eT oily fy / se Pol beh deletion Gehl ; Poti ; . Cae Lad Ki ants yey i y it 2 rs 7, rit [Eetiretitnbstt : tity ” PA, ate) iia : Mirani ts Bat nt mt iis Be ‘ ds me ! ant a a Vt atat elt a ! “PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY » OF MANCHESTER. WARRINGTON, PRINTED BY W. EYRES, FOR T. GADELL, IN THE STRAND, LONDON, , Mpoccxcec. v ADVERTISEME N‘T. THE prefent volume has been detained an unufual time in the prefs, partly by the engagements of fome of the authors, who have revifed their papers for publica- tion; and partly by delays attending the execution of the engravings. The number of materials bas likewife rendered this volume larger than either of the former, and confequently lengthened the time of impreffion. . From the inftitution of the new clafs of conrtspond- ING Members, the Society may expelt an extenfion of communications; while the method of printing to be purfued in future,* by furnifbing an early circulation of every effay, among literary men, may induce the Honorary Members, at large, to impart their obfer- vations or difcoveries ftill more frequently, — The Society muft repeat the declaration, prefixed to their firft volume, that refponfibility for the truth of - facts, or jufine/s of opinions, to be found in this volume, refs with theix refpettive authors. To encourage Scientific exertions is the grand objet? of the inftitution ; and the Society gladly acknowledges that the public has treated its endeavours with equal indulgence and favour, * See the Laws annexed, Fa L A W S. I. 2 aT the Ordinary Members only fhall be invefted with the privilege of voting and electing Members; and that the whole expences of the Society fhall devolve upon them. II. ‘That Gentlemen refiding at a diftance from Manchefter, fhall be eligible into this Society, under the title of Honorary Members, provided no one be recommended: who has not dif- tinguithed himfelf by his literary or philofophical publications. III. That Gentlemen at a diftance, who have favoured the Society with important communications, or from whom fuch contributions may be expetted, fhall be eligible, under the title of Correfponding Members. IV. That every Candidate for admiffion into the Society, whether as an Ordinary, Honorary or Correfponding Member, fhall be propofed by at leaft three Ordinary Members, who fhall fign a certificate of his being, from their knowledge of him, of his charaéter, or his writings, a fit perfon to be admitted into it ; which certificate fhall be read at four fucceflive meetings of the Society, previous to the election. V. That every eleétion fhall be conduéted by ballot, and that the majority of votes fhall decide, thirteen Members at leaft being prefent ; or a week’s previous notice being given, after the fourth reading. That the prefident fhall have the deter- j mining voice, if the number of votes be equal. a3 VI. That vi By A OW! Se VI. That when an Ordinary Member removes to a greater diftance than twenty miles from Manchefter, he may be entitled to the continuance of the privileges of the Society, by paying five guineas to the treafurer, in lieu of his annual fubfcription. VII. That a Prefident, four Vice-Prefidents, two Secretaries, a Treafurer and a Librarian, be eleéted annually by the majority of Members prefent, on the laft Friday in the month of April. The eleétion to be determined by ballot. VIII. That a Committee of Papers fhall be appointed by ballot, at the fame time, which ‘hall confift of the Prefident, Vice-Prefidents, Secretaries, Treafurer and Librarian, together with fix other Members of the Society ; and that this Committee thall decide by ballot concerning the publication of any Paper which fhall have been read before the Society ; and fhall feleét, with the confent of the author, detached parts of any Paper, the whole of which may not be deemed proper for publication ; but that the prefence of feven Members’ of the Committee fhall be eeteliany for fuch difcuffion or decifion. . IX. That Vifitors may be introduced by any Member to the feetings of the Society, with the permiflion of the Chairman. X. That every Member who fhall favour the Society with communications, fhall fend them to one of the Secretaries, the Monday before the meeting of the Society. XI. That the Secretary to whom the Paper fhall be delivered, fhall, with the approbation of the Prefident, or two Vice Pre- fidents, have the power of fufpending the reading of it until it be referred to a meeting of the Committee of Papers, whofe decifion fhall be final. XII. That all Papers judged admiffible thall be read by one of the Secretaries, or by the author, in their order. XIII. That no more than half an hour fhall be allowed for the reading of any Paper, and if the whole camot be read within that time, the remainder, except the Society determine otherwife, hhall be deferred till the fucceeding evening. No Paper however fhall Lv ARW: 7S. Vil fhall engage more than two evenings, without the confent of the Society, expreffed by ballot, if required. XIV. That authors be requefted to furnifh the Society with an epitome of their Papers, which may be read at the meeting fuc- ceeding the reading of each Paper, and the difcuffion renewed. XV. That each Ordinary Member fhall pay one guinea annu- ally, by half yearly payments, into the hands of the Treafurer, to defray incidental expences, and to eftablifh a fund for the benefit of the Society. Each Member on his election to pay his Subfcription for the current half year, together with one guinea admiffion fee. XVI. That no Laws fhall be enacted, refcinded or altered, but at the quarterly meetings, on the laft Fridays in the months of January, April, and Oober ; and that notice fhall be given, at leaft fourteen days previous to thofe meetings. : XVII. That the Society fhall publifh a volume of ‘mifcel- laneous papers, at leaft every two years. And that at ftated times, the Committee fhall felect from the papers which have been read to the Society, fuch as fhall appear to be moft worthy of publication, but that no paper fhall be publifhed without the confent of the author.- That every paper, voted for publication by the Committee of Papers, fhall be fent to the prefs without delay ; that notice of the printing fhall be given to the author, _and that he be entitled to thirty feparate copies, on paying the extraordinary expence attending them. XVIII. That a Library be formed for the ufe of the Mem- bers of this Society, and that the Librarian be authorized to pur- chafe fuch books, as fhall be ordered at the quarterly meetings of the Society ; but that no book fhall be taken out of the Library, without leave of the Librarian, limiting the time of keeping it to feven days. XIX. That the Refolution to eftablith a Library be announced to the Honorary and Correfponding Members of the Society; and that it be intimated to them by the Secretaries, that donations of their paft and future publications will be highly acceptable. a 4- XX. That Vili A LIST OF THE MEMBERS. XX. That a gold medal fhall be given to the author of the moft valuable experimental paper, containing fome important difcovery relative to the arts and manufactures of Manchefter, which fhall have been delivered to the Secretaries, and read at the ordinary meeting of the Society, before the laft Friday in March 1791. XXI. That the adjudication of this premium be referred to the Committee of Papers; that their decifion fhall be made by ballot, and that the medal fhall be delivered by the Prefident to the perfon to whom it fhall have been adjudged, or to his repre- fentative, at the firft meeting of the Society in October 1791. XXII. That two filver medals fhall be given annually, one to the author of the beft Effay on a Literary, and another to the beft on a Philofophical Subjeét, which fhall have been read at the Society during the courfe of the feafon; to be determined by the Committee of Papers. A LIST OF THE MEMBERS. Thomas Percival, M.D. F.R.S. & S.A. Member of the Royal Societies of Edinb. Paris, and Lyons; of the Acad. $ prefident. of Arts and Sciences; and of the Philof. Soc. in America; &c. Thomas Cooper, Efq. a] Charles White, Efg. F. R.S. Honorary } Mem. R.M.S. & Cor. Mem. R.S.A. in Scotland, &c. &c. Mr. Thomas Henry, F.R.S.; of the Royal Phyfical Soc. of Edinb. and of Vice-Prefidents. —y" the American Philofoph. Society at| Philadelphia. t Mr. George Philips. J John / A LIST OF THE MEMBERS. ‘ix John Ferriar, M. D. Mr. James Watt, junior. Mr. Thomas Maxwell, Treafurer. John Mitchell, M. D. Librarian. Mr. Jofeph Baker. 2 Secretaries. ~ Rev. Thomas Barnes, D. D. Member of the American Philofoph. Soc. at Philadelphia. Mr. Thomas Barrit. Mr. John Barrow. Thomas Butterworth Bayley, Efg. F. R. S. M. Bentley, Efq. George Bew, M. D. Mr. John Bill. Mr. John Birch. Mr. Charles Frederick Brandt. Mr. Afhworth Clegg. Robert Darbey, M. D. Mr. Robert Delap. Mr. James Dinwiddie. John Drinkwater, M. D. Mr. Peter Drinkwater. Mr. George Duckworth. Alexander Eafon, M. D. Mr. Samuel Greg. * Rev. S. Hall, A. M. Mr. Edward Hall. Mr. Richard Hall. Rev. William Hawkes. « Benjamin Arthur Heywood, Efq, Mr. William Hodfon. / Mr. Samuel Jackfon. Mr. Thomas Kerfhaw. Mr. John Lawrence, * Mr. George Lee. * George Lloyd, Efq. Mr. James Maccauley. * Mr. Charles Macnivan, Mr.. Ss A LIST OF THE MEMBERS. Mr. James Maffey. Mr. John Mather. Mr. Haac Mofs. Mr. John Orme. Mr. John Philips. Mr. Robert Philips. Mr. John Leigh Philips. Mr. Thomas Phillips. Mr. James Potter. William Roberts, Efq. Mr. Thomas Robinfon. _ Mr. William Robinfon. * Mr. William Simmons. Rev. Fréderick Robert Slater. Thomas Walker, Efq. Mr. George Wakefield. Mr. John Ward. Mr. John Wilfon. * Thomas White, M. D. — Thofe marked thus * are of the Committee of Paper. HONORARY MEMBERS. John Aikin, M. D. James Anderfon, LL. D. Felix Vicq. d’Azyr, R. S. Med. Par. Soc. and R. A. Se. Soc. &e. Sir George Baker, Bart. F. R. S. Medic. Reg. © Sir Jofeph Banks, P. R. S. &c. &c. James Beattie, LL. D. Monfieur Berthollet. Reg. Ac. Scient. P. Soc, &e. Patrick A LIST OF THE MEMBERS. xi Patrick Brydone, Efq. F.R. S. Mr. John Buchanan. Right Rev. Beilby, Lord Bifhop of London. Edwood Chorley, M. D. James Currie, M. D. Erafmus Darwin, M. D. F. R. S. Edward Huffey Delaval, Efq. F.R.S. Reg. S.S. Gottifig. and Upfal and Inftit. Bologn. Soc. The Hon. Sir John Talbot Dillon, Knight, and Baron of the Holy Roman Empire. Captain James Drinkwater. Rev. William Enfield, LL. D. William Falconer, M. D. F. R.S. Anthony Fothergill, M. D. F. R. S. Rev. M. Froflard, D. D. Sec. Reg. S. Agric. Lyons. Girtanner, M. D. F.R. S. Edinb. &c. William Hawes, M. D. John Haygarth, M. D. F.R. S. Lond. and Edin. &c. Mr. William Hey, F. R. S. Mr. George Hibbert. Alexander Hunter, M. D. F.R. S. James Johnftone, M. D. Richard Kirwan, Efq. F.R. S. &c. Monfieur Lavoifier, Reg. Ac. Scient. Par. Soc. Right Rev. Richard Watfon Lord Bithop of Landaff, F. R. S. &c. . John Coakley Lettfom, M. D. F.R.S. and S. A. Monfeigneur de Cully Comte de Lyon, Prefident of the Royal Society of Agriculture at Lyons. Mr. Patrick Mac Morland. Henry Moyes, M. D. Rev. John Pope. Rev. Jofeph Prieftley, LL.D. F.R. S. &c. Mr. William Rathbone. Mr. William Rofcoe. Benjamin Ruth, M. D. Prof. of the Theory and Prattice of Medicine, at Philadelphia, é&c. Dorning xil A LIST OF THE MEMBERS. Dorning Rafbotham, Efq. Samuel Foart Simmons, M. D. F. R. S. and R. S. M. P. Rev. William Turner. Rev. George Travis, A. M. Archdeacon of Chefter. Monfieur L’Abbé de Vitry, perpetual Secretary of the Royal Society of Agriculture at Lyons. Mr. Alexander Volta, Prof. Exp. Phil. at Como, &c. Martin Wall, M. D. Clin. Prof. at Oxford. Mr. John Warltire. Rev. Gilbert Wakefield, B. D. Jofiah Wedgewood, Efq. F. R. S. &c. &c. Rev. John Whittaker, B. D. F. S.A. Arthur Young, Efq. F. R. S. &c. CONTENTS OG HRS 5 GN SRR A. area a OF THE BH IR Div OL. UaE An Inquiry into the PrincipLes and Limits of Taxation 4s a Branch of Monat and PotiticaL Puitosopny ; dy THomas Percivat, M. D. F.R. S. Lond. and Edinb. Member of the Royal Society of Medicine at Paris ; of the Royal Soc. of Agriculture at Lyons ; and of the Philofophical Soc. at Philadelphia, c.&e. - ~ ees 1. Of popuLar ILiusions, and particularly of MEDI- caL Demonotocy ; 4y JoHNn Ferriar, M.D. Piotr. LETTER on ATTRACTION and REPULSION; communi- cated by Dr. Percivat, Offober 11, 1786, P. 116. Essay on the Dramatic Writincs of MASSINGER ; dy Joun Ferriarn, M.D. -. - ~ P. 123. OpsERvations on the Bits of Mortauity for the Towns of MancHESTER and SatrorpD; dy THomas Henry, F. R. S. Acad. Philof. Amer. Philadel. Med. Lond. & Reg. Phyfic. Edinb. Soc. P. 159. Conjectures relative to the Cause of the INCREASE of WeicuT acquired by fome weateD Boptes, during xiv CLOinN Fi BUN. DS. during cooling; by Tuomas Henry, junior. Com- municated by THomMas Henry, F. R. S. &e. | P. 174. Remarks on the FLOATING of Cork Batis im “Water; dy Mr. Banxs, Leéturer in Natural Philofophy. Communicated by the Rev. Tuomas Barnes, D.D. Fellow of the American Philofo- phical Society, at Philadelphia. - P. 178. Case of a Person becoming SHORT-SIGHTED iz ADVANCED AGE; 4y Tuomas Henry, F,R.S., &e, hee “ bad — = 6) BR. 182. An Agount of the Procress of Poputarion, AcRicuLTurr, Manners, and GovERNMENT ia Pensytvania. Jn a Letter from BENJAMIN Rusu, M.D. and Profeffor of Chemiftry in the Univerfity of Pensyitvanta, to THomas Pir- civaL, M.D. F.R.S. &. Se)... P..183; A Puystcat Inquiry into the Powrrs and Operation of Mepicines; dy THomas Per- cIvAL, M.D. F.R.S. andS. A. Lond. F.R.S. and R. M.S. Edinb. Ge. 8c. = P.-197. OxsERVATIONS concerning the Vita PRINCIPLE; by Joun Ferriar, M. D. - - Pr 216: On the comparative Exce.uence of the SCIENCES and Arts; by Mr. Witiiam Roscoz. Com- munjcated by Mr. M. Nicuwotson. - P. 241. On the Cretins of the Vautats; by Siy RicHarp Crayton, Bart. : _ 2 P. 261. A Descrip- CONTENTS. ae 4 Description of the Eve of the Szar; dy Mr. Hey, of Lzxps. - - - P3274. OxseRvATIONS on the KNowLeDGE of the ANCIENTS refpecting Exectricity ; 2y WiLL1aAM Fatconer, M.D. F.R.S. Communicated by Dr. Percivar Pr 27g, gies on fome fuppofed DruipicaL REMAINS, near Hatirax in YORKSHIRE; by Mr. Tuo- Mas BaRRITT~ - ~ - = Rep 202 Account of an ancrENT Monument in Hun ABBEY, NORTHUMBERLAND ; dy JoHN FeEr- riaR, M.D. - - ~ ae eer gO. Ou the Nature and UTitity of Eroquence; dy RicHarp Suarp, F.S. A. - P. 307; Some PRopertigs of GEOMETRICAL SERIES explained in the SoLuTION of @ PRosieM, which hath been thought indeterminate; by Joun RoTuERam, M. D. P...9:30. On EF 0¢, by the Rev. James Woop, A. M. | Fellow of St. Fobn’s College, Cambridge. Commu- nicated by Thomas Percival, M.D. F.R.S. &ec. P; 390. ConsipEraTions relative to the Nature of Woot, Six, and Corron, as Oxjects of the Arr of Dyinc; on the various PREPARATIONS, and Morpants, requifite for thefe different Supstan- ces; and on the Nature and Properties of coLouriInG Matter. Together with fome Ox- SERVATIONS on the Turory of DyInc in general, and wi CONTENTS. and particularly the Turxty Rep; by Tuomas Henry, F.R.S. and of the Amer. Philof. Society, at Philadelphia - - - ~~ Pangage OssERvaTions ré/pecting the History of Puysi- ocnomy ; dy THomas Cooper, Ey. P. 408. Description of a Girory; dy Joun Haycartn, M.B. F.R.S. Lond. F.R.S. and R.M.S. Edinb. and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Communicated by Dr, Percival, P. 463. EXPERIMENTS 0” the Fusion of Piatina; by Mr. Tuomas WILtis, Chemift, at the Hermitage, London. Communicated by Mr. Tuomas Henry, F.R.S. €&2. - - - =. CP oaGz Propositions re/pecting the FouNDATION of CiviL GovERNMENT; fy Tuomas Cooper, Ef. P. 481. OBsERVATIONS on the ART of PAINTING, among _ the Ancients; dy Tuomas Cooper, Ef. . Py i$ 10) Some Account of a Mine in which the AERATED Barytes is found; by Mr. James Watt, jun. P. cae. On the Errects produced by DIFFERENT COMBINA- TIONS of the Terra Ponderofa given to Animals ; by Mr. James WatTT, jun. - - P. 609. An Apvrrnprx to the Inquiry concerning the PRin- crpLes of TaxaTion ; confifting of SUPPLEMEN- Tary Notes and \tiusrrations — P. 619. LIST ee SS SO ee iM, PEM 9.0% LR 8 . LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF MANCHESTER. din Inquiry into the Principtes and Limits of Taxation as a Branch of Morat and Pouiticar Puitosopny; Jy THomas Percivat, M. D. F. R. S. Lond. and Edinb. Member of the Royal Society of Medicine at Paris; of the Royal Soc. of Agriculture at Lyons; and of the Philofophical Soc. at Philadelphia, ce. &e.* MANCHESTER MARCH 24, 1785. 4 AN has a natural right to life, liberty, and property. Life is the gift of God, and held under his difpofal and authority: Liberty is effential to the perfection of a rational, a moral, and * This little traé&t was written for difcuffion in the Literary and Philofophical Society, at a period when taxation was a fubje& peculiarly interefting to the inhabitants of Manchefter, on account of a recent duty on the cotton manufactory ; which was afterwards repealed, through the candour and wifdom Vou. Il. B of 2 An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. and an accountable agent: And property refults from the éxertion of thofe powers and faculties, which the Deity has beftowed, which duty calls forth into aétion, and which are neceffary to well- being, and even to felf-prefervation. Thefe feve- ral rights involve the lawfulnefs of their fupport, and the guilt of their invafion. An attack upon his life or,Jiberty will juftify.a man, jin the defence of them, even to the deprivation of the life or liberty of his enemy. And the invafion of his property will warrant his reprifals on the property of the invader. But the ability of an individual would frequently be inadequate to the’ defence or protection of his rights; nor could he judge, with . impartiality, concerning the punifhment due to the violation of them. In a ftate of fociety, there- fore, individuals give up to the civil magiftrate, as their reprefentative, the right of protection and punifhment. This right becomes a public one, and is to be defended by the collective power, and united expence of the community.. From thefe principles flow the duty of allegiance, .the authority of laws, and the claims of revenue. To refift the attack of foreign enemies, fleets and of parliament. It was ballotted for infertion in a former volume of the Society’s Memoirs, but was then withdrawn by the author, and has fince been revifed and enlarged. An Appendix is added, at the end of this volume, containing wit plementary notes and illuftrations. armies An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. 3 armies muft be provided; to fupport domeftic peace, to adminifter diftributive juftice, and to regulate the police’ of cities and diftriéts, civil officers of various ranks and denominations are to be maintained and remunerated: And confider- able funds will be required for the encouragement of fcience, the advancement of arts, and the ex- tenfion of commerce. Thus multiplied and com- plicated are the juft and neceflary charges of government. | The moral obligation to pay taxes refults from the aLLectance due to the fovereign power, for the PROTECTION which it affords to life, liberty and property; and for the energy which it exerts in the promotion of order, induftry, virtue and happinefs. This obligation is common to the fubjects of every government; but under the happy confti- tution of Great Britain, where fubfidies are never claimed by the fupreme magittrate, without the confent of parliament, we become bound, by a VOLUNTARY compact, made by our delegates, to contribute to the public exigencies, in fuch proportions, and according to fuch modes, as they - have deliberately enacted. And, by the refufal to grant fuch contributions, or by the evafion of them, we not only injure the public weal, but, indirectly, rvvape the PROPERTY of our FELLOW-cITIZENS, who muft bear the bur- B 2 den, 4. An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. den of additional impofts, in confequence of our contumacious exemption. The validity of thefe feveral obligations is sisi clear and forcible. And as man is deftined, by his intelle€tual powers and moral propenfities, no lefs.than by his wants and weakneffes, for a ftate of fociety, the obligations are not merely voluntary, or of poftive inftitution; but, fo far as they are effential to that focial ftate, originate in the law of nature, which can be deemed no other than the will of God. Yet, though govern- ment, in this fenfe, is of divine authority, it is fo conftituted by its adaption to the interefts and felicity of its fubjects. The rights of the people, therefore, are not only antecedent to, but included in thofe of the magiftrate ; and, confequently, there can never fubfift a legitimate competition between them. Yet the hiftory of the world is one conti- nued feries of fuch competitions; and experience hath fully evinced, that they have generally fprung - from the arrogance, the ambition and the defpo- tifm of rulers. To vindicate the facred and un- alienable rights of the people is in reality, to fubferve the true ends of government. A good citizen, under every legal, equitable, and well admi- niftered polity, with duty and gratitude, will render unto Cafar the things that are Cafar’s: But. the decifion, concerning the things that are Cafar’s, refts not on the unftable foundation of arbitrary will; and the appeal may, with confidence, be made. An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. 5 made to the principles of reafon, of juftice, and of patriotifm. On thefe principles, 1 fhall endea- vor to explain the limits of the feveral moral obligations, \aid down in the three wept propofitions.* (4) - I. Atzeciance is due for the pRoTECTION of the fovereign power. . But protection! may be paid for at too high a rate. For, in every convention, a juft’. proportion fhould be preferved, between the price and the value of the commodity. “ If, “to purchafe a’ fword for my defence again{t a « thief, I muft empty my purfe, intereft will lead « me rather to make a compofition with the plun- «¢ derer ; or prudence will dictate fome other lefs « chargeable means of fecurity.”+ Lord Herbert of Cherbury relates, in his travels through Savoy, that « though the Duke had put extreme taxations “on his people, infomuch that they paid him “ not only a certain fum for every horfe, cow, ox, “or fheep that’ they kept ; but afterwards for «every chimney; and, finally, every perfon by «the pole, which amounted to a piftole or four- «teen fhillings a head or perfon, yet he wanted “« money: At which I did not fo much wonder, «as at the patience of his fubjeéts.”{ After the * The capitals refer to the notes in the appendix, which is placed at the end of the volume. $ Abbé Raynal. 4 Life of Lord Herbert. B 3 cruel 6 An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. cruel expulfion of the Moors from Spain, by which that kingdom was deprived of more than half a million of induftrious inhabitants, new contribu- tions were impofed on the poor and indolent na- tives, to fupply the unavoidable, though unex- pected deficiency of the royal revenue, refulting from that impolitic meafure. This fertile country has indeed been defolated by the oppreffive laws, and rapacious exactions of its government. The number of the people has been reduced, within the fpace of a few centuries, from twenty to feven millions; and the produce of corn, formerly fur- nifhing, not only a full fupply for internal confump- tion, but alfo a large exportation to other parts of Europe, is now infufficient for its own diminifhed population. Every manufacture, and even ne- ceffary of life, is charged with an impoft of fourteen per cent. on the firft, which is repeated on each fubfequent, fale.* Philip II. attempted to lay the fame burthenfome duty on his fubjects in the Netherlands ; and the attempt, it is. well known, was one principal caufe- of the glorious revolution, which freed the United Provinces from his tyranny. Protection may be very unduly or “unequally difpenfed ; and the ordinary benefits of the focial union not participated, in any reafonable degree, by the bulk of the community. -Great lords may * Lord Kaims. be An. Inquiry into the. Principles of Taxation. q be. fuffered to tyrannize over their tenants or vaffals; whilft, the country is; at the fame'time, made a prifon..to its inhabitants, by the: fevereft .prohibi- tions of emigration. At the beginning-of the fix- teenth century, there fubfifted,, in Ruffia,, no other flaves, except.prifoners of war... Anew ar- rangement took place after the conqueft of Cafan and. Aftracan. Thefe beautiful and fertile pro- vinces fo powerfully attracted, the; peafantry, that a rigorous, law enfueds in, 1556,,,. which, confined them _all.to their own glebe: And they :were thus at, once, divefted. of property. and perfonal liberty. * Similar. teyolutions, ;have occurred, in.,the. other northern ftates, and,, the. confequences. have been penury, ; wretchednefs.., and a degradation..of the human. fpecies.. In France, \the tax. called the Taille,.. ufed. to be Jevied on men,, who, being without. any. other.;property than their neceffary utenfils, and fubfifting folely on their daily wages, could not be, compelled to payment, even. by violence. itfelf. Every. colle€tor, who was con- {trained to: undertake. the. levy of the tax, had authority to; call upon. the four perfons in the dif- trict, whofe proportion of the Tartie was the greateft, to fill up all deficiencies; and they were thus forced, by the fale of their effects, or by imprifonment, to expiate the negligence of the colle&or or the poverty of their neighbors; not- * Abbé Raynal. B 4 withftanding $ An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. withftanding they had themfelves difcharged’ their own fhare of the impoft.* In fuch cafes, and in others which might be fpecified, the principles are fubverted, on which the claim to allegiance is founded: And taxes may then be enforced’ by penalties, but will no longer be paid from any juft fenfe of moral or political duty. | Subfidies may be perverted from their fit defignation, and applied to the purpofes of am- bition, oppreffion, or the eftablifhment of defpotic power. This occurred in the réign of James IT. and occafioned his expulfion from the kingdom. And in that of Charles I. when’ fhip-money was levied under the delufive and dangerous plea of ftate-neceffity, though England then enjoyed a profound peace with: all her neighbors, we ve- nerate the intrepid patriotifm of Hampden, for the noble ftand he individually made againft’ its exaction. Yet the exaction had been laid with great equality; had been fo generally fubmitted to by the people, as to produce, in 1636, more than two hundred thoufand pounds; and had been folemnly ‘authorifed by the twelve judges ; who, by their fervile decifion, to ufe the words of Lord Clarendon, « left no man any thing he might call his own.” | IJ. But it may be alleged that the oppofition of Hampden was chiefly grounded on the illegality Life of Turgot by the Marquis de Condorcet. ¢ . Q ll et etl ie ell KS Ass) eS. Se Exe An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. 9 of fhip-money, as fubjeéting the people to the arbitrary will of the prince; and that a Tax GRANTED BY PARLIAMENT is a folemn and voLuN- TARY coMpPACT, between the propie, and their SOVEREIGN, binding the former, in all cafes what- foever. This pofition implies the lower houfe of parliament to have been legally and conftitu- tionally chofen, and not like the packed affemblies in the reigns of Richard II. and James II. In the former, the fheriffs were commanded to fuffer none to be returned, as knights or burgeffes, but fuch as the king’s council fhould nominate.* And, in the: latter, the illicit pra¢tices employed in election produced complaints from every part of England. Yet fo fuccefsful were the arts of the court, that James exulted in there being only forty members, who were not entirely devoted to his intereft.+ Admitting, however, the regular election of our reprefentatives, a little confideration will evince, that the truft which is delegated can never be unconditional ; and that the powers vefted in them may lofe the force of moral obligation, by palpable abufe and unrelenting perverfion. Fear, felf-intereft, ignorance, or corruption may predominate in their deliberations, and prevail with them to facrifice the deareft interefts of thofe, by whom they are commiffioned. In the reign of * Parliamentary Hiftory. + Burnet. Henry 10 An Inquiry. into the Principles of Taxation. Henry VIII. .the:.parliament refigned. both: their civil and. ecclefiaftical liberties, tothe king,.and, by,one aét, totally fubverted the Englith conftitu- tion. For they gave to the king’s proclamations the full force of a legal ftatute ; and even framed the law, as. if it were onte declarative, and intended. only to explain. the true extent of the regal preroga- tive.* When. the fame arbitrary. monarch. heard that the commons made: a. difficulty of. granting a certain fupply, which he required, -he was. fo provoked, as to fend for Edward Montague, a member who had confiderable influence. in the houfe ; and laying his hand on the head of that gentleman, then on his knees before him, :im-, perioufly faid, get my dill paffed by to-morrow, or to-morrow this head of yours fhall be of. His def. potifm too well fucceeded ; for, the next day, the bill was paffed.t. Under the government of Edward VI. a gtievous and partial tax was im- pofed on the whole ftock and, moneyed | intereft in the kingdom, . with,an entire exemption. of the land. One fhilling in the pound .was to be levied . yearly on every perfon who poffeffed ten pounds, or upwards; a fum equal to half the yearly income of all money-holders, according to the rate of egal intereft. f * Hume, vol. IV. p. 210. + See Collins’s Britifh Peerage. Hume, vol. IV. p. 51- t Hume, vol. IV. p. 346. In ve Se An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. 11 In the year 1660 a perpetual excife on ale, beer, &c. was enacted, by parliament, as a commutation with Charles II. for the abolition of the court of wards and liveries. This court was an intolerable oppreffion on the nobility and gentry; as the king exercifed by it the wardfhip of all infant heirs; and enjoyed the benefit of their eftates,) till they had attained a legal majority. He had, alfo, the ab- folute difpofal both of male and female heirs in marriage, with other powers liable to great abufe. But it is evident that thefe feudal fervices affected folely the proprietors of land; whereas the excife mutt fall chiefly on the lower tenantry, and labor- ing poor; and that, therefore, the alleged com- mutation was, in-a confiderable degree, founded in fraud and injuftice. In this light it appeared to fome of the members of the houfe of commons: Mr. Annefley, in particular, urged, ‘ that if the bill “< was carried (which it was afterwards by a majority «< of two voices only) every man who earns his bread <¢ by the fweat of his brow muft pay excife, to excufe “the court of wards, which would be a greater “ grievance upon all, than the court of wards was “to a few.” * . . ‘There is on record a folemn refolution, which paffed in a committee of the houfe of commons April 6, 1780, when no lefs than four hundred * See Harris’s Life of Charles II. vol. I. p. 396. Parlia- mentary Hiftory, vol. XXIII. p. 21. | and 12 An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. and. forty-eight members were prefent, that the influence of the crown hath increafed, is increafing, and ought to be diminifbed.(s) And in the ftatute of a fubfequent feffion of parliament, for regulating the king’s houfehold, it is enaéted, that an oath be taken by the keeper of his majefty’s privy purfe, that no part of it fhall be applied to the ufe of any member of the houfe of commons. We are fur- ther warranted, in our apprehenfions of the danger arifing from. this fource, by the authority of the Baron de Montefquieu, who prediéts that the liberties of England will perifh, whenever the legiflative power fhall have become more corrupt than the executive: or, as it fhould, perhaps, have been expreffed, whenever the executive power fhall have acquired a corrupt afcendency over the legiflative. Inthe reign of Charles II. if the difpatches of Barillon may be credited, the king of France meditated the eftablifhment of a pecu- niary influence in the Englifh Parliament. It is alfo well known that Charles was himfelf a pen- fioner to this monarch, and received large fums for the moft illicit purpofes. When the crown egregioufly abufes its power, the commons, on various occafions, have thought themfelves juftifi- able in withholding the fupplies. If they, however, unhappily countenance and aid fuch abufes, and remain deaf to petitions, remonftrances, and every other conftitutional claim, the people may continue to fubmit, but cannot deem themfelves morally An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. 13 morally bound by their aéts: And Britons would then lofe the glory, which Plato afcribed to the citizens of Athens, of being at once the matters and flaves of the laws. The divifion of the fovereignty of thefe realms into three eftates, which, acting in concert, we denominate parliament, by reciprocal checks, and reciprocal aids, gives our civil polity advantages enjoyed by no other in Europe. Yet it was an apopthegm of the great Lord Treafurer Burleigh that England could never be ruined but by a par- liament.* And the doétrine of its omnipotence, which fucceeded that of the divine and indefeafible right of our kings, has contributed to the lofs of America, as well as to the feparation of Ireland; and may, hereafter, prove fubverfive of our liber- ties. For with the fpecious obfervance of every form of our conftitution, the effence of it may be annihilated; as occurred at Rome, under the def- potifm of Auguftus: For the fenate retained themfelyes the image of freedom, whilft they gave a full fanétion to his ufurpation. Indeed corporate bodies, when they affect unlimited power, are capable of proceeding to greater ic than any individual. Supreme authority is perfectly diftin&t ri arbitrary or abfolute power. The one is founded on certain fundamental principles, and limited by * Blackftone. certain 14 An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. certain conftitutional reftrictions; whilft the other is unconditional, and without all rational control. A juft government is obliged to the moft fcru- pulous attention to the original ends of its infti- tution. Nor can even wife and legitimate ends be purfued) by means inconfiftent with equity, becaufe no policy can ever fuperfede the laws of morality. And this rather dignifies, than de- -rogates from, fovereign dominion. For the Deity himfelf is bounded, in the exercife of power, not only by phyfical impoffibilities, but by the reéti- tude of his divine nature. Compulfion has been faid to be the effence of government.* But, I apprehend, compulfion is here miftaken for a power to compel; otherwife, there can be no diftin@tion between government and tyranny. The former is inftituted for the public weal, and, when fo adminiftered as to pro- | mote its falutary ends, will have the confidence, the refpect, and the voluntary obedience of a great majority of its members. Whereas the latter, according to a recent definition of eaftern defpo- tifm, regards “ the fovereign as pofleffed of a//, and the people of wo rights.” It exaéts what a wife man cannot freely give, and commands what a good man ought not to perform. “ The ftate “of every king,” fays the preamble to one of our acts of parliament, ‘ confifts more affuredly * Soame Jenyns. Sai An Inquiryinto the Principles of Taxation. 15 © in the love of the fubjeéts towards their prince, «‘than in! the dread of laws made’ with rigorous “‘ pains.”* But the love of the fubject can alone be’ fecured: by a full conviction that the fupreme magiftracy is cordially interefted in his profperity and happinefs. And this is beft evinced by ‘a ¥elu€tance. to impofe unneceffary burthens ;' ‘by equity and impartiality in the affeffment and colleétion of them, and by a readinefs to partici- pate in the facrifice of private intereft to public good.’ The Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, fold the furniture of the imperial palace, together with ‘his own veftments, and thofe. of the em- prefs, rather than levy a new tax on the peo- ple! + | III. In fupport of the moral obligation to pay taxes, it is juftly urged, that by our refu- fal to grant fuch contributions, we not only injure the commonwealth, but caft upon others that debt, which we ought to difcharge ourfelves. A venerable philofopher has, in a very appofite manner, illuftrated this argument, by the follow- ing analogy. ‘ What fhould we think of a com+ “ panion, who having fupped with his friends at “a tavern, and partaken equally of the joys of «the evening with the reft of us, would never- * thelefs contrive, by fome artifice, to fhift his _ ® See Blacktftone’s Commentaries, vol. IV. p. 17. + Aul. Gell. ¢ fhare 16 An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. “« fhare of the reckoning upon others, to go {cot “free? If a man, who practifed this, would, “when deteéted, be deemed and called a icoun- “ drel, what ought he to be called, who can ‘enjoy all the ineftimable benefits of public “ fociety, and yet contrive to evade paying his “< juft fhare of the expence, and wrongfully throw “it upon his honefter, and, perhaps, poorer “neighbors ?”