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Thaumaturgia orElucidations of the

marvellous / by anOxonian

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Oxonian, An (17..-18.. ; auteur de la "Thaumaturgia"). Thaumaturgia or Elucidations of the marvellous / by an Oxonian. 1835.

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TTMÏM~~M~M~ elucidations

of the marvellous.

E. Churton

London 1835



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ELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVELLOUS.

THAUMATURGIA,

OR

BY

AN OXONIAN.

Bombnsteskept thé <WH's bird,Shut in thc pomtnc) or his swor<

And tnught him ?)) the cunninf: pntnhx,Ofpast and future moutttebanka."

/~M~6r<!f.

LONDON:

EDWARD CHURTON, 26, HOLLES STRËET.

MDCPCXXXV.



LOK~O~:

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



CONTENTS.

I'n);c

CHARTER I.

Demonoiogy–Thé Devil, a most unaccountabte pcfson-

age–Who is hc ?–His predHcctton for oid wotHcn~

Tradhions concernhtg evil spints &c. 1

CHAPTER II.

~a~icandMa~tcatrites. J44

JcM'ish tna~i. 32

C'HAPTËR III.

On the s cvcrat !unds of nM{;ie. t0

Augury, or d!v!nnuons drawn frotn thc fHght an(! ~'c(!.

ing .of hirds. 46

At'Utipiccs, or divinations drawn from brute or hum:)))

sacrittCt's. ;')

Divisions of divination by thé aucients–prodigies, etc. 51

CHAPTER IV.

History of Or&ctps–Thc principn! ~ra cles of {uttitpnty. ;'<!

Thé oractc of Jupiter Hatumou.M



Iv CONTENTS'

Page

The oracle of Detphos, ur Pythian Apo!to. 57

Cérémonies practised on consu!tin~orac!es.58Oracles often cqui vocal and obscure. 61

Urim and Thurumim.63

Réputation of oracles, how lost. 64

Cessation of oracles 66

Had démons any s!tare in the oracles ? 68

Of oracles, thé nrtifices of priests of fatse divinitica 70

CHAPTER V.

The British Druids, or magi–Origin of faines–Ancient

superstitions–Their skill in medicine, etc. 75

Thé British magi. 84

CHAPTER VI.

/Escu!apian tnystcnes, etc. 91

CHAPTER VII.

Inferior deities nttending mankind from thci r bir th to

thcirdcceasc.M

CHAPTER VIII.

Judicial astrology-its chetnica! appUcation to t!tp

prolongation of life nnd heatth–Atchymica! dc!n-

sions. 102

CHAPTER IX

Atchytn!catandastro!o~ic(dch!mera.114Thc Horoscope, a tale of thc stars. 124

Thé Fatcd Parricide an oriental tale of the stars.. 132



CONTENTS. V

ePage

Application of astrology to thc prolongation of life, etc. 137

Advertiscment. ..146

Spring',Sunnner. .149

Autumn. influences of, 150

Ofthcwintcrqnarter.j .152

CHAPTER X.

Oneirocritica! presentiment, iMustrat.ing'the cau8<e<ïccts,

principal phccomcna) and definition of dreams, etc.. 154

CauseofJDrcatns.157

Poet!cat illustrations of ttte effects of thé imagination

indrcams.158

Principal phcnomena in drcamtng. < 162

DcHntHonofdrcatns. 170

CHAPTER XI.

On Incubation, or thc art of hea!ing hy visionary divi-

nation.178

CHAPTER XH.

Un amuicts, charnu tatismans–Phi!ters, theiroriginand hnag!mny efncacy, etc. 197

Amufets used by thc common peopte. 200

RcccntDcitics, caprices, and effects, of thé imaginatioo. 203

Doctriue of E8invia–Miracu!ous cures by tneans of

chHt'tn'amn!cts,ctc. .207

CHAPTER XHr.

On taHsnmna–somc curious natural ones, etc.. 214



Vt\, CONTENTS.

l'nuc

CHAPTER XIV.

On thé médicinal powers a tt ributed to music by thé

ancienis.225

CHAPTER XV.

Présages, prodigies, presentiments, etc. 237

CHAPTER XVI.

Phenomcna of meteors, optic delusions, spectru, etc.. 251

CHAPTER XVII.

Etucidntion of some ancient prodigics. 261

Ma~icat pretensions of certain herbs, etc. 263

CHAPTER XVIII.

The practiccofObcah, or ncgrowitchcraft–charme–

their knowïcdge of vc~ctnbtc poison–secret poison-

tnpr.2

CHAPTER XI.X.

On thp origin nnd superstitions influence of rings.. ~00

CHAPTER XX.

CctcKtiat inHuGnecs–otncns–dimactct'ica–prcdotnma-

nations.–Lucky and nn!uc!<y days.–Empirics, etc. 305



CONTENTS. VU

Page

Absurdités ofParacc!sus,nnd Van Hdmont, ..32~

CHAPTER XXI.

Modct'ncmph'icistn.336

CHAPTER XXIL

Thc Rosicrucians or Thcosophists. 357



u

"THAUMATURGIA,

OR

ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVELLOUS.

CHAPTERI.

DEMONOLOGY–THE DEVÏL, A MOST UNACCOUNT-

ABLE PRR80NAGK–WHO 18 HE ?–BI8 PREDtï<KC-

TtON FOR OLD WOMEN–TRADITIONS COKCERXiNG

ISVtL 6PIRÏTS, &C.

CHïLDREN and old women have been accustonied

to hear so many frightful thiugs of the clovcn-footed

potentate, and have formed such diabolical ideus

ofhis satanic majesty, exhibiting him in so rnany

horrible and monstrous shapes, that really it were

cnough to frighten Beelzebub himself, were he

by any accident to meet his prototype iti thc

dark, dressed up in thé several figures m which

imagination bas embodied him. And a s regardsmen themselves, it might be pregumed that t lie

devil could not by any

mëaD8terrify

theni h;Uf Ku

much, were they actually to meet und cun-



B LU CI DAT ION S O P TH B MA RVELL OU S. 3

B 2

their heroes. The Jews and thé early chriatians

restricted the name of Demon to beings of a malig-nant nature, or to devils properly so called; aud

it is to the early notions entertained by this people,that the otittmes of later systems of demonology are

to he traced.

It is a question, we believe, not yet set at rest

by thé learned in these sort of matters~ whether the

word devil he singular or plural, that is to say,whether it be the name ofa personage so called,

standing by himself, or a noun of ïnuMtude. If it

be singular, and used only personal as a proper

name, it consequently implies one impérial devil,

moriarch or king'of the whole clan of hell, justly

distinguished by the term DEVïL, or as our northern

neighbours call him the muckie horned deil,"

and poetically, after Burns "auld Clootie, Nick,

or Hernie," or, according to others, in a broader

set form of speech, the devil iu heïl," that is,

the dcvil of a devil," or in scriptural phra-

seology,

the great red dragon," the Devil or

Satan." But we shall not cavil on this mighty

~otcntate's name much less dispute his identity,

notwithstanding the doubt that has been broached,

whether the said devil be a real or an imaginary

personage, in the shape. form, and. with the facul-

ties that have been so miracu~ousiy ascribed to him

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.



4 THAUMATURGIA, OR

Thé devil bas always, it would seem, been par-

ticularly partial to old women the most ugly and

hideous of whom he has invariably sekcted to do his

bidding. Mother Shipton, for instance, our famous

old English witch, of whom so many funny stories

are still.told, is evidently very much wronged in

her picture, if s he was not of the most terrible

aspect imaginable and, if it be true. Merlin, the

famous Welch fbrt~ne-teUer,

was a mostfrightful

figure. If we credit another story, he waa be-

gotten by old Mtc&" himself. To return,

howevcr, to the devil's agents being so infernally

ugly, it need merely be remarked, that fromtimc

immemorial, he bas invariably preferred such ~tOMa~

creatures as most beïied the human form divine."

Thé sybils, of w hom so mauy strange prophetie

things are recorded, are aH, if the Italian poets are

to be credited, represented as very old wornen and

as if ugliness w ere the ne ~/M ultra of beauty in old

age, they have given them all thé hideousness of the

devil himself. It will be seen, despite of all that

bas been said to thé disadvantugc of the devil, that

he bas very much improved in his management of~

worldly affairs so much so, that, instead of an

administration of witches, wizzards, magicians,

diviners, astrologers, quack doctors, pettifogging

lawyers, and boroughmongers, he has selected some

of the wisest men a s w ell as greatest fools of the

day to carry his plans into effect. His satanic

majesty seems atso to have considerably improvedin bis taste; owing, no doubt, to the present im-

4

proving state of society, and the universal diffusion



ELUCÏDATtONS 0F THE MARVBLLOUS. &

of useful knowledge. Indeed, wo ao longer hear of

cloven.fboted devils, only in a metaphorical sensé–

fire and brimstone are extmctor nearly so; thé

emhers of hell and etemal damnation are chieft)

kcpt alive and blown up by ultras among thé seota-

ries who are invariably thé promoters of religiousfanaticism. Beauty, wit, address, with thé less

shacMed in mind, have supereedcd ail that wasfrightful, and terrible, od!ous,'ugly, and deformed.

This aubject is poetically and more bea~tifuMy tUns-

trated in the following demonological stanzas, which

are so appropriate to the occasion, that we cannot

resist quoting them as a further prelude to our

sub;ects

When the devil for wcighty despatchesWanted messengers cnnning and bold,

He pass'd hy thc bcautiftt! faces

And picked out thé ugly and old.

Of thèse 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 thé court

And 8on)cthncs lie visits thc city,Whcre all thé best christians resort.



6 THAUMATURGÏA, 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.

.To be brief, the devil, it âppears, la by far

too cunning stil l for mankind, and continues to

<nanage things in his own way, in spite of bishops,

priests, laympn, and new churches. He govems the

vicep and propensitiee of men by methods peculiarlyhis own; though evcry crime or extortion, subter-

fuge or design, whether it be upon the purse or the

person, will not make a man a devil; it must

nevertheless be confessed, that every crime, be its

magnitude or complexion what it may, puts the

crinuual, in some measure, into thé devil's power,and gives him an nscendancy and even a t it le to thé

delinquent, whbm he ever afterwards treats in a very

magisterial manner.

We are told that every man has his attendant

evil genius, or tutelary spirit, to execute the orders

of thé master démon–that the attending' evil angel~<eea every move we make upon thé board; wit-

nesses all our actions, and permits us to do mischief,

and every thing that is pernicious to ourselves

-that, on the contrary, our goud spirit,. actuated

by'more benevolent motives, is always accessary to

our good actions, and retuctant to t hose that are

bad. If this be thé case, it may be fairly asked,

how does it happen that those two contending spirits

do not quarrel and give each other Mack eyes and broken heada during their rivalship for pre-eminence s'



ELUCÏDAT!OKS OP THE MARVELLOU8. 7

And why does thé evil tempting spirit so oft~n

prevail ?

Instead of literally answering thene difficult ques.

tions, it may be resolved into a good argument, as

an excellent allegory to represent the struggle in thé

mind of man between gQod and evil Inclinations.

But to takc them as they actually arer, and merely to

talk by way of natural consequence-for to argue

from nature is certainly thé best way to get to thé

bottom of the devil's etory,-if there are good and

evil spirits attending us, that is to say, a good

angel and a devil, then it is no unjust reproachto pay, when people follow the dictates of the

iatter, that the ~<?M~'N in <AeM, or that they are

devils! or, to carry the simile a point farther, that

asthegenerahty, and by far thegreatestnumberof

people follow and obey the evil spirit and not the

good one, and that the power predominating is allowed

to be thé nominating power, it must théa of course

be allowed that thé greater part of mankind have tlic

devil'in them, which brings us to thé conclusion of our argument and in support of which the followingstanzas corne ha-ppily to our recollection.F

Ta pcrsons and places !tp scnds his diaguiaes,And dresses up all tus banditti,

Who, as ptckpockcts flock to country aasixcs,

Crowd up to thé court and thé city.

Thpy're at every elbow, and every car,

And rcady at evcry call, Sir;Thé vtgUant scout, ptants his agents abont,

And bas sompthing to do wi th us all, Sir.



8 T~AUMATUROIA, OR

In some he bas part, and some he bas who!e,

And of some, (like thé Vicar of ~a<w)

Jt can neither be said they hâve body or soul

And only arc devils in sbadow.

Thé pretty and witty. are devils in masqueThé beauties arc mere apparitions;

The humely alone by their faces arc known,

And thé good by their ugly conditions.

Thé beaux walk about l ike the shadows of mon,And w!<erevcr he leads them they follow

But tak'cn), and shak'cm, thcre's not one in ten

But's as light as a feather, and hollow.

Thus all bis a<r<tirs he drivea on in disguise,

And, he t ickles mankind with a feather,

Creeps in at one's car, and looks out at our eyes,And jumbles our sensés together.

He raises the vapours and prompts the desires,And to ev'ry dark dced holds the candie

The passions incarnes and the appctitc tires,

And takcs every thing by the bandle.

Thus lie walks up and down in complete masqueradcAnd with every company mixcs

Sells in pvery shop, works ut evcry trade,And ev'ry thing doubtful perplexes.

Thé Jewish traditions concermng~ evil spirits are

various, some of which are founded on Scripture,

some borrowcd f rom the opinions ofthe Pagans, some

are tables of their own invention, and some are alle-

goricaL

Thé demons of thé Jews were considered either as

thé distant progeny of Adam or Eve, resultingfrom an improper intercourse with supernatural



ELUC! DATIONS OB' THE MARVEï<LOU8. 0

beings, or of' Cain. As the doctrine, however,

was extremely revolting to somè few of t he early

Christians, they maintaincd that demons were the

souls of departed human beings, who were stiH

permitted to interfere in the affairs of the Earth,

either to a ssist their friends or to persecute their

enemies. But this doctrine did not obtain.

About two centuries and a balf ago an attempt, in

a condensed form, was made,. to give thé various

opinions entertained of demons at an early date of

the christian era and it ~ras not un~il a much later

period of Christianity, that a more decided doctrine re-

lative to their origin and nature was established. These

tenets involved certain very knotty points respecting the

fall of those angels, who, for disobedieucé, had forfeited

their high abode m Heaven. The gnostics of early

christian times, in imitation of a classification of the

different orders of spirits by Plato, had attempted a

similar arrangement with respect to an hierarchy of

angels, the gradation of which stood as follows.

The first, and highest order, was named SERA-PHïNS; the second, CuERUBiNS; the third was the

order of TnRONNS the fqurth. of DOMINIONS thé

fifth, ofVm'fUHS the Stxth, of PowEKs; thé seveuth,

Of PRINCïPALÏTtES the eighth, of ARCHANOEL8

the ninth, and lowest, of ANGEL8. This fable was,in a pointed manner, censured by the Apostles yet

strange to say, it almost outlived the pneumatologistwof thé middie ages. Tliese schoolmen, in reference to

the account that Lucifer rebelled against heaven, and

that Michael the archangel warred against him, long



t0* THAUMATURGIA, OR

agitated the momentous question, what order ofange~feU on thé occasion. At length it became thé prevail-

ing opinion that Lucifer was of thé order of Séraphins.It was also proved afber innnite research, that Agares,

Bc!tu!, and Barbatos, each of them depo?ed angels of

~reat rank, had been of the order of Virtues that

Be!eth, Focalor, and Phoenix, had been of thé order

of Thrones that Gaap had been of the or(!er of Pow"

ers, and Virtues; and MurmurofThronesandAngeïs.The pretensions of many noble devils were, likewise,

canvassed, and, in an equally satiefactory manner,

determined; a multiplicity of incidents connected therc-

with were arranged, which previously had been mattef'

of considerable doubt and debate. These sovereign

devils, to each of whom was assigned a certain district,

had many noble spirits subordinate to them whose

various ranks and precedence were settled with aU

the preciseness ofheraMic distinction:-there were, fQr

instance, devil.dukes; devil-marquiscs devil-earJs;

devil-knights dcvH-preeidents, devil-archbishops, and

bitihops prelatcs and, without question, devil.phy-

siciaus, and apothecarics.In the midd!e âges) when conjuration had attained

a certain pitch of perfection, and was regularly prac-

tised in Europe, devils of distinction were suppoped to

make their appearance undcr dccidcd forms, by which

they were as well recognised, as the head of any an-

cient iainity would be by lus crest and armoriai be~r-

ings. Thé chapes they wérc accustomed to adoptwere registered among their names and characters.

Although the leading tenets of Demonology may be



ELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVELLOUS. ït t

traced to thé Jews and early Christians, yet they were

maturcd by our early communications with the Moors

of Spain, w ho were the chief philosophers of the

dark ages, and betwecn whom ancï the natives of

France and Italy, a great communication existed.

Toledo, Seville and Salamanca, became the greatestschools of magie. At thé latter city prédilections on

the black art from a consistent regard to the solem<

nity of thé sabject were delivered within the walls of

a vast and gloomy cavern. The scboolmen taught

that all knowledge might be obtained from the assist-

ance of the fallen angels. They were skilled in the

abstract sciences, in the knowledge of precious stones,

in alchymy, in the various languages of mankind and

of the ïower animais in the BeUes. Lettrée, Moral

Philosophy, Pneumatology, Divinity, Magie, History,

and Prôphecy. They could controul the winds and

waters, and thé stellar influences. They could cause

earthqnakes, induce diseases or cure them, accomplishau vast mechanical undertakings, and release soûls

out of Purgatory. They could influence the passionsof thé mind, procure the reconciliation offriends or

of foes, engender mutual discord, induce mania,

melancholy, or direct thé force and objects of

human.aiection. Such was the Demonology taught

by ita orthodox professors. Yet other systems of

it were deviscd, which had their origin in the causes

attending thé propagation of christianity for it

must havé been à work of much time to cradicate

the ahnost universal helief in the pagan deities,

which had become so numeroUs as to fili cvery creek ·

and corner of thé universe with fabulous beings.



12 THAUMATURGIA, OR

Many learned men, indeed, were induced to'side with

the popuïar opinion on the su~ect, and did nothingmore than endeavour to unite it with thcir acknow-

ledged Systems of Demohology. They taughtthatthe objecta of heathen reverence were fallen angelsin league with the Prince of Darkness, who, uutil the

appearance of our Saviour, had been allowed to rangeon the earth

uncontroUed, and to involve thé world in

apiritual darknes8 and delusion.

According to thé varions ran~s which thèse spiritsheld in the vast kingdom of Lucifer, they were 6unër-

ed, in their degraded state, to take up their abode in

the air, in mountains, in springs, or in s eas. But

although thé various attributes ascribed to thé Greek

and Roman deities, were, by the carly tcachers of

christianity, considered in the humble light of démon.

ineal delusions, yet, for many centuries they possessed

great influence over the minds of the vulgar. The

notion of every man being attended by an evil

genius was abandoned much earlier than thé far more

agreeabïe part of thé same doctrine which taught that,as an antidote to their influence, ench individual was

also accompanied by a benignant spirit. The nu-

nistration of angels," says a writer in the Athenian

Oracle, is certain but the manner Ao< is the knot

to be unticd." It waa an opinion of thé early philo~

Mphers that not only kingdoms* had their tutelary

guardians, but that every person had his particular

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



ELUCIDATIONS 07 T KB MARVE~OUS. 13

genius or good spirit, to protect and admonish him

through the medium of dreams and visions.. Such were

thé objects of superstitions reverence derived from the

Pantheons of Greece and Rome, thë~vhoÏe 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

fables and as their existence, as yell as influence,

was ho!d!y asserted, not only by the early christians,

but even by the reformers, it was long before the

rites to which they were accustomed were totallyeradicated.

lesa than two-one good, the other bad ( Hor. Lib. Il.

Epiât. 2.) who attended him from'the cradle to thé ~rave.The Grceks caHcd them </c~oMjr. They were named ~rorttM-

from their supennteadio~humao uSaiM.



14 THAUMATURGE, OR

CHA.PTER Il.

MAGIC AND MAGICAL ÏUTBS,. &C.

F~w subjccts present to a philosophie eye more

inatter of curious, importaDt an<t instructive rescarcit

than the natural history of religion. Some sort oï

religious service has been fbund to prevail i n all

nges and nations, from the most rude and barbarous

periods of human society, t to those of cultivation

and refinement. ÎM thc~e penods are to be tracedspecimens strongly murked wit!i exertions of the

feelings, and facéties of men in every situation

almost that cao be supposed. It is from the con-

temp!ation of thèse exertions that we leam what

sort of creature man is that wc discover the extent

of his powers, and the tendency of his desires

nnd that \ve hccomc acquainted with thé force of

culture and civilization upon him, by comparingthé degrec3 of improvcmcnt he !ms attaiaed in the

varions stages of society through whic!t l ie has

ptisscd.



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARYBt<LOUS. t5

It seems to be a principle established by experience,that mankind in général h ave at no time been able,

by the opération of their own mntual powcrs, to

ascend in their inquiries to the grcat comprehensivefoundation of true religion,-the knowledge of a

first cause. This idea is too grand, too distinct, or

too refined for thé generality of thé hmnan race.

They are surrounded by sensible ohjects, and stronglyattached to them; they are in a great measure

unaccustomed to the most simple and obvious degreesof abstraction, and they can scarcely conceive any-

thing to have a 'real existence that may not become

an object nf their sensés. Possessed of such sen-

timents and viewp, they are fully prepared in em-

bracing.all thé follies and absurdities of superstition.

They worship every thing they either love or fear, in

order to procure the continuance of faveurs enjoyed,or to avert that resentment they may have reason to

dread. As their knowledge of nature is altogether

imperfect, and as many evcnts every moment present

themselves, upon which they c an form no theoretical

conclusion, they fly for satisfaction to the most simple, but most ineffectual of all solutions–thé agency of

invisible beings, with which, in their opinion, all

nature is nl!ed. Hence thé rise of Polytheismaûd local deities, which have overspread the face

of the earth,' under thé different titles of guardian

goda or tutelary saints. Hence màgnincent templesand splendid s tatues have been crected to aid the

imagination of votaries, nnd to realize objects of

worship, whîch, though supposed to hc always hovcr-

ing around, scidom condescend to become visible.



1C THAUMATUROIA, OR

After obtaining some information conceming pré.sent objects, t!te next cause of solicitude and inquiryto the mind of man, i s to penetrate a l itt le into

the secrets of futurity. The same tnteÏary godswho bestowed their care, and exerted their powersto procure présent pleasure and happiness for mat~-

kind, were supposed not averse to grant them, in

this respect also, a little indulgence. Hence the

famous oracu)ar responses of antiquity hence the

long train of conjurera, fortune-tellera, astrologers,

necromancers~ magicians, wizards, and witches,

that have been found in all places and at all times

nor have superior knowledge and civilization

been sufficient' to. cxtirpate such characters, by

demonstrating the futility and absurdity of their

views.

Among the ancients, this superstition was a great

engine of state. The respect paid to omens', augurieaand oracles, was profound and- universal and the

persons in power monopolized the privilege of con-

sulting and interpreting them. They joined the people in expreesing their vénération; but there'

is little, reason to doubt that they conducted thc

responses in such a manner as best suited the pur-

poses of government. On this account, it would

not be difficult for the oracle to émit prédictions,

which, to aU those unacquainted with the secret,

would appear altagether astonishing and unaccount-

able. It would seem that this princtple alone ïs

aufficient to explain aU the pheuomena of ancient

oracles.

Though dcvination bas long ceased to be an



-<

ELUCtDATÏONS 0F THE MAttVELLOUS.

c

instrument of government, abundance of designing

persons hâve not been wanting in latter âges, who

found much interest in taking advantage of thc

weal~ncss or credu!ity of their fellow creatures.

Against this pestilent and abandoned race of men,

most civilized countries have enacted penal laws.

But what rendered such persons peculiarly detest.

able in modem times,

was the communication which

they were supposed to hold with thc devil, to whom

they sold themselves, and from whom, in retum,

they derived their information. And by this prin-

ciple the penal statutes, instead of extirpating,

inf lamed the evil. They alarmed thé imaginationsof thé pcople they tcmpted them to impute the

cause of their misfortuncs and digappointmcnt to

the malice or resentmentofthcir neighbours; theyinduced t hem to trn&t to their suspicions, much

more than to their reason; and they multipliedwitches and wizards, by putting into possession of

every foolish informer thé means of ptinishment. In

several coimtries of Europe, these statutes still

subsist they were not abo~ished i n Britain till a

period sti ll at no gréât distance. Since the abolition

of persécution, thé faith ofwitchcraft has disappearedeven among the vulgar. It was long found inconsts-

tent with any considérable progrcss in philosophy.For thèse rcasons wc rcad, with somc dcgrcc of

astonishment, a treatisc on this cxplodcd subject, bya philosopher, an eminent physician~ a privy coun-

seller of thé thcn Etnpress Quecn, and a professor in thé univcrsity of Vienna. It was long doubtcd

whether thé professor was in eamest, but thc



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVEHOU8. 19

C2

craft. He proposes to prove, in the first place, that

such a communication does actually exist. He

quotes the Egyptian magicians, the witch of Endor,thé possessions mentioned in the New Testament,

and many more exceptiooable authorities from the

fathers, a nd.canons of the church. He is positivethé incantations of the Egyptian magicians were real

operations of infernal

agents, and that the accounts

of them, delivered by Moses, can admit no other con.

etr action.

May not the sincere believer in the divine au-

wthority of the scriptures reasonably hesitate con-

cerning this conclusion ?a Or rather, does not such

an interpretation justly expose revelation to re-

proach ?a The plain dictates of the best philosophy

are, that nothing is more simple, regular, and uni-

form than the ordinary course of nature and that

this course can neither be suspended nor altcred,

but by its author, nor can by him be permitted to

be interrupted by any inferior being, unless for thé

most important reasons. It d oes not appear what

good end could be gained, on thé part of Provi-

dence, by the permission of these magical en-

chantments, supposing them supernatural and if

we imagine the Devil to have acted spontaneously,with a v iew to support his power and influence,

he most manifestly erred in his design. Nothingcould be more impolitic than his appearance in a

field of combat, where he well knew hc must

sustain an jgnominious defeat. Or i f he workcd

enectually to support the power and influence of

his servants the magicians, he should bave counter-



20 THAUMATURGE OR

acted, not repeated, the miraculous exhibitions of

Moses. That the magicians possessed no power

sufficient for this purpose is obvious, from their

not exerting it. That Pharoah expected no such

exertion from them is evident from his never re-

questing it, and from his application to Moses and

Aaron. Thé truth seems to be, that Pharoah con-

ceived Moses and Aaron to be magicians ÏUœ his

own. He wished to support the character of thelatter and hc concludcd this would be effectually

donc, if they could only fumish a pretence for

anirmiug that they had performed every wonder accom-"

plished by thc former. Without some such suppo-sition of collusion, two of the miracles attempted

by thé magicians are perfectiy absurd and contra-

dictory. They pretended to tum water into blood,

whcn t!tere was not one drop of water in aM the

land of Egypt, which Aaron had not previouslyconverted into that substance. They pretended to

send frogs o ver thé land of Egypt, when everycorner of it was

swarming with that loathsome

reptile. It is further remarkable that, w ith the

three first only of Moses's miracles they proposed to

vie on thé appearance of thé fourth, they fairly

resigned tlie contest, and acknowledged very honestlythat the hand of G od was vis ible in the miracles of

Mosca;–n plain confession that no supernatural

power opcr~tcd in their own.

De Haen considers thé case of thé witch of Endor

as an authority still more direct. He n~intains

that Samuel was actue.IIy called up, eithcr under

corporcal or fantastic form, and forctold Saul the



ELUCIDATIONS OP THS MARVEHOUS. 21

fate of his engagements with the Philistines. Let

us attend to the circumstanccs of the story, and

examine whether it is absolutely necessary to Hâve

recourse to this supernatural hypothesis. Thc mind

of Saul was distracted and agitated beyond measure

by the most crit ical and alarming situation of his

anairs his distrcss was so gréât that, forgetting

his dignity and safety, he dismissed his attendantelaid aside his royal robes, was unable to cat bread,

and, dressed like the meanest of his people, he took

his journey to the abode of the conjurer. In this

state of miud, prepared for imposition, he arrives

during thé night at her residence. He prevails with

her, by much solicitation, and probably by ainple

rewards, to call up Samuel. To discompose still

further the disordered mind of Saul, she announces

the pretended approach of the apparition by a loud

acclamation, tells the king she knew him. whicli

till now she affected not to do, and describes the

resurrection of the prophet,

under the awful sem-

blance of God's rising out of the earth.

During all this time the king had seen nothing

extraordinary, either because he was not allowcd lightsufficient for that purpose, or was not admitted

within the sphère of vision. He entrcats an ac-

count of thé personage who approached, and the

conjurer describes the well-known appearance of

Samuel. The prophet sternly challenges thé kingfor disturbing his repose, tells him that David was

intended to be King of Israel, that himself would

be defeated by the Philistines, and that he and his

sons would fall in battle. Thé king enters into no



22 THAUMATURGIA, OR

conversation with the apparition but unable any

longer to support his agitation, drops lifeless on

the ground. The conjurer returns to Sau!, presseshun to take s ome food which she had prepared.He at last complies and having finished his repast,

departs with his servants before the morning. The

whole of this scene, it is evident, passed in dark-

ness. It does notappear

that Saul ever saw the

prophet and it surely required no supematural

intelligence to communicate all thé information he

obtained. Thia would rcndily beauggestedbythe

despondency of thé king, the strength of his ene-

mies, and the disposition of thé whole people of the

Jews alienated from him, and inclined towards his

successor. The witch of Endor, therefore, might be a common fbrtune-teUer, and her case exhibits

no direct proof of supernatural possession.We do not pretend to account so easily for many

of the possessions recorded in the New Testament,

though few of these only are applicable to the case

of sorcery. We are well aware, that several writersof eminence, who cannot be supposed to entertain

thé least unfavourable sentiments of revelation,

have undertaken to explain these possessions,without having recourse to any thing supematural,

by representing them as figurative descriptions of

particular and local diseases.'

We mean not to adopt, or defend the views of

such authors, though we may perhaps be allowed

to observe that, were their opinions supported in a

satt~factory manner, christianity would lose nothing

by tlie attempt. It would be exempted, by this



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVELLOUS. 23

means, from a l it tle cavilling and ridicule, to which

some of i ts enemies reckon it a t present exposed,and thé design cou]d not in the least derogatefrom its divinity, a s the instantaneoua cure of a dis-

temper cannot be considered îess miraculous than

the expu!s!on of the devil. At any rate, these

possessions are all extraordinary appearcd on some

most extraordinary occasion and from them, there-fore, no general conclusion can be drawn to the or-

dinary cases of common life.

We shall now translate a specimen of de Haen'8*

authorities, cxtracted from the fathers. The fbl-

lowing from Jerome will need no comment. This

father, in his life of St. Hilario thé hermit, relates

that a young man of the town of G aza in Syria,fëll deeply m love with a pious virgin in the neigh-

bourhood. He a ttacked her with looks, whispers,

professions, caresses, and all those arguments whieh

usually conquer yielding virginity but finding them

all ineffectual, he resolved to repair to Memphis,

the residence of many eminent conjurers~ and

implore their magie aid. He remained there for a

year, till he was fully instructed in the art. He

then returned home, exulting m his acquisitions,

and feasting his imagination with the luscious scènes

he was now confident of realizing. 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!-

cis, et Archintri, medccina; in a!ma et antiquissimo univer-sitatc professoris pr!manj, piunum cruditorium socictutem

soci!, de magin libcr. Svo. Vicnna.



24 THAUMATURGIE OR

figures, engraved on a plate of brass, below the

threshold of the door of the house in which the ladylived. She became periectiy furious, she tore her

hair, gnashed her teeth, and repented incessahtiy

the name of the youtb, w ho had been drawn from

her presence by thé violence of her despairing

passion. In this situation she was conducted byher relations to the cell of old Hilario. The devil

that possessed her, in consequence of thé charm,

began immediately to howl, and to confess the truth.

1 have suffered violence/' said he ~'1 have

been forced hither against my inclination. How

happy was 1 at Memphis, amusing my friends with

visions 0 the pains, the tortures which 1 suû~r Ï

You command me to dislodge, and 1 am detained

fast by the charm below the threshold.* 1 cannot

départ, uniess the young man dismiss me." So

cautions, however, was the saint, that he would not

permit the magie figures to be searched for, tiU he

had released the virgin, for fear he should seem to

have intercourse with incantations in performing thecure or to believe that a devil could even speak

truth. He observed only that demons are always liars,

and cunning to deceive.

De Haen imputes to the power of magie the

miractes,* as they are called, of the famous Apol-lonius Thyanaeus. He seems to entertain no

Many significations bave been at tached to the word

miracle, both by the ancients and modems. With ua a

tui radc is thé suspcnsion or v iolat ion of thé !aws of na-

ture and a miracle, w hich can be explained upon pbystcaÏ



MLUCÏDATÏONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 25

scruple about their authority. As several of t he

enemies of revelation have held forth Thyanaeus as

a r ival of Jesus Christ, a specimen of h is perform-

ances may amuse our readers. During an assembly

of the people at Ephesus, a great f light of birds

approached from a neighbouring wood one bird led

ail the rest. There is nothing wonderful," says

Thyanaeus, to thé astonished people, in this

appearance. A boy passing along a particular street

has carelessly scattered in it some com which he

carried one bird has tasted the food, and generously

caUs the rest to partake thé repast." The hearers

pnncip!e8, ceases to bc such, Whatever surpassed their

comprehension was regarded by thé ancients as a tuiracte,and every extraordinary degree 'of information attained byan individual, as well as any unlookcd-for occurrence, was

referred to some peculiar interposition of thc dcity. Hence

among thé aucients, thc followers of (UHcrent divinitics, far

from denying thc miracles performed by their opponcnts,

admitted their reaHty, but endenvoured to surpass themand thtts in thé life of Zoroaster, wc find that able in-

novator frequently entering the tiats with hostile enchanters,

admitting but excecding thc wonderful works they per-

formed and thus a iso when thc thi rs t of power, or of

distinction, divided thé sacerdotal co~cges, similar trials of

skill would cnsuc, thé successfal combatant being con-

sidcrcd to derive his knowledge from thé more pawerful

god. That the science on which ench purty dcpended was

dcrived from expérimental physics, may be proved. 1. bythe conduct of thc Thamnaturgists, or wonder.workers

2. from what they themseh'cs had said conccrning magiethé gcnii invoked by thé tnagicians, sonetimes denoting

physical or chemical agents ctnptoyed, sometimes men who

cultivated the science.



26THAUMATURGIA~ OR

repaircd to thé spot, and found the information

true.

Being called to allay a pestilence which ragcd at

Ephesus, he ordprcd an old bcggar to be burned

under the stones near thé temple of Hercules, as an

enemy t o thé gods. He commanded thé people

again to remove thé stones, that they might see

what sort of a nimal had been put to death. Theyfound not a man, but a dog. ïiie plague, however,

ceased.A mnrried woman of rank being dead, was carried

out to he burned in an open litter, followed by her

husband dies-olved in tears. Apollonius approaching,

requests him to gtop thé procession, and he would

put a n end to his grief. He asked the name of

thé womnn, touched her, and muttercd over her

some words. She immediately revived, began to

ppea~ and rcturned again to her own house. Fteury~who relates thé miracle, remnrks that some peopledoubted whether thé woman had bcen really dead,

as they had ohscrved something like breath issuefrom her mouth. Others imagined site had been

seized only with a tedious faint, and that the opera-tion of thé cold dews and damps upon her body

might naturally recover her. On Fteury's remark

de Haen most sagcÏy obsen'es, that thé personswho observed thé woman breathing could not surelyhave suppressed thé joyful ncws, and would certainlyhave stopped thé procession before thé philosopher àrrivcd.

De Haen's second attempt is to récite all the

élections that hâve been made against sorcery, and



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 2"f

to subjoin to each a distinct réfutation. There is

nothing in this part of the work that merits anyattention. He concludes in these words: I maythen with confidence afHrm, that the art of magiemost certainly exists. History, sacred and prophane

authority human and divine experiments the most

unquestionable and unexceptionable, ail concur to

demonstrate its reality."The last part of de Haen's work relates to the dis

covering and treating of magical diseases, to explainwhich seems to have been the chief purpose of the

author in composing his book. Much caution, he

observes, and attention are necessary on this head

and thé physician should not readily admit the im-

putation of witchcraft. No absence of the ordinary

symptoms, no uncommon alteration of the course

of the distemper, are sumcient to infer tins conclu.

sion, because thèse may arise from unknown natural

ca~s. What then a re the marks of certain in-

cantations ? De Haen holds the following to be

indisputable if, in any uncommon disease, there

sitall ~be found, in the stuffing of the cushions, or

cielings of the room in which thë patient lies, in

the feather or the chaff of his bed, about the

door, or under the threshold of his house, any

strange characters, images, bones, hair, secds, or

roots of plants and if upon the removal of these,

or upon conveying the patient into another apart-

ment, he shall suddenly recover or if the patient

himself, or his fricnds, shall be so wicked as to

call a w izzard to their aid, by whom the malady

shall bc rcmoved or if insects and animais which



28 THAUMATURGIE OR

do not lodge in thé human body if stones, metals,

gïass, knives, plaited hair, pieces of pitch, be

ejected from particular parts of thé body, of greater

size, and wcight and figure, than could bc supposedto make thcir way through these parts, without

much greater demolition and delaceration of thé

passages in all these cases, the disease is unques-

t!onah!y ntagicaL"Thé author proceeds to enquire whether the phy-

sician may presume to remove the instruments of

incantation in order to relieve thé patient without

incurring thé accusation of impicty by interferingwith the implements and furniture of the devil

and conchides very fonna~y that, after approachingthem with all due ceremony and respect, after im-

ploring with suitahle devotion and ardonr, the pro.tection and direction of heaven in such a perilous

undertaking, he may attempt to intermeddle, and

may occasionaHy expect a successful issue.

Such are thé views, reasonings, and conclu-

sions of, at thc time, onc of the first physicians and

philosophers of Germany ;-views and reasoningswhich would have heen received with eagerness and

applause two hundrcd years a~o, but which the

philosophy and improvements of later t imes seem to

have banished to thé abodes of ignorance and bar.

barity.Thé origin of almost aU our knowledge may !)e

traced to thé earlier periods of antiquity. This is

pecuharty the case with respect to the arts denomi-

nated magical. There wcre few ancient nations,

howcver barbarous, which could not fumish many



ELU CI DA TI OK8 0 F T HE MA RV ËLLO US . 29

individuals to whose spetls and encliantments the

power of nature and tlie mater ial world wcre sup.

posed to be subjected. Thé Chaldeans, the Egyp-

tinns, and indeed all the oriental nations were ae-

customed to refer all natural effects, for which theycould not account to the agency of demons, who

were believed to preside over herbs, trees, rivers,

mountains, and animais. Every member of the

human body was under their power, and all corpo-real diseases were produced by their malignity.For instance, if any happened to be affected with

a fever, little auxicty w as manifested to discover

its cause, or to adopt rational measures for its cure

it must no doubt have been occasioned by some evil

spirit residing in the body, or influencing', in some

mysterious way, the fortunes of the sufferer. That

influence could be counteracted only by certain ma-

gical rites hence thé observance of those rites soon

obtained a permanent establishment in the East.

Even at thé present day, many uncivihzed peoplehold that all nature is nUed with

genii, of which

some exercise a heneficent, and others a destructive

power. AH evils with w hich man is afBicted, are

considered thé work of thèse imaginary beings,whose favour must be propitiated by sacrifices, in-

cantations, and songs. Ifthc Greenlander be unsuc-

cessful in n~hing, the Huron in huuting, or in war

if even thé ëcarccly hait reasoning Hottentot

fitids evcry thing is not right in his mind, body, or

fortune, no time must be lost before thé spirit bc

invokcd. Aftcrthe rcmovnl of somc present evil,

thé ncxt stronge'-t desire in thé human mind is the



30 THAUMATUROIA, OR

attainment of some future good. Tins good is often

beyond thé power, and still oftcner beyond the in-

clination of man to bcstow it must therefore be

sought from beings which are supposed to possessconsiderable influence over human aftairs, and

which being elevatcd above thé baser passions of

our nature, wcre thought to regard with peculiar favour all who acknowledged their power, or invoked

their aid hence the numerous rites which hâve,in ail ages and countries, been observed in con-

sulting guperior intelligences, and the equally nume-

rous modes in which their pleasure has heen com.

municated to mortals.

The Chaldean magi were chiefly founded on

astrology, and were much conversant with certain

animais, metals and plants, which they employedin all their incantations the virtue of which

was derived from stellar innuencc. Great attention

was always paid to the positions and the configura-

tions presented by thé celestial sphère and it was

only

at favouraMc seasons that thé solemn rites

were celcbrated. Those rites wcre accompanied with

many peculiar and fantastic gcstures, by lcaping,

clapping of hands, prostrations, loud crics, and not un-

frequently with uninteHigibIe exclamations. Sacrinces,

and burut oShrings were used to propitiate superior

powers but our knowledge of thé mngtcal rites

exercised by certain oriental nations, thc Jews only

exceptecl, is extremely limited. Ail thé books pro-

fesscdly written on thc subjcet, bave been swept

away by the torrent of time. We learn, liowever,

that thc professors among thé Chaldeans wcre ge-



ELUCÏDATÏONS 0F THE MARVELÏ.OUS. 3i

nerally divided into three masses thc ~~c~

or charmers, whose office it was to removc present,

and to avert future contingent evils to conatruct

talismans, etc. Thé ~pc~cAe~ or magicians,

properly so called, who were conversant with the

occult powcrs of nature, and the supernatural world

and thé c~<M<~ï, or astrologers, who constituted byfar the most numerous and respectable class. And

from the assembly of thé wise men on thé occasionof the extraordinary dream ôf Nebuchadnezzar, it

would appear that Babylon had also her oneirocri-

tici, or interpreters of dreams–a spceies of diviners

indeed, t0 which almost cvcry nation of antiquity

gave birth.

Like the Chaldean astrologers, thé Persian magi,from whom our word magie is derived, belong to

thé priesthood. But the worship of the gods was

not their chief occupation they were also great pro.

ncients in t!ie arts. They joincd to thc worship of

the gods, and to thé profession of medicine and na.

tural magie, a

pretended familiarity with

superior powers, from which they boasted of deriving ah

their knowledge. Like Plato, who probably im-

bibed many of their notions, they taught that

demons hold a middle rank between goda and men

that tliey (thé demons) presided not only over divi-

nations, auguries, conjurations, oracles, and every

apccies of magie, but also over sacrifices, and

praycr, w ~ich in bcha]f of men is thus presented,

and rcndcrcd acceptable to thc gods. Indccd, ~e

austeritv of their lives* was well calculated to

AU thé thrcc ordcrs of Magi cnumcrntcd by l'orphyry,



32 THAUMATURGIA, OR

strengthen thé impression which their cunning had

nlready m ade on the multitude, and to prepare thé

way for whatever impostures they might afterwards

practisc.We are less acquainted with Indian magie

than with that practised by any other Eastern

nations. It may, howevcr, be rensonably enoughinferred that it was very simUar to that for which

thé magi in gênera! were held in such high estima-tion a!though they were excludcd, as beings of too

sacred a nature, from the ordinary occurrences of

life. Thcir Brahmins, or Gymnosophists, were

regarded with as much reverence as thé magi, and

prohahly were more worthy of it. Some of them

dwe!t in woods, and others in t!te immédiate vicinityof cities. Their skill in medicine was gréât the

care which they took in cducating youth, in fami-

liarizin,g i t with gencrous and virtuous sentiments,

did them peculiar honour und their maxims and

discourscs, as recorded by historians, prove that

they wcre much accustomed to profbund rcncctionon the principics of civil po!ity, morality, religionand philosophy.

JEWiSH MAGï.

Of thc mnp-i of thc Jews, i t is provcd by Light.foot,~ that after their retum from Bnbylon, hnving

cntirely forsaken ido!atr)', and bcing no longer

tt'nbatain~tfrom u'inc «nf! ~otnef), :ttxt t,he ~rst of tht'sc

orders frotn nninud f<tod.Va!, ii. p. 287.



ELUCIOATÏON8 OP THE MAHVELLOU8. 33

u

favoured with the gift of prophecy, they graduallyubandoned thcmselves, before the coming of onr

Saviour, to sorcery and divination. The Talmud,

still regarded w ith a reverence bordering on idolatry,abounds with instructions for the due observance of

superstitious rites. Aftdr their city and templewere destroyed, many Jewish impostors were highiyesteemed for their pretended skill in magie and

under pretence of interpreting dreams, they met

with daily opportunities of practising thé most

shamefui frauds. Many Rabbins were quite as well

versed in the school of Zoroaster, as in that of Moses.

They prescribed aU kinds of conjuration, some for

thé cure of wounds, some against thé dreaded bite

of serpents, and others against thefts and enchant-

ments. Their divinations were founded on the in-

fluence of thé stars, and on the operations of spiritg,

they did not, indccd, like the Chaldean magi, re-

gard thé heavenly bodies as gods and gcnii, but

they ascribcd to them a gréât power over thé ac-

tions and opinions of men.

The magical rites of the Jcws were, and indeed arcstill, chieny performed on various important occa.

siens, as on the birth of a child, murriages, etc.

On s uc h o cc as io ns thé evil spirits are supposed tu

be more'than usually active in their malignity, which

can only bc countcracted hy certain enchantments.*

Thcv hciieve that Lilis will cause ail their mâle

chiidren to die on thc cighth day aftcr their birth

~h'!s on thc twcnty-first.f Thc following arc thc

Sec T«!)!t. chap. viit. v. 2 !H)d2.

t E)u~, M(tuotcd hy Ucckcr.



ELUCIDATIONS OP THB MARVELLOUS. 35

D 2

us, when we consider the rooted malignity enter-tained by the Jews to the christian religion, and

this writer's attempt to appreciate the miracles of our

Saviour, by ascribing them to magical influence,

and by representing them as easy of accomplish-ment to all acquainted with the occult sciences.

Innumerable are the déviées contained in the

Cabala for averting possible evils, a s the plague,

disease, and sudden death. It directa how to

select and combine some passages of scripture,which are believed both to render supernatural

beings visible, a nd to produce many wonderful and

surprising e ffects. The most famous wonders have

been accomphshedby means of thé name of God.

Thé sacred word Jehovah is, when read with points,

multiplied by thé Jewish doctors into twelve. forty-

two, and seventy-two letters, of which words arc

composed t hat are thought to possess miraculous

energy. By thèse, say they, Moses slew thé Egyp-

tians by thèse Israel was preserved from thé des-

troying angel o f the wilderness by these Elijah

separated the waters of the river, to open a passagefor himself and Elisha, and by these it bas been as

duringly and impudently asserted, that our blessed

Saviour. the eternal Son of God, cast out evil spirits.The name of thé devil is likewise ueed in their

magical déviées. The five Hebrew letters of which

that name* is composed, exactly constitute the

There is no mention made of the word 7A'f<7 in theOld Testament, but only of ~<ï~M nor do wc mcct w!th it

m any of the heathen authors who say anything about thé



36 THAUMATURC.IA, OR

number 361, one less than thc days of thc wliole

year. They pretended that, owing to thc wonder-

fu! virtue of thé number compriscd in thc name of

Satan, l ie is prevented from accusing them for an

cqual number of days hence thé stratagem before

alludcd to, for depriving thé devil of tlie power of

doing them any harm on the only duy on which thut

power is granted to him.

lu allusion to thé cabansts, Pitny says, Thereis another sect of magicians of wïnch Moses and

Latopea, Jews, w ere thc f irst authoM." It was thc

prevatiing opinion among thé Hebrcws, that thé

Cabala was delivered by God to Mosea, and thence

through a succession of âges, cvcn to thé tirnes of

Ezra, preserved by tradition oniy~ without thé he!j)of writing, in the same manner as thé doctrine of

Pythagoras was delivered by Archippus and LysiadcS)

whoitept pchools at Thcbcs in Grecce, whcrc thc

scho!arslcarnedaU their master's prccepts by heart,

und employed their memories in~teadofbooks. So cer-

tain Jews, dospising letters, all their learnin~

in memory, observation, and verbal tradition whence

it was ca!!ed by thcm Cabala, that is, a receivingft'otn onc to another by thé car an art ~aid to bc

very ancient and on!y hnown to tlie chri~tinns in

later timcs.

d~'i! in the signification atUtctK'd tn it ntuon~ cht-isthmsthat is, us a crcnturc re~ottcd front Cod. Thcn' <hcubgywent no fart)n;r than to evil gcnit, or démons, who hurassedand {'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

Thé Jews divided thé Cabala into three parts the

first containing the knowledge of Bresitlt, which

they call also cosmology, thc object of which is to

teach and explain thé force and cfficacy uf things

created, natural or celestial expounding also tlie !aw<.

and mysteries of thé Bible according to phi!o!-ophtcu!

reasons, which on that account differs little from

natural magie, a science m which King Solomon in

said to hâve excelled. We find, thercfbre, in thésacred histories of thé Jcw, that hc was wont to

<Uscoursc from thé cedar of thé forests of I~banon

to the low hy<-«op of thé valley t a s nbo of cattle,

birds, reptiles, and fish, all which contain within

t'hemselvcs a k ind of magical virtue. Moses also,

in his expositions upon thé Pcntatcuch, and most of

thé Talmudists, have followed thé rules of the same

art.

The other division of thé Cabala contains thé know-

ledge of things more sublime, as of divine and

angelical powers. the contemplation of sacred names

and charactcrs being 9 certain kind of symbolicaltheulogy, in which the letters, figures, numbers,

names, pointa, lines, accents, etc. are esteemcd to

contain thc significations of most profbund thingsand wonderful mysterics. This part again is twofold

–~M~K~tc~, handling t he nature of angels, thé

powers, names, characters of spirits and souls

departcd–and Tlicontantick, whic!i scarchcs into

thé mysterics of the Divine Majesty, his emanations,

his names, and Pc~acM/a, which hc who attains to

is supposed to be endowcd with most wonderfui

power. It was, they say, by virtue of this art, that



38 THAUMATURGIA, OR

Moses wrought so many miracles that Joshua

commanded the sun to stand still that Elias ca~ed

down fire from heaven that Daniel the prophetmuzzhd thé lions' mouths; and that the tlu'ee.childi'cn

sang in the fiery furnace. And, w hat is more, thé

perfidious and unbelieving Jews, did not stick to aver,

that our Saviour himself wrought all his miracles

by virtue of this art, and that he discovered several

of its secrets, containing a variety of charms

against devils, and also, as Josephus writes, againstdiseases. As for my part," says Cornelius Agrippa,in aUusion to this subject," 1 do not doubt but that

God revealed many things to Moses and the prophets,which were contained under the covert of the words

of the law, which were not to be communicated to

the profane vuÏgar so for this art, which the Jews

so much boast of, which 1 hâve with great labour

and diligence searched into, 1 must aeknowledge it

to be a mere rhapsody of superstition, and nothing but a kmd of thcurgic magic before spoken of. For

if, as the Jews contend, coming from God, it did

any way conduce to perfection oflife, salvation of men,

truth of under~tanding, ccrtainly that spirit of truth,

which having forsaken the synagogue, is now come

to teach us all truth, had never concealed it a ll

this while from the church, which certainly knows

aH thosc things that are of God whose grâce,

baptism, anduther sacramentsof salvation, areper-

fect!y revealed in aU languagcs ;–for every languageis alike, so that thcrc be the samc piety ncither is

thcre any other n ame in hcavcn or on earth, bywhich we can be saved, but only thé name of Jesus.



ELU CI DA TI ON S 0 F T HM MA RV ELLO US . 39

Therefore the Jews, most skilful in divine names,after thé coming of Christ, were able to do nothing,in comparison of their forefathers ;the Cabala of

the Jews, therefore, is nothing else, but a most

pernicious superstition, the which by collecting,

dividing, and changing several names, words, and

letters, dispersed up and down in the bible, at their

own good will and pleasure, and making one thing

out of another, they dissolve the members of truth,raising up sentences, inductions, and parables of

their own, apply thereto the oracles of divine scriptureto them, defaming the scriptures, and anirmmgtheir fragments to consist of them, blasphème the

word of God by their wrested suppositions of words,

syUablee, letters and numbers; endeavounng to

prop up their villainous inventions, by arguments

drawn from their own delusions."



40 THAUMATUMÏA, OK

CHAPTER 111.

ON THE SEVERAL KINDS 0F MAGIC.

THE pretended art of producing, by thé assistance

of words and ceremonies, such events as are above

the natural power of men, was of several kinds, and

chiefly consisted in invoking the good and benevolent,

or thé wickcd and mahg-nMt spirits. The first,

whicli was called Theurgia, was adopted by the

wisest of the Pagan world, who esteemed this as

much as they despised thé latter, which they calledGoetia.

Theurgia was by the philosophers a ccounted a

divine art, which only servcd to raise thé mind to

higher perfection, and to exalt the soul to a greater

degree of purity and they who by means of this

kind of magie, were imagined to arrive at w hat is

called intuition, whcrein tliey enjoyed an intimate

intercourse with the deity, wcre believed to be in.

vested with divine power so that it was imagined

nothing was impossible for them to perform all

who made profession of this kind of magie aspired



ELUCÏDATÏONS OP T HE MARVE HOUS. 4)

to this state of perfection. The priest, who was

of this order, was to be a man of u nblemished

morals, and aU who joined with him were bound to

a strict purity of ïife. They were to abstain from

woinen, and from animal food; and were forbid to

defile themselves by the touch of a dead body.

Nothing was t o b e forgotten in their rites and cere-

monies thé icast omission or mistake, rendered all

their art inencctual go that this was a constantexcuse for their not performing all that was requiredof them, though as their sole employment (after

having arrived to a certain degree of perfection, by

fasting, prayer, a nd othcr methods of purification)was the study of universal nature, they might gainsuch an insight into physical causes, as would enable

them to perform actions, that sliould nll the vulgar with astonishment and it is hardly to be doubted,

but this was ail the knowledge that many of them

aspired to. ln this sort of magie, Hermès Très-

megistus and Zoroaster excelled, and indeed it

gained great reputation among the Egyptians, Chal-deans, Persians, Indians and J ews. In times of

ignorance, a piece of clock-work, or some other

curious machine, was sunicient to entitle thé inventor

to the, works of magie and some have even asserted,

that thé Egyptian magie, rendered so famous bythe writings of thé ancients, consisted only in disco-

veries drawn from the mathematics, and natural

philosopliy, since those Greek philosophera who tra.

velled into Egypt, in ordcr to obtain a knowledge of

thé Egyptian sciences, retumed with only a know-



42 THAUMATUROtA, OR

ledge of nature and religion, and some rational ideas

of their ancient symbols.But i t can hardly be doubted, that magie in its

grossest and most r idiculous sense was practisedin Egypt, at least among some of the vulgar, long

before Pythagoras or Empedocles travelled into that

country. Thé Egyptians had been very early ac-

customed to vary thé signification of their symbole,

by adding to them several plants, cars of corn. or

blades of grass, to express the different employ-ments of husbandry but understanding no longer their meaning nor the words that had been made

use of on thèse occasions, which were equally unin.

telligible, the vulgar might mistake these for ao

many oysterious practices observed by their fathers;

and hence they might conceive tlie notion, that a

conjunction of plants, even without being made

use of as a remedy, might b e of efficacy to preserveor procure health. Of these," adds thé Abbé

Pluche, they made a collection, and an art by

which they pretended to procure the blessings, and

provide against the evils of life." By thé assistance

of thèse, mon even attempted to hurt their enemies

and indeed the knowledge of poisonous or useful

simples, might on particular occasions givc sufficient

weight to their empty curses and innovations. But

these magie incantations, so contrary to humanity,were detestcd, and punished by almost all nations;

nor could they be tolerated in any.

Pliny, after mentioning an herb, thé throwing of

which into an army, it was said, was sufficient to



BLUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVBHOU8. 43

put it to the route, asks, where was this herb when

Rome was so distressed by the Cambri and Teutones ?i'

Why did not the Persians make use of i t when

Lucullus eut their troops to pieces ?But amongst a!! the incantations of magie, the

most solemn, as well as the most frequent, was that

of calling up the spirits of the dead; this indeed

was the very acmé of their art and the reader cannot

be diapleased with having this mystery here eluci-dated. An affection for the 'body of a person, who

m his life time was beloved, induced the first natives

to inter the dead in a decent manner, and to add

to this melancholy instance of esteem, those wishes

which had a particular regard to their new state of

existence. Thé place of burial, conformable to the

custom of charactensing all beloved places, or those

distinguished by a memorable event, was pointedout by a large s tone or pillar raised upon it. To

this place families, and when thé concern was gene-

ral, multitudes repaired every year, when, upon

this stone, were made libations of wine, oit, honey,and nour and here they sacrinced and ate in com-

mon, having first made a trench in which they burnt the entrails of the victim into which the liba-

tion and the Mood were made to now. They beganwith thanking God with having given them life, and

providing them necessary food and then praisedhim for the good examples they had been favoured

with. From thcse melancholy rites were banished

all licentiousness and levity, and whilc other customs

changed, thèse continued the same. They roasted

the flesh of thc victim they had offerecl, and eat it



44 THAUMATUROÏA, OR

in common, discoursing on the virtues of him thcycame to lament.

AH other fcasts were distinguished hy names

suitahie to t he ceremonies that attended them.

Thèse funeral meetings were simply called the

mânes, that is, thé assembly. Thus thé manes

and thé dead were words that became synonimous.In these

meetings, they imagined that

they renewed

their alhance with thé decea~ed, who, they supposed,had still a regard for thé concerna of their country

and family, and who, as a~ëctionate spirits, could

do no ]e~s than inibtm them of whatever was neces-

~ary for them to know. Thus, thé funera!s of thé

dead were at last converted into methods of divina-

tion. and an innocent institution of one of thé gross-est pieces of fbUy and superstition. But they did

not stop here thcy became so extravagantly cre-

dulous, as to believe that thé phantom drank the

Hbotions that had becn poured forth, while the

relations were feasting on the rest of thé sacrifice

round thé pit and from hence they became appre-hcnsive !est thé rest of thé dead should promiscuously

throng about this «pot to get a share of thé repast

they were supposed to be so fond of, and Icave

nothing for thé dear spirit for whom thé feast was

intended. They then made two pits or ditches,

into one of which they put wine, honey, water, and

flour, to employ thé generality of thé dead and

in thé other they poured thé b!ood of thé victim

when sitting down on t!ie brink, they kept off, bythé sight of tt~cir swords, thé crowd of dead who

had no ccnccrn in tlieir aÛairs, whi)c they called



RLUCIDATiONS 0F THK M~RVELLOUS. 45

him by name, whom they had a mind to cheer and

consult, and desired him to draw ncar.*

Thé questions made by the living were vcry intelli-

gible but the answers of thé dead were not so easilyunderstood thé priests, therefore, and the magiciansmadeittheir business to explain them. They retiredmto

deep caves, where thé darkness and silence resembled

thé state of death. and there fastc(!, and lay upon thé

skins of thé beasts they had sacrificed, and then gavefor answer thé dreams which most anected them or

opened a certain book appointed for that purpose, and

gave thé first sentence that o(!ercd.t At other times

the priest, or any person who came to consult, took

care at his going out of thé cave, to listen to the first

words he should hear, and thèse were to be his ans-

wer. And though they had not thé most remotc

relation to thé nmtter in question, they were twisted

so many ways, and thcir sensé so viotcntty wrested,

that they made them signify almost anything they

picascd. At other times they had recoursc to a num-

Hotncr gh'cs thé 8:unc Hccnunt of U)Mc cercmonit's,whcti Ulysses nuscd thc son! of Tircsias; aud thé stunc

usages arc fonud in the pOt'nt (~' SiHus itatk'ns. And tothcsc ccrcmotttcs thc scriptnrcs ft'cqnenUy aHudc, wt)fn

thé !srnc!itM nre fnrbitt to )ti'~c)n)'tc ~x'n high pLtCcs.t Thf tna~icat shunht'rs producct! io thc cav'' ot' Tropho-

nins 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 bodylifter the mind had ht'cn t'rc~i~pooed for a certain train of idcus.



46 THAUMATURGtA, OR

ber of tickets. on w hich were some words or verses,

a nd these being thrown into an urn, the first t hat

was taken out was del iver ed to the family.* Heaith,

prospenty in woridly affaire, and ail that was inter-

mixed i n the good or e vil of this world were regulated

by thé responses or signs which these equivocal, not

to say less than absurd, means afforded, of prying into

thé womb of f uture event s.

AUOURY, OR DIVINATIONS DRAWN FROM THB

FLÏGHT AND FEEDING OF BÏRUS.

The superstitious fondness of mankind for searching

into futurity bas givcn rise to a n infi nite variety of

Thé sortes /)ra'M<?A~!Kp werc fatnous atnon~ the Greeks.

Thc method by which thèse tôt :; werc ccnducted wis tu put

so tnany I ct tc rs or even whotc words, into an urn to shake

thon togethcr, and throw the tn out and whntcver ahould

chance t o be tnade out in t hé arrangement of thèse letters or

words, cotnpcscd the answcr of thc oracle. Thc ancients

tdso made use of dice, drawing tickets, etc., Jn casting or

deciding rcsutts. ln tlie Old Testament we mect with m any

standing and perpemat laws, nnd a number of particutar

commands, prptertbtng and regulating the u se of them.

