, and there exist seven planets, it must\nbe inferred that every planet presides over one of these apertures in the\nhuman head.\" The following is the manner in which Hermes disposed of them.\nHe made Jupiter and Saturn preside over the ears; Mars and Venus the\nnostrils; the Sun and Moon represented the eyes; and Mercury had the care\nof the mouth. New planets, however, have since been discovered; and in all\nconscience, the disciples of Hermes ought to have made proportionate holes\nin the head in support of his doctrines.\n\nProceeding from the physical to the moral world, they established seven\npresidencies; Venus over love, Mercury over eloquence, Saturn over grief,\nthe Sun over glory, and the Moon over domestic economy.\n\nAfter this ingenious arrangement, they assigned to every colour its\npeculiar star. Blue belonged to Jupiter, yellow to the Sun, green to\nVenus, red to Mars, probably from his sanguinary influence, white to the\nMoon, black to Saturn, while Mercury presided over the different shadings\nof all the colours. After the theory ensued the application, which was\nnearly as follows:\n\n\"Place a child in the centre of a circle, upon the circumference of which\nthe stars are disposed as at the moment of his conception, or birth. Their\ninfluences concentrate upon him, and confer on him a fixed and unalterable\ndestiny. He will be virtuous or vicious, prosperous, or unfortunate in\nthis world, according to the configuration of the planets.\"\n\nAccording to the moral character of the stars, the Sun is benevolent and\nauspicious; Saturn, dull, morose, and cold; the Moon moist and melancholy;\nJupiter, temperate, and his influences kindly; Mars, dry and fervent;\nVenus prolific and affable; Mercury, inconstant and variable.\n\nAstrologers assigned twelve houses to the zodiac, appropriated to the\ndifferent planets. The first was consecrated to life and the body; from\nwhence emanates the white, black, and copper coloured races, giants,\ndwarfs, albinos, idiots, and men of genius. The second house is devoted to\nthe interests of society in general; and in the third house, family\naffairs between relatives of different degrees, excepting testamentary\ndispositions, to which they devoted a fourth house. To pass from grave to\ngay, enter the fifth house, where all is mirth, pleasure, and infantine\npastimes. Lackies and sempstresses occupy the sixth house, but they have\nbut little repose if the wall between it and the next house be not\ntolerably thick; being inhabited by beautiful women, envy, hatred, and\nmalice. The eighth house of the zodiac is the cemetery; the ninth, the\nhead-quarters of voyages, missions, and processions; whilst the tenth is\nthe resort of the highest society, the nobility and dignitaries of state.\nThe eleventh house is destined for the prosperous, who pass their lives in\nthe delights of wit and friendship. The twelfth differs from the\npreceding, being devoted to the groans of the wretched in their dungeons,\nand the haunt of treason and shame. In building these zodiacal houses, the\nrepresentative form of certain Governments had not been anticipated, or a\nbetter balance of power might have been effected.\n\nSuch were the chimeras of antiquity, as handed down to modern times.\nPlutarch relied so much on the efficacy of the stars, that he prevented\nthe Lacedemonians from going into battle before the full moon; and C\u00e6sar\nand Pompey frequently consulted the astrologers. The Emperor Augustus,\nborn under the sign Capricorn, had a medal struck in honour of his natal\nstar. Caracalla had the horoscope drawn of all those he employed; while\nhis policy, favour, and misgivings were uniformly decided by the stars.\nWhen the horoscope of any influential person augured ill, Caracalla had\nhim put to death;--a fine triumph for astrology!\n\nPhrenology has now usurped the throne of astrology; and were sovereigns or\njudges to form their judgments after the theory of Dr. Gall, they would\nsave themselves a world of trouble.\n\nThe reign of Catherine de Medicis was the triumph of astrology in France.\nNot a high-born dame but had her _Baron_, a name assigned to the family\nastrologer, who was as much a matter of course as, in other times, a\nfamily confessor.\n\nThe astrological rage subsided during the reign of Louis XIV; but\ndisappeared only under the Regency. Voltaire, writes in 1757, when he was\nsixty, that in his youth, the last adepts of astrology, Count\nBoulainvilliers and the Italian Calonna, foretold his end at thirty years\nof age. Voltaire remarks, \"I have done them by thirty years!\"--to which\nthe sequel added upwards of twenty more.\n\nWhen the Europeans first penetrated the vast regions of Asia, astrology\nwas found to be much in vogue in Persia and China. In the latter country,\nthe Emperor, on his accession, has his horoscope drawn. The Japanese\nconsult the stars previous to undertaking any enterprise. If they succeed,\nthey thank their stars; if they fail, they resign themselves to their\nirresistible influence.\n\nAstrology had its hero, a Cato or Vatel, in the astrologer Cardan; who,\nhaving predicted his death to the day and the hour, and failed in his\ncalculations, killed himself for the credit of science! A more judicious\nprediction was that of the astrologer to Louis XI.; his master, who having\ninquired of him the hour of his own death: \"Two after that of your\nMajesty!\" replied he; and the oracle became a safeguard over his days.\n\nHuman pride often stimulates the influence of superstition. Napoleon once\npointed out his star to Cardinal Fesch, who could not make it out. \"It is\nlost upon you,\" said the Emperor, \"but I see it plainly enough!\" Napoleon\naffected reliance upon an influence which was known to be auspicious to\nhis fortunes. Had the Cardinal, in return, pretended to similar\ndistinction, he would probably have answered as Jean Jacques Rousseau did\nto a shopkeeper, who complained of his stars. \"How, Sir, do such people as\nyou pretend to have stars?\" Were astrologers in general, like Cardan,\ncontent to exercise their art upon themselves, we should not oppose their\nproceedings. But their predictions have been known to produce a panic\nthroughout an entire population. For instance, a German mathematician,\nnamed Stoffler, whose audacity was only equalled by the credulity of his\nproselytes, predicted, towards the end of the fifteenth century, another\nDeluge for the month of February, 1524. \"How was it possible,\" he argued,\n\"to escape from the calamity, when at that particular period Mars and\nPisces, Saturn and Jupiter were to be in conjunction.\" Upon the eve of\nthis awful event, in various countries of Europe, carpenters could\nscarcely be found in sufficient numbers to build the arks in preparation.\n\nNot a drop of rain, however, fell during the dreaded month of February,\nand Stoffler became an object of general ridicule. Far, however, from\nfeeling himself defeated or acknowledging his error, he professed to have\nmade a mistake in the date; and predicted the end of the world for 1588.\n\nThese predictions, alarming only to women and children, have been\nfrequently renewed by others. About the middle of the same century, the\nJews were one day seen waiting at their windows, expecting the arrival of\ntheir Messiah; an Israelite, named Avenar, having announced his coming.\nCardan predicted a long and glorious reign to Edward VI, King of England;\nwho nevertheless died in his sixteenth year!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nTHE MOON AND LUNAR INFLUENCE.\n\n\nFrom the stars in general to the moon in particular, there is but a step;\nnor will we separate the midnight luminary from the company in which we\nusually find her. Lovers and poets have from time immemorial found solace\nin her beams; while the early philosophers pretended that she swallowed\nstones in the manner of the mountebanks, in order to cast them down upon\nus in the form of a\u00ebrolites. This conclusion is as absurd as a thousand\nothers, of which the moon has been the object. The ingenuousness of the\nold lady, who on hearing continually of new moons, inquired anxiously what\nbecame of the old ones, is scarcely more surprising than the complex mass\nof commentaries and hypotheses which regard the influence of the orb of\nnight.\n\nIn former centuries, it was the custom to attribute the decay of public\nmonuments to the influence of the moon upon the surface of granite and\nstone. Naturalists, however, having watched the work of animalcul\u00e6 among\noysters, madrepores and corals, attributed this to the true cause. In the\nyear 1666, a physician of Caen remarked upon a stone wall of southern\naspect forming part of the Abbey of the Benedictines, a number of\ncavities, into the deep sinuosities of which the hand could be inserted.\nInstead of attributing this to the moon, he ascertained that they were\nworked by insects whom he found concealed in the cavities. Experiment\nopens the safest road to truth; while absurd theories transmitted from\ngeneration to generation, obstruct the steps of a temple already\nsufficiently difficult of ascent.\n\nThomas Moult, the author of an almanack superior to the general run of\nthose popular publications, devoted himself to conjectures on the\nvariations of the weather as influenced by the moon; and consulted the\nobservations previously made by the Abb\u00e9 Toaldo, who had noted down the\neffect of eleven hundred and six moons upon the weather. He found that\nnine hundred and fifty were accompanied by changes of weather; while the\nother one hundred and fifty six, produced no effect. The proportion being\nas one to six, the chances are that a new moon will produce a change of\nweather; the influence being susceptible of increase from various\ncircumstances, in the proportion of thirty-three to one, when the new moon\nis at its perig\u00e6um.\n\nPhysicians formerly believed the phases of the moon to influence certain\ndiseases. Hippocrates and Galen assigned them as the cause of periodical\nreturns of epilepsy; while people of deranged intellect are vulgarly\nstyled lunatics. Bertholon observed the paroxysms of a maniac during one\nyear, and declared them to be aggravated by the full moon. It has been\nasserted that among maritime populations, a greater number of deaths\noccurred at the ebb than at the flow of the tide. At Brest, Rochefort and\nSt. Malo, a register was kept for thirty months of the number of deaths,\nand the hours at which they took place; when the number was found to be\nless at the hours supposed most fatal. The doctrine of Aristotle, which\nhad still many adherents, was overthrown by experience.\n\nDr. Mead, an English physician, wrote a treatise on the influence of the\nmoon upon the human constitution, which has also fallen into oblivion.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\nAPPARITIONS.\n\n\nThe following anecdote is contained in one of the letters of Pliny, the\nyounger, which we select from many which figure in the annals of antiquity\nas a type reproduced in various forms, with a change of scenery, by an\ninfinite number of chroniclers.\n\n\"There was at Athens a spacious and convenient house, which was abandoned\nbecause in the dead of night its inhabitants were invariably disturbed by\na clash of iron, and rattling of chains, which appeared to approach\ngradually, and afterwards grow fainter and fainter. A spectre at length\nappeared, in the shape of an old man with a venerable beard, and his hair\nstanding on end, with chains on his feet and hands, which he shook\nfuriously; so that those who had courage to take shelter in the house\npassed fearful and sleepless nights. This privation of rest produced\nillness, which increasing by constant panic, death often ensued.\n\n\"The philosopher Athenodorus having arrived at Athens, and heard the story\nof the deserted house, hired it, and took up his residence.\n\n\"When evening set in, he had his bed put up in the front apartment; and\nhis tablets, lights, and writing implements placed on the table; after\nwhich, his attendants retired to the rear of the house. Lest his\nimagination should conjure up phantoms, he concentrated his whole\nattention in writing.\n\n\"At the beginning of the night, a deep silence prevailed. But at a later\nhour, he heard the ring of chains, but continued to write on disbelieving\nthe evidence of his ears.\n\n\"The noise becoming louder, seemed to approach his chamber door; and on\nlooking up, he beheld the spectre we have described; which seemed to\nbeckon him with its finger. Athenodorus made sign to his visitor to wait,\nand continued his writing. The spectre shook its chains anew in the ears\nof the philosopher; who, perceiving it to be still beckoning, rose, took\nup the light, and followed it. The phantom walked as if sinking under the\nweight of its chains; and on reaching the court-yard vanished, leaving\nAthenodorus picking up herbs and leaves to mark the place of its\ndisappearance.\n\n\"On the following day, he sought the magistrates of the city, and begged\nto have the scene of the adventure examined. On due investigation, a\nhuman skeleton, entangled in chains, was found interred on the ominous\nspot. The bones were carefully collected, and publicly buried; and after\nreceiving the sacred rites of the dead, the spectre never again troubled\nthe repose of the house.\"\n\nPliny does not relate this story as deserving of credence; but offered it\nto his contemporaries as an ingenious lesson upon the influence of the\nimagination, serving to inculcate the respect due from the living towards\nthe dead. Honours have been offered to the mortal remains of illustrious\nmen in all times and countries; and a reverence towards the grave may be\naccepted as an indication of civilization.\n\nPlato affirmed that he saw the souls of the departed flitting about like\nshadows; a prejudice we forgive the more readily in the man who first\nrevealed the existence of the soul, of which, in the name of Socrates, he\nconsecrated the immortality.\n\nPausanias relates that whole armies reappeared after death with their arms\nand baggage.\n\n\"Four hundred years after the battle of Marathon,\" says he, \"the neighing\nof horses and cries of soldiers were heard upon the scene of action.\"\n\nThe object of Pausanias was to hold up to the Athenians the example of\ntheir illustrious ancestors by immortalizing the heroic combatants of that\nmemorable battle. But he no more heard the neighing of horses on the spot,\nthan Napoleon beheld forty centuries surveying his army from the apex of\nthe Pyramids, as figurately described in his sublime address to his\ntroops.\n\nUnmindful of the moral sense of things, and prone to judge the recitals of\nantiquity according to the standard of our own ideas, regardless of the\nchanges of time, in our efforts to rectify the errors of our predecessors,\nwe fall into new ones. Due allowance ought to be made for time and place\nin perusing such recitals as the following:\n\n\"St. Spiridion, Bishop of Trimitonte, in Egypt, had a daughter, named\nIrene, who died a virgin. After her decease, an individual presented\nhimself and claimed a deposit which had been in her custody, unknown to\nher father, which was vainly sought for by St. Spiridion. Proceeding,\nhowever, to his daughter's tomb, he called aloud her name, and demanded\nwhat she had done with the object confided to her? 'You will find it\nburied in such a spot!' replied a voice from the tomb; and proceeding to\nthe place pointed out, the treasure was found.\"\n\nSt. Martin of Tours, disgusted by the reverence paid in his neighbourhood\nto a pretended Saint, proceeded to his tomb, and enjoined him to arise.\nThe dead man issued from his grave, confessed that he was a robber justly\npunished for his crimes, and condemned to eternal punishment.\n\nTo appreciate these two miracles, we must revert to the times of those two\nsaints, that is, to the reign of superstition; in which the priesthood\nofficiated with magisterial power, keeping in check, by their moral\ninfluence, the licentiousness of manners, and the perpetration of crime.\nOf these Bishops, the one saw fit to defend the reputation of his\ndaughter, and inculcate the sacred nature of a trust; while the other\nchose to exhibit the untenability of an assumed reputation. In both\ninstances, this was probably accomplished by means to which the\npriesthoods of all countries have not disdained to resort; finding them\nfar more effectual with an unenlightened populace than abstract argument.\n\nA somewhat similar instance is related by Martinus Polonius, Platinus, and\nPierre Damien, of Pope Benedict IX. This Pontiff, they assure us, not only\nrose again from the grave; but in the form of a wild beast, having the\nhead of an ass, the body of a bear, and the tail of a cat. As he wandered\nin the forest, a holy hermit met and conversed with him.\n\nThe truth is that the three authors of this story were Guelphs, and chose\nto convert the Ghibeline Pontiff into a monster, by a pretended\napparition. So is it ever with party-writers, who do not disdain to have\nrecourse to the most absurd and disgraceful means in order to discredit\ntheir opponents.\n\nAs regards the vulgar family of ghosts, there can be little doubt that\nsuch persons as really believe themselves to have been exposed to spectral\nvisitation, were affected either by some optical delusion, similar to that\nof the \"Fata Morgana\" on the coast of Sicily, or the \"mirage\" of the\ndesart; in most cases, produced by the fatigue of over-study, and\ninfirmity of digestion. Such effects are, also, easily produced by the\ninterposition of malicious or jocose persons, in the way of\nphantasmagoria.\n\nA celebrated instance of this kind is on record. The wife of the Provost\nof Orleans dying in that city, limited by her will to the sum of six\ngolden crowns the expenses of her funeral; which was to take place at the\nConvent of the Cordeliers. Her heirs conformed strictly to her\ninjunctions; thereby greatly incensing the friars, who determined to be\nrevenged.\n\nThe Superior of the Convent caused a young monk to be secreted in the\nvaults, and instructed him to cry aloud, and utter strange shrieks during\nthe performance of matins, and if invoked, to give no other answer than by\nknocking thrice. The youth faithfully executed his charge; and, at the\nmoment agreed upon, made a hideous noise; so that the affrighted monks\nsuspended the sacred office. The officiating priest adjured the disturbed\nspirit to tell them what was the matter; when three solemn knocks formed\nthe only answer, which was repeated three days consecutively.\n\nThe phenomenon was soon bruited abroad by the monks; and on the days of\nholy office, the noise was louder than usual; till the faithful deserted\nthe church in consternation. At length, they had recourse to exorcism; and\nwhen the exorciser conjured the phantom, demanding to know whose was the\nsoul in torment, and naming in succession the various persons buried in\nthe church, no answer was returned till they came to the name of the\noffending lady, when three loud knocks were distinctly audible. The spirit\nwas next interrogated whether she were not condemned to eternal punishment\nfor having secretly embraced the doctrines of Luther; and three, knocks\ninstantly confirmed the charge. She was next asked whether it would not\nassuage her torments if her body were carried out of the Catholic Church\nto be more appropriately interred; and three knocks again replied in the\naffirmative. The Chapter being convoked, decided upon giving up the lady\nto her husband, as being convicted of Lutheranism. But the Provost,\ninstead of giving credence to the opposition, submitted the case to the\ntribunals of Paris, obtaining a special commission from the Chancellor\nDuprat for the purpose. The result was the confession of the secreted\nfriar; whereupon the Superior of the Cordeliers and his confederate were\ncondemned to fine and imprisonment.\n\nSuch delusions have been frequent from the time the Preaching Friars of\nBordeaux took occasion to relieve souls of purgatory in proportion to the\nofferings placed before them, to that of the Convulsionaries, who, at the\ncommencement of the last century, exhibited their freaks on the site of\nthe cemetery of St. M\u00e9dard.\n\nThe most diverting piece of imposition is that related by Erasmus of a\npriest, who, finding the fervour of his flock relax to the evident\ndiminution of his revenues, let loose one night in his burying-ground a\nquantity of cray-fish, each having a lighted taper attached to it. The\nparishioners instantly repaired to their pastor, who affirmed that these\nwandering lights were souls from purgatory in search of masses; a\nconsiderably supply of which was ordered on the spot. Owing, however, to\nthe carelessness of the priest, a cray-fish, with a piece of taper\nadhering to it, was picked up the following day in the church-yard.\n\nLet those who are disposed to yield credit to ghost stories, visit but\nonce a good exhibition of Ombres Chinoises, or Fantasmagoria, or the\ndisplay of some able ventriloquist; and they will perceive that a good\nghost story is as easy of manufacture as a hat or a pair of gloves.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nNOBILITY AND TRADE.\n\n\nThe subject before us is too closely connected with the prejudices of\nmankind not to call for consideration. The question is delicate, but we\nhazard the argument, though at the risk of giving offence.\n\nThe honours conceded to men of pre-eminent merit, who have rendered\nservice to their country, or to humanity in general, excite no\ndissatisfaction;--the reaction begins with the second generation.\nHereditary nobility is a time-honoured prejudice. The founder of an\nillustrious race is entitled to the respect of his contemporaries; but his\ndescendants become esteemed in proportion to the value attached to their\nname. Unless they have conferred on it additional lustre, the inherited\nrank exacts little consideration.\n\nConquest was the origin of the most ancient nobility, as well as the\nfoundation of royalty. In France, from Clovis to Philip le Bel, there\nwere no other races of nobility; but after the reign of the latter, the\nKings of France exercised the right of ennoblement. From a right, nobility\nin France became a concession. It is clear, therefore, that the power of\nennoblement, from the time of Philip le Bel, extinguished the illusions\nconcerning nobility which had previously prevailed. The facile formation\nof nobility, the metamorphosis of the serf of yesterday into the baron of\nthe morrow, undeceived the multitude as to the right divine they had\nhitherto attributed to the nobles; and deteriorated the consequence of the\norder. From that epoch, illustrious names started forth from the middle\nclasses to figure at the Courts of Sovereigns; and in each succeeding\nreign, we find names issuing from obscurity to cast a halo over the pages\nof history. Many such still figure there; and some have added fresh lustre\nto the names bequeathed them by their ancestors.\n\nA King of France one day ennobled all the burghers of Paris; who refused\nthe honour, conscious that, all being noble, nobility must cease to exist.\n\nThe homage we pay to a great historical name is a justifiable feeling.\nAmong the ancient privileges of such nobility, one of the finest was that\nof defending the country against foreign invasion. Previous to the use of\nartillery, our armies were chiefly composed of cavalry. The infantry\nbecame important under Francis I. at the battle of Marignan; after which,\nthis privilege became of less account. Till then, the defence of the\ncountry was entrusted to its nobility.\n\nAt the first declaration of war, the King convoked the chief vassals of\nthe crown; who, in their turn, assembled their Barons and Counts,\naccording to the order of the feudal system,--their vassals, and their\nvassals' vassals; all marching under the banners of their chiefs. Many\nwere reduced to ruin by such expeditions. Montesquieu asserts that fear is\nthe soul of a despotic government, honour of a monarchical, and virtue of\na republican. Were he now alive, he would perhaps assign money as the\npivot of the representative system. How do things proceed in a citizen\nkingdom? Precisely as in feudal times! Upon the first decision of a loan,\nGovernment convenes the whole financial vassalage, confers with the Barons\nand Counts of the Stock Exchange, with the puissant lords of speculations,\nand humbler knights of stock jobbing. Armed cap-\u00e0-pie with the\nirresistible credit of the great vassals, after a series of combats of\nwhich the stock-jobbers are the heralds and trumpeters, they defeat the\nunfortunate Gauls of the Exchange; while the triumphant Franks risk\nnothing in the expedition. There is little exaggeration in this\ncomparison. It often happens that a mere substitution, and not the\noverthrow of a system, takes place.\n\nFeudalism still exists, not only in the financial world, but among\nindividuals engaged in the same profession. Now that the law of\nconstitutional governments has proclaimed the principle of equality, the\nthirst for distinction and supremacy has become more prevalent than ever.\n\nIn military and civil communities, a hierarchy is indispensable to exact\nrespect from the lower towards the higher grades; without which, all\ndiscipline would be impossible. But among men equally free, engaged in the\nsame calling, and eating the same bread, we can imagine nothing more\nabsurd than the assumed superiority of the fortunate over the\nunprosperous. The insolence of the tradesman in a great way of business\ntowards the tradesman commencing his career far exceeds the insolence of\nthe patrician towards the plebeian; and the field officer of a regiment is\noften seen to treat his subalterns as though they were footmen.\n\nThat artists and men of letters should mutually treat each other according\nto the reputation they may have acquired, is not surprising; seeing that,\nin spite of the mercantile nature of modern literary productions, and the\ndramatic and literary societies formed for the protection of their\nmaterial interests, men of letters, poets, painters, architects,\nsculptors, musicians, and even actors, assume in the eyes of the public\nprecisely the place assigned to each by public favour and success;\nstanding on the ground of their individual, and not upon their corporate,\nmerit.\n\nNevertheless, in all academies of art, science, and literature, the\nprinciple of equality prevails. The only persons they regard as inferior,\nare those who on their deaths will probably succeed to their places.\n\nThough we have alluded with sneering levity to the Counts and Barons of\nFinance, we have no intention of speaking lightly on the subject. Nothing\ncan be more serious than the substitution of financial supremacy for those\nmore gloriously earned honours, the extinction of which would strike a\ndeath-blow at civilisation.