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elucidations TTMM~~M~M~ of the marvellous.

E. Churton London 1835

des

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THAUMATURGIA,

OR

ELUCIDATIONS

OF THE

MARVELLOUS.

BY

AN

OXONIAN.

th <WH's bird, Bombnsteskept Shut in thc pomtnc) or his swor< And tnught him ?)) the cunninf: pntnhx, and future moutttebanka." Ofpast /~M~6r<!f.

LONDON: EDWARD CHURTON, 26, HOLLES STRET.

MDCPCXXXV.

LOK~O~: 6CHULX!: AKL CO. 13 FOLA~t) smEUT.

CONTENTS.
I'n);c CHARTER DemonoiogyTh ageWho Tradhions Devil, is hc ?His concernhtg a most I. unaccountabte for &c. oid

predHcctton evil spints

pcfsonwotHcn~ 1

CHAPTER

II. J44 32

~a~icandMa~tcatrites. JcM'ish tna~i.

C'HAPTR On the Augury, ing .of scvcrat or !unds d!v!nnuons of

III.

nM{;ie. drawn frotn

t0 thc fHght brute an(! ~'c(!. 46

hirds. or divinations drawn from or hum:))) ;') of divination by th aucientsprodigies, etc.

At'Utipiccs, sacrittCt's. Divisions

51

CHAPTER of Or&ctpsThc History Th oractc of Jupiter

IV. ~racles of ;'<!

principn! Hatumou.M

{uttitpnty.

Iv

CONTENTS' Page

The

oracle

of Detphos,

practised Oracles often cqui vocal and obscure. Urim and Thurumim.63 of oracles, how lost. Rputation Cessation Had Of oracles, of oracles in the oracles of priests dmons any s!tare th nrtifices

Crmonies

ur Pythian Apo!to. on consu!tin~orac!es.58

57 61 64 66

68 70

of fatse divinitica

CHAPTER The British Druids,

V.

superstitionsTheir Th British magi.

or magiOrigin of fainesAncient skill in medicine, etc.

75 84

CHAPTER /Escu!apian tnystcnes, etc.

VI. 91

CHAPTER Inferior deities mankind

VII. from thcir birth to

nttending

thcirdcceasc.M

CHAPTER Judicial chetnica! nnd

VIII. to t!tp dc!n102

astrology-its of life prolongation sions.

appUcation

heatthAtchymica!

CHAPTER

IX
124 132

Atchytn!catandastro!o~ic(dch!mera.114 Thc Horoscope, a tale of thc stars. Th Fatcd Parricide an oriental tale of the stars..

CONTENTS. e

V Page

of astrology Application Advertiscment. Spring',Sunnner. Autumn. Ofthcwintcrqnarter.j

to thc prolongation

of life, etc. ..146 .149 150 .152

137

influences of,

CHAPTER
Oneirocritica! principal presentiment, phccomcna)

X.
154

cau8<e<ccts, iMustrat.ing'the of dreams, and definition etc.. effects of th

CauseofJDrcatns.157 Poet!cat illustrations indrcams.158 Principal phcnomena DcHntHonofdrcatns.

of ttte

imagination < 162 170

in drcamtng.

CHAPTER On or thc art of hea!ing

XI. divi-

Incubation, nation.178

hy visionary

CHAPTER

XH.

Un

charnu tatismansPhi!ters, amuicts, and hnag!mny efncacy, etc.

theirorigin 197 200 203 .207

used by thc common peopte. of th imaginatioo. and effects, RcccntDcitics, caprices, of Doctriue of E8inviaMiracu!ous cures by tneans Amufets chHt'tn'amn!cts,ctc.

CHAPTER

XHr.

On

taHsnmnasomc

curious

natural

ones,

etc..

214

Vt\,

CONTENTS. l'nuc CHAPTER XIV. attributed to music th

On

th

mdicinal

powers

by

ancienis.225

CHAPTER
Prsages, prodigies, presentiments,

XV.
etc. 237

CHAPTER
Phenomcna of meteors, optic delusions,

XVI.
spectru, etc.. 251

CHAPTER Etucidntion Ma~icat of some pretensions ancient of certain

XVII. 261 etc. 263

prodigics. herbs,

CHAPTER The

XVIII.

practiccofObcah, their knowcdge tnpr.2

or ncgrowitchcraftcharme of vc~ctnbtc poisonsecret poison-

CHAPTER On thp origin nnd superstitions

XI.X. influence of ~00

rings..

CHAPTER
CctcKtiat

XX.

inHuGnecsotncnsdimactct'icaprcdotnmaand nn!uc!<y nations.Lucky days.Empirics,

etc.

305

CONTENTS.

VU

Page Absurdits ofParacc!sus,nnd Van Hdmont, ..32~

CHAPTER

XXI.

Modct'ncmph'icistn.336 CHAPTER XXIL

Thc

Rosicrucians

or

Thcosophists.

357

"THAUMATURGIA,

OR

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THE

MARVELLOUS.

CHAPTERI. DEMONOLOGYTHE DEVL, A MOST UNACCOUNTPREDt<KCABLE PRR80NAGKWHO 18 HE ?BI8 COKCERXiNG TtON FOR OLD WOMENTRADITIONS ISVtL 6PIRTS, CHLDREN to hear and &C. old women have been accustonied

so many frightful thiugs of the clovcn-footed and have ideus formed such diabolical potentate, ofhis satanic him in so rnany majesty, exhibiting horrible cnough and monstrous to frighten accident to shapes, Beelzebub meet his several that really it were he were himself, iti thc prototype

by any dressed dark,

imagination men themselves, it might devil could not by any maD8 terrify theni h;Uf Ku were und to meet cunmuch, they actually
u

up in th bas embodied

m which figures And as regards him. be pregumed that tlie

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

vcrf?e his

with

him majesty usefui

face

to face near

so

true

it is that as he is

satanic

is not the

so black

painted. However

give a true history this God of the world," it is not our mankind," devil's wh!ch devins have

undertaking of this tyrant terror intention

to might prove, of the air,~ this and overseer of to become the

the facility with notwithstanding b!ographer, be collected. Of th the materials might we and the first rise of his.family, origin, sufficient authority he dealings, on has record; and, as re-

gards his in th dark

acted certainly always both though many of bis doings have and empirical, moral, ecclesiastical, political, as to ieft such strong bebind them, impressions mark their importance in some transactions, even at the present These wor!(.L period of th christian we shaU !eave discussions, however, of their respective champions, in order in t!~e bands to take, as we

view of some of th oft~~M proceed, a cursory with which in imitation of this great mankind, bas been infected, from the first ges of the master, world. conRomans, of Dmon upon certain ~M~, ferred or spirits, who made th~mselves visibte to men with thp' intention of either serving or them as friends, them the doing P!ato them an injury as enetuies. Th ibUowers of between their Dei distinguished godsor their or those beings Gentium; dmons, Majorum which were not dissimilar in their gnral character to th good and bad an~s of Christian beief.and Th and Greeks,. th appellation after

BLUCIDATIONS

OP

THB

MARVELLOUS.

their

heroes. the

The name

to beings of a malignant or to devils properly so called; aud nature, it is to the early notions entertained by this people, that the otittmes of later systems of demonology are to he traced. is a question, we believe, not yet set at rest the by th learned in these sort of matters~ whether word devil he singular or plural, that is to say, whether it be the name ofa so called, personage or a noun of nuMtude. If it by himself, standing as a proper and used only personal singular, it consequently one imprial devil, name, implies the whole clan of hell, justly moriarch or king'of distinguished by the term DEVL, or as our northern be call neighbours and poetically, Hernie," set form of the seology, Satan." ~otcntate's dcvil the But or him after the Burns muckie "auld horned deil," Clootie, Nick, in a broader that is, It

restricted

Jews and of Demon

th

early

chriatians

to others, the devil iu hel," speech, of a devil," or in scriptural or, according great red dragon," we shall not cavil much the less be doubt the on this

phraDevil or mighty

name

notwithstanding whether the

said devil

his identity, dispute that has been broached, a real or an imaginary

in the shape. form, and. with the faculpersonage, ascribed to him ties that have been so miracu~ousiy for If it sbould so fall out, as who cnn tell, But thcrc may be a God, a heav'n nnd hcU ? Mankind had bcst copmdef wct!for fear It be too late whcn their nu8tak<"< appear.
B 2

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

it would seem, been paralways, to old women the most ugly and ticularly partial to do his hideous of whom he has invariably sekcted our famous Mother for instance, bidding. Shipton, old English witch, of whom so many funny stories Th devil bas are her still.told, picture, if is in evidently very much wronged she was not of the most terrible

the and, if it be true. Merlin, aspect imaginable was a most frightful famous Welch fbrt~ne-teUer, If we credit another he waa befigure. story, old Mtc&" himself. To return, gotten by to the devil's so infernally howevcr, agents being that fromtimc ugly, it need merely be remarked, he bas invariably such ~tOMa~ immemorial, preferred creatures as most beied the human form divine." mauy strange prophetie aH, if the Italian poets are things to be credited, as very old wornen and represented as if ugliness were the ne ~/M ultra of beauty in old of the age, they have given them all th hideousness It will be seen, despite devil himself. of all that bas been said to th he bas his management very much of~ so of much so, that, instead an affairs worldly administration of witches, wizzards, magicians, diviners, doctors, astrologers, quack pettifogging and boroughmongers, he has selected some lawyers, of the wisest men as well as greatest fools of the into effect. His satanic plans atso to have considerably majesty improved in bis taste; no doubt, to the present imowing, state of society, and the universal diffusion proving day to carry seems his
4

Th

sybils, of whom are recorded, are

so

disadvantugc in improved

of the

devil,

that

ELUCDATtONS

0F

THE

MARVBLLOUS.

&

knowledge. cloven.fboted devils, fire and brimstone emhers kcpt ries who of hell

of

useful

wo ao longer hear of Indeed, sens only in a metaphorical are extmctor so; th nearly and etemal damnation are chieft)

alive and blown

fanaticism. shacMed

up by ultras among th seotaare invariably th promoters of religious with th less wit, address, Beauty, mind, have supereedcd ail and that was

in

and terrible, deformed. frightful, od!ous,'ugly, This aubject is poetically and more bea~tifuMy tUnstrated in the following demonological which stanzas, are so appropriate to the occasion, that we cannot as a further resist them to our quoting prelude sub;ects When the devil for wcighty despatches Wanted messengers cnnning and bold, He pass'd hy thc bcautiftt! faces And picked out th ugly and old. Of thse he ntndc warlocka and wttchcs To~rua of his crfttnds by night, ,Till the o~'cr-wrou~ht ht~-rtddcn wretchea Werc ns fit as t.hc devil to fright. But whoever hns heen his adviser, As his Mngdotn tnercases in growth, He now tnkea lais mcasurcs nn<ch wiscr, And trafics with beauty and youth. DiagMis'd in thc wanton nnd witty, He haunta both thc church and th court And 8on)cthncs lie visits thc city, Whcre all th best christians resort.

THAUMATURGA,

OR

Thns drcss'd up in fuU mnsqnerade, Hc.thc botdcr can range up and down For he bctter can drh'e on his trade, In any onc's namc titan h!s own. la by far the devil, it ppears, brief, to too cunning and continues still for mankind, in his own way, in spite of bishops, <nanage things the He govems and new churches. priests, laympn, .To be vicep and propensitiee of men by methods peculiarly his own; though or extortion, subterevcry crime whether it be upon the purse or the fuge or design, a devil; it must will not make a man person, crime, be its every it may, what puts the magnitude in some measure, into th devil's crinuual, power, and gives him an nscendancy and even a title to th treats in a very whbm he ever afterwards delinquent, manner. magisterial nevertheless be confessed, or complexion that We are told that every man has his attendant evil genius, or tutelary of th master dmonthat ~<eea every move we nesses all our actions, and to execute the orders spirit, evil angel the attending' make th board; witupon and permits us to do mischief, to ourselves pernicious

that is every thing on the contrary, our goud spirit,. actuated -that, benevolent is always accessary to motives, by'more our good actions, and retuctant to those that are case, it may be fairly asked, how does it happen that those two contending spirits and each other Mack eyes and do not quarrel give broken heada during their rivalship for pre-eminence s' bad. If this be th

ELUCDAT!OKS And why prevail ? Instead does of th

OP THE MARVELLOU8. evil tempting spirit so oft~n

thene difficult ques. literally answering as into a good argument, tions, it may be resolved an excellent in th to represent the struggle allegory mind of man between gQod and evil Inclinations. But to takc them as they actually arer, and merely to talk to argue by way of natural consequence-for from nature is certainly th best way to get to th bottom of the devil's are good and there etory,-if evil spirits us, that is to say, a good attending then it is no unjust angel and a devil, reproach to pay, when follow the dictates of the people ~<?M~'N in <AeM, or that they are that or, to carry the simile a point farther, asthegenerahty, and by far thegreatestnumberof iatter, devils! that the people follow and is allowed good one, and that predominating to be th nominating it must tha of course power, be allowed that th greater part of mankind have tlic devil'in which us to th conclusion of them, brings our argument and in support of which the following stanzas
F

obey the the power

evil

spirit

and

not

the

corne ha-ppily

to our recollection.

and places !tp scnds his diaguiaes, Ta pcrsons And dresses up all tus banditti, flock to country aasixcs, Who, as ptckpockcts Crowd up to th court and th city.

Thpy're And

and every car, at every elbow, rcady at evcry call, Sir; Th vtgUant scout, abont, ptants his agents And bas sompthing to do with us all, Sir.

T~AUMATUROIA,

OR

In some

he bas part, and some he bas who!e, And of some, (like th Vicar of ~a<w) Jt can neither be said they hve body or soul And only arc devils in sbadow. Th pretty and witty. are devils in masque Th beauties arc mere apparitions; The humely alone by their faces arc known, And th good Th beaux And But walk by their about ugly conditions. of mon, in ten

like

the shadows them

w!<erevcr

he leads

and shak'cm, tak'cn), But's as light as a feather, all bis a<r<tirs he drivea

they follow thcre's not one and hollow.

on in disguise, with a feather, And, he tickles mankind Creeps in at one's car, and looks out at our eyes, And jumbles our senss together. Thus He raises The the vapours And to ev'ry dark every the desires, prompts dced holds the candie incarnes and the appctitc tires, thing by the bandle. in complete mixcs ut evcry perplexes. evil on are trade, masqueradc and

passions And takcs

Thus And Sells

lie walks with in pvery

up and

down

every

company works shop, doubtful

And ev'ry Th various, some are Jewish some borrowcd tables

thing traditions

concermng~ are opinions invention, founded ofthe and

spirits

of

which the

from

Scripture, some Pagans, are alle-

of their

own

some

goricaL Th th from

demons

of th progeny

Jews of

were Adam

considered or with Eve,

either resulting supernatural

as

distant an

improper

intercourse

ELUC! DATIONS OB' THE MARVE<LOU8.

or of' Cain. As the doctrine, however, beings, was extremely to som few of the early revolting maintaincd that demons were the Christians, they souls of permitted either to assist enemies. About a condensed two human who were stiH departed beings, to interfere in the affairs of the Earth, their centuries friends But this form, entertained era doctrine to persecute did not obtain. or their

in and a balf ago an attempt, was made,. to give th various of demons it ~ras at an early date of not un~il a much later

opinions the christian

and

that a more decided doctrine reperiod of Christianity, lative to their origin and nature was established. These tenets involved certain very knotty points respecting the fall of those angels, who, for disobedieuc, had forfeited their The gnostics of early high abode m Heaven. of the christian in imitation of a classification times, different a orders of spirits by Plato, had attempted of similar arrangement with respect to an hierarchy the gradation of which stood as follows. SERAfirst, and highest order, was named the third was the PHNS; the second, CuERUBiNS; order of TnRONNS the fqurth. of DOMINIONS th angels, The the Stxth, of PowEKs; th seveuth, fifth, ofVm'fUHS Of PRINCPALTtES the eighth, of ARCHANOEL8 the ninth, and lowest, of ANGEL8. This fable was, in a pointed censured by the Apostles manner, yet strange to say, it almost outlived the pneumatologistw of th middie Tliese schoolmen, in reference to ages. the account that Lucifer rebelled against heaven, and that Michael the archangel warred against him, long

t0*

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

the momentous agitated question, what order ofange~ feU on th occasion. At length it became th prevailing opinion that Lucifer was of th order of Sraphins. It was also proved afber innnite that Agares, research, each of them depo?ed angels of Bc!tu!, and Barbatos, had been of the order of Virtues that rank, ~reat

and Phoenix, had been of th order Be!eth, Focalor, of Thrones that Gaap had been of the or(!er of Pow" and MurmurofThronesandAnges. ers, and Virtues; The pretensions of many noble devils were, likewise, canvassed, determined; with were arranged, which previously of considerable doubt and debate. in an and, a multiplicity manner, satiefactory equally of incidents connected therchad been mattef' sovereign a certain district, to them whose settled with were, aU fQr These

devils, to each of whom was assigned had many noble spirits subordinate various ranks and precedence were

the preciseness ofheraMic distinction:-there instance, devil.dukes; devil-marquiscs devil-knights bitihops siciaus, In the a certain tised dcvH-preeidents, and, without prelatcs and apothecarics. midd!e pitch ges) when of perfection, undcr

devil-earJs; and devil-archbishops, question, devil.phy-

forms, by which as the head of any anthey were as well recognised, be~rcient iainity would be by lus crest and armoriai to adopt Th chapes they wrc accustomed ings. were registered among their names and characters. Although the leading tenets of Demonology may be

in Europe, make their appearance

had attained conjuration and was regularly pracwere suppoped to devils of distinction dccidcd

ELUCIDATIONS

OF

THE

MARVELLOUS.

t t

and early Christians, yet they were maturcd by our early communications with the Moors of Spain, who were the chief philosophers of the dark ages, and betwecn whom anc the natives of France Toledo, schools the and a great communication existed. Italy, Seville and Salamanca, became the greatest of magie. At th latter city prdilections on art from a consistent regard to the solem< delivered within the walls of

traced

to th Jews

black

nity of th sabject were a vast and gloomy cavern. The scboolmen taught that all knowledge might be obtained from the assistance of the fallen angels. They were skilled in the of precious stones, sciences, in the knowledge and in alchymy, in the various languages of mankind abstract of the ower animais in the BeUes. Lettre, Moral Pneumatology, Divinity, Magie, History, Philosophy, the winds and and Prphecy. They could controul waters, and th stellar influences. They could cause induce diseases or cure them, accomplish earthqnakes, and release sols au vast mechanical undertakings, of Purgatory. They could influence the passions offriends of th mind, procure the reconciliation or induce of foes, engender mutual discord, mania, of or direct th force and melancholy, objects out human.aiection. by ita orthodox it were deviscd, th propagation of christianity attending must hav been work of much time to the which and ahnost had corner universal become of th helief universe in the so numeroUs was the Demonology taught Yet other systems of professors. which had their origin in the causes for cradicate it Such

deities, pagan as to fili cvery creek fabulous beings.

with

12

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

Many learned men, indeed, were induced to'side with the popuar on the su~ect, and did nothing opinion more than endeavour to unite it with thcir acknowof Demohology. ledged Systems They taughtthat the angels in league with the Prince of Darkness, who, uutil the of our Saviour, had been allowed to range appearance on the earth uncontroUed, and to involve th world in apiritual darknes8 and delusion. to th varions ran~s which thse spirits According held in the vast kingdom of Lucifer, they were 6unrto take up their abode in ed, in their degraded state, or in seas. the air, in mountains, in springs, But th various attributes ascribed to th Greek although and Roman of deities, were, by the carly tcachers considered in the humble light of dmon. christianity, ineal delusions, influence great notion of yet, for many centuries they possessed over the minds of the vulgar. The attended every man being by an evil objecta of heathen reverence were fallen

much earlier than th far more genius was abandoned which taught that, agreeabe part of th same doctrine as an antidote to their influence, ench individual was also The nuspirit. accompanied by a benignant nistration of angels," says a writer in the Athenian is certain but the manner Ao< is the knot Oracle, to be unticd." Mphers guardians, that but not It waa an opinion only kingdoms* that every person of th early philo~ had their tutelary had his particular

Thns thp Pcnatcs, or houMhotd gods presidcd ov~r newborn infants. Kvcry thing hnd ita gnardian or peculiar genhts: citica, groves, fuuntnins, 'hiUs, were att providcd with kccpc~a of this kind, and to each man was fUtottfd no

ELUCIDATIONS

07

TKB

MARVE~OUS.

13

him to protect and admonish good spirit, through the medium of dreams and visions.. Such were th objects of superstitions reverence derived from the genius Rome, th~vhoe synod of which was supposed to consist of demons, who were atill activcly bestirring themselves to delude mankind. But in the west of Europe, a host of other demons, far more formidable, were brought into play, who had their origin in Celtic, Teutonic, and even in Eastern as yell as influence, fables and as their existence, was ho!d!y asserted, not only by the early christians, it was long before but even by the reformers, the rites to which they were accustomed were totally eradicated. two-one good, the other bad ( Hor. Lib. Il. Epit. 2.) who attended him from'the cradle to th ~rave. The Grceks caHcd them </c~oMjr. They were named ~rorttMuSaiM. from their supennteadio~humao lesa than Pantheons of Greece and

or

14

THAUMATURGE,

OR

CHA.PTER

Il.

MAGIC AND MAGICAL UTBS,. &C.

Some sort o religion. fbund to prevail in all from the most rude and barbarous nges and nations, of human of cultivation periods society, t to those M thc~e penods are to be traced and refinement. murked wit!i exertions of the strongly specimens of men in every situation and facties feelings, almost that cao be thse man of temp!ation sort of creature of his nnd culture supposed. exertions is the It that is from we of with the leam conwhat

to subjccts present inatter of curious, importaDt than the natural of history service has been religious

F~w

a philosophie eye more an<t instructive rescarcit

that wc discover tendency

and powers, that \ve hccomc and civilization

the extent his desires th force of

acquainted

upon him, by comparing th degrec3 of improvcmcnt he !ms attaiaed in the varions of society whic!t lie has stages through ptisscd.

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARYBt<LOUS.

t5

to be a principle established by experience, that mankind in gnral have at no time been able, of their own mntual to powcrs, by the opration to the grcat ascend in their inquiries comprehensive foundation first cause. too refined religion,-the This idea is too grand, for th generality by sensible of true of a knowledge too distinct, or of th race. hmnan ohjects, and strongly in a great measure

It seems

They are surrounded attached to them; unaccustomed of abstraction, thing to have

they are to the most simple and obvious degrees and they can scarcely conceive anya'real existence may not become Possessed of such senthat

an object nf their senss. timents and viewp, in emthey are fully prepared th follies and absurdities of superstition. bracing.all in They worship every thing they either love or fear, order to procure or to avert that the continuance resentment of faveurs they may have dread. As their knowledge of nature is altogether and as many evcnts every moment present imperfect, themselves, upon which they can form no theoretical to the most simple, conclusion, they fly for satisfaction but most invisible nature ineffectual beings, is nl!ed. of all with Hence solutionsth in their which, th rise of agency opinion, enjoyed, reason to

of all

Polytheism ad local deities, which have overspread the face of the earth,' titles under th different of guardian saints. Hence goda or tutelary mgnincent temples and splendid statues have been crected to aid the of votaries, nnd to realize of imagination objects whch, worship, though supposed to hc always hovcrto become visible. ing around, scidom condescend

1C After

THAUMATUROIA, OR

some information obtaining conceming pr. sent objects, t!te next cause of solicitude and inquiry to the mind of man, is to penetrate a little into the secrets of futurity. The same tnteary gods who bestowed their care, and exerted their to procure prsent pleasure and happiness not averse to grant them, in kind, were supposed a little indulgence. Hence the this respect also, famous oracu)ar of antiquity hence the responses fortune-tellera, astrologers, long train of conjurera, and wizards, witches, necromancers~ magicians, that have been found in all places and at all times nor have civilization and superior knowledge been sufficient' to. the cxtirpate futility and such demonstrating views. characters, by of their absurdity powers for mat~-

was a great this superstition Among the ancients, The respect paid to omens', auguriea engine of state. and oracles, was profound and the and- universal the privilege of conpersons in power monopolized and interpreting them. the sulting They joined in expreesing but there' their vnration; people is little, reason to doubt that thc they conducted in such a manner as best suited the purresponses it would On this account, poses of government. not be difficult for the oracle to mit prdictions, which, would able. oracles. Though dcvination bas long ceased to be an to aU those unacquainted with the appear altagether It would seem to explain and astonishing that this princtple alone s aU the pheuomena of ancient secret, unaccount-

aufficient

-< ELUCtDATONS 0F THE MAttVELLOUS.

instrument

of government, abundance of designing in latter who ges, persons hve not been wanting of thc much interest in taking found advantage or credu!ity of their fellow creatures. weal~ncss this pestilent and abandoned Against most civilized countries have enacted race of men, laws. penal detest.

But

what were sold derived

rendered

such

able in modem they they they

which times, to whom to hold with thc devil, supposed in retum, and from whom, themselves, their information. And by this prin-

persons peculiarly was the communication

of extirpating, instead statutes, ciple the penal inflamed the evil. th imaginations They alarmed them to impute the of th pcople they tcmpted to cause of their misfortuncs and digappointmcnt the more witches every several subsist malice than or resentmentofthcir them to to trn&t by th of to their and putting means their reason; neighbours; suspicions, induced they much

and wizards, foolish informer coimtries

they multiplied into possession of of ptinishment. In statutes still

Britain till a they were Since the abolition period still at no grt distance. of perscution, th faith ofwitchcraft has disappeared even among the vulgar. It was long found inconststent in philosophy. any considrable progrcss For thse rcasons wc rcad, with somc dcgrcc of a treatisc on this cxplodcd subject, astonishment, by with

these Europe, in not abo~ished

a philosopher, a privy counan eminent physician~ seller of th thcn Etnpress and a professor Quecn, in th univcrsity It was long doubtcd of Vienna. whether th professor was in eamest,
c

but

thc

!8

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

world and

was at length Antoniua de Haen reckoned th diseuse,

to admit, that th grt believed in witchcraft, certainly of it, in treating a knowledge forced to a physician-to the he dedicated knowledge,

of great importance of which useful acquisition

a great part of his time. In the year 1758, three to death for witchcraft, old women, condemned were from Croatia tri brought by order of the Empress to undergo an examination, with regard Vienna, to th equity of the sentence pronounced against them. existed Th the question only was of not whether the crime the respected inquiry and of its application. The author, the justice illustrious van Swieten, were appointed to make th investigation. After reading over the dposition~ and care, produced on th trials with the greatest the culprits themselves M!o~ ~~o~M~ mterrogating object by means of a Croatian that physiciens discovcred not witches, and prevailed with the Empress to It was this circumstance send them home in safety. that induced de Hacn to write on magie. That Eome judgmcnt may be formed of de Haen's in written very extraordinary and curious production th part of th eighteenth century, we shall here with an abstract furnish our rcaders of its principles and reasoning, to which we shall some subjoin remnrks. By the crime means any and evil spirits, ing, necromancy, of magie, the author communication improper whether informa betwecn us, lue men latter thse interprter, th ~rce old women great were

it be called theurgy, incantation cluromancy,

soothsay" or witch.

ELUCIDATIONS

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19

craft. such

He proposes to prove, a communication does

in the

quotes the Egyptian magicians, th possessions mentioned in the

first place, that exist. He actually the witch of Endor, New Testament, from the is positive were real

and many more exceptiooable authorities and.canons of the church. He fathers, of the Egyptian th incantations magicians

of infernal and that the accounts agents, operations of them, delivered by Moses, can admit no other con. etr action. May wthority not of the the sincere believer in the divine auhesitate conreasonably Or rather, does not such this cerning revelation to rean interpretation expose justly of the best philosophy a The plain dictates proach ? is more simple, regular, are, that nothing and unicourse of nature and that form than the ordinary be suspended this course can neither nor altcred, scriptures conclusion ? a but be most good dence, by its author, interrupted important end could to by him be permitted by any inferior being, unless for th It does not appear what reasons. be gained, on th part of Provinor can

of these enby the permission magical them and if chantments, supposing supernatural we imagine the Devil to have acted spontaneously, his power and influence, with a view to support erred manifestly could be more impolitic where field of combat, he most sustain an enectually his servants jgnominious to support the the in his than he defeat. his well Or design. Nothing in a appearance knew hc must if he workcd

magicians,

and influence of power he should bave counterC2

20

THAUMATURGE

OR

acted, Moses. sufficient not

not

repeated, That the for this

the

miraculous

exhibitions no

of

magicians is purpose That Pharoah is evident

possessed obvious, expected from his

power from their no such never re-

it. exerting exertion from them questing Aaron. ceived own. latter donc,

to Moses and it, and from his application Th truth seems to be, that Pharoah conMoses and Aaron to be magicians U his He and if wished hc the character of the support concludcd this would be effectually to

fumish a pretence for could only they anirmiug that they had performed every wonder accom-" Without some such suppoplished by thc former. sition of collusion, two of the miracles attempted are perfectiy absurd and contraby th magicians to tum water into blood, dictory. They pretended whcn t!tere was not one drop of water in aM the land of Egypt, which Aaron had not previously converted into that substance. to They pretended send frogs over th land of Egypt, when every corner with that loathsome swarming It is further remarkable with the that, reptile. three first only of Moses's miracles they proposed to on th appearance of th fourth, vie they fairly tlie contest, and acknowledged resigned very honestly that the hand of God was visible that in the miracles no supernatural of Endor of Mosca;n plain confession of it was

in their own. power opcr~tcd th case of th De Haen considers as an

witch

still more direct. He n~intains authority that was actue.IIy called Samuel up, eithcr under or fantastic Saul the form, and forctold corporcal

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THS

MARVEHOUS.

21

of his engagements with the Philistines. Let us attend to the circumstanccs of the story, and examine whether it is absolutely to Hve necessary recourse to this supernatural Thc mind hypothesis. of Saul was distracted and and agitated alarming was so grt by the most critical his distrcss anairs beyond measure of his situation

fate

that, forgetting his dignity and safety, he dismissed his attendante laid aside his royal robes, was unable to cat bread, like the meanest of his people, and, dressed he took his journey to the abode of the conjurer. In this state of miud, prepared for imposition, he arrives He prevails with during th night at her residence. and probably her, by much solicitation, by ainple To discompose to call up Samuel. still rewards, of Saul, she announces of the apparition the pretended approach by a loud tells the king she knew whicli him. acclamation, till now she affected not to do, and describes the under resurrection of the prophet, the awful semrising out of the earth. all this time the king had seen nothing During either because he was not allowcd extraordinary, light for that or was not admitted sufficient purpose, blance within count conjurer Samuel. of the th sphre of vision. who He entrcats an acthe of personage the describes The and approached, well-known appearance th of God's further the disordered mind

for disturbing to be intended be defeated sons would by fall

prophet sternly challenges tells him that his repose, King of Israel, the Philistines, in battle. that and that

king David was would his into no he and

himself enters

Th king

22

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

conversation to

with

the his

apparition

but

unable

longer support the ground. The hun to take He at last departs whole ness. prophet intelligence obtained. despondency mies, and

agitation, drops returns to Sau!, presses conjurer some food which she had prepared.

any lifeless on

and having finished his repast, complies with his servants before the morning. The of this scene, it is evident, passed in darkIt does not appear that Saul ever saw the and no supematural surely required to communicate all th information he would of th the rcndily the king, beauggestedbythe of his strength eneof the it

Thia

of th whole people disposition Jews alienated from him, and inclined towards his successor. The witch of Endor, therefore, might be a common and her case exhibits fbrtune-teUer, no direct proof of supernatural possession. to account so easily for many We do not pretend of the recorded in the New Testament, possessions of these to the case only are applicable We are well aware, that several writers to entertain who cannot be supposed sentiments of revelation, these explain possessions, recourse to any thing supematural, them as figurative of descriptions or defend the views of to

few though of sorcery. of eminence, th have without least

unfavourable having

undertaken

by representing and local diseases.' particular We mean not to adopt, such

we may perhaps be allowed authors, though to observe in a that, were their opinions supported would lose nothing manner, satt~factory christianity It would be exempted, by tlie attempt. by this

ELUCIDATIONS

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means, from some of its and from the th

a little enemies cou]d

cavilling reckon not in

and ridicule, it at present the least cure

to which exposed, derogate of a disthan

design

its divinity, as the instantaneoua cannot be considered ess temper

miraculous

At any rate, of the devil. these expu!s!on are all extraordinary on some possessions appearcd most extraordinary and from them, thereoccasion conclusion to the orcan be drawn fore, no general dinary We cases shall of common now translate cxtracted life. a specimen of from the fathers. de Haen'8* The fbl-

authorities,

from Jerome will need no comment. This lowing in his life of St. Hilario th hermit, relates father, a young man of the town of Gaza in Syria, that fll deeply m love with a pious virgin in the neighHe attacked her with bourhood. looks, whispers, and all those arguments whieh caresses, professions, usually conquer all ineffectual, residence the implore year, then their till he but finding them yielding virginity he resolved to repair to Memphis, of many eminent and conjurers~ aid. He remained there for a magie was

in the art. He fully instructed returned m his acquisitions, home, exulting his imagination with the luscious and feasting scnes of realizing. he was now confident AU he had to do was to lodge secretly some hard words and uncouth

Antonio de Hapn, S. C. R. A. Majestate a constHis ant!univercis, et Archintri, medccina; in a!ma et antiquissimo sitatc professoris pr!manj, piunum cruditorium socictutem Svo. Vicnna. soci!, de magin libcr.

24

THAUMATURGIE

OR

figures, threshold lived. hair,

on a plate of brass, below the engraved of the door of the house in which the lady She became she tore her furious, periectiy

her teeth, and repented gnashed incessahtiy the name of the youtb, who had been drawn from her presence of her despairing by th violence she was conducted In this situation passion. by her that relations possessed to the her, cell of old Hilario. in The devil of th charm, consequence to howl, and to confess the truth. violence/' against my said ~'1 he inclination. have How

began immediately 1 have suffered been happy visions You fast forced was hither

1 at Memphis, amusing 0 the pains, the tortures me charm the

my friends with which 1 su~r

command by the uniess

and 1 am detained to dislodge, 1 cannot below the threshold.* man dismiss me." So saint, that he would not to be searched for, tiU he for fear he should seem to

dpart, cautions,

permit had released have

however, the magie the

young was the figures

in performing the or to believe that a devil could even speak cure He observed only that demons are always liars, truth. to deceive. and cunning intercourse De lonius Haen as imputes they miractes,* of magie the power are called, of the famous ApolHe seems to entertain no to the

virgin, with incantations

Thyanaeus.

bave been attached to the word Many significations both and modems. miracle, With ua a by the ancients tuiradc is th suspcnsion or violation of th !aws of nature and a miracle, which can be explained upon pbystca

MLUCDATONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

25

scruple enemies a rival ances of the

about of of may

their revelation Christ, our at from

authority. have a readers. a held specimen

As forth

several

of

the as

Thyanaeus his an perform-

Jesus amuse

of

During great

people rest. to A

Ephesus,

approached ail the

a neighbouring There is nothing th boy astonished

flight one wood wonderful," people,

assembly of birds bird led says this

Thyanaeus, appearance. has carelessly carried caUs the one rest

in

passing in scattered has tasted

a particular street along com which he it some the th food, repast." and generously The hearers

bird to

partake

their surpassed was regarded as a tuiracte, comprehension by th ancients and every extraordinary 'of information attained degree by an individual, as well as any unlookcd-for was occurrence, pnncip!e8, referred among from denying thc admitted their but endenvoured to surpass reaHty, wc find that and thtts in th life of Zoroaster, novator the tiats with entering frequently but excecding thc wonderful admitting and thus aiso when thc thirst formed th th his sacerdotal successfal knowledge on which physics, hostile works peculiar th aucients, thc to some of thc dcity. Hence interposition followers of (UHcrent divinitics, far miracles performed by their opponcnts, them able in-

ceases

to

bc

such,

Whatever

enchanters, they peror of of

divided distinction, skill would cnsuc, to derive sidcrcd

co~cges, combatant from ench

of power, similar trials

conbeing th more pawerful

That the science god. from exprimental dcrived the th conduct what of thc they invoked the 2. from gcnii

Thamnaturgists, themseh'cs had by th agents tnagicians,

was purty dcpended 1. by may be proved. or wonder.workers conccrning sonetimes sometimes magie denoting men who

said

physical cultivated

or chemical science.

ctnptoyed,

26

THAUMATURGIA~

OR

repaircd true. Being

to

th

spot,

and

found

the

information

called to allay a pestilence which ragcd at he ordprcd an old bcggar to be burned Ephesus, under the stones near th temple of Hercules, as an to th gods. th people He commanded enemy th stones, again to remove what sort of animal had been found not a man, but a dog. of rank ceased. A mnrried husband requests put an th see they might put to death. They iie plague, however, being litter, dead, was carried followed by her that

woman

out to he burned

open dies-olved in tears. Apollonius approaching, him to gtop th procession, and he would to his grief. touched her, She He and asked the name over muttercd

in an

end

of her

revived, immediately began to ppea~ and rcturned again to her own house. Fteury~ who relates th miracle, remnrks that some people doubted whether had bcen really dead, th woman as they had ohscrved like breath something from her mouth. Others site had imagined seized issue been

womnn, some words.

only with a tedious faint, and that the operation of th cold dews and damps upon her body recover On Fteury's remark her. might naturally de Haen most that th persons obsen'es, sagcy who observed th woman could not surely breathing have have suppressed th th stopped rrivcd. De lections Haen's that ncws, and would certainly before th philosopher procession joyful is to rcite sorcery, all the and

attempt hve been made

second

against

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

2"f

to subjoin

to

each

distinct

rfutation.

There

is

merits nothing in this part of the work that any attention. He concludes in these words: I may then with confidence that the art of magie afHrm, most exists. sacred and prophane certainly History, human and divine the most authority experiments and unexceptionable, ail concur to unquestionable demonstrate The last its reality." part of de Haen's work relates to the dis

and treating of magical diseases, to explain covering which seems to have been the chief purpose of the author in composing his book. Much he caution, and attention on this head are necessary observes, should not readily admit the imphysician of witchcraft. No absence of the ordinary putation of the course no uncommon alteration symptoms, of the distemper, to infer tins conclu. are sumcient natural sion, because thse may arise from unknown are the marks of certain inca~s. What then cantations indisputable ~be found, of the cielings sitall ? De to be following if, in any uncommon disease, there in the stuffing of the cushions, or room in which th Haen holds the and th

lies, in patient or the chaff of his bed, about the the feather of his the threshold door, or under house, any or characters, bones, hair, secds, images, strange the removal of these, roots of plants and if upon the patient into another or upon conveying apartor if the patient he shall suddenly recover ment, as to or his fricnds, shall be so wicked himself, call a wizzard shall bc rcmoved to their or aid, by if insects the malady and animais which whom

28

THAUMATURGIE

OR

do

not

gass,

ejected size, and to make

if stones, metals, lodge in th human body of pitch, be knives, hair, plaited pieces from particular parts of th body, of greater

and figure, than could bc supposed wcight thcir these parts, without way through much demolition and delaceration of th greater in all these cases, the disease is unquespassages t!onah!y ntagicaL" author Th proceeds may incantation incurring with the sician presume in order th to enquire whether the phyto remove the instruments of relieve of th patient by of after without interfering the devil

to

accusation

and implements and conchides very fonna~y all due ceremony them with ploring tection with suitahle

impicty furniture that,

approaching after imand respect, and

the pro. ardonr, and direction of heaven in such a perilous he may attempt to intermeddle, and undertaking, issue. may occasionaHy expect a successful and concluSuch are th views, reasonings, sions of, at thc time, onc of the first physicians and philosophers which would applause two of and reasonings ;-views Germany have heen received with eagerness and hundrcd years which the a~o, but of later times seem to of ignorance and bar.

devotion

and improvements philosophy have banished to th abodes barity. Th

of almost aU our knowledge origin of antiquity. traced to th earlier periods the case with respect to the arts pecuharty nated

may !)e is This denomi-

wcre few ancient There nations, magical. which could not fumish howcver barbarous, many

ELUCIDATIOK8

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MARVLLOUS.

29

individuals power of

to nature

whose and

spetls and encliantments tlie mater ial world wcre

the sup.

to be subjected. Th Chaldeans, the Egypposed and indeed all the oriental nations were aetinns, customed to refer all natural effects, for which they could were not account to to the believed preside animais. under of demons, who agency over herbs, trees, rivers, of the member Every their power, by to and all corpotheir malignity. affected to with discover

and mountains, human body was real For diseases instance, a fever, little

were if any

produced

its cause, it must no doubt spirit residing

be happened was manifested auxicty or to adopt rational measures have in the been occasioned body, fortunes

for its cure by some evil

mysterious way, the influence could be counteracted

or influencing', in some of the sufferer. That only by certain of those rites ma-

hence th observance soon gical rites a permanent in the East. obtained establishment Even at th present day, many uncivihzed people is nUed with genii, of which hold that all nature a heneficent, and others a destructive which man is afBicted, are AH evils with power. th work of thse considered imaginary beings, inwhose favour must be propitiated by sacrifices, some and songs. Ifthc Greenlander be unsuccantations, the Huron in huuting, or in war cessful in n~hing, if even th hait Hottentot reasoning carccly or fitids evcry thing is not right in his mind, body, no time must be lost before th spirit bc fortune, invokcd. th ncxt Aftcrthe stronge'-t rcmovnl desire of somc in th present human mind evil, is the exercise

30

THAUMATUROIA,

OR

Tins good is often good. th power, and still oftcner beyond the inbeyond be clination of man it must therefore to bcstow to possess from which are supposed sought beings considerable influence over human and aftairs, of which elevatcd above th baser passions being our wcre thought to regard with peculiar nature, attainment of some future favour all who acknowledged their power, or invoked their aid hence the numerous rites which hve, in ail ages and countries, in conbeen observed sulting guperior intelligences, rous modes in which their municated The astrology, animais, all in was was tions only were many to mortals. Chaldean metals magi were chiefly and were much conversant and founded with on certain employed of which attention and the pleasure equally numehas heen com.

which plants, they their the virtue incantations derived from stellar innuencc. Great always paid to the presented by at favouraMc celcbrated.

positions and the configurath celestial sphre and it was seasons that th solemn rites wcre accompanied with

Those rites

and fantastic peculiar gcstures, by lcaping, of hands, prostrations, loud crics, and not unclapping with uninteHigibIe exclamations. Sacrinces, frequently and burut were used to propitiate oShrings superior powers exercised exceptecl, fesscdly away that of th mngtcal knowledge thc Jews by certain oriental nations, is extremely limited. Ail th books written on thc but our rites only pro-

by the torrent thc professors

bave been swept subjcet, of time. We learn, liowever, wcre geamong th Chaldeans

ELUCDATONS 0F THE MARVEL.OUS. into divided nerally or charmers, whose and to avert future talismans, etc. Th three

3i

thc ~~c~ masses office it was to removc present, to conatruct evils contingent ~pc~cAe~ who were magicians, with the conversant or

so called, properly occult powcrs of nature, and the supernatural world and th c~<M<~, or astrologers, who constituted by far from of the would the the most numerous assembly class. And respectable of th wise men on th occasion dream Babylon of dreamsa almost f Nebuchadnezzar, it had also her oneirocrispceies of diviners nation of antiquity th Persian magi, to belong and

extraordinary that appear

tici, or interpreters indeed, t0 which gave birth. Like th the Chaldean our from whom

cvcry

astrologers,

word

But gods was priesthood. not their chief occupation they were also great pro. in t!ie arts. ncients They joincd to thc worship of and to th profession of medicine and na. the gods, tural with superior a pretended familiarity magie, of deriving ah from which they boasted powers, who probably imLike Plato, their knowledge. that bibed many of their notions, taught they demons hold a middle rank between goda and men not only over divithat tliey (th demons) presided nations, apccies auguries, of magie, conjurations, but also and oracles, over sacrifices, every and

is derived, magie of the the worship

is thus presented, w~ich in bcha]f of men praycr, to thc gods. ~e and rcndcrcd acceptable Indccd, lives* was well calculated to austeritv of their AU th thrcc ordcrs of Magi cnumcrntcd by l'orphyry,

32

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

which their cunning had impression made on the multitude, and to prepare th nlready way for whatever impostures they might afterwards strengthen practisc. We are than nations. inferred th tion sacred life. regarded magi with less that acquainted with Indian magie Eastern

th

by practised any other be rensonably It may, howevcr, enough that it was very simUar to that for which in gnera! were held

in such high estimaas beings of too a!though they were excludcd, a nature, from the ordinary occurrences of Thcir or Gymnosophists, were Brahmins, with as much as th magi, and reverence Some of them worthy of it.

were more prohahly dwe!t in woods, and others in t!te immdiate vicinity of cities. in medicine was grt Their skill the care which took in cducating youth, in famithey liarizin,g did them it with und their peculiar as recorded discourscs, by historians, wcre much accustomed to profbund they on and the principics philosophy. JEWiSH Of foot,~ cntirely thc MAG. it is provcd by from Bnbylon, and bcing no Light. hnving longer of civil po!ity, gencrous honour and virtuous sentiments, maxims and prove that rcncction religion

morality,

mnp-i of thc Jews, that after their retum forsaken ido!atr)',

tt' nbatain~tfrom u'inc nf! ~otnef), orders frotn nninud f<tod. Va!, ii. p. 287.

:ttxt t,he ~rst of tht'sc

ELUCIOATON8

OP

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33

favoured

with the gift of prophecy, they gradually ubandoned of onr before the coming thcmselves, to sorcery and divination. The Talmud, Saviour, still regarded with a reverence on idolatry, bordering abounds with instructions for the due observance of rites. Aftdr their superstitious city and temple were destroyed, were highiy many Jewish impostors esteemed for their pretended skill in magie and of interpreting under pretence dreams, they met with daily opportunities of practising th most shamefui were quite as well Many Rabbins versed in the school of Zoroaster, as in that of Moses. aU kinds of conjuration, some for They prescribed some against th cure of wounds, th dreaded bite and enchantof serpents, and others against thefts Their divinations were founded on the inments. fluence of th stars, they did not, indccd, bodies as gods and gcnii, but gard th heavenly to them a grt power over th acthey ascribcd tions and opinions of men. The magical rites of the Jcws were, and indeed arc still, chieny performed siens, as on the birth th such occasions On on various of a child, evil spirits important occa. etc. murriages, are supposed tu and on the operations like the Chaldean of spiritg, remagi, frauds.

which be more'than usually active in their malignity, enchantments.* can only bc countcracted hy certain Lilis will cause Thcv hciieve that ail their mle to die on thc cighth day aftcr their birth chiidren ~h'!s on thc twcnty-first.f Thc following arc thc Sec T!)!t. chap. viit. v. 2 !H)d 2. t E)u~, M (tuotcd hy Ucckcr.
u

34

THAUMATURG1A,

OR

means

adopted They charcoal

calamity. chalk or which each They name arrow write

Jews to avert this by the German draw arrows in circular lines with on the four walls takes .E~c certain of the room in upon place, and make Lilis parts who preside write

the accouchement Adam, also on three

go Opoy of the room the over medi-

of the

after the cine, Senai, Sanmangelof, them by LUie herself when she enmanner taught tertained the hope of causing ail the Jews to be drowned in the Red Sea. does not the historian of the Jews, Josephus, allow to as many first who magie Jewish so ancient writers do. an them, origin among He makes Solomon the

angels and Sansenai,

an art which is so powerful practised and the knowledge of which, demons a~ainst was communicated hc asserts, to that prince by The latter, continues this immdiate inspiration. and transmitted invented historian, to posterity in his
dtseases,

baperptuai ntshmentofwicked the bodies of the spiritsfrom It consisted, to his descrippossessed. according in the use of a certain which tion. was root, sea!ed the nose of the person up, and held under expulsion possessed the name him, of waa prescribed by dcmon forced cven hesitate with the words Solomon, then pronounced, and the He bas does been not an

writin~s, and

certain for the

incantations and

for th

cure

of

immediately to retire. to assert, that he himself

of such an effect produced on a person fyc witness named Eleazer, in the presence of th Emperor VesNor will this relation surprise pa-sian and his sons.

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THB

MARVELLOUS.

35

us, when we consider the rooted malignity entertained by the Jews to the christian religion, and this writer's Saviour, and by ment to to appreciate the miracles of our them to magical influence, by ascribing them as easy of accomplishrepresenting attempt occult as sciences. in the the of contained directa

all acquainted with the Innumerable are the dvies for averting possible and sudden death. combine believed some both

Cabala

disease, select and which beings been are

evils, It

plague, how to scripture,

passages to render many famous

and to produce visible, effects. The most surprising

supernatural wonderful and wonders have

means of th name of God. accomphshedby Th sacred word Jehovah is, when read with points, doctors into twelve. fortymultiplied by th Jewish of which words arc letters, seventy-two that are thought to possess miraculous composed Moses slew th Egypenergy. By thse, say they, was preserved from th destians by thse Israel of the wilderness by these troying angel Elijah two, to open a passage separated the waters of the river, for himself and Elisha, and by these it bas been as and impudently that our blessed asserted, duringly Son of God, cast out evil spirits. Saviour. the eternal The name of th devil is likewise Hebrew exactly ueed letters in their the dvies. magical that name* is The five composed, of which and

constitute

There is no mention made of the word 7A'f<7 in the Old Testament, but only of ~<~M nor do wc mcct w!th it m any of the heathen authors who say anything about th
D 2

36

THAUMATURC.IA,

OR

days of thc wliole to thc wonderthat, owing year. They pretended fu! virtue of th number in thc name of compriscd for an lie is prevented from accusing them Satan, number 361, one than before number of days hence th stratagem cqual alludcd to, for depriving th devil of tlie power of doing them any harm on the only duy on which thut power is granted to him. lu allusion is another to th cabansts, sect of magicians were thc first There says, Pitny of wnch Moses and authoM." It was thc

less

thc

Latopea,

Jews,

th Hebrcws, that th prevatiing opinion among Cabala was delivered by God to Mosea, and thence a succession of ges, cvcn to th tirnes of through without th he!j) Ezra, preserved by tradition oniy~ of writing, in the same manner as th doctrine of Pythagoras was delivered pchools whoitept scho!arslcarnedaU and LysiadcS) by Archippus at Thcbcs in Grecce, whcrc thc their master's prccepts by heart,

So cerund employed their memories in~teadofbooks. tain Jews, their learnin~ dospising letters, all in memory, and verbal tradition whence observation, it was ca!!ed by thcm Cabala, that is, a receiving ft'otn onc to another by th car an art ~aid to bc very ancient later timcs. and on!y hnown to tlie chri~tinns in

d~'i! in the signification atUtctK'd tn it ntuon~ cht-isthms that is, us a crcnturc re~ottcd front Cod. Thcn' <hcubgy went no fart)n;r than to evil gcnit, or dmons, who hurassed and {'crsccutt'd xuuthind, though wc nt'c stit! an'are that tnttny cxriuus oft~.nanu~ arc ~ivcn to the prince of dar!<t)csa hu!h by ancient und tuodem wrhcra.

ELUt'IDATIO~S

0F

TUR

MAUVKLL.OUS.

37

Th Jews first

divided

th

Cabala

into

three

parts

the

the knowledge which of Bresitlt, containing thc object of which is to they call also cosmology, teach and explain th force and cfficacy uf things also tlie !aw<. created, natural or celestial expounding and mysteries of th Bible according to phi!o!-ophtcu! which on that account differs little from reasons, natural magie, a science m which in King Solomon said to hve excelled. We find, in th thercfbre, sacred histories of th Jcw, that hc was wont to <Uscoursc from th cedar th of th forests of I~banon to the low hy<-op of and birds, reptiles, valley t as nbo of cattle, within fish, all which contain t'hemselvcs a kind of magical virtue. Moses also, and most of in his expositions upon th Pcntatcuch, th Talmudists, have followed th rules of the same art. The other ledge of division of th Cabala sublime, contains as of th divine knowand more

things

the contemplation of sacred names angelical powers. kind of symbolical and charactcrs being 9 certain in which the letters, numbers, figures, theulogy, etc. are esteemcd lines, accents, to names, pointa, contain thc significations mysterics. and wonderful ~M~K~tc~, powers, profbund things This part again is twofold the nature of angels, th of and spirits whic!i scarchcs souls into of most

handling characters names, Tlicontantick, of the Divine

departcdand th mysterics

his emanations, Majesty, which hc who attains and Pc~acM/a, to his names, with to be endowcd most is supposed wonderfui It was, they say, by virtue of this art, that power.

38

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

Joshua that miracles wrought so many commanded the sun to stand still that Elias ca~ed the prophet down fire from heaven that Daniel th lions' muzzhd mouths; and that the tlu'ee.childi'cn what is more, th And, sang in the fiery furnace. Moses perfidious that our by of virtue its and unbelieving Saviour himself of this art, secrets, and Jews, did not stick all wrought that he discovered to aver, his miracles several

a variety of charms containing and also, as Josephus writes, against devils, against diseases. As for my part," says Cornelius Agrippa, 1 do not doubt in aUusion to this subject," but that God revealed which of the were law, many things to Moses and the prophets, contained under the covert of the words which were which not to be communicated to so for this art, which the Jews 1 hve with great labour it aeknowledge and nothing

the profane vugar so much boast of, and diligence to be a mere

searched rhapsody

1 must into, of superstition,

For but a kmd of thcurgic magic before spoken of. from God, it did if, as the Jews contend, coming oflife, salvation of men, any way conduce to perfection of under~tanding, which having forsaken truth to this teach while us all that ccrtainly the synagogue, never which of God spirit of truth, is now come concealed certainly whose it all knows grce, areper-

had truth, from the church, that are sacramentsof

aH thosc

baptism, fect!y revealed

things anduther

salvation,

in aU languagcs ;for every language is alike, so that thcrc be the samc piety ncither is or on earth, thcre any other name in hcavcn by which we can be saved, but only th name of Jesus.

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THM

MARVELLOUS.

39

Therefore

most skilful in divine names, Jews, after th coming of Christ, were able to do nothing, in comparison of their forefathers ;the Cabala of the Jews, pernicious therefore, superstition, and changing is else, but a most nothing the which by collecting,

the

several and names, words, dividing, at their letters, dispersed up and down in the bible, own good will and pleasure, and making one thing of truth, out of another, they dissolve the members and parables of inductions, raising up sentences, own, apply thereto the oracles of divine scripture the and anirmmg to them, defaming scriptures, to consist of them, their fragments the blasphme of words, word of God by their wrested suppositions their letters and numbers; to endeavounng syUablee, inventions, prop up their villainous by arguments drawn from their own delusions."

40

THAUMATUMA,

OK

CHAPTER

111.

ON THE SEVERAL KINDS 0F MAGIC. THE pretended art of producing, by th assistance of words and ceremonies, as are above such events the natural power of men, was of several kinds, and chiefly consisted in invoking the good and benevolent, or th wickcd was and mahg-nMt whicli Theurgia, wisest of the Pagan world, who esteemed this as much as they despised th latter, which they called Goetia. was by the philosophers accounted a Theurgia divine art, which only servcd to raise th mind to and to exalt the soul to a greater higher perfection, and they who by means of this degree of purity kind of magie, were imagined to arrive at what is called whcrein an intimate intuition, tliey enjoyed intercourse with the deity, wcre believed to be in. so that vested with divine power it was imagined was impossible for them nothing who made profession of this kind to perform all of magie aspired called The first, spirits. was adopted by the

ELUCDATONS

OP

THE

MARVEHOUS.

4)

to of

this this

morals, a strict

of perfection. The priest, who was was to be a man of unblemished order, and aU who joined with him were bound to of ife. were to abstain from purity They state

and from animal food; and were forbid to woinen, defile themselves of a dead body. by the touch was to be forgotten in their rites and cereNothing th icast omission rendered all or mistake, monies their art inencctual go that this was a constant not performing all that was required of them, as their sole employment (after though by having arrived to a certain degree of perfection, and othcr fasting, prayer, was the study of universal such an insight into physical them to perform with astonishment but this was ail aspired megistus gained deans, actions, and methods nature, causes, that sliould of purification) they might gain as would enable nll the excuse for their

vulgar it is hardly to be doubted, the knowledge that many of them to. ln this sort of magie, Herms Trsand indeed it and Zoroaster excelled,

Chalgreat reputation among the Egyptians, Indians and Jews. In times of Persians, a piece of clock-work, or some other ignorance, was sunicient to entitle th inventor machine, to the, works of magie and some have even asserted, that th Egyptian rendered so famous by magie, the writings of th ancients, consisted only in discoveries drawn from the mathematics, and natural who tra. since those Greek philosophera philosopliy, into Egypt, in ordcr to th Egyptian retumed sciences, velled obtain a knowledge of with only a knowcurious

42

THAUMATUROtA,

OR

ledge of nature of their ancient

and religion,

and some

rational

ideas

symbols. in its But it can hardly be doubted, that magie sense was practised and most ridiculous grossest in Egypt, at least among some of the vulgar, long before or Empedocles travelled into that Pythagoras had been very early acTh Egyptians country. customed to vary th signification of their symbole, cars of corn. or by adding to them several plants, blades ments their of grass, to of husbandry nor meaning the the different employexpress no longer but understanding words which that had were been made equally unin. these for ao fathers; that a

the

use of on thse telligible,

occasions, vulgar

many oysterious and hence they

mistake might observed practices by their conceive tlie

might

notion,

even without made of plants, being conjunction use of as a remedy, might be of efficacy to preserve or procure health. Of these," adds th Abb and an art by Pluche, they made a collection, which they provide of thse, mon even attempted and indeed the knowledge simples, might to their to procure pretended against the evils of life." and blessings, By th assistance to hurt their enemies of poisonous or useful the

weight to humanity, these magie so contrary incantations, were detestcd, and punished by almost all nations; nor could they be tolerated in any. an herb, th throwing of Pliny, after mentioning which into an army, it was said, was sufficient to

on particular occasions givc sufficient But empty curses and innovations.

BLUCIDATIONS

OF

THE

MARVBHOU8.

43

was this herb when put it to the route, asks, where i' Rome was so distressed by the Cambri and Teutones ? did not the Persians make use of it when Why Lucullus But eut their amongst most solemn, as well as the most of calling of the up the spirits was the very be diapleased acm of their with art this troops a!! the to pieces ? incantations the of magie, was that frequent, indeed cannot

this dead; and the reader

here elucihaving mystery dated. An affection who for the 'body of a person, m his life time was beloved, induced the first natives to inter the dead in a decent and to add manner, to this melancholy instance of esteem, those wishes which custom out had existence. a particular Th place to their new state of regard of burial, conformable to the all beloved places, or those event, raised was pointed To it.

of charactensing distinguished by a memorable

stone or pillar upon by a large this place families, and when th concern was genemultitudes ral, when, repaired every year, upon this stone, were made libations of wine, oit, honey, and nour and here they sacrinced and ate in common, burnt tion first made a trench in which they having the entrails of the victim into which the libaand the Mood were made to now.

They began with thanking God with having given them life, and them and then praised food providing necessary him for the good examples they had been favoured with. all From thse of thc thcse licentiousness rites melancholy and levity, and whilc the had same. they were other banished customs

changed, the flesh

continued victim

They roasted and eat it offerecl,

44

THAUMATUROA,

OR

in common, discoursing came to lament. AH suitahie Thse mnes, and th In these their other to that dead funeral fcasts the were

on

the

virtues

of him

thcy names them. the manes

hy distinguished ceremonies that attended simply Thus became that called th

were meetings is, th assembly. were words that they imagined th decea~ed, for th who, inibtm them

meetings, alhance with

synonimous. they renewed

had still a regard and family, and do no ]e~s than ~ary dead for them

who, they supposed, concerna of their country could spirits, of whatever was necesth funera!s of th methods of divina-

as a~ctionate

Thus, were at last converted into

to know.

institution of one of th grosstion. and an innocent est pieces of fbUy and superstition. But they did not stop here so extravagantly crethcy became drank the as to believe that th phantom dulous, Hbotions relations round that were had becn feasting and from while the forth, poured on the rest of th sacrifice hence

they became appreof th dead should promiscuously throng about this pot to get a share of th repast to be so fond of, and Icave they were supposed nothing for th dear spirit for whom th feast was intended. They into one of which to employ flour, in th other they when sitting down then they th made put two pits honey, of th or wine, ditches, and water, and victim

th pit hcnsive !est th rest

generality poured th b!ood on t!ie

dead

of th

th sight of tt~cir swords, in tlieir had no ccnccrn

brink, they kept off, by th crowd of dead who aairs, whi)c they called

RLUCIDATiONS

0F THK M~RVELLOUS.