* But fuppofe the fhare to be unjuft, or partially demanded; is the impofition to be fubmitted to without complaint or remon- ftrance ? The plea of equity, which authorizes one to withhold a public fubfidy, if well founded, muft be clearly difcernible by the underftand- ing of his neighbor, and ought alike to direé& his conduét.. Should he, therefore, through the want of patriotifm, or the fear of penalty, acquiefce in oppreffion, he defervedly incurs both the blame and the fuffering. Mr. Hampden withftood the affeffment of fhip-money, in oppofition to the una- nimous opinion of the twelve judges; and in vindication of the unalienable rights of his fellow- fubjects, expofed himfelf, for the trifling fum of twenty fhillings, to the wna e and =" perfecution of the court. I am fenfible that pride, refentment, fabiiori, and felf-intereft fet themfelves in oppofition to the ftate ; and, that men, fo actuated, may falfely * Franklin’s Political and Mifcellaneous Pieces, p. 69. affume 4n Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. 17 affume the motives and principles of the confcien- tious and the good. Penalties, therefore, are wifely annexed to the infringement of the laws of revenue: And authority is properly exerted in the ordinary courfe of government, to awe the refractory into fubmiffion. But it muft ftill reft with the people, ultimately, to decide concerning the moral force of that obligation to pay any particular tax, which 4s antecedent to the penalty incurred by difobe- dience ; becaufe fuch decifion can be referred to ‘no other tribunal, without the moft egregious - folecifm. And, where can the cafe be fhewn, in which the judgment and determination of the many hath not received its commencement in the judg- ment and determination of the few, and even of an individual? ‘The right, therefore, muft be ad- mitted to fubfift in both ; though the exercife of it can only be juftified on extraordinary occa- fions. (c) Nor can danger be apprehended to a well governed -fociety from this doétrine. For opprefflion muft be manifeft and heavy, before it will be generally refifted ; and partial offences, unfupported by public opinion, will be readily prevented by a vigilant police, or compenfated by pecuniary muléts. The refufal of Mr. Townfend, a very refpectable magiftrate in London, to pay his affeffinent to the land-tax, is within the me- mory of every gentleman prefent. He grounded this refufal on the arbitrary proceedings of the Vor. JII. - houfe 18 An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. houfe of commons, relative to the Middlefex elec- tion; and the confequent illegality of an impofi- .tion, levied on a county in which the people were not duly reprefented. His conduét, on this occafion, was influenced by no fordid motives, and proceeded folely from a patriotic zeal to fecure the rights of election. Yet a jury of Middlefex men gave a verdict againft him, without fcruple or hefita- ‘tion. And their decifion was reafonable and proper, becaufe the bonds of the ftate are not to be rafhly loofened by every temporary error or mifconduéct of ftatefmen. Candid allowances will and ought to be made for the paffions, prejudices, and im- perfections incident to our governors, provided their general conduct evinces wifdom and reétitude. Indeed there is fo much veneration for power, fo great a fear of prefent fuffering, and fuch habitual regard to the forms of civil furthateiton in the bulk of the people, that maxims of paffive obedience are hot neceffary to their fubjection ; whilft they are highly injurious to their rulers; of which the hiftory of the Stuarts affords the fulleft evidence. (p) For the temptations to abufe power are, at all times, greater than thofe of oppofition to it; and the abufe is attended with more permanent evils to fociety. An equitable and well eftablifhed legifla- ture can, therefore, be under no neceffity of in- flicting heavy penalties on breaches of the laws of : revenue ; 4n Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. 19 revenue ; and punifhments of a different nature are feldom, if ever; to be juftified. We read, with horror, that in the empire of Japan, death is inflicted on the fmuggler. And our fentiments of equity and humanity are almoft equally fhocked with the account given by M. Necker, that more than three hundred men, of the province of Bre- tagne alone, are annually configned to flavery in the gallies of France,- for carrying on an illicit com- Merce in the two articles of falt and tobacco. The truth is, this political crime makes little impreffion on the moral feelings of the mind, till its nature, extent and confequences have been ex- amined and recognized by reafon. And to fuch inveftigation the generality of men have neither leifure nor ability to apply themfelves. Turpitude in human actions is marked either by the grofs defect of good principles, or the prevalence of bad ones. Fraud, difhonefty, perfidy, and cruelty neceffarily involve in them a confcioufnefs of guilt ; and, therefore, indicate a mind devoid of rectitude, or overborne by the predominance of malignant paffions. But the retention of what is the acknow- ledged property of the individual, before it is claimed by the ftate, though, at all times culpable, and deferving of punifhment, in ordinary cafes, when the nature of the obligation is not fufficiently underftood, implies no high degree of crimina- ; C.2 lity. 20 An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. lity.* And he, who avails himfelf, without the fcruples which he ought to feel, of the carelefnefs ‘or miftake of a tax-gatherer, to evade the propor- tional payment exacted from his neighbors, would blufh to take advantage of the tradefman, who, ‘by fimilar carelefnefs or miftake, hath omitted, in his bill, fome part of the debt which is owing to him. But, when invafion threatens a country, or public calamity calls forth the exertions of every member of the ftate, the fentiments of the mind being reverfed, breach of allegiance, under fuch circumftances, would be deemed almoft equal to the crime of parricide. We may illuftrate this obfervation by a cafe in military fervice, with refpeét to our feelings, fomewhat parallel. No one, but the officer on guard, would punifh the _ Sleeping centinel-with feverity, during the feafon of “peace. But, on fome critical and very import- ant conjuncture, in time of war, the fame offence would merit death, in the eftimation of the moft humane fpeétator. To eftablith a fcale of crimes, — with exaét precifion, fo as to affign to each its due degree of punifhment, is beyond the extent of human ability ; and can be accomplifhed only by the omnifcient Searcher of hearts. But the penal * On this fubje&t confult Montefquieu, Beccaria, Blackstone, Lord Kaims, Dr. Adam Smith, &c. laws Au Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. 21 laws of government fhould be founded on a like difcrimination, fo far as it is praéticable, clear, and obvious ; and, in all doubtful cafes, fhould incline more to mildnefs than feverity. For it is juftly obferved, in the preamble of the ftatute before referred to, ‘* that laws, made for the prefervation «of the commonwealth, without great penalties, «¢ are more often obeyed and kept, than laws made « with extreme punifhments.” “1 have thus endeavored, with great brevity, to trace the origin, to explain the principles, and to determine the extent of a duty, which, though effential to the being of fociety, and of equal $ importance to the governors and governed, in every: community, has not hitherto, I believe, received a fpecific denomination in any language. No- thing tends more to the eftablifhment of juft authority, than the free and temperate inveftigation of the reafons on which it is founded. And, from what has been advanced, I prefume, it may be inferred, that a fax can be of no moral obligation, when the claim to allegiance is abfolutely forfeited ; that it is of imperfeé obligation from mere general allegiance; and that, to give it ful] and complete validity, it fhould be a Levy MADE ON THE ComM- MUNITY, BY LAWFUL AUTHORITY; ACCORDING TO , PRESCRIBED FORMS; IN AN EQUITABLE MODE AND PROPORTION 5; and FOR THE PUBLIC WEAL. Cris In 22 An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. In Britain, the LAWFUL AUTHORITY, competent to impofe a fubfidy, can only be that of the king, lords, and commons, in parliament affem- bled, The king is reprefentative of the majefty of the people; from them he derives his dignity ; to their deputies, his minifters and counfellors are amenable; and his prerogatives * confift only in a difcretionary power of doing good. And, if the regal office be a delegation, the peerage, which flows from it, muft participate of its nature. The three eftates, therefore, though in different modes of truft, feverally and collectively, act in behalf of, and are virtually refponfible to the com- munity,; who poflefs, and frequently exercife, to- wards each of them, the right of petition and remonftrance, But much circumfpection is re- quired in applying practically the ideas of REPRE-' SENTATION to the regal and ariftocratical branches of our conftitution. Thefe indeed are delegates, but in a qualified fenfe; and fhould be reforted to. only, in this view, on preffing emergencies. For the commons are the deputed guardians of the people’s rights; commiffioned, by them, to aét according to, and to exprefs their united fuf- frage ; and renewing their truft and accountable- nefs, on every fucceffive election. It is derogatory, therefore, of their importance and dignity, and * Locke, Blackitone, mutt An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. — 23 fnuft tend to diminith their due weight in the fcale of government, to transfer the peculiar fun¢tions with which they are invefted to the peers, or to the throne. (£) Of. the rorms prefcribed in paffing a money bill, the moft effential to its moral validity, be- caufe moft interefting to the liberty of, the fubjett, js, that it fhould originate folely, in the houfe of commons. _ For. the lords, being a permanent, hereditary body, created at pleafure by the king, are fuppofed to be more liable to be influenced by the crown; and, when once influenced, to conti- nue fo, than the commons, who are freely elected, and only for a limited time, by the people.* This privilege forms the great conftitutional check on the executive branch of adminiftration, and every good citizen fhould watch over it. with unremitting and jealous attention; extending his diligent and pa- triotic obférvation even to turnpikes, parifh-rates, and impofts collected, not for the exigencies of goyernment alone, but for private and local benefit. | To apportion the taxes, with all poffible -rm- PARTIALITy, is effential to their having the full force of moral obligation. Yet this is the moft arduous office of the financier; and, when a kingdom is under the preffure of accumulated * Blackftone. C4 debts, [24] An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. debts, can, perhaps, be accomplifhed only. by fuch a modification of the whole fyftem of revenue, as fhall compenfate the unavoidable excefles in fome cafes, by equitable exemptions in others. Impofts on articles of provifion have often been fo improvidently laid, as to occafion great diftrefs amongft the pcor. And, as they are the chief confumers, becaufe the moft numerous order of the ftate, the difproportion, attending fuch ex- actions, is an injuftice equal to the cruelty of the exactions themfelves. “ Previous to all the laws “ of fociety, man had a right to fubfift. And «is he to lofe that right by the eftablifhment of «laws? To fell the produce of the earth to the « people, at an exorbitant price, is, in reality, to « deprive them of it. To wreft from them, by “a tax, the natural means of preferving life, is « to affect the very principle of their exiftence.”* But I would not be underftood to object to the impofition of moderate duties on the neceffaries of life. “When judicioufly planned, and gradually laid on articles which are cheap and plentiful, they promote induftry, ingenuity and fobriety ; and are paid cheerfully, becaufe imperceptibly, as they are confounded with the value of the commodity itfelf. (r) During the impofts of the Sforzas on the harvefts and markets of the Piedmontefe, the fkill * Abbé Raynal. and \ n Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. [25] and enterprifing fpirit of that people were roufed to the higheft exertion; and their fabrics of filk and cotton were then worked with fuch elegance and expedition, by the invention of machinery, as precluded all competition. The gentlemen en- gaged in the manufactures of Manchefter will find thefe obfervations perfectly confonant to their own experience; yet they are of dangerous tendency, and admiffible only within certain reftrictions. For both art and activity are not only bounded in their extent, but are precarious in their duration, and dependent on a variety of unforefeen contin- gencies. And, though the moderate preffure of wants, which may be gratified without much diffi- culty, ftimulates to exertion; yet, neceffity creates defpair, the parent of idlenefs, profligacy, and mifery. Under fuch circumftances, the produc- tive laborers of the ftate will be confiderably di- minifhed in number, and will be compelled to raife the price of induftry to a height fubverfive both of trade and commerce. It muft be remem- bered, alfo, that thefe working members are incident to the feverity of feafons, as well as to the fluc- tuation and inftability of thofe manual arts which depend on fafhion, local conyeniencies, or foreign materials; and that they are often plunged into fufferings which calJl for public aid, and ought to fuperfede exaction. Befides, there is at all times, and in every place a numerous clafs of poor, who, [26] An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. who, from a want of fkill, of health, and of that energy which originates from the united powers. of nature and education, are barely qualified to earn, from day to day, a fcanty fubfiftence. Yet | thefe are, equally with ‘ourfelves, the commoners of the earth; and have a juft claim to fome portion of the good things of life. May we not alfo add, that there muft be hewers of wood and drawers of water ; and, that to execute the meaneft and moft fubordinate offices is effential to com- plete the aggregate of human induftry and hap- pinefs. A wife polity, therefore, will not, by a rigid fyftem of finance, promote the extin¢tion of fuch men, but will treat them with proper indulgence, will encourage their marriages, and, by well planned inftitutions, render their pofterity virtuous, active, and ufeful citizens. The penury and depopulation of Spain have been proved, by Uttariz, to arife, not from emigrations to America and the Weft Indies, but from the oppreffive laws of revenue which prevail in that country. When Lord Molefworth refided in Denmark, the collec- tors of the poll-tax were obliged to accept of old feather-beds and other neceffaries, inftead of mo- ney, from the inhabitants of a town, which once raifed 200,000 rix-dollars for Chriftian IV. on twenty-four hours’ notice. ‘In Holland, manufac- tures have long been in a declining ftate. It has been calculated, that one third of every man’s in- come. “An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. [27] come is paid in fubfidies. Bread, I am informed, is taxed at from twelve to fifteen per cent. and in towns much higher ; malt liquor at fifteen per cent. and butchers’ meat at twenty per cent. Nothing could counteraét fuch heavy duties, on the lower orders of the people, but the extreme frugality and perfevering induftry, which characterize the inhabitants of the United Provinces. The equity of an impoft; and, confequently, . its moral validity, is very materially affected by the mope of assEssMENT. For the time ex- pended, the vexation occafioned, and the indig- nity fuftained by it may be equivalent to a ma- nifold, and, therefore, difproportional payment. Hearth-money, which was granted to Charles II. his heirs and fucceffors, for ever, was abrogated, in the year 1688, by an act of William and Mary; of which the following is the preamble, « That it “ it is not only a great oppreffion upon the poorer “ fort, but a badge of flavery upon the whole peo- _ «ple; expofing every man’s houfe to be entered ‘into, and fearched, at pleafure, by perfons un- “known to him.”* The excife, from its firft inftitution to the prefent time, has been odious to the people of England. It extends to a very nu- merous detail of commodities, the lift of which, fays Sir William Blackftone, no friend to his * Lord Kaims’s Sketches, vol. II. p. 354. 7 country [28] An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. country would with to fee farther increafed. Yet it has been greatly increafed fince the time of this excellent judge, and, I believe, with additional vex- ations and feverities. The officers, concerned in this branch of revenue, are authorized to enter and to fearch the houfes of perfons, who deal in excife- able articles, at all hours of the day, and in many cafes, of the night alfo. And the proceedings, under fufpicion of tranfgreffion, are fo fummary and fudden, that, in a very fhort fpace of time, a man may be convicted in the penalty of many thoufand pounds, by two commiffioners, or juttices of the peace, or even by the fame number of magiftrates, in the fmalleft corporate town, to the total exclufion of the trial by jury, and without regard to the common law of the land.* This mode of affeffment might, perhaps, be ren- dered more confonant to the principles of Britith liberty, and to the ordinary proceedings of legal adminiftration. There feems to be no fufficient reafon for the exclufion of a jury, nor for deciding in a way fo unufually fudden and fummary. Ap- peals, alfo, fhould be admiffible, in all cafes, to the quarter feffions, or to fome public and refpectable tribunal. And the perfons profecuted fhould be allowed counfel for their defence, together with full cofts of fuit, and even damages, if judgment * See Blackftone, Burn’s Juftice of the Peace, &c. be An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. [29] be awarded in their favor. Nor does it feem equitable, provided no perjury has been prattifed, nor malignant intention manifefted, that, when the plaintiff is non-fuited, the officer of revenue fhould recover treble cofts. Thefe alterations in the ftatutes of excife would not occafion any delay, of confequence, to the revenue; and they might obviate abufes, which, by creating murmurs and difcontent, diminifh the veneration due to the Jaws. (G) In the Highlands of Scotland, it is faid by Lord Kaims, that the excife upon ale and fpirits defrays not the falaries of the officers, who levy it. The people, therefore, are burthened with a contribution, which adds to the expence of government, and with- draws from ufeful: labor many induftrious hands. | This laft confideration feldom enters into the eftimate of the financier: Yet the magnitude of it will be apparent from the late obfervations of M. Necker, who computes that the tax-gatherers in France amount to two hundred and fifty thoufand perfons ; thirty-five thoufand of whom devote their whole time to the bufinefs. The enforcement of impofts by oaths may be fuppofed rather to increafe, than to diminifh their moral validity. Yet it is a prac- tice that, on trivial occafions, feems to participate of impiety; and, on all occafions, is conduéted with fo much carelefnefs and irreverence, as tends to the moft pernicious confequences. A million of [30] An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. of perjuries are fuppofed, by a very able calculator, to be annually committed in this kingdom.* (n) In the definition of a tax, which has the full force of a moral obligation, it has been laid down, as its ultimate and moft important conftituent, that it is a levy made for the pustic coop. And ‘it is the fpecial duty of the fupreme power to keep this facred end in view, in the exaétion of every fubfidy. The confidence and veneration of the people would thus be fecured; and a refpect- ful fubmiffion would be paid even to the errors of government, as unayoidable confequences of human frailty ; and as only temporary grievances, which better information would redrefs.. In the application alfo of the national funds, the like rigid attention to wifdom and rectitude fhould be uniformly maintained. How often has it been urged to me, fays M. Necker, can you refufe to afk the king for a thoufand crowns, to relieve fuch a perfon whofe misfortunes are known to you. Will the royal exchequer be the poorer for it? Forget, I have replied, this royal exchequer, which you confider only as an accumulated mafs of money, without having examined its fource : A thoufand crowns are the amount of the land-tax of two villages; and I leave you to judge whether the perfon for whom you folicit has a juft claim to the labor and contributions of their inhabitants. * Price on the American revolution, p. 82. It An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation. [31] It is a violation (obferves the fame honeft financier, in another part of his work, with which I fhall now conclude)—It is a violation of the moft ‘facred of all depofits, to employ the facrifices of a whole hation in inconfiderate prodigalities, ufelefs expences, and undertakings foreign to the good of the ftate. N. B. The enlargement of this effay, has occa- fioned fupernumerary pages, which the printer has diftinguifbed by crotchets. An Appendix, containing notes and illuftrations, is inferted at the end of the volume. Of poputar ILusions, and particularly of MEDI- cat Demonotocy. By Joun Ferriar, M.D. The earth has bubbles, as the water has, And thefe are of them. SHAKESPEARE. READ MAY 12, 1786. HERE are two claflés of readers, who will probably expect little entertainment from the fubjeét of this effay ; thofe who are not acquainted with it as a branch of literature, will think it an idle tafk 24 On Popular Sup fons. tafk to attack the forgotten. follies of the nutfery ; ; thofe who know the number, the i ingenuity and im- portance of writers in this controverfy, may fuppofe that little can be added to their labours. To the firft I acknowledge, that we fhould hardly expeét that extravagant conceptions, frequently originating in the imbecility of obfcure and frantic individuals, fhould intereft political as well as literary bodies, fhould be defended and fapported with the moft tur- bulent clamours, and fhould fometimes endanger the fafety and order of fociety ; yet fuch have been - the effects of popular illufions ; fome of them indeed fo extraordinary, that nothing but the occurrence of fimilar events in our own times could gain them belief. Thefe facts conftitute a curious part of the hiftory of human reafon, and every where obtrude themfelves in medical refearches, yet I believe the fubject is in general mifapprehended, and errors are imputed to ignorance, which, however they arofe, were fupported in the moft enlightened times, and by writers of the greateft knowledge and acutenefs. A proper attention to fome facts feparated from the great mafs (for ] dare not undertake a complete hiftory) will convince us, that fuch infatuations are not always to be afcribed to the occafional workings _of diftempered minds, but to the general perfuafion of the moft intelligent; and that they derive their origin from the abufe of tendencies imparted for better purpofes. Ignorance On Popular Ilufions. 25 Ignorance and fear are generally faid to produce ‘the firft fuperftitions of uncivilized men; and they indeed affift each other powerfully. The mind feems to magnify the object of its terror in proportion to its irnorance of the properties of that objeét. But a caufe equally active with thefe, which operates both in the rude and polithed ftates of fociety, is the reftlefs-curiofity we derive from our conftitution refpecting the caufes of natural phenomena. Man, in’ the favage ftate, is melancholy and referved ; conftantly expofed to toils, and frequently to dan- gers, he affociates the ideas of hoftility or protection even with inanimate objects ; unacquainted with the relations of caufe and effect, he judges chiefly from thofe of refemblance; every ftorm is fuppofed to be dire€ted by an enemy, fimilar to the human adverfary, but fuperior both in powers of oppofition and concealment: the rock, or the tree which ‘fhelters him from the weather, or faves him from the purfuit of a wild beaft, becomes firft a patron, and then a divinity. Accordingly, the delufion of incantation was long fupported in Germany, becaufe the peafants could not account for the appearance - of hail-ftorms in fummer, but from the operations of witches* ; and the deification of ancient heroes and legiflators can only be explained on the princi- — ples of gratitude and veneration, which led their pple to hope that their benefactors continued ta * Wier. Lib. Apologet. behold 26 On Popular Illujfions. behold and protect them, after death, though heightened in their powers, and changed in their mode of exiftence. In certain ftates of man, refpect and adoration are fimultaneous; the Egyptians worfhipped different animals and vegetables; the Athenians confidered the pofts before their houfes as gods*; the Romans deified their military ftand- ards}, and erected a temple for their reception at every permanent ftation(a). Shakefpeare touches this difpofition finely, when Caliban worfhips the per- fon who firft gives him a draught of wine ; T’ll thew thee ev’ry fertile inch o’ the ifle, And I will kifs thy foot: I pri’thee be my god. ‘It is remarkable, that the propenfity to afcribe the powers of animated to inanimate beings, is the foundation of poetry; and what betrays men, in one ftage of fociety, to the loweft abfurdity, be- comes, in another, the fource of their moft elegant pleafure. | j An attention to dreams and omens is one of the firft aéts of fuperftition, and evidently derived from the affociations already mentioned. Not only the civil magiftrates and military commanders, but philofophers, in the brighteft periods of Greece and Rome, were enflaved by this obfervance. Pytha- goras and Plato, fays Cicerof, to increafe the cer- tainty of dreams, direét certain forms and diet pre- * Plutarch in Alcibiad. + Montfaucon L’ Ant. Expl. som. IV. t De Divinat, lib. I. paratory On Popular Ilufions. 27 paratory to fleep. Socrates predicted, while in pri- fon, that he fhould die within three days, becaufe he dreamt that a perfon repeated to him that verfe of Homer, * on the third day thou fhalt arrive at the fertile Phthia.” Ariftotle wrote exprefély' on this fpecies of Divination(s). Zeno, Cleanthes, Chryfippus, Babylonius Diogenes, Antipater and Pofidonius, are enumerated by Cicero, as writers on this fubjeét. That the aufpices were employed with a political defign there can be no doubt, and their utility was fully experienced in the affemblies of the people: they were likewife very ferviceable in promoting difcipline in the armies. The at- tention of the ancients to omens, in their military expeditions, was minute and conftant, nor could any neglect of them be eafily forgiven. The lofs of the Roman fleet, under Claudius Pulcher, was gene- rally attributed to his having drowned the holy chickens (c), and the death of Marcellus was im- puted to his negleét of the omens which forbid his advancing againft the enemy*. Inftances of this kind occur in every page of ancient hiftory, let us take one for all, When the Athenian fleet was jutt quitting the harbour, to attack the Corcyrians, the pilot happened to hear one of the rowers fneeze, by which he was fo much intimidated, that he ordered the fignal to be given for returning to their ftation, as if they had weighed anchor ‘inaufpicioufly ; and * Cic. and Plutarch. they 28 On Popular Iilafions. they would have returned to their anchorage, if the - admiral, Timotheus, had not fuddenly exclaimed, do you wonder that of fo many thoufands, one man fhould be troubled with a defluxion* ? It is a ftriking circumftance in the character of Pompey, that while he was difputing the empire of the world with his great rival, he collected aufpices from all quarters, confiding in their truth. It appears that the augurs knew how to make their predictions agreeable, for Cicero fays that every thing happened contrary to thern; omnia fere con- tra ac difta eveniffe (D). We may indulge our curiofity in remarking, how nearly the moft polifhed nations of antiquity, in thefe fuperftitions, approach the Indian tribes of North America. All the marches of the Indians are re- gulated by the dreams of the old warriors, who, under this pretence, often convey information gained by fpies to the young men: but it muft be obferved that they only pay attention to dreamers of efta- blifhed charaéter. They have their regular diviners, or conjurers alfo, who are at the fame time phy- ficians. When a difeafe proves mortal, the doctor is frequently in danger from the refentment of the patient’s friends: from this rifk, the progrefs of re- ‘finement has happily exempted the phyficians of Europe. In every Indian village, the war-woman alfo is a kind of oracle; by dreams and prefages, * Frontin. Strat. lib. II. + Cic de Divin. lib. I. fhe On Popular Illufions. 29 the direéts the hunters to their prey, and the warriors to the enemy, and is rewarded with a fhare of the fpoils ; but the unhappy female who afpires to this dignity, and whofe prefages are fallacious, (for there are frequently rivals) never efcapes without a fevere beating. Thefe circumftances recall to the mind Cefar’s account of the ancient Germans, and they are not the only ones in which the Indians ftrongly refemble the Celts. A perfuafion fo general and fo permanent mutt depend on affociations not more remote than thofe enumerated, but when we trace it, through the viciffitudes of governments, and alterations of man- ners, to the very clofe of the laft century; when we difcover that fome of the firft men in rank and abilities, of fo late a period, fupported it, and that fober and learned writers have defended it a few years back, we muft admit the influence of long- eftablifhed cuftom, and the dignity of antiquity to have powerfully affifted this delufion. Artifice and credulity have alfo confpired to its permanency ; and the Aftrological phyficians, founding their opinions on fome phznomena in the courfe of difeafes, which later obfervations feem to'extend*, had their full fhare in this operation. Cardan was one of the moft celebrated medical aftrologers, and boafts.with much fatisfaétion, that on being informed of the fymptoms. for which Hamilton, Archbifhop of St. * See Dr. Balfour’s Obf. ‘ Andrews 30 On Popular Illufions. Andrews, wifhed to confult him, he declared without hefitation the exact fituation of the planets at his nativity, which he afterwards verified, by calculating his horofcope. Several hiftorians relate that after curing the Archbifhop, he foretold the manner of his death ; but the truth of this affertion is extremely doubtful, for Cardan, who was not difpofed to con- ceal his own excellence, would not have failed to boaft of fo extraordinary a circumftance, yet we find no trace of the prediction in his works, though he publifhed Hamilton’s Horofcope, among others, | with a commentary. Porta and Fernelius followed Cardan in combining medicine with aftrology. Pa- racelfus, by fuppofing a fpirit derived from fome conftellation to refide in every human being, ren- dered the connection ftill more intimate. Severinus and Hartmann followed his opinions. Horftius believed not only that certain ‘conjunétions of the ftars produce epidemics, but that evil afpects pro- duce miafmata*. The grave and fagacius Lommius fuppofes that the Sita of comets prefages the plague t. At length, the Cartefian Philofophy produced inquiries that terminated in more rational conclu- fions refpeéting medicine ; the influence of fome of the planetary bodies on the human frame was al- lowed, as far as they.could be fuppofed to affect the ftate of the atmofphere, but the effeét of their ~ * Page 258. + Obf. Med. p. 31. ne afpetts On Popular Mlufions, 3i afpects was denied. But the opinion was not fo fpeedily difcredited among other claffes of men, as with phyficians. Some of the firft charaéters in France were infatuated with their belief in pretended prophets. Wierus* fays they were remarkable in his time on this account.: Sully declares that one of the confiderations which kept him faithful to his mafter, in the moft unpromifing ftate of his affairs, was a prediction of La Broffe, that Henry would make his fortune+; Henry himfelf was very uneafy, before his affaffination, on ac- count of fome propheciest. The aftrologer Morin dire&ted Cardinal Richlieu’s motions in fome of his journies§. In this country prophecies were always eagerly attended to: Commines fays, that in his time, an Englifhman was never without a prophecy in his mouth. The ftatute of Queen Elizabeth againft falfe prophecies, was occafioned by the difturbances they excited in the ftate; the Earl of Northampton, in his Defen/ative, afferts that they had produced many civil commotions, and this affertion is repeated by Sir Edward Coke. During the reign of James I. the fathionable opinions encouraged every fpecies of delufion: Lilly was an ufeful tool to the Long Parliament, and if we may truft his own reprefentation, con- * De Preftig. Demon. + Memoir. ‘ t Mem. de Sully. § Bayle Art. Morin. fidered 32 On Popular Ilifions: fidered by them with refpect; aftrologers and prophets {warmed at that time, and the credit given to them will ceafe to furprize, when we recollect that the predictions of Rice Evans, who lived then, have found defenders in War- burton and Jortin*. To thefe.we may add the names of Cudworth and Morhoff; the former defended prophecies in general, the latter the quatrains of Noftradamus+. It was in 1707, when this nation was advancing rapidly in the career of fcience, as well as of arms, that the French prophets appeared among us. They fpoke Latin and Greek without underftanding either, as they pretended(z). It muft be con- feffed that thefe infpired paflages are extremely barbarous, but they made noife enough to at- tract the notice of government, and the prophets finifhed their miffion in Bridewell. A fa& de- ferving more attention, is that at this time, when the extenfion of knowledge and reafon: is fo proudly boafted, and in this ifland of philofo- phers, as fome delight to term it, the poffeffion of a prophetic faculty is believed in fome of the northern parts of the kingdom; and shat fup- ported by evidence fo ftrong, as nearly to con- vince one of the moft acute philofophers of the age, in his vifit to thofe regions.. This {pecies * See the Appendix to the firft vol. of Jortin’s Ecclef. Hitt. + Polyhift. lib. I. cap. X. tom. I. of On Popular Ilufions. 33 of divination, fecond fight, or Tai/p as it is called by the natives, confifts in a day-vifion: as I know no better defcription of it than Thomf{on’s, I thall borrow his words. As when a fhepherd of the Hebride ifles, Plac’d far amid the melancholy main, (Whether it be lone fancy him beguiles, Or that aérial beings fometimes deign i To ftand embodied to our fenfes plain) Sees onthe naked hill, or valley low, The whilft in ocean Phoebus dips his wain, __ A vaft affembly moving to and fro ; Then all at once in air diflolves the wond’rous fhow. Cas. or INpoLenceE, C. I]. A very diftin& view of the Second Sight may be found in Martin’s Hiftory of the Weftern Iflands, with a large collection of narrations, furnifhed chiefly by the author’s friends; feveral communicated by the Seers themfelves. The. vifions are frightful, and uneafy to the Seer, who thinks himfelf unfortunate in poffeffing this faculty. His appearance to the fpectators, during a vifion, (for he alone perceives it) is, as defcribed, fornething like that of a patient in catalepfy ; he becomes immoveable, his eyes are fixed, and the eye-lids fometimes reverted. However if another Seer be prefent, the firft . can make him participate the vifion, if he has prefence of mind enough to touch him. They do not always underftand the meaning of what Vou, Il. D>. they 34 On Popular Illufions. they fee, and even when they form an abfolute’ _ prediction, in confequence of former experience, they are treated with derifion. Hor/es and cows, adds my author, poffefs the fecond fight. What- ever may be the cafe with thefe fagacious ani- mals, it appears highly probable that the Seers are hypochondriacal perfons. Their infular fituation, their folitary employments, their oppreffive poverty, added perhaps to the wild, uncultivated fcénes of their country, are fuffici- ent to produce a depraved ftate of body, and -confequently of imagination, in thofe who are at all pre-difpofed. A proof that the vifions ~ originate in the perfon’s own fancy, is given, undefignedly, by Martin himfelf. He relates that a Seer informed him, he was entirely relieved from his vifions by wearing a fprig of St. John’s- Wort quilted in the cape of his coat. Whatever effets this plant (called Fuga Demonum from ‘its f{uppofed virtues) might have produced inter, - nally as a bitter, no medical qualities could be exerted by it in this cafe; and it is difficult’ to account for the contempt with which Martin confeffes the predictions were at firft treated, otherwife than by fuppofing that the greater number had proved fallacious. Wierus fupplies an ample lift of the different fpecies of divination. The Chryftallomantia is well known in this country, by the fame of Kelly and Dee, This confifts in appearances of {pirits, x or On Popular Illufions. 