We are informed by thé Scripturc that whcn a succeasor

t o Judas in thc apostotatc was tobechoscn,th<; lot f ei l on

St. Mathtas. And thé gar<neut or coat without a sea<n of

our Saviour was lot ted for by thé Jcws. In Ciccro's time

this mode o f divination was nt n very low ebb. Thé M~M

~<MMfWc<p and .tor<c.y ~(r~t/~M~ which suc cc edcd thc sor tes

Pr«~M'~)M~, gave r isc to thé same mca ns use d among chris-

tians of casuaUy opening t hp sacrcd books for d irections in

important circumstanccs to ! car n the conac<tucnce of events

and what thfy had to fcar tunong thcir rulcrs.



K LU CI DA TYO NS 0 F T HE MA RV ELLO U8 . 47

extravagant follies. The Romans, who were remark.

ably fertile in thèse sorts of demonological inventions,

suggested numerous ways of divination. With them

all Nature had a voice, and the most senaelesa beings,and most trivial things, the most trifling incidents,

became presages of future events; which introduced

ceremonies founded on a mistaken knowledge of an.

tiquity, the most childish and ridiculous, and which

were performed with all the air of solemnity andsanctity of devotion. Augury, or divinations founded

on the flight of birds, were not only considered bythe Egyptians as the symbols of the winds, but goodand bad omens of every kind were founded or rather

derived from t!ie flying o f the feathered tribe.

The birds at this time had become wonderfully wise

and an owl, to whom, for reasons not precisely known,

light is not so agreeubie as darknes~, could not pass

by the Windows of a sick person in the night, where

the creature was not oSended by the glimmerings of

a light or candie, but his hooting must be considered

as prophesying,

that the l ife of the poor

man was

nearly wound up.

Amongst thé Romans, thèse auguries were taken

usually upon an emincnce after the month of March

they were prohibitcd in consequence of the moulting

season having commcnced nor were they permitted

at thé waning of thé moon, nor at any time in the

aftemoon, or when thé air was the least runted by

wiuds or .clouds. The fceding of thé sacred chickens,

and thé manncr of their taking the com that was

o~'ered to them, w as the most common method of

taking thé augury. Observations were also made on



48 THAUMATURGÏA, OR

the chattering or sihging of birds, ~the hooting of

crows, pies, owls, etc., and from thé running ofbeasts,

as heifers, asses, rams, hares, wolves, fbxes, weasels

and mice, when these appeared in uncommon places,crossed the way, or ran to thé right or left. They

also pretended to draw a good or bad omen from the

most tn~ing actions or occurrences of life, as sneez-

ing, stumbling, starting, numbness of thé little finger,

the tingling of thé car, the spilling of salt upon thetable, o r thé wine upon one's c!othes, thé occidental

meeting of a bitch with whelp, e tc. It was also the

business of the augur to interpret dreams, oracles,

and prodigies.

Nothing can be so surprising tlian to find so wise and

valorous a people as thé Romans addicted to such

cluldishfooleries. Scipio, Augustus, and many others,without any fatal conséquences, despiscd the sacred

chickens, and other arts of divination but when thé

générais hud miscarried in any enterprise, the peoplelaid thé whole blâme on tlie negligence with which

thèse oracles had been consulted: and if an

unfortunategeneral had neglectcd to consu!t them, thé blâme of

iiiiscarriage was thrown upon him who had preferrcdhis own forecast to that of t!ïe fowls while those who

made thèse Mnds of predictions a subject of raillcry t

were accounted impious and profane. Thus thcy

construcd, as a punishment of thé gods, thé defeat of

Chtudius Pulcher; who, when thé sacred chickens

rci'nscd to eat what was set before them, ordered them

to bc th row n into t!te sca If thcy won'tent," ~ait!

he, thcv stmil drink."



BLUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVBLLOUS. ~9

E

ARUSPICES, OR DIVINATIONS DRAWN FROM

BRUTE, OR HUMAN SACRIFICES.

In the earlieet ages of the world, a sense of pietyand a regard to decency had introduced the custom

of never sacrificing to Him, whence all blessingsemanated, any but the soundest, the most healthy, fat

and beautiful animais which were always examined

with thé closeat and most exact attention. This

ceremonial, which doubtless had its origin in gratitude,or in some ideas of.ntness and propriety, atlength.

degenerated into tnning niceties and superstitiouscérémonies. And i t having been once imagined that

no favour was to be looked for f rom the gods, when

the victim was imperfect, the idea of perfection was

united with abundance of tnvinl circumstances. Thé

entrails were examined with peculiar care, and jf thé

whole was without blemish, their duties were fulfilled;

under an assurance that they had engaged the godato be on their side, they engaged in war, and in

the most hazardous undertakings, with such a conn-

dence of 8uccess, as had thé greatest tendency to pro-cure i t. AU the motions of the victims that were led

to the altar. were considered as so many prophecies.If the victim advanced with an easy and natural air,

in a etraight line, and without offering any resistance,

–ifhe made no extraordinary bellowing when he

received thé blow,-if he did not get loose from the



30 TUAUM~tfUROÏA, OR

person who led him to the sacrifice, it was deemed 8

certain prognostic of an easy and nowing success.

Thevictint was knocked down, but before its he!!ywas ripped open, one of thé lobes oftheliverwas

allotted to those who offered the sacrifice, and the

other to the enemies of the state. That which was

neither blemighed nor withered, of a bright red, and

neither smaHer not' larger than it ought to be, pro-

gnosticated great prosperity to thoge for whom it wasset apart; that which was livid, amaïl or cormpted,

presaged t he most fatal mischiefs. The next thingto be considered was the heart, which was also

examined wïth the utmost care, as was the spleen/thé

gaIl, and the lungs and if any of thèse wcre let <a!I,

if they smelt rank or were Moated, livid or withered,

it presaged nothing but misfbrtunes.

After thé examination of the entrails was over, the

nre was kindled, and from this aïso they drew sevcral

presages. If the name was clear, if it mounted upwithout dividing, and went not out tiU the victim

wasentirely

consumed, this was a proof

that thé sa-

crifice was acceptcd but if they found it difficuIt to

kindle thé 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< Thé business, how.

ever, of the Aruspices was not confined to the altars

and sacrifices, they had an equal right to explain ail

other portents. The Senate frequently consulted

them on the most extraordinary prodigies. The coï.

lege of thé Aruspices, as well a s thosc of thé other



ELUMDATtONS 0F THK MAR~RLMUS. 611

E 2

religious orders, had their registers and records, such

as memorialsofthunderand Hghtning,~ theTuscan

histories,t ère.

DIVISIONS OP DIVINATION BY THE ANCÏKNT8–

PRODIOIES, ETC.

Divination was divided by the ancients into arti.

ficial and natural. The first is conducted by reason.

ing upon certain external signs, c onsidered as indi-

cations of futurity the other conaists in that which

presages things from a mere interna! sense, and

persuasion of .thé mmd, without any assistance of

signs and is of two kinds, the one from nature, and

the other by influx. Thé flrst supposes that the

sout, collected within itself, and not diffused or

divided among the organs of t he body, has from its

own nature and essence, some fore-knowledge of

Kcnnct's Roman Antiquities, Lib. XI, C. 4.

t Romu!u8~ who founded the institution of the Aruspices,

borrowed it Wom thé Tuscans, to w hom tbe Sonate after-wards sent twelve of the sons of thé principal nobiHty to he

instrncted in these myateHcs, and thé other cérémonies of

their religion. The origin of this act among thc people of

Tuscany, is related by Cicero in the following manner:

A. peasant, says be, ploughin~ in thé neld, bis ptough-share running pretty deep in the earth, turned up a clod, ffom

whencesprun~&chiM, whotaug'htbim and the other THScans

the art of' divination." (Cicero, De Dtvinat. 2.) Th!s

fable, un<bubtedty mcans no more, than that this chifd, said

to spring from thc clod ofeat'tb~ was a yonth of a very mean

and obscure birth, but i t is not known whether be was thé

author of it, or whctber he learnt i t of the Greeks or anyother nations.




future things witness, for instance, what M seen m

dreams, ecstasies, and on the confines ofdeath. Thé

second supposes the soûl after the manner' of a

mirror to receive some secondary illumination from

thé presence of God and other spirits. Artificial

divination is also of two Mnds the one argues from

natural causes, as in the predictions of physioiansrelative to the event of diseases, from the tongue,

pulse, etc. Thé second the consequence of experi-men te and observations arbitrarily instituted, and'

is mostly superstitious. The Systems of divina-

tion reduceable under these heads are almost incal-

culable. Among these were the Augurs or those

who drew their knowledge of futurity frotn the

flight, and various other actions of birds; the

Aruspices, from the entrails of beasts; palmestry or

the Unes of the hands; points marked at random:

numbers, names, the motions of a scene, the air,

fire, the Preenestine, Homerian, and Virgilian lots,

dreams, etc.

Whoever reads the Romanhistona~

muet be

surprised at the number of prodigies whieh are con.

stantly recorded, and which frequently filled the

people with the most dreadful apprehensions. It

must be confessed, that some of these seem altogether

supematural; while much the greater part only

eonsist of some of the uncommon productions of

nature, which superstition always a ttributed to a

superior cause, and represented as the prognostica-

Particnlarïy Livy, Dionysius of HaMcarnMSus, Pliny,nnd Vn!erius MaxhnttS.



JBLUCtDATÏONa OP THE MARVELLOU8. 53

tïon of aome impending misfbrtunes. Of this dass

may be reckoned the appearance of two suns, the

nights iUuminated by rays of light, the views of

nghting armies, swords, and spears, darting through

the air showers of milk, of blood, of atones, of

ashes, of frogs, beasts with two heads, or infants

who had some feature resembling those of the brute

création. These were all dreadful prodigies, which

filled the people with inexpressible astonishment, and

the Roman Empire with an extreme perplexity and

whateverunhappy circumstance followed upon,these,

was sure to be either caused or predicted by them.*

Nothing is more easy than to account for thèse pro-

ductions, wh!ch bave no relation to any events that may

h~ppen to fol low them. Thé appearance of two suns hMi!

frequentty happened in Engtand, as wel l as in other places,aad is only caused by the cloudg being placed in such a

situation, as to reflect the image of that luminary aoc-

turnal 6rcs, enHamed speara, Ëghtiog armies, werc no more

than what we call the Aurora BoreaHs or northerc lights,or ignited vapours floating in the air showers of stones, of

ashes, or of fire, were n o o ther than the etfccta of the

eruptions of sotne volcano at a considerable distance;showers of mi lk were catt sed by some qt<a!i~ in tbe air,

condensïng, and gtving- a whitish colour to thé water and

those of Mood are now well known to be only tbe red spots!ef6 upon thé earth, on s tones and leaves of trees, by thé

butternies wbich hatch in bot and sionuy ther.



54 THArMATUROÏA,OR

CHAPTER ÏV.

HÏ8TOKY 0F ORACLES–THE PRINCIPAL ORACM8 OP

ANTtQUtTY.

Ft:w superstitions hâve been so famoua, and so

scductive to t he minds of tnen during a number of

âges, as oracles. ïn treaties of peace or truces, thé

Gréera never forgot to stipulate for the liberty of re-

«orting~ to crades. No colony undertoôk new settle.

ments, no w ar was declared, no important affair

begun, without first consulting the oraclee.

Ttte most renowned oracles were those of De!phps,

Dodona, Trophonius. Jupiter Hammon, and the

Clarian ApoHo. Some have attributed the oraclesof Dodona to oaks, othera to pigeons. The opinionof those pigeon-prophetesses was introduced by the

equivocation of a Theesaîian Word, which signified both a pigeon a nd a woman and gave room to the

fahl~, that two pigeons having taken wing from

T!)che9, one of them fled into Lybia, where it oc-

casioncd thé c8tab!is!nng of the oracle of Jupiter Hammon and thé othcr, having stopped in the

t~s of thc forcst of Dodona, informed the inhahi-

tants of thc ncighbouring parts, that it was Jupiter'sintention there should he an oracle in that place.

Herodotus has thusexplained

the fable thcre were



BLUCÏDATÏONS OP THE MAKVKLLOUa. 5&

farmerly two Priestesges of Tlïebes, who were

carried off by Phenecian merchantN. She that was

sold into Greece, 8ett!ed in the foreat of Dodona,

whcrc gréat numbcrs of the ancient inhabitants of

Greece went to gather acorns. She there crected a

Itttlechapetatthefootofan oak, in honour of the

same Jupiter, whose priestess she had t)een, and

here it was this ancient oracle was estabHshed, which

in after times became so famous. Thé mannerof

delivering the oracles of Dodona was very singuiar.Therc were a great number of kettlc8 suspended from

trees near a copper statue, w hich was also sus-

pended with a bunch of rod& in its hand. When

the wind happened.to put it in motion, it struck the

first kettle, which communicating its motion to thé

next, a ll of them tingled~ and produced a certain

sound which continued for a long time after whiob

thé oracle spoke.

THB ORACLB OF JUPÏTER HAMMON.

.tThis oracle, which was in the désert, in the

midat of the burning sands of Africa, declared to

Alexandcr that Jupiter was his father. After several

questions, having asked if thé death of his father was

suddenly revenged~ thé oracle answcred, that the

death of Ph!!ip waa revenged, but that thé father

of Alcxander was immortaï. This oracle gaveoccasion to Lucan to put great sentiments in thé

mouth o fCato After the battle of Pliarsalia, when

Cefar bcgan to be master of t he world. I~abrenus

eaid t o Cato As wc hâve now so good an oppor-



5C THAUMATURGE, OR

tunity of consulting so celebrated an oracle, let us

know from it how to regulate our conduct duringthis war. The gods will not déclare themselves

more willingly for any one than Cato. You have

always been befnended by thé gods, and may there-

fore have the confidence to converse with Jupiter.Inform yourselves of the destiny of the tyrant and

the fate of our country whether we are to preserve

our liberty, or -to lose the fruit of the war and you

may leam too what that virtue ;8 to which you have

been elevated, and what its reward."

Cato, fuU of the divinity that was within him, re-

tumed to Labrenus an answer worthy of an oracle

On what account, Labrenus, would you have me

consult Jupiter ? Shall 1 ask him whether i t be better

to lose life than liberty ? Whether life be a real good r

We have within us, Labrenus, an oracle that can

answer all these questions. Nothing happons but bythe order of God. Let us not require of him to re-

peat t o us what he bas suSSciently engraved in our

hearts, Truth has not withdrawn'into those désertsit is not graved on those sands. The abode of God is

in heaven, in thé earth, in thé sea, and in virtuous

hearts. God speaks to us by all that we see, by all that

surrounds us. Let the inconstant and those that are

subject to waver, according to éventa, have recourse

to oracles. For my part, 1 find in nature evcry thingthat can inspire tne most constant resolution. The

dastard, as well as the brave, cannot avoid death.

Jupiter cannot tell us more." Cato thus spoke, and

quitted thé country without consulting thé oracle.



' EL UC IDA TI ON S 0 F THE ' MÂ RV ELLO U8 . 57

THE ORACLE OF DELPHOS, OR PYTHIAN APOM<0.

Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and several other au-

thors relate, that a herd of goats discovered the oracle

of Delphos, or of the Pythian Apollo. When a goat

happened to come near enough thé cavern, to breathe

air that passed

out of it, ehe returnedskipping

and

bounding about, and her voicearticulated some ex~- ·

ordinary sounda; which having been observed-bythe keepers, they went to look in, and were seized

with a fury which made them jump about, and fore-

tel future éventa. Coretas, as Plutarch tells, was

the name of the goat-herd who discovered the

oracle. One of the guardians of Demetrius, comiugtoo near the mouth of the cavern, was su~ocated bythe force of the exhalations, and

died ~uddenly. The

orifice or vent-hole of thé cave was cbvered with a

tripod consecrated to Apollo, on which thé priest-

esses, called Pythonesses,* sat, to fin thenoselveswith

the prophétie vapour, and to conceive the spirit of divination, with the fervor that made them know fu-

turity, and foretel i t in Greek hexameters. Plutarch

'Thé responscs here were dcttvcrcd by a young priestesacalled Pythia or Phoebas,' placed on a tripos, or stoo! withthree feet, called aiso cortinM, from the skin of the serpentPython with which itwas covered. Jt is unccrtain after « h<t6tnanner~hesc oracles were dcth'crcd, though Cicero supposesthé Pythoneait wna inspired, or rather intoxicatcd hy certain

vapeurs which asccnded from thé cave. Somc say that thé

PythoneM bcing once debauched, the oracles were aftcrwardsdelivered by an otd woman in the dress of a young maid.



68 t:HAUMATURGïA, OR

says, that, on the cessation of oracles, a Pythonesswas so exœssively tormented by thé vapour, and

suffered such violent convulsions, that all the priestsran away, and she dicd soon after.

CEREMONÏK8 PRACTïSED ON CONSULTtNO ORACLES.

Pausania~ describeô thé ceremonies that were prac-

ticed for consulting the oracle of Trophonius. Kverym~ that went down into hia cave, never laughed his

whble life af ter. This gave occasion to the proverbial

saying concerning those of a melancholy air He

bas consulted Trophonius." Plato relates, that the

two brothers, Agamedes and Trophonius, having builtthe temple of Apollo, and asked the god for a reward

what he thought of most advantage to men, both

died in the night that succeeded their prayer. Pau-

eanias givca a quite different account. In tlie

palace there built for the King Hyrieus, they so laid

a stone, that it might be taken away, and in thé night

they crept in through the hole they had thus con-

trived, to stcal the king's treasures. The king

observing the quantity of his gold diminished, thoughno locks nor seals had been brol~en open, fixed trapsabout his co~ers, and Agamedes being caught in one

of them, Trophonius cutoS'bisheadtoprevent his

discovering him. Trophonius having disappearedthat moment, it was given out that the earth had

awaUowed him on the same spot; and impious supers~tition went so far as to place this wicked wretch in

the rank of the gods, and to consu!t his oracle with

ceremonies equally painful and mypteriottg,



RLUCtDATiCNS 0F THE MARVRH.OU8. 59

Tacitus thus speaks of the oracle of the Clarian

Apollo Germanicus went to consult the oracle of Cla-

ros. It ic not a woman that delivers the oracle there,

as atMphos, but a man chosen out of certain familiea~

and alway s of Miletum. It is sufficient to tell him the

number and names ofthose who come to consult him;

whereupon he retires into a grot, and having taken

some water out of a well that lies hid in it, he an.

ewers you in verses to whatever you hâve thought of,

though this man is often very ignorant.Dion Cassius explaine the manner in which the

oracle ofNymphcca, inEpiru8,de!iveredit8re8ponses.The party that consulted took incenee, and having

prayed, threw tbe incense into the fire, the flame

pursued and consumed it. But if the a6air was not

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 for prognosticating futority, in regardto every thing that waa asked, except death and

ïnarriage, about which it was not allowed to ask any

questions.Those who consulted the oracle of Amphiarue, layon thé skins of victims, and received the answer of

the oracle in a dream. Virgil attesta the same thing

of thé oracle of Faunus in Italy.A govcmor of Cilicia, who gave )jttle credit to

oracles, and who was ohvays surrounded by unbeliev.

ing Epicureane sent a letter sealed with hie signet to

the oracle of MopsuB, requiring one of those answers

that were reccived in a dream. The messenger

charged with thé letter brought i t back in the same

condition, not having been opened} and informed




him, that he had s een in a dream a very well made

man, who said to him Black' without the addition

of e ven another word. Then the govemor openingthé letter, assured thé company, that he wanted to

know of the divinity, whether he should sacrifice a

white or black bull.

In the temple of the goddess of Syria, when the

statue of Apollo was inclined to deliver oracles, it

deviated, moved, and wa8 full of agitations on i ts

pedestals. Then the priests carrying it on their

shoulders, it pushed and turned them on ail sides,

and the high-priest, interrogating it on all sor ts of

aSairs, if i t refused its consent, it drove thé priests

back if otherwise, it made them advance.

Suetonius says, that, some months before the birth

of Augustus, an oracle was current, importing, that

nature was. labouring at the production of a king, who

would be master of the Roman Empire; that thé

Senate in great consternation, had forbid the rearingof any male children who should be born that year,

but that the senators whose wives were pregnant,found means to hinder the inscribing of the decree in

thé public registers. ït seems that the prediction, uf

which Auguatus was only the type, regarded the birth

of Jesus Christ, the spiritual king of the whole world

or thatthe wicked spirit was willing, by suggesting this

rigorous decree to the Senate, to depose Herod and

by this example, to involve the Messiah in the massa-

cre that was made by bis orders of all the children of

two years and under. The whole world was then full

of thé coming of the Messiah. We see by Virgil'sfourth eclogue, that he applies to the son of the Consul



BLUCIDATIONS OP THEMARVE~MUS, 61i

Asinins PoHio the prophecies which, from the Jews,

had then passed into foreign nations. This child

the object of Virgil's flattery, died the ninth day after he was born. Tacitus, Suetonius, and Josephus,

applied to Vespasian the prophecies that regarded the

Messiah.

ORAOLS8 OFTEN BQUIVOCAL AND OBSCURE.

tThe oracles. were often very equivocal, or so obs.

cure that their signification was not understood but

after the event. A few examples, out of a great

many, will be sufficient.

CroBsus, having received from the Pythoness, this

answer, that by passing thé river Halys, he would

destroy a great empire, he understood it to be thé

empire of his enemy~ whereas he destroyed his own.

The oracle consulted by Pyrrhus, gave him an answer,

which might be equally understood of the victory of

Pyrrhus, and the victory of the Romans his enemies.

Aio te ~ac!da, Romanos vincere posse.

The equivocation lies in the construction of the La-

tin tongue, which cannot be r endered in English.The Pythoness advises Crcesus to guard against the

mu!e.* The king of Lydia understood nothing of the

This answer of thé 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.




oracle, which denoted Cyrus descended from two dif<

ferent nations, from thé Medes by Mandana his

mothcr, the daughter of Aatyages and by the Per-

sians by his father Cambyses, whose race was by fur

less grand and illustrions. Nero had for answer from

the oracle of Delphos, that seventy-three might prove

fatal to him, he b elieved he was safe f rom ail danger

till age, but, finding himself deserted by every onc,

and hearing. Galba proclaimed emperor, who was

seventy-three years of age, he was sensible of the

decottofthe oracle.

St. Jereme observes, that, if the devils speak any

truth, by whatever accident they always join Iles to it

and use such ambiguous expressions, that they may be

equally applied to contrary events.

teller, to whom great anmbors reaorted, and he among the

rest and thé fortune-teUer totd him, that hc must bewafe

of a whi te horse. After his return to England, as he was

WMtking by Chnring-Cross, he saw a crowd of people comingout and going in to a house, and inquired what was the meun-

ing of it, was informed that Duncan Cantpbe! the dmnbfortune-teller l ivcd there. Hio curiosity also led h!m in, and

Duncan CampbeH likewise told him that he muât bcware of a

whit~ hor se. It was 8omewbat extraordinary that two

fortune-tellers, one at Venice and the other in London, with.

out any communication, and at some distance of time, ahould

both happen'to hit upon the same thing, and to give thc vcrysame warning. Some ycars nfterwards, when he was taken

up in 1715,andcommittedtotheTower upon st~picion of

treasonabte practices, which never appeared, hia friends said

to him that bis fortune was now fultilled, the Hanovcr House

was thé white horse whereof he was admonishpd to bcware.

But some time after this, hc had a fal l from a white horsctand receivcd a blow by which he tost the sight of one of his

cyca."



ELUCÏDATÎOKS 0F THE MARVRLLOU8. 63

OR!M AND THUMMÏM.

Whiist the Mse oracles of demons deceived the

idolatrous nations, truth had retired from among the

chosen people o f God. The septuagint have inter-

preted C/W~and.?%MM~tM, manifestation and truth,

~or~ t? a\~0€ta~ which expresses how different

those divine oracles were from the false and equivo.cal demons, It is said, in the Book of Numbers, that

Eleazar, the successor of Aaron, shall interrogateUrim in form, and that a resolution shall be taken

according to the answer given.Thé Ephod applied to the chest of the sacerdotal

vestments of the bigh-priest, was a piece of stun'

covered with twelve precious stones, on which the

names of the twelve tribes were engraved. It was

not allowed to consult the Lord by Urim and Thum..

mim, but for the king, thé president oftbe eanhedrim,

the general of the army, and other public persons,

:md on anairs that regarded thé general interest of the nation. If the affair was to succced, the stones of

thé ephod emitted a sparkiing light, or the high.

priest inspired predicted the success. Josephus, who

was born thirty-nine years after Christ, says tl iat it

was then two hundred years since thé atones of the

ephod had giver. an answer to consultations by their

extraordinary lustre.

The- Scriptures only inform us, that Urim and

Thummim were something that Moses had put in the

high-priest's breast-plate. Some Rabbins by rash con-



<34 THAUMATURCIA, OR

jectures, have believed that they were two smaU

statues hidden within the breast-plate; others, the

ineffable name of God, gravedinamysterious-tnan-ner. Without designing to discem what has not

been explained to us, we should understand by Urim

and Thummim, the divine inspiration annexed to the

consecrated breast-plate.Several passages of

Scriptnre leave room to believe,

that an articulate 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

was a sign of God's anger. Saul abandoned by the

spirit of the Lord, consulted it in vain, and obtained

no sort of answer. It appears by some passages of

St. John's Gospel, that in thé time' of Christ, the

exercise of thechief-priesthood, was still attended with

the gift of prophecy.

REPUTATION OF ORACÏ.BS, HOW LOST.

When men began to be better instructed by the

lights philosophy had introduced into the world, the

false oracles insensibly lost their credit. Chrysippus

filled an entire volume with false or doubtful oracles.

Œnomanus,* to be revenged of some oracle that had

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, be informed of us, and learn to speak more elearly. 1 tell

thee, that if thou mtendest an équivoque, thé Greek word




F

deceived Mm, made a compilation of oracles, to shew

their absurdity and vanity. But Œnomanus is still more

out of humour with the oracle for the answer which

Apollo gave thé Athenians, when Xcrxea was about

to attack Greece with aU the strength of Asia. The

Pythian declared, thatMinerva, the protectress of

Athens, had endeavoured in vain to appeasc thé

wrathof Jupiter yet that Jupiter, in complaisance with

his daughter, was willing the Athenians should aecure

themselves within wooden walls; and that Salamis

should behold the loss of a great many children, dead

to their mothers, either when Ceres was spread

abroad, or gathered together. At this Œnomanus

loses all patience with the Delphian God: This

contest," exclaims he, between father and daugh-

ter, is very becoming the déifies ' It is excellent

that there should be contrary inclinations and interests

in heaven! Poor wizzard, thou ar t ignorant who

the children are tliat shall see Salamis perish;whether Greeks or Persians. It is certain they must

either be one or the other but thou needest not havetold so openly that thou knowest not what. Thou

concealest the t ime of the battle under these fine

poetical expressions either w~c% Ceres is spreadabroad, or gathered together and thou wouldst ca-

whereby thou afHrmeat that Croesus shoutd overthrow a grentempire, was ill-chospn; and that it could signify notbing but CrûB~as conquering Cyrus. If things must necessarilycorne 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.



66 THAUMATCRGÏA, OR

jote us with such pompous language who knows not

that if there be a sea-nght, i t must either be in aeed*

time or harvest ? It is certain it cannot be io winter.

Let tbings go how they will, thou wilt secure thyself

by this Jupiter whom Minerva ia endeavouring to

appease. If the Greeks lose the battle, Jupiter

proved inexorable to the last if they gain it, whythen Minerva at

length prevailed.Eusebius has preserved some fragments of this

criticism on oracles by Œnomanus. H 1 might,"

says Origen, H have recourse to the authority of

Aristotle, aud thé Peripatetics, to make the Pytho-ness much suspected. 1 might e xtract from the

writings of Epicurus and his sectators an abundance

of things to discredit oracles and 1 might shew

that thé Greeks thcmselves made no great account of

them."

Thé reputation of oracles was greatly lessened

when they became an artifice of politics. Themis-

tocles~ with a design of engaging thé Athenians to

quit Athens, in order to be in a better condition toresist Xerxes, made thé Pythoness deliver an oracle,

commanding them to take refuge in wooden walls.

Demosthenes said, that the Pythoness philippised,to stgnify that she was gained over by Philip's pre-sents.

CESSATION OP ORACLES.

The cessation of oracles is attested by several

prophane authors, as Strabo, Juvenal, Lucien,

Sec DcMOMo~tc, p. 163.



R LU Cï DATI ON S 0 F TH E MAR VE Mj OUS . C7

F 2

Lucan, and others. Plutarch accounts for the cause

of it, either that thé benefits of the gods are not

eternal, as themselves are; or that the genii who

presided over oracles, are subject to death or that

the exhalations 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 thé spirit of prophecy, supposed

to bc excited by subterranean efHuvia, had evaporated

by length of time, as wine or pickle by being keptis lost.

Suidas, Nicephorus, and Cedrenus relate, that

Augustus having c onsulted the oracle of Delphos,could obtain no other answer but this thé Hebrew

child whom all t!ie gods obey, drives me hence,

and sends me l)ack to hell get out of this templewithout speaking one word.' Suidas adds, that

Augustus dedicated an altar in thé Capitol, with the

following inscription

To tlie eldest Son of God."

Notwithstanding these testimonies, the answer of

the oracle of Delphos to Augustus seems very

suspicious. Cedrenus cites Eusebius for this oracle,

whicli is not now found in lus works and Augustus'

pérégrination into Greecc was eighteen years before

tlie birth of Christ.

Suidas and Cedrenus give an account also of

an ancrent oracle delivered to Thules, a king of

Egypt, which they say is well authenticated. Tins

king having c onsulted the oracle of Seraphis, to

know if there ever was, or would be, one so gréât



C8 THAUMATURGtA, OR

as himself, received this answer First, God,

next thé word, and the spirit with them. They are

equally etcrnal, and make but one whose power will

never end. But thou, mortal, go hence, and think

that thé end of man's l ife is uncertain,

Van Dale, in his Treatise of oracles, does not be-

Heve that they ccased at the coming of Christ. He

relates several examples of oracles consulted till thé

death of Theodosius the Great. He quotes the

laws ofthe Emperors Theodosius, Gratian, and Valen-

tinian, against those who consulted oracles, as a

certain proof that the superstition of oracles still

existed in thé time of those emperors.

HAD DEMONS ANY 8HARE IN THE ORACLES ?

The opinion of those who believe that the demons

had no share in the oracles, and that thé coming of

the Messiah made no change in them and the

contrary opinion of those who pretend that thé in-

carnation of the word imposed a gênerai silence on

oracles, should be equally rejected. The reasonsappear from what lias l)een said, and therefore two

sorts of oracles ought to l)e distinguished, the one

dtctated by the spirits of darkness, who deceived

men by their obscure and doubtful answers, tlie

other thé pure artifice and dcceit of the priests of

false divinities.* As to the oracles given out by

Among thé more tcarocd~ it is a pretty general opi-nion that all thc oracics wcrc mere chents and impostttrcs ica!cn!ut<;d cither to serve the nvaricious ends of thc heathcn.ish pru'sta, or the political views of the princes. Bay!c

posithc!~ asscrts, that thcy were mere human artifices, in



E LUC ID ATI ON S OP T HE MAR VE LLO US . 69

demons, the reign of Satan was destroyed by the

coming of the Saviour truth shut the mouth of false-

hood but Satan continued his old craft among Idola-

ters. AU the devils wcre not forced to silence at

the same time by the coming of the Messiah it

was on particular occasions that the truth of chris-

tianity, and the virtue of christians imposed silence

on the devils. St. Athanasius tells thé pagans,they have been witnesses themselves that thé sign of

the cross puts the devils to flight, silences oracles,

and dissipates enchantments.

This power of silencing oracles, and putting the

devils to night, is also attested by Arnobius, Lac-

tantius, Prudentius, Minutius, Felix, and scveral

others. Their testimony is a certain proof that

the coming of the Messiah had not imposed a

general silence on oracles.

Thé Emperor Julian, called the Apostate, con-

sulting the oracle of Apollo, in the suhurbs of

Antioch, the dcvil could make him no other answer,

than that the body of St. Babylas, buried in thé

neighbourhood, imposed silence on him. The Em-

peror, transported with rage and vexation, resolved

to revenge his gods, hy eluding a solemn prédic-tion of Chris t. He ordered the Jews to rcbuild the

temple of Jerusalem but i n beginmng to dig thé

foundations, balls of fire burst out, and consumed

which thé devil had no hand. In this opinion he is stronglysupportcd by Vau Da!e, a Dutch physictan, and M. Fonte.

nelle, who havecxpress!y writtcn on ~the subject/A'Z~cuMMo/~tt, op. citat. p. 159.



70 THAUMATURGIA, OR

the artificers, their tools and materials. Theec

tacts are attested by Ammianus Marcellinus, a pagan,and thé emperor's historian and by St. Chrysostom,St. Gregory Nazinnzen, and Theodoret, Sozomen

and Socrates, in their ecclesiastical historiés. The

sophist Libanius, who was an enemy of the Chri&-

tians, confessed also that St. Babylas had silenced

the oracle of Apollo,

in the suburbs of Antioch.

Plutarch relates that the pUot Thamus heard a

voice in thé air, crying out The gréât Pan is

dead whereupon Eusebius observes, that the deatha

of the demons were frequent in the reign of Tibe-

rius, when Christ drove out the wicked spirits. The

same judgrnents may be passed on oracles as on

possessions. Jt was on particular occasions, by the

divine permission, that the christians cast out devils,

or silenced oracles, in thé presence and even by the

confession of the pagans themselves. And thus it

is we should, it seems, understand the passages of

St. Jerom, Eusebius, Cyril, Theodoret, Prudentius,

and other authors, who said, tl iat thé coming of Christ had imposed silence on thé oracles.

OF ORACLES, THE ARTIFICES OF PRIESTS OF FALSE

DÏVINiTthS.

As regards the second sort of oracles, which were

pure artifices and cheats of the priests of false divi-

nities, and which probably exceeded the numbers of

those that immediately proceed from demons, theydid not ceuse till idolatry was abolished, though

they had lost thcir credit for a considerable time



ELUCIDAftOKS OP THE MAKVELLOU8. 7t

before thé coming of Christ. It was concerning this

more common and general sort of o racles that

Minutius Félix said, they began to discontinue their

responses, according as men began to be more polite.

But, howsoever decried oracles were, impostors

always found dupes the grossest cheats having never

failed.

Daniel discovered théimposture

of thé priests

of

Bel, who had a private way of getting into the

temple, to takc away the offered meats, and

made the king believe that the idol consumed them.

Mundus, being in love with Paulina, thé eldest of

the~riestesses of Isis, went and told her that the

go~Anubis, bcing passionately fond of her, com-

manded her to give him a meeting. She was after-

wards shut up in a dark room, where her lover

Mundus (whom she believed to be the god Anubis,)was c oncealed. TIlis imposture having been dis-

covered, Tiberius ordered those détestable priestsand priestcsses to be crucified, and with them lolea

Mundus's free woman, who had conducted the whole

intrigue. He also commanded tite temple of Isis to

be levelled with thé ground, her statue to be thrown

into thé Tiber, and, as to Mundus, he contented

himself with sending him into banis!iment.

T~hcophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, not only

destroyed the temples of the gods, but discovered

the cheats of the priests, by shewing that thé statues,

some of w hich were of brass, and others of wood,

were hoUow within, and Icd i nto dark passagesmade in the waM.

Lucius in discovering the impostures of t lie false



72 THAUMATUROIA, OR

prophet Alexander, says, that thé oracles were

chiefly afraid of thé subtitties of the Epicureansand Christians. The false prophet Alexardcr some-

times feigned himself seized with a divine fury, and

by means of the herb sopewort, which he ehewed,

frothed at the mouth in so extraordinary a manner,

that the ignorant people attributed it t o t he power of the god he was possessed by. He had long

before prepared the head of a dragon made of linen,

which operied and shut i te mouth by means of a

horses hair. Hc w eut by night to a place where the

foundations of a temple were digging, and havingfound water, either of a spring or rain thatilad Bej~edtherc, he Idd in it a goose egg, in which heTtad

inclosed a little serpent that had just been hatched.

Thé next day, very early in the morning, he came

quite naked into thé strect, having on~y a scarf about

his midd!e, holding in his hand a scythe, and tossing

about his hair as thé priests of Cybele theo gettingon the top of a high altar, he eaid that the place was

happy to be honoured by the birth of a god. After-wards running down to thé place where he had hid

thé goosc cgg, and going into the water, he beganto sing thé praises of Apollo and ~Escutapius, and to

invite thé latter to corne and shew himself to men

with thèse words hc dips a bowl into the water and

takes out a mystcrious cgg, which had a god enclosed

in it, and when hc held i t in his hand, he began to

say that he held ~Esculapius, whilst all were eager to have a sight of this fine mystcry, he broke thé

egg, t and thé Ïit tle serpent starting out, twistecl

itself about his nngers.



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVMLLOU8. ~3

Thèse examples shew clearly, that both christians

and pagans were so far agreed as to treat the greater number of oracles as purely human impostures.

From the very nature of things, much that now

serves for amusement must formerly have been

appropriated to a highcr destination. Ventriloquism

may be quoted as a case in point, affording & ready

and plausible solution of the oracular stones and oaks,of the reply which thé seer Nessus addressed to Pytha.

goras, (" Jamblichus, Vit. Pyth. xxxiii.) and of

the tree which at the command of the Gymnos-

ophists, of upper Egypt, spoke to Apollonius. The

voice," says Philostratus (Vit. Ap, xi. 5) was dis-

tinct but weak, and similar to thé voicenfawoman."

But thé oracles, at least if we ascend to thcir origin,were not altogether impostures. Thé pretended

interprétera of the decrees of destiny were frequently

plunged into a sort of delirium, and when inhaling

the fumes of some intoxicating drug or powerful gasor vapour, or drinking some beverage which produced

a temporary suspension of the reason, the mind

of the enquirer was predisposed to feverish drcams

Wc learn from Merodotus (iv. 75) that thc Scythiansand.Tartars intoxicated thettiscives by inhaling thé vapour ofa species of hcmp thrown upon rcd hot stones. And théodour oftttc sceds of hcnhanc a!one~ whcn its powcr is aug-mented by heat, produccs a choleric and quarreiaome dis-

position. in thosc who inha!c thc vapour arising from themin this state. And in the I)ictionnaire de Médecine)"(de I'Encyc!op<Mic Méthodique, vit. art. Jusqutatnne) in-stanccs are cluoted, the most remarkable of which ia, thatif a married pair who, though living in perfect harmony



74 THAUMATURGIA, OR

if priestcraft were concerned in the interpretationof such dreams, or eliciting senses from thé wild

effusions of thé disordered brain of thé Pythoness,Science presided over thé investigation of thé causes

of this phrenzy, and thé advantages which thé

Thaumaturgists might derive from it. Jamblicus

states (de Mysterius C. xxix) that for obtaining a

revelation from theDelty

in a dream,

theyoungestand most simple creatures were the most proper

for succeeding they were prepared for it by magicalinvocations and fumigations of particular perfumes.

Poi'phyry declares that thèse proceedings had an

influence on thé imagination; JamMicus that they

rendered them more worthy of thé inspiration of thé

Deity.

cvety whercelse, could never remnin for a few hours in thé

room where they worked withottt quarrcH!ng. The apart-tttcnt of course was thought to be bewttched, unti! it was

discovcred that a considerable qunntttyofseeds ofhenbanc

were deposited

near thé stovc, which was the cause of their

daily dissensions, thc removat of which put an end to their

bickerings. Thé same effects that were produced by draughtsand fumigations woutd follow from thé application of

tinhnents, of Magicat Unctions," acting through the

absorbent system, as if they had bccn introduced into the

stomach allusions tothcsc ointments arc constantly recurringin ancicnï authors. ï'Jntostratus, in his l ife of ApoUoninB

(iii.5) states that the hodiea of bis companions, before bcingadmitted to thc tnystcrics of thc Indinn sages, were ruhbcdovcr with sa active an oil, that it apneared as if they wcro

hathcd with nre.



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVELLOU8. 73

CHAPTER V.

THE BRITISH DRUID8, OR MAGt–ORIGIN OF FAIRÏË8 –ANCIENT SUPERSTITIONS–THEtR SKILL IN

MEDECINE, &C.

THE British Druids, l ike the Indian Gymnoso-

phists, or the Persian Magi, had two sets of doctrines

thé first for thé initiated the second for the peuple.That there is one God the creator of heaven and

earth, was a secret doctrine of the Brachmans. And

thé nature and perfection of the deity were amongthe druidical arcana.

Among thé sublimer tenets of the druidical priest-

hood~ we have every where apparent proofs of tlieir

polytheism and the grossness of their religious idea?,

as represented by some writers, is very inconsistent

with that divine philosophy which has been considered

as a part of their character. These, however, were

popular divinities which the Druids ostensibly wor-

shipped, and popular notions whieh they ostensibly

adopted, in conformity with thé prejudices of the



y6 THAUMATURGIA, OR

vulgar. Thé Druids well k new that the com-

tnon people were no philosophers. There is rea

son also, to think that a great part of thé idola-

tries were not sanctioncd by thc Druids, but after-

wards introduced by the Phœnician colony. But

it would be impossible to say how far the primitiveDruids accommodated thcmselves to vulgar supersti-

tion, or to separate their exterior doctrines andcérémonies from the fables and absurd rites of sub-

sequent t imes. It would be vain to attecnpt to enume-

rate thcir gods in thé eye of the vulgar they defied

everything around them. They worshipped thé spiritsof thé mountains, thé vallies, and thé rivers. Everyrock and every spring wcre either thé instruments

or thé objects of admiration. Thé moonlight vallies

of Danmonium were filled with the fairy people, and

its numerous rivers were the resort of genii.The fiction of fairies is supposed to have been

brought, with other extravagancies of a l ike nature

from the Eastem nations, whilst thé Europeansund christians were cngaged in the holy war such

at least is the notion of a n ingenious writer, who

thus expresses himself Nor were thé monstrous

embeUishments of enchantments thé invention of

romancers, but formed upon Eastern tales, brought

thencc by travellers from their crusades and pilgri-

mages, which indecd, have a cast peculiar to the

wild imagination of thé Eastern people.

Supplement to thé tfanslated preface to Jarvis's Don

Quixotc.



ELU CI DA TI ONS 0 F T HE MA RV RL LOU 8. 77

That fairies, in particular, came from the East, we

arc assured by t!iat learned orientalist, M. Herbe!ot,

who tells us that thé Persians called thé fairies P~,

and the Arabs G'<?~ that according to the Eastem

fiction, there is a certain country inhabited by fairies,

called Gennistan, which answers to our ~f~

Mr. Martin, in his observations on Spencer's Fairy

Queen, is decided in his opinion, that thé fairiescame from thé East but he justly remarks, that

they were introduced Into thé country long before

thé period of the crusades. Thé race of fairies, he

informs us, was established in Europe in very early

times, but, ~o~ universally." The fairies were

confined to the north of Europe-to the M~MMM?%K~–

to thé J9W~A isles-to thé divisis o~c .B~c/M~.

They were unknown at this remote era to thé Gau!s

or the Germans and they were probably familiar

to thé vallies of Scotland and Danmonium, when

Gaul and Gcrmany were yet unpeopled either byreal or imaginary beings. The belief indeed, of

such invisible agents assigned to different parts of

nature, prevails at tliis very day in Scotland, Devon-

shire and Cornwall, regularly transmitted from thé

remotest antiquity to thé présent times, and totaUyunconnected with thé spurious romance of thé crusa-

der or the pilgrim. Hencc those superstitious notions

That thé Druids worshipped rocks, atones, and foun-

tains, and itnagutcd thctn inhabitcd, and actuatcd by «'t'~Hc

!'K/<<~eNc<'A'~M ~K'er ?'~tM~, mny p!ninty be inferrecl from

thcir stone monuments. These infcrior dcitics thé Cornish

caU<n~~M, or~<n' which answer to pcnii or fairies




now cxisting in our western villages, where the

spriggian* are still believed to delude benighted

travellers, to discover hidden treasures, to influence

the weather, and to raise the winds. This," says

Warton, strengthens the hypotheses of the northem

parts of Europe being peopled by colonies from thé

east!"

Thé inhabitants of Shetland and thé Isles pour libations of milk or beer through a holed.stone, in

honour of thé spir it Brownie and it is probable thé

Danmonii were accustomed to sacrifice to thé same

spirit, s ince thé Cornish and the Devonians on thé

border of Cornwall, invoke to this day thé spirit

Brownie, on thé swarming of their bées.

Witli respect to rivers, it is a certain fact that thé

primitive Britons paid the!u divine honours even now,

in many parts of Devonshire and Cornwall, the

vulgar may be said to worship brooka and wells, to

which they rcsort at statcd periods, performingvarious ceremonies in honour of those consecrated

waters and tlie Highlanders, to this day, talk with

great respect of tbe genius of thé sea never bathe

in a fountain, lest thé clegant spirit that résides in

it should be offended and remove and mention not

thé water of rivers without prefixing to it the name

of excellent; and in one ofthc western islands the

inhabitants retained thé custom, to thé close of thé

and thé vutgar in Cornwat] still dincoursc of thon, as ofreat

betngs.Sec Macphcrson's Introduction to thé history of grcat

Bntain and !rc!und.



ELU CI DA TI ONS 0 F TH B MA HV ELLO U8. ~9

last century, of making an annual sacrifice to thé

genius of thé ocean. That at this day the inhabitants

of India deify their principal rivers is a well known

fact the waters of thé Ganges possess an uncommon

sanctity and the modem Arabians, like the Ishma-

elites of old, concur w ith thé Danmonii in their

reverence of springs and fountains. Evcn the names

of thc Arabian and Danmonian weUs have a strikingcorrespondence. We have thé ~~M~-M~7; or thé

N~p~/bM~ and there are springs with similar

names in thc deserts of Arabia. Perhaps the vene.

ration of the Danmonii for fountains and rivers may be accepted as n o trivial proof, to be thrown into

the mass of circumstantial evidence, in favour of

their Eastern original. That the Arabs in their

thirsty deserts, should even adore tlieir wells of

springing water," need not excite oar surprise, but we may justly wondcr a t thé inhabitants of

Devonshire and Cornwall thus worshipping thé godsof numerous rivers, and never failing brooks, familiar

to every part of Danmonium.

Thé principal times of devotion among the Druids

were either mid-day or midnight. Thé officiatingDruid was cloathed in a white garment that sweptthe ground; on his head, he wore thé tiara; he had

the <ïn~M!MMMor serpcnt's egg, as thc ensign of his

order; his temples were encirc!ed with a wreath of

oak.leaves, and he waved in his hand the magierod. As regards thc Druid sacrifice there are vagueand contradietory representations. It is certain,

however, that they onered human victims to their

gods. They taught that the punishment of the



80 THAUMATUBGÏA, OR

wicked Tnight be obliterated by sacrifices t o Baal .~

Thé sacrifice of t he black sheep, therefore, was

offered up for the souls of the departed, and various

species of charma exhibitcd. Traces of the holy

fires, and nre'worship of the Druidsf maybe observed

This ido!, which is ca lled by the Septuagint, Baal, is

menttoncd in othcr parts of scr ipture by othcr natncs. To

undcr st~nd wha t this god was, we May observe, that thé

(loi ties of thé Gre eks a nd Roma ns come f rom tbe East

and it is a tradition among the ancient and m odem hea thens

thatthts idol was a n obscure deity, which may ptead excuse

for not translating sonne passages concerning it and th is i s

agrceabtc to Hosen ( ix. 10). They M'c~< oM< into BH~~ Plceor,

and~w~<<AfM!~w~o ~ctf~MMtc. And it is thé opi-

nion of Jérôme, who qnotcs it frotn a n nncient t radit ion of the

Jews, that Baal /'A<'cr i s the P~tf~tM of thé Greeks and

Romans and ifyou look into thevut gar!atin (1 Kings xv.

13.) wc shaU find i t thus rendered, ~yn, <A<*A'tK~'fpMto~c~

Maachn, /!tM M&oMt &ct ?~ yMcpK) ~~< ~c Mt' no Aw~fr

<'< high /*rt~~cM in the Mcrt/?<'c.T o/' ~~t~. And he de-

stroyed thé grovc she had consecratcd, and hroke thé most

ntthy idot, a nd burnt it at thc brook ~c~'oM. Dr. Cmn-

berland inserts, that thc hnport of thé word ~<?or, or ~~<

~~<«r, is lie that t~hews hoastingly or pubUc!y, his nakcd-

ness. Womcn to avoid barrcnness, ~'ere to a it on this

filthy hnage, as thc sourc e of frMitfuhcsa for wbich Lac-

tantins and Augustine justly déride the hcathens.

Thcre was an awfu! mystcriousncss in thé original

Druid sacrince. Descantin~ ttpon the human sacrifices of vari-

ous countrics, Mr. Bryant informs us, that among the

nations of Cannan) the victims ~'rrc <~o.4<'?: tM a ~tt-M~nr

M!MH7tf! theirown children, and wha tsof vcr wa !< nearc&t

ancl dcarcst to them, wcrethuught the tnost worthyoHeriogtito thcir gods Thc Carthagenians, who ~' er p a cotony frotn

Tyre, carricd with them thc religion of thcir mothcr country



t'

ELUCI DATIONS 0F THE MARVEU.OUS, 8t

G

in several customs, both of the Devonians and the

Comigh but in Ireland may still be seen the bolyfires in a!l their solemnity. The Irish call the month

ofMay ~c, or fire of Belus and the firet of

May Z~ or the day of Belus's fire. In an

old Irish glossary, it is mentioned that the Druids

of Ireland used to light two solemn fires every year,

through which all four-footed beasts were driven,as a preservative against contagious distempers.

The Irish hâve this custom at the present moment,

they kindle the fire in t he milking yards; men,

women, and children pass through or leap over it,

and their cattle are driven through the names of the

burning straw, on the ~r~ of Afay; and in the

month of November, they have also their fire feasts

when, according to thé custom of the Danmomans,' f

as well as the Irish Druids, the hills were enveloped

jn flame. Previously to this solemnity (on the eve

'.of November) the nre in every private house was

~xtinguished hither, then, the people were obliged

to resort, in order to rekindle it. The ancient

Persians named the m onth of November, ~4~' or

~~e Adur, according to Richardson was the angel

~presiding over that eïement, in consequence of

which, on the ninth, his name-day, thé countryMazed all around with flaming piles, whiist thé

~nd institutcd the same wofship in tho parts whcrc t!<('y

~were seated. Parents o~ered up their own chihh'en as

dearest to thetnscivcs, and therefore the more acceptable'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.



83 TtIAUiMATURGIA, OR

noagi, by the injunction of Zoroaster, visitcd with

great solemnity ail the temples of fire throughoutthe empire which, on this occasion, were adorned

and Illumioated in a most splendid manner. Hence

our British illuminations in November had probablytheir origin. It was at this season that Baal <S'ctM~<!M

called the souls to judgment, which, accordingto their déserts, were assigned to re-enter the bodies

of men or. brutes, and to be happy or misérableduring their next abode on the earth.

The primitive christians, attached to their pagan

ceremonies, placed the feast of AU-Souls on the la

Samon, or the second of November. Even now the

pensants in Ireland assemble on the vigil of la Samon

with sticks and clubs, going f rom house to hp~se,

colïecting money, bread-cake, butter, cheese, eggs,etc., for the feast; repeating verses in honour of the

solemnity, and calling for the black shcep. Candies

are sent from house to house and lighted up on the

Samon. (The next day.) Every house abounds in thé

best viands thé master can afford apples and nuts are

eaten in great plenty thé nutshells are burnt, and

frotn the ashes many things are foretold. Hempseedis sown by thé maidens, who believe that, if they look

back, they shall see the apparition of their intended

husbandH. Thé girls make various efforts to read

their destiny thcy hang a smock before the fire at

the close of thé feast, and sit up all night concealed in

nne corner ofthe room, expecting the apparition of the

lover to corne down the chimney and turn the shimee:

they throw a bail o f yarn out of thc window, and



ELUCIDATIONS OF THE MARVRLLOU8. 83

o 2

wind it on the ree] within, c onvinced that if they

repeat the Paternoster backwards, and look at thé

baïl of yam without, they s hall then also see his ap.

parition. Those who celebrate this ieast have numer-

ous other r ites derived from the Pagans. They dip

for apples in a tub of water, and e ndeavour to bring

up one with their mouths they catch at an apple

when stuck on at one of the e nd of a kind of hanging

beam, at the other extremity of which is f ixed a

Itghted candte, and that with their mouths oniy,

whikt it is in a circular motion, having their hands

tied bebind their backs.* jb

There is no sort of doubt that ~a<~ and ~'e wcre prin-

~cipat objecta of the ceremonies and adoration of thc Druids.

a Thc principal season of thèse, and of their <east8 in honour

;;pf Baal, was new year's day, when the sun began visiMy to

return towards us the custom is not yet at an end, the coun-

try people still burningontthc old ycar and welconting in thc

new by nres lighted on thé top of hills, and other high ptaccs.Thé next scason was thé month of May, when thé fruits of

thé earth began, in tbe Eastern countries, to be gathered,

~and thé first fruits of them consccrated to Baal, or to the

~Mn, whose benign ionuencc had ripencd them and o ne is

~a!mo8t persuaded that thc dance round the May pote, in that

montb, is a faint image of thé rites obscrved on such occa-

~sionst Thc ncxtgrcat festival was on thé 21st of June, when

~the suH) being in Cancer, nrstnppenrstogohackwardsand

~teavc u s. On t his occasion the Baalim used t o call thé

people together, and to light f ires on high places, and to

cause their sons, and their daughtcrs, and their cattle to pass

throngh the nre, caUing upon Baa! to btess them~ and not

forsake them.



8~ THAUMATURGIA, OR

THE BRITISH MAGt.

The Druids, who were the tnagi of the Britons,

had an infinite number of ri tes in common with the

Persians. One of thé chief functions of thé Eastern

magi, was divination and Pomponius Me~a tells us,

that our Druida possessed the same art. There was

a solemn rite of divination among the Druids from

the fall of thé victim and convulsions of his limbs, or the nature and position of hia entrails. But the

British priests had various kinds of divination. Bythc number ofcriminal causes, and by the increase

or diminution of their own order, thcy predicted ferti.

lity or scurcity. From the neighing or prancing of

white herses, harnessed to a consecrated chariot-

from the turnings and windings of a hare let loose

from thc bosom of thé diviner (with a variety of

other ominous appearances or exhibitions) they pre-tended to determine the events of futurity.*

Of all creatures thé serpent exercised, in thé most

curious manner, thé invention of the Druids. To thefamous aM~M~Mw thcy attributed high virtues. The

aK~MMMM or serpent'8 egg, was a congeries of amall

snalœs rolled together, and incrusted with a sheU,

formed by thé saliva or viscous gum, or frotli of the

mother serpent. This egg, it secms was tossed into

thé air, by ttie hiBsings of its dam, and bcfore it fell

ln Devonshire and Cornwall it is still conaidcred on!

noua if a barc crosses a person on thc road.



B LUC ÏD ATÏ ON 6 OP THE MA RV ELMU S. 85

again to the earth (where it would be defiled) it wa~

h to be received in the sagus or sacred vestment. The

person who caught the egg was to make his escape on

horseback, since thé serpent pursues the ravisher of

its young, even to the brink ofthe next river. Pliny,from whom this account is taken (lib. 29. C. 3.)

procceds with an enumeration of other absurdities re.

lating to the anguinum. This o~KïMM~ is in British

called G'/a~-M<?!

or théserpent

of ghtss

and the

same superstitious reverence which the Danmonii

universally paid to the angainum, is still discoverable

in some parts of Cornwall. Mr. Llhuyd informs us

that the Cornish retain a variety of charma, and

have still towards the Land'R-End, the amulets of

Maen'Magal and Gïain.nbider, which latter they call

Melprer, and have a charm for the snake to make it,

when they find one asleep, and stick a hazel wand

in the centre of her spiraB," or coUs.

Wc are informed by Cambden that, in most

parts of Wales, and throughout all Scotland and Com-

wall, i t is an opinion of the vulgar, that about mid-

summcr-eve (though in the time they do not ail agree)the snakes meet in companies, and tbat by joiningheads together and hissing, a kind of bubble is formed,

which thé rest, by continuai hissing, blow on till it

passes quite through thé body, when it immediately

hardens, and resembles a glass-ring, which whoever

finds shaH prosper in all his undertakings. The ringsthus generated arc called C'/c~M~~op~, or snake.

stones. They are smaU glass amulets, commonlyabout ha~f as widc as our finger rings, but much



8C THAUMATURQIA~ OR

thicker, of a green colour usually, though sometimee

blue, and waved with red and white."

Carew says, that the country pLopIe, in Corn-

wall, have a persuasion that thé snakc's breatbing

upon a hazel wand produces a atone ring of blue

colour, in which there appears the yellow figure of a

snake, a nd that beasts bit and envenomed, being

given some water to drink wherein this stone has

been infused, will perfectiy recover the poison.*From the animal, the Druids passed to the vege-

table world and tliese also displayed their powers,whilst by the charma of the misletoe, the selago, and

the samopis, they preventcd or repelled diseases. From

the undulation 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

retained i n the w estern counties. To this day, the

Cornish have been accustomed to consult their famous

weU at Madem, or rather the spirit of the well, res.

pecting their future destiny.

Hither," says Borlase, corne the uneaay, impatient, and superstitious, and by dropping pinst or

pebblea into the water, and by shaking the groundround the spring, so as to raise bubbles f rom the

bottom, at a certain t ime of the year, moon and day,

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

t Thé same superstition still exista in Devonshire.



ELUCÏDATïOKS OP THE MARVBLLOU8. 87

endeavour to remove their uneasiness: yct thé

supposed responses serve equally to encrease the

gloom of the melancholy, thé suspicions ofthejealous,and the passion of thé enamoured. The Castalmn

fountain, and many others among the Crecians were

supposed to be of a prophetie nature. By dipping a

fair mirror into a well, HM Patraeans of Grcece

received, as they supposed, some notice ofensmng

sickness or health from the, various ngurespourtrayedupon the surface. Thé people of Laconia cast into a

pool, sacred to Juno, c akes of bread c orn if the cakes

sunk~ good was portended if they swam, somethingdreadful was to ensue. Sometimes the superstitionsthrew three stones into the water, and formed their

conclusions from thé several tums they made in sink-

ing." The Druids were likewise able to communicate,

by consécration, the most portentous virtues to rocks

and stones, which could determine the succession of

princes or the fate of empires. To the Rocking or

Logan stone, several of which remain sti ll in Devon-

shire and Cornwall, in particular, they had recourse to

connrm their authority, cither as prophets or judges,'`

pretending that its motion was miraculous. These

~`v;religious rites were celebrated in consecrated places

and temples, in thé midst of groves. The mysterious

silence of an ancient wood diffuses even a shade of

horror over minds that are yet superior to aupersti-tious credulity. Their temple was seldom any other

-"v than a wide circle of rocks perpendicularly raised.

An artificial pile of large flat stone usually composcdthe altar; and thé whole religious mountain was

usually enclosed by a low mound, to prevent the in-



88 THAUMATURGIA, OR

trusion of the profane. There was something in

the Druidical species of heathenism," exclaims

Mr. Whitaker, in a. style truly oriental, that was

well calcalated to arrest the attention and impress

the mind. The rudely majeatic circle of stones in

their temples, thé enormous Cromlech, the massy

Logan, the huge Carnedde, and the magnificent am.

phitheatre of woods, would aU very strongly lay hold

upon that religious thoughtfulness of soul, which has

ever been so n atural to man, amid aU thé wrecks of

humanity-the monument of his former perfectionThat Druidism, as existing originally in Devonshire

and Cornw all, was immediately transported, in all its

purity and perfection, from the East, seems extremely

probable.

Among the sacred rites of the Druids tl iere were

none more celebrated than that they uaed of the

misletoe of thé oak. They believed this tree was

chosen by God himself. Thé misletoe was what

they found but seldom whenever, therefore, theymet with it, they fetched it with great ceremony,and did i t on thé sixth day of the moon, with which

day they began both their months and their years.

They gave a name to this shrub, denoting that it had

the virtue of curing all diseases. They sacrificed

victims to it, believing that, by its virtue, the

barren were made fruitful. They looked upon it

likewise as a preservative against all poisons. Thus

do sevcral nations of the world place their religionin the observation of trines,

The Druids were also extremely superstitious in



ELUCIDATÏONS 0F THE MARVELLOUS. 89

relation to the herb selago, which they reckoned a

preservative against sore eyes, and almost all mis-

fortunes. Another herb callcd samotis, which they

imagined had a virtue to prevent diseases among

cattle, they were very ceremonious about gathering.

'nie person was obliged to be clad in white, and was

not suffered to handie it and the ceremony was pre-ceded by a sacrifice of bread and wine.

The Druids had another superstition amongst them,in regard to their serpents' cggs, which they supposed

were formed o f thé saliva of many of those créa-

tures, at a certain time of the moon thèse they

looked upon as a sure prognostic of getting the

better of their enemies. These, with many other

ridiculous fooleries, were imposed upon the credulous

people, as they were very much attached to divina-

tion. The Druids regarded the misletoe as an an-

tidote against aU poisons, and they preserved their

selago against all misfortunes. The Persians had

the same confidence in thé efficacy of several herbs,

and used them in a s imilar manner. Thé Druids eut

their misletoe with a golden hook, and the Persians

eut thé twigs of G~c~, or A~M~ï,' called &MrMM, with

a peculiar sort of concentrated knife. The candidates

for the British throne had recourse to the fatal stone

to (letermine their prétendions; and on s imilar

occasions the Persians had recourse to thé Ar-

tizoe.