\n\nThere are several banks in Europe exceeding in wealth and power the\nrichest citizens of Rome after the conquest of Asia. Independent of steam,\nof gigantic undertakings, manufacturing or commercial, there is another\npredominating power of the utmost importance; the enormous accumulation of\ncapital in the hands of a few, not to be lavished like that of the Romans\nin patronage of the arts, or acts of beneficence; but doled out in\nspeculative fractions, often fatal to the interests of honest industry,\nand rarely conducing to the interests of the country.\n\nIn feudal times, the extortions of the Barons were undeniable; and\ncompulsory labour was a humiliating hardship. But upon their return from\nthe wars, when exacting from their serfs compensation for their shattered\narmour, it was at least for the defence of the soil, as well as to face\nthe enemy again, if necessary, that these benevolences were required. In\ncountries where the feudal system is yet in force, such as Russia, the\nmoral existence of the serfs is inferior to that of our manufacturing\nworkmen; while as regards subsistence, the condition of the serfs is much\nless precarious. Like our peasants of old, they enjoy their family ties,\nbreathe the fresh air, and tread upon their native soil; tilling the land\nfor the benefit of their Lord, instead of receiving a grudging\nremuneration for their labour.\n\nHaving frequently inquired of heads of manufactories, the wages of their\nworkmen; we have received such evasive answers, as to be reduced to our\nown conjectures on the subject.\n\nSuppose that in a manufactory, one hundred pair of hands be daily\nemployed, and that the profits be \u00a32000 per annum, it is clear that every\nindividual produces \u00a320. A mutual convention exists; the master having the\npower of dismissing the workman, and the latter of quitting the master;\nthe former being liable to the disasters of fire or bankruptcy, from which\nthe workman is exempt. The manufacturer having embarked his capital, has\nan unquestionable right to high profits. But all this, is nevertheless\nserfdom under another form; and we behold with pity these industrious\nbeings, breathing the burning and mephitic air prevailing in the\nfactories. The serf when sick, is cared for by his Lord; but the factory\nman is dismissed without ceremony. For in the manufacturing districts, man\ncounts but as a machine, which if worn out, is replaced by another.\n\nWe can scarcely be surprised, therefore, if the financial and\nmanufacturing aristocracy,--the strongbox nobility,--assume at the present\nday the consequence of the chivalrous nobility of the olden time. It is\nbut fair, however, to admit that there are generous-minded manufacturers;\njust as there were good-hearted Barons among the feudal tyrants.\n\nMuch might be added on this subject; but a further disquisition would only\nprolong into a political discussion, what we have only pretended to treat\non the score of vulgar prejudice.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nMERIT AND POPULARITY.\n\n\nWhat is popularity? By what indications is it known? Who ratifies its\ntitles? And do those titles, conferred by favoritism, error, influence,\nprejudice, interest, or flattery, possess more value or more durability\nthan the scattered leaves on which the Sybil inscribed her oracles? Is\nmerit a positive thing or a relative--a matter of conversation, or of\nproof?\n\nWhat, we say again, is popularity? How is it acquired? How forfeited? Is\nit the result of merit, or a capricious out-burst of opinion impersonating\nitself so as to enjoy its own homage under the traits of a living statue?\n\nTo these questions, it is difficult to give a definitive and conclusive\nreply. Popularity is often the privilege and shield of a fool or rascal;\nwhile genuine merit of a real and indisputable quality seldom secures it\nunless from some accidental cause. Those who aspire to popularity care\nmore for the amount of suffrages, than for their specific worth. They\ndelight in being the object of popular excitement; and hearing their name\nre-echoed, assign their personal qualities as the cause of these\ncapricious demonstrations. True merit heeds not such fulsome\nacclamations;--too well aware that the man who becomes the tool of\npopularity, ends in being an object of contempt.\n\nThere are numerous ways of achieving popularity. But we must not forget to\ndistinguish the difference between the popularity of men, and the\npopularity of their productions. Both are variable; being subject to the\ninfluence of events, the vacillations of parties, and of human\ninconstancy. Popularity is, however, less fickle as regards the\nmasterpieces of the mind of man, than as regards individuals whom it\nfrequently raises to the sky, the better to fling them down into the dust.\nA man may sometimes be popular in spite of himself; dragged from his\nseclusion, elevated above his natural position only to sink for want of\nappropriate support.\n\nHow many examples are to be found in our history, of such ephemeral\npopularity; the idol of to-day being proscribed on the morrow of his\novation! On such occasions, the public resembles a mind obeying by turns\ntwo directly opposite impulsions. In such perplexities, the scales are\nrarely held with a steady hand; and when they discover a man to be\ndeficient in the merit they have gratuitously attributed to him, they\navenge themselves by unnecessarily depreciating that which they have\ncapriciously overrated. The man who delights in popularity is as much\nsubjugated as the veriest slave in Rome. He must obey those whom he\ndesires to command; must adopt measures he wishes to repress; and if for a\nmoment he venture to pause for the admeasurement of the abyss he is\napproaching, is taxed with cowardice and treachery!\n\nHow great was the popularity of the brothers Lameth, when Mirabeau made\nthe terrible allusion: \"And I too could command a triumph. But from the\nCapitol to the Tarpeian rock, there is but a step!\" How great was the\npopularity of that very colossus of eloquence, Mirabeau himself; who died\nin the nick of time that he might not survive the public favour which was\nrapidly declining.\n\nWhat King was ever so popular as Louis XVI.? Yet his popularity had passed\naway long before he ascended that throne of revolutions, the scaffold. The\npopularity of Henri IV. lasted during his life, and was renewed by his\ntragic end; but lay torpid for a century after his death, to be revived by\nthe genius of Voltaire. Under Louis XIII. and Louis XIV., the name of\nHenri IV. was never mentioned; and had not the poem of the Henriade\nrefreshed the memory of the only King of whom the people are said to keep\nholy the recollection; Henri IV., like Louis XII., and other excellent\nKings of France, would have been forgotten.\n\nAfter repopularizing Henri IV., Voltaire became in his turn the most\npopular man in France, especially in the regions of the social and\nintellectual world. Voltaire was the prince of flatterers. He flattered,\nat the same time, kings and the people, but reproved as skilfully, so that\nhe delighted kings by their personal praise, and the people by general\nreproaches against kings.\n\nVoltaire enjoyed immense popularity during his life, and high honours\nafter death; but in the sequel, he reaped the bitter fruits of the tree of\nevil he had planted. All but forgotten during the Revolution, quite so\nduring the Empire, Voltaire only renewed his popularity at the\nRestoration. The official censure issued against the reprinting of his\nworks, served for a time to restore him to importance.\n\nVoltaire so completely absorbed the attention of his time, that not one of\nthe great geniuses moving in the same sphere, arrived at any thing\napproaching his popularity. Montesquieu would not compete with him; and\neven Jean Jacques Rousseau, in spite of the superiority of his style,\nbarely acquired popularity.\n\nIn general, popularity attaches rather to political than literary\neminence; inclining towards trivialities, such as songs and epigrams,\nrather than to works of merit. A particular style of dress, or a cap of a\nparticular colour is often necessary to secure popular favour. Yet\npopularity among the vulgar is not to be despised, being often the guerdon\nof works of genuine merit; more particularly as regards the Fine Arts.\nBarrel organs grinding the beautiful airs of our great composers in the\nstreets, stamp them with a certificate of popularity; while, as regards\npictures, their popularity is often insured by the intervention of some\nunskilful engraver.\n\nPopularity sometimes attaches itself to tyrants; and Caligula and Nero\nwere more popular in Rome than Germanicus. What mattered the slaughter of\nsenators and patricians, or the confiscation of their property, so long as\nthe proceeds afforded food and sports to the people? The populace delight\nespecially in the downfall of royal favourites; and the overthrow of the\nstatue of Sejanus, once the idol of Rome, was hailed with shouts of\nexultation. We cannot be surprised, however, that the Emperors of Rome\nwere popular; since Louis XI. of France, and Henry VIII. of England were\npopular because they humbled the great, and summoned into their council\nmen of the lowest origin.\n\nCardinal Richelieu completed the work of Louis XI. and destroyed the last\nvestiges of feudalism. But in this case, the same course produced a\ncontrary effect. Richilieu was not popular. So true is it that popularity\nknows neither law nor precedent. Louis XIV., though not individually\npopular, was honoured for his conquests, so long as he remained\nvictorious. Louis XV. was popular only twice in his long life; once, when\na false report of his death had prevailed; and once, when he alighted from\nhis carriage in Paris to kneel before the Holy Sacrament. Popularity\npossesses a somewhat loose morality; at times adopting the mistresses of\nKings; such as Gabrielle d'Estr\u00e9es, Agnes Sorel, and even the infamous\nPompadour and du Barry.\n\nOf the great men who adorned the reign of Louis XIV., few were popular\nduring their life-time, with the exception of Moli\u00e8re and Corneille.\nMoli\u00e8re, because the power of his genius placed itself between the monarch\nand his people, castigating the vices of all classes with equal ridicule;\nCorneille, because he excited the heroism of the kingdom by exalting the\nRomans. His popularity was, however, less the result of his genius, than\nof the envious persecutions of Cardinal Richelieu.\n\nRacine, Boileau, La Fontaine, acquired only posthumous fame, purely\nliterary, and likely to last for ever. Men of science are seldom popular;\ntheir devotion to science, and the purity of their calling confining their\nrenown within certain limits. Those who benefit by the results of their\nlabours, think of them as lightly as those who enjoy the warmth of the\nsun, without bestowing a thought upon its source. Few who use the barrow\nand the truck are aware that for these useful inventions they are indebted\nto Pascal; and what more popular than certain proverbs and quotations\nforming part of every conversation, of which few of us are able to name\nthe author.\n\nThe Revolution of 1789 was popular, and men of the highest merit shared in\nits popularity by their adherence. Mathieu de Montmorency was popular when\nthe representative of the first Christian Barony sacrificed his titles to\nthe love of equality. The Bishop of Autun was popular when he presented to\nthe Constituent Assembly a proposition for applying the revenues of the\nchurch to make good the deficit in the public revenue. The Abb\u00e9 Si\u00e8yes was\npopular when he pointed out the rights of man, omitting to speak of his\nduties; and no popularity ever exceeded that of Bailly, till the fatal day\nof his death upon the scaffold. The taking of the Bastille cannot be\nconsidered a popular act, if the quality and number of the instigators be\ntaken into account. But the remembrance of the act became popular; and it\nwas consecrated the following year by the first federation solemnized in\nthe Champ de Mars.\n\nNever were there two more striking examples of the changes of public\nopinion, than Rienzi at Rome, and Marat at Paris. The same populace which\ndragged the remains of the former through the mud, afterwards assisted to\nplace his relics in the Pantheon dedicated to the illustrious men of the\ncountry.\n\nIn like manner, Cromwell, whose memory was for more than a century\ninfamous in England, is about to obtain a statue in the National Senate.\n\nRobespierre forfeited his popularity the moment he attempted to check the\neffusion of blood of the victims; when the good cause of 1789 had become\nsanguinary and frantic. Danton was more popular than Barr\u00e8re. The\nGirondins were popular with the people; the Mountagre faction with the\npopulace. It is remarkable, that in those times, every new administration\nof Government was hailed by the acclamations of the people: who were just\nas sure to rejoice at its downfall. So has it been in every great crisis\nin France. In public exigencies, promises are made, incapable of\nrealization; every successive Government having shrunk from innovation and\nreform, when it came to the moment of fulfilment. After the first\nRevolution, popularity attended their military successes; but deserted the\nvacillating policy of the Directory, and followed the banner of conquest\nto Italy, under which the genius of Napoleon first shone forth; saluting\nits victorious General on his return to Paris, accompanying him into\nEgypt; and on his second return, raising him to sovereign power.\n\nFrom the 18th Brumaire, till the year 1812, popularity adhered constantly\nto a single victorious standard. At the murder of the Duke D'Enghien,\npopular enthusiasm underwent a certain degree of modification, and\npartially adopted the Empress Josephine as the palladium of the imperial\nfortunes; to which vulgar credulity and subsequent events seemed to lend\nauthenticity. The popularity of the Emperor declined after his divorce.\n\nIn our examination of the influence of events upon the French people, we\nhave only twice found them manifest, at the same moment, exultation and\nsorrow. Their indignation at the Emperor's cruel usage of Josephine,\nvanished before the cradle of the King of Rome, and France was unanimous\nin its gratulations on the birth of the imperial infant. The other event\nis of later date. The day after the assassination of the Duke de Berry,\nthe gloom was universal. Some were horror-struck at the murder, some\ndeeply attached to the Prince and his family; while many were astonished\nto find a mortal man where they had hitherto only discerned a Prince.\nNevertheless, the partizans of the imperial cause regarded the event as\nthe removal of an obstacle.\n\nPopularity escorted Charles X. from St. Cloud to Paris upon proceeding\nthere to take possession of his throne, and restore the liberty of the\npress, which was destined some day to reverse it. It also attached itself\nto the gates of the Palais Royal as the residence of the Orleans family;\nbut merely to mark a growing aversion to the Tuileries; a negative triumph\nlike that of an opposition united only by a common enmity to the powers\nthat be.\n\nIn England, a similar transition was visible when the once popular Prince\nof Wales, adopted by the people in opposition to the Court of the reigning\nsovereign, became, as Prince Regent, an object of public dislike!\n\nAmong the heroes and victims of popularity may be numbered La Fayette. For\nhalf a century did he wrestle with the fluctuations of public favour. When\nat the head of the Urban Guard, which subsequently assumed the name of the\nNational Guard, La Fayette was at the zenith of his glory. The colour of\nhis very horse became popular; and every one adopted his method of\ndressing his hair. Popularity becoming negligent of her idol, the scowls\nof the Court served to revive it; but falling into disgrace with the\nLegislative Assembly, it was again at fault. Thus ended the first act of\nthe drama of La Fayette's popularity.\n\nMadame de Sta\u00ebl pronounced him to be an obstacle to his adversaries,\nrather than an aid to his friends. The public soon lost sight of the man\nso long the toy of its caprices. Shut up in the prison of Olm\u00fctz, he owed\nhis deliverance to the Conqueror of Italy, and returned to France\nunnoticed; he afterwards offended the First Consul by presuming to offer\nlessons to him upon the art of Government, and till the Restoration lived\nin complete seclusion.\n\nA trip to the United States, in securing whose Independence he had\ndistinguished himself in early life, served to stir up the smouldering\nembers of his popularity, which he left no means unattempted to increase;\nand at the Revolution of July, popularity assigned to La Fayette the\nhonours of a new triumph; restoring to him the command of the National\nGuard.\n\nThe rapidity with which his name fell into oblivion on his decease, proves\nthat these apparitions of departed popularity--these reflections of an\nearlier favour--are rarely permanent; and that to attain the honours of\nhistory, a more solid merit is required than that which secures the\nephemeral sunshine of Popularity.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nCOMETS.\n\n\nComets played a leading part among the omens of the olden time; and the\nappearance of one in the heavens was the signal for popular panic. The\nunlooked for appearance of a comet became a godsend to the astrologers.\n\nThe credit of omens, however, was on the decline from the time when Cato\ndeclared that it was impossible for two augurs to meet without a smile;\nand for the Romans, the discredit of presages and omens was an important\nmatter, nature and all her works furnishing them with indications from\nwhich auguries might be elicited. The omens of which they stood most in\nawe were invariably connected with the left side. Thunder audible from the\nleft, or even the croaking of a frog to the left, filled them with such\nconsternation, that they instantly propitiated the Gods by an offering.\nThe sudden appearance of a mouse, determined Fabius Maximus to abdicate\nthe dictatorship; and the Consul Flaminius renounced a command of cavalry\nin consequence of the same sinister omen. Great events certainly proceeded\nin those centuries from the smallest causes. But in all this, the\nself-love and vanity of the human race were chiefly apparent, the ancients\nbeing convinced that even in the most insignificant details of their\nlives, the Gods were actively interested.\n\nHannibal rose superior to this weakness. Having advised Prusias to give\nbattle to the Romans, it is related that the King of Bithynia declined,\nalleging that the entrails of the victims suggested a contrary conclusion.\n\n\"You prefer then,\" said the Carthaginian hero, \"the advice of a sheep's\nliver to that of the head of a veteran General?--I pity you!\"\n\nAncient history affords only too many instances of similar superstition;\nfrom the sacred fowls which were consulted only in imminent dangers, to\nthe deformed children flung into the Tiber, lest they should bring down\nevil on the republic. The practice of the ancient Germans, by the way, of\nplunging new-born infants into the Danube to render them robust, is more\neasily explained; since being necessarily fatal to weakly children, the\nqualities of the healthy ones who survived were readily attributable to\nthe immersion.\n\nThe absurd prejudices connected with the appearance of comets, are about\nequally deserving of attention. Madame de S\u00e9vign\u00e9 writes upon this\nsubject in her usual lively style.\n\n\"We are visited by a comet,\" says she, in one of her letters to her\ndaughter, \"which is the finest of its kind, and possesses one of the most\nsplendid tails ever beheld in the heavens. All our great personages are\nterrified; conceiving that Providence, having nothing better to do than\nwatch over their paltry comings and goings, has decreed their downfall,\nand sent an intimation of it to the world by means of this comet.\"\nCardinal Mazarin was just then given over by his physicians, and those\nabout him saw fit to flatter his vanity by pretending that the Almighty\nhad signalized his last moments by a prodigy. Having mentioned to him that\na terrible comet was announcing the great event which struck panic into\nthe world, he had strength of mind to jest upon their vile adulation,\nassuring them that the comet \"did him a great deal too much honour.\" It\nwould be well, were all men to judge as wisely; for human pride must be\nblind indeed, to suppose that the stars have no other duty in their\nspheres than to regulate the affairs of mortals.\n\nA celebrated Spanish author has written concerning comets with even less\nreverence than Madame de S\u00e9vign\u00e9.\n\n\"Comets,\" said he, \"are the very braggarts of the sky. They have been\naptly used as engines for the intimidation of Sovereigns, who have less\nto fear upon the face of the earth than other men. Still, it is scarcely\nnecessary that the celestial bodies should derange themselves to appal\nthem, so long as they have the ambition of neighbouring Princes, the\ninsubordination of their subjects, and the numerous plagues of government\nto hold them in subjection.\"\n\nThe same writer attacks the influence of comets in terms less reverential\nthan those of the learned dissertations of Bayle; for he pretends that the\nearth is too small a planet to attract so vast a meteor. As regards their\ninfluence in the necrology of Kings, he proves that the average life of\nroyal personages equals the average life of peasants; without requiring\nthe aid of a comet to announce their natural dissolution.\n\nVarious interpretations have been affixed at different times to the\nappearance of comets. Thus, the one that appeared at Rome, shortly after\nthe death of Julius C\u00e6sar, was regarded as a glorification of the deceased\nEmperor; and in 1811, on the appearance of the comet which has given its\nname to the year, as, \"l'ann\u00e9e de la com\u00e8te,\"--(the wines made from grapes\ngrown under its fervid influence being sold under the name of Comet\nwines)--an attempt was made to convert it into an homage to the glory of\nthe Emperor Napoleon!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\nPOPULAR ERRORS.\n\n\nA popular error of the most fatal kind was the idea formerly prevalent\nthat a drowned person, being overpowered by the quantity of water he had\nswallowed, was susceptible of restoration by suspending him with the head\ndownwards, so as to force him to disgorge it. More persons owed their\ndeath to this stupid operation, than to the suspended respiration it was\nintended to restore. It is only during the present century that the\nexperiments of the faculty all over the world have pointed out that the\nonly course to pursue with persons taken insensible out of the water, is\nto restore circulation by warmth and friction of the extremities; and\nrespiration, by the introduction of air into the lungs.\n\nAn equally strange legislative abuse connected with this subject,\nprevailed in Paris till within the last few years. A reward of twelve\nfrancs, or ten shillings was given to any person who saved another from\ndrowning by extricating his body from the Seine, while a reward of\nsix-and-thirty francs, or three times as much, was given to the person who\nrescued a dead body from the water! This was evidently conceived in the\nhygienic interests of a city, where the river water is in such extensive\nuse for baths and drinking; but it was in point of fact offering a premium\nfor murder: the morality of navigatory populations being in most countries\nat a low ebb.\n\nAnother French delusion fatal to human preservation, is the idea that the\nperson who cuts down the body of another found hanging, legally involves\nhimself in an accusation of murder; and nothing can be more injudicious\nthan the harshness with which the proceedings of an inquest are often\npursued; as if to justify the poltroonery of those whose first impulse on\ndiscovering a body is to go in search of witnesses of the circumstances\nattending the discovery, instead of lending immediate aid.\n\nA more innocent, but not less groundless popular prejudice is, that which\nattaches itself to that most useful of domestic animals, the ass--the\nwar-horse of the poor. In all countries, this sure-footed and faithful\nanimal is adopted as an emblem of stupidity, from the patience with which\nit submits to punishment and endures privation. A pair of ass's ears is\ninflicted upon a child in reproof of his duncehood; and through life we\nhear every blockhead of our acquaintance called an ass. Whereas the ass\nis a beast of great intelligence; and we often owe our safety to its sure\nand unerring foot beside the perilous precipice, where the steps of the\nman of science would have faltered.\n\nThe Fathers of the Church, and the Disciples of the Sorbonne, persuaded of\nthe universal influence of the Christian faith, believed the dark cross on\nthe back of the ass to date only from the day on which our Saviour made\nhis entry into Jerusalem. The ass of the desart was an animal of great\nprice. Pliny mentions that the Senator Arius paid for one the sum of four\nhundred thousand sesterces. Naturalists have frequently remarked the\nextraordinary dimensions of an ass's heart, which is thought an indication\nof courage; and it is the custom of the peasantry of some countries to\nmake their children wear a piece of ass's skin about their person. The\nass's skin is peculiarly valuable, both for the manufacture of\nwriting-tablets and drums; which may be the reason why a dead ass is so\nrarely seen. It is too valuable to be left on the highway. In many places,\nthe ass serves as a barometer. If he roll in the dust, fine weather may be\nexpected; but if he erect his ears, rain is certain. Why should not\nanimals experience the same atmospheric influences as man? Are we not\nlight-hearted in the sunshine, and depressed in a heavy atmosphere.\n\nLouis XI., of France, was a great patron of the ass. His astrologers\nhaving failed in their predictions concerning the weather, he dismissed\nthem, and substituted an ass in their place, as being more weather-wise.\nCertain physicians consider the emanations from the ass's body to possess\nbeneficial medical properties; while, in former days, the blood of the\nbull was considered poisonous.\n\nThe credulous Plutarch declared that Themistocles poisoned himself with\nbullock's blood, upon the authority of the priests of Egina, who are also\ncited by Pliny; and this same bullock's blood, esteemed poisonous, was\nalso considered a moral purification;--sins being expiated by the\nsprinkling of the human body with the blood of the bull. On solemn\noccasions, when the criminal was a man of wealth and distinction, so that\na bull was dedicated to his use, the blood was made to fall in a\nperforated vessel, and the criminal standing beneath, received the sacred\naspersion upon his face and attire. The Emperor Julian submitted to this\nact of expiation. Bullock's blood is now known to be as innocuous as that\nof other animals; and is extensively used in more than one manufacture.