45

him by name, whom had a mind to cheer and they and desired him to draw ncar.* consult, Th questions made by the living were vcry intellibut the answers of th dead were not so easily gible understood madeittheir th priests, and the magicians therefore, business to explain them. They retiredmto and silence resembled where th darkness and there fastc(!,

deep caves, th state of death. skins of th beasts

and lay upon th and then gave they had sacrificed, for answer th dreams which most anected or them for that purpose, and opened a certain book appointed At other times that o(!ercd.t gave th first sentence the priest, or any person who came to consult, took care at his going out of th cave, to listen to the first words wer. he And should hear, and thse were to be his ansthough they had not th most remotc relation to th nmtter in question, they were twisted so many ways, and thcir sens so viotcntty wrested, that they made them almost anything signify they At other times they had recoursc to a numpicascd. Hotncr gh'cs th 8:unc Hccnunt of U)Mc cercmonit's, aud th stunc whcti Ulysses nuscd thc son! of Tircsias; And to usages arc fonud in the pOt'nt (~' SiHus itatk'ns. thcsc ccrcmotttcs thc scriptnrcs ft'cqnenUy aHudc, wt)fn th !srnc!itM nre fnrbitt to )ti'~c)n)'tc ~x'n high pLtCcs. t Thf tna~icat shunht'rs producct! io thc cav'' ot' Trophonins are justly nscrtbt'd to nx'dit'utctt hcvcmjj-~s. Hcrc, thc votnt'y if hc cscapeJ \viUt iit'c, had his ht'idth h'rcparabh' injurcd, f)nd thc whoL' c!nss ofiuUftchd drptuns and visions, thc c<F<'ctof snmc powt-rf'd n:ucutic actin~ u~on thc body lifter the mind had ht'cn t'rc~i~pooed for a certain train of idcus.

46

THAUMATURGtA, of on which thrown was woridly good or absurd, future or delivered affaire, evil signs of this which means events. were into to some an the and

OR

ber and was

tickets. being out in in the

words urn, family.* ail that were the

or

verses, that

these taken

first

Heaith, was inter-

prospenty mixed by th

world these

regulated not into

responses less than of

equivocal, of prying

to say th

afforded,

womb

AUOURY,

OR

DIVINATIONS AND FEEDING

DRAWN OF

FROM BRUS.

THB

FLGHT

The into

superstitious futurity bas

fondness givcn rise

of mankind to an infinite

for

searching variety of

fatnous the Greeks. /)ra'M<?A~!Kp werc atnon~ method thse tt:; werc ccnducted wis tu put Thc by which so tnany Icttcrs or even whotc words, into an urn to shake throw thetn and whntcver and ahould out togethcr, chance to be tnade out in th arrangement of thse letters or thon words, cotnpcscd tdso made use deciding standing commands, We are to Judas St. our this rcsutts. and the of dice, ln perpemat th answcr of thc oracle. Thc ancients Jn casting or etc., we mect with many a number of particutar the use of them. a succeasor lot feil on of a sea<n

Th

sortes

drawing tickets, tlie Old Testament laws, and nnd

prptertbtng informed by in thc

regulating

Mathtas. Saviour mode

apostotatc And th gar<neut was lotted for by was .tor<c.y

that whcn Scripturc was tobechoscn,th<; or coat without th Jcws. very which mcans books the low

In Ciccro's ebb. Th

time M~M

of divination

nt n

~<MMfWc<p and

Pr~M'~)M~, gave tians of casuaUy opening important and what

~(r~t/~M~ risc to th same thp sacrcd

succcedcd used

thc sortes

chrisamong for directions in of events

circumstanccs thfy had to fcar

to !carn tunong

conac<tucnce thcir rulcrs.

KLUCIDATYONS

0F

THE

MARVELLOU8.

47

extravagant ably fertile

follies. in thse

The sorts

Romans,

who were remark.

inventions, of demonological With them numerous suggested ways of divination. all Nature had a voice, and the most senaelesa beings, and the most things, became presages of future events; ceremonies founded on a mistaken most trivial trifling incidents, which introduced of an. knowledge

and which the most childish and ridiculous, tiquity, were performed with all the air of solemnity and or divinations founded sanctity of devotion. Augury, on the the flight Egyptians and bad omens derived The birds from of birds, were as the symbols of every kind of t!ie flying time had not only considered by of the winds, but good were founded or rather the feathered tribe.

wise wonderfully and an owl, to whom, for reasons not precisely known, as darknes~, could not pass light is not so agreeubie by the Windows of a sick person in the night, where the creature was not oSended the a light or candie, that as prophesying, nearly usually wound Amongst of by the glimmerings but his hooting must be considered life of the thse poor man was

at this

become

up. th Romans,

upon an emincnce in consequence of the moulting they were prohibitcd nor were they permitted season having commcnced nor at any time in the of th moon, at th waning or when th air was the least runted by aftemoon, The fceding of th sacred chickens, wiuds or .clouds. of their taking the com that was and th manncr o~'ered taking to them, th augury. was the most common method of on Observations were also made

were taken auguries after the month of March

48 the

THAUMATURGA, OR

of or sihging of birds, ~the hooting chattering crows, pies, owls, etc., and from th running ofbeasts, as heifers, asses, rams, hares, wolves, fbxes, weasels and mice, when these appeared in uncommon places, crossed the way, or ran to th right or left. They also pretended to draw a good or bad omen from the most of life, as sneeznumbness of th little finger, ing, stumbling, starting, the tingling of th car, the spilling of salt upon the table, or th wine upon one's c!othes, th occidental It was also the meeting of a bitch with whelp, etc. business of the augur to interpret dreams, oracles, and prodigies. tn~ing can be so surprising tlian to find so wise and Nothing valorous a people as th Romans addicted to such cluldishfooleries. without chickens, Scipio, Augustus, any fatal consquences, and other arts of divination and many others, despiscd the sacred but when the with th people which actions or occurrences

in any enterprise, gnrais hud miscarried laid th whole blme on tlie negligence thse oracles general had had been consulted:

and if an unfortunate

to consu!t them, th blme of neglectcd was thrown upon him who had preferrcd iiiiscarriage his own forecast to that of t!e fowls while those who a subject made thse Mnds of predictions of raillcry t were accounted impious and as a punishment when th sacred chickens Pulcher; who, rci'nscd to eat what was set before them, ordered them construcd, Chtudius
to bc thrown into t!te sca If thcy

profane. of th gods,

thcy th defeat of

Thus

won'tent,"

~ait!

he,

thcv

stmil drink."

BLUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVBLLOUS.

~9

ARUSPICES,

OR

DIVINATIONS

DRAWN FROM

BRUTE, In the earlieet

OR HUMAN SACRIFICES. ages

of the world, a sense of piety and a regard to decency had introduced the custom of never sacrificing to Him, whence all blessings emanated, the most healthy, fat any but the soundest, and beautiful which were always examined animais with th closeat and most exact attention. This ceremonial, degenerated crmonies. no the favour victim which into And doubtless of.ntness tnning it having or in some ideas had its origin in gratitude, and propriety, atlength. niceties and superstitious once imagined that for from the gods, when was Th been

was to be looked

united entrails whole under

was imperfect, the idea of perfection with abundance of tnvinl circumstances. were examined with

was without an assurance their

care, and jf th peculiar their duties were fulfilled; blemish, that the goda they had engaged

to be on

in war, and in side, they engaged with such a connthe most hazardous undertakings, dence of 8uccess, as had th greatest tendency to proof the victims that were led cure it. AU the motions as so many prophecies. to the altar. were considered an easy and natural air, in a etraight line, and without offering any resistance, no extraordinary when he ifhe made bellowing received th blow,-if he did not get loose from the If the victim
E

advanced

with

30

TUAUM~tfUROA,

OR

person certain was

8 led him to the sacrifice, it was deemed of an easy and nowing success. prognostic Thevictint was knocked but before its he!!y down, who one who of th offered of the lobes the oftheliverwas and the sacrifice, which was That

ripped open, allotted to those other neither neither blemighed smaHer

to the enemies

state.

nor withered, not' larger than

gnosticated set apart;

livid, amal or cormpted, the most fatal mischiefs. The next thing presaged to be considered was the heart, which was also examined wth the utmost care,

great prosperity that which was

of a bright red, and it ought to be, proto thoge for whom it was

as was the spleen/th and if any of thse wcre let <a!I, gaIl, and the lungs if they smelt rank or were Moated, livid or withered, it presaged but misfbrtunes. nothing was over, the nre was kindled, and from this aso they drew sevcral If the name was clear, if it mounted up presages. without and went not out tiU the victim dividing, this was a proof that th saentirely consumed, crifice was acceptcd but if they found it difficuIt to kindle th fire, if the flame divided, if it played around instead of taking bold of the victim, if it burnt ill, or went out, it was a bad omen< Th business, how. was not confined to the altars ever, of the Aruspices and sacrifices, they had an equal right to explain ail other The Senate consulted portents. frequently them on the most lege of th The co. extraordinary prodigies. as well as thosc of th other Aruspices, was After th examination of the entrails

ELUMDATtONS had orders, religious as memorialsofthunderand histories,t re.

0F their

THK

MAR~RLMUS. and records, theTuscan

611 such

registers

Hghtning,~

DIVISIONS

OP

DIVINATION PRODIOIES,

BY THE ETC. by the

ANCKNT8

Divination ficial ing and upon

was natural. certain

divided The external the

ancients

into by that sense,

arti.

first

is conducted considered conaists interna! in

reason. as indiwhich and of and the or its of

signs, other mere without the flrst

cations presages persuasion signs the sout, divided own

of futurity

things from a of .th mmd, and is of two influx. within the and Roman organs essence, kinds,

assistance any one from nature, that supposes not diffused and body, has from

other

by collected among

Th itself, of

the

nature Kcnnct's

some

fore-knowledge

who t Romu!u8~ borrowed it Wom th wards instrncted their sent in twelve these The

Lib. XI, C. 4. Antiquities, founded of the the institution to whom tbe of th principal and th other this in

Tuscans, of the sons myateHcs, of origin by Cicero be,

Aruspices, Sonate after-

to he nobiHty crmonies of people of manner:

religion. is related Tuscany, A. peasant, share running pretty

act among thc the following

says

De Dtvinat. Th!s (Cicero, 2.) no more, than mcans that this chifd, said fable, un<bubtedty to spring from thc clod ofeat'tb~ was a yonth of a very mean and obscure but it is not known whether be was th birth, author of it, or whctber it of the Greeks he learnt or any other nations. E 2

whencesprun~&chiM, the art of' divination."

in th neld, bis ptoughploughin~ deep in the earth, turned up a clod, ffom and the other THScans whotaug'htbim

52

THAUMATURGA,

OR

what M seen m witness, for instance, things and on the confines ofdeath. dreams, ecstasies, Th second the sol after the manner' of a supposes to receive some secondary mirror illumination from of presence is also divination natural relative causes, to the th Artificial spirits. of two Mnds the one argues from as in the predictions of physioians event of diseases, from the tongue, the God and other

future

Th second pulse, etc. men te and observations

of expericonsequence and' instituted, arbitrarily is mostly The of divinasuperstitious. Systems under these heads are almost incaltion reduceable these were the Augurs culable. or those Among who flight, Aruspices, the Unes numbers, fire, the drew and their from of the names, knowledge various other the entrails futurity actions of of frotn birds; the the

or of beasts; palmestry marked at random: hands; points the motions of a scene, the air, Homerian, the and Roman which and Virgilian lots,

Preenestine,

etc. dreams, reads Whoever surprised stantly at the recorded, with the

number

histona~ of prodigies whieh frequently

muet be are con. filled the

most dreadful It apprehensions. people that some of these seem altogether must be confessed, while much the greater only supematural; part of the uncommon of of some eonsist productions nature, superior which cause, superstition always and represented as Dionysius attributed the to a prognostica-

Particnlary Livy, nnd Vn!erius MaxhnttS.

of HaMcarnMSus, Pliny,

JBLUCtDATONa

OP

THE

MARVELLOU8.

53

ton may nights

of be

aome

impending reckoned the by swords, of beasts feature were with

misfbrtunes. appearance of rays and milk, with resembling all dreadful of of light,

Of two the darting of

this suns, views

dass the of

iUuminated armies, showers of had frogs, some These the Roman people

nghting the air ashes, who

spears, blood, two

through atones, or infants brute which of

heads, those of

the

cration. filled the

prodigies,

Empire

whateverunhappy was sure to be

and astonishment, inexpressible with an extreme and perplexity followed circumstance upon,these, caused or predicted by them.*

either

for thse prois more Nothing easy than to account to any events that may wh!ch bave no relation ductions, to follow them. Th appearance of two suns hMi! h~ppen in Engtand, as well as in other places, frequentty happened in such a placed only caused by the cloudg being as to reflect the image of that luminary aocsituation, werc no more turnal enHamed 6rcs, speara, ghtiog armies, BoreaHs or northerc than what we call the Aurora lights, in the air showers of stones, or ignited vapours of floating no other than the etfccta of the or of fire, were ashes, of sotne volcano at a considerable eruptions distance; by some qt<a!i~ in tbe air, and gtving- a whitish colour to th water and condensng, to be only tbe red spots those of Mood are now well known on stones and leaves of trees, !ef6 upon th earth, by th butternies wbich hatch in bot and sionuy ther. showers of milk were cattsed aad is

54

OR THArMATUROA,

CHAPTER
H8TOKY 0F ORACLESTHE

V.
PRINCIPAL ORACM8 OP

ANTtQUtTY. hve been so famoua, and so superstitions scductive to the minds of tnen during a number of n treaties of peace or truces, th ges, as oracles. Grera forgot to stipulate No colony orting~ to crades. no war was declared, ments, without first consulting begun, Ttte most renowned Dodona, Clarian of of those both Trophonius. Some ApoHo. to oaks, oracles never for the liberty of reundertok new settle. important the oraclee. were those no affair Ft:w

of De!phps, and the Hammon, Jupiter have attributed the oracles to pigeons. The was introduced opinion by the

Dodona

othera

pigeon-prophetesses of a Theesaian equivocation

a pigeon and a woman that two taken wing from fahl~, pigeons having fled into Lybia, where it ocT!)che9, one of them th c8tab!is!nng of the oracle of Jupiter casioncd and th in the Hammon othcr, having stopped of thc forcst of Dodona, informed the inhahit~s tants of thc ncighbouring should intention there has thus that it was Jupiter's parts, he an oracle in that place. the fable thcre were

Word, which signified and gave room to the

Herodotus

explained

BLUCDATONS OP THE MAKVKLLOUa.

5&

who were two of Tlebes, Priestesges farmerly carried off by Phenecian She that was merchantN. sold into Greece, 8ett!ed in the foreat of Dodona, of whcrc grat of the ancient inhabitants numbcrs a She there crected Greece went to gather acorns. of the oak, in honour Itttlechapetatthefootofan and same Jupiter, whose priestess she had t)een, here it was this ancient oracle was estabHshed, which in after times became so famous. Th mannerof was very singuiar. the oracles of Dodona delivering Therc were a great number of kettlc8 suspended from trees near a copper which was also susstatue, When with a bunch of rod& in its hand. pended the wind happened.to it struck the put it in motion, first kettle, its motion to th which communicating next, sound th all of which them a certain tingled~ and produced for a long time after whiob continued

oracle

spoke. THB ORACLB OF JUPTER .t HAMMON. in the dsert, declared to Africa, After several

which oracle, midat of the burning Alexandcr that Jupiter questions,

This

was sands

in of

the

was his father.

having asked if th death of his father was th oracle answcred, that the revenged~ suddenly death of Ph!!ip but that th father waa revenged, of Alcxander to occasion mouth Cefar ofCato to bcgan eaid to Cato was Lucan immorta. to This oracle put great sentiments After the battle of Pliarsalia, when be master of the world. I~abrenus wc hve now so good an opporgave in th

As

5C

THAUMATURGE,

OR

tunity know this more

of consulting from it how war. The

so

celebrated

to regulate gods will not

let us oracle, our conduct during dclare themselves

an

for any one than Cato. You have willingly and may therealways been befnended by th gods, fore have the confidence to converse with Jupiter. Inform yourselves of the tyrant and of the destiny the fate of our country whether our liberty, or -to lose the fruit are to preserve of the war and you you have him, rewe

too what that virtue ;8 to which may leam been elevated, and what its reward." fuU of the divinity that was within Cato, tumed consult to Labrenus an answer On what account, Labrenus, Jupiter ? Shall 1 ask him worthy would

of an oracle

you have me whether it be better

to lose life than liberty ? Whether life be a real good r We have within an oracle that can us, Labrenus, answer all these questions. Nothing happons but by Let us not require of him to rethe order of God. in our peat to us what he bas suSSciently engraved has not withdrawn'into Truth those dserts hearts, it is not graved on those sands. The abode of God is in th earth, in th sea, and in virtuous in heaven, God speaks to us by all that we see, by all that hearts. and those that are surrounds us. Let the inconstant to venta, have recourse according subject to waver, to oracles. For my part, 1 find in nature evcry thing tne most constant that can inspire resolution. The dastard, Jupiter quitted avoid death. brave, cannot cannot tell us more." Cato thus spoke, and th country without th oracle. consulting as well as the

'ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THE'

MRVELLOU8.

57

THE ORACLE OF DELPHOS, Diodorus

OR PYTHIAN

APOM<0.

and several other auPlutarch, Siculus, thors relate, that a herd of goats discovered the oracle of Delphos, or of the Pythian When a goat Apollo. to come near enough th cavern, to breathe happened air that bounding passed about, out of it, ehe returned and her voicearticulated and skipping some ex~- been observed-by which having went to look in, and were seized made them jump about, and foreCoretas, goat-herd as Plutarch who tells, discovered was the

sounda; ordinary the keepers, they with a fury which tel the oracle. future name One venta. of the

of the guardians of Demetrius, comiug too near the mouth of the cavern, was su~ocated by the force of the exhalations, and The died ~uddenly. orifice or vent-hole of th cave was cbvered with a to Apollo, on which th priestconsecrated tripod sat, to fin thenoselveswith esses, called Pythonesses,* the prophtie vapour, and to conceive the spirit of with the fervor that made them know fudivination, turity, and foretel it in Greek hexameters. Plutarch

'Th responscs here were dcttvcrcd by a young priestesa called Pythia or Phoebas,' placed on a tripos, or stoo! with three feet, called aiso cortinM, from the skin of the serpent Jt is unccrtain after h<t6 Python with which itwas covered. tnanner~hesc oracles were dcth'crcd, though Cicero supposes th Pythoneait wna inspired, or rather intoxicatcd hy certain vapeurs which asccnded from th cave. Somc say that th PythoneM bcing once debauched, the oracles were aftcrwards delivered by an otd woman in the dress of a young maid.

68

t:HAUMATURGA,

OR

of oracles, a Pythoness says, that, on the cessation was so exssively and tormented by th vapour, suffered such violent convulsions, that all the priests ran away, and she dicd soon after. PRACTSED ON CONSULTtNO describe th ceremonies that ORACLES. were prac-

CEREMONK8 Pausania~ ticed

for consulting the oracle of Trophonius. Kvery went down into hia cave, never laughed his m~ that whble life after. This gave occasion to the proverbial He those of a melancholy air saying concerning bas consulted Trophonius." Plato relates, that the two brothers, and Trophonius, having built Agamedes the temple of Apollo, and asked the god for a reward what he thought both of most advantage to men, died eanias in the givca there night a that succeeded In tlie quite built for the King Hyrieus, they so laid palace a stone, that it might be taken away, and in th night the hole they had thus conthey crept in through to stcal the treasures. The trived, king's king the quantity of his gold diminished, though observing no of locks them, nor seals about his co~ers, had been brol~en open, fixed traps and Agamedes being caught in one their prayer. account. different Pau-

his Trophonius cutoS'bisheadtoprevent him. discovering Trophonius having disappeared had that it was given out that the earth moment, awaUowed him on the same spot; and impious supers~ to place this wicked wretch in the rank of the gods, and to consu!t his oracle with ceremonies equally painful and mypteriottg, tition went so far as

RLUCtDATiCNS 0F THE MARVRH.OU8. Tacitus thus

59

of the oracle of the Clarian speaks Germanicus went to consult the oracle of ClaApollo ros. It ic not a woman that delivers the oracle there, as atMphos, but a man chosen out of certain familiea~ It is sufficient to tell him the and alway s of Miletum. number and names ofthose who come to consult him; taken he retires into a grot, and having whereupon some water out of a well that lies hid in it, he an. you in verses to whatever you hve thought though this man is often very ignorant. Dion Cassius in which explaine the manner ewers oracle ofNymphcca, inEpiru8,de!iveredit8re8ponses. The party that consulted took incenee, and threw tbe incense into fire, if the a6air the of, the

prayed,

having the flame

and consumed it. But was not pursued to succeed, the incense did not come near the 6re, or if it fell into the flame, it started out and ned. It so happened in regard for prognosticating futority, to every narriage, questions. Those on th thing about who skins that which consulted waa asked, except it was not allowed the oracle death to ask and any lay of

of victims, the oracle in a dream. Virgil attesta of th oracle of Faunus in Italy. of Cilicia, who gave A govcmor oracles, ing the that and who was ohvays sent a letter Epicureane oracle were of MopsuB, reccived in

of Amphiarue, and received the answer the same

thing to

)jttle

credit

by unbeliev. sealed with hie signet to one of those answers requiring a dream. The messenger in the same informed

surrounded

with th letter it back brought charged not having been opened} and condition,

60

THAUMATURGA,

OR

him,

that

he had

seen

in a dream Black' Then the

man, who said to him of even another word. th

a very well made without the addition govemor opening that he wanted to should sacrifice a

assured th company, letter, know of the divinity, whether he white or black bull. In the statue deviated, of temple Apollo moved, Then of

the goddess of Syria, when the was inclined to deliver oracles, it on its and wa8 full of agitations

the priests it on their pedestals. carrying and turned them on ail sides, it pushed shoulders, and the high-priest, it on all sorts of interrogating it drove th priests aSairs, if it refused its consent, if otherwise, back Suetonius says, it made them that, oracle advance. before the birth some months

an was current, that of Augustus, importing, of a king, who nature was. labouring at the production of the Roman would be master that th Empire; in great consternation, had forbid the rearing who should be born that year, of any male children whose but that the senators wives were pregnant, of the decree in found means to hinder the inscribing Senate th public registers. t seems that the prediction, uf was only the type, regarded which Auguatus the birth of Jesus Christ, the spiritual king of the whole world wicked spirit was willing, or thatthe this by suggesting decree to the Senate, to depose Herod and rigorous to involve the Messiah in the massaby this example, cre that was made by bis orders of all the children of The whole world was then full two years and under. of th fourth coming eclogue, of the that Messiah. he applies by Virgil's to the son of the Consul We see

BLUCIDATIONS

OP

THEMARVE~MUS,

61 i

Asinins had then

PoHio

the

the object he was born. applied Messiah.

died the ninth day after flattery, and Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, to Vespasian the prophecies that regarded the

passed of Virgil's

from the Jews, which, prophecies into foreign This child nations.

ORAOLS8 OFTEN BQUIVOCAL AND OBSCURE. t The cure oracles. that their were often or so obs. very equivocal, was not understood but

signification out of a great after the event. A few examples, many, will be sufficient. received from the Pythoness, this CroBsus, having that by passing th river Halys, he would answer, destroy

a great he understood it to be th empire, of his enemy~ whereas he destroyed his own. empire The oracle consulted by Pyrrhus, gave him an answer, which might and Pyrrhus, be equally the victory understood of the of the victory of Romans his enemies.

Aio te ~ac!da, The equivocation tin tongue, which The

Romanos

vincere posse. of the Lain English. against the of the

lies in the construction cannot be rendered

advises Crcesus to guard Pythoness mu!e.* The king of Lydia understood nothing

This answer of th oracle bripgs to our recollection the equHHy remarkaMe injunction of a modern seer to SirWiHiam Windham, which is related in the memoirs of Bishop Newton. tn bis younger yenrs, when Sir W!am was abroad opon his traveta, and wns at Venice, there was a noted fortune.

62

THAUMATURGA,

OR

oracle, ferent mothcr, sians less the fatal till and by

which nations, the his and

denoted from daughter father

Cyrus th

descended Medes by and

from

two

dif< his Per-

Mandana by the was by

of Aatyages

grand oracle

whose Cambyses, illustrions. Nero had that seventy-three he was safe deserted

race

fur from

for answer might from by ail

of Delphos, he believed

prove danger onc, was of the

to him, age, but,

finding Galba years oracle. observes,

himself

hearing.

seventy-three decottofthe St. truth, Jereme

proclaimed of age, he

emperor, was

every who

sensible

that,

if the

devils

speak

any

accident Iles to it by whatever they always join and use such ambiguous that they may be expressions, to contrary events. equally applied teller, and he among the reaorted, great anmbors and th fortune-teUer totd him, that hc must bewafe rest of a white horse. After his return to England, as he was to whom

he saw a crowd of people coming WMtking by Chnring-Cross, out and going in to a house, and inquired what was the meunthat Duncan the dmnb ing of it, was informed Cantpbe! fortune-teller Duncan whit~ livcd there. CampbeH likewise horse. It was 8omewbat Hio curiosity told him that also led h!m he mut in, and bcware of a

that two extraordinary one at Venice and the other in London, with. fortune-tellers, out any communication, and at some distance of time, ahould both happen'to hit upon the same thing, and to give thc vcry when he was taken ycars nfterwards, of up in 1715,andcommittedtotheTower upon st~picion never appeared, treasonabte which hia friends said practices, to him that bis fortune was now fultilled, the Hanovcr House warning. was But and cyca." th some receivcd white time horse after a blow whereof he was admonishpd to bcware. horsct of his this, hc had a fall from a white by which he tost the sight of one same Some

ELUCDATOKS

0F

THE

MARVRLLOU8.

63

OR!M AND THUMMM. Whiist idolatrous chosen preted ~or~ those the Mse oracles of demons The deceived the

truth nations, of God. people

had retired

from

C/W~and.?%MM~tM, t? a\~0ta~ which divine

septuagint manifestation

among the have interand truth,

cal demons,

how different expresses oracles were from the false and equivo. It is said, in the Book of Numbers, that

the successor of Aaron, shall interrogate Eleazar, Urim in form, and that a resolution shall be taken to the answer given. according Th Ephod to the chest of the sacerdotal applied was a piece of stun' vestments of the bigh-priest, covered on which the stones, precious names of the twelve tribes were engraved. It was not allowed to consult the Lord by Urim and Thum.. mim, but for the king, th president oftbe eanhedrim, the general of the army, and other public persons, that regarded th general interest of :md on anairs the nation. th ephod If the affair was to succced, the stones of emitted a sparkiing or the high. light, with twelve

who the success. Josephus, priest inspired predicted was born thirty-nine years after Christ, says tliat it was then two hundred years since th atones of the by their ephod had giver. an answer to consultations lustre. extraordinary The- Scriptures only Thummim high-priest's were something breast-plate. inform that Some Urim and us, that Moses had put in the Rabbins by rash con-

<34

THAUMATURCIA,

OR

have jectures, statues hidden ineffable

believed within

that the

they

were

two others,

smaU the

breast-plate;

name of God, gravedinamysterious-tnanWithout to discem what ner. has not designing been explained to us, we should understand by Urim and Thummim, the divine inspiration to the annexed consecrated breast-plate. Several that passages an articulate of Scriptnre leave room to believe, voice came forth from the propitia-

tory, or holy of holies, beyond the veil of the tabef* nacle, and that this voice was heard by the high-priest. If the Urim and Thummim did not make answer, it Saul abandoned was a sign of God's anger. by the spirit of the Lord, no sort of answer. St. the John's Gospel, exercise consulted It that it in vain, and obtained of appears by some passages in th of Christ, the was still attended with time'

of thechief-priesthood, gift of prophecy. REPUTATION

OF ORAC.BS,

HOW LOST.

When

lights false oracles nomanus,*

to be better instructed began by the had introduced into the world, the philosophy lost with their credit. false or of some Chrysippus doubtful oracles. oracle that had

men

insensibly filled an entire volume

to be revenged

When we come to consult thee," says he to Apollo, if thou seesc what is in the womb of futurity, why dost thon use expressions wbich will not be understood ? tf thou dost, thou takest pteaaurc in abusing us if thou dost not, 1 tell be informed of us, and learn to speak more elearly. thee, that if thou mtendest an quivoque, th Greek word

ELUCIDATIONS deceived Mm,

0F THE MARVELLOUS.

65

their absurdity out of humour

of oracles, to shew made a compilation and vanity. But nomanus is still more with the oracle for the answer which

Apollo gave th to attack Greece Pythian Athens, wrathof

when Xcrxea was about Athenians, The with aU the strength of Asia. the protectress of thatMinerva, declared, in vain to appeasc th had endeavoured yet that Jupiter, in complaisance was willing the Athenians should wooden walls; and that the loss of a great either when with aecure Salamis

Jupiter

his daughter, themselves within should to their behold

abroad, loses all

together. with the Delphian God: This patience exclaims he, between father and daughcontest," the difies' It is excellent ter, is very becoming and interests that there should be contrary inclinations in heaven! Poor

mothers, or gathered

dead many children, was spread Ceres At this nomanus

thou art ignorant who wizzard, are tliat shall the children see Salamis perish; whether Greeks or Persians. It is certain they must be one or the other but thou needest not have told so openly that thou knowest not what. Thou concealest the time of the battle under these fine either poetical abroad, expressions or gathered either together w~c% and Ceres thou spread wouldst cais

whereby thou afHrmeat that Croesus shoutd overthrow a grent empire, was ill-chospn; and that it could signify notbing but CrB~as conquering Cyrus. If things must necessarily corne to pass, why dost thou amuse us with tby ambi~uitics ? What dost thou, wretch as thou art, at Delphi, cmploycd in <' muttcring idle prophecies !See De;nonologia, or A~Mn~ AMo~/ct/~c revealed," p. 162. F

66 jote us with that if there time Let by such

THAUMATCRGA, pompous

OR who knows either not

be a sea-nght, or harvest ? It is certain

language it must

be in aeed*

it cannot

be io winter.

tbings go how they will, thou wilt secure thyself this Jupiter ia endeavouring to whom Minerva

If the Greeks lose the battle, appease. Jupiter if they gain it, why inexorable to the last proved then Minerva at length prevailed. Eusebius some fragments of this has preserved H 1 criticism on oracles might," by nomanus. H have recourse to the authority of says Origen, aud th Peripatetics, to make the PythoAristotle, ness 1 might extract from the an abundance of Epicurus and his sectators writings of things and 1 might shew to discredit oracles that th Greeks thcmselves made no great account of suspected. them." of oracles was lessened reputation greatly when became an artifice of politics. Themisthey a design th Athenians of engaging to tocles~ with in order to be in a better condition to quit Athens, resist Xerxes, commanding Demosthenes to stgnify sents. deliver an oracle, Pythoness them to take refuge in wooden walls. the Pythoness said, that philippised, that she was gained over by Philip's premade th Th much

CESSATION OP ORACLES. The prophane cessation authors, of oracles as is attested Juvenal, p. 163. by several Lucien,

Strabo,

Sec DcMOMo~tc,

RLUCDATIONS

0F

THE

MARVEMjOUS.

C7

and others. Lucan, of it, either that th eternal, as themselves over presided the exhalations

Plutarch benefits

accounts of the

for the cause gods are not the genii who

are; or that or that are subject to death oracles, of the earth had been exhausted. Itt

appears that the last reason had been alleged in the time of Cicero, who ridicules it in his second book of Divination, as if th spirit of prophecy, supposed to bc excited by subterranean efHuvia, had evaporated by length of time, as wine or pickle by being kept is lost. Suidas, Augustus could obtain child whom and Nicephorus, consulted having no other all t!ie answer Cedrenus the but this that relate, oracle of Delphos, th Hebrew

drives me hence, gods obey, and sends me l)ack to hell get out of this temple without one word.' Suidas adds, that speaking dedicated an altar in th Capitol, with the Augustus following inscription To tlie eldest Son of Notwithstanding the oracle of these God." the answer seems of

Eusebius suspicious. whicli is not now found in lus works into Greecc was eighteen prgrination tlie birth Suidas an of Christ. and Cedrenus give an

Delphos Cedrenus cites

testimonies, to Augustus

very for this oracle, and Augustus' years before also of

account

to a king of ancrent oracle delivered Thules, which they say is well authenticated. Tins Egypt, consulted the oracle of Seraphis, to king having know if there ever was, or would be,
F

one so grt
2

C8

THAUMATURGtA,

OR

as

received this answer himself, First, God, and the spirit with them. next th word, They are and make but one whose power will etcrnal, equally and think never end. But thou, mortal, go hence, that th end of man's life is uncertain, in his Treatise of oracles, does not beDale, Heve that they ccased at the coming of Christ. He of oracles consulted relates several till th examples death tinian, certain existed of Theodosius the Great. He laws ofthe Theodosius, Gratian, Emperors those who consulted oracles, against of the quotes and Valenas a still Van

the superstition proof that in th time of those emperors.

oracles

HAD DEMONS ANY 8HARE IN THE ORACLES ? The had opinion no share of those who believe that the demons

in the oracles, and that th coming of no change the Messiah made in them and the that th inopinion of those who pretend contrary carnation oracles, of the should word imposed be equally lias l)een said, and therefore from what two appear to l)e distinguished, the one sorts of oracles ought of darkness, dtctated who deceived by the spirits men other false by their th pure divinities.* obscure artifice As to and and the doubtful dcceit oracles a gnerai silence on The reasons rejected.

tlie answers, of the priests of given out by

Among th more tcarocd~ it is a pretty general opinion that all thc oracics wcrc mere chents and impostttrcs i ca!cn!ut<;d cither to serve the nvaricious ends of thc heathcn. ish pru'sta, or the political views of the princes. Bay!c that were mere human thcy posithc!~ asscrts, artifices, in

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

69

reign of Satan was destroyed by the truth shut the mouth of falsecoming of the Saviour but Satan continued his old craft among Idolahood ters. AU the devils wcre not forced to silence at demons, the same time by was on particular and the tianity, it coming of the Messiah occasions that the truth of christhe of christians

the

imposed silence on the devils. St. Athanasius tells th pagans, that th sign of themselves they have been witnesses the cross puts the devils to flight, silences oracles, and dissipates enchantments. and putting the oracles, power of silencing devils to night, is also attested by Arnobius, Lacand scveral tantius, Prudentius, Minutius, Felix, is a certain that others. Their testimony proof the of the Messiah coming general silence on oracles. Th Julian, Emperor the oracle of called had the not imposed a This

virtue

sulting Apollo, the dcvil could make him no other answer, Antioch, in th than that the body of St. Babylas, buried silence on him. The Emneighbourhood, imposed with rage and vexation, resolved peror, transported to revenge his gods, hy eluding a solemn prdiction of Christ. He ordered the Jews to rcbuild the but temple of Jerusalem balls of fire foundations,

conApostate, in the suhurbs of

to dig th beginmng burst and consumed out,

in

which th devil had no hand. In this opinion he is strongly supportcd by Vau Da!e, a Dutch physictan, and M. Fonte. writtcn on ~the subject/A' nelle, who havecxpress!y Z~cuMMo/~tt, op. citat. p. 159.

70

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

Theec their tools and materials. artificers, tacts are attested by Ammianus Marcellinus, a pagan, and th emperor's and by St. Chrysostom, historian the Gregory and Socrates, St. Sozomen and Theodoret, Nazinnzen, The historis. in their ecclesiastical who was an enemy of the Chri&Libanius,

sophist that St. Babylas had silenced also tians, confessed the oracle of Apollo, in the suburbs of Antioch. Plutarch voice relates that the pUot Thamus heard in th air,

Pan is The grt crying out dead Eusebius observes, that the deatha whereupon of the demons were frequent of Tibein the reign The rius, when Christ drove out the wicked spirits. as on same judgrnents may be passed on oracles Jt was on particular occasions, possessions. by the divine permission, that the christians cast out devils, or silenced in th presence and even by the oracles, themselves. And thus it pagans is we should, of it seems, understand the passages St. Jerom, Prudentius, Eusebius, Cyril, Theodoret, and other authors, of who said, tliat th coming confession of the Christ had imposed silence on th oracles.

OF ORACLES, THE ARTIFICES OF PRIESTS OF FALSE DVINiTthS. As regards pure artifices nities, those that the second which were sort of oracles, and cheats of the priests of false diviprobably exceeded the numbers of

and which

from demons, immediately proceed they did not ceuse till idolatry was abolished, though had lost thcir credit for a considerable time they

ELUCIDAftOKS

OP THE MAKVELLOU8.

7t

this before th coming of Christ. It was concerning of oracles that more sort common and general their Minutius Flix said, they began to discontinue as men began to be more polite. responses, according decried oracles were, But, howsoever impostors the grossest cheats having never always found dupes failed. of th priests of imposture who had a private into the Bel, way of getting to takc the offered meats, and temple, away made the king believe that the idol consumed them. Daniel discovered th Mundus, being in love with of Isis, went the~riestesses comfond of her, go~Anubis, bcing passionately manded her to give him a meeting. She was afterwards shut up in a dark where her lover room, Mundus was (whom concealed. she believed TIlis to be the god imposture ordered those having dtestable th eldest of Paulina, and told her that the

Anubis,) been dis-

Tiberius covered, and priestcsses to be crucified, and with Mundus's free woman, who had conducted intrigue. be levelled He also commanded with th

priests them lolea the whole

ground, into th Tiber, as to Mundus, he and, himself with sending him into banis!iment. T~hcophilus, destroyed the Bishop of Alexandria,

of Isis to tite temple her statue to be thrown contented not

of the gods, but temples the cheats of the priests, that th statues, by shewing some of which were of brass, and others of wood, were hoUow within, and Icd into dark passages made in the waM. Lucius in discovering the impostures of tlie

only discovered

false

72

THAUMATUROIA,

OR

prophet

chiefly and Christians. times

Alexander, of afraid

that says, th subtitties

th of the

oracles

were

divine fury, and feigned which he ehewed, by means of the herb sopewort, frothed at the mouth a manner, in so extraordinary it to the power that the ignorant people attributed of the god he before which horses prepared by. possessed the head of a dragon and shut ite mouth was long made of linen, of a by means He had

The false prophet himself seized with a

Epicureans someAlexardcr

the by night to a place where foundations and having of a temple were digging, found water, either of a spring or rain thatilad Bej~ed he Idd a in which heTtad in it therc, goose egg, inclosed a little serpent that had just been hatched. Th next day, very early in the morning, he came quite naked into th strect, having on~y a scarf about his midd!e, in his hand a scythe, and tossing holding about his hair as th priests of Cybele theo getting on the top of a high altar, he eaid that the place was to be honoured Afterhappy by the birth of a god. wards running down to th place where he had hid th goosc cgg, and going into the water, he began to sing th praises of Apollo and ~Escutapius, invite th latter to corne and shew himself with thse words hc and to to men water and

operied hair. Hc weut

dips a bowl into the takes out a mystcrious cgg, which had a god enclosed in it, and when hc held it in his hand, he began to whilst all were eager say that he held ~Esculapius, to have a sight of this fine mystcry, he broke th egg, t and th ittle serpent itself about his nngers. starting out, twistecl

ELUCIDATIONS

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shew clearly, that both christians examples and pagans were so far agreed as to treat the greater number of oracles as purely human impostures. Thse From serves the very nature for amusement of things, much that must have formerly now been

to a highcr destination. Ventriloquism appropriated & ready may be quoted as a case in point, affording and plausible solution of the oracular stones and oaks, of the reply which th seer Nessus addressed Vit. (" Jamblichus, Pyth. xxxiii.) goras, the tree which at the command of the to Pytha. and of

GymnosThe ophists, spoke to Apollonius. of upper Egypt, was disvoice," says Philostratus (Vit. Ap, xi. 5) tinct but weak, and similar to th voicenfawoman." But th oracles, at least if we ascend to thcir origin, were not altogether Th impostures. pretended of the decrees of destiny were frequently interprtera and when inhaling plunged into a sort of delirium, of some intoxicating drug or powerful gas which produced or vapour, or drinking some beverage a temporary of the reason, the mind suspension to feverish drcams of the enquirer was predisposed the fumes

Wc learn from Merodotus (iv. 75) that thc Scythians and.Tartars intoxicated thettiscives by inhaling th vapour ofa species of hcmp thrown upon rcd hot stones. And th odour oftttc sceds of hcnhanc a!one~ whcn its powcr is augmented by heat, produccs a choleric and quarreiaome disposition. in thosc who inha!c thc vapour arising from them in this state. And in the I)ictionnaire de Mdecine)" in(de I'Encyc!op<Mic Mthodique, vit. art. Jusqutatnne) stanccs are cluoted, the most remarkable of which ia, that if a married pair who, though living in perfect harmony

74

THAUMATURGIA, OR

if priestcraft were concerned in the interpretation of such dreams, or eliciting senses from th wild effusions of th disordered brain of th Pythoness, Science presided over th investigation of th causes of this phrenzy, th which and th advantages derive from it. Jamblicus Thaumaturgists might states a C. xxix) that for obtaining (de Mysterius revelation from the Delty in a dream, the youngest and most simple creatures were the most proper for succeeding they were prepared for it by magical invocations and fumigations of particular perfumes. an declares that thse proceedings had Poi'phyry influence rendered Deity. cvety whercelse, could never remnin for a few hours in th room where they worked withottt quarrcH!ng. The aparttttcnt of course was thought to be bewttched, unti! it was discovcred that a considerable qunntttyofseeds ofhenbanc were deposited near th stovc, which was the cause of their daily dissensions, thc removat of which put an end to their Th same effects that were produced by draughts bickerings. and fumigations woutd follow from th application of the of tinhnents, Magicat Unctions," acting through absorbent system, as if they had bccn introduced into the stomach allusions tothcsc ointments arc constantly recurring in ancicn authors. 'Jntostratus, in his life of ApoUoninB (iii.5) states that the hodiea of bis companions, before bcing admitted to thc tnystcrics of thc Indinn sages, were ruhbcd ovcr with sa active an oil, that it apneared as if they wcro hathcd with nre. on them th that they JamMicus imagination; of th more worthy of th inspiration

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CHAPTER

V.
OF FAIR8 SKILL IN

THE BRITISH DRUID8, OR MAGtORIGIN ANCIENT SUPERSTITIONSTHEtR MEDECINE, &C. THE British

phists, th first for th initiated That there is one God

like the Indian GymnosoDruids, or the Persian Magi, had two sets of doctrines the second the creator for the peuple. of heaven and And among

earth, was a secret doctrine of the Brachmans. th nature and perfection of the deity were the druidical arcana.

tenets of the druidical priestAmong th sublimer hood~ we have every where apparent proofs of tlieir of their religious idea?, and the grossness polytheism as represented is very inconsistent by some writers, with that divine which has been considered philosophy as a part of their character. were These, however, which the Druids worpopular divinities ostensibly and popular notions whieh shipped, they ostensibly adopted, in conformity with th prejudices of the

y6

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

Th Druids well knew that the comvulgar. tnon people were no philosophers. There is rea son also, to think that a great part of th idolatries were not sanctioncd but afterby thc Druids, wards But introduced by the Phnician colony. it would Druids tion, be impossible accommodated to to say how far the primitive to vulgar superstithcmselves their exterior doctrines and and absurd rites of subbe vain to attecnpt eye of the vulgar to enume-

or

crmonies

separate from the fables

sequent times. It would rate thcir gods in th

they defied around them. They worshipped th spirits everything of th mountains, th vallies, and th rivers. Every rock and every spring wcre either th instruments or th objects of Danmonium its numerous The fiction of admiration. were rivers filled with were Th the moonlight fairy people, of genii. to have vallies and been

the resort

of fairies

is supposed

with other extravagancies of a like nature brought, whilst th from the Eastem nations, Europeans in the holy war such und christians were cngaged who at least is the notion of an ingenious writer, thus expresses embeUishments himself Nor were th monstrous th invention of of enchantments

but formed upon Eastern tales, brought romancers, from their crusades and pilgrithencc by travellers to the which indecd, have a cast peculiar mages, of th Eastern wild imagination people. Supplement Quixotc. to th tfanslated preface to Jarvis's Don

ELUCIDATIONS

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77

That arc

fairies, in particular, assured by t!iat learned th Persians

came

from the East, we M. Herbe!ot, orientalist, called th P~, to the Eastem fairies

who tells us that and the Arabs

fiction, there by fairies, called Gennistan, which answers to our ~f~ in his observations on Spencer's Mr. Martin, Fairy in his opinion, that th fairies Queen, is decided came from th they were th period of the informs us, was East introduced but Into he justly that remarks, th country long before Th race of fairies, he in Europe in very early

that according G'<?~ is a certain country inhabited

crusades. established

The fairies were times, but, ~o~ universally." confined to the north of Europe-to the M~MMM ?%K~ th divisis o~c .B~c/M~. to th J9W~A isles-to at this remote era to th Gau!s They were unknown or the to real such Gaul Germans of and or th vallies and they Scotland were were and probably Danmonium, familiar when either by of of

Gcrmany

imaginary beings. invisible agents assigned

yet unpeopled The belief to

indeed, different parts

Devonnature, prevails at tliis very day in Scotland, shire and Cornwall, transmitted from th regularly to th prsent remotest antiquity and totaUy times, unconnected th spurious romance of th crusader or the pilgrim. Hencc those superstitious notions with

That th Druids worshipped rocks, atones, and fountains, and itnagutcd thctn inhabitcd, and actuatcd by 't'~Hc !'K/<<~eNc<'A' ~M ~K'er ?'~tM~, mny p!ninty be inferrecl from These infcrior dcitics th Cornish thcir stone monuments. which answer to pcnii or fairies caU<n~~M, or~<n'

78

THAUMATURGA,

OR

now

cxisting

in

our

western

are still believed spriggian* to discover hidden treasures, travellers, the weather, and to raise the winds.

villages, to delude

where

the

benighted to influence

the hypotheses Warton, strengthens parts of Europe being peopled by colonies east!" Th libations inhabitants of milk of Shetland or beer and th

This," says of the northem from Isles th

a holed.stone, through honour of th spir it Brownie and it is probable th to sacrifice to th same Danmonii were accustomed spirit, border since th of Cornish and the Devonians on th invoke to this day th spirit Cornwall, on th swarming of their bes. Brownie, Witli respect to rivers, it is a certain fact that th even now, primitive Britons paid the!u divine honours and Cornwall, in many parts of Devonshire the brooka and wells, to vulgar may be said to worship which various waters rcsort they ceremonies at statcd in honour periods, of those performing consecrated

pour in

to this day, and tlie Highlanders, talk with of th sea never bathe great respect of tbe genius in a fountain, lest th clegant rsides in spirit that be offended and remove and mention not th water of rivers without to it the name prefixing and in one ofthc western islands the of excellent; inhabitants retained th custom, to th close of th and th vutgar in Cornwat] still dincoursc of thon, as ofreat betngs. Sec Macphcrson's Introduction to th history of grcat Bntain and !rc!und. it should

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

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MAHVELLOU8.

~9

last

of making to th an annual sacrifice century, That at this day the inhabitants genius of th ocean. of India deify their principal rivers is a well known fact the waters of th Ganges possess an uncommon and the modem Arabians, like the Ishmasanctity of reverence of thc with th concur old, of springs and fountains. and Danmonian We have there th are Danmonii Evcn weUs have the in their names

elites

Arabian

correspondence.

and N~p~/bM~ names in thc deserts

a striking or th ~~M~-M~7; with similar springs

the vene. Perhaps ration of the Danmonii for fountains and rivers may be accepted as no trivial to be thrown into proof, the mass of circumstantial in favour of evidence, their Eastern That the Arabs in their original. thirsty deserts, should even adore tlieir wells of need not excite oar surprise, water," springing at th inhabitants of but we may justly wondcr Devonshire and Cornwall thus worshipping th gods of numerous familiar rivers, and never failing brooks, to every part of Danmonium. Th principal times of devotion among the Druids were or midnight. Th officiating mid-day in a white garment that swept Druid was cloathed the ground; on his head, he wore th tiara; he had as thc ensign of his the <n~M!MMM or serpcnt's egg, his temples were encirc!ed with a wreath of in his hand the magie and he waved oak.leaves, rod. As regards thc Druid sacrifice there are vague order; and contradietory representations. human that they onered however, gods. They taught that the It is victims punishment certain, to their of the either

of Arabia.

80

THAUMATUBGA,

OR

wicked Th offered species fires,

Tnight sacrifice up of and This for

be of the

obliterated the souls black of the

by sheep,

sacrifices

to

Baal.~ was various holy

therefore, and of maybe the

departed, Traces

charma nre'worship

exhibitcd. of the

Druidsf

observed is To th

menttoncd undcrst~nd (loities and of

is called ido!, which Baal, by the Septuagint, of in othcr othcr natncs. parts scripture by what this we May that was, god observe, th Greeks and Romans the ancient which come and from modem may tbe among an obscure

it is a tradition idol was

East heathens

excuse ptead sonne passages for not translating and this is concerning it to Hosen M'c~< oM< into BH~~ Plceor, agrceabtc ( ix. 10). They ~ctf~MMtc. And it is th opiand~w~<<AfM!~w~o it frotn an nncient nion of Jrme, who qnotcs tradition of the thatthts deity, Jews, Romans 13.) wc Maachn, <'< high stroyed that shaU Baal and /'A<'cr is the into P~tf~tM of th Greeks and look

(1 Kings xv. <A<* rendered, ~yn, A'tK~'fpMto~c~ no Aw~fr /!tM M&oMt&ct?~ yMcpK) ~~< ~c Mt' in the Mcrt/?<'c.T /*rt~~cM And he deo/' ~~t~. ifyou find it thus th she grovc and burnt that had thc consecratcd, thc brook of th or and word hroke th Dr. ~<?or, his ait most Cmnor ~~< nakcdon this Lacit at ~c~'oM.

thevutgar!atin

idot, ntthy berland inserts, ~~<r, ness. filthy tantins

hnport hoastingly

is lie that Womcn hnage, and Thcre

t~hews to avoid

as thc Augustine was an

source justly awfu!

barrcnness, of frMitfuhcsa dride the

pubUc!y, ~'ere to for hcathens. in

wbich

Druid ous

sacrince.

countrics, of Cannan) nations theirown M!MH7tf! ancl dcarcst

Descantin~ Mr. Bryant the children,

mystcriousncss ttpon the human informs ~'rrc and us,

th

sacrifices that

original of vari-

victims

the among <~o.4<'?: tM a ~tt-M~nr wa!< nearc&t worthyoHeriogti a cotony frotn mothcr country

whatsofvcr the tnost ~'erp who

to them, wcrethuught Thc to thcir gods Carthagenians, with them thc religion carricd Tyre,

of thcir

t' ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVEU.OUS, 8t

and the both of the Devonians customs, but in Ireland may still be seen the boly Comigh The Irish call the month fires in a!l their solemnity. or fire of Belus of and the firet ~c, ofMay or the day of Belus's fire. In an May Z~ in several it is mentioned that the Druids old Irish glossary, of Ireland used to light two solemn fires every year, which all four-footed were driven, beasts through preservative The Irish hve this as a against custom distempers. contagious at the present moment,

the fire in the milking men, yards; they kindle and children or leap over it, women, pass through and their cattle are driven the names of the through on the ~r~ and in the straw, burning of Afay; month of November, they have also their fire feasts f of the Danmomans,' when, according to th custom as well as the Irish Druids, the hills were enveloped to this solemnity jn flame. (on the eve Previously '.of November) ~xtinguished to resort, Persians named ~~e Adur, house was every private hither, then, the people were obliged in order to rekindle The ancient it. the month November, to Richardson was of ~4~' the or the nre in

~presiding on which, Mazed all

according over that

angel in consequence of eement, the ninth, his name-day, th country th around with flaming whiist piles,

~nd institutcd the same wofship in tho parts whcrc t!<('y Parents o~ered up their own chihh'en as ~were seated. and therefore the more acceptable dearest to thetnscivcs, 'tothe deity they HacnSced the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul." The Druids, no doubt, were actuated ~with tbe same views.
G

83 noagi, by the

TtIAUiMATURGIA, OR

of Zoroaster, visitcd with injunction ail the temples of fire throughout great solemnity the empire were adorned which, on this occasion, and Illumioated in a most splendid manner. Hence our British their illuminations in November It was at this season that origin. called the souls to judgment, which, according to their dserts, were assigned to re-enter the bodies of men or. brutes, and to be happy or misrable during The their next abode on the earth. probably Baal <S'ctM~<!M had

to their pagan attached christians, primitive on the la ceremonies, placed the feast of AU-Souls or the second of November. Even now the Samon, in Ireland assemble on the vigil of la Samon pensants with sticks and clubs, going from house to hp~se, bread-cake, butter, cheese, eggs, colecting money, for the feast; repeating verses in honour of the etc., Candies calling for the black shcep. from house to house and lighted up on the Samon. (The next day.) Every house abounds in th best viands th master can afford apples and nuts are eaten in great plenty th nutshells are burnt, and solemnity, are sent and the ashes many things are foretold. Hempseed is sown by th maidens, who believe that, if they look of their intended back, they shall see the apparition frotn husbandH. their Th girls make various efforts to read destiny thcy hang a smock before the fire at the close of th feast, and sit up all night concealed in nne corner ofthe room, expecting the apparition of the lover they to corne down the chimney throw a bail of yarn out and turn the shimee: of thc window, and

ELUCIDATIONS

OF

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MARVRLLOU8.

83

wind repeat bal of

it

on the yam

the

ree]

within,

convinced and

that look

if

Paternoster without, Those rites

backwards,

they at th ap.

parition. ous other for up when beam, Itghted whikt tied jb it bebind

then also see they shall who celebrate this ieast have from the and Pagans. endeavour at

his

numerThey to an dip bring apple a

derived

in a tub apples one with their stuck at on the at one other and

of water, mouths of the

catch they end of a kind of which

of hanging is fixed oniy, hands

candte,

extremity with that motion,

their having

mouths their

is in a circular their backs.*

There

is no sort

of doubt

that and and

~a<~

and

~'e

wcre

of the ceremonies objecta ~cipat a Thc principal season of thse, ;;pf Baal, was new year's day, return towards the custom us try people

adoration of their

of thc

prinDruids.

<east8 in honour

still burningontthc new by nres lighted on th top of hills, and was th month of May, Th next scason in tbe Eastern countries, th earth began, of th first fruits them consccrated ~and whose had ripencd ~Mn, benign ionuencc that thc dance round the ~a!mo8t persuaded montb, ~sionst is a faint Thc image of th rites

the sun began visiMy to is not yet at an end, the counin thc old ycar and welconting other when to high ptaccs. th fruits of be gathered, or to the one is

when

to Baal, them

and

May pote, in that obscrved on such occa-

was on th 21st of June, when ncxtgrcat festival ~the suH) being in Cancer, nrstnppenrstogohackwardsand used us. On this occasion the Baalim to call th ~teavc and to light fires on high places, and to together, people cause throngh forsake their the them.
o 2

sons, nre,

and

their

caUing

daughtcrs, upon Baa!

and their to btess

cattle them~

to pass and not

8~

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

THE BRITISH The had Druids, an infinite One who were number of th the

MAGt.

of the Britons, tnagi with the of rites in common of th Eastern

Persians.

chief functions

was divination and Pomponius Me~a tells us, magi, There was that our Druida possessed the same art. a solemn the the the Druids from among of his limbs, or fall of th victim and convulsions and position But the nature of hia entrails. rite of divination

By priests had various kinds of divination. thc number ofcriminal and by the increase causes, or diminution ferti. of their own order, thcy predicted of From the neighing or prancing lity or scurcity. white from from other harnessed herses, the turnings and thc bosom ominous to a consecrated of a hare (with a chariotlet variety loose of windings of th diviner

British

or exhibitions) appearances they pretended to determine the events of futurity.* Of all creatures th serpent exercised, in th most of the Druids. curious manner, th invention To the famous snals formed mother th air, aM~M~Mw thcy aK~MMMM or serpent'8 rolled by The high virtues. of amall egg, was a congeries and incrusted with a sheU, gum, or frotli of the it secms was tossed into and bcfore conaidcred it fell on! attributed

together, th saliva or viscous This

serpent. by ttie

egg, hiBsings of its dam,

ln Devonshire and Cornwall it is still noua if a barc crosses a person on thc road.

BLUCDATON6

OP

THE

MARVELMUS.

85

again to the earth (where it would be defiled) it wa~ The to be received in the sagus or sacred vestment. person who caught the egg was to make his escape on horseback, its young, from since even the ravisher of serpent pursues to the brink ofthe next river. Pliny, th account is (lib. 29. C. 3.) of other absurdities re. taken

whom

this

procceds with an enumeration This o~KMM~ is in British lating to the anguinum. called or th serpent of ghtss and the G'/a~-M<?! same superstitious reverence which the Danmonii is still discoverable universally paid to the angainum, in some parts of Cornwall. Mr. Llhuyd informs us that retain a variety of charma, and the Cornish have still towards the Land'R-End, the amulets of and Gain.nbider, which latter they call and have a charm for the snake to make it, Melprer, when they find one asleep, and stick a hazel wand Maen'Magal of her spiraB," or coUs. Wc are informed in most that, by Cambden all Scotland and Comparts of Wales, and throughout wall, it is an opinion of the vulgar, that about midsummcr-eve (though in the time they do not ail agree) the snakes meet in companies, and tbat by joining together and hissing, a kind of bubble is formed, which th rest, by continuai blow on till it hissing, th body, when it immediately passes quite through a glass-ring, and resembles which whoever hardens, heads finds shaH prosper in all his undertakings. arc called C'/c~M~~op~, thus generated stones. are smaU glass amulets, They about ha~f as widc as our finger The rings or snake. in the centre

commonly rings, but much

8C

THAUMATURQIA~

OR

of a green colour usually, thicker, though blue, and waved with red and white." Carew

sometimee

the country pLopIe, in Cornsays, that that th snakc's breatbing wall, have a persuasion a atone ring of blue upon a hazel wand produces in which there appears the yellow figure of a colour, and that beasts bit and envenomed, snake, being this stone has given some water to drink wherein been infused, will perfectiy recover the poison.* From the animal, the Druids passed to the vegetable world and tliese their powers, also displayed whilst by the charma of the misletoe, the selago, and From the samopis, they preventcd or repelled diseases. or bubbling of water etirred by an oak branch, or magic wand, they foretold events that were to come. The superstition of the Druids is even now undulation retained Cornish weU in the western counties. To this have been accustomed to consult day, the their famous the

or rather the spirit of the well, res. at Madem, pecting their future destiny. corne the uneaay, imHither," says Borlase, and superstitious, and by dropping or patient, pinst into the water, and by shaking the ground pebblea round bottom, the so as to raise bubbles spring, at a certain time of the year, moon from and the day,

Sec Carew's ~Mr~f~ of Cornwall. p. 22. Mr. Carew !md a stone-ring ofthia kind in his possession, and the person who gave it to him avowed, that '< he himself saw a part of the stick sticking in it/but ~c~tf~ oM~orf~t ~?</M/* says Mr. Carew. t Th same superstition still exista in Devonshire.