From every view of the Druid religion, Mr. Pol.

whele concludes that it derived its origin from the

Persian magi. Dr. Borlasse has drawn a long and



90 TMAUMATURGtA, OR

elabortite parallel between the Druids and Persians,

where he bas plainly proved that they resembled

each other, as strictly as possible, in every particular

of religion.*

Sec accountof Dmidistu in Polcwhctc's Historical View:!

of Devonsturc, vol. 1.



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVELLOUS. &]

CHAPTER VI.

~SCULAFÏAN MY8TERIE8, &C.

ApOLLO is said to have been one of the most gen-

tle, and at the same time, as may be inferred from

his numerous issue, one of the most gallant of the

heathen deities. The first and most noted of his sons

was ~Esculapius, whom he had by the nymph Cor-

onis . Some say that ApoUo, on account of her in.

fidelity, shot his mother when big with child with

him but repenting the tact, saved the infant, and

gave him to Chiron to be instructed in physic.~Others report, that as King Phlegyas, her father

was carrying her with him into Peloponnesua, her

pains surprised her on the confines of Epidauria

where, to conceal her shame, she exposed the in-

fant on a mountain. Thé <rM~, however is, that this

~Esculapius was a poor infant cast away, a dropt

Ovid, who rotâtes 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 near Epidaurus, by his unnatu.

ral parents, who were afterwards ashamed to own

him he w as shortly afterwards found by some

huntsmen, who, seeing a lighted flame or glory

surrounding bis head, looked upon i t as a prog-nostic of the child's future glory. Thé infant was

delivered by them to a nurse named Trigo, but thé

poets say he was suclded by a goat. He studied

physic under Chiron the centaur, by whose care hemade such progress in thé medical art, as gainedhim so high a reputation that he was even reported

to h ave raised the dead. His nrst cures were

wrought upon Ascles, King of Epidaurus, and

Aunes, King of Daunia, which last was troubled

with sore eyes. fn short, his success was so great,that Pluto, seeing tlie number of his ghosts daily

decrease, complained to Jupiter, who killed him

with his t hunderbolts. Such was his pronciency in

medical skill, that lie was generally esteemed the godof physic.

In the city of Tetrapolis, which belonged to the

Ionians, ~Escuhpius had a temple full of rare cures,

dedicated to him by those who ascribed their re-

covery to him and its waïls were covered and hungwith memorials of the miracles he had performed.

Cicero reckons up three of thé names of ~Escu.

lapius. The first thé son of Apollo, worshipped in

Arcadia, who inventcd thé probe and bandages for

wounds thé second the brother of Mercury, killed

by lightning and the third the'sonofArsippus

Arsione, who nrpt taught the art of tooth-drawing




nnd purging. Others make ~Esculapius an Egyp-tian, King of Memphis, antécédent by a thousand

years to the ~Escu!apins of the Gréées. The

Romans nunibered him among thé Dii Adcititii, of

such as were raised to heaven* by their merit, as

Hercules, Castor and PoIÏux. The Greeks receivcd

their knowledge of ~Escu~apius from the Phœnicians

and Egyptians. His chief temples were at Pergamus,

Smyrna, and Trica, a city of lonia, and the isle of Coos, or Cos in which al! votive tablets were hung

up,* shewing thé diseases cured by his assistance

but his most famous shrine was at Epidaurus, where

every five years in the spring, solemn games were

instituted to him nine days after the Isthmian games

at Corinth.

It was by accident that the Romans became ac-

quainted with iEsculapius. A p~ague happened in

Italv, the oracle was consulted, and thé reply was

that they should fetch thé god Esculapius from Epi-

daurus. An embassy was appointed of ten senators,

at thé head of whom was Q. Ogulnius. These de-

puties, on their arrivai, visiting thé temple of the

god, a. huge serpent came from under the altar, and

crossing thé city, went directly to their ship, and

lay down in the cabin of Ogulnius;t upon which

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

ambassadors of its own accord tu thé ship thnt transported




they set sail immediatcly, and arriving in thé Tiber,

the serpent quitted the ship, and retired to a little

island opposite to the city, where a temple was

erected to the god, and the pestilence ceased.

Thé animats saqrinced to ~Esculapius were the

goat some say on account of his having been

nursed by this animal others because this crea-

ture is unhealthy, as labouring under a perpétuaifever. The

dog and the cock were sacrificed to

him, on account of their fidelity and vigilance the

ra.ven was also devoted to him for i ts forecast, and

being skilled in divination. Authors are not agreedas to his being the inventor of physic, some affirm-

ing he perfected that part only which relates to the

regimen of the sick.

The origin of this fable is as follows :-the public

sign or symbol exposed by the Egyptians in their

assemblies, to wam the people to mark the depth of

thé inundation of the Nile, in order to regulate their

ploughing accordingly, was the figure of a man with

a dog's head, carrying a pole with serpents twisted

round it, to which they gave the name of Anubis,~

Th<umt,t and /Rsculapma.~ In process of time, they

it to Rome, where it was placcd in a temple huHt in thc

isle called Tibcrina. ïn thts temple the sick pcop!c wcre

wont to lie, and whcn they fonnd thcmsctvcs no botter, theyrcvited ~scuh~pius so impaticntiy ungratcfut and pccvishwere ofwn thé nMtctcd, that they tnade no scrnptc to reproachthé very god who administered to thcir maladies.*From Hannobcach, wtnch~ in thePhœnicianianguage,

signifies thc &(f)-Act',or ~omo', Anubis.

This word signifies thé dog.From ~Kt. man, and M/c~/<, dog, comeN ~E~M~A, the

man-dog, or ~Escuiapius.



NLUCIMATION8 0F THK MARVELLOUS. 93

made use of this représentation for a real king, who

by thé study of physic, sought the preservation of

his subjects. Thus the dog and the serpents became

thé characteristics of ~sculapius amongst the Ro-

mans and Greeks, who were entirely strangers to thé

original meaning of thèse hieroglyphics..

~Escuïapius was represented as an old man, with

a long beard, crowned with a branch of bay tree

in his hauds was a staff full of knots, about whicha serpent had twisted itself at his feet s tood an

owl or a dog-characteristics of the qualities of a

good physician, who must be as cunning as a ser-

pent, as vigilant as a dog*, as cunning and experi-enced a s an old bashaw, to bandle a- thing so diffi-

cult as physic. At Epidaurus his statue was of goldand ivory,* seated on a throne of the same materials,

with a long beard, having a knotty stick in one hand,

thé other entwined with a serpent, and a dog lyingat his feet. Thé Phliasians depicted him as beard-

less, and tlie Romans crowned him with a laurel,

to denote his descent fromApollo.

The knots in

his staff signify t!ie d!fncu!ties that occur in the studyof medicinc. He had by his wife Epione two. sons,

Machaon and Podalirius, both skillôd in surgery,and who are mentioned by Homer as having been

présent at the siège of Troy, and who were veryserviceable to thé Greeks. He had also two daugh-

ters, called Hygisca and Jaso.

This imngc was the work of Titrasymedes, thé son of

Arignotus, a nMtivc of l'nros.




CHAPTER VII.

tNFERIOR DEITtES ATTENDïXG MANKIKD FROM

THEÎR HïRTH TO THEtR DRCEA8R.

IT would be almost an endless task to enter into

a detail of aU the infenor deities of the Gréées and

Romans our object heing to refer to such only as

preside over thé heatth of thé human race, every

part and parcel of whom had their presiding genius.

–Dunng pregnancy, thé tutetar powers were thé

god Pelumnus,~ and the goddesses Intet'cedonia.t andDevcrra.~ The import of the~e words scems to pointout the necesstty of warmth and c~eattliness to ladies

in this condition.

Besides thé superior goddesses Jemo-Lucien,

Diana Ilythia, and Latona, who all prcsided at the

Either from /)t7«H!, 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~

M

birth, there were the goddesses Egeria,* Prosa,t

and Manageneta,t who with the Dii Nixii,~ had

all the care of women in labour.

To children, Janus perfonned the office of

door-keeper or midwife and in this quality was

assisted by the goddess Opis or Ops ;)) Cuma rocked

the cradle, whi!e Carmenta sung their destinyLevana lifted them up from thé ground and

Vegetanus took care of them when they cried;Rumina*~ watched them while they suckled;

Polina furnished them with drink and Edura with

food or nourishment; i Osslago knit their bones,

and Camatf strengthened their constitutions. Nu-

dina~ was the goddess of children's purificationStilinus or Statanus instructed them to walk, and

Prom casting out thé birth.

t Aulus GeHius.

~E!inn.

Frotn <f~or, to strugg!c. Sec Auaonuts, IdyU 12.

tt Somcmake 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,lifted it up hcnce the expression of tollere /<&<'roa,to educatc

children.

This goddess had a temple nt Rome, and her o(!eringswerc 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.



98 THAUMATUROÏA, OK

kept them from falling Fabulina learnt them to

prattle the goddess Paventia preserved them from

frights and Camopna taught them to sing. Nur was thé infant, when grown to riper years,

left without lus protectors Juventas was the godof youth Agenoria excited men to action and the

goddesses Stimula and Strenua inspired courage aud

vivacity Hortaf inspired the fame or love of gloryand Sentra gave them the sentiments of probity and

justice Quies was thé goddesses of repose or ease4

and Indolena, or laziness, was deified by the name of

Murcia;§ Vacua protected the idle; Adeona and

Abeona, secured people in going a broad and re-

tuming ;)j and Vibilia, if they wandered, was so

kind as to put them in the right way Fessonia

refreshed the weary and fàtigued and Meditrina

healed the sicMy Vitula was thé goddess of mirth

and frolic; Volupia thé goddess who bestowed

pleasure;tt Orbona was addressed, that parents

might not love their offspring; Pellonia averted

mischief and danger and Numeria taught people to

Prom Pa~orem!i vcrtcndo.

t She !):tda 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.



ELU CI DA TI ONS 0 F THE MA RV ELLO U8 . 9<)

Il 2

cast and keep accounts Angerona cured the anguishor sorrow of t he mind Havres Martia secured

heirs the estates they expected and Stata or Statua

Mater, secured the forum or market place from nre

even the thieves had a protectress in Laverna;f

Averruncus prevented sudden misfortunes; and

Conius was always disposed to give good advice to

such as wanted it Volumnus inspired men with a

disposition to do well and Honorus raised them to preferment and honours.

Nor was thé marriage state without i ts peculiar defenders. Five deities were csteemed so necessar)',that no marriages were solemnized witliout askingtheir favours these were Jupiter-Perfectus, or the

Adult, Juno, Venus, Suadeïa,~ and Diana. Juga-tinus tied the nuptial knot Domiducus ushered the

bride home Domitius took care to keep her there, and

prevent her gadding abroad Maturna preserved the

conjugal union entire Virginensis§ loosed the bridle

zone or girdle Viriplaca was a propitious goddes~,

ready to reconcile thé married couple in case of any

accidentai difference. Matuta was thé patronesi-< of

In a great murrain which destroycd the!r cnttlc, thc

Romans invoked this goddcss, and shc rcinovcd thc piagne.t The image was a head without a body. Horace tncn-

tions her (Lib. 1. Epist. XV!. 60). Site hnd a templewithout the waHs, which gave thé nnmc to the Porta Laver-

nalis.

Thc goddcss of cloquence, or persuasion, who h<td

always a grcat hand in thc sncccss of courtship.§ She was n!so caHcd Cinxia Juno.




matrons, no maid being suffered to enter her temple.The married was always held to be the only honourable

state for woman, during the times of pagan antiquity.The goddess Vacuna,* is mentioned by Horace

(Lib. ï. Epist. X. 49.) as having her temple at

Rome the rustics celebrated her festival in December,

after the harvest was got in (Ovid. Fast. Lib. XI).The ancients assigned the particular parts of the

body to particular deities the head was sacred to

Jupiter the breast to Neptune thé waist to Mars

the forehead to Genius thé eye.brows to Juno, the

cyes to Cupid the ears to Memory thé right hand

to Fides or Veritas thé back to Pluto the knees to

Misericordia or mercy the legs to Mercury the

feet to Thetis and the fingers to Minerva.f

Thé goddess who presided o ver funerals was

Libitina,' whose temple at Rome, the utidertakers

She was an old Sabine dcity. Some makc her the same

with Ceres; but Varro imagines her to be thé goddesa of

victory.

t From thia distribution arose, pcrhaps, the scheme of

our modem astrologers, w!t0 asstgn thc ditTcrcnt parts of

the hody to thc different consteHations, or signs of Zodiac

as thchcadtoArics, the ncck toTanrus, ttteshoutdersto

Cetnin!, tlie heart to Cancer, the breast to Léo, und so on.

Thc prctcndcd issues of astrology have becn aiways insepa-rnb!e from stctht!' influence, and thc xodiac bas ever bccn

U)c fruitful source of its solemn dctusions.

Some confound this goddcss with ï'roscrpine, othcrs

with Venus.



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 10 t

furnîshed with all thé necessaries for the interment

of the poor or rich all dead bodies were carried

through the Porto Libitina; and the Rationes LibitinaB

mentioned by Suetonius, very nearly answer to our

bills of mortality.



102 THACMATURGïA, OR

CHAPTER VIII.

JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY-ITS CHEMICAL APPLICATION

TO THE PROLONGATION 0F LIFE AND HEALTtf–

ALCHYMICAL DELUSIONS.

THE study of astrology, so nattering to human

curiosity got into favour with mankind at a very

early period,-especially with the weak and igno-

raut. The first account. of it we meet with is in

Chaldea and at Rome it was known by the name

of the Babylonish calculation," against which

Horace very wisely cautioned his readers.~ It wasdoubtless the first method of divination, and probably

prepared the mind of man for aU thé various methods

since employed of searching into futurity a briefview

therefore of the rise of this pretended science cannot

be improper in this place, especially as thé history of thèse absurdities is the best method of confuting them.

e nec Bnby!oniosTentaria numéros.–L!b. 1. ad Xî.

That is, conault not thé table!! of planetary calculationsused by astrologers of Babylonish origin.



RLUCIDATK)N8 0F THE MARVELLOU8. 103

Others have ascribed the~ invention of this déceptionto the Arabs ;–be tins as it may. Judicial Astrology*has been too much used by the priests and physicians

of aU nations to encrease thcir own power and emo-

lument. They maintain that thé heavens are one

great book, in which God has written the history of

the world and in which every man may read his

own fortune and the transactions of his time.

In this department of astrotogy (judicial) we meetwith aU the idle conceits about thé horary reign of

planets, thé doctrine of horoscopes, the distribution

<~ the houses, the calculation of nativities, j~b~MM~,

lucky and urslucky hours, and other ominous fatalities.

They assert that i t had its rise from the same hands

as astronomy itself ;-that while thé ancient Assyrians,whose serene unclouded sky favoured their celestial~ob-

This conjectural science is dividcd into natural and

jud!cia!. The first is confined to the study of exploringnatural efiects, as change of wcathcr, winds and storms-

hurricanes, thunder, fioods, earthquakcs, and thc like. tn

this sensé 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 motions of the planets and to explain an infinity of

phenonena by the contemplation of t hé s tars. The

honourabie Mr. Boyle admitted, that ali physical bodics

arc inftuenced by the heavenly bodies; and the doctor's

opinion, in his trcatisc conccrning thc power of the sun and

tnoon, ctc.-is in faveur of the doctrine. But thèse prédic-tions and influcnce arc ridiculcd, nnd entirc!y cxptodcd bythc most estcctncd modern ptntosophcrs, of which thc

rpader rnay hâve a tcarned spccitncn in Rohautt's Tract.

rhysie. pt. H. c 27.



104 THAUMATURGIA, OR

servations, were intent on tracing the paths and

periods of thé heavenly bodies, they discovered

a constant settled relation or analogy between them

and things below hence they were led to conclude

these to be thé fates or destinies (Parcee) so much

taiked of, which preside at our birth, and disposeof our future state.

Thé Egyptians, who derived their astrological su-

perstitions from the Chaldeans, becoming ignorant of the astronomical hieroglyphics, bY degrees looked

upon thé names of the signa as expressing certain

powers with which they were invested, and as indi-

cations of their several offices. Tlie sun, on account

of its splendour and enlivening influence, was ima.

gined to be the great mover of nature thé moon

held the second rank of powers, and each sign and

constellation a certain share in thé guvernment of

the world. The ram, (Aries ) had a strong in-

fluence over the young of the floeks and lierds the

balance, (Libra ) could inspire nothing but inclina-

tions to good order and justice and the scorpion,

(Scorpio ït~) to excite only evil dispositions. In short,

each sign produced the good or evil intimated by its

name.

Thus, if a child happened to be born at thé in-

stant when the first star of thé ram rose abovc the

horizon, (when, in order to give this nonsense the

air of a science, thé s tar was suppose(t to have its

greatest influence,) he would bc rich in cattle and

he who shouM enter tlie world undcr thé crab,

would meet with nothing but disappointments,

and all his affairs go backwards and downwards.



ELU CI DA TI ONS O F TH E MA RV ELLO U8. ~5

Thé people were to be happy whose king entered

thé world under the sign Libra but completely

wretched if he should light under the horrid sign

scorpion. Persons born undcr capricom (~f) es-

pecially if the sun at the sarne time ascended thé

horizon, were sure to meet with success, and rise

upwards like the wild goat and tlie sun wliich then

ascends for six months together. The lion, (Léo <~)

was to produce heroes and the virgin (Virgo ï~ )with her ear of com to inspire chastity, and to unite

virtue with ahundance. Could anything he more ex-

travagant and ridicutous

Thé case was exactly the same with respect to thé

planets, whose innuence is only founded on thc wild

supposition of their being the habitations of the pre-tended deities, whose names they bear, and the fabu-

lous characters thé poets have given them. Thus,

to Saturn, they gave languid and even destructive

influences, for no other reason but because they had

been pleased to make this planet the residence of

Saturn, who was painted with grey hairs and ascythe. To Jupiter they gave thé power o f be-

stowing crowns and distributing long life, wealth,

and grandeur, merely because it bears thé name of

the father of life. Mars was supposed to in-

spire a strong inclination for war, because it was be-

lievedto be the residenceof the god of war. Venus p

had thé power of rendering men voluptuous and fond of

pleasure, 'because they had becn pleased to give it thé

name of o ne who by some was thought to he the

mother of pleasure. Mercury though almost

always invisible, would never have been thought to

superintend tlie property of states, and the a~airs of



10~ THAUMATURGIA,OR

wit and commerce, had not men, without thé least

reason, given it thé name of one who was supposedto be the inventor of civil polity.

According to Astrologers, thé power of thé ascend.

ing planet is greatly increased hy that of an ascending

sign then thc benign influences are all united, and

fall together on t he head of all thc happy infants

who at that moment enter the world yet can any-

thing be more contrary to expérience, which sliewsus, that the characters and events produced by per-sons bom under the same aspect of thé stars, are so

far from being alike, that they are directly oppo-site.

What completes the ridicule," saystheAbbéLa

Pluche, to whom we are obliged for thèse judicious

observations, is, that what astronomers call the

first degree of thé ram, the balance, or of sagita-

rius, i s no longer the first sign, wh~ gives fruit-

fulness to the flocks, inspires men with a love of

justice, or forms thé h ero. It lias been found that

all the celestial signs hâve, by dcgrces, receded from

the vernal cquinox, and drawn back to thc East

notwithstanding this, thé point of the zodiac that

cuts thé cquator is still ca!!cd thc first degree of the

ram, though thé nrst star of the r am be thirty de-

grees beyond it, and all thc other signa m the same

proportion. When, thcrefore, any one is said to be

born under ttie nrst degree of the ram, it was in

reaHty one of the degrees of pisces that then came

above the horizon and when another is said to be

born with a roya! soul and heroic disposition, be-

cause at his birth the planet Jupiter ascended the

horizon, in conjutiction with the first star ofsagitary,



ELUCI DATIONS OP THE MA~VELLOUS. 107

Jupiter was indeed at that time in conjunction with

a star thirty degrees eastward of sagitary, and in

good truth it was the pemicious scorpion that presidedat thé birth of this happy, this incomparahle child."

And so i t would, as Shakspeare says, U if my mo-

ther's cat had kittened. This," says our saga-cious bard, is the excellent foppery of the world,

that when we are sick in fortune, (after the surfeit of

our own behaviour) we make guilt of our disasters,

the sun, the moon, and the stars as if we were

villains by necessity fools, by heavenly compulsionknaves, thieves, and treachers, (traitors) by spherical

predominance drunkards, liars, and adulterers, byan enforced obedience of planetary Innuence and

aU that we are evil in by a divine thrusting on an

admirable evasion of a whoremaster to lay his goatishtricks to the charge of a star My father com-

pounded with my mother under the dragon's tail

and my nativity was under Ursa major so that i t

follows 1 am rough and treacherous.–Tut 1 should

have been that 1 am, had the maidenliest star in thefirmament twinkled at my bastardizing." Thus it is

evident, that astrology is built upon no principles,that it is founded on fables, and on influences void

of rea~ty. Yet absurd as it is, and even was, it

obtaincd credit; and the more it spread, thé greater

injury was done to the cause of virtue. Instead of

the exercise of prudence and wise precautions, it

substituted superstitious forms and childish practicesit enervated the courage of the brave by apprehen-sions grounded on puns, and encouraged thé wicked,

by making them lay to thé charge of a planet



!03 THAUMATURGIA, OR

thosc evils which oniy procceded f rom their own

depravity.But not content with such absurdities, which

destroycd thé very idea of liherty~ they asserted that

these stnrs, which had not thé least connection with

mankind, governed aU the parts of thé human body,and ridtcutousïy affirmed that thé ram presided over

thc head, the hu!l over thé gullet, the twins over

thé hreast, théscorpion

over thé entrails, the fishes

over the feet, etc. The jugg!ea of astrology have

becn admirably ridiculed by Butïer in thé followingHnes

Some hy tlie nose with fumes trepan *cn),Aa Dunstan did thé deviFs grannam;Others, with characters and words,Catch 'en], as men in nets do birdsAnd somc with symbols, signs, and tricks,

Hn~rav~d in planetary nicks,Wtth their own ~nfiuencc will fetch 'cmDown from their orbs, arrest and catch *emMakc 'cm dépose and answer toAt!

questions, cre

they let them

go.Hombastus kcpt a devins bird

Shut in the pumme! of his sword,And taught him a!! thé cunning pranksOf past and future mountebanks.

//M</<& part ii. canto 3.

By mcans of thé zodiac, astrologers prctended to

account for the various disorders of the body, which

were supposcd to bc in a good or had disposition,

according to thé different aspects* of these signa.

o By aspect is to bc understood an angle formed by the



ELUCIDATI ONS OP THR MARYELLOUS~ 109

To mention only one instance, they pretended that

great caution ought to bc used in taking medicinc

under Taurus, or thé bull because, as this animal

chews his cud, the person would not be able tokeep it

in his stomach.

Each hour of thé day had also i ts presiding star.

The number seven, as being that of the planets, became of mighty consequence. Thé seven days in

the week,-a period of time handed down by tradi.tion, happened to correspond with the number of

the planets and therefore they gave thé name of

a planet to each day and from thence some daysin the week were considered more fortunate or un-

lucky than thé rest and hence seven times seven,

called thé climacterical period of hours, days, or

yenrs, were thought extremely dangerous, and to

have a surprising effect on private persons, thé for-

tunes of princes, and thé government of states.

Thus the mind of man became distressed by imagi-

nary evils, and the approach of thèse moments, in

themselves as harmless as thé rest of their lives, bas by thestrengthof the imagination, brought on the

most fatal enects.

Nay, thé influence of thé planets were extended

to thé bowels of thé earth, where they were sup-

posed to produce metals. From hence it appearsthat when superstition and folly are once on foot,there is no setting hounds to their progress. Gold,

as a mattor of course, must bc the production of the

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



HO THAUMATURQtA~OR

sun, and thé couformity in point of colour, bright-

ness, and value, was a sensible proof of it. By the

same mode of rcasoning, thé moon produced all the

silver, to which it was related by colour Mars, all

the iron, which ought to be thé favourite métal of

thé 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 sup-

posed favourite residence of this goddess. In the

same strain, the other plancts presided over thc

other metals. The languid Saturn domineered over

the lead mines, and Mercury, on account of his

activity, had tlie superintendency of quicksilver while it was t he province of Jupiter to preside over

tin, a s t his was the only métal !cft him, it would

appear, a Mnd of Hobson's choice."

This will explain thé manner in which the metals

obtained the names of the planets and from this

opinion, that each planet eng~endered its own peculiar

metal, they at length formed an idea that, as one

planet was more powcrfui than another, thé metal

produced by thé weakest w as converted into an-other by thc prcdominating influence of a stronger orb.

Lead, though really a metal, and as pcrfcct in its

kind as any of thc rest, was con<.idered oniy haïf

a métal, which, in conséquence of thc !anguid in-

fluences of old Saturn, was left impcrfcct and,

therefore, under thc auspices of Jupiter, itwas con-

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



ELUCÏDATÏONSOP THH MARVELLOU8. ttt 1

extravagant opinion of thé alchymists, who, with

amazing sagacity, endeavoured to find out means for

hastening t!)ese changes or transmutations, which, as

they conccived, the planets performed too slowly.The world, however, became at length convinced that

thé art of t hc alchymist was as ineffectual as the

influences of thé planets, which, in a long succession

of ages, h ad never been known to change a mine

of lead to that of tin or any other metal.~The first author we are acquaintcd with who talks

of making gold by thé transmutation of one metal,

t)y means of an aicahestf into another, is Zozimus

tlie Pomopohte, who lived about the commencement

of the fifth century, and who bas a treatisc express

upon it, called, The divine art of making goldand silver," in manuscript, and is, as formerly, in the

library of the King of France.

As regards the universal mcdicine, said to dépendon alchemical research, we discover no earuer or

Those who wish to rcad a curions monument of thé

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 his quarto'vo!umf, in which hc hati coUectcd thc works of

scvcrat Eng!ish atchytnista, to which lie bas Rubjoined bis

cotntncntury. It atTords curious spcconcns of Kosicrucian

tnystcrics and he rcjntcs storics, which vie for tbc tnira-

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, withwhich some chonists hâve prctcndcd to rcsutvc ait bodh'sinto their first cieiiients, and pcrform other extraoniioaryand unaccountabtc operatious.



112 THAUMATUROIA. OR

plainer traces than in this author, and in ~Eneas

Gazeus, another Greek writer, towards the close of

the same century nor among thé physicians and

materialists, from Moses to Geber thé Arab.f who is

supposed to have lived in the seventh century. In

that author's work, entitled the Philosopher's

stone," mention is made of medicine that cures all

leprous discases. This passage, some authors sup-

pose, to have given the nrst hint of the matter,

though Geber himself, perhaps, meant no such thing

for, by attending to the Arabie style and diction of

this author, which ahounds in allegory, it is highiy

probable that by man he means gold, and hy leprous,or other diseases, the other m etals, which, with re-

lation to gold, arc aU impure.The origin and antiquity of alchymy hâve been

much controverted. If any credit may hc placed on

legend and tradition, it must be as old as thé flood-

nay, Adam himself it; represented to have been an

alchym ist. A great part, not only of the heathen

mythology, but of thé Jewish Scriptures, are

supposed to refer to it . Thus, Suidas~ will 'hâve the

In this writer wc find thefo)!owin~p<t8sage:" Suchas ure Kk!c(! in thc ways of nature, can tnk<' 8t!ver nncl tin,and chnnging thcir natm'c, can txrn then! into gold." Healso tells us that he was wont to ça!! hhnsctf a ~o/?Mc~cr 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!cn-

tinc, Pnracelsus, Vnn Xuchtcf, nnd Scndirogius.Corrin~ins caUsthis statctncnt in question, nnd asks !tow

Suidas, who Ih'ed but Hve hundred yctirs between then!,



ELUCIDATÏON80FTHE MARVELLOU8. H3

fable of the pliilosopher's stone to be alluded to in

thé fable of thé Argonauts and others find it in thé

book of Moses, as well us in otber remote places.

But, if the era of the art be cxamined by thé test of

history, it w ill lose much of i ts fancied antiquity.Thé manner in which Suidas accounts for thé total

silence of alchymy among thé old writers is, that

Diodesian procured aM thé boo~s of the ancient

Egyptians to be burnt and that it was in thesethé great mysteries of chemistry were contained.~

Kercher asserts, that thé theory of the philosopher'sstone is deHvered at !arge in tlie table of Hermès,

and thé ancient Egyptians were not ignorant of the

art, but declined to pro"ecute it.

should know what happcnefici~ht hundrcd years before him ?To which Borrichius the Dane, ansuers, that he had learntitnf Eudonus, He!!adh)s, Zozhnus, P<unphi!ius, and othcrs,as Suidas !tin)sctf relates.

Itdocs not appear that the HgypHans transmuted goldthey had ways of scpat'ating it frotn all kinds of bodics,from the

very mud of thé

Nitc, and stones of ail kinds

but,adds Kercher, thcse secrets were ncvcr written down, or made pub)ic, but con~ned to thc royal famity, and handeddown tradittonaUy frotn father to son.



U4:W7.'I.

THAUMATURGE, OR

CHAPTER IX.

ALCHYMICAL AND A8TROÏ<OGÏCAL CHIMKRA.

HAVtNG so far expiained the fragile basis on which

human knowledge may be said to have depended,

during thé obscurity and barbarity of thé middie

ages, w hen the progrcss of true knowledge was ob-

structed by thé most ahsurd fancies, and puerileconceits when conjectures, caprices, and dreams

supplied thé place of thé most useful sciences, and

of thé most important truths, the subsequent illu-

strative reflections may serve as a guide to direct theattention of the reader to other delusions, which arose

out of the general chaos.

Chemistry, a science so essentially requisite to

explain thé phenomena of k nown and unknown

substances, was studied chieny by jugglers and fana-

tics ;–their systems, replete with metap!iy~ical non-

sense, and composed of the most crude and hctero-

geneous materials, served rather to nourish super-stition than to establish facts, and iUustrate useful

truths. Universal remédies, in various forms, met

with strenuous advocates and deluded consumers.



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MAttVELLOUS. Ï!5

i 2

The path of accurate observation and experimentwas forsaken instead of penetrating into the myste-rious recesses of nature, they bewildered themselves

in thé labyrinth of fanciful spéculation they over-

stepped t hé bounds of good sense, modesty, and

truth and thé blind led the blind. The prolonga-tion of life too was no longer sought for in a manner

agreeable to thé dictates of nature even this inter-

esting branch of human pursuits was rendered sub-servient to chemistry, or rather to the confused

system of alchymy. Original matter was considered

as the elementary cause of all beings, by which they

expected literally to work miracles, to transmute the

base into noble metals, to metamorphose man in lus

animal state by chemical processes, to render him

more durable, and to secure him against early de-

cÏine and dissolution. Millions of vessels, retorts,

and phia!s, were either exposed to thé action of tlie

most violent artificial heat, or to the natural warmth

of the sun or else they were buried in some dnng-

hill or other fetid mass, for the purpose of attractingthis original matter, or obtaining it from putresciblesubstances.

As the meta called gold always bore the highest

value, these crude philosophera concluded, from a

ridicutous analogy, t hat its value with respect to

the preservation of heaith and the cure of diseases,

must likewise surpass that of all other remedies.

Thé nugatory art o f dissolving it, so a s to render i t

potable, and to prcvent it from ugain being converted

into met-il, employed a multitude of busy idiots, not

only in concealed corners, but in thé splendid labo.



!l6 THAUMATLRGÏA, OR

raties of the great. Sovcreigns, magistrales, coun-

sellors, and impostors, struek with thé common

frenzy, entcred into friendship and alliance, formed

private fraternities, and sometimes procpedcdto such

a pitcli of extravagance, as to Involve themseîves

and their posterity in ruinons dehts. Thé real

object of many was, doubtiess, to gratify their ava-

rice and désire of aggrandisement aithough this

sinister motive was conceuled under thé specious pretext of searching for a remedy that should serve

as a t inctnre of life, both for thé healthy and dis-

eased, yct some among thèse whimsical mortals

were actuatcd by more honourable motives, zealous

onlv for the intercst of truth, and thé well-being of

their feHow créatures.

Thé cummon people, in some countries, particu-

larly Italy, Germany, und France often denied theni-

selves the commun necessaries of life, to save as

much as would purcliase a few drops of thé tincture

of gold, which was on~ered for ~a!e by some su.

perstitious or fraudulent chemist and so tho-

roughiy persuaded were they of thé efficacy of this

remedy, that it afforded them in every instance the

most confident and on!y liol)e of rccovery. These

hencncial effects were positively promiscd, but were

looked for in vain. AU subduing death would not

submit to be bribed with go!d, und diseasc rcfused

to hold any intercourse with that powerfui deity, who

présides over thé industry and commerce of all na-

tions.

As, however, these diversified and almost number-

Ic~s cxpcnmcnts were frcquent!y productive of



KLUCIDATIOXSOF THE MAHYEÎ.LOUS. 117

useful inventions in arts and manufactures and, as

many chemical remédies of real value were thereby

accidentally discovered, great and almost générâtattention to thèse bold pro~ectors was constantly

kept alive and excited. Indecd, we are indebted to

their curious observations, or rather perhaps to

chance, for scvera! valuaMe mcdicines, thé excellence

of which cannot be disputcd, but which, neverthe)css,require more précaution in their use and applica-

tion, and more perspicuity and diligence in investi-

gating their nature and properties than thé original

preparers of such articles ~vere ab!e or willing to

a~brd. AU their endeavours to prolong life, byartificial means, c ould not be attended with bene-

ficial effects and the application of thé remédies

titus contrived, must necessarily, in many cases,

have proved detrimental to the healtli of the

patient.In proof of tins assertion, it will he sunicient to

give

a alight s ketch of thé difîbrent views and

opinions of thé gold-makers, Hosicrucians, manu-

facturers of astralian salts, drops of life, and tinc-

tures of gold, hunters after thé philosopher's stone,

and other equ:u!y absurd chimera.

Some of thèse extravagant enthusiasts fancied

that life resembled a flame, from which thé bodyderived warmth, spirit, and animation. They endea-

voured to cherish and increase thé flame, and sup.

plied thé body with materiais to feeti it, as we pour ni! into a burning lamp. Others imagined they had

discovered something invisible and incorporea! in thé

air, that important médium which supports the life



118 TEIAUbIATUItOIA, OR

of man. They pretended to catch, refine, reduce,

and materialize this indefinaltle sometiling, so that

it might !)e swallowed in thé form of powders,

and drops that, by its penctrating powers, it might

insinuate itself into the whole animal frame, invi-

gorate, and consequent!y qualify it for a longer duration.

Others again were foo!ish enough to

indulge a no.tion that they could divest themselves of the proper-

ties of matter during titis life; that in this manner

they might be defended against the graduai ap-

proaches of dissolution, to which every animal bodyis subject and that thusibrtined, w~thout quittingtheir terrestrial tabernaclc, tlicy could associate at

plea~ure with thé inhahitants of thé spiritual world.

Thé sacred volume itself was interpreted and com.

mented upon hy alchymists, with a view to render

it subservicnt to tlieir iutended designs. Indisput.able historical facts, recordcd in this invaluable book,

were treated by them as hieroglyphical symbols of

chemical processes and the fundamental truths of

the christian religion were applied, in a wanton and

blasphémons manner, to thé purposes of making gold,and distilling the elixir of life.

The world of spirits was also invaded, and sum.

moned, as i t were, to contribute to thé prolongationof human life. Spirits were supposed to have thé

dominion of air, fire, carth, and water; they were

dh'ided into distinct classes, and particular services

ascribed to cach. The nmlevoleut spirits were

opposed and countcracted by various meatis of pré.



ELU CJD ATI ON8 0 F T HE MA RV EÏ <M U8 . !!p

vention thé good and tutelary were obliged to

submit to a s ort of gentle, involuntary servitude.

From invisible !)eings were expectcd and demanded

visible mcans of assistance–riches, heaith, friends,

and long life. Thus thc poor spirits were profanely

maltreated, nay, sotnetimes severely punished, and

even mieerably flogged in enigy, when they betrayed

symptoms of

disaffection, or w ant of

implicit fea!ty.As men had thus, in their weakness and folly, for.

saken t!te bounds of this terrestrial sphère, it will

easily be believed, that, with thé help uf an exube.

rant imagination, they would make a transition to the

higher regions-to thé celestial bodies and the stars

to which, indeed, they ascribed no less a power thati

that of deciding the destinies of men, and which,

consequently, must hâve had a considerable sharc in

shortening or prolonging the duration of human life-

every nation or kingdom was subjected to thé domi-

nion of its particular planet thé time ofo whose

government was determined and a number of ascen.

dant powcrs were fictitiously contrived, with a viewto reduce, under its influence, every thing which was

produced and born under its administration. Thé

professors of astrology appeared as thé confidents of

thèse invisible rulers, a nd the interpreters of their

will they were well versed in thé art of giving a

respectable appearance to this usurped dignity. Pro-

vided they could but ascertain thé hour and minute of

a person's birtit, they cottfidently took upon them.

selves to predict bis mental capacities, future vicissi-

tudes of life, and the discascs he would be visited with,



!~0 THAUMATUROÏA, OR

together with thé circumstances, the day and hour

of his death.*

The following prédiction, and the v erificat ion of i t are

of ho r éce nt i t date, that wc cannot resist giving it a place in

our pages. In thc account of the late Captain Ftindcr'a

voyage of discovery, is thc mctanchoty relation of the loss

of the master, Mr. Thi<}t!c, witti seven othcrs, in a hoat, on

theinhoapitabtc

shorcs of Terra Austra!!a. To titis narrative,

thé following note is subjoined, which we shat t hèr e qnotc in

Captain F Hndc r' s own wor ds This evening, Mr. Fowlef,

thé lieutennnt, to! d me a c ir cumstancc which t hought very

extraordinary, and it aftcrwnrds provcd to bc more so.

Whi tc we were Iying at Spithead, Mr. Thi stle was one day

waiting on shore, and having notbing else to do, went to a

certain otd man, natucd Pine, to have his fortune told. Thé

cunning ma!! informed him that hc was going on a long

voyage, and that thc ship, on arriving at ber destination,

wnntd hpjoincdbyanothcrvcaHc!. Thatsuehwas intended, he

might hâve !parnt privately but he adde d that Mr . Thisttc

would hc !ost before thé other vcssei joined. As to thé man-

ncr of his loss the tnngtcian rc fuscd to givc any information.

My boat's crcw, lic-aring what Mf. Thtsdc Mtid, wcnt to con-

sut t thc wisc man, a nd af tc r thc prcfatory information ofa

long voyage thcy wcrc told that thcy woutd be shipwrccked,

but not in the ship tltcy M'erc goinp out in whcther thcywou!d csotpe and return to Engtand, ht' was notpennitted to

revent. This tnlc Mr. Thisttc oftcn told at thc mess-table;and 1 remar~cd, with some pain, in a future part o f thf

voyage, that ct'cry tune my boat 's crew wcnt t o cmbark i n

the Lady î~ctson, titcrc was som e dcgrcc of appréhension

a mon~t thon), thot thc t ime of thc prcdictcd shipwrcck was

arrivcd. 1 tnakc no comment, ( saysCapt.Pi inder s, ) uponthis story, but to r ec ommc nd a cotntnander, if possible, to

prevent any o f hi s crow front consutting fortunc-tcUers.–

It should bo obser ve d that, strangc as it nmy appcar, every

particuittr of thèse predictions came exactly to pass, for the

master and his b oat's crew wcrc f os t bef ore thc Invcstigator



ELUCïnATIOKS 0F THE MARVKLLOUS. 12!

Not otdy thé common people, but persons of

the highest rank and stations, nay, even men the

most distinguishcd for thcir rank and abi!ities, did

homage to thosc gods of thcir idolatry," and !ived

in continuai dread of their occult powers. 'With

anxious countenance and attentive ears, they listened

to the cantrip causions of thèse pretended oracles,

which prognosticated thé bright or gloomy days of futurity. Even physicians were soHcitous to qualifythen)se!ves for appointments no less lucrative than

respectable :-they forgot, over the dnzzitnghoards of

Mammon, that they are peculiarly and professedly the

pupils ofimture.–Thc curious student in the univer-

sities found everywhere puMic lecturers, who under-

took to instruct him in the profound arts of divination,

chiromancy, and thé cf/f/.

Among other instances, thé following anecdote is

related of thé noted Thurneisen, who, i n the se-

venteenth century, was invested, at Berlin, with the

respectable ofnce~ of printer to ttie court, hookseltpr,

almanack.maker, a<?tro!oger, chcmist, and first physi-cian. Me~sengera daily arrived from tlie most res-

pectable houses in Germany, Po!and, Hungary,Denmark, and even from Ëngland, for thé purposeof consu!ting him respecting thé future fortunes*

of their new-born infants, acquainting him with the

was joincd hy the Lady Nctson, from Port-Jnckson andwhen thc former ship was condcn)m;d, thc people cmbarkedwith thcir conttnnndcr on bourd thé Porpoisc, which waswrfckcd on n cumt t'ccf, and ninc of the crew wcrc tost.

In M70, the passion for horoscopes and <xpounding the

stars, prcv)u!cd in France among thé first rank. The ncw-

born child was usuaHy presented nakcd to thc astrologer,



Ï32 THAUMATURGÏA, OR

hour of thé nativity, and soïiciting liis advice and

directions as to their managetnent. Many volumes of

this sing~ujar correspondence are still preserved in the

royal library at Berlin. The business of this fortunate

adept increased so rapidly, that he found it necessaryto employ a number of subaltern assistants, who,

together with their master, realized considerable for-

tunes. He died in high reputation and favour with

his superstitions contemporaries.The famous Melancthon was a believer in udicinl

astrology, and an interpreter of dreams. Richelieu

and Mazarin were so superstitions as to employ and

pension Morin, anothcr pretender to astrology, who

cast thé nativities of these two able politicians. Nor

was Tacitus himself, who generally appears superior to superstition, untainted with this folly, as may be

seen from his twenty-second chapter of the sixth book

of his Annals.

In the time of the civil wars~ astrology was in

high repute. The royalists and the rebels hud their

astrologers as well as their soldiers and thé predic-tions of the former had a gréât influence over the

latter. When Charles tlie first was imprisoned,

Lilly, thé famous astrologer, was consulted for the

who rend thé first linpnmcnts in its forcbpnd, nnd the trans-verse Unes in its hands, nud thencc wrotc duwn its future

dcatiny. Cathmine de Médicis cnrricd Henry IV, when a

chi!d, to old Nostradmnus, witoantiqnarics cstccm more forhittChronicle of Provence than for his vaticinnting powers. The

«ight of the rct'crcd seer, with Mheard Mhich stteatned likea ntctcor in the air," terrified thé future hcro, who dreadeda whipping from so gnn'c a persona~c.



KLUCÏDATIONS OF THE MARVRLLOU8. 123

hour that should favour his escupe and in Burnet's

History of his own Times, there is a story which

strongly proves how much Charles II was bigottedto judicial astrology, a man, tliough a king, wttose

tnind was by no means unenlightened. The most

respectable characters ofthe age, Sir William Dugdale,Elias Ashmo~e,* Dr. Grew, and others, were mem-

bers of theastrological club. Congreve's

character

of Foresight, in Love for Love, was then no uncom-

mon person, though the humour, now, is scarcely

intelligible. Dryden cas:t thé nativities of his sons

and what is remarkable, his prédiction relating to his

son Charles, was accomplished. The incident beingof so late a date, one might hope that it would have

been cleared up but, if it be a fact, it must be a!ïow.

ed that i t fonns a rational exultation for its irrational

adepts. Astrologers were frequently, as may easily be understood, put to t hcir wit's end when their

predictions did not corne to pass. Great winds were

foretold, by one of t he craft, about the year 1586.

No unusual stortns. however, happened. Bodin, to

save tlie reputation of thé art, applied it as a figure to

<~Thé 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 inhumaniythanhis scourging peu 'this mysticat race; and his personalities!nadcthem8orc)yfee!it. However, nNorwtch knight, thé

vct'y Quixotc of Astrology, arrayed in thé enchanted armout'of his occult authors, cncottntercd this pagan in a most

state! carousaL He came forth with" A Defence of Judi.cia! Astrologye, in answer to a trcatise !atc!y pub!ished byMr. John Chatnbcr. By Christopher Knight. Printed at

Cambridge, 16M."



t24 THAUMATURGIA, OR

semé rcvo!utions in thé state, of which there were

instances enough at that time.

At thé commencement of the !8th century, the il-

/MMMMa/ a sect of astrologers, had excited considér-

able sensation on thé continent. BIending philoso-

phy with enthusiasm, and uniting to a knowledge of

every chemica! process a profound acquaintance with

astronomy, their influence over thé superstitious feel-

ings of thé people was prodigious; und in many in-

stances thé mfatuation was attended with fatal conse-

quences. We shaH relate thé Mlowing, as nearer

home than many now before us.

THE HOROSCOPE, A TALE uF THE 8TAKS.

On thé summit of St. Vincent's rocks, in thé

neighbourhood of Clifton, ïooking on tlie Avon, as

it rolïs its !azy courses towards the Bristol Channel,

stands an edifice, known by the name of Cooke's

Folly." It consists of a single round tower, and

appears at a distance rather as the remnnnt of some

extensive building, than a complete and permet edi-fice, as it now exists. It was built more than two

centuries ago, by a man narned Maurice Cooke

not, indeed, as a strong hold from thé arms of a

mortal enemv, but as a refuge from the evils of

destiny. He was thé proprietor of extensive estâtes

in the neighbourhood and while his lady was

pregnant with her first child, as she was one evening

walking in their domains, she encountered a strange

looking gipsey, who, pe~tering her for ahn~, re-

ceived but a sma!l sum. The man turned over thé

coin in his hand, and imp!ored a larger gift .



RLUCïDATIONS OP THE MARVRLLOU8. H5

That," said thé lady, will buy you food for the

présent."

Lady," said the gipsey, it is not food for the

wretched body thnt 1 require the herhs ofthe field,

and the water~ of thé ditch, are good enough for

that. 1 asked your alms for higher purposes. Do

not distrust me, if my bearing be prouder than my

garments do not doubt the

strength of

my sunken

eye, when 1 tell you that 1 can read thé skies as theyrelate to thé fute of men. Not more fami!iar is h is

hornbook to thé scholar, than are thé !ieavcns to my

knowledge."

"What, thou art anastroïoger?"Aye, lady!

my fathers were so before me, even in thé times

when our people had a home amidst thé pyramids of

the mighty-in tl ie t imes when you a re told the

mightier prophets of thé Israehtes put the soothsayersof Egypt to confusion idle t ales but if true, all

reckless now. Judah's scattered sons are now deso-

late as ourselves; but they bend and bow to the

laws and ways of other land-we remain in thé sternstedfastness of our own."

If then," returned the lady, 1 give thee more

money, how will it be applied ?"That is not a courteous question, but 1 will

answer it. The most cunning craft~man cannot

work without his tools, and somc of mine are broken,

which 1 seek to repair anothcr crown will be

enough.Thé lady put thé required sum into his hand, und

at thé same time intimated a desire to have a spéci-men of his art.



186 THAUMATUKGÏA, OR

Oh! to what purpose should that be?a why,

why seek to know thé course of futurity ? destinyruns on in a sweeping and resistless tide. Enquirenot what rocks await your bark the knowledgecannot avail you, for caution is useless against stern

necessity. Truly, you are not likely to get rich

by your trade, if you thus doter custotners. It

is not for wealth 1 labour 1 am alone on thé earth,

and have none to love. i w ill not mix with théworld lest 1 shouM learn to hâte. This present ia

nothing to me. It is in communion with thé spiritswho have lived in the t imes that are past, and with

the stars-those historians of the times to corne–that

1 feel aught of joy. Foola sometimes demand the

exertions of my powera, and sometimes 1 gratifytheir childish curiosity. Notwiihstanding 1 lie

under the imputation of folly, 1 wiU beg that you

predict unto me the f ate of thé child winch 1 shalt

bear. Wel!, you have obliged me, and 1 will

comply. Note the precious moment at which it

entera the world, and soon after you shall sec meagain."

~Vithin a week the birth of an lieir awokc the

clamorous joy o f the vassale and summoned thé

strange gipsey to ascertain thé necessary points.Thèse learned, he returned home and thé next day

presented Sir Maurice with a scroll, containing the

following lines

Twenty time8 shati Avon's tideIn chains of glistening icf be ttcd–

Twenty times thc woods of LcighStmU wave thcir branches tncrrti



ELU CI DA TI ONS 0F T HK MA RV HLLOU S. !~7

Jn spring burst forth in mantic gay,And dancc in snmmer's scorching rayTwenty times shat! antumn's frown,Wither an their green to hrown– And stit! thech!!() of yestcrdaySha!I !augh the happy hour away.Thttt period past, nnothcf sunShn!! 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 bpSeck not to change tus destiny.

The knight read it and in that age, when astro.

logy was considered a science as unerring as holy

prophecies, it would have been little less than infi-

delity to have doubted the truth of the prediction.Sir Maurice, however, was wise enough to withold

thé paper from his lady and in answer to lier in-

quiries, continually a sserted that the gipsey was an

impostor, and that the object of his assurning the

character was merely to increase her alms.

Thc fated child grew in heaith and beauty andas we are thé most usually the more strongly at-tached to pleasures in proportion to the brevity of

continuance, so did the melancholy fate of his son

more nrmiy fix h im in the heart of Sir Maurice.

Often' did the wondering lady observe the countenance

of her husband with surprise, as watching thé en-

dearing sportiveness of the boy, his countenance, at

first brightened by thé smile of paternal love, gra-

duaMy darkcned to deepest grief, till unable to sup-

press his tears, he would cover the child with



128 THAUMATUttGïA, OK

caresses, and rush from thc room. To aU inquiries,Sir Maurice was silent, or returned evasive unswers.

We shaH pass over thé infuncy of young Walter,

and resume tlie narrative at the period in which hc

cntcred into his twentieth vear. H!s mother was

now dead, and had left two othercluidren, hoth girls,

who, however, shared lit tle of thcir father 's love,

which was almost exclusively fixed on Walter, and

appeared to encrease iu strength as the fatal t ime

grew near.

It is not to be supposed that hc t ook no precau.tion against tlie predicted evcnt. Sometimes hope

suggestcd that a mistake might hâve bcen made iu

thé horoscope, or that thc astrologer might have

overlooked some sign which made the circumstancc

conditional aud in unison with thé latter idea hc

determined to crect a strong building, where, duri!)gthé year in which his doom was to be consumated,

Wniter might remam in solitude. He accordingly

gave directions for raising a smgïe tower, peculiarly

formed to prevent ingrcss, except by permission of i ts inhabitants. Thé purposc of this strange building,

however, hc kept secret and his neighbours, after

numerous vain conjectures, gave it thé name of

"Cookc'sFoUy."

Walter, himsclf, was kept entirely ignorant of the

~u!)ject, and all his inqmries werc answercd wit!i

tears. At icngth d~ towc)' was compictcd, and

furnished with all thiugs uecesaary for comfort and

convcnicnce and on thc c\e of Waltcr 's completinghis twentieth year, Sir Maurice ~hewcd him thé



BLUMDATION8 0F THE MARVKLLOUS. !29

K

gipsey's scroU, and begged him to make use of thé

rctreat prepared for him till the year exj)i!'ed.

Wa!ter at nrst treated thé matter lightly, laughedat thé prophecy, and dechn'ed he would not !ose a

year's liberty if aU thé astrologers in thé world were

to croak thcir ridiculous prophecies ag-ainst lum.

Seeing, however, his father so earnestly bent on thp

matter, his résolution began to give way, a nd at

length he consented to thé arrangement. At six the

followlng morning, therefore, Walter entered thc

tower, which he fastened within as strongly as iron bars

would admit, and -winch was secured outside in a

manner equally firm. He took possession of his

vohjntary prison with me!anchoty feenng~, rather

occasioned by the loss of présent pleasure, than thé

fear of future pain. He sighed as he looked uponthé wlde domain before him, and thought how sad

would it be to hear the joyous horn summoning his

companions to~thé chase, and find himself prevente(ifrotn attending it–to hear thc winter wind howhng

round his towcr, and rushing betwccn thé rocksbcnoath him, and miss thé chcerfui song and merry

jest, which were wont to make even thc b!ast a

pleasant sound. Certainty his time passed as plea-

~antly as circumstances permitted. He drew up in

a basiœt, at his meal hours, every luxury which the

season produced. His father and sisters daily con-

versed w ith him from below, for a considerable

time; and the morris-danccrsoften raiscd his latiglitei-

by their grotesque movements.

Wceks and months thus passed, and Waltcr still

was well and cheerful. His own and hfs sistcrs'




hopes grew more hvely, b ut the anxiety of Sir

Maurice increased. Thé day drew ncar which was

to restore his son to his arms in conndent sccnrity~

or to ftdnï thé prédiction which left him without an

heir to his name aud honours.

On the preceding afternoon Walter continually

endeavoured to c hccr his parent, by speaking of

what he would do on the mnrrow dcsired hi$ sisters

to send round to all their friends, that he mightstretch his i imbs once more in thé merry dnnce and

continued to taÏk of thé future with much confidence,

that even Sir Maurice caught u spark of hope from

the fiery spirits of the youth.

Asthenightdrew on, and his s isters were about

to leave him, promising' to wake him at~ix by it

song, in answer to their usual inquiry ifhe wanted

anything more that night, Nothin~ said he,

and yet the nig-ht fee!a chiïly, and 1 hâve !ittle

fuel ïeft–send me one ntore ~gg'ot." This was sent

him, and as he drew it up, This," said he. is thé

last time 1 shaH have to dip for my wants , hke an

old woman for water tlank God i for it is

wearisome work to the arm."

Sir Maurice sti ll Jingered under the window in

conversation with his son, who at ïcngtti complainedof being cold and drowsy. Mark," said he, as

he closed the window, mark fnthcr. M ars, the

starofmy~tG, h)oks smilingly to-ni~ht, a!lwiUbe

welL" Sir Maurice Ïoo!<cd up–a dark c!oud spot

suddenly crosscd t!ic planet, and !ie sbuddered at thé

omen. The anxious father could not leave thé spot.

Siecp hc knew it w as vain to court, and hc therefbre



BLUCIDATtO~S O? THE MARVBLLOUS. 131

K 2

determined to remain where he was. Thé reflexions

that occupied his mind continuaHy varied at one

time he painted to himself the proud career of his

high spirited boy, known and admired among thé

mighty of his time a moment after he saw the pre.diction verified, and thé child of his love lying in the

tomb. Who can conceive his feelings as hour

dragged

after hour, while he walked to and fro,

watching the b!aze of the nre in the tower, as it

brightenpd and sunk again–now pacing thé court

with hasty steps, and now praying fervently for the

preservation of his son The hour came. Thé ca-

thedral beU struck heavy on the fatlier's heart, which

was n ot to be lightened by the cheerful voices of his

daughters, who came running full of hope to thé

foot of the tower. They looked up, but Walter was

not there ;-they callcd his name, he answered not.

Nay," said thé youngest, this is only a jest lie

thinks to frighten us, but 1 know he is safe." A

servant had brought a ladder, which he ascended,

and he looked in at the window. Sir Maurice stoodimmoveabte and silent.-He looked up, and the man

answered the anxious expression of his cyes. He

is asleep," said he. He is dead murmured the

father.

The servant broke a pane of glass in thé window,

and opening thé casemcnt, e ntered the room. The

father, changing his gloomy stedfastness for frenzied

anxiety, ïlished up thé ladder. Thé servant had

thrown aside the curtains and thc clothcs, and dis-

playcd to thé eyes of Sir Maurice, his son lying dead,a serpent twined round his arm, and his throat co-



~2 THAUMATUROÏA, OR

vercd with b]ood. The reptiïe had crept up the

fag'~ot last sent him, and fuInHed the ;)ro~<To this happy e nbrt of the imagination in faveur

ofpning' into futurity, nmy be added, with thé same

intention,

THK PATKD PARRYCtDE i Aî<: ORIENTAL TALE 0F THE

8TAU8.

ihmhim wasunh'cr~nHy

cetebmted ~r his riches

and mag'nidcence. Mis arnnes were formidable, his

victorics sp~cndid, a nd J)i8 trcasury inexhaustih!e.

Hc enjoycd, moreover, what was ton t!~ousand times

more sohd and mnre va!uah!c than riches–ihc love

and vénération ofhi:? su~ccts aud he had a beautifu!

young wife, in whose cndcaring tendcrnegs atone he

couïd find happiness–if happiness could be found on

earth. Aîl thèse advanta~cs enti~cd Ïhrahhn to thé

appeHation of the Sotomon of his âge and yet Ibra.

him wa8 not happy. A son was wanting to crowu

jns felicity. In vain did a heart formcd for au the

charities of thc weddcd statc, cndeavour to supplythe rcfu~ of nature, by thé adoption of a son in vain

did gratitude endcavonr to dcceive his heart, bycnrc!<.

geswhich any other wonid havcthous'ht to be the natu-

rai en'as.ions ofnha!sen~ibi!ity, ofnha! piety and a~ec-

tion thatheartince~ant!yperccivcd a solitude within

itself. Even thé consolatory vivions of hope began to

~row !es8 fréquent, whcM heavcn at ïapt heard His

prayers. AIa8 in thé very instant that Fortune gra-tiner our ibndcst wishes, she often bctray~ u~ and

her smUe" are a thousand times more fata! than hcr



ELU CJ DA T1 0N8 O P THE MA RV ELLO U8. 133

frowns. The birth of the prince was celebrated

throughout thé empire by thé customary pubHc dé-

monstrations of juy. The felicity of Ibrahim was

complete. He was perpctuaHy revo!ving in his mind

thé sentiments and hopes which the nation would

form of the royal infant. Scarce was he born, when

paternal solicitude embraced, as it were, his whole

life.Impatient

to know his destiny, that solicitude

plunged into futurity, determined, if possible, to

wrest from time, the secrets of whicî~ he was the

hoary.headed ~uardian.In Ibrahim's dominions were some sages particu-

larly Itonoured w ith the confidence of heaven. He

commanded them to eonsult thé stars, and to reporttheir answer. TremMc, said thé sages; thou

unfortunate father, tremble Never before have thé

skies presented such inauspicious omens. Let him

fly; let this son. too dear to you, ny let him avoid,

if possible, thé meeting with any savage beasts. His

ssvcnth year is the fatal one; and if he should happen

then, to escape thé misfortune ihat hangs over him,ah do not wish him to live. His father, his very

father, will not be able to escape from the hand of a

parricide."This answer threw the sultan into thé deepest con-

sternation. He did not sink, however, into absolute

despondency his courage soon revived. He deter-

mined to take all t!ie precautions which paternaltenderness cou!d suggest, to defeat the prediction of

the astrologers. He, therefore, caused a kind of

suhterranean palace to be made on thé summit of a

lofty mountain. The labour and expense of thé exca..



!34 THAUMATURGE, OR

vation was prodigieux. Extensive wa!~H wcrc ~brmed,

with a varicty of apartmentp, in which every thingwas provided that could contribute to the convenicn-

ces, and even thc luxuries of life. In this magnin-cent cavern, Ibrahim, as i t were, inhumed his son,

together with his governess, of whose care and fidelitvhe had no doubt. Provisions were constantly carried

thither at stated periods. Thé king forgot not a sin.

gle day to visit thé mountain that contained his bcloved treasure, and to he satisned of his safety with

his own eyes. With what delight did he behoM the

growing beaut!es of his son With what p~ea8urcand rapture did he Jisten to his spnghtiy saillies of

wit, his smart rcpartecs, and those pretty Mo~~swbich a father, in particular, is fond to recollect and

to repeat at which the most rigid gravity may smile,

and which are worth a!Ï the understanding of riper

years. He w as perpetuauy counting thé Itours and

minutes that he had to spend with bis son and he

incessantly rpproached himself, for not secing him

more frequently.Shah Abbas, for such was bis namc, at lengthreachpd his se~'enth year, that fatal ycar, which

Ibrahim would fain have delayed, cvcn fit the expense

of his crown. He wou!d never !eavc Itis son a minute.

But, f~as is i t possible to cscapc our destiny ?

Summoncd one dny to hi'< pH!ace by affairs of the

most pressing exig'cncy, Ï}e !pft the mountain with

extrême rcluctance. Never had Shah Abbns ap.

pearcd wore nminb!e in his father's eyea, never had

Ibrahim nppenrcd more a~cctionate to his son Each

was tormented by an uneagy sensation, an unaccount'



HLUCÏDATÏONS 0F THE MARVELLOU8. 135

able prescntiment that tlicy were to meet there no

more! 1

Some robhers were hunting wild beasts thé

ardeur of thc pursuit brouglit them to this mountain.

A lion that flecl from them, perceived thé sabterra-

ncous passsage, and took refuge in it. Thé robhers,

who durst not follow him, waited, however, for the

sequel of this udventure. On a sudden, they heard a

vtolcnt scream, and presently all was silent. Thissilence sug~ested to them, that the cuvern now con-

tained, not a living créature, but thé lion. Theythrew down a quantity of stones, which soon put an

end to the existence of the formidable animal. Theythen descencled into the cavern, securing tbemselves

from ail furtiier danger from thé lion by cutting off

lus head. Wandcring through every part of this

subtcrraneous palace, they were astonished at the

prodigious riches which they beheld. They perceiveda slauglitered woman: tins was thé prince's governess.

Byher side lay a child coveredwith blood, who shew-

ed, however, some

signs of life.