\n\nDuring the Middle Ages, ground glass was supposed to act as an infallible\npoison; and was long known by the name of \"Succession Powder.\" Montfleury\nspeaks of it in one of his comedies. One of the personages, showing a\npacket of it, observes: \"Here is the making of many an heir!\"\n\nPortal, and several other French physicians, have asserted in their works,\nthat ground glass is fatal to the swallower; and it is frequently used by\nthe poor as ratsbane, mixed up with the compositions intended for the\nextermination of vermin. Jugglers were the first to controvert this error,\nby publicly swallowing it with impunity, a feat which Dr. Franck having\nwitnessed, he immediately experimentalized on himself, and published the\nresults as conclusive against the received opinion.\n\nAbout the year 1810, a physician of Caen, named Sauvage, confirmed the\nopinion of Franck. A young lady under his care swallowed a quantity of\npowdered glass for the purpose of self-destruction without experiencing\nthe least injury; upon which Sauvage tried experiments on various animals,\nadministering ground glass to cats, dogs, and rats, on opening the bodies\nof which, he could not detect the smallest effect. Many similar\nexperiments produced the same results. Dr. Cayol, in presence of his\ncolleagues, swallowed a quantity of irregular fragments of glass. So,\nalso, did Sauvage, without producing the smallest derangement of the\ndigestive organs.\n\nIt is worthy of remark, that mountebanks often clear the way for the\nmarch of science; a proof that the most trivial observations may be the\norigin of the grandest results. Some students of Oxford, on visiting\nNewton, found him blowing bubbles from a straw, and considered the\noccupation childish. The philosopher was studying the theory of light.\n\nSince we have alluded to mountebanks, let us devote a few more words to\nthem. Jugglers have been known to swallow, not only pounded glass, but\nstones and knife blades. A celebrated Spaniard, accused by the\nInquisition, proved his innocence by swallowing fiery coals without\ninjury; and the savage found in the woods at Aveyron, devoured all sorts\nof fowls with their feathers. But these exploits will not bear comparison\nwith those of the Molucca savage, of whom we read an account in a volume\nentitled: \"The Testament of Jerome Sharp,\" printed in 1786.\n\n\"I entered,\" says the narrator, \"with one of my friends, and found a man\nresembling an ourang-outang crouched upon a stool in the manner of a\ntailor. His complexion announced a distant climate, and his keeper stated\nthat he found him in the island of Molucca. His body was bare to the hips,\nhaving a chain round the waist, seven or eight feet long, was fastened to\na pillar, and permitted him to circulate out of the reach of the\nspectators. His looks and gesticulations were frightful. His jaws never\nceased snapping, except when sending forth discordant cries, which were\nsaid to be indicative of hunger. He swallowed flints when thrown to him,\nbut preferred raw meat, which he rushed behind his pillar to devour. He\ngroaned fearfully during his repast, and continued groaning until fully\nsatiated. When unable to procure more meat, he would swallow stones with\nfrightful avidity; which, upon examination of those which he accidentally\ndropped, proved to be partly dissolved by the acrid quality of his saliva.\nIn jumping about, the undigested stones were heard rattling in his\nstomach.\"\n\nThe men of science quickly set to work to account for these feats, so\ncompletely at variance with the laws of nature. But before they had hit\nupon a theory, the pretended Molucca savage proved to be a peasant from\nthe neighbourhood of Besan\u00e7on, who chose to turn to account his natural\ndeformities. When staining his face for the purpose, in the dread of\nhurting his eyes, he left the eyelids unstained, which completely puzzled\nthe naturalists. By a clever sleight of hand, the raw meat was left behind\nthe pillar, and cooked meat substituted in its place. Some asserted his\npassion for eating behind the pillar to be a proof of his savage origin;\nmost polite persons, and more especially Kings, being addicted to feeding\nin public. The stones swallowed by the pretended savage were taken from a\nvessel left purposely in the room full of them; small round stones,\nencrusted with plaster, which afterwards gave them the appearance of\nhaving been masticated in the mouth. Before the discovery of all this, the\nimpostor had contrived to reap a plentiful harvest.\n\nSome time afterwards, a woman was exhibited near the Louvre, who devoured\nflints and slate with the utmost avidity. But the scientific world,\nforewarned by its former credulity, took no note of her peculiarities of\nappetite.\n\nIt is recorded in the Gazette of Health, that the Abb\u00e9 Monnier, of St.\nJean d'Ang\u00e9ly, used in his youth to grind between his teeth fragments of\nstone for recreation, and even in his declining age, continued the custom.\nHe would swallow a spoonfull during the day, and did not consider his\ndinner complete without them. He was always pale and emaciated, which was\nattributed to his singular diet. But his brother, who did not feed upon\nstones, was precisely of the same temperament and appearance. The Abb\u00e9\nlived till the age of ninety-eight. Diseased persons have been known to\ndevour without injury, earth, stones, chalk, and plaster; and an eminent\nphysician used to eat small lumps of plaster-of-Paris, as others swallow\nsugar-plums.\n\nIn the anatomical inquiries of Menelaus Winsemius, a Dutch physician, he\nrelates that in his time, a peasant of Friesland was in the habit of\nswallowing flints, wood, glass, and live fish. In Wurtemberg, there was\nalso a miller, who for money would swallow birds, mice, lizards,\ncaterpillars, or fragments of glass and stone. He one day swallowed an\ninkstandish, with all its appurtenances. These feats were publicly\nattested by the Senate of Wurtemberg; after which, the man lived nineteen\nyears, subsisting upon twelve pounds of food per diem. There is scarcely a\nfair throughout Europe at which such feats are not exhibited on a minor\nscale.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\nDREAMS.\n\n\nIn modern times, dreams have become a gratuitous affair; but in the time\nof lotteries they possessed the greatest value with the votaries of Blind\nFortune. At the French offices, a register was kept of lucky numbers,\nwhose prizes were the result of dreams. Not a day passed but the office\nkeepers were applied to for numbers, the combination of which was foretold\nby dreams.\n\nHowever great the weakness of those who put undue faith in such omens, it\nmust be admitted that the wanderings of the mind during sleep have been\nproductive of marvellous results. But just as the slightest opinions of\nMontaigne are the result of the minutest self-study, a person desirous to\nascertain the real importance of a dream ought to consider what was the\nstate of health, disposition, mind and feeling of the dreamers. Many\ndreams constitute a mere continuation of the occupations of the day.\nOthers arise from our habitual strain of mind. During illness or fever,\nthe mind, and consequently the dreams by which it is perplexed, assume an\nexalted and unnatural tone.\n\nAuthors have been known to compose during their sleep. Voltaire declares\nthat he composed his verses to Monsieur Touron while asleep; and on\nreturning from a ball, what young dancer does not fancy during the night,\nthat the violins of the orchestra are still ringing in his ears?\nHippocrates was so persuaded of the analogy of dreams with our physical\ncondition, that he points out specifics against evil dreaming. If the\nstars turn pale in your dreams, you are to run in a circle; if the moon,\nyou must run in a straight line; if the sun, you must run both in a\nstraight line and a circle to avoid a repetition of the evil omen.\n\nBy these prescriptions, he prevailed upon the lazy Athenians to assist\ntheir bad digestion by the effect of exercise, so as to procure a calm and\ngentle sleep.\n\nPliny, the younger, mentions the following fact: \"One of my slaves, who\nwas sleeping with his companions in the place usually allotted to them,\ndreamed that two men, dressed in white, entered through the window, and\nhaving shaven their heads, departed by the way they came. The following\nmorning he was found shaved, and his hair scattered on the ground.\" This\nwas probably some waggish trick practised on him by his companions when in\na state of intoxication.\n\nValerius Maximus, on the authority of Cicero, relates a remarkable dream:\n\n\"Two fellow-travellers arrived at Megara; the one putting up at an hotel,\nthe other at the house of a friend. Scarcely had the former fallen asleep,\nwhen he saw his companion imploring him to come to his aid, as his host\nwas attempting to murder him. The impression was so strong as to wake him;\nwhen, finding it a delusion, he went to sleep again. Once more, his friend\nappeared, announcing the accomplishment of the crime, and that his\nassassin had concealed his body under the dunghill, to which he begged his\ncompanion to repair betimes, before they had time to remove it out of the\ncity. Overawed by so awful a vision, the friend rose forthwith, and\nproceeding to the scene of the murder, found a carter and his cart about\nto quit the court. On insisting to examine the load, the carter fled; when\nthe body was extricated from the dung, the whole affair discovered, and\nthe host condemned to death.\"\n\nThis Greek story is related on the authority of Cicero, who was never at\nMegara, and consequently knew the fact by hearsay. Had Cicero asserted\nthat he witnessed the affair, the story would have been difficult to\nbelieve; as it is, posterity is absolved from the smallest credence.\n\nThere lived at Marseilles, a bigoted woman, who passed her days at church,\nand dreamt every night that she was transformed into a lamp: a dream she\nchose to verify; for, on the day of her death, a silver lamp was\nsuspended, at her cost, in the choir of the church in which she was wont\nto follow her devotions.\n\nDreams are the peculiar province of the poet. \u00c6neas, to justify his\nabandonment of Dido, cites the commands of his father, who appears to him\nevery night. What more beautiful, except perhaps the dream of Athalia,\nthan the dream of \u00c6neas, in which Hector presents himself to the son of\nAnchises, pale and ghastly, as after he had become a victim to the\nvengeance of Achilles? In the Greek plays, and the French tragedies\nimitated from the Greek, dreams form a prominent feature. The family of\nAtrides were great dreamers:--Atreus, Agamemnon, Orestes, and Egisthus,\nthe son of Atreus, had all remarkable dreams.\n\nIn Lemercier's tragedy of \"Agamemnon,\" Egisthus relates that which is\nevidently the result of a dream;--but he will not admit it to be a dream,\ndeclaring that he \"did not sleep.\"\n\nThe impressions of dreams are often so vivid that we confound in our\nmemory real facts with the visions of sleep. Hence, no doubt, the popular\nexpression of \"You must have dreamt that!\"\n\nThe existence of dreams must be coeval with the human race. By the\nancients, the Gods were thought to preside over them. The dreams of\nPharaoh made the fortune of Joseph; and Artemidorus acquired a great\nreputation under the Antonines, by interpreting dreams. According to him,\nto dream of being weighed down by a mountain, portended proscription; and\nto dream of death, meant marriage. To dream that you are deprived of\nsight, intimates that you are about to lose one of your children.\nArtemidorus interpreted dreams in the same manner as the celebrated\nMademoiselle Lenormand, or as Mrs. Williams, so well-known in London at\nthe commencement of the present century.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\nOF PREJUDICES ATTACHED TO CERTAIN ANIMALS.\n\n\nInnumerable are the auguries which the remnants of ancient superstition\nhave attached to certain animals. To meet a flock of sheep, is considered\na lucky omen. To overtake one when proceeding to the house of a friend,\ndetermines many people to turn back as indicative of an inhospitable\nreception.\n\nTwo magpies are sure forerunners of good news; but a single one is\nsupposed to foreshow tidings of the death of a friend.\n\nSpiders are of evil omen; though the mischief they convey is attributed,\nin Scotland, solely to the family of Bruce. There is a French proverb\nwhich says, \"Arraign\u00e9e du soir--espoir,\" as if the hour of the day\ninfluenced the nature of the omen. Lalande, the astronomer, is known to\nhave been fond of eating spiders. Yet the insect is an object of\nrepugnance to most people; and is, in some species, venomous.\n\nOf all reptiles, the toad is the most universally detested; as if gifted\nwith a magnetism of repulsion. The Abb\u00e9 Rousseau asserts in his Treatise\non Natural History, that the sight of a toad has been known to produce\nconvulsions and death. \"Having enclosed one of these reptiles,\" says he,\n\"in a glass jar, I stood watching it; when the creature rose on its hinder\nlegs, fixing its red and inflamed eyes upon me, till I became so faint and\ndepressed, as to be on the point swooning. A cold dew rose upon my face,\nsuch as announces the approach of death.\" This was probably the result of\nfear alone. Two living beings cannot long stare fixedly at each other\nwithout one giving way. The power of the visual organ is very great; and\nthe stronger controls the weaker. As the pointer arrests the partridge,\nthe eye of Marius arrested the arm of the Cimber sent to assassinate him;\nand by fixing his eye upon a troublesome dog, Talma could always prevent\nits barking. The toad is a disgusting animal, but not a noxious animal. It\ndestroys many insects injurious to the beauty of our flower-gardens, and\nplumpness of our esculents; while for sobriety, it has no competitor.\nToads have been found imbedded in blocks of marble and trunks of trees,\ndeprived of all chance of external air or nutriment.\n\nThe lizard, which is nearly as unseemly to look on as the toad, has long\nbeen deemed the friend of man; and the vulgar had formerly a superstition\nthat a piece of lizard's tail worn on the person secured good fortune.\n\nLizards are sociably disposed, and fond of the human voice. They are said\nby travellers in Surinam and Cayenne, to awake a sleeping person on the\napproach of the rattlesnake. Alarmed at the approach of a snake, they have\nprobably been known to cross the face of some man lying asleep; and have\nthus given rise to a popular fallacy. But if lizards be not the\nbenefactors of the human race, at least they do us no harm; a quality that\nmight be advantageously transferred to many of our own species.\n\nPliny maintains that oysters grow fat or thin according to the phases of\nthe moon; while most modern oyster-eaters attribute the change to certain\nmonths rather than certain weeks of the year. It is an equally erroneous\nsupposition that milk promotes the digestion of oysters; which may be\nproved by trying to dissolve them in hot or cold milk. The prejudice that\nthey are out of season when no R figures in the name of the month,\noriginated in the difficulty of transferring them fresh from the coast to\nthe capital during the months of May, June, July, and August. By the\nsea-side, they will be found good at all seasons of the year.\n\nIn ancient times, the appearance of an owl in the day-time was esteemed a\nprodigy; and the Romans used to rush to the temples, offering incense to\nthe Gods! Pliny considers the apparition of an owl an omen of sterility;\nand an omelet made of owl's eggs was a sovereign specific against ebriety.\nAmong villagers, the shriek of the owl is still dreaded as a summons to\nthe other world. Yet this bird was favoured by dedication to the Goddess\nof Wisdom, though ungifted with the powers of divination ascribed by the\nGreeks to the vulture. According to the ancients, the vulture possessed\nsuch olfactory powers, that it could foreshow the death of a person three\ndays previous to his decease.\n\nIt may be observed, that all the animals to which particular superstitions\nare attached, were known to the ancients; whereas those discovered during\nthe latter ages are free from imputation of supernatural power.\n\nThe wild beasts of all climates make man their prey; but none kill him by\na look, as was said of the basilisk. Among the ancients, Aristotle, Pliny,\nand Galen, persisted in the foregoing opinion; and among modern\npropagators of errors, the German Athazen, and the Italian Vitello. If\nRome, the superb, crouched before an owl, a basilisk compelled Alexander\nto raise the siege of an Asiatic city. Taking the besieged under its\nprotection, a basilisk, esconced betwixt two stones on the ramparts,\nrepulsed, without moving, two hundred Macedonians who were rash enough to\nattack it. Sir Thomas Brown suggests the possibility, that the poison of\nthe basilisk may be so intense and subtle, as to be darted forth by means\nof its visual organ.\n\nThe venomous bite of the viper has given rise to a variety of popular\nprejudices. The tooth of St. Amable was once the only specific; to which\nsucceeded a faith in the antidote of Maltese earth. Meanwhile the utmost\nefforts of the faculty remain fruitless against the bite of the\nrattle-snake, of the cobra di manilla, and several other of the more\nvenomous species. The quality of their venom is supposed to remain\nunimpaired by the death of the reptiles; and instances are cited of\nindividuals having died of handling them, even after being preserved in\nspirits of wine. The venom is deposited in two vesicles on either side the\nhead, above the muscle of the upper jaw, the remainder of its body being\ncompletely innocuous; so that, in former days, viper broth was frequently\nprescribed in pulmonary complaints. The venom of the viper becomes less\nintense as it advances in age.\n\nIt used to be believed, that the saliva of man was fatal to vipers, as\ntheir venom to ourselves; an opinion maintained by Aristotle, Galen,\nVarro, Pliny, and Figuier, the surgeon. The latter asserts that he killed\na viper by the effect of his own saliva. The experiments by Redi, the\nlearned physician of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and many others, proved\nthe absurdity of the idea.\n\nBenvenuto Cellini declares, in his Memoirs, that he saw a salamander in\nthe midst of his own fire; probably a lizard, inadvertantly brought from\nthe country among the logs of wood. No one has yet pleaded guilty to\nhaving seen a phoenix, though for ages, a popular superstition attached to\nthis fabulous bird. The unicorn also continues to be placed among the\napocryphal animals, with the great sea-serpent of the American coast.\n\nThe bite of the tarentula spider was long said to produce involuntary\ndancing; simply because the persons bitten, on applying to the local\npractitioners of the healing art, were instantly ordered to dance the\n_pizzica_, the rapid Sicilian dance of the provinces where the tarentula\nabounds, in order to promote circulation and neutralize the effects of the\npoison. Whole villages used to assemble to witness the result, and\nwhenever the patient expired of the bite of the reptile, he was said to\nhave danced himself to death. Such is the origin of the Neapolitan\nsuperstition of the tarentula.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIV.\n\nCONTENT AND COURTESY.\n\n\nThe first ambition of mankind is to be happy. To the brute creation, and\nto man in a state of nature, happiness consists in sensual gratification.\nTo this, succeeds the factitious happiness of civilization; whence the\norigin of a variety of popular errors and prejudices. From the days of\nHorace to our own, people have been prone to envy those who pursue any\ncareer but their own. But if the soldier envy the position of the\ncivilian, and _vice vers\u00e2_, it is clear that the ambition of being what\none is not, arises from the fact that every one is acquainted with the\ndrawback on his own profession, and only appreciates the advantages of\nthat to which he does not belong. La Fontaine never imagined anything more\ntrue, or more charming, than the fable of the cobbler entreating the\nfinancier to restore him his song and peaceful sleep, in exchange for the\nhundred crowns he had bestowed upon him. Every one has heard the Persian\napologue of the Sophi, to whom, in a fit of acute suffering, the sole\nremedy prescribed was the shirt of a happy man; a treasure difficult to\ndiscover either in Court or city; till at length a ragged wretch was found\nin the suburbs of Ispahan, who admitted himself to be perfectly happy; but\nalas! he had not a shirt to his back; and the cure of the Sophi was not\nmore advanced than before.\n\nHistory has its lessons on this head as well as fiction. The Comte de\nS\u00e9gur relates in his Memoirs, that previous to the Revolution, the Duke de\nLauraguais wrote to him as follows:\n\n\"Congratulate me, my dear S\u00e9gur. Thanks be to Heaven, I am completely\nruined! I have nothing left, but am delivered from the importunities of my\ncreditors.\"\n\nTowards the termination of his career, this witty nobleman subsided into\nvoluntary habits of simplicity, differing strangely from his past\nsplendours. Never, however, had he been happier!--His peace of mind was\nfrom within; superior to all incidents of birth, position, and fortune.\n\nIt requires to have inhabited the various stories of the social edifice,\nto be able to judge man under the various aspects resulting from fortune\nand station. Happiness has little to do with either; fortune and\nmisfortune have alike their evil influences. Covetousness is as insatiable\nas ambition. In proportion as people scale the ladder of opulence, they\ndiscover others richer than themselves to excite their envy; and vanity\npervades every rank of society, marring the quietude of the human mind.\nThe laurels of Miltiades gave umbrage to Themistocles; and C\u00e6sar declared\nthat he would rather be the first of a village, than second in Rome. A\nwiser man was the shepherd who said: \"Were I a King, I would keep my sheep\non horseback.\"\n\nThe ceremonies of politeness, when carried to excess, are a source of\npublic inconvenience. The custom of addressing a lady bare-headed, as was\nthe case in France a century ago, when Louis XIV., even in a shower,\nrefused to put on his hat in the presence of females, was the cause of\nmany a serious indisposition. The custom of appearing bare-headed in\nchurch is also dangerous to many; and, so far unreasonable, that men are\nunable to appear in hats, while it would be accounted singular for a woman\nto appear there without a bonnet. Can any reasonable motive be assigned\nfor such a distinction?\n\nAgain, what is the origin of the ridicule attached to a person who is\nleft-handed? It is clear that some are born with an instinctive facility\nin the use of the right hand--some of the left. Yet mothers punish their\nchildren for using the left hand, as an act of awkwardness. The preference\ngiven to the use of the right hand, though existing from the times of\nantiquity, is not the less ridiculous.\n\nIn Holy Writ, the right hand is made an instrument of benediction; which\nprobably conferred a superiority over the left. Theologians also contend\nthat the Son of God sat on the right of the heavenly throne. The Romans\nconceded such superiority to the right hand, that when at table, they lay\non the left side that the right hand might be free. Aristotle maintained\nthat the pre-eminence of the right hand proceeded from the same\nconformation by which the cray-fish have the right claw larger than the\nleft. Politeness in these days requires we should place the person we wish\nto distinguish, on the right. The indiscriminate use of both hands is the\nbest lesson to teach a child:--indifference to the distinction bestowed by\nthe assignment of a place on either, the best lesson to be practised by\nadolescence.\n\nParisians consider it a lesson of politeness to their young children to\nkiss their right hand before receiving any thing presented to them. The\nleft hand is, however, devoted to the wedding-ring. This is not a\nChristian custom; but prevailed among the Assyrians, Medes, Egyptians,\nBabylonians, and most of the people of antiquity.\n\nMany people object to uttering the word farewell in parting from a friend,\ninfluenced by a prejudice that a fatality attaches to the word. Whence the\nFrench mode of taking leave with \"_sans adieu_!\"\n\nThe compliments formerly paid to a person sneezing are now happily\nabandoned; having arisen in those early days of civilization when\nepidemics were so far more frequent and fatal than now. It was the custom,\nin most European countries, to say \"God bless you,\" to the person who\nsneezed, lest it should be symptomatic of the commencement of an illness.\n\nSneezing has been the object of a variety of ridiculous prejudices.\nAristotle pronounces sneezing to be a gift from the Gods, and to be\nhonoured as a thing of holiness, and a sign of good health. Hippocrates\nagrees with Aristotle, and pronounces it a great relief to parturient\nwomen. The Rabbins assert that Adam sneezed after his fall; and that in\nthe primitive times, sneezing was a sure prognostic of death; and remained\nso till the patriarch Jacob obtained from God that it should no longer be\nthe forerunner of dissolution. It is fortunate this change took place\nprevious to the use of snuff; or the snuffbox would have been accounted\nfatal as that of Pandora.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXV.\n\nTHE DIVINING ROD.\n\n\nThe superstition of the divining rod prevailed only a century and a half\nago. The following story concerning it, is too curious to be omitted. In\nthe year 1692, a vintner of Lyons and his wife were murdered in their\ncellar, their assassins making away with their money. All attempts to\ndiscover the culprits were vain, till a simple Dauphinese peasant, named\nJacques Aymar, boasted that, with the aid of a simple hazel twig, he could\ndiscern the assassins. Having visited the scene of the murder, rod in\nhand, it became agitated; and on following its indications till he reached\nthe right bank of the Rhone, Aymar entered the house of a gardener, where\nthree bottles stood on the table; when, lo! the rod instantly intimated\nthat the bottles had been emptied by the assassins! Two children of the\nhouse owned that three ill-looking men had been there; on which Aymar\nbegan to obtain some credit. Traces of three men were found imprinted on\nthe sand by the river-side; and, persuaded that they had embarked, Aymar\nfollowed them, inquiring as he proceeded, and detecting the spots where\nthey had halted, to the astonishment of those who accompanied him.