ELUCDATOKS endeavour supposed to remove

OP THE MARVBLLOU8. their serve uneasiness: to yct encrease

87 th the

responses

equally

th suspicions ofthejealous, gloom of the melancholy, The Castalmn and the passion of th enamoured. and many others among the Crecians were fountain, to be of a prophetie a nature. supposed By dipping into a well, HM Patraeans of Grcece fair mirror received, sickness upon the as they supposed, some or health from the, various surface. Th notice ofensmng ngurespourtrayed of Laconia cast into a if the cakes swam, something the superstitions

pool, sacred to Juno, sunk~ good was portended was to ensue. dreadful threw three stones from into conclusions ing."

people cakes of bread corn if they Sometimes

the water, and formed their th several tums they made in sinkwere likewise able to communicate, virtues to rocks portentous

The Druids

the most by conscration, and stones, which could determine the succession of or the fate of empires. To the Rocking or princes several of which remain still in DevonLogan stone, in particular, Cornwall, they had recourse to connrm their authority, cither as prophets or judges, '` that its motion was miraculous. These pretending in consecrated ~`v; religious rites were celebrated places The mysterious in th midst of groves. and temples, and silence horror tious of an over ancient minds wood that are diffuses yet even a shade of superior to auperstiwas seldom any other shire

Their temple credulity. a wide circle of rocks raised. perpendicularly -"v than An artificial pile of large flat stone usually composcd and th whole the altar; mountain was religious usually enclosed by a low mound, to prevent the in-

88 trusion

THAUMATURGIA, of the profane. Druidical species There

OR was

in something the of exclaims heathenism," that was Mr. Whitaker, in a. style truly oriental, and impress well calcalated to arrest the attention the mind. The rudely circle of stones in majeatic their th enormous the massy Cromlech, temples, am. and the magnificent the huge Carnedde, Logan, of woods, would aU very strongly lay hold phitheatre of soul, which has upon that religious thoughtfulness to man, amid aU th wrecks of monument of his former perfection humanity-the That Druidism, in Devonshire as existing originally in all its and Cornw all, was immediately transported, from the East, seems extremely purity and perfection, ever been so natural probable. the sacred Among none more celebrated misletoe chosen of th oak. by God found but rites than of the that Druids tliere were they uaed of the believed this tree was misletoe was what they therefore,

They himself. Th

they met with and day

seldom

it, they did it on th sixth they

They gave the virtue victims to

great ceremony, with which day of the moon, both their months and their years. began a name to this shrub, that it had denoting of curing all diseases. They sacrificed it,

whenever, fetched it with

the that, believing by its virtue, barren were made fruitful. looked it They upon likewise as a preservative all poisons. Thus against do sevcral nations of the world place their religion in the observation The Druids of trines, were also extremely superstitious in

ELUCIDATONS

0F

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MARVELLOUS.

89

relation preservative fortunes.

to

the

herb

against Another

selago, which they reckoned a sore eyes, and almost all miscallcd samotis, which they diseases among prevent

herb

had a virtue to imagined about gathering. cattle, they were very ceremonious 'nie person was obliged to be clad in white, and was not suffered to handie ceded by a sacrifice The Druids had another and the ceremony it of bread and wine. was pre-

amongst them, superstition in regard to their serpents' cggs, which they supposed of many of those crawere formed of th saliva time tures, at a certain as a sure looked upon better of their enemies. ridiculous fooleries, as they were Druids of the moon thse of getting prognostic with many other These, were imposed upon the credulous they the

people, tion. The tidote

very much attached to divinathe misletoe as an anregarded

aU poisons, and they preserved their all misfortunes. The Persians had selago against the same confidence in th efficacy of several herbs, and used them in a similar manner. Th Druids eut with a golden hook, and the Persians their misletoe against eut th twigs of G~c~, or A~M~,' called &MrMM, with a peculiar sort of concentrated knife. The candidates for the British throne had recourse to the fatal stone to (letermine the their occasions tizoe. From whele Persian every view of the Druid religion, Mr. Pol. concludes that it derived its origin from the Dr. Borlasse has drawn a long and magi. and prtendions; Persians had recourse on to similar th Ar-

90 elabortite

TMAUMATURGtA, OR

and Persians, between the Druids parallel where he bas plainly that proved they resembled each other, as strictly as possible, in every particular of religion.* Sec accountof Dmidistu in Polcwhctc's of Devonsturc, vol. 1. Historical View:!

ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVELLOUS.

&]

CHAPTER

VI.

~SCULAFAN ApOLLO is said to have

MY8TERIE8, &C. been one of the most genfrom as may be inferred

tle, and at the same time, his numerous one of the most gallant of the issue, heathen deities. The first and most noted of his sons was onis. ~Esculapius, Some say whom that he had by the nymph CorApoUo, on account of her in.

when big with child with fidelity, shot his mother but repenting the tact, saved the infant, and him him to Chiron in physic.~ to be instructed gave Others that as King Phlegyas, her father report, was carrying her with him into her on the pains surprised to conceal her shame, she exposed the inwhere, fant on a mountain. Th <rM~, however is, that this was a poor infant cast away, a dropt ~Esculapius her Peloponnesua, confines of Epidauria

Ovid, who rottes thc story of Coronis in his fancifut wny, tells us that Corvus, or the raven, who discovered her armour, had by Apollo, his featiters changed from &~cA to wllite.

92

THAUMATUttGlA,

OK

child,

laid

in a wood who was who, bis shortly

near

ral parents, he him huntsmen,

were

Epidaurus, by his unnatu. to own afterwards ashamed afterwards by some a lighted flame or glory looked upon it as a progTh infant was found

seeing head, surrounding nostic of the child's future delivered by them say he was

but th Trigo, He studied suclded poets by a goat. under Chiron the centaur, physic by whose care he made such progress in th medical as gained art, that he was even reported high a reputation cures were to have raised the dead. His nrst and of Epidaurus, wrought upon Ascles, King of Daunia, which last was troubled Aunes, King with sore eyes. fn short, his success was so great, that tlie number of his ghosts Pluto, seeing daily who killed him to Jupiter, decrease, complained with his thunderbolts. Such was his pronciency in medical skill, city that of lie was generally esteemed the god of physic. In the Ionians, dedicated him so

glory. to a nurse named

which belonged to the Tetrapolis, had a temple full of rare cures, ~Escuhpius their reto him by those who ascribed and its wals three son were covered and hung of the miracles first up th the the taught he had performed. of th names of ~Escu.

covery to him with memorials Cicero lapius. Arcadia, wounds by The who

reckons

inventcd and nrpt

th second

of Apollo, worshipped in th probe and bandages for brother of Mercury, killed third the'sonofArsippus the art of tooth-drawing

lightning who Arsione,

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THE

MARVELLOU8.

93

nnd tian,

purging.

Others

make

King of Memphis, to the ~Escu!apins of the Gres. The years Romans nunibered him among th Dii Adcititii, of such as were raised to heaven* Castor Hercules, their knowledge and Egyptians. and Smyrna, Coos, or Cos up,* shewing but his most and PoIux. as by their merit, The Greeks receivcd from the Phnicians

~Esculapius antcdent by

an Egypa thousand

were at Pergamus, a city of lonia, and the isle of Trica, in which al! votive tablets were hung th famous in diseases shrine by his assistance was at Epidaurus, where cured

of ~Escu~apius His chief temples

five years every instituted to him at Corinth. It was by with

the spring, solemn games were nine days after the Isthmian games that the Romans became ac-

accident

A p~ague happened in iEsculapius. oracle and th reply was was consulted, from Epithat they should fetch th god Esculapius was appointed An embassy of ten senators, daurus. These deat th head of whom was Q. Ogulnius. quainted the Italv, th temple of the arrivai, visiting and god, a. huge serpent came from under the altar, to their ship, and th city, went directly crossing in the cabin of Ogulnius;t upon which lay down puties, on From these tablets, or votive inscriptions, Hippocrates is saidto have collected his aphorisms. t The'Romnns who sent for ~Escu!npius from Epidaurus, when their city was troubled with the p!nguc, say, that thc serpent that wns worshippcd there for hint folloiveci thc of its own accord tu th ship thnt transported ambassadors their

94

THAUMATURGA,

OR

and arriving in th Tiber, they set sail immediatcly, the serpent quitted the ship, and retired to a little island to the city, where a temple was opposite erected to the god, and the pestilence ceased. Th goat nursed animats some by to saqrinced say on account were the ~Esculapius been of his having

others this creabecause animal ture is unhealthy, as labouring under a perptuai to fever. The dog and the cock were sacrificed on account of their fidelity and vigilance the him, ra.ven was also devoted to him for its forecast, and being skilled in divination. as to his being the inventor that part ing he perfected Authors of physic, only which are not agreed some affirmrelates to the

this

regimen of the sick. The origin of this fable is as follows :-the public in their sign or symbol exposed by the Egyptians to wam the people to mark the depth of assemblies, th inundation of the Nile, in order to regulate their ploughing a dog's was the figure of a man with accordingly, a pole with serpents twisted head, carrying round it, to which they gave the name of Anubis,~ In process of time, they Th<umt,t and /Rsculapma.~ it to Rome, where it was placcd in a temple huHt in thc isle called Tibcrina. n thts temple the sick pcop!c wcre wont to lie, and whcn they fonnd thcmsctvcs no botter, they rcvited ~scuh~pius so impaticntiy ungratcfut and pccvish were ofwn th nMtctcd, that they tnade no scrnptc to reproach to thcir maladies. th very god who administered *From Hannobcach, wtnch~ in thePhnicianianguage, or ~omo', Anubis. signifies thc &(f)-Act', This word signifies th dog. From ~Kt. man, and M/c~/<, dog, comeN ~E~M~A, the man-dog, or ~Escuiapius.

NLUCIMATION8 0F THK MARVELLOUS. made use of this reprsentation

93

for a real king, who of by th study of physic, sought the preservation his subjects. Thus the dog and the serpents became th characteristics the Roof ~sculapius amongst mans original and Greeks, meaning who were entirely strangers of thse hieroglyphics.. to th

was represented as an old man, with ~Escuapius a long beard, crowned with a branch of bay tree in his hauds was a staff full of knots, about which a serpent had twisted at his feet stood an itself owl or a dog-characteristics of a of the qualities who must be as cunning as a sergood physician, as vigilant as a dog*, as cunning and experias an old bashaw, to bandle a- thing so difficult as physic. At Epidaurus his statue was of gold and ivory,* seated on a throne of the same materials, with a long beard, having a knotty stick in one hand, pent, enced th other at his feet. less, and to denote tlie his entwined Th a serpent, and a dog lying him as beardPhliasians depicted crowned from him with Apollo. that occur in the a laurel, The knots in with

Romans descent

his staff signify t!ie d!fncu!ties study of medicinc. He had by his wife Epione two. sons, Machaon and Podalirius, both skilld in surgery, and who are mentioned by Homer as having been at the sige of Troy, and who were very prsent serviceable ters, called This to th Hygisca Greeks. and Jaso. th son of He had also two daugh-

imngc was the work of Titrasymedes, Arignotus, a nMtivc of l'nros.

96

THAUMATURGA,

OR

CHAPTER

VII.

tNFERIOR

DEITtES

ATTENDXG

MANKIKD FROM DRCEA8R.

THER IT would Romans

HRTH TO THEtR

be almost our

an endless deities

task

to

enter Gres

into and

a detail of aU the

infenor

of the

object heing to refer to such only as of th human race, every preside over th heatth part and parcel of whom had their presiding genius. th tutetar Dunng pregnancy, powers were th and the goddesses and Intet'cedonia.t god Pelumnus,~ The Devcrra.~ out the necesstty in this condition. Besides Diana Ilythia, th superior and Latona, goddesses who all Jemo-Lucien, prcsided at the import of the~e words scems to point of warmth and c~eattliness to ladies

Either from /)t7H!, a pestle or from pello, to drive away hccause hc procurcd a safe delivery. t She taught the art of cutting wood with a hatchet to mnke fi res. Thc inventrcss of brooms.

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THE

MARVEM.OU8.

0~

there were the goddesses birth, Prosa,t Egeria,* and Manageneta,t who with the Dii Nixii,~ had all the care of women in labour. of the office perfonned and in this quality was midwife assisted by the goddess Opis or Ops ;)) Cuma rocked the whi!e Carmenta cradle, sung their destiny Levana lifted th ground and up from them took care of them when cried; Vegetanus they Rumina*~ watched them while suckled; they Polina them with drink furnished and Edura with children, or door-keeper To food and or nourishment; Camatf was dina~ Stilinus or knit their bones, Osslago their constitutions. Nustrengthened the goddess of children's purification i Statanus instructed them to walk, and Janus

Prom casting out th birth. t Aulus GeHius. ~E!inn. Sec Auaonuts, IdyU 12. Frotn <f~or, to strugg!c. tt Somc make hcr the same with Rhea or Vesta. Amon~ thc Romans thc midwife atways lnid the child on the ground, and the father or somcbody appointed, to educatc lifted it up hcnce the expression of tollere /<&<'roa, children. This goddess had a temple nt Rome, and her o(!erings werc rnUk. t~ On t!te Kalcnds of June, SHcrtHces were ottercd to Carna. of bacon and bean flour cakes; whence they wcrc called FabanEC. H Boys wcre named always on thc ninth day aftcr thc birth, and girls on the eighth.
M

98 kept prattle frights Nur left of youth goddesses them the and was from

THAUMATUROA,

OK

Fabulina learnt them to falling Paventia them from goddess preserved Camopna taught when infant, them to sing. grown to riper was the to action years, god and the

th lus

without

protectors excited Agenoria Stimula

Juventas men

Hortaf vivacity and Sentra gave of repose or ease4 Quies was th goddesses justice and Indolena, or laziness, was deified by the name of Murcia; Abeona, Vacua secured protected the in people and Vibilia, if they wandered, was so tuming ;)j kind as to put them in the right way Fessonia refreshed and Meditrina the weary and ftigued healed the sicMy Vitula was th goddess of mirth and frolic; th goddess who bestowed Volupia Orbona was addressed, that pleasure;tt parents not love their Pellonia averted might offspring; mischief and danger and Numeria taught people to and Adeona idle; abroad and regoing

courage aud inspired inspired the fame or love of glory of probity and them the sentiments

and Strenua

Prom Pa~orem!i vcrtcndo. t She !):td a tctupic at Rome which a!wa\'s stood open. Shc had a temple without. thc watts. Murcia hnd her tcmp!c on Monnt Aventine. )} From ~~t' to go away and M</<,to conte. Thp fMth'a! of this goddpss was in Scptctnbcr, when the Romans drank ncw winc nnxcd wittt o!d, by way f physic. < From t~t~K/o, to !cap or advance. tt From <w/t~<M, ptcasurc.

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THE

MARVELLOU8.

9<)

cast and or heirs

cured the anguish keep accounts Angerona sorrow of the mind Havres Martia secured the estates

and Stata or Statua they expected secured the forum or market place from nre Mater, even the thieves had a protectress in Laverna;f Averruncus and sudden misfortunes; prevented Conius was always disposed to give good advice to such as wanted it Volumnus men with a inspired to do well and Honorus raised them to disposition and honours. preferment Nor was th marriage state without its peculiar so necessar)', defenders. Five deities were csteemed that no marriages were solemnized witliout asking their favours these Venus, nuptial Domitius were Adult, Juno, tinus tied the or the Jupiter-Perfectus, and Diana. Suadea,~ JugaDomiducus ushered the knot

bride home took care to keep her there, and Maturna the preserved prevent her gadding abroad loosed the bridle conjugal union entire Virginensis was a propitious zone or girdle Viriplaca goddes~, th ready to reconcile difference. accidentai married Matuta couple in case of any was th patronesi-< of

In a great murrain which destroycd the!r cnttlc, thc Romans invoked this goddcss, and shc rcinovcd thc piagne. Horace tncnt The image was a head without a body. Site hnd a temple tions her (Lib. 1. Epist. XV!. 60). without the waHs, which gave th nnmc to the Porta Lavernalis. who h<td Thc goddcss of cloquence, or persuasion, always a grcat hand in thc sncccss of courtship. She was n!so caHcd Cinxia Juno.
Il 2

100

THAUMATURGA,

OR

no maid being suffered to enter her temple. matrons, The married was always held to be the only honourable state for woman, during the times of pagan antiquity. The is mentioned Vacuna,* goddess by Horace her temple at . Epist. X. 49.) as having (Lib. the rustics celebrated her festival in December, Rome after the harvest was got in (Ovid. Fast. Lib. XI). The ancients the particular assigned parts of the to particular the head was sacred to deities the breast to Neptune th waist to Mars Jupiter the forehead to Genius the th eye.brows to Juno, the ears to Memory th right hand cyes to Cupid to Fides or Veritas th back to Pluto the knees to body Misericordia feet to Thetis Th goddess Libitina,' whose or the legs to Mercury mercy and the fingers to Minerva.f who over funerals presided temple at Rome, the the was

utidertakers

She with

was an old Sabine but thia Varro

dcity.

Some her to

makc be th

her the same goddesa of of of

Ceres;

imagines

victory. t From our modem

distribution

the hody as thchcadtoArics, tlie heart Cetnin!,

astrologers, to thc different

the scheme arose, pcrhaps, w!t0 asstgn thc ditTcrcnt parts

or signs of Zodiac consteHations, the ncck toTanrus, ttteshoutdersto

to Cancer, the breast to Lo, und so on. Thc issues of astrology have becn aiways insepaprctcndcd and thc xodiac bas ever bccn rnb!e from stctht!' influence, U)c fruitful source of its solemn dctusions. Some with Venus. confound this goddcss with 'roscrpine, othcrs

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

10

furnshed of the through mentioned

with

all th

necessaries dead

for bodies

the

interment carried LibitinaB to our

all poor or rich the Porto Libitina; by Suetonius,

were answer

and the Rationes very nearly

bills of mortality.

102

THACMATURGA,

OR

CHAPTER

VIII.

JUDICIAL TO THE

ASTROLOGY-ITS

CHEMICAL APPLICATION AND HEALTtf

PROLONGATION 0F LIFE

ALCHYMICAL DELUSIONS.

THE curiosity

study got

of astrology, into favour

nattering with mankind

so

to at

human a very ignois in name

with the weak and early period,-especially raut. The first account. of it we meet with and at Rome it was known by the Chaldea of the

which calculation," Babylonish against Horace his readers.~ It was very wisely cautioned doubtless the first method of divination, and probably the mind of man for aU th various methods prepared since employed of searching into futurity a briefview therefore be of the rise of this pretended science cannot in this place, especially as th history of improper thse absurdities is the best method of confuting them. e Tentaria nec Bnby!onios numros.L!b. 1. ad X. calculations

That is, conault not th table!! of planetary used by astrologers of Babylonish origin.

RLUCIDATK)N8

0F

THE

MARVELLOU8.

103

Others

of this dception to the Arabs ;be tins as it may. Judicial Astrology* has been too much used by the priests and physicians ascribed the~ invention of aU nations lument. to encrease thcir own that th They maintain great book, in which God has written the world and in which every man own fortune and the transactions In this department aU the idle of astrotogy conceits about power heavens the and emoare one

have

of history his may read of his time.

we meet (judicial) with th horary reign of th doctrine of horoscopes, the distribution planets, <~ the houses, the calculation of nativities, j~b~MM~, lucky and urslucky hours, and other ominous fatalities. They assert that it had its rise from the same hands as astronomy itself ;-that while th ancient Assyrians, whose serene unclouded sky favoured their celestial~oband conjectural science is dividcd into natural The first is confined to the study of exploring jud!cia!. natural efiects, as change of wcathcr, winds and stormstn and thc like. hurricanes, thunder, fioods, earthquakcs, this sens it is admitted to be a part of natural phiioaophy. It was under this view that Mr. Good, Mr. Boytc, and Dr. Mcad ptcadcd for its use. The first endeavours to account for thc diversity of seasons from thc situations, habitudes, and to explain an infinity of and motions of the planets of th stars. The phenonena by the contemplation Mr. Boyle admitted, that ali physical bodics honourabie arc inftuenced by the heavenly bodies; and the doctor's opinion, in his trcatisc conccrning thc power of the sun and But thse prdictnoon, ctc.-is in faveur of the doctrine. tions and influcnce arc ridiculcd, nnd entirc!y cxptodcd by of which thc thc most estcctncd modern ptntosophcrs, rpader rnay hve a tcarned spccitncn in Rohautt's Tract. rhysie. pt. H. c 27. This

104 servations, were

THAUMATURGIA, OR intent heavenly relation hence on and the paths tracing discovered bodies, they or analogy between them

of th periods a constant settled and things below these to be th of, which of our future state. Th taiked

they were led to conclude fates or destinies (Parcee) so much and dispose preside at our birth,

who derived their astrological suEgyptians, of from the Chaldeans, becoming ignorant perstitions the astronomical looked hieroglyphics, bY degrees of the signa as expressing certain upon th names powers cations of its with which of their splendour to be the and as indithey were invested, Tlie sun, on account several offices. and enlivening influence, was ima.

th moon great mover of nature second rank of powers, and each sign and constellation a certain share in th guvernment of the world. The ram, (Aries in) had a strong gined held the fluence over the balance, (Libra tions to good (Scorpio t~) to excite each sign name. produced of the floeks and lierds the young ) could inspire nothing but inclinaorder and justice and the scorpion, In short, only evil dispositions. the good or evil intimated by its

if a child to be born at th inThus, happened stant when the first star of th ram rose abovc the horizon, (when, air of a science, in order th to give this nonsense the star was suppose(t to have its and crab,

he would bc rich in cattle greatest influence,) he who shouM enter tlie world undcr th would and all meet his with affairs but nothing go backwards

disappointments, and downwards.

ELUCIDATIONS

OF

THE

MARVELLOU8.

~5

Th th

were people world under

wretched scorpion. pecially horizon, if

happy whose king entered the sign Libra but completely if he should under the horrid sign light esundcr Persons born (~f) capricom to be the sun at the sure to sarne time ascended th meet success, and rise and tlie sun wliich then with

were

like the wild goat upwards The lion, (Lo <~) ascends for six months together. was to produce and the virgin heroes ~ ) (Virgo with her ear of com to inspire chastity, and to unite virtue with ahundance. Could anything he more exand ridicutous travagant Th case was exactly the same with respect to th is only founded on thc wild whose innuence planets, of their being the habitations of the presupposition tended deities, whose names they bear, and the fabuth poets have given them. lous characters Thus, to Saturn, influences, been pleased Saturn, scythe. they for no to was gave languid other reason make this and even but because destructive had of a they the residence hairs and

who

painted they

planet with grey gave

stowing and grandeur, the father spire a strong

To Jupiter crowns and of

distributing because merely life. was Mars for war,

power of belong life, wealth, it bears th name of to supposed because it was inbe-

th

inclination

p lievedto be the residenceof the god of war. Venus and fond of had th power of rendering men voluptuous pleasure, 'because they had becn pleased to give it th name of one who by some was thought to he the almost pleasure. Mercury though would never have been thought to always invisible, of states, of tlie property and the a~airs superintend mother of

10~

THAUMATURGIA,OR

and commerce, had not men, without th least reason, given it th name of one who was supposed to be the inventor of civil polity. to Astrologers, th power of th ascend. ing planet is greatly increased hy that of an ascending then thc benign influences are all united, and sign fall together on the head of all thc happy infants According who at that moment enter the world thing be more contrary to exprience, the characters us, that and events produced by persons bom under the same aspect of th stars, are so far from site. What Pluche, completes the ridicule," to whom we are obliged saystheAbbLa for thse judicious call the astronomers being alike, that they are directly oppoyet can anywhich sliews

wit

is, that what of th ram, the balance, or of sagitarius, is no longer the first sign, gives fruitwh~ fulness to the flocks, inspires men with a love of It lias been found that justice, or forms th hero. all the celestial receded from signs hve, by dcgrces, observations, first degree and drawn back to thc East cquinox, th point of the zodiac that this, notwithstanding cuts th cquator is still ca!!cd thc first degree of the ram, though th nrst star of the ram be thirty deit, and all thc other signa m the same grees beyond the vernal proportion. born under reaHty above born cause horizon, When, thcrefore, any one is said to be ttie nrst degree of the ram, it was in one of the degrees of pisces that then came the horizon and when another is said to be a his roya! birth soul and heroic the planet with the disposition, Jupiter ascended first star ofsagitary, bethe

with at

in conjutiction

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MA~VELLOUS.

107

eastward thirty degrees good truth it was the pemicious scorpion that presided at th birth of this happy, this incomparahle child." U And so it would, as Shakspeare if my mosays, ther's cat had kittened. This," says our sagacious bard, is the excellent foppery of the world, that our the when own

Jupiter a star

was indeed

at that

time

with in conjunction and in of sagitary,

sun, villains by necessity fools, by heavenly compulsion knaves, thieves, and treachers, (traitors) by spherical and adulterers, drunkards, liars, predominance by and an enforced obedience of planetary Innuence aU that tricks we are evil in by a divine admirable evasion of a whoremaster to the with charge my of a mother star under pounded and my follows an on thrusting to lay his goatish My father com-

we are sick in fortune, (after the surfeit of we make guilt of our disasters, behaviour) the moon, and the stars as if we were

was under nativity 1 am rough and treacherous.Tut

the dragon's tail Ursa major so that it 1 should

1 am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled at my bastardizing." Thus it is that astrology is built upon no principles, evident, it is founded on fables, and on influences that void of rea~ty. Yet absurd as it is, and even was, it obtaincd credit; and the more it spread, th greater of Instead injury was done to the cause of virtue. the exercise of prudence and wise substituted sions by forms and superstitious it enervated the courage of the brave grounded making precautions, childish practices by apprehenth wicked, of a planet it

have been that

on puns, and encouraged them lay to th charge

!03 thosc evils which

THAUMATURGIA, OR oniy with procceded such from their own

depravity. But not

which absurdities, th very idea of liherty~ they asserted that destroycd these stnrs, which had not th least connection with aU the parts of th human body, mankind, governed and ridtcutousy that th ram presided over affirmed thc head, the hu!l over th gullet, the twins over th hreast, th scorpion over th entrails, the fishes over the feet, etc. The jugg!ea of astrology have becn admirably ridiculed by Buter in th following Hnes hy tlie nose with fumes trepan *cn), Aa Dunstan did th deviFs grannam; Others, with characters and words, Catch 'en], as men in nets do birds And somc with symbols, signs, and tricks, Hn~rav~d in planetary nicks, Wtth their own ~nfiuencc will fetch 'cm Down from their orbs, arrest and catch *em Makc 'cm dpose and answer to At! questions, cre they let them go. Hombastus kcpt a devins bird Shut in the pumme! of his sword, And taught him a!! th cunning pranks Of past and future mountebanks. //M</<& part ii. canto 3.
Some

content

to of th zodiac, By mcans astrologers prctended which account for the various disorders of the body, were supposcd to bc in a good or had disposition, according o to th different aspects* of these signa. by the

By aspect is to bc understood

an angle formed

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THR

MARYELLOUS~

109

To

mention caution

only

great under

Taurus, chews his cud, the person would in his stomach. Each The became hour of th seven, number day had as being

one instance, that they pretended ought to bc used in taking medicinc or th bull because, as this animal not be able tokeep it

also its presiding star. that of the planets,

of mighty Th seven days in consequence. the week,-a of time handed down by tradi. period to correspond with the number of tion, happened the planets and therefore they gave th name of and from thence some days a planet to each day more fortunate in the week were considered or unlucky called than th rest climacterical th and hence seven of times period hours, seven, days, or

were thought and to yenrs, extremely dangerous, have a surprising effect on private persons, th fortunes of princes, and th government of states. distressed Thus the mind of man became by imaginary evils, themselves in approach of thse moments, as th rest of their as harmless lives, bas by thestrengthof the imagination, on the brought most fatal enects. were extended Nay, th influence of th planets where they to th bowels of th earth, were supmetals. From hence it appears posed to produce that and folly are once superstition there is no setting hounds to their progress. as a mattor of course, must bc the production when on foot, Gold, of the and the

rays of two ptancts meeting on the enrth, able to excute some nutural power or innuence.

HO

THAUMATURQtA~OR

in point of colour, sun, and th couformity brightness, and value, was a sensible proof of it. By the same mode of rcasoning, th moon produced all the all silver, to which it was related by colour Mars, the iron, which to be th favourite mtal of ought th god of war. Venus presided over copper, which she might be well supposed to produce, since it was found in abundunce in the isle of Cyprus, the supposed same other the favourite strain, metals. the The residence other of this goddess. In the thc over over plancts presided languid Saturn domineered

lead

activity, while it

on account and of his mines, Mercury, had tlie superintendency of quicksilver

was the province of Jupiter to preside over it would tin, as this was the only mtal !cft him, a Mnd of Hobson's choice." appear, This obtained will explain th manner in which the metals the names of the planets and from this

opinion, that each planet eng~endered its own peculiar at length formed an idea that, as one metal, they was more powcrfui than another, th metal planet produced other by orb. Lead, kind as a mtal, fluences and as pcrfcct though really a metal, any of thc rest, was con<.idered oniy in consquence of thc !anguid which, of old Saturn, was left impcrfcct under thc auspices of Jupiter, itwas in its haf inand, conwas converted into anby th weakest thc prcdominating influence of a stronger

therefore, verted into tin undcr that of Venus, into copper and aL last into gold, undcr somc particu!ar aspects Frum of thc sun. arose t)c hcnce, at length,

ELUCDATONSOP extravagant amazing opinion

THH MARVELLOU8.

ttt 1

hastening the conccived, they The world, however, th art of thc influences

sagacity, t!)ese changes

with who, alchymists, endeavoured to find out means for or transmutations, which, as too slowly. that as the

of th

planets became

performed at length convinced was as ineffectual

alchymist

of th planets, which, in a long succession of ages, had never been known to change a mine of lead to that of tin or any other metal.~ The first author of making of one metal, gold into another, is Zozimus t)y means of an aicahestf tlie Pomopohte, who lived about the commencement of the and who bas a treatisc express century, The divine art of making gold upon it, called, and silver," and is, as formerly, in manuscript, in the library of the King of France. As on regards alchemical the universal research, mcdicine, we discover said to dpend no earuer or fifth we are acquaintcd by th transmutation with who talks

Those who wish to rcad a curions monument of th folHes of thc fdchymists, may c~nsutt the diary of E!ias As!nno!e, who is rather the historian of this vain science, than an ndcpt. It tnay amuse literary lcisurc to tnrn ovcr in which hc hati coUectcd thc works of his quarto'vo!umf, scvcrat Eng!ish atchytnista, to which lie bas Rubjoined bis It atTords curious spcconcns of Kosicrucian cotntncntury. and he rcjntcs storics, which vie for tbc tniratnystcrics culous, with tbc Mitdcst fancios of ~rabian invention. t Atcahcst, in chcanstry, (an ohM'ctc tcrat,) means .t most pure nnd univcrsid tncnsirumn or dissoh'cnt, with which some chonists hve prctcndcd to rcsutvc ait bodh's into their first cieiiients, and pcrform other extraoniioary and unaccountabtc operatious.

112

THAUMATUROIA. OR

traces than in this author, and in ~Eneas plainer another Greek towards the close of Gazeus, writer, and the same century nor among th physicians materialists, to supposed author's that stone," leprous pose, to from have Moses lived to Geber in the th Arab.f who is seventh century. In Philosopher's that cures all

the entitled work, mention is made of medicine This have

discases.

given though Geber himself, to the Arabie style and diction of for, by attending which ahounds in allegory, it is highiy this author, probable that by man he means gold, and hy leprous, diseases, the other m etals, which, with relation to gold, arc aU impure. of alchymy hve been The origin and antiquity much controverted. If any credit may hc placed on legend nay, and Adam tradition, himself it must be as old as th floodto have been an it; represented A great not only of the heathen part, but of th Jewish are Scriptures, to it. Thus, Suidas~ will 'hve the or other

some authors suppassage, the nrst hint of the matter, perhaps, meant no such thing

alchym ist. mythology, supposed

to refer

In this writer wc find thefo)!owin~p<t8sage:" Such as ure Kk!c(! in thc ways of nature, can tnk<' 8t!ver nncl tin, and chnnging thcir natm'c, can txrn then! into gold." He wont to a!! hhnsctf a ~o/?Mc~cr also tells us that he was nnd a c~Mtt~. 't- 'l'he principal nuthora on alchymy nre Gcbcr, thc Arab, Friar Bacon, Su!!y, John and I'inacHn!)cndus, Basil Va!cntinc, Pnracelsus, Vnn Xuchtcf, nnd Scndirogius. Corrin~ins caUsthis statctncnt in question, nnd asks !tow Suidas, who Ih'ed but Hve hundred yctirs between then!,

ELUCIDATON80FTHE pliilosopher's th fable of th Argonauts book But, fable of the

MARVELLOU8. stone to be alluded remote

H3

and others

to in find it in th

of Moses, as well us in otber if the era of the art be cxamined

it will lose much history, in which Suidas Th manner silence Diodesian of alchymy

places. by th test of of its fancied antiquity. accounts for th total is, that ancient in these

procured and that to be burnt Egyptians of chemistry th great mysteries Kercher asserts, that th theory of at !arge in tlie stone is deHvered and art, th ancient but declined Egyptians to pro"ecute it.

th old writers among aM th boo~s of the it was

were contained.~

the philosopher's table of Herms, were not ignorant of the

should know what happcnefici~ht hundrcd years before him ? To which Borrichius the Dane, ansuers, that he had learnt itnf Eudonus, He!!adh)s, Zozhnus, P<unphi!ius, and othcrs, as Suidas !tin)sctf relates. Itdocs not appear that the HgypHans transmuted gold they had ways of scpat'ating it frotn all kinds of bodics, from the very mud of th Nitc, and stones of ail kinds but, secrets were adds Kercher, thcse ncvcr written down, or made pub)ic, but con~ned to thc royal famity, and handed down tradittonaUy frotn father to son.

U4
:W7.'I.

THAUMATURGE,

OR

CHAPTER

IX.

ALCHYMICAL AND A8TRO<OGCAL CHIMKRA. HAVtNG so far expiained the fragile basis on which human knowledge may be said to have depended, th obscurity and barbarity of th middie during when the progrcss of true knowledge was obages, and puerile structed fancies, by th most ahsurd conceits when and dreams caprices, conjectures, and supplied th place of th most useful sciences, of th the subsequent illutruths, strative serve as a guide to direct the attention of the reader to other delusions, which arose out of the general chaos. important reflections may Chemistry, th explain substances, tics ;their and sense, geneous
stition

most

science

phenomena was studied systems,

so essentially to requisite of known and unknown

composed served materials, to establish than Universal advocates

chieny by jugglers and fananonreplete with metap!iy~ical of the most crude and hcterorather to nourish superuseful met

truths. with

facts, and iUustrate in various forms, remdies, and deluded

strenuous

consumers.

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MAttVELLOUS.

!5

The

path of was forsaken rious in th recesses

accurate instead

observation

and

of penetrating of nature, they bewildered

experiment into the mystethemselves

of fanciful they overlabyrinth spculation th bounds of good and sense, stepped modesty, The and th blind led the blind. truth prolongation of life too was no longer sought for in a manner agreeable to th dictates of nature even this interof human pursuits was rendered subesting branch servient to chemistry, or rather to the confused matter was considered system of alchymy. Original as the elementary expected literally base into noble metals, to metamorphose man in lus animal state by chemical to render him processes, and to secure more durable, him against early decine and dissolution. Millions of vessels, retorts, and phia!s, most violent sun hill or other of the were either artificial to th action of tlie exposed heat, or to the natural warmth cause of all beings, by which to work miracles, to transmute they the

or else they were buried in some dnngfetid mass, for the purpose of attracting this original it from putrescible matter, or obtaining substances. As the meta called gold always bore the highest these crude value, ridicutous analogy, from a concluded, philosophera that its value with to respect the preservation of heaith and the cure of diseases, must likewise surpass that of all other remedies. Th nugatory art of dissolving it, so as to render it and to prcvent it from ugain being converted potable, into a multitude of busy idiots, not met-il, employed but in th splendid labo. corners, only in concealed
i 2

!l6 raties sellors, frenzy, of the and entcred

THAUMATLRGA, OR great. Sovcreigns, struek impostors, into counmagistrales, with th common

private fraternities, a pitcli of extravagance, and their in posterity object of many rice and dsire sinister

and alliance, formed friendship such and sometimes procpedcdto as to Involve dehts. themseves Th real ruinons

pretext as a tinctnre

motive of searching

to gratify their avawas, doubtiess, of aggrandisement this aithough under th specious was conceuled for a should serve remedy that both for th healthy and dis-

of life,

eased, yct some were actuatcd by onlv their Th for the

thse whimsical mortals among more honourable motives, zealous intercst of truth, and th well-being of

feHow cratures. cummon in some countries, people, particuund France often denied theniGermany, necessaries of

life, to save as much as would purcliase a few drops of th tincture of gold, which was on~ered for ~a!e by some su. or fraudulent chemist and so thoperstitious roughiy remedy, most confident hencncial looked submit to for were persuaded it afforded that and on!y effects be they of th efficacy of this them in every instance the liol)e of rccovery. but would These were not

larly Italy, selves the commun

were positively promiscd, in vain. AU subduing death bribed

with go!d, und diseasc rcfused with that powerfui deity, who to hold any intercourse over th industry and commerce of all naprsides tions. As, however, Ic~s cxpcnmcnts these diversified and almost numberof were

frcquent!y

productive

KLUCIDATIOXSOF

THE

MAHYE.LOUS.

117

useful many

inventions chemical

in arts remdies

and

manufactures of real value were and almost

and, thereby

as

was constantly pro~ectors to we are indebted Indecd, kept alive and excited. their curious or rather to observations, perhaps th excellence chance, for scvera! valuaMe mcdicines, of which cannot be disputcd, but which, neverthe)css, more prcaution require tion, and more perspicuity nature and gating their preparers a~brd. of such articles in their and use and diligence than properties applicain investi-

discovered, accidentally attention to thse bold

great

gnrt

ab!e ~vere AU their endeavours to prolong life, by artificial could not be attended with benemeans, and the application ficial effects of th remdies titus contrived, proved necessarily, detrimental to the must in many cases, healtli of the

th original or willing to

have

patient. In proof of tins assertion, of th give a alight sketch opinions facturers of th

it will he sunicient difbrent views

to and

manuHosicrucians, gold-makers, of astralian salts, drops of life, and tinchunters after th philosopher's tures of gold, stone, and other equ:u!y absurd chimera. Some of thse enthusiasts fancied extravagant a flame, from which th body derived warmth, spirit, and animation. They endeaand increase th flame, and sup. to cherish voured to feeti it, as we pour plied th body with materiais ni! into a burning Others lamp. imagined they had that life resembled

discovered air, that

something important

invisible mdium

and which

incorporea! supports

in th the life

118

TEIAUbIATUItOIA,

OR

of man. and it

They materialize

to catch, refine, pretended this indefinaltle sometiling, in th form

reduce, so that

might

!)e swallowed

and drops that, by its penctrating animal inviitself into the whole insinuate frame, and it for a longer consequent!y qualify gorate, duration. Others again were foo!ish enough to indulge a no. tion ties they that of they could divest themselves life; that against to which matter during titis be defended might of dissolution, and that of the properin this manner graduai animal apbody

of powders, it might powers,

the

proaches is subject their

thusibrtined,

every w~thout

tabernaclc, tlicy could of th spiritual with th inhahitants world. plea~ure volume itself was interpreted and com. Th sacred with a view to render mented upon hy alchymists, terrestrial it subservicnt able were historical treated to tlieir iutended facts, recordcd by them as hieroglyphical

quitting associate at

designs. Indisput. in this invaluable book, symbols truths of

and the fundamental of processes in a wanton the christian and religion were applied, of making gold, manner, to th purposes blasphmons and distilling the elixir of life. of spirits was also invaded, and sum. The world as it were, to contribute to th prolongation moned, life. of human were supposed to have th Spirits chemical dominion dh'ided ascribed opposed of air, fire, carth, and water; they were into distinct classes, and particular services The to cach. nmlevoleut were spirits and countcracted by various meatis of pr.

ELUCJDATION8

0F

THE

MARVE<MU8.

!!p

vention

were obliged to good and tutelary submit to a sort of gentle, servitude. involuntary From invisible !)eings were expectcd and demanded visible of assistanceriches, heaith, friends, and long life. Thus thc poor spirits were profanely and maltreated, nay, sotnetimes severely punished, even mieerably flogged in enigy, when they betrayed of disaffection, or want of implicit symptoms fea!ty. As men had thus, in their weakness and folly, for. saken t!te bounds of this terrestrial it will sphre, with th help uf an exube. that, easily be believed, rant imagination, to the they would make a transition th celestial higher regions-to to which, indeed, they ascribed that of deciding the destinies consequently, must hve bodies and the stars no less a power thati of men, and which, had a considerable sharc in mcans

th

or prolonging the duration of human lifeshortening or kingdom was subjected to th domievery nation nion of its particular th time ofo whose planet was determined and a number of ascen. government dant powcrs were fictitiously with a view contrived, to reduce, produced under and its influence, every thing which born under its administration. appeared and the versed as th confidents was Th of

of astrology professors thse invisible rulers, will they were well

to this appearance respectable vided they could but ascertain

of their interpreters in th art of giving a Prousurped dignity. th hour and minute of

a person's took upon them. birtit, they cottfidently selves to predict bis mental future vicissicapacities, tudes of life, and the discascs he would be visited with,

!~0

THAUMATUROA,

OR

together of his

with death.*

th

circumstances,

the

day

and

hour

following of ho rcent it date, our

The

and prdiction, that wc cannot of

the resist the

verification giving

of

it

are

In thc account pages. of discovery, is thc voyage of the master, Mr. Thi<}t!c, the th inhoapitabtc shorcs note is subjoined, following FHndcr's own words Captain th lieutennnt, were to!d and it

mctanchoty witti seven

it a place in late Ftindcr'a Captain of the loss relation in a hoat, on titis narrative, hre Mr. qnotc Fowlef, in

of Terra

othcrs, To Austra!!a. we shatt

which This

me a circumstancc aftcrwnrds

evening, which

extraordinary, Whitc we waiting certain cunning voyage, wnntd might would ncr My sutt long but wou!d revent. and

was one Iying at Spithead, else to do, went on shore, and having notbing otd man, natucd told. Pine, to have his fortune ma!! and informed that thc him ship, that on hc was going at ber on a

provcd Mr. Thistle

thought very to bc more so. day to a Th long

hpjoincdbyanothcrvcaHc!. hve !parnt privately hc !ost before the th other loss

arriving Thatsuehwas he added

destination, he intended, Mr. Thisttc man-

but vcssei

that

of his boat's thc

crcw, wisc man,

rcfuscd tnngtcian lic-aring what Mf. and wcrc aftcr told that thc

joined. to givc Thtsdc prcfatory

As to th any

information.

Mtid, wcnt to coninformation ofa

voyage not in csotpe This

thcy the ship

be shipwrccked, woutd M'erc goinp out in whcther tltcy thcy and return to Engtand, ht' was notpennitted to tnlc Mr. Thisttc oftcn told at thc mess-table; thcy with tune titcrc some pain, my boat's was some in a future wcnt crew dcgrcc of part to cmbark thf in

1 remar~cd,

that voyage, ct'cry the Lady ~ctson, amon~t

of apprhension

thot thc time of thc prcdictcd was thon), shipwrcck 1 tnakc no comment, arrivcd. (saysCapt.Piinders,) upon to this but recommcnd a cotntnander, if possible, to story, front consutting fortunc-tcUers. prevent any of his crow It should particuittr master strangc of thse came predictions and his boat's crew wcrc fost bo observed that, as it nmy exactly before appcar, to pass, thc Invcstigator every for the

ELUCnATIOKS Not the

most

0F

THE MARVKLLOUS.

12!

otdy

th rank

highest

distinguishcd homage to thosc in continuai dread anxious to the which countenance cantrip

but persons of people, and stations, nay, even men the did for thcir rank and abi!ities, and !ived gods of thcir idolatry," common of their of occult thse and attentive 'With powers. ears, they listened oracles, days of

causions

th bright prognosticated Even physicians were soHcitous to qualify futurity. than then)se!ves for appointments no less lucrative respectable Mammon,

pretended or gloomy

of :-they forgot, over the dnzzitnghoards that they are peculiarly and professedly the curious student in the univerpupils ofimture.Thc sities found everywhere who underpuMic lecturers, took to instruct chiromancy, him in the profound and th cf/f/. arts of divination, anecdote in the is se-

other th following instances, Among related of th noted Thurneisen, who, venteenth respectable almanack.maker, cian. Me~sengera century, ofnce~ was

at Berlin, with the invested, of printer to ttie court, hookseltpr, a<?tro!oger, daily chcmist, and first physifrom tlie most resarrived

in Germany, houses Po!and, pectable Hungary, and even from ngland, for th purpose Denmark, of consu!ting him respecting th future fortunes* of their new-born him with the infants, acquainting was joincd hy the Lady Nctson, from Port-Jnckson and when thc former ship was condcn)m;d, thc people cmbarked with thcir conttnnndcr on bourd th Porpoisc, which was wrfckcd on n cumt t'ccf, and ninc of the crew wcrc tost. In M70, the passion for horoscopes and <xpounding the The ncwstars, prcv)u!cd in France among th first rank. born child was usuaHy presented nakcd to thc astrologer,

32 hour of

THAUMATURGA, OR

th nativity, and soiciting liis advice and directions as to their managetnent. Many volumes of in the this sing~ujar correspondence are still preserved of this fortunate The business royal library at Berlin. so rapidly, that he found it necessary adept increased to employ a number of subaltern who, assistants, forwith their master, realized considerable together tunes. He died in high reputation and favour with his superstitions contemporaries. The famous Melancthon was a believer and an astrology, and Mazarin were Morin, pension cast th nativities was Tacitus of dreams. interpreter so superstitions as to employ to astrology, anothcr pretender of these two able politicians. in udicinl Richelieu and who Nor

who generally appears superior to superstition, as may be untainted with this folly, seen from his twenty-second of the sixth book chapter of his Annals. himself, In high the repute. time of the civil wars~ astrology was in The royalists and the rebels hud their

as well as their soldiers and th predicastrologers tions of the former had a grt influence over the latter. When Charles tlie first was imprisoned, was consulted for the Lilly, th famous astrologer, who rend th first linpnmcnts in its forcbpnd, nnd the transverse Unes in its hands, nud thencc wrotc duwn its future Cathmine de Mdicis cnrricd Henry IV, when a dcatiny. chi!d, to old Nostradmnus, witoantiqnarics cstccm more forhitt Chronicle of Provence than for his vaticinnting powers. The ight of the rct'crcd seer, with Mheard Mhich stteatned like a ntctcor in the air," terrified th future hcro, who dreaded a whipping from so gnn'c a persona~c.

KLUCDATIONS

OF

THE

MARVRLLOU8.

123

his escupe and in Burnet's is a story which of his own Times, there History how much Charles II was bigotted proves strongly to judicial a man, tliough a king, wttose astrology, tnind was by no means The most unenlightened. hour that should favour ofthe age, Sir William Dugdale, respectable characters Elias Ashmo~e,* Dr. Grew, and others, were members of the astrological character club. Congreve's of Foresight, in Love for Love, was then no uncommon person, though intelligible. Dryden and what is remarkable, his prdiction son Charles, was accomplished. The a date, been cleared up ed that it fonns of so late now, is scarcely humour, of his sons cas:t th nativities the being it would have relating incident to his

one might hope that but, if it be a fact, it must be a!ow. a rational exultation for its irrational

were frequently, as may easily adepts. Astrologers be understood, wit's end when their put to thcir did not corne to pass. Great winds were predictions about the year 1586. foretold, by one of the craft, No unusual stortns. however, Bodin, to happened. save tlie reputation of th art, applied it as a figure to

<~Th Chntdean Sages were nearty put to the route by a quarto pack of artillery, Ored on thcm by Mr. John Chnntber, in t6~i. Apollo did not use Marsyns more inhumaniythan his scourging peu 'this mysticat race; and his personalities However, nNorwtch knight, th !nadcthem8orc)yfee!it. vct'y Quixotc of Astrology, arrayed in th enchanted armout' of his occult authors, cncottntercd this pagan in a most He came forth with" A Defence of Judi. state! carousaL cia! Astrologye, in answer to a trcatise !atc!y pub!ished by Mr. John Chatnbcr. Printed at Knight. By Christopher Cambridge, 16M."

t24

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

sem

rcvo!utions

instances

enough At th commencement

state, at that time. of the

in th

of which !8th

there

were

had /MMMMa/ a sect of astrologers, able sensation on th continent. BIending philosoof and uniting to a knowledge phy with enthusiasm, with acquaintance every chemica! process a profound feeltheir influence over th superstitious astronomy, ings of th people was prodigious; was attended stances th mfatuation in many inwith fatal conseas nearer und

the ilcentury, excited considr-

We shaH relate th Mlowing, quences. home than many now before us.

THE HOROSCOPE, A TALE uF THE 8TAKS. in th rocks, on tlie Avon, as of Clifton, neighbourhood ooking it rols its !azy courses towards the Bristol Channel, stands an edifice, known by the name of Cooke's It consists of a single round and tower, Folly." Vincent's as the remnnnt of some appears at a distance rather extensive than a complete and permet edibuilding, It was built more than two fice, as it now exists. Maurice Cooke ago, by a man narned hold from th arms of a not, indeed, as a strong mortal but as a refuge from the evils of enemv, He was th proprietor of extensive esttes destiny. centuries and while his lady was neighbourhood with her first child, as she was one evening pregnant she encountered a strange walking in their domains, her for ahn~, rewho, pe~tering looking gipsey, ceived but a sma!l sum. The man turned over th in the coin in his hand, and imp!ored a larger gift. On th summit of St.

RLUCDATIONS That," prsent." said th lady,

OP THE MARVRLLOU8. will buy

H5

you food for the food for the ofthe

said the gipsey, Lady," wretched body thnt 1 require and the water~ of th ditch, that. 1 asked your alms for not distrust garments eye, when relate hornbook knowledge." "What, my fathers

it is not the herhs

field, are good enough for Do higher purposes.

be prouder than my me, if my bearing of my sunken do not doubt the strength 1 tell you that 1 can read th skies as they Not than more fami!iar is his to my lady! times to th scholar, are th !ieavcns

to th fute of men.

thou art were

anastrooger?"Aye, so before me, even a home times amidst when

in th

when our people the mighty-in

had tlie

th pyramids of you are told the

of th Israehtes mightier prophets put the soothsayers to confusion of Egypt idle tales but if true, all reckless now. Judah's scattered sons are now desobut they bend and bow to the ourselves; laws and ways of other land-we remain in th stern late as stedfastness of our own." If then," returned the lady, 1 give thee more money, how will it be applied ?" That is not a courteous but 1 will question, craft~man cannot cunning work without his tools, and somc of mine are broken, which 1 seek to repair will be anothcr crown enough. Th lady put th required at th same time intimated men of his art. sum into a desire his hand, und to have a spcianswer it. The most

186

THAUMATUKGA,

OR

should that be? a why, purpose of futurity ? destiny why seek to know th course runs on in a sweeping and resistless tide. Enquire not what rocks await the knowledge your bark cannot avail you, for caution is useless against stern necessity. by your trade, is not for wealth and world have lest none Truly, you are not likely to get rich if you thus doter custotners. It 1 labour to love. learn 1 am alone on i will not mix to hte. th earth, with th

Oh!

to what

1 shouM

to me. It is in communion nothing who have lived in the times that are the stars-those historians

This present ia with th spirits

past, and with of the times to cornethat

1 feel aught of joy. Foola sometimes demand the of my powera, and sometimes exertions 1 gratify their childish 1 lie Notwiihstanding curiosity. under predict bear. the of folly, imputation unto me the fate of th Wel!, you have Note the precious world, a week joy of and the the soon birth 1 wiU beg that you child winch 1 shalt obliged me, and 1 will moment after of you at shall which sec it me the

comply. entera the again." ~Vithin clamorous

an lieir

awokc

strange gipsey to he returned and th next day Thse learned, home Sir Maurice with a scroll, containing the presented following lines Twenty time8 shati Avon's tide In chains of glistening icf be ttcd Twenty times thc woods of Lcigh StmU wave thcir branches tncrrti

and summoned th vassale ascertain th necessary points.

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THK

MARVHLLOUS.

!~7

Jn spring burst forth in mantic gay, And dancc in snmmer's scorching ray Twenty times shat! antumn's frown, Wither an their green to hrown And stit! thech!!() of yestcrday Sha!I !augh the happy hour away. Thttt period past, nnothcf sun Shn!! not his annual journey run. Before a secret silent foe, Stt)t!l strike that boy a deadty blow. Such, and sure his fatc shaH bp Seck not to change tus destiny. The knight read it and in that a science as logy was considered prophecies, delity to it would have doubted have been the truth age, when astro. as holy unerring little less than infiof the prediction. to withold enough to lier in-

Sir Maurice, was wise however, th paper from his lady and in answer quiries,

asserted that the gipsey was an continually and that the object of his assurning the impostor, character was merely to increase her alms. Thc fated as we tached are child th in heaith grew most the usually and more beauty strongly and atof brevity of his son Maurice.

to pleasures in proportion to the so did the melancholy fate continuance, more nrmiy fix him in the heart of Sir

Often' did the wondering lady observe the countenance of her husband with surprise, as watching th enof the boy, his countenance, at dearing sportiveness first brightened duaMy darkcned press his by th smile of paternal love, grato deepest grief, till unable to supcover the child with he would tears,

128

THAUMATUttGA,

OK

and rush from thc room. To aU inquiries, caresses, Sir Maurice was silent, or returned evasive unswers. We shaH pass over th infuncy of young Walter, and resume tlie narrative at the period in which hc cntcred into his twentieth vear. H!s mother was hoth girls, and had left two othercluidren, shared little of thcir father's love, who, however, fixed on Walter, and which was almost exclusively now dead, to encrease appeared grew near. iu strength that evcnt. as the hc took fatal time

It is not to be supposed tion against tlie predicted that suggestcd th horoscope, overlooked conditional determined some aud a mistake or that

no precau. Sometimes hope bcen made iu have might circumstancc latter idea hc

might hve thc astrologer made with the th

sign which in unison a strong his doom

to crect

th year in which remam in Wniter might for raising a smge gave directions formed to prevent ingrcss, except its inhabitants. Th purposc of this however, numerous hc kept secret and his vain conjectures, gave

where, duri!)g building, was to be consumated, solitude. He accordingly tower, strange peculiarly of by permission

building, after neighbours, it th name of ignorant answercd of the wit!i

"Cookc'sFoUy." was kept entirely himsclf, Walter, werc and all his inqmries ~u!)ject, tears. At

d~ towc)' was compictcd, and icngth furnished with all thiugs for comfort and uecesaary and on thc c\e of Waltcr's convcnicnce completing his twentieth Sir Maurice ~hewcd him th year,

BLUMDATION8

0F

THE

MARVKLLOUS.

!29

him to make use of th gipsey's scroU, and begged for him till the year rctreat prepared exj)i!'ed. at nrst treated th matter Wa!ter lightly, laughed at th prophecy, and dechn'ed he would not !ose a in th world were year's liberty if aU th astrologers to croak thcir ridiculous ag-ainst lum. prophecies his father so earnestly bent on thp Seeing, however, his rsolution matter, began to give way, and at length he consented followlng morning, tower, which he fastened would manner vohjntary occasioned fear admit, equally prison by the and firm. with loss to th arrangement. Walter therefore, within He six the entered thc At

-winch

as strongly as iron bars was secured outside in a took possession feenng~, of his rather

me!anchoty of prsent

He sighed pain. th wlde domain before how sad him, and thought it be to hear the joyous horn summoning his would to~ th chase, and find himself prevente(i companions frotn attending hear thc winter wind howhng itto round his towcr, and rushing betwccn th rocks bcnoath him, and miss th chcerfui song and merry jest, pleasant which were wont to make even thc b!ast a his time passed as pleaCertainty He drew up in ~antly as circumstances permitted. a basit, which the at his meal hours, every luxury and sisters daily conseason produced. His father sound. versed with him from below, for a considerable raiscd his latigliteitime; and the morris-danccrsoften movements. by their grotesque and Waltcr still thus passed, Wceks and months His own and hfs sistcrs' was well and cheerful.
K

of future

than th pleasure, as he looked upon

130 more hopes grew Maurice increased. to restore his son

THAUMATURGA,

OR

of Sir but the anxiety hvely, Th day drew ncar which was in conndent to his arms sccnrity~ left him without an

or to ftdn th prdiction which heir to his name aud honours. On the

afternoon Walter continually preceding of endeavoured to chccr his parent, by speaking dcsired hi$ sisters what he would do on the mnrrow that he might to send round to all their friends, stretch continued that the his iimbs even Sir fiery spirits once more in th caught youth. on, and usual to tak of th future Maurice of the and merry dnnce with much confidence, u spark of hope from sisters him were about at~ix ifhe by it wanted

Asthenightdrew to leave him, promising' to their song, in answer

his

to wake

inquiry

more that night, said he, anything Nothin~ and 1 hve !ittle and yet the nig-ht fee!a chily, me one ntore ~gg'ot." This was sent fuel eftsend said he. is th him, and as he drew it up, This," last old Sir time 1 shaH have woman Maurice with and for work to the still to dip for tlank arm." window in water hke an my wants, God i for it is

wearisome conversation

under the Jingered his son, who at cngtti

Mark," drowsy. mark fnthcr. window, h)oks smilingly starofmy~tG, to-ni~ht, welL" Sir Maurice oo!<cd upa dark

of being cold he closed the

complained said he, as Mars, the a!lwiUbe c!oud spot

crosscd t!ic planet, and !ie sbuddered at th suddenly The anxious omen. father could not leave th spot. and hc therefbre Siecp hc knew it was vain to court,

BLUCIDATtO~S

O?

THE

MARVBLLOUS.

131

determined that time high

to remain

where

he was.

Th reflexions at one of his

his mind continuaHy varied occupied he painted to himself the proud career

and admired spirited boy, known among th a moment after he saw the pre. mighty of his time and th child of his love lying in the diction verified, tomb. Who can conceive his feelings as hour dragged watching brightenpd with hasty after the hour, b!aze sunk while of the he nre walked in the to and tower, pacing th fro, as it court

and

heart, which was not to be lightened by the cheerful voices of his who came running full of hope to th daughters, was foot of the tower. They looked up, but Walter heavy not there Nay," to thinks ;-they said th callcd his name, this youngest, he answered is only a jest he is safe." not. lie

preservation thedral beU struck

steps, of his son

againnow and now praying The hour

fervently for the came. Th ca-

on the fatlier's

A us, but 1 know frighten a ladder, servant had brought which he ascended, and he looked in at the window. Sir Maurice stood immoveabte answered is asleep," father. The and and said silent.-He he. broke looked up, and the man He the the anxious expression of his cyes. He is dead murmured

servant

th opening father, changing lished anxiety, thrown playcd a serpent

a pane of glass in th window, entered the room. The casemcnt, his gloomy stedfastness for frenzied

Th servant had up th ladder. aside the curtains and thc clothcs, and disto th eyes of Sir Maurice, his son lying dead, twined round his arm, and his throat
K 2

co-

~2 vercd with

THAUMATUROA, b]ood. The reptie fuInHed

OR had crept up the

the ;)ro~< fag'~ot last sent him, and To this happy enbrt of the imagination into futurity, with ofpning' nmy be added, intention, THK PATKD PARRYCtDE i A<: ORIENTAL 8TAU8.
ihmhim and was unh'cr~nHy Mis arnnes cetebmted were ~r formidable,

in faveur th same

TALE 0F THE

his

riches his

mag'nidcence.

and J)i8 trcasury inexhaustih!e. sp~cndid, what was ton t!~ousand times Hc enjoycd, moreover, more sohd and mnre va!uah!c than richesihc love and vnration ofhi:? su~ccts aud he had a beautifu! could be found on happiness earth. Al thse advanta~cs enti~cd hrahhn to th of the Sotomon of his ge and yet Ibra. appeHation him wa8 not happy. A son was wanting to crowu In vain did a heart formcd for au the jns felicity. to supply charities of thc weddcd statc, cndeavour of nature, by th adoption of a son in vain to dcceive his heart, bycnrc!<. did gratitude endcavonr to be the natugeswhich any other wonid havcthous'ht rai en'as.ions ofnha!sen~ibi!ity, ofnha! tion thatheartince~ant!yperccivcd vivions of hope began to Even th consolatory itself. whcM heavcn at apt heard !es8 frquent, His ~row AIa8 in th very instant that Fortune prayers. grashe often bctray~ tiner our ibndcst wishes, u~ and her smUe" are a thousand times more fata! than hcr piety and a~eca solitude within the rcfu~ in whose young wife, coud find happinessif cndcaring tendcrnegs atone he

victorics

ELUCJDAT10N8

OP

THE

MARVELLOU8.