35 or natural objects, defired to be feen, in a ma- gical lens. Meric Cafaubon publifhed Dee’s Conferences with Spirits, in a large folio, ac- companied with a Preface. Some curious par- ticulars refpecting this man, of Evans, and For- man, who was employed in Somerfet’s ,affair, may be found in Lilly’s Life; or in the Anti- quarian Repertory, where they have been lately republifhed. Martin relates that a fpecies of divination had been practifed in fome of the weftern iflands, within his memory, which does not appear to have prevailed in the reft of Europe; at leaft I find no notice of it among the demonologitts. The. perfons defirous of an oracle went into a folitary place, carrying with them an ox, which they killed on the fpot. A fire was then made, under a rock, or near a tree, the animal was flayed, and the boldeft of the’ company was - wrapped up in the hide, tied faft, and left alone during the whole night, to expect an anfwer to the demand made by his friends, from invifi- ble beings whom he heard about him. Martin adds that he had this relation from a perfon who himfelf had paffed a night in the hide, and , who affured him that he heard fuch dreadful | | | this fort of oracle howd be fo little known _ things. during that night, that no temptations fhould ever induce him to expofe himfelf again in the fame fituation(r). It is remarkable that to ~~ D 36 On Popular IMufions. to demonologifts, fince we meet with nearly the fame thing in the Eneid, when Latinus confults the oracle of Faunus: ° - ----- - hue dona facerdos Cum tulit, et cefarum ovium fub noéte filenti Pellibus incubuit ftratis, fomnofque petivit ; Multa modis fimulacra videt volitantia miris, Et varias audit voces, fruiturque Deorum Colloquio, atque imis Acheronta affatur Avernis. : Lib. VII. 86. The inhabitants of the weftern ifles ufed to divine, alfo, by roafting a cat. The original opinion of Magic feems to have been formed merely from the fuperior knowledge or dexterity of individuals. The fulleft proof of this may be found in Naudé’s Apology for great Men accufed of Magic; where he makes it apparent, that, at particular times, fuperior abilities always drew this imputation on their poffeffor, And all the writers on this fubject allow, that natural magic, which is their firit divifion, implies no more than an acquaintance with the’ leaft ob- vious facts of natural philofophy*. Excellence in a particular profeffion fometimes conftituted a magician; thus, in the laft century, Dr. Bartolo was feized by the inquifition at Rome, on a charge of necromancy, becaufe he unex- pectedly cured a nobleman of the gout. It is * See Agrippa, Cicogna, Morhofft, &c. &c. + Eryth. PinacothI p. 75. . : * probable we « * ee Sere Sere : On Popular Ilufions. 37 probable, that for a long time, magicians were fuppofed to operate only by natural means, the powers of which could not be eftimated in times of general ignorance. The repetition of verfes, or the preparation of herbs, were the firft ma- gical acts: Cicero imputes the origin of the word Saga to the ideds I have been defcribing. Sagire enim fentire acuté eff; ex quo fage anus, quia multa feire volunt, &8 fagaces difti canes*. But by degrees, religious opinions were interwoven with magic, and at length Plato’s hypothefis of aerial demons furnifhed a fyftem from which magical arts were explained with fufficient plaufibility. Quanquam Platoni credam, {ays Apuleius, inter Deos &F homines, natura et loco medias quafdam diverum poteftates interfitas, eafque divinationes cuntias SF ma- gorum miracula gubernaret. After the eftablifh- ment of chriftianity thefe operations were afcribed to diabolical influence, exerted by compact with the magician. The differences of this opinion » will be explained prefently. Magic is ufually divided into natural and divine, lawful {, and unlawful ||. Necromancy confifted in employing members of dead bodies as charms or remedies: according to this defi- nition, it was necromantic in all the colleges of Europe to infert the human fkull as a remedy in their difpenfatories.. But a complete table of J). * De Divinat. lib: II.» t Or ceremonial. its Fr + Apologia Prima. ry ||, Or demoniacal. 3 goin On Popular Ilufions. its divifions, with the operations which they feverally include, may be feen. in Paracelfus’s Philofophia Sagax, where its branches appear very numerous, Of all thefe, however,. the divifion of witchcraft, including poffeffions, has excited molt attention, and has indeed been moft “interefting, as a theological, legal and medical queftion. It js chiefly with refpeét to the. laft that I mean to confider it. » 1 fhall not. meddle with the controverfy of Jannes and Jambres, the magicians of Pharaoh, nor inquire whether the witch of Endor had a clofet*, neither is it neceflary to collect the claf- fical authorities for witchcraft: all this has been fully done+, and every thing, credible and in- credible, relating to the civil and religious hif- tory of the fubject may be found in Wierus, Del- rio, and in a very extraordinary book, entitled the Imaginations of Mr. Ouffle, which, with the moft childifh arrangement, and great poverty of invention, exhibits the completeft collection of demonological fa&ts to be found in any one work, . That in early ftates of fociety, difeafes were fuppofed to be inflicted by fupernatural powers, is an acknowledged fact, and#follows naturally from the general principle, of men’s anxiety to furmount their ignorance of the relations of caufe * See Scott and Webfter. + Wier. de Lamiis, © and ¥ 3 -On Popular Ilufions. 39 and effe&t. The difpofition, which, in one age, made Efculapius a god, in another, made Dr. Bartolo a necromancer; among the Egyptians « the offices of prieit and phyfician were originally joined; among the Jews, the prieft cured, the _leprous; among the Greeks, fpafmodic difeafes, and particularly epilepfy, were imputed to the ( anger of the gods, and managed by diviners. The firft part of Hippocrates’s Treatife De , Morbo Sacro is written againft this fuperftition, and contains a curious account of the diagnolis formed by the medical diviners. Sigquidem nam- que (agri) capram imitentur, «8 balatum edant, dex- tramque in partem convellantur, deorum matrem in caufa effe afferunt. Si vero acutiorem &F vehementioren vocem edat ager, equo fimile effe dicunt, ad Nep- tunum caufam referunt. Quod fi frercoris aliquid emit- > tat (quod nonnullis morbo prefis contingit ) Hecates Enodie appellatio adbibetur. Sin autem tenuius & . crebriys dejiciat, velut aves, Apollo Nomius. Si vero _ fpumam ex Ore demittat, & pedibus calcitret, Mars “author eff. He adds that befides the employment of.ceremonies, they forbad their patients to wear ~ a black veftment, becaufe black denoted death, or to fleep on a goat-fkin, or to place either hand, or foot, upon the other. According to thefe rules, fays he, a Libyan would never be cured of this diftemper, for in Libya goat-fkins are univerfally worn and flept in. Mie ata Galen * % xed 40 On Popular Illufions. Galen followed Hippocrates in afcribing all difeafes to natural caufes, and Avicenna Galen. An expreffion in Hippocrates’s Prognoftics, however, puzzled them 4 little, and was long urged by demonologitts, who always think them- felves at liberty to reprefent fats and opinions ~ in the. way moft favourable to themfelves. Thus Quinctius’s collection of dreams, apparitions and prophecies retailed in Cicero’s firft book of Divination, is quoted largely by thofe writers, without, any notice of the refutation produced in the fecond. Hippocrates has faid that a phy- fician ought to diftinguifh what is divine (11 Sev) in difeafes. As this apparently contradiéts the fentiments delivered in his Treatifé de Morbo Sacro, Galen, in his Commentary on the paflage, fuppofes that the phrafe is a gracifm, though it appears to have been generally underftood in the literal fenfe; he explains it to fignify, that a phyfician fhould ftudy the nature of the at- mofphere, from which fo many difeafes were fuppofed to proceed. Aretzeus fupplies an ufe- ful criticifm on the word tsp as applied to epi- lepfy, which’ ftrengthens Galen’s fuppofition. The difeafe is thus termed, according to him, on account of its feverity, becaufe ieev and mere were fynonimous with the Greeks. Among the modern coromentators on Hippocrates, Horftius | has the ingenuity to reconcile his opinion, and that of Galen, with his own. He allows that ecu Flippers is On Popular Illufions. 41 Hippocrates muft allude to the nature of the atmofphere, but thinks he refers to an occult quality produced by the immediate act of divine power, or, according to his own theory, by aftral influence. It would have been happy for Europe, if phy- ficians,. after the revival of letters, had followed the wife and temperate dictates of their great matter, with as much care as they inveltigated his uncertain hypothefés. As medical men ' generally determined the nature of the difeafes imputed to fafcination, fome fpirited decifions on the fide of common fenfe might have checked the fanguinary proceedings, which difgraced all the fixteenth, and great part of the feventeenth centuries. But a paffion for myfticifm, which in one fhape or other haunts the infancy of lite- ‘Fature, as well as of fociety, feized the faculty, and they dictated, at their eafe, thofe wretched abfurdities, by the authority of which hundreds of their fellow-creatures were fubje€ted to imprifon- ment, tortures, and an agonizing death. I cannot proceed without obferving, that the hiftory of this delufion is a perpetual reproach, to thofe who treat all innovations in fpeculative Opinions with indignation: thé firft writers againft the doétrine of witchcraft were ftigma- tized as. atheifts*, yet they only endeavoured * By Dr. Henry More, Glanville, and Cudworth, in this country. h to pu Wi On Popular Illufions. to prove the imbecility of the perfons taxed with fupernatural operations, and the infatuation or knavery of their accufers, -~-- wie de mug — naiovto bapsiat. TAIAA., A, For a ‘confiderable time after the IJnquifition was erected, the trials of witches (as heretics,) were _ confined to that tribunal, but the goods of thofe who were condemned being confifcated to the holy office, its minifters were fo active in dif- covering forcerers, that the different govern- ments found it neceffary to deprive them of the cognifance of this crime*. On the continent, commiffioners were then appointed for the dif- covery and conviction of witches, who, though lefs aétive than the inquifitors, were but too zealous in profecuting their function. In 14945% Sprenger and Inftitor, two perfons employed in this commiffion, publifhed a collection of trials, moft of which had come before themfelves, under the title of Malleus Maleficarum ; this ferved as a kind of inftitute for their fucceffors. Soon afterwards, the appearance of Agrippa’s Occult Philofophy ftrengthened the delufion, although that celebrated man did not credit the power of | forcererst+. He believed indeed in magic, but it was on the principle generally allowed at that * Cardanw + Naudé’s Apolog. p. 193. tf . time, % * t ¥ On Popular Illufions. 43 time, that there was an exatt.conformity be- tween the vifible and invifible worlds, confe- quently a poffibility of affecting what is unfeen, by its fympathy with the natural fubjeé, on which the magician operates(c). He alfo be- lieved it poffible to eftablifh a commerce with with angels. But the fourth book of the occult philofophy, which contains the forms for invo- cating demons, and defcriptions of their differ- i ent appearances, according to the method of invocation employed, is declared by Naudé and Wierus to be fpurious, as well as the ridiculous treatife imputed to Trithemius. Upon the whole, Agrippa appears in the three firft books, — where he is moft myftical, to confide in natural means, or angelic influence. His book, how- ever, procured him the charaéter of a forcerer, which was confirmed by his keeping a pug-dog with a collar, fuppofed to be an imp, and was put beyond all doubt by his exerting his influ- ence to fave a poor woman, accufed of witch- craft, from the flames, at Cologne. Wierus, who had ferved Agrippa, gave rife to the firtt great controverfy on this fubje&*. His matter had taught him humanity, and he. endeavoured, but with too feeble a hand, to ftop the bloody Proceedings of the judges. Wierus appears to * Bodinus fays that fome perfons, before Wierus, attempted ‘to thew the innocence of witches. : 7 have . 44 On Popular Iiufions. ZA have been a well-difpofed, weak man, with ex- tenfive reading on his fubject, but too narrow- — minded to comprehend it thoroughly. He in- volved himfelf in unfpeakable difficulties, by admitting the action of fupernatural powers in certain difeafes, and in poffeffions, while he denied that witches had any concurrence in them. Thefe appearances, faid he, are illufions _of the devil, who perfuades fimple and melan- ~ choly perfons that the mifchief he himfelf per- forms, is done by them, and at their pleafure. He was weak enough, to attempt the explana- tion of every ftory alleged by his antagonifts, without queftioning the truth of the facts. What puzzled him moft was the dura materies, that is, the crooked pins, old nails, black flannel, and other fubftances (or varia materies) vomited by the patients. There were three hypothefes for this phenomenon; 1. That the matter was only apparently difcharged, by an illufion, for Grillan- dus, an eminent lawyer, obferved that when the - fubftances vomited were kept for fome days, they. began to liquify, and at length difappeared: 2. Or that the devil enlarged the pores of the body, fo as to introduce the dura materies, and ' then fhut them up again; this was the opinion of Paracelfus and others*: 3. Or that the devil introduced thefe fubftances into the mouth, &c. * Wier. de“Malef. Affect. p. 313. at On Popular Illufions. 45 at the very moment when the affiftants perceived them. This laft opinion was adopted by Wierus, and certainly was a nearer approach to truth than the others, as it has been found that fecuring a patient’s hands has prevented kim from vomiting the dura materies*, of which his pockets were full. A fingle inftance will thew, however, that Wierus was exceffively embarraffed by this hypothefist+. A girl com- plained of fudden pain in her fide, and afferted that fhe felt a knife fticking in it, which fhe had juft -borrowed from her fifter; her relations laughed at this as an idle fancy, but on the’ burfting of an abcefs which had formed on the feat of the pain, the point of a knife became vifible, and the inftrument was extracted by a furgeon from Wolfenbuttel. Wierus, being a phyfician, knew very well that a knife fix inches long could not be thruft into the cellular fubftance without any external appearance of wound or hemorrhage; therefore he fuppofes the devil to have laid the knife upon the abcefs, fo as to difcover the point, but to have con-— cealed the handle by an illufion, reliquam cultelli partem preftigtis velafe. But as the knife was rufty, he believes the demon had kept it in fome dunghill, and as its fubftance was corroded, he muft have fteeped it in an acid. This is a * Hutchinfon’s Eff, on Witchcraft. + P. 307, & feq. fufficient 46 - On Popular Ilufions. fufficient fample of the ingenuity of doétor - Wierus(H). He was very anxious to prove that Agrippa’s dog was not a demon, but a natural dog, called Monfieur*: this ftrengthened the imputation caft on him by his adverfaries, of forcery. Bodinus, a French lawyer of eminence, who had affifted at feveral trials of witches, wrote againft Wierus, in his Demonomania. He urged the concurrent teftimonies of fufficient witnefles, and the confeffions of the witches themfelves, to eftablifh the exiftence of forcery. Wuierus owned that the unhappy perfons believed themfelves to be guilty of the crimes alleged againft them, but that they were deceived by the devil. But what do you make of the witches’ meetings, cried Bodinus? The witches, replied his antagonift, are atrabilious. This explanation was fo un- fatisfactory that Wierus paffed for a magician, whom the devil had furnifhed with fpecious arguments, to fave others from punifhment. Lerchemer, Godelmann, Ewichius, Ewaldus, and fome others followed him, notwithftanding this ftigma; but they were oppofed by men of more acutenefs and confiftency than themfelves; by Remigius, who had condemned feveral hundreds of forcerers to the flames, Delrio, whofe book is a complete Corpus Magi, Cujas, Eraftus, * De Magis Infamib. p. 111, Scribonius, > On Popular Ilufions. 47 Scribonius, Camerarius*, and a croud of others. Let us fee what phyficians thought of this con- troverfy. 4 Paracelfus allowed that difeafes may be pro- duced by witchcraft, that is, by a demon, in compact with a human being}; but he thought the devil had more to do with the art of medi- cine itfelf, than with its objects. He imagined that this cunning adverfary endeavoured to ruin medical practice, by raifing up quacks, pub- lifhing erroneous books, and fetting up igno- rant apothecaries, that he might difcredit the faculty, and bring patients to place their confi- dence in his own tools. Medicinam enim intaminatam diabolus non finit, fed fufcitat pfeudomedicos, profert erroneos libros, imperitos Pharmacopeos, Sc. boc fine, ut naturalibus mediis fua laus derogetur yt. Van Helmont alfo believed that the devil produced difeafes, but that he operated on the magnetic fpirit, which fhall be confidered elfe- where. He thought witches employed natural means ; /age operantur virtute naturali|. Paracelfus was loudly blamed for permitting magical remedies to be ufed, where the difeafe was imagined to be demoniacal. He was called a— forcerer. So difficult was it for a writer at that * Delrio. and Burton’s Anat. of Melahch. + De Sagis. t Ver, Influent, Rer. || Ort. Medicin. 479. time 48 On Popular Mlufions. time to efcape this imputation, ‘that Bodinus himfelf was accufed of forcery by De Thou. ° Sennertus, the firft eclectic philofopher and phyfician of Germany, wrote an exprefs treatife De Fafcinatione. He believed that witches in- jure in three different ways ; per vifum, vocem et contatium: That the plague was often occafioned by the compofition of certain powders and ointments, of diabolical prefcription: That the operations of witchcraft are proved by the autho- rity of judicialaéts, and by the agreement of witneffes examined at different*times, and in different places, but that the ation is always demoniacal, though performed with the witch’s confent, Itis true, fays he, I have cured patients of fimple inflammatory complaints, which per- fons accufed of forcery acknowledged themfelves to have produced; but as there was nothing preternatural in thofe difeafes, I conclude that the devil, forefeeing the complaints, deluded the witch, by perfuading her to put him on diftreffing the patient. He holds that the devil fometimes occafions difeafes by the medium of natural caufes, for example, epilepfy, palfy and “melancholy; that he fometimes produces com- plaints altogether preternatural; and fometimes only attacks the fancy, occafioning imaginary difeafes; that the nature of ‘the materies dura is uncertain ; but that witches are punifhable for their compacd and their confent to injure different . perfons, - On Popular Illufions. 49 perfons. He quotes a cafe of witchcraft from Zacutus, a Portuguefe phyfician, author of the famous Definiton of a Spoon*; a young lady was cured of convulfions, in prefence of Zacutus, by putting a paper cap, filled, with magical cha- racters, on her head. Dr. Balthafar Han com- municates to Sennertus the cafe of a Lady, who was fubject to fudden eruptions of crofés and aftrological charaéiers, on different parts of her fkin: it is remarkable that Dr. Warburton quotes a fimilar ftory from Ifaac Cafaubon, to fupport the miracles attending Julian’s effort to rebuild the temple of Jerufalem+. Mercatus, phyfician to Philip II. of Spain, a writer of un- common accuracy and information, appears ftrongly inclined to deny the exiftence of fafci- natory difeafes; but he is conftrained to ac- _ knowledge them for two reafons; firft, becaufe the inquifition had decided in favour of their reality ; fecondly, becaufe he had feen a very beautiful woman break a {teel mirror to pieces, by a fingle glance of her eyes, and blaft fome trees by merely looking on them; /olo a/peciu. Heurnius did not admit morbid fafcination, but he came round very ingenioufly to the com- mon fuperftition. He finds it recommended to * See Echard’s Dialogue, (againft Hobbes) and King’s _ Ufeful Tranfaétions. ; + See his Julian, Vor, III. E drink xe) On Popular Ilufions. drink human blood, and to eat a human liver, for the cure of epilepfy ; thefe remedies he fup- pofes to have been recommended by witches, who are imagined to be fond of human blood. To prove this, he quotes Apuleius and Philo- ftratus. It is truly ridiculous to find demono- logifts quoting the romance of Apuleius, (which isa palpable fatire on magical ftories,) as true hiftory (1). Mylius, Mynficht and Hofer (forgotten names) all believed the influence of witchcraft in difeafes. I fhall have occafion to fpeak of the two laft, in treating of the remedies for preternatural complaints. Baptifta Porta was not only a demonologift, but a fignaturift, that is, a believer in the con- formity of the virtues of plants to certain ex- ternal appearances, fuppofed to be impreffed by guardian angels.. The convallaria, or Solomon’s feal, and fome of the ferns, were celebrated re- medies of this kind. A Differtation de Simpli- cium Signaturis was publifhed at Rome, by Sinibaldo, in 1690. Severinus and Hartmann were followers of Paracelfus. . | Fernel faw a demoniac, who fpoke Greek, without underftanding it. Merindol, who flourifhed at Aix in Biwittice, about the beginning of the laft century, had con- fiderable practice in fafcinatory difeafes; he had the On Popular Mlufions. si the capuchins, the nuns of St. Clare, and the Urfulines, under his care, all bewitched(x). In a differtation annexed to his works,* he treats very fully of Amulets, which he divides into four kinds, divine, diabolical, vain, and natural. He permits the ufe of the firft and the laft. Dr. Thoner of Ulm relates a cafe of witch- craft, in his coufultations, which will be men- tioned more particularly hereafter. Carrichter is a medical demonologift, conftantly quoted, whofe works have never come in my way. Schenkius, in his Section de Demoniacis, affords nothing remarkable, excepting his advice to try exorcifm firft, and natural remedies afterwards, Fludd believed difeafes to be inflicted by the miniftry of angels. He publifhed a Treatife de Myftica Morborum Caufa. Dr. Willis, whofe labours contributed fo much towards forming the nervous pathology, fup- pofed convulfive diforders to originate, in fome cafes, from witchcraftt. He affigns the com- mon rules for difcovering fuch appearances, which fhall be noticed afterwards. Even the author of Religio Medici, if Dr. Hutchinfon may be credited}, inclined fo ftrongly to this perfuafion; that being interro- * Num liceat Periaptis ad morborum curationem uti. + De Morb. Convulfiv. p. 43. } Effay on Witchcraft, p. 151. E-2 - gated $2 On Popular Ilufions. gated by Lord Chief Juftice Hale, concerning a convulfive difeafe, attributed to two poor women who were tried before him, ‘he de- << clared, that he was clearly of opinion, that the “fits were natural, but heightened by the devil, «¢ co-operating with the malice of the witches, “¢ at whofe inftance. he did the villanies.” In confequence of this opinion, the criminals were condemned. Towards the clofe of the laft century, Dr. Boulton, an Englifh phyfician, publifhed his Medicina Magica, which I have never feen. Mean time, the belief in forcery was fo prevalent with the faculty, that a periodical work, pub- lifhed in Germany, to which the firft phyficians of the time contributed, was filled with hiftories of demoniacs, and diabolical illufions of all forts; I mean, the Mifcellanea Curiofa. One or two cogent examples are there recorded of demoniacal copulation, a fubjeét on which faints, and fathers of the church, as well as law- yers and phyficians, have exerted themfelves to accumulate the moft difgufting impurities. Another periodical collection, of confiderable note, the Aéta Hafnienfia, publifhed by the Bartholines, contains a good deal of demonology. One of the correfpondents relates that a country fellow becoming poffeffed, recited a page of the Timzus, to every one’s aftonifhment*. Chrif- a e topher On Popular Illufions. 53 topher Bartholine heard the following ftory from the mouth of the fufferer (a miner.) Going to his work one morning, the devil met him, in form of a little man, and offered him a pinch of fnuff. This, the workman thought proper to decline; the devil, enraged to find his courtefy defpifed, flew upon him, and beat him feverely*. In the fame work, is a confultation of Dr. Hannerman on a cafe of impotence ; the do¢tor’s firft inquiry is, a7 naturale, an magicum vitium fit t ? In this country, while the belief in witchcraft was fupported by royal authority (for James I. ‘is univerfally known to have written on demono- logy) countenanced by Baconj, and generally adopted among the people, only one writer was hardy enough to oppofe it. This was Reginald Scott, who publifhed a colle€tion of impoftures detected, under the title of Difcoveries of Witch- craft. James ordered the book to be burnt by the common. executioner, and the judges continued to burn witches as ufual. During the civil wars, upwards of eighty were hanged in Suffolk, on the accufations of Hopkins, the witch finder]. Webfter was the next writer againft witchcraft, but he had a different fate from that of Scott, for moft of his arguments were refuted by 71D, p, 12. + A&. Hafn. T. III. t Nat. Hift. Cent. X. ° \| Baxter, Hutchinfon, and Hudibras, Grit. E 3' Glanville. $4 On Popular Iluftons. Glanville. This very acute writer was induced to publifh his Philofophical Confiderations about Witchcraft, by the apprehenfion, that the increaf- ing difbelief of witches and apparitions tended to affect the evidences of religion, and even of a Deity. In refpect of argument, he was. cer- tainly fuperior to his adverfaries; his reafoning is perfpicuous, though fometimes fubtle, refted on the moft fpecious foundations of evidence, and arranged with great fkill. ‘In the firft edi- tion, he contented himfelf with relating the celebrated ftory of Mompeffon, as an example of the reality of demoniacal illufions, but after- wards he collected a confiderable number of hiftories*, which were publifhed after his death by his friend Dr. Henry More, who took an active part in the controverfy, and fubjoined to the Saducifimus Triumphatus, as Glanville’s book was now entitled, a differtation of his own, on the True Notion of a Spirit. Dr. More had previoufly related various abfurd ftories in his ‘Antidotus Adverfus Atheifmum, for, in ‘the abundance of his zeal, he alfo confidered the denial of the power of witches as atheiftical. .The celebrated Baxter added his name to the defenders of witchcraft; he made great ufe of the German demonologifts, and of the unhappy affair in New England. He thought the devil fo * In this collection, by Dr. More’s confeffion, there are confiderable miftakes both of peripons and places. : action On Popular Illufions. 55 active againft well-difpofed perfons, as frequently to raife whirlwinds, in order to carry away their linen, when hung out to dry: truly, fays he, I have often wondered to fee my own fmall linen caught up in an eddy, and carried out of fight, over the church-fteeple*!,(1) Several others ‘ engaged in the controverfy, a lift of whofe works may be found in the dedication to Dr, Hutchin- _fon’s hiftorical effay concerning witchcraft, pub- “lifhed about feventy years ago; a book which com- prehends the moft fatisfactory proofs fubverfive of this opinion, Dr. Hutchinfon alfo fupplies a very good chronological view of the delufion. On the’ continent, this controverfy feemed almoft forgotten, till Bekker publifhed his Monde Enchantée, in which he denied the exiftence of witches on the Cartefian principle, that the Deity is the fource of all action,: con- fequently actions fo oppofite to his nature and attributes cannot be fuppofed to exift. He was an{wered by Frederick Hoffman, the father of the modern theory and practice of medicine, in his Differtation De Diaboli Potentia in Corporat. Dr. Hoffman fets out with the ufual affertion of demonologifts, that the facts eftablifhing the do¢trine are as certain as any in hiftory; that the devil can alter the ftate of the atmofphere at pleafure, fo as to raife ftorms; that he can * Certainty of the World of Spirits. + Printed in the fifth volume of his Works, p. 98. E 4 produce 56 On Popular Ilufians. produce infects by his own power ; that, with _ refpect to the human fubject, he can act’ upon the animal {pirits, or even on the imagination, though he cannot divine our thoughts; and here the good doétor takes occafion to praife the devil’s . learning; ‘ he is an excellent optician and natu- “ral philofopher,” fays he, ‘ on account of his “long experience ;” fummus opticus et pbyficus, propter diuturnam experientiam. ‘This great man, who has fo finely illuftrated the theory of fpaf- modic difeafes, thinks they are fometimes pro- duced by witchcraft, although he confiders the witches merely as paffive inftruments of the demoniacal action: he relates the cafe of a woman who was afflicted with a fevere head-ach, from the time of her refufing to fell a calf’s head to a fuppofed witch, and does not fcruple to confider the difeafe as an effect of the witch’s refentment, This differtation was publifhed in the large edition of his works, by. the doctor himfelf, in 1747. From the time of Hoffman, I am not acquainted with any refpectable writer in favour of witchcraft (excepting that Brucker mentions incidentally, in his excellent Hiftoria Critica Philofophiz, in 1766, that he thinks the queftion ftill undecided*) till the year 1770, when Dr. de Haen of Vienna publifhed a defence of magic, chiefly on the authority of Philo- * Tom. V. p. 711. itratus, - On Popular Illufions. 57 ftratus, and the fathers of the church. But at that time, the opinion was fo completely exploded among the faculty, that he did not provoke a fingle antagonift. The number of thofe who have been facrificed to this delufion cannot perhaps be afcertained ; by Dr. Hutchinfon’s collection of facts it appears, that, at certain times, many victims have fallen together, and it is a remark not peculiar to him, that the condemnation of one witch has always led to the difcovery of others. The lateft phrenzy of this kind, was that in New England, about 1692, when, fays Hutchinfon, the imprifonment and execution of witches made as great a calamity there as a@ plague or a war. The accufers became fo daring, that neither civil nor religious authority would have proved a fecurity againft their attacks, if all the profecutions had not been fuddenly drop- ped, and the prifoners fet at liberty. So far did thofe wretches proceed in abfurdity, that a dog was accufed of throwing perfons into fits, by looking at them*. One Parris, a minifter at Salem, was at the bottom of this horrible bufinefs, but it is worth while to obferve, as a key to the difpofitions of the people, who fubmitted to fo grofs and fatal an impofition, that they believed the Indians to be magicians; and Mr. Cotton Mather imputed * Hutchinfon, p. 107. the> 58 On Popular Mlufions. the frequency of witchcraft, during the general delufion, to fpirits fent among them by the Indian conjurers, or Paw-waws, as the colonifts term them*. Another inftructive circumftance © is, that as foon as the profecutions were ftopped, all reports of witchcraft ceafed. In this country, the difcouragement long given to all fufpicions of witchcraft, and the Bite) of the ftatutes againft that crime, though they have much weakened, have not eradicated the perfua- fion ; fome periodical publications, conducted by men of letters, afford proof of this, and the Briftol ftory, though unpublifhed, is a recent and ftriking confirmation. In 1786 however, the Count de Caglioftro was accufed of forcery by Madame de la Motte +, at Paris. It will be eafier to difcover the fources of de- ception in thofe cafes, if we confider the figns of fafcination in the patient, eftablifhed by de- monologifts; the indications by which the for- cerer was traced; and the nature of the remedies which have proved fuccefsful in demoniacal cafes. I. 1. A fudden attack of any difeafe, ina perfon | previoufly in good health, was held a reafon for * Id. p. 101. Maflinger has made ufe of this opinion, in his City Madam. + Memoire pour le C. de Cagliottro. fufpecting Gn Popular Iilufions. $9 fufpecting preternatural influence*. It is evi- dent that this teft was admitted entirely from ignorance and prefumption, becaufe feveral difeafes do certainly accede without much previ- ous fenfible indifpofition. 2. When the caufe of a difeafe did not readily fugeeft itfelf, it was generally attributed to ‘witchcraft+. Thus, the atrophy of infants was long imputed to the power of evil eyes, and Sennertus has treated largely of this fort of fafcination. 3. Convulfive difeafes were fuppofed to be preternatural, when fuch mufcles were affected, as produced unufual contorfions, of a terrifying appearance. The cafe of the Norfolk boy, in the late Dr. Wall’s Medical Effays, has all thofe fymptoms which a demonologift would require, to eftablifh it as an inftance of fafcination; and we learn that his parents fufpected fuch an in- fluence. The only thing deficient in this ftory, for the purpofe of demonology, is that the boy did not fpeak Greek or Latin; that is, he wanted juft fo much of being an impoftor. In the ninth volume of the Medical Commentaries, publifhed in 1786, are three cafes of convulfions, in which the appearances were fo extraordinary that the - country people fuppofed the patients were be- witched. * Dalton’s Country Juftice. + Joubert. 4. Demono- 60 On Popular Iilufions. 4. Demonologifts build much on the /peéfral fight, that is, on the apparition of the witch toa _ patient, during the fit: this circumftance pro- ‘cured the condemnation of moft of the perfons accufed in New England. It is well known, that feveral diforders are attended with very terrible fpectral appearances; particularly the ephialtes, or night-mare, the delirium of fevers, and fome varieties of melancholy and madnefs. It is equally certain, from the trials which have been publifhed of thofe unhappy fufferers in America, that feveral of thofe who thought themfelves bewitched, had no other complaint than the night-mare, during the acceffion of which, the image of fome unfortunate neighbour was prefented to them, who paid for the fumes of another’s indigeftion, with life. Demonologifts have been much puzzled to account for the fpectral fight, for it was long a queftion among them, whether the devil could tranfport the witch, odily, into a houfe when the doors were fhut.. Dr. More believed that the aftral fpirit only was carried about ; the American demonologifts fuppofed that the devil produced this appearance himfelf, by operating on the patient’s imagination: even Dr. Hutchinfon was inclined to Wierus’s opinion refpecting demo- niacal interference*, This conceffion, which the writers * It was a queftion ferioufly agitated, among demonolo- gical writers, whether the devil can appear in the fhape of : a good On Popular Ilufions. 61 writers in favour of diabolical illufions find themfelves obliged to make, comes near what I believe to be true; that the illufion fubfifts in the patient’s imagination: there needs no devil to produce it there. 