They examined his

wounds: t!)cy f ouud not one of t t~cm dangerous.The captain of thèse banditti, after stripping thé

cavcrn of its valuable corttents, dressed thé young

prince's wounds himsclf, and c~ccted a cure. The

growing qualities of Shah Abîmas endeared hirR to the

chief, who adopted him as his son, and distinguished

Itim as such by all the tenderness of a paternal heart.

Some years had clapsed ~ince Ibrahim had first

deplorcd the l osa of a son, who, having becn con.

stantiv ignorant of tlie natnc and titles of lus father,

had been unal)le toexplain

his origin to thc robbers,



t36 THAUMATURGÏA, OR

was soon to become their chipf. Such were the un-

nccountable caprices of fortune, which Icd t o thé

compktion ofthe prophecy, that had destined him to

hecome oneday a parricide. Ibrahimwaswontto

divert his grief by the pÏcasurcs of thé chase and

this exercise soon became aiîoost his only occupation.One evening that !te bad straycd, with a very sonder

escort, into the defiles of a very soiitary mountain, a

troop of rohbers rushcd upon him. Thé combat for sometime was furious. An an'ow pierced the !dn~it excitecl thé spirit of vengeance h) his attendants~

and they fbught, determined to conquer or die.

They werc soon victorious. The murderer was taken,

and conducted to thé metropolis, that he might un-

dcrgo the punishment due to his crime.

Ibrahim, on the bed of death, summoned thé astro-

logers to attend him, and thus addreesed them ï

was to hâve perished, yuu told me, by thé hand of a

son but it i s thé hand of a rohber that bas inflicted

thé Mow/ Sire," answcrcd the sages, fbrbear

to seek an cxplanation~ The robber"They

proceed no further. Thé young robber appcars, and

relates his history. Ibrahim, whilc he bowed in sub-

mission to God, and adored His Inscrutabic decrees, blessed Him a~o for having restorcd his son and the

tears which he saw now from tbc eyes of Shah

Abbas, werc a consotation in his dyin~ moments.



KLUCIDATION8 0F THE MARVELLOU8. 137

APPLICATION 0F A8TROLOCY TO THE PROLONGATION

OFLIF1'C.

Astrology was also made subservient to the means

of prolonging human life but how an art which

détermines thc fate of mortals, and ascertains the

impassable limits of thé grave, could consistcntly bc made subservient to such a.

purpose, we arc

rather at a lof-s to conccive, unkgs accounted for

as follows. Thé teachers of divination maintained,

that not only men, but aU natural bodies, plants,

animais, nay even who!e countries, including every

place and fnmily, were under the govemment of

some particular planet. As soon as the mastcrs of

the occult science had discovered by ttieir tables,

under what consteHation the misfortune or distcmper

ofany personorigit~tcd, nothingfarthcrwasrequired,than that he should remove to a dwe!ling ruled byan opposite planet, and confine himsetf exclusively

to such articles of food anddrin~aswerc under thc

influence of a dînèrent star. Inthisartincmimanner

they contrived to form a systcm, or peculiar classi-

fication of planets, namely, Lunar, Solar, Mercurial

and thé like-and hence arose a confused map of

dictated rules, which, when considered with référence

to thé purposes of hcaith, cïeanliness, exercise etc.

form remarkable contrasts to those of thé Greeks.

But this préventive and repulsive method was not

merely 'confined to persons who suffered under some

bodily disordcr even individuals, who enjoyed a

good state of heaith, if an unlucky constellation



138 THAUMATURCIA, OR

happened to forebode a severe di~ease, or any otber

misfortune, were directed to c housc a pluce of resi-

dcnce InUm'nccd bv a more iriendiv star-or to adoptsuch aiment oniy, us being undcr the auspices of a

propitious star, might cotinteract the maligaantinfluence of its antagonist.

Jt wa~ niso pretty generally believcd and maul-

tamcd, that a sort of intimate relation orsympathy sub.

sisted bctween metals and p]ants

hcnce thc nattes of

thé latter werc given to thé former, in order to dcnote

this supposed connexion and a~nity. The eorrcspond-

ing metals wcre me~ed into a common mass, under

a certain planet, and were formed into small medaÏs,

or coins, with the firm persuasion, that hc who

carried such a pièce about his person, mig!tt cou.

fidently expect thé whole favour and protection of thé

planet, thus represented,* Thus wc perçoive how

easy the transition is from one degree of folly to

anotber; and this may help to account for the shock-

ing delusions practised in thé manufacturing and

weariug of mctaUic amulets of a peculiar mould, to

which were attributed, by a sort of magie influence,thé power and protection of thé respective planetthese charms were thought to posscss virtue gunicient

to overrule the bad effects prcsaged by an unluckyhour of birth, to promote to places of honour and

profit, and to be of potent cnicacy in matters of

commerce and matrimony. Thé German soldiers, in

thé dark and superstitious ages, bclieved that if thé

ngure of Mars, cast and engravcd under tlie sign of

Viftc Amulcts passitn.



ELUCinATtONS 0F T!!K MARVELLOUS. 139

the Scorpion, wcrc worn about thé neck, it would

r ende r them invulneraltle, and insure success to their

military enterprises–hence the r ea eon why amulets

were then found upon every soldier, either MUed in

battle or talœn prisoner.

We shaH so far concède thèse observations on tlie

chimem of ustrology and medicine with thé following

remarks in the ~vords of Chamber against Kni~ht's

work,* which détends this fanciful science, if science

it may be caned. It demonstrates nothing while

it défends ever y thing. It confutes, accord ing to

Lilly's work, a vo!nminous quarto monument of thc

folly of tlre age, wnsso!d originally for fourguineas; i t i s

enti tled Christ inn Astrology," modcstly treatct!, in thtce

books, by W!UiHm Lilly, s tude nt in Astrology, 2nd. cdit!on

!(i59. Every page isembojtishcdwtth a horoscope which,

sitting on the pretending tt'ipod, lie cxplnins with thc utmost.

t'aciiity. Thcre is also Il portrait of t his arch rogne and

star gaxer, an admirable inustration for I~nvatcr. As to

LiHy's gréât skil l in prnphccy, there goes a p~c)~a~~nt story

r elated by akinsmnnofDr.C)tsc,tn8 succcssor–nntnpty~

thnt a person ~anting to consuh him on n ccrtinn point

coming t o hi s h onse one tnorning, LiHy hint8c!fgoit!g to thé

door, saw a pièce of ntthy citrnon which some one, who had

more wit than tnanncrs, hnd tcft thcre and hcing much

offcndcd a t i ts nnsightty appearance wisttcd hearti!y he did

but know who had t rca tcd hnn in that manncr hy Icaving

such an nnwp!cotne !cgney, n8 i t were, in his vcry t4!etli,

that hc mi~ht punish thcm accordingly which his custonK'r

ohservin~ when the conjurer dema nded his business, Ko-

thing at au, snid hc, for rm sure if you can~t f ind ont

who bas dented yonr own doo< it is imp ossible you

shou!d discover anything rctating to tne/' n nd with this

canstic rcmark lie lufthim.



HO THAUMATURGÎA, OR

Knight's own ideas it allèges a few scattered facts in

faveur of astrological productions, wh!ch may be

picked np in that Immenslty of fablingwhich disgrâces

history. He strenuousiy dénies, or ridicules, what

the greatest writers have said of this fanciful art,

while he lays great stress on sume passages from

obscure authors, or what is worse, from autliors of no

author!ty.Thé most pleasant part~ however, is at

the close where he défends thé art from thé objectionsof Mr. Chamber by récrimination. Chamber had

enriched himself by mcdlcal practice, and when he

charges thé astrologers hy merely aiming to gain a

few beggarly pence, Sir Christopher catches fire, and

shews by his quotations, that if we are to despise an

art hy its professer:; attempting to subsist, or for the

élections which may be raised against its vital prin-

ciples, we ought by this argument most heartily to

despise tlie médical science, and medical men he

gives all hère he can collect against physic aud phy-

sicitms, and from the confessions of Galcn and Hip-

pocrates, Aviccnna and Agrippa, medicine is madeto appear a vainer science than cven astrologyItscif.

Lilly's opinions, and lus pretended science, were

such favourites ofthc age, tliat thc learned Gataker*

The Rcvcrend and learned Thotnns ftatxkcr, with whotn

Li!!y WH8engaged it) a dispute, in his Annotations on the

tenth chaptcr of Jcretniah and 10 th verse, caUcd him u"b!ind buxxHt'd,and Li!!y rcncc'tcd again on his anta-

gonist in his ~/H)<M<?~c&ro~MA. Air. G<:takcr*3 reply wasuntitled Thotna!! Gatakcr, B . I ). his Vindication of theannotation by him publit<hcd uj)on thèse words, "thus saith



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THK MARVRLLOUS. 141

wrote profpsscdly against this popular delusion. ~t

the head of his star.expounding û'iends, LiUy not oniv

fbrmaHy rephed to, but pcrsccuted Gataker a nnuaHv

in his prédictions, and c ven struck at his ghost, when

beyondthe grave. Gataker died in July 1C54, andLilIy,

having written in his almanack for t hat ycar, f or the

month of August, the foUowing barbarous latin

Une–

Hoc in tum~o. jacct pn'sbytcr et nebttJo

Hcrc in this tutnb HcH a prcsbytt'r and a knavc,

had the impudence to assert, that he had j)re.

dicted Gataker's death But the truth i~, it wns un

empty epitaph to the J~odgings to let it stood

einpty, reader, for t tic ~rst passenger that tlic itn.

morta! fet'ryman siion!d cnrry ovc r t !)c Styx.

But hcar that arch impostcr 0!d Patridge of more

thé Lord," (Jcr. x. 2~ ngainHt thc scurntous «spcrstoxs of

that grand impostf)rWH!iatn L!!)y; ns a!so n~ninst <))c

varions expositions of tH'o clf his a dvoca tc s M f John Swan,

andanother by !) in t c itcd but not n iunc d. Tn~ctho' withthé Annotations thctnschcs, M'herein thc prctcndL'd grounds

of judiciary «strotogy, and thc scr iptnrc proof s produc~'d

to it, are discusscd :u)d t'ct'ntcd. London, ! 653, i n 4t h part

192. Our author mnking animndvcrsions on this pic-ce

inhis'Kn~tishMcrIin, 1().')4 prodnccdnthird pit 'cc ft'O)))

Mr. Gatakc! c a! h' d a Discour sc «potcgcticttt, wht't'cix

Li!s tc\vd, a nd lond tics in h is Mcr!io or Pasqui! for

ÏG:)4, aredcarty !nid opfn; h isshamc h' ss déser tion ofhis

own causc'fnftherdiscovt'rcd, his abotninahic shtndcrs fnHy

rcfutcd, and his nudicious and M~r~M tnind, incitin~

to a ~encrât massacre of Cod'~ ministcrs, fro.n tus own pcn,

cvidcntty known, etc. Londun 16j4.



142 THAUMATUROIA, OR

modern date whose ~t/pr~ appear t o have no end.

The prnctiec of astrology is dividedinto spéculative

andtlieoretical." (Astrouomyandjudicud astt'ology).The first teaches us how to know the stars und

planète, and to nnd their places and motions. Tlie

second directs us to the knowledge of thé influence

and opérations of thé stars and phmets upon subhmary

bodies, andwithout this last thé former is of Httte

use. Astronotnycannot direct and inform usofthesecret influences and operations of thé stars and

planets, without thé assistance of thé most ~/<~<?

art of astrolo~y. For astronomy is conversant about

the suhject of this art, and doth furni~h thé astrologer with matter whereon to exercise his judg~ment, but

astrology disposes this matter into prédictions, or

rational conjectures, as time and occasion require."Thé practice agamis subdivided intotwo parts, or

quadripartite, as Ptolorny (Hb. 2) déclares the first

considers the général state of thé world, and from

ccHpses and cornets, great conjunctions, annual revo-

lutions, quarterly ingrcssions and lunations, also thérising, cnhnmating', and settin~ of thé nxed jStars,

together with thé configurations of thé pianets both

to thé sun nndamong themselves, judgment is

deduced, and thé astrotoger doth frame his annua!

predictions of all sen~itive and végétative things Ivingin thc air, carth, or watcr of plague, plenty, tïuarth,mutations of thé air, wars, peacc, and other generalaccidents of countrics, provinces, cities, etc.

The second of thèse subdivided parts, in particu-hu', respecta only thé privatc state of cvery singleman and woman, which must hc pcrjEbrmcd frotu thc



RLUCIDATÏON8 OP THK MARVELLOUS. 143

"chôme of thé nativity, the knowlcdgc of which is of

most excellent use to all persons. Therefbrc let the

nativities of children be diligently observed for the

future, that is to say, t!ic day, hour, and minute of

birth as near as can be, which will be of use to the

astrological physician, for thé most principal conjec-ture of the malignity of thé disease, whether it be

curable, or shall end with dcath, dépends upon the

knowledge of thé nativity and very rarely any dis-

sase invades a person, but some unfortunate direction

of the luminarics or ascendant to thé body, or beams

of m~iguant pïanets prcceded thé samje, or did then

operate, or at lcast sorne evil révolution, profec-tion or transit, which cannot bc discovered by anyother way but by astroiog'y. Moreover, i t would be

convenient that thé truc time ofthe nrstfaHing sick

be obscrved precisely, and by that, together with the

nativity, be judiciousiy comparcd, thc physician shall

gain more credit than by all !ns <~hcr ski)! and

hercin, the astrolo~er's foresight shuJt often contra-

dict thé judgmcnt of thc physician for when thc

astrologer forete!!s a phlegnmtic man, that at such a

time he shaH he afllicted with a choleric disease, thé

doctor will perceive by lus j)hysicai symptôme thé

astro!o~er, from his know!cdc~e in more secret causes

of nature, bath exeelled hhn in his art.

Now if God AImi~hty do not countcrmand or

check thc ordinary course of nature, or thé nmttcr of

elementary bodies hère below be not unproportion-

able, and thcreby unapt to reçoive their impressions,there is no reason why, in a natural aud physical ne-

ce~ity, astrological predictions should not succced



t~ THAUMATUHQIA, OR

and take effect, and by how much the knowledgewhich we hâve by thé known causes ia more démons-

trative and infallible than that which we have either

by s igns or enects, so much by this companton doth

Ai<tro!ogy appear worthy to be preferred before

Phystc." Cardan, who was an excédent physicinn~aith If by the art of Astrology he had not better

attained to thc knowledge of lus diseases, than thc

physictau that would ha.ve administcred to him

by his

skt! he l~d heen assm'cd!v cured by death, rather

llum preserved alive by physic. (Vide h)! Comment.

upon PtoL Quidrepart.) From hencc it appenrs i t is

neceas~ry that thé physician should be skilful in as.

trolo~y, but on thé contmry, c~ ~MOt'M ~Mo MOM

~~f~cMrnM~ evcry astrologer cannot hc a physicianif thé nativity be but precisely known, ot ' if, but

/f~ <if&MW or S!~o~t~ and withal sume not-

able accidents of sickness, danger ofdrowning, peril

by fire, marriage, or other, thé like accidents may bc

forcscen."

Thé astrologers were a set of cunning, cqni vocal

rogue'< j: thé more cautious of w hom oniy uttcrcd

thcir prognostications in obscure and ambiguous !au-

guage, which might he apphed to all thitt~s, timcs,

princes, and nations whatever. Anahnanac~maker,

a Spanish friar, predicted, in clear and précise words,

thé death of Henry t hé Fourth of France and

Pierre, though he had no faith in ~tar-gaxing, yct,ahn'med at wbatcver mcnaced thé l ife of a belovcd

sovcrei~n, consulted with some of thé kin~'s friends,

and had thc Spanish ahnanac!aidbcforch~Majc<-ty,who cont'tcou~y thain~cd them fnr tbcir so~icitudc,



ELUCÏDATIONS 0F THR MAKVELLOUS. 145

L

bututterly slighted the prediction the event oc-

curred, and in the following year, the Spanish L~

spread h is own farne in an new almanack. This pré-dic tion of thefriar, was the result either of hia being

acquainted with the plot, or from his being m ade an

instr ument for the purposes of those who were.

Cornelius Agrippa r ightly designates ast rologers

a perverse and prepo8t$cou8 generation of men, who

profess to know future things, but in the meantime are

altogether ignorant of past and present and under-

taking to tell ail people most obscure and hidden

secrets abroad, at the same time, know not what

happens in their own houses."

But this Agrippa for profoundAnd soltd lying, was renown'd

The Ant!tropo80phus, and Floud,And .~acob Behmcn, understoodKncw many an mnuict and chann

That would do neither good nor harm.

Ho un(lerstood the speech of birda

As well as they themselves do wordsCould tell wbut subtlest

parrots mean

Thut speak and think contrat, cleanWhnt membcr ' ti s of whom thcy talk,

\Vhy thcy cry, ropc ~watk, knave, watk.

He conid foretcll whàtevcr was

By consequence to corne to paHSAs death of great men, altérations,

Discascs, battles, inundations

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 dépose



Ï40 THAUMATURGÏA, OR

As if tbey were consenting toAM miachief !n the worïd men do <

Or like the devil, did tempt and 8way *ctnTo rogueries, ànd then betray 'cm.

We shall conclude our astrological atrictures with thé

following advertisement, which a~M'dsasilneasattn-

cal specimen of quackery a~8 to be met with. It is

extraeted from poor Ro~m's" almanack for 1~73

and may not be without i ta use, to many at the pre-sent day. Wé will vouch for.it being harm!e88, but,

as we are not in the secret of a ll that it contains,

our readers must endeavour to get the information

that may be wanted, on certain important points,from other quarters. It w ill shew, however, that

the almanack astrobgera did not live upon the best

terms, but like their predecessors, were constantly

abusing and attacking each other.

ADVBRTÏ8KMENT.

The best time to eut hair. How moies~and dreams

are to be interpreted. When most proper season to

bleed. Under what asBjjt~ of the moon bcst to draw

teeth, and eut corns. Tatring of nails, on what day

unlucky. What the kindest sign to graft or inocu-

late in to open bee-Mves, and kill swine. How

many hours boiHng my Lady Kent's pudding requires.With other notable questions, fully and faithfully re-

sol,ved, by me Sylvester Patridgc, student in physicand astrology, near the Gun in Moornelds<"

Ofwhom likewise may be had~at reasonable rates,



ELUCIDATIONS 0F T HE MARVE LL OU8. !47

trusaes, antidotes, elixirs, love-powdere. 'Washes for

freckles, plumpers, glass-eyes, false calves and noses,

ivory-jaws, and a new receipt to tum red hairintoblack.

Old Robin's almanack was evidently the best of the

time, and free from ail the astrological cant with

which Patridge's Merlinus Liberatus was ~Hed

against which Poor Robin did not a l it tle declaim.

The motto to his title runs thus

We use wcathcr-wise predictions Nor any such-like airy fictionsBut (whieh we think is much the best)Write the plein truth, or crack a jcstAnd (without any further pretence)Confess we write, and think of the penceFor that's the aini of all wbo write,Profit to guin, mixed with detight.

Poor old Robin attacked the astrologers of his daywith no litt le vehemence How different a task is

it," says he, for man to behave so in this world as

to please

all the

people

that inhabit it Ï A man who

makes use ôf his best endeavours to please every bodyis sure to please but very few, and by that means

displease a great many which may very possibly be

the case with poor Robin this year. But (be that as

it will) old Bob is sotnetimea well pleased, when

rogues, prick-eared coxcombs, fbols, and such like,

are the most displeased at him be it therefore

known, that it 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~that an humble man is (generally) accounted base if



!4S THAUMATURGIA, OR

otherwise, he is esteemed p~OM~; a bold look is looked

upon as ~MtfpMcc if modest, (then to be sure) he must

be hypocritical; if his behaviour is grave, it is owingto a ~~?M~ of temper if affable, he is but ~M~e

regarded if strictly just, then cruel must be his cha.

racter but, if merciful and forbearing, then (of conse.

quence) a siïïy, sheepiah-headed fooî! Now, 1 chal-

lenge all thé A88.TROLOGER8 andcoKjuRBRs, through.

out thé whole kingdom, to deinonistrate that allthe whimsey-headed opinions whSh different men

retain of different actions, together with their beingso vastly different at different times, one from another

1 say, 1 call upon them At.L to prove, that they are

(wholly) owing to the STARRY influences There

being, (1 believe) ïn general as many different ideas

and conceptions in the mind of mankind, as there are

vat'iety of complexions and counteuances."

His observations on the fourpunequal quarters of the

year, as he terms them, are no less satirical, humorous,

and full of truth, and so much in opposition" with

others of the trade, that poor old Robin, in good sense

and trite remarks, carries away the palm from ail his

predecessors and contemporaries; indeed, he is so little

of an astrologer, that, instead of consulting thé an-

gles, aspects, conjunctions and trines, of the planeta~he is vulgar enough to attach more importance to thé

t~bstantia~s and doings of this nether world. We

présent our readers with the following as a spécimen,

which, though in his usual way, a little rough-mouth.ed, oceasionally is free from that almanack-cant which

characterises thé vocations of his fellow-labourers

in the same ncid.–



ELU CI DA TI ON S OP THE MA RV ELM US . 149

SPRING,

which, being the most delightfui season in the whole

year, as it comes the next after a long and coldwinter

makes it a s welcome as it is delightful for now the

lengthening days afford full time for every body but

drunkards and watchmen to nnish their respective

day's works by day-light, besides some time to spare

to watk abroad, to see the fine new livery with whichDame Flora has now dscked out M other 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 very sensibly in the hearts of mahkind. This

quarter will bring w hole shoals of mackerel, and

plenty of green pease likewise gooseberries, cherries,

cheese'cakes, and custards.

But, let us now moralize,-and improve these

vernal delights into real virtue; and, when wennd

within ourselves a secret satisfaction arising f rom the

beauties of the creation, may

we consider to whom we

stand indebted for all these various gratifications and

entertainments of sensé who it is that opens thus

his hand, and fil!s the world with good But so

Boon as this quarter is ended; i. e. there, or then,

or thereabout, for in this case a day or two can break

no great squares-I say this quarter (as usual) will

be followed by the

SUMMER,

when, and at which time the days will hâve attained

their greatest, and consequently the nights the



t50 THAUMATURGïA, OR

shortest lengths. June, in which month this quarter is said to begin, will retain some likeness, if not ex'

hibit thé perfections of the Spring but the two next

succeeding months will perhapa have lésa vigour, buta grcater degree of heat for, as they pass on, theywill be ripening the fruits of the earth whiist the

Dog star is shooting hie rays amongst, the industrious

farmer will have business enough uponhishanda for

now heexpects

to be reaping

andgathering together the returns of his labour but then he muât expect,

nevertheless, to bear the heat and burthen of the day.This quarter very justly represents a man in the

full vigour of health and strength the beauty of the

Spring is gone The strength of Summer is of short

continuance It will very soon be succeeded by Au-

tumn thus, and thus (0 reader) do then consider,

hast thou seen the seasons, two, three, or four times

return in regular succession remember that the -t ime

is coming, when all opportunities of this sort will

be for ever hid from thine eyes remember if forty

years have passed thee, 1 say, 1 would have thee

remember, that thy spring is gone, thy sunomer al-most spent 1 Have then, therefore, a very serious

retrospective view of thy past, and, (if it please God)a fixed resolution to amend thy prolonged life then

being now arrived almost on the eve of

AUTUMN

which begins this year (as usual) when, or then, or

thereabouts, thé time thé Summer quarter ends–

namely, when the nights begin to grow longer and the



BLUOÏDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 151 J

days shorter this is the time when the barns are

nUed with wheat, which soon mustbe thrashed out, in

order to be sowed again. This also is the time when

thé orchards abound with fruits of the kind, and conse.

quently thé properest time to make cider.

Lamentable now must be the case of those poor women who, in this quarter, happen to long for green

pease or strawberries for 1 dare assure them, upon

the ~OMP~ word o f an astrologer, that they can getnone on this side of next Easter. Some now-abouts

under the notion of soldiers, shall sally out at night

upon Pullen, or perhaps lie in embuscade for a ropeof onions, as if they were Welsh freebooters. Loss

of time and money may be recovered by industry but to be a fool-born, or a roguein nature, are di-

seases incurable.

Remember that in any quarter of the year, this is

almost always a certain presage of a wedding, when

an parties are agreed, and the parson in readiness

and then you must be sure to have money in readiness

too, or your intended marnage may happen to provea miscarriage. But those who are able to pay for

tying the knot, when it i s fairly tied, may go home to

dinner and be merry go to the tavern and be merry

go to supper a nd be merry rise next morning and

be merry and let the world know, that a married life

is a p!entinil life, when people have good estates a

fruitful life when they have many children and an

happy Jife, when man and wife love each other as they

ought to do, and never quarrel nor disagree~



t52 THAUMATURMA~ OR

OP THE WINTBR QUARTES.

But now cornes on thé cold, dirty, dithenng, pout~

ing, rainy, shivering, frcezing, blowing, stormy,

blustering, cruel quarter called winter; the very

thoughts of it are enough to fright one but that it

very luckily happens to be introduced (this year) by

a good, fat merry Christmas yet it is the luat and

worse, and very much resemMos extreme old age

accompanied by poverty this quarter 18also prettymuch like Pbaroah'D lean kine; for it generally (we

find) eats up and devours most of thé produce of

the preceding seasons: now thé sun entering the

southern tropic, affords us the least sbare ofhis light,and consequently the longest long nights yet,

nevertheless, in this unconofortahïe quartcr, you may

possibly pick up some crumbs ofcomfbrt~ provided

you have good health, good store of the ready Rhino,

a good wife, and other good things about you and

especially a good conscience for then the starry

influences muât necessarily appear very bemga, not-withstanding the inclemency of thé weather for in

such cases there will be frequent conjunctions of sir-

loins and ribs of beef aspects of legs and shonlders of

mutton, with refrenations of loins of veal, shining near

thcwatery triplicity ofplumb-porridgc–togetherwithtrine and sextile of minced pies; collared brawn from

tbe TJrsus major, and sturgeon from Pièces–a!I for

the honour of Christmas and 1 think it is a much

pleasanter sight than a Covent-Garden comedy~ to see

a dozen or two of husbandmen, farmers~ and honest



ELUCÏDATÏONB OP THE MARVELLOUS. 153

tenants, at a nobleman's table (who never raised their

rents) worry a sirloin, and hew down, (I mean eut

up) a goose like a !og while a good Cheshire cheese,and plenty of nappy ale, and strong March beev,washes down the merry goblets, sets all their wit

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 thé old one 's gone.



i54 THAUMATUROIA, OR

CHAPTER X.

ONE!ROCRtT!CAL PMSBNTtMRNT, ILLUSTRATtKC THE

CAUSK, EFFECTS, PRINCIPAL PHENOMHNA, AN!)

DEFINITION 0F DREAMS, ETC.

As we shall have to epcat: o f the art practised

through the medium, ternied incubation, of curing

diseases, it may be proper tu say something pre-

viously o n the interpretation of dreams throughwhose agency these cvents were Stud to be realized.

Oneirocridcs, or interpreters of dreams, were

called conjecturcrs, a very fit and proper name for

these woridly wise men, according to the following

lines, translatcd from Euiipides–

He that conjectures least amise

Of all, the best of prophcts is.

To the delusion of dreams not a f cw of t he an-

cient philosophers lent themselves. Among thèse

werc Democritus, Aristotle, andAis follower The-

mistius, Siresius thé Platonic who so far relied on

dreams which some accident or other brought about,



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 1&&

that they thence endeavoured to persuade men there

are no dreams but what are founded on realities.

For, say they, as the celestial influences producevarious forma and changes in corporeal matter, so

out of certain influences, predominating over the

power of the fancy, the impression of visions is

made, being consentaneous, through the dispositionof the heavens, to the eSëct produced more espe-

cially in dreams, because the mind, being then at

liberty from ail corporeal cares and exercises, more

freely receives the divine innuences it happens,therefore that many things are revealed to~thetnthat are asleep. which are concealed from them that

are awake. With these and such reasons it is pre-tended that much is communicated through the

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 thatof dreams, the wonderftil and mysterious pheno-mena of that state, the ideal transactions and vain

illusions of the mind. According to Wolfius, an

eminent philosopher of Sileaia~every dream origi-nates in some sensation, and is continued by the

succession of phantoms but no phantasm can arise

in the mind without some previous sensation. And

yet it is not easy to confirm this by expérience, it

being often difficult to distinguish those slight sensa-

tions, which give rise to dreams, from phantasms,



156 THAUMATPRGtA, OA

or objects of imagination.* The series uf phantasmewhich thus constitute a dream, seems to be accounted

for by the law of the imagination, or association of

ideas though it may be very difficult to assign the

cause of every minute dinerence, not only in di6e-

rent subjects, but in the same, at different times,

and in ditferent circumstances. And hence M.

Formey, who adopta the opinion of Wolfius, con-

cludes, that those dreams are supematural, which

either do not begin by sensation, or are not con-

tinued by the law of imagination.t

Th~ opinion is as old as Aristotle, who asserted,

that a dream is only the ~a~ra~a or appearance of

things, excited in the mind, and remaining after

the objects are removed.~ The opinion of Lucretius,

transïated in our motto, was likewise that of Tuï!y.$Locke also traces the origin of dreams'to previoussensations. The dreams of sleeping men, saysthis profound philosopher, are ail made up ofthe

waking man'a ideas, though for the most part

oddly put together."[( And Dr. Hartley, who ex- pïains ail the phenomena of the imagination by his

theory of vibrations and associations, says, tbat

dreams are nothing but the imaginations or reveries

of sleeping men, and that they are deducible from

<' Wo!6us, Psycho!. Empir. Scct. 123.

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 msoMMo acc!dnnc. De Diu.

H Ksaav on Human Understandiny, book, chap. i. scct Î7.



BLU CI DA TI ON S O P TH E MA RV ELLO US . J57

three causes-viz, thé impressions and ideas lately

received, and particularly those of thé preceding

day, the state of t he body, more especially ofthe

stomach and brain, and association.~

Macrobius mentions five sorts of dreams. ist.

vision-2nd. a discovery of something between

sleeping and waking-3rd. a suggestion cast into our

fancy, called by Cicero, w~MM;–4 th. an ordinarydream–and fifth, a divine

apparition or revelation

in our sleep such as wëre thé dreams of the

prophète and of Joseph, as also of the Eastern

Magi.

CAUSE OF DREABIS.

Avicen makes the cause of dreams to be an

ultimate intelligence moving the moon in the midst

of that light with which the fancies of men are i llu-

minated while they sleep. Aristotle refers the

cause of them to common sense, but placed in the

fancy. Averroes, an Arabian physician, places it

in the

imagination

Democritus as~'ibes i t to l it tle

images, or representations, separated from the things

themselves Plato among thé specifie and concrete

notions of the soul Albertus to the superior in-

fluences, which continually flow from the sky, J

through many specifie channels.

Some physicians attribute the cause of dreams to

vapours and humours, and the affections and cares

of persons prédominant when awake for, say they,

by reason of the abundance of vapours, which are

Obs. on Man, vo!. 1, scct. 5.




exhaÏcd in consequence of immoderate feeding, the

brain is so stu6ed by it, that monsters and strange

chimera are formed, of which the most inordinate

eaters and drinkers furnish us with sufficient in-

stances. Some dreams, they assert, are govemed

partly by the temperature of thé body, and partly

by the humour which mostly abounds in it to which

may be added thé apprehensions which have preceded

the day before and which are often remarked in

do~, and other animais, which bark and make a

noise in their sleep. Dreams, they observe, pro-ceed from the humours and temperature of the

body we see the choleric dreams of fire, combats,

yellow colours, etc. the phiegTnatic of water baths,

of sailing on thé sea the melancbolics of thick

fumes. déserts, fantasies, hideous faces, etc. theythat have the hinder part o f their brain clogged,with viscous humours, called by physicians Ephialtes

incubus, dream that they are suSbcated. And

those who have the orifice of their s tomach loaded

with malignant ~umouts, are aorig'hted with strangevisions, by reason of those venemous vapours that

mount to the brain and distemper it.

POBTÏCAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE KFFECT8 OF THE

IMAGINATION :N DREAMS.

Were we to enter more profbundïy into thé

mysterious phcnomcna of dreams, our prcsent

lucubrationsmightbecome too abstruse; and, after

ail, no philosophical nor satisfactory account can be

given of them. Such of our readers therefore, as



MLVCïDATtOKS 0F THE MARVEH.OU8.

may wish for a more minute inquiry into the opi-

nions above stated, we beg leave to refer to thé

respective authors whom we have ah'eady quoted.

Tlie reader, who ie fond to find amusement even lu

a serious subject, from the scenes bf nocturnal ima-

gination, will be glad, perhaps for a moment, to

he transported into the regions of poetic fancy.

And here we f ind tbat the fancy is not more sportive

in dreams, than are the poets m thei r descriptionsof her noctumal vagaries.. On the enects of the

imagination in dreams, thé following effusion, put

into the mouth of thé volatile Mercurio, is an a d-

mirable illustration

0, then sec, Queen Mab bas been with you.She is the fancy's midwife, 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: s

Her waggon spokes made of long spinncrs' legsThé covet' ofthc wings of grasshoppers

The traces of the sinallest 8p!der's web

The coUars of thé moonshïne's watcry bcatnsHer whip of cricket~ bonc thé laah of film

Her wnggoncrp a smaH grcy coated gnat, Not half so big as a round little worm,

Prickt from thé !azy 6ngcr ofa maid.

Her chariot is an cn)pty hnzel nut,Made by tlie joiner squirri!, old grub,Time ont of mind thé fairies' coachmakcrs

And.m this state she galops n ight by night,Tbro* lovera* brains, and thcn tbcy drcau) of love

On courticra* knees, that dream on curtsics straitO'er iawycrs* nngpra, who strait drcam on fccs



~CO THAUMATURGIA, OR

O'cr tadicsiips, who strait on kisses dream,

Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plague,Because thcir brcattt with aweetmeats tainted are.

SomctitMea ahe gallops o 'er a tawycr'8 nosCt

AndthendrcamsheofsmeMtn~oHtaBaittAnd sotnetimps comeN shc with a titbe-pi~ taH,

Tickling the parson as hc lies as!cepThen dreRma hc of another bencRce ·.

Sometimes ahe driveth o'cr a so!d!cr*s ncck

And then hc drcama of cutting forci~n thronts,Of breachcs, antbuscades, Spanish btadcs,

Of hea!ths five fathont deep and then anon

Drums in his cars, at which hc starts and valces,

And being thus frightcd, swears a pray'r or two,

And steeps again.

Lucretius, and Petronius in his poem on thc

vanity of dreams, had preceded our immorta l

bard in a description of the elffects of d reams on

dtBerent k inds of persons. Both the passages hère

alluded to, only serve to shew thé vast supertority

of Shakspeare's boundless genius: their sense is

thus tidmirably expressed by Stepney

At dead ofnight itupcvial reason slccps,

And fancy vith hcr train, her rcvcis kcpps.Thcn airy phantoms a mix'd scène display,Of what wc heard, or saw, or wish'd by dayFor monory thosc images retuins

Which passion form'd, and still thc strongest rcigns.Huntsmcn rencw thc chasc they lately run,

And gct)crats(!ght ngain their battles won,

Spectres andfairics haunt the murdcrer~adrcatns;

Grants and disgrâces arc the courtier's thcn~es.

The n)Mer spies a thicf, or n new hoard



Mt.CCIDATÏONS OP THM MARVELLOUS. !(3ï 1

M

The c it 's a knight the aycophant a lord,

Thus fancy's in the wild distraction lost,

With what wc most abhor, or covet most.

Honours and state before this phantom fall JFor steep, Ïike death, its imnge, equals a!

Chaucer in his tale of the Cock and Fox, has a

fine description, thus versified by Dryden

Dreams arc but interludes which fancy makes sWhcn inonarch reason sieeps, this mimic wakes

CotMpouods a medley of disjointed things,A court of coblers and a mob of hingB

Light fumes are merry, grosser fumes arc aaft

Both arc the reasonable août run madAnd many monstrnua forms in stcep we see,That neither were, or are, or e'er can be.

Sometimes forgotten thiogs, long cast behind,

Rush forward in the brain, and corne to mind.

The nurse's legends are for truth received,And thé man dreams but what the boy believed,Sotnettnoes we but rehcarse a former play,

` The night restores our actions doop by dayAs hounds in sleep will open for their prey.

In short, thé farce of dreams is of a pièceIn chitncras aU aud more absurd or less.

Shakspeareagain

1 talk of dreams,

Which a re the children ofan id!e brain,

Begot of nothing but vain phantasy,Which is as thin of substance as thé air,

And more inconsistant than the wind.

Nor must Mil ton be omi tted-

°x !n thé août

Arc many lesser faculties, that serve



162 TR AUMATURGIA, OB

ReMon as cMef among these Fancy next

Her office holds; of all external things,Wbich the five watchfut senses represcnt,She forma imaginations, airy shapea,Wbich reason joining, or diejoining, frames,And all tbat wc afHrm, or what dcny, or call

Our knowledge or opinion then retires

Into her private cell, w!ïen nature resta.

Oft in her absence mimic fancy wakes,To imitate

her but

misjoining shapes,Wi!d works produces oft, butmost in dreama

111 matching words or deeds, long past or taie.

PRINCIPAL PHENOMENA IN DREAMING.

From these practical descriptions let us proceedto take aviewofthe principal phenomena in dreaming.And first, Mr. Locke's beautiful modes of which will

greatly illustrate the preceding observations.

When the mind," says Locke, turns its view

inward upon itself, and contemplâtes its own actions,

thinking i s the first that occurs. In it the mind

observes a great variety of modifications, and fromthence receives distinct ideas. Thus the perception,which actually accompanies, and is annexed to any

impression on thé body, made by an extemal object,

being distinct from all other modifications of thinking,furnishes the mind with a distinct idea which we

call ~~Ma~M; which ie. as it were, the actual

entrance of an idea into the understanding by the

sensés.

The same idea, wheQ it occurs again without the

operation of the like object on the extemal sensory,



ELUCIDAT!ON8 OPTHE MARVBM.OU8. t63

is ?'c)MCM&ro~c<?.' if it be sought after by the mind,

and wi th pain and endeavour found, and brought

again in view, it is ?'eco~c~o~ if it be held there

long under consideration, it is c~p~~o~; when

ideas noat in our mind without any r eflexion or

regard of t hé understanding, it is that which the

French call ~cne;* our language bas scarce a

name for i t. When the ideas that oSër themselves

(for as 1 have observed in another place, while we

are awake, there wi ll always be a train of ideas

succeeding one another in our minds) are taken

notice of, and, as i t were, registered in the memory,

it is attention; when the mind, with great eamest-

ness, and of choice, fixes its view on any idea,

considers it on all sides, and will not be called off

by the ordinary solicitations of other ideas, it i s what

oThereisapheoomenoninthe mind, which, though it

happen to us while we are perfectly awake, yet approachesthc nearest to sleep of any 1 know. lt i s called the Reverie,

or, as some term it, thé AroM'M ~!t< a sort of middle statc betwcen waking and steeping in which, though our eyesare open, our sensés seem to be entlrely shut up, and we are

quite insensible of every thing about us, yct we are a ll the

while engaged in a musing indolence of thought, or a supine

and loHïng kind of roving from one fairy scène to another,

without any self-command; from which, if any noise or

accident rouse us, we wake as f rom a real drenm, and arc

often as much at a loss to te ll how our thoughts were em-

ployed, as if wc had waked from the soundest sleep. This

is frequently caUed </fceMMa~, sometimes a&aeHcc, a thingoften observed in iovprs and people of a melancholy or

indeed speculat ive turn.–fbr~c~ D<a/o~<p< concenH~

<Mca<<oM, t~. 255.



!64 THAUMATURMA, OR

we call intention or study. ~p<~ without dreaming

is rest f rom all t hese and dreaming itself, is thé

having of ideas (while the outward sensés are stopped,80 that they receive not outward objecte with- their

usual quickness) in the mind, not suggested by any

external objects, or known occasion, nor under any

choice or conduct of the understanding at all, and

whether that which we call ecstasy, be not dreaming

with the eyes open, 1 leave to be examined."Dr. Beattie, in his Dissertations moral and cnti-

cal," bas an ingenious essay on this subject, in which

he attempts to ascertain, not so much the e~M~!< as

the final causes of the phenomenon, and to obviate

those superstitions in regard to it, which have some-

times troubled weak minds. He labours, with great

earnestness, to shew, that dreams may be of use in

thé way of physical admonition that persons, who

attend to them with this view, may make importantdiscoveries with regard to their health that they may be serviceable as the means of moral improvement

that, by attending to them, we may disccrn our pre-dominant passions, and receive good hints for thé

regulation of them that they may have been in-

tended by Providence to serve as an amusement to

the mental powers and that dreaming is not uni-

versal, because, probably all constitutions do not re-

quhc such inteUectuaI amusement. In observations

of this kind, we may discover the ingenuity of fancyand the Ragacity of conjecture. We may find amuse-

ment in the arguments, but we look in vain for satis-

faction. Nature, certainly, does nothing in vain,

yet w e are far from thinking, that man i s able, in



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MAHVELLOUS. 165

every case, to discover her intentions. Final causes,

perhaps, ought never to be the subject of human spé-

culation, but when they are plain and obvions. To

substitutc vain conjectures, instead of thé designs of

Providence, on subjects where those designs are

beyond our reach, serves only to furnish matter for

the cavils of thé sceptical, and the sneers of the licen.

tious.Among the many striking phenomena in our

dreams, it may be observed, that, while they last, the

memory seems to l ie wholly torpid, and thé under-

standing to b e employed only about such objects as

are then presented, without comparing the presentwith the past. W hen we sleep, we often converse

with a friend who is either absent or de~d, without

remembering that the grave or the ocean is between

us. We float, like a feather, upon the wind for we

find ourselves this moment in England, and thé next

in India, without reflecting that the laws of nature

are suspended, or inquiring how the scene could have

been so suddenly shifted before us. We are familiar

with prodigies we accommodate ourselves to every

event, however romantic and w e not only reason,

but act upon principles, which are in thé highest de.

grée absurd and extravagant. Our dreams, more-

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.

But 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




are not less chimerical, and impossible to be realized,

than the imaginations of the night.

Night visions may befnendOur wahing dreams are fatal. How 1 dreamtOur cvaking dreams are fatal. How I dreamt

Of things impossible (could sîcep do more ?)

Of joys perpétuai in perpétuai changeOf stable pleasures on the tossing wave

Eternal sunshine in the storms of lifeHow richly were my noon-tide trances hung,With gorgeous tapestries of pictur~d joysTill at deaths' toi!

Startinglwoke, and found myself undone.

Many of the fabulous stories of ghosts or appari-tions have originated unquestionably in dreams.

There are times of slumber when we are aensiMe of

being asleep. When the thoughts are much trou-

bled," says Hobbes, and when a person sïeepswithout the circumstance of going to bed, or pullingo~ his clothes, as when he nods in hia chair, it i s

very difficult to distinguish a dream from a reality.On the contrary, he that composes himself to sleep, in

case of any uncouth or absurd fancy, easily suspectsit to have been a dream. On this principle, Hobbes

haa ingeniously accounted for the spectre which is

said to have appeared to Brutus and the well-known

story told by Clarendon, of the apparition ot the duke

of Buckingham's father: will admit of a similar sotu.

tion. There was no man at that time in the king-dom so much the topic of conversation as the duke r

and, from the corruptness of his character, he was

Leviathan, part. 1. c. 1.



E LUC ID ATI ON S 0 F THE MA RV RL LOU 8. 167

veyy likely to faU a sacrifice to the corrnptness of the

times. Sir George Villiers is said to have appearedto the man at midnight-there is therefore the great-est probability that the man was asleep and the

dream acrighting him, made a strong impression,

and was likely to be repeated.

History fumishes us with numerous instances of a

forecast having been communicated through the me-

dium. of dreams, some of which are so extraordinaryas almost to shake our belief that the hand of Provi.

dence is not sometimes evident through their instru-

mentality. Cicero, in his first book on Divination, tells

us, that Heraclides, a clever man, and who had been

a disciple of Plato, writes that the mother of Phalaris

saw in a dream the statues of the gods which she had

consecrated in the house of her son and amongother things, it appeared to her, that from a cupwhich Mercury held in his hand, he had spilled some

blood from it, and that the blood had scarcely touched

the ground, than rising up in large bubbles it nUed

the whole house. This dream of the mother wasafterwards but too truly verified in thé cruelty of the

son. Cyrus dreamt that seeing the sun at his feet,

he made three different unsuccessful attempts to layhis hand upon it, at each of which it evaded him.

The 'Persian Magi who interpreted this dream told

him that these three attempts to seize the sun signifiedthat he would reign thirty years. This predictionwas verified he died at the age of seventy, having

begun to reign when he was forty years old.

There is doubtless," says Cicero, somethingeven 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

life, when my body, l ike tbat of Hercules, shall be

consumed by the fire, my spirit will freely enjoy the

~ight.' And Alexander having asked if he had anythingto say, he repHed, Yes, 1 shall soon see you," which

happened as he foretold, Alexander having died a few

days afterwards at Babylon. Xenophon, an ardent dis.

ciple of Socrates, relates that in the war which he made

in faveur of young Cyrus, he had some dreams which

were followed by the most miraculous évente. Shall

we say that Xenophon does not speak truth, or is too

extravagant? What! eo great a personage, and sodivine a spirit as Aristotle, can he be decelved S Or

does he wish to deceive others, when he tells us of

Eudemus of Cyprus, one of his friends, wishing to gointo Macedonia, paesed by Pheres, a ce!ebrated town

in Thessaly, which at that t ime was under thé domi-

nion of the tyrant Alexander; and that having faïten

very sick, he saw in a dream a very handsome young

man, who told him that he would cure him, and that

the tyrant Alexander would shortly die, but as to

himself, he would return home at the end of five

ycars. Aris totle remarks that the two first predic-tions were, indecd, soon accomplished that Eudemus

recovered, and that the tyrant was killed by his wifë's

brothers but that at the expiration of five years, the

time at which it was hoped Eudemus, accordmg to

the dream, was to rctum to Sicily, his native country,news were receivcd that he had been killed in a corn.

bat near Syracuse; which gave rise to another inter.



EÏ~UCYDATIONS OP THM &ÏARVKLLOU9. !69

pretatioh of the dream, namely, that, when the spi-

rit or soul of Eudemus left his body, it went thence

straight to his own house.–A cup of massy gold

having beenstolen from the temple of Hercules, this

god appeared m a dream to Sophocles three consecu-

tive times, and pointed out the thief to him; who

was put to the torture, confessed the delinquency,

andgave up

thecup.

The temple

afterwards re-

ceived the name of Hercules Indicator.

An endless variety of similar instances, both from

aneient and modern history, might be adduced of the

singularity of dreams, as well as their instrumentalityin revealing secrets which, without such agency, had

lain for ever in oblivion these, however, are.sufficientfor our purpose here and the occurrence of one of a

vcry recent date, comiected with the discovery of the

body of the murdered Maria Martin, in the red barn,is sti ll fresh in the recollection of our readers. That

there is a ridiculous infatuation attached by some peopleto dreams, which have no meaning, and whichare the

oHspringa of the day's thoughts, even among personswhose education should inform them better, particu-

larly among the fair sex, cannot be denied indeed, a

conversation seldom passes among them, but some

inconsistent dream or other, f orm a leading feature

of their gossip and doubtiess is with them an hy-sterical symptom.

Sometimes in our sleeping dreams, we imagineourselves' involved in inextricable woe, and enjoy at

waking, the ecstasy of a deliverance from it. And

such a deliverance," says Dr.Beattie, H will every good

man meet with at last, when he is taken away from



~0 THAUMATURGtA, OR

thé evils ofHfe, and awakes in the regions of everlast-

ing 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

mqrning." Sometimes, in our dreams, we imaginescenes of pure and unutterable joy; a nd how

much do we regret at waking, that the heavenly vi-sion i s no more But what must the raptures of the

good man be, when he enters the regions of immor-

tality, and behoids the radiant fields of permanentdelight The idea of such a happy death, such a

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 breathThis moment perfect hcatth, the next was deathOne aigh did her eternal bliss assure =So little penance oeeds when souls are pure.

As gentte dreams our waking thoMghta pursueOr, one dream past, we slide into a newSo close they follow and such wild order kecp,Wc tbink ourselves awake and arc asleep;So softly dcath aueeeeded life in her sShe did but dream of heuven and she was there.

DEFINITION OP DREAM8.

Dreams are vagaries of the imagination, and

in most instances proceed from external sensationa.

They take place only when our sleep is unsound,



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOU8. 17! I

in which case the brain and nervous system are

capable of perfbrming certain motions. We seldom

dream during the first hours of sieep; perhapsbecause the nervous fluid M then too much exhaust-

ed but dreams mostly occur towards the mom-

ing, when this Suid bas been, in some measure,

restored.

Every thing capable of interrupting the tranquillity

of mind'and body, may prpduce dreams auch are

the varions kinds of grief and sorrow, exertions of

the mind, affections and passions, crude and un-

digested food, a hard and inconvenient posture of

the body. Those ideas which bave lately occupiedour minds or made a Uvely impression upon us,

generally constitute the principal subject of a dream,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

perfect state of health, are seldom disturbed with

this play of the fancy. And, indeed, there are examplesof lively and spirited penons who never dream at

all. The great physiologist HaUer considera dream-

ing as a symptom of disease, or as a stimulatingcause, by which the perfect tranquillity of the senso-

rium is interrupted. Hence, that sleep is themost refreshing, which is undisturbed by dreams,

or, at least, when we have the distinct recollection

ofthem. Most of our dreams are then nothing morethan sports of the fancy, and derive their originchiefly from external impressions almost everything we see and hear, when awake, leads our ima-



172 THAUMATURGtA, OR

gination to collateral notions or representations,

which, in a manner, spontaneously, and without the

Icast eSbrt, associate with extemal sensations, The

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.

And, though these images associating with external

sensations, do not arrive at complete consciousnesswithin the power of imagination, yet even in their

latent state they may become very strong and per-manent.

Cicero furnishes us with a etory of two Arcadians,

who, travelling togcther, arrived at Megara, a

city of Greece, betwcen Athens and Corinth, where

one of them lodged in a friend's house, and thé

other at an inn. After supper, the person who

lodged at the private house went to bed, and falling

asleep, dreamed that his f riend at the inn appearedto him and beggcd his assistance, because the inn-

kecper was

going to kill him.

The man immediatelygot out of bed much frightened at thé dream but

recovering himself, and falling asleep again, his

friend appeared to him a second time, and desired

that, as he would not assist him in time, he would

take care at least not to let his death go unpunishedthat thé innkeeper having murdered him had thrown

his body into a cart and covered it with dung he

therefore beggcd that he would be at thé city gatein the morning, before thé cart was out struck

with this new dream, lie went early to thé gâte, saw

thé cart, and asked the driver wlmt w as in it; the



ELUCtDATIOXS 0F THE MARVELÏ.OU8. !73

driver immediately fled, thé dead body was taken

out of the cart, and thé innkeeper apprehended and

executed.

It is very frequently observed, that in a dream a

series of representations is suddenly inteiTupted, and

another series of a very dirent kind occupies its

place. This happens as soon as an idea associates

itself; which, from whatever cause, is more interest-

ing than that immediately preceding. The last then

becomes thé prevailing one, and determines the

association. Yet, by this too, the imagination is

frequently reconducted to the former séries. Thé

interruption in the course of the preceding occur-

rences is remarked, and the power of abstracting

similarities is in search of the cause of this irregula-

rity. Hence, in such cases, there usually happenssome unfortunate event or other, which occasions

the interruption of the story. The representing

power may again suddenly conduct us to auother

series of ideas, and thus the imagination may be led

by thé subreasoning power before defined, from onescene to another. Of this kind, for instance, is

the following remarkabic dream, as related and

j explained in the works of professor Maas of HaHe

Idreamedonce," says he that the Popevisitedme. 'He commanded me to open my desk, and

carefuUy examined all the papers it contained.

While he was thus employed, a very sparMingdiamond fell out of his triple crown into my desk, of

which, however, neither of us took any notice. As

soon as thé Pope had withdrawn, 1 retired to bed, but was soon obliged to rise, on account of a thick



174 THAUMATURGIA,OR

smoke, the cause of which 1 had yet to learn.

Upon examination 1 discovered, that the diamond

had set fire to the papers in my desk, and burnt them

to ashes."

On account of the peculiar circumstances by which

this dream was occasioned, it deserves the followingshort anaïysis. On the preceding evening,"

says professor Maas, 1 was visited by a friend

with w hom 1 had a lively conversation, upon JosephIInd's suppression of monasteries and convents. With

this idea, though 1 did not become conscious of it in

my dream, was associated the visit which the Pope

publicly paid the Emperor Joseph at Vienua, in

consequence of the measures taken against the clergyand with this again was combined, however faintly, the

representation of thé visit, which had been paid me

by my friend. These two events were, by the

subreasoning faculty, compounded into one, accord-

ing to the established rule-that things which agrée

in their parts, also correspond as t o t he whole;-

hence the

Popes visit, was

changed into a

visitmade to me. The subreasoning faculty then, in

order to account for this extraordinary visit, fixed

upon that which was the most important objectin my room, namely, the desk, or rather the paperscontained in it. That a d iamond fell out of the

triple crown was a collateral association, which

was owing merely to the representation of the desk.

Some days before when opening the desk, 1 had

broken the glass of my watch, which 1 held in my

hand, and the fragments fell among the papers.

Hence no farther attention was paid to the diamond,



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. H'5

being a representation of a collateral aeries of things.But afterwards the representation of the sparklingstones wu again excited, and became the prevailing

idea; hence it determined thé succeeding associa-

tion. On account of its similarity, 1 it exci ted, the

representation of fire, with which it was confounded

hence arose fire and smoke.-But, in the event,

the writings only were burnt, not the desk itself;

to which, being of comparatively less value, the

attention was not at aH directed." It is farther

observable, tbat there are in the human mind certain

obscure representations, and that it is necessary to

be convinced of the reality of these images, if we

are desirous of perceiving the connexion, which

subsista among the operations of the imagination.Of the numerous phenomena, founded on obscure

ideas, and which consequently prove their existence,

we shall only remark the following. It is a well

known iact, that many dreams originate in the im-

pressions made in the body during sleep; ànd they

consist of analogous images or such as are associatedwith sensations that would arise from these impres-

sions, during a waking state. Hence, for instance,

if our legs are ptaced in a perpendicular posture, we

are often terrined by a dream that implies the im-

minent danger of falling from a steep rock or préci-

pice. The mind must represent to itself thèse exter.

nal impressions in a lively manner, otherwise no

ideal picture could be thos excited but, as we do

not become at all conscious of them, they are but

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



ï76 THAUMATURGIA, OR

morning than usual; and if we impress the déter-

mination on our mind, immediately before going to

rest, we are almost certain to succeed. Now it is

self-évident that this success cannot be ascnbedto the efforts of the body, but altogether to the mind,

which probably, during sleep perceives and computesthe duration of time, so that it makes an impressionon the body, which enables us to awake at an ap-

pointed h our. Yet aïl this taltes place, withoutour consciousness, and the reesprentations remain

obscure. Many productions of art are so complicated,

that a variety of simple conceptions are requisite to

lay the foundation of them yet. the artist is almost

entirely unconscious of these individual notions.

Thusa peMon peribrms a piece of music, without

being obliged to reflect, in a consciousmanner, on the

signification of the notes, their value, and the order

of the nngers he must observe nay even without

clearly distinguishing the striogs of the harp, or

the keys of the harpsichord. We cannot attribute

this to the mechanism of the body, which mightgradually acc'istoïn i tself to the accurate placing of

the fingers. This could be app!ied only where we

place a piece of music, frequentty practised but it is

totally inapplicable to a new piece, which is played

by thé professor with equal faciHty, though he bas

never seen it before. ïn the latter case there must

arise, necessarily, an ideal représentation, or an act

of judgment, previous to every motion of the

nnger.Thèse arguments, we trust, are sutncient~ to evince

the occurrence of these obscure notions and repre-



BLUMDATtONSOFTHEMARVELLOUS.

N

sentations, from which a~ our dreams' originate.

Before, however, we close this subject, we shall

relate the following extraordinary dream of the

cehbrated Galileo, who at a very advanced age had

lost his sight. In one of his walks over a beautiful

plain, conducted by his pupil Troicelli, the venerable

sage related the fallowing dream to him. Once,"

said he, my eyes permitted me to enjoy the charmsof these fields. But now, since their light is extin.

guished, these p!easures are lost to me for ever.

Heaven justly inflicts the punishment which was

predicted to me many years ago. When in p~son,and impatieïitty languishing for liberty, 1 began to

'be discontented with thé ways of Providence Coper*nicus appeared to me in a dream his celestial spiritconducted me over luminous stars, and, in a threaten-

ing voice, reprehended me for having murmured

againsthim, at whose~~ aU these worlds had pro,ceeded from nothing. A timc shall corne (said he)when thine eyes shall refuse to assist thee m con.

templating thèse wonders."

We shall now proceed to notice the subject of

dreams in another point of view-that is, as being

employed as a medium of d ivination in the cure

of diseases, in which the fancies of the brain

appear, in reality, to as little advantage as they do

with reference to any other considerations in which

such pretended omens exist.-



!78 THAUMATUROÏA, OR

C HAPTER XL

ON !NCCBATÏON, OR TUB ART OP HEAMNO BY

VtSÏONARY DIVINATION.

MEDtcïNE unquestionably ranba among the most

ancientofaHhuman sciences. In the infant state of

society, when aimplicity of manners characterised

the purBuits of mankind, medical assistance was

little w'anted but when the nature of man degene-

rate~ and vice and luxury corrupted his habits of

innocence and temperance, diseases sprung up which

those aids alone could check or eradicate. The

knowledge of them at first could not fail to beempirical and precarious. The sick were placedin the high ways, that traveUers and passers by

might assist them with their counsci and a t lengththe priesthood al)propriated this privilege exclu-

sively to themselves,

It was not merely the sacerdotal dignity which

rendered them objects of awc a nd révérence to the

illiterate multitude the priests were regarded as the

depositaries of science and Icarning; and proved

themselves as skilful as they wcrc successfui~ in

cemcuting thcir inauence by those arts which were



KLUCÏP ATÏ ON8 OP THR MARVEt.LOUS. t79

N 2

best calculated to incarne thé prejudices of the vulgar in their favour.

It is the work of ages to wean men and nations

from popular illusions, and the deep.rooted opinionstransmitted from sire to son it cannot therefore

surprise us, that even when the inteUectual encrgy of

Greece was signalizing itself by efforts which have

commanded the admiration of after ages, it should

sim remain a popular dogma in medicine that persons labouring under bodily infirmity, might be

thrown into a state of charmed torpor, in which,

though destitute of any previous medical knowledge,

they would be enabled to ascertain the nature of their

malady, as well as of the diseases of others, and

devise the means of their cure." Upon this dogmawas founded the mystery of incubations, or the art

of healing by visionary divination.

It is not our object here to discuss whether a

man can be capable of divination such a power,

however, waa assigned to him, not only by the

vulgar, but

by

the

greater

number of the philoso-

phical sects of antiquity; and it does appear to

savour a little of temerity, that Epicurus and thé

cynics should have ventured to reject a beUef so

universally and strenuously maintained, and restingon an innuity of traditions and accounts of prophets,in whom Greece had abounded from her earMcct

times, aud of whose divine gift of prophecy thé

nrmest conviction was currently entertaincd. ~Es-

chylus, Plutarch, Apuleius, and other Greek authors,

bear ample testimony of this persuasion, and tell us

that by uncommon and irregular motions of the body



tSO THAUMATURGÏA, OR

intoxicating vapours, or certain holy ejaculations,men might be thrown into an enchanted trance in

which, being in a state between sleeping and waking,

they were unsusceptibîe of external impressions and

obtaming a glimpse of futurity, were gifted with the

power of prophecy. Here their allusion, however,

only concems the celebrated d ivinations of the

Pythia.* We must therefore, probe somewhat

deeper, in order to iUustrate that species of divination

which was the result of dreams, and a source of

divination on the nature of diseases and their remedies.

This kind of superstition was in no less acceptationthan the former among the ancients, whose templeswere constantly crowded with the sick, and rever-

berated with their supplications for divinatory dreams,

which were regarded as an immediate gift from thé

gods. Indeed, the celestial origin of dreams was

universaHy admitted by the rations of antiquity,and thence also their efficacy as oracles. Nothingcould be more natural than such an idea. From

thc crude and imperfect notions which long pre-vailed with respect to the soul, i t was scarcely

possible for them to ascribe the impressions, which

their memory retained of thé creation of their 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 Pythîus, from lus staying the serpent Python.The Pricstcss was to be a pure virgin. She sat on thecovercle or lid of a braxen vcssc!, mountcd on a tripod,ànd thence, after a violent euthusiastn, she d.'Hvcrpd his

oracles i. e. she rehearscd a few ambiguona and obscure

verses, which were taken for oracles.