133

frowns. throughout monstrations

The th

birth

of the

empire

complete. th sentiments form of the

of juy. He was perpctuaHy and

by The felicity

was prince th customary of

celebrated

pubHc dIbrahim was

paternal life. Impatient

royal solicitude

hopes infant. Scarce

revo!ving in his mind which the nation would was he born, when as it were, his whole

embraced, to know his

into futurity, plunged wrest from time, the

destiny, that solicitude if possible, to determined, secrets of whic~ he was the some sages particuconfidence of heaven. He th stars, and to report said th sages; thou were

~uardian. hoary.headed In Ibrahim's dominions

with the larly Itonoured commanded them to eonsult their skies answer. TremMc, unfortunate

tremble Never before have th father, such inauspicious Let him omens. presented

let him avoid, fly; let this son. too dear to you, ny if possible, th meeting with any savage beasts. His ssvcnth year is the fatal one; and if he should happen ihat hangs over him, then, to escape th misfortune ah father, do not will wish not him to live. His father, his very be able to escape from the hand of a the sultan into th deepest coninto absolute He deter-

parricide." This answer sternation.

threw He did

which paternal precautions tenderness cou!d suggest, to defeat the prediction of the astrologers. caused a kind of He, therefore, suhterranean to be made on th summit of a palace t!ie lofty mountain. The labour and expense of th exca..

his despondency mined to take all

not sink, however, soon revived. courage

!34 vation

THAUMATURGE,

OR

was prodigieux. Extensive wa!~H wcrc ~brmed, with a varicty of apartmentp, in which every thing was provided that could contribute to the convenicnIn this magninhis son, as it were, inhumed cavern, Ibrahim, with his governess, of whose care and fidelitv together he had no doubt. Provisions were constantly carried ces, cent thc thither at stated gle day bcloved treasure, his own eyes. Th king forgot not a sin. periods. to visit th mountain that contained his and With to he satisned what delight With of his son of his safety with did he behoM the what p~ea8urc saillies of and even luxuries of life.

beaut!es growing and rapture did he Jisten

wit, his smart rcpartecs, Mo~~s wbich a father, in particular, is fond to recollect and to repeat at which the most rigid gravity may smile, and which are worth a! the understanding of riper years. minutes He that was th Itours and perpetuauy counting he had to spend with bis son and he secing him

to his spnghtiy and those pretty

for not himself, incessantly rpproached more frequently. was bis namc, Shah Abbas, for such reachpd his se~'enth

that fatal year, Ibrahim would fain have delayed, cvcn fit the expense He wou!d never !eavc Itis son a minute. of his crown. to cscapc our destiny ? is it possible But, f~as one dny to hi'< pH!ace by affairs of the Summoncd }e !pft the mountain with exig'cncy, pressing had Shah Never Abbns ap. rcluctance. extrme pearcd wore nminb!e in his father's eyea, never had most to his son Each nppenrcd more a~cctionate an unaccount' was tormented by an uneagy sensation, Ibrahim

at length which ycar,

HLUCDATONS 0F THE MARVELLOU8. able

more!

135 no th

prescntiment
1

that were

tlicy

were

to meet wild

there

Some ardeur

robhers of thc

hunting

beasts

them to this mountain. pursuit brouglit A lion that flecl from them, th sabterraperceived ncous passsage, and took refuge in it. Th robhers, who durst not follow him, sequel of this udventure. vtolcnt scream, and presently all was silent. This to them, that the cuvern now consilence sug~ested not a living crature, but th lion. tained, They threw down waited, however, for the On a sudden, they heard a

a quantity of stones, which soon put an of the formidable animal. end to the existence They into the cavern, securing then descencled tbemselves from th lion by cutting off from ail furtiier danger lus head. subtcrraneous prodigious a slauglitered Wandcring palace, riches which through every part were astonished they of this at the

they beheld. They perceived woman: tins was th prince's governess. blood, who shewByher side lay a child coveredwith some signs of life. his ed, however, They examined not one of tt~cm dangerous. wounds: t!)cy fouud The of thse captain cavcrn of its valuable prince's wounds banditti, after corttents, and c~ccted himsclf, th stripping dressed th young a cure. The

hirR to the growing qualities of Shah Abmas endeared chief, who adopted him as his son, and distinguished of a paternal heart. as such by all the tenderness Itim ~ince Ibrahim had first had clapsed Some years the losa of a son, who, having becn con. deplorcd of tlie natnc and titles of lus father, stantiv ignorant his origin to thc robbers, had been unal)le to explain

t36

THAUMATURGA,

OR

was

soon

to become

their

chipf.

Such which

were the unto th him to

nccountable

compktion hecome oneday divert his grief this exercise

of fortune, caprices ofthe that prophecy, a

Icd had destined

Ibrahimwaswontto parricide. of th chase and by the pcasurcs soon became aioost his only occupation.

that !te bad straycd, with a very sonder One evening a escort, into the defiles of a very soiitary mountain, rushcd upon him. Th combat for of rohbers troop sometime was furious. An an'ow pierced the !dn~ of vengeance h) his attendants~ and they fbught, determined to conquer or die. The murderer was taken, They werc soon victorious. and conducted to th metropolis, that he might undue to his crime. dcrgo the punishment it excitecl th spirit on the bed of death, Ibrahim, to attend him, and thus logers was to hve but son th Mow/ to seek summoned addreesed th astrothem

perished, yuu told me, it is th hand of a rohber Sire," answcrcd

by th hand of a that bas inflicted fbrbear

the sages,

The cxplanation~ robber"They Th young robber appcars, and no further. proceed relates his history. whilc he bowed in subIbrahim, mission to God, and adored His Inscrutabic decrees, blessed Him a~o for having restorcd his son and the tears Abbas, which werc he saw now from tbc a consotation in his dyin~ eyes of moments. Shah

an

KLUCIDATION8

0F THE MARVELLOU8.

137

APPLICATION

0F A8TROLOCY TO THE PROLONGATION OFLIF1'C. to the means

Astrology of

was

also made

subservient

but how an art which human life prolonging dtermines thc fate of mortals, and ascertains the of th grave, could limits impassable consistcntly bc made we arc subservient to such a. purpose, rather at a lof-s to conccive, accounted for unkgs as follows. Th teachers of divination maintained, that not and only nay men, even but who!e were aU natural countries, under the As the soon discovered bodies, including plants, animais, place some the under every of govemment as the mastcrs of ttieir tables, or distcmper by

fnmily,

particular planet. occult science had what consteHation

by misfortune

ofany personorigit~tcd, than that he should

nothingfarthcrwasrequired, remove to a dwe!ling ruled

an opposite and confine himsetf planet, of food anddrin~aswerc to such articles influence of a dnrent star.

exclusively under thc

Inthisartincmimanner

to form a systcm, classior peculiar they contrived fication of planets, Solar, Mercurial Lunar, namely, of and th like-and hence arose a confused map with rfrence when considered dictated rules, which, to th purposes of hcaith, exercise etc. ceanliness, form remarkable contrasts to those of th Greeks. and repulsive method was not prventive to persons who suffered under some merely 'confined disordcr even individuals, who a bodily enjoyed of heaith, if an unlucky constellation good state But this

138

THAUMATURCIA,

OR

to forebode a severe di~ease, or any otber happened misfortune, were directed to chousc a pluce of residcnce InUm'nccd bv a more iriendiv star-or to adopt such aiment propitious influence Jt wa~ niso oniy, us being undcr cotinteract star, might of its antagonist. the auspices of a the maligaant

and maulbelievcd pretty generally sub. tamcd, that a sort of intimate relation orsympathy sisted bctween metals and p]ants hcnce thc nattes of th latter werc given to th former, in order to dcnote

this supposed The eorrcspondconnexion and a~nity. into a common mass, under ing metals wcre me~ed a certain planet, and were formed into small medas, or with the firm persuasion, that hc who coins, carried such a pice about his person, mig!tt cou. of th fidently expect th whole favour and protection planet, easy
anotber;

thus the

represented,* transition is from this may

Thus

how wc peroive one degree of folly to

help to account for the shockand in th ing delusions manufacturing practised of a peculiar to mould, weariug of mctaUic amulets
and

attributed, by a sort of magie influence, th power and protection of th respective planet these charms were thought to posscss virtue gunicient to overrule hour the bad effects of birth, to promote and to be of potent in matters profit, cnicacy commerce and matrimony. Th German soldiers, th dark ngure superstitious of Mars, cast and and ages, engravcd bclieved under that prcsaged by an unlucky to places of honour and of in

which were

if th

tlie sign of

Viftc Amulcts

passitn.

ELUCinATtONS the render military were battle We chimem remarks work,* then or

0F

T!!K

MARVELLOUS. th insure reaeon either it to

139 would their

Scorpion, them

wcrc invulneraltle,

worn

about and the

neck, success why

enterpriseshence found taln so upon prisoner. far concde and every

amulets MUed in

soldier,

shaH of in which

thse medicine of Chamber

observations with th

on following Kni~ht's

tlie

ustrology the ~vords dtends

against science, nothing accord

this It

fanciful demonstrates It confutes,

if science while ing to

it may be it dfends

caned. every thing.

Lilly's

work,

a vo!nminous

it is folly of tlre age, wnsso!d originally fourguineas; entitled Christinn in thtce treatct!, Astrology," modcstly student in Astrology, 2nd. cdit!on books, by W!UiHm Lilly, isembojtishcdwtth a horoscope !(i59. which, page Every sitting t'aciiity. star LiHy's gaxer, grt on the pretending Thcre is also an skill admirable in lie cxplnins tt'ipod, Il portrait of this inustration there for goes him LiHy which thcre wisttcd that were, his if it to is with arch thc utmost. and As story point to th had much he did to rogne I~nvatcr. p~c)~a~~nt

quarto for

monument

of

thc

prnphccy,

related by akinsmnnofDr.C)tsc,tn8 thnt a person to consuh ~anting to his honse one tnorning, coming door, more offcndcd but such that know an hc saw wit a pice of ntthy than tnanncrs, at its who citrnon hnd tcft

succcssornntnpty~ on n ccrtinn hint8c!fgoit!g some one, and who

hcing

nnsightty appearance had trcatcd in hnn !cgney, thcm n8 it

hearti!y manncr hy in which his

Icaving

nnwp!cotne punish mi~ht the when au, discover rcmark snid dented

ohservin~ at thing who shou!d canstic

conjurer for hc, yonr

accordingly demanded rm sure doo< rctating

t4!etli, vcry his custonK'r Kofind ont you this

business, you can~t

bas

own

anything lie lufthim.

impossible nnd with tne/'

HO

THAUMATURGA, it allges

OR facts in

own ideas Knight's faveur of astrological

a few scattered

wh!ch productions, may be of fablingwhich picked np in that Immenslty disgrces He strenuousiy or ridicules, what dnies, history. the greatest writers have said of this fanciful art, while he lays great from stress on sume passages obscure authors, or what is worse, from autliors of no author!ty.Th the close where of Mr. enriched is at however, pleasant part~ he dfends th art from th objections Chamber had Chamber by rcrimination. he himself and when by mcdlcal practice, astrologers pence, Sir to gain a aiming catches fire, and Christopher that if we are to despise an hy merely to or for the subsist, its vital prinagainst most

th charges few beggarly

shews by his quotations, art hy its professer:; attempting which may be raised lections ciples, we

most heartily to ought by this argument tlie mdical and medical men he science, despise gives all hre he can collect against physic aud phyof Galcn and Hipand from the confessions sicitms, Aviccnna and Agrippa, medicine is made pocrates, to appear Itscif. a vainer science than cven astrology

and lus pretended science, were Lilly's opinions, ofthc age, tliat thc learned such favourites Gataker* The Rcvcrend and learned Thotnns ftatxkcr, with whotn in his Annotations on the Li!!y WH8engaged it) a dispute, tenth chaptcr of Jcretniah and 10 th verse, caUcd him u "b!ind Li!!y rcncc'tcd again on his antabuxxHt'd,and gonist in his ~/H)<M<?~c&ro~MA. Air. G<:takcr*3 reply was untitled Thotna!! Gatakcr, B. I). his Vindication of the annotation by him publit<hcd uj)on thse words, "thus saith

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THK

MARVRLLOUS.

141

wrote the

profpsscdly head of his rephed prdictions, grave. written of in

against star.expounding to, but and Gataker his

this

popular 'iends,

delusion. LiUy not

~t oniv

fbrmaHy in his

pcrsccuted cven struck died almanack

Gataker at his ghost,

annuaHv when

beyondthe having month Une Hoc Hcrc had dicted empty einpty, morta! But

in July for that

1C54, ycar,

andLilIy, for the latin

August,

the

foUowing

barbarous

in tum~o. tutnb

in this the

jacct pn'sbytcr HcH a prcsbytt'r to death assert, But the

et and that

nebttJo a knavc, he i~, let that Styx. of more had it it tlic wns stood itn.

impudence

j)re. un

Gataker's epitaph reader, fet'ryman hcar that to for

truth to

the ttic

J~odgings ~rst cnrry impostcr

passenger ovcr 0!d t!)c

siion!d arch

Patridge

th that varions

Lord," grand

(Jcr.

x.

2~ ngainHt

thc

scurntous a!so

spcrstoxs

of

ns impostf)rWH!iatn L!!)y; of tH'o clf his advocatcs expositions by !)int citcd but not niuncd. thc thctnschcs, M'herein

andanother th Annotations

<))c n~ninst Mf John Swan, with Tn~ctho' grounds in produc~'d 4th part this pit'cc pic-ce ft'O)))

prctcndL'd proofs !653, on

and thc of judiciary strotogy, to it, are discusscd :u)d t'ct'ntcd. 192. Our author mnking 1().')4 ca!h'd and lond !nid a

scriptnrc

London, animndvcrsions

inhis'Kn~tishMcrIin, Mr. Gatakc! Li!s G:)4, own tc\vd, aredcarty

prodnccdnthird Discoursc potcgcticttt, tics in his Mcr!io or hisshamch'ss his and abotninahic M~r~M

wht't'cix

opfn;

for Pasqui! dsertion ofhis shtndcrs fnHy

causc'fnftherdiscovt'rcd, and his nudicious rcfutcd, to a ~encrt cvidcntty massacre etc. of Cod'~ Londun

known,

ministcrs, 16j4.

tnind, incitin~ fro.n tus own pcn,

142 modern

THAUMATUROIA, date whose ~t/pr~

OR

The prnctiec of astrology andtlieoretical." (Astrouomyandjudicud us how to know The first teaches

appear to have no end. is dividedinto spculative astt'ology). the stars und

Tlie and to nnd their places and motions. plante, of th influence second directs us to the knowledge of th stars and phmets upon subhmary and oprations andwithout this last th former is of Httte bodies, use. secret planets, art of Astronotnycannot and influences without
astrolo~y.

direct operations assistance

and of

inform th

usofthe stars and

th

of th

most ~/<~<?

For astronomy is conversant about the suhject of this art, and doth furni~h th astrologer his judg~ment, but with matter whereon to exercise this matter into prdictions, or disposes astrology rational "Th conjectures, as time and occasion require. subdivided intotwo practice agamis parts, or as Ptolorny the first (Hb. 2) dclares quadripartite, state of th world, the gnral and from considers and cornets, annual revogreat conjunctions, ccHpses and lunations, also th ingrcssions and settin~ of th nxed jStars, cnhnmating', rising, with th configurations of th pianets both together to th sun nnd among themselves, is judgment and th astrotoger doth frame his annua! deduced, lutions, quarterly of all sen~itive and vgtative predictions things Iving in thc air, carth, or watcr of plague, plenty, tuarth, mutations of th air, wars, peacc, and other general accidents of countrics, cities, etc. provinces, parts, in particuhu', respecta only th privatc state of cvery single man and woman, which must hc pcrjEbrmcd frotu thc The second of thse subdivided

RLUCIDATON8 OP THK MARVELLOUS. "chme of th

143

the knowlcdgc of which is of nativity, most excellent use to all persons. Therefbrc let the nativities of children be diligently observed for the that is to say, t!ic day, hour, and minute of future, birth as near as can be, which will be of use to the for th most principal astrological physician, conjecof the malignity it be ture of th disease, whether or shall end with dcath, the curable, dpends upon of th nativity and very rarely any disknowledge a person, but some unfortunate or ascendant of the luminarics to th body, of m~iguant or operate, sase invades direction or beams

th samje, or did then panets prcceded at lcast sorne evil rvolution, profecor tion which cannot bc discovered transit, by any other way but by astroiog'y. it would be Moreover, th truc time ofthe nrstfaHing convenient that sick be obscrved precisely, and by that, be judiciousiy nativity, comparcd, and gain more credit than by all !ns <~hcr ski)! the astrolo~er's shuJt often contrahercin, foresight dict th judgmcnt of thc physician for when thc a phlegnmtic forete!!s man, that at such a astrologer time he shaH he afllicted with a choleric disease, th doctor will astro!o~er, of nature, Now th perceive by lus j)hysicai symptme from his know!cdc~e in more secret causes bath exeelled hhn in his art. if God do not countcrmand or AImi~hty course of nature, or th nmttcr of hre below be not unproportionunapt why, to reoive in a natural their impressions, aud physical neshould not succced with the together thc physician shall

check thc ordinary bodies elementary able, there ce~ity, and thcreby is no reason astrological

predictions

t~

THAUMATUHQIA,

OR

and

take

which trative by

by how much the knowledge we hve by th known causes ia more dmonsand infallible than that which we have either
effect, and

signs

or enects,

Ai<tro!ogy Phystc." ~aith attained

physictau he l~d skt! llum upon

appear Cardan, If by the art of Astrology he had not better to thc knowledge of lus diseases, than thc that would ha.ve administcred to him by his heen assm'cd!v cured by death, rather (Vide h)! Comment. it appenrs it is be skilful in as.

doth by this companton to be preferred before worthy who was an excdent physicinn

so much

alive by physic. preserved PtoL Quidrepart.) From that

hencc

th physician should but on th contmry, c~ ~MOt'M ~Mo MOM trolo~y, cannot hc a physician ~~f~cMrnM~ evcry astrologer if th nativity be but precisely known, ot' if, but <if&MW or S!~o~t~ and withal sume not/f~ neceas~ry able accidents of sickness, danger ofdrowning, or other, th like accidents by fire, marriage, forcscen." Th peril may bc

were a set of cunning, astrologers cqni vocal of whom rogue'< j: th more cautious oniy uttcrcd in obscure and ambiguous thcir prognostications !autimcs, might he apphed to all thitt~s, Anahnanac~maker, princes, and nations whatever. in clear and prcise words, a Spanish friar, predicted, of Henry th Fourth of France and th death he had no faith in ~tar-gaxing, Pierre, though yct, guage, which ahn'med at wbatcver mcnaced th life of a belovcd consulted with some of th kin~'s friends, sovcrei~n, and had thc Spanish ahnanac!aidbcforch~Majc<-ty, who cont'tcou~y thain~cd them fnr tbcir so~icitudc,

ELUCDATIONS

0F

THR

MAKVELLOUS.

145

utterly and curred, spread diction acquainted instrument Cornelius a perverse profess altogether taking secrets happens to his of

but

slighted in the own thefriar, with for

the

prediction

the

event

oc-

the following year, farne in an new almanack. was the plot, purposes the or result from of those either his

Spanish L~ This prof hia being being made an were. astrologers of men, meantime and who are under-

the

who

Agrippa rightly and prepo8t$cou8 future things, of past

designates generation but and in the present

to know

ignorant ail tell at own

abroad, in their But

most obscure and hidden people the same know not what time, houses." for

this Agrippa And soltd lying, And

The

profound was renown'd and Floud, Ant!tropo80phus,

.~acob Behmcn, understood Kncw many an mnuict and chann good nor harm. Ho un(lerstood the speech of birda As well as they themselves do words Could tell wbut subtlest mean parrots Thut speak and think Whnt membcr 'tis of contrat, clean whom thcy talk, knave, \Vhy thcy cry, ropc ~watk, He conid foretcll whtevcr was would do neither

That

watk.

to corne to paHS By consequence As death of great men, altrations, inundations Discascs, battles, AU this without th' cctipsc o* th* sun, Or.dreadfui comet, hc hath donc By inward light, a way as good, And casy to be uudcrstood But with more lucky bit than those That use to make thc stars
L

dpose

40

THAUMATURGA, OR As if tbey were consenting to AM miachief !n the word men do < Or like the devil, did tempt and 8way *ctn To rogueries, nd then betray 'cm.

with th our astrological atrictures which a~M'dsasilneasattnadvertisement, following It is to be met with. cal specimen of quackery a~8 extraeted from almanack for 1~73 poor Ro~m's" and may not be without ita use, to many at the present day. W will vouch for.it being harm!e88, but, as we are not in the secret of all that it contains, our that from readers may other to get the information endeavour be wanted, on certain important points, quarters. It will must

We shall conclude

that shew, however, the almanack did not live upon the best astrobgera but like their were constantly terms, predecessors, and attacking each other. abusing ADVBRT8KMENT. How moies~and dreams are to be interpreted. When most proper season to bleed. Under what asBjjt~ of the moon bcst to draw and eut corns. of nails, on what day teeth, Tatring What the kindest unlucky. sign to graft or inoculate in to open bee-Mves, and kill swine. How many hours boiHng my Lady Kent's pudding requires. time With sol,ved, and other by notable me questions, Sylvester near the Gun in Moornelds<" likewise may be had~at refully and faithfully student Patridgc, in physic reasonable rates, The best to eut hair.

astrology, Ofwhom

ELUCIDATIONS

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THE

MARVELLOU8.

!47

'Washes for love-powdere. false calves and noses, freckles, plumpers, glass-eyes, and a new receipt to tum red hairintoblack. ivory-jaws, the best of the Old Robin's almanack was evidently cant with and free from ail the astrological time, trusaes, antidotes, elixirs, which against The motto Merlinus Patridge's which Poor Robin to his title runs Liberatus did thus not ~Hed a little declaim. was

We use wcathcr-wise predictions Nor any such-like airy fictions But (whieh we think is much the best) Write the plein truth, or crack a jcst And (without any further pretence) Confess we write, and think of the pence For that's the aini of all wbo write, Profit to guin, mixed with detight. Poor with no old Robin little attacked the astrologers of his day How different a task is

vehemence

for man to behave so in this world as it," says he, it A man who to please all the people that inhabit makes use f his best endeavours to please every body is sure to please but very few, and by that means which may very possibly be displease a great many But (be that as the case with poor Robin this year. it will) old Bob is sotnetimea well pleased, when and such like, fbols, coxcombs, rogues, prick-eared are the most displeased at him be it therefore is only men of sense and integrity, (whether they have much money or no money) that he bas any, (the least) regard for 1 see very plainty~ accounted if that an humble man is (generally) base known, that it

!4S

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

he is esteemed otherwise, p~OM~; a bold look is looked upon as ~MtfpMcc if modest, (then to be sure) he must be hypocritical; to a ~~?M~ is grave, it is owing of temper if affable, he is but ~M~e if strictly just, then cruel must be his cha. regarded then (of conse. racter but, if merciful and forbearing, 1 chala siy, sheepiah-headed foo! Now, quence) if his behaviour lenge all th A88.TROLOGER8 andcoKjuRBRs, out th whole to deinonistrate kingdom, the whimsey-headed retain of different through. that all

so vastly different 1 say, 1 call upon (wholly) owing

men whSh different opinions actions, together with their being at different times, one from another them the At.L to prove, that STARRY influences they are There

to

n general as many different ideas being, (1 believe) and conceptions as there are in the mind of mankind, and counteuances." vat'iety of complexions His observations on the fourpunequal of the quarters humorous, year, as he terms them, are no less satirical, and full of truth, and so much in with opposition" others of the trade, that poor old Robin, in good sense and trite remarks, carries away the palm from ail his and contemporaries; indeed, he is so little predecessors of an astrologer, of consulting th anthat, instead and trines, of the planeta~ gles, aspects, conjunctions he is vulgar enough to attach more importance to th t~bstantia~s and doings of this nether world. We prsent which, our readers though following as a spcimen, in his usual way, a little rough-mouth. is free from that almanack-cant which vocations of his fellow-labourers with the

ed, oceasionally characterises th in the same

ncid.

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELMUS.

149

SPRING, season in the whole being the most delightfui year, as it comes the next after a long and coldwinter makes it as welcome as it is delightful for now the lengthening days afford full time for every body but which, drunkards and watchmen to nnish their besides some day's works by day-light, to watk abroad, to see the fine new livery Dame Flora has now dscked out Mother respective time to spare with which Earth. In

the opening of the Spring, when all nature begins to recover herself, the same animal pleasure which makes the bird sing, and the whole brute creation rejoice, rises in the hearts of mahkind. This very sensibly will bring whole shoals of mackerel, and quarter likewise gooseberries, cherries, plenty of green pease cheese'cakes, let But, vernal within and custards. us now into moralize,-and real virtue; satisfaction improve and, when these wennd

arising from the of the creation, to whom we beauties may we consider for all these various gratifications indebted and stand of sens who it is that opens thus entertainments his But so hand, and fil!s the world with good is ended; Boon as this quarter i. e. there, or then, or thereabout, for in this case a day or two can break no great squares-I will (as usual) say this quarter be followed by the SUMMER, when, their and at which time the days will hve attained and consequently the nights the

delights ourselves

a secret

greatest,

t50

THAUMATURGA,

OR

June, in which month this quarter is said will retain some likeness, if not ex' hibit th perfections but the two next of the Spring lengths. to begin, months will perhapa have lsa vigour, succeeding but a grcater degree of heat for, as they pass on, they will be ripening the fruits of the earth whiist the the industrious Dog star is shooting hie rays amongst, farmer for enough uponhishanda now he expects to be reaping and gathering together the returns but then he mut expect, of his labour to bear the heat and burthen of the day. nevertheless, This quarter a man in the very justly represents full vigour of health and strength the beauty of the The strength of Summer is of short Spring is gone It will very soon be succeeded by Autumn and thus (0 reader) do then consider, thus, hast thou seen the seasons, two, three, or four times return in regular succession remember that the -time continuance is be coming, for ever when hid all from opportunities thine eyes of this sort remember will if forty have thee will have business

shortest

1 say, 1 would years have passed thee, that thy spring is gone, thy sunomer alremember, a very serious most spent 1 Have then, therefore, view of thy past, and, (if it please God) retrospective a fixed resolution to amend thy prolonged life then being now arrived almost on the eve of AUTUMN begins this year th time thereabouts, namely, when the nights which or (as usual) when, or then, th Summer quarter ends begin to grow longer and the

BLUODATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

151 J

the barns are shorter this is the time when days nUed with wheat, which soon mustbe thrashed out, in order to be sowed again. This also is the time when th orchards abound with fruits of the kind, and conse. th properest time to make cider. quently Lamentable now must be the case of those women

poor

who, in this quarter, happen to long for green or strawberries for 1 dare assure them, pease upon that they can get the ~OMP~ word of an astrologer, none under on this side of next the notion Easter. Some now-abouts of soldiers, shall sally out at night or perhaps lie in embuscade for a rope upon Pullen, of onions, as if they were Welsh freebooters. Loss of money may be recovered by industry but to be a fool-born, or a roguein are dinature, seases incurable. in any quarter of the year, this is a certain presage of a wedding, when almost always are agreed, and the parson in readiness an parties and then you must be sure to have money in readiness too, or your intended But a miscarriage. tying the knot, when dinner and be merry go to the tavern and be merry rise next morning and go to supper and be merry and let the world know, that a married be merry life is a p!entinil life, when people have good estates a fruitful happy ought and an they have many children Jife, when man and wife love each other as they to do, and never quarrel nor disagree~ life when to prove marnage may happen those who are able to pay for it is fairly tied, may go home to Remember that time and

t52

THAUMATURMA~

OR

OP THE WINTBR QUARTES. But ing, now cornes rainy, on th cold, dirty, dithenng, pout~

blustering, thoughts

stormy, frcezing, blowing, shivering, cruel the very called winter; quarter of it are enough to fright one but that it happens merry very to be introduced Christmas much yet resemMos extreme (this year) by it is the luat and old age

very luckily fat a good, worse, and accompanied much like

longest long nights yet, in this unconofortahe nevertheless, quartcr, you may ofcomfbrt~ possibly pick up some crumbs provided good store of the ready Rhino, you have good health, and a good wife, and other good things about you especially influences withstanding such cases loins and mutton, thcwatery trine and tbe the TJrsus honour a conscience for then the starry good mut necessarily notappear very bemga, of th weather for in inclemency there will be frequent conjunctions of sirribs of beef aspects of legs and shonlders of of loins of veal, shining near from for triplicity ofplumb-porridgctogetherwith sextile of minced pies; collared brawn and sturgeon major, of Christmas and from Picesa!I 1 think the

find) eats the preceding seasons: southern tropic, affords the and consequently

this quarter 18 also pretty by poverty Pbaroah'D lean kine; for it generally (we most of th produce of up and devours now th sun sbare entering ofhis the light, us the least

with refrenations

it is a much

sight than a Covent-Garden comedy~ to see pleasanter and honest a dozen or two of husbandmen, farmers~

ELUCDATONB

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

153

tenants,

at a nobleman's

rents) worry a sirloin, up) a goose like a !og and plenty of nappy March beev, ale, and strong washes down the merry sets all their wit goblets, afloat, and sends them to their respective homes, as happy as Mngs. And now, -kind loving rcadcrs, evcry one, God send y'a good nc\v"ycar, when th old one 's gone.

(who never raised their and hew down, (I mean eut while a good Cheshire cheese,

table

i54

THAUMATUROIA,

OR

CHAPTER

X.

ONE!ROCRtT!CAL CAUSK, DEFINITION As we

PMSBNTtMRNT, EFFECTS, PRINCIPAL 0F DREAMS, ETC. have

ILLUSTRATtKC PHENOMHNA,

THE AN!)

shall the

through diseases,

medium, it may be

to epcat: of the art practised ternied of curing incubation, proper tu say something pre-

on the of dreams viously interpretation through whose agency these cvents were Stud to be realized. or interpreters of dreams, were Oneirocridcs, called conjecturcrs, a very fit and proper name for these woridly wise men, to the following according lines, translatcd from Euiipides

He that conjectures least amise Of all, the best of prophcts is. To cient werc mistius, dreams the delusion of dreams lent Aristotle, th Platonic accident not a fcw of the anthse Theon about,

philosophers Democritus, Siresius which

themselves. andAis who or other

Among follower so far brought

relied

some

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

1&&

endeavoured to persuade men there but what are founded on realities. as the celestial influences produce For, say they, various forma and changes in corporeal matter, so out of certain over the influences, predominating of visions is power of the fancy, the impression the disposition made, being consentaneous, through of the heavens, to the eSct produced more espebecause the mind, being then at cially in dreams, more cares and exercises, liberty from ail corporeal it happens, the divine innuences freely receives therefore that many things are revealed to~thetn that are asleep. which are concealed from them that are awake. With these and such reasons it is pretended that much is communicated the through medium of dreams When soft sleep the body iays at ease~ And from the heavy mass the fancy frees, Whate*er it is in which we take delight, And think of most by day we dream at night. The transition from sleep is very natural to that of dreams, the wonderftil and mysterious phenomena of that state, the ideal transactions and vain illusions of the mind. to Wolfius, an According eminent philosopher of Sileaia~every dream originates in some sensation, and is continued by the succession of phantoms but no phantasm can arise in the mind without some previous sensation. And it yet it is not easy to confirm this by exprience, those slight sensabeing often difficult to distinguish tions, which give rise to dreams, from phantasms,

that they thence are no dreams

156

THAUMATPRGtA, OA

or objects of imagination.* The series uf phantasme which thus constitute a dream, seems to be accounted for by the law of the imagination, of or association it may be very difficult to assign the ideas though cause of every minute dinerence, not only in di6erent and but in the same, subjects, in ditferent circumstances. at different And hence times, M.

conof Wolfius, who adopta the opinion Formey, which that those dreams are supematural, cludes, either do not begin by sensation, or are not continued by the law of imagination.t who asserted, Th~ opinion is as old as Aristotle, that a dream things, the objects is only the ~a~ra~a excited in the mind, and or appearance of after remaining

are removed.~ The opinion of Lucretius, transated in our motto, was likewise that of Tu!y.$ Locke also traces the origin of dreams'to previous sensations. The dreams of sleeping men, says this profound philosopher, are ail made up ofthe most for the part though And Dr. Hartley, who exoddly put together."[( of the imagination pains ail the phenomena by his of vibrations and associations, tbat says, theory dreams are nothing but the imaginations or reveries waking ideas, of sleeping men, and that they are deducible from man'a

<' Wo!6us, Empir. Scct. 123. Psycho!. t M~m. de l'aead. de Berlin, tom. ii. p. 316. Arist. de insomn. cap 3. QutB in vita usurpant hommes, cogitant, curant, vident quaeque agunt vigilantes, agitantque, ea cuique m soMMo acc!dnnc. De Diu. H Ksaav on Human Understandiny, book, chap. i. scct 7.

BLUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

J57

causes-viz, and received,

three

impressions those particularly

th

and of th

ideas

lately

of the body, more day, the state stomach and brain, and association.~ Macrobius mentions five sorts vision-2nd. sleeping a discovery of

preceding ofthe especially ist. between into our

of dreams.

and waking-3rd. w~MM;4 th. fancy, called by Cicero, dreamand fifth, a divine apparition sleep and prophte Magi. CAUSE OF DREABIS. Avicen ultimate of that minated makes the cause of in our such as wre as th also of Joseph,

something a suggestion cast an

ordinary or revelation of the the Eastern

dreams of

dreams

to

be

an

the moon in the midst moving intelligence light with which the fancies of men are illuwhile

Aristotle refers the they sleep. but placed in the cause of them to common sense, an Arabian Averroes, physician, fancy. places it in the imagination Democritus as~'ibes it to little from the things images, or representations, separated Plato among th specifie and concrete themselves Albertus notions of the soul to the superior inwhich flow from the fluences, continually sky, J through many specifie channels. the cause of dreams Some physicians attribute to and the affections and cares vapours and humours, of persons prdominant for, say they, when awake of vapours, which are by reason of the abundance Obs. on Man, vo!. 1, scct. 5.

158

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

exhacd brain chimera eaters stances.

in consequence is so stu6ed by it, are and formed, drinkers Some of

of

immoderate monsters the with most us

that which

the feeding, and strange inordinate insufficient

furnish

are govemed they assert, of th body, and partly partly by the temperature to which in it by the humour which mostly abounds which have preceded may be added th apprehensions dreams, the day before and other do~, noise ceed in their from and which are which often bark they remarked and observe, make proof the combats, in a animais,

temperature we see the choleric dreams of fire, body of water baths, yellow colours, etc. the phiegTnatic of sailing on th sea the melancbolics of thick hideous etc. they fumes. fantasies, dserts, faces, that have the hinder brain part of their clogged, with viscous incubus, those who with humours, dream that have the called they orifice

Dreams, sleep. and the humours

by physicians Ephialtes are suSbcated. And of their stomach with loaded

are aorig'hted malignant ~umouts, visions, by reason of those venemous it. mount to the brain and distemper POBTCAL ILLUSTRATIONS IMAGINATION Were we to enter more OF THE

strange that vapours

KFFECT8

OF THE

:N DREAMS.

into th profbundy of dreams, our mysterious phcnomcna prcsent too abstruse; and, after lucubrationsmightbecome nor satisfactory account can be ail, no philosophical given of them. Such of our readers therefore, as

MLVCDATtOKS may nions wish above for a more

0F

THE

MARVEH.OU8. into to refer the to

minute we beg we to the find

inquiry leave have

opith

stated, authors who

respective Tlie reader, a serious

whom ie fond from

ah'eady amusement bf for of is not nocturnal a

quoted. even lu imato fancy. sportive

gination, he transported And here

subject, will be

scenes

perhaps glad, into the regions tbat are the the fancy poets On th volatile m

moment, poetic more

we

find

in dreams, of her

than noctumal in mouth illustration

their the

vagaries.. dreams, of th

descriptions enects of the effusion, is an put ad-

imagination the into mirable

following Mercurio,

then sec, 0, Queen Mab She is the fancy's midwife,

bas been

with you. and she comes

In shape no bigger than an agate stone On the fore.Bnger of an Atderman, D~awn with team of little atomies, Athwart mcn*8 noses as they lie asleep: Her

made of long spinncrs' waggon spokes legs Th covet' ofthc wings of grasshoppers The traces of the sinallest web 8p!der's The coUars of th moonshne's bcatns watcry Her Her Not Her Made Time And.m whip of cricket~ bonc th laah of film a smaH grcy coated gnat, wnggoncrp half so big as a round little worm, from chariot th !azy 6ngcr ofa maid. is an cn)pty hnzel nut,

Prickt

old grub, by tlie joiner squirri!, ont of mind th fairies' coachmakcrs this state she galops night by night, and thcn tbcy drcau) of love brains, knees, nngpra, that who dream strait on curtsics drcam strait on fccs

Tbro* lovera* On courticra* O'er iawycrs*

~CO

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

O'cr

who strait on kisses dream, tadicsiips, Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plague, are. Because thcir brcattt with aweetmeats tainted SomctitMea ahe gallops o'er a tawycr'8 nosCt taH, AndthendrcamsheofsmeMtn~oHtaBaitt And sotnetimps comeN shc with

a titbe-pi~

the parson as hc lies as!cep Tickling Then dreRma hc of another bencRce . Sometimes And then ahe driveth hc drcama o'cr a so!d!cr*s forci~n ncck thronts, of cutting

Of breachcs, antbuscades, Spanish and Of hea!ths five fathont deep Drums And

btadcs, then anon

in his cars, at which hc starts and valces, swears a pray'r or two, being thus frightcd, again.

And steeps

Lucretius, vanity bard dtBerent alluded of thus in of a

and dreams,

Petronius had

in preceded the

his

poem our of

on immortal

thc

of description kinds of persons. to, only serve boundless expressed

elffects Both th the

dreams

on

to shew

hre passages vast supertority their sense is

Shakspeare's tidmirably

genius: by Stepney

itupcvial reason slccps, hcr train, her rcvcis kcpps. a mix'd scne display, Thcn airy phantoms or saw, or wish'd Of what wc heard, by day At dead ofnight And fancy vith thosc images retuins monory and still thc strongest Which passion form'd, rencw thc chasc they lately run, Huntsmcn For And gct)crats(!ght andfairics Spectres Grants The n)Mer spies ngain their battles won, haunt the murdcrer~adrcatns; arc the courtier's and disgrces thcn~es. a thicf, or n new hoard rcigns.

Mt.CCIDATONS

OP

THM

MARVELLOUS.

!(3 1

The cit's Thus With Honours For

a knight the aycophant in the wild distraction fancy's what wc most and state abhor, before this

a lord,

lost, or covet most. phantom equals and Dryden fall J a! Fox, has a

steep, in

ike death, his tale thus of

its imnge, the

Chaucer fine

Cock by which

description, Dreams Whcn

versified

arc but interludes inonarch reason

sieeps,

fancy makes s this mimic wakes

a medley of disjointed things, CotMpouods A court of coblers and a mob of hingB fumes arc aaft Light fumes are merry, grosser Both arc the reasonable aot run mad And many monstrnua forms in stcep we see, That neither were, or are, or e'er can be. Sometimes long cast behind, forgotten thiogs, Rush forward in the brain, and corne to mind. The nurse's And th Sotnettnoes ` The night As hounds In short, In chitncras legends man dreams we but restores are for truth but what received, the boy believed, rehcarse a former play, our actions doop by day prey. is of a pice absurd or less. for their

in sleep will open th farce of dreams aU aud more

Shakspeareagain 1 talk Which Begot Which are the children ofan of nothing is as thin but vain of dreams,

id!e brain,

phantasy, of substance as th air, And more inconsistant than the wind. Nor x Arc many lesser faculties, must Milton be omitted-

!n th aot that serve

M

162

TR

AUMATURGIA,

OB

ReMon Her Wbich Wbich And Our Into Oft Wi!d

as cMef office holds;

among these of all external senses airy

Fancy things,

next

the five watchfut imaginations, reason joining,

represcnt, shapea,

She forma

or diejoining, frames, all tbat wc afHrm, or what dcny, or call or opinion then retires knowledge her private cell, w!en nature resta. in her absence mimic fancy wakes, her works but misjoining shapes, in dreama oft, butmost produces words or deeds, long past or taie.

To imitate

111 matching

PRINCIPAL

PHENOMENA

IN

DREAMING.

let us proceed practical descriptions to take aviewofthe principal phenomena in dreaming. And first, Mr. Locke's beautiful modes of which will From these the preceding observations. greatly illustrate When the mind," turns its view says Locke, its own actions, inward upon itself, and contempltes is the first that occurs. In it the mind thinking observes thence which of modifications, a great variety receives distinct ideas. Thus the and from perception, is annexed to any

and actually accompanies, on th body, made by an extemal impression object, of thinking, being distinct from all other modifications idea which we furnishes the mind with a distinct call ~~Ma~M; of an entrance senss. The same idea, wheQ it occurs operation of the like object on the again without the extemal sensory, which idea ie. into as the it were, the actual by the

understanding

ELUCIDAT!ON8

OPTHE

MARVBM.OU8.

t63

is ?'c)MCM&ro~c<?.' and again long ideas regard French name (for are for with pain

if it be and

sought

after found, if it

endeavour

in view, under noat of call it.

it is ?'eco~c~o~ it is

mind, by the and brought be held there when reflexion which bas scarce themselves while we or the a

consideration, in th our mind

c~p~~o~; any is that it

without

understanding, ~cne;* When observed the our

language ideas that another

oSr place,

as 1 have awake,

in

there one and,

will another

succeeding notice of, it is attention; ness, considers by the and

be a train of ideas always in our are taken minds) registered mind, fixes and its will of other with in the great view on not ideas, memory, eamestany idea, off

as it were, when the

of it on

choice, all sides,

be called

ordinary

solicitations

it is what

Thereisapheoomenoninthe happen to us while we are thc nearest

mind, perfectly 1 know.

which,

though

it

to sleep of any or, as some term it, th AroM'M ~!t< in which, betwcen and steeping our eyes waking though shut up, and we are are open, our senss seem to be entlrely of every thing about us, yct we are all the in a musing indolence of thought, or a supine engaged from one fairy scne to another, and loHng kind of roving from if any noise or without which, any self-command; quite while insensible as from a real drenm, and arc us, we wake often as much at a loss to tell how our thoughts were emfrom the soundest as if wc had waked This ployed, sleep. is frequently caUed </fceMMa~, sometimes a&aeHcc, a thing and people of a melancholy often observed in iovprs or accident rouse speculative <Mca<<oM, t~. indeed turn.fbr~c~ 255. D<a/o~<p< concenH~

awake, yet approaches lt is called the Reverie, a sort of middle statc

!64

THAUMATURMA,

OR

dreaming study. ~p<~ without is th is rest from all these and dreaming itself, senss are stopped, having of ideas (while the outward 80 that they receive not outward with- their objecte or in the mind, not suggested by any or known nor under any occasion, at all, and choice or conduct of the understanding whether that which we call ecstasy, be not dreaming with the eyes open, 1 leave to be examined." Dissertations moral and cntiDr. Beattie, in his in which cal," bas an ingenious essay on this subject, he attempts to ascertain, not so much the e~M~!< as the final causes of the phenomenon, and to obviate those times with great to shew, that dreams earnestness, may be of use in admonition that persons, th way of physical who attend to them with this view, may make important discoveries with regard to their health that they may labours, be serviceable that, by dominant as the attending improvement to them, we may disccrn our preand receive for th good hints that they been inmay have means of moral in regard superstitions troubled weak minds. to He it, which have someusual quickness) external objects,

we call intention

passions, of them regulation to serve as an amusement tended by Providence to and that the mental is not unipowers dreaming all constitutions do not reversal, because, probably amusement. In observations quhc such inteUectuaI the ingenuity of this kind, we may discover of fancy and the Ragacity of conjecture. We may find amusebut we look in vain for satisment in the arguments, faction. yet we does nothing Nature, certainly, are far from thinking, that man in vain, is able, in

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

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causes, perhaps, ought never to be the subject of human spTo but when they are plain and obvions. culation, substitutc vain conjectures, instead of th designs of are on subjects where those Providence, designs for beyond our reach, serves only to furnish matter every case, the cavils tious. in our the many Among striking phenomena dreams, it may be observed, that, while they last, the and th underseems to lie wholly torpid, memory to be employed standing only about such objects as are the present without presented, comparing with the past. When we sleep, we often converse with a friend who is either absent or de~d, without that the grave or the ocean is between remembering us. We float, like a feather, for we upon the wind find ourselves this moment in England, and th next in India, without that the laws of nature reflecting are suspended, or inquiring how the scene could have been so suddenly shifted before us. We are familiar with we accommodate ourselves to every prodigies however and we not only reason, event, romantic but act upon principles, which are in th highest de. and extravagant. Our dreams, moregre absurd over, are so far from being the effect of a voluntary effort, that we neither know of what we shall dream, or whether we shall dream at all. sleep is not the only time in which strange and unconnected objects involve our ideas in confusion. Besides the certes of the day, already spoken of, we have, in a moral view, our M~:n~-<~<?a~, which But then of th sceptical, and the sneers of the licen.

to discover

her intentions.

Final

166

THAUMATURGA,

OR to be realized,

are not less chimerical, than the imaginations

and impossible of the night.

Night visions may befnend 1 dreamt Our cvaking wahing dreams are fatal. How I Of things impossible (could scep do more ?) Of joys perptuai in perptuai change Of stable pleasures on the tossing wave Eternal sunshine in the storms of life How richly were my noon-tide trances hung, With gorgeous tapestries of pictur~d joys Till at deaths' toi! and found myself undone. Startinglwoke, Many of the fabulous stories of ghosts or appariin dreams. tions have originated unquestionably There are times of slumber when we are aensiMe of When are much trouthe thoughts being asleep. bled," without o~ his says the Hobbes, circumstance and when of going he nods person to bed, or a seeps pulling in hia chair, it is

as when clothes, a dream from a reality. very difficult to distinguish On the contrary, he that composes himself to sleep, in case of any uncouth or absurd fancy, easily suspects it to have been a dream. haa On this principle, Hobbes accounted for the spectre which is ingeniously said to have appeared to Brutus and the well-known of the apparition ot the duke story told by Clarendon, of Buckingham's father: will admit of a similar sotu. tion. dom and,

kingso much the topic of conversation as the duke r from the corruptness of his character, he was Leviathan, part. 1. c. 1.

There

was

no man

at that

time

in

the

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veyy likely to faU a sacrifice times. Sir George Villiers to the man at midnight-there est

of the to the corrnptness is said to have appeared is therefore the greatwas asleep and the a strong impression,

that the man probability dream made him, acrighting and was likely to be repeated.

fumishes us with numerous instances of a History forecast been communicated the mehaving through dium. of dreams, some of which are so extraordinary as almost to shake our belief that the hand of Provi. their instruthrough tells Cicero, in his first book on Divination, mentality. a clever man, and who had been us, that Heraclides, a disciple of Plato, writes that the mother of Phalaris saw in a dream the statues of the gods which she had evident and among son other it appeared to her, that from a cup things, which Mercury held in his hand, he had spilled some blood from it, and that the blood had scarcely touched it nUed the ground, than rising up in large bubbles the whole house. This dream of the mother was but too truly verified in th cruelty of the son. dreamt that seeing the sun at his feet, Cyrus he made three different unsuccessful to lay attempts his The that hand 'Persian he upon it, at each of which it evaded him. Magi these three would this dream told interpreted to seize the sun signified attempts who afterwards consecrated in the house of her dence is not sometimes

him that

This prediction reign thirty years. was verified he died at the age of seventy, having begun to reign when he was forty years old. There is doubtless," says Cicero, something even amoug barbarians which marks that they possess

168

THAUMATUR6YA,

OR

the gift of presentiment and divination. The Indian Calanus mounting the flaming faggot on which he was about to be burnt exclaimed O what a fine exit from of Hercules, shall be life, when my body, like tbat consumed by the fire, my spirit will freely enjoy the ~ight.' And Alexander having asked if he had anything to say, he repHed, Yes, 1 shall soon see you," which as he foretold, Alexander happened having died a few at Babylon. an ardent dis. days afterwards Xenophon, relates that in the war which he made ciple of Socrates, in faveur of young Cyrus, he had some dreams which were followed we say that by the most miraculous does not speak Xenophon eo great as Aristotle, can What! vente. truth, Shall or is too and so S Or us of

extravagant? divine a spirit does Eudemus

a personage, he be decelved he tells

he wish to deceive

of Cyprus, wishing to go into Macedonia, a ce!ebrated town paesed by Pheres, in Thessaly, which at that time was under th domiof the tyrant Alexander; and that having faten very sick, he saw in a dream a very handsome young man, who told him that he would cure him, and that the would shortly Alexander tyrant he would return home at himself, die, but as to the end of five nion

when others, one of his friends,

Aristotle remarks that the two first predicycars. tions were, indecd, soon accomplished that Eudemus and that the tyrant was killed by his wif's recovered, but that at the expiration of five years, the brothers time the at which dream, news were receivcd near Syracuse; to hoped Eudemus, accordmg was to rctum to Sicily, his native country, that which he had been gave rise killed in a corn. inter. to another it was

bat

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that, when the spinamely, left his body, it went thence to his own house.A cup of massy gold straight this beenstolen from the temple of Hercules, having three consecum a dream to Sophocles god appeared of the dream, pretatioh rit or soul of Eudemus tive times, who out the thief to him; and pointed confessed the delinquency, was put to the torture, reafterwards and gave The temple up the cup. ceived An the name endless of Hercules Indicator. of similar instances, both from variety aneient and modern history, might be adduced of the of dreams, as well as their instrumentality singularity in revealing secrets which, without such agency, had lain for ever in oblivion these, however, are.sufficient for our purpose and the occurrence of one of a here with the discovery of the date, comiected vcry recent Maria Martin, in the red barn, body of the murdered is still fresh in the recollection infatuation which of our readers. attached That there is a ridiculous to dreams, by some people and whichare the

have no meaning,

oHspringa of the day's thoughts, whose education should inform larly among conversation inconsistent of their sterical

the fair sex, cannot seldom passes among dream

even among persons them better, particube denied indeed, a but some them, a leading feature them an hy-

gossip

or other, form and doubtiess is with

we imagine dreams, sleeping ourselves' involved in inextricable woe, and enjoy at the ecstasy of a deliverance from it. And waking, H such a deliverance," will every good says Dr.Beattie, man meet with at last, when he is taken away from

symptom. Sometimes in our

~0

THAUMATURGtA, OR

th evils ofHfe, and awakes in the regions of everlasting light and peace looking back upon the world and its troubles, with a surprise and satisfaction similar in kind (though far higher in degree) to that which we now feel, when we escape from a terrifying dream, and open our eyes to the sweet serenity of a summer we imagine in our dreams, Sometimes, mqrning." scenes of pure and unutterable and how joy; much do we regret at waking, that the heavenly vision is no more But what must the raptures of the good man be, when he enters the regions of immorfields of permanent tality, and behoids the radiant The idea of such a happy death, such a delight sweet transition, from the dreams of earth to the realities of heaven, is thus beautifully described by Dryden, in his poem entitled Eleohora Sbe passed serencly, with a singtc breath This moment perfect hcatth, the next was death One aigh did her eternal bliss assure = So little penance oeeds when souls are pure. As gentte dreams our waking thoMghta pursue Or, one dream past, we slide into a new So close they follow and such wild order kecp, Wc tbink ourselves awake and arc asleep; So softly dcath aueeeeded life in her s She did but dream of heuven and she was there.
DEFINITION OP DREAM8.

Dreams are vagaries of the and imagination, in most instances sensationa. proceed from external They take place only when our sleep is unsound,

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which case the brain and nervous system are We seldom certain motions. capable of perfbrming dream during the first hours of sieep; perhaps because the nervous fluid M then too much exhaustbut dreams mostly occur towards the momed ing, when this Suid bas been, in some measure, restored. Every thing capable of interrupting the tranquillity of mind'and auch are body, may prpduce dreams the varions kinds of grief and sorrow, exertions of the mind, affections and passions, crude and undigested food, a hard and inconvenient posture of the body. Those ideas which bave lately occupied our minds or made a Uvely impression upon us, the principal subject of a dream, generally constitute and more or less employ our imagination, when we are asleep. Animais are likewise apt to dream, though seldom and even men living temperately, 1 and enjoying a are seldom disturbed with perfect state of health, this play of the fancy. And, indeed, there are examples who never dream at of lively and spirited penons all. The great physiologist HaUer considera dreaming as a symptom of disease, or as a stimulating cause, by which the perfect tranquillity of the sensorium is interrupted. that sleep is the Hence, most refreshing, which is undisturbed by dreams, or, at least, when we have the distinct recollection ofthem. Most of our dreams are then nothing more than sports of the fancy, and derive their origin almost chiefly from external impressions every thing we see and hear, when awake, leads our ima-

in

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THAUMATURGtA,

OR

to collateral notions or representations, gination the and without which, in a manner, spontaneously, Icast eSbrt, associate The with extemal sensations, place where a person whom we love formerly resided, a dress similar to that which we have seen her wear, or the objects that cmployed her attention, no sooner catch our eye, than she immediately occupies our mind. these images associating with external And, though do not arrive at complete consciousness sensations, within latent manent. Cicero who, furnishes a etory of two Arcadians, arrived at Megara, a togcther, betwcen Athens and Corinth, where in After a friend's supper, went to and th house, the person who bed, and falling the inn appeared us with the power of imagination, yet even in their state they may become very strong and per-

travelling city of Greece, one of them lodged other lodged at an inn. at the

at asleep, to him and beggcd his assistance, because the innThe man immediately kecper was going to kill him. but at th dream got out of bed much frightened and falling his himself, asleep again, recovering friend that, take care at least to him a second appeared as he would not assist him and desired time, in time, he would go unpunished him had thrown with was dung city he gate struck saw the

private house dreamed that his friend

not to let his death

that th innkeeper murdered having his body into a cart and covered it therefore in the beggcd that he would before th morning, with this new dream, lie went th cart, and asked the driver cart early wlmt

be at th

out to th gte, was

in it;

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driver

fled, th dead body was taken immediately and out of the cart, and th innkeeper apprehended executed. It is very frequently that in a dream a observed, and series of representations is suddenly inteiTupted, kind occupies its another series of a very dirent as soon as an idea associates place. This happens from whatever itself; which, cause, is more interestThe last then ing than that immediately preceding. becomes th prevailing and determines the one, association. the imagination is Yet, by this too, frequently reconducted to the former sries. Th in the course of the preceding occurinterruption rences is remarked, and the power of abstracting is in search of the cause of this irregulasimilarities rity. some the power series in Hence, unfortunate interruption such cases, there usually happens event or other, which occasions of the story. The representing

conduct us to auother may again suddenly of ideas, and thus the imagination may be led from one by th subreasoning power before defined, Of this kind, for instance, scene to another. is the

remarkabic as related and dream, following in the works of professor Maas of HaHe j explained that the Popevisited Idreamedonce," says he me. 'He commanded me to open my desk, and examined all the papers it contained. carefuUy a very sparMing employed, fell out of his triple crown into my desk, of diamond neither of us took any notice. As which, however, 1 retired soon as th Pope had withdrawn, to bed, but was soon obliged to rise, on account of a thick While he was thus

174

THAUMATURGIA,OR

smoke,

the

cause

of which

1 had

Upon examination had set fire to the to ashes." On account this short says with IInd's

1 discovered, papers in my desk,

yet to learn. that the diamond and burnt them

of the peculiar circumstances by which dream was occasioned, it deserves the following On the anaysis. preceding evening," 1 was visited Maas, professor by a friend whom 1 had a lively conversation, upon Joseph

of monasteries and convents. With suppression this idea, though 1 did not become conscious of it in was associated the visit which the Pope my dream, at Vienua, in paid the Emperor Joseph publicly of the measures taken against the clergy consequence and with this again was combined, however faintly, the of th visit, which had been paid me representation by my friend. These two events subreasoning faculty, ing to the established compounded rule-that were, into one, by the accord-

in their parts, also correspond into a visit hence the Popes visit, was changed The subreasoning in made to me. then, faculty order to account for this was upon that which the desk, or in my room, namely, in it. That a diamond contained visit, extraordinary the most important rather fell fixed object

things which agre as to the whole;-

the papers out of the

was a collateral which association, triple crown of the desk. was owing merely to the representation when opening the desk, 1 had Some days before broken hand, Hence the glass and the no farther of my watch, fragments attention fell was which 1 held in my the papers. among paid to the diamond,

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being a representation But afterwards the stones idea; tion.

of a collateral

aeries

of things.

of the sparkling representation wu again excited, and became the prevailing hence it determined associath succeeding On account of its similarity, 1 it exci ted, the of fire, with which it was confounded fire and smoke.-But, in the event,

representation hence arose

not the desk itself; the writings only were burnt, to which, of comparatively less the value, being was not at aH directed." attention It is farther tbat there observable, obscure representations, be convinced are desirous subsista Of the of the of are in the human mind certain and that it is necessary to if we reality of these images,

among numerous

the connexion, which perceiving the operations of the imagination. phenomena, founded on obscure

ideas, and which consequently prove their existence, the following. we shall only remark It is a well known iact, that many dreams originate in the imnd they pressions made in the body during sleep; consist of analogous images or such as are associated that would arise from these impreswith sensations state. sions, during a waking Hence, for instance, if our legs are ptaced in a perpendicular we posture, are often terrined the imby a dream that implies minent of falling from a steep rock or prcidanger The mind must represent to itself thse exter. pice. in a lively manner, nal impressions otherwise no ideal picture could be thos not become at all conscious excited but, as we do of them, they are but earlier in the

faintly and obscurely represented. a resolution to rise If we make

76

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

and if we impress the dtermorning than usual; mination on our mind, before going to immediately to succeed. Now it is rest, we are almost certain self-vident that this success cannot altogether perceives it makes us to the efforts of the body, but which probably, during sleep the duration of time, so that on the body, which enables ascnbed to the mind, and computes an impression at apwithout an be

to awake

hour. Yet al this taltes place, pointed our consciousness, and the reesprentations remain obscure. of art are so complicated, Many productions that

a variety of simple are requisite to conceptions of them is almost lay the foundation yet. the artist of these unconscious individual notions. entirely a piece of music, without peribrms in a consciousmanner, on the being obliged to reflect, of the notes, their value, and the order signification of the nngers he must observe nay even without peMon clearly the this the distinguishing keys of the harpsichord. to the mechanism of of the striogs We cannot the or harp, attribute Thusa

itself to acc'iston gradually the fingers. This could be

which might body, the accurate of placing app!ied only where we but it is

frequentty practised place a piece of music, to a new piece, which totally inapplicable

is played with equal faciHty, he bas by th professor though n the latter case there must never seen it before. an ideal reprsentation, or an act arise, necessarily, to every of judgment, motion of the previous nnger. Thse we trust, are sutncient~ to evince arguments, of these obscure notions the occurrence and repre-

BLUMDATtONSOFTHEMARVELLOUS.

sentations, Before,

from

which

a~

our

dreams'

we close this subject, however, the following dream of the relate extraordinary who at a very advanced cehbrated Galileo, age had In one of his walks over a beautiful lost his sight. plain, the venerable conducted by his pupil Troicelli, dream to him. Once," sage related the fallowing me to enjoy the charms said he, my eyes permitted But now, of these fields. since their light is extin. guished, Heaven are lost to me for ever. p!easures inflicts the punishment which was justly in p~son, When predicted to me many years ago. and impatieitty for liberty, 1 began to languishing with th ways of Providence Coper* to me in a dream his celestial nicus appeared spirit conducted me over luminous stars, and, in a threatenmurmured having aU these worlds had pro, againsthim, A timc shall corne (said he) ceeded from nothing. when thine eyes shall refuse to assist thee m con. thse wonders." templating to notice the subject We shall now proceed of dreams in another point of view-that is, as being ing voice, reprehended at whose~~ as a medium of divination in the cure employed the of diseases, in which fancies of the brain in reality, to as little advantage as they do appear, with reference to any other considerations in which omens exist.such pretended me for these

originate. we shall

'be discontented

!78

THAUMATUROA,

OR

HAPTER

XL

ON

OR TUB ART OP HEAMNO !NCCBATON, VtSONARY DIVINATION. ranba In medical nature

BY

unquestionably ancientofaHhuman sciences. when aimplicity society, the purBuits of mankind, little rate~ innocence those of

MEDtcNE

the most among the infant state of characterised assistance of man was

manners

but when the w'anted and vice and luxury and temperance, aids alone could of them at

his corrupted diseases sprung or could not

degenehabits of

check first

up which eradicate. The fail to be

knowledge

and precarious. The sick were placed empirical in the high ways, that traveUers and passers by and at length might assist them with their counsci the priesthood al)propriated sively to themselves, It was not them merely the rendered this sacerdotal privilege dignity rvrence excluwhich

to the objects of awc and illiterate multitude the priests were regarded as the of science and Icarning; and proved depositaries as skilful as they wcrc in themselves successfui~ thcir inauence cemcuting by those arts which were

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best calculated in their It favour. is the

to incarne work

th prejudices

of the

vulgar

of ages to wean men and nations and the deep.rooted from popular illusions, opinions it cannot from sire to son therefore transmitted of surprise us, that even when the inteUectual encrgy itself by efforts which have signalizing of after ages, commanded the admiration it should in medicine a popular sim remain that dogma under bodily infirmity, be persons labouring might Greece thrown though into a state of charmed of any previous knowledge, the nature of their they would be enabled to ascertain as well as of the diseases of others, and malady, this dogma devise the means of their cure." Upon destitute was founded the mystery of healing by visionary It is not our object man can incubations, divination. here to discuss such divination of or the art a torpor, medical in which, was

whether

a power, to him, not only however, by the number but by the greater of the philosovulgar, and it does appear sects of antiquity; to phical a little of temerity, and th savour that Epicurus to reject should have ventured a beUef so cynics and strenuously and resting maintained, universally and accounts of prophets, on an innuity of traditions had abounded from her earMcct in whom Greece times, nrmest aud of whose was divine gift conviction currently and other Apuleius, prophecy entertaincd. of th ~Es-

of be capable waa assigned

Greek authors, chylus, Plutarch, of this persuasion, bear ample testimony and tell us and irregular motions that by uncommon of the body
N 2

tSO

THAUMATURGA,

OR

intoxicating men might which, they

vapours, be thrown

or

being in a state were unsusceptibe

holy ejaculations, in into an enchanted trance between sleeping and waking, of external and impressions were gifted with the

certain

a glimpse of futurity, obtaming Here their allusion, however, power of prophecy. divinations of the concems the celebrated only somewhat We must therefore, Pythia.* probe deeper, in order to iUustrate that species of divination which This was the result of divination on the nature dreams, of diseases and a source of and their remedies.

kind of superstition was in no less acceptation than the former among the ancients, whose temples were constantly crowded with the sick, and reverberated which gods. and could thc vailed with were for divinatory dreams, supplications as an immediate gift from th regarded celestial by the of dreams was origin of antiquity, rations their

the Indeed, admitted universaHy thence crude with also and their natural be more

efficacy as oracles. Nothing than such an idea. From notions the which long preit was soul, the impressions, of their

imperfect to respect

possible for them to ascribe their memory retained of th creation

scarcely which fancy

The Pricstcss of Apollo, by whom he dettvcred oracles. She was cnHed l'ythia from the god him8e!f, who was styled A~oUo Pythus, from lus staying the serpent Python. The Pricstcss was to be a pure virgin. She sat on the covercle or lid of a braxen vcssc!, mountcd on a tripod, nd thence, after a violent euthusiastn, she d.'Hvcrpd his i. e. she rehearscd a few ambiguona and obscure oracles verses, which were taken for oracles.