5. When any natural a€tion was fuddenly im- peded, the patient was fufficiently apt to fuppofe himfelf bewitched, efpecially if his incapacity was of a difgraceful nature. This power, im- uted to forcerers, was termed the ligature, and, according to Wierus and Delrio, who treat of it fully, was not confined to the human body, but extended to inanimate objects; thus, according to Wierus*, a fleet might be bound faft in port, notwithftanding favourable winds, and all the efforts of the mariners; he adds that an army may be rendered inactive and ufelefs, by the ligature; events equally furprizing have hap- pened in our times, without provoking any fuf- picion of witchcraft. | 6. The appearance of the dura and varia materies, already fpoken of f, was always reckoned decifive, where other appearances had given fufpicion of a preternatural difeafe. When we read of rats, black, fcaly frogs}, black flan- a good man, and efpecially of a good catholic? (See Lava- ter de Speétris.) This was generally decided in the affirmative. * P. 329. f+ In p. 14. t Thoner. Obferv. p. 224. nel, 62 On Popular Mlufions. nel, &c. vomited by patients, it is impoffible to avoid recolleéting Dr. Smollett’s ftory of the three black crows, yet Wierus afferts that he has taken pieces of flannel out of a patient’s mouth, immediately after infpecting it diligently, to fatisfy himfelf that nothing was concealed there*. Hev‘is obliged to confefs that the fub- {tance extracted had never been in the flomach, becaufe it was /carcely wet, and if we fay, in purfuing his theory, that a confederate and not a demon introduced the materies into the mouth, all the obfcurity of the queftion vanithes. IJ. x. In tracing fufpicions of magic, it can- not be too often repeated that knowledge and addrefs exceeding the common ftandard were frequently their fole foundation. Moft of the popes were reckoned magicians,. according to Wierust, who adds a particular relating to Gregory VII. which deferves fome attention : that Pontiff was held in great*veneration, be- caufe when he pulled off his gloves, fiery {parks iffued from them ; quando volebat, (Wierus quotes from Benno,) manicas difcutiebat fuas, unde ignis in fcintillarum modum difiliit, This is a curious anticipation of Canton’s difcovery. 2.:The. figns pointed out by demonologifts are futile and inconclufive(m). One of them is drawn from the fufpeéted witch inquiring anxioufly about the health of the patient. Ridi- * P. 286. FP. 358. culous f . On Popular Iilufions. 63 culous as this may appear, it is to be found among the directions for examining witches, in Dalton’s Country Juftice. The mark, fuppofed to be fet by the devil on thefe unhappy creatures, was one of the moft certain figns, and induftri- oufly fought for; but Dalton acknowledges that this mark may ftrongly refemble a flea-bice. Another fign confided in by the fame writer, is the appearance of the witch’s familiar, that is, the imp devoted to her, in confequence of the demoniacal compact. Now Glanville, in his collections, affords feveral examples of the fa- miliar appearing in fhape of a fy, and Hutchin- fon afferts, that the witch finders concluded ei- ther a fpider, beetle, or fly, to be the familiar, if the animal was found in the fame room with the witch, and. could not be killed by the af- fiftants. . 3. Bodinus acknowledges, that direct proof is not always to be expected, in cafes of witchcraft; in which he is followed by Dalton. So zealous was the former, that he thought it juftifiable to - profecute witches on the flighteft fufpicions, or common report ; he owned that where nothing could be proved, their lives muft not be touched, but punifhment to a certain degree he thought neceflary. The gentle inflictions of this pious judge, who comprehends fifteen feveral crimes under magic, were public whipping, and con- demnation to the gallies. Thus, it is evident, the 64 On Popular Iilufions. the criminal had little to hope, even from the deficiency of proof, and the boafted authority of thofe public trials vanifhes on a clofe examina- tion. But demonologifts think the facts com- pletely eftablifhed by the concurrent teftimony of witneffes, and by the confeflions of witches, obtained without the application of torture. The witneffes muft be divided into two claffes, thofe who were themfelves deceived, and thofe who deceived others. Of the firft, I have pointed out examples in the New England. affair, and fome curious inftances may be found in the {tory of the Nottingham boy*; thus, one of the witneffes depofed ‘that he had feen the boy “‘turn his face directly backward, not moving *‘ his body ; and that his eyes were as large as ** beaft’s eyes; and that his tongue would be ** thruft out of his mouth to the bignefs of a *‘calf’s tongue.” Mark now, how all thefe. wonderful circumftances difappear, on his crofs- examination: ‘* my meaning was,” fays he, ‘‘that he turned his face a good way toward ‘‘ his fhoulder, and that his eyes were fomewhat ° ** gogeling; and by reafon that it was candle- “light when I faw his tongue thruft out, “and by reafon of my conceit of the ftrangenefs of © Somers’s troubles, it feemed fomewhat bigger “than, if he had been well, 1 fhould have * Hutchinfon, p. 242, ‘thought On Popular Illufions. 65 *¢ thought it to have been*. At the fame time, the commiffioners, who examined the nature of the boy’s fits, were all terrified by feeing a black dog in the room, belonging to a Spurrier, which they took for the devilt. In 1633, fe- venteen perfons were condemned at Lancafter affizes, on the evidence of a boy, who afterwards confeffed himfelf to be an impoftor; Webfter fays he heard this confeffion from the boy’s own mouth. This fecond clafs of witneffes got money from the well-difpofed{, and therefore are of no credit. : Demonologifts, indeed, profefs themfelves wil- ling to give up all inftances where any deception can be pointed out, and confine themfelves to thofe which are not circumftantially difproved ; they exult particularly in the ftory of Mom- peffon, which is publifhed at great length, in the Saducifmus Triumphatus. It is true that no impofition was ever difcovered in that affair, but it is a ftrong prefumption againft the demo- niacal nature of the difturbances, that when the King fent fome Gentlemen to inquire into them, every thing was quiet during their refidence in the houfe. Glanville excufes this, by faying that * Id. p.' 260. + Id. Ib. t The Robinfons, who accufed feventeen at Lancafter, went from parifh to parifh, and received contributions — Hatchinfon. Wot. Il. Pr ° the 66 On Popular Mufions. the noifes fometimes ceafed for weeks together; but, confcious of the weaknefs of this apology, he adds, that probably the devil did not. think it for his intereft, to give the wicked courtiers any proof of his exiftence. When the confeffions of the perfons accufed Were obtained by torture, it is evident that no dependance could be placed on them; it is pain- ful to read what Wierus and Hutchinfon have colle&ted on this fubjec&t. The credit of the Suffolk trials, on which Baxter infifts, is totally deftroyed, by the evidence which Dr. Hutchinfon’ produces, of Hopkins the witch finder having fubfifted by that practice. But let us hear fome of thefe confeffing witches fpeak for themfelves. Six of the women accufed in New England, affien the following reafons for having confeffed ; that they were furprized and frightened out of their judgment, by being fuddenly feized and putin’ prifon; that their relations’ perfuaded them that confeffion was the only ftep by which their lives could be faved; “ And indeed that “ confeffion that it is faid wé made, was no other « than what was fugeefted to us by fome Gentle- ' © men, they telling us we were witches, and «¢ they knew it, and we knew it, and they knew “thar we knew it, which made us think that it ‘¢ was fo, and: our underftanding, our reafon and “¢ our faculties being almoft gone, we were not «¢ capable of judging.ef our condition ;, and moft of - On Popular Ilufions. 67 & of what we faid was but a confenting to what cc they faid. Some time after, when we had <¢ been better compofed, they telling us what we “had confeffed, we did profefs that we were << innocent and ignorant of fuch things*.” Se- veral other confeffions, recorded by authors, are the language of total imbecility, or madnefs. An old woman, mentioned in Hutchinfon’s Chronological View; confefied that fhe had killed feveral perfons, even when interrogated, purpolély, whether fhe had_ killed ome who were then alive and in good healtht. Wierus relates that a judge demanded of a famous witch, then in chains; by what means a man could be preferved from the force of forcery ; which fhe ferioufly replied, by keeping ae: ther all his old fhoest. The unhappy lunatic was burnt alive. By fimilar confeffions, the dogtrine, of the lycanthropia was fupported: it was not furprizing that hypochondriacal perfons fhould believe themfelves transformed into wolves, and fhould dream of eating young children, but what ‘hall we think of the judges who burnt them, on the ftrength of thofe con- feffions, and regiftered their ‘tials as folenin precedents ? ? On this occafion, the unwary avowal of Bodinus fhould not be forgotten : We mutt be fevere in ‘punithing witches, fays he} * Hitchinfan; p. 110; 111. + P. 58. : t Wier p. s¥2, Foo i fot 68 On Popular Mlufions. for the populace would ftone a magiftrate who inclined to fhew them mercy *. The folemn meetings of witches are fuppofed to be put beyond all doubt, by the numerous confeffions of criminals, who have .defcribed their ceremonies, named the times and places of meeting, and the perfons prefent, and who have agreed in their relations, though feparately delivered (nN). But I would obferve, firft, that the circumftances told of thofe feftivals are ridiculous and incredible in themfelves ; for they are reprefented as gloomy and horrible, yet with a mixture of childifh and extravagant fancies, more likely to difguft and alienate than to conciliate the minds of the guefts. They have every appearance of uneafy dreams ; fome- times the devil and his fubjeéts /ay mafs, fome- times he preaches to them, more commonly he was feen in form of a black goat, furrounded by imps in a thoufand frightful fhapes; but none of thefe forms are xew, they all refemble known quadrupeds or reptiles. Secondly, I obferve, that there is direct proof furnifhed even by demo- nologiftst, that all thefe fuppofed journies and entertainments are nothing more than dreams. Perfons accufed of witchcraft have been repeat- edly watched, abour the time which they had fixed for the meeting; they have been feen to * Demonom. p. 317. - +- Hoffman in particular. anoint On Popular Iilufions. 69 anoint themfelves with foporific compofitions, after which they fell into profound fleep, and on awaking feveral hours afterwards, they have related their journey through the air, their amufement at the feftival, and have named the perfons whom they faw there. In the inftance told by Hoffman, the dreamer was chained to the floor. Common fenfe would reft fatisfied here, but the enthufiafm of demonology has in- vented more than one theory to get rid of thefe un- toward facts. Dr. Henry More, as was formerly _ mentioned, believed that the aftral fpirit only was carried: away: other demonologiits imagined that the witch was really removed to the place of meeting, but that a cacodemon was left in her room, as an sua, to delude the fpectators. Thirdly, fome ftories of the feftivals are evi- dently tricks. Such is that related by Bodinus, with much gravity : a man is found ina Gentle- man’s cellar, and apprehended as a thief; he declares his wife had brought him thither to a witch-meeting, and on his pronouncing the name of God, fhe and all her companions had vanifhed, and left him inclofed. His wife is immediately feized, on this righteous evidence, _ and hanged, with feveral other perfons, named as prefent at the meeting. 4. It may ftill farther confirm the preceding obfervations, if we remark that the fuccefs of PS Cees . all 70 On : Popular Mufia OllS. all magical OSE was afcribed to the innate confidence of the magician*, It was a common quettion among philofophers, in the laft century, whether the imagination could move external objedts, generally -decided in the affirmative ; the reality of demoniacal action, (the refult of fimple intelligence) was one of the ftrongeft reafons for this determination. The wits might be expected to divert themfelves with this enthufiaftic philofophy: accordingly Ariofto reckons magical purfuits among thofe which prove deftruaive to reafon ; ; Altri in amor lo perde, altri in Onori ; Altri in cercar, fcorrendo il mar, richezze; . Altri ne le Speranze di Signori ; Altri dietro a le magiche fciocchezze. ini, tah Cant. XXXIV. S. 85. Rabelais makes very free with Agrippa’s philo- fophical character, under the ludicrous name of Her Trippay and in the Epiftole Obfcurorum Virorum, Ortuinus is made to retail fome of the’ moft ridiculous conceits that have found their way into magical books. But the moft formi- dable enemy to thofe doétrines was our own Butler, who bent fuch a force of ridicule againtt them; as expelled them entirely from the higher * By Paracelfus, (after Pomponatius and the Arabian phy ficians) Lord Verulam, Sylv. Sylvar. Ps 206, and Fien. de Virib. Imaginat. p, 59. ranks - On Popular Ilufions. 75 ranks of men, among whom they were admitted before. ; III. The remedies employed in difeafes fup- pofed to be preternatural, may be divided into magical and natural. Of the firft, the cure by pronouncing certain words, or verfes, is the moft ancient; for the method by emblem, of which the brazen ferpent, erected by Mofes, was the firft example, was not magical, but mira- culous. The former is generally termed the Homeric cure, becaufe the oldeft inftance of it is found in the Odyfley: A differtation on this fubje& is afcribed to Galen, Serenus thought it efficacious(o), as did AEtius, Pliny, Alexander Trallianus, Marcellus, Gordonius and Ferrerius. Antonius Benivenius relates that an arrow was drawn from a foldier’s body, by a fong. Celius Aurelianus had told that the Emperor Adrian cured a perfon, of a dropfy, by reciting certain words*, Who can wonder, after thefe exam- ples, at the conduct of Buchanan’s Francifcans? Conceptis verbis de fomno furgere, menfam Ponere, adire, referre, jubere, orare, falutem Dicere, conceptis urinam reddere verbis, A collection of fome very ridiculous forms, for the cure of different difeafes, is furnifhed by Wierust. Bodinus thought it very impious, * Delrio Difq. Magic. p. 48. Fien. de Virib. Imaginat. Pp. 92. + P. 376 de Curat, lef. Malef. F 4. and vk On Popular Illufions. and even blafphemous, to print them. Certain plants, as I mentioned above, were fuppofed to exert remarkable properties, in confequence of their fignatures: Jofephus relates that he faw a certain Jew, named Eleazer, draw the’ devil out of an old woman’s noftrils, by the application of Solomon’s feal to her nofe*, in prefence of the emperor Vefpafian, The fame author relates _ wonders of the herb Baaras, as A¢lian does of the - Cynofpaftus+, and different authors of the Mandragora. Amulets form the principal part of magical remedies, but many amulets were not properly magical; thofe compofed of relicks, or of medi- cinal fubftances, muft be exempted from this appellation. But, though they were remedies of the imagination only, it was generally believed that thofe compofed of characters were the pro- duce of demoniacal compact, and therefore un- lawful. During the greateft part of the laft cen- tury, it was very generally believed that a man might be rendered invulnerable by means of an amulet, and in the thirty years war, moft of the officers wore one on dutyt. Some differtations on this fubje&t may be found in the Mifcellanea Curiofa||, the Acta Hafnienfia§, and fomething in * Wier. p. 415. + Id. p. 416. t Harte’s Prel. Difc, to Guft. Adolph. {| Tom, XII, - § Tom, III. Sennertus. 4 On Popular Mllufions. 73 Sennertus. In the account of Gowrie’s Con- fpiracy, publifhed by authority, one of the wit- neffes folemnly depofes, that after the Earl had received his mortal wound, he did not lofe a drop of blood, till an amulet was taken out of his pocket. In Germany, it was believed that mufkets might be charmed from firing: Dr. Clauderus, author of feveral eflays in the Mifcel- Janea Curiofa, publifhed on this ufeful art, under this title, De Impedienda Tormentorum Explo- fione*. Naudé refuted this opinion in his book De Studio Militari. _Moft of the demonologitfts, however, follow St. Thomas in believing that thofe characters, or particular fub{tances, had no efficacy in themfelves, but were enjoined by the devil to the over-curious, as figns of convention, or tokens of fubmiffiont+, of which laft, he adds, the devils are very fond. The origin of amulets was very remote; the Trojan Palladium is faid to have been compofed of the bones of Abaris the Scythian, (the firft acrial adventurer recorded in hiftory) and thus was properly an amulet, in ftructure as well as defign. : Pomponatius ventured to affert, that all reme- dies of this fort act on the imagination alone, and that a dog’s bones would produce all the effects of the moft venerated relics, if they were worfhip- * Tom. XIV. + Delrio, Wierus, &c. &c. ped £4 On Popular Illufions. ped with an equal degree of confidence*. In this fcepticifm, however, he was countenanced only by the outrageous partifans of the imagina- tion, fuch as Dr. Fienus of Antwerp. The natural remedies, as might be expected, . ‘were thofe adapted to hypochondriacal or hyfte- ric diforders, as one or other of thefe was mif- taken for a poffeffion; when there was reafon to fufpect impofture in the fits, flagellation fucceeded admirably. But many grave phyficians employed even antifpafmodic and cathartic medicines, on * the fuppofition of their exerting {pecific powers, and almoft every man had his favourite demona- gogue. The herbalifts always notice fome plants for this purpofe. Dr. Thoner extols mercurius vite, as remarkably ufeful in expelling preterna- tural fubftances from the body; but holding fome other application neceffary to extract the. fub- {tance in which the /eminale principium of the fafcination lodged (that is, the bewitched bread or apple offered the patient by the forcerefs) he applied, in the cafe treated by him, a cataplafm ex ftercore maleficiatif. Dr. Mynficht cured feveral perfons bewitched, with afafoetida applied in form of a plafter, though Hofer, in_his Hercules Medicus, doubts whether fuch perfons can be cured by natural means f. Two theories * Fien. de Virib. Imaginat. p- 87, 192. +, Obferv, p. 224. 7. P..462. were On Popular Hlufions. 75 were advanced, ‘to account for the action of — afafcetida in expelling demons; either that the devil thought himfelf infulted by fo vile an application, and quitted the patient with difdain of his ill manners *, or that, as devils may be faid'to have eyes and ears, it is very likely that they may have nofes alfot. The thing was never fairly decided. Such have been the perplexities ee demonolo- gifts; perplexities which the fineft talents were employed to clear up, without effe&t. As learn- ing was freed from thefe clouds, they fubfided among the vulgar, only to make way for fucceed- ing illufions, lefs fatal indeed, but not lefs ridi- culous. Both the theory and evidence of apparitions reft on the fame foundations with thofe of witch- craft, for it is not fuppofed, by moft of the philofophical writers on this fubject, that the fouls of departed men ever revifit this planet; they attribute all fpectral phenomena either to angelic or diabolical operation. A full difcuffion of this, and all other queftions relating to apparitions, may be found in a very common book, De Spe¢tris, written in 1570, by Lavater, a theologift of Zurich. The univerfal prevalence of this illufion might be naturally expected, becaufe folitude and filence * Thoner, p. 225. $Id. Ib. }, See particularly from p. 120 to 154, Leyden edition., Le Loyer, De L’ Anchre, and many others have alfo write' ten on apparitions. will, 76 . On Popular Ilufions. will always produce apparitions. Vives wrote that fpectres were daily beheld in America, on its firft difcovery,and Olaus Magnus defcribes cer- tain iflands in the Norwegian feas, inhabited by fpectres only, which often deceived the unwary failor Every inanimate object which could infpire dread by its properties, or awe by its appearance, had its fpirit (after the eftablifh- ment of Chriftianity) which was believed to be uncommonly active during particular feafons, when the obfervation of traditional fuperftitions difpofed the mind to receive an impreffion of fuch power more readily ; When goblins haunt, from fire or fen, Or mine, or flood, the walks of men. ters - CoLuins, at other times, imbecility found reft in the crowd- ed devotions, and imagined holinefs of a feftival : Some fay that ever ’gainft that feafon comes, Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning fingeth all night long: And then, they fay, no fpirit can walk abroad, The nights are wholefome, then no planets ftrike, No fairy talks, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallowed and fo gracious is the time*. Vhofe effects which we now afcribe to the prefence of noxious airs in mines, were imputed * Mr. Locke has afferted, that there is no more con- netion between darknefs and an apparition, than between light and an apparition ; without confidering the defence- Jefs tates in which a perfon finds himfelf, in the dark.’ with On Popular Illufions. 7 with great confidence to the homines metallici, | or demons of the mine; which is a good illuftra- tion of our principle(P). Whether the diminu- tive fize of the fairies was inferred from the minute fcale of the operations attributed to them, or was derived from the Platonic philofophy, (for opinions, as they become obfolete with the learned, frequently defcend to the crowd) their exittence was plainly affumed as an hypothefis, to account for fome appearances, the natural caufes of which were unknown. Our poet is good ‘authority here ; Ve elves of hills, brooks, ftanding lakes and groves, And ye, that on the fands with printlefs foot, Do chafe the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him When he comes back : you demy-puppets, that By moon-fhine do the green-fower ringlets make, Whereof the ewe not bites: and you whofe paftime Is to make midnight mufhrooms—— Philofophy has not yet explained the production of the green-fower ringlets in a fatisfaCtory man- ner. 7 | The proof of fpectoral phenomena is refted by all their defenders on evidence, and according to them, it is impoffible to deny thofe phzxno- mena without deftroying the foundation of all hiftory.. The apparition of Ficinus to Michael Mercato is a famous ftory, and of great credit among fpectral philofophers; unluckily it came only 48 On Popular Mlufions: only from Mercato’s grandfon. Bayle obferves*; it was very unfortunate that Mercato did not make affidavit of the apparition, before a proper magiftrate.. Lord Clarendon’s ftory is quite deftitute of fupport, being a compound of hearfay and conjecture. The curious affair of the dif- turbances in Cock-lane; never thoroughly be- lieved, and never clearly detected; added no ftrength to the doétrine of apparitions, but fur- nifhed another proof, that neither the force of natural talents, nor the helps of acquired know- ledge, can eradicate the general difpofition to the engaging horrors of icperamaial agency. Ven- triloquifm was talked of in this inftance; but can only be regarded as a ftill greater abfurdity (q). Some of the beft authenticated hiftories of apparitions, however, carry their own detection with them; in the abfurdities eftablifhed by their évidencé. In Baxter’s World of Spirits, for ex- ample, there is a copious narrative of the dif- turbances at Llanellin, in Glamorganfhire, con- firmed by concurrent teftimonies of fufficient: Witnefles, with this circumftance among the reft ; that oft-times the foadorw of a perfon walking would be vifible on the wall, while no fubftance capable of intercepting the fun’s rays was fen- fibly prefent in that place. This isa phyfical dbfurdity, and cannot be true. But what fhall * Did, Art. Bonet. a we On Popular Mufons. 4g we make of the evidence? cry the {pectral phi- lofophers. I would reply, that when men are once perfuaded that fuch appearances may exift, _ they are very ready to impofe on themfelves the belief that they do exift. This may be fupported by a fact ftom the Duke of Berwick’s Memoirs, of no remote date, but which could not be received on lefs authority than that of a great and good man. A French army encamped before Sara- goffa, in 1707, under the command of the Duke of Orleans; let us fee what followed, in the words of our author, who was prefent. ‘The « Count de la Puebla, to retain the people of *¢ Arragon in fubje€tion as long’ as poffible, and *‘ by that means to retard the progrefs of the «Duke of Orleans, perfuaded the inhabitants “of Saragoffa, that the reports of the march of “a frefh army, from Navarre, were falfe; and “even that the camp which they faw was nothing real, “‘ but only a phantom produced by magic; in confe- “ quence of which, the clergy made a proceffion “on the ramparts, and from thénce exorcifed the “ pretended apparitions. It is aftonifhing that the © people were fo credulous as to entertain this * fancy, from which they were not undeceived “till the next day, when the Duke of Orleans’s * light horfe having pufhed a guard of horfe, * of Puebla’s, brifkly, to the very gates of the ** city, cut off feveral of their heads there. Then *‘ indeed the citizens’ were alarmed, and the «* magiftrates’ & 80 On Popular Illufions. ‘* magiftrates appeared, to make their fubmiffion “tg his Royal Highnefs. I could not have “believed what I have related, if I had not “been affured of its truth at Saragoffa, by the «ec principal people of the city*.” It feems the ligature of armies could no longer be performed, when this remarkable exorcifm took place. The principal writers on fpirits, of this country, are Aubrey, More, Glanville, Baxter, Beaumont, and profeffor Sinclair, of Glafgow, to whom we muft add Mr. Cumberland + a well- known living author, as the lateft fupporter of the doctrine among us, though he has produced only one hiftory, and that of an old date(r). It was mentioned before, that fome fpectral philofophers accounted for the phenomena of apparitions from demoniacal action, but it muft be obferved, that fome believed thofe demons to be material; this was the opinion of Pfellust}; Paracelfus fuppofed the elements to be inhabited by four fpecies of demons; fpirits, nymphs, pyg- mies (our fairies) and falamanders ; thefe he reck- oned material, but of a different fubftance from man, that is, of the Caro non-adamica; Cudworth was inclined to think that angels were material ; and Dr. Henry More was fo much preffed with the difficulties which he found in reconciling the * Memoires de Berwick, p.’ 398. + Obferver, No. 71. t Cudworth’s Int. Syf. propofed ry On Popular Ilufions. 81 phenomena of fpectres (in which he was a firm believer) with the immaterial fyftem,’ that .he propofed the hypothefis of an immaterial exten- fum*, a fuppofition which later metaphyficians have found it convenient to adopt (7). The prefent advanced period of the eighteenth century has produced a learned, an elegant, and what is {till more, a fathiqnable theorift, in fup- port of the doctrine of apparitions ; and this fub- ject is perhaps to owe more to the prefent than to. the former Lavater of Zurich. This writer, ge- nerally interefting and inftrudtive, often enthu- fiaftic, but always amiable, may poffibly give _a turn to the fortune of an opinion, which moft perfons are rather anxious to deftroy,. than able to confute. Mr. Lavater applies, in fome meafure, the doctrine of the sranfmiffion of Jpirits to the theory of fpeétral phanomena. L’ Imagi- nation, fays he, excitée par les defirs de l'amour, ou echauffee par telle autre paffion bien vive, opere dans des heux et des temps eloignts+. This is exactly the doc- trine of Fienus, Lord Verulam, and other fym- pathetic philofophers of the laft century. But, Mr. Lavater has applied this pofition in a-man- ner, I think, entirely new, in fuppofing that the imagination of a fick or dying perfon, who longs to behold fome abfent friend or relation, acts on the mind of this abfent perfon fo ftrongly, as to ‘* True notion of a fpirit. + Phyfiog. tom. III. p. 163. Vor. Hl. G produce 82 On Popular Iufions. produce an idea ofthe prefence of the fick or dying man. This will appear more clearly, and more advantageoufly, in his own words. Un malade, un mourant, ou quelqw’un qui fe trouve dans un peril imminent, foupire apres fon ami abjent, apres fon frere, fes parens, fon epoufe: ceux-ci ignorent ja maladie, :fes dangers; ils ne penfent point a lui dans ce moment. Le Mourant, entreine par Vardeur de Jon imagination, perce a travers les murs, franchit les efpaces, “F aparoit dans fa fituation attuelle—en a’ autres termes, il donne des fignes de fa prefence qui approchent de la realité. Une telle apparition eft elle corporelle 2? rien moins que cela. Le malade, le mourant languit dans fon lit, 8 fon ami vogue peut- etre, en pleine fanté, fur une mer agitee: la prefence reelle devient par confequent impoffible. Qu’eft-ce done gui produit cette efpece de manifeftation? Quelle eft la Caujfe qui agit dans l’eloignement de l’un, fur les fens, fur la faculté vifuelle de Vantre? Cet 1 "imagination —Vl imagination eperdue d'amour & de defir —Con- centree, pour ainfi dire, dans le foyer de la paf- fion*, This hypothefis would explain other pre- tended appearances; the effects of an evil eye, the curfes of a longing woman, and the fuccels of _ the operations with waxen figures; but I do not fee howit explains the apparitions of the dead, (for _ death terminates all bodily affections, ultra, neque cure neque gaudio locum )—without having recourfe * Id. Ib. p. 164. oy to 7 On Popular Iilufions. 83 to the other theories already mentioned. But if it be allowed, that the imagination of another can produce fo wonderful an impreffion on the mind, how much more eafy is it to conceive a man’s own imagination impofing delufions on him? There are many’ moments, when the opera- tions of fancy are extremely fallacious in heal- thy men; and in nervous difeafes, where the patient appears but little altered in the ftrength of his faculties, there is much tranfient delirium, and much falfe imagination. When the fancy is once fet in motion, old impreffions generally revive, and friends and relations ruth upon us ; the caprices of affociation in fome perfons are unaccountable; and many may cry out with the poet*, delirando io vivo. One cannot help regretting, that fo much ingenuity and attention had not rather been applied to an accurate examination of faéts, than to form theories, which only thew how irreconcileable thofe fats are with reafon and experience ; but it has generally been found, that an opinion, adopted without fufficient proof, is defended with an earneftnefs very unfriendly to inveftigation ; and we are going to fee fuch aftonifhine perverfion of faéts, and fuch obfti- nate adherence to the moft extravagant abfur- dities, that what has hitherto been related will * Metattafio. G2 , appear, 84 On Popular Ilufions. appear, comparatively, to be wifdom and dif- cernment. It is an opinion of confiderable antiquity, that the bodies of deceafed men were fometimés reanimated by demons. The firft accounts of this kind are to be found in Phlegon Trallianus*, and Philoftratus Diofcyles. A ridiculous ftory to the fame purpofe, was circulated refpecting ‘Agrippa: one of his fcholars, it was faid, got into his ftudy, during his abfence, and taking up a book which contained the titles of certain demons, began to read: prefently a demon pop- ped his head into the room and afked what was required of him; perceiving the boy frightened, the impudent devil ftrangled him on the fpot. When Agrippa returned, he was, of courfe, a good deal vexed at the accident; however, with infinite addrefs, he ordered a demon to enter the body immediately, to walk once or twice round the market-place, and then to let the carcafe drop, that the boy might appear to have died fuddenly. A few other inftances of the fame kind may be picked out from the legendary writers, but it was not till the fixteenth century, that the bodies reanimated were fuppofed to do any mifchief.. Then, in Germany, Dr. Martin Weinrich, a collector of incredible hiftories, publifhed an account of two Redivivi; one was * De Mirabilibus. the On Popular Ilufions. 85 the fhoe-maker of Breflaw, the other was a man of confequence, Cuntius, whofe ftory was lately tranflated. from Dr. More’s Antidotus Adverfus Atheifmum, and republifhed in the Antiquarian Repertory. So troublefome and infolent was the revived fhoe-maker, that the people whom he diftreffled, were on the point of leaving their houfes, to fettle elfewhere(v). Dr. More thought thefe narrations fo con- vincing, that he concludes them in triumph with thefe words: equidem fateor me tam tardo effe inge- mio, ut comminifei plané nequeam, quid bic Atheus excogitaturus fit, in fubterfugium fibi et latibulum, contra tam manifeftas evidente/que demonjtrationes. ‘When the good doétor calls the infidels with regard to apparitions, atheifts, the reader may be apt to fmile; but this frightful epithet was nor, with him, an unmeaning term of reproach, as it is with fo many perfons, in ordinary books, and in ‘ordinary converfation ; it was a conclufion from the doétor’s fyftem, which he drew in a curious manner, though with abundance of zeal and confidence, at the clofe of one of his fe€tions, in the performance juft quoted; ‘as it is a maxim ‘<< in polity,” faith he, ‘* that, no Bifhop, no King, «© fo in metaphyfics, we may fay, no Spirit, no «© God.” Paracelfus found a ready theory in his philofo- phy, for this fpecies of reanimation; the devil, | Becoming to him, can do what he will in his _ S. 3 own 86 On Popular Ilufions. own kingdom, and he can preferve a dead body for any length of time, by his knowledge of the true balfam. Quod in Domino non moritur, moritur in diabolo. Fam vero divos in fuo regno diabolts facere poteft. Quibus rebus homo a putredine prefer- velur, quovis homine exattius novit, utpote veri bal- Jami gnarus*.(v) f This ftrange delufion prevailed, very generally among the modern Greeks, and they knew the remedy for the difturbance, which confifted in publicly burning the carcafe of the vroucolacas, as they termed the redivivus. But the triumph of this abfurdity was referved for an advanced period.of the eighteenth century. Somewhere about the year 1730, an alarm began in Hungary, of fome houfes being haunted, by perfons de- ceafed, who fucked the blood of fome of the family, during their fleep. The fufferers were fenfible of this terrible operation, and commonly recognized the features of the apparition: the Hungarians termed thefe noéturnal vifitors, Vampires. In confequence of thefe practices, the perfons fucked became weak and emaciated, the corpfe of the Vampire, on the contrary, was found, even after long interment, frefh, florid, and full of blood; fometimes to fuch a degree, as to: pour out blood from the nofe, mouth and ears. This extravagance, produced by the * Philofoph. Sagac. cap. X. | oppreffive On Popular Ilufions. 87 oppreflive dreams of pletboric perfons, on the eve of difeafe, was firft publifhed by the Marquis D’Argens, in the Jewifh Letters; a ftriking con- traft to his fcepticifm on fome other points, but an inconfiftence not uncommon with perfons deif- tically inclined. But the fubje& foon got into dif- ferent: hands, for the learned Dom Calmet, well known by his critical differtations on the Bible, publithed a hiftory of Vampires, rich in abfurdity, of which the following pafiage is a fpecimen, but it is neceflary to add, quoted from Voltaire*.. “In _ Hungary, two officers, commiffioned By the ‘* Emperor Charles VI. affifted by the bailiff of ‘* the place, and the executioner, went to examine **a Vampire, who had been dead for fix weeks, “and who fucked the whole neighbourhood. “ They found him-in his coffin, frefh, lively, s with open eyes, and defiring fomething to eat. « The bailiff paffed fentence. The executioner _*€ tore out the PaTORIEE 3 s heart, after which the «© Vampire eat no more.’ Some queftions, ea puzzling, occur on the fubject of thofe difturbances: how could -all the inhabitants of confiderable towns be im- pofed on, in a matter fo nearly refpe€ting the peace and fafety of each individual, as univer- fally to impute actions to fupernatural influence, which perhaps were no more than knavifh? How * Queft, fur. L’Encyclop. Art. Vampire. ~ G 4 ~ could 83 On Popular Illufions. could they be deceived in the folemn and public infpection of the Vampire’s body, which always took place? And how could the deftruétion of a wretched carcafe, long dead, become the means of reftoring public tranquillity, fo as to be ordered by the magiftrates? The beft explanation is, to fhew, by unqueftionable fa&ts, how fuch de- lufions have taken place; this will alfo elucidate the nature of all the illufions already mentioned. When Tournefort vifited the ifland of Mycone*, in 1701, the principal town, at which he refided, was difturbed by a vroucolacas, or redivivus; the confternation was fo great, that moft of the inha- bitants flept in tents, in the market-place: their peace was reftored by burning the carcafe of the redivivus, after a public examination, in which it was declared to be frefh. Thefe are the prin- cipal faéts, and apparently ftrong: now let us unveil their origin, by an abftra& of Tourne- fort’s obfervations. I. Tournefort obferves, that the perfon ac- cufed of thofe difturbances had been quarrelfome: during his life, and was murdered privately. So that he was a proper fubject of fufpicion; fup- ‘pofing the general delufion once eftablifhed. Il. The redivivus. was accufed of nothing which might not have been practifed by ordinary vagabonds; ‘* he was feen to walk in the night j * Letter III. “< with | | ; | : On Popular Iilufions. ; 89 «© with great hafte; he tumbled about people’s “ goods, put out their lamps, &c.” The won- ders related of the German redivivi are only exaggerations. lil. The ftory never gained full credit, till the papas, (priefts) for their own honour and intereft, took it up. IV. During the examination at the chapel, the popular fury againft the deceafed carried every thing before it: “ the corpfe ftunk fo of- “¢fenfively, that they were obliged to burn “¢ frankincenfe; but the fmoke mixing with the “‘exhalations from the carcafe, increafed the “ ftench, and began to affect the poor people’s ‘‘ brains. Their imaginations, ftruck with the «© fpectacle before them, became full of vifions. “© They fancied that a thick fmoke arofe out of ‘the body; we durft not fay it was the fmoke *< of the incenfe. They were inceffantly bawling “out vroucolacas (Agsmoranas) **** Several peo- «ple prefent averred that the wretch’s blood ** was extremely red: the butcher fwore the body <* was {till warm **** Juft at that inftant came *‘in a flock of people, loudly protefting they ** plainly perceived that the body was not grown © ftiff, when it was carried from the fields to _ * church, to be buried, and that confequently *¢ it was a true vroucolacas **** J do not doubt “but they would have fworn it did not ftink, “if we had not been there **** And for us, “ who go On Popular Ilufions. ‘* who had got as clofe to the corpfe as,we could, “that we might be more exaét in our obfer- “< yations, we were almoft poifoned by the in- “tolerable ftench that iffued from it. When ‘« they afked us what we thought of this body,” (every one knows that Tournefort was a phy- fician) “ we told them we believed it to be * thoroughly dead; but as we were willing to ‘« cure, or at leaft not to exafperate their pre- “* judiced imaginations, we reprefented to them, ‘© that it was no wonder the butcher fhould fee} «a little warmth, when he groped among the “* putrid inteftines; that it was no extraordinary ‘© thing for the body to emit fumes, fince dung ‘© turned up will do the fame; that as for the ‘© pretended rednefs of the blood, it ftill ap- *« peared, by the butcher’s hands, to be nothing .. © but a very foetid, nafty fmear.” V. The-devil took care to get into the cellars of thofe perfons who abandoned their houfes, in order to drink up their wine, VI. No watch was kept, nor any proper: mea- fures taken to prevent villanous practices? Upon the whole then, the opinion of a vrou- colacas, like the others already examined, ap- pears to be only an hypothefis, formed to ac- count for phenomena, whofe caufes were not — obvious to the people. But if.a philofopher had — not unluckily been prefent at this curious tranf- action, the annals of credulity could fearce have furnifhed On Popular Ilufions. 91 furnifhed a ftronger proof than this, of the exift- ence of redivivi, confequently of all forts of de- moniacal operations. | It feems alfo, that when men are unacquainted with the natural caufe of a particular appearance, and at the fame time, are perfuaded of the poffi- bility of diabolical illufions, they will impofe even on their own fenfes, to favour the admiffion of a theory fo interefting to their imaginations. The miracles of the Abbé Paris, while they _ afford the ftrongeft proof of this affertion, and f cag iam rt while they fhew that illufions fcarcely credible may prevail in the brighteft periods of fcience and art, réquire particular attention, as Mr. Hume has affected to compare them with the miracles of our religion; though they were re- futed in publications of the time never much known, and now generally forgotten. | ‘The report of thefe miracles began in 1727, foon after the death of the Abbé Paris, when different perfons fuppofed themfelves relieved from indifpofitions, by employing portions of his clothes, or of the bed on which he died, as relics. A concourfe of the difeafed, the fuper- ftitious, and the curious was made to his tomb, in the church-yard of St. Medard, at Paris, where miraculous cures and fudden converfions were faid to take place every hour. But con- tact with the tomb produced a curious effect ‘on many: they were thrown into convulfions, which 92 On Popular Ilufions. which continued till they thought fit to defcend from their ftation; and this appearance was fo common, that the cures and converfions were comparatively little confidered; the votaries of the Abbé Paris came to be known by the title of Convulfionifts, and many perfons confidered thofe gambols asthe only effeét of the mira- culous power. A collection of the moft remark- able cures, ftrengthened by the depofitions of the friends and medical attendants of the patients, was drawn up by Mr. de Montgeron, a coun- fellor of the parliament, who had been converted at the tomb, and by him prefented to the King. The Archbifhop of Paris oppofed the authen- ticity of the miracles, but a report in favour of them was prefented to him, certified by twenty- three curés (Vicars) refiding in Paris, two Bifhops declared for them, in the pulpit, and the Cardinal de Noailles fupported them with his authority *. The advocates for thefe miracles infifted chiefly on the curés: the convulfions were ob- jected to them by their enemies, who confidered them as demoniacal, which was allowed by fome , of the convulfionifts themfelvest, as well as that fome indecencies were exhibited at the tomb. One of the patients who was lame of the * Priv. Life of Louis XV. Mirac. de M. de Paris. Verité des Mirac. Demontr. par Montg. Jewith Letters. + Des Veeux, Nouvelles Lettres fur les Mirac. p. 154. ~ left 9 | On Popular Ilufions. 93 left leg, was faid to have hurt the other by tumbling on the tomb, which gave rife to an epigram by the Duchefs de Maine; ‘ Un decroteur a la Royale, Du talon gauche eftropié, Obtint pour grace fpeciale D’etre boiteux de l’autre pié. The infatuation continued, with increafing force, almoft five years, during which the controverfy was carried on fo fiercely, as to occafion feveral divifions among the defenders of the miracles themfelves; fuch as Auguftinifts, Vaillantifts, Secourifts, Difcernants, Figurifts, Melangifts, &cc.* names, fays my author, worthy of a place with thofe of Umbilicifts, Ifcariotifts, Sterco- rifts, Indorfians, Orebites, Eonians, and other feéts equally illuftrious. Government at length found it neceffary to interpofe; the tomb was blocked up and guarded, (for the Abbé Paris produced no miracle efficacious againft a fixed bayonet) and Montgeron was imprifoned, very foon after prefenting his book. Thefe meafures did not ftop the controverfy, however, or dimt- nifh the credit of the miracles: Voltaire fays, the latter continued for thirty years fucceffively. It is eafy to perceive, that this whole bufinefs was contrived to fupport the party of the ap- pellants, who oppofed the Bull Unigenitus, * Encycloped. Art. Convulfionnaires. attempted 94 On Popular Illufions. attempted to be forced at that time on the Gallican church. This may be collected from the writings of the party *, who made ample ufe of fo excellent an argument, and who were -not wanting, either in artifice or affurance, to carry on their defign. They had more engines at work, than this of St. Medard; for fimilar miracles were worked at the tomb of Mr. Rouffe, an appellant alfo, who died at Avenay near Rheims, about the fame time with Mr. de Parist. The Janfenifts certainly timed their operations well, for miracles were heard of in all places ; the miraculous cure of Madame de la Foffe ; (which was believed previous to any examination) that at Lyons, and that at Am- fterdam, all happened about the fame time. : Thefe ftories were noifed about Paris, fo that people were difpofed even to expeé& miracles in favour of the appellants: this is evident from the words of Mr. Le Gros, who was a writer for that party§; ‘‘ that if miracles were neceffary, they might be expected.” And all the appel- lants were eager to declare, that the miracles at St. Medard were performed purpofely to fupport them in their opinions. If this cir- * Particularly from the Confequences qui refultent de ces miracles in Montgeron’s book, + Mirac de M. L’Abbé de Paris, p, 118, & fog: t Nouv. Lett. p. 190. "§ Nouv. Lett. p. 189. cumftance On Popular Ilufions. 95 cumftance throws a doubt on thofe operations, our fufpicions will increafe, when Montgeron’s own hiftory of his converfion is confidered. «©] determined,” fays he*, “to go every day “to the tomb, to obferve attentively whatever «¢ fhould occur, refolving to believe nothing but a my own eyes; to take the name and refidence “of every patient, to examine them carefully «< myfelf, and to be informed accurately of the © nature of their complaints by confulting their «¢ medical attendants; in fhort, to fpare no trou- “* ble, to difcover whether a fupernatural agency “* was exerted at the tomb, or whether there was ‘© any deceit. But perceiving at the firft glance,” he adds, ‘* the attention, the penitence, and the ‘¢ ardour expreffed in the countenances of moft “of thofe who paid their devotions in that holy ‘* place, I was ftruck with an internal fentiment “of refpect, never having feen any body pray fo << fervently. 1 fell on my knees, refting my _ © elbows on the edge of the tomb.” And from the inftant of this fentimental converfion, it is evident that Mr. de Montgeron’s teftimony be- comes of no value, But the matter does not “refit here. Mr. Des Voeux, paftor of the French * church at Dublin, in 1740 publifhed Nouvelles Lettres Jur les Miracles de M. Paris, in which, by a painful examination of the facts, he convicted * Mirac,. de Converf, p, 10, 11, Montegron 96 On Popular IMufons. Montgeron of falfe citations *, of fuppreffing paflages unfavourable to his opinion, and of directly mifreprefenting faéts. Nay it appeared that fome perfons, faid to have been cured mira~- culoufly, retracted every thing that they had advanced: and there were fuch proofs given of tampering with witneffes, to make them fign what they at leaft did not know to be truet, and of attempts to deceive the medical perfons whofe atteftations were required, as muft deftroy every degree of credit that the advocates for thofe miracles might otherwife deferve. A miraculous cure, publithed in the Nouvelles Fcclefiaftiques, was proved to be a forgery*: after this detection, the conteft was heard of no more, and the influence of the philofophical party in- creafed to fuch a degree, that it was prefumed the age would now be fecure from the phrenzy of the moft fpecious delufion. However, in 1778, Dr. Mefiner began to diftinguifh himfelf by his operations in animal magneti~m, which foon became as famous as the miracles of the holy deacon of St. Medard. Paris was the theatre of this wonder-worker (for it feems Philofophy, like the Romans, can only be defeated in its own quarters) and as it was not immediately known, * Lett. VT", t In Anne le Franc’s Cafe, letter VII. t Des Veeux, lett. VII. that On Popular Ilufions. 97 that Dr. Mefiner’s opinions were chiefly bor- _ rowed from the exploded hypothefis of Van Helmont, he drew a fufficient concourfe of pati- ents to his houfe, to attract the attention of government. A committee of perfons, well known by their philofophical publications, was appointed to examine the merits of this pre- ter ded difcovery, and their inquiries, which it is unneceffary to repeat in this place, as they may be found in all the periodical publications*, terminated in this conclufion, ‘ that animal magnetifm is a mere chimera.” In faét, what- - ever may have been the operator’s opinion, it is evident that the patients were acted upon by the force of imagination alone, which, however, pro- duced very violent effets, evidently hyfterical in the female patients, whom the commiffioners . obferved to be more generally affected than thofe of the other fex. When the practice was no longer permitted in Paris, it found fhelter in the capital of this country, where, though the opera- tions are fomewhat varied, facts are not wanting to prove that the principle is ftill the fame. The preffure of human evils fubje&ts the mind to furprizing acts of weaknefs, in its attempts to procure confolation or relief: perhaps the moft re- markable of thefe is that confidence, fo frequently repofed, for the cure of difeafes, in the natural * Particularly a very diftin abridg, in the Europ. Mag. for Nov. 1784, Vou. Il. H virtues 98 On Popular Ilufons. virtues and properties of the body of a man, Jabouring under the fame defects, and fufceptible of the fame infirmities, with thofe who fancy themfelves relieved by his touch. However, this delufion is not confined to the vulgar of all times, or to the inftance before us; it has been patronized by the moft refpectable writers, and reigned for a confiderable time in philofophy. The cures performed by Apollonius, which reft on the fingle evidence of Philoftratus, have been long given up as fabulous, though fome of the early chriftians had the indifcretion to allow the ~ facts, and then to account for them from demo- niacal operations; but the philofophic hiftorian, Tacitus, relates a ftory of this kind, which ought to make his declamatory admirers more modeft in their praifes of his veracity. While Vefpafian refided at Alexandria, he was fuddenly endued with the power of working miracles, multa mira- cula evenere, quibus celeftis favor, et quedam in Imperatorem inclinatio Numinum oftenfa eft. A blind man fell at his feet, befeeching him to touch his cheeks and eyes with his imperial fpittle: another perfon lame of one hand (manu eger) begged to be honoured with a kick (ut pede ac veftigio Cefa- vis calcaretur) both perfuaded by the authority of Serapis that thefe operations would remove their diforders. Vefpafian fuffered himfelf to be importuned, and then referred the matter to his phyficians, who knew very well what to anfwer ; id O” Mee ae + On Popular Illifions: 99 id fortaffe cure diis, {8 divino Minifterio Principis leéium; accordingly the Emperor {pits on one of his petitioners, and kicks the other, and both are cured on the fpot*, Strada obferves very pro- . perly, on this difgraceful ftory, that there was room enough here for Tacitus to. have exercifed his talent at conjecture, which he indulges fo freely on other fubjeéts; but this perhaps was too eafily to be explained, becaufe Apollonius, who was the friend of Vefpafian, happened to be in Alexandria, at the time of this miracle, and it was readily enough conceived that the Emperor might be his pupil}. The fage hiftorian, there- fore, relates the fimple matter of fact. Delrio and Morhoff mention the Saludadores of Spain, who cured difeafes by the touch, breath, faliva, &c. Morhoff fays that Emanuel de Valle de Moura wrote an exprefs treatife concerning them. Another Spaniard, Michael Medina, knew a boy who cured difeafed perfons by touching themf. Dr. Willis afferts that he has known fcrophulous perfons cured, by impofition of hands by the Seventh fon of a feventh fon, when all other remedies failed||. The efficacy of the royal touch, in ~ "England, was not only afferted by Tooker and Willis, but by Wifeman, whofe Treatife on Surgery was the ftandard book in this country, * * Hiftor. lib, IV. + Prolus. f1. Hiftor. po71, & feq. t Fien. p. 193; Delrio 24. |], Cereb. Anat, p..159. is; 2 rill ¥OO On Popular Ilufions. till-the publication of Dr. Heifter’s, and by Morhoff, in his Princeps Medicus, where he afferts the operation to be miraculous. Wife- man declares exprefsly, that fome of the worft fcrophulous cafes he had ever met with, yielded to this remedy. Van Helmont was the principal fupporter of that opinion which fuppofed a magnetic fpirit in the human body, by action on which he explained all the phzenomena of difeafe, and all the facts of demonology. Other philofophers contented themfelves with believing, in general, that thofe appearances, and particularly in the cure of diforders, depended on an emanation or tranf- miffion of fpirits, and it was thought that even the faculties and affections of the mind could be thus tranfmitted. This was the opinion of Bacon*™, and the foundation of that expreffion of the poet : ----e- Spirits are not finely touch’d, But to fine iffues. - ~ - - --- - In confequence of this, it was fuppofed that the fympathy which had fubfifted among the parts of an individual, continued after the feparation of, thofe parts: hence the cure by fympathy, that is, without application to the parts affected. Lord Verulam alledges his own experience of this method: “ The taking away of warts,” fays he, * Sylv. Sylvar. Cent. X. “ee by On Popular Llufions. 101 ** by rubbing them with fomewhat that after- <¢ wards is put to wafte and confume, is a com- “‘mon experiment; and I do apprehend it the ¢‘ rather, becaufe of mine own experience. I had “from my childhood a wart upon one of my “< fingers: afterwards when I was about fixteen “¢ years old, being then at Paris, there grew upon ** both my hands a number of warts (at the leaft **an hundred) in a month’s fpace. The Eng- ‘© lifh Ambaffador’s Lady, who was a woman far << from fuperftition, told me one day, fhe would “help me away with my warts; whereupon fhe *€ got a piece of lard with the fkin on, and rub- *¢ bed the warts all over with the fat fide, and ~ «© amoneft the reft, that wart which I had had “‘ from my childhood; then the nailed the piece *¢ of lard, with the fat towards the fun, upon a * poft of her chamber window, which was to the *‘fouth. The fuccefs was, that within five “weeks fpace, all the warts went quite away; «and that wart which I had fo long endured for “company. But at the reft I did little marvel, ‘¢ becaufe they came ina fhort time, and might go *¢ away in fhort time again; but the going away «« of that which had ftayed fo long, doth yet ftick “ with me. They fay the like is done by the “the rubbing of warts with a green elder ftick, “and then burying the ftick to rot in muck*.”’ Thus far the great Lord Verulam. Upon this » * Ib. p. 216, 4 H 3 principle, 102 On Popular Ilufions. principle*, inftead of applying falve to a wound, it was applied to the {word which infliéted the injury. Butler did not let this folly efcape: he fays of Sidrophel He had a fympathetic powder That wounds nine miles point-blank would folder. Willis and Dr. Boulton were both fympathifts. The moft curious inftance of fympathy that has occurred to me, is contained in a paper of the Mifcellanea Curiofa (tom. XIV.) A car- penter cut down a tree which grew in_ the neighbourhood of a gibbet, where a famous thief had been fufpended for a confiderable time. When the workman came to fplit the trunk, he “was aftonifhed to find, in the very centre of the wood, an exact reprefentation of the gibbet and the malefactor, which remained fair on each fide, after he had accomplifhed the divifion. He carried one of the impreffions to the philofopher in his neighbourhood, who gratified the learned fociety with this fingular inftance of fympathy, and the account was publifhed with two very accurate engravings, to fatisfy the reader more completely. The laft fympathift and healer by touch, alg ous to Dr. Mefmer (excepting Leverett, men- tioned in the account before referred to) was * Sir Kenelm Digby, Rattray, and others wrote on this fabjec. : Greatrack, On Popular Ilufions.. 103 Greatrack, whofe cures were related by Mr. Boyle, and mentioned by Dr. More, in his pre- face to the Saducifmus Triumphatus, as attefted by feveral Fellows of the Royal Society: a rela- tion of his cures was publifhed in the Philofophical Tranfactions, No. 256. Thefe were the fore-run- ners of animal magnetifm, which, after all, proba- bly owed fomewhat ofits favourable reception, to the ftrange faculty of difcovering fubterraneous water, attributed about the fame time to Bleton; and animal magnetifm would, perhaps, have acquired as ftrong a party, if it had been un- checked by authority, as any delufion with which we reproach the ruder ftates of fociety. For fuch is the credulous tendency of the mind, that even the prefent century, notwithftanding the ~ boafted improvements of reafon, has proved fruitful in illufions of the moft ridiculous nature ; nor is it eafy to limit the future progrefs of fimilar phrenzies, when we confider that at this moment, there is a fet of perfons among us, who, contrary to all reafon and experience, are firmly perfuaded that they fhall never die*. (vy) The doétrine of animal magnetifn is fo noto- rioufly an hypothefis, formed to explain real or pretended appearances, that it is unneceflary to fhew its agreement with the general principle. There would be no great difficulty in proving, if. it were worth while, that the fame talents * The Buchanites, See the Divine Ditionary, paflim. H 4 which 104 On Popular Illufions. whith might have been harmlefsly employed in compofing a rebus or a paraphrafe, have pro- duced very ferious perplexities by their applica- tion to philofophy. At leaft nobody will dif- pute, that the theorift as well as the poet, may be often faid to we eee Give to airy nothing A local habitation and a name. The contemplation of literary abfurdity is far from being vain or ufelefs; on the contrary it is an indifpenfable objeét, to every one who wifhes to make a proper ufe of books. To be con- vinced of this, we need only to caft our eyes, on the productions of thofe men who extract, with- out doubting, from writers of eminence; where the underftanding is fhocked by lies of long defcent, and blunders of venerable antiquity ; where the author is fatisfied with having made up a juftum volumen, and the reader is content, for his own fake, to miftake knowledge of books for knowledge of things. _Demonologifts have always afferted, that it is impoflible to weaken the credit of their facts without deftroying the foundations of hiftory ; and it is certain, that the abundant evidence produced in fupport of manifeft contradictions, and phyfical impoffibilities, tends to leffen our confidence in hiftorical narrations. But when we inveftigate demonological fads a little more clofely, when we trace the fame hiftory through many On Popular Illufions. 10S many writers, who copy it from each other, or from an origifial of little authority, their real number is found to be fmall, and of thefe few, the greater part has been proved to be fallacious. From the denial of thofe facts, therefore, nothing can be concluded to the injury of hiftory, however cautious a reader may become, by obferving in what manner the fame facts are altered, by undergoing the fucceffive efforts of men differ- ing in abilities and difpofitions. He may even be tempted to believe, that he difcovers the foundation of many recorded enormities, in the paffions and weakneffes of the hiftorian: for fome men fee their own darling vice in all others, as fome gouty phyficians difcover the gout, in every patient who comes under their care. Laftly, an acquaintance with the hiftories and arguments of demonologifts produces an ufeful hefitation, in affenting to evidence, however fpe- cious; for in doubtful cafes, however numerous the witneffes may be, it will always be remem- bered, how frequently men have fhewed them-* felves determined, to fee and believe things invifible and incredible, NOTES. 106 On Popular Iufions. N O T E S. (A) Page 26. ‘The Romans had a temple dedicated to the Goddefs Fever; an infcription has been found, ad- dreffed to that divinity—FeEBRI DIVE, FEBRI SANCTE, We have feen in our times, Eloges de la Fievre Quartaine. (B) p. 27. Though Ariftotle endeavours to account for dreams in general from natural caufes, yet he admits their production in fome cafes by fupernatural agency. All dreams, fays he, are not of divine origin, becaufe many of the lower animals dream; but though there be nothing divine, there may be fomething demoniacal in them. De Divin. per Somn. C. II. (C) p. 27. This was done as a joke. The augurs told him that the chickens would not eat, which was confidered as a bad omen: they fhall drink then, replied Claudius, and ordered them to be thrown overboard. Others of the’ Romans laughed at this mode of divination. Cato won- dered that one augur could look at another without laugh- ing. Hannibal’s keen farcafm affeéted both Prufias, (when he was deterred from fighting by the aufpices) and the art itfelf. ‘* Would you rather,’ faid he, ** truft a calf’s liver than a veteran commander ?”’ (D) p. 28. Auguftus was fhamefully fuperftitious; he not only obferved the time of year when his dreams were leaft favourable and moft uncertain, but on a certain day of every year, in confequence of a vifion, he begged pub-. _licly, ftretching out his hand, fays Suetonius, to thofe who reached him a few afés. Suet. in Aug. § g!. The fame author preferves a very ingenious explanation of an omen which terrified the Emperor. A flath of light- ning . i q : u On Popular Ilufions. 107 ning effaced the letter C, from the infcription of a ftatue of Auguftus. The augurs declared that he would furvive this fign only an hundred days, the number denoted by C, and that he fhould be received among the gods, becaufe ‘Afar the remaining part of the word, denoted a god in the Etrufcan language. Id. § 97. Lal ; : (E) p. 32. See the Cry from the Defart, and Prophetical Warnings of the eternal Spirit by the mouth of his fervant Fohn Lacy. There is a well known ftory of this man, who was firft the. protector of thofe vifionaries, and afterwards a prophet himfelf; that when fome of them were taken up, he went to the folicitor general, and told him that the Lord commanded him by his mouth to grant a Noli Profequi in favour of his fervants: the Lord knows very well, re- plied the folicitor general, that it is not in my power to grant a Nol: Profequi. (F) p. 35. Perhaps this is not quite exact, for 1 quote Martin from memory, and the refemblance between Virgil and him may be clofer. Virgil, we fee, owned that his prieft dreamed, but according to Martin, Ais friend was fuppofed to be awake. (G) p. 43. Butler ridicules this among other magical doétrines, in Hudibras’s' conference with Sydrophel. Th’ intelligible world, he knew And all men dream on’t, to be true ; ‘That in this world there’s not a wart, That-has not there a counterpart ; For can there on the face of ground, An individual beard be found, That has not, in a foreign nation, A fellow of the felf-fame fafhion ; So cut, fo colour’d, and fo curl’d, As thofe are in th’ inferior world ? 108 On Popular Illufions. He has characterized Agrippa rather too ftrongly, if the fourth book of the Occult Philofophy be {purious ; Sir Agrippa, for profound And folid lying much renown’d. C. TI. (H) p. 46. Wierus had a controverfy with a clergyman of Stutgard, named Brentius, ort the fubject of hail-ftorms. Brentius had advanced, in a fermon printed in Wierus’s Liber Apologeticus, that although'witches did not caufe hail by their own power, (for he believed it to be of diabolical origin) and although the devil inipofed on them, by making them believe s4at to be performed at their defire, which he fhould do at any rate, yet they were objeés of punith- ment, becaufe they had confented to the mifchief. Wierus replied very properly, that the law did not judge of inten- tions, but of facts: Brentius rejoined that the confent of a witch to the devil’s exciting a hail-florm, was a cénatus perfe@us, which Wierus denied. The peafants continued to apprehend and procure the condemnation of witches, whenever their hay was damaged by hail. Obferve the inconfiftency of human reafon: A perfon who has the power of raifing violent ftorms, of darting the thunder- bolt, and overturning the dwellings of men, cannot refcue herfelf from the hands of a petty conftable. (I) p. 50. it appears from Lucian’s original ftory of zhe afs, that ointments were in ufe among the fuppofed Grecian witches, in order to their conveyance to the witch-meetings. Apuleius has improved fo far upon him, in the ftory of the murdered bladders, (which Cervantes borrowed for Don Quixote) that the afs of the Greek muf give place. (K) p. 51. In 1695, Richard Dugdale was faid to have given his foul to the devil, that he might become the beft dancer in Lancafhire, but the fraudulent demon affected him with convulfions. Some minifters who attended him : ; held On Popular Ilufions. 10g held very curious dialogues with him. Dr. Hutchinfon furnifhes the following fpecimen of their judicious raillery. «© What, Satan! is this the dancing, that Richard gave « than its prefent defenders, a view of its founda- tion, and its connection with facts, becomes defirable. The immateriality of the foul was admitted by moft of the ancient philofophers*, but the reciprocal aétion of the foul and body on each other, in the phenomena of fenfation and volun- tary motion, were not eafily explained on that fuppofition. To get rid of this difficulty, Plato, improving perhaps on the opinion attri- buted to Pythagoras}, propofed that of a plaftic nature, incorporeal indeed, but without con- fcioufnefst, and forming the medium between the foul and body. This doétrine appears to have been varioufly modified by different fects, but believed, to a certain extent, by all till the time of Ariftotle. Mr. Barthez, in his learned * That is its diftinction from matter, though not in the fenfe of the modern immaterialifts. + Of an Anima Mundi, from which the fouls of men were emanations. Vell. in Cic. de Nat. Deor. t Cudworth’s Intelleé&. Syft. p. 158, 165, 166. treatile 218 On the Vital Principle. treatife on this fubject, alledges that the Stoics held the exiftence of a vital principle*. Arifto- tle is reprefented, by fome}, as following the Platonic theory, becaufe he diftinguifhed the mind into the intellecfus agens et patiens; but he is vindicated againft former affertions of the fame kind, by Sennertus}t, who explains his meaning to be, that the mind operates in two diftin& ways, in confequence of being affected by two diftinct claffes of perceptions ; confequently, that the diftinétion implies only a differentia in anima: Intellecium agentem et patientem non realiter et effentia- liter, fed ratione tantum diftingui. It appears, how- ever, that moft of the Peripatetics underftood | Ariftotle’s expreffions in a fenfe favourable to the plaftic nature. Phyficians had always admitted the exiftence of the vital principle, under the title of the calidum innatum||. Some of the firft re{torers of letters alfo, adopted this opinion, with different modifications§ ; and during a con- fiderable part of the laft century, a regular fyftem * Nouv. Elem, de L’Homme, C. II. + Cudworth, p. 165. & feq. { Sunt plurimi, qui intellectum agentem, vel deum, vel alium aliquem demonem feu intelligentiam, homini affiften- tem ftatuunt. Verum enimvero et ab Ariftotele et a veri- tate horum opinio aliena videtur. Epit. Phyfic. p. 82. || Sennert. fub titulo. Barthez Nouv. Elem. chap. II. § Vid. Brucker. Hift. Crit. Philof. T. V. p. 50, 136, 943+ ‘ prevailed, On the Vital Principle. 219 prevailed, by which the vital principle was reckoned the efficient caufe of generation and exiltence, in all animals and plants. It then took the name of the anima vegetans*. Paracelfus changed this term, in his philofophy, for that of fidereal f{pirit, which he believed to be equally independent of the body and the mind}, and to defcend from the firmament, as the rational foul proceeded from the Deity{. This doétrine was ery feryiceable to the demonologifts |. Van Helmont, among other improvements of the Paracelfian fyftem, fuggefted the theory of the Archeus, without venturing to affert the unity of the rational and living fouls§. The actions of the Archeus were afterwards reduced, by Stahl, to operations of the rational foul; but Defcartes appears to have been the firft modern philofopher, who rejected the feparate exiftence of the vital principle, under all denominationsg. He availed himfelf of the progrefs which was made in the nervous phyfiology not long before, by Willis and others, to form an hypothefis of the vital funétions, founded on the fuppofition of the ' * Alfted. Encyclop. T. I. p. 603. ¢ Brucker. T. V. p. 324, gees (oa I || Mor. Antid. adv. Atheifmum. Glanville’s Confider- ations. § Barthez,. chap. I. He fets Lord Verulam at the head of the modern fupporters of the vital principle, p. 23. q Id. p. 16. nervous 220 | On the Vital Principle. nervous fluid, or animal fpirits, in the language of that time*. The doétrine of Stahl made very confiderable progrefs. Cudworth, from his anxiety to reduce every thing to the Platonic fyftem, attempted to . fhew a fimilarity between the Archeus and the Plaftic power+; he was a true believer in the independent principle. But the fuppofition of a rational power, which, according to the chemifts, originally formed the body, and afterwards di- ‘rected all its actions, in health and difeafe, does not agree with Cudworth’s own account of the plaftic nature, which he acknowledges to be deftitute of confcioufnefst. Willis undoubtedly ~ fupported the notion of an anima vegetans||; but the oppofers of Stahl were not uniform in their fentiments. The mechanical phyficians paid little attention to this queftion, and for a. long time the terms of nature, fenfitive foul, and vital principle were employed, without much difcuf- fion, confequently, with little clearnefs of appre- henfion. The exiftence of a nervous fluid: was now aflumed, independently of the fenfitive foul, to explain the appearances of fenfation and volun- * Brucker. T. IV. p. 324 + Intelleétual Syftem, p. 167. t Id. p. 158. jj Barchufen, Hift. Med. fub tit, Willis. | tary ~~ 2 Trea os, On the Vital Principle. 225 tary motion*. At length, Dr. Haller, afferted an inherent power of contraction in mufcular fibrest, without excluding any other principle of motion, in which he was followed by Dr. Gau- biusf. About the fame time Dr. Whytt of Edinburgh attempted a reformation of the Stahl- ian doétrine|, to the exclufion of the indepen- dent living principle. He fuppofed, however, with Stahl, the vital, and other involuntary motions to have been produced, at firft, by an effort of the will, but to have become mechanical, like the common acttions of many voluntary mufcles, in confequence of habit. This doétrine was partly oppofed to the pre-eftablifhed harmony of Leibnitz§; for it is obfervable, that the balance of re€litude in reafoning is commonly preferved, by oppofing, to the excefs of any Se the excefs of its contrary. Some philofophers began at length to imagine that matter might acquire vitality, in confe- * Hoffman, Proleg. C. III. De Secr. fluid. tenuiff. “OS ie Bie ig + Phyfiolog. T. I. p. 465. t Pathol. S. 170. || Effay on the Vit. and Invol. Motions. § This is the fum of Leibnitz’s theory; anima fuas fequitur leges, et corpus itidem fuas: conveniunt vero inter fe, vi harmonix inter omnes fubftantias preftabilita, quoniam omnes funt reprefentationes univerfx. Brucker, T. V. p. 422. quence 222 - On the Vital Principle. . quence of a certain organization*, But while no fingle hypothefis refpecting the vital principle prevailed generally, two theories appeared, which engaged attention by the eminence of their au- thors, as well as by their own nature. Dr. Monro accounts for the commencement of the involuntary motions, and fome other phenomena, on the. fuppofition of a living principle, perva- ding the univerfe}; fimilar, I apprehend, to the plaftic nature of the Platonifts. Mr. Hunter attributes to the blood, a power of forming and renewing parts, by its proper efforts, apparently carried, in fome. cafes, almoft to a degree of rationality. It is fufficient to prove the great differences among modern phyfiologifts, on this fubject, to obferve, that while Dr. Hoffman has diftinguifhed, in very ftrong terms, between the fenfitive and rational fouls, Dr. Cullen allows, ; that * Hoffman, T. I p. 18. Buffon, Hiftoire Naturelle Since this Effay was written, Dr. Fordyce hag attempted to account for mufcular motion on the theory of a peculiar attraction, which he terms the attraétion of life. But, as I had occafion to obferve elfewhere, there is too much defign in mufcular a€tion to be mechanically explained, nor would our perplexity be at all diminifhed, by receiving an explanation which is fully as obfcure as the caufe of the phenomena to which it relates. ee, ¢ Obferv. on the Nervous Syftem, p. ult. t Med. Commentaries, vol. IT. p. 198. || Magna utriufque eft differentia, et diverfa plane ratio; ideoque deoque ambo non pro uno eodemque habenda... fed ; probé On the Vital Principle. 