\n\nAt the Sablon, the rod becoming agitated, Aymar announced that the\nassassins were evidently in the camp; and his divining rod led him as far\nas the gate of the prison of Beaucaire; which being opened, twelve of the\nfifteen prisoners confined were brought before him. But the divining rod\nwas motionless till the approach of a certain humpbacked prisoner, who\ndeclared his utter ignorance of the crime committed at Lyons. On the\nindications of the rod, however, the hunchback being conducted to the\ngardener's house was recognised as having been one of the party. At length\nhe confessed his guilt; protesting, however, that he was an involuntary\nspectator, and did not participate in the murder. Having furnished Aymar\nwith information concerning the direction the assassins had taken, he\ntraced their steps to an inn at Toulon, where they had dined the previous\nevening. On finding that the culprits had put to sea, he also embarked and\nfollowed the course of their boat to its landing-place. But on reaching\nthe frontier, all further trace of them was lost.\n\nThis wonderful story afforded a topic of discussion to the whole kingdom.\nSo many persons bore testimony to the truth of the story, that it was\nimpossible to doubt it; the more so, that Aymar followed it up with\nexploits equally wonderful. He detected several thieves, as well as the\nplaces where they had concealed their booty; and as a test of his powers,\nthe lady of the chief officer of police possessed herself, by stealth, of\nthe purse of one of her friends, and begged him to come to her and detect\nthe thief. Aymar instantly declared that they were amusing themselves at\nhis expense.\n\nThe Prince de Cond\u00e9, who, far from being superstitious, had greater faith\nin his Field-Marshal's baton than the divining rod, could not resist his\ncuriosity to witness the feats of Aymar, and sent for him to Paris. As\nsoon as he recovered the fatigues of his journey, he was conducted to a\nbureau, from which something of considerable value had disappeared; but\nwhether or not the magnificence of the place annihilated the power of the\ndivining rod, the charm was gone! Holes were dug in various parts of the\ngarden, in which were deposited gold, copper, stones, and other\nsubstances. But the rod failed to point out the hidden treasure. In the\ninterim, a pair of silver candlesticks having been stolen from\nMademoiselle de Cond\u00e9, Aymar's rod pointed out a goldsmith's shop, the\nmaster of which being accused, was highly indignant. Thirty-six livres\nwere forwarded, however, the following morning as the price of the\nobjects; and it was supposed that Aymar had resorted to this expedient,\nwith the view of re-establishing his reputation. But it was all in vain!\nThe divining rod had lost its reputation, and Jacques Aymar was pronounced\nto be an impostor.\n\nAt his own request, however, he accompanied the King's advocate to a\nstreet in which a murder had been committed; and the result being\nunsatisfactory, Aymar was considered either a mountebank, or a man\nfollowing, with new pretensions, the old trade of recovering for reward\nthe stolen goods, in the abstraction of which he had participated.\n\nScience becomes dangerous in the hands of empirics, as weapons in the\nhands of children. About forty years ago, a German doctor revived the\nmarvels of the divining rod, grounding his system upon the phenomena of\ngalvanism. But the philosophy of Volta disdained such an association.\nPleasantly exposed to ridicule in the admirable pages of the antiquary, it\nis now estimated as on a par with the charm once supposed to be inherent\nin the rope by which a human being had suffered the sentence of the law.\nIt is still proverbial with the vulgar, that any singularly lucky person\n\"carries a bit of hangman's rope in his pocket.\"\n\nUninquiring incredulity is as great a proof of weakness as over\ncredulousness. The following instance of that incomprehensible foresight\nwhich flashes upon the brain of certain individuals, under the name of\npresentiment, passed under the notice of Gratien de S\u00e9mur.\n\nMadame de Saulce, the wife of a rich planter of St. Domingo, was residing\nin France about the time of the Revolution. Her husband occasionally\nvisited his native country, leaving his lady at Paris, who was a woman of\nsense and piety, by no means of a nervous temperament. During the last\nvoyage of her husband, being engaged at cards at an evening party, she\nsuddenly uttered a shriek, and sunk on her chair, exclaiming, \"Monsieur\nSaulce is dead!\" Her friends crowding about her, attempted to tranquillize\nher by their remonstrances, till by degrees she recovered her reason. So\npowerful, however, had been the sensation or presentiment, that she had no\npeace till she obtained news of her husband.\n\nA favourable letter arrived; but, alas! the date was anterior to that of\nher vision. And soon afterwards, one of the friends present at the scene\nof Madame de Saulce's ejaculation, received a communication from a\nstranger in St. Domingo, requesting him to communicate to that lady the\ndistressing news of her husband's decease. Monsieur de Saulce had been\nassassinated by his negroes, on the very day and hour of her fatal\npresentiment. The event occurred in the presence of at least twenty\npersons; and till the day of her death, the widow remained a prey to\nsorrow mingled with awe and consternation.\n\nIn the Memoirs of the great Sully will be found the record of the\npresentiments of assassination, which oppressed the mind of Henry IV. \"The\nKing,\" says he, \"had the strongest presentiment of his dreadful destiny.\nAs the moment of his coronation approached, his alarm and consternation\nincreased; and in answer to my remonstrance, he exclaimed: 'In spite of\nall you can urge, this ceremony is most distasteful to me. My heart\nassures me that some misfortune will be the result.' After uttering these\ndesponding words, he sank back, overcome by gloomy anticipations; and\nremained tapping the case of his spectacles, absorbed in gloomy reverie.\"\n\nThe presentiment of Henri IV. of his approaching assassination, is\nconfirmed by the testimony of L'Etoile and Bassompierre, who, in their\nMemoirs, relate the same particulars; and the fact is as historically\nestablished as the evil dream of Calphurnia, and the denunciation of the\nsoothsayer to Julius C\u00e6sar, on a parallel occasion.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVI.\n\nBEES AND ANTS.\n\n\nDull must be the blockhead, who could reproach La Fontaine with ignorance\nof Natural History, and pronounce the fable of the \"Ant and the\nGrasshopper\" bad, because the fabulist has not shown himself a rigid\nnaturalist. The great fault charged against La Fontaine, by the critics,\nis having made the grasshopper sing. Its cry is considered by most people\nfar from melodious.\n\nThe bee possesses a thousand poetical associations derived from our early\nconversancy with the Georgics. From the remotest periods of antiquity,\nbees have been recognised as attached to monarchical government, though\nnot to the Salique law. A hive has been compared to the palace of a\nCzarina of Muscovy.\n\nThe queen bee reigns over hundreds of male subjects with the despotism of\na Sultan; with the additional privilege of peopling her own dominions.\nWhen the queen is on the point of increasing her numerous subjects, the\nfemales invade the seraglio of their sovereign, and with their stings\nexterminate all the male admirers of her majesty. The fecundity of a queen\nis such, that she can produce sixty thousand of her species annually. The\nmales are easily recognized, being the sleekest and best formed of the\nhive; and all its labours are carried on by them. To gather honey, and\nbring back every day to the common exchequer the fruits of the plunder,\nseparate the honey from the wax, and with the latter construct their cell,\ndistil the honey, and die, constitute the duties of the bee.\n\nIt has been asserted that the queen bee has no sting, which is an error.\nAnother error prevails, that after a bee has stung, it dies, leaving its\nsting in the wound. Some one probably crushed a bee, and found the sting\nin his finger, from which isolated fact a general conclusion has been\nmade.\n\nR\u00e9aumur applied himself to the study of bees; not, however, so devoutly as\nthe philosopher, Aristomachus, who consecrated fifty-eight years to it; or\nthe philosopher, Hytiscus, who conceived so great a passion for bees, that\nhe retired into the Desart, the better to observe them. He simply cleared\nthe way of errors, and discountenanced old traditions; but all was\nconjecture with regard to bees, till the invention of glass hives; when\nthe government of those interesting insects became no longer a secret.\nThe devotion of the working bees to their queen is now well-known. When in\ndanger, or the hive is attacked, they rush to her aid; and even form a\nmass to conceal her, and die in her defence.\n\nR\u00e9aumur relates the following anecdote of which he was a witness. A queen\nbee, and some of her attendants were apparently drowned in a brook. He\ntook them out of the water, and found that neither the queen bee, nor her\nattendants were quite dead. R\u00e9aumur exposed them to a gentle heat, by\nwhich they were revived. The plebeian bees recovered first. The moment\nthey saw signs of animation in their queen, they approached her, and\nbestowed upon her all the care in their power, licking and rubbing her;\nand when the queen had acquired sufficient force to move, they hummed\naloud, as if in triumph!\n\nIt has been thought that bees were prejudicial to the fructification of\nplants, by robbing them of their pollen. This is not only an error, but\nnaturalists worthy of faith, are of opinion that their movement in a\nblossom tends to sprinkle the pollen, and promote fecundity.\n\nBees are of twofold service to the human race, by furnishing us with the\nmost refined means of lighting our houses, and of brightening our\nfurniture; to say nothing of their aromatic honey, surpassing the\nsweetness of sugar.\n\nLittle is known of the republics or monarchies of ants; or indeed of their\nprecise form of government. From the most remote period, however, it has\nbeen the custom to represent the ant as the symbol of industry.\n\nThe industrious habits of the ant cannot be questioned; but their much\nvaunted foresight, as described by Boileau, and Addison's Spectator, is\nnow recognized as fabulous.\n\nAccording to naturalists, the ant is not without a certain analogy with\nthe bee; seeing that they have not one queen to each swarm, but a certain\nnumber of queens for the reproduction of the species; there being\nproductive and unproductive ants. The working class is of a neutral sex.\nThe female ant deposits an egg, whence proceeds a worm, which becomes the\nant. As architects, also, to ants must be assigned the precedence over\nbees; their cellular formations resulting from instinct, and not from\ncalculation. In the stupendous ant-hills so frequently seen in forests,\nwhat a series of galleries, dormitories, corridors, and magazines is\ncontained; so that the numerous occupants find ample means of circulation.\nBut the ant cannot pretend to the gratitude of man in the same degree as\nthe bee.\n\nThe following is a curious and well-attested fact. After the death of the\nillustrious Lagrange, Parseval Desch\u00eanes, his coadjutor in his scientific\npursuits, who announced the coming of Pallas ten years previous to the\ndiscovery of that planet--renounced his mathematical researches; and from\nlong habits of study acquired fresh occupation for his mind.\n\nWhile spending the summer with his friend, M. d'Aubusson de la Feuillade,\nin the course of one of his rambles in the woods, he found an immense\nant-hill, and immediately resolved to make ants his study. He went every\nday early enough to the ant-hill to see the first ant issue forth; and\nfollowed it from the moment of its departure to that of its return.\n\n\"About four o'clock in the afternoon,\" says he, \"I saw my own particular\nant arrive heavily laden at the foot of the diminutive mountain; and,\nfinding it impossible to carry its burthen up the hill, deposit it and\nlook around for a confederate. None being at hand, it set forth again; and\nabout fifteen steps on its progress I saw my ant meet another equally\nloaded. Both halted, and seemed to hold council; after which, they\nproceeded together to the foot of the ant-hill. Then began the most\ninteresting scene I ever witnessed. The second ant disembarrassed itself\nof its burthen; and, having provided themselves with a blade of grass,\nthey slipped it under the overweighted load, and, by their united efforts,\nconveyed it over the hillock, and entered their respective cells!\n\n\"After abandoning the study of mathematics as too abstruse,\" observes\nParseval, \"I found the lever of Archimedes in use in an ant-hill.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVII.\n\nPREPOSSESSIONS AND ANTIPATHIES.\n\n\nUndue prepossession against or in favour of some object, is as much to be\nguarded against as any other irrational prejudices.\n\nIt is not uncommon to hear people reply when some particular dish is\noffered to them: \"Thank you, I have never eaten any, and nothing could\npersuade me to touch it.\" Such a prepossession scarcely would be\npardonable in women or children.\n\nAn anecdote is related in the life of Talma, which has lately formed the\nsubject of a drama.\n\nA poor strolling player, universally rejected, arrived, at his wits' end,\nin a city where the illustrious actor was expected. A bright idea flashed\nacross his mind to personate Talma; as whom he accordingly announced\nhimself. The authorities of the town hastened to offer him their homage.\nThe theatre was crowded, and all the world enraptured with his\nperformance. In the midst of his popularity, the real Talma arrived; but\nforeseeing that a prepossession once established in favour of the imitator\nwas not likely to be easily reversed, departed without making himself\nknown. The chances were that he might have been hissed.\n\nIt is difficult to comprehend the use of the flatteries of painters to\nPrinces and Princesses about to be married by proxy. The portraits being\nexchanged, the betrothed receive a first strong impression, and form their\nopinions accordingly. A favourable prepossession is conceived; and in\nplace of an agreeable and expressive countenance, a frightful reality is\noften rendered more frightful by disappointment.\n\nWith regard to literary predilections, the works of an unknown author,\nhowever meritorious, often lie mildewed on the shelf, while some trash,\nprotected by a favourite name, becomes popular. The admirable leading\narticles of Benjamin Constant produced no effect till he signed them with\nhis well-known name, when their merit was instantly recognised. When\nMichael Angelo first exhibited the productions of his chisel, they were\ntreated as far inferior to the sculptures of the ancient world. In the\nseclusion of his studio, and unknown to any one, he accordingly set to\nwork on a statue of Cupid; of which he broke off the arm, and concealed\nthe mutilated statue in the midst of the excavations making by the Pope.\nWhen the statue was discovered, all Rome fell into ecstasies; pronouncing\nit to be the work of Phidias or Praxiteles. Michael Angelo immediately\nproduced the mutilated arm, and his former critics became rebuked into\nsilence.\n\nAt the time when the rage for Italian music excluded every other\ncomposition from the stage, and the great French composers had fallen in\npublic estimation, M\u00e9hul avenged himself much in the manner of Michael\nAngelo. Zealous in the cause of French music, he composed the opera of the\nIrato, the words by the ingenious Hoffmann; who, to render the illusion\ncomplete, made the libretto as incomprehensible as possible. The opera was\nrehearsed in secret, though fifty persons were engaged in it; and it was\ncirculated in the world, that the forthcoming opera was a mere pasticcio,\nborrowed from the operas recently in vogue in Italy.\n\nWhen the curtain rose, the overture was enthusiastically applauded. Still\nmore so, the different airs executed by Ellevion, Martin, and the\nexcellent company of the Comic Opera. The theatre was crowded with\nenthusiastic admirers of Italian music, whose applause was vehement; one\nperson declaring that the music was by Fioravanti, and that he had heard\nit at Naples; another, that it was by Cimarosa. At the end of the opera,\nit was announced to be by M\u00e9hul, when the amateurs of the Italian school\nwere confounded.\n\nTeniers also exposed the unjust prejudices of his countrymen; who,\nunderrating his paintings, they sold far short of their value. Having\npreviously published a report of his death and burial, he instructed his\nwife to assume widow's weeds; and, after a certain time, to announce the\nsale of the paintings of her deceased husband. The stratagem succeeded,\nhis very detractors enhancing the value of his works. Teniers afterwards\nreturned to his native country, and resumed his labours, which were never\nafterwards disparaged.\n\nWhen a History of France by Pigault Le Brun was announced, it was\npronounced to be detestable long before it appeared; solely because\nPigault Lebrun was the author of a variety of amusing novels. The famous\nphysician Portal turned to good account the prejudice that prevails in\nParis in favour of fashion. Established in the capital, he was some time\nwithout obtaining practice. At length, he devoted all his means to the\npurchase of a beautiful equipage, and sent it every day to stand before\nthe doors of illustrious patients. Of course the numerous inquirers after\nthe invalid, could not fail to remark the beautiful equipage of the\nphysician in every quarter of the town; and the Marchioness immediately\ndetermined to try the physician of the Duchess, and _vice vers\u00e2_; till in\na short time, Portal received applications from all quarters, calling in\nhis advice to the noblest sufferers of the capital. Endowed with a\ndistinguished appearance, elegant manners, and considerable powers of\nconversation, he became the indispensable attendant of all fashionable\ninvalids; and thus, founded a reputation to which he subsequently proved\nhimself entitled.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVIII.\n\nTHE INFLUENCE OF BELLS UPON THUNDER STORMS.\n\n\nScience has long demonstrated the folly of ringing church bells during a\nstorm. The vibration of the air, produced by the movement of a bell, was\nformerly supposed to disperse the fluid; which, on the contrary, it\nattracts. For these fifty years past, the civic authorities have compelled\nthe bell-ringers to be silent during a storm. In former ages, when the\npriests caused the bells to be rung during a storm, it was an act of piety\nand not a physical experiment. Scientific men, on the contrary, have been\njustified in declaring the vibration caused by the sound of a church bell\nupon a cloud charged with electricity to be injurious, from the fact that\nringers have been struck dead by the electric fluid during the discharge\nof their functions. But though bells are no longer rung during a storm,\nthe fluid falls just as often upon church steeples. It is, however, as\nwell to forbid the ringing of bells during a storm, for the simple reason\nthat to ring the bells, the ringer must be in the tower, where he is in\ngreater danger than elsewhere. Steeples are often surmounted by an iron\ncross, or weathercock, which attracts the fluid.\n\nIt is only lately we have made any proficiency in electrical science.\nFranklin, who at the same moment brought fire from heaven and wrested the\nsceptre from the potentates of the earth, was the inventor of the\nconductor, which has probably preserved many monuments from destruction.\nIn the reign of Louis XIV, sailors were in the habit of affixing a pointed\nsword to the summit of the mast, most likely acting under the experience\nand impression which produced the conductor. A learned priest, the Abb\u00e9\nThiers, who died in 1703, in enumerating the superstitious practices of\nhis time, mentions the custom of affixing a pointed sword to a mast during\nstorms. The good old priest saw in it only a kind of superstition; while\nthe discovery of Franklin commanded the admiration of the world. It is not\nunlikely that from the bosom of vulgar superstitions, science might\nextract many a valuable discovery.\n\nIn a late number of the Almanack of the Board of Longitude, Monsieur Arago\npublished a curious theory upon thunder, citing many interesting facts;\nthe only means of conferring popularity on knowledge, which, in its\nseverer garb, is too often banished to the lecture-room. The influence of\nstorms upon animate as well as inanimate bodies, is incontestable; for\nwhich of us has not felt or witnessed the effects? Previous to the\napproach of the storm, the depression of the air is perceptible upon our\nlimbs and spirits; and on beholding the dejected, languid, and uneasy\ndemeanour of the animal species, it might be supposed that so powerful a\nsensation would be more oppressive to ourselves, were it not restrained by\nreason. A similar sensation is experienced in a far higher degree,\nprevious to the shock of an earthquake.\n\nWith the first drops of rain of a thunder storm, however, we experience\nrelief. Both animal and vegetable substances become decomposed during a\nstorm. Objects formed of goat or sheep-skin give out a nauseous smell.\nWhite paper and other substances have been known to become covered with\nspots of various hues. Oxen killed by lightning are unfit for use, so\nnauseous and black is the flesh. Dairy-maids place a nail under the\nvessels containing the milk, to prevent it turning, as well as under a hen\nwhich is sitting. Remote approaches towards the conductor!\n\nOf the phenomena which signalize storms, nothing is more remarkable than\nthe repugnance of the electric fluid for silk. The steel ornaments of a\npurse have been known to become twisted by the fluid, while the silk\nremained uninjured. A covering of silk is accordingly the surest\npreservative. But it is a curious fact that to none of the insect species\nis a thunder-storm more fatal than to the silk-worm; as the silk-growers\nknow to their cost.\n\nThe protective power of the laurel is now known to be fabulous; the laurel\ntree being as much a conductor as any other.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIX.\n\nSMALL POX AND VACCINATION.\n\n\nIf any thing could excuse the exercise of arbitrary power on the part of a\nGovernment, it would surely be in the act of compelling parents to\nvaccinate their children; but the aversion to vaccination being still only\ntoo common among certain classes of the people. Yet surely the law which\npunishes parents for ill-usage of their children, might be extended to\npunish their leaving these helpless creatures exposed to the infection of\npain and disfigurement? Jenner is decidedly one of the greatest\nbenefactors of the human race; for the vast increase of population in the\ndifferent countries of Europe is ascribed, by many political economists,\nto the safeguard of vaccination, which has preserved more lives since its\nintroduction, than the terrible wars of the present century have\ndestroyed.\n\nIn England, this admirable discovery was far more readily adopted than in\nFrance; where, however versatile in fashions and governments, any\nimprovement tending to benefit the human race is slowly and cautiously\naccepted. In the reign of Louis XIV, the introduction of yeast in the\nmaking of bread met with general opposition; and it required the\ninterference of the legislature to secure its adoption. The introduction\nof bark and emetics was also attended with violent opposition; and\ninoculation introduced from Turkey into Western Europe by Lady Mary\nWortley Montague, found great difficulty in establishing itself in France.\n\nIt was not, however, surprising that parents should hesitate about giving\ntheir children a loathsome disease; before it became certified by long\nexperience that the virulence of the disorder was considerably lessened by\npreparation; so as to secure a mother against the terrible self-reproaches\narising from the loss of a child under the inoculated malady.\n\nIn England, more particularly in the county of Gloucester, from time\nimmemorial cows were subject to a contagious disease, which infected the\nhands of the milkmaids, who were observed never to suffer from the\nsmall-pox. This surmise being confirmed by experiment, Dr. Jenner\nestablished himself in the county of Gloucester; where, by inoculating\npeople with vaccine matter, he secured them against the small-pox.\n\nSo far from turning his discovery to pecuniary account, as most others\nwould have done, Jenner nobly proclaimed it to mankind, calling upon all\nphilantrophists to share his triumph.\n\nThe Duke de Rochefauld-Liancourt having witnessed the effects of\nvaccination in England, introduced it into France, and did more for its\npropagation than the slow deliberations of the Parisian Schools of\nMedicine. Dr. Pinel, however, tried experiments at the Hospital of the\nSalp\u00e9tri\u00e8re, with perfect success; while Dr. Aubert was despatched by\nGovernment to England to report upon the subject. The result was\nfavourable. Matter was imported from England in the month of May, 1800,\nwhen thirty-eight children were vaccinated at the Hospital of La Piti\u00e9;\nand commissions were instantly instituted throughout France. Jenner had,\nhowever, his opponents. In London, it was denounced from the pulpit, as an\ninfringement on the dispensation of Providence; and in France, Doctors\nVaume, Chapon and others pronounced vaccination to be injurious to the\nhuman constitution, and capable of reducing man to the condition of a\nbrute, by the introduction of animal virus into the blood. As if we\nresembled a calf or sheep the more for having swallowed a mutton chop or\nveal cutlet.\n\nWith a few rare exceptions, vaccination has proved a security against the\nsmall-pox, and the practice ought consequently to become universal. But\nold women are still to be found with instances of children who have died\nof convulsions after vaccination; as if that were the origin of their\nillness and death.\n\nAmong the lower orders, a prejudice prevails that an inferior kind of\nvaccine matter is provided for them; and whenever their children exhibit\nsymptoms of disease or deformity, they comfort their self-love by\nattributing it to the influence of vaccination. \"Such maladies were\nunknown in their families, till the madness of introducing matter from the\nbody of a stranger into that of their child conveyed also the germs of\ndisease.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XL.\n\nPRECOCIOUS AND CLEVER CHILDREN.