ELUCIDATIONS OP T HK MAR~E M~OUS. t8!

during their slumbers, to the instrumentality of their

own conceits they could not fail therefore to impute

them to the interposition of some foreign agent, and to

whbm more naturally could they refer them than to

a divinity ? When awake, they imagined themselves

ahvays attended by thé gods in person, and ascribed

every thought, and resolved every ap~arance or

accident, which deviated from thé common course of

nature, to the immédiate influence of a superintend-

ing deity. It was under such impressions that so

many nations originally rested their belief in divina-

tory dreams. The records of antiquity therefore

abound in instances (for the greater part of an early

date) where the actions of men have been the result

of a dream, whose conceit was entirely at variance

with the real state of their anairs. It was not long before the diversity of dreams awakened their atten-

tion some w ere connected and simple, others were

obscure, and made up of curious fancies, thoughnot incapable of being resolved by the windings and

turnings of allegory.It w as no unnatural transition from the received

belief in dreams, to the idea that they might become

the medium of seeking instruction from the godshence the institution of oracles, whose responseswere given in dreams and thé addition of sleepingchambers to many temples, such as those in Epidaurus

andatOropos. Here it was, that after pious cere-

monies and prayers, men laid themselves down in

expectation of dreams when the expectation was

realized, though thé dream prove~ ever so confused

or intricate, thé dreamer always succeeded in recon-



t82 THAUMATURGIA, OR

ciling it t o h ia c ircumstances his own belief and

priestly wiles, readily enected the solution. The

conceit of dreams, according to the votary's wishes,

was so powerfally promoted by the preparatoryinitiation he had nndergone, that it would have

been somewhat cxtraordinary had he been altogether

disappointed. He was generally anxious to -in-

crease the ~ame of his divinity by his dream,

and possessed a high veneration and deep im-

pression of thé miracles which that divinity had

wrought. With these predispositions he resorted to

the temple, where he had a whole day before him

to ponder on his malady, and on every sort bf

remedy that might have been suggested to him how

natural was it, therefore, for hie busy imaginationto fix, in his sleep, upon one particular remedymore forciMy than upon another ? Add to this, the

solemn ionely hour of night was the appointed hour

for his sleep, which was preceded by prayer and

other inspiring ceremonies, that would naturally

elevate his

devotion to the highest pitch. He hadalso previously perambulated the temple, and with a

iTiH heart surveyed the offering& of those whose sick'

4tess had departed from them.

If aU these préparations were unavailing, the

officiants of the temple had still means in reserve,

by which the credulous should be thrown into that

bodily etate which was indispensable to the divinatory

deen.: of these, soeceeding instances will be here-

after~H'oduced. In those days, there wcre however,

some men from whom the somniferous faculty was

withheld they were, therefbre, admonished to repeat



ELU CI DA TI ON S O P T HE MA RV EH .OU 8. t83

their prayers and oblations, in order to win the

divinity's faveur: and the ultimate and customary

resort waa, if auccess did notcrown his persévérance,to pronounce it a tulœn, that such patients were an

eyesore to the divinity.Frdm this divinatory aleep, arose the vulgar expres-

sions in Greece e~o~tCto~cK, and e~~ot~t~crt?.* The latin

terms are MCM~~ and incubatio; an exact translation

of the Greek words. It. appeara, therefore, that the

Romans and Greeks were equally acquainted with the

Institution; though we find but very little mention

made of it by the Latin writers, yet this is no argu-ment against ita prevalence among the Romans, as

we are left with as acanty accounts of many other

superstitions which were in vogue amongst them.

It is higMy probable that i t was not by any means so

popular in Rome as in Greece and the cause of this

may, perhaps, be found in thé reflecting dispositionand sober character of the haughty Roman, to which

the light and vo!atHe temperament of the Grecian,

formed so striking a contrast..That incubation was a ready means of diving into

the future, needs no demonstration. Although its

practice was chieny resorted to in cases where medi-

cal aid was desired, it was still made use of in everyother case, in which the ancient oracles wcre con-

sulted. Whether it arose in Greece, or migrated

Thèse words are but iti explained by thé best Greek

Lcx!cogT!tphcra. Servius ad Virg. ~En. vi!. 88, saysIneubare ~licuntrcr l~ro~rie leic, qui dormiu~et aecipienrla./?tCM&a~ Tertullian de Anima, C. 49, thence OCC)~te?M/0~WMa. Tcrtuuian de Anima, C. 49, thence catis thptn

/MeM~a<o)'c~/aMor«w.



!84 THAUMATUROïA, OR

thither from the East, is a point with which the an-

cients have left us unacquainted, though they advert to

its prevalence amenât those who were called barba-

r ians. Strabo bas several instances of it, and partieu-

larly mentions a place in the Caspian sea, where such

an oracle existed he aïso ~ates, in his celebrated

account of Moses, that this law~giver laid it down, in

common with the priests'of Esculapius, that to those

who led a c haste and virtaous life the deity wouldvouchsafe prophetical visions in his sanctuary but to

those who were of idle and impure habits, they would

be denied.t

Pomponius Mela even mentions a savage nation, in

the interior of Africa, who laid themselves down to

sleep on thé grave-atones of their ancestors, and

looked upon 'the dreams they had on those spots as

oracles from the dead.~ We shall see, hereafter,

that this superstition was equally indigenous amongthe Egyptians. Although it be doubtful whether the

Greeks owed this species of divination to their own

invention or not, its existencemay

at least be traced

as far as the earliest âges of tueir history notwith-

atanding no positive mention of it has been made

either by Homer or the authors following him.

The oracular powcr of dreams, and the sanctuaries

where they are supposed to be dispersed, have been

diffusely treated of in the compilations of Van Dale and

otherlearned writers. These species of oracles were in

Lib. XI. p. 108. Paria, fol. 1620.

t Ibid. lib. XV!. p. 761..De Bhu orbis. !ib. ï. cap. 1.



ELU CI DA TI ONS O P TH E MA RVELL OU S. Ï85

high estimation, even in the most enlightened and

flourishing periods of Greece it is.somewlia.t singu-

lar, however, that no peoplechenshedthem more

dèvoutly than the Sparta-ns~ who depended altogether

upon oracles in their weightiest affairs of state. Of

alt the civilized nations of Greece, Sparta always

approved herself the most superstitions her advance-

ment was rather the effect of her policy,

t han of

any stimulus given to her civilization by science.

This consideration will enable us to account for the

powerful influence which, even in the latest stages of

Lacedemonian story, attached to the responses of

Passiphœ, a local goddess of Thalame, but little

known beyond the confines of Laconia. The extent

of their influence is particularly evident in the historyof Agis and Cleomenes.*

The greater part of these somnambulistic oracles

were ascribed to persons who had distinguished

themselves as great dreamers when on earth. In old

times there was a description of prophets who pre-

tended to prepare themselves for the foreboding of future events through the medium of sacred dreams.

They wcreclassed under the appellation ofO~tpowXot~to which rank thé most celebrated Vates of the heroic

age belonged. In this way it was that a sacred spotwas dedicated to Calchus, whence he gave his res-

<

Plutarch apud Agis et Cicomea. Cicero (de Div. I.c. 48) prpbably anudcs to this oracle, when he says, that théEphori of Sparta wcre accustomcd to sleep ia thé temple of

Pasipha: on state etncrgenc!es. Therc wasasimitar oracleiï? thé neighbourhood of Thidame, not fur from ~Etylum,sacred to Ino.



186 THAUMATUttGÏA, OR

penses in dreams after his decease this spot lay in

Daunia, on the~coast of the A driatic. The suppli-cant'a offices began with the offering up of a ram, on

whose skin he laid himself down, and in this situa-

tion, received the instruction he sougbt for.' Am.

philocus, a contemporary soothsayer, who accom.

panied the Epigoni in the first Theban war, had a

similar oracÏe at Mallos, in Cilicia, which Pausanias

asserts, even at the close of the second century, tohave been the most credible of his age tt i s also

mentioned by Dion Cassius, in his history of Commo.

dus.t

The most famous, however, of this cïass of oracles,

was titat of Amphiaraus, the father of Amphilocus,which was one of the five principal oracles of Greece

he had signalized himself as a sapient soothsayer in

the first Theban war and his ora<tle was situated at

Oropos, on thé borders of Bœtia and Attica. Of a ll

others th is deserves our most particular attention, ae

it was resorted to more frequently in cases of infir.

mity and disease, t ban in any other circumstances.His responses were always deli~ered in dreams, in

whose interpretation, as he wae the nrat to possessthat faculty. Pausanias says he received divine

honours. Those who repaired to Amphiaraus's ora.cle to supplimte his aid, laid themselves down in the

manner we hâve just related, after several preparatorylustrations and sacrifices, on the skin of a ram slain

Strabo, lib. V!. p. 284.

t Pauaanias, 1, 35.



KLUC!DAT!ONS 0F THE MARVELLOUS. îS~

in honour of the god, and awaited the dreams, which

were to unfold the means of their different cures.

Lustrationsand''sacnnces were not, however, thé

only preparatives ibr inducing thé visionary disposi-

tion. The priests subjected the patients to various

others, which Miilostratns afBrms* to have been very

instrumental towards rendering the sieeper's mind

clear and unclouded. Part of these preparatives con-sisted in one day's abstinence from eating, and three,

nay, even in some cases, fifteen days' abstinence

from wine, the common beverage of the Greeks.

This was the practice also with other oracles; nor

were the priests in the meantime insensible to their

own interests on these occasions for those who were

cured by Amphiaraus's revelations were permitted to

bathe in the saered waters of a fountain, into which

they were enjoined to cast pieces of gold and silver,

which were destined, most probably, to sweeten the

labours of his officiants.

The oracles,

whose intervention was principally

or

aÏtogether sought for the healing of the sick by means

of divination founded on dreams, were scattered over

Greece, Italy, Egypt, a nd other countries. As

regards thnse of Egypt, it may be remarked, that

atthpugh many of the Egyptians believed there

were thirty-six démons, or aerial deities, e ach of

whom had the care of a certain portion of the human

frame, and when that portion was diseased, would

heal it ôn the patient's eamest prayer, yet a variety of

their oracles, such as those of Serapis, Isis, and

De vita Apoll. Thyan. 11. 37.



!88 THAUMATURGE, OR

Phthas, the Hephaestos ofthe Greeks, appertained to

the class, which is the present object of our inquiry.The .oracle Serapis was situated near Canopus} it

was visited with thé highest veneration by thé

weaJthiest and most illustrious Egyptians, and con-

tained ample records of miraculous cures which that

god had performed on sleepers.* Isis, it i s said,

effected similar cures in her lifetime, whence it

became her oiHce, in her after state of deification,to reveal in dreams the most efficacious remedies to

the sick. Tndeed the healing powers of this ~oddesBwere such, that, as we are told by Diodorus,t the

remedies she prescribed never faHed of their effect,

and that convalescents were daily seen returning fromher temple, many of whom had been abandoned as

incurable by the physicians.The third oracle of t he sick w as consecrated to

Phthas, and lay near Memphis, but it is seldom

mentioned by the ancients. t

In Italy there existed two oracles, whose responses

were imparted in dreams, before thé worship of Esculapius was introduced from Greece. One of

them oiily belongs to this place, that of the physician

Podahrus, in Daunia,$ which is mentioned by

Strabo, hb. xvii. p. 801. Anian. Expcd. A!ex.vi i. 6.

t !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 vcryhnpcrfcct, as we find cxctnp!i(!ed by thèse two acting as

surgeons general to thé Grccian ar<ny. Thcir simple prnctice



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVN~OUS. t8Q

Lycophron.* Subséquente i t i s well known incuba-

tion was practised after the Grecian form in the

Roman temple of ~Esculapitis on the Ineula Ti-

benna.f

This description of oracles abounded throughout

Greece the most memorable of which was that on

the Asiatic coast, between Trat tis and Nyssa, which

is more particularly described by Strabo than anyother~ .Not far from the town of Nyssa, says he,

there is a place called Charaka, where we find

a grove and temple sacred to Pit tto and Proserpine,

consisted ehieHy tn extracting dMts orarrows, in staunching blood by some infusion of bitter herbs, and sometimes theyadded charms or incantations which seemed to be a poetical

way of hinting, that frequently wounds wcre healed or diseases

curcd in a manner unaccountable by anyknown properties theycould d iscover e ither in the e~ccts of their rude remedies,or in thé then known powers of the human body to relieve

itself. In Homcr'8 description of the wound which Ulysses,when young, received in his thigh from the tusk of an en-

raged wild boar, thé infusion of blood was stopped bydivine incantations and divine songs, and some sort of band-

age which must have acted hy pressure, If any virtue couid

have acted as a charn!, thé vcry verse that describes thé

wound might have as good a right to such a claim as anyothcr but, in what manner thé surgeons ofnacient Greece,

bcfore'the discovery of thé c ircula tion of the blood, might

app!y bandages for thé purposcs bere tncntioned, is not easily

explaiued; though doubt!css thèse bandages must have acted

like a tourniquet, which is now the most cffectual remedyfor compressing a wounded artery, and thereby stopping an

heinorrhage.~A!exand. 1050.

tSuet. Claid. c.28.




and close to the grove a subterraneous cave, of a

most extraordinary nature. It is related of it, that

diseased persons, who have faith in the remedies pre-

dicted by those deities, are accustomed to resort to i t

and pass some time with experienced priests, who

reside near the cave. These priests lay themselves

down to sleep in the cave, and afterwards order such

medicine as have been revealed to them there, to

be furnished to their patients in the temple. Theyfrequently conduct thé sick themselves ioto the cave,

where they remain for several days together, with.

out touching a morsel of food nor are the profanewithheld from a participation in the divinatory sleep,

though this is not permitted otherwise than under

the controul, and with the sacred sanction, of the

priests. There is, however, nothing more surprisingabout this place than that it is esteemed noxiou and

fatal to the Aco~~y.* This last remark of our geo-

grapher, proves how jealous the priestly physicianswere of their medical monopoly, and how fearful

lest the saner part

of mankind should detect and

expose the pretended virtues of their medical

sanctuary.We have hitherto mentioned the name of ~EscuJa-

pius but casually, though there was no god of anti-

qnity more celebrated for curing every species of

mahdy by the incubatory process. He was particu-

jarly designated by thc Greeks as "thé sender of

dreams," O~tpo~o~Tro~ nor could any other deity boast of so great a number of those oracles. The

Strabo. lib. xiii. Pausan. lib. ii.



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THB MARVELLOUS. 1~1 1

moat distinguished of thèse was the oracle of Epi.

daarus, in the Argivian territory from which spot'his worship extended over a great proportion of the

o!dworld;–hither, asbeing thé place ofhis birth

and the site of his richest temple, crowds of sick

persons constantly repaired in quest of dreams. The

saccess attending them was diligently set forth on

every wall of thé

temple where thé <<~M~B ~o~<p

recorded the names of those who had been healed,

the nature of their maladies, 'and the cure which thé

god prescribed. Similar circumstances are related

of his Temple at Triccœ, in Thessaly, where Escula-

piuawas held in great veneration at a very early

period there appears also to have been another such

temple either a t or near Athens,* where we must

look for the scene of the ridiculous cure which Aris-

tophanes makes ~EscnIapitM to perform on the blind

god of riches. Though there is undoubtedly a rich

vein of the burlesque in the Plutus of the Grecian

dramatist, yet we may gather much concerning our

present subject from the scene in which thé slave,who had attended Plutus in thé Temple, relates the

whole process of his mastcr's wife. Here also the

night was the chosen period of incubation. Before

the signal for sleep was given, the officiants of the

temple extinguisbed aU the lights in the sick men's

chamber; thus involving thcm in a solemn stillness

and obscurity lughiy favourable to the work in hand,

but in a particular manner to the subterfuge of thé

'SchoHaadPtut.v. 621.



t92 THA.UMATURGÏA, OR

priests, who enacted thé nocturnal apparition of

~Esculapius to lus sick client.

This passage in Plutus is certainly the earliest

circumstantinl relation we possess of thé practice of

this species of incubation.* The Hcensepermitted to

Grecian comedy was such as to authorise the ridicule

and contempt of the most popular deitics we a re

not, therefore to conclude from thé scenès that there

were many unbelievers, or that this ancient systemof cure had Bunk into disrcpute for thé history of

our comedian'a gréât contemporary, Hippocrates,

informs us, that at this very time thé temple of

~Escu!apiu8 at Cos abounded in tablets, on which the

sick attested the remedies that had been revealed to

them during incubation, and that he himself was

higniy indebted to them fur much of his medical

knowledge.

Were it not authenticated by thé most undeniable

testimonies, it would appear ineredible that the im-

postures of the disciples of ~Esculapius, and the

common faith in his regenerative powers, shouldhave survived with equal potency and acceptation

during the ages immediately succeeding thé Christian

era. It must not however, be forgotten, that these

were thé times also, when an infinity of superstitiousof every description disgraced thé Roman worid;

although it would have appcared a nccesBary con-

sequence, that their prevalency should have been

.cheeked by the increasing détermination of learningand science.

a Attstoph. Plut act. !i. se. 6. mut ni. Bc2.



BLUCÏDATION8 OP T HE MARVE LL OUS. t93

0

If at this period the number of dreaming patientshad.fallen off at Cos and Epidaurus, the deflciencywas ampiy compensated by thé growing popularity of

j<Eacutapiua's shrines at Rome, Pergamus, Ataea,

MaHos, and other places, where the ancient rituals

were faithfully preserved. The highest magistratesin thé Roman states not only countenanced, but

patronised the superstition Marcus Aurelius, by the

friendship with which he honoured the PapMagonian

imposter Alexander, and Caracalla, by the journeyhe undertook to Pergamus, to obtain the cure o f a

disease which inflicted him. This Alexander, the

Cagliostro of his age, whose memoira have been

handed down to us by Lucian, made shift to father a

new species of juggling upon thé ancient process of

incubation for he pretends that i t was.necessary for

him to sleep for a night in the sealed scrips which

con~ain the queries he was to have resolved for those

who visited his oracle.* During this interval hc

dexterouely opened the scrips;' and sealed them

up again pretending that the responses which hedelivered to thé querists in the morning, had been

revealed to him by the deity in a dream.

The priests of j~Escalapius possessed a never failingsource of information on the recipes or votive

taMcts with which these temples abounded. Thèse

were sometimes cngraven on pillars, as at Epidaurusof which Pausanias says there were six remaining in

lus time, and besides these, one in particular removedfrom thé rest, o n which it was recorded that Hip.

Luciani, oper. t. ii. ed Reitzii.



Ï9~ THAUMATURGÏA, OR

polytus had sacrificed twenty horses, in retom for his

having been restored to life by him. Five memoriats

only of this kind bave reached thé present age. One of

them is to be found in the beginning of Galen's fifth

book de Compos. medic. it is taken from the templeof Phthas, near Memphis, and is the least interestingof the whole. Its subject is the use of the Diktam.

nus, borrowed from Heras of Cappadocia, a médical

writer, frequently quoted by Galen. The remainingfour are much more important they were engraven

on a marble stab~ of Inter date at Rome, and are

thought, with much probability, to have belonged to

thé ~Escutapian temple in the Insula Tiberina. Thé

present tranglation, in which some errors either of

thé artist or copyist are rectified, ia extracted from

thé first volume of Gruter 's Corp. Inscriptionum.The narrations are perspicuous and laconic.

t. "in these latter days, a certain blind man, byname Caius, had this oracle vouchsafed to him-

that he should draw near to the altar after the

manner of one who could see then waïk from rightto left, lay the nve fingers of his right hand on the

altar, then raise up his hand and place it on his eyes.'And behold the multitude saw the blind man openhis eyes, and they rejoiced, such sp!endid miracles

should signalize thé reign of our Emperor Anto-

ninus."

2. To Lucius, who was so wasted away by

pains in bis side, that all doubted uf his recovery,

!t is often called by anttquaries Tabella ~a~~to~a

f/~w/ 3A{~fM, as itwas fi rtit preservcd inthe collection.



ELUCIDATIONS 0F TKB MAKVEt.LOUS. t95

o 2

the god gave thie respoosc Approach thou the

altar take ashes from it, mix them up with wine

and then lay thyself on thy sore side.' And the man

recovered, and openly returned thanks to the godamidst the congratulations of the people."

3. fi To Julian who spitted blood, and was givenover by every one, the god granted this response

Draw near, 'taïœ pine apples from off the altar, and

eat them with wine for three days. And thé man got

well, and came and gave thanks in the presence of the

people."4. A blind soldier, Valerius Aaper by name, re-

ceived this answer from the god that he should mix

the blood of a white cock with milk, make an eyeointment therewith, and mb his eyes with it for

three days. And lo thé blind recovered his sight,and came, and publicly gave thanks to thé god."

The success with which thé Priests of ~EscuÏapiuscarried on their impostures, and thé popularity which

their dexterous management, no less than thé vulgar

credulity obtained for them, will cease to surprise uson maturer consideration. It could not be a difficult

task for them to give the minds of their patientswhatever bias was best adapted to their purposes.These credulous beinge passed several days and nightsin the temple, and their imagination could not fail

to be powerfully impressed with what was diligentlytold them of the prescriptions and cures of ~Escula*

pius nor fo retain during their slumbers many lively

impressions of their meditations by day their priestly

nurses too were neither so blind to their own in-

terests, nor so careless of their reputations as to omit



!96 THAU5ÎATURGÏA, OR

the prescribing of such modes of~iet and medical

remedies as were calculated to appease their patienta*

aumsrmgs. Besides which~ however delusive and

empiricaÏ their outward cérémonials and bold preten-sions might bave been, wc should remember, that

priests, having some acquaintance with the science 'of

medicine, were generally selected to otnciate on those

spots where the incubitary process* was the order of

the dny. To this acquaintance were added theresults of daily experience, and the frequent oppor-tunities which the incessant demands of the infirm

upon thcir 8Mn afforded them of correcting- previouserrors and improving their practical knowled~eof gradually ascertaining thé various kinds and

appearances of human disorders; and o f digestingsuch data as w ould enable them, with the least

possible c hance of failure, to pre~cribe the modes

of cure and treatment suitable to thé various stagesand species of thé apphcant's ma!adies. With such

meanp, it would have been not a little singular if the priests of ~Esculapius had faited in convert-

ing the popular veneration to his credit and their own

emolument.

It is sonu'what singulnr, that C!ccro's treatisc on

dh'inntion, as well as thc wot'ks of Hippocrates and Gn!en,should bcso dcstttutc oftnfonnaHon on thcsubjcctof atnodcof cure whtchwnsof such )ott{? standing, and so un!vcrx:t!!y pst<'emed. Frotn thc two last, one should nt least hâve ex-

pected sontcthtng more sotisfactory C'O!) bc!ng tlse bh'th*

place ofthe one, and !'crgatnus ofthe other.



ELUCIDA/HONS OF THE MARVELLOUS. 197

CIÏAPTER XII.

ON AMULETS, CHARMS, TALISMANS–PHÏTLBR8, THEIR

ORÏGÏN AND IMAGÏKARY EFFÏCACY, ETC.

AMULET8 are certain substances worn about thé

neck or other parts of the body, under the supersti~tious impression of preventing diseases, of curing, or

removing them.

The origin of amulets may be traced to the moat

remote ages of mankind. In our researches to d is-

cover and fix thé

period when remedies were first

employed for thé aHeviatton of bodily suffering, we

are soon lost in conjecture or mvolved in fable.

We are unable, indeed, to reach thé period in .any

country~ when the inhahitants were destttute of

medical resources, and even among the most uncul-

tivated tribes we find medicine cherished as a blessingand practised as an art. Thé feelings of the stiSerer,

and the anxiety of those about him, must, in the

rudest state of society, have incited a spirit of in-

dustry and research to procure ease, the modification

of heat and cold, of moisture and dryness and the

régulation and change of diet and habit , must



t98 THAUMATURO!A-, OR

intuitively have suggested themselves for the relief

of pain and when these resources failed, chayms,

amulets, and incantations, were the natural expedi.ents of thé barbarians, ever more inclined to indulgethé de~sive hope of superstition than to l isten to the

voice of sober reason.

Traces of amulets may be discovered in very early

history, though Dr. Warl)urton i~ cvidently in error

whcn he fixes thé origin of these magical instrumentsto the age of the Ptolomies~ whieh was not more

than three hundred years before Christ. This

assertion is rcfuted by Galen, who informs us the

Egyptian Kmg Nechepsus, who lived 630 years before Christ, had written, that a green jasper eut

into thé form of a dragon surrounded with rays, if

applied extemally, would strengthen the stomach

and organs of digestion. Tbis opinion, moreover,

is supported by scripture for what were thé earringswhich Jacob buried under the oak of Sechem, as

related in Genesis, but a mulets. And Josephus in

his antiquities of the Jews,* informs us that Solomon

discovered a plant efficacious in thé cure of epilepsy,and that he employed the aid of a chM'm. for the

purposcs of assisting its virtues. The ro~t of the

herb was concealed in a ring, which was applied to

thenostrUsofthedemoniac; and Josephus remarks

that he saw himself n Jewish priest practise thé art

of Solomon with complete success in the presence of

thé Emperor Vespasian, his sons and the tribunes of

the Roman army. From this art of Solomon, exhibited

L!b. viti. chap. 2. 5.



RLU C! DA TJO NS OF T HB MA RV ELLO U8 . i99

through the medium of a ring or seal, we have the

Eastern stories which celebrate thé seal of Solomon,

and record the potency of his sway over thé various

orders of demons or ofgenii, who were supposedto be the invincible tormentors or benefactors of the

human race.

Nor were such means confined to dark and barba-

rous ages. Theophrastus pronounced Pericles to be

insane m consequence of seeing him with an amuletsuspended from his neck. And in the declining era

of the Roman Empire, we find this superstitiouscustom so général that the Emperor Caracalla was

induced to make a public edict, ordering, that no

man should wear any superstitious amulets about his

person.AU remedies working as i t were sympatheticany,

and plainly unequal to the effect, may be termed

amulets; whether used at a distance by another

person, or carried immediate!y about thé patient.

By the Jews, amulets were called A~Mpa, and bythe Greeks phylacteries. The latins caued them

amuleta or ~a<Mra the catholics ~MtM eM, or con.

secrated relies and the natives of Guinea ~M.Various kinds of substances are employed by different

people, and which they venerate and suppose capableof preserving them from danger and infection, as

weU as to remove disease when present. Plutarch

says of Pericles, an Athenian general, that when a

friend came tb see him, and inquired after his health

lie reached out his hand and shewed him his amulet

by which he meant to intimate thé truth of bis illness,




and, at thé same time, the confidence he placedin these popular remedies.

Amulets are still prevalent in catholic countries at

the present day; the Spaniards and Portuguepemaintain their popularity. Among the Jews they are

equally venerated. Indeed, there are few iostances

of ancient superstition some portion of which has not

b?en preserved, and not unfrequently hâve they been

adopted by men of otherwise good understanding, who plead in excuse, that they are innoxious, cost little,

and if they can do no good, they can do no harm.

Lord Bacon, whom no one can suspect of igno-

rance, says, t hat if a man wear a bone ring or a

planet seal, strongly believing, by that means, that he

might obtain his mistre8&, and that it would preservehim unhurt at sea, or in abattle, it would probablymake him more active and ïesa timid as the auda-

city they might inspire would conquer and bind

wcaker minds in thé exécution of a peculiar duty.

AMULËTS USRD BY THE COMMON PEOPLE.

A variety of things are worn about the person bythe common people for the cure of ague and, uponwhatever principle it may be accounted for, whether

by the imagination or a natural termination of thé

disease, many have apparently been cured by them,

where thé Pcruvian bark, thé boasted specinc, had

previously failed. Dr. WiUis says that charma resist-

ing agues have often been applied to the wrist with



BLUCÎDATION8 OP THE MAUVKLLOUH. 201

succcess. ABRACADABRA, written in a peculiar

manner, that is, in thé form of a cone, it is said, has

cured the ague the herb lunaria, gathered by

moon-light, bas, on some high authonties, performed

surprising cures. Perhaps it was gathered during the

invocating influence of the following charm, which

may be found in the l2th book, chap. xiv. p. 177

of Scot's discovery of witcheraft," which is headed

thus

Another charme that M~C~ use at ~P gathering of

their medicinai Aey&s."

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 thè name of awect Jésus1 takc thee from thé ground.

We are told that Naaman was cured by dipping

seven times in the river Jordan. Certain formalities

were also performed at the pool of Bethesda.

Dr. Chamberlayne's anodyne necMaces, were, for

a length of time, objects of thé most anxious

materna! solicitude, until their occult virtues

became loat by thé reverence for them being

destroyed; and those which succeeded them have

long since run their race or newly so.




The grey l imewort was at one time sapposed to

have been a specinc in hydrophobia-that it not oniycured those labouring under this disorder, but by

carrying it about the person, it was reputed to possèdethc extraordinary power of preventing mad dogs from

biting them. Calvert paid dévotions to St. Hubert

for the recovery of his son, who was cured by this

means. The son also perfbrmed the nccessary rites

at the shrine, and was cured not only of the hydrophobia but of the worser phrensy with which his

father had instilled him." Cramp-rings were aï~o

used and eeIsMus to this day are tied round the

legs as a preventive of this spasmodic affection and

by laying sticks across the floor, on going to bed,

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

by Lord Verulam, who is allowed to have been as

great a genius as this country ever produced, that,

when h e was at Paris,

he had above a hundred warts

on his hands and that the English ambassador's

lady, then at court, and a woman far above supersti-

tion, removed them ail by only rubbing them with

the fat s ide of the rind of a piece of bacon, which

they afterwards nailed to a post, with thé fat aide

towards thé south. In five weeks, says my Lord,

they were all removed. The following are his Lord-

ship's observations, in his own words, relative to the

power of amulets. After deep metaphysical obser.

vattons on nature, and arguing in mitigation of



ELUCIDATIONS Of THE MA&VELLOUS. 203

sorcery, witchcraft, and divination, effects that far

outstrip thé belief in amulets, lie observes We

should not reject all of this kind, because it is not

known how far those contributmg to superstition,

depend on natural causes. Charms have not the power

from contract with evil spirits, but proceed whollyfrom strengthening the imagination in the s ame

manner that images and their influence, have pre-

vailed on religion, being called J~pm a different wayof use and application, sigits, incantations, and

spells."

ECCBNTRMÏTIE8, CAPRICES, AND EPFECT8, 0F THE

IMAGINATION.

A certain writer, apologizing for the irregularitiesof gréât gémi, delivers himself as follows The

gifts of imagination bring the heaviest task upon the

vigilance of reason and to bear those faculties with

unerring rectitude or invariable propriety, requires a

degree of ~nnness and of cool attention, which doesnot always attend the higher gifts of the mind. Yet,

difficult as nature herself seems to have reduced the

task of regularity to genius, it is the supreme coDso-

lation of duUness, to seize upon those excessea, which

are the overnowings of faculties they never en-

joyed. Are not the gifts of imagination mistaken

here for the strength of passions ? Doubtless, where

strong passions accompany great parts, as perhaps

Langhornc's Life of Mr. Collins.




they often do, the imagination may encrease their

force and activity but, where passions are calm and

gentle, imagination of itself should seem to have no

connict but specuïatively with rcason. There, indeed,

it wages an eternal war and, if not contracted and

strictty rcgulated, it will carry the patient into endiess

extravagancies. The term patient is here properly used,

because men, under the influence of imagination, are

most truly distem~ercd. Thé degree of this distemper will be in proportion to the prevalence of imagi-nation over reason, and, according to this proportion,amount to more or Jess of the whimsical but when

reason shall become, as it were, extinct, and imagina-tion govern alone, then thé distemper will be mad.

ness under thé wildest and most fantastic modes.

Thus, one of those invalids, perhaps, shall be all

sorrow for baving been most unjustly deprived of the

crown though his vocation, poor man be that of a

school.master. Another, like Horace's madman, is

a~ joy and it may secm even cruelty to cure him.

The opérations

andcaprices

of théimagination

are

various and endiess and, as they cannot bc reduced

to reguhtrity or system, so it is highiy improbablethat any certain mcthod of cure should ever be found

out for them. It bas generally been thought, that

mattcr of fact might most successfully be opposed to

thé delusions of imagination, as being proof to thc

sensés, and carrying conviction unnvoidably to the

understanding but we rather suspect, that thé un-

derstanding or reasoning faculty, bas little to do in all

thèse cases ut least so i t should seem from the two

foUowingfact~ which are by no means badly attested.



ELUCIDATIONS OF THR MARVRLLOUS. 205

Fienus, in bis curious little book, de FÏr~a 7Ma.

~<?Mt<:OMM,records from Donatus the c ase of a man,

who fancied his body encreased to such a size, that

he durst not attempt to pass through the door of his

chamber. The physician believing that nothing could

more cnectuauy cure this error of imagination, than

to ehew that the thing could actually be done, caused

the patient to be thrust forcibly through it who.

struck with horror, and falling suddenly into agonies,

complained of being crushed to pièces, and expiredsoon after.~

The other case, as related by Van Swieten, in his

commentaries upon Boerhaave, is that of a learned

man, who had studied, till he fancied his legs to be of

glass in consequence of which he durst not attemptto stir, but was constantly under anxiety about them.

His maid bringing one day some wood to the nre,

threw it caretessiy down; and was severely repri-manded by her master, who was terrified not a little

for his legs of glass. The surly wench, out of all

patience witb his megrims, as she called them, gavehim a bÏow with a log upon thé parts affected; which

so enraged him, that he instantly rose up, and from

that moment recovered thé use of his !egs.–Wasreason concerned any more hère or was it not rather

one blind impulse acting against another ?

Imagination has, unquestionabïy, a most powerfuleffect upon the mind, and in aU thèse miraculous

cures, is by far thé strongest ingredient. Dr. Strother

says, Thé influence of the mind and passions works

° Rcvcrii Praxis McdicM, p. 188.




upon the mind and body in sensible operations like a

medicine, and is of far the greater force than ex-

ercise. The countenance betmys a good or wick-

ed intention; and that good or wicked intention

will produce in different pereons a strength to en-

counter, or a weakness to yield t o the prepond-

erating side." Dr. Brown says, Il Our looks disco-

ver our passions, there being mystically in our faces

certain characters, which carry in them the motto of our soûls, and, therefore, probably work secret effects

in other parts." Tins idea is beautifully illustrated byGarth in his Dispensatory, in the following lines

Tttus pa!er ïooks impetuous rage procïaint,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 thé wond'rous cause to find,How body acts upon impassive mind.

On thé power and pleasure of the imagination,from thé pleasures and pains it admini<-tcrs here

below, Addison concludes that God, who knows all

the ways of afflicting us, may so transport us hère.

after with such beautiful and glorious visions, or tor-

ment us with such hideous and ghastly spectres, as

might even of themselves suffice to make up the

entire heaven or hell of any future being.



ELUCIDATI ONS OP TUE MARVELLOUS. 207

DOCTRINE 0F EFFLUVIA–MÏRACULOU8 CURES BY

MEAN8 OP CHARMS, AMULET8, ETC.

Dr. Willis, in his Treatise on nervous disorders,

does not hesitate to recommend amulets m epilepticdisorders. Take," says he, some fresh peony

roots, eut them into square bits, and hang them round

the neck, changing them as often as they dry." îtisnot improbable that the hint wâs taken from this

circumstance for theanodyne necklaces, whicli, some

time ago, were in such repute, as the Doctor, some

little way further on, prescribes the same root for the

looseness, fevers, and convulsions of children, duringthe time of teething, mixed, to make it appear more

miraculous, with some elk's hoof.

St. Vitus's dance is said to have been cured bythe afflicted pcrson pnying a visit to the tomb of thé

saint, near Ulm, every May. Indeed, there is no

little reason in this assertion for exercise and change

of~ir will

change many obstinate diseases. The bite

of thé tarantula is cured by music and this only bycertain tunes. Turner, whose ideas are so extrava.

gantly absurd, w here he asserts, that the symptomsof hydrophobia may not appear for forty years after

thé bite of thé dog, and who maintains that thé

slaver or breath of s uch a dog is infectious and

that men bitten by mad dogs, will bite like dogs

again, and die mad although he laughs at the ano-

dyne necklaces, argues much in the same manner.

It is not, indeed, so very strange that thé emuvia




from external medicines entering our bodies, ehould

effect such considérable changes, when we see the

efficient cause of apoplexy, epilepsy, hysteries, plague,and a number of other disorders, consista, as it were,

in imperceptible vapeurs.–BJood.stone (Lapis ~Eti-

tes) fastened to the arm by some secret means, is

said to prevent abortion. Sydenham, in the iliac

passion, orders a live kitten to bc constantly applied

to the abdomen others have used pigeons split alive,

applied to the soles of the feet, with success, in pes-tilential fevers and convulsions. It was doubtiess the

impression that relief might be obtained by extemal

agents, that the court of king David advised him to

seek a young virgin, in order that a portion of the

natural heat might be communicated to his body, and

give strength to the decay of nature. Take the

heart and liver of the fish and make a smoke, and the

devil shall smcM it and née away." Dnring thé pla.

gue at Marseilles, which Bebrt attributed to the larvae

of worms infecting thesaUva, food,and chyle; and

which, he says, "wcre hatched by the stomach,took their passage into the blood, at a certain size, hinaer-

ing thé circulation, affccting the juices and solid

parts." He advised amulets of mercury to be worn

in bags suspended at ihe chcst and nostri!?, e ither as

a safeguard, or as mcana of cure by which mcthod,

through thé a~t~tt;p/!M.9 of thc pores, effluvia spe-

cially destructive of all venomous insects, were re-

ceived into thé blood. An illustrious prince,"Belort says, by wearing such an amulet, escapedthe small-pox."



E LUC ID ATI ON S OP T HE MA RV ELMU S. 209

r

Clognini, an Italian physician, ordered two or three

drachms of crude mercury to be worn as a defensive

against the jaundice; and aÏso as a preservative

against the noxious vapours of inclement seasons

It breaks," be observes, and conquers the dînè-

rent figured seeds of pestilential distempers floating in

the air; or else, mixing with the air, kiUs them

where hatched." By others, the power of mercury,in thèse cases, bas been ascribed to an élective faculty

givcn out by the w armth of thé body, wlûch draws

out the contagious particles. For, according to this

entertained notion, all bodies are continually emitting

efliuvia, more or less, around them, and some whe-

ther they are internai or external. The Bath waters,

for instance, change the colour of silver in the pocket

of those who use them. Mercury produces thé same

e~ect i Tartar emetic, rubbed on the pit of the

stomach, produces vomiting. Yawning and laughing

are infectious so are f ear and s hame. The sight of

sour things, or even the idea of them, will set the

teeth on edge. Small-pox, itch, and other diseases,are contagious if so, say they, mercurial amulets

bid fair to destroy thé gcnn of some complaints

when used only as an external application, either by

manual attrition, or w om as an amulet. But medi-

cated or nbt, ail amulets are precarious and uncertain,

and in thc care of diseases are, by no means, to be

trusted to.

Thc Barhnry Moors, and generally throughout the

Mahommedan dominions, thc people are strikinglyattached to charms, to which, and nature, they leave

the cure of almost every disorder and this is the



2ÏO THAUMATUROtA,OR

most strongly impressed upon them from their belief in

prédestination, which, according to their creed, stipu-lates thé evil a man is to suffer, as well as the length of

time it is ordained he should live upon the land of hia

forefathers cotisequently they imagine that any inter-

ference from secondary means would avail them uo-

thing, an opinion said tohaveheenentertained by Wil-

liam III, but one by no means calculated for nations,

liberty, and commerce upon the principle that when

the one was entrenchcd upon, men would probably bemore sudden in their revenge, and disHke physic and

occupation and when actuated with religious enthu-

siasm, nothing could stand them in any service.

Thé opinion of an old navy surgeon,* on the sub-

ject, is worth recording hère. A long and intense

passion on one object, whether of pride, love, fear,

anger, or envy, we see have brought on some uni-

versal tremors on othera, convulsions, madness, me.

lancholy, consomption, hectics, or such a chronical

disorder as has wasted their flesh, or their strength,as certainly as 'the taking in of any poisonous drugs

would have donc. Anything f.'ightful, sudden, or aurprising, upon soft, timorous natures, not onlyshews itself in the continuance, but produces some-

times very trouMcsome consequences-for instance, a

parUamentary fright will make even grown men

A<?~r~ themspives, scare them out of their wits, turn

thé hair grcy. Surprise removes the hooping cough

looping from precipices or seeing wheels turn swiftly

John Ailkin, autbor ofthe Navy Snrgcon, !743. Sec

!)ctnocotog!a, p. 64 et seg.



KLUCJDATÏOK80F THH MARVELLOC3. SU

P 2

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

by amulets ? No as the spirits, in many cases, resort

in plenty, we find where thé fancy determines, giving

joy and gladness to the heart, strength and fleetness

to thé limbs, and violent palpitations. To amulets, un.

derstrong imagination, is carried with more force to a

distempered part, and, under these circumstances,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

distempers themselves. Who can apprehend bywhat impenetrable ïnethod the bite of a mad dog,

or tarantula, can produce these symptums ? Thc

touch of a torpedo numbness ? If they are al.

.lowedtc do these, doubtless they may theother;

and not by miracles, which Spinoza denles tbc

possibility of, but by natural and regular causes,

though inscrutable to us. Thé best way, therefore,

inusing amulets,

must be insquaring

them to the

imagination of patients let thé uewness and sur.

prise exceed thé invention, and keep up the humour

by a long scroll of cures and vouchers; by these and

such means, many distempers have been cured.

Quacks again, according to thcir boldness and wayof addressing (velvet and infallibility particularlv)command success by striking thé fancies of a n au.

dience. If few, more sensible than the rest, sec

tlie doctor's miscamagcs, and are not easily gulledat first sight, yet, whcn they see a man is never

ashamed, in time, jump in to his assistance."



212 TUAUMATURGI A, OR

There ia much truth and pertinence in some of the

above remarks, and they apply nearly to the gênerai

practice of the présent day. The farces and whims

of people require often as much discrimination on

the part of the physician as the disease i tself. Thoae

who know best how to flatter such caprices, are fre-

quently the best paid for their trouble. Nervoua

diseases are always in season, and it is here that

some professional dextcrity is pardonable. Nature,

when uninterrupted, will often do more than art but our inability upon all occasions to appreciate t!ie

efforts of nature in the cure of discases, must alwaysrender our notion, with respect to the powers faith,

habÏe to numerous errors and deceptions. There is.

in fact, nothing more natural, and at the same time

more erroneous, than to tay the cure of a disease to

thé door of the last medicine that had been pres-cribed. By thèse means the advocates of amu~ets

and charms, have evcr been enabled to appealto the testimony of what they are pleased to call

experience in justincation of their pretensions, and

egre~ioua superstitions and cases which, in truth,

ought to have been classed, or rather designated,as lucky escapes, have been triumphantïy punedoff as skilful curea and thus, medicines and mc-

dicaï practitioncrs, have alike receivcd the meed

of unmerited praise, or the stigma of unjuat censure.

Of all branches of human science, medicine is one of

thc most interesting to mankind and, accordin~'yas it is erroneou~y or judiciously cu!tivated, is ovi-

dently conducivc to thé prejudice or welfnre of the

pub!ic. Of how great consequence is it, then, that



KLUMDATÏONS OP THE MARVELLOU8. 2~3

our endeavours should be exerted in stemming the

propagation of errors, whether arising from ignorance,

or prompted by motives of base cupidity, in givingassistance to thé disseminations of useful truths, and

to the perfection of ingénions discoveries.




CHAPTER XÏH.

ON TAH8MANS-–SOME CUMOUS, NATURAL ONE8, ETC.

THB Egyptian amulets are not so ancientasthe

Babylonian talismans, but in their uses they were

exactly simitar. Some little figures, supposed to have

been intended as charms, have beçn found on several

mummies, which, at various times, have been broughtto Europe. Plutarch informa us that the soldiers

wore rings, on which the representation of an insect

rcsemMingourbeetle, wasinscribed; and we learn from

~HUan, that the judges had always suspended round

their necks a small figure of Truth formed of eme-raids. The superstitions belief in thé virtues of ta-

lismans is yet far from being extinct, the Copths,thé Arabians, thé Syrians, and, indeed, almost aU the

inhabitants of Asia, west of the Gangcs, whether

christians or mahometans, still use them against

possible evils.

There is little distinction between talismans, amu-

leta and thé gree-grees of the Africans as regardstheir pretended efficacy though there is some in their

external configuration. Magical figures, engravenor eut under superstitious observances of thé cha'.



RLUCIDATIONS OP THR MAKVRLï.OUS. 215

racterisms and configurations of the heavens, are

called talismans to which astrologers, hermetical

philosophers, and other adepts, attribnte wonderful

virtues, particularly that of calling down ceîestial

influences.*

The talismans of thé Samothracians, so famous of

old, were pieces of iron formed into certain images,and set in

rings. They were

reputed as

preservativesagainst all kinds ofevils. Therewere other talismans

taken from vegetables, and others from minerais.

Three kinds of talismans were usually distinguishedlst. thé <M~oMOM!ca~ known by the signs or con-

etellations,of the heavens engraven upon them, with

other figures, and some unintelligible characters

2nd. thé magical, bearing very extraordinary figures,with superstitious words and names of angelsunheard of 3rd. thé M~ talismans, which consist

of signs and barbarous words; but without any

superstitious ones, or names of angels.

It has been aseerted and maintained by some

Rabins, that tbe brazen serpent raised by Mosesin the wilderness, for thé destruction of thé serpentsthat annoyed thé Israelites, was properly a talisman.

AU thé miraculous things wrought by ApolloniusTvanseus are attributed to the virtue and influence of

<a~MOM~ and that wizard, as he is called, is even

said to be thé inventor of them. Some authors take

Thé authof of a book, entitkd ?~M<ïM ~t<

pronounccs (t tnlisntM to be the seal, ~gtn'e, ctiaracter, or pronounccs B talisman to be the scal, figure. chaructcr, or

image of a lieavenly sign, constellation or planct, engravenon a sympathetic stone, or on a métal correspondtng to thé

star, etc. in order to receive its influences.




several Runic medats,BQeda!a, at least, whose in-

scriptions are in the Runic characters,–for talismans,

it being notorious that the northem nations, in their

heathen state, were much devoted to them. M.

Keder, however bas shown, that the medals hère

spoken of are quite other things than talismans.

It appears from the Evangeïists~ that, when

St. Paul, after he had been shipwrecked, and escapedto the island of Malta, a viper fastened on his hand

as he was Ïaying a bundle of sticks, he had gathered,on the fire and that, by a miracle, and to the gréâtastonishment of the spectators, inhabitants of the

island, he not only suffered no harm, but also cared,

by the divine power, the chief of the island, and a

great number of others, of very dangerous mala-

dies. There romain stiil m that island, as so many

trophies gained by the Apostle over that venemous

beast, a great many small atones representing the

eyes and tongues of serpents, and considered for

several centuries past, as powerful amuleta againstdinerent sorts of distempers and poisons. As the

virtue of thèse stones is stiU much boasted of by the

Maltese, and as some, on the contrary, maintain that

they are tbe petrified teeth of a nsh called lamia, it

will not be irrelevant here to relate some observations

from the best authors on this interesting subject, so

much to our purpose.It is said that tbose eyes and tongues of serpents

arc onty found by the Maltcse when they dig into the

earth, which ia whitish throughout thé island, or

Acts of the Apost!ps, chnp.

xxvi!i. v. 3.



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 817

draw up atone, especially about the cave of St. Paul.

This stone is so soft, that, like clay, it may be eut

through with any sharp instrument, and made to

receive easily digèrent figures, for building thé walls

of their houses and mmparts; but, when it bas been

imbibed with a sufficient quantity of rain or weU

water, it changes into a Hint that resists the cuttingof the

sharpest instrument whence the houses that

are built of i t in thé two cities, appear as hewn out

of one solid rock, and become harder, the more they

are exposed to thé inclemencies of the weather.

Thia hardness may, with good reason, be ascribed

to the sait of nitre, which contracta a certain vis-

cidity from the rain wherewith it is mixed, and

which easily penetrates into thèse atones, because

their substance is spongy and cretaceous, and

adheres to the tongue as hartshom.

It is in these stones that not only the eyes and

tongues of serpents are found, but aiso their viscera

-and other parts as lungs, liver, heart, spleen, ribs,

and so resembling life, and with such naturalcolours,

that one may weU doubt whether they are the work

of nature or art; the figure of the eyes and tongues is

very dinereot. Some are elliptic, but, for the

greater part round aome represent an hemisphere,others a segment, o thers an hyperbola. The glos.

sopetrœ are naturally of a conic figure, representi ng

acute, obtuse, regular, and irregular cones. Theyare also of different colours, especially the eyes; for

some of them are of an ash-colour, others liver

colour, somebrown, others blackish but these, as

most rare, are most esteemed. Bracelets are



318 THAUMATUROïA, OR

frequently made of them and set i n gold: some

representing an entire eye with a white pupil, and

thèse are the most beautiful. Several are l ikewise

found of an orange colour.

Thé virtues attributed hy the Maltese to those eyesand tongues, and to the white earth which is found

m the island, particularly m St. Paul's cave, and

which is kept for use by the apothecaries, as the

Americanbole, are very singular; for they reckonthem not only a preservative against all sorts of

poison, and an efficacious remedy for those who have

taken poison, but also good in a number of diseases.

They are taken internally, infused in water, wine,

or in any other convenient liquor or let to lie for

some hours in vessels made of the white earth; or

the white earth is taken itself dissolved in those

liquors. The eyes set as precious atones in rings,

and so as to touch immediately the flesh, are worn

by the inhabitants on the fingers but thé tonguesare fastened about the arm, or suspended from thé

neck.Paul Bucconi, a Sicilian nobleman, treated this

notion of the eyes and tongues of serpents as a mere

vulgar error and maintaina that they either constitute

a particular species of stone produced in the eartb,

orinthestonesofthe island of Malta, a s in their

matrix or that they are nothing m ore than the

petrified teeth of some marine 6sh which is also the

opinion of Fahius Columna, Nicholas Steno and other

physicians and anatomists.

It seems to this noble author that the glossopetra:should be classed in the animal kingdom, because,



ELUCIDATI ONS OF T HE MARVELLOUS. 3t9

being burnt, they are changed into cinders as bones,

before they are rcduced into a c alx or ashes,

whilst calcincd stones are immediately reduced into

a calx. He further says, that the roots of t hé

glossopetrse are often found broken in different ways,which is an évident argument that they have not

been produced by nature, in the place they are digged

out of, because nature forms other fossils, figuredentirely in their matrix, without any hurt or muti-

lation. Add to this, that thé substance ~ia digèr-

ent in different parts of thé glossopetrae solid at

thé point, less solid at the root, compact at the

surface, porous and fibrous in the interior besides,

the polished surface, contrary to the custom of nature,

which forms no stone, whether common or precious,is polished and, lastly, the figure that varies

different ways, as well as the size, being found great,

broad, triangular, narrow, small, very smaU, pyra-

midal, straight, curved before, behind, to the rightand to the left, in form of a saw with small teeth,

fumished with great jags or notches, and frequently

absolutely pyramidal without notches; all these

particulars faveur his opinion. But, as he thence

believes he bas proved that thé glossopetrss should

not be classed amongst stones, so also what he has

said may prove that they a re the natural teeth of

those fishes, which are called, by lithographers,

lamia, aquila, requiem, (shark) etc. and therefore

there scarce remains any reason for a further doubt

on this head.

There are representations of curiosities, which weshall give an account of from the Ephemerides of




thé Curious. It is customary to see at Batavia,

in the island of Java, thé figure of serpents ica-

pressed on thé shel!s of eggs. Andrew Cleyerus;a natm'a~st of considérable note, says, that when he

wasat Batavia in !679, he had seen himself, on the

4th of Septembcr, an egg newly laid by a hen, of

the ordinary size, but representing very exactly,

towards thé summit of the other part

of the shell,

thé figure of a serpent and all i ts parts, not only the

Uneamenté of the serpent were marked on the surface,

but the three dimensions of thé body were as sensible

as if they had been engraved by an able sculptor, or

impressed on wax, plaister or some other !ike tnatter.

One could see very plainly the head, ears, and a

cloven tongue starting out of t he throat the eyeawere sparkling and resplendent, and represented so

perfectly the interior and exterior of the parts of the

eyc, with their natural colours, that they seemed

to behoÏd with astonishment the eyes even of the

spectators. To account for this phenomenon, it may

be eupposed that, the hen being near laying, a

serpent presented itself to her sight, and thather

imagination, etrack thereby, impressed the figureof the serpent on the egg that was ready to press

out of the ovarium.

An egg equally wonderfuï, J was laid by a hen at

Rome on the t4th. of December, !680. The

famous cornet that appeared then on the head of An-

dromeda. with other stars, were seen represented on

ils shcH. Sebastian Scheffer say~, tl iat he had seen an

egg with thé representation of an eclipse on it. Signor

MagHabecchi, in his ïetter to the academy of the



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THR MARVELLOUS. 22!

Curious, on thé 20th. of October 1683, bas thèse

words; ~'Lastmonth 1 had s ent mefromRome,

a drawing of an egg found at Tivoli, with the im-

pression of thé sun and tlie transparent comet with

a t~vistedtail."

There are also representations of Indian nuts, or

small cocos, with thé head of an ape. Thé nut

bas bcen exactly engraved in the Ephemerides of

theCunous, both as to size and form, and coyered with

its shell, as expressed there by cyphers and other

figures which represent. the same nut stripped of its

covering, and exhibiting thé head of an ape. This

nut seems pretty much like the foreign fruit described

by Clusius, Exoticorum lib. a, which John Bauhin

(Hist. Plant. Universal Lib. 3) retaining the descrip-tion of Clusius, calls, a nut resembling the areca,

and which C. Bauhin (Pinac. l ib. 11. sect. 6) calla,

the fruit of the fburteenth of Palm-tree, that bears

nuts, or a foreign fruit of the same sort as the

areca.

This fruit with its shell, is, as Clusius says, an

inch and a ha!f in length, but is somewhat more than

an inch thick. Its s hell or membraneous covering,is about the thickncsa of thc blade of a knife, and

outwardiy of an ash colour mixed with brown.

Clusius was in t!ie right to say, that thc shell of

this nut was formed of several fibrous parts, but those

fibres resemble rather those of thé shell of a coco,

than thé nbrous parts of thé back of the areca nut,

He, moreover, has vcry properly observed, that this

shell is armed, at its lower part, with a double calyx




and that the opposite part terminâtes in a point but

it is necessary to observe, that this point is not

formed by the prolongation of the shell, as the Dgurehe bas given of it seems to specify but that from

the middle of the upper part of the fruit, there jutsout a sort of small needie.

Thé shell being taken off, thc nut is found to be

hard, ligneous, oblong, of unequal surface, furrowed,

und of a chesnut yellow. One of its extremities is

roundish, and the other, by thé reunion and pro.

longation of three sorts of tubercles, ter minates in a.

point those protubérances being sa formed, that the

middiemost placed between thé two others, bas the

appearance of a nose, and the two lateral protube-rances resemble ~at lips. On each sidc of that

which formB what we caU the nose, a smaïl hole or

nook is perceived, capable of containing a pea: but does not penetrate deep, and is surrounded with

black filaments, sometimealike eyc-brows and eye-

lashes, so that thé nut on that side resembÏes an

ape or a hure.This /M~ ~K!'d', or sport of nature, bas a very

prctty effect, but is oftener found in stones than other

substances. A great variety of such rare and singu-

lar productions of nature may be seen at the Britieh

Muséum but nothing can be more cxtraordinury in

this respect than what is related concerning the agateof Pyrrhus, which represented, naturally, Apollo

holding a lyre, with thé nine muses distinguishedcach by their attributes. In ail probability, there is

great exaggeration in this fact, for we see nothing of



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

painted by nature, sitting near a rivulet, and holdinga bell in his hand and that, in the temple of St.

Sophia, at Constantinople, there is to be seen, on a

white sacred marble, an image of St. John the Bap-

tiat, c~oa~ed with a camel's skin, but so far détective

that nature has given him but one foot.There is an instance in the Mercury of France, for

July 1730, of some curious sports of nature on in-

sects. The rector of S t. James at Land, within a

league of Rennes, found in the month ofMarch, 1~30,

in the church-yard< a species of butterfly, about two

inches long, and half-an-inch broad, having on its

head the figure of a death's-head, of the length of

one nail, and perfectly imitating those that are repre-sented on the church omaments which are used for

the office of the dead. Two large wings were spottedlike a pall, and thé whole body covered with a down,

or black hair, diversified with black and yellow, bear-ing some resemblance to yeUow.

These freaks of nature are equally extended to

animate as to inanimate bodies; and thé human

epecies, as well as thé brute creation, aSbrds uumer-

ous spécimens, not only of redundance and deficiencyin her work, but a variety of other phenomena not

well understood. The march of intellect, however, it

is to be hoped, will be as successful in this instance,as in obliterating the hobgoblins of astrologers and

quacks w ho so long have ruled thé destiny aud health



224 THACMATUROÏA, OR

of their less sagacious feUow-creature8;and when

the public shall hecome persuaded of the advantageawhich science may derive from occurrences simiÏar to

those wc sha~I enumerate in thé next chapter, ït will

be more disposed to offer thcm te the consideration of

scient!nc men.



KÏ.UCIDATÏOKS OP THE MARVEH<OU8. 225

0

CHAPTER XIV.

ON THE MEDICINAL FOWERS ATTRIBUTED TO MUSIC

BY THR ANCÏKNT8.

TH K power of music over thé human mind, as well

as its influence on the animal creation, has been va-

rionsly attested; and its curative virtues have been no

less extolkd by the ancients.* Martianus Cape~aassures us, that fevers were removed by songs, and

that Asclepiades cured deafness by the sound of the

trumpet. Wonderfut indeed that thé same noise

which would occasion deafness in sorne, should he a

specifie for it in othcrs It is making the viper cure

its own bite. But, pcrhaps Asclepiades was thé in.

vcntor of thc <?roM~/coK, or ear-trumpet, whieh has

bccn thought a modern discovery or of thé speaking-

tnntipct, which is a kind of cure for distant deafness.

Thèse wouM .be admirable proofs of musical powcr !t

Dr Curncy's History of Music.

t it has bccn assertcd by scvcrat modems, that deaf peoplecan hcar b~'st in a gréât noise perhaps to prove thut Greek




We have the testimony of Plutarch, and several other

ancient writers, that Thaletas the Cretan, delivered

the Lacedemonians from the pestilence by thé sweet.

ness of his Ivre.

Xenocrates, as Martianus CapeUn further informs

us, employed the sound of instruments in the cure of

maniacs; and Apollonius Dyscolus, in his fabulous

history (Historia Commentitia) teUs us, from Theo-

phrastus's Treatise upon Enthusiasm, that music is a

sovereign remedy for a détection of spirits, and di-

sordered mind and that the sound of the flute will

cure epHepsy and thé sciatic gout. Athenaeua quotesthe same passage from Theophrastus, with this addi-

tional circumstance, that, as to the second of these

disorders, to render the cure more certain, the flute

should p!ay i n the Phrygian mode. But Aulus

Gellius, who mentions this remedy, seems to adminis.

ter it in a very different manner, by prescribing to

the flute-player a soft and gentle strain, M modulis

/c/M&M~ aays he, tibicen incinet for the Phrygian

mode was remarkably vehement and furious.This is what Cœhus Aurelianus ca~s loca dolentia

decantare, enchanting the disordered piaces. He even

tells us how the enchantment is brought about uponthese occasions, in saying that the pain is relieved by

causing a vibration of the fibres of the amicted part.

noise could do nothing which the modern cannot operat<* as

c(Tcct<!)ti!y and Dr. WiUis in particular tells us of a ladywho could bear only whUe a drum was beating, in so muchthat her husband, thc account says, hircd a drummer asher servant, in order to enjoy the ~casures of her conversa-tion.



RLUr'ÏDATIOXS OP THE MARVELMU8. 22~

Q 2

Galen speaks senousïy of playing the flute on the

suffering part, upon the principle, we suppose, of a

medicated vapeur bath.

Thé sound of t he flute was likewise a spécifie for

the bite of a viper, according to Theophrastus and

Democritus, whose authority Aulus Gellius gives for

his belief of the fact. But there is nothing more extra-

ordinary among thé virtues attributed to music by theancients, than what Aristotle relates in i ts supposed

power of softening thé rigour of punishment. The

Tyrhen!ans, says he, never scourge their slaves, but

by thé ~ound of flûtes, looking upon it as an instance

of humanity to give some counterpoise to pain, and

thinking by such a diversion to lessen the sum total

of the punishment. To this account may be added a

passage from Jul. Pallus, by which we learn, that in

the ~n~c~ïcs, or vessels with three banks of oars, there

was always a tibicen, or flute-player, not only to

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 thé gift of nature,

to enable us thé more patiently to support toil and

labour.*

These are the principal passages which antiquity

fumishes, relative to the medicinal effects of music

in considering which, reliance is placed on the judg-

Many of thé ancients speak of music as a recipe for

every kind of matady, and it is probable that thé Latin was

~M'ctMfTc, to chano away pain, <MC<~arc to enchant, and our

own word incantation, came from the medical use of song.




ment of M. Burette, whosc opinions will come with

thé more weight, as he had not only long made thé

music of thé ancients his particular study, but w as a

physician by pro~BMion. This in a disserta-

tion on thc subject, bas examined and discussed manyof the stories above related, concerning the effects of

music in thé cure of diseases. Ile aHows it to be pos-

sible, and even probable, that music, by reiterated

strokes and vibrations given to the nerves, Sbres, andanimal spirits, may be o f use in thé cure of certain

diseases yet he by no means supposes that the music

of thé ancients possessed tins power in a greater

denrée than thé modem music, but rather that a verycourse and vulgar music is as likely to operate e~ec.

tuaUy on such occasions as thé most refined and per-fect. The savages of America pretend to performthese cures by the music and jargon of their imper-fect instruments and in ApuMa, where the bite of

thé tarantula is pretended to bc curcd by music, which

excites a desire to dance, it is by an ordinary tune,

very coarsely performed.*BagHvi rennes on the doctrine of c~uvia, by as-

crihing his cures of thé bite of thc tarantula to thé

pceuliar undu]ation any instrument or tune makes bvits strokes in thé air; which, vibrating upon thé

external parts of thé patient, is communicated to thc

M. Burette, v ith Dr. ~!('< Bajf!h'i, nnd aH the

Icarncd ofthcirtunc throu~hout Ktn'oi'c, scon to hâve cntcr-

Unned no tioubt of this fact, nh!c!t, hoM'cvct', philosophie)~und cur!ou!} t'nquhcrs hnvc sinct; found to hc built uponfrand nnd faHac~. Vide Serrao, ~7/n 7'H~f~/&/a o t'cro~h/aM.gio di ~tf~~a.