223 that this diftinGion is only nominal, or, as Sen- nertus expreffes it, a differentia in anima*. Two general reflections occur, on this imper- fect view of the progrefs of opinions refpecting a vital principle; that the chief difficulty con- fitted, in the perfuafion that matter is totally inert, and infufceptible of fenfitive life, by any organization, which Hoffman juftly calls infeli cifimum dogma}; and that fyftematic diftin&ions, in this, as in other cafes, have been. miftaken for effential differences. Accordingly, inconfiftences are to be found in fevera} of thefe opinions; thus Dr, Haller affigns two diftin& powers, the vis nervea, and vis infita, for producing the fimple action of one mufcle ; and though the nervous fyftem is ge- nerally allowed to be the medium of fenfation and voluntary motion, yet Dr. Gaubius has . contrived to exclude this vehicle of the living power from the title of the vital folids; is vitalis Solidi eft, qua id ad contactum irritamenti fe contrabit, crifpat. It is well known that the nerves have no power of contraction. Gaubius muft have fup- pofed the exiftence of a nervous fluid to be granted, in forming this definition, for it does not appear, probé ratione diverfarum operationum, quz difcrepantem etiam effentiam produnt, funt diftinguenda. T.I. p. 88. * Inflit. of Med. fe&. XCYIT, t Proleg. cap. III. from 224 On the Vital Principle. from ther parts of his Pathology, that he meant to exclude the nervous fyftem. Dr. Haller’s theory of the vis infita was formed from a variety of experiments on living animals, by which he found the irritability of mufcles to remain, long after their connection with the brain was de- ftroyed*. But the experiments of Dr. Monro, Dr. Whyttt, and Dr. Smith], prove that there is no real diftinétion between the vis infita and the» nervous energy. This difpute is fo well known, that a particular account of the arguments and experiments is unneceflary; and fome of the ftrongeft will be produced in the courfe of our inquiry. Galen, from fimilar obfervations with Dr. Haller, had drawn the fame conclufion with refpect to the motion of the heart §. Dr. Whytt, with an inaccuracy furprizing in fo acute a phyfiologift, fuppofes the foul to be prefent in different parts of the brain at the fame time, while he confiders the foul as immaterial and unextendedq. Nay, he afferts that when contraction takes place, on the irritation of a feparated mufcle, the action happens from the influence of part of the foul contained in-the fe- parated part**, Yet he complains that Dr. “ Phyfiolog. T. I. p. 426 to 466.’ Id. T.1V. p. 516. + Obf. on the Nerv. Syft. t Obf. on Irritab. and Senfib. p. 310, (of the Quarto edit.) || Differt. Inaugural. § Van Swieten Comment, T. JI. p. 3, 4. @ Vit. & Inv. Mot. p. zoz. ** Tb. Haller On the Vital Principle. 226 Haller charges him with making the foul di- vifible. Dr. Whytt admits, alfo, contrary to experiments, the Stahlian doctrine of univerfal fenfation* ; a doétrine clearly difproved, by the effect of ligatures, or divifion of nerves, in the living animal. While he combats the vis infita, he produces fome faéts which contradi& his own theory of the involuntary motions, and feem to fhew, that the motions of thofe organs may be explained from the ftimulus of the contained fluids. Thus, the power of ftimuli applied to -any mufcular part, even to a voluntary mufcle, is greater than the power of the will over that party, and the periftaltic motion of the inteftines fometimes continues, after the action of the heart has ceafed}, from the ftimulus of their contents. And Dr. Whytt is obliged to confefs, that the mind has no concern, as a rational agent, with the coalefcence of the dufus arteriofus {P duftus venofus after birth§; for the mind is not even confcious that fuch parts have ever exifted, and _ their circumftances are only known by anatomi- cal inveftigation. Dr. Monro explains his opinion of the intel- leffus agens, in the human body, in thefe few * Ib.-p. 128. + Ib. p. 14. t Ib. p. 192. Dr. Haller fays, Vox (vis vitalis) non Perinde placet, cum vis noftra vite aliquantum Sipervivaty Phyfiolog. T.1V. p. 464. s § Vit. and Inv. Mot. P: 169, Vou, II. wets words ; 226 On the Vital Principle. words; ‘that the power which created all things, “‘ which gave life to animals, and motion to the *« heavenly bodies, continues to act upon, and to « maintain all, by the unceafing influence of a ‘living principle pervading the univerfe, the ‘* nature of which our faculties are incapable of ‘* duly comprehending*.” But this theory feems liable to the fame objection with the notion of a plaftic power; that neither of them affords a ‘fatisfatory explanation of the phenomena of fenfe ‘and motion. For the plaftic power, or living principle, muft be either material of immaterial : if it be material, then it muft be allowed that matter, as matter, is fufceptible of life; now as the exiftence of the plaftic power is merely affu- med, we have aright, in this cafe, to fuppofe that the body acquires vitality by a certain degree of organization, as a preferable hypo- thefis. But if the plaftic power be declared im- material, its action on matter is as difficult to be conceived, as the aétion of an immaterial mind on the body, and confequently nothing is gained but a term by the fuppofition. If the living power be fuppofed to be an immediate act of the Deity, ‘an opinion which has been held by many philofophers+, this is liable to ftill ftronger ob- * Conclufion of Obf. on the Nervous Syftem. “+ Sennert. Epitom. Phyf. p.8z, Alfted. Encyclop. Be ook Si OI jections ; bl Nev On the Vital Principle. 227 jections ; for the confequence would be, as it is urged by one of Cicero’s fpeakers, cum miferi animi effent, quod plerifque contigerit, tum Dei partem effe miferam, quod fieri non pote#*. If it be faid that the living principle, on this hypothefis, is the connecting medium between the mind and the body, this fuppofes the Deity to ac& fubordi- nately to the human mind, which cannot be ad- mitted, ; When Mr. Hunter’s doétrine of the life of the blood was firft propofed, it was faid to be’a revi- val of an opinion fuggefted by Dr. Harvey+. A very fimilar theory, however, prevailed long be- fore Dr. Harvey : Galen made the heart the feat of the calidum innatum, and Sennertus exprefsly fays, that the heart and arteries form and contain the vital powert. Since the time of Dr. Harvey, the life of the blood has been afferted by feveral authors of eminence. Willis fays, Sanguinis ani- mationem, non folum placita philofophorum, fed indu- bitata facre feripture- teftimonia plané afferunt§. Hoffman employs the“fame argument to prove the fame affertion, and he elfewhere exprefsly * De Nat. Deor, t Medical Comment. vol. II. p. i198, } Inftit. Med. p. 338. Nothing could have prevented this able writer from attributing life to the blood itfelf, but his belief in the common perfuafion, that the right ventricle of the heart contained air alone. , § De Mot Mufe, p, 71. 9 Q2 mentions 228 On the Vital Principle. mentions that the blood contains the vital prin- ciple* The fame opinion may be found in prac- tical authors, particularly in Huxham,}+ who even mentions the red globules as the peculiar feat of life. Mr. Hunter is faid “ to confider a mufcle cut “© out of the body to be alive as long as it con- “¢ tinues capable of being acted upon by ftimuli “of any kind{ ;” and to be of opinion, * that ‘« the particular parts of an animal body have a ‘* principle of life, independent of the effec «« which arifes from their union as one fyftem].”’ The proof of thefe propofitions, it will be réadily teen, is included in that of the particular dodtrine they are advanced to fupport. Mr. Hunter “ alledges that, in the nature of “¢ things, there is not a more intimate connection ‘¢ between life and a folid, than between life and ‘a fluid §;” this argument is inconclufive; for we cannot, a priori, afcertain the degree or fpecies of organization requifite to a vital part. Mr. Hunter’s firft direct proof of the life of the blood is, that it unites living parts when ef- fufed between them. That living parts unite, in fome cafes, in confequence of mutual con- * Tom. I. p. 33. + Effay on Fever. t Medical Comment. ubi fup. | ib. p. 199. , § Id. Ib. 4| Medical Comment. ubi fup. tacts, On the Vital Principle. 229 tact, is certain; but it is byno means certain that this union is effeéted by an interpofed fluid*, becaufe the phenomenon admits of a more pro- bable explanation, which comes under the next obfervation. The fecond direé& proof of the life of the blood + is, that the blood becomes vafcular, like other liv- ing parts: and “ Mr. Hunter has a preparation, <© in which he thinks he can demonftrate veffels *‘rifing from the centre of what had been a * coagulum of blood, and opening into the <* ftream of the circulating bloody}.” That fuch an effort fhould take place, in the centre of an effufed fluid, not affected by external impulfe, is inconceivable, except on the fuppofition that the | blood isa rational as well as a living fluid, and . poffeffed of mufcular fibres, or fome fimilar organs. And granting the blood to be rational, it is much more likely that the firft attempt towards a re- union of feparated parts fhoyld be made at the orifices of the divided veffels where the operation would be eafieft, than in the centre of the fluid effufed between them; thar is, there will be an Se rg elongation of the divided veffels. And that this * does actually take place, appears from Dr. Mon- oe, * Jt is well known that if the oppofite branches of two 4 healthy trees be tied together, they will coalefce, although no incifion haq been made in either, nor any part of their bark removed. + Ib. p. 200. t Id. Ib. 2) 3 ro’s - * agp On the Vital Principle. ro’s experiments on this fubje&t*; in Dr. Monro’s | plates, the new veffels are evidently of larger diameter where they join the divided veffels than in the centre of the newly formed part; nay, in a newly formed piece of fkin, in plate 46th, the new veffels, inftead of proceeding from a com- com point, come in, tapering from the fides, to form a circle round the centre. The third dire&t proof of the life of the blood + is, that its temperature, as it flows from the vein, _ is always equal, in the moft oppofite temperatures to which the body can bear expofure. This cer- tainly proves the power generally afcribed to the living body, of preferving its own temperature, to a certain degree, notwithftanding the action of external heat or cold, but till the action of the veffels in this cafe can be done away, the fac will furnifh no exclufive evidence in favour of the life of the blood. Mr. Hunter’s fourth direé&t argument is, that blood is capable of being acted upon by a ftimu- lust; the proof of which is, that ‘* blood coagu- ‘* lates from expofure, as certainly as the cavity «© of the thorax or abdomen inflames from the ~ <<‘ fame caufe|.” But as the fpontaneous fepara- tion of the conftituent parts of the blood may be * Obfervations on the Nervous Syftem, p. 86. + Med. Com. p. 200. t Med. Com. p. zor. || Ibid. very Ar ae . Par On the Vital Principle. 231 very well explained on mechanical and chemical principles, it is unphilofophical to recur to any others, and in faét the life of the blood muft be taken for granted, before this phanomenon can be referred to it: for we might with equal proba- bility afcribe the freezing of water to a living power. Ifthe blood, in cafes of violent inflam- mation, be later in coagulating than the blood of healthy perfons*, it is readily explained by the more intimate mixture of the parts of the blood, effected by the increafed action of the veffels, which prevents the difference of the fpecific gravity of each part from acting fo fpeedily as ufual. ’ The fifth direét proof is, the nourifhment and prefervation of life in paralytic limbs}. In re- ply to this it may be obferved, that’ the con- tinuance of circulation in a paralytic limb may be explained on common principles, therefore the the introduction of a new power, to account for the phznomenon, iswinneceffary. ‘The explana- tion to which I allude, is derived from the ftimu- lus of the bloed (which does not imply its life) exerted on the containing veffels; from the im- pulfe given by the vis a tergo, and from the fympathy which prevails, through the arterial _fyftem, among the contracting fibres of the * Ibid, + Id, Ibid. RD A veffels. a 232 On the Vital Principle. veffels*. Befides, the experiments of Dr. Lang- rifh and Dr. Schwenke prove that tying up the artery of a limb does not prevent the motion of the limb ; now by the confent of all fupporters of a vital principle, the character of that principle is, that it enables a mufcle to contract; but in this cafe a limb is moved long after circulation is ftopped in it; the blood therefore does not appear to contain a vital principle. ‘ Dr. Lang- * rifh tied up, and cut afunder, the carotid and ‘ both the crural arteries of a dog, without de- < ftroying the motion of any mufcle; and Dr. “© Schwenke affures us, that, after having tied up ‘¢ the crural arteries of a dog clofe to the groin, <«* the animal continued to move his leg and foot ‘© for a whole day f.”’ While the particular doctrines of the vitalifts are expofed. to thefe objeGtions, fome direct arguments may be brought againft the general fuppofition of an independent living principle: the arguments are of two kinds; refutations of the general proofs offered in fupport of the vital principle, and inftances of the direct influence * This fympathy is moft obfervable in difeafes. Spaf- modic affections of the heart are often attended with fhoot- ing pain in one or both of the humeral arteries. To this caufe the pain felt in one arm, in cafes of hydrothorax, muft probably be afcribed. + Whytt, Vital and Invol. Motions, p. 6. . ; of © - * On the Vital Principle. 233 of the mind and brain over what is termed the independent living principle. The proofs moft ftrongly infiftted on, for the fupport of the vital principle, are, the contrac- tion of mufcles feparated from the body, on the application of ftimulants*; the performance of the vital and involuntary motions, without any exertion or even confcioufnefs of the mind+; and the birth of full-grown foetufes deftitute of a braint. In all thefe cafes, fomething is al- ledged to operate, independently of the mind, in producing mufcular motion. In anfwer to the firft argument, drawn from the contraction of feparated mufcles, it may be faid, | 1. That the power of contraétion, in a fepa- rated mufcle, is loft before putrefaction takes place|, that is, before its texture is deftroyed ; but if its vitality depended on its texture, this ought not to happen. 2. The power of contrattion, in a feparated muf{cle, is ftrongeft upon its firft feparation, and becomes weaker by degrees§; therefore the con- tracting power appears to have been derived * Haller. Elem. Phyf. tom. I. p. 462. + Monro’s Obf. on the Nerv. Syit. p. 102. Ly t Id. p. 26. || Haller. The power of contraétion is loft in man, in - avery few hours; in cold-blooded animals, within twenty- four hours. § Whytt. from 534 On the Vital Principle. from fome fource from which it is detached by the excifion of the part. 3. Irritation of the medulla oblongata, or of the nerves fupplying particular mufcles, occa- fions ftronger contractions than irritation of the mufcles themfelves*. The fame author to whom I owe this obfervation, furnifhes an experiment, diretly proving that the action of feparated muf- cles depends upon the nervous energy. “ Five “‘ minutes after taking out the heart of a frog, «J injected a folution of opium into its ftomach “and guts. In lefs than half an hour it feemed “‘to be quite dead; for neither pricking nor “tearing its mufcles produced any contraction ‘Cin them, or any motion in the members to ‘¢ which they belonged. After cutting off its <‘ head, a probe pufhed into the fpinal marrow «made its fore-legs contract feeblyt.” Here, in wt animal fo tenacious of life,. as commonly to hop about vigoroufly long after the heart is taken out, or the head cut off, the irritability of the mufcles, or, in other words, the living principle, is deftroyed by the application of opium to the ftomach and inteftines. Now, circulation being previoufly ftopped, by taking out the heart, the opium could only aét on the nervous fyftem, which was ftill entire, and the nervous power being deftroyed by the opium, * Whytt Vit. and Inv. Mot. p. to. + Obf. on Irrit, and Senf. Exp. II. p. 310. the 2 On the Vital Principle. 235 the irritability of the mufcles, that is, the living principle, is alfo deftroyed, and their deftru€tion is fimultaneous. The laft part of the experi- ment proves their identity, when the irritability of the mufcles is reftored, by exciting the fmall remainder of nervous energy contained in the {pinal marrow. 4. Dr. Haller himfelf is obliged to make a conceffion, on this fubject, fufficient to deftroy his favourite hypothefis of the vis infita*: Adpa- ret caufam motus equidem per nervos dimitti, ceterum quecunque ca caufa fit, aliquamdiu tamen in nervo integram et efficacem Jupereffe, “ etfi nervus a cerebro Jeparatus eam caufam nuper non accepit.” The per- manency of the caufe of motion, after the fepa+ ration of a mufcle from the fource of that caufe, may be well illuftrated, by the duration of im- prefflions on our fenfes, after the exciting caufe is removed; as in the experiment always quoted to this purpofe, of the circular appearance of an ignited body kept in rotatory motion. 5- When a paralytic limb is convulfed by the electric fhock, the motion never takes place without the patient’s confcioufnefs. In this cafe there is no diftinction between the vital prin- ciple and that exertion, which, in voluntary motion, is always attributed to.the mind, s * * Phyfiolog. tom. IV. p. 338, In 236 On the Vital Principle. | In anfwer to the fecond argument-in favour of a vital principle, drawn from the performance of the vital and other involuntary motions, I fhall content myfelf with obferving at prefent, that allowing the organs of thofe motions to be fupplied with nervous energy; which cannot be denied, their motions maybe very well ac- counted for, by the ftimulus of their contained fluids*. It may be added, that the principal nerves of the heart and lungs are chiefly fent from the brain: this circumflance, as the parts are fituated very near the fpine, and at a con- fiderable diftance from the brain, is a little puz- zling to the vitalifts. The force of the third argument, drawn from _ the want of a brain in full grown focetufes, is taken off by: Dr. Whytt, who remarks, that as the heart is fometimes wanting in full-grown foetufes, the argument would equally prove, that the heart is not neceffary for the continuance of circulation, as that the brain is not neceffary to the fupport of the fyftem. Accordingly, foetufes born without ‘a brain do not generally furvive birth+. Dr. Haller fuppofes, with great probability, that in thefe cafes the brain is not wanting originally, but is deftroyed by difeafe, during the growth of the foetus. * See page 6. + Haller. Phyf. tom. IV. p. 356. Befides Bat Pre RE PN LS On the Vital Principle. 237 Befides the general fuppofition of an indepen- dent living principle, an inference has been drawn, from the faéts we have noticed, of a nervous energy, independent of the brain. It may therefore be proper to explain the fenfe in which the uncertain term of nervous energy is employed in this effay, left ic fhould be confounded with the notion of a vital principle. By this term then, I mean that condition, derived from the brain, to different parts of the body, by means of which they become capable of motion. In this definition I allude to no theory refpeting the nature of the foul, nor refpecting the fpeci- fic nature of the nervous energy, but confine the terms to facts. ~The proof of the definition will appear, frorm the arguments I am going to ment.on, ¥.To fhew, by direét proof, that there is no independent vital principle, I would obferve, 1. That it is juftly urged by Dr. Monro * againft the doétrine of the vis infita, that there is too much defign in the actions of different _mufcles, affe@ted by different ftimuli, to be the effect of mere mechanifm. ‘This argument is ftrongly againft the exiftence of a vital principle. ' Thus, when the hand or foot is burnt, or other- wife fuddenly injtred, the mufcles on the part immediately ftinwlated are not thrown into * Obfervations on the Nerv, Syit. p. 95 togg. , action, 238 On the Vital Principle. action, nor the mufcles on the fide irritated ; _ but their antagonifts contraét immediately and ftrongly *: if the back of the hand, for inftance, be fuddenly irritated, the extenfors of the hand are not affected, but the flexors are thrown into inftant and violent action, to remove the limb from the offending caufe. Now if the inftanta- neous action be, in this cafe, chiefly produced by an effort of the mind, the fuppofition of a diftinét vital principle is fuperfluous ; if it be faid to be produced by the living power inde- dendent of the mind, then there muft be a rational power in the body, independent of the mind, which is abfurd. 2. The ftate of the vital and involuntary mo- tions is confiderably affected by the ftate of the mind. Refpiration is, to a certain degree, under the dire@tion of the will: the aétion Af the heart is very quickly and powerfully varied by the workings of the paffions; and even the fecretions are frequently changed, in quantity and quality+, by the fame caufe. But farther, thefe motions are often fufpended by a fudden affection of the mind, as in the cafe of fainting, which is produced very commonly by an im- preflion made on the seni Gaear the fufpi- * Whytt, Vit. and Iny. Mot. + The bite of an enraged man has been known to prove fatal, in confequence of the poifonous oe of the faliva. Horrman, tom. I. cion On the Vital Principle. 239 cion of any bodily caufe; and the impreffion is fometimes fo powerful as to put an entire ‘flop to the vital, motions, and thus produce death. Again, organic lefions of the heart and lungs have been obferved to take place from extremes of paffion ; and. particularly, in Mefmer’s operations ef animal magnetifm, feve- tal perfons {pit blood by the mere ftrength of imagination*. All thefe faés equally difprove the exiftence of a feparate vital principle, and prove the dependance of the nervous energy upon the brain. 3- It is acknowledged, that in maniacal cafes, the principal part of the difeafe confifts in de- praved perception ; and this depravation implies a change in the mediym of perception, that is, | in the brain and nervous fyftem. Now it is ' well known that madnefs is frequently produced by caufes purely mental, and in perfons appa- : reatly in good health. And as the patient's fenfibility to very powerful ftimuli is much diminifhed in maniacal cafes, they afford ano- ther proof of the fubordination of the nervous energy. 4. Writers of unqueftionable credit have _obferved, that, in paralytic cafes, motion is fre- 3 quently deftroyed)* while fenfe remainst+; as * See the Report of the Commiffioners. + Haller, Phyf, tom. IV. p. 390. the 240 On the Vital Principle. the caufe of palfy almoft always refides in the brain, this fa&t appears equally inexplicable, on the opinion of a diftin& living principle, or of a nervous energy independent of the brain. 5. When nerves are regenerated, after being cut through, fenfation and voluntary motion are not always reftored to the parts beneath the divifion: the reftoration was never made in Dr. Monro’s experiments*. But on the fup- pofition of a diftin@ nervous power, the nerve, after its re-union, ought to refume all its offices. 6. Dr. Whytt afferts, that when the fpinal marrow of a frog is deftroyed, after decollation, no contraétion can be excited in the limbs by cutting or tearing the mufclesf. While fo many doubts occur refpecting the proof of a vital principle, and while the fuppofi- tion includes fo many difficulties, in its own nature, it is allowable to fufpend our judgment on the fubject, till more convincing proofs of its exiftence fhall appear, than have as yet been offered to the public. Ac prefent, it is evident that we gain nothing by* admitting the fuppofition, as no diftinct account is given of the nature or produttion of this principle, and as an inveftigation of facts feems to lead us back to the brain, as the fource of fenfibility and irritability. . * Obfervations, p. 27. + Obf. on Irritab. and Senfib. p. 234. In ee eee < 7 . . a eet On the comparative Excellence, €8c. 241 In the courfe of this paper, I have uniformly confidered the aétion of the mind and brain on the body as identical, without reference to the queftion of materialifm, becaufe with refpect to our faéts, and indeed to all medical facts, this notion is fufficiently complete. I have alfo avoided all difquifitions refpecting the peculiar nature of the nervous energy, convinced, that in the prefent ftate of our knowledge it is of more confequence to examine one opinion, which is faid to be fupported by faéts, than either to re- je& or advance many plaufible hypothefes. I have purpofely omitted to confider the applica- tion of the doétrine of a vital principle to patho- logy, as the fubjeé& would lead to difquifitions inadmiffible by the rules of the Society. - On the comparative EXCELLENCE of the Sciences and Arts; by Mr. Witttam Roscor. Com- municated by Mr. M. Y71cnotson. READ MARCH 28, 1787. © iemenaea is perhaps no circumftance more injurious both to our improvement and happinefs, than a propenfity to engage, and per- fevere, in the ftudy of particular branches of Vor. III, {cience, 242 On the comparative Excellence fcience, without firft taking that enlarged and general view of our nature and deftination, by which we ought to afcertain, and arrange in due fucceffion the proper objects of our purfuit. For want of attention to this important fubject, learn- ing and induftry have frequently been exerted on unworthy objects; and genius and tafte trifled away, without either affording advantage to man- kind, or obtaining reputation to their poffeffor. If, from the time of our entrance on the world, we were enabled fully to exercife thofe powers of mind which are but gradually unfolded, this would be the firft confideration which would fug- geft itfelf to a rational being; and though thofe powers are developed only by degrees, yet there is a period in the life of every man, when colleét- ing together thofe ideas, which have been fuf- fered to wander almoft unreftrained over the fields of amufement, it behoves him to confider with ferious attention that tablet, which is to contain, in eternal colours, the picture of his fu- ture life; and, like a fkilful artift, to obferve what requires his firft attention, and what are only fecondary objects of his regard. : As it is the firft aim of the painter to produce on his canvas fome great and ftriking effet; and by. a proper arrangement of parts, to form a beautiful, and confiftent whole; fo it is the bufinefs of every man in the condutt of life, to exhibit to the world a great and confiftent charac- ter. of the Sciences and Arts. 243 ter. In order to accomplifh this end, it is ne- ceffary to keep one grand object in view, and never fuffer ourfelves to be drawn from it by too minute an attention to lefs important parts; for though thefe may be in themfelves commendable, yet, if the principal object has been neglected, in order to beftow more affiduity on thefe inferior parts, it betrays a deficiency in judgment and true tafte, which it will be impoffible any other merit can fully compenfate. It is however much to be apprehended, that many perfons have paft through the world, not only without difcovering, but without once re- fle@ting on the proper objects of their purfuit ; and the number is not lefs, perhaps, of thofe who, having formed clear and determinate ideas of their duty, have in the courfe of their conduct loft fight of them ; and fuffered thofe things which required their immediate exertions totally to fuperfede the higher ends, to which they ought only to have been auxiliary. In general life, what is more common than to fuffer the laudable defire of acquiring indepen- - dence to degenerate into an eagernefs for accu- mulating riches, without a reference to any fur- ther end. But can we avoid pitying the man ‘who employs his time in gilding the frame, when he fhould be finifhing the picture? In the purfuits of fcience, this error continually occurs; we fuffer fome particular ftudy, which, R 2 perhaps, 24m. On the comparative Excellence perhaps, accident rather than choice firft fuggeft- ed, to claim the continual facrifice of our time, and the full exertion of our talents; whilft fub- jects remain. neglected of far more importance, and, perhaps, in fa&t more fuited to our tempers and abilities. The difficulty of divefting ourfelves of parti culars, and looking on things in a general view, will, however, decreafe in proportion as we. habi- tuate ourfelves to fuch employment; and it is rather for the purpofe of illuftrating the pro- priety of the practice, than with the expectation of facilitating it, that I beg the attention of this refpetable Society, whilft I enter more fully into the fubject. . Man, in his original conttitution, is endowed with a variety of faculties, different in their ends and nature; but, I conceive, they may be reduced to the three following, viz. the moral fenfe, or that which diftinguifhes virtue and vice; the ra- tional faculty, diftinguifhing truth and falfehood; and. the-fentimental faculty, or, as it is ufyally called, tafte, which diftinguifhes beauty from deformity. To the acquifitions made in improv- ing the rational and. moral powers we give the . name of Science; whilft the fentimental faculty is the foundation of the pleafures we receive from - the ftudy of the polite. arts. As thefe faculties may be improved by exer- cife, fo they may be injured and decay by neg- lect, —_— of the Sciences and Arts. 246 tect, and become totally inapplicable to any good and ufeful purpofe: and it is therefore the duty of every rational being, to make this im- provement the firft objet of his attainment. But in doing this, we fhould firft inquire by what means we may beft anfwer this good end; for as thefe original endowments can only be cultivated by means.of the fciences and arts, and as thefe are much diverfified in themfelves, difclofe to us ‘different views, and lead to different ends; it becomes a bufinefs of much importance to in- quire what particular branch of {cience, or of art is moft deferving of our attention, before we fuf- fer ourfelves to be attracted by fuch other lefs important, though not ufelefs, inveftigations, as may accidentally come acrofs our way. Now it may certainly be taken for granted, that as beings accountable for our moral con- duct, and influencing by that conduét, not only our own happinefs, but, in a great degree, the ~ happinefs of others, thofe ftudies which have an immediate reference to the moral duties of life are of the firft importance. The ftudy of the works of nature may next be allowed to engage our attention—a ftudy, on the knowledge of which depend many of the conveniences and pleafures of life; and which has, perhaps, a {till higher claim to our notice, as inducing us to form to ourfelves proper ideas of the attributes and perfeétions of the great R 3 Creator ; 246 On the comparative Excellence Creator; who has opened before us his extenfive volume, and endowed us with abilities to judge of, and tafte to enjoy the beauties it affords. Science, then, is either moral, or natural; the firft, immediately connected with the conduct of human life; the fecond, more remotely fo through the medium of the works of nature: with refpect to the former, as it is the indifpenfable duty of every man to be as fully acquainted with it as his. abilities and fituation will permit, fo it is difgraceful and dangerous to neglect it; whilft the latter, though honourable and ufeful in the acquifition, may be poftponed, or omitted, till a proficiency be made in more important ftudies. Notwithftanding this, it has been obferved of late, and experience feems to juftify the obfer- yation, that the prefent age is more attached to the ftudy of natural philofophy, than to that of morals: which may poffibly arife from an idea, that the latter affords but a fmall fcope for the exercife of the mind, and confifts chiefly of pro-. pofitions either felf evident, or capable of a fim- ple and decided demonftration. Admitting for a moment this to be the cafe; yet it by no means precludes the neceffity of transferring to. our own ufe, the refult of other men’s labours; which can only be done by a diligent application to the fame ftudies and purfuits. It is not whether the fcience be known, but whether I know it, about which I ought to be folicitous. It of the Sciences and Arts. 247 It will however appear, upon a nearer view, that the fcience of morals affords a much wider field than may at firft fight be imagined. The ereat variety of circumftances and combinations which arife in a polifhed and commercial ftate, open, to an accurate obferver, a perpetual fource of fpeculation. It is, however, my province to fketch the outline only; to fill it up, properly, would require higher abilities, and more accurate refearch. The duties of life are immediately derived from the different relations in which mankind are placed. As a fimple, exifting being, detached from any other of his fpecies, there is a con- nection between man and his Creator, which fubjeéts him to certain duties, prior in point of obligation, to every other claim. As individuals, conneéted with other indivi- duals, all entitled to the fame rights as ourfelves ; as members of the particular ftate from which we derive protection ; and from the other focial and domeftic relations of life, many duties are incumbent on us, which require no fmall degree of accuracy, care and attention, to perform in fuch a manner, as to merit the approbation of thofe with whom we are connected, and of our own minds. Nor let it be thought beneath the dignity of the philofopher, to examine the laws that fubfilt between man and, the inferior animals of the R 4 creation ; 248 On the comparative Excellence creation; a fubjeét, yet, but flightly touched on, though, highly deferving ther inquiry. That acts of injuftice may be, and too frequently are exercifed upon them, cannot be doubted; and if fo, the neceffity of fome regulations, in this refpect, is the immediate confequence of fuch conceffion. A right of property, according to the prefent fyftem of things, includes alfo a right to torment, to mutilate, and to kill; to weary out nature by repeated fufferings; or to deftroy at once that vital fpark, the imme- diate gift of the Divinity, which, when once extinguifhed, no human power can reftore: but, it is to be hoped, this may not arife fo much from a ferocity and wanton propenfity to cruelty in the human mind, as from a too prevalent idea, that there are no mutual rights between man and the brute creation; abfolute property being vefted in the one, and unlimited refig- nation the lot of the other. To counteract this falfe and injurious opinion, neither moral in- junctions, nor political regulations fhould be wanting; nor can the powers of the mind be more honourably exerted, than in preventing ‘the unneceflary extenfion of actual pain in the univerfe; or in pleading the caufe of that clafs of beings, to whom nature, though fhe gave capacity of pain, denied the power of remon- {trating againft their fufferings. | vs : _ Thefe of the Sciences and Arts, 249 Thefe then are of all others the ftudies - Que magis ad nos Pertinent et nefcire malum eft. On the cultivation of thefe depends not only our prefent, but our future welfare; and fhall we, with the ill-timed application of the pretended philo- fopher, perfift in the folution of a mathematical problem, whilft the houfe burns around us; or fuffer fhells and feathers to attract our notice, whilft our happinefs and our mifery hang yet in the balance, and it remains in the power of — our utmoft exertion to throw an atom into the fcale? Impreffed with the idea that thefe ftudies are of the firft importance to us, and confcious that we are not uninformed with refpect to them; it may then be allowed us, to engage in the acquifition of other branches of fcience, which unite with the gratification of an innocent and natural paffion, the expectation of being enabled to render our employment of effential fervice to the happinefs of mankind, To thefe ftudies we may give the name of Natural Philofophy, though, perhaps, in a more general acceptation than that in which it has been, of late, underftood: but I am not aware of any impropriety in the ufe of this term, applied to the ftudy of the whole fyftem of nature; as well intellectual as material. The faculties of * the 250 On the comparative Excellence