\n\n\nIt is a common observation respecting children, \"that such or such a child\nis too clever to live;\" and though abundance of precocious children have\ngrown up, and into very ordinary men, it stands to reason that the\npremature development of any particular quality in an extraordinary\ndegree, must exhaust the subject upon whom it operates. Gardeners thin the\nsuperfluous shoots on trees, that those remaining may attain their perfect\ngrowth. It would be difficult, perhaps, to pursue this system with\nchildren who manifest supernaturally precocious capacities. But when such\ncases present themselves, the vanity of parents often serves to forward an\nevil result. The parents of children of genius usually stimulate instead\nof checking the impulses requiring restraint; thus increasing the already\nexisting exhaustion. Proud of their infantine prodigy, which, in humble\nlife, becomes the object of some abominable speculation, nothing can be\nmore lamentable than the exhibition of these interesting little beings,\ncarried about from place to place, obtaining a notoriety of the most\ninjurious nature, and often let out for hire to some able speculator. The\nexhibitionist, bent upon realising the largest profit in the shortest\ntime, and, reckless as to the source, having attained his end, cares not\nwhether the child perish in misery; and the laws, so severe upon the poor\nhucksters in our streets, unprovided with a licence, sanction these\nhomicidal speculations!\n\nBaillet mentions one hundred and sixty-three children endowed with\nextraordinary talents, among whom few arrived at an advanced age. The two\nsons of Quintilian, so vaunted by their father, did not reach their tenth\nyear. Hermogenes, who at the age of fifteen, taught rhetoric to Marcus\nAurelius, who triumphed over the most celebrated rhetoricians of Greece,\ndid not die, but at twenty-four, lost his faculties and forgot all he had\npreviously acquired. Pica di Mirandola died at thirty-two; Johannes\nSecundus at twenty-five; having at the age of fifteen composed admirable\nGreek and Latin verses, and become profoundly versed in jurisprudence and\nletters. Pascal, whose genius developed itself at ten years old, did not\nattain the third of a century.\n\nIn 1791, a child was born at Lubeck, named Henri Heinekem, whose\nprecocity was miraculous. At ten months of age, he spoke distinctly; at\ntwelve, learnt the Pentateuch by rote, and at fourteen months, was\nperfectly acquainted with the Old and New Testaments. At two years of age,\nhe was as familiar with Ancient History as the most erudite authors of\nantiquity. Sanson and Danville only could compete with him in geographical\nknowledge; Cicero would have thought him an \"alter ego,\" on hearing him\nconverse in Latin; and in modern languages, he was equally proficient.\nThis wonderful child was unfortunately carried off in his fourth year.\nAccording to a popular proverb--\"the sword wore out the sheath.\"\n\nThe American family of the Davisons, whose Memoirs have been recently\nbefore the public, afford two melancholy instances in point. Nevertheless,\nthe duty of every created being is to give the most ample development to\nthe predispositions conferred on him by his Creator; and this is certainly\nto be accomplished without injury to the human frame. The mission of woman\nis the perpetuation of the human race; and the statistical table of all\ncountries demonstrate that fruitful women have been remarkable for their\nlongevity. On the other hand, the tables of Blair and others prove that\nunmarried women, whether spinsters or nuns, are shorter lived than\nmatrons. As regards the influence of an excessive exercise of the\nintellect on the life of man, we can quote many instances of longevity\namong the most eminent of ancient or modern times.\n\nHippocrates, the greatest physician the world has ever seen, died at the\nage of one hundred and nine, in the island of Cos, his native country.\nGalen, the most illustrious of his successors, reached the age of one\nhundred and four. The three sages of Greece, Solon, Thales, and Pittacus,\nlived for a century. The gay Democritus outlived them by two years. Zeno\nwanted only two years of a century when he died. Diogenes ten years more;\nand Plato died at the age of ninety-four, when the eagle of Jupiter is\nsaid to have borne his soul to Heaven. Xenophon, the illustrious warrior\nand historian, lived ninety years. Polemon and Epicharmus ninety-seven;\nLycurgus eighty-five; Sophocles more than a hundred. Gorgias entered his\nhundred and eighth year; and Asclepiades, the physician, lived a century\nand a half. Juvenal lived a hundred years; Pacuvius and Varro but one year\nless. Carneades died at ninety; Galileo at sixty-eight; Cassini at\nninety-eight; and Newton at eighty-five. In the last century, Fontenelle\nexpired in his ninety-ninth year; Buffon in his eighty-first; Voltaire in\nhis eighty-fourth. In the present century, Prince Talleyrand, Goethe,\nRogers, and Niemcewicz are remarkable instances. The Cardinal du Belloy\nlived nearly a century; and Marshal Moncey lately terminated a glorious\ncareer at eighty-five.\n\nVoltaire, though not a juvenile prodigy, was still young when he achieved\nhis brilliant reputation. At seventeen, he wrote the poem of La Ligue,\nwhich afterwards became the Henriade; and at nineteen, produced the\ntragedy of Oedipus. His constitution was then far from strong; and his\ncorrespondence attests his frequent sufferings. No man, perhaps, ever made\na larger demand on his faculties. Yet his head may be said to have\nsurvived the other members of his body, the extremities of which were long\ninsensible; his body reduced to a skeleton, his stomach rejecting all\nsustenance, while to the last moment, his spirit gave proofs of wit and\ngenius. Among the precocious children who survived to maturity, though of\nweakly health, were Alexander Pope and Dr. Johnson, both of whom may be\nsaid to have \"lisped in numbers.\"\n\nLiceti, the son of a Genoese physician, came into the world only a few\ninches long, and it was thought impossible he could live. His father,\nhowever, gave him the name of Fortunio, a singular selection, considering\nthe circumstances of the event, and placed him in an oven of even\ntemperature, under the care of an attentive nurse; and in the course of a\nfew months, Fortunio Liceti differed in nothing from children born in the\nusual manner. The early years of this child passed much as that of\nothers, except that he evinced signs of superior intelligence. At\nnineteen, he wrote a \"Treatise on the Soul;\" and in the course of a life\nof seventy-nine years, embellished the literature of his country with\neighty works, bearing the stamp of great erudition.\n\nMarshal Richelieu was a child of untimely birth; and so delicate in frame,\nas to be considered impossible to rear, though carefully wrapped in\ncotton. Yet he lived to the age of eighty-five! Without intending to set\nup Richelieu as a first-rate man, or defend his licentiousness, we cannot\ndeny him a prominent place among the distinguished Frenchmen of the last\ncentury; being as much the representative of the tone and manners of the\ngreat world, as Voltaire of the wit, or Mirabeau of the eloquence of the\ncountry.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLI.\n\nEDUCATION OF CHILDREN.\n\n\nNeither the illustrious preceptor of Alexander, nor the amiable preceptor\nof the Duke of Burgundy, nor all the professors of the universities of\nEngland and France, ever effected so much in the way of education, as that\nunrecognised president of all universities and public\nschools--Example!--From the hour of their birth, children begin to\nimitate. Their first words are mimicries of what they hear pronounced\nbefore them. Hence the origin of different idioms and enunciations.\nMontaigne made Latin the mother tongue of his son, by surrounding him with\npersons who spoke no other language, and even a nurse who spoke Latin.\n\nThe intellect of children expands long before they have the power of\nexpressing their ideas. Physicians have affirmed that children have been\nknown to die of jealousy, before they were old enough to express their\nsensations. Excessive notice of another child, or seeming neglect of\nthemselves, has been found to induce a state of languor, and hasten their\nend. Young children suffer doubly in illness, from the incapability of\nexpressing their pain.\n\nTheir language being formed upon our own, and their conduct framed upon\nour own, the duty of placing desirable examples before them is\nsufficiently evident; yet we frequently punish them for faults of which\nthe first lesson was given by ourselves. In many conditions of life,\nhowever, parents are forced to delegate to other hands the care of their\nprogeny. The labouring poor, for instance, cannot constantly watch over\nthem. While the rich wantonly confide their infants to the care of menial\nhands, the poor trust them to any which God is pleased to send to their\naid. It is even more essential to avoid giving bad examples to children\nthan to offer them good. Yet how often are family dissensions and\nrecriminations exposed to their observation! A man and wife living ill\ntogether, who so far forget themselves as to quarrel before their\nchildren, create a preference and partizanship which must diminish the\nrespect equally due to both parents. In humbler life, abusive language\noften ends with blows; and what must be the effect of such scenes on the\ntender mind of infancy?\n\nThe presence of children on such occasions, when proved before the\nmagistracy, ought to be considered an aggravation of the offence against\nthe law. Fathers and mothers by upbraiding each other in presence of their\nchildren, often beget impressions which all their future representations\nare unable to eradicate; and of what avail to the comfort of parents the\nbrilliant accomplishments and attractive manners of their children, if a\nson have been taught to disparage his father, or a daughter to think ill\nof her mother! Often do children so young as to appear deficient in\nobservation, receive vague but indelible impressions, afterwards recalled\nby a retrospective view; when the past appears clear and free from the\nvapours which veiled it from our earlier comprehension.\n\nAmong the lower orders, if a poor man be laborious, his son is usually the\nsame. But the son of a father who ill-uses the mother, is pretty sure to\nturn out an idler and a dunce in childhood, and, in riper years, a\nruffian.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLII.\n\nPREJUDICES OF THE FRENCH.\n\n\nThe prevailing weakness of the French, collectively and individually, is\nto esteem themselves the type and model of perfection; the standard by\nwhich the universe ought to be regulated. An Italian author once asserted\nthat the face of man was not made after that of God; but that the face of\nthe Creator was to be imagined after that of man. The French consider all\nthat resembles them, right: all that differs from them, wrong. This\nprejudice entitles foreigners to laugh at them, whether justly or not. The\nword \"_fat_\" appears to have been exclusively invented for the nation.\nVain, presumptuous, haughty, disdainful men are to be found in all\ncountries; but _fatuit\u00e9_ is the peculiar attribute of Frenchmen; nor does\nany other language possess an equivalent term.\n\nThe French, unhesitatingly, pronounce themselves the most polished nation\nof the universe; and Paris, the capital of the civilized world,--the city\nof arts, sciences, elegance of manners, and refinement. In Paris only,\ndoes genius receive due homage,--merit, encouragement,--or the mind its\nfull development. But the temple they have erected to their national\nvanity, has begun to totter upon its flimsy foundation.\n\nNotwithstanding their assumed pre-eminence, no nation is more prone to\nimitate the customs, usages, fashions, and forms of government of others.\nJust as the Romans placed the Gods of their defeated enemies in their\nPantheon, the French, under Napoleon, brought back the customs of foreign\nnations.\n\nFor twelve centuries, the French possessed a system of government of their\nown; but they decided, at length, to adopt that of the English. A\nRevolution having occurred in England, and a King been beheaded in London,\nan analogous event appeared indispensable; and a King of France,\nconsequently, ended his reign on the scaffold. In early times, one\nlegislative chamber was considered sufficient; but as there existed two in\nEngland, their national vanity could not rest till gratified by a similar\nnumber. In all this, there is little to support the vaunted superiority of\nthe French.\n\nTill the close of the last century, the French wore what is still termed,\non the continent, the French costume, or _habit Fran\u00e7ais_, with bags and\nswords, which in England we call a court-dress. But the English having\nlaid aside these inconvenient appendages in favour of hunting and riding\ncoats, the latter were quickly adopted by the Parisians under the name of\n_redingotte_.\n\nThe Lord Cadogan of Marlborough's time, having found it convenient to\ndouble up his queue, and bind it with a bow of black ribbon, the whole\nFrench army adopted the fashion; and his Lordship's name became\nimmortalized in France by \"_les perruques \u00e0 la Cadogan_.\"\n\nThe strong horses of Normandy required an easy but somewhat solid kind of\nsaddle, the form of which had prevailed from the time of Louis XIV. But\nthe English using a lighter and smaller kind, it was adopted in\npreference; and certain moral philosophers who proceeded to England to\nstudy the laws, manners, and system of government, having remarked in\naddition that the English treated their horses as Alcibiades did his dog,\nthe horses on the other side the channel were forthwith anglicised by the\nabbreviation of their tails.\n\nOn the arrival of the Bourbons and the English in France, in 1814, the\nlong waists and cottage-bonnets of the ladies were made the ground-work of\ninnumerable caricatures. Yet a few years afterwards, generally they were\nadopted! This Anglomania has been as much a matter of reproach to the\nFrench for centuries past; as, in England, the preference of the English\nladies for French goods and manufactures. A serious source of discussion\nbetween Napoleon and Josephine was her rage for English fashions.\n\nIn the early part of the Revolution, the Duke of Orleans made frequent\nexcursions to England; in one of which he purchased a sword hilt of steel,\nthe execution of which was admirable. On his return to Paris, he exhibited\nit to a celebrated steel worker, challenging him to produce its equal; on\nwhich, taking up the hilt, the man pointed out his own name to the Prince,\nas the manufacturer of the article, which had been exported to London.\n\nDuring the brilliant campaigns of Field-Marshal Suwarow, the form of his\nhat and boots was copied by the military men of France; and when Bolivar\nand Murillo were ascertained to wear hats of different dimensions, the\nFrench partizans of the two chiefs assumed on one part, broad-brimmed\nSpanish hats, on the other, a narrower shape.\n\nWhen the Russians came to Paris at the Restoration, another change took\nplace. Instead of the boots worn to protect the legs from the mud, the\nwide trowsers of the Russians made to cover their boots, in consideration\nof the bitterness of their climate, were instantly adopted by the nation\nwhich pronounces itself the arbiter of Europe in matters of taste. The\npadded chests of the Russian uniforms, also worn as a defence against the\nweather, were imitated in defiance of climate and common sense.\n\nPrevious to the arrival of the Russians in Paris, smoking was limited to\nthe operative classes, and soldiers who had fought in the German campaign.\nBut from the moment the Russians began to smoke in the open street, the\ncapital so famed for elegance, became polluted with the smell of tobacco.\nA modern man of fashion can no more dispense with his cigar-case than\nBayard with his sword; and in imitation of the Spanish women, the\nfashionable Parisian ladies, known by the name of _lionnes_, have taken to\nsmoking.\n\nIn order to mark their estimation of the Swedes, when they elected to be\ntheir Prince, Bernadotte, who is a Frenchman, they thought to do them the\nhighest honour by calling them the French of the north. Two noblemen, the\none an aide-de-camp of Napoleon, the other of the Emperor Alexander,\nhaving made acquaintance at Tilsit, the former observed, with the\nintention of paying a compliment: \"You might really be taken for a\nFrenchman!\" to which the Russian, indignant at his rudeness, replied:\n\"Depend upon it you could never pass for a Russian!\"\n\nIt is a favourite vaunt of the braggarts of France, that their children\nare born soldiers. \"Stamp upon the soil of France, and myriads of warriors\nwill start up!\" says one of their popular writers.\n\nIn answer to this boast, observe the results of the drawing for the\nconscription, when the most trifling bodily defects are put forth to\nsecure exemption from military service!--Nothing can exceed the despair of\nthose who draw what is called \"a bad number;\" though a military career\npresents nearly the same advantages to a working man as any other to which\nhe may devote himself.\n\nThe self-sufficiency of the nation stands perpetually self-convicted; and\nit is now proverbial in Europe to \"be as great a boaster as a Frenchman.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLIII.\n\nMONSTROUS BIRTHS.\n\n\nThe attachment existing betwixt animals of different kinds is an undoubted\nfact. Dogs have been known to take kittens under their protection during\nthe absence, or after the death of the parent cat. Most people who have\nbeen at the Jardin des Plantes, must have noticed the affection evinced by\nthe lion for the little dog that shares his cage. Two horses and an ass\nhaving fed from the same rack during a period of fourteen years, on the\ndeath of the ass, his two companions refused food and died. These\ninclinations are probably the result of the familiarity with mankind\nproduced by domestication, which destroys their natural instincts.\n\nParrots, starlings, jays, and magpies, do not talk in their wild state;\nnor would a dog, or squirrel, of its free will, have turned a wheel.\n\nIn a Norman farm, so singular an affection subsisted between a hen and a\ncat attached to the barn-yard, that the cat was frequently seen sitting\nupon the nest during the absence of her friend; and the eggs thus hatched\nproduced a hybrid race of fowl and cat--a fact certified by an eminent\nNorman naturalist, Dr. Vimond, at the close of the last century. Towards\nthe beginning of the present, there was exhibited in the Rue St. Honor\u00e9, a\nmastiff bitch having a litter of two puppies and two cats, which she had\nbrought into the world at a birth.\n\nThe ancients frequently speak of monstrous progeny. Besides the famous\nMinotaur of Crete, Pliny relates that a Roman lady, named Alcippa,\nproduced a young elephant, and that a female slave brought forth a\nserpent. Julius Obsequens describes two Italian women, who, in the middle\nof the fifteenth century, produced on the same day, the one a cat, the\nother a dog. In such instances, dogs and cats seem to enjoy the\npreference. A Swiss woman, however, is asserted to have produced a hare; a\nThuringian, a toad. Bayle speaks of a mare which produced a calf; and of a\nwoman, who became the mother of a black cat, which was burnt by command of\nthe Holy Inquisition in the belief that it was the offspring of the devil.\nThese marvels have been chiefly attested by monks and physicians; but\nthere is scarcely an instance in which any distinguished naturalist has\nbeen able to confirm the fact.\n\nDuring the thirteenth century, in three different places, at Wittenberg,\nMisnia, and Villefranche, children were born without heads. They died upon\ncoming into the world; but not without having exhibited symptoms of life.\n\nCarpi, the anatomist, mentions a child born in 1729, in whose head was\nfound nothing but clear water without a vestige of brain. On the other\nhand, children have come into the world with a double volume of brain. In\n1684, a woman gave birth to twins, of which the first-born survived only a\nfew hours, while the second exhibited a double head, having four eyes, two\nnoses, two tongues, but only two ears.\n\nThe annals of anatomy furnish many such instances; and the cases of the\nSiamese twins, and of the unfortunate sisters of Sg\u00f6ny, are too well known\nto need description. But if all the instances on record were\nrecapitulated, these blunders of nature are but as a grain of sand\ncompared with the regularity of her productions through an infinity of\nages.\n\nThe idea of individuals having a double sex, created probably by Plato in\nthe fable of the Androgyne, the most ingenious fiction bequeathed to us by\nantiquity, was for ages supposed to have its foundation in fact; and every\nnow and then, the irregularities of a Chevalier d'Eon revive the chimera,\nto which anatomists oppose a decided negative. The beautiful statue of the\nFlorentine hermaphrodite at the Louvre is as much a chimerical being as a\nsphinx.\n\nThe Memoirs of the Chevalier d'Eon, published in America, declare one of\nthe most illustrious dynasties of modern Europe to be his descendents; an\nassertion easily disproved by a comparison of the date of his visit to\nRussia with that of the birth of the Emperor Paul.\n\nThe Albinos were formerly considered a distinct race. They were sought in\nthe olden time as favourite appendages to the Courts of African and\nAsiatic monarchs. Pliny places them in Albania, probably from the\nsimilitude of name; but does not state that they constituted a nation. His\ndescription of them, however, perfectly agrees with those of modern times;\nhaving white hair, and eyes which he describes as resembling those of a\npartridge. The Albinos are, in truth, an exceptional race; and their\npeculiarities are seldom found to be hereditary.\n\nThe morbid longings of women during pregnancy afford many remarkable\nfacts. Goulard relates, that in the neighbourhood of Andernach, on the\nRhine, a woman experienced such a longing for the flesh of her husband,\nthat she murdered him, ate one half of the body and salted the other;\nwhen her appetite being appeased, she confessed the deed to two friends of\nher husband.\n\nIn the Helvetic Chronicles it is related, that in the time of Martin IV.,\nan illustrious lady of Rome, an object of affection to the supreme head of\nthe Church, gave birth to a son having the semblance of a wild beast;\nwhich monstrous production was ascribed to the passion of his Holiness for\npaintings of animals, numbers of which ornamented his palace, till the\ncontinual view of such objects influenced the mind and body of his fair\ninmate.\n\nA black child is generally believed to have been born to Marie Th\u00e9r\u00e8se,\nthe wife of Louis XIV., in consequence of a little negro page in her\nservice having started from a hiding-place, and stumbled over her dress\nearly in her pregnancy. This child was educated at the Convent of Moret,\nnear Fontainebleau, where she took the veil, and where, till the epoch of\nthe Revolution, her portrait was shown.\n\nMallebranche has assigned the greatest scope of imagination to women under\nsuch circumstances. He mentions one, who having been present at the\nbreaking of a criminal on the wheel, gave birth to a child whose limbs\nwere broken at the exact places where those of the criminal were\nfractured. Scarcely an anatomical museum but contains monstrous\nproductions. The question unsolved is the influence of the imagination of\nthe mother in producing these aberrations of nature.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLIV.\n\nTHE ICHNEUMON AND THE HALCYON.\n\n\nBuffon assumes that the Ichneumon has been brought to a state of\ndomesticity. But he probably generalized from a single instance. The Pacha\nof Egypt has a tame lion; and many other instances might be cited. But the\nlion cannot be regarded as reduced to a domestic animal.\n\nAccording to Pliny, the ichneumon was an object of veneration among the\nEgyptians. So also was the crocodile; these two determined enemies being\nequally objects of adoration. By the ancients, the ichneumon was said to\nwatch the moment of the crocodile's sleep; when, finding the monster's\njaws open, it instantly crept in, and having devoured the bowels, made its\nway out by the way it entered.\n\nDenon has given us the following account of the ichneumon in his Travels\nin Egypt.\n\n\"The ichneumon is seen lying upon the reeds of the Nile, in the\nneighbourhood of the villages, to which it repairs in search of poultry\nand eggs. The supposed antagonism of the ichneumon and crocodile, the one\neating the eggs of the other, and the former creeping down the throat of\nthe latter, is pure invention. These two animals do not dwell in the same\nregions. Crocodiles are not known in Lower, nor ichneumons in Upper Egypt;\nso that there can be no grounds for the prejudice which has existed twenty\ncenturies:--for Pliny, himself, probably handed down a tradition!\n\nThe fable of the halcyon is so charming, that it ought to have been\nfounded on fact. But Ovid was a better poet than naturalist.\n\nTo the power of tranquillizing the tempest, the halcyon was supposed to\nadd the gift of foretelling good or bad weather. By degrees, writers of\nfiction endowed its feathers with the power of rendering silk proof\nagainst the sting of insects, of yielding wealth and harmony, and\nconferring grace and beauty on the wearers. The halcyon deposits its eggs\non the sea-shore, on the banks of lakes and rivers; and its breeding\nseason is that when the air is most calm and serene; but its power of\ncontrolling the elements is wholly fabulous.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLV.\n\nSORCERERS AND MAGICIANS.\n\n\nIn the works of St. Augustin, we are informed that there existed in his\ntime in Italy, women possessed of the power attributed by the poets to\nCirce, who transformed men into beasts of burthen, and compelled them to\nbear their baggage. St. Augustin mentions that a priest named Pr\u00e6stantius\nunfortunately meeting one of those women, was changed into a mule, and\ncompelled to bear a trunk on his back; and that it was only when she had\nno further occasion for his services, he was allowed to resume his gown\nand band.\n\nAre we to infer from this passage, that one of the greatest minds that\never enlightened the Church believed in this species of transformation?\nCertainly not! The works of St. Augustin are not to be literally\ninterpreted.\n\nThe hyperbole simply implies that there are in Italy women whose charms\nare so powerful, and whose allurements so dangerous, that men who give way\nto their influence, ceasing to be men, are reduced to the condition of\nbrutes, and exercise the most degrading labour. As to the priest\nPr\u00e6stantius, his name contains the key to the mystery; and he was probably\none of the minor Canons of the Church converted into a slave to do the\nerrands of some attractive dame.\n\nThis version of the passage of St. Augustin, so often cited for twelve\ncenturies by the believers in magic, was simply an exhortation against\nfemale seduction to the laity and clergy of his time. It has proved,\nhowever, no small advantage to mountebanks to be backed by the authority\nof the illustrious name of St. Augustin!