KL UC :! DA TÏ ON 8 O P TH E MA RV ELLO US . 229

whole nervous system, and produccs that happy alte-

ration in the solids and nuids which so effectually con-

tributes to the cure. The contraction of the solid",

he says, imprcsscs new mathematical motions and

directions to the nuids in one or both of which is

seated all distempers, and without any other help than

a continuance of faith, will alter their quality a phi-

losophy as w onde~ul and intricatc as the nature of

thé poison it is intended to expel but which, how-

ever, supplies this observation, that, if thé particles of

sound can do so much, the enluvia of amulets may do

more.

Credulity must be very strong in those who be-

lieve it possible for music to drive away the pesti-lence. Antiquity, however, as mentioned above, re-

lates that Thaletas, a famous lyrïc poet, contemporarywith Solon, was gifted with this power but i t is im-

possible to render the fact credible, without qualifyingit by several circumstances omitted in the relation.

In the first place, it is certain, that this poet was re-

ceived among thé Lacedemonians during the plague, bycommand of an oracle that by virtue of this mission,

all the poetry of thé hymns which he sung, must have

consisted of prayers and supplications, in o rder to

avert thé anger of the gods against the people, whom

hc exhorted to sacrinccs, expiations, purifications, and

many other acts of devotion, which, however super.

stitious, could not fail to agitate the minds of the mul.

titude, a nd to produce nearly the same effects as

public fasts, and, in catholic countries, processions, as

at present, in times of danger, by exalting the courage,and by animating hope. The disease having, pro.




W!th hymns divine the joyous banquet ends,Thé PoBMS !en~then'd till the sun descendaThc Grecks restor'd, thc gratcful notes probngApoMo hâtées and approves the song.'

For the poet in thèse lines seems only to say, that

Apollo was rendered favourable, and had delivered

the Greeks from the scourge with which they were

attackcd, in consequence of Chriseis having been

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 thé

greater or !e8s skill of thé musician. He supposesthis may hc cnected in two different ways first, by

flattering the ear, and diverting the attention; and,

secondly by occasioning oscillations and vibrations of

thé nerves, which may, perhnps, give motions to thé

humours, and remove the obstructions which occasion

Pope's translation of the Uiad, Bock L

bably, reached its highest pitch of toalignity when

il.the musician arrived, must afterwards have become

less contagious by degrees till, at length, ceasing of

itself, by the air wafting away the aeede of infection,

aud recovering its former purity, the extirpation of

the disease was attributed by the people to the music

of Thaletas, who had been thought the so~e mediator,

to wboïn they owed their happy deliverance.

This isexactly

what Plutarch meana,

who teHa the

stôry and what Homer meant, in attributing the cura-

tion of thé pïague among the Greeks, at the siege of

Troy, to music



ELUCIDA TIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 23 i

this disorder. In this manner the action of musical

sounds upon the fibres of the brain and animal spirits,

maysometimessoften and alleviate the sufferings of

epileptics and lunaties, and calm even the most vio-

lent fits of these two cruel disorders. And if a nti-

quity abords examples of this power, we can opposeto them some of thé same kind said to have been

effected by music, not of the most exquisite sort.

For not only M. Burette, but many modern philoso-

phera, physicians, and anatomists, as well as ancient

poets and historians, have believed, that music bas

the power of affecting, not only the mind, but the

nervous system, in such a manner as will give a tem-

porary relief in certain diseases, and, at length, even

operate a radical cure.

In the Memoira of the Academy of Sciences for

1707 and 1708, we meet with many accounts of dis.

eases, which, after having resisted and bained all the

moat efficacious remedies in common use, had, at

length, given way to the soft impressions of harmony.

M. de Mairan, in t ire Memoira of the same Aca-demy, 1737, reasons upon the medicinal powers of

music in the following manner It is from the

mechanical and involuntary connexion between the

organ of hearing, and the consonances excited in the

outward air, joined to the rapid communication of

the vibrations of this organ to the whole nervous

system, that we owe the cure of spasmodic dis-

orders, and of fevers attcnded with a delirium and

convulsions, of which our Memoirs furnish many ex-

amples."Thé late learned Dr. Branchini, professor of physic



ELU CI DA TI OMS 0F THE MA RV HL LOU S. 233

Farinelli, thé famous singer, was s ent for to

Madrid to try the egect of his magical voice on the

king of Spain. Hie Majesty was absorbcd in the

deepest melancholy; nothing could excite an emotion

in him he lived in a state of total oblivion of life

he sat in a darkened chamber, entirely given up to

the most distressing kind of madness. The physiciansat first ordered Farinelli to sing in an outer room and

for the first day or two this was done, without pro-ducing any effect on thé royal patient. At length it

was observed, that the king, awakening from his stu-

por, seemed to listen on the next day tears were

seen starting from his eyes the day after he ordered

the door ofhis chamber to be left open, and at lengththe perturbed spirit entirely left our modern Saul, and

the Me~c~a~ music of Farinelli effected what medi-

cine itself had denied.

After fhod," says Sir William Jones,* when

the operations of digestion and absorption gives so

much employment to the vessels, t hat a temporarystate of mental

repose, especially in hot

climates,must be found essential to health, it seems reasonable

to believe that a fcw agreeable airs, either heard or

played without effort, must have ail thé good effects

of sieep, and none of its disadvantages; putting, as

Milton says, the soM~in tune' for any subsequent ex..

ertion an experiment often made by myself. 1 have

been assured by a credible witness, that two wild an-

telopes often used to corne from their woods to the

place where a more savage beast, Serajuddaulah, en.

o Sec a curious Dissertation on tbe muaica! modes of theHindoos by Sir W. Joncs.




tertained himsclf with concerts, and that they list-

ened to the strains with the appearance of pleasure,till the monster, in whose soûl there was no music,

shot one of them to display his archery." A learned

native told Sir William Joncs that he had frequentlyseen the most venomous snakes leave their holes upon

hearing tunes on a flute, which, as he supposed, gavethem peculiar ddight.

Of thé surlnlsing effects of music, the two fbUow-ing instances, with which we shall close these re.

marks, are related in thé history of the Royal

Academy of Society of Paris.

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 violent delirium, al-

most constantly accompanied by cries, tears, terrore,

and a perpetuai watchfulness. Thé third day of his

delirium one of those natural instincts, which make,

as i t is said, sick animais seek out for the herbs that

are proper to their case, set him upon desiring ear-

nestly to hear a little concert in his chamber. His

physician could hardïy be prevailed upon to consent

to it. On hearing the first modulations, the air of

his countenance became serene, his eyes sparkled with

a joyful alacrity, his convulsions absolutely ceased, he

shed tears of pleasure, and was then possessed for

music with a scnsibiïity he never before had, nor

after, when he was recovered. He had no fever du-

ring thé whole concert, but, when it was over, he

relapsed into his former condition.

Thé fcver and delirium were always suspended du-



HLUCIDATtONS OP THB MARVELLOUS. 835

ring thé concert, and music was become so necessaryto 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

put to great difficulty to gratify him. One night,

among others, he had none but his nurse to attend

him, who could sing nothing better than some

wretched country ballads. He was satisfied to put up

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 prescribedfor him, and was followed by a copious evacuation.

This account was communicated to the Academy

by M. Dodart, who had it well authenticated.

The second instance of thé extraordinary effect of

music is related of a dancin~-master of Alais, in the

province of Languedoc. Being once over-fatigued in

Camival time by the exercise of bis profession, he

was seized with a violent fever, a nd on thé fourth

or fifthday,

f eU into atethargy,

which continued

upon him for a considerable time. On recoveringhe was attacked with a furious and mute delirium,wherein he made continuai efforts to jump out of bed,

threafened, with a shaking head and angry counte-

nance, those who attended him, and even ail that were

present and he besides obstinately refused, thoughwithout speaking a word, all thé remedies that were

presented to him. One of the assistants bethoughthimself that music perhaps might compose a dis-

ordered imagination. He accordingly proposed it to

his physician, who did not disapprove the thought,



~30 THAUMA'iUnOÏA, OR

but feared with good reason the t'idicuïe of thé exe-

cution which might still have been innnite~y greater,if thc patient should happen to die under thé opera-

tion of such a rcnicdy.A frieud of thé dancing master, w ho seemed to

dtst'cgard the caution of thc physician, and who could

p!ny on thé violin, seeing that of thé patient hanging

up in thc chamber, laid ho!d of it, and played directly

for him the air most farnihar to hhn. Me was criedout agninst more than the patient who lay in bcd,

confined in a atraight jac~et and somc were ready to

make him desist; when the patient, immediately sit-

ting up a s a man agreeably surpriscd, attemptcd to

caper with his arms in unison with thé music'; and on

his arms beingheld, he evinced, by the motion of his

head, thé p!easurc he felt. Sensible, however, of the

enects of thé violin, he was suffercd by dc~reca to

vield to thé movemcnt he was desirous to pcrfbrm,–

when, strange as it may appear, his furious fits abated.

In short, in the space of a quarter of an hour, the

patient fell into a

profbund siecp, and a

salutarycrisis in the intérim ycscucd him from aU danger.



KLUCtDATIOXS OF THE MARVELLCU8. 237

CHAPTER XV.

PRESAGES, t'ROMQES, PRESENTiMENTS, ETC.

TuR common opinion of cornets being thé présagesof evil is a n old pagan superstition, introduced and

entertained among Christians by their prejudice for

antiquity and which Mr. Bayle says is a remuant

of pagan superstition, convcyed from father to son,

evcr since the first conversion from paganism; as

well because it lias taken deep root in thé minds of

men, as because Christians, generally speaking, nre

as far gone in the fbUy of nnding présages in evcry

thing, as infidels themselves. It may he ensilyconccivcd how thé pagans might he hrou~Iit stcd.

fustly to I~ehcvc that comets, eclipses, and t!iunder-

storrn~, were tlie forerunners of catnmities, whcn

man'sstrong

inc!ination for tïie marve~ous is consi-

dercd, and his insatiable curiosity for prying into

future cvcnts, or what is to come to pass. This de-

sire of.pccping intofuturity, bas as ah'cady been

shown, bas givcn birth to a thousand difÏcrent

kinds of divination, au ahke whimsical nnd imper-

tinent, which in thé Imnd~ of thé more expertand cunning bave been made most important and



238 THAUMATURGÏA~ OR

mysterious tools . When any one has been rogue

enough to think of making a penny of the simplicityof his neighbours, and has had the ingenuity to

invent somcthing to amuse, the pretended ffteulty of

foretelling things to corne, hua always been one of the

readiest projects. From hence always the assump-tion of judiciary astrology. Those who first beganto consult thé motions of the heavens, had no other

design in \'tcw than thé enriching their minds with

so noble a knowledge and as they had thcir genius bent on the pursuit of useful knowledge, they never

dreamed of converting astrology or a knowledge of thé

stars to thé purpose of picking thé pockets of the cre-

dulous and ignorant, of whose blind side advantage was

taken by these sideral sages to turn them to account by

making them believe that the doctrine of thé stars

cornprehended the knowlcdge of aU things that were,

or are, or ever shall be eo that every one, for his

money, mtght corne to them and have their fortune

told.

The better to gull thé world, the Star-gazers assert

that thé heavcns are the book in which God has writ-ten thé destiny of all things and that it is only

necessary to learn to read tins book, which is simplythe construction of the stars, to be able to know the

whole history of what is to corne to pass. Verylearned men, Origen and Plotinus among the rest,

were let into thé secret, and grew so fond of it, that

thé former,~ willing to support his opinion by some-

thing very solid, catches at thé authority of a n Apo-

° Eusob. Praep. Evang. 1.6. c. 9.



EL UC IDA TI ON S O P TH B MA RV ELL OU S. 239

cryphal book, ascribed to the patriarch Joseph,where Jucob is introduced speaking to his twelve sons

1 hâve read in thé register of heaven what shall

happen to you and your children. But comets

were the staple commodity that tumed principauy to

account. In compliance, however, with the impres-sions of fear which the strangeness and excessive

length of these stars made upon mankind, the Astro-

logers did not hesitate to proaounce them of a malign

tendency; and the more so when tliey found they

had, by this meaus, made themselves in some degree

necessary, in consequence nf the impatient applica-tions that were made to them as from the mouth of

an oracle, what particular disaster such and such a

comet portended.

Eclipses furnished more frequent occasions for the

exercise of their talent. From this worthy precedentof Judicial Astrology, others took the hint and in-

vented new modes of divination, such as Geomancy,

Chiromancy, Onomancy, and the like till thé world

by degrees became so overruu with superstition, thatthe least trifle was converted into a presage or pre-

sentiment and the more so when this kind of know-

ledge became the business of religion; and when thé

substance of divine worship consisted in the ordinan-

cea of Augurs who, to make themselves necessary in

the world, were ohliged to keep up and quicken mcn's

apprehensions of the wrath of God, took special care

to cultivate cornets, and bring it into a proverb, that

Legi in tabutis cceti queecun~ue contingent vobis etF~liis vestris.



240 THAUMATUKGtA, OR

so many cornets so many calamities." They knew,

as Livy expresses it, that i t was best to nsh in trou-

bled waters, where, speaking of a contagious dis-

temper, which, from the country villages, spread over

the city, occasioned by an extraordinary drought in

thé 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 no-

thing was to be seen or heard cxcept some new fangledceremony or other in every corner. The devil,"

as Bayle says, who had a hopefut game on't, and

saw superstition the surest way to get himscif wor-

shtpped under the name of thé false gods, in a hun-

dred various ways, aH criminal and abominable in the

sight of thé sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, never

faUcd, on the appearance of any rare meteor, or un-

commun star, to exert his imposing arts, and make

idolators believe, they were the signs of divine wrath,

and that they were aU undone unless they appeasedtheir gods by sacrifices of men and brute heasts."

Politicians have also lent a helping hand to give

présagea a reputation, as an cxcencnt scheme, either

to intimidate thé people, or to raise their drooping

spirits. Had thc Roman soldiers bcen frec thinkers,

Drusus, thé son of Tiberius, had not been eo fortunate

as to queU a despcrate mutiny among thé logions of

Pannonia, who utterly rcfuëpd to obcy his commands i

but an eclipse, which cnticaDyintervened, broke thcir

Npc corpnra modo nn'cct~ tnho, sod :mintc's quoquc

muhiptt'x re!)~io, et p~rnqttc cxtt'rna inva~it, novcs rttns sx-

crtûcnndo vntictnandoqot', inft'rcntibus in dontos, quibus

qua'st.ui snnt captt supcrsthtonc aninn. L. 4, dcc. 1.



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 24 t

R

refractory spirits to such a degree, that Drusus, who

managed their panic fear with great dexterity and

address, did what lie liked with them.

An eclipse of the moon put the army of Alexander

the Great into such a consternation, some days before

thé battle of Arbela, that thé soldiers, under thé im-

pression that heaven was against them, were veryreluctant to advance and their devotion turning to

downright disobedience, Alexander commanded the

Egyptian at3trologers, who were the deepest versed in

the mystery of thé stars, to give their opinions of this

eclipse in the presence of all the oflicers of his army.Without giving themselves much trouble to explainthé physical cause which it was their interest to con-

ceal from the people, the wise men declared that thé

sun was on the side of- thé Grecians, and the moon

for the Persians and that this planet was never in an

eclipse, but i t threatened them with some mighty dis-

aster of this they quoted several ancient examples

among the Mngs of Persia, who, after an eclipse, had

always found their gods unpropitious in the day of battle. Nothing," says Quintus Curtius,* is so

effectual as superstition for keeping thé vulgar under.

Be they cver so unruly aud inconstant, if once their

minds are possessed with thé vain visions of religion,

they are all obédience to thc soothsayer, whatcver

becomes of the general." Thé answer of thé Egyp-tian astrolpgers being circulated among thé soldiers,

restored their confidence and their courage.On another occasion Alexander, just before hc

Tacit. Annal. lib. 1, et ib. 4, cap. 10.



2~2 THAUMATUMÏA, OR

paased the river Granicus, observing the circumstance

of time, which. was the month Dcsius, reckoned unfbr-

tunate to the Macedonians from all antiquity. it made

the soldiers ~neIancho~y be immediately ordered this

dangerous month to be called by the name of that

which preceded it, well knowing what power and in-

fluence vain religious scrupics have over little and ig-

norant minds. He sent private orders to Aristander

his chief soothsayer, just o~ering up a sacrifice for ahappy passage, to write on the liver of the victim

with a liquor prepared for that purpose, that thé gods

had granted the victory to Alexander." The notice

of this mirac!e filled the men with invincible ardour

and now they rent the air with acclamations, exclaim-

ing that thé day was their own, since thé gods had

vouchsafed them such plain demoMstrations of their

faveur. Thé history, indeed, of this mighty con-

queror, affords more such examples of artifice, thoughlie 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 in his turn. as being well as excee~ngty

superstitious by fits. We say nothingofThemistocIes~

who, in thé war between Xerxes and the Athenians,

despairing to prevail upon his countrymen by force of

reasoning to quit their city, and betake thernselves to

8e:t, set aH thé engines of religion to work forgedoracles, and prooured thé priests to circulate amongthc peuple, tbat Minerva hadnedfrom Athena, and

had taken the way which led to thé port. Philip of

Ptut&rcb in hia !tfe.



E&UCïDATtONS OP T IiE MARVE LL OU8. 243

R 2

Macedon, whose talent Jay ia conquering his enemies`~i

by good intelligence, purchnsed at any price, had as

? many oracles at command as hc pleased aud hence

Demosthenes justly suspecting too good an under-

standing between Philip and thé De~phian priestess,rallied her with so much acnrnony upon her partialityto that prince. It is eqtially obvious how the same

? reasons of state, which kept up thé popu!ar supersti-tion for other prodigies, should take care to encourage

f it with regard to cornets and other celestial appear'ances.

Pancgyrists hâve also donc their parts to promotethé superstitton of j~rcsag~es, as weU as thé flatteringof poets and orators. When a !iero ia to be found

and extoUed, they exdaim~ that ail nature adores ~w

~C exerts M~O~ powers to serve him that

~<? M:OM~Mat his inisfor tunes, ~'OMMr~ /0~ ~br~%«K~ <0 the ?0~ C~ WO~, M~,

N/!M?Or~ ~0 possess A/7Mlonger, keaven, ~~C~ M~

~o~, ~a~ out M~~ etc. With this hyperbote

M. Balzac regaled Cardinal Richelieu, addin~, that~~O~C~ ? minister, MM!M~C/ nature MC~OM the

stretch God gives him first by promise, and makes

~ïM the M~pc~a~OM o/' o~p~. For this he was attacked

by thé critics, but he defcnded himself aneging',that other panegyrics had gone some notes higher

he, for example, among' the ancicnts, who said of

certain great sou~ that a ~ the orders of heaven

called ~p~cy <o fancy a fine <~<~ for ~~M, and

that illustrious nation who wrotc that the p~r~f~ mind

H'~ wrapt in ~P~ CO~M~O?!, ~M~ big M~ the vast

~~M, ~pM coMCP~</ suck a y~~ as Cardinal



244 THAUMATUKGIA, OK

Geor~. 1. t Suetonius in vita Cœsnfis.

~~o~od' Why could not this same writer have

thought of one example more, such as that of the

prieat who told the Emperor Constantine that divine

~'OM~P/tCP, not COM<PK~!<~ y?M/~M~ him for the CM-

pire of world, Aof~~tc~ ~Mp~ ltis soul, w~ïcA

should CM<P ~M ?'~M ~P~t~M K~ ~M only son.

Thus have flatterers geized themostsurprismg tmtural

effects to enhancc their hero's glory. and make thcir court to greut mon. Thé poets ofthe time ofAugus-tus vied with each othcr in persuading the world

that the murder of JuHus Ca?sar was the cause of all

the prodigics that followed. Horace, for instance, in

one of his odes, attempts to prove that thé overSow-

ings of rivers were reckoned among bad presHges;and prétends that thé Tiber had not committed all

those ravages, but in complaisance to his wife IIia,

who was bent on thé death of h is tdnsnum Ca'sar

and that all the othcr calamities which subsequenUyaQlicted or threatcned thé Roman empire, werc thé

conséquences of his assaesination. ÏfVn'~iÏmaybe

creditcd,* thé s un was so tronblcd nt thé death of

Csesar that it ~vent into deep mourning, and so

obscured his beams, that the world wtis a!armcd Ïcst

it never should appear again. In thc mean time, no

sooner was the cornet observed, which followed thia

murder, tha n a no th er ?ct of natterers pretcndcd that

it was CsMar's soûl rcccived into thé order of thc

Gods and they dcdicated a temptef to the cornet,

and set up thé image of Cn'sar with a star on his

forehead.




It appears from the sermons of thé ancient fathers,

that the Christians of that time believed they gave

gréât relief to thé moon !n a n echpse, hy raising

hideous shouts to thé skies, which they imagined re-

covered her out of her fainting fit, and without which

she must inevitabïy have expired. St. Ambrose, the

author of the 2l5th sermon de ~Hporc, bound upwith those of St. Austin, and St.

Eloy, Bishop of

Noyon, declaim particutarty against this abuse. It

appears also from thé HomUica of St. Chrysostom,St. Basil, St. Austin, and others, that thé Christians

of their days drew several kinds of presagea from per-sons sneezing at critical times from meeting a cat, a

dog, or an iU.looking (squinting) woman, a maiden,

one bliud of an eye, or a cripple on being caught bythé eloak on stepping out of a door, or from a sudden

catch in one's joint or limb.

St. Eloy tells his people plainly, that whoever paysattention to what hc m&ets at his first going out or

coming in, or to any particular voice. or to thé chirp-

ing of a bird, is so far a Pagan. Indeed, aU thèse,and innumerahle others of the same description of su-

perstitions among Christians, are remnants of ancient

pagaaism as they have been denounced hy t!te cen-

sures of popes, provincial councils, synodiefil decrees,

and other grave authorities. And, though there were

not such a c!oud of witnesses, there would be no diffi.

cutty in proving the disease of pagan origin. For,

independent of those who preached the gospel of

our Saviour, having never promu)gated such notions,

we Icarn from scveral ancient authorities, that the

Gentiles had aIl thèse superstitions in the highest re.




gard. It waa one gênera! opinion among them, tliat

the ecïipses of thé moon were the conséquence of cer-

tain magie words by which sorcerers could wrench her

from thé skies, nnd drag her neur enough the earth to

cast a 6'otby spittle on their herbs--one of the prin-

cipal ingrédients in their incantations. To rescue the

moon from the supposed torture she was in, a nd to

frustrate the charm, it was necessary to prevent her

from hearing thé magie words, by drowning in noise

and hideous outcries, for which purpose thé peopleused to assemble during an eclipse of thé moon with

~OM~~ music, such as frying pans, brazen vessels, old

tin kettles, etc. According tu Pietro della Valle, the

Persians k eep up the same ridiculous ceremony to

this day. It is likewise, according to Tavemier, ob-

served in the kingdom of Tunquin, where they ima-

gine the moon to be, at that time, struggling with a

dragon. It is to t he same source tbat we owe the

imaginary raging heat of the dog-star-the pretended

presages of several evils ascrihed to eclipses, and all

the allusions of astrology.In a treatise 'written by Abogard, Bishop of Lyons,

in 833, composed to undeceive a world of people, who

were persuaded that there were enchanters who could

command thunder, and hail, and tempest, to destroy

the fruits of the earth and that they drove a great

trade by this mystery with the people of a certain

country called Magonia, who came once a ycar, sail.

ing in large fleets through the air, to freight with the

blighted corn, for which they paid down ready money

to the enchantera. So little was this matter doubted,

that one day the bishop had enough to do to save three



ELU CI DA TI ONB OP T HE MA RV BLLO US . 247

men and a woman from being stoned to death, the

people insisting- they had just fallen overboard from

one of these aëria! shipf.We do not here examine whether, in those days,

the peopiciiterally were more superstitious and credu-

lous than in the days of paganism. It is enough to

say, that they were of very easy belief and hence

men began

to write their histories in théstyle

of

romance, mixing up a thousand fables with the

deeds of great men, s uch as Roland, nephew to

Charlemagne which M suited the taste of tbe age,that no book would afterwards go down in any other

style–witness, for instance, thé Manual of Devo-

tions by James de Voragine, archbishop of Genoa,

composed towards the latter end of thé thirteenth

century; and in which Melchior Canus, a learned

Spanish bishop, is so scandalized .in his eleventh book

of Common Places..Another doctor of divinity,~

speaking of thé depraved s tate of the times, says,It was the error, or rather folly, of some of the an-

cients, to think, that in writing thé actions of illustri-oua men, the style must sink, unless theymixed up with

it the ornaments, for so they called them, of poeticalfiction, or something of this sort and, consequently,thus blended truth with fable." This being the pre-

vailingfashion ofthetimes, weare inc~ned to believe,

that in the historiés of thé crusades, many apocryphal

subjects are introduced, which ought, consequently,to be read cum grano salis. This is decidedly thé

Petaeus, in Galfredo MonimetenBt.



248 THAUMATOMtA, OR

opinion of Père Maimbourg," who, after the relation

of the battle of Iconium, won by Frederick of Bnrba-

rossa, tt90, says, What was chiefly wonderful after

this battle, was thé conquérons sustaining little or no

loss, which most people ascribed to thé particular pro-tection of St. Victor and St. George. names oftenest

invoked in the Christian army, which many of them

said they saw engaging at the head of thé squadrons.Whether in reality there might be something in i t ex-

traordinary, which has often happened, as the Scrip-tures inform us or whether, by often hearing of

celestial squadrons appearing at thé battle of Antioch

in thé nrst crusade, warm imaginations possessedwith thé belief, and penetrated with these ideas,

formed new apparitions of their own, but sure it is,

that onc Louis Heifenstein, a gentleman of reputation,and far from a visionary~afnrmed to thé emperor, on his

oath~ and on thé vow of a pilgrim devoted to the holy

scpulchre and the crusade, that he o/~ saw G'co~c

C&a?y<' the Aca<%of the ~M<M~OM, GM~~K<f the enemyto ~?~ which was afterwards confirmed by the

Turks themselves, owning

thatthey

saw sornetroopsin white charge in the first ranks in the Christian

army, though therc were really none of tliat livery. No one, 1 know, is bound (continues P. Maimbourg)to belicvc visions of this kind, subject for the most

part to notorious illusion but 1 know too, that an

historian is not of his own authority, to reject them,

especially when supported by such remarkable testi-

Hist. Crusade, 5.



ELUCIDATIONS OP T HE MARVE LL OU8. 249

mony. And though he be at liberty to believe

or not, yet he has no regret, by suppressing them,

to deprive tbe reader of bis liberty, when he meets

with passages of this kind, of judging as lie thinks

fit." This reflection (says Bayle) from so celebrated

an historian, not suspected of favouring the Hugonot

ineredulity, is a strong presumption on my side.

The abuse of presentiments

bas been carried to the

very Scriptures. We are told, that the manner of

Tamerlane giving bis blessing to his two sons, by

bowtng down the head of the etder, and chucMng the

youngest undcr the chin, was a presage of the éleva.

tion of thé latter in prejudice to thé former, was

grounded on thé 48th chapter of Genesis, wbere

Jacob is represented !aytng his right hand on the head

of thé younger, fbrseemg by inspiration that he would

be the greater of the two. Mcanwhile there is a dif-

ference between thé two benedictions. The Tartar,

wholly destitutc of the knowledge of future events,

did not diversify thé motion of his hands, on purpose

to e stablish a presage and God never vouchsafingthis knowledge to infidels, did not guide bis bands in

a particular manner to form a presage of what should

befal his chHdren ;–wbereas Jacob, on the cootrary,filléd with the spirit of prophecy, whereby he saw tbe

fortunes of his children, directed bis words and ac-

tions uccording to this knowledge; by which means

both bccame présages.

Présages, presentiments, and prodigies, might be

multiplied ad innnitum. Whoever reads the Roman

historians wiU be surprised at their number, and

which frequently fil led the people with the most



2.~0 TIIAUMAT(IRGIA, OR

dreadfut appréhensions. It must be confessed, that

some of these seem altogetlier supernatural while

much the greater part only consist of some of the

uncommon productions of nature, which superstition

always attributed to a superior cause, and representedas thé prognostications of eome impending misfor-

tunes. Of this class may be reckoned the appearanceof two suns the nighta illuminated by rays of

light the views of fighting armies swords andspears darting through the air; showers of milk, of

blood, of stones, of ashes, or of fire and thé birth of

monsters, of children, or of beasts who had two heads

or of infants who had some feature resembling those

of the brute creation. These were all dreadfui prodi-

gies which filled the people with inexpressible asto-

nishment, and the whole Roman empire with an ex-

treme perplexity and whatever unhappy event fol-

lowed, repentance was sure to be either caused or pre-dicted by them.

Nothing is more

easy than to account for thèse

produc-tions, wh!ch hâve no relation to any cvcnts, no more than

cornets, that may happen to foUow thcm. Thé appearance of

two suns bas frequently hsppened in England, as well as inother places, and is only caused by the c!ouds being placed in

such a situation as to rcnect tho image of thut luntinarynocturnal fires, innamed spears, fighting armies, were no more

than whatwccaHaurora boreaUs, northcrn!ights, orinaatced

vapours floating in tlie air; showersof stones, of ashes, or of

ftre, wcrc no other than thé cnccts of thé eruptions of samevolcano 8t a considcrabtc distance. Showern of mi!k were

only caused hy some quality in thc air condensing and givinga whitish colour to thé water, etc.



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 2'H 1

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 par-

ticular di~recces in their shape and appearance,and sometimes under the général term of cornets. In

thé PhUoMphical Transactions, they are called, indis-

criminately, fire-balls, or fiery meteors; and names

of similar import have been applied to them in thedifferent languages of Europe. Thé most material

circumstances observed of such meteors may be

brought tinder the following heads 1. Their général

appearance. 2. Their path. 3.Theirshapeor6gure.

4. Their light and colour. 5.Theirheight. 6. The

noise with which they are accompanied. 7' Their nre.

h. Duration, 9'Theirvelocity. Under thèse dinerent

heads meteors have been investigated by the scrutiniz.

ing of philosophy, and many superstitious notions, longentertained concerning them, entirely exploded. Mete-

oric phenomena, i t bas been demonstrated, all pro-



252 THAUMATUROÏA~ OR

ceed from onc common cause–irregularity in thé

density of the atmosphere. When the atmosphericfluid is homogeaous and of equal density, thé rays of

lightpasa without obstruction or alteration in their

shape or direction but when they enter from a rarer

into a denser medium, they are refracted or bent out

of thcir course; and this with greater or less ef-

fect according to the dirent degrees of density in the

média, or thé deviation of thé ray from thé perpendi-cutar. If thé second medium he very dense in pro-

portion, thé ray will be both refracted and reHected

and thé ohjcct from which it proceeds, will assume a

variety of grotesque and extraordinary shapes, and

it will sometimes appear as in a reflection from a con-

cave mirror, dilatnd in size, and changed in situation.

The following striking effects are known to pro-ceed from this simple cause.

The first is the mirage, secn in the desert of Africa.

M. Monge, a member of the National Instituts, ac-

companicd the French army into Egypt. In the desert,

between Alexandria and Cairo, the mirage of the blue

skywas inverted, and so mingled with the sand below,

as to impart to thé desolate and arid wilderness an ap-

pearance of thé most rich and beautiful country.

They saw, in aU directions, green islands, surrounded

with extensive lakes of pure and transparent water.

Nothing could be conceived more lovc~y and pic-

turesque than this landscape. On thé tranquil surface

of thé lakes, thé trees and houseg, with which the

islandc were covered, were strongty reflected with

vivid hues, and the party hastened forward to enjoythe cool refreshments of shadc and stream, which



KLUCtDATIOXS 0F THE MARVELLOUS. 253

thèse populous villages profcrred to thcm. When

they arrived, the lake, on whose bosom they nuated,

thé trees, among whose foliage theywereembowered,and thé people who stood on the shore inviting their

approach, had all vanished, and nothing rcmained but

an uniform and irksome desert of sand aud sky, with

a few naked huts and ra~ged shrubs. Had they not

been undeceived by their nearer approach, there was

not a nmn in thé French army who would not have

sworn, that the visionary trees and lakes had a real

existence in the midst of the desert.

Thé same appearance precisely was observed byDr. Clarke at Raschid, or Rosetta. Thé city seemed

surrounded by a beautiful sheet of water, and so cer-

tain was his Greek interpreter, who was acquaintedwith thé country, of this fact, that lie was quite in-

dignant at an Arab, who attemptcd to explain to him,

that it was a mere optical delusion. At length, theyreached Rosetta in about two hours, without meeting

any water and, on looking back on thé sand they

had just crossed, i t seemed to them, as if they had just waded t!irough a vast blue lake.

A similar déception takes place in northcrn cïi-

matcs. Cities, battlements, houses, and all the ac-

companiments of populous places, are seen in deso-

late régions, where life goes out, and where human

foot bas never trod. When approached they vanish,

and nothing remains but a rugged rock, or a mis-

shapen iceberg.

Captain Scoresby, in bis voyage to the arctic re"

gion?, on the coast of East Greenland, constantly saw

those visionary cities, and gives some highly curious



254 THAUMATUROJA, OR

plates of thé appearances they presented. They

resemMed thé real ciliés seen on the coast of HoUand,

where towers, and battlements, and spires, bosomed

high in tufted trees," rise on thé level horizon, and

are seen floating on the surface of the sea. Among

the optic deceptions noticed by Captain Scoresby, was

one of a very singular nature. His ship had been

separated by the ice, from thut of his father for some

timc and he w as looking for her every day, withgreat anxiety. At Icngth, one evening, to his utter

astonishment, hc saw her suspended in the a ir in a n

inverted position, traeed on the horizon in the clear.

est colours, and with thé most distinct and perfect

représentation. He sailed in the direction in which

he saw this visionary phcnotnenon, and actually found

his father's vessel by its indication. He was divided

from him by immense masses of icebergs, and at such

a distance that it was quite impossible to have seen

thé ship in her actual situation, or seen her a t all, if

her spectrum, or image, had not been thus raised se-

veraldegrees

abovc thé horizon into thesky, by

this

most cxtraordinary refraction, in the same manner as

the sun is often seen, after he is known to have set,

andactuaHy sunk far below thé line of direct vision.

The 7~~ ~o~a~H are further illustrations of thia

optic delusion. This phenomcnon is seen at the

Pharo of Mcssina, in Sicily, under certain circum-

stances. The spectator must s tand with nie back to

thé east, on an clevatcd place bchind thé city, com-

manding a view of thc bay, and imving thé moun-

tains, like a wall, opposite to him, to darken the back

ground of thé picture no wind must be abroad to



BLUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 255

ruffle the surface of the sea and the waters must be

pressed up by currents, as thcy sometimes are, to a

considérable height in the middle -of thestrait, nnd

present a slight convex surface. When aU these

circumstances occur, as soon as thé sun rises over

thé heights of the Calabrian shore, a nd makes an

angleof45"with the horizon, all theobjectsontheshore at Reggio arc tmnsferred to the middle of the

strait, and seen distinctly on thé surface of thé water,

forming an immoveablc landscape of rocks, trees, and

houses, and a moveable one of men, horses, and

cattle these are formed into a thousand separate

compartments, presenting most beautiful and ever

varying pictures of animate and inanimate nature, on

the swelling surface of thé water, broken by the cur-

rents, present separate plates of convex mirrors to

reflect them; they thcn as suddenly disappear, as the

broad aquatic mirror of the current passes on.

Sometimes the atmosphere is so dense that the

objects arc seen, like Captain Scoresby's ship,

snatched up into the regions of the air, thirty or fortyfeet a bovc the level of thé sea and in cloudy wea-

ther, nearer to the surface, bordered with vivid pris.matic colours. Sometimes colonades of temples and

churches, with cross'crowned spires, are all repre-sented as noating on the sea, and by a sudden changeof représentation, thc pillars arc curvcd into arcades,and thé crosses are bent into cre~cents, and all the

edifices of thé floating city undcrgo the most extra-

ordinary and fantastic mutations..A!I these imagesare so distinct, and producc objects Feemingly as

palpable as they are visible, as sensible to touch as to




sight, that the people of the country arc nrmiy per~suaded of their reaHty. They consider the edifices as

the erichanted palaces of thé fairy Morgana, and thé

movingob)ects~as l ivingthings which inhabitthem.

Whenevcr the optic phenomenon occurs, they meet

togcthcr in crowds, with an intense cunosity, mixed

with awe and apprehension, which is not removed byan acquaintance with those natural causes, by which

Mr. Swinburn and other foreign

travellers, who have

witnessed thé scene, are able to account for it.

Thé lakes of Ireland are equally susceptible of pru.

ducing those vivid delusions, and the imagination of

the people, as lively as that of thé Sici!ians, cbthss

them with an equal reality. Thcre is scarcety a loch

in that country, in which thé remains of cities have

not been at various times discovercd and many meu

have been met with who would solemnïy swear they

saw, and who no doubt did see, representations of

them in certain states of thé atmosphère. The most

celebrated is that which occurs on thc lake of Kil-

larney. This romantic sheet of water is bounded on

one side by a semi.circlc of mgged mountains, and outhe otiier by a ~at mora~s, and thé vapour generatedin the masK, and broken by thé mountains, continuaUy

represent thé most fantastic objects and often those

on shore arc transfc!red to thé watcr, hke thc Fata

Morgana.

Many of thé rocks are distinguiabcd for their

markcd and !engthcned cchoes, a nd the structure,

which in acoustics reflects sounds to the ear, from

a point from whcnce they did not corne, reflects.

images on the cyc, from a place very different from



ELUCIDATIONS O? THE MARVELLOUS. 257

8

where the objecta stood winch produced them. Fre.

quently men riding along shore, are seen as if theywere moving across thé lake, and this bas given rise to

the story of O'Donougho. This celebrated chieftain

was, according to the tradition of the couDtry, en-

dued with the gift of magie and, on one occasion,

his lady requested him to change his ahape, that she

might see a proof of it. lie complicd, on condition

that she would not be terrified, as such an effect onher must prove fatal to h im. Her mind failed her,

however, in the experiment, and at the sight of some

hotïiMe figure Ite assumed, she shrieked, and he dis-

appeared through the window of his castle, which

overhung thé lake. From that time he continues an

enchanted being, condemned to ride a horse, shod

with silver, o ver thé surface of the lake, till his

horse's shoes are worn out. On every May morn.

ing he is visible, and crowds assemble on thé shore to

see him. Many a~rm they hâve seen hhn and one

person relates many particulars of his apparition, that

thé déception must have

procceded from some real

object, a m:m riding along shore, and tmnsferred to

thé middle of the water by thé optic delusion of thé

Fata Morgana.But perhaps thé most wonderful, and apparently

preternatural effect arising from this cause, is thé

~p~rc of ~<? //fn'/j ~fcM/~MM~ in Hanover. Tliere

is one particular hill, caUcd thé Bt'ockcn, in which

he appcars, terrifying thc crcdulou~, and gratify-

ing the curious to a very high degree. TIic most

distinct and intcrcsting uccount is givcn by Mr.

Hawe, who hin)"elf was a witncs:- to it, Hc had



258 THAUMATUMttA, OR

climbed to the top of the mountain thirty times, and

had been disappointed, but he persevered, and was at

lengfli highly gratified. The sun rose about four

o'clock in n s'erene sky, free from ciouds, aud its rays

paased without obstruction, over another mountain,

caUcd thc Heinschoe. About a (~un'ter past tive he

looked round to see if tbe sky was clear, and if

there was any chance of his wttnessmg what he so

ardently wished, when

suddenly he saw the Achter.

manshoe, a human figure of monstrous size turned

towards him, and glnring at him. While gazingon this gigantic spectre with woader mixed with

an irreptessiMe feeling of awe and npprehension, a

~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 thé colossal spectre did the same.

He then changed his body into a variety of attitudes,

all which the figure exactly imitated, but at length

suddenly vanished without any apparent cause, and

again as suddenly appeared. He caUed the land-

lord of the inn, who had aceompanied him, to stand

besidc him, a nd in a l ittle time two correspondent

figures, of dilated size, appeared on thé oppositemountain. Thcy saluted them in various ways bydifferent movetnents of their bodies, all which thc

giants rcturncd with perfcct politeness, and then va-

nished. A traveller now johx'd Mr. Ha~'c and the

inakecpcr, and they kcpt &teadily looking for their

acrial frienda, when they guddenly appeared againthree in number, who all performed exactly the same

movctnents as their correspondent s-pcctators. Havingconttnued thus for sotnc time, appcaring and disap-




s 2

pearing alternately, sometimes faintly, and sometimes

more distinct, they at length faded away not again to

retum. They proved. however, that thé preterna-

tural spectre, which had so long filled the countrywith awc and terror, was no unreal being, still less

an existence whose appearance suspended the oro~

nary laws of God and Nature that, on the contrary,it was thé 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 reflec-

tion of a face in a looking glass.This constitution ofthe atmosphere, and its capabi-

Uty of dilatin~ objects, and attering their position byrenection and refraction, will easily account for many

phenomena which have been considered miraculous

and preternatural in early ages, by thé ignorant and

in our own, by thé weak and superstitious. Such was

probably thé origin of thé crosses seen by Constan-

tine and Constantius in tlie first âges of Christianity,and such was that of thé cross which appeared in thé

sky in France, to which so many bore a ttestation. Alarge cross of wood, painted red, had been erected

beside thé church, as a part of thc ceremony theywere performing. !n thé winter, whcn the air is

most' frequently condensed by cold, and its different

struta of various degrces of tenacity, on a clear

evening after rain, when particies of humiditv, still

floating in thé air gives it grenter power of reflection

and refraction, when thc sun was settiug, and his

horizontal beams found most favourable to producemctcoric phcnotncna, thé spectrum of this woodcn

cross was cast on thé concave surface of some atmos-




pheric mirror, and so reflected back to the eyes of the

spectators from an opposite place, retaining exactlythé same shape and proportions, but d ilated in size,

and changed in position and it was moreovcr tingedwith red, the \'cry colour of the object of which it

was the reflected image. This delusive appeurancecontinued till the sun was so far sunk below thé

horizon, as to afford no more light to i llumine the

object, and thc

image ceased when thé

rays were no

longer distinctly reflected.



Bf/UClUATtONS0F THR MARVELLOUS.2611

CHAPTER XVII.

ELUCtDATION 0F 80ME ANCIENT PHODIGIES.

MANv of thé prodigies recorded by thé ancients,

admit of a natural explanation and an attentive

cxamination will show that a small number of causes,

which may be discerned and developed, will serve

for the explanation of nearly thé whole of them.

There arc two rcasons for our believing accounts

of prodigicsï. Thé number and agreement of thèse account?,

and the confidence to which thé obscrvers and wit-

ncsses are cutitled.

2. Thé possibility of dissipatin~ what is wonderful,

by ascertaining~ny one of thé principal causes which

migbt have given to a natural fact a tinge of the

marvellous.

Now, as regards the first reason, the ancients have

recorded various occurrences for instance, a shower

of quicksilvcr a t Rome is mentioned by Dion Cassius,

in thé year t97 of our cra, and a similar event is

related under the reign of Aurcïian. If we attend

to phenomena taking place in our time, such as a

shower of blood, tremendous hail stones weighing



~C3 TUAUMATUHUIA, OR

a pound each, and containing a atone within thcm

showers of frogs, and other ahnost unaccountable

occurrences, we must consign them to, thé annals

in which science has inscrted thc tacts, she lias recog-

nizcd as such, without as yet pretending to explainthem."

Respecting thé second reason, the deceptive ap-

pearanec whtch nature sometimes assumes, the exag-

geration, almost unavoidahie, by partitilly informed

observers, of t he details of a phcnomenon, or i ts

duration improper, ill-understood, or badly trans-

lated expressions, figurative language, and a prac-tical style erroneous explanations of emMematical

représentations apologues and allegories adoptedas real facts. Such are thé causes, whtch, smg~y or

together, have frequently swonen with prodigiousfictions thé page of history and it is by carefully

removmg this envelope, that e~ucidutions must be

sought of what has hitherto been improperly and

di~dainfully rejectcd. A few examples will illustrate

thèse several positions.Thé river Adonis being impregnated, during cer-

tain scasons, with ~otumes of dustorai~ed from the

red soi! of that part of Mount Libanus near wliieh it

flows, gave rise to thé fabie of the periodical effusion

of thc Mood of Adonis. There is a rock near the Is~and

of Corfu, which bears thé resemblance of a shipunder sai! thé ancients adapted thé story to the

phenomenon, and recognised in i t the Phenician

ship, in which Ulysses r eturned to his country,convcrted into stone by Neptune, for having carried

away the ~layer of bis son Polyphcmns. A more ex-



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVKLLOU8. 263

tensive acquaintance with thé océan, bas shown that

this appearance is not unique a similar onc on the

coast of Patagonia. lias more than once deceived both

French and English navigators i and rock Dunder,

in the West Indies, bears a resemblance, at a distance

equally illusive. There is another recorded by Cap-tain Hardy, in his récent travels in Mexico, near the

shore of California.; and the story of the Hying

Dutchman, is founded on a similar appearanceat the Cape of Good Hope, connected with a t ra-

dition w hich has been long current there among

the Dutch colonists. Another instance is afforded

by the chimscra, the solution of which cnigma. as

given by Ovid, is so fully substalltiated by the very

intelligent British ofncer who surveyed the Caramania

a few years since. Scylla the sea monster. which

devoured six of the rowers of Ulysses, M. Salverte,

a recent compiler on the marvellous, is temptedto regard as an overgrown polypus magnified bythe optical power of poetry, though we are disposedto

give the credit to an

aUigator, or its

mate, a cro-

codile and this occurrence is not 80 fictitiously repre-

sented, as it is supposed to be.

MAOICAÏ. PRBTRNSÏO'OS OF CERTAIN HËRB8, ETC.

In the enumcration of plants possessing magical

propcrties, Pliny mentions those which, accordingto Pythagoras, have thé property of concealing water.

EÏsewhere, without having resource to magie, he

assigns to hemp an analogous quality. According to

him, the juice of this plant poured into water becomcs




suddenly inspi~sated and congealed. It is probable

enough, that hc indicated a species of mallow, thé

hcinp-lcavcd marsh-mallow, of which thé mucila-

ginous juice produces this eiïect to a certain point,nnd an eIÏcct which may also be obtained from every

vcge~Me as nch in mucUage.Of vegetaMe productions, many produce mtox~-

cating effccts, such us berries of the night-shade,*

scammouy, and various species of fungi. These

unquestionuMy have bcen made subservient to de..

monoÏogicai purposes t which, w ith thé ignorant,have passcd o~' for supernatural agency. The priests,to whom thé little comparative learning of the

dark ages attached. kuew well how to impose uponthé credulous but imposition was not always their

object; nn extcnt of benevolence prevailed which

contemplated thé relief of their fellow creatures

afflicted with sickncss.

It was maintained by thé Egyptians that, besides

thé gods, there were mauy démons which communi.

cated with mortals, and which were often rendered

The bcrrics of thé belladonna or dcadty nightshade, produce, when catcn, a fmicus madncss, followed by sleep,which !osts for twcnty.four hours. Such (trttgs as produpententat stupefactton, wtthoutintpairing thé physical powers,

tnay hâve givcn rise to thé accounts of nten being trans-

formed into brutes, so fréquent in what arc dpnota!natedthe fabutons writcrs, whiic thc cvancsccnt but exquisite

joyR of an opposite description, an nnticipittion of what

implicit obédience M'otdd ensurc tltent for cvcr, produccdb!ind, fnriou! devoted adhérents to any phHosophica! specu-!ator, who woutd vcntnrc to try so desperutc an experi-ment.



E LUC ID ATI ON S O P TH E MA RV ELL OU S. 265

visible by certain ceremonies and songs; that geniiexercised an habituai and powerful influence over

every particle of matter i that thirty-six of thèse

beings presided over thé various members of thé

human body and thus, by magical incantations, it

might be strengthened, or debilitated, afflicted with,

or delivered from disease. Thus, in every case of

sickness, the spirit presiding over thé aiBicted part,

was first duly invoked. But thé magicians did nottrust solely to their vain invocations they were

well acquainted with thé virtues of certain herbs,

which they wisely cmployed in their attempts at

healing. Thèse herbs were greatly esteemed such,

for instance, as thé cy/ïoc<y~a/M, or, as the Egyptiansthemselves termed t!ie o~ which was used as

a preventive against witchcraft and the nepentheswhich Helen presented in a potion to Menelaus, and

which was believed to be powerful inbanishingsadness,and in restoring thé mind to its accustomed, or even

to greater, cheerfulness, were of Egyptian growth.But whatever may be thé virtues of such herbs, theywere used rather for their magical, than for their

médicinal qualities; every c ure was cunningly as-

cribed to thé presiding démons, w ith which not a

few hoasted that they were, by means of their art,

intimatcly connected.

There can be no question, as attested by the

The Rowon trcc or Moxntain aah, is used by the

Scottish peasantry with thc santé view and a stnntt twig of

it is scwcd up in thé cow's tail, to préserve thc animal and

its producc from thé mnucnce of witchcs and wadocka.



266 THAUMATURGIA, Ott

earliest records, that thé ancients were in possessionof many potent remédies. Melampus of Argos, the

most ancient Greek physician with whom w e are

acquaintcd, is reputed to have cured one of thé

Argonauts of barrcnne~s, by ex!)ibiting the rust of

iron dissolved in wiue, for the space of ten days.Thé same physician used hellebore as a purgativeon thé dau~htcrs of King Proteus, who were labour-

ing uïïder hypochondriasis or melancholy. Bleeding

w~a also a remedy of very early origin, and said

to have been first suggested by the hypopotamusor sea horse. which at a certain time of thé year was observed to c ast itself on thé sea shore, and

to wound itself among the rocks or stones, to relieve

its plethora. Podalerius, on his retura from the

Trojan war, cured thé daughter of Damaethus, who

had fal!en from a height, by bleeding her in both

arms. Opium, the concrète juice of the poppy, was

known in thé earliest ages and probabty it waa

opium that Heten mixed with wine, and gave to

thé guesta of Menetaus, under thé expressive name

of N~<?M~p, to drown thcir cares, and encreasetheir hilarity This conjecture, in a considerable de-

gree, is supported from the fact, that Homer's Ne-

penthe was procured from thé Ëgyptian Thebes,

whence thé t incture of opium, according to the

nomenclature of thc pharmacopeia about fifty years

ago, and still known by this name in the older

writcrs nnd, if Dr. Darwin may be credited, the

Cuniacnn Syhil never aat on thé portending tripodwithont first swallowing a few drops of juice of the

cherry.!aurel.



B LU CI DAT ION S O F TH E MA H.V t. LLO U8. 26~

There is every rcason to believe that the Pagan

priesthood were under thé influence of some narcotic

preparation during thé display of their oracular

power, but thé effects produced would seem rather to

resemble those of opium, or perhaps of stramonium,

than of prussic acid, which the cherry-laurel water is

known to contain.

The priests of thé American Indians, says Mo-

nardur, whenever they were consutted by the chief

gentlemen, or caciques, as they are called, took certain

leaves of the tobacco, and cast them into the tire, and

then received the smoke thus produced by them into

their mouths, which caused them to fall upon thé

ground. After having remained in this position for

some time in a state of etupor, they recovered, and

delivered thc answers, which they pretended to have

received during the supposed intercourse with the

world of spirits.The narcotic, or sédative influence of the gardon

radish, waa known in thé earliest times. In the

fables of antiquity wc read, that, after thé death of Adonis, Venus, to console herself, and repress her

desires, lay down upon a bed of lettuces. The sea

onion, or squill, was administered by thé Egyptians,in cases of dropsy, under the mystic title of the eyeof Typhon. Thé practices of incision and scarinca-

tion, were emptoyed in thé Greek camp at the siegeof Troy and thé application of spirits to wounds,

was likewise understood for we nnd Nestor applyinga poultice compounded of cheese, onion, and meal,

mixed up with thé winc of Pramnos, to the wounds

of Machaon.




To bring some inactive substance into repute, as

promising Home cxtraordinary, nay, wonderfui medi.

cinal propcrties, requires only thé sanction of a few

gréât names and when once cstahhshed on such a

basis, ingcnuity, argument, and even experiment,

rnay open their otherwise powerful batteries in vain.

tn this manner all the quack medioncs, cver heM in

any estimation, got into repute. And thé same vulgar

préjudice, w!uch induces people to retain an accus-

tomed remcdv upon bare aggcrtion and presumption,cithcrof ignorance or partiality, wi!Ï,in like man-

ncr, oppose thc introduction of any innovation in

practicc with asperity, and not unfrequentîy with a

quantum gunicit of scrutiny nnd abuse, nnless, indeed,

it bc supportcd hy authorities of still greater wcightand considération.

The htstory of many articles of diet, as well as me-

dicine, amply prove how much their réputation and

fatc have dependcd upon some authority or other.

Ipecacuanha hnd been importcd into England for

many years, before 1-lelvetius, under the patronage of Louis XIV, succecdcd in introducing it into practicein France; and, to thé Qucen of Chapes II., we are

indebted for thé introduction of that popular heverage,

tea, into England. Tobacco has suffered as manyvariable vicissitudes in i ts famé and character. It

has becn successively opposed and commended by

physicians, condemned and praised by pricsts and

kins~, and propcrtbcd and prctcctcd by govcrnments,untu, at ïcngtb, this once ins!gnlncant production ofa

little ixiand, bas succeeded in propagating itself through

e\'cry c'hmatc and country. Nor ïs thc historv of the



ELUCIDATIONS 0F TIIE MARVELLOU8. 2G9

potatoe Icss remarkable or less strikingly illustrative

of thé imperious influence of authority. This valuabic

plant, for upwards of two centuries, received an un-

prccedented opposition from vulgar prejudice, which

a11 the philosophy of the age was unable to dissipate,until Louis XtV. wore a bunch ofthe flowers of thé po-

tatoe, in thé midst uf his court, on a day of mirth aud

festivity. Thé people then, for thé first time. ob-

sequiously acknowledged its utihty, and began to

express their astonishment at the apathy which

had so long prevailed with regard to its generalcultivation.

Another instance may be fumished of overbearing

authority, in giving celebrity to a medicine, or in

depriving it of that reputation to which its virtues

entitle it, is seen in the history of the Peruvian bark.

This famed medicine was imported into Spain by the

Jesuits, where it remained seven years, befbrc a trial

was given to it. A Spanish priest was thé f irs t to

whom it was administered, in the year ï639, and

even then its use was extremely hmited; and itwould undoubtedly have sunk into oblivion, but for

the supreme power of the church of Rome, under

whose protecting auspices it gained a temporary tri-

umph over thé passions and prejudices which opposedits introduction. Pope Innocent X. at thé interces-

sion of thc Cardinal de Lugo, who was formerly a

Spanish jesuit, ordered thé bark to be duly examined,

and on thé favourab~c report, which was thc result of

this examination, it immediately rose into high favour

and celebrity.The root of thé male fern, a nostrum for thé cure



~70 THAUMATURGÏA, OR

of the tape worm, waa secretly retailed by Madame

Noufleur. Tins secret was purchased by Louis XV.

for a considérable sum of money. It wa& not until

this eventthat the physicans discovered, that thé same

retncdy had been administered in the same complaint

by Galen. Thé history of popular remedies in the

cure of gout, is equaHy illustrative of this auhjcct.Thé Dukeof Portland's celchrated powder was nothingless than thé ~cactK~MrpoM of CBeHus

AureHaMUs, or

the MM~o~ <?~ efMoAM~ccM/aM~<c ~<?Hpr~M~ of ~tiua,

the receipt for which, a friend of his grace brought

wit!i him from Switzerland, into wluch country, in aU

Hkeïihood, it had been introduced by thé early médi-

cal writers, who had transcribed it from thé Grcek

volumes, soon after their arrivât into the western partof Europe.~

Thé active ingredient of a no less celebrated prepa-ration for the same complaint, thé ~OM M~<~c~<f~ de

Husson, a mcdicine brought into ~ashion by M. de

Hueson, a mititary officer in the service of Louis XVf

bas been dii-covered to be the meadow sa~ron. Upou

~earchin~ after and trying thé properties of this hcrb,it was observed tliat similar e tfccts in thé cure of the

gout wcrc a~cribed to a certain plant. called hermo-

dach'Hus, by Oribasius (un eminent physician of the

4th century) aud yEtius, who nourished at Alex.

andria towards thc end of thc 5th ccntury, but more

particuiarly by Alexander of TraUc~ a physician of

Asia Minor, whose prescription cousi~tcd of hermo-

daclyllu-.q, gingcr, pupper, cummin sced, aniseed, and

° Sec Phannacotogta, by Dr. Paris.



BLUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOU8. 271 â

scammony, which he says will enable those who take

it to walk immediately. On an inquiry being imme-

diatcly set on foot for thé discovery of this unknown

plant, a specimen of it w as procured at Constanti-

nople, a nd it actnaHy did turn out to be a species of

meadow saffron, thé colchicum auttimnaleofLinnœus.

The celebrated fever powder of Dr. James was evi-

dently uot his original composition, but a n Italiannostrum, invented by a person ofthe name of LisÏe

a receipt for the preparation of which is to be ibund

at length in Colborne's complete English Diepen~aryfor the year !756. Thé various secret preparations of

opium which have been extolled as the discovery of

modem days, may be recognised in the works of

ancient authors . The use of prussic acid in thé cure

of consumptions, lutely suggested by M. Magendie, at

Paris, ia little more than thé revival of thé Dutch

practice in this diaorder for Linn~us inforn~ us,that distiUed ~aure! water was frequently used in thé

cure of pulmonary consumption.~We shaH conclude thèse observations with a few

remarks on what are tcrmed patent ~K~c~M, Mo~-

trums, or yMf/c~ M!C<~N, and their boasted preten-sions in general. There is, in fact, but one state of

perfect healtlï, yet the deviatious from this state, and

thé général species of diseases are almost inhnite.

Hence it will casily be under~tood, that in thé classes

of medical remedies, thcre must likewise he a great

variety, and that some of them arc cvctt of oppositetendencies. Such arc both thé warm and cold bath

Vide "AtHenctatcs Acadctnicœ vu!. 4.



2~2 THAUMATURGÏA, OR

considered as medical remedies. Though opposite to

each other in their sensible effects, each of them mani-

fests its medical virtues. yet only in such a state of

thé body as will admit of using it with advantage.From thèse premises, it is evident that an uni versai

rcmcdy, or one t~at possesses healing powers for the

CM~po/'a~~c~M, is, in fact, a non.entity, a mere

delusion, the existence of which is physicaUy impos-

sible, as thé mere idca of such a thing invoh'es a con-tradiction. How, for instance, can it be eonceived,

that thé same remedy should he capable of restoringthe tone of the museular fibres, when they are re.

laxed, and also have the powerof relaxing them when

they are too rigid that it should coagulate the fluids

when in a s tate of résolution, and again attenuate

them when they are too viscid that i t should mode-

rate thé nerves when in a state of preturnatural spn-

sibility, and likewise restore t hem to their proper

degree of irritability when they are in a contrarystate.

The heïief in an universal remcdy bas long been

abandoned, even among thé vulgar, and long explodedin those classes of society, which are not influenced

by prejudice, o r tinctured with fanaticism. It is,

however, ~incerciy to hc regrcttcd, that the daily press

continues to he inundatcd with advertisemcnts and

thnt the lower, and less informed class of thé commu-

nity, arc still imposed upou by a get of privileged im.

postors, who frequently puzzle thé intelligent to de-

cide, whether thé impudence or thé indu~tt'y with

which they endeavour to establish thé reputation of

their respective poisons, be thé most prominent fea-

ture in their chamctcr.



ELU OI DA TI ON S O P THE MAR VE t.L OU 8. 273

T

In illustration of this last observation, it may fur-

ther be observed, that most of the nostrums adver-

ttMd as cough drops, etc., are preparations of opium.

similar, but inferior, to the well-known paregoric

elixir of tbe shops, but disguised and rendered more

deÏeterious by the addition of heating and aromatic

gums. The injury which may be occasioned by the

indiscriminate employment ofsuchmedicines might be

very serious and irremediable, as is w eU known toevery person possessing the smallest portion of médi-

cal knowledge. The boasted, though groundless pre-

tenaions of certain illiterate empirics to cure diseases

which hâve eluded the skill and penetration of the

faculty, is another absurdity into which people of good

common sense have been most woefuHy entrapped.

The leseons of expérience ought to prove the most

useful, as purchased at the greatest trouble and ex-

pense but if people choose to mn over a precipicewith their eyes open, they leave themselves nothingto regret, and the public less to lament, by their fall.

It waq justly

observed

by the

sagacious

and intelli-

gent Bacon, that a reflecting physician is not di-

rected by the opinion which thé multitude entertain

of a favourite remedy, but that be must be guided bya sound judgment and consequently, he is led to

make very important distinctions between those thingswhich only by their name pass for médical remedies,

and others, which in reality possess healing powers."We avail ourselves of the quotation, as it indirectiycensures the conduct of certain medical practitioners,who do not scruple to recommend what are vulgarlycalled patent and other quack preparations, the com.