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of their to the instrumentality during their slumbers, to impute own conceits they could not fail therefore them to the interposition of some foreign agent, and to whbm more naturally could they refer them than to themselves a divinity ? When awake, they imagined ahvays attended every thought, which accident, to the immdiate nature, and ascribed by th gods in person, or and resolved every ap~arance course of deviated from th common influence of

a superintendIt was under such impressions so that ing deity. rested their belief in divinamany nations originally The records of antiquity therefore tory dreams. abound in instances (for the greater part of an early of men have been the result date) where the actions of a dream, whose conceit with the real state of their before tion at variance entirely It was not long anairs. their others attenwere was

the diversity of dreams awakened some were connected and simple,

and made up of curious fancies, obscure, though and not incapable of being resolved by the windings of allegory. turnings It was no unnatural transition that from they the received belief in dreams, the medium of hence were the to the idea might become from the gods whose responses

of sleeping given chambers to many temples, such as those in Epidaurus Here it was, that after pious cereandatOropos. monies and prayers, men laid themselves down in of dreams when the expectation was expectation realized, though th dream prove~ ever so confused or intricate, th dreamer in reconalways succeeded

seeking instruction institution of oracles, in dreams and th addition

t82

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

ciling priestly conceit was been

it

to

hia

circumstances

his

own

belief

and

the solution. The enected wiles, readily of dreams, to the votary's wishes, according powerfally he had promoted nndergone, by that the it preparatory would have

so

initiation

had he been altogether cxtraordinary He anxious to -inwas generally disappointed. crease the ~ame of his divinity by his dream, and deep imand a high veneration possessed of th miracles which that had pression divinity somewhat wrought. the temple, to With where these predispositions he had a whole he resorted day before to him

on his malady, and on every sort bf ponder to him how remedy that might have been suggested natural was it, therefore, for hie busy imagination to fix, in his sleep, upon one particular remedy more solemn forciMy ionely than upon another ? Add to this, the hour hour of night was the appointed for his sleep, which was preceded and by prayer other that would ceremonies, inspiring naturally his devotion elevate to the highest He had pitch. also previously the temple, perambulated iTiH heart surveyed the offering& of those 4tess and with a whose sick'

had departed from them. If aU these the were unavailing, prparations officiants of the temple had still means in reserve,

should be thrown into that by which the credulous to the divinatory bodily etate which was indispensable of these, soeceeding instances will be heredeen.: after~H'oduced. some men from withheld days, there wcre however, whom the somniferous faculty was to repeat admonished they were, therefbre, In those

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their

and prayers faveur: divinity's resort waa,

oblations, and the

in

order and

to

win

the

ultimate

customary

if auccess did notcrown

to pronounce it a tuln, that such eyesore to the divinity. Frdm this divinatory aleep, arose the vulgar expressions in Greece e~o~tCto~cK, and e~~ot~t~crt?.* The latin terms of the Romans Institution; made ment we of it against are left are MCM~~ Greek and words. and incubatio; an exact translation

his persvrance, were an patients

that the therefore, It. appeara, Greeks were equally acquainted with the we find but very little mention though by the Latin writers, yet this is no arguita prevalence as the Romans, among with as acanty accounts of many other which were

in vogue them. amongst so probable that it was not by any means in Rome as in Greece and the cause of this popular be found in th reflecting may, perhaps, disposition and sober character of the haughty Roman, to which the light and vo!atHe temperament of the Grecian, formed so striking a contrast.. superstitions It is higMy That the incubation needs its future, Although was chieny resorted to in cases where medipractice cal aid was desired, it was still made use of in every other oracles wcre concase, in which the ancient sulted. Whether it arose in Greece, or migrated was a ready means no demonstration. of diving into

Thse words are but iti explained by th best Greek Servius ad Virg. ~En. vi!. 88, says Lcx!cogT!tphcra. Ineubare ~licuntrcr l~ro~rie leic, qui dormiu~et aecipienrla. Tertullian de OCC)~te?M/0 thptn /?tCM&a~ Tcrtuuian ~WMa. de Anima, C. 49, thence catis /MeM~a<o)'c~/aMorw.

!84 thither from

THAUMATUROA,

OR

the East, is a point with which the ancients have left us unacquainted, though they advert to its prevalence those who were called barbaament Strabo bas several instances

rians.

of it, and partieua place in the Caspian sea, where such larly mentions an oracle he aso ~ates, in his celebrated existed account of Moses, that this law~giver laid it down, in common with the priests'of that to those Esculapius, who led a chaste and virtaous visions vouchsafe prophetical those who were of idle and impure be denied.t Mela even mentions a savage Pomponius the interior of Africa, who laid themselves sleep on th grave-atones looked upon 'the dreams oracles from the dead.~ that the this superstition was Egyptians. Greeks owed invention or Although this species of they We their nation, down in to life the deity in his sanctuary habits, would but to

they would

and ancestors, had on those spots as shall see, hereafter,

equally indigenous among it be doubtful whether the of divination to their own

not, its existence may at least be traced as far as the earliest ges of tueir history notwithno positive mention of it has been made atanding either by Homer or the authors following him. oracular powcr of dreams, and the sanctuaries to be dispersed, have been where they are supposed of Van Dale and diffusely treated of in the compilations writers. These species of oracles were in otherlearned The Lib. XI. p. 108. Paria, fol. 1620. t Ibid. lib. XV!. p. 761.. De Bhu orbis. !ib. . cap. 1.

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and enlightened of Greece it is.somewlia.t singuflourishing periods more that no peoplechenshedthem lar, however, high estimation, even than the Sparta-ns~ who depended altogether dvoutly Of affairs of state. upon oracles in their weightiest alt the civilized nations of Greece, always Sparta her advanceapproved herself the most superstitions ment was rather the effect her enable of her policy, than science. for stages the of of any stimulus given to This consideration will civilization by us to account to the

in the

most

influence which, even powerful Lacedemonian attached story, a local Passiph, known the beyond of their influence goddess confines

in the latest

of responses but little of Thalame, of Laconia. The extent evident in the history oracles

is particularly of Agis and Cleomenes.* The greater part of these were ascribed to

somnambulistic

who had persons distinguished as great dreamers when on earth. In old themselves times there was a description of prophets who pretended to prepare themselves for the foreboding of future events through the medium of sacred dreams. under the appellation They wcreclassed ofO~tpowXot~ to which rank th most In this celebrated whence Vates of the a sacred heroic spot his resage belonged. was dedicated way to Calchus, it was that

he gave <

Plutarch Cicero (de Div. I. apud Agis et Cicomea. c. 48) prpbably anudcs to this oracle, when he says, that th Ephori of Sparta wcre accustomcd to sleep ia th temple of Therc wasasimitar Pasipha: on state etncrgenc!es. oracle i? th neighbourhood of Thidame, not fur from ~Etylum, sacred to Ino.

186

THAUMATUttGA,

OR

after his decease this spot lay in penses in dreams on the~coast of the Adriatic. The suppliDaunia, cant'a offices began with the offering up of a ram, on whose skin he laid himself down, and in this situation, panied similar received a the instruction he sougbt for.' Am. philocus, who accom. contemporary soothsayer, the Epigoni in the first Theban war, had a in Cilicia, which Pausanias orace at Mallos, to century, credible of his age tt is also in his history of Commo. Cassius, close of the second

even at the asserts, have been the most mentioned dus.t The most by Dion famous,

of this cass of oracles, however, was titat of Amphiaraus, the father of Amphilocus, which was one of the five principal oracles of Greece he himself as a sapient signalized soothsayer the first Theban war and his ora<tle was situated Of of Btia and Attica. Oropos, on th borders others it was th is deserves resorted had in at all

ae our most particular attention, in cases of infir. to more frequently

tban in any other circumstances. mity and disease, His responses in dreams, in were always deli~ered whose interpretation, as he wae the nrat to possess Pausanias divine faculty. says he received honours. Those who repaired to Amphiaraus's ora. cle to supplimte his aid, laid themselves down in the that manner we hve just related, after lustrations and sacrifices, on the several preparatory skin of a ram slain

Strabo, lib. V!. p. t Pauaanias, 1, 35.

284.

KLUC!DAT!ONS 0F THE MARVELLOUS. in honour

S~

of the god, and awaited the dreams, which were to unfold the means of their different cures. th were not, however, Lustrationsand''sacnnces the patients subjected others, which Miilostratns afBrms* to have been very mind instrumental towards the sieeper's rendering conclear and unclouded. Part of these preparatives sisted nay, from This were cured bathe in one day's abstinence even in some cases, from fifteen eating, and three, abstinence days' of the Greeks. only tion. preparatives The priests ibr inducing th visionary disposito various

the common wine, beverage nor also with other oracles; was the practice insensible to their the priests in the meantime on these by Amphiaraus's in the saered waters occasions revelations for those were who were to permitted into which and

own interests

they were enjoined which were destined, labours The oracles,

of a fountain, to cast pieces of gold most probably,

silver, to sweeten the

of his officiants. whose intervention or was principally of the sick by means over As that there

atogether sought for the healing of divination founded on dreams, were scattered and other countries. Greece, Italy, Egypt, regards thnse of atthpugh many were thirty-six whom Egypt, of the it may Egyptians or aerial be remarked, believed

dmons, had the care of a certain

each of deities, portion of the human

was diseased, would frame, and when that portion heal it n the patient's eamest prayer, yet a variety of their oracles, such as those of Serapis, and Isis, De vita Apoll. Thyan. 11. 37.

!88

THAUMATURGE,

OR

the Hephaestos to ofthe Phthas, Greeks, appertained the class, which is the present object of our inquiry. The .oracle Serapis was situated near Canopus} it was visited with th highest veneration by th weaJthiest tained god had effected became to reveal the sick. and most illustrious ample records Egyptians, of miraculous cures and conwhich that it is said, it whence deification, remedies to

on sleepers.* Isis, performed similar cures in her lifetime, her oiHce, in her after state of in dreams Tndeed the the most efficacious

healing powers of this ~oddesB were such, the that, as we are told by Diodorus,t remedies she prescribed faHed of their effect, never and that convalescents were her temple, many of whom incurable by the physicians. The third oracle of the sick was by the ancients. t In Italy there existed two oracles, were imparted in dreams, before Phthas, mentioned and lay near Memphis, daily seen returning from had been abandoned as consecrated but to

it is seldom

whose th

responses of worship

from was introduced Greece. One of Esculapius them oiily belongs to this place, that of the physician which is mentioned in Daunia,$ Podahrus, by Strabo,
vii. 6.

hb.

xvii.

p.

801.

Anian.

Expcd.

A!ex.

!a Egypt lib. 1. 25. Galen de comp. Med. p. Gen v. 2. Podatirius and Machaon, thc two sons of Esculapius. The state of tucdictoe at the timc of the Trojan war was vcry hnpcrfcct, as we find cxctnp!i(!ed by thse two acting as surgeons general to th Grccian ar<ny. Thcir simple prnctice t

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVN~OUS.

t8Q

Lycophron.* tion was Roman benna.f This Greece the is Asiatic more

Subsquente practised temple of after

it is well the Grecian on

known form the Ineula

incubain the Ti-

~Esculapitis of oracles

description the most coast,

abounded of which and by of

throughout was Nyssa, than says we Proserpine, that on which any he, find

memorable between

Trattis

other~ there a grove is

particularly .Not far from a and place temple

described the town Charaka, to

Strabo Nyssa, where and

called sacred

Pittto

consisted

tn extracting dMts orarrows, in staunching ehieHy of bitter herbs, and sometimes blood by some infusion they added charms or incantations which seemed to be a poetical that frequently wounds wcre healed or diseases way of hinting, curcd in a manner unaccountable properties by anyknown they could discover either in the e~ccts of their rude remedies, or in th then itself. when raged divine body to relieve In Homcr'8 of the wound which Ulysses, description in his thigh from the tusk received of an enyoung, of blood was stopped wild boar, th infusion by powers incantations and divine songs, and some sort of bandknown of the human

If any virtue couid age which must have acted hy pressure, have acted as a charn!, th vcry verse that describes th wound a claim as any might have as good a right to such ofnacient othcr but, in what manner th surgeons Greece, bcfore'the of th circulation of the blood, discovery might bere is for th not tncntioned, app!y bandages purposcs easily explaiued; though like a tourniquet, for compressing heinorrhage. ~A!exand. tSuet. doubt!css which is bandages now the most artery, and thse must have cffectual acted remedy an stopping

a wounded 1050.

thereby

Claid.

c.28.

190

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

and close most

to the

extraordinary diseased persons, by those and pass some dicted reside near the

of it, that who have faith in the remedies preare accustomed to resort to it deities, who time with experienced priests, cave. These

a subterraneous grove nature. It is related

cave,

of a

priests lay themselves order such down to sleep in the cave, and afterwards to as have been revealed to them medicine there, be furnished to their conduct frequently where they remain in the patients th sick themselves for several days nor temple. They ioto the cave, with. together,

of food out touching a morsel are the profane in the divinatory sleep, withheld from a participation this is not permitted otherwise than under though and with the sacred sanction, of the the controul, There is, however, nothing more surprising priests. about this place than that it is esteemed noxiou and This last remark of our geofatal to the Aco~~y.* grapher, physicians proves how jealous the priestly and how fearful were of their medical monopoly, lest the saner part of mankind should detect and expose the pretended virtues mentioned of their medical sanctuary. We have hitherto

the name of ~EscuJa-

there was no god of antithough pius but casually, for curing more celebrated of qnity every species mahdy jarly dreams," by the incubatory by thc designated He was particuprocess. Greeks as "th sender of deity The

nor could any other O~tpo~o~Tro~ of those oracles. boast of so great a number Strabo. lib. xiii. Pausan. lib. ii.

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THB

MARVELLOUS.

1~1 1

moat

of thse was distinguished in the Argivian daarus, territory

the

oracle from

of

Epi.

which

his worship extended over a great proportion ofhis th place birth o!dworld;hither, asbeing crowds of sick and the site of his richest temple, The persons constantly repaired in quest of dreams. saccess

spot' of the

them was diligently set forth on attending where th <<~M~B ~o~<p every wall of th temple the names of those who had been healed, recorded the nature of their maladies, 'and the cure which th Similar circumstances are related god prescribed. in Thessaly, of his Temple at Tricc, where Esculaheld in great veneration at a very early piuawas period there temple either look for the scene of the appears also to have been another at or near Athens,* where we ridiculous cure which such must Aris-

to perform makes ~EscnIapitM on the blind tophanes there is undoubtedly a rich god of riches. Though in the Plutus of the Grecian vein of the burlesque our yet we may gather much concerning th slave, present subject from the scene in which who had attended Plutus in th Temple, relates the wife. whole process of his mastcr's Here also the dramatist, Before night was the chosen period of incubation. the signal for sleep was given, the officiants of the aU the lights in the sick men's temple extinguisbed thus involving thcm in a solemn stillness chamber; to the work and obscurity lughiy favourable manner to the subterfuge but in a particular 'SchoHaadPtut.v. 621. in hand, of th

t92

THA.UMATURGA,

OR

priests,

who

enacted

th

nocturnal

apparition

of

to lus sick client. ~Esculapius in Plutus is This passage

the earliest certainly of circumstantinl relation we possess of th practice to this species of incubation.* The Hcensepermitted Grecian comedy was such as to authorise the ridicule and contempt not, therefore were our of the most to conclude popular from th this for we are deitics scens that there ancient th system of history

many unbelievers, of cure had Bunk into comedian'a

or that disrcpute

grt Hippocrates, contemporary, at this very time th temple of informs us, that at Cos abounded in tablets, on which the ~Escu!apiu8 sick attested the remedies that had been revealed to them incubation, during to them indebted higniy knowledge. Were it not testimonies, postures common have of the authenticated appear and fur that much he himself was of his medical

it would faith

by th most undeniable ineredible that the imand the should

of ~Esculapius, disciples in his regenerative powers, with equal potency and succeeding be forgotten,

survived

during the ages immediately era. It must not however, were th times of every also, when description it would have that their

acceptation th Christian that these

an infinity th disgraced appcared

of superstitious Roman

although sequence,

worid; a nccesBary conhave been of learning

.cheeked by the and science.

should prevalency dtermination increasing Plut

a Attstoph.

act.

!i. se. 6. mut ni. Bc 2.

BLUCDATION8

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

t93

If at this period the number of dreaming patients had.fallen off at Cos and Epidaurus, the deflciency was ampiy compensated of by th growing popularity shrines at Rome, Ataea, j<Eacutapiua's Pergamus, rituals MaHos, and other places, where the ancient The highest were faithfully preserved. magistrates in th Roman states not only countenanced, but the superstition Marcus Aurelius, patronised by the friendship with which he honoured and Caracalla, Alexander, imposter he undertook to Pergamus, to obtain disease which inflicted him. This the PapMagonian by the journey the cure of a the

of his age, whose been Cagliostro handed down to us by Lucian, made shift to father a new species of juggling upon th ancient process of incubation for he pretends that it was.necessary for in the sealed scrips him to sleep for a night which con~ain the queries he was to have resolved for those who visited his oracle.* During this interval hc the scrips;' and sealed them opened dexterouely that the responses which he up again pretending delivered to th querists in the morning, had been revealed to him by the deity in a dream. a never failing priests of j~Escalapius possessed of information on the source or votive recipes taMcts with which these temples abounded. Thse on pillars, as at Epidaurus were sometimes cngraven of which Pausanias in says there were six remaining lus time, and besides these, one in particular removed from th rest, on which it was recorded that Hip. Luciani, oper. t. ii. ed Reitzii. 0 The

Alexander, memoira have

9~

THAUMATURGA,

OR

twenty horses, in retom for his Five memoriats to life by him. having been restored only of this kind bave reached th present age. One of
polytus

had sacrificed

them book

is to be found

in the

de Compos. medic. of Phthas, near Memphis, of the whole. Its subject nus, borrowed from Heras

of Galen's fifth beginning it is taken from the temple and is the least is the interesting use of the Diktam. a mdical remaining

writer, frequently quoted four are much more important

of Cappadocia, The by Galen.

they were engraven of Inter date at Rome, and are on a marble stab~ with much probability, to have belonged to thought, ~Escutapian temple in the Insula in which some tranglation, present ia th artist or copyist are rectified, th first volume of Gruter's Corp. th The t. name narrations "in are perspicuous these latter days, a certain Tiberina. errors either extracted Th of from

Inscriptionum. and laconic. blind man, by to him-

had this oracle vouchsafed Caius, that he should draw near to the altar after the manner of one who could see then wak from right of his right hand on the to left, lay the nve fingers altar, then raise up his hand and place it on his eyes.' And behold the multitude his eyes, and they rejoiced, should th reign signalize ninus." 2. pains To Lucius, in bis side, !t is often who that man open such sp!endid miracles of our Emperor Antowas so wasted uf his away saw the blind

by

all doubted

recovery,

called by anttquaries Tabella ~a~~to~a f/~w/ 3A{~fM, as itwas fi rtit preservcd inthe collection.

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

TKB

MAKVEt.LOUS.

t95

the

god

altar and then

gave thie respoosc take ashes from it,

thou the Approach mix them up with wine

And the man lay thyself on thy sore side.' and openly returned thanks to the god recovered, amidst the congratulations of the people." 3. fi To Julian who spitted blood, and was given this response over by every one, the god granted near, 'ta pine apples from off the altar, and eat them with wine for three days. And th man got of the well, and came and gave thanks in the presence Valerius soldier, ceived this answer from the god the blood of a white cock with ointment three and and mb therewith, And lo th blind days. people." 4. A blind Aaper by name, that he should remix Draw

milk, make an eye his eyes with it for recovered his sight, to th god." of ~Escuapius

and publicly gave thanks came, The success with which th Priests on their impostures, dexterous management, and th

carried their

obtained for them, credulity on maturer consideration. task These for them bias whatever

which popularity no less than th vulgar will cease to surprise us It could not be a difficult

credulous

to give the minds of their patients to their purposes. was best adapted beinge passed several days and nights

could not fail in the temple, and their imagination with what was diligently to be powerfully impressed told them of the prescriptions and cures of ~Escula* pius nor fo retain were impressions nurses too terests, during their of their meditations neither of their slumbers by day so blind to their reputations
o 2

many lively their priestly own inas to omit

nor so careless

!96

THAU5ATURGA,

OR

the

of such modes of~iet prescribing remedies as were calculated to appease Besides which~ however aumsrmgs. their outward crmonials empirica bave been, wc should sions might

and their

medical

patienta* and delusive

and bold pretenthat remember,

some acquaintance with the science 'of priests, having were generally selected to otnciate on those medicine, was the order of spots where the incubitary process* the the dny. To this acquaintance were added results of daily experience, tunities which the incessant and frequent demands of the the opporinfirm

them of correctingupon thcir 8Mn afforded previous errors and improving their practical knowled~e of gradually th various and kinds ascertaining appearances such data of human as would and of digesting disorders; enable with the least them, the pre~cribe to th various ma!adies. not a little modes stages With such

chance of failure, to possible of cure and treatment suitable of th apphcant's and species it would have been meanp,

if the priests of ~Esculapius had faited to his credit and their own ing the popular veneration emolument. It is sonu'what on singulnr, that C!ccro's treatisc as thc as well wot'ks of Hippocrates and Gn!en, dh'inntion, should bcso dcstttutc oftnfonnaHon on thcsubjcctof atnodc of cure whtchwnsof such )ott{? standing, and so un!vcrx:t!!y pst<'emed. Frotn thc two last, one should nt least hve exmore sotisfactory C'O!)bc!ng tlse bh'th* pected sontcthtng place ofthe one, and !'crgatnus ofthe other.

singular in convert-

ELUCIDA/HONS

OF

THE

MARVELLOUS.

197

CIAPTER

XII.

ON AMULETS, CHARMS, TALISMANSPHTLBR8, THEIR ORGN AND IMAGKARY EFFCACY, ETC. worn about th certain substances neck or other parts of the body, under the supersti~ tious impression of preventing of curing, or diseases, removing them. The origin of amulets remote ages of mankind. cover and fix th period when remedies were first for th aHeviatton of bodily suffering, we employed or mvolved in fable. are soon lost in conjecture We are unable, when country~ medical tivated and may be traced to the moat In our researches to disAMULET8 are

indeed,
the

to reach

th

inhahitants

in .any period were destttute of

and even among the most unculresources, tribes we find medicine cherished as a blessing

Th feelings of the stiSerer, practised as an art. and the anxiety of those about in the him, must, have incited a spirit of inrudest state of society, dustry and research to procure ease, the modification of heat and cold, of moisture of and change rgulation and diet and the dryness and habit, must

t98

THAUMATURO!A-,

OR

intuitively of pain

have and

suggested when these

themselves resources

for

the

relief

were and incantations, amulets, expedi. ents of th barbarians, ever more inclined to indulge th de~sive than to listen to the hope of superstition voice of sober reason. Traces of amulets though Dr. history, whcn he fixes th origin of these magical instruments whieh was not more to the age of the Ptolomies~ than three hundred before Christ. This years assertion is rcfuted by Galen, who who informs 630 us the Egyptian Kmg Nechepsus, had written, before Christ, into th form of a dragon would applied extemally, and organs of digestion. is supported by scripture which Jacob under buried related in years that a green jasper eut surrounded with rays, if the stomach strengthen Tbis opinion, moreover, for what were th earrings the oak of Sechem, And Josephus as lived in very early may be discovered Warl)urton i~ cvidently in error

failed, the natural

chayms,

but amulets. in Genesis, informs us that Solomon his antiquities of the Jews,* discovered a plant efficacious in th cure of epilepsy, and that he employed the aid of a chM'm. for the of assisting its virtues. The ro~t of the purposcs was applied to thenostrUsofthedemoniac; remarks and Josephus that he saw himself n Jewish th art priest practise with complete success in the presence of Solomon of his sons and the tribunes th Emperor of Vespasian, the Roman army. From this art of Solomon, exhibited herb was concealed in a ring, which

L!b. viti. chap. 2. 5.

RLUC!DATJONS

OF

THB

MARVELLOU8.

i99

through Eastern orders be the human

the medium stories

of a ring which celebrate

seal, we th seal of or

have

the

and record

the potency of his sway over of demons or ofgenii, who were invincible race. means confined tormentors or

Solomon, th various

supposedto benefactors of the and barba-

Nor were such

to dark

rous ages. Pericles to be Theophrastus pronounced of seeing him with insane m consequence an amulet And in the declining era from his neck. suspended of the custom induced Roman Empire, so gnral that to make we the find this Emperor edict, ordering, amulets superstitious was Caracalla that about no his

a public

man should

wear any superstitious working to unequal used as the at it were

person. AU remedies and

plainly whether amulets; or carried person,

effect, a distance

sympatheticany, may be termed by th another

about immediate!y patient. amulets were called A~Mpa, and by By the Jews, the Greeks phylacteries. The latins caued them amuleta secrated Various or ~a<Mra the catholics ~MtM eM, or con. and the natives of Guinea ~M. relies kinds of substances are employed by different

and suppose capable people, and which they venerate them from danger of preserving and infection, as weU as to remove disease when present. Plutarch an Athenian that when a says of Pericles, general, friend came tb see him, and inquired after his health lie reached out his hand and shewed him his amulet th truth of bis illness, by which he meant to intimate

200

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

at th same the confidence and, time, in these popular remedies. Amulets are still prevalent in catholic the

he

placed at

countries

the Spaniards and present Portuguepe day; maintain their popularity. Among the Jews they are there are few iostances Indeed, equally venerated. of ancient some portion of which has not superstition and not unfrequently b?en preserved, hve they adopted by men of otherwise good understanding, been who

cost little, plead in excuse, that they are innoxious, and if they can do no good, they can do no harm. Lord Bacon, whom no one can suspect of ignorance, says, that if a man wear a bone ring or a planet seal, strongly believing, by that means, that he and that it would preserve might obtain his mistre8&, at sea, or in abattle, it would probably make him more active and esa timid as the audawould and bind might inspire conquer city they of a peculiar duty. wcaker minds in th excution him unhurt

AMULTS USRD BY THE COMMON PEOPLE.

A variety the common whatever

of things people

are worn

about

the

principle

for the cure of ague it may be accounted

person by and, upon whether

or a natural of th by the imagination been cured by them, disease, many have apparently where th Pcruvian had bark, th boasted specinc, failed. Dr. WiUis says that charma resistpreviously ing agues have often been applied to the wrist with

for, termination

BLUCDATION8

OP

THE

MAUVKLLOUH.

201

succcess.

the herb lunaria, gathered by ague bas, on some high authonties, moon-light, performed cures. it was gathered surprising during the Perhaps influence of the following charm, which invocating may of thus be found Scot's in the discovery l2th book, chap. xiv. p. 177 of witcheraft," which is headed

manner, cured the

ABRACADABRA, that is, in th form

written of a cone,

a peculiar it is said, has

in

Another

charme that their

M~C~

use at ~P gathering Aey&s."

of

medicinai

Htn!c be thou holy herbe, Growing in the ground, And in thc mount Calvaire First wert thou found. Thou art good for many a sore, And hea!cst many a wound, In th name of awect Jsus 1 takc thee from th ground. We seven were are times also told that Naaman Jordan. at anodyne objects until the was cured Certain by dipping formalities

in the river performed

Dr. Chamberlayne's a length of time, materna! became solicitude, loat by th

of Bethesda. pool for necMaces, were, most anxious of th their occult for them them virtues being have

reverence

and those which succeeded destroyed; long since run their race or newly so.

202

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

was at one time sapposed to grey limewort have been a specinc in hydrophobia-that it not oniy cured those under this disorder, but by labouring it about the person, it was reputed to possde carrying thc extraordinary them. biting for at the the means. mad dogs from power of preventing to St. Hubert Calvert paid dvotions of his son, who was cured by this recovery rites The son also perfbrmed the nccessary and was cured him." to this of the worser not only of the hydrophrensy with which his were round a~o the

The

phobia father used legs

shrine, but had and

instilled eeIsMus

Cramp-rings day are tied

as a preventive of this spasmodic and affection sticks across the floor, on going to bed, by laying cramp bas also been prevented. Numerous are the charme and incantations used at the present day for the removal of wart8, many cases of whtch are not a little surprising. And we are told who is allowed to have been as Verulam, by Lord great when on a genius as this country ever produced, that, he was at Paris, he had above a hundred warts his hands and that the English ambassador's

and a woman far above superstilady, then at court, removed them ail by only rubbing them with tion, the fat side of the rind of a piece of bacon, which nailed to a post, with th fat aide afterwards they In five weeks, says my Lord, towards th south. The following are his Lordthey were all removed. in his own words, relative to the observations, ship's power vattons of amulets. on nature, After and obser. metaphysical in mitigation of arguing deep

ELUCIDATIONS

Of

THE

MA&VELLOUS.

203

sorcery, outstrip should known

witchcraft, th belief not

and in

divination,

effects

that

far

depend from contract from

reject how far those contributmg to superstition, on natural causes. Charms have not the power with evil spirits, but

We lie observes amulets, it is not all of this kind, because

the imagination strengthening have premanner that images and their influence, vailed on religion, way being called J~pm a different of use and application, and incantations, sigits, spells."

wholly proceed in the same

ECCBNTRMTIE8,

CAPRICES, AND EPFECT8, IMAGINATION. for the

0F

THE

A certain

of grt as task upon the gifts of imagination bring the heaviest of reason and to bear those faculties with vigilance rectitude or invariable unerring propriety, requires a and of cool attention, which does degree of ~nnness not always attend the higher gifts of the mind. Yet, difficult task are as nature herself seems to have reduced the of regularity lation of duUness, the to genius, it is the supreme coDsoto seize upon those excessea, which of faculties never enovernowings they

writer, apologizing himself gmi, delivers

irregularities follows The

Are not the gifts of imagination mistaken joyed. here for the strength of passions ? Doubtless, where as perhaps great strong passions accompany parts, Langhornc's Life of Mr. Collins.

204

THAUMATURGA,

OR

they

often

do,

the

force gentle, connict

and

activity

imagination but, where

may

encrease

their

imagination but specuatively an eternal

passions are calm and of itself should seem to have no with rcason. There, indeed, and contracted

war and, if not it will carry the patient into endiess strictty rcgulated, The term patient is here properly used, extravagancies. are because men, under the influence of imagination, Th degree of this distemtruly distem~ercd. of imagito the prevalence per will be in proportion nation over reason, to this proportion, and, according to more or Jess of the whimsical but when amount reason tion shall become, govern ness under Thus, sorrow one alone, th wildest of those as it were, extinct, then th distemper and most and imaginawill be mad. modes. most

it wages

fantastic

crown school.master. a~ joy The

shall be all invalids, perhaps, for baving been most unjustly deprived of the his vocation, be that of a though poor man Another, and it may secm like Horace's madman, to cure him. is

even cruelty and caprices of th imagination are oprations various and endiess and, as they cannot bc reduced or system, so it is highiy to reguhtrity improbable that out th any certain for them. of fact and delusions mcthod It bas of cure should been generally most successfully as being ever be found that thought, be opposed to

mattcr senss,

might of imagination,

conviction carrying but we rather that th unsuspect, understanding or reasoning derstanding faculty, bas little to do in all thse cases ut least so it should seem from the two foUowingfact~ which are by no means badly attested.

proof to thc to the unnvoidably

ELUCIDATIONS

OF

THR

MARVRLLOUS.

205

7Ma. book, de Fr~a from Donatus the case of a man, records ~<?Mt<:OMM, who fancied his body encreased to such a size, that the door of his he durst not attempt to pass through Fienus, in bis curious little chamber. that nothing could The physician believing more cnectuauy cure this error of imagination, than be done, caused to ehew that the thing could actually it the patient to be thrust who. through forcibly into agonies, struck with horror, and falling suddenly complained soon after.~ The other of being case, crushed as related to pices, and expired

in his by Van Swieten, is that of a learned commentaries upon Boerhaave, man, who had studied, till he fancied his legs to be of of which he durst not attempt in consequence glass to stir, but was constantly under anxiety about them. His maid bringing one day some wood to the nre, threw it caretessiy and was severely down; reprimanded who was terrified not a little by her master, for The surly wench, out of all legs of glass. witb his megrims, as she called them, gave patience him a bow with a log upon th parts affected; which so enraged rose up, and from him, that he instantly that reason moment concerned recovered any more th use hre of his !egs.Was or was it not rather another ? his

one blind impulse acting against a most powerful has, unquestionaby, Imagination effect upon the mind, and in aU thse miraculous cures, says,

is by far th strongest Dr. Strother ingredient. Th influence of the mind and passions works Rcvcrii Praxis McdicM, p. 188.

206

THAUMATURGA, OR

like a upon the mind and body in sensible operations and is of far the greater force than exmedicine, a good or wickercise. The countenance betmys and that intention ed intention; good or wicked to enpereons a strength produce in different or a weakness to yield to the prepondcounter, side." Dr. Brown says, Il Our looks discoerating will ver our our certain passions, characters, there which being mystically carry in them in our faces the motto of

work secret effects sols, and, therefore, probably in other parts." Tins idea is beautifully illustrated by in the following lines Garth in his Dispensatory, Tttus pa!er ooks impetuous rage procaint, And chilly virgins redden into Hame. See cnvy oft transformcd in wan disguise, And tuirth sits gay and smiMng io the eyes, Oft our complexions do the soul declare, And tell what passions in the featurcs are. Hcncc 'tis wc look th wond'rous cause to find, How body acts upon impassive mind. On from th th power and pleasure and pains that of the it imagination, admini<-tcrs here

God, who knows all of afflicting us hre. us, may so transport after with such beautiful and glorious visions, or torus with such hideous and ghastly spectres, ment as even of themselves suffice to make up the might entire heaven or hell of any future being. below, the ways

pleasures Addison concludes

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

TUE

MARVELLOUS.

207

DOCTRINE 0F

EFFLUVIAMRACULOU8

CURES BY ETC.

MEAN8 OP CHARMS, AMULET8, Dr.

in his Treatise on nervous Willis, disorders, m epileptic does not hesitate to recommend amulets some fresh peony disorders. Take," says he, roots, eut them into square bits, and hang them round the neck, changing them as often as they dry." not improbable that the hint ws taken from circumstance tis this

for theanodyne whicli, some necklaces, time ago, were in such repute, as the Doctor, some little way further on, prescribes the same root for the of children, fevers, and convulsions looseness, during the time of teething, mixed, to make it appear more with some elk's hoof. miraculous, St. Vitus's dance is said to have the afflicted been cured by of th

pcrson pnying a visit to the tomb there is no saint, near Ulm, Indeed, every May. little reason in this assertion for exercise and change diseases. The bite of~ir will change many obstinate of th tarantula is cured by music and this only by certain tunes. whose ideas are so extrava. Turner, absurd, gantly of hydrophobia th bite of th where may he asserts, not appear the symptoms for forty years after th and that

that dog, and who maintains slaver or breath of such a dog is infectious that men bitten will bite like by mad dogs, again, although much dyne necklaces, argues It is not, indeed, so very strange and die mad

dogs he laughs at the anoin the same manner. that th emuvia

208

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

from effect

external such cause

medicines considrable

entering changes,

our bodies, when we

ehould see the

efficient

of apoplexy, epilepsy, hysteries, plague, and a number of other disorders, as it were, consista, in imperceptible vapeurs.BJood.stone (Lapis ~Etifastened to the arm by some secret Sydenham, a live kitten to bc constantly abortion. is means, in the iliac

tes) said

to prevent orders passion, to the abdomen to the applied tilential fevers that impression agents, that the seek

applied others have used pigeons split alive, soles of the feet, with success, in pesand convulsions. It was doubtiess the relief court might be obtained by extemal of king David advised him to

a young virgin, in order that a portion of the natural heat might be communicated to his body, and to the decay of nature. Take the give strength heart and liver of the fish and make a smoke, and the devil shall smcM it and ne away." th pla. Dnring which Bebrt attributed to the larvae gue at Marseilles, thesaUva, and food,and of worms infecting chyle; he says, "wcre hatched which, by the stomach,took their passage into the blood, at a certain size, hinaerthe juices and solid ing th circulation, affccting of mercury to be worn at ihe chcst and nostri!?, either as suspended a safeguard, or as mcana of cure by which mcthod, th a~t~tt;p/!M.9 of thc pores, effluvia through speof all venomous were reinsects, cially destructive parts." in bags ceived Belort the into says, small-pox." th blood. by wearing An such illustrious an amulet, prince," escaped He advised amulets

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELMUS.

209

Clognini,

an

Italian

drachms against

of crude the

ordered two or three physician, to be worn as a defensive mercury and aso of and preservative inclement seasons conquers the dnfloating in as a

the against It breaks,"

rent figured the air; or else, where hatched."

vapours be observes, seeds of pestilential

jaundice; noxious

kiUs them mixing the power of mercury, By others, in thse cases, bas been ascribed to an lective faculty of th body, wlch draws givcn out by the warmth to this For, according contagious particles. entertained all bodies are continually notion, emitting more or less, around them, and some wheefliuvia, The Bath waters, ther they are internai or external. for instance, change the colour of silver in the pocket th same of those who use them. Mercury produces rubbed on the pit of the emetic, e~ect i Tartar and laughing stomach, produces vomiting. Yawning are sour infectious so are fear and shame. The or even the idea of them, things, teeth on edge. itch, and other diseases, Small-pox, mercurial amulets if so, say they, are contagious th gcnn of some complaints bid fair to destroy when sight of will set the out the

distempers the air, with

used only as an external either by application, or wom as an amulet. But medimanual attrition, are precarious and uncertain, cated or nbt, ail amulets and in thc care of diseases are, by no means, to be trusted Thc to. the throughout Barhnry Moors, and generally are strikingly Mahommedan thc people dominions, attached to charms, to which, and nature, they leave the cure of almost every disorder
r

and

this

is the

2O

THAUMATUROtA,OR

impressed upon them from their belief in which, prdestination, according to their creed, stipulates th evil a man is to suffer, as well as the length of most strongly time it is ordained he should live upon forefathers cotisequently they imagine ference from secondary means would avail thing, an opinion said tohaveheenentertained the land of hia that any interthem uo-

by Wilfor nations, liam III, but one by no means calculated that when and commerce liberty, upon the principle be the one was entrenchcd upon, men would probably more sudden in their revenge, and disHke physic and and when actuated with religious enthuoccupation could stand them in any service. siasm, nothing Th opinion of an old navy surgeon,* on the subhre. A long and intense ject, is worth recording on one object, whether of pride, love, fear, passion or envy, we see have brought on some unianger, versal tremors on othera, lancholy, disorder as consomption, as has wasted as 'the donc. me. convulsions, madness, or such a chronical hectics, their flesh, or their strength, in of any poisonous drugs

or sudden, Anything f.'ightful, not only natures, soft, timorous aurprising, upon shews itself in the continuance, but produces sometimes very trouMcsome parUamentary fright scare them out of their wits, turn A<?~r~ themspives, th hair grcy. Surprise removes the hooping cough from precipices or seeing wheels turn swiftly looping John Ailkin, autbor ofthe !)ctnocotog!a, p. 64 et seg. Navy Snrgcon, !743. consequences-for even will make a instance, men grown

certainly would have

taking

Sec

KLUCJDATOK80F

THH

MARVELLOC3.

SU

will give giddiness. Shall then these little accidents, or the passions, (from caprice or humour, perhaps,) produce those effects, and not be able to do anything as the spirits, in many cases, resort by amulets ? No in plenty, we find where th fancy determines, giving to the heart, and fleetness strength joy and gladness To amulets, un. to th limbs, and violent palpitations. is carried with more force to a derstrong imagination, under these and, circumstances, distempered part, its natural powers exert better to a discussion. The cures compassed in this manner," says our author, are not more admirable than many of the by dog, Thc themselves. Who can distempers apprehend nethod the bite of a mad what impenetrable can produce or tarantula, these symptums ? touch .lowedtc and not of torpedo do these, a numbness doubtless ? If

which by miracles, and regular of, but by natural causes, possibility to us. inscrutable Th best way, therefore, though in using amulets, must be in squaring them to the imagination prise exceed let th uewness and sur. patients th invention, and keep up the humour scroll of cures and vouchers; by these and many distempers to thcir according have been and cured. way boldness of

are al. they theother; may they denles tbc Spinoza

by a long such means,

Quacks again, of addressing command dience. tlie at first ashamed,

and (velvet infallibility particularlv) success by striking th fancies of an au. If than the rest, sec few, more sensible and are not they see in to his assistance."
P 2

doctor's

miscamagcs, sight, yet, whcn in time, jump

easily gulled a man is never

212

TUAUMATURGIA,

OR

There above

ia much

truth

and pertinence

in some of the

and they apply nearly to the gnerai remarks, of the prsent The farces and whims practice day. on of people require often as much discrimination the part of the physician as the disease itself. Thoae who know best how to flatter such caprices, are freNervoua the best paid for their trouble. quently diseases some when are always professional in season, and it is here that is pardonable. Nature, dextcrity will often do more than art

uninterrupted, to appreciate t!ie but our inability upon all occasions efforts of nature in the cure of discases, must always render our notion, with respect to the powers faith, habe to numerous errors and deceptions. There is. in fact, nothing more erroneous, th and door cribed. By charms, thse have more than and at the same time natural, to tay the cure of a disease to medicine means evcr the been that had been advocates enabled presof amu~ets

of the last

to appeal to the testimony of what they are pleased to call in justincation of their pretensions, and experience and cases which, in truth, egre~ioua superstitions to have been classed, or rather ought designated, have been lucky escapes, off as skilful and thus, curea dica practitioncrs, have alike of unmerited Of thc all most as triumphanty medicines receivcd of unjuat medicine and, puned and mcthe meed censure. is one of

praise, or the stigma branches of human science, interesting to mankind

or judiciously as it is erroneou~y conducivc to th prejudice dently Of how great consequence pub!ic.

accordin~'y is ovicu!tivated, or welfnre is it, then, of the that

KLUMDATONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOU8.

2~3

in stemming the of errors, whether propagation arising from ignorance, in giving or prompted by motives of base cupidity, assistance to th disseminations of useful truths, and to the perfection of ingnions discoveries.

our

endeavours

should

be

exerted

214

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

CHAPTER

XH.

ON TAH8MANS-SOME THB

CUMOUS, NATURAL ONE8, ETC.

are not so ancientasthe amulets Egyptian but in their uses they were talismans, Babylonian simitar. Some little figures, exactly supposed to have been intended as charms, have ben found on several which, at various times, have been brought mummies, to Europe. wore rings, Plutarch on which informa us that the soldiers the representation of an insect and we learn from wasinscribed; round suspended formed of emeof ta-

rcsemMingourbeetle, that the ~HUan, their raids. lismans necks The

judges had always a small figure of Truth belief

the Copths, extinct, being th Arabians, th Syrians, and, indeed, almost aU the inhabitants of Asia, west of the Gangcs, whether or mahometans, still use them christians against possible There leta their or and evils. is little th distinction amutalismans, of the Africans as regards though there is some in their between

superstitions is yet far from

in th virtues

gree-grees

pretended efficacy external configuration. eut under

Magical figures, engraven observances of th cha'. superstitious

RLUCIDATIONS

OP

THR

MAKVRL.OUS.

215

racterisms called

and

talismans

configurations to which other

of the astrologers,

are heavens, hermetical

and philosophers, virtues, particularly influences.* The talismans old, were pieces and set in rings. against all kinds taken Three from kinds of

wonderful adepts, attribnte that of calling down ceestial Samothracians, formed into so famous certain as preservatives other talismans from minerais. of

of th of iron

images,

They were reputed ofevils. Therewere and others vegetables, talismans were

usually distinguished lst. th <M~oMOM!ca~ known by the signs or conthe heavens engraven with etellations,of upon them, and some other characters unintelligible figures, bearing very extraordinary figures, with words and names of angels superstitious unheard of 3rd. th M~ talismans, which consist of but without words; any ones, or names of angels. superstitious and maintained It has been aseerted by some that tbe brazen raised Rabins, serpent by Moses signs in the wilderness, that annoyed th AU th miraculous Tvanseus for th destruction Israelites, of th was properly serpents a talisman. and barbarous 2nd. th magical,

things wrought are attributed to the virtue

by Apollonius and influence of

as he is called, is even <a~MOM~ and that wizard, of them. Some authors said to be th inventor take Th authof of a book, entitkd ?~M<M ~t< the seal, scal, figure. pronounccs (tB talisman tnlisntM to be the ~gtn'e, chaructcr, ctiaracter, or or or planct, engraven image of a lieavenly sign, constellation on a sympathetic stone, or on a mtal correspondtng to th star, etc. in order to receive its influences.

816

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

several

at least, whose inmedats,BQeda!a, are in the Runic characters,for talismans, scriptions it being notorious in their that the northem nations, were much to them. M. heathen state, devoted Keder, however bas spoken of are quite It appears from the Evangeists~ St. Paul, after he had been shipwrecked, to the island of Malta, a viper fastened that the medals shown, other things than talismans. that, hre when

Runic

and escaped on his hand

as he was aying a bundle of sticks, he had gathered, on the fire and that, by a miracle, and to the grt astonishment of the spectators, inhabitants of the island, by the great dies. he not only suffered no harm, but also cared, divine power, the chief of the island, and a number of others, of very dangerous malaThere romain stiil m that island, as so many over that venemous

trophies gained by the Apostle a great many small atones the beast, representing of serpents, and considered for eyes and tongues as powerful several centuries amuleta past, against sorts of distempers dinerent and poisons. As the virtue of thse stones is stiU much boasted of by the and as some, on the contrary, maintain that it they are tbe petrified teeth of a nsh called lamia, here to relate some observations will not be irrelevant from the best authors on this interesting so subject, much to our purpose. Maltese, of serpents eyes and tongues when they dig into the arc onty found by the Maltcse ia whitish which th island, or earth, throughout Acts of the Apost!ps, chnp. xxvi!i. v. 3. It is said that tbose

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

817

about the cave of St. Paul. up atone, especially This stone is so soft, that, like clay, it may be eut and made to with instrument, through any sharp receive easily digrent for building th walls figures, of their imbibed houses with and mmparts; a sufficient but, when it bas been or weU of rain quantity a Hint that resists the

draw

it changes into water, cutting of the sharpest whence the houses that instrument are built of it in th two cities, appear as hewn out of one solid rock, and become harder, the more they exposed Thia hardness to the cidity which their adheres are to th inclemencies of the weather. be ascribed may, with good reason, sait of nitre, which contracta a certain visfrom the rain wherewith it is mixed, and into thse atones, because easily penetrates substance to the is tongue these stones and spongy as hartshom. that not cretaceous, the and

It is in

are found, tongues of serpents -and other parts as lungs, liver, heart, spleen, ribs, and so resembling life, and with such naturalcolours, that one may weU doubt whether are the work they of nature very or art; dinereot. the

only but aiso

eyes and their viscera

greater part others a segment, others an hyperbola. of a conic figure, sopetr are naturally and acute, obtuse, regular, are also of different colours, some colour, most of them are of an somebrown, are rare, irregular especially ash-colour,

figure of the eyes and tongues is are elliptic, for the Some but, aome an hemisphere, round represent The glos. representi ng cones. They the but eyes; for others liver

others blackish most esteemed.

these, as Bracelets are

318 frequently made

THAUMATUROA, of them and

OR set in gold: some

an entire eye with a white representing thse are the most beautiful. Several found of an orange colour. Th virtues and tongues, m the island, which is kept attributed

and pupil, are likewise

hy the Maltese to those eyes and to the white earth which is found particularly for use by m the St. Paul's cave, as and the

are very reckon Americanbole, them not only a preservative all sorts of against and an efficacious remedy for those who have poison, taken poison, but also good in a number of diseases. are taken internally, in water, infused wine, They or in any other convenient or let to lie for liquor or some hours in vessels made of the white earth; the white earth is taken itself dissolved in those in rings, The eyes set as precious atones liquors. the flesh, are worn and so as to touch immediately on the fingers but th tongues by the inhabitants are fastened neck. Paul notion a Sicilian nobleman, treated this Bucconi, of the eyes and tongues of serpents as a mere and maintaina that they either constitute error in the eartb, produced island of Malta, as in their or that they are nothing more than the which is also the teeth of some marine 6sh of Fahius Columna, Nicholas Steno and other that glossopetra: because, kingdom, the of stone about the arm, or suspended from th

apothecaries, for they singular;

vulgar a particular matrix petrified opinion

species orinthestonesofthe

and anatomists. physicians It seems to this noble author should be classed in the animal

ELUCIDATIONS

OF

THE

MARVELLOUS.

3t9

into cinders as bones, being burnt, they are changed or ashes, into a calx before are rcduced they reduced into whilst calcincd stones are immediately a calx. He further are often glossopetrse which is an vident that says, found broken the roots of th in different ways, have not

that argument they been produced in the place they are digged by nature, out of, because nature forms other fossils, figured in their matrix, without entirely any hurt or mutilation. ent th in Add different to this, parts solid that of th th substance ~ia digrsolid at glossopetrae at the root, compact in the interior and fibrous

at the

to the custom of nature, contrary which forms no stone, whether common or precious, is polished that the figure varies and, lastly, different ways, as well as the size, being found great, narrow, small, very smaU, pyracurved before, to the right behind, midal, straight, and to the left, in form of a saw with small teeth, fumished with great jags or notches, and frequently broad, triangular, absolutely without all these notches; pyramidal faveur his opinion. as he thence But, particulars believes he bas proved that th glossopetrss should amongst prove that which so also what he has stones, are the natural teeth of they are called, (shark) reason for by etc. lithographers, and therefore doubt we of

less point, surface, porous the polished surface,

besides,

not be classed said may those fishes,

lamia, aquila, requiem, there scarce remains any on this There shall head. are

a further

give

of curiosities, which representations of from the Ephemerides an account

220

THAUMATURGtA,

OR

th

Curious.

in the

pressed a natm'a~st

to see at Batavia, customary island of Java, icath figure of serpents on th shel!s of eggs. Andrew Cleyerus;

It

is

of considrable note, says, that when he wasat Batavia in !679, on the he had seen himself, 4th of Septembcr, an egg newly laid by a hen, of the ordinary but representing size, exactly, very towards th summit of the other part of the th figure of a serpent and all its parts, not Uneament of the serpent were marked on the surface, but the three dimensions of th body were as sensible shell, only the

as if they had been engraved or by an able sculptor, impressed on wax, plaister or some other !ike tnatter. One could see very plainly and a the head, ears, cloven tongue starting out of the throat the eyea and resplendent, sparkling perfectly the interior and exterior were eyc, with to behod their natural and so represented of the parts of the

that colours, they seemed with astonishment the eyes even of the To account for this phenomenon, it may spectators. be eupposed the hen being near a that, laying, and thather itself to her sight, presented etrack thereby, the figure imagination, impressed of the serpent on the egg that was ready to press serpent out of the ovarium. An egg equally wonderfu, J was laid by a t4th. of December, !680. Rome on the famous cornet that appeared then on the head dromeda. ils shcH. egg other stars, Sebastian Scheffer with hen at The of An-

on were seen represented say~, tliat he had seen an Signor of the

with th representation of an eclipse on it. in his etter to the academy MagHabecchi,

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THR

MARVELLOUS.

22!

Curious,

on

th 20th.

of

October

1683,

bas

thse

1 had sent mefromRome, words; ~'Lastmonth of an egg found at Tivoli, with the ima drawing of th sun and tlie transparent comet with pression a t~vistedtail." There small are also cocos, bas bcen exactly representations with th head of of Indian an ape. nuts, or Th nut

of the in the Ephemerides engraved both as to size and form, and coyered with Cunous, its shell, as expressed there by cyphers and other of its the same nut stripped figures which represent. and exhibiting th head of an ape. This covering, nut seems pretty much like the foreign fruit described Exoticorum lib. a, which John Bauhin by Clusius, Plant. Universal the descripLib. 3) retaining (Hist. a nut resembling the areca, and lib. 11. sect. 6) calla, (Pinac. the fruit of the fburteenth of Palm-tree, that bears or a foreign fruit of the same sort as the nuts, areca. This inch an shell, is, as Clusius says, an and a ha!f in length, but is somewhat more than fruit its thick. the Its shell of or membraneous thc blade thickncsa covering, of a knife, and with tion of Clusius, calls, which C. Bauhin

inch

is about

colour of an ash mixed with brown. outwardiy to say, that thc shell of Clusius was in t!ie right this nut was formed of several fibrous parts, but those fibres than resemble th nbrous rather parts has vcry shell of a coco, of th back of the areca nut, those that this observed, with a double calyx of th

He, moreover, shell is armed,

properly at its lower part,

222

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

that the opposite in a point but part termintes to observe, it is necessary that this point is not formed by the prolongation of the shell, as the Dgure he bas given of it seems to specify but that from of the upper part out a sort of small needie. the middle Th shell being taken off, of hard, ligneous, oblong, und of a chesnut yellow. and the other, roundish, of three sorts of longation of the fruit, there juts to be

and

thc nut

is found

furrowed, unequal surface, One of its extremities is and pro. by th reunion ter minates in a. tubercles, being sa formed, that the

those protubrances point middiemost th two others, bas the placed between of a nose, and the two lateral appearance protuberances resemble ~at lips. On each sidc of that which formB what we caU

the nose, a smal hole or of containing nook is perceived, a pea: capable but does not penetrate with deep, and is surrounded black filaments, sometimealike and eyeeyc-brows lashes, ape This so that or a hure. /M~ th nut on that side resembes an

or sport of nature, bas a very ~K!'d', prctty effect, but is oftener found in stones than other A great substances. variety of such rare and singular productions but Musum respect of nature nothing than what may be seen at the Britieh can be more cxtraordinury in concerning the agate

this of

is related

which represented, naturally, Pyrrhus, Apollo with a lyre, th nine muses holding distinguished cach by their attributes. In ail probability, there is in this fact, for we see nothing of great exaggeration

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELMPS.

223

the kind that comes near this perfection. However, it is said, that, at Pisa, in the church of St. John, there is seen, on a stone, an old hermit perfectly and holding painted by nature, sitting near a rivulet, a that, in the temple of St. at Constantinople, there is to be seen, on a Sophia, an image of St. John the Bapwhite sacred marble, tiat, c~oa~ed with a camel's skin, but so far dtective bell hand has given him but one foot. There is an instance in the Mercury of France, of some curious July 1730, sports of nature on that sects. The rector of St. James nature for inin his and

at Land, within a 1~30, league of Rennes, found in the month ofMarch, in the church-yard< a species of butterfly, about two inches on its broad, long, and half-an-inch having of a death's-head, of the length head the figure of one nail, and perfectly on the church sented the office of the dead. those that are repreimitating omaments which are used for Two large wings were spotted body covered with a down, and yellow, extended th bearto

like a pall, and th whole or black hair, diversified with black to yeUow. ing some resemblance These animate freaks as to of nature are inanimate

equally and bodies;

human

as well as th brute creation, aSbrds uumerepecies, ous spcimens, not only of redundance and deficiency in her work, but a variety of other phenomena not well understood. The march of intellect, it however, is to be hoped, will be as successful in this instance, as in obliterating the hobgoblins of astrologers and quacks who so long have ruled th destiny aud health

224

THACMATUROA,

OR

of their

less

may derive from occurrences t will those wc sha~I enumerate in th next chapter, be more disposed to offer thcm te the consideration of scient!nc men.

the public which science

sagacious shall hecome

feUow-creature8;and of the persuaded

when advantagea simiar to

K.UCIDATOKS OP THE MARVEH<OU8.

225

CHAPTER

XIV.

ON THE

MEDICINAL

FOWERS ATTRIBUTED TO MUSIC

BY THR ANCKNT8.

TH K power of music over th human as its influence on the animal creation,

mind, as well has been va-

and its curative virtues have been no rionsly attested; Martianus less extolkd by the ancients.* Cape~a and assures us, that fevers were removed by songs, cured deafness Asclepiades by the sound of the Wonderfut indeed that th same noise trumpet. occasion deafness in sorne, should he a which would that specifie its own for it in othcrs bite. But, It is making pcrhaps Asclepiades whieh has vcntor of thc <?roM~/coK, or ear-trumpet, bccn thought a modern discovery or of th speakingwhich is a kind of cure for distant deafness. tnntipct, Thse wouM .be admirable proofs of musical powcr !t the viper cure was th in.

Dr Curncy's History of Music. t it has bccn assertcd by scvcrat modems, that deaf people can hcar b~'st in a grt noise perhaps to prove thut Greek 0

226

THAUMATUROA,

OR

of Plutarch, the testimony and several other ancient that Thaletas the Cretan, delivered writers, the Lacedemonians from the pestilence by th sweet. ness of his Ivre. as Xenocrates, the us, employed maniacs; history and (Historia Treatise phrastus's sovereign sordered cure the Martianus sound informs CapeUn further of instruments in the cure of

We have

Apollonius

in his fabulous Dyscolus, teUs us, from TheoCommentitia) that music is a upon Enthusiasm,

for a dtection of spirits, and diremedy and that the sound of the flute will mind and th sciatic gout. Athenaeua quotes epHepsy

from Theophrastus, with this addipassage tional circumstance, that, as to the second of these to render the cure more certain, the flute disorders, should in the Phrygian mode. But Aulus p!ay Gellius, who mentions this remedy, seems to adminis. ter it in a very different to manner, by prescribing a soft and gentle strain, M modulis the flute-player incinet for the Phrygian /c/M&M~ aays he, tibicen vehement and furious. mode was remarkably This is what Chus Aurelianus ca~s loca dolentia the disordered He even decantare, piaces. enchanting is brought about upon tells us how the enchantment these occasions, in saying that the pain is relieved by causing a vibration of the fibres of the amicted part.

same

noise could do nothing which the modern cannot operat<* as c(Tcct<!)ti!y and Dr. WiUis in particular tells us of a lady who could bear only whUe a drum was beating, in so much that her husband, thc account says, hircd a drummer as her servant, in order to enjoy the ~casures of her conversation.