\n\nThe annals of the Jesuits abound in terrible histories of atonement made\nat the stake for imputed sorcery. The following instance is related by Dom\nCalmet. Charles IV., Duke of Lorraine, had in his service a\nvalet-de-chambre, named Desbordes, who was accused of having hastened, by\nthe art of sorcery, the death of the Princess Mary of Lorraine, mother to\nthe Duke.\n\n\"Charles IV. conceived suspicions against Desbordes, from the period of\nhis having furnished a grand banquet given by the Duke to a hunting party\nat a moment's notice: Desbordes having made no other preparatives than to\nopen a chest, having three trays, upon which were three courses ready\nprepared. During another hunting party, Desbordes reanimated three\ncriminals suspended from a gibbet, and commanded them to make obeisance to\nthe Duke; having done which, he bade them hang themselves again. Another\ntime, he made the figures in a piece of tapestry come down and join in the\ndance. Charles IV., alarmed at these supernatural feats, eventually\nbrought Desbordes to trial; and he was condemned and executed as a\nmagician for mere acts of sleight of hand.\n\nThe real cause of his condemnation was the enmity of the court-physicians\nof Lorraine; whom he had irritated by the disappointment of their\npredictions touching the death of the Princess Mary; for had his judges\nreally believed in his power of restoring the dead to life, their sentence\nof execution would have been absurd.\n\nThe most learned men of times famed for their learning have sometimes\ncondescended to confirm these popular errors. Baronius affirms the bridge\nof the Spiritus Sanctus, in Rome, to have been erected by a glance from\nthe eye of a child of twelve years old, named Benezet; and his assertion\nis founded upon five Papal bulls.\n\nPaulus Jovius, a man of unquestionable erudition, confirms the popular\nlegend concerning the black dog of Cornelius Agrippa; stating that, when\non his death-bed at Lyons, he uttered dreadful imprecations against his\nfaithful attendant, who was supposed by the vulgar to be a familiar spirit\ndisguised under the form of a cur; saying, \"Away with thee wretched beast,\nthrough whom I am lost to all eternity!\" On which the dog precipitated\nitself into the Sa\u00f4ne, and appeared no more. Unfortunately for the\nhistorian, Agrippa died at Grenoble, and not at Lyons, so that the Sa\u00f4ne\nis rather far fetched. But those who believe in familiar spirits are apt\nto be loose in their notions of geography.\n\nThe work of James I., upon Demonology, is one of the most curious records\nof the superstition of his time, of which the feats of Nicholas Hopkins,\nthe witch-finder, afford so cruel an evidence. The royal author would,\nperhaps, have been better employed in seeing a more enlightened education\nbestowed upon his ill-advised son, than in perpetuating his own credulity.\n\nThe Memoirs of the Cardinal de Richelieu admit his belief in witchcraft.\nIn his time, it was an advantage to a Minister of State to have at his\ndisposal accusations of a mysterious crime, where disculpation was next to\nimpossible. Urbain Grandier, the priest, who was condemned to death for\nallowing the nuns of Loudun to communicate with the devil, was one among\nmany victims to the darkness of the public mind.\n\nBy the Parliaments of France, hundreds were burnt for witchcraft in the\ncourse of a few months. The shepherds of La Brie alone supplied\ninnumerable victims; as the supposed authors of all the domestic\nmisfortunes of the district, the murrain that carried off the cattle, and\nthe hooping-cough that carried off the children. Like the old women in\nScotland, they were \"na canny;\" and like them, expiated the prejudice\namong faggots and tar-barrels. But though we no longer burn for\nwitchcraft, the profession is far from extinct; and in the remote\ndistricts of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, there scarcely exists\na country magistrate but has had some charge brought before him implying\nthe exercise of witchcraft. The horse-shoe is still seen nailed above the\ndoors of our villages; and fortune-tellers, and spaewives are consulted,\nin spite of Sunday schools and the Lancastrian system. Not a day passes,\nbut the ordeal of the Bible and key, the Sortes virgiliane of the vulgar,\nis resorted to in some village of the British empire; but the exorcisms of\nthe school-master will probably drive both witches and witch-finders from\nthe land.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLVI.\n\nMALE AND FEMALE.\n\n\nWhen the learned Spaniard, Feijoo, was about to decide upon the\ncomparative power and merit of the two sexes, he invoked an angel to\ndescend from Heaven to enlighten his mind; so perplexing did he feel the\narguments on both sides.\n\nRousseau, in comparing the sexes, observes, \"as I pursue my\ninvestigations, I perceive on all sides affinity--on all sides\ndiscrepancy.\"\n\nAnd long may that discrepancy exist. The merit of woman consists in the\noppositeness of her qualities to those of the male sex.\n\nTo be completely woman, is her perfection; as man is never more perfect\nthan when most completely man. Sybarites and Amazons are alike at variance\nwith nature; and Hercules handling the distaff of Omphale could not be\nmore absurd than Omphale wielding the club of Hercules.\n\nIn heathen times, and even now, in countries uncivilized by Christianity,\nthe condition of women is of a subordinate and miserable nature. Aristotle\nwas one of the greatest depreciators of women; regarding them as an\nincomplete production, and at variance with the ends of nature. He fancied\nthat, in a more perfect order of things, only men would be seen on earth.\nIn the tragedies of Euripides, women are treated with unmeasured contempt;\nand his opinions being embraced by the Greeks, were adopted by the early\ntheologians alluded to by St. Augustin; who pretended that at the day of\njudgment, God would reform his work, and the dead of both sexes rise again\nof the masculine gender. In the fifth century, it was agitated in council,\nwhether our Saviour died for women as well as men; nor was it till after\nthe most violent contestation, decided in the affirmative. Mahomet, the\nmost violent opponent of the equality of sexes excluded women from\nParadise except in a few favoured instances.\n\nChivalry was the first defender of the weaker sex.\n\nAt the beginning of the twelfth century, a doctor, named Amauri, of the\ndiocese of Chartres, attempted to renew the doctrine of Aristotle\nconcerning women, declaring them to be imperfect works accidentally\nproceeding from the hands of God. The Archbishop of Paris, however,\nconvened a council, which declared his doctrine to be heretical; and\nanathemized Amauri, who having died previous to the decree, his lady was\ndisinterred, and thrown into the common sewer. This proceeding gave much\nsatisfaction to the Parisian populace; but was scarcely necessary to\nrefute the impertinent assertions of Aristotle and his disciple.\n\nIt is unnecessary to dwell upon the criticisms, satires, and diatribes, of\nwhich women have been the objects,--from Juvenal, to Boileau and Pope; and\nfrom Boccaccio and Brantome, to La Fontaine and Byron:--for their\nchampions are, at least, as numerous as their assailants. Among themselves\nMadame de Genlis in France, and Mary Wolstonecroft in England, have fought\na good fight in favour of the equality of the sexes.\n\nMallebranche, one of the writers who has most profoundly studied the\nquestion, accords to women a decided superiority in point of sensibility;\nbut decides them to be equally inferior to the male sex in point of\nabstract ideas. Arguing upon the difference of organisation, and\nconceiving the brain to be the seat of intellectual operations, he shows\nthat the brain of women is of a more feeble organization, and less\nextended than that of men; and concludes, from the diameter of their head\nbeing less, that their minds must maintain the same proportion. This\nopinion is based upon the craniological, or phrenological system.\n\nMallebranche agrees with Dr. Gall in the belief that the seat of\nintelligence lies essentially in the brain, and that the amount of our\nfaculties is proportioned to the volume of that organ: that stupid animals\nhave scarcely any brain, and sagacious animals much; that no animal can\nvie in proportion with that of man; and that among men, idiots are\nremarkable for deficiency of brain. On this point, the learned and the\nignorant fully coincide;--a fool or idiot, having been always styled a\nbrainless fellow.\n\nThe Cretins of the Valais, and the Pyrenees, who have very diminutive\nheads, are alike devoid of intellect, and suffer from the same affliction.\nIn the intellectual physiology of Domangeon, he relates, that, of two\nmaniacs under his care, a young person suddenly bereft of reason had a\nhead incredibly small; while an old woman, similarly afflicted, had a\nbrain no larger than that of a child of three years old.\n\nExperiment has now proved the brain to be the seat of human intelligence.\nThe celebrated Dr. Richerand, attended a patient whose brain was\naccidentally exposed, and anxious to convince himself that the brain was\nreally the seat of intelligence, he pressed that of his patient with his\nhand, when the intellectual powers immediately ceased, and upon\nwithdrawing his hand, they recovered their faculties.\n\nThose who still deny the brain to be the seat of intelligence, instance,\nin support of their theory, the existence of reason after the ossification\nof the brain; and of children, born deficient in spinal marrow. Duverney\nexhibited to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, the head of an ox nearly\npetrified, notwithstanding which, it had never betrayed the least\nuneasiness, or any unusual symptoms.\n\nIt is certain that considerable portions of the brain have been removed\nfrom a living subject, in cases of accident, without prejudice to the\nintellectual faculties. But the lobes being double, a portion may be cut\naway without affecting its power; as in losing an eye or an ear, the\nfaculty of seeing and hearing remains.\n\nAll this, however, is a digression from the fact asserted; that the brain\nof a woman weighs less by one sixteenth than that of a man! The mean\nweight of the brain of a man is estimated at three pounds; and it is found\nto be two pounds thirteen ounces in that of a woman, from which it may be\ninferred that man is a sixteenth part more intelligent than woman. It may,\nhowever, be argued that this is only accordant with the other comparative\nproportions of the human frame. The stature of woman is a sixteenth less\nthan that of man, and the brain ought surely to be in proportion to the\nstature.\n\nOn this point, J. J. Rousseau observes, \"A perfect woman and perfect man\nought to be as dissimilar in form and face, as in soul. A well-conditioned\nman should not be less than five feet and a half in height, with a\nsonorous voice and well-bearded chin.\" But considering the number of men\nwho expend many hours a day in adorning and perfuming their persons, and\nlounging upon a sofa or beside a work-table, it is not wonderful that\nwomen should be tempted to consider themselves somewhat nearer on a par\nwith those who renounce the manly attributes of their sex.\n\nIn establishing between man and woman certain relations and differences,\nProvidence has clearly distinguished the condition of the two sexes. To\nthe stronger, he assigned rude labour and the tillage of the earth; to the\nweaker, domestic duties, and the rearing of progeny. The one has an\nout-door, the other an in-door existence; and by the duties of the mother,\nthe position of the slighter sex is distinctly pointed out.\n\nIt would appear as if the comparative merit of the sexes were influenced\nby the effect of climate; the Salique-law still prevailing in several of\nthe most civilized countries of Europe, in spite of the glorious reigns of\nElizabeth and Anne in England, and Catherine in Russia; and the living\nexample of three female sovereigns on the throne. But it may be added\nthat in two of the countries where woman is excluded from the throne, she\nexercises in private life fourfold the influence assigned her in England,\nSpain, or Portugal, where she is admitted to the privileges of supreme\npower.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLVII.\n\nMINOR SUPERSTITIONS.\n\n\nOne of the most prevalent minor superstitions has its origin in a\nreligious influence. Friday is regarded as the most unlucky day of the\nweek, from being that of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. People of all\nclasses object to commencing an undertaking, or a journey, on Friday; and\nthe Calabrian brigands forbear to assassinate on that day, however\ndifficult to postpone the premeditated crime till the following morning.\nThey feel convinced that a murder committed on a Friday will be overtaken\nby the hand of justice. In Paris, the average quantity of new pieces\nproduced at the different theatres is from a hundred and fifty to two\nhundred; and for the last thirty years, not one of these has been produced\nfor the first time on a Friday.\n\nBoileau, in one of his Satires, places among the number of human\nweaknesses, the superstition which makes\n\n  Twelve grouped together, fear an other one.\n\nThe origin of this sentiment dates from the Last Supper; when, thirteen\nbeing at table, one of them betrayed and another denied his master, and\n\"went and hanged himself;\" and a prejudice has ever since prevailed that\nout of every thirteen dipping together in the dish, one must fall a victim\nbefore the end of the year. The probability that one out of every thirteen\nmay die in the course of the year, exceeds but little the usual chances of\nmortality.\n\nThe dislike which many entertain of seeing a knife and fork crossed on a\nplate, has also reference to a religious objection as an emblem of the\ncrucifixion. Yet it sometimes obtains ascendancy over unbelievers.\nFrederick the Great disliked seeing a knife and fork crossed so much, that\nhe never failed to uncross them. Others dislike to see three candles\nlighted; an omen borrowed from the ancients, who regarded them as symbolic\nof the Fates, the Furies, and the three heads of Cerberus.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLVIII.\n\nSOMNAMBULISM.\n\n\n\"Dreams are the interludes of a busy fancy,\" say the copybooks; and in\nsome instances they appear to excite in the body impulses equally active.\n\nCondillac, the mathematician, when surprised by sleep in the midst of his\nabstruse calculations, often found that, on awaking, the solution of a\nproblem presented itself spontaneously to his mind, as though he had been\nworking in his sleep.\n\nBut a more familiar instance of somnambulism is that of a deceased\nHampshire Baronet.\n\nThis gentleman was nearly driven to distraction by the fact that, every\nnight, he went to bed in a shirt, and every morning awoke naked, without\nthe smallest trace of the missing garment being discovered.\n\nHundreds of shirts disappeared in this manner; and as there was no fire in\nhis room, it was impossible to account for the mystery. The servants\nbelieved their master to be mad; and even he began to fancy himself\nbewitched. In this conjuncture, he implored an intimate friend to sleep in\nthe room with him; and ascertain by what manner of mysterious midnight\nvisitant his garment was so strangely removed. The friend, accordingly,\ntook up his station in the haunted chamber; and lo! as the clock struck\none, the unfortunate Baronet, who had previously given audible intimation\nof being fast asleep, rose from his bed, rekindled with a match the candle\nwhich had been extinguished, deliberately opened the door, and quitted the\nroom. His astonished friend followed; saw him open in succession a variety\nof doors, pass along several passages, traverse an open court, and\neventually reach the stable-yard; where he divested himself of his shirt,\nand disposed of it in an old dung heap, into which he thrust it by means\nof a pitch fork. Having finished this extraordinary operation, without\ntaking the smallest heed of his friend who stood looking on, and plainly\nsaw that he was walking in his sleep, he returned to the house, carefully\nreclosed the doors, re-extinguished the light, and returned to bed; where\nthe following morning he awoke, as usual, stripped of his shirt!\n\nThe astonished eye-witness of this extraordinary scene, instead of\napprizing the sleep-walker of what had occurred, insisted that the\nfollowing night, a companion should sit up with him; choosing to have\nadditional testimony to the truth of the statement he was about to make;\nand the same singular events were renewed, without the slightest change or\ndeviation. The two witnesses, accordingly, divulged all they had seen to\nthe Baronet; who, though at first incredulous, became of course convinced,\nwhen, on proceeding to the stable-yard, several dozens of shirts were\ndiscovered; though it was surmised that as many more had been previously\nremoved by one of the helpers, who probably looked upon the hoard as\nstolen goods concealed by some thief.\n\nA far stranger circumstance has been related by a highly-beneficed member\nof the Roman Catholic Church.\n\nIn the College where he was educated was a young Seminarist who habitually\nwalked in his sleep; and while in a state of somnambulism, used to sit\ndown to his desk and compose the most eloquent sermons; scrupulously\nerasing, effacing, or interlining, whenever an incorrect expression had\nfallen from his pen. Though his eyes were apparently fixed upon the paper\nwhen he wrote, it was clear that they exercised no optical functions; for\nhe wrote just as well when an opaque substance was interposed between them\nand the sheet of paper.\n\nSometimes, an attempt was made to remove the paper, in the idea that he\nwould write upon the desk beneath. But it was observed that he instantly\ndiscerned the change; and sought another sheet of paper, as nearly as\npossible resembling the former one. At other times, a blank sheet of paper\nwas substituted by the bystanders for the one on which he had been\nwriting; in which case, on reading over, as it were, his composition, he\nwas sure to place the corrections, suggested by the perusal, at precisely\nthe same intervals they would have occupied in the original sheet of\nmanuscript.\n\nThis young priest, moreover, was an able musician; and was seen to compose\nseveral pieces of music while in a state of somnambulism; drawing the\nlines of the music paper for the purpose with a ruler and pen and ink, and\nfilling the spaces with his notes with the utmost precision, besides a\ncareful adaptation of the words, in vocal pieces.\n\nOn one occasion, the somnambulist dreamt that he sprang into a river to\nsave a drowning child; and, on his bed, was seen to imitate the movements\nof swimming. Seizing the pillow, he appeared to snatch it from the waves\nand lay it on the shore. The night was intensely cold; and so severely did\nhe appear affected by the imaginary chill of the river, as to tremble in\nevery limb; and his state of cold and exhaustion when roused, was so\nalarming, that it was judged necessary to administer wine and other\nrestoratives.\"\n\nIt would require a volume to relate the wonders of artificial somnambulism\nproduced by Animal Magnetism, _i. e._ the somnolency produced in certain\norganizations by persons constitutionally endowed for the purpose; during\nwhich, some patients become so utterly insensible, that surgical\noperations of the most painful nature, such as amputation, have been\nperformed upon them without their knowledge. Others appear to be\ntransported into a higher sphere; and in a frame of mind described under\nthe name of _clairvoyance_, become capable of reading sealed letters and\nclosed books; of speaking languages of which they are otherwise ignorant,\nand indicating the name and nature of misunderstood diseases, as well as\nthe means of cure; though at the cessation of the state of somnambulism,\nall recollection is effaced of the wonders they have performed under its\ninfluence.\n\nThe mysteries of Magnetic Science are at present so imperfectly\nunderstood, and afford so wide a field for scientific argument, that it\nwould be presumptuous to enter further into the subject in a work\naffecting to treat of errors and superstitions.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLIX.\n\nA FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT GHOSTS, VAMPIRES, AND LOUP-GAROUX.\n\n\nIn the winter of 1758, the sacristan of Polliac expired, after a few\nhours' illness, of a fright produced by the sight of a large white rabbit\nseated on the grave-stone of a famous poacher recently deceased, as he was\ncrossing the church-yard at midnight after accompanying the curate to\nadminister the last sacrament to a dying parishioner. The mind of this\npoor fellow, who was a proficient in the ghost stories of the\nneighbourhood, was probably deeply impressed by the melancholy scene he\nhad been witnessing; which, combined with the desperate character and\nblasphemous habits of Blaise Rolland, the poacher, induced him to suppose\nthat the soul of the defunct had undergone transformation, or that Satan\nhimself was watching over his grave, in the shape of one of the animals\nhe had so often appropriated to himself.\n\nThe rabbit proved in the sequel to be a tame one escaped from a\nneighbouring farm. But in the interim, the poor man had fallen a victim to\nhis panic! A more rational being would have inquired of himself for what\npurpose the Almighty could be supposed to suffer the soul of an obscure\npoacher to revisit the earth, when we learn from divine writ His refusal\nto permit the appearance of Dives to his brethren, as a superfluous\nconcession. \"If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be\npersuaded, though one rose from the dead!\"\n\nNothing can be more absurd than the functions attributed to ghosts, when\nwe know that the soul, at the moment of its separation from the body, is\nan impalpable, invisible, substance. Yet this spiritual essence, which eye\nhath not seen, or ear heard, is supposed to have exercised the power of\ndragging chains, undrawing curtains, opening doors, ringing bells,\nuttering groans, articulating reproaches; in the face of the Scriptural\nRevelation \"that the body shall return to the dust, and the spirit unto\nGOD who gave it!\"\n\nWe find in St. John's Gospel, that the souls of mankind in the different\nmansions of the Almighty, receive after death the reward of deeds done in\nthe body. Is it likely then that they should have leisure or inclination\nfor revisiting their dreary mansion of clay?\n\nThere is one instinct which we are bound to accord to ghosts; _i. e._ a\nwonderful aptitude for the discovery of cowards! In the ghost-stories of\nall countries, it is observable that the first impulse of the person\naddressed by a spectre is to take to his heels. With the exception of the\nlady of the Beresford family, who is said to have sat and talked theology\nwith her brother, there is no record of a rational conversation between a\ndisembodied spirit and those of the flesh; for the pretended apparition of\nMrs. Veale, is now known to have been an ingenious bookseller's puff of\nthe work of Drelincourt on Death.\n\nIn most instances, ghost-stories have their origin in some incident which\nno one has been at the pains to investigate. In 1746, the public Theatre\nof Anatomy, in Paris, was disturbed by the sudden frenzy of the porter in\ncare of the dissecting-room; who protested that the spirit of a young man,\nwhose body had been deposited there the preceding day, after having\ncommitted suicide by throwing himself into the Seine, had appeared to him\nin the course of the night, bewailing and lamenting the dreadful\nconsequences of his crime.\n\nBruhier, the learned Professor of Anatomy, aware of the injurious\nconsequences likely to arise from a report that the theatre was haunted,\nexamined carefully into the details of the case; when it appeared that\nthis unfortunate young man, having recovered in the course of the night\nfrom the state of insensibility in which he was deposited in the\ndissecting-room, and terrified by the horrible aspect of the spot in which\nhe found himself, among dead bodies, skeletons and anatomical preparations\nfaintly illuminated by the light of a lamp, had dragged himself to the\ndoor of the small adjoining room inhabited by the porter, and in faint\naccents implored his assistance, and described the agonies of his\nsituation.\n\nThe porter, roused from his sleep by the appeal of a dead man wrapped in\nhis winding-sheet, instantly lost his senses; and the doors being locked\nupon them, the exhausted young man, whom Providence had thus fruitlessly\nrestored, sank a victim to cold and exhaustion. His body was discovered\nstretched on the floor of the dissecting-room near the porter's door. But\nfor the judicious investigations of Monsieur Bruhier, this would have been\nestablished as an authentic instance of spectral visitation!\n\nA similar circumstance occurred in Lancashire some years ago.\n\nA lady, the wife of a wealthy squire, died after a protracted illness; and\non the evening of her decease, her husband, desirous to pass a solitary\nhour by the body, sent the nurse who was watching beside it, out of the\nroom. Before the expiration of an hour, the bell by which the deceased had\nbeen in the habit of summoning the nurse, rang violently; and the woman,\nfancying the unfortunate widower was taken suddenly ill, hurried into the\nroom. He dismissed her angrily, however, protesting that he had not rung.\nShortly afterwards, the bell was rung a second time; when the woman\nobserved to one of the servants that she should not attend to the summons,\nas the gentleman might again repent having summoned her, and dismiss her\nungraciously.\n\n\"It cannot be my master who is ringing now,\" replied the footman, \"for I\nhave this moment left him in the drawing-room.\"\n\nAnd while he was still speaking, the bell of the chamber of death rang a\nthird time--and still more violently than before.\n\nThe nurse was now literally afraid to obey the summons: nor was it till\nseveral of the servants agreed to accompany her, that she could command\nsufficient courage. At length, they ventured to open the door, expecting\nto discover, within, some terrible spectacle.\n\nAll, however, was perfectly tranquil; the corpse extended upon the bed\nunder a holland sheet, which was evidently undisturbed. Such, however, was\nthe agitation of the poor nurse, that nothing would induce her to remain\nalone with the body; and one of the housemaids accordingly agreed to\nbecome her companion in the adjoining dressing-room.\n\nThey had not been there many minutes, when the bell again sounded; nor\ncould there be any mistake on the subject, for the bell-wire passing round\nthe dressing-room was in motion, and the servants in the offices could\nattest the vibration of the bell. The family butler accordingly determined\nto support the courage of the terrified women by accompanying them back to\nthe dressing-room, in which they were to sit with the door open, so as to\ncommand a view of the bed.