2?4 THAUMATUROIA, OR

position of which is carefully concealed from the

puMic. Having acquired their unmerited reputation

by mère chance, and being supported by the most

refined artifices, in order to deïudc the unwary, we

are unable to corne at the évidence of perhaps nine

tentha of those who have experienced their fatal

effects, and who are now no longer m a situation

to complain.From universat remedies or panaceas, to nos-

trums and specincs, auch, for instance, as prétendto cure the M~e disease in every patient, is easyand natural. With the latter also, impositions of

a dangerous tendency arc often practised. It may be asked how far they are practicably admissibïe,

and in what cases thcy are wholly unavailing Thé

answer is not difficult. In those diseases, wliich

in every instance dépend upon the same cause, as

in agues, the smaU-pox, measlcs, and many other

contagions distempers. thé possibihty of specifics,in a limited sense, may be rationally, though hypo-

thetically admitted. But in either maladies, the

causes of which dépend on a variety of other con-current circumstances, and thé cure of which in

diSerent individuals, frcquently requires very oppositeremédies, as in dropsv, various species of colds,

thé atmost infinite variety of consumptions, etc.

a specinc remedy is a!i imposition upon thé com-

ïnon sensé of mankind. Those who a re but itn-

perfeetly acquainted with t lic variuus causes from

which thé same disorder ori~inates in different indi-

viduals, can never entertain such a vulgar and dan-

gcrous notion. They will easily perceivc, how much



ELUCIDATIONS 0~ THE MARVELLOUS. 275

T 2

de pe nd s up on ascertaining with precision, thé seat

and c ause of the complaint, before any medicine

¡ c an be presented with safety or advantage :-even

life and death are, we are sorry to add, too often

decided by the first steps. Different constitutions,

different symptoms, and stages of diseasc, au requiremore or less a separate considération. What is

more natural than to place confidence in a remedy,

which bas been known to afford relief to others

in thé same kind of disposition ? Thé patient anx-

iously enquires af ter a person who has been aniictcd

with thé same maïady he is eager t o k now the

remedy that has been used with success his friend

or neighbour imparts to him the wished for intelli-

gence he is determined to give the medicine a

fair trial, and takes it with confidence. From what

bas been stated, it will not be dinicu!t to conceive,

that if his case does not exactly correspond with

that of his friend, any chance remedy may prove

extremely dangerous, if not fatal.

Hence it becomes evident, that thé results arcnot to be depended upon, nor the chance risked.

Thé physician is obliged to employ all his sagacity,

supported by his own experience, as well as by that

of his predecessors and yet hc is often under the

necessity of discovering, from thé progress of thé

disease, what he could not derive from the minutest

researe!i. How then can it be expected, that a

novice in thé art of hcaling should be more suc-

cessful, when the who!c of Ilis m ethod of cure is

either tlie impu!se of thé moment, or thé effect of

his own credulity ? It may be there.fore truly said,




that l ife and death are frequently entruated to

chance

The late Dr. Huxham, a physician of some emi-

nence in hia day, t when speaking of Asclepiades,the Roman empiric, says This man from a <

c~M~* turned ~Ay~ctOM, and set htmsetf up to op-

pose ail the physicians of his time and the noveltyof the thing bore him out, as it frequently doth

the quacka of thé present time and ever will while

the MM!/oW<y o~' the world are /bo~ In another

place, he curioualy contrasta the too timid practiceof some regular phystCtans, with the hazardous treat-

ment, which is the leading feature of quacks The

timid, low, insipid practice with some, is almost

as dangerous as the bold, unwarranted empiricismof others time and opportunity, never to be r e<

gained, are often lost by the former while with

the latter, by a bold ~M~, you are sent off the stagen a moment.

From w hat has been said, it may confidently be asserted~ that a universal remedy still remains

as great a desideratum as the philosopher's etoneand either can only obtain credit with thé weak-

minded, the credulous, or thé fanatic. One of

the most unfortunate circumstances in the historyof such medicines, is the insinuating and dangerous

method, by which they are puffed into notice. And

as we have lit tle of thé benencini effects which they

daily must producc. by being promiscuouaïy npp!ied,

pcopie attend only to tite extmordinary instances,

perhaps not one in fifty, where tbey have afforded

a temporary or apparent relief. It is well known,



KLUCÏDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 277

that thé more powerful a remedy is, the more per-

manent and dangerous must be i ts effects on the

constitution especially if it be introduced like many

patent medicines, by an almost indefinite encrease

of the dose. There is another consideration, not

apt t o strike those who are unacquainted with the

laws of the animal economy. When it is intended

to bring about any remarkable change in the system

of an organized body, such means are obliged to be employed as may contribute to produce that changewithout affectin g too violently the living powers,or without carrying their action to an improper

length. Indeed, the patient may be gradually ha-

bituated to almost any stimulus, but at the expenceof a paralytic stroke on an impaired constitution.

Such are among the melancholy effects of impostureand credunty Were it possible," says a learned

authority, to collect all the cases of sacrifices

to the mysterious infatuation,, it i s probable that

their number would exceed the enormous havoc made

by gunpowder or the sword." Another reputablewriter makes the following terse remark on this

subject "As matters stand at présent, sayshe, it is easier to cheat a m an out of his life,

thari of a shilling and ahnost impossible either to

detect or punish the onender. Notwithstanding this,

people still shut their eyes, and take every thing

upon trust, that is administered by any pretender to medicine, without daring to ask him a reason

for any part of his conduct. Implicit faith, everywhere else the object of ridicule, is still sacred here."



2~8 TBAUMATUROIA, OR

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE PRATICR OP OBBAH, OR NEURO WtTCHCRAPT–

CHAKM8–THKïR KNOWLRDGE OP VEOBTABLE PO!-

80N6–SECRKT POtSONtNO.

OBBAH, a pretended sort of witchcraft, arising from

a superstittoua credulity, prevailing among the ne-

groes, bas ever been considered as a most dangerous

practicc, to auppress which, in our Weat India colo-

nies, thé sevcrest laws bave been enacted. The

Obeah is considered as a potent and most irreMStiMe

speH, withering and paralyzing, by indiscribable ter-

rora and unusual sensations, thé devoted victim.

One ncgro who dcsires to bc revenged on another,

and is afraid to make an open and manly attack

on bis adversary, bas usua~y rccourse to thia prac-ttcc. I~ike the witches* cauldron in Macbeth, it is

a combination of many étrange and ominous things.Earth gathered from a grave, human blood, a pieceof wood fastened in thé shape of a coffin, the feathers

of the canon crow, a enake or aïligator's tooth,

pièces of egg-sheïl, and other namelesa ingredients,



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOU8. 279

compose thé fatal mixture. The whole of these

articles may not be considered as absolutcly necessary

to complete the charm, but two or t hree are at leaat

indispensable.*

It will of course be conceived, that the practicc

of OBEAH eau have little e~ct, uniess a negro

la conscious that it is practised upon him, or thinks

80 ; t for, as thé whole evil consista in the terrors

*Variouactymo!ogics have been suggested for the word obi.

Mr. Long, in a paper transmittcd severat years since, by thé

agents of Jatnaica to thé Lords of the Commit tee of Privy

Council, and hy thé latter auhjoined to the report on thé stavc

trade, expresses h!mself on th!a subject as follows From

the learned Mr. Bryant's commcntary on the word OpH,we obtain a vcry probable etymo!ogy

of thc term 'a serpent,in the Egypttan l<tngnttge, was called JM& or 0& 0&<cM,'is sti ll thé Egypt!an natoe of a serpent,' Moses, in the

natnc of God, forbMs the lsraelitea to inquire of the demon

Ob, w!t!ch is transhtcd in our Bible, charmer or wizzard,~MMa~of aut <orc</<M~ The w oman of Endor is c alled

Oub or 0&, trans!ntcd Pythonissa and OM&~M (he cites

HorusApollo)

was thé name of thc BaaiUsk or royat

ser-

pent, emblem of the sun, and an ancicnt oractalar deityof Afr!ca. Thc!r ctymo!ogy, if admitted, connects t lie mo-

dern superstitions of thc w cst o f Africa, with the ancient

ones of t!te cast of that continent, from which source thcyhave also hecn spread in Europe. Thcy are humble parts of thc

great System which is adorncd with thc fables of Osiris and

Jsis nnd thcy comprise not only thc Obi of Africa, but thc

wi tchcraft of our own country. That superstition is everywhere conncctcd with the worship of thé serpent, and with

thc moon and thc ca t. Sku!!8 and tce th of cats are amongthc principal ingrédients of thé African churms or 0&

t Mr. Long gives the following account of thé furniture



280 THAUMATURCtA, OR

of a superstitious imagination, it is o f l ittle conae*

quence whether it ho practised or not, i f he only una.

gines that it is. But if the charm iaila to take hold of

the mind of the proscribed person, another and more

certain expedient is resorted to–thé secretly ad.

of the bouse of an Obi-woman, or African witch ioJataaica;

The whole inetde of the roof, (which was of thatch) and

every crevice of the waUs wore atuck with thé implements

of her trade, consMttog of raga, feathers, bonca of cats, and

a thouaand other articles. Examining forther, a large eafth-

en pot or jar, close covered, contained a prodtg!oua quantityof round baUs of carth or clay, of various ditnenatonSt largeand small, whitencd on thé outside, and variously com-

pounded, eome with haïr aod rags, or feathers of aU sorts,and Btrongty bound with twïae others blended with thé

upper section of the sku1ls of~ats, or set round with cats'

teeth and claws, or with human or doga* teeth, and Borne

g!as8 beods of d ifferent coiours. Thcre wcrc a teo a great

many egg-she!!s filled with a vtscoMs or gummy substance,the qualities of which wero neglected to be examined and

many little bags fi lled with a variety of articles, tbe par-ticulars of which cannot, at this distance of time, be recol-

Ïected.~ Shakespeare

and Dryden,

bave icft ua poeticalaccounts of the composition of European 0&~ or charma,

with which, and with more httttorical descriptions, the above

may be compared. The tnidni~ht hours of thé profcssors of

Obi, are atso to be compared with the witches of Europe.

Obi, therefore, !B thé serpent-worship. Thé Pythoness,at Delphos, was a~Obt-woman. With thé serpent-worship

isjoined that of thé sun and moon, as thé govcrnors of thé

visibte world, and embïcms of thé male and female nature

of thé godhead and to thé cat, on account of ber nocturnal

prow!iaga, ia ascribed a mysterious retationahip to the moon.

The dog and thc wolf, douMess for the « âme reason, are

similarty c~rcumatauced.



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVEM.OU9. 281 1

ministering of poison to him. This saves the répu-tation of the sorceror, and enecta the purpose he

had in view.

An OBBAH man or woman (for i t is practised

by both sexes) is a very dangerous person on a

plantation and the practice ôf it is made felony

by law, punishable with death where poison has been

administered, and with transportation wbere only

the charm has been used. But numbers have, and

may be swept off, by its infatuation, before the crime

is detected for, strange as i t may appear, so much

do the negroes stand in awe of those 0&<?~A pro-

fessors, so much do they dread their malice and

their power, that, though knowing the havoc theyhave 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 mis-

chief and revenge.A negro, under the infatuation of Obeah, can only

be cured of bis terrors by being made a Christian

refuse him this boon,

and he sinks amartyr to

imagined evils. A negro, in short, conpiders him-

self aa no longer under the influence of this sorcerywhen he becomes a christian. And instances are

kriown of negroes, who, being reduced by the fatal

influence of Obeah t o the lowest state of dejectionand debility, f rom which there were little hopesof recovery, have been surprisingly and rapidiyrestored to health and cheerfulness by being baptizedchristians. The negroes believe also in apparitions,and stand in great dread of them, conceiving that

they forbode death, or some other great evil, to




those whom they visit in ehort, that the spiritsof the dead corne upon thé carth to be revengedon those who did them evil when in life. Thus

we sec, that not only from the remotest aotiquity, but even among slaves and barbarians, the belief

in aupematural agencies bas been a popular creed,

not, in fact, confined to any distant race or tribe

of pcople and, what is still more surprising, there

is & singular and most remarkable identity in the

notion or conception of their infernal ministry.In the British West Indice the negroes of the

windward coast are called MandtM~op~, a name which

is here taken as descriptive of a peculiar race or na-

tion. There seema reason, however, to believe, that

a jMo~t~o or 3f<M~M~-man, is properly the same

with an Obi-man. A late traveHer in Brazil gives us

the following anecdotes of the Mandinga and JMaM~M-

~Me~o of the negroes in that country. One day,"

says Mr. Koster, the o ld man (a negro named

'ApoUinario) came to me with a face of dismay, to

show me a ball of leaves, tied up with a plant caUed

c~<~ w hich lie had found under a couple of boards,upon which he slept, in an out-house. The ball was

about the size of an apple. 1 coutd not imagine what

bad caused his alarm, until he said that i t was Ma~-

~M~c which had been set for thé purpose of killing

him and he bitterly bewailed lus fate, t hat at his

age, any one sliould wish to hagten his death, and to

carry him from this world, before our lady thoughtfit to send him. 1 knew that two of thé black wo-

men were at variance, and suspicion fell upon one

ofthcm, who was acquainted with the old~M~a-



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVBLLOU8. 283

~«MM of Engenho Velho thercfore she wns sent for.

I judged that the Mandinga was not set for Apollona-

rio, but for the negress whose business it was to

sweep the out-house. 1 threatened to confine the

suspected woman at Gara unless she discovered the

whole affair. She said the Mandinga was placedthere to make one of the negresses dislike her fellow-

slaves, and prefer her to the other. The bail of

Mandinga was formed of five or six kinds of leavesof trees, among which was the pomegranate leaf;

there were likewise two or three bits of rag, each of

a peculiar kind ashes, which were the bones of some

animals and there might be other ingredients be-

sides, but thèse were what 1 could recognize. This

woman either could not from ignorance, or would not

give any information respecting the several things of

which the ball was composed. 1 made this serious

matter of the Mandinga, from knowing the faith

which not only many of thé negroes have in it, but

also some of the mulatto people. There is another

name for this kind of charm it is called/o, andthe initiated are called /<?~~cro~ of these there was

formerly one at the plantation of St. Joam, who be-

came so much dreaded, that his m aster sold him to

be sent to Maranham.

Speaking of the green-beads (contas verdas) which

are another object of superstition in South America,

and of the reliance placed upon them by thé Valen-

toens, a IawIess description of persons among the

colonists of Brazil; the same author gives us this fur-

ther view of thé .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~in Mhff'ty th<?!r p~M~H thr<M<~h tdt dci~ftp~ of

~n! or w~rc <:h<n<t«''dhy th<! M<n«!!n~f!r<m, Affi~tt

H~f<'crt fM, wh~ htMi h~« hroo~ht ov(' to tho ~r~Hn

Mo H!nvcH, «t«! <n M't't <'(Ht<hn«'<! thf pfo!)!h!t<'d pf~'t«M' ~f hnpMft!n~ <htH v!r<w tu t!)'n. Vhtf<<tR hw!

ht'fin <M:~«a!nt<'<! w!th ~(~nc ~f th<! tn~'n, Hn~ WHHftnn!y

pf~hund~d nf ~he Vtft«cH f)f thf ~r~nt hf'adt;, Whon< ('8pt'<'fK<'<! my d~tiht~ of tho <'fHc<i<;yof thc !MXi<!M,

H~nnHt <nnn!t haM w< dhM'd, b~ <Ut~<'f ~M'

but t:h< wuM p~,y nxrt~h'd with it."

~~t hrht~H thcM' ~t~n~H frottt th« O~'thtm~

ft~'f <~ the Amax~t~ ï WtM )tt<«f<n''d/' H~o <«n'

ttuth~r, thut < M~ f<t~t<j ff~n Afr!f:M h)tt

H««x; hav~ ff~tnd t!t<r w~y f~r~ thc <~ff!h'ttM, <~t(J

!cn pti~ int~ f<<t~!t!on hy thf ~M~ Mf.

H~utht'y h{<~ M!M< ~<v~t <tt< w~'u'<nt ~f tlm "~fc<

Rt~ncMuf th<! A~tM~onM," in h!~ ht~~y of ~fMx! vol.

h p. t~.

ÏM fihnth~r p!(MM', Rn!n(; trHv~!<!r prc~htH us wit!<

th<* ~aH~M~M~r~ tn th~ ~tt 'w ch<tf<M;f ~h~ff~r ~ff

nnK~ T!~ M<t!«!tn~<t<r«a t<f<! ~«touH, Mtnon~oth<t!' <<'atH, for han<ht~ pni~m~ «n<t!{<'<t, <Ht<! f~r~

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 fo~!<~<'rf) pr~HO to r«t<d<-f hth'~hwt~ th<! h!t<

~fen~t'o, t~ pf'r~nh wh~ Mtttontt <~ th<r <'hMfms t<tt(i

M;)'f~«)n!cM. <~n<!«f(h''nt<«!<~ whtch <H<t(!«pt<'dfftf 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

t~M <t. Thf; nw«cr «f thc Mx~c t'cpcatc ccr~un

MMfn~r of wwdH (!unt~ thc opf'rMttMt, <~ wiuch, thé

<M<'Mn!«~, if tht'y <'o~t«ht ~ny, !« ~y !~<~wn t~ th~

ht!tiat<!<i. Thc f<ttt!c'(~«t~<? tH Hmd to !M', Mhovc «H

«ther ~<cc<ff). thc tftUMtHUMCcptthtc uf attention tu th''

ttt<t<'H of fh<: M<t<x!in~t<roM, Thc ~~w wc~ont~ <

f)hou!d not h~vf: ft~tted upun thé nuthonty of <~M' «f

tw~ (tttthor~, t hâve hcttrd thctn f('jx'Mt(!~ by

vcrH! ih<Hv!d«a!u, attd ov<'n w~nc tn<'n of <'<ht':Ht«)nhnv<' MjM~n «f th<' r~p<~<MJ<'<HcfM'yof tt<~ t(~t<; ~r«~<~

~fthc M(«)di«~«< t~w, <Mtfth~y wcn' M~newhftt 8t«j~"

~d ht th<'tr h<tff <)('!t. ~'h('K<! n!<'n d~ ct!ft<i«tty

p!<t</~tt'<4<~c ~«ihM Mnd v<'fy <h'xt<'f<~tH!y." ~1~' «'t~tc

W~tcf <iÏM<toh!<('rv<'H, Ot<<! of th~ «t~x:n wh~tn 1

h<ftdhtn'd w<th thc pton~ttt~n of jM~ttMritj!, h~d «ne

h'~ t~nch t!<«~cr thutt thf! <~ht;r. Th~ WMM~c~M-

H!ottf<~ hc t~~d toc, ~y thc htt~' t~ M mt.th'f~xt!~ hc

MKtd ho htt<i !n ~w~ ~'<<m thu hit~H uf Mnnt«:H by<'efta!n ~~w/<~ ~~M, o!' Mu<t<!h<~))<r~, ft~d had

(herc~~f n~t ~t{<'<! hxt that thc Ht~on waM

Ktr~)~ hc ht«i «ut ~;K<'{tp<'<ir<~<'tvit~ ««tnc h<j«ryf<~n) ti«! hitc.

~cavct, xt h<M Af«~n< M<'f'~mn<<u, Ha/M, ~'h~'f<'

iH <A)t~ih<;<'f'~t <~ t«'«p<<' whu tr~vct ah~)~ h< t,h<'

<M~n)ry, <Jh'f! M<mdht~u.<f~'«, (th<'Mc «r<' Mahotft'

tn<;d!t!m;) tjf'y <!un<~ w'<; <!x'y~o ft'unt ph«~'t«

pht<'< <)<«)wh' t< (h"/ ~nd «t<y f'ht<'fn f'r p<)!c, wh~fn

th'y thitth thcy (;!<« <n«h<' any thit~ th<'y t(t!«' «pih<;h <ih<'d<' mnx' <)««' ~tth )h<-tn, «nd <««! «'

~~j, «N<iM<t<«')tnt< cxf~ 'd fr«t« th<'tf) f~r whi<'h

th':y <n«h': <h<!«t p~y.On th<x, <tt<d <~t)t'< t)~«~t<~<M, <h<' Wt~td~yM' </i'w/



~86 THAUMATURGÏA, OR

is applied to a house whence oracles are delivered

but it is also used for a charm or obi. They them-

selves, (the natives ofthe coast) says the author, tast

quoted, "a!wny? wcar ~~ce-~rc~, or charma, which

tbey purchase of the ~~R~~OM, to guard them

against the effects of certain arms, or of poison, and

on which they place thé utmost reliance. They have

one against poison another against a musket an-

other against a sword and another against a knifeand, indeed, against almost every thing that theythink can hurt them. Mandingo priest, or gris gris

merchant, that is, a seller of charms, which carried

about a person, secure the wearer from any evUs,

such as poison, murder, witchcraft, etc. To this

priest 1 had made eomc handsome présents, and he,

in return, gave me twelve gris. gris, and assored me

that they would inevitably secure me from all danger,at thé same time he gave me directions how to dis-

pose of them. Some were to be carried about my

person one secretly placed over each archway an-

other kept

under

my pillow,

and another under thé

door of the house 1 was then building." Thé Byu-

g~s hohi these peoplc in great révérence, and say that

they t~k with God.'

Mr. Long, in his history of thé Wcst Indies, states

that, under thc général n ame of Obi.men is t ilso

included thc class of ~M/ men, or tho~c who, bynncans of a narcotic poison, made with thc juice of

an hcrb (said to bc thé branc'hed Cah~uc, a appelésof solanum) which occasions a trancc of a certain

dumtion, endcavonr to convince thc deluded spceta-'tors of their powcr to reannnutc dead bodies.



ELUCIDATIOXS 0F THE MAUVELLOLS, 2 87

Additional particulars of this superstition preserved

by Labat, Edwards, and othcrs, are to he joined with

those now produced;* but after all, the questions to

bc solved are, wbether Obi, Mandinga, and gree gree,are usually words of similar import, and whether

those who are conversant in them are all alike, priests

of one system of religious faith and worship, or whe-

ther the one does not belong to thé worship of a good

power, and the other to tliat of an evil one.It is remarkaMe, that wïu!e thé Etymology of Obi

bas been sought in thé names of ancient deities of

Egypt, and in that of thé serpent in the language of

the coast, the actual name of thé evil deity or Dcï~

in the same language, appears to have escaped atten-

tion. That name iswritten by Mr. Edwards, OMoM<?yand thc hearer of it is describcd as a malicious deity,thé author ofaUevil, the inflictor of perpétuai diseases~

and whose anger is to be appeased only by human

sacrifices. This evil deity i s the Satan of our own

Thé superstition

of Obi was never genern!!y

rcmarkcd

upon in the British Wcst Indies till t!te yenr 1760, whcn, after an insurtcction in Jamnica, of the Coromnntyn ot*Go!d Coast

ncgrocs,it~'asfonnd that !t had hccntnndc an instrumentfor promoting that disturbancc. Att old Ccromantyn npg~ro,thé chief instigator and oracle ofthc insnrgents of thp parishof St. Mary, in which the insorrection brokc ont, who hadndtninistcrcd the ~c~eor sok'tnn oath to thc conspirators,and fnrnishcd thctowithanutgica! préparation, Mhich wns tumakc t~tctn invutnerabh', was nt that thnc apprchnndcd and

punishcd, and a !aw was enncted for thé suppression of the

practice, uncler which several cxatnp!cs wcrc H!ndc, txtt~'ith.out cn'ccting fnr many ycars, nny diminution of thé evil

soxght to be rctncdicd.




faith; and it i s the worship of Satan which, in

all parts of the world conatitutes the essence of

sorcery.ïf this name of 0&&o~ bas any relation to thé Ob

of Egypt, and if t he Ob, both anoiently in Egypt,and to this day in thé westof Africa, signines a eer-

pent," what does this discover to our view, but that

Satan bas thé name of N~p?!~ among the Negro na-

tions as well as among those of Europe ?i' As to h owit bas happcned that the serpent, which, in some

systems, is thé emblem of the good spirit. is in others

the emblem of thé evil one, that is a topic which be-

longs to a more extenaive enquiry. This is enough for

our présent satisfaction to remember that the profes-sion of, and belief in sorcery or witchcraft, supposesthe existence of two deities, the one, the author of

good, and the other the author of evil; the one wor-

shipped by good men for good things, and for good

purposes and thé other by bad men for bad thingsand purposes and that this worship is sorcery and

thé wor~hippers

sorcerers.

It will bc secït above, t!mt sincc African charms

are toprevcnt evil, nnd othcrs to procure it, thé first

be~ong; to the worsbip, aud a rc derived from thé

powcr, of thc good spirit and the second arc from

the oppc&ite source. It is to be concbidcd, thcn,

tbat thé superstition of Obi is no othcr than tbc prac-ttcc of, and hc1ief in thé worship ofOMo~ or O&OMt,

thc evil dcity of thc Africans, thé nct'pcnt cf Africa

untï of ~urupc, and thc o!d i-crpcnt and Satan of thé

scripturct and t!mt thé witchcraft of thé ncgrocs is

evidcntly t!tc samc with our own. It might indeed



ELU Cï DAT ÏOK S 0 F T HE MAR VE LLO U8 . 2S9

u

be further shown, that the latter have their temporarytransformations of men into alligators, wolves, and thé

like, as the French have their ïoups-garoux, thé

Germans their war-wolves, wolf-men, and the rest.*

Thé negroes practising obeah are acquainted with

some very powerful vegetable poisons, which they use

on these occasions, and hy which they acquire much

extensive credit . Their fetiches are their household

gods, or domestic divinities; oneof whom is supposedto 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

negroes have long been held famous in t he act of

secret or slow poisoning.If doubts and difficulties envelope the discovery of

poisons, whose distingaishing character is the rapidityof these effects, how much greater must be the uncer.

tainty when we are required to ascertain the adminis-

trations of what are called slow poisons. This subject,

!n Kostcrs's travels in Brazil, we read of a negro whowas reported by one of his <fc!!ow8to bccome occasionally/o~ ~<MK~or wolf-man. 1 asked him," said thé author,

to expÏMin when he said, that thé man was attimes trans-

formcd into an animul, of thc size of a calf with thé figure of

a dog;" and in thé African memoranda is an account of a

negro who professed and even believed to have thé powcr of

transforrning htmsetf into an alligator, in which statc he de-vourcd nwn. Upon being qucstioned by Captain Beavcr, he

answcrcd, can change mysc!f into an aHigator, and haveoften donc it. But though these tnay bc genuinc Africun

superstitions, and not such as have been introdnecd by thé

Portugucse, yct it is certain there ia no part of Ëtnope tuwhich they do not cquatty bclong.



390 THAUMATURCïA, OR

indeed, is so closely entwined with popular supersti-

tions, that it is difficult to separate truth from falsehood.

In Italy, for example, it was formerly said, that poisonswere made to destroy life at any statcd period–froma few h oms to a year. This, however, tums out to

be a mere fiction and, it is well understood, thnt we

know of no substances that will produce death at a

determinate epoch. Thé following case of the late

Prince Charles ofAugu8tenhurgh,neverthcïesg, showsthat thé idea of slow poison is still very prévalent,even among thé physieians of continental Europe.

Prince Charles of Augustenburgh, Crown Prince

of Sweden, and thé predecessor of Bernadette, in that

station, fell dead from his horse on thé 22nd of May,

t8i0~ while reviewingiroopsin Scania. His death,

during that stormy period of pnb!ic affairs, excitcd

great attention, and an opinion soon spread abroad

that he had been poisoned. Thé Mn~ ordcred a judi-cial investigation and it appeared that Dr. Rossi,

the physician of the lute Prince, had, without direc-

tions, procceded

to

inspect the

body twcnty-four hours

after death that hc had pcrformed tbis opération with

great negligence, omitting many things which the

!aw prcscnted, which the assisting physicians proposed,and wliieit w ere essential to rendcr it satisiactorvand finally, that the coats of the stomach, instcad of

being prescrved and submitted to chemical analysiswere, according to his own acknowiedgmcnt, thrown

away. The royal tribunal adjudged him to be deprivcdof his appointmcnt, and to be bnnisbed from the king-dom. This decision would not of course diminish the

suspicion ah'cady cxcited and among othcr physieians,



BLUCIDATïOXS O P THE MARVELLOUS. 291

u 2

who were consulted on the case, M. Lodin, professor of Medicine at Lynkoping, presented two mémoire,

in which he stated it as his opinion, that a ~oK~o~oMuf a vegetable nature, and probably analogous to the

aqua <&/aM:c, had been administered to thé Prince,

and that this had caused the apopletic fit of which he

died. His reasons were

Ï. That thé Prince had always enjoyed good health

previous to his arrivai in

Sweden, and, indeed, had not

been ill, until after eating a cold pie at au inn, in Italy.Hc was shortly after seized with violent vomiting,

while thé rest of t he company experienced no 1!!

effects.

2. The Prince was naturally very temperate.3. Ever since he arr ived in Sweden he had expe-

rienced a loss of appetite, with cholic and diarrhoea

and

4. That on dissection, the spleen was found of a

black colour and in a state of decomposition, and the

liver induratcd and dark coloured. Whilst during life

he had experienced no symptoms corresponding to

these appearances. Dr. Lodin confesscd, however,that he was unacqnainted with the effects that indicate

thé administration of a slow poison, but thought the

previous symptoms were such as might be cxpcctedfrom it.

For the credit of the profession, this conjectural

opinion met with decided reprobation from other

medical men. It appeared that thé Prince had, for

several days previousiy, been suhject to giddiness and

pain in the head, and that aU thé symptoms were

readily rcferable to a simple case of apoptexy, while



292 TBAUMATUROÏA, OR

the appearances on dissection showed that fap!d ten-

dency to putrefaction, which is frequently observed in

similar cases.

The public are highïy Indebted to professor Beck-

man for a very elaborate article, in which he bas con-

centrated nearly all that is known concerniog secret

poisoning. Of this we shall hère present our readers

with an abstract, as peculiarly adapted to the demo-

noÏogy of medicine, aided with some facts from other

sources.

Professor Beckman considers it unquestionable,that thé ~nc!ents were acquainted with this kind of

poigon, and thinks tbat it may be proved from the

testïmony of Plutarch, QuintUian, and other respectable authors. Thé former states that a s low poison,which occasioned heat, a cough, spitting of blood, a

consumption, and weakness of intellect, was adminie-

tcred to Aratus of Sicyon. Theophrastus speaks of a

poison prepared from aconitc, which could be mode-

mted in such a munner as to hâve e~ect in two or

three months, or at thé end of a year or two years

and he also relates, that Thrasyns had discovered amethod ofpreparingfrom other p!ants a poison which,

given in smal! doses, occaeioned a certain but easy

death, without any pain, and which could be kepthack for a long time without causing wcakness or

corruption. Thé last poison was much used at Rome,

about two hundred y cars bcfore thé christian era.

At a ïatcr period, a female named Locusta, was the

agent in prcparing thèse poisons, and she destroycd.'in this way, at the instigation of Nero, Britannicus,

son of Agrippina.



RLUCIDATIONS 0F T HE MARVKLL OUS. 293

The Carthagenians seem also to have been acquaintedwith this act of diabolical poisoning and they are

said, on thé authority of Aulus Gellius, to have

administered some to Regulus, the Roman general.

Contemporary writers, however, it must be added,

do not mention this.

The principal poisons known to the ancients were

? prepared from plants, and particularly aconite, hem-

lock, and poppy, or from animal substances; and

among the latter none is more remarkable than that

obtained from the sea-hare (Z.<~MS marinus or ~py~a

<M of the system of nature). With this, Titus is

said to have been dispatched by Domitian. They do

not seem to have been acquainted with the common

n~!nera~ poisons.In the year 1659, t during the pontificate of

Alexander VII, i t was observed at Rome, that many

young women became widows, and that many hus-

banda died when they became disagreeable to their

wives. The govemment used gréât vigilance to

detect the

poisoners, and

suspicion at

length fell

upona society of young wives, whose president appearedto be an old woman, who pretended to foretel future

events, and who had often predicted very exactly the

death of many persons. By means of a craft)' female

their practices were detected the whole society were

arrested and put to thé torture, and the old woman,

whose name was Spara, and four others, were publicly

hanged. This Spara w aa a Sicilian, and is said to

have acquired her knowledge h'om Tofania at Palermo.

Tophania, or Tofania, was an infamous woman,

who resided first at Palermo and afterwards at Naples.




She sold the poison which from her acquired the

Dame of Aqua deHa Toffana ~it was a!so called

Acquetta di Naloli, or ~c~Me~(ï alone), but she dis-

tributed her preparation by way of charity to such

wives as wished to hâve other husbands. From four

to six drops were sufficient to destroy a man and it

was asserted, that the dose could be so proportionedas to operate in a certain time. Labat says, that

Tofania distributed her poison in small glass phials,with this inscription-Manna of St. ~c%o~<M of Bavi,

and ornamented with the image of thé saint. She

Hved to a great age, b ut was at last dragged from a

rnonastery, in which she had taken refuge, and put to

the torture, when she confessed her crimes and was

strangled.In no country, however, has the art of poisoning

excited more attention than it d id in France, about

the ycar IG~O. Margaret d'Aubmy, wife of the

Marquis de BrinviUier, wns the principal agent in »

this horrible business. A needy adventurer, named

Godin de St. Croix, had formed an acquaintance with

the Marquis during their campaigns in the Netherlands –became at Paris a constant vis itor at his house,

where in a short t ime he found means to insinuate

himself into the good grâces of the Marchioness.

It was not long before this Marquis died; not,

however, until their joint fortune was dissipated.Her conduct, in openty carrying on this amour, in.

duced her father to have St. Croix arrested and sent

to the Bastile. Bere he got acquainted with an

Italian, of thé name of Exili, from whom be learnt

the art of preparing poisons.



ELUCIDATtOXS OP THE MARVJSLLOU8. 295

After a year's imprisonment St. Croix was released,

when he flew to the Marchioness and instructed her

m the art, in order that she might employ it in better.

ing the circumstances of both. She assumed the ap-

pearance of a nun, distributed food to the poor, nursed

the sic!t in thé Hôtel Dieu, and tried the strength of

her poisons, undetected, on these hapless wretches.

She bribed one Chaussée, St. Croix's servant, to poi-

son her own father, after introducing him into hisservice, and also her brother, and endeavoured to

poison her sister. A suspicion arose that they had

been poisoned, and the bodies were opened, but no

detection followed at this time. Their vil~inous

practices were brought to hght in the following man-

ner :-St. Croix, when preparing poison, was accus-

tomed to wear a glass mask but, as this happenedonce to drop off by accident, he was suffocated and

found dead in his laboratory. Government caused

the effects of tliis man, w ho had no family, to bc

examined, and a list of them to be m ade out. On

searching them, t here was found a s mall box, to

which St. Croix had anixed a written paper containing

areqùest, that a fter his death it might be deliveredto the Marchioness de Brinvillier, who resides in the

street Neuve St. Paul, as every thing it contains

concerns her, and belongs to her alone and ae,

besides, there is nothing in it that can be of use to

any person except her and in case she shall be dead

before me, to burn it, and every thing it contains,

without opening or aitering any thing and in order

that no one may plead ignorance, 1 swear by God,

whom i adore, a nd aU that is most sacred, that



296 TBAUMATURGIA, OR

1 advance nothing but what is true. And if my

intentions, just and reasonable as they are, be

thwarted in this point, Ï charge their consciences

with it, both in this world and the next, in order that

1 mayunload mioe.protesting thatthis is my last will.Donc at Paris, this 35th May, in the afternoon, 1672.

De Sainte Cro~

Nothing could be a greater inducement to have it

opened, than this singular pétition, and that being

donc, there w as found in it a great abundance of

poisons of every kind, with labels, on which their

enects proved, by expérimenta on animais, were

marked. The principal poison, however, was corro-

sive sublimate. When the Marchioness heard of the

death of her lover and instructor, she was desirous to

have the casket, and endeavoured to get possession of

it by bribing the officers of justice; but as she failed

in this, she quitted thé kingdom. La Chaussée, how-

ever, continued at Paris, laid claim to the propertyof St. Croix, w as seized and imprisoned, confessed

more acts of villainy than was su&pected, and was in

consequence broke alive upon the wheel, in 1673.– The Marcbioness fled to England, and from thence

to Liege, where she took refuge in a convent. Des-

grais, an officer of justice, was dispatched in pursuitof her, and having a ssumed the dress of an Ahbé,

contrived to cntice her from this privileged place.

Among her effects at the convent therc was found a

confession, and a complete catalogue of all her crimes,

in her own hand-writing. She was taken to Paris,

convicted, and on the l6tb of July, 16~ publicly

beheaded, and afterwards burnt.



ELUCïDATiONS OP THE MARVBLLOU8. 297

The practice of poisoning was not, however, sup-

pressed by this execution, and it was asserted, that

confessions of a suspicious nature were constantlymade to the priests. A court for watching, search.

ing after, and punishing prisoners was at length es-`

tablished in 1697, under the title of chambre de poison,or chambre ardente. This was shortly used as a state

engine, against those who were obnoxious to the

court, and the namcs of individuaÏB of the first rank, both male and female, were prejudiced. Two fëmales,

la Vigreux and la Voison were burnt alive, by order

of this court, in February, 1680. But it was abolished

in the same year.Professor Beckman relates the following, as com-

municated to him by LinnaBUS Charles XI, King of

Sweden, having ruined several noble families by

seizing on their property, and having, after that,

made ajoumey to Torneo, he fell into a consumptive

disorder, w hich no medicine could cure. One dayhe 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. Yes," returned the king, 1 wish

to God that the reduction of thé nobilities' estates had

not taken place, a nd that 1 had never under taken a

joumeytoTorneo." After his death his intestines

were found to be full of small ulcers.

There has been a great diversity of opinions as to

the nature of these poisons. That prepared by Tofa-

nia appears to have been a clear insipid water, and

the sale of aqua for tis was for a long time forbidden




in Rome, because it was considered tlie principal in-

grédient. This, however, is not probable.In Paris, the famous poudre de succession (also a

secret poison) was at onc time supposed to consist of

diamond dust, powdered exceedingly fine and at

:mother time, to contain sugar of lead as thé principal

ingrédient Haller was of this last opinion. In thé

casket of St. Croix were found sublimate, opium,

regu!u8 of antimony, vitriol, a nd a large quantity of

poison ready prepared, the principal ingredients of

which the physicians were not able to detect. Garelli,

plivsician to Chartes VI, King of the Two Sicilies, at

thé time when Tofania was arrested, wrote to thé

celebrated HoSman. that thé Aqua Tofania was no.

thing else than crystallized arsenic, dissolved in a

large quantity of water by decoction, w ith the addi-

tion, (but for what purpose we know not) of the herb

€~M~/ar«ï, (probably thé ~r~MK~ Cymbalaria).

And this information he observes, was communicated

to him by his impérial ma;esty himself, to whom thé

judicial procedure, confirmed by the confession of

thé criminal, was transmitted. But it was objected tothis opinion, that it dinercd from the ordinary effects

of arsenic, in never betraying itself by any particular

action on thé human body.

Thc Abbé Gagliani, on theother hand, asserts that

it is a mixture of opium and cantharides, and that the

liquor obtained from its composition, is as limpid as

rock water, and without tastc. Its effects are slow,

and almost imperceptible. Beckman appeare to fa-

vour this idea, and suggcsts that a similar poison



E LUC ID ATI ON S 0 F T HR MA RV ELLO US . 299

ïs used in the East, under the name of powst, beingwater that had stood a night over thé juice of pop-

pies. It is given to princes, whom it is wished to

despatch privately and produces Ïoss of strengthand understanding, so that they die m the end, torpid

and insensible.*

The following extract will show that secret poison-

ing has penetrated into the forests of America. The

celebrated chief, ~&ïcA&~ of the Omawhaws, gained

great reputation as a medicine man his adversaries

feU rapidiy before his potent spells. Hie medicine

was arsenic, furnished him for this purpose by the

villainy of thé traders."t

Bcckman, vot 1, p. 74 to 103.

t Sce Major Long's expedition, vol. 1. p. 226.



300THAUMATURGE OR

CHAPTER XIX.

ON THK ORMÏN AND SUPBR8TïT!OUB ÏMPLUNNCE

OFBïNOS.

THE ancient magicians, amongother pretended ex-

traordinary powers of accomplishing wonderful things

by their superior knowledge of the secret powers of

nature, of the virtues of plants and mtneraÏs, and of

the motions and influence of the stars, attached no

smaH degree of myatic importance to rings, the en-

gin of which, their matter and uses, together with

the supposed virtues of the atones eet in them, a~brd

a suh}ect squaring so much with our design, a nd sodesen'ing of notice from the curious, that no apologyneed be made for discoursing on them.

According to the accounts of the heathen mythoîo-

gists, Prometheus, who, in the first times, had disco-

vered agréât number of secrets, having been deUvered

from thé charma, by which he was fastened tu mount

Caucasus for stealing fire from heaven, in memory or

acknowledgment of the favour he received from Jupi.

ter, made himscif of one of those chains, a ring, in

whose coUet he represented thé figure of part of the

rock where hc had been detained-or rather, as Pliny



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVBMOU8. 301

says, set it in a bit of the same rock, and put i t on

his finger. This was the first ring and the first atone.

But we otherwise learn, that the use of rings is very

ancient, and the Egyptians were the first inventors

of them which seems confirmed by the person of

Joseph, who, as we read (Genesis. chap, xi.) for

having interpreted Pharoah's dream, reccived not only

his liberty, but was rewarded with his princes ring,

a collar of gold, and the superintendancy of Egypt.Josephus, in the third hook of Jewish antiquities

says, the Israélites had the use~of them after passingthe Red Sea, because Moses at his return from Mount

Sinai, found that they had forged the golden calf from

their wives' rings, enriched with precious atones.

Thé same Moses, upwarda of 400 years before thé

wars of Troy, permitted the priests he had esta-

blished, the use of gold rings, enriched with

precious stones. 'nie high prieat wore upon his

ephod, which was a kind of camail, rich rings, that

served as clasps a large emerald was set and

engraved with mysterious names. The ring he wore

on his finger was of inestimable value and celestial

virtue. Had n ot Aaron, the high priest of the He-

brews, a ring on his finger, whereof the diamond, byita virtues, operatcd prodigious things ? For i t changedits vivid lustre into a dark culour, whcn the Hebrews

were to be punished by deatit for their sins. When

they were to fait by thé sword it appeared of a blood

colour if they were innocent it sparkicd as usual.

It is observable that thé ancient Hebrews used

rings even in the timc of the wars of Troy. Queen

Jezebel, to destroy Nabath, as it ia related in the first




Book of Kings, made use of thé ring of Ahab, King of

the Israelites, her husband, to seal the counterfeit

letters that ordered the death of that unfcrtunate

man. Did uot Judah, as mentioned in the 38 tb chap.ter of Genesis, abuse his daughter'in.law, Thamar,

who had disguised herself, by giving her his ring and

bracelets, as a pledge of the faith he had promiscdher?

Though Homer is silent in regard to rings, both in

his Iliad and Odyssey, they wcre, notwithstanding,used in the time of thé Greeks and Trojans and from

them they were received by se\ erat other nations. The

Lacedemonians, as related by Alexander, ab. Alexan-

dro, pursuant to the orders of their king, .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

libernlity, esteem, and friendship, particularly amongthc Persians, none being permitted to wear any, cxccpt

they were givcn by thé king himself. This is wl)atmay also be remarked in thé perron of Apolïoniua

Thyaneus, as a token of singular esteem and libera-

lity, received one from thé great larchas, prince of

thé Gymno~ophi~ts, who were the ancient priests of

India and dwelt in forests, as our ancient bards

and druids, where they applied themselves to thc

study of wisdom, and to thé spéculation of the heaven

and stars . This philosopher, by the means of that

ring. learned every day thc secrets of nature.

Though thé ring found by Gygcs, shephcrd to the

King of Lydia, has more of faMc tban of truth in it,




it will not, however, be amiss, to relate what is said

conceming Hcrodotus, CœHus, after Plato and Cicero,

in the third book of his Offices. This Gyges, after a

gréât flood, passed into a very deep cavity in the earth,

where having found in the beiïy of a brazen horse,

with a large aperture in it, a human body of enormous

size, he puUed from off one of the fingers a ring of

surprising virtue for the stone on the collet rendered

him who wore it invisible, when tlie collet was turnedtowards the palm of thé hand, so that the party could

sec, without being seen, a ll m anner of persons and

things. Gyges, having made trial of its eSicacy,

bethought himself that it would be a means for ascend-

ing thé throne of Lydia, and for gaining thé Queen

by it. He succeeded in h is designs, having killed

Candaules, h er husband. The dead body this ring

belonged to was that of an ancient Brahman, who, m

his time, was chief of that sect.

The rings of the ancients often served for seals.

Alexander thé Great, a fter the death and defeatof

Darius, used his ring for eeahng thé Setters he sent into~

Asia, and his own for thèse he sent to Europe. It i i<

customary in Rome for thé bridegroom to send thé

bride, before murriage, a ring of iron, without either

~tohe or collet, to denote how lasting their union oughtto be, and thé frugality they were to observe to.

gether but luxury herein soon gained ground, and

there was a necessity for moderating it. Caius Marius

did not wear one of gold till his third consulshipand Tiberius, as Suetonius says. made some réfuta-tions in the anthority of wcaring rings for, be.

sides the liberty of birth, he required a considérable

revenue, both on the fathcr and grandfather's side.



304THAUMATUROtA, OR

In a Polyglot dictionary, pubHshed in the year t625,

by John Minshew, our attention was attracted by the fol-

lowing observations, underthe article" RtNoFiNQKR."

–-Vêtus versicuhs singulis digitis Annulum trebuens

Miles. Mercator. Stultus. Maritus. Amator. Pollici

adscribitur Militi, seu Doctor. Mercatorem a pollice

secundum, stultorum, tertium. Nuptorum vel studios-

orum quartum. Amatorum ultimum."By which it appears, that the fingers on which annuli

were anciently wom werc directed by thé calling, or

peculiarity of the party. Were it

A soldier, or doctor, to him was assigned the thumb.

A sailor, the finger next the thumb.

A fool, the middle finger.A married or diligent perqon, the fourth or ring finger.A lover, thé last or little finger.The medicinal or curative power of rings are numc-

rous and, as a matter of course, fonnded on imaginar~'

qualities. Thus thé wedding ring rubbing upon that

~ttle

abscess called the stye, which is frequently seen

on the tarsi of thé eyes, is said to remove it. Certain

rings are worn as' talismans, either on the nngers or

suspended froin the neck the efficacy of which may

he referred to thé effects usually produced by thèse

charms.



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVELLOUS. 30&

x

CHAPTER XX.i

CELESTÏAL ÏNFLURNCË8 –OMEN8 –CMMACTER!C8

PRËDOMINATION8––MCKY AND UNLUCKY DAYS–

EMPIRIC8, &C.

AsTROMGERs, among other artiftces, have used their

best endeavours, and cinpioyed aU thé rnles of their

art, to rendcr those years of our âge, which they caU

clunactencs, dangerous and formidable.

The word chmactcrtc is derived from thé Greek,

which meansby a scale or ladder, and implics acritical

year, or a period in mati's âge. wherein, according to astrologica~ju~ing, there is somc notable alter-

ation to arise in thé body, and a person stands in great

danger of death. Thc first c limacteric is thé seventh

ycar of a man's life the others are multiples of thé

first, ag2t,49,5G,63, and 84, w hich two last arc

called the grand cinnactcrics and the danger more

certain. Thc fnundation of this opinion is accouutctt

for by ~Inrk Ficinns as follows :–Thcrc is a ycar, hc

tells us, assi~rtcd for each planet to ruic over thc bodyof a man, each of his turn now Saturn being the most

~!((/c/tc< (mah~nant) ptanct of nll, cvery scvcnth



30C THAUMATURGIA, OR

year, w hich Mïs to its lot, becomes very dangerous

especially those of sixty.three and eighty-fbur, when

thé person is already advanced in years. According

to this doctrine, somc hold every seventh year an

established climacteric but others only allow the title

to those produced by multiplication of tbe c!intactenca!

space by an odd number, 3, 0, 7, U, &c. Others ob-

serve every ninth year as a climactenc.

Cjimacteric ycars are pretended, by some, to befatal to poUtica! bodies, which, perhaps, may be

granted, when they are proved to be so more than

to natural ones for it must beobvious that thereason

of such danger can by no means be discovered, nor

thé relation it can have with any other of thé numbcrs

above mentioned.

Though this opinion haa a great deal of antiqnityon its side Aulus Gelïius says–it was horrowed from

thc CImIdcans, who possibïy might reçoive it from

Pythagoras, whose philosophy teemed much in num-

ber~, and who imagincd a very extraordinary virtue

in thc number r. The principal authors on climacte-

rics are–PIato, Cicero, Macrobius, Aulus Gellius.

Among thé ancien ts–Ar~a!, Magirus, and Sohna-

theus. Among thé modems–St. Augustine, St.

Ambrose, Beda and Boethius, all countenance the

opinion.Therc is a work extant, though rather scarce, by

Hevelius, under thc title of ~~MM~ C'oc/c~cM~,

whcrcin hc describes the Ïo~s hc i?ustaincd by his

cbscrvatory, &c. being burnt; wh ch it would appear

happcncd in his grand chmacteric, of which he w as

c'tt'emely apprehensive.



KLUMUATIOK8 0F THR MAK.VELLOU8. 307

x 2

Astrologers have also brought under their inspectionand controul thé days of thé year, which thcy have

presumed to divide into ~K~ and M/~c~ daye

calling even the sacred scriptures, and the common

belief of christians, in former ages, to their assistance

for this purpose. They prétend that the fourteenth

day of thé first mouth was a blessed day among the

i. Israelites, authonsed, as they prétend, hy thé several

passages out of Exodua, v. 18In thé fir st yKo/ on the fourteenth day of thé

month at even, ye shaH eut unleavened bread, untit

the one and twentieth day at even," v. 40. Now,

thé so~ourmng of thé children of Israel, who dwelt in

Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.4t. And it came to pass, at the end of the four

hundred and thirty years, even thé self same day it

came to pass, that all thé hosts of thé Lord went out

from the land of Egypt."42. It is a night to be much obscrved unto the

Lord for bringing them out of t hé laad of Kgypt;

that is that night of the Lord to be observed of allthe children of Israel, in their générations."

5 And it came to pass, the self same day, that

the Lord did bring the c hildren of Israel out of the

land of Egypt by their armies." Aiso Z<put~cM~,

c~. 53, v. 5. In thé fourteenth day of the first

month at even, is thé Lord's passover." A~M~

~a~. 2~, tG. Four hundred and tlui'ty year:)

being expired of their dwelling in Egypt, cven in

thé self ame day thcy departed thcncc."

With regard to cvil days and times, AstrologcMrefer to ~MMs. c/ 5, v. 13. thercforc, thé pra-




dent shall kecp silence in that time, for i t is an evil

time," and cA~. 6, v. 3, Ye that put far away thc

evil day, and cause thé seat of violence to corne near;"

a~o 7~~t 37, t\ to, Thcy shaU not be a~hamed in

thé evil time and in thé days of famine, they sha!!

he satisned and /crcw~, c~tp. 46. v. 21, AIso

hcr hired men are in thé 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 thé time of

their visitation." And to Job cursing thé day of his

birth, from thé first to the cleventh verse. In connrtna-

tion ofwhich may a~sobe quoted a calendar, extracted

out of several ancient Roman Catholic prayer books,

written on veHum, before printing was invented, in

which werc insertcd thc unfortunate daya of each

month, which it would bc supernuous to cite hère.*

Roman History sufficiently proves that thé nature

of lucky and unlucky days owes its origin to Paganism:

whcrc it i s mentioned, that that very day four years,thé civil wars were begnn by Pompey, thé father

('œsar tnade an e nd of them with his son, Cneius

Pompeius being 8~ain and that thé Romans counted

thc !3th of Fcbruary an unlucky day, because, on

that day they were ovcrthrown by the Gauls at Alba

and thc Fabii attacking the city of the Recii, were uU

s!ain, with thé exception of one man; alsofrom thé

ctdcndar of Ovid's F;~torutn," ~r~ crat MPMSïR

Gr<t'c~ oM~tM~t~: nnd from !ïoracc, Buok 2n(!.

Ode 13, curi?in~ thc trcc that had ncurly faï~en upon it;

Ï~ ~6.s' f~.

St'c !)cn!o'to!og):), hy J. S. F. p. 40.



ELUCÏDATtOXS 0F THE MAKVHLLOUS. 300

Thé Pagans believed there were particular montha

and days which carried something fatal in them

thuse, for instance, upon which thé state pcrhaps had

loat a great battle and under tins impression, they

never undertook any enterprise on thèse days and

months. Thé twenty-fourth of February in the Bi-

sextilc years was considered so unlucky. that Valen-

tinian (~MWtaM, Marcell. ~&. 26. ca~. 1.) bcingelected Emperor upon durst not appear in public

under the apprehension of suffering thé fatality of

the day. Many other particular days might be quot-ed upon which generals of armies have constantly

been favoured with fortune. Timoleon (Co~. A~o~)won aU his famous battles on his birthday. Soliman

(DMfpr~c)'. Hist. des T~rc~ won the battic of Mohac,

and took thé fortress of Belgrade, and, according to

some historians, thé Isle of Rhodes, and thé town of

Buda on the 26th of August. But we find, inlikc

manner, thé same day lucky and unlucky to the same

people. Ventidius, at thé head of thé Roman army,routcd thé Parthians, and 8~ew their young kingPacorus who commandcd them, on thé same day that

Crassus, another Roman gênerai, had been slain, and

his whoïc army eut in pieces by thé same people.LucuUus having attacked Tigranes, king of Armenia,

notwithstanding thé vain scruples of his officcrs, who

desired him to heware fighting on that dny, which

was noted in thé Roman calendar as an unlucky one,

ever since the fatal overthrow of the Romans by thé

Cimbri but he, (Lucullus) despising thé superstition,

gained one of the most mémorable battles recorded

in Roman history, and changed thé destiny of thé




daVt as he promised thosc who would have dissuaded

him from thé enterprise. And Valentinian's unlucky

day was that on which Charles V, another Roman

Empcror, promised himself thé best good fortune.

Friday is dcemed an unlucky day for engaging in any

particular busineas, and there are few, if any, captainsof ships who would sail from any port, on this day of

the week for their destination.

The fishermen who dwell on the coaats of the Baltic

never use their nets between All-saints and St Mar-

tin's they would then he certain of not taking anynsh through thé whole year they never r~h on St

BÏaise's day. On Ash Wednesday thé women neither

sew nor knit, for fear of bringing misfortune upon

their cattle. They contrive so as not to use fire on

St. Laurence's day; hy taking this précaution they

think themselves secure agninst fire for the rest of thé

year.This prejudice of lucky and unlucky days has ex.

isted at aU times and in aH nations but if know!edge

and civilization have not removed it, they have atleast diminished its influence. In Livonia, however,

thc people are more than ever addicted to the most

superstitious idem; on this gubject. In a Riga journal

(~~Mc~p .S~Mn~r, No. 3657, anno 1822, ed!ted

hy M. Sonta~) thcre are severat passades re!ative to

a letter from heaven, and which isno othcr than a ca-

talogue of h~cky and unlucky days. This letter is in

générât circulation every body carries it about him,

and though strictly forbidden by the police, the co-

pies are multiplied M profugely as to increase the evil

all attcmpts to destroy which have hitherto failed.



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVELLOUS. 311 1

Amongthe country people this idea is equivalent to thé

doctrine of fatality and if they commit faults or

even crimes, on the days which arc marked as un-

lucky, they do not consider themselves as guilty, be*

cause they were predestined.The night of certain birds, or thé meeting of certain

animais on their first going out in the morning, are

with them good or bad omens. They do not hunt onSt. jMark's, or St. Catherine's day, on penalty of

being unsuccessful all thé rest of the year. It is a

good sign to sneeze on Christmas day. Most of

them are so prepossessed against Friday, that theynever settle any important business, or conclude a

bargain on that day in some places they do not even

dress their children. They do not like vis its on

Thursdays, for it is a sign they shall have trouble-

some guests the whole week.

In some districts of Esthonia, up the Baltic, when

the shepherd brings his nocks back from thé pasture, in

spring for the 6rst time, he is sprinkled with water from

head to foot under the persuasion that this makes the

cattle thrive. The malignity of beasts of prey is be-

lieved t o be prevented by dcsignating them not bytheir proper names, but by some of their attributes.

For instance, they cal! the fox' Aa~M~ (grey coat)the bear, layjatyk (broad-foot), etc. etc. They also

fancy that they can oblige thé wolf to take another

direction by strewing salt in his way. The howlingof wolves, cspeciaUy at day-break, is considered a

very bad omen, predicting famine or disease. In

more ancient times, it was imagined that these ani-



3t2 THAUMATURGÏA, 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, they eau oblige him to

quit his prcy, by dropping a piece of money, their

pipe, hat, or anv other article they hâve about

them at the time. They do not permit the hare

to be often mentioncd, for fear of drawing it into

their corn-fields. To make hene lay eg~s, they beat

them with an old broom. In families where the

wife is the eMest child of her parents, it has been

observed that they always seU t~~e first calves, being

convinced, that, if kept, they would not thrive. To

apeak of insects or mischievous animais at meal-times,

is a sure way to make them more voracious.

If a tire breaks out, they think to stop its fury

by throwing a black hen into the flames. This

idea, of an expiatory sacrifice, offered to a mâle.

volent and tute~ary power, is a remnant of paganism.Various other traces of it a re found among the

Esthonians for instance, at the beginning of their

meals, they purposely let fall a piece of new bread,or some drops of liquor from a bottle as an offer-

ing' to thé divinity.It is very offensive to the peasants, for any one

to look into their wc~s they think i t will cause thé

wells to dry up.When manna is carried into thé fields, that wh ich

faHs from thé cart is not gat~~ered up, lest mis.

chicvous insects and blights corne upon the corn.

When an old housc is quitted for a new one

they arc attentive in noting thé first animal that

dies. If it be an animal with hairy fect, the sign



ELU CI DA TI OK 8 0 ~ TH E MA RV ËLLO US . 3!3

ï8 good but if with nakcd feet, some fbwt. for

instance, there will be mouming in thé house it i s

a sign of misery a nd bad success in all theh' under-

takings. These, with a scrupulous adhérence to luckyand unlucky days, are the prevailing popular super-stitions in thé three duchies a great number of

which, especially among the Esthonians, are conneeted

with their ancient mythology.In reading that pleasant volume, by the late Sir

Humphrey Davy, entitled Salmonia, i t is impossiblenot to be struck with his remark respecting omens,

which is here briefly noticed, with an account of

others, w hich it is imagined have not yet found their

way far into print, in order to account for such

seeming absurdities.

The search after food,* as we agreed on a

former occasion, is the principal cause why animais

change their places. Thé différent tribes of wading birds always migrate when rain is about to takc

place

and 1 remember once in

Italy, having

been

long waiting, in thé end of March, for thé arrivai

of double snipe, in thé campagna of Rome a great

n!ght appeared on thé third of April, and thé day

after, heavy rain set in, which greatly interfered

with my sport. Thé vulture, upon thé same prin-

ciple, follows armies and 1 have no doubt that the

augurv of the ancients was a~good deal founded

upon' the observation of tlie instinct of birds. Therc

are many superstitions of thé vulgar owing to the

same source. For anglers, in spring, it is always

Sec Magazine of Nntnrat His~ory, Apri!, 1830.



3t4 THAUMATURGIE, OR

uniuckly to see single magpies but two may always be regarded as a favourable omen and the reason

is, tlmt in cold and stormy weather, one magpieabne Ieaves the nest in searcli of food, the other

remaining sitting upon the eggs of thé young ones

but, when two go out togethcr, i~ is only when

thé weather is mild and warm, and favouraMc for

~s!ung.

This reasoning will, in general, be found correct,and may be applied tu solve many of thé supersti-tions in thé country; but thé case of thé magpieis entitled to a l it tle more consideration. The pian-

net, as we caH her in the North of England, is

thé most unlucky of all birds, to see singly at any

time this, nowever, does not often happen, cxcepta short t ime during incubation they cither appear in pairs or in families but even this last appear-ance is as atarming to our grandmothers. The fol-

lowing distich shows what each forbodes One

sorrow, two mirth, threc a wcdding, four death.'

This bird, indced, appears to have takcn thé same

place with us, as an omen of evil, that the owl

had amongst the ancients . The nurse is often heard

to déclare that she has lost aU hopes of her chargewhen she bas ohscrved a piannct on thé housc-top.