RLUr'DATIOXS OP THE MARVELMU8. Galen speaks part, senousy of playing the flute on

22~ the

we suppose, of a upon the principle, vapeur bath. Th sound of the flute was likewise a spcifie for the bite of a viper, according to Theophrastus and suffering medicated whose authority Aulus Gellius gives for Democritus, his belief of the fact. But there is nothing more extraordinary ancients, power of among than th virtues what th attributed relates Aristotle to music by the in its supposed

The rigour of punishment. their slaves, but Tyrhen!ans, says he, never scourge by th ~ound of fltes, looking upon it as an instance of humanity to give some counterpoise to pain, and to lessen the sum total thinking by such a diversion of the punishment. To this account may be added a softening in passage from Jul. Pallus, by which we learn, that the ~n~c~cs, or vessels with three banks of oars, there was always a tibicen, not only to or flute-player, mark the time, or cadence for each stroke of the oar, but to sooth and checr the rowers by the sweetuess of the melody. And from this eustom Quintilian took occasion to say, that music is th gift of nature, to enable us th more patiently to support toil and labour.* These are the principal passages which antiquity relative to the medicinal effects of music fumishes, in considering is placed on the judgwhich, reliance

Many of th ancients speak of music as a recipe for every kind of matady, and it is probable that th Latin was ~M'ctMfTc, to chano away pain, <MC<~arc to enchant, and our own word incantation, came from the medical use of song. Q 2

228 ment

THAUMATURGA, OR

of M. Burette, will come with whosc opinions th more weight, as he had not only long made th music of th ancients his particular study, but was a a dissertaThis in physician by pro~BMion. tion on thc subject, bas examined and discussed many of the stories above related, the effects of concerning music aHows it to be posthat music, by reiterated sible, and even probable, strokes and vibrations given to the nerves, Sbres, and animal spirits, may be of use in th cure of certain diseases yet he by no means supposes that the music of th ancients tins power in a greater possessed in th cure of diseases. Ile denre course tuaUy fect. these fect music, but rather that a very and vulgar music is as likely to operate e~ec. on such occasions as th most refined and perthan th modem The cures savages by the to perform pretend music and jargon of their imperand in ApuMa, where the bite of of America

instruments th tarantula is pretended to bc curcd by music, which excites a desire to dance, it is by an ordinary tune, very coarsely performed.* rennes on the doctrine of c~uvia, BagHvi by asto th his cures of th bite of thc tarantula crihing undu]ation pceuliar its strokes in th external parts

or tune makes bv any instrument air; which, vibrating upon th of th patient, to thc is communicated

M. Burette, vith Dr. ~!('< Bajf!h'i, nnd aH the Icarncd ofthcirtunc throu~hout Ktn'oi'c, scon to hve cntcrUnned no tioubt of this fact, nh!c!t, hoM'cvct', philosophie)~ und cur!ou!} t'nquhcrs hnvc sinct; found to hc built upon frand nnd faHac~. Vide Serrao, ~7/n 7'H~f~/&/a o t'cro~h/aM. gio di ~tf~~a.

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whole

system, and produccs that happy alteration in the solids and nuids which so effectually contributes to the cure. of the solid", The contraction he motions and new mathematical imprcsscs to the nuids in one or both of which is seated all distempers, and without any other help than a continuance a phiof faith, will alter their quality says, directions and intricatc losophy as wonde~ul th poison it is intended to expel as the but nature of which, howif th particles of may do

nervous

ever, supplies this observation, that, sound can do so much, the enluvia of amulets more.

must be very strong in those who beCredulity lieve it possible for music to drive away the pestilence. reabove, however, as mentioned Antiquity, lates that Thaletas, a famous lyrc poet, contemporary with but it is imSolon, was gifted with this power possible to render the fact credible, without qualifying it by several circumstances omitted in the relation. first place, it is certain, that this poet was received among th Lacedemonians during the plague, by that by virtue of this mission, command of an oracle all the poetry of th hymns which he sung, must have consisted of prayers and supplications, in order to avert th anger of the gods against the people, whom hc exhorted many other stitious, could not fail to agitate and to produce the same effects as titude, nearly as processions, public fasts, and, in catholic countries, at present, in times of danger, by exalting the courage, and by animating hope. The disease having, pro. to sacrinccs, expiations, acts of devotion, which, and purifications, however super. the minds of the mul. In the

230

THAUMATUROIA,

OR

when reached its highest pitch of toalignity bably, il. the musician must afterwards have become arrived, less contagious till, at length, ceasing of by degrees itself, by the air wafting away the aeede of infection, aud recovering its former purity, of the extirpation the disease was attributed of Thaletas, who had to wbon they owed their This stry tion of th pague Troy, to music by the people to the music been thought the so~e mediator, happy Plutarch deliverance. meana, who teHa the

is exactly what and what Homer meant, among

in attributing the curathe Greeks, at the siege of

W!th hymns divine the joyous banquet ends, Th PoBMS !en~then'd till the sun descenda Thc Grecks restor'd, thc gratcful notes probng ApoMo htes and approves the song.' For the poet in thse lines seems only to say, that was rendered and had delivered favourable, from in scourge with which they of Chriseis consequence having the were been

Apollo the Greeks attackcd, restored

to her father, and of sacrifices and oSerings. M. Burette thinks it easy to conceive, thatmusic may be really efiicacious in relieving, if not in removing, the pains of sciatica and that independent of th or !e8s skill of th greater this may hc cnected in two flattering the ear, and musician. different He supposes first, by ways

secondly by occasioning th nerves, which may, perhnps, give motions to th and remove the obstructions which occasion humours, Pope's translation of the Uiad, Bock L

and, diverting the attention; oscillations and vibrations of

ELUCIDA

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this

disorder. upon

In this

manner

the

action

of musical

the fibres of the brain and animal spirits, and alleviate the sufferings maysometimessoften of sounds and lunaties, epileptics lent fits of these two quity abords examples to them some of th effected by and calm even cruel same disorders. of this the most vioAnd if anti-

power, we can oppose kind said to have been

not of the most exquisite sort. music, For not only M. Burette, but many modern philosoand anatomists, as well as ancient phera, physicians, and historians, have believed, that music bas poets the not only the mind, but the power of affecting, nervous in such a manner as will give a temsystem, even porary relief in certain diseases, and, at length, operate a radical cure. In the 1707 and Memoira 1708, after which, Academy we meet with many having remedies resisted in common of the of Sciences accounts and bained for of dis. all the

eases, moat efficacious

at use, had, of harmony. length, given way to the soft impressions in tire Memoira of the same AcaM. de Mairan, reasons of 1737, demy, upon the medicinal powers music in the following manner It is from the and involuntary connexion mechanical between the and the consonances excited in the organ of hearing, outward of air, joined to the rapid communication the vibrations of this organ to the whole nervous system, orders, that and we owe the cure of with of fevers of which learned attcnded spasmodic a delirium furnish many disand ex-

convulsions, amples." Th late

our Memoirs

Dr. Branchini,

professor

of physic

232

THAUMATURGtA,

OR

at Udine, collected all the passages preserved in anof cient authors, relative to the mdicinal application from this and it appears music, by Asclepiadcs; work that it was Egyptians, in acute, gives several which tion music as well as a remedy by the ancient and Romans, not only Hebrews, Greeks, ~riter but chronical disorden. This used cases bas been as within lus own efncacious the honour of thse, more than to ancient music. in knowedge, but the considraproperly

belong to ~o~~ of all arts, gives th most universal pleaMusic, and oftenest. Infants are sure, and pleases ongest charmed with the mctody of sounds, and old age is animated notes. The Arcadian by enlivening' shepfrom their reeds th solitude of pleasure Achilles was cheered the English peaby his lyre sant delights in his pipe and tabor the mellifluous notes of the flute solace many an idle hour and the chM'tning of snakes and other venomous reptiles, by the the Indians. power of music, is well attested among Music and the sounds of instruments," says Vigneut de MarviUe, mind they contribute assist the to the health of the body and of the blood, they circulation so that the open the vessels, same author who assured herds drew

and vapours, dissipate action of perspiration is freer." The of distinction, tells a story of a person him, that once

being suddenly seized with a violent of a consultation of physicians. he illnes,s, instead called a band of musicians, and their Immcdiate!y violins acted so well upon his inside, that his bowels in tune, perfcctly becalmed. harmoniousiy became and in a few hours were

ELUCIDATIOMS

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sent for to th was famous singer, Farinelli, Madrid to try the egect of his magical voice on the in the was absorbcd Hie Majesty king of Spain. deepest melancholy; nothing could excite an emotion of life in him he lived in a state of total oblivion he sat in a darkened the most at first distressing ordered Farinelli chamber, entirely given up to kind of madness. The physicians

to sing in an outer room and for the first day or two this was done, without proAt length it ducing any effect on th royal patient. that the king, awakening from his stuwas observed, to listen on the next day tears were por, seemed seen starting from his eyes the day after he ordered the door ofhis chamber to be left open, and at length the perturbed the Me~c~a~ cine itself After spirit entirely left music of Farinelli our modern effected Saul, and what mediwhen

had denied. William and Jones,*

fhod," says Sir of digestion the operations to the much employment

gives so absorption vessels, that a temporary in hot climates, state of mental repose, especially must be found essential to health, it seems reasonable a fcw agreeable heard or airs, either played without effort, must have ail th good effects of sieep, and none of its disadvantages; as putting, Milton says, the soM~ in tune' for any subsequent ex.. an experiment often made by myself. 1 have ertion been assured by a credible witness, that two wild antelopes often used a more to corne savage from their beast, woods to the en. place where Serajuddaulah, to believe that

o Sec a curious Dissertation Hindoos by Sir W. Joncs.

on tbe muaica! modes of the

234

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

and that they listconcerts, ened to the strains with the appearance of pleasure, till the monster, in whose sol there was no music, A learned shot one of them to display his archery." tertained himsclf with native told Sir William venomous on a flute, ddight. effects which in th of music, we shall history the two fbUowclose of these the re. Joncs snakes which, that seen the most he had frequently leave their holes upon as he supposed, gave

hearing tunes them peculiar

Of th surlnlsing with ing instances, marks, are related

Royal

of Society of Paris. Academy A famous musician, and great composer was taken ill of a fever, which assumed the continued form, with a gradual increase of the symptoms. On the second day he fell into a very accompanied watchfulness. of those natural violent delirium, almost constantly and a perpetuai delirium one by cries, tears, terrore, Th third day of his

as it is said, sick animais are proper to their case, set him upon desiring in his chamber. nestly to hear a little concert

which make, instincts, seek out for the herbs that earHis

could hardy be prevailed upon to consent physician to it. On hearing the first modulations, the air of became serene, his eyes sparkled with his countenance a joyful alacrity, his convulsions ceased, he absolutely shed music after, ring tears with when th of pleasure, and was then possessed a scnsibiity he never before had, he was recovered. He had whole concert, but, when his former condition. were always it was over, suspended for nor he du-

no fever du-

relapsed into Th fcver and delirium

HLUCIDATtONS

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and music was become so necessary ring th concert, to the patient, that at night he obliged a female re. lation who sometimea sat up with him, to sing and even to dance, and who, being much afflicted, was him. One night, to gratify put to great difficulty he had none but his nurse to attend others, among who could sing better than some him, nothing wretched He was satisfied to put up country ballads. with that, and he even fbuhd some benefit from it. At last ten days of music cured him entirely, without other assistance than of being let blood in the foot, which was the second bleeding that was prescribed for him, and was followed by a copious evacuation. This account to the Academy was communicated effect of extraordinary music is related of a dancin~-master of Alais, in the of Languedoc. in province Being once over-fatigued Camival time by the exercise of bis profession, he was seized with a violent fever, and on th fourth or fifth upon he was day, feU into a tethargy, him for a considerable time. which On continued by M. The Dodart, second who had it well authenticated. instance of th

recovering attacked with a furious and mute delirium, wherein he made continuai efforts to jump out of bed, with a shaking head and angry countethreafened, nance, those who attended him, and even ail that were present without refused, obstinately though a word, all th remedies that were speaking to him. One of the assistants bethought music and he besides

presented himself that

a disperhaps might compose He accordingly ordered it to imagination. proposed who did not disapprove his physician, the thought,

~30 but feared

THAUMA'iUnOA,

OR

with good reason the t'idicue of th execution which might still have been innnite~y greater, if thc patient should happen to die under th operation of such A frieud a rcnicdy. of th dancing master, who seemed to

the caution of thc physician, and who could dtst'cgard p!ny on th violin, seeing that of th patient hanging laid ho!d of it, and played directly up in thc chamber, for him the air most farnihar to hhn. Me was cried more than the patient who lay in bcd, agninst and somc were ready to confined in a atraight jac~et when the patient, immediately make him desist; sitto surpriscd, attemptcd ting up as a man agreeably caper with his arms in unison with th music'; and on out he evinced, by the motion of his of the Sensible, head, th p!easurc he felt. however, enects of th violin, he was suffercd by dc~reca to he was desirous to pcrfbrm, vield to th movemcnt beingheld, when, strange as it may appear, his furious fits abated. In short, in the space of a quarter of an hour, the fell into a profbund patient siecp, and a salutary crisis in the intrim ycscucd him from aU danger. his arms

KLUCtDATIOXS

OF

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MARVELLCU8.

237

CHAPTER

XV. ETC.

PRESAGES, t'ROMQES, TuR common of evil

PRESENTiMENTS,

opinion

of cornets

is an old pagan entertained Christians among

being th prsages introduced and superstition, by their for prejudice is a remuant

and which Mr. Bayle says antiquity to son, from father of pagan superstition, convcyed evcr since the first conversion from as paganism; well because it lias taken deep root in th minds of nre men, as because Christians, generally speaking, in evcry as far gone in the fbUy of nnding prsages as infidels It may he ensily themselves. thing, conccivcd how th pagans he hrou~Iit stcd. might and t!iunderfustly to I~ehcvc that comets, eclipses, of catnmities, whcn storrn~, were tlie forerunners man's strong for tie marve~ous is consiinc!ination and his insatiable for prying into dercd, curiosity future cvcnts, or what is to come to pass. This desire of.pccping bas as ah'cady been intofuturity, bas givcn birth to a thousand difcrent shown, kinds of divination, nnd imperau ahke whimsical which in th Imnd~ of th more tinent, expert and cunning bave been made most important and

238 mysterious enough to

THAUMATURGA~ OR tools. When

any one has been rogue think of making a penny of the simplicity of his neighbours, and has had the ingenuity to invent somcthing to amuse, the pretended ffteulty of things foretelling readiest projects. tion of judiciary to consult to corne, hua always been one of the From hence always the assumpThose who first began astrology. th motions of the heavens, had no other

their minds with design in \'tcw than th enriching so noble a knowledge and as they had thcir genius bent on the pursuit of useful knowledge, they never or a knowledge of th dreamed of converting astrology to th purpose dulous and ignorant, stars taken by these them making of picking th pockets of the crewas of whose blind side advantage sideral sages to turn them to account by believe that the doctrine of th stars

the knowlcdge of aU things that were, cornprehended or are, or ever shall be eo that every one, for his money, mtght corne to them and have their fortune told. The better that ten th th to gull th world, the Star-gazers assert heavcns are the book in which God has writof all things destiny to learn to read tins of the stars, of what is to and that it is only book, which to be able to is simply know the

necessary the construction whole

corne to pass. history Very learned and Plotinus men, Origen among the rest, were let into th secret, and grew so fond of it, that his opinion by someth former,~ willing to support thing very solid, catches at th authority of an Apo-

Eusob. Praep. Evang. 1.6. c. 9.

ELUCIDATIONS

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239

speaking 1 hve read in th register of heaven what shall to you and your But comets children. happen were the staple commodity that tumed principauy to account. sions strangeness the Astrolength of these stars made upon mankind, to proaounce them of a malign logers did not hesitate and the more so when tliey found they tendency; had, by this meaus, made in consequence necessary, tions that themselves nf the in some degree applicaimpatient were made to them as from the mouth of what particular disaster such and such a occasions for the compliance, of fear which the In however, with the impresand excessive

ascribed book, cryphal where Jucob is introduced

to

the

patriarch Joseph, to his twelve sons

an oracle, comet portended.

more frequent Eclipses furnished exercise of their talent. From this of Judicial

others took Astrology, vented new modes of divination, such as Geomancy, and the like till th world Chiromancy, Onomancy, by degrees became the least trifle was so overruu converted with into superstition,

worthy precedent the hint and in-

that

and the more so when sentiment the business of religion; ledge became substance of divine worship consisted

a presage or prethis kind of knowand when th in the ordinan-

cea of Augurs who, to make themselves in necessary the world, were ohliged to keep up and quicken mcn's of the wrath of God, took special care apprehensions to cultivate cornets, and bring it into a proverb, that

Legi in tabutis F~liis vestris.

cceti queecun~ue

contingent

vobis et

240

THAUMATUKGtA,

OR

so many

cornets

as Livy expresses bled waters, of a contagious diswhere, speaking temper, which, from the country villages, spread over in the city, occasioned drought by an extraordinary th year of Rome 326, he observes how, at last, it infected the mind,* by the management of those who lived in the superstition of the people so that nothing was to be seen or heard cxcept some new fangled ceremony as Bayle in every corner. The devil," who had a hopefut game on't, and says, the surest way to get himscif worsaw superstition shtpped under the name of th false gods, in a hundred various ways, aH criminal and abominable in the Lord of heaven and earth, never sight of th sovereign of any rare meteor, or unfaUcd, on the appearance commun star, to exert his imposing arts, and make idolators believe, they were the signs of divine wrath, they were aU undone unless they appeased their gods by sacrifices of men and brute heasts." have also lent a helping Politicians hand to give and as an cxcencnt either scheme, prsagea a reputation, th people, or to raise their drooping to intimidate Had thc Roman soldiers bcen frec thinkers, spirits. had not been eo fortunate Drusus, th son of Tiberius, as to queU a despcrate mutiny among th logions of who utterly rcfupd to obcy his commands i Pannonia, but an eclipse, which cnticaDyintervened, broke thcir corpnra modo nn'cct~ tnho, sod :mintc's quoquc muhiptt'x re!)~io, et p~rnqttc cxtt'rna inva~it, novcs rttns sxinft'rcntibus in dontos, quibus crtcnndo vntictnandoqot', qua'st.ui snnt captt supcrsthtonc aninn. L. 4, dcc. 1. Npc that or other

so many calamities." They knew, it, that it was best to nsh in trou-

ELUCIDATIONS

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refractory

managed address, An eclipse

that Drusus, spirits to such a degree, their panic fear with great dexterity did what lie liked with them. of the moon

who and

put the army of Alexander the Great into such a consternation, some days before that th soldiers, under th imth battle of Arbela, that heaven was against them, were very pression reluctant to advance and their devotion to turning Alexander commanded the disobedience, downright who were the deepest versed in Egyptian at3trologers, the mystery of th stars, to give their opinions of this eclipse in the presence of all the oflicers of his army. themselves giving th physical cause which it ceal from sun was for the the Without much trouble was their to explain to coninterest

people, the wise men declared that th on the side of- th Grecians, and the moon

and that this planet was never in an Persians them with some mighty diseclipse, but it threatened of this they quoted several ancient aster examples the Mngs of Persia, who, after an eclipse, had in the day of found their gods unpropitious always is so battle. Nothing," says Quintus Curtius,* for keeping th vulgar under. effectual as superstition Be they cver so unruly aud inconstant, if once their among minds they becomes tian are possessed with th vain visions are all obdience to thc soothsayer, of the general." Th answer of religion, whatcver of th Egypth soldiers, before hc

astrolpgers being circulated among their confidence and their courage. restored On another occasion Alexander, just

Tacit. Annal. lib. 1, et ib. 4, cap. 10.

R

2~2

THAUMATUMA,

OR

paased the river Granicus, observing the circumstance unfbrof time, which. was the month Dcsius, reckoned it made from all antiquity. tunate to the Macedonians ordered this the soldiers ~neIancho~y be immediately month to be called by the name dangerous what power which preceded it, well knowing fluence vain religious scrupics have over little norant his chief minds. He sent private o~ering on the orders soothsayer, just to write passage, of that and in-

and igto Aristander

happy with a liquor prepared for that purpose, that th gods had The notice granted the victory to Alexander." of this mirac!e filled the men with invincible ardour and

up a sacrifice for a liver of the victim

now they rent the air with acclamations, exclaiming that th day was their own, since th gods had them such plain demoMstrations of their vouchsafed faveur. Th history, of this mighty conindeed, queror, affords more such examples of artifice, though lie alw&ys a~cted to conquer by mere dint of hravery. But what is still more extraordinary, this very hero, who palmed so often such tricks upon othcrs, was himself caught superstitious who, in th war between Xerxes despairing reasoning 8e:t, set in his turn. as being well as excee~ngty by fits. We say nothingofThemistocIes~ and the Athenians, by force of to

to prevail upon his countrymen to quit their city, and betake thernselves

aH th engines of religion to work forged and prooured th priests to circulate oracles, among thc peuple, tbat Minerva hadnedfrom and Athena, had taken the way which led to th port. Philip of Ptut&rcb in hia !tfe.

E&UCDATtONS

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243

`~i ?

his enemies Jay ia conquering at any price, had as by good intelligence, purchnsed as hc pleased aud hence many oracles at command
Macedon, whose talent

too good an underjustly suspecting between standing Philip and th De~phian priestess, rallied her with so much acnrnony upon her partiality to that prince. It is eqtially obvious how the same Demosthenes ? of state, which tion for other prodigies, it with regard ances. Pancgyrists reasons kept up th popu!ar superstishould take care to encourage to cornets and other celestial appear' hve also donc their parts to promote as weU as th flattering a !iero ia to be found

th superstitton of j~rcsag~es, of poets and orators. When

and extoUed, they exdaim~ that ail nature adores ~w ~C exerts M~O~ powers to serve him that ~<? M:OM~M at his inisfortunes, ~'OMMr~ /0~ ~br~ %K~ <0 the ?0~ C~ M~, WO~, N/!M?Or~ ~0 possess A/7Mlonger, keaven, ~~C~ M~ ~o~, ~a~ M. Balzac ~~O~C~ stretch out M~~ etc. With Cardinal Richelieu, regaled MM!M~C/ nature ? minister, God gives him first by promise, this hyperbote that addin~, MC~OM the and makes

~M the M~pc~a~OM o/' o~p~. For this he was attacked but he defcnded himself aneging', by th critics, that other panegyrics had gone some notes higher who said of the ancicnts, he, for example, among' certain great sou~ that a~ the orders of heaven called ~p~cy that illustrious <o fancy a fine <~<~ nation who wrotc that for ~~M, and the p~r~f~ mind

H'~ wrapt in ~P~ CO~M~O?!, ~pM coMCP~</ suck ~~M,

~M~ big M~ the vast a y~~ as Cardinal

R 2

244

THAUMATUKGIA,

OK

~~o~od' thought of one told prieat who ~'OM~P/tCP,

Why could not this same writer have more, such as that of the example the Emperor Constantine that divine him for the CMltis soul, w~cA ~P~t~M K~ ~M only son. tmtural make thcir

pire of should CM<P ~M

not COM<PK~!<~ y?M/~M~ ~Mp~ world, Aof~~tc~

?'~M Thus have flatterers geized themostsurprismg effects to enhancc their hero's glory. and court tus that to greut mon. vied with each the murder

Th poets ofthe time ofAugusothcr in persuading the world Ca?sar was the cause of all

of JuHus

the prodigics that followed. in Horace, for instance, to prove that th overSowone of his odes, attempts bad presHges; ings of rivers were reckoned among and prtends that th Tiber had not committed all but in complaisance to his wife IIia, ravages, who was bent on th death of his tdnsnum Ca'sar and that all the othcr calamities which subsequenUy aQlicted or threatcned th Roman empire, werc th of so of his assaesination. consquences fVn'~imaybe th sun was so tronblcd nt th death creditcd,* that it ~vent into deep mourning, and Csesar obscured it never sooner murder, it was those

his beams, that the world wtis a!armcd cst should appear again. In thc mean time, no was
than

the

cornet
another

observed, which followed ?ct of natterers pretcndcd rcccived into th to order the a star

thia that

CsMar's

sol

of thc cornet, on his

and they dcdicated a temptef Gods and set up th image of Cn'sar with forehead.
1. Suetonius

Geor~.

in vita

Csnfis.

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of th ancient fathers, It appears from the sermons of that time believed that the Christians they gave relief to th moon !n an echpse, hy raising grt rehideous shouts to th skies, which they imagined covered her out of her fainting fit, and without which have expired. St. Ambrose, the inevitaby sermon de ~Hporc, bound author of the 2l5th up and St. Eloy, Bishop of with those of St. Austin, she must this abuse. It particutarty against of St. Chrysostom, also from th HomUica appears St. Basil, St. Austin, and others, that th Christians Noyon, of their days drew several kinds sons sneezing at critical times woman, a maiden, dog, or an iU.looking (squinting) on being caught by one bliud of an eye, or a cripple out of a door, or from a sudden th eloak on stepping catch in one's joint or limb. of presagea from perfrom meeting a cat, a declaim

St. Eloy tells his people plainly, that whoever pays attention to what hc m&ets at his first going out or voice. or to th chirpcoming in, or to any particular is so far a Pagan. ing of a bird, and innumerahle others of the same perstitions aU thse, of sudescription Indeed,

are remnants of ancient among Christians, as they have been denounced pagaaism hy t!te censures of popes, provincial councils, synodiefil decrees, and other grave authorities. And, though there were not such a c!oud of witnesses, the disease cutty in proving there would be no diffi. of pagan For, origin. the gospel of

of those who preached independent our Saviour, such notions, having never promu)gated we Icarn from scveral ancient that the authorities, had aIl thse superstitions Gentiles in the highest re.

246

THAUMATURGA,

OR

tliat It waa one gnera! gard. opinion among them, of certhe ecipses of th moon were the consquence tain magie words by which sorcerers could wrench her from nnd drag her neur enough the earth to of the princast a 6'otby spittle on their herbs--one in their incantations. To rescue the cipal ingrdients moon from the supposed torture she was in, and to th skies, the

her charm, it was necessary to prevent in noise from hearing th magie words, by drowning th people and hideous for which purpose outcries, used to assemble during an eclipse of th moon with frustrate ~OM~~ music, such as frying pans, brazen vessels, tin kettles, etc. tu Pietro della Valle, According Persians keep up the same ridiculous ceremony this old the to

It is likewise, according to Tavemier, obday. where they imaserved in the kingdom of Tunquin, with a gine the moon to be, at that time, struggling It is to the same source tbat we owe the dragon. imaginary raging heat of the dog-star-the pretended and all presages of several evils ascrihed to eclipses, the allusions of astrology. In a treatise 'written by Abogard, Bishop of Lyons,

a world of people, who in 833, composed to undeceive that there were enchanters who could were persuaded and hail, and tempest, to destroy command thunder, and that they drove a great the fruits of the earth trade by this mystery with the people of a certain who came once a ycar, sail. called Magonia, country ing in large fleets through the air, to freight with the corn, for which they paid down ready money blighted So little was this matter doubted, to the enchantera. that one day the bishop had enough to do to save three

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men

and

a woman

from

being

stoned fallen

people insisting- they had just one of these aria! shipf. We do not here examine were the peopiciiterally lous than in the

to death, the overboard from in those

whether,

more superstitious and It is enough to days of paganism. and hence say, that they were of very easy belief to write their histories in th style of men began fables with the romance, mixing up a thousand deeds of great such as Roland, to men, nephew Charlemagne that no book which would for M suited instance, the go th taste down of tbe afterwards in any Manual of Devoage, other

days, credu-

stylewitness, tions by James composed century; and

de Voragine, towards the latter in which

of Genoa, archbishop end of th thirteenth Melchior a learned Canus,

Spanish bishop, is so scandalized of Common Places..Another

book .in his eleventh doctor of divinity,~ of th depraved state of the times, speaking says, It was the error, or rather folly, of some of the anth actions of illustricients, to think, that in writing oua men, the style must sink, unless theymixed up with for so they called them, of poetical ornaments, of this sort fiction, or something and, consequently, thus blended truth with fable." This being the preweare ofthetimes, inc~ned to believe, vailingfashion that in the historis of th crusades, many apocryphal are introduced, which ought, consequently, subjects to be read cum grano salis. This is decidedly th Petaeus, in Galfredo MonimetenBt. it the

248

THAUMATOMtA,

OR

who, after the relation opinion of Pre Maimbourg," of the battle of Iconium, won by Frederick of BnrbaWhat was chiefly wonderful after rossa, tt90, says, this battle, was th conqurons little or no sustaining loss, which most people ascribed to th particular protection of St. Victor and St. George. names oftenest invoked in the Christian army, which many of them said they Whether at the head of th squadrons. saw engaging in it exin reality there might be something which has often happened, as the Scriptraordinary, tures inform us or whether, of by often hearing celestial at th battle of Antioch squadrons appearing in th nrst warm imaginations crusade, possessed with th belief, and penetrated with these ideas, of their own, but sure it is, apparitions that onc Louis Heifenstein, a gentleman of reputation, to th emperor, on his and far from a visionary~afnrmed and on th vow of a pilgrim devoted to the holy oath~ formed new scpulchre C&a?y<' to ~?~ Turks in white and the crusade, that he o/~ saw G'co~c the Aca<% of the ~M<M~OM, GM~~K<fthe enemy which was afterwards confirmed by the charge owning that they saw sorne troops in the first ranks in the Christian

themselves,

therc were really none of tliat livery. army, though No one, 1 know, is bound (continues P. Maimbourg) to belicvc visions of this kind, subject for the most illusion but 1 know too, that an part to notorious historian especially is not of his own when supported to reject authority, by such remarkable 5. them, testi-

Hist. Crusade,

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to And though he be at liberty mony. or not, yet he has no regret, by suppressing to deprive tbe reader of bis liberty, when he with passages of this kind, of judging as lie fit." This reflection (says

believe them, meets thinks

Bayle) from so celebrated an historian, not suspected of favouring the Hugonot is a strong presumption on my side. ineredulity, bas been carried to the The abuse of presentiments bis blessing to his two sons, by bowtng down the head of the etder, and chucMng the undcr the chin, was a presage of the leva. youngest tion of th latter in prejudice to th former, was on th 48th of Genesis, wbere grounded chapter Jacob is represented !aytng his right hand on the head he would is a difTartar, of th younger, fbrseemg by inspiration Mcanwhile be the greater of the two. th two benedictions. ference between that there The very Scriptures. Tamerlane giving We are told, that the manner of

of the knowledge of future events, wholly destitutc did not diversify th motion of his hands, on purpose to establish a presage and God never vouchsafing to infidels, did not guide bis bands in this knowledge a particular manner to form a presage of what should ;wbereas Jacob, on the cootrary, filld with the spirit of prophecy, whereby he saw tbe fortunes tions of his children, to this uccording prsages. presentiments, ad innnitum. wiU be filled be prodigies, might Whoever reads the Roman at their number, and surprised the people with the most and directed knowledge; bis words by which and acmeans befal his chHdren

both bccame Prsages, multiplied historians which

frequently

2.~0 dreadfut

TIIAUMAT(IRGIA,

OR

that It must be confessed, apprhensions. some of these seem altogetlier while supernatural much the greater of some of the part only consist uncommon always as th tunes. of two light spears blood, of nature, which superstition productions attributed to a superior cause, and represented of eome impending misforprognostications class may be reckoned the appearance the nighta illuminated suns by rays of and the views of fighting swords armies Of this

the air; showers of milk, of darting through of stones, of ashes, or of fire and th birth of of children, or of beasts who had two heads monsters, those prodiastoan ex-

or of infants who had some feature resembling of the brute creation. These were all dreadfui gies which filled the people with inexpressible and the whole Roman empire with nishment, treme lowed, dicted perplexity repentance by them. and whatever

event folunhappy was sure to be either caused or pre-

Nothing is more easy than to account for thse productions, wh!ch hve no relation to any cvcnts, no more than cornets, that may happen to foUow thcm. Th appearance of two suns bas frequently hsppened in England, as well as in other places, and is only caused by the c!ouds being placed in such a situation as to rcnect tho image of thut luntinary nocturnal fires, innamed spears, fighting armies, were no more than whatwccaHaurora orinaatced boreaUs, northcrn!ights, vapours floating in tlie air; showersof stones, of ashes, or of ftre, wcrc no other than th cnccts of th eruptions of same volcano 8t a considcrabtc distance. Showern of mi!k were only caused hy some quality in thc air condensing and giving a whitish colour to th water, etc.

ELUCIDATIONS

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CHAPTER

XVI.

PHENOMKNA OF METEORS, OPTIC DELU8IONS, 8PECTRA, ETC.

THE meteors

known

to the

ancients

were

called

A~7r~? Ht8o< Bolides, Faces, Globi, etc. from parin their shape ticular di~recces and appearance, In and sometimes under the gnral term of cornets. th PhUoMphical Transactions, they are called, indisor fiery meteors; and names fire-balls, criminately, of similar import have been applied to them in the different of Europe. Th most languages of such circumstances observed meteors brought tinder the following heads 1. Their appearance. 3.Theirshapeor6gure. material may be gnral

2. Their path.

6. The 4. Their light and colour. 5.Theirheight. noise with which they are accompanied. 7' Their nre. h. Duration, Under thse dinerent 9'Theirvelocity. heads meteors have been investigated by the scrutiniz. notions, long ing of philosophy, and many superstitious entertained Metethem, entirely exploded. concerning oric phenomena, it bas been demonstrated, all pro-

252

THAUMATUROA~

OR

causeirregularity of the atmosphere. When the density fluid is homogeaous and of equal density,

ceed

from

onc common

in th atmospheric th rays of

in their without obstruction or alteration lightpasa but when they enter from a rarer shape or direction or bent out into a denser medium, they are refracted or less efof thcir course; and this with greater fect according to the dirent degrees of density in the of th ray from th perpendimdia, or th deviation If th second medium cutar. he very dense in proth ray will be both refracted and reHected portion, a and th ohjcct from which it proceeds, will assume and extraordinary variety of grotesque it will sometimes appear as in a reflection and shapes, from a con-

in situation. cave mirror, dilatnd in size, and changed to proThe following effects are known striking ceed from this simple cause. The first is the mirage, secn in the desert of Africa. M. Monge, a member of the National acInstituts, the French army into Egypt. In the desert, companicd and Cairo, the mirage of the blue between Alexandria and so mingled with the sand inverted, as to impart to th desolate and arid wilderness

sky was

below, an ap-

of th most rich and beautiful pearance country. They saw, in aU directions, green islands, surrounded with extensive lakes of pure and transparent water. could be conceived more lovc~y and picNothing than turesque of th lakes, islandc were vivid the this landscape. th trees and On th tranquil surface with which the houseg, with enjoy which

hues, cool refreshments

were strongty reflected covered, and the party hastened forward to of shadc and stream,

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to thcm. When populous villages profcrred the lake, on whose bosom they nuated, they arrived, th trees, among whose foliage theywereembowered, and th people who stood on the shore inviting their
thse

had all vanished, and nothing approach, desert of sand an uniform and irksome a few naked huts and

rcmained

but

ra~ged shrubs. been undeceived approach, by their nearer not a nmn in th French army who would trees and sworn, that the visionary existence in the midst of the desert. Th same lakes

aud sky, with Had they not there not was have

had a real

was observed appearance precisely by Dr. Clarke at Raschid, or Rosetta. Th city seemed surrounded sheet of water, and so cerby a beautiful tain was his Greek interpreter, who was acquainted th country, of this fact, that lie was quite into explain to him, dignant at an Arab, who attemptcd At length, they that it was a mere optical delusion. reached Rosetta in about two hours, without meeting back on th sand they and, on looking any water with as if they had just crossed, it seemed to them, just waded t!irough a vast blue lake. A similar dception takes place in northcrn cimatcs. Cities, companiments late rgions, places, where life goes out, and where human foot bas never trod. When approached they vanish, and nothing remains but a rugged rock, or a misshapen iceberg. battlements, of populous houses, all the acare seen in desoand had

in bis voyage to the arctic re" Captain Scoresby, saw gion?, on the coast of East Greenland, constantly those visionary cities, and gives some highly curious

254

THAUMATUROJA,

OR

of plates resemMed where

They appearances they presented. th real cilis seen on the coast of HoUand, bosomed and spires, towers, and battlements,

th

and rise on th level horizon, high in tufted trees," are seen floating on the surface of the sea. Among was the optic deceptions noticed by Captain Scoresby, one of a very singular nature. His ship had been by the ice, from thut of his father for separated and he was looking for her every day, timc to his At Icngth, one evening, great anxiety. hc saw her suspended in the air astonishment, inverted traeed on the horizon position, est colours, and with th most distinct He sailed in the reprsentation. he saw this visionary phcnotnenon, his father's vessel by its indication. from in the and some with utter in an clear.

direction

perfect in which

and actually found He was divided

him by immense masses of icebergs, and at such a distance that it was quite impossible to have seen th ship in her actual situation, or seen her at all, if or image, had not been thus raised seabovc th horizon into the sky, by this most cxtraordinary in the same manner as refraction, the sun is often seen, after he is known to have set, sunk far below th line of direct vision. andactuaHy The 7~~ ~o~a~H are further illustrations of thia of Mcssina, The spectator stances. th east, on an clevatcd optic Pharo delusion. This phenomcnon in Sicily, under must place stand bchind is with seen at the to certain circumher spectrum, veral degrees

nie back

a view of thc bay, and manding tains, like a wall, opposite to him, to darken the back no wind must be abroad to ground of th picture

th city, comth mounimving

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ruffle the surface pressed up considrable

and the waters must be of the sea as thcy sometimes are, to a by currents, nnd height in the middle -of thestrait, surface. soon as When th aU these over an sun rises

a slight convex present circumstances occur, as th heights of the angleof45"with shore at Reggio strait,

Calabrian

the horizon, arc tmnsferred

shore, and makes all theobjectsonthe to the middle

of the

on th surface of th water, and seen distinctly of rocks, trees, and forming an immoveablc landscape and a moveable one of men, horses, and houses, into a thousand these are formed cattle separate compartments, varying pictures the swelling surface presenting of animate most beautiful and ever and inanimate on nature, by the curmirrors to as the

rents, present reflect them; they thcn as suddenly broad aquatic mirror of the current Sometimes the

of th water, broken separate plates of convex

disappear, passes on.

is so dense that the atmosphere arc like seen, objects Captain Scoresby's ship, snatched up into the regions of the air, thirty or forty feet abovc the level of th sea and in cloudy weato the surface, bordered with vivid pris. ther, nearer matic of temples and with cross'crowned are all reprechurches, spires, sented as noating on the sea, and by a sudden change of reprsentation, thc pillars arc curvcd into arcades, and th crosses are bent into cre~cents, and all the edifices of th floating the most extracity undcrgo mutations..A!I ordinary and fantastic are so distinct, and producc objects palpable as they are visible, as sensible images as Feemingly to touch as to these colours. Sometimes colonades

256

THAUMATURGIA, OR

sight, that the people of the country arc nrmiy per~ suaded of their reaHty. the edifices as They consider the erichanted and th palaces of th fairy Morgana, movingob)ects~as livingthings which inhabitthem. Whenevcr occurs, optic phenomenon they meet in crowds, with an intense mixed togcthcr cunosity, with awe and apprehension, which is not removed by causes, by which and other foreign travellers, who have witnessed th scene, are able to account for it. Th lakes of Ireland are equally susceptible of pru. those natural ducing those vivid delusions, the people, as lively as that them with an equal reality. in that of and the imagination of th Sici!ians, cbthss Thcre an acquaintance Mr. Swinburn with the

in which country, not been at various times discovercd and many meu have been met with who would solemny swear they of saw, and who no doubt did see, representations them in certain states of th atmosphre. The most celebrated is that which occurs on thc lake of KilThis romantic sheet of water is bounded on larney. one side by a semi.circlc of mgged mountains, and ou the otiier by a ~at mora~s, and th vapour generated in the masK, and broken by th mountains, continuaUy represent on shore Morgana. Many markcd which a point images of and th rocks are !engthcned in acoustics reflects from whcnce on the cyc, distinguiabcd and the cchoes, sounds to the for their structure, ear, from th most fantastic arc transfc!red and often those objects to th watcr, hke thc Fata

is scarcety a loch th remains of cities have

did not corne, reflects. they from a place very different from

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where

the objecta stood winch produced them. Fre. quently men riding along shore, are seen as if they were moving across th lake, and this bas given rise to the story of O'Donougho. This celebrated chieftain to the tradition of the couDtry, enaccording dued with the gift of magie and, on one occasion, his lady requested him to change his ahape, that she lie complicd, on condition might see a proof of it. was, that she would her must prove and at the sight of some however, in the experiment, hotiMe figure Ite assumed, she shrieked, and he disthe window of his castle, which through appeared th lake. From that time he continues an overhung be terrified, as such an effect on fatal to him. Her mind failed her, not

condemned being, with silver, over th surface horse's shoes are worn out.

enchanted

to ride a horse, shod of the lake, till his On every May morn.

ing he is visible, and crowds assemble on th shore to see him. and one Many a~rm they hve seen hhn of his apparition, that person relates many particulars must have procceded from some real dception and tmnsferred to object, a m:m riding along shore, th middle of the water by th optic delusion of th Fata Morgana. th But perhaps th effect preternatural of ~<? //fn'/j ~p~rc is one particular hill, he appcars, terrifying ing the distinct Hawe, curious to most wonderful, and apparently is th from this cause, arising ~fcM/~MM~ in Hanover. Tliere caUcd thc in which Bt'ockcn, and gratifycrcdulou~, TIic most high degree. by Mr. Hc had th

a very and intcrcsting uccount is givcn who hin)"elf was a witncs:- to it, 8

258

THAUMATUMttA,

OR

climbed

to

the

top

of

the

mountain

thirty

had been disappointed, lengfli o'clock paased caUcd looked there

but

ciouds, aud its rays without over another mountain, obstruction, thc Heinschoe. About a (~un'ter past tive he round to see if tbe sky was clear, and if what he so the size Achter. turned

highly gratified. in n s'erene sky, free from

he persevered, The sun rose

times, and and was at about four

was any chance of his wttnessmg he saw wished, when suddenly ardently a human manshoe, figure of monstrous towards on an this him, gigantic and glnring spectre at with him. woader

While

gazing mixed with

a irreptessiMe feeling of awe and npprehension, ~udden gust of wind nearly carried off bis own hat, aud he clappcd his hand to his head to detain it, when to his great deHght th colossal spectre did the same. He then changed his body into a variety of attitudes, but at length all which the figure exactly imitated, vanished without and cause, suddenly any apparent as suddenly He caUed the landappeared. again lord of the inn, who had aceompanied him, to stand time two correspondent besidc him, and in a little of dilated on th size, appeared opposite figures, them in various ways by mountain. Thcy saluted of their bodies, all which thc movetnents different giants rcturncd with nished. A traveller and perfcct politeness, now johx'd Mr. Ha~'c then vaand the

and they kcpt &teadily looking for their inakecpcr, acrial frienda, when they guddenly appeared again three in number, who all performed exactly the same as their correspondent movctnents s-pcctators. Having conttnued thus for sotnc time, appcaring and disap-

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at length retum. that th preternahowever, They proved. had so long filled the country tural spectre, which with awc and terror, was no unreal being, still less the oro~ an existence whose appearance suspended that, on the contrary, nary laws of God and Nature it was th simple production of a common cause, exhibited in an unusual manner, but as regular an effect, and as easy to be accounted for, as the reflection of a face in a looking This constitution ofthe glass. atmosphere, and its capabitheir position by

pearing alternately, more distinct, they

sometimes

faintly, and sometimes faded away not again to

Uty of dilatin~ objects, and attering renection and refraction, will easily account for many which have been considered miraculous phenomena

and and preternatural in early ages, by th ignorant in our own, by th weak and superstitious. Such was seen by Constanprobably th origin of th crosses tine and Constantius and such was in tlie first ges of Christianity, that of th cross which appeared in th to which so many bore attestation. A

sky in France, red, had been erected large cross of wood, painted as a part of thc ceremony beside th church, they !n th winter, were performing. whcn the air is most' frequently condensed by cold, and its different struta evening of of tenacity, on a clear degrces after rain, when particies of humiditv, still in th air gives it grenter power of reflection various

floating and refraction, when thc sun was settiug, and his horizontal to produce beams found most favourable mctcoric th spectrum of this woodcn phcnotncna, cross was cast on th concave
s 2

surface

of some atmos-

260

THAUMATURGA,

OR

and so reflected back to the eyes of the mirror, from an opposite spectators place, retaining exactly th same shape and proportions, but dilated in size, pheric and changed in position and it was moreovcr tinged with red, the \'cry colour of the object of which it was the reflected This delusive image. appeurance continued horizon, object, longer till and thc the sun was so far sunk below th as to afford no more the light to illumine when th rays were no

image ceased reflected. distinctly

0F THR Bf/UClUATtONS MARVELLOUS. 1 261

CHAPTER
ELUCtDATION 0F MANv admit which for the There cxamination may of th

XVII.

80ME ANCIENT PHODIGIES. by th ancients, and an attentive number of causes, will serve of them. accounts account?, and wit-

of a

recorded prodigies natural explanation that a small and discerned

will show be

of nearly explanation arc two rcasons for our and

developed, th whole believing of thse obscrvers

of prodigics . Th number and the confidence ncsses are cutitled.

agreement to which th

2. Th possibility by ascertaining~ny migbt have given marvellous. Now, recorded th

of dissipatin~ what one of th principal to a natural fact a

is wonderful, causes which tinge of the

as regards the first reason, the ancients have various occurrences for instance, a shower of quicksilvcr at Rome is mentioned by Dion Cassius, in related year t97 of our under the reign cra, and a similar event is of Aurcian. If we attend time, such as a stones weighing

to phenomena taking place in our of blood, shower tremendous hail

~C3 a pound showers

TUAUMATUHUIA, each, and containing of frogs, and other

OR within thcm

a atone ahnost

them we must consign occurrences, in which science has inscrted thc tacts, nizcd them." th second reason, Respecting sometimes pearanec whtch nature geration, observers, as such, without

unaccountable th annals to,

she lias recogto explain as yet pretending the

deceptive apthe exagassumes, informed almost unavoidahie, by partitilly of the details of a phcnomenon, or its

or badly transduration ill-understood, improper, lated expressions, and a pracfigurative language, tical style of emMematical erroneous explanations and allegories reprsentations apologues adopted as real facts. Such are th causes, whtch, smg~y or together, fictions removmg sought swonen frequently and th page of history that envelope, of what has hitherto this have with prodigious it is by carefully e~ucidutions must be

di~dainfully rejectcd. thse several positions. Th river Adonis being impregnated, during certain scasons, with ~otumes of dustorai~ed from the near wliieh it red soi! of that part of Mount Libanus effusion flows, gave rise to th fabie of the periodical of thc Mood of Adonis. There is a rock near the Is~and of Corfu, under sai! which th bears ancients th resemblance of th story adapted in it the Phenician recognised returned to his a ship to the

and improperly A few examples will illustrate

been

and phenomenon, in which ship, Ulysses

country, convcrted into stone by Neptune, for having carried A more exaway the ~layer of bis son Polyphcmns.

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with th ocan, bas shown that acquaintance this appearance is not unique a similar onc on the coast of Patagonia. lias more than once deceived both French and English i and rock Dunder, navigators tensive at a distance Indies, bears a resemblance, There is another recorded equally illusive. by Captain Hardy, in his rcent travels in Mexico, near the in the West story of the Hying similar Dutchman, appearance with a traat the Cape of Good Hope, connected dition there among which has been long current the Dutch instance is afforded colonists. Another as cnigma. is so fully substalltiated given by Ovid, by the very British ofncer who surveyed the Caramania intelligent which a few years since. Scylla the sea monster. by the chimscra, the solution of which devoured a recent six of the rowers on the compiler to regard as an overgrown magnified by polypus the optical of poetry, though we are disposed power to give the credit to an aUigator, or its mate, a croand this occurrence is not 80 fictitiously codile represented, as it is supposed to be. OF CERTAIN HRB8, ETC. of Ulysses, marvellous, M. Salverte, is tempted shore of and the California.; is founded on a

MAOICA. PRBTRNSO'OS In the enumcration of

plants possessing magical those which, propcrties, Pliny mentions according to Pythagoras, have th property of concealing water. without resource to magie, Esewhere, he having to assigns to hemp an analogous quality. According him, the juice of this plant poured into water becomcs

264

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

suddenly enough,

and inspi~sated that hc indicated marsh-mallow, this produces which may

congealed. a species of eiect

hcinp-lcavcd ginous juice nnd an eIcct

is probable of mallow, th which th mucilato a certain from point, every

It

also be obtained

as nch in mucUage. vcge~Me mtox~Of vegetaMe productions, many produce such us berries of the night-shade,* effccts, cating various of fungi. These and scammouy, species have bcen made subservient to de.. unquestionuMy monoogicai have passcd to dark th whom t which, purposes o~' for supernatural th little with agency. th ignorant, The priests,

ages attached. credulous but nn extcnt th

of the comparative learning kuew well how to impose upon was not always their imposition of benevolence relief of their which prevailed fellow creatures

object;

contemplated afflicted with It th

sickncss. by th that, besides Egyptians dmons which communi. were often rendered

was maintained

gods, there were mauy and which cated with mortals, The

bcrrics of th belladonna or dcadty nightshade, produce, when catcn, a fmicus madncss, followed by sleep, which !osts for twcnty.four hours. Such (trttgs as produpe ntentat stupefactton, th physical powers, wtthoutintpairing tnay hve givcn rise to th accounts of nten being transformed into brutes, so frquent in what arc dpnota!nated the fabutons writcrs, whiic thc cvancsccnt but exquisite an nnticipittion of what joyR of an opposite description, implicit obdience M'otdd ensurc tltent for cvcr, produccd b!ind, fnriou! devoted adhrents to any phHosophica! specu!ator, who woutd vcntnrc to try so desperutc an experiment.

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visible exercised every

by

certain an of

ceremonies and

habituai

that songs; influence powerful and

genii over

of thse matter i that thirty-six of th over members th various beings presided it human and thus, by magical incantations, body be strengthened, afflicted with, or debilitated, might or delivered from disease. in every case of Thus, particle the spirit presiding over th aiBicted part, sickness, was first duly invoked. did not But th magicians trust to their vain invocations they were solely well with th virtues of certain herbs, acquainted at in their attempts they wisely cmployed Thse herbs were greatly esteemed such, healing. for instance, as th cy/oc<y~a/M, or, as the Egyptians themselves t!ie o~ termed which was used as a preventive and the nepenthes against witchcraft which which and in a potion to Menelaus, presented which was believed to be powerful inbanishingsadness, and in restoring or even th mind to its accustomed, to greater, were of Egyptian cheerfulness, growth. Helen may be th virtues of such herbs, they were used rather for their magical, than for their mdicinal ascure was cunningly qualities; every to th presiding cribed with which not a dmons, few hoasted intimatcly There they connected. be no that were, question, by means as of their art, the But whatever

can

attested

by

The Scottish

Rowon

trcc

or

Moxntain

with thc sant view peasantry twig of it is scwcd thc animal and up in th cow's tail, to prserve its producc from th mnucnce of witchcs and wadocka.

aah, is used and a stnntt

by

the

266

THAUMATURGIA,

Ott

earliest

records,

that

th

ancients

were

of many potent remdies. Melampus most ancient with Greek physician to have cured reputed of barrcnne~s, Argonauts by ex!)ibiting iron dissolved in wiue, for the space acquaintcd, Th same is

in possession the of Argos, whom one the of ten we of rust are th of

days.

used hellebore as a purgative physician on th dau~htcrs of King Proteus, who were labouror melancholy. Bleeding ing uder hypochondriasis of very early origin, and said w~a also a remedy to or have been sea horse. was observed to wound its itself suggested by which at a certain to cast itself on among the Podalerius, cured th daughter first hypopotamus time of th year th sea the

plethora. Trojan war, had fal!en from arms. known

and shore, rocks or stones, to relieve on his retura from the of Damaethus, her in bleeding who

opium th guesta of their

a height, both by the concrte Opium, juice of the poppy, was it waa in th earliest and probabty ages that Heten mixed with wine, and gave to under thcir name expressive and encrease cares, th

of Menetaus, N~<?M~p, to drown

This conjecture, in a considerable dehilarity from the fact, that Homer's Negree, is supported was procured from th gyptian Thebes, penthe th tincture whence of opium, to the according nomenclature of thc ago, and still the writcrs nnd, if Dr. Darwin may be credited, Cuniacnn Syhil never aat on th portending tripod a few drops of juice of the withont first swallowing cherry.!aurel. about pharmacopeia known in by this name fifty years the older

BLUCIDATIONS

OF

THE

MAH.Vt.LLOU8.

26~

There priesthood

is every rcason to believe that the Pagan were under th influence of some narcotic

th of their oracular preparation during display would seem rather to power, but th effects produced resemble those of opium, or perhaps of stramonium, than of prussic acid, which the cherry-laurel water is known to contain. The priests of th American Indians, says Mowhenever nardur, they were consutted by the chief or caciques, as they are called, took certain gentlemen, leaves of the tobacco, and cast them into the tire, and produced by them into their mouths, which caused them to fall upon th After having remained in this position for ground. some time in a state of etupor, they recovered, and then received the smoke thus delivered received world to have which they pretended answers, the supposed with the intercourse during thc influence earliest that, after of the times. th gardon In the death of

of spirits. The narcotic, or sdative waa known in th radish, fables of antiquity wc read, Adonis,

to console herself, and repress her Venus, The sea desires, lay down upon a bed of lettuces. onion, or squill, was administered by th Egyptians, in cases of dropsy, under the mystic title of the eye of Typhon. Th practices of incision and scarincain th Greek camp at the siege tion, were emptoyed of Troy and th application of spirits to wounds, was likewise understood for we nnd Nestor applying a poultice of cheese, onion, and meal, compounded mixed up with th winc of Pramnos, to the wounds of Machaon.

268

THAUMATURGtA,

OR

To bring

some

inactive

substance

Home cxtraordinary, promising nay, cinal propcrties, of a few requires only th sanction on such a and when once cstahhshed grt names and even experiment, basis, ingcnuity, argument, rnay open their tn this manner batteries in vain. powerful cver heM in all the quack medioncs, And th same vulgar got into repute. otherwise induces

as repute, wonderfui medi.

into

any estimation, w!uch prjudice,

people to retain an accustomed remcdv upon bare aggcrtion and presumption, cithcrof or partiality, like manwi!,in ignorance in of any innovation ncr, oppose thc introduction practicc with quantum it bc supportcd and not unfrequenty asperity, gunicit of scrutiny nnd abuse, nnless, hy authorities of still greater with indeed, wcight a

and considration. The htstory of many articles of diet, as well as meand dicine, amply prove how much their rputation or other. fatc have dependcd some authority upon Ipecacuanha many years, Louis XIV, in France; and, to th Qucen of Chapes II., we are indebted for th introduction of that popular heverage, as many Tobacco has suffered tea, into England. variable has becn vicissitudes successively condemned in its fam and character. commended and opposed and praised into for importcd England of before 1-lelvetius, under the patronage succecdcd in introducing it into practice hnd been

It by and

physicians, by pricsts kins~, and propcrtbcd and prctcctcd by govcrnments, ofa untu, at cngtb, this once ins!gnlncant production little ixiand, bas succeeded in propagating itself through e\'cry c'hmatc and country. Nor s thc historv

of the

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

TIIE

MARVELLOU8.

2G9

Icss remarkable or less strikingly illustrative potatoe of th imperious influence of authority. This valuabic of two centuries, received an unplant, for upwards from vulgar prejudice, which prccedented opposition a11 the philosophy of the age was unable to dissipate, until of th potatoe, in th midst uf his court, on a day of mirth aud Th people then, for th first time. obfestivity. its utihty, and began to acknowledged sequiously at the which their astonishment express apathy had so long prevailed may with regard to its general cultivation. Another authority, instance giving it of that medicine in be fumished of overbearing to a medicine, or in to which its virtues bark. Louis XtV. wore a bunch ofthe flowers

celebrity

depriving reputation entitle it, is seen in the history This famed

of the Peruvian

was imported into Spain by the where it remained seven years, befbrc a trial Jesuits, was given to it. A Spanish was th first to priest in the year 639, and whom it was administered, even would the then its use was have undoubtedly extremely sunk into hmited; and it but for oblivion, of Rome, under

of the church supreme power it gained a temporary whose protecting triauspices and prejudices which opposed umph over th passions its introduction. X. at th intercesPope Innocent sion of thc Cardinal Spanish jesuit, and on th favourab~c this and examination, de Lugo, th bark ordered report, it immediately male fern, who was

formerly a to be duly examined, which was thc result of rose into high a nostrum favour

celebrity. The root of th

for th cure

~70 of the tape

THAUMATURGA, worm, waa

OR

retailed secretly by Madame Noufleur. Tins secret was purchased by Louis XV. for a considrable sum of money. It wa& not until that th same the physicans discovered, in the same complaint retncdy had been administered remedies in the Th history of popular by Galen. this eventthat cure of gout, is equaHy illustrative of Th Dukeof Portland's celchrated powder less than the MM~o~ th ~cactK~MrpoM of this auhjcct. was nothing CBeHus AureHaMUs, or

<?~ efMoAM~ ccM/aM~<c ~<?Hpr~M~ of ~tiua, the receipt for which, a friend of his grace brought into wluch country, in aU wit!i him from Switzerland, it had been introduced Hkeihood, who had transcribed cal writers, volumes, soon after of Europe.~ Th active ration Husson, their arrivt by th early mdiit from th Grcek into the western part

of a no less celebrated ingredient prepafor the same complaint, th ~OM M~<~c~<f~ de a mcdicine into ~ashion brought by M. de officer in the service of Louis XVf to be the meadow sa~ron.

Hueson, a mititary bas been dii-covered

Upou of this hcrb, ~earchin~ after and trying th properties it was observed tliat similar etfccts in th cure of the to a certain gout wcrc a~cribed plant. called hermoof the (un eminent by Oribasius physician 4th century) aud yEtius, who nourished at Alex. but more andria towards thc end of thc 5th ccntury, a physician of TraUc~ of particuiarly by Alexander dach'Hus, Asia Minor, whose daclyllu-.q, gingcr, prescription pupper, cummin cousi~tcd sced, of hermoaniseed, and

Sec Phannacotogta,

by Dr. Paris.

BLUCIDATIONS

OP

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MARVELLOU8.

271

scammony, it to walk diatcly plant,

which

he says

will enable

those who take

On an inquiry being immeimmediately. set on foot for th discovery of this unknown a specimen of it was procured at Constanti-

nople, and it actnaHy did turn out to be a species of meadow saffron, th colchicum auttimnaleofLinnus. The celebrated fever powder of Dr. James was eviuot his original but an Italian dently composition, invented by a person ofthe name of Lise nostrum, a receipt for the preparation of which is to be ibund at length in Colborne's complete English Diepen~ary for the opium modem ancient year !756. Th various which have been extolled days, authors. secret preparations as the discovery of of

in the works of may be recognised The use of prussic acid in th cure at lutely suggested by M. Magendie, more than th revival of th Dutch for Linn~us was frequently inforn~ used with us, in th a few

of consumptions, ia little Paris,

in this diaorder practice that distiUed ~aure! water

cure of pulmonary consumption.~ We shaH conclude thse observations remarks on what are tcrmed patent and their

or yMf/c~ M!C<~N, trums, sions in general. There is, in fact, but one state of from this state, and perfect healtl, yet the deviatious th gnral are almost inhnite. species of diseases Hence that in th classes casily be under~tood, of medical must likewise he a great thcre remedies, and that some of them arc cvctt of opposite variety, tendencies. Such arc both Vide "AtHenctatcs th warm Acadctnic and cold vu!. 4. bath it will

Mo~~K~c~M, boasted preten-

2~2

THAUMATURGA,

OR

considered each other fests

as medical in their

remedies. effects,

sensible

Though opposite to each of them mani-

virtues. yet only in such a state of it with advantage. th body as will admit of using that an uni versai From thse premises, it is evident its medical rcmcdy, or one t~at CM~po/'a~~c~M, the existence delusion, possesses is, in fact, of which healing powers a non.entity, for the a mere

is physicaUy impossible, as th mere idca of such a thing invoh'es a concan it be eonceived, tradiction. How, for instance, that th same remedy should he capable of restoring the tone of the museular fibres, laxed, and also have the powerof that it should rsolution, they are re. them when relaxing the fluids coagulate and that again attenuate it should modespnproper contrary been when

they are too rigid when in a state them when

of

they are too viscid rate th nerves when in a state sibility, degree state. The and of likewise irritability restore when

of preturnatural them to their are in bas a

they

heief

in an universal

remcdy

long

and long exploded even among th vulgar, abandoned, which are not influenced in those classes of society, or tinctured with fanaticism. It is, by prejudice, however, continues thnt nity, that the daily press ~incerciy to hc regrcttcd, with advertisemcnts and to he inundatcd class of th commuthe lower, and less informed

im. arc still imposed upou by a get of privileged th intelligent to dewho frequently puzzle postors, th impudence or th indu~tt'y with cide, whether which their ture they endeavour to establish be th th reputation prominent of fearespective poisons, in their chamctcr. most

ELUOIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVEt.LOU8.