\n\nThese precautions effectually unravelled the mystery! A string had been\nattached to the bell-pull to enable the sick lady to summon her attendants\nwithout changing her position, which, still unremoved, hung down upon the\nfloor; and a favourite kitten, often admitted into the room to amuse the\ninvalid, having entered the chamber unobserved, was playing with the\nstring, which, being entangled in her feet, had produced this general\npanic.\n\nBut for the opportune explanation of this trivial incident, the family\nmansion would have obtained the notoriety of a haunted house, and probably\nbeen deserted!\n\nSuch was the case with the Crown Inn at Antwerp, where some years ago, a\nwhite spectre, bearing a lamp in one hand and a bunch of keys in the\nother, was seen by a variety of travellers passing along a corridor till\nit disappeared in a particular chamber.\n\nNothing would satisfy the neighbours that an unfortunate traveller had not\nbeen, at some period or other, despatched in that fatal room by one of the\nprevious landlords of the house; and the Crown gradually obtained the name\nof the Haunted Inn, and ceased to be frequented by its old patrons.\n\nThe landlord, finding himself on the brink of ruin, determined to sleep in\nthe haunted-room with a view of proving the groundlessness of the story;\nand caused his ostler to bear him company, on pretence of requiring a\nwitness to the absurdity of the report; but in reality, from cowardice. At\ndead of night, however, just as the two men were composing themselves to\nsleep in one bed, leaving another which was in the room untenanted, the\ndoor flew open, and in glided the white spectre!\n\nWithout pausing to ascertain what it might attempt on approaching the\nother bed, towards which it directed its course, the two men rushed naked\nout of the room; and by the alarm they created, confirmed, more fully than\never, the evil repute of the house.\n\nUnable longer to sustain the cost of so unproductive an establishment,\nthe poor landlord advertised for sale the house in which he and his father\nbefore him were born and bred. But bidders were as scarce as customers;\nthe inn remaining on sale for nearly a year, during which, from time to\ntime, the spectre reappeared.\n\nAt length, an officer of the garrison, who had formerly frequented the\nhouse, and recollected the excellent quality of its wine, moved to\ncompassion in favour of the poor host, undertook to clear up the mystery\nby sleeping in the haunted chamber; nothing doubting that the whole was a\ntrick of some envious neighbour, desirous of deteriorating the value of\nthe freehold in order to become a purchaser.\n\nHis offer having been gratefully accepted, the Captain took up his\nquarters in the fatal room, with a bottle of wine, and a brace of loaded\npistols on the table before him; determined to shoot at whatever object\nmight enter the doors.\n\nAt the usual hour of midnight, accordingly, when the door flew open and\nthe white spectre bearing a lamp and a bunch of keys made its appearance,\nhe seized his weapons of destruction; when, lo! as his finger was on the\npoint of touching the trigger, what was his panic on perceiving that the\napparition was no other than the daughter of his host, a young and pretty\ngirl, evidently walking in her sleep! Preserving the strictest silence, he\nwatched her set down the lamp, place her keys carefully on the\nchimney-piece, and retire to the opposite bed, which, as it afterwards\nproved, she had often occupied during the life-time of her late mother who\nslept in the room.\n\nNo sooner had she thoroughly composed herself, than the officer, after\nlocking the door of the room, went in search of her father and several\ncompetent witnesses; including the water-bailiff of the district, who had\nbeen one of the loudest in circulating rumours concerning the Haunted Inn.\nThe poor girl was found quietly asleep in bed; and her terror on waking in\nthe dreaded chamber, afforded sufficient evidence to all present of the\nstate of somnambulism in which she had been entranced.\n\nFrom that period, the spectre was seen no more; probably because the\nlandlord's daughter removed shortly afterwards to a home of her own.\n\nIt has frequently occurred, for ill-disposed persons to profit by the\nill-name of a haunted house, as in the case of gangs of coiners and\nthieves, who raise such reports in order to secure impunity in their\nhaunts. The Palace of the Tuileries is said to be haunted by a Red Man,\nwho regularly appears on the eve of any popular tumult, betiding evil to\nthe Royal Family of France. And appear he will, to the end of time; for\nthose who wish to create a political panic, take care that the apparition\nshall be periodically renewed. The Palace at Berlin was at one time in\ndanger of having a Weisse Frau, or White Lady, to match with the Red Man.\n\nDuring the reign of Frederick I., one of the Princesses, his daughters,\nbeing dangerously ill, a white spectre was seen to traverse the royal\ncorridor leading to her apartments; and from that moment, the royal family\ngave up all hope of her recovery. The following night, the Princess\nexpired; and not a soul about the Court doubted that the fatal event had\nbeen announced by the appearance of the White Lady, who, on being\nchallenged by the guard at the head of the staircase had flitted past like\na shadow. Great difficulty was found in procuring proper attendants to\nwatch beside the body of her royal highness; when one of the royal\nChaplains requested a sight of the depositions of the soldiers by whom the\nspectre had been accosted.\n\nThe mystery was instantly explained. A favourite attendant of the late\nPrincess, who, from the moment of her death had been confined to her bed\nby severe affliction, happened to have mentioned to the Chaplain that, on\nquitting her royal highness's room in search of him, about midnight, the\nnight preceding her mistress's demise, having a white veil thrown over her\nhead to keep her from the night air, she had been challenged by the\nsentinel on guard; which being contrary to etiquette in a spot where her\nperson was well known, she had not thought proper to reply. On further\ninvestigation, the evidence of the young lady herself was obtained; when\nit appeared that the period of her passage in a white night-dress, to and\nfrom the Princess's apartments, corresponded exactly with the apparitions\nof the White Lady described by the soldiers a happy relief for those who\nwere compelled to inhabit that wing of the palace.\n\nA curious discovery occurred some years ago, at the head-quarters of the\nFrench army on the banks of the Rhine. It appears that rumours became\nsuddenly prevalent of the repeated appearance of the spectre of the famous\nGeneral Marceau, who, was killed at Altenkirchen near Coblentz, in 1796,\nand buried in the glacis of that city. He was, nevertheless, seen in his\nuniform as a General of Chasseurs, with a drawn sword in his hand, by\nseveral sentries and patroles; and nothing was discussed in Paris but the\nnature of the omens to be inferred from this apparition of one of the\nbravest officers of the Republic.\n\nIt happened that the French Commandant of the city of Coblentz was a\nschool-fellow and intimate friend of General Marceau; and either in hopes\nof once more beholding one so much beloved, or with a view of detecting\nthe impostor who had presumed to trifle with his memory, he marched to the\nspot pointed out as the usual haunt of the spectre, escorted by a company\nof grenadiers.\n\nShortly after his arrival, the ghost made its customary appearance, and by\nway of military salute, the Commandant ordered his men to \"make ready\" and\n\"present!\" But ere he could add the fatal word \"fire,\" the ghost was upon\nits knees, whining piteously; realizing the officer's shrewd suspicions\nthat it would prove to be one of the boatmen of the Rhine, who had assumed\nthis appalling costume in order to pursue his calling unmolested, of\nconveying by night to the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, opposite Coblentz,\n(at that moment besieged by the French) the provisions and succours so\nvital to the garrison. In the character of Marceau's ghost, accordingly,\nhe had nightly paraded the glacis; keeping the coast clear from intrusion,\nwhile his boats traversed the river towards the fortress.\n\nEvery one who has travelled in Hungary is familiar with the superstitions\nof the Willis, or dancing-brides, and the Vampires, or bodies that\npreserve a posthumous life by the suction of blood from human veins. But\nthe latter superstition has found its way to other countries. A grave\nhaving been accidentally opened in a church-yard in Lorraine, about the\nyear 1726, the body of a schoolmaster who, in his lifetime, had been\nstrongly suspected of proficiency in the occult sciences, but who had been\ndead nearly half a century, was discovered in his coffin, as plump and\nfresh as though still alive; his eyes bright--his air joyous.\n\nThe whole village having crowded to the spot to behold the miracle,\ninstantly recognised a Vampire in this healthful corpse. Thousands of\nanecdotes were instantly cited of children lost in the neighbourhood; who,\nthough previously supposed to have fallen into the river, or been\ndestroyed by wolves, had evidently satisfied the dreadful appetites of the\ndead schoolmaster! In order to keep him, for the future, quiet and\nharmless in his grave, the villagers drove a stake through the body, after\nhaving cut off his head and burnt it on the spot.\n\nHad they persevered in their search, they would doubtless have found\nreason to fear, from the evidence of the adjoining graves, that their own\nfathers and mothers were also Vampires. Many soils, particularly those\nimpregnated with nitre, have the property of preserving bodies by\nconverting them to a substance resembling spermaceti. Similar discoveries\nhave been made in several church-yards in England; but luckily without\nprovoking suspicions so preposterous.\n\nIn the course of a few years, thanks to the progress of national\neducation, the best authenticated ghost-story going will scarcely find an\nauditor. Half of the magic rites and mystic wonders of the olden time have\nfound able expositors in our own, in the retort and the crucible. We no\nlonger exorcise a ghost:--we decompose it,--like any other gas.\n\nThe orgies of intemperance used to be a fertile source of apparitions; as\nin the case of the female spectre which rebuked the infidelity of Lord\nLyttleton--and the appearance of Lord Lyttleton himself to his friend\nMiles Peter Andrews; two _bon vivants_, who were most likely indebted for\ntheir nocturnal visions to an extra bottle of claret, and a broiled bone.\n\nA clergyman, who had been struggling hard and sacrificing his nights' rest\nfor a series of months to a new translation of the Prophecies, took it\ninto his head one night, that three children had entered his room and were\nseated at his writing table. As there was nothing alarming in such a\nvisitation, he continued to write on; and on retiring to bed, at daybreak,\nleft his young visitors apparently occupying their place. When he woke in\nthe morning, they had of course disappeared.\n\nThe illusion was, however, so strong, and recurred so often, that his\nstudies were seriously interrupted; till at last he took the only wise\nstep ever taken by an inveterate ghost-seer:--he consulted an eminent\nphysician.\n\n\"You have been overworking yourself,\" was the judicious reply, \"and unless\nyou have recourse to air and exercise, your nervous system will become\nseriously impaired. Such cases are by no means rare among men of studious\nhabits. In some instances, the spectrum is created by a disorder of the\noptic nerve. In yours, I am pretty nearly sure that it arises from\nderangement of the stomach. A good dose of calomel, my dear Sir, will lay\nall your ghosts in the Red Sea!\"\n\nAn ignominious conclusion of a romance, which in some respects resembles\nthe story of the Lutheran clergyman related in Wraxall's Memoirs! who, on\ntaking possession of his cure, was awoke early next morning by the spectre\nof a pastor in his gown and band, praying beside the desk at the foot of\nhis bed, and holding a ghastly child by either hand, whom he\nrecognised--by a likeness suspended in the parish church--as his\npredecessor in the living. This occurred in summer time; but at the\nbeginning of winter, when the stove in his chamber came to be lighted, as\nit never used to be in the time of the former pastor, an unpleasant smell\nissuing from the chimney caused a search to be instituted; when lo! the\nbones of two young children were found among the ashes in the stove. The\nincumbent, who had already circulated the report of his ghost story, had\nof course the comfort of finding child-murder attributed to his\npredecessor.\n\nThe instance of Eugene Aram and 'Dan Clarke's bones' affords strong proof\nthat those who hide can find; and in the ease in question, there appears\nsome doubt whether the spectre were the delinquent.\n\nThe subject of ghosts, however, must not be treated with less reverence\nthan its due. Samuel and the Witch of Endor, and the declaration of the\nEvangelist that, during the Passion of our Saviour \"the dead were raised\nup, and seen by many in the City of Jerusalem,\" remind us that spectral\nvisitations are consistent with the records of Holy Writ. But in this\ncase, as in that of demoniacal possession, the Christian era has produced\na revolution in the pschycological phenomena of nature; the power of the\nevil one over the human race being modified so that the dead are no longer\nraised up; while the angels of the Lord no longer manifest themselves to\nthe eyes of mankind, nor do His fallen angels take possession of the\nliving soul.\n\nA remarkable story connected with the belief in spectral visitations, is\nthat of the celebrated Bernhardi of Vienna; who after spending the evening\nin a gay carouse with a party of young men of infidel principles, where he\nboldly avowed his disbelief in the existence of ghosts, undertook to\nproceed, as the bell tolled midnight, to an adjoining church-yard, and\nstick into a grave pointed out to him, a fork which was taken from the\nsupper-table and presented to him for the purpose.\n\nA considerable wager was to depend upon his execution of the feat; and at\nthe appointed hour, with a daring deportment Bernhardi quitted the\ncompany, and repaired to the scene of action. It was agreed that he should\nreturn to the supper-table, leaving the fork sticking in the grave so as\nto be found on the morrow, in token of his accomplishment of the exploit.\n\nTen minutes would have sufficed for his visit to the church-yard. But at\nthe close of an hour he was still absent; when his companions became\nconvinced that he had turned coward and sneaked home to bed. They\ninstantly determined to convict his defection by following him to his\nlodgings; but on their arrival, found, with no small consternation, that\nhe had not made his appearance.\n\nOne of them, more his friend than the rest, really alarmed for his safety,\nproposed that they should visit the church-yard, and ascertain, at least,\nwhether he had accomplished the feat. When lo! extended on the grave lay\nthe lifeless body of the scoffer; who had burst a blood-vessel and died of\nfright.\n\nHaving accidentally pinned down his cloak to the earth in sticking the\nfork into the ground, where it still remained, he probably fancied himself\ntransfixed by the hands of the grisly tenant of the grave he was thus\nunpardonably violating, for the sport of a drunken frolic; and thus became\nthe victim of his unwarrantable sacrilege. Let those who jest upon such\nfearful matters, take warning by Bernhardi!\n\nAnother superstition connected with the disembodied spirit, is the belief\nthat spectres are to be found in the neighbourhood of hidden treasures.\n\nIn barbarous countries, it was the practice to kill a slave on a spot\nwhere treasures were deposited, in order that his soul might watch over\nthe hoard, and terrify others from the spoil.\n\nIn Ireland, such murders would be gratuitous; for almost every spot\npointed out as having been a depository of treasures, in the olden time,\nis said to be haunted by a banshee.\n\nThe same superstition appears to prevail in Germany and the Low Countries.\n\nSome years ago, a most ridiculous incident, founded upon this prejudice,\ncame before the inquisition of the Saxon tribunals.\n\nThe Burgomaster of the village of Brummersdorf, being a man of dissolute\npropensities, was in the habit of frequenting the public-house of the\nplace, in order to enjoy with loose companions the irregularities he dared\nnot attempt in his own house, in the fear of drawing upon himself the\nreprehension of his superiors in office. A fellow of the name of\nOsterwald, who acted as his clerk, was usually the companion of these\nexcesses; and many a good bottle of wine formed the cement of the\nexcellent understanding between them.\n\nOne summer night, as they were seated, according to custom, in the public\nroom of the inn, considerably the worse for a carouse prolonged after the\ndecent inhabitants of the village had retired to rest, a stranger entered\nthe inn demanding a night's lodging; and having approached the table at\nwhich the Burgomaster and his friend were drinking, continued to attract\ntheir attention by uttering profound sighs.\n\nProvoked by the interruption, the Burgomaster, whose name was Listenbach,\ndemanded the cause of his affliction; to which the fellow replied that it\nwas one with which he did not choose to trouble two gentlemen so\ndistinguished as those he saw before him.\n\nTickled by this flattery, Osterwald insisted on an explanation; and, at\nlength, after much show of caution and mystery, the stranger declared that\nbeing a poor student of the University of Jena, he had been warned by a\ndream to repair to the old Castle of Brummersdorf; where he would find a\nfertile source of prosperity for his old age.\n\n\"I knew not,\" said the stranger, \"that there existed such a spot as\nBrummersdorf on the face of the globe; but on consulting my books of\nscience, the following morning, I discovered, not only that it possessed\nthe ruins of an ancient castle, formerly one of the finest in Westphalia,\nbut that the constellations were favourable to the enterprize.\"\n\n\"I recommend you then to set off at daybreak for the Castle,\" said\nOsterwald, \"which is situated only a few hundred yards' distance, on the\ncliff overhanging the village.\"\n\n\"Alas! I have just returned from thence!\" replied the stranger. \"I was\nexpressly enjoined in my dream to visit the spot at the full of the moon.\"\n\n\"And what success have you met with, my good friend?\" demanded Listenbach,\nwith increasing curiosity.\n\n\"I need not tell you gentlemen, since you appear to be inhabitants of the\nplace,\" replied the stranger, \"that the old Castle of Brummersdorf is the\ndepository of a prodigious treasure, the property of the extinct house of\nthat name.\"\n\n\"Indeed!\" exclaimed his astonished auditors. \"That accounts for the edict\nissued by Government that the inhabitants should on no account be\npermitted to disturb a stone of that ancient monument!\"\n\n\"On arriving at the spot,\" rejoined the stranger, \"I made known in a loud\nvoice the spiritual authority by which my mission was appointed. When lo!\nthe spirit to whom is delegated the guardianship of the hidden treasure\nreplied that he was not permitted to divulge the spot where it was buried,\nunless adjured by three persons at once; and unless the vault containing\nit were opened by a magic key--to be formed of pure gold. But alas!\nhowever tempting the prospect, gentlemen, how is a poor devil like myself\nto procure the twenty-one ducats which the spirit asserts to be\nindispensable for the casting of the key; or the attendance of two\nenterprizing companions willing to share my exploit, and its noble\nreward?\"\n\n\"Your two companions are before you,\" exclaimed the boozy Burgomaster, \"if\nyou will accept our company. Let me see what money I have in my purse!\"\n\nEven without paying the reckoning--including a fresh bottle of wine,\ncalled for to drink to the success of their expedition--the purse of the\nBurgomaster did not furnish half the necessary sum. Nothing was easier for\nhim, however, than to despatch his clerk to the strong box of his office;\nwhich, as he was obliging enough to acquaint them, contained nearly a\ncouple of hundred ducats.\n\nIn as short a time as the condition of his intellects would allow,\nOsterwald returned with the requisite sum; and the three companions, after\nan inspiriting bumper, took their way towards the ruins of the old\ncastle.[2]\n\n    [2] The scene of Dousterswivel in the house of the Antiquary, may,\n    perhaps, owe its origin to the heroes of the Castle of Brummersdorf.\n\nHaving arrived on a platform before the venerable gateway, distinctly\nvisible by the brilliant light of the moon, the stranger drew from his\npocket a short black stick, with which he traced upon the parched turf a\nsmall circle, adorning it with several mystical devices and symbols.\n\n\"Within this magic circle,\" said he, addressing his companions who were\novercome, partly by wine and partly by awe, \"you must place yourselves, in\norder to be secure from the molestation of the evil spirits besetting the\nspot; while I proceed to fulfil the conditions of the guardian spirit of\nthe eastern tower.\"\n\nThe two drunkards, not a little pleased to be thus secured from an\ninterview so tremendous, readily complied; and having furnished the\nstranger with the purse, took up their position within the circle. For\nsome time, intense anxiety kept them silent. At length, they ventured to\ncommunicate to each other their opinion, that the interview between the\nstrange student and the Spirit of the Castle was somewhat long; but being\nfortified by their position within the magic circle, weary of standing,\nand oppressed by drowsiness, they agreed to stretch their limbs on the\nground.\n\nNext morning, the village of Brummersdorf was disturbed by the discovery\nthat in the course of the night the office of the Burgomaster had been\nbroken into, and its strong box pillaged, the iron safe being left empty\non the floor. A further search was immediately instituted; but no\nBurgomaster was to be found; and his clerk being also absent, the\ndissolute character of Listenbach and Osterwald caused them to fall under\nsuspicion of having embezzled and carried off the public funds.\n\nThe testimony of the village landlord, however, soon induced other\nsurmises; and the constables, by whom the robbery was discovered, having\nproceeded at the head of a body of peasants to the ruins of the old\nCastle, the hapless Burgomaster and his drunken clerk were discovered\nstretched on the ground:--not, as was in the first instance apprehended,\nbathed in their gore, but quietly sleeping off the fumes of their carouse!\n\nThe loss of his money was succeeded, of course, by the loss of the place\nfor which he had shown himself so incompetent. But in the course of the\nsummer, the cunning impostor was arrested; and it was the evidence of the\nparties themselves on his trial which gave publicity to the story!\n\nAn amusing anecdote occurs in the Memoirs of the President de Thou; whose\nson, also a lawyer of eminence, having been despatched by Government in\n1596 to the town of Saumur, on a mission of consequence, was desired to\ntake up his quarters in the ancient H\u00f4tel-de-Ville, the seat of\nGovernment.\n\nHaving retired to bed with the uneasy feelings usually attendant on\nsleeping in a strange place, particularly one of so gloomy and solitary an\naspect, the President was awoke about midnight by the weight of some heavy\nburthen suddenly flung upon his chest; and entertained little doubt that\nan attempt was about to be made upon his life. Being a man of strength and\ncourage, he seized the object in his arms, and flung it violently on the\nfloor; when, by the heavy moans that ensued, he perceived it to be a human\nbeing.\n\n\"Doubtless some thief,\" was his next reflection, \"who was searching under\nmy bolster during my slumbers for my watch and purse.\"\n\nWhile the President was preparing to jump out of bed, the figure, which\nwas attired in white, rose feebly from the floor, and by the dim light of\nthe moon, assumed a somewhat spectral appearance.\n\n\"Who are you?\" cried the President, \"answer this moment, or I will fell\nyou to the earth!\"\n\n\"Who am I, ignoramus? Who _should_ I be but the Queen of Heaven!\" replied\na cracked female voice; while the servant of the President, who slept in\nan adjoining room, being now disturbed, rushed in with lights; and with\nthe aid of the porter of the H\u00f4tel-de-Ville discovered the intruder to be\na poor maniac, accustomed to wander about the streets of Saumur and find\nshelter where she could.\n\nPerceiving the doorway of the private apartments of the H\u00f4tel-de-Ville to\nbe open, the poor woman had profited by so unusual a circumstance to\nsecure the best bed-room. On Monsieur de Thou's return to Paris, the King,\nwho insisted on hearing from his own lips his ridiculous adventure,\ncomplimented him on his presence of mind; admitting that, for his own\npart, he stood more in fear of ghosts than of the shot of the enemy.\n\nHad the servants of Monsieur de Thou encountered this midnight visitant\ninstead of their master, it is probable that the town of Saumur would have\nenjoyed the reputation of having a haunted H\u00f4tel-de-Ville as long as one\nstone remained upon another.\n\nThe forest of Ratenau, in Westphalia, passed, during a whole year, for\nbeing haunted by white spectres of the gnome or imp description; who\nhaving accosted, not only the peasants of the neighbourhood, but some of\nthe servants of the Count returning after nightfall from the neighbouring\nmarket, the road through the forest came to be deserted, and the greatest\nconsternation prevailed at the Schloss von Ratenau.\n\n\"On my arriving at the Castle from Berlin to spend the summer,\" said the\nCount, in relating the story, \"I found the poor people firmly persuaded\nthat a supernatural race of beings had attained supreme power over a\nportion of my estate; and it was vain to attempt to argue them into a more\nrational frame of mind. Judge, however, of my surprise, when, on returning\nthrough the forest, a few nights after my arrival, from the house of one\nof my neighbours, the carriage stopped suddenly, the horses reared\nviolently; and the postillion, instead of attempting to keep his saddle,\nbegan roaring aloud, 'The Spirits--The Evil Spirits!'