Another préjudice, indulged even by our good

wives, is that of dcstroying thé fcatlicrs of thé pigeoninstcad of saving thctn tu stuff beds, etc. They say,tliat if they werc to do so, it would only prolongthé sunerings of thc dcath-bed aud when these

are more thaa usually sévère, it is attributed to

this cause, and tlic reason given because thé bird



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELÏ.OUS. 3!5

bas no ~aU/ is tj& thcm quite conclusive, but to nie,

perfectly irrc!evant and unsatisfactory. A belief

amongst boyg, t hat to hnrm or d!stut'b the nests

of the rcdbreast or swallow is unlucky, appears very

général throughout thé kingdom and thé keen bird-

nester, who pridcs himself on the quantity of eggs blown and strung bead-fashion, hère often gets mor-

tified by finding lus trophies destroved hy thé housc-wife who considers their presence as anecttng thé

gafety of her crokery ware. This belief may have

been encouraged, if n ot invented, for a humane

purpose but how are we to account for thé efficacyof the Irish stone in curing swellings caused byvenonaous reptiles, bv merely being rubhed upon thé

part aChcted ? Thé fullest faith in thé practice ap-

pears to have prevailed in the country at no distant

period, and is yet far from extinct. The swallow and

the cuckoo are generally hailed as harbingers of springand summer, but, perhaps, many of our readers

are not aware that i t is

only lucky to licar the

cuckoo,for the first time in thé scason, upon soft groundin contradistinction to hnrd roads, and with moneyin thé pocket, wh!ch thé youngstcr is f~agely advised

to be sure then to tum over. Perhaps thé season

of thé year may satisfactorily explain all these oh.

servances. Several superstitious customs are men.

tioncd rcgarding bées, some of which arc not

practised in thé north yet it ia fuHy believed that

thé death of thé stock of h ives too often foretells

tîte nittin~ o f the bce-master. Wet cold years,

unfavouraMe to t hé insccts, ure a!so equally so

to the farmer upon thin clays, which border the



3!6 THAUMATUKGtA, OR

moors, where bées are mostly ~t. Has the use

of thé monntain ash, rowan tree* [Pyrus aucuparia,

G'<rWM<?~] as a charm against witcheraft, ever beeu

accountcd for ?r The Mief in its emcacy must be

very o!d i f we are to credit some of Shakspeare's

commenti~tors, who givc this word as the true readingin Macbeth, instead of Aroint thee, witch

It often happons that the careless observer bas,

for thé first time, his attention called forcibly tosome appcarance of nature by accidentai circum-

stmces if at all superstitious, he immediately pro-

gnosticates thé most disastrous conséquences from

that which a little observation would have convinced

him was but a phenomenon a little more conspicuousthan usuaL Thé northern lights are said to have

caused much consternation when first observed and

they hâve Ïately been viewed with more than or-

dinary interest, as it appears f rom thé Newcastle

C~ro~c/p, thé last autumn (1830), when they were

more than usually brilliant, some of thé inhabitants

of Weardule

were convincedthey saw,

on one occa-

sion, very distinct!y, thé figure of a man on a

white horse, with a red sword in his hand, move

across the heavens and arc, no doubt, now certain

that i t foi-etold thé present eventfnl times. Even

this belief may be accounted for on such accidentât

coincidenccp, or even phtïosophically, t by assumingas a fact that this phenomenon is the result of a n

electrical change in thc atmosphère, and that such

a change tistially précèdes rain. Now, if such hap-

pen in spring o r in summer, and before such a

quantity of min as is f ound to affect the harvest,



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVhLLCUS. 3!~

it may too often betokcn ~carcity, discontcnt, and

turbulence, as such arc thé times when aU griev.

ances, e ither real or imaginary, are brought for-

ward for redress. The origin of the superstitionof sailors, of nailing a liorse-slioc to thé mast,

is to me unaccountuble, unïess i t may have bcen,

like thé following t rial of thé credulity of the

superstitious by some person for amusement :–Sai-lurs sometimes make a considérable pecuniary sa-

crifice for thé acquisition of a chitd's eaul, thé

retaining of which is to infaUibIy preserve them from

drowning.Some years aga, a pretty widc district wasalarmed

by an account of thé beans [Faba vulg~ris var.

equina] being laid the wrong way in the pod that

year, which most ccrtainly foreboded something ter-

rible to happen m a short thne, and this producedmuch consternation amongst those who allow their

imaginations to run r iot. The whote of thé terrible

omen was this the eye of thé beau was in thé

pod towards the apex, instcad of being towards

the footstalk, as might appear at first sight t o be

its natural position and some were scarcely con.

vinced that this was thé natural position of thé

beans in the pod evcr since the creation, even

on being shown thé pod o f thé prcccding year with thé secd in thé samc position.

·

As yct, however, 1 fear we must sum up in thc

words of Davy

7~ But how canyo~cxphun

such nbsurditics

as Friday being an unlucky day, and t!ic tcrror of

~plUing salt, or meeting an old wo~na~l p



ELUCIDATÏONS OP THU MARVELLOUS. 319

was four t imes fortunate to Charles the fifth. That

Wednesday was a fortunate day to Pope Sixtus thé

fifth for on a Wednesday he was bom, on that day

made a monk, on the same day made a generalof his ordcr, on that day created a Cardinal, on

that day elected Pope, and aïso on that day in-

augurated. That Thursday was a fatal day to Henry

the eighth, King of England, and his posterity,for he died on a thursday King Edward the

sixth on a Thursday Queen Mary on a Thursday

and Queen Ehzabeth on a Thursday.The French have observed that the fcast of Pen-

tecoste had becn lucky to Henry III, King of France

for on that day he was born, on that day elected

King of Potand, and on that day he succeeded his

brother Charles IX, on the throne of France.

There are critical days observed by physicians,in continued fevers, a doctrine which has been con-

firmed by the united testimony of De Haen and

Cullen and these are the 3rd. 5th. 7th. 9th. 1 ith.i4th. !7th. and 20th. By critical days are meant,

any of thé above days, on which the fever abatcs

or terminates favourably, or on which it is ex-

acerbated or terminates fatally. Natural astrology is confined to thé study of

exploring natural effects, in w hich sense it is ad-

mitted to be a part of natural philosophy. It

was -under this view that Mr. Goad, Mr. Boyle,and Dr. Mead, pleaded for its use. The nrst en-

deavours to account for thé diversity of seasons from

thé situations, habitudes and motions of thé planetsand to explain an infinity of phenomena by the



320 THAUMATURCÏA, OR

contemplation of thé stars. Thé Honourablc Mr.

Boyïe admitted, that aiï physical bodies are in-

nuenccd by thé heaventy bodies and Doctor Mead's

opinion, in his trentoe concertung the power of the

sun and moon, etc. is in favour of the doctrine.

But thèse predictions and influences are ridiculed

and cntirely exploded by thé most csteemed modern

phUosophers, of which the rcader may have a learned

specimen in Roimu!t'a, Tractât. Physic, part H*c. 27.

Thédiseases of men, women, and children were

supposed nt times to be more immediately caused

by the influence of thé seven ptanets. In order

to comprehend this exploded doctrine, we shall hère

set down thé prctended governing and days, at what

time they are supposed to hâve thé most ia~uence

0 Sol, or thé snn governs on Sunday.

D Luna, or the moon, Monday.

Murs, Tuesday.

Mercnry, Wednegday.Jupiter, Thursday.

Venus, Friday.

Saturn, Saturday.

Saturn reigning, is said to cause cold diseases, as

thé ~out, kpro?y, pa!sy, quartan agucs, dropsics,

catarrhs, cohis, riteumatisms, etc.

Jupiter causes cramps, numbnc~s, in~ammations of

thé liver, hcad-ac!)cs, pains in thé shou!ders, Hatu-

ïency, inHatnmntot'y fevers, a nd aU digère 'icaueed

by putréfaction, opop!exy, and quinaies.



ELUCIDATIONS 0F T HE MARVELLOU8. 321

Y

Mars, acute fevers and tartan agues, continuai and

intermitting fevers, imposthumes, erisepelas, car-

buncles~ fistulas, dysentery, and similar hot and

dry diseases.

Soî causes rheums in the eyes, coldness in the

stomach and liver, syncope, catarrhs, pustular erup-

tions, hysterics, eruptions on the lower extremi-

ties.Venus causes sores, ïlentery, hystcria, sickness at

the stomach, from cold and moist causes, disorders

of thé liver and lungs.

Mercury causes hoarseness and distempers in thc

sensés, impediments in thé speech, falling sickness,

coughs, jaundice, vomiting, catarrhs.

The moon causes palsy, cholic, dropsy, imposthumes,

dysenteries, and all diseases arising from obstructed

circulation.

The means laid down for the prevention of thèse

diseases are rational enough, at Icast some of tbem,

such as tempérance, moderate bleeding (whcther or not indicated we are not told,) thé use of taxatives at

seasonable times, w hen a friendly planet, opposite to

the marnant planet you were born under, bas

dominion, by which the effèct of i ts innuencc will be

much abated, and a power given to nature to opposeits malevolency, which, if well heeded, may bc

a main prevention of dungerous diseases." Thus

every planet in the heavens carries with it a discased

aspect, without, as i t would appear, possossing any

repelling or sanative powers to c orrect or ward off

thc sicMy influence it is supposed to entertain ovcr

the life aud limbs of frail mortals thut, in the sense



322 THAUMATURGïA, OR

of this absurd doctrine, or rather jargon, when Ju..

piter has dominion, i t will be necessary to bleed and

take calomel to guard against (not to attack it when

it has taken p~ce) innammation of the liver and

when Mars presides, to send immediately for Van

Butchel to frighten away an imaginary nstu!a–ab«

surd and ridieulous nonsense, too prevalent even at

the present day for what can bleeding and phy-sicking at thé spring and fall of thé year be called

but operations without reason, under suppositionsstellar influence. Observe also to gather all yoar

physic herbs in the hour of the fr iendly planet,that temporises with what you wcre born under, and

in so doing they will have more strength, power, and

virtue to operate in the medicines but neitherphysicnor bleed on the third of January, the last of April,the first of July, the first of August, and the last

and second day of October for those astrologers,with whom physicians jom, conclude it perilous, byreason of the bad influence then reigning and if it

change not the distemper into another worse, it will

augment it, and put the party in great danger of

death, if Ac or NAc in ~~CMc bc not lucky. to escape."I t wotdd be a waste of words to offer a single com-

ment on such egregious stu~P–"do not bleed on

the third of January," nor on such and such a day,

(as if there could be stated times for bleeding

beyond those which are indicated by thé presence

of di8case, and requiring such evacuation,) is a

practice we believe peculiar only to astrologers,and those who belicve in sucli dcmonological cant.

1t is no less, liowever, a singular fact that men



EL UC IDA TI ON S O P T HB MA RV ELLO US . 323

y 2

distinguished in every other respect for their learn.

ing, should most particularly have indulged in the

superstition of judicial astrology. At thé presenttime a belief in such subjects can only exist with

those who may be said to ~ave no beliefat all for

mere traditional sentiments can hardly be said to

amount to a belief.

It was astronomy that gave r ise to judicial as-

trology, which, o~ring an ample field to enthu-

siasm and imposture, was eagerly pursued by many

who had no scientific purpose in view. It was con-

nected with various juggling tricks and deceptions,affected an obscure jargou of language, and insinu-

ated itself into every thing in which the hopes and

fears of mankind were concerned. Thé professors of

this pretended science were at 6rst generally personsof mean éducation, in whom low cunning suppliedthe place of knowledge. Most of them cngaged in

the empirical practice of physic, and some through

the credulity of the times, even arrived at a degreeof eminence in it yet although the whole foundation

of their art was ibUy and deceit, they nevertheless

gained many proselytes and dupes, both among thé

well-infbrmed and the ignorant.About thé middie of the seventeenth century, the

passion for horoscopes and expounding the stars pré.vailed in France among people of the first rank.

Thé new-born chiîd was usually presented nakcd to

the star-exponnder, who read the first Hneamcnts on

its forehead, and tl ie transverse Unes in its hands,

and thence wrote down its future destiny. It lias been

reported of several persons famous for their astrologi-




cal skill, that they have suffered a voluntary death

merely to verify their own predictions. It is curious

to observe thé shifts to which these wise MeM were

frequently put when thcir prédictions were not veri-

fied. Great winds aC one time were predicted by a

famous adept in the art, but no unusual storms hav.

ing happened, to s ave the reputation of the art,

the prediction was applied nguratively to some revo'

lutions in thé state, of which thcre were instancesenough at that time.

The life of the famous Lilly thé astrologer, and

the Sidrophel of Butler, written by himself, is a

curious work, containing much artless narrative, but

at the same time, so much palpable imposture, that i t

is difficult to know when hc is speaking what he

really believes to be the truth. In a sketch of the

state of astrology in his day, the adepts whose cha-

racters he has drawn were the lowest miscreants of

thé town. They al!, indeed, speak of each other as

rogues and impostors among whom were Booker,

(~eorge Wharton, and

Gadbury, who

gained a liveli-

hood by practising on the credulity of e ven men of

learning so late as t650 to the !8th century. în Ash-

mole's l ife an account of thege artful impostors may bc read. Most of them had taken the air in the

pi!!ory, and others had conjured themselves up to the

gallows.To thé astrobgers of the 17th century, the quacks and

impostors of thé beginning of the 9th are onïy cqual.

Quackery and astrology, the latter of which often served

as a mask to thé former, appear to have bcen at one

time a kind of Castor and PoUux quackery, how-




ever, it would seem bas outlived astrology, for there

are more who would swallow the nostrum of the

quack than the flatulent bolus of the fortune-tellers.

Both still have their votaries, One Grigg, a poul-terer in Surrey, was set in thé piUory at Croyden,

(Temp. Edw. IV,) and again in thé Borough, for

cheating people out of their money by pretending tocure them with charma, by simply looking at thé

patients, or by practices sti ll more absurd and ques-tionablc. Of such doctors there is no lack. This

kind of pmctice offers one of the finest fields for

déception of any species of empirical delusion held

out to the public at thé present day. Such indeed is

thé infatuation and credulity of thé ignorant that,we are confidently assured, a notorious German

quack had within one year 80 many half-guinea

applications that be netted ~2000 and that the

glass bottles in which the precious nostrums were con.

veyed from the sanctum sanctorum of the mendacious

empiric in high Germany, who made his début in

this country by hawking about Dutch drops, amounted

to as many two-pences. To those of either sex, who

are weak-minded enough to trust their l ives to the

rash artifices of an ignorant pretender who affects to

discover an occult quality in thé constitution of thé

patient denoting thé existence of some internai com.

plaint beyond that which less cquivocal symptoms

sufficiently present to the eye ~nd knowledge of thé

regular practitioncr–we ca~ only say that wc con-

çoive them to be justly punished in the loas of their

money, and tbe consequent ruin of their health.

In Stow's Chronicle we find that one of thèse said




gentlemen was set on horseback, his face towards

the tail, which he held in his hand in the manner of a

bridie, while with a collar significative of his

offence, dangling about his neck, he made a publieentrée into the city of London, conducted by Jack

Ketch, who afterwards did himself the honour of

scourging and branding the impostor, previous to

banishment, which completed his sentence. In the

reign of James I, a terrible sweep was made amongthe quacks and advertising gentry. The councH

dispatched a warrant to the magistrates of the city of

London, to take up all reputed quacks, and bringthem before the censors of t he collège, to examine

how properly qualified they were to be trusted, either

with the Umbs or l ives of his majesty's lieges. This

ïs all that is required at the present day. Let the

legielature controul this department instead of the

college of physicians, who, as a body, can boast of

as large an allowance of licenscd ignorance as any

corporate set of men in existence. We say nothing

of surgery, for this branch of knowledge leaves theworld generally something to look at, hence so few

pretenders to it but physic buries ail ils blemishes

with the unfortunate victim.

The country, even in this age of progressing wis.

dom, is deluged with quack medicines, which credu-

loua people say are not directed against the constitu-

tion, but only agaiost thé pocket, and that they are too

insipid to do either good or harm but were this the

case, there would hâve been no occasion for the exem.

plary punishments with which it is recorded quacksof all sorta have at various t imes been visited.



E LUC ID ATI ON S 0F T HB MA RV ELL OU S. 327

Pe it known, there can be no such thing Invented

by tnan as an universal remedy to prevent or cure

nll kinds of diseases becauee that which would

agree with one constitution would disagree with

another differently organised and a quack nos-

trum, such as we see daily advettised, may cer-

tainly agree at one stage of a disease, but might

go far in killing the patient at another. Besides,all these boasted specinca have been found to be

either inert, ineffectual, or dungerous, and every

pretender to them, in times less enlightened by the

general march of intellect, has been convicted either

of gross ignorance or dishonesty. No one can vouch

with certainty for any particular kind of medicine,-

that it will agree with this or that individual, until

acquainted with his peculiar constitution con.

sequently it is the heighth of absurdity to pré.scribe physic for a man without a knowledge of

such circumstances to direct him. Amuleta, talis-

mans, charms, and

incantations, are innocent

andinnoxious, and may impose only on crcdulity with-

out any other untoward consequence, leaving the

patient in the same state in which he was found

but so much cannot be said for quacks and quack-medicines which frequently remove their deluded

victims far beyond the reach of either physic or

philosophy.Butler is said to be the author of the following

character of a quack and who c an read it without

being astonished at the prophetie intelligence with

which it abounds, and which, unfortunately, ad-

mits of a too close anulogy w ith some very




récent and untoward events, in the annals of

modern empiricism, He is a medicine-monger,

probatioaer of receipts, and Doctor Epidémie he

is perpetuallv putting his medic!nes upon their trial,

and very often finds them cuiMY op MANSLAUOHMB,

but still they have some trick or other to corne off,

and avoid buming by the hand of the hangman. He

prints his trials of skill, and challenges dcath at

so many several wcapons that, though he is sureto be foMed by every one, hc cares not for,

can 6~ get maney, ~c sure <o yet o~ for

it is but posting~ up diseases for poltroona in all the

public places of the town, and daring them to meet

him again, and his credit stands as fair with the

rabble, as c ver it did. He makes nothing

~< will undertake to cure

them and tic one hand behind him, with so much ease

and freedom, that his patients may surfeit and

get d runk as o ften as they please, and follow their

business without any inconvenience to their heaith

or occasions

and recover witb so muchsecrecy,that they shall never know how it comes about.

He professes no cure no pay," as well he may.for if nature does thé work, hp is paid for it

if not, he neithcr wins nor loses and like a

cunning rook lays his bets so arifu~y, that. Jet

thé chance be what it will, he either wins or

saves. He cheats thé rich for their money,and the poor for charity, and, if either succeed,

both are pÏeased, and he passes for a very justand conscientious man for as those that pay nothing

ought at least to speak well of their entertainments,



E MCI DA TI ON8 0F TH E MA RV SLLO U8 . 329

their testimony makes way for those who are a ble

to pay for both. He finds lie bas no reputation

among those that know him, and fears he is never

like to have, and, thet'efore, posts up his bills, to

see if he can thrive botter amongst those who

know nothing of him. He keeps his post con-

tinually, and will undertake to maintain it agaiust

aU the plagues of Egypt. He sets up his tradeupon a pillar, or the corner of a street–Thèse

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.

Although some of the firs t chemists were men of

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 and medical arts, as any other men

ever were in religion. They not only pretended to

transmute some of the baser metals into gold, con-

trary to the nature of things-and if they could

hâve succeeded in that impossible work, it would

bave rendered gold as plentiful, cheap, and less

valuable than iron, because it is less fit for

instrumenta and mechanical uses but theyalso pretended iufallibly to cure ail diseases,

by some of their new invented chemical ma.

chines –a thing equally as impossible as thé other,

and shewcd their ignorance of thé causes and na-




turc of diseasea. As those who a re the most

ignorant are generally thé greatest boasters, we

find tbat none o f t hem were more so, than that.

vain, boasting, paradoxical enthusiast ParaceÏBUs,

who had acquired great riches by curing a cer-

tain diseuse with a mercurial ointment, the know-

ledge of which secret he is s aid to have atoîen

from Jacobus Berengarius, of Caipo, in his travels

thither. He was w ithal so illiterate, t hat he said

phiïosophy could be taught in n o language but high

Dutch but the true reason was, that he neither

understobd pliilosophy nor any other language. He

also boasted that he w as in possession of a nostrum

which would prolong man's life to thé age of Me-

thusaleh, though he died himself at the age of forty-seven. He lived in the fifteenth century. The cures

he wrought were deenoed so surprising in that age,that he was supposed to have recourse to super"natural aid. In a picture of him a t Lumley Castïe,

he is represented in a close black gown, with both

hands on a great sword, on whose hilt is inscribed

the word Azot. This was the name of his j~K~M~

epirit, that he kept imprisoned in the pummel, to

consult on émergent occasions. The circumstance

is thus alluded to by Butler

Bombastps kept thc Devil's Bird

Shut in thp pumme! of bis swordAnd taught hhn a!! thc cunning pfanka,Of past and future mountebnnks.

Paracelsus was succeeded by bis schoïar van Hel-

mont, who had much more learning, but was as



n!<UC!DATÏ ONS OP T HE MARVELLOU8. 331

great an enthusiast, both in the chemical and médical

arts as his master, and embraced most of his para-doxical opinions and, having more technical term",

he frequcntly used them rather to dazzle and con-

found the understandings of his readers, than to

inform their judgments. By thus giving his writings

a mystical air of wisdom, he rendered them obscure,

and sometimes unintenigible conséquente, more

easily imposed them upon the public and vulgar,as sublime and useful truths. He also vainly boasted

that he could cure any fever in four days' time,

by sweating the patient w ith one draught of h is

iamous nostrum, the jP~CMpt~MN Diaphoreticus ~o'

racelsi and further adds, that no man can de-

serve thé name of a physician, who cannot cure anyfever in four days' time." He, however, admita,

that he sometimes added a li ttle theriaca (treacle)

and wine to it which last, he says, is not onlya great cordial, but as a vehicle, is a proper mes-

senger to be sent on such an errand, as it knows

the rbad, i s w ell received wherever it goes, and

readily admitted into the most private apartmentsof the human body." Hence we believe that wine

is not only a good natured, but an intelligent being

though it sometimes deprives men of their senses

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.Van Helmont, like his great master, also boasted,

that he could cure all inûammatory and other fevers,

and e ven a pleurisy, without either blecding, vomit-

ing, purging, clysters, or blisters and he quarrelled



332 THAUMATURCtA, OR

so much with the two !aat, that he calls cïysters a

beastly remedy," and eaya that blisters were invented

by a wic~ed spirit, whom he caHs Moloz, thoughBeeï~cbub might hâve been as good a name, since

Dr. Baynard wittily observed, that he believed he

was only a great cantharid. And both He!mont and

thé Doctor wereso far right, that blistering was then,

as well as now, much abused and in truth they are

much oftener applied than is either necessary or useM.

Thus thèse two eminent chemists, and toc many of

their followers, frequently imposed their writings

upon thé unguarded reader, and themselves upon the

vulgar, for men of profound knowledge in the medi-

cal art, and as great adepts in chemistry and being

puned up with the high opinion entertained of their

ncw art, o r new medicines, and their own great

wisdom, they rejected thé philosophicat theory of

medicine by Galen and Avicenna, then so much in

vogue. They were right in doing this and mighthave done

great service to mankind, if

they had

not set up their own imaginary chemical theory in

its place, which was neither founded upon observa-

tions', nature, nor reason, and had no existence but

in their own vain imaginations. Thus they supposeda malignity which caused all diseases, as well in-

nammatory as other fêlera, aad which was to bc

fbrced out of thé body by sweating, with their hot

therapeutics they, thercfbrc, attacked all fevers

with this chemical ammunition, and attempted to

carry them with fire and storm, prescribing ttie

pra~cipitatus diaphoreticus and sweatipg regimen,



ELUCIDATIONS 0F THE MARVELI.OU8. 333

which must have been fatal to many, and no doubt

would have been so to many more, if van Helmont

had not allowed his patients to dilute the medicine

with a thin diet, which rendered the calorific méthod

Jess fatal. But, as the learned Dr. Friend judiciously

remarks, if any did escape after that hot regimen, it

was through a fiery trial.

Thus the chemists, without any rational theory, or regard to nature, and what she indicated or did

without duly considering how the morbid matter, which

caused the disease, was to be concocted and fit ted

to be carned off by some critical evacuation or

how to assist nature to bring that crisis on, accord-

ing to the Hippocratic method ;–witliout consideringthé benef it of the rational, cooling, antiphlogistic

practice of thé Arabians-they introduced their

sudorific regimen instead and this regimen was soon

after brought into use in England, and most other coun-

tries, where i t contlnued to be thé practice for many

years afterwards, as

may be seen

by thé authors of

those timcs, until the judicious a nd honest Dr. Sy-denham wisely rejccted and exploded it, introducingthe rational method of Hippocrates and the cooling

regimen of tlic Arabiana, which he secms rather to

hâve taken ex ~M re et ratione from nature and rea-

son, than from thé works of the Arabian physicians,with which he appears not to have been acquainted,as he- never mentions them.

Van Helmont had several other famous nostrums,

with which he pretcnded to perform wonders, as

quacks have donc in ail ages, and as some do now



334 THAUMATUROIA, OB

for cmpiricism was never more in fashion tban at the

present day, aud the chemical art bas supplied them

with many more arcana and nostrums than the an-

cients had in ail thcir antidotes and theriacas,

etc. since chemistry was made subservient to

medicine. Van Helmont, neverthelesa was a learned

Tnan, and acquired a grcat name and reputation, at

least for some time but, as ncither his theory nor

his practice were founded on nature and reason, nor confbrmable to them, the more judicious physicianssoon saw their errors, as well as the fullacy of his

new invented chemical terms and unmeaning phrases,which only coatained the shadow and not thé substance

of the médical science therefore both his chemical

theory and hot regimen, togethcr with bis writings,sunk soon after his death, into a state of merited

oblivion.

Notwithstanding that the science of chemistrywas greatly improved by thèse extraordinary men,

who invented or discovcred many useful remédies,

which they introduced into thé practice of mcdiciuein a no less extraordinary manner, and there-

hy pointed out the way fur othcrs to follow theni

yet wc must aUow that thé more able and learned

cbemists have greatly enriched and improved the

materia medica since, by making many curious

expc;riments, and thereby discovenng several new

and ven' efficacious mcdicincs, not only from tbe

semi.mcta~s, mercury and antimony, und the various

chemical préparations from them, but from tbe more

permet metals, and sonie other minerul bodies, as



EL UC 1D ATI ON8 O P TH E MAR VE LLO US . 335

well as from a great variety of remédies which are pre-

pared both from vegetable and animal substances, as

salts, oiis, essences, spirits, tinctures, elixirs, extracts

and many more needless hère to be mentioned, but

all of which are known to physicians. For aU

these we are indebted to the chemists who

ftret invented and introduced them into practice

although thé use and application, as well as themethods of administering them to the sick, to cure

various other diseases tha!i those they were first used

for, has been greatly improved by several learned

and ingenious physicians.




CHAPTER XXI.

MODERN BMPïBïCISM.

ÎN one respect we have but very little occasion to

extol our own enlightened age at the expence of those

ages which are so frequently and justly termed dark.

We allude to thé bold and a rtful designs of impos-

ture, and particulary medical !~po~Krp. Daily areseen illiterate and audacious empirics sporting witil

the lives of a cred~ous puMic, that seem obstinateiyresolved to shut their ears against all tlie suggestionsof reason and

experience. The host of

empirics,înountebanks, and self'dubbed hygeists, which in-

fest the metropolis, and the tinctures, cordh~s, pills,

balms, and essences, so much extolled by thcir re-

tnilers, and swallowed by the public, arc indeed so

many proofs of the credulity of the nge, that to 8uythé Jeast, the march of intellect bas evidently made a

~K~~ in tlis direction.

Thé celestial beds, thé enchanting magnetic powers

introduced into this country by Mcssmer, a Gcrman

quack, and his numerous disciple?, the prevailing in-

di~erence to aU dietetic précepte, thé singular im.



ELUCIDATIONS OF THN MARVBMOPS. 337

z

position practised on many ~emales, in persuadingthem to wear the iuert acromatic belts, the strangeinfatuation of the opulent in paying nve guineas for

a pair of metallic tractors, not worth sixpence, the

tables for blood-letting, and other absurdities still

inserted in popular almanacs, (against all the ruies of

common seuse)–ail these yield in nothing to the ab-

surdities and superstitious notions conveyed throughthe medium of astrology, dreama, and other ludicrous

though by far more imposing and interesting chan-

nels. Thé temple of the gulls is now thronged with

votaries as much as that of superstition formerly was

human reason is stil l a slave to t hé most tyran-nical préjudices and certainly, there is no ready

way to excite general attention and admiration,

than to deal in the mysterious and the marvellous.

The visionary system of Jacob Bôhman has lutterly been revived in some parts of Germany. The ghostsand apparitions which had disappeared from the times

of Thonmaius and Swedenborg, have again left

their graves, to thé great terror of ianaticism. New propheta announce their divine mission, and, what is

worse, find implicit believers The inventors of accr~

medicine's are rewarded by patents, and obtain no

small celebrity while some of thé more conscien-

tioue, but less fortunate adepts, endeavour to amuse

the public with popular systems of medicine.

One of the most dazzHng and successful inventors

in modem times, was Mcssmer, who commenced his

carcer of medical knight-errantry at Vienna. His

house was the focus o f high life, the rendezvous of

thé gay, where the young and opulent were enlivened




and entertained with continuai concerts, routs, and

illuminations. ~t a great expence, he imported into

Germany the first JE/a~MOMtccfrom this country he

established cabinets of natural curiosities, and la-

boured constantly and secretly in his chemical

laboratory so that he acquired the reputation of

being a great alchemist, a philosopher studiously

employed in thé most useful and important re-

searches. lu J706, he first publicly annoMncedthe

object and nature of his secret labours :–aU his

discoveries centered in the magnet, which, accordingto his hypothesis, was the best and safest remedyhitherto proposed against all diseases incident to the

human body.This declaration of Mcssmer excited very général

attention the more so as about the same t ime he

established a hospital in his own house, into which

hc admitted a number of patients gratis. Such (ns.

intere8tedne88 procurcd, as might be expected, no

small addition to his famé. He was, besides, fortu-

nate in gaining

over many celebrated physiciana tohis opinions, who lavished the grentest cncotniums

on his new art, and were instrumental in connnu-

nicating to t lie public a number of succcssfui ex-

periments. This seems to hnve surpassed the ex-

pectations of Mcssmer, and induced him to extend

his original plan further than it is likely he first in.

tended. Wc find him soon after assuming a more

dogmatical and mysterious air, whcn, for thé pur-

pose of shining exclusive!y, hc appearcd in the cha-

racter of a M~c~M :-his pride and egotism would

brook neithcr cqual nor compctitor.



ELU CÏ DA TÏ ONS O P THE MARVELLOUS. 339

z 2

The common loadstone, or minéral magnet, which

is so well Itnown, did not appear to him sufficiently

important and mysterious-he contrived an unusual

one, to the enect of whioh he gave the name of

animal M<c< After this, he proceeded to a

still bolder assumption, every~'here giving it out,

that the inconceivable powers of this subtile fluid were

centered in his own person. Now, the mona.-drama

began and Messmer, at once the hero and choms of

thé picce, performed his part in a masterly manner.

He placed thé most nervous, hystérie, and hypocon-driac patients opposite to him and by the sole act of

stretching forth his finger, he made them feel the most

violent ahoc~s. The effects of this wonderful power excited universal astonishment its activity and péné-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 by two doors, nay.

even by thick walla. The very looks of this prince of

jugglers had the power to excite painful cramps andtwitches in his eredulous and predisposed patients.

This wonderfai tide of success instigated his inde-

fatigaMe gcnius to bolder attcmpts, especially as lie

had. no sévère criticism to apprehend from the su-

pcrstitious multitude. He rounclly asserted things of

which lie offered not thé least shadow of proof and

for thc truth of which !ie had no other pledge to offer

but his own high reputation. At onc time he could

communicate his magaetic power to paper, wool, silk,

breadt leather, stoncs, water, etc., at anothcr hc

agscrted that certain individuals possessed a greater



340 THAUMATUROtA, OR

degree of susceptibility for this power than others.

It must be owned, however, that many of his contem-

poraries made it their business to cncounter his extra-

vagant pretensions, and réfute his dognmtical asser-

tions with the most convincing arguments. Yet, he

long enjoyed the triumph of being supported by blind

followers, and their increasing number compïetely

overpowered the suffrages of reason.

Messmer, at length perceived that in his native coun-

try, he should never be able to reach the point which

he had fixed upon, as the termination of his magneti-cal career. The Germans began to discrédit his

pompous daims; but it was only after repeated~iÏm'es in some promiaed cures, that he found him-

self under the necessity of seeking protection in Paris.

Thcre he met with a most flattering reception, being

caressed, and in a manner adored by a nation which

has always been extravagantly fond of every new thing,whimsical and mysterious. Messhter well knew how

to tum this natural propensity to the best advantage.

He addressed himself particularly to the weak; tosuch as wished to be considered men of profound know-

ledge, but who, when they were compelled to be silent

from real ignorance, took refuge behind the impene-trable shield of mystery. The fashionable levity, the

irrésistible curiosity, and thé peculiar t um of the Pa-

risians, evcr solicitous to bave something interestingfor conversation, to keep their active imagination in

play, were exactly suited to the genius and talents of

thé inventor of animal magnetism. We need not

wonder, therefore, if he availed himself of their moral

and pbysical character, to ensure a ready faith in his



ELUCIDATIONS OP THM MARVELLOU8. 341

doctrines, and success to his pretended experimentsin fact, he found friends and admirera wherever he

madc his appearance. His first advertisement was

couched in the following high.sounding terms

Behold a discovery which promises unspeakaMe

advantages to the human race, and immortal famé to

its author Behold thé dawn of an universal revolu-

tion 1 A new race of men shall arise, shall overspreadthe earth, to embellish it by their virtues, and render

it fertile by their industry. Neittier vice nor igno-

rance, shall stop their active career they will know

our calamities only from the records of history. The

prolonged duration of their life will e nable them to

plan and accomplish the most laudable uudertakings.The tranquil, the innocent gratifications of that

primeval age will be restored, wherein man laboured

without toil, lived without sorrow, and expired with-

out a groan Mothers will no longer be subject to

pain and danger during their pregnancy and child-

birth their progeny

will be more robust and bravethe now rugged and diflictilt path of éducation will be

rendered smooth and eas~ and hereditary complaintsand diseases will be for ever banished from the future

auspicious race. Fathers rejoicing to see their poste-

rity of the fourth and fifth generations, will only droplike fruit fully ripe, at the extreme point of âge 1

Animais and plants, no less susceptible of the magne.tic power than man, will be exempt from the reproachof barrenness and the ravages of distempcr. The

flocks in the fields, and the plants in the gardons, will

be more vigorous and nourishing, and the trecs will

bcar more beautifui and grateful f ruits. Thé human




race, once endowed with this elementary powcr, will u;;

probably rise to still more sublime and astonishingenectsof nature: who indeed is able to pronounce,with certainty, how far this aalataiy influence mayextend ?"

What splendid promises What rich prospects

Messmer, the greatest of philosophers, the most vir-

tuous of men, the physician of mankind, chalitably `r opens his arms to all his fellow-mortals, who stand in ?

need of comfort and assistance. No wonder that the

cause of magnetism, under such a~ zealous apostle,

rapidly gained ground, and obtained every day large `

additions to the number of its converts< To the gay,the nervous, and the dissipated of all ranks and âges,it held out the most flattering promises. Men of the

first respectability interested themselves in behalf of

this new philosophy they anticipated in idea, the

more happy and more vigorous race which would pro-

ceed, a s it were, by enchantment, from the wonderful

impulsive powers of animal

magnetism. The French

were so far seduced by thèse flattering appearances,as to offer the German adventurer thousand

livres for the communication of his secret art. He

appears, however, to hâve understood his own interest

better than thus to dispose of his hypothetieal pro-

perty, which, upon a more accurate investigation

might be objected to, as consisting of unfair articles

of purchase. He consequently retumed the followinganswer to thé credulous French ministers:

That Dr. M. considered his art of too great im-

portance, and the abuses it might lead to, too danger-ous for him at present to make it public that he



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOU8. 343

must therefore reserve to himself the time of its pubH-cation, and mode of introducing it to general use and

observation-that he wouidnrst take proper measures

to initiate or prepare the minds of men, by excitingin them a susccptibility of this gréât power; and that

he would then undertake to communicate his secret

gradually, which he meant to do without hope of

reward."

Messmer, too politic to part.with his secret for so

small a premium, had a better prospect in view and

his apparent disintercstedness and hesitation servcd

only to sound an over-curious public, to allure more

victims to his delusive practices, and to retain them

more m'mly in their implicit belicf. Soon after this

he was easily prevailed upon to institute a private

society, into which none were admitted, but s uch as

bound themeelves by a vow to perpétuai secrecy.~ese pupils he agreed to instruct in his important

mysteries, on condition of each paying him one ~MM-

dred louis. In thé course of six months, having had

not lésa than three hundred such pupils, he realized a

fortune of thirty thousand louis.

It appears, however, that thé disciples of Messmer

did not adhère to their engagement we find them

separating gradually from their professor, and

establishing schools for the propagation of lus system,with a view, no doubt, to reimburse themselves for

the expenses of their own initiation into thé magnetis-

ing art. But few of them having understood the

terms and mysterious doctrines of their foreign

master, every new adept exerted himself to excel his

feUow.Iabourers, in additional explaaations and in-



344 TBAUMATUKOïA, OR

ventions others, who did not possess, or could not

spare the sum of one hundred louis, were indus-

triousiy employed in attempts to discover the secret,

by their own ingenuity and thus arose a great variety

of magnetical sects. At length, however, Messmer's

authority became euspccted his pecuniary acquisitionswere now notorious, and our humane and disinterested

philosopher was assailed with critical and satirical

animadversions fron~ every quarter. The fertility of

his procesa for medical purposes, as well as the bad

conséquences it might procure in a moral point of

view, eoon became topics of common convcraïttioQ,

and ultimately even excited the apprehensions of

government. One dangerous effect of magneticalassociations was, that young voluptuaries began to

employ this art, to promote their l ibidinous and des-

tructive designs.Matters having assumed this serious aspect, the

French government, much to i ta credit, deputed four

Tespectable and unprejudiced men, to w hom were

afterwards added four others of great learning andabilities, to inquire into, and appreciate thé merits of

the new discovery of animal magnetism. These

phiÏosophers, among whom we find the i llustrious

namea of Franklin and Lavoisier, recognised, indeed,

very surprising and unexpected phenomena in the

physical s tate of magnetized individuals but they

gave it as their opinion, that the powers of imagina-

tion, and not animal magnetism, had produced these

ciÏects. Sensible of the superior influence, which the

imagination can exert on the human body, when it is

effectually w rought upon, they perceived, after a



E LUC ID ATI ON S 0 F TH B MA R\ 'ELLO U8 . 345

number of experiments and facts frequently repeated,that contact, or touch, imagination, imitation, and

excited M~st~t~ were the real and sole causes of

these phenomena, which had so much confounded

the illiterate, the credulous, and the enthusiastic

that this hoasted magnetic element had no real ex-

istence in nature, conaequently that Messmer himself

was either an arrant impostor, or a deluded fa-

natic.

Meantime, this magnetic mystery had made no

small progress in Germany. A number of periodi-cal and other publications vindicated its claims to

public favour and attention and some litérary

men, who had rendered themselves justly celebrated

by their former writings, now stepped forward as bold and eager champions in support of this myaticatdoctrine. The ingenious Lavater undertook long

journies for the propagation of magnetism and som-

nambulism and what. manipulations and other ab-

surdities were not practised on hysterical young la-

dies in the city of Bremen ?i' It is farther worthyof notice, that an eminent physician of that place, in

a recent publication, does not scruple to rank mag-netism among médical r emedies It must, never-

theless, be confessed, that the great body of the

The art of exciting sieep in persons undcr the influenceof an!n)al mM~nctism, with a view to obta!n or ratlier cxtort

during this artitic!at slecp, their verbal declarations nnd di-rections for curing the diseases of both body and mind.

Such, indeed, was the rage for propagating this mysticalnonsense, that even thc pu!pit was occasionnlly resorted to,in order to make, not fair penitents, but fuir prosélytes.



346 THAUMATURÛiA, OR

learned, throughout Germany, have endeavoured, by

strong and impartial criticism, to oppose and réfute

animât magnetism, considered as a médical system.And how should it be otherwise, since it is highlyridiculous to imagine that violent agitations, spasms,

convuïsions, etc. which arc obviousïy symptoms of a

diseased state of body, and which must increase ra-

ther than diminish the disposition to nervous diseascs,

can be the means of improving the

constitution

and ultimately of prolonging human tife ?a Every at-

tentive person must have observed, that too fréquentintercourse between nervous and hypochondriac pa-tients ia infectious and i f this be the case, public

asseaiMies, for exhibiting magnetised individuals,

can neither be 8aie nor proper. It is no small proof of the good sensé of thé people o f this country,

though they have at different times fallen into nearlysimilar delusiuns, that the professors of anin~ mag-netism did not long maintain their ground they

were soon exposed to public ridicule on the stage,and shortly became annihilated in thcir own absurdi-

ties.

Other plans for the prolongation of life, little less

absurd than animal magnetism, which have, like

every other imposture, fretted their hour," deserve

to be noticed. The French and G ermans have longstood pre-eminent in the empirical world, thoughthe merit of ingenious and more plausible emana-

tions of genius may fairly be attributed to thé latter.

Animal magnetism physiogoomy, a rational thoughmMacious science phrenobgy, a doctrine aboundingwith many singular manifestions, and possessing

<'ft.



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVELLOUS. 347

claims not to be put down by mere force of prejudice,are a!! of German origin.

The Count St. Germain, a Frenchman, realized

large sums, by vending an artificial tea, chiefly com-

posed of yellow saundera, senna leaves, and fennel

seed, which was puffed off under the specious appel-lation of Tea for prolonging life which, at that time,

was swaJIowed with such voracity aU over the con-tinent, that few could subsist without it. Its celé-

brity was of short duration, and none evcr lived long

enough to realize ita effets.

The Chevalier d'Ailhoud, another brazen-faced

adventurer, presented the world with a powder,which met with so large and rapid a sale, that he

soon accumulated money enough to purchase a whole

county. This famous powder, however, instead of

adding to the means of securing a long and healthy

life, is well known to produce constant indisposition,and at length to cause a most miserable death being

composed of certain drugs of a poisonous nature,though slow in their opération.

Count Cagliostro, styled the luminary of modern

impostors and debauchees, prepared a very common

stomach elixir, which was sold at a most exorbitant

priée under the name of &a~M of It was

pretended, with the most unparalleled effrontery,

that, by the use of this medicine, the count had

lived above 200 years, and that he was rendered

invulnerable against every species of poison. These

bold assertions could not fail to excite very generalattention. During bis résidence at Strasburg, while

descauting, in a large and respectable company, on the




virtues of his antidote, his pride m et with a very

mortifying check. A physician who was présent,and who had taken part in the conversation, quittingthe room privately, went to an apothecary's shop,and ordering two pills of equal size to be made,

agreeably to his directions, suddenly appearcd again before the count, and thus addressed him

Hère, my worthy count, are two pills thé one

contains a mortal poison, the other is perfeetly in-nocent choose one of these and swallow it, and ï

engage to take that which you leave. This will be con-

sidered as a decisive proof of your medical skill, and

enable the public to ascertain the efficacy of your ex-

tolled elixir." The count took the alarm, made a

number of apologies, but could not be prevailed uponto touch the pills. The physician swailowed both

immediately, and proved by his apothecary, that they

might be taken with perfect safety, being only made

of common bread. Notwithstanding the shame of

this detection, Cagliostro still retained numerous advo-

catesby circulating unfounded reports, and concealinghis real character by a variety of tricks.

The inspired tather Gassner, of Bavaria, ascribed

ail diseases, lameness, palsy, etc, to diabolical agency,

contending from the history of Job, Saul, and others

recorded in sacred writ, that Satan, as the grand

enemy of mankind, has a power to embitter and

shorten our lives by diseases. Vast numbers of

credulous and weak-mindcd people nocked to this

fanatic, with a view of obtaining relief which he

never had the means to administer. Multitudes of

patients, amieted with nervous and hypochondriacal



ELUCtDAT! Ot!8 OF THE MARVBLLOU8. 349

complaints, besieged him daily being aU stimulated

by a wild imagination, eager to view and acknow-

ledge the works of Satan Men eminent for their

ïiterary attainments, even the hatural philosophersof Bavaria, were hurried away by the stream, and

completely blinded by sanctified imposture.It is no less astonishing than true, t hat so !ate as

1794, a Count

Thun, at

Leipzig, pretended to

per-form miraculous cures on gouty, hypochondriacal,and hysterical patients, merely by the imposition of

his s acred hands. He could not however raise a

great number of disciples in a place that abounds with

so many sceptics and unbelievers.

The commencement of the nineteenth century has

been equally pregnant with imposture. The delu-

sions of Joanna Southcoat are too fresh in the rc-

collections of our readers to require notice here

yet, strange to say, this fanatical old woman had

her adherents and disciples many of them, in other

respects, were keen and sensible men nor has the

delusion altogether evaporated, though t hé sect is

by no means powerful or strong tlie first ifn-

pressions are sti!l retained by her half irantic

and ridiculous devotees, who are only to be met

with among tlie very lowest and illiterate orders of

society.The farce of thé convert of NewhaU, near Chelms.

fbrdt is of still more recent date. Hère we hâve a

miracle performed by thé holy Prince Hohenlohe,

'at a distance of at least three hundred miles.from

thé presence of his patient. Hearing of the wonder.

ful cures performed by this priuce, one of the nuns




in the above convent, who had been ainicted for a

considérable length of time with a swelling and in-

flammation cxtending from the ball of the thumb

along the fore arm, and up as high a s the arm"

pit, wrote to Prince Hohenlohe–having previously been nttendcd by the most eminent practitioners in

London without any apparent benent–to relieve her

from her sufferings. This he willingly undertook

to do, but accompanied his consent with an mjunctionthat she should offer up her prayers on a certain day

(May 3, t824,) held in reverence by the catholics,

and at a certain hour, promising that he would be at

his devotions at thé same time. AU this, the ar8icted

nun attended to immediately after her prayers,she experienced a tingling Reneation along the arm,

and from that instant the cure rapidly advanccd until

thé diseased limb became as sound as the other. °

The days of priestcraft and superstition, i t was

hoped, had been fast fleeting away before the lu-

minous rays of science, even in those countries where

religious juggling had been most fostered and prac-tised. But for any man in this country to bc~ieve

that such a miracle can be wrought by human

agency, is of itself an awfully convincing proof that

he is ignorant of the Scriptures, and that lus own

mind is likely to become a prey to thé wildest

cilimeras. Prince Hohenlohe's notoricty however

as a worker of miracles was not confincd to Newhall.

His mighty prowess cxtended to thé emerald isle

and scvcral cures were performed at as great, or

even fit a greater distance, than that wrought at

NcwhaU, and merely a t thé sound of his orisons.



ELUCÏDATÏONS 0F THE MARVRLMUS. 351

We hear of no miracles being wrought by, or upon

protestants consequently we leave them to the

gloom of the eloister, whence they emanated, and

where only they c an be o f use in a cause which re-

quires the aid of stratagem to support it.

A taste for the marvellous seems to be natural to

man in every stage of society, and at almost every

period of life it cannot, therefore, be much a matter of astonishment, that, from the earliest ages of the

world, persons have been found, who, more idle and

more ingenious than others, have availed themselves

of this propensity, to pbtain an easy livelihood by

levying contributions on the euriosity of the public.Whether this taste is to be considered as a proof of

thé weakness of our judgment, or o f innate inqui-

sitiveness, which stimulâtes us to enlarge the sphèreof our knowledgc, must be left to thé décision of

metaphysicians it is sumcient for our present pur-

pose to know that it gave rise to a numerous class

of impostors in the shape of quacks, mouutcbanhs,

poison'swaUowers, nrc.eaters, and piU-mongers.

TIiere is another class of adepts, such as sleiglit of

hand performers, sïack rope dancers, teachers of uni-

mals to perform extraordinary tricks in short, those

porsons who delude thé senses, and practise harmiess

deceptions on spectators, included under the common

appellation of jugglers. If thèse arts served no othcr

purpose than that of mere amusement, they yet mcrit

a certain dcgrec of encouragement, as aSbrding at once

a cheap and Innocent diversion jugglers of this

class frequently exhibit instructive experiments in na-




tural ~hiîosophy, chemistry, and mechanics thus the

solar microscope was invented from an instrument

to reflect shadows, w ith which a savoyard nmused a

German populace and thé celebrated Sir Richard

Arkwright is said to have conceived the idea of the

spinniag machines, which have so largely contributed

to the prosperity of thé cotton manufactories in this

country, from a toy which he purchased for his child

from an itinerant showman. These deceptions have, besides, acted as an agreeable and most powerful an-

tidote to superstition, and to that popular belief in

miracles, conjuration, sorcery, and witchcraft, which

preyed upon the minds of our ancestors and the

effects of shadows, electricity, mirrors, and the mag-

net, once formidable instruments in the hands of in-

terested persons, for keeping the vulgar in awe, have

been stripped of their terrors, and are no longer

frightful in their most terrine fbrms.

ON THN TRANSPUStON OP BLOOD FROM ONE ANIMAL

TO ANOTHER.

At a timc when the shortness of human life was

imputed to a distempered state of thc blood when

ail diseaaes wprc aacribed to this cause, witliout at-

tending to the whole of what relates to thé moral

and physical nature of man, a conclusion was easilyformcd, that a radical r emoval of thé corrupted blood, and a complete renovation of the entire mass

by substitution was both practicable and enectual.



BhUCÏDATI ONS 0F TUE MARVELLOUS. 353

2 A

The spéculative mind of man was not a t a loss to

devise expédients, to e<ïect this desirable pnrposcand undoubtediy one of the boldest, most extraordi-

nary, and most ingenious attempts ever made to

!engthen the period of human life was made at this

time. We allude hère to the famous scheme of ~a/

~Mto~ or of introducing the blood of one animal

into that of another. This curious discovery is at-

trihuted to Andréas Libaviùs, professor of medicine

and chemistry in thé university of Hailc, who, in the

year J6!5, pub!ic!y recommended expérimentât

essays to ascertain the tact.

Libavius wns an honcst and spiritcd opposer of

thé Thcosophic system, founded by the bombastic

Paraccisus, and supportc(i by a numerous tribe of

credulous and frantic foHowers. Although he was

not totaUy exempt from the fouies of that age, since

lie beheved in tbc transmutation of metats, and

suggested to his pupi!s thé wonderful power of po-

table gold, yct lie distinguished rational alchcmyfrom the fanatica! Systems thcn in repute, and zeal-

ously defe!tded thé former against tlie disciples of

Ga!en, a s well as those of Paraceisus. .Île made a

numbcr of important discoveries in chemistry, and

wasunqucstionably

t!ic first professor in Germanywho gave chcmical lectures, upon pure principtesof affinity, unconnected with thé extravagant notions

of thc titcosophists.Thé first experiments retative to the transfusion

of the hbod, nppcur to hâve becn made, and that

with gréât prupricty, on t!'c lower animais. The

blood of the young, healthy and vigorous, was trans-



354 THAUMATURG1A, OR

ferred into the old and infirm, by means of a delicate

tube, placed m a vein opened for that purpoae.

The effect of this opération was surprising and im-

portant aged and decrepit animai were soon ob-

served to become more lively, a nd to move with

greater case and rapidity. By thé indefatigable cx-

ertions of Lower, in England, of Dennis in France,

and of Moulz, Hoffman, and others in Germany,

this artificial mode of renovating thé Hfc and spiritswas successfully continued, and even brought to some

degrce of perfection.Thé vein usually opened in the arm of a patient

was resorted to for thé purpose of transfusion into

this a small tube was placed in a pcrpendtcuïar

direction thé same vcin was then opened in a healthy

individual, but more frequently in an animal, into

which another tube \vas forccd in a rechning direc-

tion both small tubes wcrc thcn s lid into one

another, and in that position thé délicate ar t of

transfusion was safely pcrfbrmcd. Whcn the opéra-

tion was completed, the vein was tied up in thé samemanner as on blood-letting, Sometimes a quantityof blood was drawn from tlie patient, previously to

thé experimenttaking place. As few persons, how-

evor, were to be found, that would agree to part

with thcir hlood to others, recourue was generally had

to animais, and most frequently to thé calf, the

lamb, and thé stag. These bcing laid upon a table,

and tied so as t o be unable to move, the operation

was performed in thé manner before dcscribed. In

somc instances, the good enects of thèse experiments

wcrc évident and promising, while thcy excitcd the



BLUCïDATtOMS 0F TttE MAKVELLOUS. 355

2 A 2

greatest hopes of the future improvemcnt and pro-

gress of this new art. But thé unceasing abuses

prnctised by ho!d and inexpcrt advcnturcrs, togcthcr with the great number of cases, which proved

unsuccessful, induced thé differetit govcrnmcnts of

Europe to put an entire stop to thé pract!ce, bythé strictest prohibitions. And, indeed, while thc

constitutions and mode of living among men di~r

so materially as they now do, this is, and ever

must remain, an extremely hazardous and cquivocal,if not a desperatc remedy. The blood of everyindividual is of a peculiar nature, and congenialwith that of thé body only to which it belongs,and in which it is generated. Hence our hope of

prolonging human life, by artificial evacuations and

injections, must necessarily be disappointed. It

must not, however, be supposed, that thèse, and

similar pursuits during thé ages of which wc treat, as

well as those which succeeded, were solely or chiefly

followed by mere adventurers and fnnatics. The

greatest geniuses of those times employed thcir wits

with thc most leamed and eminent men, who deemed

it an object by no means be!ow their considération.

Thé method of supplying good for unsound teeth,

t!iough long laid aside, in consequence of thé danger with which thé practice was attended, by the com-

munication of disease from an unhealthy to a healthy

person,-was at one time as much the rage as the

transfusion of blood. This practice, notwithstandingthe objections which stand opposed to it, might,

nevertheless, be adopted with success on many occa-

sions, could

persons enjoying a sound and wholesome



35C THAUMATURGtA, OR

state of hody be found to answer thc demand, how-

ever unnatural it may nppear. A few untoward cases

soon raised the hue and cry against thé conttnun~ce

of thé practicc. as in thc transfusion of blood, thoughthc latter bas recently been attempted in the case

of an individual cxhausted bv excessive hcrmorrage

with a success winch nnswered thé expectation.There is l ittle doubt that both the transfusion of

bbod, and engraftiug or transplanting of teeth, are

capable, with judgment and d~crimmadon, of beingmade aubscrvicnt in a varicty of cases though thé

chances of gênerai success militate against thèse expe-

rimcnts for it is the unalterable plan of nature to

procced gradually in hcr operations aU outrageand extravagance being a t variance with her es-

tablished laws.



RLUCIDATIOXS 0F T:!E MARVELLOUS. 35~

c~CHAPTER XXII.

THE ROSÏCRUCÏA~S OR THEOSOPHtSTS.

Ttns remarkablc sect was founded upon the doc-

trines of Puracelsus, during the latter part of the

~ixteenth, and thé bcginning of the sevcnteenth cen-

turies . Thé society was known by thc namc of the

Roscncrucians or Rosccrucians and as it has not

hoen withoutits followers and propngators in different

shapcs, cven to the present ~mc, we shall hère

présent thé reader with a concise account of the

origin and tencts of that fanatical sect.

The first intimation of thc existence of this order

we find announced to the worid in a book publishedin the German langua~c, in the year tC!4, with

the following title, 7%p K/ïïfp~a/ MM~~p/!pra/ Re-

/unM H~oM of the world, <<~t'~r t~ an ~ccoMM< of

~P ~HOM~ ~Cr/H~ ~C ~OM'/«'TMC<f< The

work contains an intimation, that thc mcmbers of

thé society had bccn secretly cngaged for a cen-

tury preccding, 1 and t!iat thcy liad corne to the

knowledge of many great and important secrets,

which, if communicated to thé world, would promotethé happincss of man.



358 THA~MATUROIA, OR

An adv(!nturer of the name of Christian Ruseu-

kreuz is said to have founded this order, in the

fourteenth century after having been previously ini-

tiated in,the sublime wisdom of the east, duringhis travels in Egypt and Fez. From what we are

.enaMed to Ïearn from this work. the intention of

thé ~tmder~and the nnal aim of the society, appear to have been the accumulation of wealth and trea-

aures, by means of secrets known only to the mem-

bers and by a proper distribution of thèse treasurcs

among princes and potentatcs, to promote the grandscheme of the society, by ptoducing a generalrevolution of all things." In their confession

of faith," there are many bold and singular dogmas

among others, that thé end of the world is at hand

that a general refonnation of men and manners

will speedily take place that the wicked shall be

expelled or subdued, thé Jcws converted, and the

doctrine of Christ propagated over the whole earth.

Thé Rosencrucians not only believed that these cvents

must happen, but they also endeavoured to acceleratethem by unremitted exertions. To their faithfnl

votaries and followers. they promised abundance of

celestial wisdom, unspeakable riches, exemption 6'om

disease, an immortal state of man of ever blooming

youth, and above all thé ~~oso/!Acr~ stone.

Leaming and improvement of thé mind were,

by this order, considered as aupernuous and despised.

They found aU knowledge in the Bible this, how-

ever, has been supposed rather a pretext to

obviate a charge, which was brought against them,

of not believing in the christinn religion. The truth



ELUCIDATIONS OP THE MARVEHOUS. 359

is, they imagined themselves superiorto divine re.

velation, and supposed every useful acquisition, everyvirtue to be derived from the influence of the Peityon the soûl of man. In this, as weM as in manyother respects, they appear to be followers of Para-

celsus, whom they profess to revere as ~~ëssenger of thé divinity. Like him, they pretend td cure ail

diseases; through ~/a:<A and thé power of thé ima-

gination, to heal the most mortal disorders by atouch, or even by simply looking at thé patientaThé universal remedy was likewise a grand secret

of the order, thé discovcry of which was promisedto all its faithful members.

It would be unnecessary to euumcrate any more

of such irnpious fancies, if the founder of this still

lurking sect, now partly revivified, had not asserted,

with astonishing effrontery, that human life was

capable of prolongation, like a cre kept up by com-

bustible matter, and that he w as in t hé possessionof a secret, which could vcrify this assertion. It

is évident, howevcr, from the testimony of Libavius,a man of <tDquestionab!e veracity, that this doughty

champion in medical chemistry, or rather alchemy,

Paraceisu~ notwithstanding his bold assertions, died

as before observed, at Sulzburgh in Germany, in

thé Hospital of St. Stephen's in 1541 and that

his death was chiefly occasioned by thc singular and desolate mode of life, w hich he had for a longtime pursued. When a competent knowledge of

thé economy of the human frame is wanting, to

enable a man to discriminate between internal and

external causes and eSects~ i t will be impossible




to ascertain, or t o counteract, thé dînèrent causes

hy which our health is dcranged~ This cvidcntly was

thé case with Puraceisus, and many other lifc-pro'

longers who have succeedcd him and should a

fortunate individual cvcr nx upon a rcmcdy, pos-

sessing thé power of chccking disease, or Icngtheningout human existence (an expectation never to be

jcaHzcd) hc w ill be mdebtcd to chance alone for

thc discovery. This has heen the c ase in all âges,and still remains so.

Remedies, from time to time, have been devised,

not mcrely to serve as nostrums for all diseascs, but

also for thc pretended purpose of prolonging life.

Thosc of the lattcr kind hâve heen appUed with a

view to resist or check many operations of nature,

which insensihiy consume the vital heat, and other

powcrs of life, such as respiration, muscular irrita-

tion, etc. Thus, from the implicit credulity of some,

and thé exubérant imagination of othcrs, observation

and experimente, howcver incompatibic with sound

renson and philosophy, have been multiplied, withthé avowcd design of establishing proo~, or repu-tations of this or that absurd opinion. In this

manner have fanaticism and imposture falsified

thé ptainest truths, or forged thc most uufounded

and ridiculous claims insomuch that one glariue in-

consistency bas been employed to combat another, and

folly bas succeeded folly, till a fund of materials bas

been transmitted to posterity, sufficient to form a

concise history on this subject. Men in all ageshâve set a just value on life and in proportionto thc means of cnjoyment, this value has been



EL UC IDA TI ON S 0 F THE MA RV ELL OU S. 361

appreciated in a greater or less degree. If the gra-tification of thc sensual appetitc formed thé principal

object of living, its prolongation would be t o the

epicure, us desirable as thé prospect of au exis-

tence to be enjoyed beyond thé limits of the grave,is to thé moralist and thc belicver.

The désire of longevity appears to he inhérent

in ail animated nature, and particularly in thé hnman

race it is intimately cherished by us, through thé

whole duration of our existence, and isfrequcntly sup-

ported and strengthened, not only hy justifiablcmeans, b ut also by varions kinds of collusion.

Living in an age when every branch of human know.

ledge is reduced to popular Systems when thé vigilsof reason are hallowed at thé shrinc of cxperiment and

observation ;–though we behold in thc immense varietyof things, thé utter usetessncss of attcmpting tu

renovate a shattered constitution, or of improving a

sound one to last beyond a certain period wc never-

thcless observe that in thc inconceivahle waste of ele-

mcntary particles thcre prevails thé strictest economy. Nothing is produced in vain, nothing consumcd without

a cause. We clearly perceive that aiï nature is united

by indissoluble ties, that every individual thing ex-

ists' for thé sake of another, and that no one can

subsist without i ts concomitant. Hence we concludc,

that man himself is not an insulatcd being, but

a nccessary link in thé great chain, which con-

nccts the universe. Nature is our safcst guide,and she will be so with greater certainty, as we

become bettcr acquainted with her operations,

cspecially with respect to those particulars which



36& TMAUMATUttGtA, ETC.

LOKDON:

S CH ULZ B A ND C O. , 1 3, POL A~D STREE T.

THEEKD.

more nearly concern our physical existence. Thus,

a source of many and very extensive advantagcswill bc opened thu~, w e shn!! rench onr ori-

ginal destination–namety, that of living long and

in thé enjoyment of sound health, to which, if purityof morals hc addcd, thé best hopes may be enter-

tained of n happy state, in a future worid, where

its inhabitants never (lie.



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