273

In illustration

of this

ther be observed, that ttMd as cough drops, etc., similar, elixir but of tbe The inferior,

it may furlast observation, advermost of the nostrums of opium. paregoric more and rendered and aromatic

are preparations to the well-known

deeterious gums.

shops, but disguised by the addition of heating injury which

indiscriminate very serious every person cal knowledge.

by the may be occasioned might be employment ofsuchmedicines and irremediable, to as is weU known possessing the smallest portion of mdi-

The boasted, though groundless pretenaions of certain illiterate empirics to cure diseases of the which hve eluded the skill and penetration faculty, is another absurdity into which people of good sense have been most woefuHy entrapped. common The leseons of exprience ought to prove the most at the greatest and exas purchased trouble but if people choose to mn over a precipice pense with their eyes open, they leave themselves nothing useful, to regret, and the public less to lament, by their fall. and intelliIt waq justly observed by the sagacious is not dithat a reflecting gent Bacon, physician entertain rected by the opinion which th multitude but that be must be guided by of a favourite remedy, a sound judgment make very important which only by their and others, which in reality possess healing powers." of the quotation, as it indirectiy We avail ourselves censures the conduct of certain medical practitioners, who do not called he is led to consequently, distinctions between those things name pass for mdical remedies, and

what are vulgarly scruple to recommend the com. patent and other quack preparations,
T

2?4

THAUMATUROIA,

OR

position

of

which

puMic. Having by mre chance, refined artifices, are unable of tentha those

reputation and being supported by the most we in order to deudc the unwary, to corne at the vidence of perhaps nine who are have now who their fatal experienced no longer m a situation or

carefully their acquired

is

concealed unmerited

from

the

and effects, to complain. From

to nospanaceas, trums as prtend and specincs, auch, for instance, is easy to cure the M~e disease in every patient, universat remedies and natural. With the latter also, a dangerous arc often tendency be asked how far they are practicably and in what is not cases answer thcy difficult. are wholly In those impositions It practised. of may admissibe, Th unavailing wliich diseases, same as cause, other many of specifics, though hypothe maladies, of other conof which in

in every instance dpend in agues, the smaU-pox,

contagions distempers. in a limited sense, may be rationally, admitted. But in either thetically causes current diSerent of which dpend circumstances, on and

upon the and measlcs, th possibihty

a variety th cure

individuals, requires very opposite frcquently as in dropsv, various of colds, remdies, species th atmost infinite of consumptions, etc. variety a specinc is a!i imposition remedy upon th comnon sens of mankind. Those who are but itnfrom indidanwith tlic variuus causes perfeetly acquainted which th same disorder in different ori~inates can never entertain such a vulgar and viduals, gcrous notion. They will easily perceivc,

how much

ELUCIDATIONS

0~

THE

MARVELLOUS.

275

depends

upon

and can

cause

of

with precision, ascertaining the complaint, before any

th

seat

medicine

:-even with safety or advantage be presented to add, too often life and death are, we are sorry decided Different constitutions, by the first steps. different more more which in th and stages of diseasc, au require symptoms, What is or less a separate considration. natural than to place confidence in a remedy, bas been known to afford relief to others same kind of disposition anx? Th patient after a person who has been aniictcd to know the eager used with success his friend to him the wished for intellito not give the confidence. be dinicu!t medicine From what a he is

iously enquires with th same that remedy or neighbour

maady has been

he gence fair trial, and bas that that

imparts is determined takes it does

it with will not

been stated, if his case of his

friend,

extremely Hence not to be

dangerous, it becomes

any if not fatal. evident,

exactly chance remedy that

to conceive, with correspond may results prove arc

th

risked. depended upon, nor the chance is obliged to employ all his sagacity, Th physician as well as by that supported by his own experience, of his and yet hc is often under the predecessors of discovering, from th progress of th necessity what he could not derive from the minutest disease, How then can it be expected, researe!i. that a novice in th art when the cessful, either tlie impu!se his own credulity ? of hcaling should be more sucwho!c of Ilis method of cure is of th moment, or th effect of It may be there.fore
T 2

truly

said,

276

THAUMATURGA,

OR

that chance The nence the c~M~*

life late in Roman

and Dr. hia

death

are

frequently a physician speaking This of

entruated of some

to emi-

Huxham, day, t when

up to opof his time and the novelty pose ail the physicians of the thing as it frequently doth bore him out, the quacka of th present time and ever will while the MM!/oW<y o~' the world In another are /bo~ contrasta the too timid practice place, he curioualy of some regular treatwith the hazardous phystCtans, ment, which is the leading feature timid, low, as dangerous of others almost insipid practice as the bold, unwarranted empiricism never to be re< time and opportunity, former you are sent the while with off the stage of quacks is with some, The

empiric, says turned ~Ay~ctOM, and

Asclepiades, man from a <

set htmsetf

are often lost by gained, the latter, by a bold ~M~, n a moment. From what has been be asserted~ as great a and either

it may confidently said, that still remains a universal remedy desideratum as the philosopher's etone only obtain credit with th weak-

can

the credulous, or th fanatic. One of minded, the most unfortunate in the history circumstances of such medicines, is the insinuating and dangerous And method, by which they are puffed into notice. as we have daily pcopie must little of th benencini effects which they producc. attend only one or npp!ied, by being promiscuouay to tite extmordinary instances, have afforded in fifty, where tbey relief. It is well known,

not perhaps a temporary

apparent

KLUCDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

277

that

th

more and

powerful dangerous

manent

constitution

especially medicines, patent by an almost of the dose. There is another those apt to strike laws of the animal to bring about any of an who

a remedy is, the more peron the must be its effects like many if it be introduced indefinite encrease not the consideration, with are unacquainted When

economy. remarkable

it is intended

such organized body, be employed as may contribute without affectin g too violently or without length. bituated of and a Such carrying the Indeed, their

change in the system means are obliged to to produce that change the improper be gradually haliving to an powers,

action

may patient to almost any stimulus, but at the expence stroke on an impaired constitution. paralytic are among the melancholy effects of imposture Were it possible," says a learned to collect all the cases of sacrifices it is probable infatuation,, exceed the enormous havoc Another

credunty

authority, to the mysterious their number would by gunpowder writer makes the

that made

or the sword."

terse remark following "As matters at prsent, stand subject says it is easier to cheat a man out of his life, he, thari of a shilling and ahnost impossible either to or punish the onender. this, Notwithstanding still shut their eyes, and take every thing people that is administered upon trust, by any pretender to without to ask him a daring for any part of his conduct. Implicit faith, where else the object of ridicule, is still sacred medicine, reason every here." detect

reputable on this

2~8

TBAUMATUROIA,

OR

CHAPTER

XVIII.

THE PRATICR OP OBBAH, OR NEURO WtTCHCRAPT CHAKM8THKR KNOWLRDGE OP VEOBTABLE PO!80N6SECRKT POtSONtNO.

OBBAH, a pretended

sort of witchcraft,

a superstittoua credulity, prevailing bas ever been considered as a most dangerous groes, in our Weat India coloto auppress which, practicc, th sevcrest nies, is considered Obeah laws bave been and enacted. most The as a potent irreMStiMe

arising from the neamong

and paralyzing, terspeH, withering by indiscribable th rora and unusual devoted victim. sensations, One ncgro who dcsires to bc revenged on another, to make an open and manly and is afraid attack on bas usua~y rccourse to thia pracadversary, in Macbeth, ttcc. I~ike the witches* cauldron it is a combination of many trange and ominous things. gathered of wood fastened the canon a grave, human blood, a piece in th shape of a coffin, the feathers a enake or aligator's crow, tooth, and other namelesa ingredients, from bis

Earth of

pices

of egg-shel,

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

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MARVELLOU8.

279

compose articles to

th may

fatal not the be

mixture. considered but

The

whole

of

these

as absolutcly two or three

complete It will OBEAH conscious for, as

charm,

necessary are at leaat

indispensable.* of course eau that th have be conceived, little e~ct, that the a or the practicc negro thinks terrors of la uniess him, in

80 ;t

it is practised upon whole evil consista

for the word obi. have been suggested transmittcd severat years since, by th of Jatnaica to th Lords of the Committee of Privy agents and hy th latter auhjoined to the report Council, on th stavc h!mself on th!a subject as follows From trade, expresses on the word OpH, Mr. Bryant's the learned commcntary *Variouactymo!ogics Mr. Long, in a paper we obtain of thc term 'a serpent, etymo!ogy in the Egypttan JM& or 0& 0&<cM,' l<tngnttge, was called is still in the th Egypt!an natoe of a serpent,' Moses, natnc of God, forbMs the lsraelitea to inquire of the demon a vcry probable in our Bible, charmer or Ob, w!t!ch is transhtcd ~MMa~of aut <orc</<M~ The woman of Endor Oub or 0&, trans!ntcd and OM&~M Pythonissa Horus was th name of thc BaaiUsk or Apollo) emblem of the sun, and pent, of Afr!ca. Thc!r ctymo!ogy, if dern superstitions of thc wcst ones have of t!te cast of that wizzard, is called (he cites

royat seran ancicnt oractalar deity connects tlie moadmitted,

of Africa, with the ancient from which source continent, thcy

also hecn spread in Europe. Thcy are humble parts of thc with thc fables of Osiris and great System which is adorncd nnd thcy comprise not only thc Obi of Africa, but thc Jsis witchcraft where thc of our own with conncctcd moon and thc cat. ingrdients gives the That superstition country. of th serpent, the worship Sku!!8 and tceth of th African following churms is every and with among

of cats are or 0&

thc principal t Mr. Long

account

of th furniture

280

THAUMATURCtA,

OR

of

superstitious whether that it is. of the expedient

imagination, it ho But practised if the charm

it

is

of

little

conae* una. of

quence gines the

or not, iaila

if he only to take

hold

mind

proscribed is

certain

and another person, resorted toth secretly

more ad.

of an Obi-woman, or African witch ioJataaica; The whole inetde of the roof, (which was of thatch) and crevice of the waUs wore atuck with th implements every of her trade, consMttog of raga, feathers, bonca of cats, and a thouaand other articles. a large eafthforther, Examining en pot or jar, close covered, contained a prodtg!oua quantity of round baUs of carth or clay, of various ditnenatonSt large and small, whitencd on th outside, and variously comeome with pounded, and Btrongty bound upper teeth section of the har with sku1ls aod twae rags, or feathers others of aU sorts, blended with th

of the

bouse

or set round with cats' of~ats, and claws, or with human or doga* teeth, and Borne of different coiours. Thcre wcrc ateo a great g!as8 beods filled with a vtscoMs or gummy substance, many egg-she!!s the qualities of which wero neglected to be examined and of articles, little tbe parmany bags filled with a variety ticulars at this distance of time, be recolcannot, ected.~ and Dryden, bave icft ua poetical Shakespeare accounts of the composition of European 0&~ or charma, and with more httttorical with which, the above descriptions, may be compared. Obi, are atso to Obi, therefore, at Delphos, was The tnidni~ht hours be compared with !B th serpent-worship. a~Obt-woman. of th profcssors of the witches of Europe. Th Pythoness, th serpent-worship as th govcrnors of th of which

With

that of th sun and moon, isjoined visibte and embcms of th male and female nature world, of th godhead and to th cat, on account of ber nocturnal prow!iaga, The dog similarty ia ascribed and thc a mysterious wolf, douMess

to the moon. retationahip for the me reason, are

c~rcumatauced.

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVEM.OU9.

281 1

of poison to him. This ministering tation of the sorceror, and enecta had in view. An OBBAH man or woman (for

saves the

rpuhe purpose

the

is a very dangerous by both sexes) f it is made felony and the practice plantation with death where poison has been by law, punishable wbere and with administered, only transportation the charm has been used. But numbers may be swept off, by its infatuation, as it may appear, so much is detected for, strange do the negroes stand in awe of those 0&<?~A pro-

it is practised on a person

and have, before the crime

and so much do they dread their malice fessors, their power, the havoc they that, though knowing have made, and are still making, they are afraid to discover them to the whites and, others perhaps, are in league with them for sinister purposes of mischief and revenge. A negro, under of Obeah, can only be cured of bis terrors by being made a Christian refuse him this boon, and he sinks a martyr to in short, evils. A negro, conpiders himimagined the infatuation self aa no longer under the influence of this sorcery And when he becomes a christian. instances are kriown of negroes, who, being reduced influence of Obeah to the lowest state and debility, from which there were of by the fatal of dejection little hopes

have been surprisingly and recovery, rapidiy restored to health and cheerfulness by being baptized believe also in apparitions, christians. The negroes and they stand in great dread of them, that conceiving or some forbode other great death, evil, to

282 those whom

THAUMATURGA,

OR

the spirits in ehort, that visit they of the dead corne upon th carth to be revenged on those who did them Thus evil when in life. we sec, that not only from the remotest aotiquity, but in even among slaves and bas creed, aupematural agencies to any distant race or tribe not, in fact, confined of pcople there and, what is still more surprising, is & singular in the and most remarkable identity notion In or conception of the British West coast as are called their infernal the ministry. of the which Indice negroes MandtM~op~, a name race of a peculiar the barbarians, been a popular belief

windward tion.

is here taken There

a jMo~t~o with an Obi-man. the following ~Me~o of the

or nadescriptive seema reason, to believe, that however, or 3f<M~M~-man, is properly the same A late traveHer of the in Brazil anecdotes Mandinga gives us and JMaM~M-

in that country. One day," negroes Mr. named the old man Koster, says (a negro came to me with a face of dismay, to 'ApoUinario) show me a ball of leaves, tied up with a plant caUed c~<~ which lie had found upon which he slept, about the size of an apple. bad caused his alarm, until ~M~c which had been and he bitterly him age, any one sliould wish carry him from fit to send him. men were ofthcm, this a couple of boards, The ball was in an out-house. 1 coutd not imagine what he said that it was Ma~of killing set for th purpose bewailed lus fate, that at his to hagten and to his death, our lady thought of th black wounder

before world, 1 knew that two

at variance, fell upon and suspicion one who was acquainted with the old~M~a-

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MARVBLLOU8.

283

thercfore she wns sent for. Velho ~MM of Engenho I judged that the Mandinga was not set for Apollonait was to rio, but for the negress whose business 1 threatened to confine the sweep the out-house. woman at Gara unless she discovered the suspected whole affair. She said the Mandinga was placed there to make one of the negresses dislike her fellowslaves, and Mandinga of trees, which was the pomegranate among there were likewise two or three bits of rag, a peculiar animals The bail of prefer her to the other. was formed of five or six kinds of leaves leaf; each of

kind ashes, which were the bones of some and there might be other ingredients be-

This sides, but thse were what 1 could recognize. woman either could not from ignorance, or would not give any information which the ball was matter which of not the respecting the several 1 made composed. from Mandinga, of things this serious

There is another people. name for this kind of charm it is called/o, and the initiated are called /<?~~cro~ of these there was formerly one at the plantation came so much dreaded, that be sent to Maranham. Speaking are another and of the of the green-beads which (contas verdas) in South America, object of superstition reliance placed who beJoam, his master sold him to of St.

also some

only many of the mulatto

the faith knowing of th negroes have in it, but

upon them by th Valenof persons the toens, a IawIess description among colonists of Brazil; the same author gives us this further view of th .M<Mf~M~o~ and their charms. These men," says he, Il wore on their necks strings

~4

~MA<!MAT<A,

<~

of ~fft'M ht'~dM, w!<!ch hn<! <r'tth('f cu~o ffon) thc cf~t ~f A(r!~M, ~ttrh~thf wondcfftt! propcfty f~ convcyh~ of in Mhff'ty th<?!r p~M~H thr<M<~h tdt dci~ftp~ or w~rc <:h<n<t''dhy th<! M<n!!n~f!r<m, Affi~tt ~n! ov(' to tho ~r~Hn H~f<'crt fM, wh~ htMi h~ hroo~ht Mo H!nvcH, t! <n M't't tM' ~f hnpMft!n~ ht'fin <M:~a!nt<'<! w!th ~(~nc ~f th<! tn~'n, Hn~ WHH ftnn!y Whon nf ~he VtftcH f)f thf ~r~nt hf'adt;, pf~hund~d < ('8pt'<'fK<'<! my d~tiht~ of tho <'fHc<i<;yof thc !MXi<!M, H~nnHt but t:h< ~~t ft~'f haM w< dhM'd, <nnn!t wuM p~,y nxrt~h'd with it." thcM' ~t~n~H frottt hrht~H Amax~t~ M~ t!t<r w~y b~ <Ut~<'f ~M' <'(Ht<hn'<! thf pfo!)!h!t<'d pf~' Vhtf<<tR hw! <htH v!r<w tu t!)'n.

th O~'thtm~

<~ the

WtM )tt<f<n''d/'

thut < ttuth~r, Hx; hav~ ff~tnd !cn

H~o <n' f<t~t<j ff~n Afr!f:M h)tt thc <~ff!h'ttM, <~t(J f~r~ Mf. ~f tlm "~fc< of ~fMx! vol.

pti~ int~ f<<t~!t!on hy thf ~M~ h{<~ M!M< ~<v~t <tt< w~'u'<nt H~utht'y Rt~ncMuf th<! A~tM~onM," in h!~ ht~~y h p. t~. M fihnth~r th<* nnK~

us wit!< p!(MM', Rn!n(; trHv~!<!r prc~htH ~h~ff~r ~ff ~aH~M~M~r~ tn th~ ~tt'w ch<tf<M;f T!~ M<t!!tn~<t<ra t<f<! ~touH,

Mtnon~ oth<t!' <<'atH, for han<ht~ n<t!{<'<t, <Ht<! f~r~ pni~m~ by ~a~!<:!<tf n<)!M'Mof tunt'H, <'<dt th~M! t'<'ptt!m! fr<tfn thotr !<!<'n, an<! tftuhc tt'tf< aM'<'tnh!<! nf~tMd th~t, ~'h<'Mi th<! h!t< fo~!<~<'rf) pr~HO to rt<d<-f hth'~hwt~ t~ pf'r~nh wh~ Mtttontt <~ th<r <'hMfms t<tt(i ~fen~t'o, whtch <H<t(!pt<'dfftf M;)'f~)n!cM. <~n<!f(h''nt<!<~ thh) p!<rjx)w< tH thttt nf~Uowht~ )tth!n<!f~tak<:to cf&w! ~v<'f th<' h<'<!, f<M'< (u! nh'Mthh'fo rif' thc p<n v/h~ <{} ~<; ~'~~ ~'oAr~, <:nr<:<! nf on~kc;~ ttt) th~y

KM~M~'f!

0~

THK

MAttVt~~MHM,

8~6

ccr~un t'cpcatc th MMfn~r of wwdH (!unt~ thc opf'rMttMt, <~ wiuch, !~<~wn t~ th~ <M<'Mn!~, if tht'y <'o~tht ~ny, ! ~y ht!tiat<!<i. Thc f<ttt!c'(~t~<? tH Hmd to !M', Mhovc H tu th'' ther ~<cc<ff). thc tftUMt HUMCcptthtc uf attention < wc~ont~ ttt<t<'H of fh<: M<t<x!in~t<roM, Thc ~~w <t. Thf; nwcr f thc Mx~c f)hou!d tw~ not h~vf: ft~tted t hve (tttthor~, attd of <~M' f upun th nuthonty hcttrd thctn f('jx'Mt(!~ by ov<'n w~nc tn<'n of <'<ht':Ht)n

t~M

vcrH! ih<Hv!da!u,

hnv<' MjM~n f th<' r~p<~<MJ<'<HcfM'y of tt<~ t(~t<; ~r~<~ ~fthc M()di~< t~w, <M tfth~y wcn' M~newhftt 8tj~" ht th<'tr h<tff <)(' !t. ~'h('K<! n!<'n d~ ct!ft<itty ~d ~1~' 't~tc p!<t</~tt'<4<~c ~ihM Mnd v<'fy <h'xt<'f<~tH!y." W~tcf <iM<t Ot<<! of th~ t~x:n wh~tn 1 oh!<('rv<'H, h<ftd htn'd w<th thc pton~ttt~n of jM~ttMritj!, h~d ne Th~ WMM ~c~Mh'~ t~nch t!<~cr thutt thf! <~ht;r. hc t~~d toc, ~y thc htt~' t~ M mt.th'f~xt!~ hc H!ottf<~ ~w~ ~'<<m thu hit~H uf Mnnt:H by MKtd ho htt<i !n <'efta!n (herc~~f ~~w/<~ n~t ~~M, ~t{<'<! hxt o!' Mu<t<!h<~))<r~, ft~d had that thc Ht~on waM tnc h<jry ~'h~'f<' h< t,h<'

hc hti ut Ktr~)~ f<~n) ti! hitc. ~cavct, <M~n)ry, iH <A)t~ih<;<'f'~t <Jh'f!

~;K<'{tp<'<i r<~<'tvit~

xt h<M Af~n<

M<'f'~mn<<u, Ha/M, <~ t'p<<' whu tr~vct ah~)~

(th<'Mc r<' Mahotft' M<mdht~u.<f~', ft'unt ph~'t tn<;d!t!m;) tjf'y <!un<~ w'<; <!x'y~o wh~fn pht<'< <)<)wh' t< (h"/ ~nd t<y f'ht<'fn f'r p<)!c, th'y
ih<;h

thitth
<ih<'d<'

thcy (;!< <nh<' any thit~

mnx' <)' ~tth )h<-tn, nd

th<'y t(t!'
<!'

~~j,

N<iM<t<')tnt<

cxf~ 'd

frt

th<'tf) f~r whi<'h </i'w/

th':y <nh': <h<!t p~y. On th<x, <tt<d <~t)t'< t)~~t<~<M, <h<' Wt~td~yM'

~86

THAUMATURGA, OR oracles or obi. are delivered

is applied to a house whence but it is also used for a charm

They themselves, (the natives ofthe coast) says the author, tast wcar ~~ce-~rc~, or charma, which quoted, "a!wny? of the ~~R~~OM, to guard them tbey purchase against the effects of certain arms, or of poison, and on which they place th utmost reliance. They have one against poison another anagainst a musket other and, think against a sword indeed, against can hurt them. and another almost every against thing a knife that they

that is, merchant, secure the wearer from any evUs, about a person, etc. To this such as poison, murder, witchcraft, and he, prsents, priest 1 had made eomc handsome in return, gave me twelve gris. gris, and assored me secure me from all danger, that they would inevitably he gave me directions how to disSome were to be carried about my pose of them. one secretly anplaced over each archway person and another other kept under my pillow, under th door of the house 1 was then building." Th Byuat th g~s hohi these peoplc in great t~k with God.' they Mr. rvrence, and say that same time

Mandingo priest, or gris gris a seller of charms, which carried

Long, in his history of th Wcst Indies, states name of Obi.men under thc gnral is tilso that, thc class of ~M/ included men, or tho~c who, by made with thc juice of nncans of a narcotic poison, Cah~uc, a appels (said to bc th branc'hed a trancc which occasions of a certain of solanum) to convince thc deluded endcavonr dumtion, spceta-' tors of their powcr to reannnutc dead bodies. an hcrb

ELUCIDATIOXS

0F

THE

MAUVELLOLS,

87

of this superstition particulars preserved are to he joined with and othcrs, by Labat, Edwards, but after all, the questions to those now produced;* Additional bc solved are those are, wbether Obi, Mandinga, words of similar usually import, who are conversant in them and gree gree, and whether

faith of one system of religious ther the one does not belong to th worship power, and the other to tliat of an evil one. that It is remarkaMe, bas been sought in th wu!e

are all alike, priests and worship, or wheof a good

th Etymology of Obi names of ancient deities of

of th serpent in the language of and in that Egypt, the actual name of th evil deity or Dc~ the coast, in the same language, attenappears to have escaped tion. That name iswritten by Mr. Edwards, OMoM<?y as a malicious and thc hearer of it is describcd deity, th author and whose sacrifices. ofaUevil, anger This diseases~ is to be appeased only by human evil deity is the Satan of our own the inflictor of perptuai

Th superstition of Obi was never genern!!y rcmarkcd upon in the British Wcst Indies till t!te yenr 1760, whcn, after in Jamnica, of the Coromnntyn ot*Go!d Coast an insurtcction that !t had hccntnndc an instrument ncgrocs,it~'asfonnd for promoting that disturbancc. Att old Ccromantyn npg~ro, th chief instigator and oracle ofthc insnrgents of thp parish of St. Mary, in which the insorrection brokc ont, who had the ~c~eor sok'tnn oath to thc conspirators, ndtninistcrcd and fnrnishcd thctowithanutgica! prparation, Mhich wns tu makc t~tctn invutnerabh', was nt that thnc apprchnndcd and punishcd, and a !aw was enncted for th suppression of the practice, uncler which several cxatnp!cs wcrc H!ndc, txtt~'ith. out cn'ccting fnr many ycars, nny diminution of th evil soxght to be rctncdicd.

288 and it is faith; all parts of the sorcery. f this name

THAUMATURGIA, the of worship world conatitutes

OR Satan the which, essence in of

of 0&&o~ bas any relation to th Ob of Egypt, and if the Ob, both anoiently in Egypt, and to this day in th westof Africa, signines a eerwhat does this discover to our view, but that pent," Satan of N~p?!~ among the Negro nations as well as among those of Europe ? i' As to how it bas happcned that the serpent, in some which, is th emblem of the good spirit. is in others systems, the emblem of th evil one, that is a topic which beThis is enough for enquiry. longs to a more extenaive our prsent satisfaction to remember that the profession of, and belief in sorcery or witchcraft, supposes the existence of two deities, the one, the author of good, and the other the author of evil; the one worand for good shipped by good men for good things, and purposes and purposes th other and that by bad men this worship for bad things is sorcery and bas th name

sorcerers. th wor~hippers It will bc sect above, t!mt sincc African charms are toprevcnt to procure it, th first evil, nnd othcrs aud arc derived from th be~ong; to the worsbip, of thc good spirit and the second arc from powcr, the source. It is to be concbidcd, thcn, oppc&ite tbat th superstition of Obi is no othcr than tbc pracor O&OMt, ttcc of, and hc1ief in th worship ofOMo~ th nct'pcnt cf Africa thc evil dcity of thc Africans, and thc o!d i-crpcnt and Satan of th unt of ~urupc, of th ncgrocs is and t!mt th witchcraft scripturct evidcntly t!tc samc with our own. It might indeed

ELUCDATOKS

0F

THE

MARVELLOU8.

2S9

be further

shown,

that

the latter

have their

transformations like, as the Germans their

of men into alligators, have their French oups-garoux, war-wolves,

temporary wolves, and th th

and the rest.* wolf-men, obeah are acquainted with Th negroes practising some very powerful vegetable poisons, which they use occasions, and hy which extensive credit. Their fetiches on these much they acquire are their household

oneof whom is supposed gods, or domestic divinities; to preside over a whole province, and one over every family. This idol is a tree, the head of an ape, a bird, or any such thing, as their fancy may suggest. The have long been held famous in the act of negroes secret or slow poisoning. the discovery If doubts and difficulties envelope of character is the rapidity poisons, whose distingaishing must be the uncer. of these effects, how much greater the administainty when we are required to ascertain trations of what are called slow poisons. This subject,

travels in Brazil, we read of a negro who was reported by one of his <fc!!ow8 to bccome occasionally 1 asked him," said th author, /o~ ~<MK~or wolf-man. to expMin when he said, that th man was attimes transformcd into an animul, of thc size of a calf with th figure of a dog;" and in th African memoranda is an account of a negro who professed and even believed to have th powcr of transforrning htmsetf into an alligator, in which statc he devourcd nwn. Upon being qucstioned by Captain Beavcr, he can change mysc!f into an aHigator, and have answcrcd, But though these tnay bc genuinc Africun often donc it. and not such as have been introdnecd by th superstitions, Portugucse, yct it is certain there ia no part of tnope tu which they do not cquatty bclong. !n Kostcrs's
u

390

THAUMATURCA,

OR

is so closely entwined with popular superstitions, that it is difficult to separate truth from falsehood. In Italy, for example, it was formerly said, that poisons indeed, to destroy life at any statcd periodfrom a few homs to a year. tums out to This, however, be a mere fiction thnt we and, it is well understood, know Prince that even of no substances epoch. idea that Th determinate Charles th will produce case following death of the at shows prvalent, a late were made

ofAugu8tenhurgh,neverthcesg, of slow poison is still very

of continental among th physieians Europe. Charles of Augustenburgh, Prince Crown Prince of Sweden, and th predecessor of Bernadette, in that fell dead from his horse on th 22nd of May, station, t8i0~ during while that reviewingiroopsin Scania. His of pnb!ic affairs, stormy period and an opinion soon spread great attention, that he had been poisoned. Th Mn~ ordcred cial the investigation physician of the and lute it that Dr. appeared Prince, had, without the body twcnty-four death, excitcd abroad a judiRossi, direchours

to inspect tions, procceded after death that hc had pcrformed

great negligence, many omitting !aw prcscnted, which the assisting physicians proposed, and wliieit were essential to rendcr it satisiactorv and finally, that the coats

tbis opration with which the things

of the stomach, instcad of and submitted to chemical being prescrved analysis to his own acknowiedgmcnt, thrown were, according The royal tribunal him to be deprivcd away. adjudged and to be bnnisbed from the kingof his appointmcnt, dom. This decision ah'cady would not of course and among diminish the suspicion cxcited othcr physieians,

BLUCIDATOXS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

291

M. Lodin, professor two mmoire, of Medicine at Lynkoping, presented in which he stated it as his opinion, that a ~oK~o~oM to the uf a vegetable nature, and probably analogous on the case, aqua <&/aM:c, had been administered and that this had caused the apopletic His reasons were died. . That th Prince Prince, fit of which he to th

who were consulted

had always enjoyed good health to his arrivai in Sweden, and, indeed, had not previous been ill, until after eating a cold pie at au inn, in Italy. Hc was shortly after seized with violent vomiting, while th rest Prince of the company experienced no 1!! effects. 2. The 3. Ever rienced and the spleen was found of a on dissection, black colour and in a state of decomposition, and the liver induratcd Whilst during life and dark coloured. he had experienced no symptoms to corresponding 4. That these Dr. Lodin confesscd, however, appearances. that he was unacqnainted with the effects that indicate th administration of a slow poison, but thought the previous from it. For opinion medical symptoms the met men. credit with were such of the as might be cxpccted conjectural from other

was naturally very temperate. since he arrived in Sweden he had with cholic and

a loss of appetite,

expediarrhoea

this profession, decided reprobation

that th Prince It appeared had, for several days previousiy, been suhject to giddiness and were pain in the head, and that aU th symptoms rcferable to a simple case of apoptexy, while readily
u 2

292

TBAUMATUROA,

OR

the

on appearances dency to putrefaction, similar The cases.

dissection which

showed

that

is frequently

fap!d tenin observed

are highy Indebted to professor Beckpublic man for a very elaborate article, in which he bas conall that is known concerniog secret centrated nearly Of this we shall hre present our readers poisoning. an abstract, as peculiarly adapted to the demoaided with some facts from other noogy of medicine, with sources. Professor that Beckman considers it th ~nc!ents were acquainted and thinks tbat it may poigon, of Plutarch, QuintUian, testmony ble authors. which Th former states occasioned unquestionable, with this kind from of the

be proved and other that

respectaa slow poison,

heat, a cough, spitting of blood, a and weakness of intellect, was adminieconsumption, of Sicyon. tcred to Aratus Theophrastus speaks of a from aconitc, which could be modepoison prepared mted three in such a munner as to hve e~ect in two or or at th end of a year or two years months, that Thrasyns a and he also relates, had discovered method other p!ants a poison which, ofpreparingfrom occaeioned a certain but easy given in smal! doses, without death, any pain, and which could be kept hack for a long time without or wcakness causing Th last poison was much used at Rome, corruption. about At two hundred period, a atcr era. y cars bcfore th christian a female named Locusta, was the thse poisons, and she destroycd. of Nero, Britannicus,

agent in prcparing 'in this way, at the instigation son of Agrippina.

RLUCIDATIONS

0F

THE

MARVKLLOUS.

293

The Carthagenians seem also to have been acquainted with this act of diabolical and they are poisoning to have of Aulus said, on th authority Gellius, administered the Roman some to Regulus, general. writers, Contemporary do not mention this. The however, it must be added, were hemand

to the ancients principal poisons known ? prepared from plants, and particularly aconite, lock, and poppy, or from animal substances;

than that among the latter none is more remarkable obtained from the sea-hare (Z.<~MS marinus or ~py~a of the system of nature). With this, Titus is <M said to have been dispatched by Domitian. They do not seem to have been acquainted with the common n~!nera~ poisons. In the year Alexander 1659, t during it was observed of pontificate at Rome, that many and that many husthe

VII, young women became widows, to their banda died when they became disagreeable used grt wives. The govemment to vigilance the poisoners, a society of young detect and suspicion at length fell upon wives, whose president appeared who to be an old woman, to foretel future pretended events, and who had often predicted very exactly the death of many persons. By means of a craft)' female their the whole society were practices were detected and put to th torture, and the old woman, arrested were publicly whose name was Spara, and four others, This Spara waa a Sicilian, and is said to hanged. have acquired her knowledge h'om Tofania at Palermo. or Tofania, was an infamous woman, Tophania, who resided first at Palermo and afterwards at Naples.

294

THAUMATURGA,

OR

the poison which from her acquired Dame of Aqua deHa Toffana ~it was a!so called di Naloli, or ~c~Me~( alone), but she disAcquetta to such tributed her preparation by way of charity She sold the wives as wished to hve other husbands. From four to six drops were sufficient to destroy a man and it was asserted, that the dose could be so proportioned as to operate in a certain time. Labat says, that Tofania with and this distributed her poison inscription-Manna ornamented with the glass phials, of St. ~c%o~<M of Bavi, She image of th saint. from a put to and was in small

Hved to a great age, but was at last dragged in which she had taken refuge, and rnonastery, the torture, when she confessed her crimes strangled. In no country, however, more attention than excited the ycar IG~O. Margaret de BrinviUier, wns

has the it did

art of poisoning in France, about

wife of the d'Aubmy, the principal in Marquis agent A needy adventurer, this horrible business. named Godin de St. Croix, had formed an acquaintance with the Marquis during their campaigns in the Netherlands at Paris a constant visitor at his house, became where himself in a short the time he found means to insinuate of the Marchioness. good grces this Marquis not It was died; long before not, their joint fortune was dissipated. until however, in openty carrying on this amour, Her conduct, in. duced her father to have St. Croix arrested and sent into to the Bastile. Bere of th name Italian, the art of preparing poisons. got acquainted of Exili, from whom he with an be learnt

ELUCIDATtOXS

OP

THE

MARVJSLLOU8.

295

After a year's imprisonment St. Croix was released, her when he flew to the Marchioness and instructed m the art, in order that she might employ it in better. of both. She assumed the aping the circumstances food to the poor, nursed pearance of a nun, distributed the sic!t her in th Htel poisons, She bribed one Chausse, St. Croix's servant, to poison her own father, after introducing him into his to and endeavoured service, and also her brother, A suspicion arose that they had poison her sister. been poisoned, and the bodies were opened, but no detection followed at this time. Their vil~inous to hght in the following manpractices were brought ner :-St. Croix, when preparing poison, was accustomed to wear a glass mask but, as this happened once to drop off by accident, he was suffocated and found dead in his laboratory. Government caused the family, to bc and to be made out. On examined, was found a small box, to them, there searching which St. Croix had anixed a written paper containing that after his death areqest, de Brinvillier, to the Marchioness it might be delivered who resides in the it contains street Neuve St. Paul, as every thing to her alone concerns and ae, her, and belongs in it that can be of use to besides, there is nothing and in case she shall be dead any person except her before me, to burn it, and every thing it contains, without opening or aitering and in order any thing 1 swear by God, that no one may plead ignorance, whom i adore, and aU that is most sacred, that effects of tliis man, who a list of them had no of Dieu, and tried the strength on these hapless wretches. undetected,

296

TBAUMATURGIA,

OR

1 advance intentions, thwarted

nothing

but

what

is true.

And

if

as they and reasonable are, just in this point, charge their consciences with it, both in this world and the next, in order that 1 mayunload is my last will. thatthis mioe.protesting Donc at Paris, Cro~ this 35th May, in the afternoon, 1672. De Sainte Nothing

my be

could be a greater inducement to have it and that being than this singular ptition, opened, of donc, there was found in it a great abundance with labels, on which their poisons of every kind, on animais, were proved, by exprimenta was corromarked. The principal however, poison, sive sublimate. When the Marchioness heard of the death have of her lover the casket, to get possession of it by bribing the officers of justice; but as she failed in this, she quitted th kingdom. La Chausse, howat Paris, laid claim to the property ever, continued of St. was seized and imprisoned, Croix, more acts of villainy than was su&pected, broke alive consequence upon the wheel, The Marcbioness to Liege, where grais, an officer confessed and was in in 1673. from thence Desand instructor, and endeavoured she was desirous to enects

fled to England, and she took refuge in a convent.

of justice, was dispatched in pursuit the dress of an Ahb, of her, and having assumed to cntice her from this privileged contrived place. therc was found a her effects at the convent Among and a complete confession, catalogue of all her crimes, in her convicted, beheaded, own hand-writing. and on the l6tb afterwards She was taken 16~ to Paris, publicly of July, burnt.

and

ELUCDATiONS

OP

THE

MARVBLLOU8.

297

The practice of poisoning pressed by this execution, confessions of a suspicious made to the ` priests. ing after, and punishing tablished in 1697, under or chambre ardente. This

was not, however, supthat and it was asserted, were nature constantly

A court

search. for watching, was at length esprisoners the title of chambre de poison,

those engine, against of the first rank, court, and the namcs of individuaB both male and female, were prejudiced. Two fmales, la Vigreux and la Voison of this court, in February, in the same year. Professor Beckman were 1680. burnt

was shortly used as a state to the who were obnoxious

alive, by order But it was abolished

the following, as communicated to him by LinnaBUS Charles XI, King of ruined several noble families Sweden, by having on their property, and having, after that, seizing made ajoumey to Torneo, he fell into a consumptive which no medicine could cure. One day disorder, he asked his physician in a very earnest manner what was the cause of his illness. The physician replied, Your Majesty has been loaded with too many maledictions. not taken Yes," to God that the reduction place, and that returned of th 1 had the king, 1 wish nobilities' estates had never undertaken his intestines as to a

relates

After his death joumeytoTorneo." were found to be full of small ulcers. There the nature has been a great diversity of these poisons. That

of opinions prepared

by Tofania appears to have been a clear insipid water, and the sale of aqua for tis was for a long time forbidden

298

THAUMATUROIA,

OR

in Rome,

because

it was

considered

tlie principal

in-

is not probable. This, however, grdient. In Paris, the famous poudre de succession (also a secret poison) was at onc time supposed to consist of diamond and at dust, powdered fine exceedingly :mother time, to contain sugar of lead as th principal Haller was of this last opinion. In th ingrdient casket of St. Croix were found sublimate, opium, regu!u8 poison which vitriol, and a large quantity of the principal of ingredients ready prepared, were not able to detect. the physicians Garelli, of antimony, to Chartes VI, when Tofania HoSman. than at King of the Two Sicilies, was arrested, wrote to th that th Aqua Tofania was no. dissolved with in a the addi-

plivsician th time celebrated thing else

arsenic, crystallized large quantity of water by decoction, tion, (but for what purpose we know th ~r~MK~ (probably ~M~/ar, And this information he observes, to him by his imprial ma;esty confirmed procedure, was transmitted.

not) of the herb

Cymbalaria). was communicated th of

judicial th criminal, this opinion,

himself, to whom by the confession

But it was objected to that it dinercd from the ordinary effects itself by any particular in never betraying of arsenic, action on th human body. on theother Thc Abb Gagliani, hand, asserts that and that the it is a mixture of opium and cantharides, is as limpid as liquor obtained from its composition, and without tastc. Its effects are slow, rock water, and vour almost this Beckman appeare imperceptible. that a similar idea, and suggcsts to fapoison

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s used in the East, under the name of powst, being water that had stood a night over th juice of popwhom it is wished to It is given to princes, pies. and produces oss of strength despatch privately and understanding, and insensible.* so that they die m the end, torpid poisonThe

The following extract will show that secret into the forests of America. ing has penetrated celebrated chief, ~&cA&~ of the as a medicine great reputation feU rapidiy before his potent spells. furnished him for this was arsenic, villainy of th traders."t

Omawhaws, gained his adversaries man Hie purpose medicine by the

Bcckman, vot 1, p. 74 to 103. t Sce Major Long's expedition, vol. 1. p. 226.

300

THAUMATURGE

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CHAPTER

XIX.

ON THK ORMN AND SUPBR8TT!OUB MPLUNNCE OFBNOS. pretended exwonderful traordinary powers of accomplishing things of of the secret powers by their superior knowledge of the virtues of plants and mtneras, and of nature, the motions and influence of the stars, attached no smaH degree of myatic importance to rings, the entheir matter and uses, together with gin of which, the supposed virtues of the atones eet in them, a~brd a suh}ect squaring so much with our design, and so of notice from the curious, that no apology desen'ing on them. need be made for discoursing to the accounts of the heathen mythooAccording who, in the first times, had discogists, Prometheus, number of secrets, having been deUvered vered agrt from th charma, by which he was fastened tu mount fire from heaven, in memory or for stealing Caucasus of the favour he received from Jupi. acknowledgment a ring, in ter, made himscif of one of those chains, whose th figure of part of the coUet he represented rock where hc had been detained-or rather, as Pliny THE ancient magicians, amongother

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and put it on says, set it in a bit of the same rock, his finger. This was the first ring and the first atone. But we otherwise learn, that the use of rings is very were the first inventors ancient, and the Egyptians of them Joseph, which who, as seems we confirmed read by the (Genesis. Pharoah's dream, having interpreted with his liberty, but was rewarded person of chap, xi.) for reccived not only his princes ring,

a collar of gold, and the superintendancy of Egypt. Josephus, in the third hook of Jewish antiquities had the use~of them after passing says, the Isralites the Red Sea, because Moses at his return from Mount Sinai, found that they had forged the golden calf from enriched with their wives' rings, atones. precious of 400 Th same Moses, upwarda years before th of Troy, permitted the priests he had estathe use of gold enriched with blished, rings, 'nie high prieat wore upon his stones. precious which was a kind of camail, rich rings, that ephod, served a large emerald was set and as clasps wars names. The ring he wore engraved with mysterious on his finger was of inestimable value and celestial virtue. Had not Aaron, the high priest of the Hethe diamond, by brews, a ring on his finger, whereof ita virtues, operatcd prodigious things ? For it changed its vivid lustre into a dark culour, whcn the Hebrews were to be punished by deatit they were to fait by th sword if they were innocent colour It is observable that th for their it appeared it sparkicd ancient sins. When of a blood as usual. used

Hebrews

rings even in the timc of the wars of Troy. Queen as it ia related Jezebel, to destroy Nabath, in the first

302

THAUMATURGtA,

OR

of Kings, made use of th ring of Ahab, King of the Israelites, her husband, to seal the counterfeit letters that ordered unfcrtunate the death of that man. Did uot Judah, ter of Genesis, abuse in the 38 tb chap. his daughter'in.law, Thamar, who had disguised herself, by giving her his ring and of the faith he had promiscd bracelets, as a pledge her? Homer is silent in regard to rings, both in Though his Iliad and Odyssey, they wcre, notwithstanding, used in the time of th Greeks and Trojans and from them they were received by se\ erat other nations. The as related by Alexander, ab. AlexanLacedemonians, to the orders of their king, dro, pursuant .Lycurgus. had only iron rings, despising those of gold either their king was thereby willing to retrench luxury, or to prohibit the use of them. The ring was reputed, by some nations, a symbol of and friendship, esteem, libernlity, particularly among thc Persians, none being permitted to wear any, cxccpt This is wl)at they were givcn by th king himself. may also be remarked as a token Thyaneus, one from lity, received th Gymno~ophi~ts, and dwelt India and of Apoloniua perron of singular and liberaesteem th prince of priests of ancient bards in th as mentioned

Book

great larchas, who were the ancient as our

in forests,

where they applied themselves to thc druids, of the heaven study of wisdom, and to th spculation of that and stars. This philosopher, by the means every day thc secrets of nature. to the th ring found by Gygcs, shephcrd Though King of Lydia, has more of faMc tban of truth in it, ring. learned

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it will not,

however,

be amiss,

to relate

what

is said

Hcrodotus, CHus, after Plato and Cicero, conceming This Gyges, after a in the third book of his Offices. grt flood, passed into a very deep cavity in the earth, horse, beiy of a brazen with a large aperture in it, a human body of enormous size, he puUed from off one of the fingers a ring of for the stone on the collet rendered virtue surprising where having found it invisible, when tlie collet was turned towards the palm of th hand, so that the party could of persons and sec, without being seen, all manner trial made of its eSicacy, things. Gyges, having himself that it would be a means for ascendbethought of Lydia, and for gaining th Queen ing th throne He succeeded in his designs, killed by it. having her husband. The dead body this ring Candaules, Brahman, who, m belonged to was that of an ancient his time, was chief of that sect. The rings of the ancients often Alexander Darius, th Great, after the served death and for seals. him who wore in the

defeatof

used his ring for eeahng th Setters he sent into~ It ii< Asia, and his own for thse he sent to Europe. in Rome for th bridegroom to send th customary a ring of iron, without bride, before murriage, either ~tohe or collet, to denote how lasting their union ought to be, and th frugality to observe to. they were but luxury herein soon gained gether ground, and there was a necessity for moderating it. Caius Marius did not wear one of gold till his third consulship and Tiberius, tions in the as Suetonius says. made some of wcaring anthority rings sides the liberty of birth, he required a considrable revenue, both on the fathcr and grandfather's side. rfutafor, be.

304

THAUMATUROtA,

OR

In a Polyglot dictionary, pubHshed in the year t625, was attracted by John Minshew, our attention by the folunderthe article" RtNoFiNQKR." lowing observations, -Vtus Miles. adscribitur versicuhs Mercator. Militi, singulis Stultus. trebuens digitis Annulum Maritus. Amator. Pollici Mercatorem a pollice vel studios-

seu Doctor.

tertium. secundum, stultorum, Nuptorum orum quartum. Amatorum ultimum."

By which it appears, that the fingers on which annuli were anciently wom werc directed by th calling, or of the party. Were it peculiarity A soldier, A sailor, A fool, the middle A married or doctor, the finger to him was assigned next the thumb. finger. the thumb.

or diligent perqon, the fourth or ring finger. A lover, th last or little finger. The medicinal or curative power of rings are numcon imaginar~' and, as a matter of course, fonnded Thus th wedding upon that ring rubbing qualities. is frequently seen ~ttle abscess called the stye, which rous it. Certain eyes, is said to remove either on the nngers or rings are worn as' talismans, froin the neck the efficacy of which may suspended to th effects usually produced he referred by thse on the tarsi charms. of th

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CHAPTER CELESTAL EMPIRIC8, NFLURNC8 OMEN8 &C.

XX. CMMACTER!C8 DAYS

PRDOMINATION8MCKY

AND UNLUCKY

AsTROMGERs, best endeavours, art, to rendcr clunactencs, The word

have used their among other artiftces, and cinpioyed aU th rnles of their which from th they caU Greek, acritical

years of our ge, and formidable. dangerous chmactcrtc is derived or ladder,

those

which meansby a scale year, or a period in

ing to astrologica~ju~ing, ation to arise in th body, danger of death. Thc

and implics mati's accord ge. wherein, there is somc notable alterstands in great is th seventh

and a person first climacteric

the others are multiples of th ycar of a man's life and 84, which two last arc first, ag2t,49,5G,63, called the grand cinnactcrics and the danger more certain. Thc fnundation of this for by ~Inrk Ficinns as follows is a ycar, hc tells us, assi~rtcd for each planet to ruic over thc body of a man, each of his turn now Saturn being the most scvcnth ~!((/c/tc< (mah~nant) ptanct of nll, cvery
x

opinion :Thcrc

is accouutctt

30C

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

its lot, becomes very dangerous when those of sixty.three and eighty-fbur, especially in years. th person is already advanced According to this doctrine, somc hold every seventh year an year, established to those climacteric but others produced by multiplication 3, 0, 7, U, &c. space by an odd number, serve every ninth year as a climactenc. Cjimacteric fatal to only allow the title of tbe c!intactenca! Others ob-

which

Ms to

granted, to natural

ycars are pretended, by some, to be bodies, which, may be poUtica! perhaps, when they are proved to be so more than ones for it must beobvious that thereason

nor of such danger can by no means be discovered, it can have with any other of th numbcrs th relation above mentioned. haa a great deal of antiqnity this opinion Though from on its side Aulus Gelius saysit was horrowed it from thc CImIdcans, who possiby reoive might whose philosophy teemed much in numPythagoras, virtue a very extraordinary ber~, and who imagincd in thc number r. on climacteThe principal authors rics arePIato, Aulus Gellius. Cicero, Macrobius, and Sohnath ancien tsAr~a!, Magirus, Among theus. Ambrose, opinion. Therc Among Beda th and modemsSt. Boethius, extant, title the burnt; all Augustine, countenance St. the

is a work

under thc Hevelius, whcrcin hc describes cbscrvatory, happcncd c'tt'emely &c. being in his grand apprehensive.

rather scarce, by though of ~~MM~ C'oc/c~cM~, o~s hc i?ustaincd of which by his wh ch it would appear he was

chmacteric,

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Astrologers and controul presumed to

have also brought under their inspection th days of th year, which thcy have into and M/~c~ divide ~K~ daye and the common assistance fourteenth the to their

calling even the sacred scriptures, belief of christians, in former ages, for this purpose. day of th first i. Israelites,

that They prtend mouth was a blessed

as they prtend, authonsed, passages out of Exodua, v. 18 In th fir st yKo/ on the fourteenth

day among the hy th several

day of th month at even, ye shaH eut unleavened untit bread, the one and twentieth v. 40. Now, day at even," th so~ourmng of th children of Israel, who dwelt in was four hundred and thirty years. Egypt, 4t. hundred And it came to pass, at the end of the four and thirty years, even th self same day it went out unto the

came to pass, that all th hosts of th Lord from the land of Egypt." 42. It is a night to be much obscrved Lord that 5 the land Lord of for bringing is that night them out of th laad of the Lord in their to pass, the children their In th is th Four

of Kgypt; to be observed of all day, that out of the

the children

of Israel, And it came did bring by

gnrations." the self same of Israel Aiso day

Egypt 53, v. 5. c~. month at even, ~a~. 2~, tG.

armies." fourteenth

Z<put~cM~, of the first A~M~ tlui'ty year:) cven in

Lord's

passover." hundred and

of their dwelling in Egypt, being expired th self ame day thcy departed thcncc." With regard to cvil days and times, AstrologcM refer to ~MMs. c/ 5, v. 13.
x

thercforc,
2

th pra-

308 dent shall

THAUMATURGIA, OR

kecp silence in that time, for it is an evil and cA~. 6, v. 3, Ye that put far away thc time," evil day, and cause th seat of violence to corne near;" a~o 7~~t 37, t\ to, Thcy shaU not be a~hamed in th evil time and in th days of famine, they sha!! he satisned AIso and /crcw~, c~tp. 46. v. 21, hcr hired men are in th midst of her, likc fatted bnUocks, for they arc also turncd back and are fled away togethcr they did not stand because the day of theh' calamity was corne upon them, and th time of their visitation." And to Job cursing th day of his birth, from th first to the cleventh verse. In connrtnation ofwhich may a~sobe quoted a calendar, extracted out of several ancient Roman Catholic prayer books, written which month, on veHum, before werc insertcd thc which was invented, in printing unfortunate daya of each it would bc supernuous to cite hre.*

that th nature History sufficiently proves of lucky and unlucky days owes its origin to Paganism: whcrc it is mentioned, that that very day four years, th th father begnn by Pompey, ('sar tnade an end of them with his son, Cneius and that th Romans counted Pompeius being 8~ain thc of Fcbruary an unlucky on day, because, that day they were ovcrthrown by the Gauls at Alba and thc Fabii attacking the city of the Recii, were uU th exception of one man; alsofrom th ctdcndar of Ovid's crat MPMSR F;~torutn," ~r~ Gr<t'c~ oM~tM~t~: Buok 2n(!. nnd from !oracc, Ode 13, curi?in~ thc trcc that had ncurly fa~en upon it;
s!ain,

Roman

civil

wars

were

!3th

with

~6.s'

f~.

St'c !)cn!o'to!og):), hy J. S. F. p. 40.

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montha there were particular Pagans believed fatal in them and days which carried something thuse, for instance, upon which th state pcrhaps had loat a great and under tins impression, battle they on thse days and never undertook any enterprise in the Bimonths. Th twenty-fourth of February sextilc unlucky. that Valentinian ~&. 26. ca~. 1.) bcing Marcell. (~MWtaM, durst not appear in public elected Emperor upon of under the apprehension of suffering th fatality years considered the day. ed upon particular days might be quotof armies have constantly generals been favoured with fortune. Timoleon (Co~. A~o~) won aU his famous battles on his birthday. Soliman Many which other Hist. des T~rc~ won the battic of Mohac, (DMfpr~c)'. and took th fortress of Belgrade, to and, according th Isle of Rhodes, and th town of some historians, Buda on the 26th of August. inlikc But we find, manner, day lucky and unlucky to the same at th head of th Roman army, Ventidius, people. th Parthians, and 8~ew their young routcd king on th same day that Pacorus who commandcd them, had been slain, and Crassus, another Roman gnerai, his whoc army eut in pieces by th same people. LucuUus having attacked Tigranes, king of Armenia, th vain scruples notwithstanding desired him to heware fighting was noted Cimbri in th Roman calendar of ever since the fatal gained in Roman overthrow of his officcrs, who on that dny, which as an unlucky one, the Romans by th th superstition, battles recorded destiny of th th same was so

but he, (Lucullus) despising one of the most mmorable history, and changed th

310

THAUMATURGtA,

OR

daVt as he promised thosc him from th enterprise. day was that Empcror, on which

who would And Charles th V, best

have another good

dissuaded unlucky Roman fortune.

Valentinian's

himself promised is dcemed an unlucky Friday busineas, and there particular of ships who would sail from the week for their destination. The fishermen never use their who dwell nets between

in any day for engaging are few, if any, captains any port, on this day of on the coaats of the Baltic All-saints and St Mar-

of not taking tin's they would then he certain any nsh through th whole year they never r~h on St Baise's day. On Ash Wednesday th women neither sew nor knit, for fear of bringing misfortune upon their think cattle. They contrive so as not to use this fire on St. Laurence's day; hy taking themselves secure agninst prcaution they fire for the rest of th

year. This prejudice isted at aU times and least thc civilization diminished people

of lucky and unlucky days has ex. but if know!edge and in aH nations have not removed it, they have at its influence. ever Livonia, however, addicted to the most In

are more than

idem; on this gubject. In a Riga journal No. 3657, anno 1822, ed!ted (~~Mc~p .S~Mn~r, thcre are severat re!ative to hy M. Sonta~) passades a letter from heaven, and which isno othcr than a casuperstitious of h~cky and unlucky This letter is in days. it about him, gnrt circulation every body carries and though strictly forbidden by the police, the cotalogue M profugely pies are multiplied all attcmpts to destroy which as to increase have hitherto the evil failed.

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to th country people this idea is equivalent Amongthe faults or doctrine of fatality and if they commit as uneven crimes, on the days which arc marked as guilty, be* lucky, they do not consider themselves cause they were predestined. of certain The night of certain birds, or th meeting are animais on their first going out in the morning, good or bad omens. They do not hunt on or St. Catherine's St. jMark's, of day, on penalty all th rest of the year. It is a being unsuccessful on Christmas Most of good sign to sneeze day. with them them never are so prepossessed settle any important that they against Friday, or conclude a business, in some places they do not even They do not like visits on have trouble-

bargain on that day dress their children.

for it is a sign they shall Thursdays, some guests the whole week. In some districts of

Esthonia, up the Baltic, when the shepherd brings his nocks back from th pasture, in spring for the 6rst time, he is sprinkled with water from head to foot under the persuasion that this makes the cattle of prey is believed to be prevented them not by by dcsignating their proper names, but by some of their attributes. For instance, they cal! the fox' Aa~M~ (grey coat) the bear, etc. etc. (broad-foot), layjatyk They also fancy that they can direction by strewing oblige th wolf to take another salt in his way. The howling of wolves, at day-break, is considered a cspeciaUy famine or disease. In very bad omen, predicting it was imagined more ancient times, that these anithrive. The malignity of beasts

3t2

THAUMATURGA,

OR

mais, thus asked their god to give them food, which he threw them out of the clouds. When a wolf seizcs auy of their cattle, quit his prcy, by dropping or anv other hat, pipe, them at the time. They to be often their them wife with is the him to they eau oblige a piece of money, their hve about article they do not of permit drawing the hare it into beat the

for fear mentioncd, To make hene corn-fields. an old broom. child In eMest

lay eg~s, they where families

of her parents, it has been seU t~~e first calves, being observed that they always To convinced, that, if kept, they would not thrive. animais at meal-times, apeak of insects or mischievous is a sure way to make them more voracious. If a tire breaks out, a black by throwing of an expiatory offered to a mle. idea, sacrifice, volent and tute~ary power, is a remnant of paganism. other traces of it are found Various the among Esthonians for instance, let meals, they purposely or some drops of liquor of their beginning fall a piece of new bread, from a bottle as an offerat the they think to stop its hen into the flames. fury This

ing' to th divinity. It is very offensive to the peasants, for any one to look into their wc~s they think it will cause th wells to dry up. When faHs from chicvous When they dies. arc If manna th is carried cart is not into th fields, that wh ich mis. one that sign gat~~ered up, lest insects and blights corne upon the corn. an old housc is quitted for a new attentive it be an th first animal noting animal with hairy fect, the in

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8 good instance, a sign

some fbwt. for feet, in th house it is there will be mouming of misery and bad success in all theh' under-

but

if with

nakcd

with a scrupulous to lucky adhrence These, takings. and unlucky days, are the prevailing popular superin th three a great number stitions of duchies are conneeted which, especially among the Esthonians, with their In ancient that mythology. reading volume, pleasant by the late Sir it is impossible Salmonia, Davy, entitled struck with his remark respecting omens, with briefly noticed, have not it is imagined in order food,* an account of yet found their to account for such we agreed on a

Humphrey not to be which others, way far seeming The former is

here into

which

print, absurdities. search after

as

is the principal cause why animais occasion, Th diffrent tribes of wading change their places. when rain is about to takc birds always migrate and 1 remember once in Italy, been place having for th arrivai in th end of March, long waiting, of double n!ght after, with ciple, of Rome a great campagna on th third of April, and th day appeared rain set in, which greatly interfered heavy Th vulture, upon th same prinmy sport. snipe, follows in th

and 1 have no doubt that the armies was deal founded of the ancients augurv a~good of tlie instinct of birds. Therc upon' the observation of th vulgar are many superstitions owing to the same source. For anglers, in spring, it is always

Sec Magazine of Nntnrat

His~ory, Apri!, 1830.