\n\n\"Another minute and the carriage was dashed from the road and overturned\nin a ravine; nor was it without much difficulty that I extricated myself,\nthe postillion having already taken to his heels accompanied his fellow\nservants. I confess to you, that, half stunned by the accident, I\nexperienced some uneasiness at the idea of finding myself alone, at\nmidnight, with the object which had produced this fearful consternation,\nwhether robber or impostor; nay, I will not swear that some of the\nfantastic tales of Schiller and Goethe did not recur to my mind.\n\n\"Great, therefore, was my satisfaction on emerging from the broken\nvehicle, and perceiving two white shapes bounding and gambolling at a\ndistance among the hoary trunks of the oak trees, to recognize two\nhandsome white grey-hounds, which I afterwards ascertained to have strayed\nfrom the kennel of the Prince Henry of Prussia, and to have subsisted for\na year on their depredations in the forest of Ratenau!\"\n\nAnother adventure occurred on the estate of a nobleman of the same family,\nin the Duchy of Brunswick. An attempt was made to rob the village church;\nthe sacramental plate and poor-box being found one morning in the nave of\nthe church wrapped in a piece of old sacking, so as to give rise to an\nopinion that the thieves must have been disturbed in their sacrilegious\nenterprize. Some time afterwards, a gang of burglars having been arrested,\nthe judge of the neighbouring town charged them, after their conviction of\ndivers other robberies, with being accessory to the crime in question.\n\nIn a moment, these fellows, who had preserved the most hardened audacity,\nfell on their knees, and freely confessed the attempt; adding, that they\nhad been prevented carrying off their booty by the sudden appearance of\nthe evil one emerging from the vestry; and as far as the uncertain light\nof their dark lantern in that vast area enabled them to judge, in the form\nof a horned monster.\n\nA general laugh instantly arose in court; several of the inhabitants of\nthe village in question recognizing by this description, a tame stag, the\npet of a former incumbent of the living, which was allowed the run of the\npresbytery orchard and church-yard; and which, having most opportunely\nsought shelter in the porch on the night in question, had probably\nfollowed the robbers into the church, which they entered by means of false\nkeys, leaving the doors open for their readier escape.\n\nIt is recorded in the Memoirs of one of the free-thinking circle which\nsurrounded Baron d'Holbach, in Paris, previous to the Revolution, that\nhaving retired to bed one night after a gay supper, during which this\n_coterie_ of sceptics amused themselves with the most blasphemous\nconversation, his gay companions, in order to try his courage, introduced\ninto his bed-room a goat, whose fleece had been steeped in spirits of\nwine; which, when set on fire, gave to the unlucky animal an aspect truly\nhorrific.\n\nThe goat almost equally terrified with its intended victim, instantly ran\nto the bed and attempted to extinguish the flames by rubbing itself\nagainst the bed-clothes, which it set on fire; and the young man, having\ndrunk freely at supper so as to be heavily asleep was with difficulty\nextricated from the flames. The goat died of the consequences of this\ncruel experiment; and the young man was subject for the remainder of his\nlife to epileptic fits.\n\nMany instances are on record of an equally serious termination to these\nfoolish practical jokes. Witness the well-known story of the young lady,\nwho, after boasting of her intrepidity, had a skeleton from a neighbouring\nsurgery brought into her bed-room by her brothers and some young friends\nstaying in her father's house. On retiring to rest, these cruel jesters\nlistened anxiously for the shrieks which they hoped would betray her\ncowardice, and were greatly disappointed to find her as self-possessed as\nshe had announced; for instead of screaming, she went quietly to bed. But\nalas! next morning, when the servant entered her room, she was found\nplaying with the skeleton, in a state of complete fatuity!--\n\nIn the southern provinces of France, there prevails a superstition,\nderived probably from the lycanthropy of the ancients, that certain\npersons assume at night the form of wolves, and roam the country for prey,\nunder the name of _loup-garoux_; a fable which gave rise to Perrault's\ncharming fairy-tale of Little Red Riding Hood.\n\nIn a neighbourhood said to be frequented by one of these devastators, who\nwas of course no other than a man in wolf's clothing, who, in this assumed\ncharacter pillaged the adjacent farms, a _garde champ\u00eatre_ or country\nconstable, who had been several times attacked by the supposed monster,\ncontrived to lop off his paw with a hatchet; and, on the escape of the\n_loup-garou_, found, as he expected, that the furry paw contained a human\nhand! All the labourers of the neighbourhood were accordingly visited by\nthe gendarmes to ascertain, by his mutilation, the identity of the\nsheep-stealer. But the delinquent had already fled the country; and the\nimputed cause of his flight was confirmed a few years afterwards, by his\nre-appearance in another department of France, maimed of his left hand!\n\nSometimes, these _loup-garoux_ are madmen, whose insanity has taken this\nmonomaniacal form; as in the instance of the vintager near Padua, in the\nsixteenth century, who was apprehended on a charge of furiously biting his\nneighbours on pretence of his lycanthropic propensities. When reminded\nthat his face was unchanged, while the real _loup-garoux_ have always a\nwolfish physiognony, he asserted that he was permitted to wear his\nwolf-skin inwards; whereupon the barbarous village tribunal by which he\nwas tried, ordered his hands to be amputated and skinned, to ascertain the\ntruth of the assertion!\n\nInflammation ensued, and the wretched lunatic died of his wounds!--\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER L.\n\nAPOCRYPHAL ANIMALS.\n\n\nThe tarantula is a spider about the size of a nut; the head being\nsurmounted by two horns charged with venomous matter. It has also antenn\u00e6\nwhich become violently agitated at the sight of its prey; with eight legs,\nand the same number of eyes, usually of a grey colour, but occasionally\nmarked with livid spots upon a blueish ground. This variety is considered\nthe most dangerous. The tarantula is hairy in the body, and lies torpid in\nthe earth during winter. It revives at the return of spring, when the\ninhabitants of the district wear half boots for the protection of their\nlegs.\n\nIn the month of June which is their breeding season, their venom acquires\nmore virulence. The part wounded by this animal becomes livid, yellow, or\nblack; and the victim sinks into despondency, as in cases of hydrophobia.\nThe following account of the bite of a tarantula is borrowed from the\nletters of the physician St. Andr\u00e9.\n\nA Neapolitan soldier who had been bitten by a tarantula, though apparently\ncured, suffered from an annual attack of delirium, after which he used to\nsink into a state of profound melancholy; his face becoming livid, his\nsight obscure, his power of breathing checked, accompanied by sighs and\nheavings. Sometimes he fell senseless, and devoid of pulsation; ejecting\nblood from his nose and mouth, and apparently dying. Recourse was had to\nthe influence of music; and the patient began to revive at the sound, his\nhands marking the measure, and the feet being similarly affected. Suddenly\nrising and laying hold of a bystander, he began to dance with the greatest\nagility during an uninterrupted course of four-and-twenty hours. His\nstrength was supported by administering to him wine, milk, and fresh eggs.\nIf he appeared to relapse; the music was repeated, on which he resumed his\ndancing. This unfortunate being used to fall prostrate if the music\naccidentally stopped, and imagine that the tarantula had again stung him.\nAfter a few years he died, in one of these annual attacks of delirium.\n\nSt. Andr\u00e9 is not the only man of science who attributes awful effects to\nthe bite of the tarantula. Baglini, a man of considerable eminence,\nmaintains that not only the bite causes the patient to dance, but that\nthe insect itself is readily excitable by music.\n\nThe properties attributed to the tarantula, in modern times, are not borne\nout by the testimony of the ancients. Dr. Pinel, in his commentaries upon\nthe works of Baglini, a most eminent authority in the World of Science,\nquotes the adverse opinion of another man of acknowledged merit,\nEpiphany-Ferdinandi, who declares that many persons of his acquaintance\nhad been bitten by tarantulas, without experiencing any other\ninconvenience than might have occurred from the sting of a wasp. Thus\nreduced to the class of a venomous spider, it becomes stripped of its\nmagic powers as the scorpion ceased to be a salamander, when the ordeal of\nburning alcohol was found to be invariably fatal.\n\nThe renown of the salamander is, however, of far more ancient date than\nthat of the tarantula. Aristotle, Pliny, Oelian, Nicander, all the\nillustrious apostles of the marvellous, declare that the salamander lives\nin the midst of flames, and exercises such a control over them, that one\nsalamander was capable of extinguishing the Lemnian forges. In the time of\nHenri II., the famous Ambroise Par\u00e9, pronounced the salamander to be\nincombustible. Others assert that they have seen salamanders extinguish\nburning embers by emitting a viscous humour, and Benvenuto Cellini, in his\nMemoirs, gives an account of having seen a salamander in the midst of his\nfire. The salamander, or rather the newt that bears that name, partakes of\nthe lizard and frog, being generally from five to six inches in length.\nNaturalists admit two kinds, the land and the water salamander.\nMaupertius, among many others, submitted both species to the test of fire,\nand the result was the same as with any other animal.\n\nThe were-wolves of antiquity, and _loup-garoux_ of the middle ages,\ndisappeared in the open daylight of modern science. Virgil confers on\nMoeris the power of transforming himself into a wolf, Varro Pamponius,\nMela, Strabo, ascribe the same faculty to various individuals skilled in\nthe art of magic. In the annals of the early French courts of law, there\nmay be found many instances of condemnation for witchcraft and\ntransformation into were-wolves for criminal purposes; and more than one\nof these wretched victims, probably in a fit of mental aberration, pleaded\nguilty to the accusation.\n\nIn 1521, Pierre Burgot and Michael Verdun, confessed before the Parliament\nof Besan\u00e7on, that they had frequently transformed themselves into\nwere-wolves, and attacked little girls and boys. Half a century later,\nthe Parliament of Paris condemned to the flames Jacques Rollet for having\ntransformed himself into a were-wolf, and half devoured a little boy. If\nwe can believe the account of Job Pincel, Constantinople was so infested\nwith were-wolves, in the middle of the sixteenth century, that the Sultan\nwent forth with his guard and exterminated one hundred and fifty, when the\nremainder took to flight.\n\nIn a conference of theologians convened by the Emperor Sigismund,\ntransformation into were-wolves was pronounced a crime, and any assertion\nto the contrary was accounted heresy.\n\nIn the same century, domestic goblins or familiars were generally\naccredited. In the twelfth century, a goblin domesticated in a small town\nof Saxony, was known by the name of Cap-a-Point, and a great favourite\nwith the inhabitants; for whom he cleared their wood, lit their fires, and\nturned their spits. He was, however, of a vindictive temper; and a\nturnspit, in one of the kitchens he frequented, having ill-used him, he\nstrangled him in the night, cut him in pieces, and served him to his\nmaster in a ragout. The goblin, who saved himself by flight, was\nanathematized by the clergy as an evil spirit; being, in all probability,\nsome half idiotic deaf and dumb urchin, like Peter the Wild Boy.\n\nIn the thirteenth century, a house in the Rue d'Enfer in Paris,\nsubsequently a monastery, was infested by goblins, and in the year 1262,\nthe King granted the reverend fathers an exemption from taxes, provided\nthey were able to exorcise these familiar spirits by their prayers and\ninvocations. Among the last on record were those seen by Monsieur\nBerbiginer de Terre Neuve, who lived in the Rue Gu\u00e9n\u00e9gaud, and left\ncopious Memoirs of his contentions with these imaginary beings!--\n\nWhile witches, spirits, and salamanders, have disappeared from the surface\nof Europe, modern Asia appears to have sustained a far greater loss in the\nphoenix, which has ceased to rise from its ashes.\n\nMany writers, both ancient and modern, have minutely described the\nappearance and habits of this fabulous bird; as though an object of\nnatural history rather than of poetical fiction.\n\nThe phoenix may be regarded as an allegorical type, like most mythological\nfables. Among the great writers who appear to have believed in its actual\nexistence was Tacitus. In the sixth book of his Annals, he affirms that\nthe phoenix was seen in Egypt under the Consulate of Paulus Fabius, and\nLucius Vitellius; and that its appearance gave rise to much discussion\namong the scientific men of Egypt and Greece. Tacitus adds that the\nperiodical return of the phoenix is an incontestable truth. The scholiast,\nSolinus, relates the same facts; adding that the phoenix was taken during\nthe last year of the eighth century of the foundation of Rome, where it\nwas exhibited to the public gaze. The event was recorded in the imperial\narchives.\n\nThe account given by Tacitus is far more doubtful than that of Solinus.\nThe Emperor Claudius probably chose that the Romans should see a phoenix\nin a certain bird presented to their admiration; and many a modern\nsovereign might, by the same means, have created a phoenix.\n\nThe Fathers of the Church profess the same conviction as Tacitus and\nSolinus concerning the phoenix. A passage taken from an Epistle to the\nCorinthians by St. Clement, in speaking of the resurrection of mankind,\nhas the following passage:\n\n\"There exists in Arabia, a bird, the only one of its kind, which is called\nthe phoenix. After living one hundred years, on the eve of death it\nembalms itself; and having collected myrrh, incense, and aromatics, forms\na funeral pyre for its own obsequies. When its flesh is decomposed, a worm\nis generated, which forms and perfects itself from the remains into a new\nphoenix. Having acquired strength to take wing, it carries off the tomb\ncontaining the mortal remains of its parent, and carries it from Arabia to\nthe city of Heliopolis, in Egypt. Having traversed the air, visible to all\neyes, it places its burthen on the altar of the Sun, and flies away again.\nThe priests, by consulting their chronicles, have discovered that this\nphenomenon is repeated every five hundred years.\"\n\nThe description of the phoenix by Solinus is as follows:--\"This bird is of\nthe size of an eagle; its head embellished with a cone of feathers; its\nneck surrounded with heron-like plumes and dazzling as gold. The remainder\nof the body is of a beautiful violet, excepting the tail, which is a\nmingled rose and blue.\"\n\nPlutarch speaks of the phoenix with as much reverence as if it were an\nillustrious man. He states the brain to be an article of delicacy for the\ntable, though he does not mention having tasted it! The fable of the\nphoenix, which is both graceful and ingenious, and has been rendered\navailable by the poets of the last two thousand years, was probably\ninvented by the priests of Egypt, the first embalmers of the dead. Another\nbird of Arabia--the roc, or condor, has given rise to a thousand Oriental\nfables. The Bird of Paradise, which was for centuries supposed to be the\ninhabitant of a higher sphere, so rarely was it seen alive, has now been\ntamed in an European aviary at Canton. Let us hope that some future\nmenagerie may obtain a specimen of the phoenix.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LI.\n\nPROFESSIONS ESTEEMED INFAMOUS.\n\n\nIn the reign of Louis XVIII., an oration was made in the French Chamber of\nDeputies, complaining of the vileness of certain parties employed by the\npolice. The Duc Decazes, then at the head of the administration, replied:\n\"Point out to me honest men who would undertake the same functions, and I\npromise to employ them.\"\n\nThe infamy attached to spies and common informers is a wholesome\nprejudice. In England, the nature of our constitution and political\ninstitutions secures us from the intrusion of such vermin; who were\nextensively employed in France by the police of the elder Bourbons and of\nNapoleon. In Austria, and, above all, in Russia, no society is secure\nagainst them; and half the Russian travellers dispersed through Europe,\neven those bearing illustrious names, are neither more nor less than\nspies. The fashionable watering places of the continent are infested by\nthese individuals, most of whom have solicited from the Emperor the\nhonourable appointment of travelling spy.\n\nA vocation which must always convey infamy, and which is more essential to\nthe well-being of society, is that of public executioner; and\nnotwithstanding the disgust with which it is contemplated, whenever there\noccurs a vacancy in the office, in any country, a host of solicitors\npresent themselves.\n\nIn Russia, which many pretend to consider a barbarous country, there is no\nsalaried executioner. So infamous is the office considered, that in the\nevent of a capital execution, a criminal convicted of a less heinous crime\nundertakes it, and thereby gains his pardon. Formerly, in state\nexecutions, the executioner used to be masked, to secure him from the\nodium attending his calling.\n\nIn some countries, the stage, or rather the profession of an actor is an\nobject of violent prejudice. In France actors were denied for several\ncenturies the rites of Christian burial, and even in the present century\nhave been made objects of excommunication. England was the first to show a\nmore liberal example, by the interment of Garrick in Westminster Abbey,\nand the intermarriage of the nobility with actresses;--a violent and\npernicious extreme. During the Consulate in France, even on occasion of\nstate dinners, Mademoiselle Coutat was admitted as the associate of Madame\nBonaparte, as Talma of the First Consul. But on the restoration of the\nBourbons, public opinion resumed in this particular nearly all its former\ninveteracy.\n\nIn England, the leading members of the profession, such as the Kembles,\nYoung, Macready, Charles Kean, whose conduct in private life is as\nexemplary as their talents on the stage are distinguished, are received in\nsociety with the same respect conceded to any other order of literary\npersons. In France, this honourable position would be untenable; so deeply\nrooted are the prejudices of the vulgar. A clever French writer, who was\nin his youth an actor, relates the following anecdote:--\n\n\"Being once engaged in a company of players in a town in the south of\nFrance, he devoted the leisure of his theatrical duties to literary\npursuits. A shoe-maker, whom he employed, an ardent admirer of the\ndramatic art, occasionally attempted to engage him in conversation; and\nthe actor indulged the man's passion for theatricals by presenting him\nwith tickets of free admission. At the end of some month's acquaintance,\nthe shoemaker entered the actor's lodgings one morning in the greatest\nglee, and informed him that it was his daughter's wedding-day, and that he\nwas come to invite him to the ceremony. The actor, hesitating to accept\nthe invitation, made a variety of polite excuses to his humble friend, who\nseized him cordially by the hand. \"I see how it is,\" said he. \"You think\nmy friends will not like to sit at table with an actor! But never mind. I\nam not proud, and for my sake they will overlook it!\"\n\nThe gentlemen of the household of Louis XIV. refused to make the King's\nbed with Moli\u00e8re, who had purchased a small place in the royal household,\nbecause he had been an actor. This was a just punishment to one who should\nhave abstained from a position so infinitely below his rank in the great\nscale of human nature. Of the individuals thus fastidious, the names are\nunknown to posterity. That of Moli\u00e8re is immortal.\n\nJohn Kemble was the occasional guest of the Prince Regent, and Mrs.\nSiddons enjoyed the highest distinctions from the highest personages in\nthe realm. Still, even in England, among the lower classes, a prejudice\nprevails against comedians; but arising chiefly from the irregularities\nwith which many belonging to the inferior class of the profession are\nunfortunately chargeable.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LII.\n\nSUPERNATURAL HUMAN BEINGS.\n\n\nThere is no species of supernatural power to which some impostor or other\nhas not pretended; some to incombustibility; some to insubmergeability;\nsome to invulnerability; some to invisibility. Men have been found who\npretend to fly,--to walk upon the surface of the waters,--to penetrate, by\nthe acuteness of their optics, into the depths of the earth. But though an\nannouncement of a balloon, a diving-bell, an electrical telegraph, or even\na railroad, would have appeared as much a matter of empty vaunt to the\nancients as these pretensions to ourselves, no extent of modern discovery\nhas enabled or is likely to enable mankind so thoroughly to defy the\nexisting laws of nature. The conformation of the human form expressly\npoints out the purposes and capabilities for which it was created.\n\nWe read in old books, in proverbial reference to human speed, that such a\none 'runs like a man without a spleen;' and it has been asserted that the\nbearers of the posts of the ancients, had their spleen extracted in order\nto facilitate despatch.\n\nEven with our present chirurgical proficiency, such an operation would be\nsomewhat hazardous. But certain it is that dogs from which the spleen has\nbeen removed in the way of experiment, are observed to grow unnaturally\nfat, which would be no great advantage to a pedestrian. If the operation\nin question were both harmless and effectual, it is deserving the\nconsideration of the King of Naples; who is accompanied by running footmen\nfrom his palace in that city to his country palace of Caserta at some\nleagues' distance; the unfortunate men being compelled to keep up on foot\nwith the hard trotting of the horses. Not a year passes, but one of these\nvictims of royal state drops dead from the exertion.\n\nRunning footmen constituted a very imposing portion of royal and noble\nequipage in former times, when preceding the stately carriages of\nprelates, drawn by mules, or the lumbering coaches and six of the days of\nthe Stuarts; when part of their business was to forewarn the coachmen of\nholes in the pavement, or water-courses in the imperfect roads. But the\noffice of running footman in the days of macadamization, is a work of\nsupererogation. The act of barbarity of removing the spleen from such men\nwould not be much more cruel, however, than killing them by so terrible an\nexcess of exertion.\n\nNothing could be more remarkable than the feats of activity performed in\nFrance by the _coureurs_, or running-footmen of the nobility prior to the\nRevolution, and without any dangerous consequences. They were generally\nBasques, or natives of the frontier country of Gascony, proverbially light\nand active.\n\nIn the Landes, adjoining their district, another species of activity\nprevails--the walking or running on stilts, necessitated by the sandy\nnature of the soil. A large company of the inhabitants of that curious\ndesart, proceeding to market, resembles the course of a troop of\nostriches, or emus, over the Pampas.\n\nThe first aspect of these strangely-mounted men, probably gave rise to\nsome of the fictions of our early fairy-tales, such as the seven-leagued\nboots of the ogre; just as the Laplanders and Patagonians originated races\nof beings which exaggeration rendered fabulous.\n\nThe marvels related by the traveller, Mandeville, and the more recent\nwonders described by Mungo Park, drew down upon their narrators a charge\nof mendacity, for which we have been forced to make atonement to their\nmemory. How curious will be the first book of travels in England, written\nby a New Zealander!--The author would be sacrificed by his countrymen, on\nhis return, as a wanton impostor!\n\nIt is related in French jest-books, that during the period of the\nreligious troubles of France, when decapitation was so common, a Gascon\nexecutioner, boasting of his skill, was heard to protest that his victims\nwere so artistically despatched as to remain unconscious of their\nexecution. He was forced to say to them, 'have the goodness to shake your\nhead!'--when it rolled to the ground. In emulation of this foolish joke,\npeople used to assert during the Reign of Terror, that they were forced to\nshake their heads every morning to be certain that, amid the general\nmassacre, they had escaped the guillotine. A century hence, what with the\nacceleration of motion in every department--the application of caoutchouc\nand bitumen to all sorts of purposes--and the general diffusion of\nchemical science, we shall scarcely know whether we are on terra-firma, or\nin the air; and the reflective powers of the human race may chance to\nbecome strangely confused by such universal motation.\n\nWe may at least anticipate from the same source, the obliteration of\nvulgar errors, and the dissolution of popular prejudices. Our successors\nwill have no time to cherish such chimeras as omens, presages, or\npresentiments: no leisure for listening to old wives' tales, or traditions\nof ghosts and devils.\n\nFor all classes, education effects the miracle of making the blind see,\nthe deaf hear, the lame walk; and in our own, its operations commence at\ntoo early an age to leave our children at the mercy of ignorant\nnurses--the fountain-head of all popular superstition.\n\nA love of the marvellous is, however, so strongly implanted in certain\nnatures, and our capacity is after all so finite, that prejudices must\never, to a certain extent, prevail. Hypochondriacs, invalids, and pregnant\nwomen, will always be susceptible of the terrors of superstition; and so\nlong as children are born with the marks and deformities to which all\nanimated nature is liable, so long as the winter wind howls, 'the owls\nshriek, and the crickets cry,' nervous persons will not be wanting to\nlisten to the foolish interpretations of any empty-headed gossip at hand.\n\nTo remedy the mischief, it becomes a peremptory duty to render the rising\ngeneration 'wise virgins' in their youth, in order that they may not\nbecome foolish old women in their age, to perpetuate the evils of POPULAR\nPREJUDICES and NATIONAL SUPERSTITIONS.\n\n\nEND.\n\n\n  LONDON:\n  Printed by Schulze & Co., 13, Poland Street.","title":"A World of Wonders, with Anecdotes and Opinions Concerning Popular Superstitions","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":74913}