the human mind are as much a part of that fyftem, as the form of our bodies, and feem therefore equally to be included under the ftudy of natural philofophy. In purfuing the fubject, it will, however, be neceffary to advert to the different channels, into which this great branch of fcience is divided. Thefe are, firft, the knowledge of intelleét, called metaphyfics; fecondly, the knowledge of the extent and quantity of fubftances, called mathe- matics ; and thirdly, the knowledge of particular properties of fubftances, ufually called phyfics. “©The mind of man,” fays a late excellent writer, ‘‘ is the nobleft work of God which na- ** ture difcovers to us, and therefore on account ** of its dignity deferves our ftudy.” That this is the primary, and moft important branch of natural philofophy, muft be evident to any one who confiders that, before we apply ourfelves to acquire extraneous knowledge, we ought to afcertain what particular kind our faculties are adapted to attain; and having feen what is, and what is not, in our power, we may then be en- abled to purfue fuch fubjeéts as are within our reach; and not imprudently lavifh our time on thofe which come not within the fcope of the faculties with which we are endowed. The fcience of mathematics is converfant with the extent, and quantity of fubitances; and teaches the unchangeable and univerfal pro- | perties of the Sciences and Arts. 251 perties of vifible objects. It therefore precedes the ftudy of phyfics, whofe province it is to in- quire into the particular nature and laws of fuch objects. If the pleafures received from fcien- tific purfuits depend on the inveftigation and acquifition of truth, the ftudy of the mathe- matics is of all others the moft capable of af- fording enjoyment; its conclufions not depend- ing on the fubtilty of argument, or the fallacy of language, but being capable either of fenfible demonftration, or immediately referring to the firft principles of human reafon, It may alfo be added, that this fcience feems more complete and perfect than any other, as it generally at- tains the full end it aims at; whereas, in all other feiences we expect to improve, rather than to perfect knowledge. Under the comprehenfive denomination of phyfics are included many particular ftudies, each of which affords ample materials for invefti- gation. The profeffed fubjeé& of its inquiry is the whole fyftem of material nature: in the purfuit of which branch of learning it feems proper, in the firft place to acquire a general knowledge of the univerfe, as far as it 1s difcoverable either by our natural endowments, or the artificial affiftance . with which human invention has fupplied us; and from thence to proceed, in our inquiries, through the animal, vegetable, and mineral . kingdoms; which employment, as it includes all we 252 On the comparative Excellence we know of the earth we inhabit, has acquired the name of natural hiftory. . It is by no means my intention to enter into a detail of the feveral ftudies which properly arrange themfelves under thefe different heads: it is fufficient to have indicated the pre-eminence and fubordination which feem to fubfift between the different objects of fcience, and to have fhewn the neceffity of adopting fimilar diftin@tions. It muft however be remarked, that it is not perhaps in our power to purfue the fciences in the precife order here pointed out; for there is a connection throughout the whole fyftem of hu- man knowledge, which renders it impoffible to arrive at excellence in any one branch, whilft we remain totally ignorant of the reft. The ten- dency of natural philofophy to promote the in- terefts of morality, has already been hinted at; and the fcience of mathematics is in like manner intimately conneéted with other branches of natural philofophy. I muft alfo remark, that though under the general heads before mentioned, I mean to com- prehend all human fcience; yet they by no means include every literary attainment, in the purfuit of which mankind are bufied ; many of which are acquired only for the purpofe of being again employed in the attainment of further know- ledge. But, as a fkilful artificer before he com- mences an important work, will beftow great attention + of the Sciences and Arts, , 253 attention in providing the implements neceffary for his purpofe; fo it will behove us to be dili- gent in attaining thefe preliminary endowments, without which our labours may either be partially fruftrated, or may entirely fail of fuccefs. Of real knowledge there are two fources, foli- tary obfervation or inquiry; and information derived from the previous knowledge of others; which laft is by far the moft copious of the two; but as this can only be communicated by the aid of language, either oral or written, fo the cer- tainty of the ideas we thus acquire, will depend on the {kill we have attained in that language, by means of which the information is conveyed. ‘Thus the acquifition of different languages becomes neceffary; but inthis, as in other inftan- ces, care muft be taken that we miftake not the means for the end; and whilft we are employed in preparing further materials, fuffer not fo much of the building as we have already ereéted to fall to decay. To exert ourfelves in attaining a knowledge of language, for the purpofe of em- ploying that knowledge in higher purfuits, is truly laudable; but to be conyerfant only with words, and fuffer the f{ciertce to center in itfelf, is abfurd and improvident. ; It is unneceffary to enter into an inquiry, how far tranflations may fupply the deficiencies of claffical learning; or to point out the many ad- vantages of which fuch learning is productive; . this 254 On the comparative Excellence this having been already done, by an author* to whom the public are under many important ob- ligations. On the refult of his ‘‘ Inquiry tnto the ufefulnefs of Claffical Learning,” I fhall take it for granted, that a knowledge of the ancient languages is of great advantage in many depart- ments of fcience; from the exercife of the mind in the abftrufer parts of grammatical ftudy, it acquires a facility, and accuracy of diftinétion which no other occupation can beftow; and by. a proper felection of authors we may advance our real knowledge in any particular fcience, whilft we are procuring the means of applying ourfelves with advantage to further ftudies. If language be confidered as an implement for the purpofe of attaining, or improving know- ledge, logic is that art which teaches us how to make a right ufe of fuch implement; whilft philology, or the fcience of criticifm, maintains the purity of language, and guards it againft thofe innovations which inattention fafhion and habit, are too apt to introduce. Thefe ftudies, if they come not properly under the denomination of fcience, are effential to the due profecution of it. “Whilft they fupport their dignity, we may reft fatisfied that true know- ledge maintains its ground; but when thefe begin to be neglected, there is the greateft reafon * Beattie. : to of the Sciences and Arts. 255 to believe that ignorance and barbarifm are again aiming to eftablifh their ancient empire; and ‘to fear, that their endeavours are. not without fuccefs. It has been before obferved, that the pleafures we receive from the fine arts depend on. an original or inftinétive power of the mind, which I have chofen to call the fentimental faculty : meaning to infer, that, as the improvements we make in virtue and knowledge, are founded on the moral and rational powers, fo the acquifitions we make in the arts, confift in the improvement of certain feelings intimately connected by fome fecret and inexplicable union with the effeéts of thofe arts. Whether the improvement of this faculty be, _like that of our other endowments, a duty in- cumbent on us; and if fo, whether that duty ought to have a preference to any, and which, of thofe particular occupations we have before no- ticed ; and again, which of thofe arts, employed in the cultivation of our feelings, is moft power- ful and efficacious in that refpe&, and ought more particularly to claim our regard, are quef- tions which might admit of long inquiry, but which I fhall touch upon as briefly as poffible: The arts now alluded to, are thofe.of poetry, mufic, and painting, or as they are called, in diftinction from manual ingenuity, the polite arts. Althongh 256 On the comparative Excellence Although thefe arts ‘feem on the firft view to be contributary only to our gratification; yet it ‘fhould feem that Providence, in endowing us with propenfities and-abilities to inveftigate and im- prove them,’ meant that they fhould become, in fome degree, the objects of our inquiry: and indeed we fee throughout the whole creation, that the ends of beauty, amufement, and pleafure have never been neglected ; otherwife we might afk, in the language of Shenftone, «* Why knows the nightingale to fing? ** Why flows the pine’s nectareous juice? «¢ Why fhines with paint, the linnet’s wing ? *« For fuftenance alone? For ufe? ‘« For prefervation? Every {phere *¢ Shall bid fair pleafure’s rightful claim appear «© And fure there feem of human kind, *€ Some born to fhun the folemn iftrife ; “© Some for amufive tafks defign’d — ** To footh the certain ills of life, ‘* Grace its lone paths with many a blushing rofe, *¢ New founts of blifs difclofe, ‘€ Call forth refrefhing fhades, and decorate repofe.’’ The cultivation of the polite arts feems then to be conducive to the happinefs of man, and con- fifttent with the trae end of his nature: but there is a ftill higher purpofe to which they fhould be applied, the confideration of which will tend to afcertain the rank they ought to hold, and to determine their relative claims upon our time and abilities. In of the Sciences and Arts. 257 In admitting that the arts-are intended for our gratification, it muft not be underftood that utility is exclufively the end of fcience, and amufement the end of the arts. From the ftudy of the fciences, the underftanding is enlarged, and the faculties ftrengthened ; from that of the arts, the affections are exercifed and the heart is improved. | It: would be fuperfluous, before the prefent audience, to enter into an explanation of this fen- timent; for who has not experienced that de- lightful glow, that inexpreffible fenfation, favour- able to virtue and humanity, which the labours of the genuine poet never fail to infpire ? Who has not felt himfelf roufed to action, or excited to pity, or affected with focial forrow, by the powerful effects of harmony, or the’ vivid repre- fentations of the pencil? After being converfant with thefe arts, the mind feels itfelf foothed and foftened, and is then capable of receiving more diftinétly and deeply, and retaining to more ef- feétual purpofe, thofe finer impreffions, whence a very confiderable fhare of human happinefs is derived, and which either give rife to, or highly improve, all the charities of focial life. Let us not then conclude, that, becaufe the fine arts are apparently calculated for the grati-. fication of our ‘feelings, therefore they are to __ be poftponed to all the more ferious avocations which have before been noticed. It is their pro- Vor. Il. S vince 258 On the comparative Excellence vince to act upon our affections and paffions, the impulfes of which have often as principal a fhare ‘in the direction of our conduét, as the fuggef- tions of ourjudgment ; and to regulate, correct, and harmonize them, by thofe means which Pro- vidence has afforded us, becomes therefore a pare of our duty no lefs effential, than the im- provement of many of the fciences, or the culti- vation of our rational powers. To afcertain the particular rank to which the arts are entitled, might perhaps be a matter of fome difficulty. That they ought by no means to interfere with the attainment of moral fcience is certain; and perhaps feveral branches of natu- ral philofophy, clofely connected with the utility of mankind, may have a ftronger claim on our time and abilities; but that they are invariably to be poftponed to the ftudy of nature, in all its. branches cannot be allowed. From the contem- plation of heroic actions, whether communicated by the pen or the pencil, feelings are incited, ftrongly connected with.the firft and leading ob- ject of our purfuit, and of great importance to the advancement of virtue and the improvement of human life. I muft alfo remark, that as an unvaried appli- cation to one purfuit, is not only irkfome to us, but frequently defeats the end it aims at, thofe occupations, by whofe affiftance the mind can relax without debilitating, and amufe with- out of the Sciences and Arts. 259 out degrading itfelf, muft ever ftand high in our eftimation; and by being intermingled with our more ferious labours, will afford a degree of cheerfulnefs, vigour, and aétivity which will tend more than any other means to infure fuccefs in higher purfuits. Of an endeavour to fix the comparative excel- lence of the polite arts with each other, the refult would be of little ufe, nor is the fubjec&t fufcep- tible of novelty. There is no great difficulty in influencing the judgment to the .purfuit of any particular ftudy ; but the fentimental faculty choofes its own objects, and feldom makes a pro- ficiency in any branch of art which it has not fpontaneoufly adopted. I have thus made a faint attempt to elucidate an idea, which I conceived to be of confiderable importance ; and though I pretend not to have balanced with an accurate hand the comparative merit of the fciences, it is enough for my pur- pofe, if I induce others to reflect, that there is a very confiderable difference in the degree of attention that ought to be paid to them. And it will, I hope, fufficiently appear, that the cul- tivation of the moral fenfe ought to be the grand object of our endeavours, and that even the improvement of our intellect is laudable, principally, as-it promotes this great end. Let it however be permitted me to remark, that throughout this effay, I have confidered S2 every 260 On the comparative Excellence, Sc. _ every individual of mankind as engaged to im- prove his abilities, and thereby promote his own happinefs to the utmoft of his power: but that I by no means would be thought to detract from the charaéters of thofe men, who have employed | their time and talents in the purfuit of particular {ciences, even to the exclufion of others; and by arriving at eminence in them, have extended the bounds of human knowledge, and fmoothed the way for future travellers. Infinite are the obligations mankind are under to the illuftrious_ characters who have thus devoted themfelves to the public good: but we may reafonably expect to ftand excufed, if, whilft we enjoy the fruits of fuch generous ardour, we aim at the fecurity of our private happinefs, and prefer the fecret confcioufnefs of a proper difcharge of the duties of life, to the popular approbation, which de- fervedly waits upon thofe who have fuccefsfully exerted their abilities, on fubjeéts which have little or no connection with the promotion of virtue, and the advancement of moral rec- titude. . On On the Cretins of the Vallais. 261 On the Cretins of the VALAIS ; by Sir RicHaR® | CrLayton, Bart. READ MAY Q, 1787. ANKIND has been divided by Linnzus into four feparate clafles, to each of which he has affigned fome charatteriftic differ- ence in point of difpofition. The European and American, the African and Afiatic receive, regu- larly, it fhould feem according to his fyftem, an impreffion from the climate, which adheres to them through life, unlefs it have been weak- ened or overpowered by their having left their native country in very early infancy*. Other naturalifts have remarked a like degree of its influence in the formation and difpofition of animals in general, and its empire has been ex- tended by fome, even to the vegetable world ft. The obfervation is indeed an old one. Hippo- crates has a long chapterf{ in which he treats of the air, water, and particular fituations, and 4 me * ix fs } “ rf . 9 A * Buffon. Hift. Naturelle. De Generation des Animaux. + Wilfon on the Influence of Climate on Vegetable _ and Animal Bodies. » t Seét. ILL. p. 280. Editio Foefii. a Me S 3 he 262 On the Cretins of the Vallais. he there traces their fuppofed effects on the ftruc- ture and paffions of mankind. Though vene- table from its age, the opinion has been lately controverted, and ridicule has been called in to attack thofe pofitions, againft which more folid reafon appeared to have exhaufted all her powers. But, whatever may be the doubts of modern f{ceptics, or the problems of new phi- lofophers, no arguments can be brought up again{t vifible demonftration. To thofe who deny the effects of local caufes, and the influence of particular climates and fituations, may be oppofed only the Cretins of the Pays de Vallais ; a fet of beings, above indeed the brute fpecies, _ but in every refpe&t below their own. Without a previous acquaintance with their real origin, the ftranger might be tempted to confider them as a diftinét, inferior part of the creation, and the intermediate link betwixt man, and his disfigured image, the Ouran-Outang. - The defcription Linnzeus has given us of this animal may be applied to the Cretin, with a few excep- tions ; and that of the French Pliny, as the Comte de Buffon has been called, is marked — with a refemblance ftill more ftriking. The diftri€t thefe beings are comprifed in, is part ~ of the lower Vallais, and takes in about thirty miles in length, and eight in breadth. Round Sion they are very numerous, but they are moft fo between the bridges of St. Maurice and Ride. . A few On the Cretins of the Vailais, 263 A few of them are to be found on each fide, and at each extremity, but they then gradually difappear. Caft in the fame mould with the reft of mankind, they have, moft certainly, its form ; but one looks in vain for “© The human face divine,” illumined with fenfibility, and lighted up with the ray of underftanding. Phyfiognomifts have pretended to difcover a trait of the inward cha- racter, written on almoft €very countenance, that befpeaks the paffions each individual is warmed with. One proof may at leaft be added to their fyftem, without adopting it in its fulleft extent ; for, with the Cretin, the vacuum is diftinétly vifible. Every mental faculty appears be- numbed, and the dreadful torpor is unequivo- cally expreffed. It muft be admitted, however, that there are diftin@ions in the f{cale of fenfe, and different gradations amongft them, from total darknefs to intelle@ual twilight, and the dim dawn of underftanding. Some have a fort _of voice, but the deaf and dumb are very nu- merous ; and there are multitudes who are even mere animal machines, and devoid of almoft every fenfation. In point of ftature, four feet and a half is the ftandard they reach in general, and it is feldom exceeded more than a few inches. Their countenances are pale, wan, and livid; and, exclufive of other externa] marks of Ss 4 imbecility, 264 On the Cretins of the Vallais. imbecility, they have the mouth very wide, and the tongue and lips uncommonly thick and large. Nature feems alfo to have exhaufted with them all her ‘efforts at a very early hour, and old age treads upon the heels of infancy. They die, regularly, young, and thete are not any inftances of their arriving at the advanced period of human life. The propagation of the fpecies is the only appetite numbers of them are ever roufed by, and it rages with more than common violence. The fame lafcivioufnefs is fuppofed to apply to the monkey and baboon. With fome, poflibly, the obfervation may create a fmile, but the naturalift will paufe-on the ana- logy, whilft it will not efcape the moralift, that as man becomes the flave of his own unruly paf- fions, he defcends into a proximity to the brute creation. In this defcription of the Cre- tin, it ought to be obferved, thofe only in the fulleft fenfe of the word are to be included. In the ‘different gradations, nature has been uni- formly regular. Where fhe has leaft varied from herfelf, the Cretin moft refembles mankind in a ftate of perfe€tion, both in countenance and figure, reaches nearer its general ftature, and. there is lefs difference in their refpective periods of exiftence. The repeated view of fuch multi- - tudes of unfortunate beings is, to the laft degree, | piteous and affecting. There is, notwithftanding, fome confolation in reflecting, that they are not themfelves On the Cretins of the Vallais. 265 themfelves fenfible of their misfortune, and that every care is taken of them, which their fituation will admit of. : In fome places they are looked on as the idiots of Turkey: in others they are confidered as pre- deftinated beings, the devoted victims of the wrath of Providence, and punifhed by its vifita- tion for the fins of the reft of the family. Either idea infures them kindnefs and attention. In the -firft inftance, they are objeéts of religious venera- tion; in the fecond, they are recompenfed out of gratitude, on account of their fuppofed fufferings for the frailties of their parents, and their friends, To confider fuch groups of them as accidental, is impoffible. There have been generations after generations of them, and though their numbers vary in different families, fome are almoft entire- ly compofed of them. Nature muft here there- fore act on certain principles, and be governed by fixed laws, though the former are not yet known, and the latter have not been difcovered. — What proves, to a degree almoft of mathematical certitude, that there is fome phyfical reafon for the dreadful fingularity, is the fingle circum- ftance, that a family coming from a diftance to refide within the diftrict, has, in a few years, oc- cafion to lament, on its increafe, that idiocy it was before a ftranger to. The fame argument has equal force againft its being tranimitted from inter- 266 On the Cretins of the Vallais. inter-marriages with families whofe anceftors had unfortunately a fhare in the calamity. The re- verfe of the propofition, I have been lately in- formed from very refpectable authority, holds equally true; and that Cretin colonies removing from the diftrict, and marrying only amoneftthem- felves, after one generation, or at moft two, lofe the difguftful diftinétion they carried with them. Long as the fubject of this paper has exilted, it is aftonifhing nothing has been fyftematically written on it. A memoir, was indeed read, fome years ago, to the Royal Society at Lyons, but asI do not find it was ever publifhed, the members only became acquainted with the opi- nions, its author, the Comte de Maugiron, enter- tained. Government has at laft begun to inter- eft itfelf, and has recommended fome precautions to be taken, by which, it is hoped, the number of the Cretins will diminifh. Many of the moft deplorable are now fecluded from fociety, and maintained with great care in the hofpital at Sion ; and their marriages with each other, which were formerly permitted in order to prevent other inconveniences, and by which they were propa- ‘gated ad infinitum, are not at prefent allowed of. The early management of the children is alfo particularly attended to, and minutely watch- ed; and on the leaft fufpicion of a tendency towards Cretinage, they are fent into the diftant mountains to be nurfed. Whether any of thefe precautions, On the Cretins of the Vallais. 267 precautions, or all of them united, will be fol- lowed with the confequences devoutly to be wifhed, time, the great touch-ftone of all experi- ments, can alone decide. . In the feveral defcriptions of Switzerland and the Vallais, the fubje&t has been fometimes cafu- ally glanced at. Some brittle, hazardous ideas have been thrown out at random, but in general, it has been left in the ftate in which it has been found, and the circumftance has been barely mentioned, without any endeavours to point out its origin and caufe. I have no claim to any greater fhare of wifdom, and do not pretend, by _ any means, to fuperior fagacity or penetration. I lay little ftrefs on the influence of the ima- gination of the mother on the foetus, which has been the theory of fome. Without entering into the queftion, how, or in what manner, fuch an impreffion is communicated, I fhall obferve only, it is an opinion which appears to be giving way daily; and that even its warmeft partifans admit only of its exiftence in very few inftances, and under very limited reftrictions. The Cre- tins are too numerous to allow of fuch a partial caufe; and as what is perpetually before the eye foon ceafes to be matter either of aftonifhment or terror, their very numbers would counteract any effect they might otherwife occafion. Their country women, born and bred up amongft them, confider them only as every other production of 268 On the Cretins of the Vallais. of their country, and in fact, inftead of beftowing -on them particular notice or regard, they are furprifed when a {tranger examines them with any fcrupulous attention. J fhould imagine, there- fore, we ought to fearch for fome other caufe. Of the writers who have touched on the Cretin, fome have attributed the misfortune to the fup- _ pofed caufe of the goitres, fo very common in many of the Swifs peafants, the water they drink being impregnated with fnow, tufa, and fome mineral fubftances wafhed down with it from the neighbouring mountains. That the Cretins are fubjec&t to the goitre, muft be acknowledged ; but it fhould at the fame time be remarked, as it is common to the reft of the inhabitants, its caufe, whatever it may be, can hardly be fup- pofed to be that of Cretinage. The peafants of the Alps, of Tirol, and many other parts of Switzerland drink water of nearly the fame qua- lity, and have the goitre; but the Cretins are confined to the diftri€&t I have mentioned, and if they occur in other places, it is merely from a removal with their parents. This hypothefis appears therefore to have been taken up, likewife, without folid foundation, and the fabric raifed upon it has been built on a fcale too narrow and confined. The air has been, by others, fup- pofed to be the fole caufe of the difafter. Throughout the whole country they are found in, itis moft certainly unwholefome. They refide, in On the Cretins of the Vallais. \ 269 in fact, in a fort of vaft Bafin, full of exceffive exhalations from the Rhone, and the marfhes on its fides; and the reflection of the fun from the furrounding mountains, which are almoft ver- tical, forms an atmofphere very fingular for its humidity and heat. At Sion in particular, the houfes are often fteeped up to the fecond ftory, in a thick, hot, and glutinous vapour; and the body, during the fummer months, is in a very uncommon ftate of perpetual perfpiration. This naturally occa- fions a laffitude and indolence, which unftring the human frame; and along with them, one meets with their ufual attendants, exceffive poverty and filth. Their joint effects on the human body, it would be ufelefs to difpute; but how they can curtail the ftature, and coagu- Jate the underftanding, to fuch a wonderful degree, is difficult to afcertain. Whether any light may be derived from the diffe&tion of a Cretin, is an experiment that has not yet been made. To be of any ufe, however, it fhould not be confined to a fingle fubject, but fhould be extended to every variety, from the moment the malady has made its firft appearance, to the time it has arrived at its full maturity of weak- nefs. Some attempts for this purpofe I under- ftood had failed, and they will be yet attended with difficulty, and fome little danger. Philip of Macedon’s golden key will not here unlock the grave; 270 On the Cretins of the Vaillais. grave ; and a violation of the rights of fepulture would be ftill confidered as the firft of crimes. Little can be gleaned up, I am apprehenfive, from the hiftory of the human fpecies, relative to the queftion ; but amidft its varieties, we find the Dondos, or African white negroes; the Ka- kerlaks, or Chacrelas of Afia; and the Blafard, or White Indian of the Ifthmus of Darien; all of whom have fome peculiarities correfponding with thofe by which the Cretin is diftinguifhed. The Dondos are moft common at Congo, Loango, and Angola, and the Kakerlaks, or Chacrelas, in the Java iflands; but as they are not very numerous, they have been confidered as a Lufus Nature, and her accidental produc- tions*. Of the white Indians of Darien little was known in. Europe before 1680, though Cortez} had given a long and minute defcrip- tion * It is remarkable, however, this Lufus Nature in the Java iflands has been extended even to the monkey. The governor of Batavia had one or two white ones in 1785, brought from thofe iflands, though they are in all that part of the world univerfally black or brown. Mynheer Butterkoper, and Mynheer Meffa the Water-Fifcal, fhewed them to a friend of mine. The face was of a milky white, the eyes red, and they were between two and three feet high. + Las Cartas de Don. Hernando Cortez de la Con- quifta de Mexico al Emperador. They have been tranfla- ted into Latin, and are in the collection of Hervagius, un- der ee £4 Se Fee On the Cretins of the Vallais. 271 tion of them in his letters to Charles V. The ftature of the Dondos, the Kakerlak, and White Indian is nearly that of the Cretin of the Pays de Vallais, and their whole apppearance an- nounces exceflive debility and weaknefs. Their fimilitude, in many other refpects, feems to give fome weight to the fuppofition of a like defici- ency in their formation. The weaknefs of the eye, they are all in fome degree fubject to; deafnefs in one degree or other is peculiar to them ; they all die early; and they have all the fame fcanty portion of intelligence. Much has been written* on the blacknefs of the negro, and for fome time, like the atoms of Epicurus, one fyftem regularly confuted ano- ther. Whatever the derangement which produ- ces the variety in the negro may be owing to, it may poffibly bear fome relation to that which occafions an alteration, nearly as violent, in the human fpecies of the Vallais. Mr. Michel, a der the title F. Cortefii de Infulis nuper repertis Narratio ad Carolum Quintum. For an account of the white In- dian fee Buffon, Hift. Naturelle de l’Homme. Dam- _ pier’s Voyages, vol. IV. p. 252, and Melange de Litera- ture, tom. I. where Voltaire has given a very minute defcription of the white Indian brought to Paris in 1744, * See Santorinus, Malpighi, Albinus, Ruyfch, Haller, Winflow and Heifter. Town’s Letter to the Royal So- ciety. Hift. de !’Academie de Sciences. 1702. Differta- tion de Monf. Barrere. Traité de Monf. le Cat. Zimmer- man Geograph. Zoolog.& Memoires del’ Academie de Berlin. name 272 On the Cretins of the Vallais. name of fome eminence at Berlin, for anatomical inquiries, has remarked in one of his letters, ** Vous obfervez !a* couleur de fperme eft diffe- - ‘* rente de celui des Hommes blancs. Vous at- *« tribuez, au Changement de ce fperme, leur me- ** tamorphofe de noir en blanc; fi on ajoute 4 ** cela, la couleur differente de leur Cerveau, de‘ “eur Sang, et de Ja liqueur qui forme leur Epi- *« derme, on verra que I’ effet qui blanchit les “< Negres eft fondé dans un changement des hu- *« meurs les plus effentielles de corps.” Taking the pofition for granted, how this effential alteration has been brought about will be ftill matter for phyfical difcuffion. Air, water, aliment, indolence and filth may be powerful caufes, and they become undoudtedly more for- cible when combined, and when they have ac- quired increafed ftrength from their continued operation for a long courfe of years, on fucceffive generations. The air is moft avowedly infalu- brious on the whole ifthmus of Darien, and what appears decifive, as to its influence, is, the known fact, that the female negroes brought from * If this be an error, it is an error at leaft of long dura- tion. Herodotus has advartced boldly : » youn Je aurav trv ATIEVTAL €1f TAS YUleIKaS B KATAITED THY GAAWY avOoweray evt AgvKN, G@AAK mErAaIVa noTaMEp TO xXpwuc’ ToL auTHy Oe Ka Aibiores amievras Oognv’ Thalia. 240. Ed. Weffel. It is but © fair however to add that Ariftotle denies this exprefsly. Hift. Animal. lib. HI. C. 27. meg omspuat@-; and alfo Gener. Animal. lib. If. C. 2. aeps ons 78 omepuat@- Qucews. Africa On the Cretins of the Vallais. " O94 Africa to Carthagena and Panama, where the climate is to the laft degree inhofpitable, and the perfpiration of the body aftonifhing, produce more of the white Indians than in any other part of the new continent. The fame caufes regularly fubfifting, it may | be afked why they are not attended uniformly with the fame effects. To refolve the difficulty, may it not be queftioned, whether the humours of certain perfons are not in fome fecret, unknown ftate, which facilitates the metamorphofis. To thofe whofe ftudies lead them to inveftigate the human frame, with its diforders, the fubject is not altogether an uninterefting one. We owe much to the labours of great and learned men during the laft century; but, notwithftanding the rapid advances they have made in every part of fcience, much remains to be yet done. A wide field is ftill open for refearches into human nature, and pofterity may, perhaps, difcover what we have in vain attempted to explore. Vor, Ill. ¥ A DESCRIP~ 274. | Defeription of the Eye of the Seal. afi - A Description of the Eve of the Strat; by Mr. Hey, of Leeps. READ OCTOBER 26, 1787. N the debate concerning the immediate organ of vifion, it has. been afferted, and is taken for granted by the beft authors, that the eyes of the feal and porcupine are differently formed from thofe of other animals; having the optic nerve inferted in the axis of the pupil. This difference of ftructure has been urged as an argument to prove, that the retina is that part of the eye which receives the picture, and ‘con- veys to us the idea of external objects. For fince, according to the laws of optics, the pic- ture muft be formed in and about the axis of the pupil; and fince the choroides is wanting at the infertion of the optic nerve, the choroid coat cannot, in thefe animals, receive the com- plete picture of any object. ; Though the argument fails with refpect to the animal whofe eye I am about to defcribe, yet I do not mean to exprefs any doubt that the retina is the proper organ of vifion. The pre- ceding obfervation is mentioned as that which excited my curiofity to know, whether this de- = Viation = 4 ew Se ete Bae" > Defcription of the Eye of the Seal. 275 viation from the ordinary courfe of nature was a matter of fact. I procured two eyes of a feal, caught in the north feas, and which were pre- ferved for my ufe in rum; and examined them both by diffe€tion. The following fhort account of the peculiarities in the eye of this animal, may not be unacceptable-to the Literary and Philo- fophical Society. The form of the eye, when deprived of the adipofe membrane and mufcles (in which ftate I received it) was quite globular, meafuring three inches and three quarters in circumference. The fclerotis was rather thinner than that of a fheep; but diminifhed gradually, as is ufual, from the pofterior part of the eye, to its junétion with the ciliary ligament. From the great breadth of the ciliary ligament, which meafured a quarter of an inch, the thinneft part of the fcle- rotis was not contiguous to the cornea, as in the human and fheep’s eye, but furrounded the middle of the eye. So that the outer membrane, or coat, grew firft gradually thinner, to the mid- dle of the eye, and then became fuddenly thick, continuing fo to its junction with the cornea. The cornea was horizontally oblong, the ver- tical diameter being about +75 of an inch, while the horizontal was +85; fo that the horizontal diameter exceeded the vertical by one-tenth of an inch, T 2 The. a6, Defcription of the Eye of the Seal. The choroid coat adhered very firmly to the {clerotis. It was black on its pofterior furface, but grey on its anterior. The iris was black on both its furfaces, and was evidently a continuation of the choroides. The pupil was remarkably fmall, forming an aperture no larger than might be made by the puncture of a middle-fized pin. The figure of the pupil, before the iris had been touched, was that of an equilateral triangle. The cryftalline humour was nearly f{pheri- cal; if there were any deviation from a fphere, it was by approaching to the figure of an oblate fpheroid. The ciliary proceffes were attached to the equatorial part of the cryftalline humour, if I may be allowed the expreffion. ‘At firft fight, the optic nerve feemed to be inferted’ in the axis of the pupil; but, upon making a longitudinal incifion through the nerve, © quite down to the rétina, 1 found that its infer- tion was on the inner fide of that axis, aS in other animals. The fubftance which furrounded the optic nerve was fibrous, and, fpreading itfelf out every way as it approached the {clerotis, was continued into the fubftance of that coat. In- deed, the fclerotis feemed to be formed by the fibrous fubftance which accompanied the optic nerve; only, after this fubftance had diverged a little way from the nerve, it became compact, as the {clerotic coat ufually is. The optic nerve was fomewhat ——————— eS CC UCC “4 =} ave “Fa a CP ae Defeription of the Eye of the Seal. 277 fomewhat enlarged as it pafled through the fcle- otis, and was again contracted in its paflage through the choroides. In the former part, the diameter of the nerve was ‘o$ of an inch; in the latter -06. ; Upon meafuring carefully the different arcs of of the circumference of the eye, taken from the optic nerve to the center of the pupil, it was found that the nerve was placed at the diftance of *11 of an inch from the axis of the pupil. And as the axis of the pupil muft be in the cen- ter of that area on which the picture is formed, the diameter of the area on which a picture may be formed in the eye of a feal is -22, or nearly a quarter of an inch, of the retina, excluding the breadth of the optic nerve. The quantity of fibrous fubftance accompany- ing the optic nerve in this animal, the fpreading out of that fubftance, wich the fmallnefs of the nerve itfelf, feem to have been the caufes of that deception, which fome incautious naturalift has fallen into, and which has been propagated by the differént authors who have copied one ano- ther on this fubject. * The fmallnefs of the pupil in this animal ts very remarkable. What there is in the habits of a feal to require this ftructure, I cannot tell. It feems a general law of nature, that the pupil of the eye becomes dilated at death. But unle(s this law be reverfed with refpect to the feal, its fe eye 278 On the Knowledge of the Ancients s eye muft admit very little light, though it may / allow great diftinétnefs of vifion. ~~ In meafuring different parts of the eye, I was affifted by Mr. Afpdin, an ingenious watch- maker, in this town. a rinqur OBSERVATIONS on the KNOWLEDGE of the Ancients refpeéting Evectricity ; dy WILLIAM FALconer, Mo Die baie. Communicated by Dr. PERciva.. READ MAY 2, 1788, T is, I believe, generally allowed, that Elec- tricity, confidered as a principle, or quality, pervading all nature, was unknown to the philo- fophers of antiquity. It is, however, admitted, that fome of its effects were obferved by them, but their obfervations led them to believe, that it was a peculiar property of certain bodies only, and not that it was, as it now appears to be, one of the moft general and active agents in the natural fyftem. Theophraftus is, as far as I know, the. firft writer that has remarked the attractive power of bodies to one another, diftinét from the attractions of gravity and mag- netifm, refpetting Eleéricity. 