3t4

THAUMATURGIE,

OR

to see single magpies but two may always uniuckly be regarded as a favourable and the reason omen one magpie is, tlmt in cold and stormy weather, abne Ieaves the nest in searcli of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs but, when two go out togethcr, th weather is mild and warm,
~s!ung.

of th young ones i~ is only when and favouraMc for

and tions

This reasoning will, in general, may be applied tu solve many in th

be found of th

correct, supersti-

is entitled

but th case of th magpie country; to a little more consideration. The pian-

of England, is net, as we caH her in the North of all birds, th most unlucky to see singly at any does not often happen, cxcept time this, nowever, a short time during incubation they cither appear but even this last appearin pairs or in families ance is as atarming to our grandmothers. each forbodes lowing distich shows what The folOne

two mirth, threc a wcdding, four death.' sorrow, This bird, indced, to have takcn th same appears us, as an omen of evil, that the owl place with had the ancients. The nurse amongst to dclare that she has lost aU hopes when she bas ohscrved a piannct on th even Another indulged prjudice, is often heard of her charge housc-top. by our good

th fcatlicrs of th pigeon wives, is that of dcstroying instcad of saving thctn tu stuff beds, etc. They say, if they werc to do so, it would tliat only prolong th are this of thc dcath-bed aud when these sunerings it is attributed to more thaa usually svre, because th bird cause, and tlic reason given

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bas no ~aU/ is tj& thcm quite conclusive, irrc!evant and unsatisfactory. perfectly that to hnrm or d!stut'b amongst boyg, of the rcdbreast or swallow is unlucky, and th kingdom

but to nie, A belief the nests

gnral throughout who pridcs himself of eggs on the quantity nester, blown and strung bead-fashion, hre often gets mortified by finding lus trophies destroved hy th houscwife who considers their gafety of her crokery been encouraged, if not but how are we purpose of the Irish stone in venonaous part pears presence This ware. invented, to account anecttng belief may for a as

appears very th keen bird-

th have

humane

curing

for th efficacy caused swellings by rubhed th upon th appractice at no distant swallow and

bv merely being reptiles, aChcted ? Th fullest faith in to have

period, the cuckoo

in the country prevailed and is yet far from extinct. The

are generally hailed as harbingers of spring and summer, of our readers but, perhaps, many are not aware that it is only lucky to licar the cuckoo, for the first time in th scason, upon soft ground money in th pocket, wh!ch th youngstcr is f~agely advised to be sure then to tum over. th season Perhaps all these oh. of th year may satisfactorily explain servances. tioncd Several rcgarding in th north practised th death of th stock tte to nittin~ unfavouraMe the farmer of to the th upon superstitious some bes, customs of which are arc men. not in contradistinction to hnrd roads, and with

that yet it ia fuHy believed of hives too often foretells Wet ure a!so which cold insccts, years, so equally the

bce-master. thin

clays,

border

3!6

THAUMATUKGtA,

OR

Has the use moors, where bes are mostly ~t. of th monntain rowan tree* [Pyrus aucuparia, ash, ever beeu witcheraft, G'<rWM<?~] as a charm against accountcd for ? r The Mief in very o!d if we are to credit who givc this word commenti~tors, in Macbeth, instead of Aroint that happons for th first time, his attention some of nature appcarance by stmces It often emcacy must be some of Shakspeare's as the true witch observer reading its

thee, the careless

bas, called forcibly to circumaccidentai

if at all superstitious, he immediately proth most disastrous from gnosticates consquences would have convinced that which a little observation him than caused they was but a phenomenon Th northern usuaL much hve consternation a little lights when first more conspicuous are said to have observed more than and or-

with ately been viewed as it appears from th interest, dinary th last autumn when C~ro~c/p, (1830), more brilliant, usually of Weardule were convinced than some they

Newcastle

they were of th inhabitants

th figure very distinct!y, a red sword in his hand, move horse, with across the heavens and arc, no doubt, now certain eventfnl that it foi-etold th present times. Even sion, white this belief

saw, on one occaof a man on a

for on such accidentt may be accounted or even phtosophically, coincidenccp, t by assuming is the result of an as a fact that this phenomenon electrical and that such atmosphre, a change rain. Now, if such haptistially prcdes or in summer, and before such a pen in spring of min as is found to affect the harvest, quantity change in thc

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it may too often betokcn and discontcnt, ~carcity, as such arc th times when aU griev. turbulence, either real or imaginary, are brought forances, ward of is like for redress. of The sailors, to me th nailing unaccountuble, trial following of the superstition origin a liorse-slioc to th mast, uness it may have bcen, of credulity for amusement th of the :Sai-

sapecuniary of a chitd's crifice for th acquisition eaul, th of which is to infaUibIy preserve them from retaining drowning. Some years by an account equina] year, rible aga, a pretty widc district wasalarmed of th beans var. [Faba vulg~ris laid the wrong way in the pod that ccrtainly m a short foreboded thne, those th of tersomething and this produced who allow their in th of th terrible being towards first sight to be

superstitious by some lurs sometimes make

person a considrable

being which most

to happen much consternation imaginations omen was pod towards the footstalk, this

amongst to run riot. The the apex, as eye of the

whote

beau was

instcad

at might appear and some were scarcely con. its natural position th natural of th vinced that this was position beans on in the shown secd pod th in th evcr since the creation, even being with th of th pod prcccding year samc position. 1 fear we must sum up in thc

As yct, however, words of Davy

But how can such nbsurditics 7~ yo~cxphun as Friday being an unlucky day, and t!ic tcrror an old wo~na~l p ~plUing salt, or meeting

of

318

THAUMATURGA,

OR

Thse, as well as th orncns ofdeath-wa-tchee, coinci' dreams, etc. are founded upon some accidentai occasion, dences; but spilling of salt, on an uncommon to may, as 1 hve known it, arise from a disposition in th shown by an incipient numbness apoplexy, and may he a fatal aymptom and persons hand, dispirited by bad omens somctimes prepare the way for evil fortune, for confidence of success means of insuring it. Th dt'cam of Brutus a specics of batt!e f PhiHppi probably produced irrsolution and despondency which was th prinand 1 have heard cipal cause of lus losing th battle that the illustrious just now, he shot carelessly, after Hal. 1 have in life met with 1 have chance have found it sportsman, was always observed you referred to shoot ill, because omens. one of his dispiriting a few things which to explain, either by to whom is a grent before th

*'Po!

impossible or by natural and coincidences, connections, known minds of a very superior class affected

in the habit of reasoning by them-persons deeply and profoundly." The number that happcncd of remarkable events on some particular have been tlie principal days, mcans in their Alexander conquered of connrming on opinions who Darius, was and both this born died pagans subject. on th on th and For sixth same christians instance, of Aprii,

Basianus Caracalla was born, Etnperor th sixth was day of April. Au~nstus adopted on th t9th of August, his consulute, conbcgan

The day. and died on

and died thc same day. Th quered the Triumvit'i, ehristinns hn.vc observed that thc 2*tth of February

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was

four

times

fortunate

to Charles

the

fifth.

That

was a fortunate th Wednesday day to Pope Sixtus for on a Wednesday he was bom, on that day fifth a monk, a general made on the same day made of his ordcr, on that a Cardinal, on day created that and aso on that Pope, day inday elected augurated. the eighth, for sixth and he on was a fatal day to Henry Thursday of England, and his posterity, King died on a thursday Edward the King Queen Mary on a Thursday. observed that on a Thursday the fcast of PenThat

a Thursday Queen Ehzabeth French had have

The tecoste for on

becn lucky to Henry III, King of France that on that day elected day he was born, and IX, critical day he succeeded on the throne of France. on that his

King of Potand, brother Charles There firmed Cullen i4th. are in continued by and !7th. of th

fevers, the united these and 20th.

days observed by physicians, a doctrine which has been contestimony the 3rd. of 5th. De 7th. Haen and 9th. 1 ith. days are meant, the fever abatcs it is ex-

are

above days, any or terminates or favourably, acerbated or terminates fatally. Natural exploring mitted to was and th -under Dr.

By critical on which on

which

is confined to th astrology natural in which sense effects, be this a of part view that natural Mr.

of study it is ad-

deavours

for its Mead, pleaded to account for th diversity

It philosophy. Goad, Mr. Boyle, use. The nrst enof seasons from

habitudes and motions of th planets situations, and to explain an infinity of phenomena by the

320

THAUMATURCA,

OR

of th stars. Th Honourablc Mr. contemplation that ai physical bodies are inadmitted, Boye nuenccd and Doctor Mead's by th heaventy bodies in his trentoe the power of the opinion, concertung sun and moon, etc. is in favour of the doctrine. But thse are ridiculed and influences predictions and cntirely exploded by th most csteemed modern phUosophers, of which the rcader Tractt. women, may have Physic, and a learned part H* were caused in Roimu!t'a, specimen c. 27. Th diseases of men,

children

nt times to be more supposed of th seven by the influence

immediately

In order ptanets. to comprehend this exploded we shall hre doctrine, set down th prctended and days, at what governing time they 0 D are supposed to hve th most ia~uence

Sol,

or th snn governs Luna, or the moon,

on Sunday. Monday. Tuesday. Wednegday. Thursday. Friday. Saturday.

Murs, Mercnry, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Saturn th reigning, is said to cause

cold diseases, agucs,

as

pa!sy, quartan ~out, kpro?y, etc. cohis, riteumatisms, catarrhs, numbnc~s, Jupiter causes cramps, th liver, hcad-ac!)cs, pains in th ency, inHatnmntot'y by putrfaction,

dropsics, of

in~ammations

fevers, and and quinaies. opop!exy,

Hatushou!ders, aU digre 'icaueed

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Mars,

acute

fevers

and tartan

agues,

continuai

and carand

fevers, intermitting imposthumes, and buncles~ fistulas, dysentery, dry diseases. So causes stomach tions, ties. the rheums in the and liver, hysterics, causes syncope, eruptions eyes, catarrhs, on the

erisepelas, similar hot coldness

in the

pustular eruplower extremi-

Venus

stomach, of th liver and lungs. causes hoarseness Mercury senss, impediments

sickness at sores, lentery, hystcria, from cold and moist causes, disorders and distempers falling in thc sickness,

coughs, jaundice, The moon causes palsy, cholic, dropsy, imposthumes, and all diseases arising from obstructed dysenteries, circulation. for the prevention of thse down diseases are rational at Icast some of tbem, enough, moderate or such as temprance, (whcther bleeding not indicated we are not told,) th use of taxatives at The seasonable the times, when planet marnant dominion, by which the effct much abated, and a power given a friendly you were planet, opposite to bas born under, of its innuencc will be to nature means laid

in th speech, catarrhs. vomiting,

to oppose its malevolency, if well heeded, which, may bc a main prevention of dungerous Thus diseases." carries with it a discased every planet in the heavens as it would appear, possossing without, any or ward off repelling or sanative powers to correct thc sicMy influence it is supposed to entertain ovcr the life aud limbs of frail mortals thut, in the sense aspect,
Y

322

THAUMATURGA,

OR

of this absurd

when Ju.. or rather doctrine, jargon, it will be necessary to bleed and piter has dominion, take calomel to guard against (not to attack it when it has taken p~ce) of the liver and innammation when Mars to send immediately for Van presides, Butchel surd and to frighten ridieulous nstu!aab away an imaginary too prevalent even at nonsense, for what can bleeding and phyand fall of th year be called spring

the present day at th sicking but

without under suppositions reason, operations stellar also to gather all yoar influence. Observe

of the fr iendly planet, physic herbs in the hour that temporises with what you wcre born under, and in so doing they will have more strength, power, and virtue to operate but neitherphysic in the medicines nor bleed on the third of January, the last of April, and the last the first of July, the first of August, and second those astrologers, day of October for it perilous, by physicians jom, conclude and if it reason of the bad influence then reigning into another it will worse, change not the distemper in great danger of it, and put the party augment bc not lucky. to escape." death, if Ac or NAc in ~~CMc It the (as wotdd on third if be a waste such of words ment egregious to offer a single comnot bleed on stu~P"do with whom

of January," there could be

nor on such and such a day, for stated times bleeding

which are indicated those by th presence beyond and such evacuation,) is a of di8case, requiring we believe practice peculiar only to astrologers, and 1t those is no who less, belicve liowever, in sucli a cant. dcmonological fact that men singular

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distinguished ing, should

in most

every

other

particularly

respect for their learn. in the have indulged

of judicial At th present superstition astrology. time a belief in such subjects can only exist with those who for may be said to ~ave no beliefat all mere traditional be said to sentiments can hardly amount It to a belief. was that gave rise to judicial asastronomy an ample field to enthuwhich, trology, o~ring siasm and imposture, was eagerly pursued by many who had no scientific purpose in view. It was connected tricks and deceptions, juggling affected an obscure jargou of language, and insinuated itself into every thing in which the hopes and of fears of mankind were concerned. Th professors this science were at 6rst generally persons pretended of mean in whom low cunning supplied ducation, in the place of knowledge. Most of them cngaged the empirical of physic, and some through practice the of credulity of eminence their art of the times, even in it yet although was ibUy and deceit, at a degree the whole foundation arrived with various

gained many well-infbrmed About passion vailed Th the

and proselytes and the ignorant. th middie of the seventeenth

they nevertheless th dupes, both among century, the stars the

for horoscopes and expounding in France of the among people chid was usually new-born presented

pr. first rank. nakcd to

on who read the first Hneamcnts star-exponnder, and tlie transverse Unes in its hands, its forehead, and thence wrote down its future destiny. It lias been of several persons famous for their astrologireported
y 2

324 cal skill, that

THAUMATURGA, OR

a voluntary death they have suffered It is curious merely to verify their own predictions. to observe th shifts to which these wise MeM were frequently put when fied. Great winds famous adept were not prdictions aC one time were predicted thcir veriby a hav.

in the art, but no unusual storms to save the reputation of the art, ing happened, the prediction was applied nguratively to some revo' lutions in th state, of which thcre were instances enough at that time. The life of the famous the th astrologer, Lilly written by himself, much artless narrative,

and

of Butler, is a Sidrophel curious work, but containing at the same time, so much palpable that it imposture, is difficult to know when hc is speaking what he of the In a sketch really believes to be the truth. in his day, the adepts whose chastate of astrology racters th he and has They drawn were the lowest miscreants other of as town. al!, indeed, speak of each among whom were

Booker, impostors and Gadbury, who gained a liveli(~eorge Wharton, on the credulity of even men of hood by practising rogues n Ashcentury. life an account of thege artful impostors may bc read. Most of them had taken the air in the themselves pi!!ory, and others had conjured up to the learning mole's gallows. of the 17th century, the quacks and To th astrobgers of th beginning of the 9th are ony cqual. impostors and astrology, Quackery the latter of which often served as a mask to th former, appear to have bcen time a kind of Castor and PoUux quackery, at one howso late as t650 to the !8th

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ever, it would seem bas outlived are more who would swallow quack Both than the flatulent bolus

for there astrology, the nostrum of the of the fortune-tellers.

their votaries, One Grigg, a poulstill have was set in th piUory at Croyden, terer in Surrey, Edw. in th Borough, for IV,) and again (Temp. to cheating people out of their money by pretending cure them patients, tionablc. kind of by simply looking at th or by practices still more absurd and quesOf such doctors there is no lack. This with charma, pmctice of any offers one of the finest fields for

delusion held species of empirical Such indeed is public at th present day. th infatuation and credulity of th ignorant that, we are a notorious German assured, confidently had within one year 80 many quack half-guinea dception out to the applications glass bottles veyed in empiric this country that be in which sanctum and that the ~2000 the precious nostrums were con. sanctorum of the mendacious netted

from the high

to as many are weak-minded rash artifices

who made his dbut in Germany, by hawking about Dutch drops, amounted To those of either sex, who two-pences. enough to trust their lives to the of

an ignorant who affects to pretender an occult discover of th quality in th constitution of some internai com. th existence patient denoting that which less cquivocal beyond plaint symptoms to the eye ~nd knowledge of th ca~ only say that wc conpractitioncrwe regular oive them to be justly punished in the loas of their sufficiently present and money, In Stow's ruin of their health. consequent Chronicle we find that one of thse said tbe

326

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

was set on horseback, gentlemen the tail, which he held in his hand bridie, while with a collar

his

face

towards

in the manner of a of his significative

he made a publie offence, dangling about his neck, entre into the city of London, conducted by Jack of did himself the honour Ketch, who afterwards and branding the impostor, previous to scourging his sentence. In the which banishment, completed reign of James I, a terrible sweep was made among the quacks of the city of dispatched magistrates and bring to take up all reputed London, quacks, them before the censors of the collge, to examine how properly qualified they were to be with the Umbs or lives of his majesty's s all that is required at the present controul this department legielature of physicians, college as large an allowance trusted, lieges. day. instead either This Let the of the advertising a warrant to the and gentry. The councH

as a body, can boast of who, of licenscd ignorance as any We say nothing set of men in existence. corporate of surgery, for this branch of knowledge leaves the world generally to look at, hence so few something to it but physic buries ail ils blemishes pretenders with the The unfortunate country, even victim. in this wis. age of progressing with quack medicines, which credudom, is deluged loua people say are not directed against the constituand that they are too tion, but only agaiost th pocket, to do either good or harm but were this the insipid case, there would hve been no occasion with at which various times for the been exem. quacks visited. plary punishments of all sorta have it is recorded

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Pe

it known, there can be no such thing Invented or cure by tnan as an universal remedy to prevent nll kinds of diseases becauee that which would with one constitution would with disagree agree another trum, differently such as we organised see daily and a quack nosadvettised, may cerbut might

tainly agree at one stage of a disease, the patient at another. Besides, go far in killing all these boasted have been found to be specinca or dungerous, and every inert, ineffectual, to them, in times less enlightened pretender by the march of intellect, has been convicted either general either or dishonesty. of gross ignorance No one can vouch with certainty for any particular kind of medicine,that it will agree with this or that individual, until with his con. constitution acquainted peculiar it sequently scribe physic of absurdity to pr. heighth for a man without a knowledge of to direct him. such circumstances talisAmuleta, and incantations, are innocent and mans, charms, and may impose only on crcdulity withinnoxious, out untoward the consequence, any other leaving in which he was found in the same state patient but so much cannot be said for quacks and quackmedicines which remove their deluded frequently victims far beyond the reach the of either of the physic or philosophy. Butler is said is the

following of and who character a quack can read it without at the prophetie astonished with being intelligence it abounds, and which adwhich, unfortunately, mits of a too close anulogy with some very

to be

author

328

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

rcent modern

and

untoward

empiricism, of receipts, probatioaer is perpetuallv his medic!nes putting and very often finds them but still they have some and avoid buming by the hand his trials prints so many several to be foMed can 6~ by get of skill, wcapons every

of in the annals events, He is a medicine-monger, he and Doctor Epidmie upon their trial, cuiMY op MANSLAUOHMB, trick or other to corne off, of the hangman. He and challenges dcath at that, one, ~c though hc cares he not is sure for, for

sure <o yet o~ maney, it is but posting~ up diseases for poltroona in all the public places of the town, and daring them to meet him again, his credit and stands as fair with the He makes nothing rabble, as cver it did. ~< them and will undertake and tic one hand behind his him, that freedom, drunk as often without and shall never no does neithcr to cure ease and their heaith with so much may and surfeit follow

patients

get business or that He for

as they please, any inconvenience recover know cure witb how

to their so much

occasions they professes if nature he

secrecy, it comes about.

if not,

no pay," as well he may. hp is paid th work, for it wins nor loses and like a

so arifu~y, rook Jet that. cunning lays his bets be what it will, he either wins th chance or saves. He cheats th rich for their money, for charity, if either succeed, and the poor and, both are peased, and he passes for a very just and conscientious ought at least man to speak for as those well of their that pay nothing entertainments,

EMCIDATION8

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329

their to

makes way for those who are able testimony He finds lie bas no reputation pay for both. and posts fears up he is never his bills, those to who

those that know him, among like to have, and, thet'efore, see if he can thrive botter know

amongst

of him. He keeps his nothing and will undertake to maintain tinually, aU the plagues of Egypt. He sets up

post conit agaiust his trade

a pillar, or the corner of a streetThse upon are his warehouses, where ail he has is to be seen, and a great deal more for he that looks further finds nothing at aU." ABSURDITIKS OF PARACKMUS, AND VAN HELMONT.

some of the first chemists were men of Although Mnse and leaming, yet after that chemistry began to lie fashionable and much in vogue, there were some of its professors, who although men of an uncommon tum of genius, were as great enthusiasts, both in the chemical ever were transmute trary hve bave to and medical arts, not as any other men in religion. They some of the baser the nature in of that to only pretended metals into gold, concould they it would work, if

things-and impossible

succeeded rendered

less gold as plentiful, cheap, and because it is less fit for valuable than iron, instrumenta and mechanical uses but they to cure ail also diseases, pretended iufallibly some of their new invented chemical ma. by as th other, a thing equally as impossible chines and shewcd their ignorance of th causes and na-

330

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

turc

of

diseasea.

As

those

who

are

the

most we that.

are generally th greatest ignorant find tbat none of them were more vain,

boasters, so, than

enthusiast ParaceBUs, paradoxical boasting, a cerwho had acquired riches great by curing tain diseuse with a mercurial the knowointment, of which he is said to have atoen secret ledge from Jacobus of Caipo, in his travels Berengarius, that he said illiterate, in no language but high could be taught phiosophy but the true reason Dutch was, that he neither understobd nor any other language. He pliilosophy thither. He was withal so in possession of a nostrum which would prolong man's life to th age of Methusaleh, though he died himself at the age of fortyseven. He lived in the fifteenth century. The cures he wrought in that age, were deenoed so surprising that he was supposed to have recourse to super" natural aid. In a picture of him at Lumley Caste, he is represented hands on a great word Azot. in a close black on sword, This was the gown, with both whose hilt is inscribed name in of his j~K~M~ to the pummel, circumstance also boasted that he was

the

he kept imprisoned epirit, that consult on mergent occasions. is thus alluded to by Butler

The

Bombastps kept thc Devil's Bird Shut in thp pumme! of bis sword And taught hhn a!! thc cunning pfanka, Of past and future mountebnnks. Paracelsus mont, who was had succeeded much by bis schoar van Helmore learning, but was as

n!<UC!DATONS

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331

great an enthusiast, arts as his master,

both and

in the chemical embraced most

and mdical

of his paradoxical opinions more technical term", and, having he frequcntly to dazzle and conused them rather found the understandings of his readers, than to inform their judgments. By thus giving his writings he rendered them obscure, a mystical air of wisdom, and sometimes more unintenigible consquente, them the public and vulgar, easily imposed upon as sublime and useful truths. He also vainly boasted that he could cure any fever in four days' the patient with one draught by sweating ~o' the jP~CMpt~MN Diaphoreticus iamous nostrum, and further that no man can deracelsi adds, serve of a physician, who cannot fever in four days' time." He, however, that he sometimes added a little theriaca and wine to it which th name cure any admita, time, of his

last, he says, a great is a proper mescordial, but as a vehicle, to be sent on such an errand, as it knows senger the rbad, is well received wherever it goes, and Hence body." is not only a good natured, but an intelligent being it sometimes men of their senses deprives though for a time, when they take too much of it and hence we see also a specimen of our author's method of reasoning and writing. like his great master, also boasted, Van Helmont, that he could cure all inammatory and other fevers, without either blecding, vomitand even a pleurisy, ing, purging, clysters, or blisters and he quarrelled readily of the admitted human into the most private we believe apartments that wine

(treacle) is not only

332

THAUMATURCtA,

OR

so much

beastly by a wic~ed Bee~cbub Dr.

a the two !aat, that he calls cysters and eaya that blisters were invented remedy," spirit, might whom hve been he caHs Moloz, though as good a name, since

with

that he believed he observed, Baynard wittily was only a great cantharid. And both He!mont and th Doctor wereso far right, that blistering was then, as well as now, much oftener useM. Thus their upon thse two eminent chemists, followers, frequently th unguarded reader, and toc many of their writings upon the in the mediand in truth they abused is either necessary applied than much are or

imposed and themselves

vulgar, for men of profound knowledge cal art, and as great adepts in chemistry and being of their puned up with the high opinion entertained ncw art, wisdom, medicine or they new medicines, and their own

th philosophicat rejected then so much in by Galen and Avicenna, and might vogue. They were right in doing this service to mankind, if they had have done great chemical theory in not set up their own imaginary its was neither founded upon observaplace, which nor reason, and had no existence but tions', nature, in their own vain imaginations. Thus they supposed a malignity which caused all as other flera, nammatory with fbrced out of th body by sweating, attacked therapeutics they, thercfbrc, with carry this them chemical with as well indiseases, aad which was to bc their all hot fevers to ttie

great of theory

and attempted ammunition, fire and storm, prescribing and sweatipg

pra~cipitatus

diaphoreticus

regimen,

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which would had with not

must have a thin

have been diet, But,

been fatal to many, and no doubt so to many more, if van Helmont to dilute the medicine his patients which rendered the calorific mthod

allowed

Jess fatal.

as the learned

if any did escape remarks, was through a fiery trial. Thus the chemists, without any rational to nature, and what she indicated regard without caused to be how

Dr. Friend judiciously after that hot regimen, it or theory, or did matter, which

how the morbid duly considering the disease, was to be concocted and fitted critical evacuation carned off by some or to assist nature

to bring that crisis on, accordmethod ;witliout ing to the Hippocratic considering th benefit of the rational, cooling, antiphlogistic of th introduced their practice Arabians-they and this regimen was soon regimen instead and most other counafter brought into use in England, to be th practice for many tries, where it contlnued as may be seen by th authors of years afterwards, until the judicious and honest Dr. Sytimcs, denham wisely rejccted and exploded it, introducing the rational method of Hippocrates and the cooling those of tlic Arabiana, which he secms rather to regimen hve taken ex ~M re et ratione from nature and reason, than from th works of the Arabian physicians, with Van with quacks which as he- never which have he appears not to have been mentions them. had several other famous he acquainted, nostrums, sudorific

Helmont

to perform as wonders, pretcnded donc in ail ages, and as some do now

334

THAUMATUROIA,

OB

for cmpiricism

art bas supplied them present day, with more than the anarcana and nostrums many cients had in ail thcir and theriacas, antidotes to etc. since chemistry was made subservient medicine. was a learned neverthelesa Helmont, at a grcat name and reputation, Tnan, and acquired for some least time but, as ncither his theory nor nor his practice were founded on nature and reason, confbrmable soon new which saw invented to their them, the errors, chemical terms more judicious physicians as well as the fullacy of his Van

was never more aud the chemical

in fashion

tban

at the

only coatained of the mdical science and theory sunk soon oblivion.

and unmeaning phrases, the shadow and not th substance therefore both his chemical

hot regimen, with bis writings, togethcr into a state of merited after his death,

that the science of chemistry Notwithstanding was greatly men, improved by thse extraordinary who invented or discovcred many useful remdies, which in hy of mcdiciue into th practice they introduced and therea no less extraordinary manner, out the way fur othcrs to follow theni pointed th more able and and learned enriched by the improved curious many

yet wc must aUow that cbemists have greatly materia medica since,

making

and thereby several new expc;riments, discovenng and ven' efficacious tbe not only from mcdicincs, and antimony, semi.mcta~s, und the various mercury chemical from them, but from tbe more prparations permet metals, and sonie other minerul bodies, as

ELUC1DATION8

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335

well as from a great variety of remdies and animal pared both from vegetable salts, oiis, essences, spirits, and many more needless all of which are known these ftret we invented th are use indebted and and

are preas substances, which

tinctures, elixirs, extracts hre to be mentioned, but For aU to physicians. to the them chemists into who practice well as the cure used

introduced

although methods various

as application, of administering them to the sick, to other diseases tha!i those they were first by several

for, has been greatly improved and ingenious physicians.

learned

336

THAUMATUROA,

OR

CHAPTER

XXI.

MODERN BMPBCISM. N extol ages We ture, seen the to respect we have but very little occasion of those our own enlightened age at the expence and justly termed dark. which are so frequently allude and to th bold and artful designs of imposone

medical !~po~Krp. Daily are particulary and audacious witil illiterate empirics sporting lives of a cred~ous puMic, that seem obstinateiy to shut their ears against The all tlie suggestions host of empirics,

resolved of reason

which inhygeists, fest the metropolis, and the tinctures, cordh~s, pills, and essences, so much extolled by thcir rebalms, and swallowed so tnilers, by the public, arc indeed of the nge, that to 8uy many proofs of the credulity th Jeast, ~K~~ Th the march in tlis celestial of intellect bas evidently made a direction. powers Gcrman inim.

and experience. and self'dubbed nountebanks,

introduced

beds, th enchanting magnetic into this country by Mcssmer, a disciple?, prcepte,

quack, and his numerous di~erence to aU dietetic

the prevailing th singular

ELUCIDATIONS

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337

position practised them to wear the infatuation a pair tables inserted common surdities for of the of metallic

on

~emales, in persuading many iuert acromatic belts, the strange in paying nve guineas for opulent the not worth tractors, sixpence,

and other absurdities still blood-letting, in popular almanacs, (against all the ruies of to the abthese yield in nothing seuse)ail and superstitious of astrology, notions dreama, and imposing conveyed and other through ludicrous chanwith was tyran-

the medium

though by far more interesting Th temple of the gulls is now thronged nels. votaries as much as that of superstition formerly human nical way than reason prjudices to excite to deal is still and a slave certainly, attention to th there and and most is no

general in the mysterious

ready admiration,

the marvellous.

The visionary been revived

has lutterly system of Jacob Bhman in some parts of Germany. The ghosts and apparitions which had disappeared from the times of Thonmaius and Swedenborg, left have again their graves, to th great terror their divine propheta announce worse, find implicit believers medicine's are rewarded by small celebrity while some of ianaticism. New mission, and, what is The inventors of accr~ and obtain no patents, of th more consciento amuse inventors his

but less fortunate tioue, adepts, endeavour the public with popular systems of medicine. One of the most dazzHng and successful in modem carcer times, of medical was Mcssmer,

who commenced

His at Vienna. knight-errantry house was the focus of high life, the rendezvous of th gay, where the young and opulent were enlivened z

338

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

concerts, routs, and ~t a great expence, he imported into illuminations. he the first JE/a~MOMtccfrom this country Germany established of natural and lacabinets curiosities, and entertained with continuai boured and constantly so that he laboratory alchemist, being a great in th most employed searches. object discoveries to his hitherto secretly in his chemical of the reputation acquired a philosopher studiously reand useful important

lu J706, he first publicly annoMncedthe and nature of his secret his labours :aU centered in the magnet, was the best against which, according and safest remedy incident to the

hypothesis,

proposed human body. This declaration attention established the a

all diseases excited about

of Mcssmer so as

more

very gnral the same time he

in his own house, into which hospital hc admitted a number of patients gratis. Such (ns. intere8tedne88 as might be expected, no procurcd, small addition He was, fortubesides, nate in gaining over many celebrated to physiciana his opinions, who lavished the grentest cncotniums on in connnuart, and were instrumental to tlie public a number of succcssfui exnicating This seems to hnve surpassed the experiments. of Mcssmer, and induced him to extend pectations his original plan further than it is likely he first in. tended. Wc find him soon after assuming a more and mysterious for th purair, whcn, dogmatical hc appearcd in the chapose of shining exclusive!y, :-his racter of a M~c~M pride and egotism would brook neithcr cqual nor compctitor. his new to his fam.

ELUCDATONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

339

which or minral magnet, loadstone, is so well Itnown, did not appear to him sufficiently and mysterious-he contrived an unusual important of he gave the name one, to the enect of whioh animal still that to a After this, he proceeded M<c< bolder it out, assumption, every~'here giving the inconceivable powers of this subtile fluid were in his own person. Now, the mona.-drama and Messmer, at once the hero and choms of performed th most

The common

centered

began th picce,

his part in a masterly manner. He placed nervous, hystrie, and hypocondriac patients opposite to him and by the sole act of forth his finger, he made them feel the most stretching violent ahoc~s. The effects of this wonderful power its activity and pnastonishment tration being confirmed by unquestionable testimonies, from which it appeared, that blows similar tothosegiven by a blunt iron, could be imparted by the operator, while he himself was separated nay. by two doors, even by thick walla. The very looks of this prince of jugglers twitches and predisposed patients. his indeThis wonderfai tide of success instigated fatigaMe gcnius to bolder attcmpts, especially as lie from the suhad. no svre criticism to apprehend pcrstitious which lie for thc truth but his multitude. rounclly asserted things of and offered not th least shadow of proof of which !ie had no other pledge to offer At onc time he could to paper, wool, silk, at anothcr hc etc., possessed
z 2

excited

universal

the power in his eredulous

had

to excite

painful

cramps

and

He

own high reputation. communicate his magaetic power breadt agscrted leather, that water, stoncs, certain individuals

a greater

340

THAUMATUROtA, OR

of susceptibility than others. for this power degree It must be owned, however, that many of his contemmade it their business to cncounter his extraporaries vagant pretensions, tions with the most and rfute his dognmtical arguments. asserYet, he convincing

long enjoyed the triumph of being supported by blind and their number followers, increasing competely the suffrages of reason. overpowered at length Messmer, try, he should never he had fixed upon, cal career. The pompous ~im'es daims; in some perceived that in his native counbe able to reach the point which as the termination of his magnetibut it to discrdit his began was only after repeated cures, that he found himParis. being which

Germans

promiaed self under the necessity of seeking protection in Thcre he met with a most flattering reception, and in a manner adored by a nation caressed, fond of every new has always been extravagantly whimsical to tum He such this and Messhter mysterious. to the best natural propensity

thing, well knew how

addressed as wished

advantage. himself particularly to the weak; to to be considered men of profound know-

to be silent ledge, but who, when they were compelled took refuge behind the impenefrom real ignorance, The fashionable trable shield of mystery. the levity, and th peculiar tum of the Pairrsistible curiosity, evcr solicitous to bave something risians, interesting to keep their active conversation, play, were exactly suited to the genius of animal th inventor magnetism. for wonder, and therefore, if he availed to ensure himself a ready pbysical character, imagination and talents We need faith of their in of not moral in his

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THM

MARVELLOU8.

341

and success to his pretended doctrines, experiments in fact, he found friends and admirera wherever madc couched his appearance. in the following His first advertisement

he was

terms high.sounding Behold a discovery which promises unspeakaMe to the human race, and immortal fam to advantages its author Behold th dawn of an universal revolution 1 A new race of men shall arise, shall overspread it by their virtues, and render it fertile Neittier vice nor ignoby their industry. rance, shall stop their active career they will know the earth, our calamities prolonged the most laudable plan and accomplish uudertakings. the innocent The of that tranquil, gratifications wherein man laboured age will be restored, primeval and expired withwithout toil, lived without sorrow, out of history. The only from the records duration of their life will enable them to to embellish

a groan Mothers will no longer be subject to and childpregnancy pain and danger during their birth their progeny will be more robust and brave will be rugged and diflictilt path of ducation smooth and eas~ and hereditary rendered complaints from the future and diseases will be for ever banished the now auspicious race. rity of the fourth like fruit Animais Fathers rejoicing to see their posteand fifth generations, ripe, at the extreme no less will only drop point of ge 1 of the magne.

fully and plants,

tic power than of barrenness

susceptible man, will be exempt from the reproach and the ravages of distempcr. The and the plants and nourishing, and grateful in the gardons, and the trecs fruits.

flocks in the fields, be more vigorous bcar more beautifui

will will

Th human

342

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

race,

once

probably enectsof with

this elementary powcr, will rise to still more sublime and astonishing nature: who indeed is able to pronounce, how far this aalataiy influence may

endowed

with

u;;

certainty, extend ?" What

What rich prospects splendid promises the greatest the most virof philosophers, Messmer, `r tuous of men, the physician of mankind, chalitably who stand in ? opens his arms to all his fellow-mortals, need of comfort cause of and assistance. under No wonder that the ` magnetism, such a~ zealous apostle,

every day large To the gay, of its converts< the nervous, of all ranks and ges, and the dissipated it held out the most flattering Men of the promises. first respectability in behalf of interested themselves rapidly gained ground, additions to the number the in idea, philosophy they anticipated more happy and more vigorous race which would profrom the wonderful ceed, as it were, by enchantment, The French powers of animal magnetism. impulsive this new were so far seduced by thse flattering as to offer the German adventurer livres for the communication to hve of his however, appears, better than thus perty, understood appearances, thousand secret art. He his own interest

and obtained

might of purchase. answer portance, ous for That

to dispose of his hypothetieal proa more accurate which, upon investigation be objected to, as consisting of unfair articles He consequently to th credulous French retumed ministers: the following

his art of too great imDr. M. considered and the abuses it might lead to, too dangerhim at present to make it public that he

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOU8.

343

must cation,

therefore

reserve

to himself

and mode of introducing observation-that he wouidnrst take proper measures to initiate or prepare the minds of men, by exciting in them a susccptibility of this grt power; and that he would then undertake to communicate his secret gradually, reward." which he meant to do without hope

of its pubHit to general use and

the time

of

too politic to part.with his secret for so Messmer, small a premium, in view and had a better prospect his servcd disintercstedness and hesitation apparent to allure more only to sound an over-curious public, victims to his delusive practices, and to retain them Soon after this m'mly in their implicit belicf. he was easily prevailed a private upon to institute into which none were admitted, but such as society, bound themeelves by a vow to perptuai secrecy. in his important ~ese to instruct pupils he agreed on condition of each paying him one ~MMmysteries, In th course of six months, dred louis. having had not lsa than three hundred such pupils, he realized a of thirty thousand louis. It appears, however, that th disciples of Messmer did not adhre to their engagement we find them from their and separating gradually professor, fortune of lus system, schools for the propagation establishing to reimburse themselves with a view, no doubt, for the expenses of their own initiation into th magnetisunderstood But few of them having the ing art. of their doctrines terms and foreign mysterious master, every new adept exerted himself to excel his feUow.Iabourers, in additional explaaations and inmore

344

TBAUMATUKOA,

OR

ventions

possess, or could not industhe were hundred louis, spare in attempts to discover the secret, triousiy employed and thus arose a great variety by their own ingenuity Messmer's sects. At length, however, of magnetical who others, sum of one did not authority became euspccted his pecuniary acquisitions were now notorious, and our humane and disinterested and satirical was assailed with critical philosopher animadversions his procesa The fertility of fron~ every quarter. for medical purposes, as well as the bad it might in a moral procure point of

consquences view, eoon became convcrattioQ, topics of common and ultimately even excited the apprehensions of of magnetical One effect government. dangerous associations employ tructive Matters French this was, art, having that young to promote assumed voluptuaries their libidinous this serious began to and desthe

designs. aspect,

much to ita credit, four government, deputed and unprejudiced to whom were men, Tespectable afterwards four others of great learning added and to inquire into, and appreciate th merits of abilities, the new discovery of animal whom phiosophers, among and Lavoisier, namea of Franklin and unexpected very surprising state of magnetized physical gave it as their opinion, that These magnetism. we find the illustrious recognised, phenomena indeed, in the but they

individuals the powers

had tion, and not animal magnetism, ciects. Sensible of the superior influence, can exert on the human body, imagination effectually wrought upon, they

of imaginathese produced which when after the it is a

perceived,

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THB

MAR\'ELLOU8.

345

of experiments and facts frequently repeated, that and or touch, contact, imitation, imagination, excited M~st~t~ were the real and sole causes of these phenomena, which had so much confounded the the enthusiastic element had no real exmagnetic istence in nature, that Messmer himself conaequently was either an arrant faor a deluded impostor, the illiterate, that this hoasted credulous, and natic. Meantime, small progress cal and other this in magnetic Germany. had made no mystery A number of periodivindicated its claims to

number

publications favour and attention and some public litrary themselves men, who had rendered justly celebrated now stepped forward as by their former writings, bold and eager champions in support of this myaticat doctrine. The ingenious Lavater undertook long for the propagation of magnetism and somjournies nambulism and what. manipulations and other absurdities dies of notice, a recent netism theless, were not in the city that an eminent practised of Bremen on hysterical young la? i' It is farther worthy

publication, among mdical be confessed,

of that place, in physician does not scruple to rank magIt great must, body neverof the that the

remedies

The art of exciting sieep in persons undcr the influence of an!n)al mM~nctism, with a view to obta!n or ratlier cxtort during this artitic!at slecp, their verbal declarations nnd directions for curing the diseases of both body and mind. Such, indeed, was the rage for propagating this mystical nonsense, that even thc pu!pit was occasionnlly resorted to, in order to make, not fair penitents, but fuir proslytes.

346 learned,

THAUMATURiA, OR

have endeavoured, by throughout Germany, and impartial to oppose and rfute strong criticism, animt considered as a mdical system. magnetism, And how should it be otherwise, since it is highly ridiculous to imagine that violent agitations, spasms, of a etc. which arc obviousy convusions, symptoms diseased state of body, and which must increase rather than diminish the disposition to nervous diseascs, can be the means of improving and ultimately of prolonging human tentive person must have observed, intercourse tients ia asseaiMies, can neither of the though similar netism were and ties. of life, little less plans for the prolongation which like absurd than animal have, magnetism, fretted their hour," deserve every other imposture, have long to be noticed. The French and Germans stood the tions Animal in the empirical pre-eminent of ingenious and more merit of genius may fairly be world, plausible attributed to th though emanalatter. Other between nervous and infectious for exhibiting sens the tife a ? that constitution Every attoo frquent papublic individuals, small proof

and hypochondriac if this be the case,

magnetised be 8aie nor proper. It is no of th

of this country, people they have at different times fallen into nearly that the professors of anin~ delusiuns, magtheir did not long maintain ground they good soon exposed became to public annihilated ridicule in thcir on the own stage, absurdi-

shortly

a rational though magnetism physiogoomy, mMacious science a doctrine phrenobgy, abounding with many and possessing manifestions, singular

<'ft.

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVELLOUS.

347

not to be put down are a!! of German origin. The Count St.

claims

by mere

force of prejudice,

realized a Frenchman, Germain, large sums, by vending an artificial tea, chiefly comand fennel senna leaves, posed of yellow saundera, seed, which was puffed off under the specious appellation of Tea for prolonging which, at that time, life was tinent, brity enough The swaJIowed that few was of short to realize Chevalier with could such voracity aU over the conIts celsubsist without it. and none another world with evcr lived long brazen-faced a

duration, ita effets.

powder, with so large and rapid a sale, that he soon accumulated a whole money enough to purchase instead of This famous however, county. powder, to the means of securing a long and healthy adding life, is well known to produce constant indisposition, and at length to cause a most miserable death being of certain of a poisonous nature, composed drugs though slow in their opration. of modern Cagliostro, styled the luminary and debauchees, a very common impostors prepared stomach elixir, which was sold at a most exorbitant It was the name of &a~M of prie under unparalleled effrontery, the count had of this medicine, and that he was rendered years, These invulnerable against every species of poison. bold assertions could not fail to excite very general attention. descauting, at Strasburg, During bis rsidence in a large and respectable company, while on the with pretended, that, by the use lived above 200 the most Count

adventurer, which met

d'Ailhoud, the presented

348

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

his pride met with a very antidote, check. A physician who was prsent, mortifying and who had taken part in the conversation, quitting the went to an apothecary's privately, shop, and ordering two pills of equal size to be made, to his directions, suddenly again agreeably appearcd before the and thus addressed him count, Hre, contains nocent engage sidered enable tolled number to are two pills th one my worthy count, the other is perfeetly ina mortal poison, choose one of these and swallow it, and you leave. This as a decisive proof of your medical the public to ascertain the efficacy elixir." The count took the but could to take that which will be conskill, and room

virtues

of

his

of your exmade a alarm, upon both

of apologies, touch the pills.

not be prevailed swailowed The physician that

and proved by his apothecary, immediately, might be taken with perfect safety, being of common bread. the Notwithstanding this detection, Cagliostro still retained catesby circulating his real character

they only made shame of advo-

numerous

and concealing unfounded reports, by a variety of tricks. The inspired tather Gassner, of Bavaria, ascribed ail diseases, lameness, agency, palsy, etc, to diabolical contending recorded enemy shorten credulous from the history of Job, Saul, and others in sacred as the grand that writ, Satan, of mankind, has a power to embitter and our and lives Vast numbers by diseases. weak-mindcd to people nocked relief which Multitudes of this he of

with a view of obtaining fanatic, never had the means to administer. patients, amieted with nervous

and hypochondriacal

ELUCtDAT!Ot!8

OF

THE

MARVBLLOU8.

349

complaints, by a wild ledge

besieged

him daily

imagination, eager the works of Satan Men

being aU stimulated to view and acknoweminent the for their hatural by

even the attainments, iterary of Bavaria, were hurried away blinded by sanctified completely It is no less astonishing than

philosophers and stream, so !ate as

imposture. that true,

at Leipzig, to per1794, a Count Thun, pretended form miraculous cures on gouty, hypochondriacal, and hysterical of patients, merely by the imposition his sacred hands. He could not however raise a great number of disciples in a place that so many sceptics and unbelievers. The commencement of the nineteenth been abounds with

with imposture. equally pregnant sions of Joanna are too fresh in the rcSouthcoat of our readers collections to require notice here to say, this fanatical old woman had yet, strange her adherents respects, delusion by no and disciples many of them, in other were keen and sensible men nor has the

has century The delu-

th sect is altogether evaporated, though or strong means tlie first ifnpowerful half irantic by her who are only to be met devotees, tlie very lowest and illiterate orders of of NewhaU, near Chelms. date. Hre we hve a Hohenlohe, miles.from of the wonder. sti!l retained

are pressions and ridiculous with among

society. The farce of th convert

fbrdt is of still more recent miracle by th holy Prince performed hundred 'at a distance of at least three

th presence of his patient. Hearing ful cures by this priuce, one of the nuns performed

350

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

in

the

above

considrable flammation along the

who had been ainicted for a convent, length of time with a swelling and infrom the ball of the thumb cxtending arm, Prince and up as high as the arm"

fore

pit, wrote to been nttendcd London from her

Hohenlohehaving previously in by the most eminent practitioners relieve her without any apparent benentto sufferings. undertook willingly his consent with an mjunction up her prayers on a certain day in reverence by the catholics, that he would be at promising This he

to do, but accompanied that she should offer (May 3, t824,) and at a certain his devotions held

AU this, the ar8icted after her prayers, nun attended to immediately she experienced a tingling Reneation along the arm, and from that instant the cure rapidly advanccd until th diseased limb became as sound as the other. of priestcraft and superstition, it was been fast fleeting before the luhoped, away minous rays of science, even in those countries where had been most fostered and pracreligious juggling tised. But for any man in this country to bc~ieve days had that such a miracle can be wrought by human is of itself an awfully convincing agency, proof that he is ignorant of the Scriptures, and that lus own mind is likely to become a prey to th wildest cilimeras. as a worker His and even mighty scvcral however notoricty of miracles was not confincd to Newhall. cxtended to th emerald isle prowess cures were performed at as great, or at wrought his orisons. Prince Hohenlohe's The

hour, at th same time.

fit a greater than that distance, and merely at th sound of NcwhaU,

ELUCDATONS 0F THE MARVRLMUS. We hear of no miracles being wrought by, we leave them

351 or upon to the and reto

protestants consequently of the eloister, whence gloom they emanated, where only they can be of use in a cause which

to support it. quires the aid of stratagem A taste for the marvellous seems to be natural man in period of astonishment, every of life stage of it cannot,

world, persons more ingenious of this propensity,

that, have been found, who, more idle and than others, have availed themselves

society, and at almost every be much a matter therefore, from the earliest ages of the

to pbtain an easy livelihood by on the euriosity of the public. levying contributions is to be considered Whether this taste as a proof of th weakness or of innate inquiof our judgment, us to enlarge the sphre which stimultes sitiveness, of our knowledgc, must be left to th dcision of metaphysicians pose to know of impostors it is that in the sumcient rise it gave for our present to a numerous purclass

mouutcbanhs, shape of quacks, and piU-mongers. nrc.eaters, poison'swaUowers, class of adepts, such as sleiglit of TIiere is another hand performers, sack rope dancers, teachers of uniin short, those mals to perform extraordinary tricks porsons deceptions who delude th on spectators, senses, and practise harmiess included under the common If thse arts served no othcr

appellation of jugglers. purpose than that of mere

amusement, they yet mcrit as aSbrding at once a certain dcgrec of encouragement, a cheap and Innocent diversion jugglers of this in naclass frequently exhibit instructive experiments

352

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

tural

thus the and mechanics chemistry, solar was invented from an instrument microscope a to reflect shadows, with which a savoyard nmused ~hiosophy, German Arkwright populace is said and th celebrated conceived Sir the idea Richard of the to have

which have so largely contributed machines, spinniag to the prosperity of th cotton manufactories in this from a toy which he purchased for his child country, from an itinerant showman. These deceptions have, acted as an agreeable anand most powerful besides, popular belief in and witchcraft, which miracles, conjuration, sorcery, of our ancestors and the upon the minds preyed effects of shadows, electricity, and the magmirrors, in the hands of ininstruments net, once formidable tidote superstition, and to that terested for keeping the vulgar in awe, have been and are no longer stripped of their terrors, in their most terrine fbrms. frightful persons, ON THN TRANSPUStON OP BLOOD FROM ONE ANIMAL TO ANOTHER. At a timc when the shortness state of human life was to

to a distempered imputed ail diseaaes wprc aacribed

to the whole tending nature of man, a conclusion and physical was easily that a radical removal of th corrupted formcd, and a complete renovation of the entire mass blood, was both practicable and enectual. by substitution

of thc blood when to this cause, witliout atof what relates to th moral

BhUCDATIONS

0F

TUE

MARVELLOUS.

353

The devise and

spculative expdients,

mind

of

man

was

not at a loss to pnrposc extraordi-

to e<ect this

desirable

one of the boldest, most undoubtediy and most ever made to nary, ingenious attempts the period of human life was made at this !engthen time. We allude hre to the famous scheme of ~a/ or of introducing the blood of one animal ~Mto~ into that of another. This curious is atdiscovery of medicine trihuted to Andras Libavis, professor and chemistry in th university of Hailc, who, in the recommended J6!5, year pub!ic!y exprimentt the tact. essays to ascertain of spiritcd opposer founded th Thcosophic system, by the bombastic and supportc(i tribe of Paraccisus, by a numerous credulous and frantic foHowers. he was Although Libavius wns an honcst and not totaUy exempt from the fouies of that age, since in tbc transmutation of metats, and lie beheved to his pupi!s th wonderful power of posuggested table gold, yct lie distinguished rational alchcmy and zealSystems thcn in repute, th former against of tlie disciples ously defe!tded made a Ga!en, as well as those of Paraceisus..le of important discoveries in chemistry, and numbcr from
was unqucstionably

the fanatica!

who

gave

of affinity, of thc titcosophists. Th of the with first hbod,

first professor in Germany chcmical lectures, upon pure principtes unconnected with th extravagant notions experiments nppcur retative to hve to the transfusion that The

t!ic

on grt prupricty, blood of the young, healthy

becn made, and t!'c lower animais. and vigorous,

2 A

was trans-

354

THAUMATURG1A,

OR

into the old and infirm, by means of a delicate for that tube, purpoae. placed m a vein opened and imThe effect of this opration was surprising were soon obportant aged and decrepit animai ferred served greater ertions and this to become case and more lively, and th to move with rapidity. By of Lower, in England, of Moulz, and Hoffman, mode cxindefatigable of Dennis in France, others Germany, Hfc and spirits to some in

artificial

was successfully degrce of perfection. Th vein usually

th of renovating and even brought continued,

opened in the arm of a patient was resorted of transfusion into to for th purpose this a small tube was placed in a pcrpendtcuar th same vcin was then opened in a healthy direction but more frequently individual, which another tube \vas forccd tion both small tubes wcrc in an animal, into in a rechning directhcn slid into one

th dlicate art of and in that position another, Whcn the opratransfusion was safely pcrfbrmcd. tion was completed, the vein was tied up in th same Sometimes a quantity manner as on blood-letting, of blood was drawn from tlie patient, previously to As few persons, place. howexperimenttaking that would evor, were to be found, agree to part had with thcir hlood to others, recourue was generally to th calf, the to animais, and most frequently These bcing laid upon a table, lamb, and th stag. th and was tied so as to be unable performed somc instances, wcrc vident and promising, the operation to move, before dcscribed. In in th manner the good enects of thse experiments while thcy excitcd the

BLUCDATtOMS

0F

TttE

MAKVELLOUS.

355

and prohopes of the future improvemcnt But th unceasing abuses gress of this new art. advcnturcrs, prnctised by ho!d and inexpcrt togcthcr with the great number of cases, which proved induced th differetit of unsuccessful, govcrnmcnts to put an entire Europe by stop to th pract!ce, greatest th strictest constitutions men di~r of living among so materially as they now do, this is, and ever must remain, an extremely hazardous and cquivocal, if not a desperatc The blood of every remedy. individual with and that is of of and nature, congenial th body it belongs, to which only it is generated. Hence our hope of peculiar life, by artificial evacuations and a prohibitions. and mode And, indeed, while thc

in which

prolonging

human

must It be disappointed. injections, necessarily must not, however, be supposed, that and thse, similar pursuits during th ages of which wc treat, as well as those which succeeded, were solely or chiefly followed by mere adventurers and fnnatics. The of those times employed thcir wits greatest geniuses with thc most leamed and eminent men, who deemed it an object by no means be!ow their considration. of supplying good for unsound teeth, of th danger t!iough long laid aside, in consequence with which th practice was attended, by the comto a healthy munication of disease from an unhealthy This practice, notwithstanding the objections which stand to it, might, opposed be adopted with success on many occanevertheless, a sound and wholesome sions, could persons enjoying
2 A 2

Th

method

person,-was transfusion

at one of blood.

time

as

much

the

rage

as the

35C

THAUMATURGtA,

OR

state

of hody be found to answer thc demand, howcases ever unnatural it may nppear. A few untoward th conttnun~ce soon raised the hue and cry against of th thc of with There bbod, been recently an individual cxhausted bv excessive a is and success little winch doubt nnswered that both th the practicc. latter bas as in thc transfusion of blood, though in the case attempted hcrmorrage expectation. transfusion of

or transplanting of teeth, are engraftiug with judgment and d~crimmadon, of being capable, made aubscrvicnt in a varicty of cases th though chances of gnerai success militate against thse experimcnts for it is the in being unalterable hcr plan of nature to procced gradually and extravagance tablished laws. operations at variance aU outrage with her es-

RLUCIDATIOXS 0F T:!E

MARVELLOUS.

35~

CHAPTER
THE ROSCRUCA~S Ttns trines remarkablc sect

XXII.

c~

OR THEOSOPHtSTS. upon the docthe latter part of the of the sevcnteenth cenby thc namc of the and as it has not founded

was

of Puracelsus, during and th bcginning ~ixteenth, turies. Th society was known Roscncrucians hoen withoutits or Rosccrucians followers and

in different propngators cven to the present we shall hre ~mc, shapcs, th reader with a concise account of the prsent sect. origin and tencts of that fanatical The first intimation of thc existence of this order we find in the announced German to the worid in langua~c, 7%p K/fp~a/ title, world, in a book published the year tC!4, with MM~~p/!pra/ Rean ~ccoMM< of The

the following /unM H~oM of the

~P ~HOM~ ~Cr/H~ an work contains

t~ <<~t'~r ~C ~OM'/'TMC<f<

of that thc mcmbers intimation, for a centh society had bccn secretly cngaged corne to the tury preccding, 1 and t!iat thcy liad and important of many secrets, knowledge great which, if communicated th happincss of man. to th world, would promote

358 An kreuz

THA~MATUROIA, of the name adv(!nturer is said to have founded

OR of Christian this order, Ruseuin the

iniafter having been previously century tiated sublime wisdom of the east, in,the during his travels in Egypt and Fez. From what we are of .enaMed to earn from this work. the intention th to ~tmder~and have been the nnal aim of the the accumulation of secrets known society, appear and treaof wealth

fourteenth

only to the memby means and by a proper distribution of thse treasurcs bers to promote the grand among princes and potentatcs, scheme of the society, by ptoducing a general revolution of all things." In their confession aures, of faith," there others, among a general that will speedily take expelled doctrine Th or of Christ are many bold and singular dogmas that th end of the world is at hand and manners refonnation of men that Jcws the wicked shall be and the converted, over the whole earth. that these their cvents faithfnl to accelerate

place th subdued,

Rosencrucians

propagated not only believed

must happen, but they also endeavoured them exertions. To by unremitted votaries celestial disease, youth, and followers. they

abundance of promised 6'om wisdom, riches, unspeakable exemption an immortal state of man of ever blooming and above all th ~~oso/!Acr~ and improvement of stone.

th mind were, Leaming as aupernuous and despised. by this order, considered in the Bible this, howThey found aU knowledge has been rather a pretext ever, to supposed obviate a charge, of not believing was brought against them, in the christinn religion. The truth which

ELUCIDATIONS

OP

THE

MARVEHOUS.

359

is,

they velation, virtue on the

themselves divine re. imagined superiorto and supposed every useful acquisition, every to be derived from the influence of the Peity sol of man.

In this, as weM as in many other respects, they appear to be followers of Paracelsus, whom they profess to revere as ~~ssenger of th divinity. Like him, they pretend td cure ail diseases; ~/a:<A and th power of th imathrough to heal the most mortal disorders gination, by a or even by simply at th patienta touch, looking Th universal a grand secret remedy was likewise of the order, of which was promised th discovcry to all its faithful members. It would of such be unnecessary to euumcrate if the founder fancies, irnpious any more of this still

had not asserted, sect, now partly revivified, lurking with astonishing that human life was effrontery, like a cre kept up by comcapable of prolongation, bustible matter, and that he was in th possession of a secret, which could vcrify this assertion. It is vident, from the testimony of Libavius, howevcr, a man of <tDquestionab!e that this doughty veracity, or rather in medical chemistry, champion alchemy, Paraceisu~ as before th his his bold assertions, died notwithstanding at Sulzburgh in Germany, in observed, of St. Stephen's in 1541 and that Hospital death was

occasioned chiefly by thc singular and desolate he had for a long mode of life, which time pursued. When a competent of knowledge th economy of the human frame is wanting, to enable external a man causes to discriminate and eSects~ it between will be internal and impossible

360

THAUMATURGA,

OR

to ascertain, or to counteract, th dnrent causes was This cvidcntly hy which our health is dcranged~ th case with Puraceisus, and many other lifc-pro' who have succeedcd should a and him longers fortunate upon a rcmcdy, posor Icngthening disease, sessing th power of chccking out human existence never to be (an expectation for hc will be mdebtcd to chance alone jcaHzcd) thc This discovery. and still remains so. Remedies, from has heen the case in all have been ges, individual cvcr nx

time

not mcrely to serve also for thc pretended of prolonging life. purpose Thosc of the lattcr kind hve heen appUed with a view to resist or check many operations of nature, which insensihiy consume the vital heat, and other irritamuscular powcrs of life, such as respiration, from the implicit of some, tion, etc. Thus, credulity and th exubrant of othcrs, observation imagination and experimente, with sound howcver incompatibic renson th and philosophy, avowcd design of of this have or have been establishing that absurd and multiplied, or proo~, opinion. with repuIn this

to time, as nostrums

devised, but for all diseascs,

tations manner th

fanaticism

or forged ptainest truths, and ridiculous claims insomuch that one glariue bas been employed to combat another, consistency folly bas succeeded folly, till a fund of materials been hve to transmitted history set a just means concise sufficient posterity, on this subject. Men to value of on life and this in cnjoyment, in all

falsified imposture thc most uufounded inand bas a

to form

ages

thc

proportion value has been

ELUCIDATIONS

0F

THE

MARVELLOUS.

361

in a greater or less degree. If the graappreciated tification of thc sensual appetitc formed th principal would be to the object of living, its prolongation epicure, tence to is to th The us desirable as th be enjoyed beyond moralist and thc belicver. dsire of of au exisprospect th limits of the grave,

to he inhrent appears longevity in ail animated in th hnman nature, and particularly it is intimately th race cherished by us, through whole duration of our existence, and isfrequcntly supported means, Living and but not strengthened, also by varions only kinds hy justifiablc of collusion.

in an age when every branch of human know. when th vigils ledge is reduced to popular Systems of reason are hallowed at th shrinc of cxperiment and observation ;though we behold in thc immense variety of things, th utter usetessncss of attcmpting tu renovate a shattered or of improving a constitution, sound one to last beyond a certain period wc neverthcless observe that in thc inconceivahle waste of elemcntary Nothing a cause. particles thcre prevails th strictest economy. is produced in vain, nothing consumcd without We clearly perceive that ai nature is united

ties, that every individual by indissoluble thing exists' for th sake of another, and that no one can subsist without its concomitant. Hence we concludc, that man himself is not an insulatcd a nccessary link in th great chain, nccts the universe. Nature is our safcst guide, and she will be so with greater as we certainty, become cspecially bettcr with acquainted to respect with those operations, which particulars her being, but which con-

36&

TMAUMATUttGtA,

ETC.

more nearly a source of will bc

concern many

our and

existence. Thus, physical extensive advantagcs very we shn!! rench onr ori-

opened

thu~,

that of living ginal destinationnamety, long and in th enjoyment of sound health, to which, if purity of morals hc addcd, th best hopes may be entertained of n happy state, in a future where worid, its inhabitants never (lie.

THEEKD.

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