279 netifm*, He fpeaks in his Treatife on Stones, of «¢ amber dug’on the coatt of Liguria, which had ‘© an attractive power. He intimates, that the “¢ cleareft had this property in the higheft de- ‘© gree, and that it would attract iron.” The fame ‘writer afcribes fimilar properties to the lapis lyncurius, which is now believed to be the tourmalin, though it was formerly efteemed to be the fame with amber. Theophraftus, however, clearly diftinguifhes them from one another, though he afcribes the fame attractive properties to both. ‘It poffeffes+,” he fays, «© an attractive power like amber; and, as they “fay, attracts not only ftraws, and leaves, but -“€ copper alfo, and iron, if in {mall particles.” Pliny gives a fimilar account. ‘ Amberf,” fays he, ‘‘ being rubbed with the fingers, and - © nan yag opuutoy meget Myusixnv. Kos tovto ay n Tov ednely duvets anorouSan ey Nes Oe ETIORA0S* xa Davegatatn n TOY oiOngov syovca. _Theophraft. eg: wSav. The contrary is now thought to be the cafe, as the cloudy amber is thought to be the moft ftrongly elettric per fe. See Dr. Milner on Eledtricity. + Eau OTTER TO NAEKTLOVe Ox de Paciv & ovov HapOnv, Mat Qua, BAAR Ha Karty Kod ciOngov, Eav n AemMTos. Ibidem Theophratti. { Ceterum attritu digitorum accepta, vi caloris attra- hunt in fe paleas & folia arida, ut magnes lapis ferrum. Plin. lib. XXXVII. cap. 3. Nec folia autem aut ftramenta in fe rapere, fed zris aut ferri laminas. Ibidem Plinii. a iy’ | «¢ having 280 On the Knowledge of the Ancients “‘ having thereby become warmed, attraéts to *¢ itfelf {traws and dried leaves; in the fame man- ‘¢ ner as the magnet does iron.” He afcribes the fame properties to the lapis lyncurius. Soli- nus*, Prifciant, and, I believe, many other writers have noticed the fame: quality of that ftone. But the attractive power which electricity imparts to bodies, is not the only property of that fluid that was known to the ancients. They were acquainted with the effects of the electric fhock ; and have minutely defcribed the fenfations occafioned thereby, upon the human body. I do.not however mean to infinuate, that they apprehended any connection to fubfift between. the attractive power juft fpoken of, and that which I am about to mention. It is now proved, beyond a doubt, that the benumbing power, which is found in the torpedo, and feveral other fithes, is, * Lapidi ifti ad fuccinum color eft pariter fpiritu attra- hit propinguantia. Solin. cap. II. + Paleas rapiunt traétu frondefque caducas. Prifc. in Periegefi. In Syria quoque foeminas verticillos inde facere & vo- care harpaga, quia folia & paleas veftiumque fimbreas ad fe rapiat. Plin. XXXVII. 3. The word by which amber was known among the. Arabs (karabe) is faid by Avicenna to be of Perfian origin, and to fignify its power of attracting ftraws. Salm. De homo- nym. hyles atric. in ~ wefpetiing Eleétricity. 281 in reality, produced by the electric ftroke, shiek they have a power of imparting to any object they pleafe, with which they come in contact; and is indeed the method they have both of defending themfelves, and providing food. Ariftotle fays, that the torpedo* ‘*caufes, or “‘ produces a torpidity upon thofe fifhes it is < about to feize, and having by that means got ‘<< them into its mouth, feeds upon them.” He adds, ‘* that this fifh hides.itfelf in the fand and ‘¢ mud, and catches thofe fifh that {wim over ir, ‘© by benumbing them; of which,” he fays, “© fome have been eye-witneffes. The fame fith *‘ has alfo the power of benumbing men.” Pliny fays, ‘that this fifh} has the power of “communicating its benumbing quality, if <* touched with a fpear, or a rod; and is able to *‘ impart a torpor over the ftrongeft mufcles of «¢ the body; and, as it were, binds and ftops the “‘ feet even of the {wifteft perfons.” Galent * 4 Te vorgKn VapKaY TroloUTe WY ay KpATHCELY MEAN IXSUOV, TO TLOTM ov EXE EV TH SOMAT! AauBaVoUTA, TREPETH TOUTOIs. KATa- MQUTTETaL OE Els THY Cymnov MOLL MNAOV"’ AcyBavEel TE TH emWEovTE o7a% ay vaounon EmM\Pegousva Tay IXIuoOV" Kat TOUTOU automo YEYEVNVTGL TIVES. n TE vapun Pavepa Est, ua Tog aVvSouro1s moouca vaguav. Arift. Hift. Anim. L. IX. 37. + Torpedo etiam procul & e longinquo, vel fi hafta virgave attingatur, quamvis prevalidos lacertos torpefcere facit, & pedes quamlibet ad curfus veloces & alligat & retinet. Plin. XXXII. 1. ; t Galen de locis affect. fays, 282 On the Knowledge of the Ancients fays, ‘* that the torpedo is endued with fuch a ‘* a power, that if it be touched by the fifherman «‘ with his eel fpear, it inftantly ftupifies the ‘‘hand, tran{mitting this power through the «< fpear, to the hand.” Plutarch* fays, ‘¢ that <* it affects the fifhermen through the drag-net; «and, that if any perfon pours water on a living “¢ torpedo, the fenfation will be conveyed through “¢ the water to the hand.” . Oppian has gone ftill farther, and has dif- covered the organs by which this fifh is enabled to produce this extraordinary effeét, which he afcribes to ‘* twot+ organs of a radiated texture, “¢ which are fixed, or grow on each fide of the < fifh.” Claudian has written a fhort poem on the torpedo, but he mentions no qualities of it different from thofe which have been re- cited above, fave that it can convey its influence from the hook, with which it is caught, to the hand of the fifherman. From the above accounts we fee, that the philofophers of antiquity had accurately obferved the nature of this extraor- dinary influence, though they knew not to what * Plutarch de Solert. Anim. f Aadarc ot ev Amyovercw auganeing oro aArxn, Kegmidts eumeQuacs maga macupny exarepden Audidvuot, tov et Tig emnpavosie TEAAT TOS, Aurina ot ptrsws obevos ecBecev. Opp. lib. I. ver. 62. general nee vefpecting Eleétrictty. 283 eeneral principle it ought to be afcribed. They noticed the fenfation, and its effects on the body, the ufe the fifh makes of this property for its defence and fupport, and that the fifh had the . power of conveying it through wood, metals, hemp or flax, and even through water; and laftly, that this extraordinary power was lodged in organs peculiar to the fifh, a fact which the late accounts of the diffection, of the electrical eel farther confirm. It is. remarkable, that Pliny afcribes this power of the fifh to a certain invifible agency, and calls it by the fame name* that has been applied by later writers to de- nominate the ele¢trical influence. It is farther worthy of remark, that the elec- trical fhock, imparted by means of the living tor- pedo, was ufed in medicine. Voffius+ mentions, from fome ancient authority, that an inveterate * Quod fi neceffe habemus fateri, hoc exemplo, efle vim aliquam, que odore tantum & quadam auré {ui corporis aficiat membra, quid non de remediorum omnium mo- mentis fperandum eft. Plin. XXXII. cap. 1. + It appears to be from Scribonius Largus. Capitis dolorem quemvis veterem & intolerabilem pro- tinus tollit & in perpetaum remediat torpedo viva nigra, impofita eo loco qui in dolore eft, donec definat dolor & obftupefcat ea pars, quod quum primum fenferit, remove- atur remedium, ne fenfus auferatur ejus partis. Plures autem parandz funt ejus generis torpedines, quia nonnun- quam vix ad duas, trefve refpondet curatio, id ett, torpor quod fignum eft remediationis. Scrib. Larg. cap. I. head 284. On the Knowledge of the Ancients head-ach was cured by the application of a living torpedo to the part where the pain was feated, The fame remedy was alfo in ufe for the gout; the patient* being directed to place a living tor- pedo under his feet, as he ftood on the fea fhore, and to continue it until he found the numbnefs not only affeét the whole of the foot, but the leg alfo, as far as the knee. This remedy is faid to have cured Anthero, a freedman of Tiberius Ceefar. ! Diofcorides+ advifes the fame remedy for inveterate pains of the head, and for protrufions of the rectum; and Galenf feems to have copied him in recommending the fame remedy for fuch complaints, The fame application for the head- ach is to be found in Paulus A®gineta,|| and I believe, feveral other of the later writers on me- ‘dicine. An ingenious and learned Gentleman fuggefted to me, that it was probable, that even the method of drawing down electrical fire from * Ad utramlibet podagram, torpedinem nigram, vivam, quum accefferit dolor, fubjicere pedibus oportet, {tantibus in litore, non ficco, fed quod alluit mare, donec fentiat torpere pedem totum & tibiam ufque ad genua.» Hoc et in prefenti tollit dolorem, -& in futurum remediat : hoc, Anthero Tiberii libertus fupra hereditates remediatus _eft. Scribon. Larg. cap. XLI. + Diofcorid. lib. II. Art. Torpedo. Vide edit Mat- thioli. 1560. ; t Galen. Simpl. Medic. lib. XI. , ‘|| Pauli Aginet. lib. VIL, Art. Naeun ; the : vefpetting Electricity. o85 the clouds was known in very early times, and particularly to Numa Pompilius, the fecond king of Rome; and that his fucceffor Tullus Hofti- lius, perifhed by his unfkilful management of fo dangerous a procefs. Numa Pompilius, we know, was a Sabine, a tract comprehended in the limits of the ancient Etruria, a country from whence the Romans profeffedly derived moft of their religious rites and ceremonies. Diodorus Siculus informs us, that the Tyrrheni or Etrufci, Numa’s. countrymen, were parti- cularly knowing in every circumftance rela- tive to thunder, as a branch of natural hiftory, which they ftudied very eagerly: yeouwata te na Puoiwroyiay eLemovnocy enti WrEisov, Ko TH TELL THY KEgAUVETKOTTICY MAMTA TayTov awSeamay eleipyaravto. Lib. V. p. 219, edit. Rhodomanni. Pliny fpeaks to the fame purpofe. Extat an- nalium memoria facris quibufdam... . vel cogi ful- mina vel impetrari, Vetus fama Hetrurie eft impe- tratum .. evocatum &F a Porfend fuo rege. Numa himfelf was, undoubtedly, a man of fcience. -He rectified the calendar, and by intercalation brought the lunar and folar years to correfpond. He was acquainted with the power of a concave ~ fpeculum in concentrating the fun’s rays, fo as to inflame bodies; and it was in this way that _ the. veftal fire was lighted. He inftituted reli- _ gious ceremonies, and formed a college of he- _ralds, and was indeed their principal legiflator, in 286 On the Knowledge of the Ancients in what regarded religion and the laws of nations. Among other acts, Livy tells us, that he built an altar on the Aventine mount to* Jupiter Eli- cius, whom, it was given out, that he had a power of drawing down from heaven, to explain what was portended by prodigies, and. parti- cularly by thunder and lightnings, and to advife with him on other important occafions. Arno- bius, copying Plutarch, fays, that Numa not being acquainted, with the means of procuring thunder, which knowledge he was defirous to acquire, applied to the goddefs Egeria, who taught him the method of drawing Jupiter down from heaven. Now we know, that in the Jewith religion, the vifible appearance of the Deity was in the form of a fame of fire; witnefs the manifefta- tion to Mofés, in two inftances, and the Shechi- nah of the temple. The fame idea prevailed in _ the Pagan mythology; Jupiter, when he was obiiaeds to come to Semele} with the charaéte- * Queque prodigia fulminibus, aliove quo vifo, miffa fufciperentur atque curarentur: ad ea elicienda.ex men- tibus divinis, Jovi Elicio aram in Aventino dicavit, deum- que confuluit auguriis, que fufcipienda effent. Livii lib. I. Eliciunt ceelo te Jupiter, unde minores Nunc quoque te celebrant Eliciumque vocant. Ovid. Faftor. lib. III. 327. + Immiftaque fulgura ventis Addidit, & tonitrus & inevitabile fulmen. Ovid. Metamorphos. III. 300+ The few lines above are called Infgnia Jovis. riftic. refpetting Eleétricity. 287 riftic figns of his prefence, came in this manner; to draw down thunder then, and to draw down the Deity, were, according to this acceptation, the fame thing; and this.Pliny* teftifies, as he fays, from good authority, had been often per- formed by Numa. Let us now examine the ac- count of the death of Tullus Hoftilius. Livy+ fays of him, “ that after examining the Com- “¢ mentaries of Numa, and finding there a defcrip- *€ tion of certain occult and folemn facrifices, *« performed to Jupiter Elicius, he fet himfelf to ** execute thefe in private; but from fome impro- ** priéty in the commencement and conduc of *« thefe operations, he not only failed of being ‘© favoured with any intercourfe with any celef- “tial beings, but was, through the wrath of “© Jove, excited by his being importuned with «‘fuch irregular rites and ceremonials, ftruck ** with lightning, and confumed, together with *¢ his palace.” * Et ante cum a Numa fepius hoc fagtitatum, in primo annalium fuorum tradidit L, Pifo gravis autor. Plin. IT. 53. ; + Ipfum regem tradunt, volventem commentarios Numz, quum ibi quedam occulta folennia facrificia Jovi Elicio . facta inveniffet, operatum his facris fe abdidiffle; fed non refte enitum aut curatum id facrum efle; nec folum nul- Jam ei oblatam czleftiem fpeciem, fed ira Jovis, folici- _ tati prava religione, fulmine i&tum cum domo conflagraffe. ». Livii. lib. I, cap. 31, Pliny’s 288 On the Knowledge of the Ancients Pliny’s* account agrees herewith. He fays, that Tullus Hoftilius, «« whilft he was imitating ‘¢in an irregular and improper manner, the pro- *‘cefs of Numa, for drawing down lightning, «¢ was ftruck with a thunderbolt.” Dionyfius Halicarnaffenfis+ agrees, that he perifhed by fire, together with his family; but though he fays, that many thought the burning of the palace was an artifice, to conceal the mur- der of the king and his family, yet himfelf in- clines rather to the opinion that he died by lightning, on account of his improper conduct refpecting the facred rites. All agree that he pe- rifhed in a ftorm, and during the performance of a private religious ceremony. Confidering the in- tent of thefe rites, which were probably com- pofed of fome proceffes, which exhibited appear- ances of an eleétrical nature, it is, I think, at leaft probable, that he really loft his life by his unfkilful management. There is a remarkable paffage in Lucan, rela- tive to this fubje&t. Arruns, a learned Etrurian, whom he had before defcribed as fkilled in the motions of lightning, is faid, by him, to have « collected the fires of lightning that were dif- * Quod (fcilicet fulminis evocationem) imitatum parum rite Tullam Hoftiliom ium fulmine. ~ Plin. lib. IL, cap. 53. + Dionyf. Halicarn. p. 176, edit. Sylburgii. t fulminis edoctus motus. Lucan. “perfed — refpeciing Eleétricity. so 289 perfed through the fky, and to have buried them* in the earth, ‘* What is this, but the defcription * of the ufe. of a conductor, to fecure buildings *< from being ftruck by lightning?” Let us now fee if any probable conjecture may be formed, concerning the means or inftruments which they employed in thefe operations. We know that the Hetrufcans and Sabines, Numa’s countrymen, worfhipped} fpears, and were, in-- deed, the inventors of thofe weapons, | It is pro- bable that they might, not worfhip, or employ one {pear only in fuch folemnities, but a number, perhaps a large cafe, orwhat Homer calls AougoSnmt, ora kind of foreft of fpears. The firft places of worfhip were in the open air, the word semplum§ originally fignifying the heaven, or fky. Befides, , they were upon high places. The Law was de- livered to Mofes upon mount Sinai: and high places are mentioned often || in the f{criptures as * Arruns difperfos fulminis ignes Colligit, & terra mefto cum murmure condit. Lucan. Phars. I. 606, 607. + Sive quod hafta quiris prifcis eft diéta Sabinis, Bellicus a telo venit in aftra Deus. Ovid Faft. II. 477. t Odyff. I. 128, § Templum coelum dictum eft ane ipfum primo tue- mor. Stephan. Thefaur, a Levit. xxvi. 30, Numbers xxii, 41,—xxxiii.’ 52. 1 Kingsiii. 2, 3.—xii, 31, 32,—Xili. 2, 32, 33.— XV. nth & fere paflim. Vor. III. U the 290 On the Knowledge of the Ancients. the feats of idolatrous worfhip. Now, were a foreft of fpears, with the points upwards, and with the handles of dry wood, or, perhaps, fome of the Teribinthinate kind, which are bad con- | duétors, and placed upon an elevated fituation, . they might, if placed within ftriking diftance, exhibit a luminous appearance, and in certain feafons colleé electrical fire, fufficient to make a great difcharge; and, as I fuppofe, to deftroy any perfon within the reach of their influence. This is not altogether matter of conjecture. Plutarch fays, that balls of fire were feen to reft on the points of the foldiers’ fpears, and we know, that in our own times, in the Mediterranean fea, it is common for balls of fire to reft on the rigging of the fhips, which appearances were formerly called by the names of Caftor and Pollux; and in later times, the fires of St. Helmo, and are thought to foretel good weather. Was it from this opinion, that St. Paul’s fhip, mentioned in the Aéts of the Apoftles, had the images of Caftor and Pollux on its prow. Livy* fpeaks of a fpear, in a houfe, that burned more than two hours, yet without being confumed. Could this be any thing but electrical ? It fhould be obferved, that Numa did not build a temple, but an altar, in the open air, to * Fregellis in domo L. Atrei hafta, quam filio militi emerat, interdiu plus duas horas arfiffe, ita ut nihil ejas ambureret ignis, dicebatur. Liv. XLIII. 13. . Jupiter refpetting Eleétricity. 291 Jupiter Elicius, and that it was fituated on a hill, namely, the Aventine Mount. But Tullus Hoftilius, it is faid, was in fome retired part* of his houfe, and alone, A fpear, however, might become elettrical in a thunder ftorm, in which Tullus Hoftilius is faid to have perifhed, even in a houfe,; wit- nefs the ftory from Livy, mentioned above; but we may fuppofe, that he might be on the houfe top, which was a common place of wor- fhip, and there have erected his apparatus ‘for drawing down lightning, That this was a com- mon place for idolatrous worfhip, we learn from the fcriptures. The book of Kings} fpeaks of the altars, that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz. Jeremiah { fpeaks of ‘the ‘© houfes, upon whofe roofs they have burned *¢ incenfe unto all the hoft of heaven, and have “poured out drink-offerings to the gods,” Zephaniah || mentions thofe ‘ that worfhip the hoft of heaven on the houfe tops.” Might nog * wenrovros de Turrou Suciay twa nat’ oimov EMITEAEIV, aUTOUS faovov EBovrAETO Tous avaynasous ELdeVaL, KATH TUXNY THS nuE—AS EKELVNS XELAEQIOU oDooga YEVOMEVNS, HATA TE OUBEOV Kou Saany xa gxotcy. Dionyf, Antig. Rom. lib. III. p. 176, edit. Sylburg. _ . Ts it not probable from hence, that thefe facrifices wer¢ commenced on the approach of ftorms ? ! + Kings, book II. chap. xxiii. 12. t Jerem, xix. 13.. —‘{} Zephaniah i. 5. U 3 then 292 On Druidical Remains. then Tullus Hoftilius, fuppofing him p an elevated fituation, and upon t building, and furrounded by, « bourhood of a number of fp their points upwards, receive means from an electrical a not an electrical cloud be charged upon a multitude terminating in. bad - and deftroy tim; and might not Numa be this procefs with © haps, not a ae preferved ‘by conduétors, and even the artificers. t' nearly ignorant of the as = dD > Z Whos ti , . & wha Essay on fome jfuppofed near FAALIFAX in Yor wil ssi eit tf ‘Mas BARRITT. “fA BOUT ‘a mile wefty A church, in the county hill, which commands a an the adjacent country, ft bouring people, POTS” vw 2 iid OD KE ’ : Potpmur(ye stg pure sro. “We x t 77h" > Tppes w TOM y ~~ es tr iti ry On Druidical Remains. 293 ‘fummit are abundance of large craggy ftones, (of that fort generally called mill-ftone grit) lying fcattered up and down, which, when viewed from the eaft, look like the foundation or ruins of: fome ftupendous fabric. One of thefe | ftones, or rather two of them clofely joined to- gether, is called the pancake; it is of an irre- gular fquare form, with obtufe angles, and hath upon its furface four bafons, hollowed in the ftone; the largeft, being nearly in the center, is capable of holding eight or ten gallons of water, fome fay more: whether thefe hollows be natural, or artificial, is not known. This ftone I meafured, and found to be about feventy-fix feet in circumference: another long uneven hole, upon this ftone, is called Robin Hood’s bed. A little weftward of this, is another ftone, about twenty feet in height, and about fifty-fix feet in circumference at the bafe, but much narrower at the top, from whence proceed irregular flu- tings or ridges, down one fide, of about two _ feet long, by fome fuppofed the effect of time, and by others the workmanfhip of art. More . weftward, and nearer the valley of Greenfield, | the ground is called Aldermans, and overlooks that valley, oppofite to a large and high rock - called Alphian. Upon the level of this ground, jis a fiffure in the earth, about twelve or fourteen yards long, each end terminating in a cavernous ~ hole in the rock, one of which is capable of ad- 5 U 3 mitting 494 On Druidical Remains. mitting dogs, foxes, or fheep; the other large enough to receive men. Neither of thefe ca> vities has been thoroughly explored by any one within memory; a perfon informed me that he had gone into the larger with a light, but re- turned, after having gone down a floping defcent of about fixty yards: tradition fays, into the other hole once went a dog, in full chace after a fox, but neither of them ever returned. To a fuperficial obferver, unacquainted with ancient hiftory, and bufied only with the com- irion occurrences of the prefent day, thefe rude remains may appear to be no more than the fport, or chance of nature, thus left, when the water of the general deluge quitted its earthly feat, and fixed its refidence in its proper bed. To guefs at the tranfactions of remote ages, where we have no written authority, is, it muft be owned, too often fallacious, and at beft very uncertain; and fome, whofe purfuits do not coincide with fuch refearches, may flight thofe attempts, which might lead to a difcovery of actions fo far back as ‘* twice ten hundred years;” yet where we cannot attain complete knowledge, it is humbly prefumed, a probable conjecture may be admitted. Upon this ground of conjecture we may go, and fay, that fituations like thefe, and ftones like thofe we defcribe, have been made ufe of in the moft ancient idolatry, and particularly by the Druids of this ifland; who, as priefts of its firft inhabitants, On Druidical Remains. 295 inhabitants, performed the rites of their religion upon high grounds, as moft fuitable to the {o- lemnity of their worfhip; and as they might fuppofe the Deity to be more propitious, when addreffed from a lofty eminence, « they wor- ** fhipped the whole expanfe of heaven, and had ** open temples.’”’ Sacred hiftory affures us this was the cuftom amongtt idolatrous nations in the eaft. We are told in the hiftory of the Jewith kings, that Jofiah, zealous in the worthip of the true God, went about to reform the Ifraelites, who had fallen into idolatry; that he deftroyed the groves, the temples, and the high places thar were before Jerufalem, and on the right hand of the mount of Corruption, which King Solomon had built for Afhtoreth, the idol of the Sidonians, and for Chemofh, the idol of the Moabites, and for Milchom, the abomination of the children of Ammon. The margin of our old Bibles in- forms us, it was the mount of Olives, that was called the mount of Corruption, becaufe it was full of idols. . Now it may be allowed, that the’ refidence of a Druid, thus elevated upon a mountain, would the better command refpeét from a furrounding crowd, who had an opportunity, for many miles around, of beholding the fmoke afcend from a burning facrifice. The ftone called pancake, I thall venture to point out, as an altar once ufed for facrifice, for Ly. 4 libations, 296 On Druidical Remains. libations, for offering the fruits of the earth, for divination by the entrails of beafts, the flight of birds, by water, and ape methods now not known. g Borlafe, in his A iteiyiied of Cornwall, gives us a very accurate and learned*account of Drui- dical hiftory, and defcribes thefe ftones, or karns, with great minutenefs; and whoever will take the trouble to read his work, may be thoroughly convinced, that thefe ftones in Saddleworth were originally for the fame ufe with thofe which he defcribes in Cornwall. In fpeaking of hollows, or bafons, he fays, ‘« Thefe bafons are generally found on the higheft «hills, and on the tops of the moft confpicuous *karns: fome are found funk into thin flat «* ftones, but they are oftener worked into more “ fubftantial and maffive rocks.” He feems not to allow of their being ‘* defigned for altars *, either of facrifice, of libation, or holy fires;” but I muft fay, that the ftone called pan- cakE, might be accommodated to thofe’ pur- pofes with care. He thinks thefe bafons wholly calculated for the Pagan fuperftitions of ‘ luftra- “tion and purifications by water. The pureft ‘© of all water is that which comes’ from the ‘c heavens in fnow, rain, or dew; and: of this “‘ the ancients were not ignorant; and therefore * Borlafe allows that ancient heathen priefts did facri- fice upon rocks. «ec no PELE APSE SF ‘be fitted for, and confecrated to the fervice On Druidical Remains. 297 “no water feems to) bid more juftly for the «« preference in thofe facred rites, than this. s* Tt may with great probability be advanced, ‘that fo ftrict a fect as that of the Druids *© could not be ignorant of fo univerfal a cuf- - © tom, nor knowingly forbear to adopt fo anci- . “‘ent and. fpecious a rite for a part of their fyf- ‘tem: my opinion, therefore, is, that the ** Druids, as well as other priefthoods, had the ‘rites of external purification by wafhings and *«fprinklings; for this, they had. their holy “ water ; that this holy water was rain or fhow, ‘©or probably both; and that thefe rock-bafons ‘cwere veffels moft ingenioufly contrived to *¢ procure that holy water. They likewife had ‘* their waters of jealoufy, as well as the Jews, ‘© and, near the banks of the Rhine, ufed the “¢ waters of that river to purge the fufpected. ** Thefe bafons are moftly placed above the «reach of cattle, frequently above the infpec- “tion of man.” Thefe long hollows, fuch as Robin Hood’s bed upon the ftone called pan- CAKE, Borlace fuppofes ‘ were to receive ‘ethe bodies, of men and children for particular “diforders, that by the healing virtue attri- * buted to the god, who inhabited the rock, *€ they might be cured of their ailment; «or, ** by being proftrated on fo holy a place, might ce of 298 On Druidical Remains. «of the rock deity, for which they were in- “« tended.” In confirmation of the above, a notion hath prevailed to the prefent day, that the water in the bafon, in the center of Pancake, will cure fore eyes, which fuperftition, I fuppofe, hath - continued from the Druid-times, and feems to eftablith the exiftence of Druidifm in this part of the country. The water in the rock-bafons, ait ferve to mix with their mifletoe, which was looked upon ‘asa general antidote. About half a mile north of PANCAKE, are feve- ral large ftones piled upon each other, upon the higheft of which is a hollow, or bafon; thefe are called sTapELEY stones. What the word ftapeley may fignify, is uncertain; it may come from the Belgic word ftapel, a fettled market ; perhaps in this place necefflary articles were fold to the Druids, and others who came to worfhip, the venders not being permitted to approach any nearer the facred ground. Similar ftone bafons are faid to be found upon the commons, fome miles diftant, in the fame county, which were allowed (by that able and judicious antiquary, the late Rev. Mr. Watfon, rector of Stockport, in Chefhire) to be Druidical remains. Not far from this ground _ alfo, was found the ftone celt, defcribed by the Rev. On Druidical Remains. 299 Rev. Mr. Whicaker, in his hiftory of Man- chefter. The large upright ftone, about twenty feet in height, erected at’ fome little diftance from PANCAKE, I fhould fix upon as the ftone, or idol, once here worfhipped; around it are many very large ftones, lying in all directions, as if tum- bled one from off another. The general form of this ftone is that of a large irregular wedge. Borlafe fays, ‘‘ the Phoenicians adored deities of this form.” The holes defcribed before may be confidered as highly neceffary in the bufinefs of Pagan deception; from them anfwers might be given, and founds and horrid noifes might be heard, produced by perfons concealed there for the purpofe.of aftonifhing deluded people, and by thefe fecret ways, maintaining the credit of the Druidical hierarchy *. Ancient hiftory informs us, that the prieft of - Apollo, at Daphne, near Antioch, when deli- vering his oracles, fat upon a fmall feat like a bufhel, pierced with many holes, and pla- ced over an aperture of the floor of the temple, through which the gale of infpiration was thought to arife. Ic is not improbable that this part of the country was early peopled by thofe Celtz, who * Thefe conjectures are much ftrengthened by Major Rooke’s obfervations on Druidical remanis; publifhed in the Archzologia. owed goo On Druidical Remains. owed their extraction to Pheenicia in Syria ; fince we find the Celtiberi of Spain to be of Pheenician origin, as well as the founders of fe- veral cities in Italy ; and it may be difficult to prove the Celtz of old Gaul, who inhabited be- tween the rivers Garonne and Seine, to have fprung from any other fource. Almoft all wri- ters agree, that the firft inhabitants of this ifland had an intercourfe with the Phcenicians, who are allowed to have traded to Britain, from thofe once famous fea ports Tyre and Sidon; and - where they left a colony, would no doubt leave with them, all the rites and ceremonies of their Syrian worfhip. If it be admitted, that this hill has been dedicated to heathen worfhip, the ground called . Aldermans, I fhould imagine to extend to the place where the idol once ftood. The word Al- dermans, I fuppofe not to be its original name, but to have been afterwards given by the Saxons, fignifying, in their language, ‘the elderman, or oldman, from a rock-idol or {tone pillar, there once worfhipped, by the Celtic Britons, the true name of which was unknown to the Saxons. We read in the Levitical law, that Mofes forbid the Ifraelites to rear up a ftanding image, or fet up any ftone in their land, to bow down to it or worfhip it....The adoration of ftones was com- mon at ‘that day, we read, or why forbidden ? So that upon the whole I fhould conclude, that Ou -Druidical Remains. 301 that a rude ftone pillar was once worfhipped upon this hill; and the ftone called pancake, the altar, and the ftones now lying difperfed about, once formed (though of rude materials) an heathen temple, which upon the prevalence of chriftia- nity, and the rife of more enlightened times, was deftroyed, nay, is evento this day wafting more and more. I was informed when there, that young people would affemble in fine weather, and with iron crows, and levers, amufe themfelves by remov- ing thefe large and ponderous ftones from off ack other, for the purpofe of trying. how far ‘they would tumble, and how long they would be in rolling down the floping hills. Thus we fee the devouring teeth of time, determined, fcarcely to leave one {tone upon ager ah upon this once fa- cred ground. At Mow-Cop in Chehhire, is a rude upright ftone pillar, called the Oldman at Mow, and faid, by the. country people, to be an idol, per- haps once ufed for idolatry, at the fame time with this in Saddleworth. | Account 302 © Account of an ancient Monument Account of an~ ancient’ Monument in Huin ABBEY, NORTHUMBERLAND ; dy JoHN FeR- ata M.D, Re * ; f # ; - ope church, as to efcape Prendbtervation of tra- vellers ; who are generally attracted to vifit the remains of the abbey, by the uncommon beauty of its fituation, more than tiie a Huln abbey, the firft Carmelite monaftery founded in land, was built in 1240, by Ralph Frefborn, under the patronage of Wil- liam de Vefcy, then Lord of Alnwick, and of the immenfe poffeflions of the Tyfons, granted to Ivo de Vefcy by the Conqueror, During the laft of the Croifades, Vefcy, with fome other Northum- brian Gentlemen, vifited the monaftery on mount ~ Carmel. They found there Frefborn their coun- tryman, AVC CATERERS SRST —-— HWVHVOTUVUNCO00)TASMARAEOVONOGOHNABAAAAUIOHANINATE ini i MON UMEN T | a ( z. iho hae 1 diy Yoh Ve 6 bp ) Wi, LY CL Drawn on the Spot. # | in Huln Abbey. 303 tryman, one of the religious, and became fo attached to him, as to defire that he might be permitted to return with them to England. The fuperior agreed to their requeft, on condition that Frefborn fhould found a Carmelite monaftery in his native country. Frefborn chofe a fpot near the caftle of his friend, to fulfil his obliga- tion; the land was granted by Vefcy ; and Fref- born became the abbot. Tradition ftill denomi- nates one of the largeft towers of Alnwick caftle, the Abbot’s tower. Some fancied refemblance to mount Carmel determined the fite of Huln abbey. It is con- troverted, (as all truth is important) whether the hill on which the abbey ftands, or an oppofite eminence, were the object which occafioned this choice. However difficult this point may appear, it would ill become a lover of antiquity to omit an opportunity of deciding by conjecture. I mutt confefs, then, it appears from a comparifon with prints, that the fite of the abbey refembles Carmel, and that the oppofite rock, rifing in a fine cone, almoft from the brink of the river, has the appearance of mount Tabor. But there ‘needed not thefe affociations of ro- mantic devotion, in favour of a place, which, in Sandys’s phrafe, ‘* would make folitarinefs «delightful, and ftand in competition with the “turbulent pomp of cities,” Here, ' 304. Account of an. Ancient Monument Here, De Vefcy was probably. buried; .and I conceive the monument before us to have form- ed the covering of his ftone coffin, It appears, from an infpection of many. ancient monuments, ‘thatthe crofs was a’ common orna- ment for the covers of ftone coffins, both before and after. the conqueft. Several fpecimens of this kind are brought together, in Gough’s fe- pulchral monuments: in fome, the crofs is accompanied with the armorial bearings of the perfon interred. Our artift, with more ‘afte, has introduced the arms and infignia of Vefcy, in a kind of trophy, with very elegant fillets. . I am not quite fatisfied about the meaning of the wheel contained in the creft, Moft of the croftes I have mentioned have a circular ornament on the top, fometimes enclofing a quatrefoil. The wheel, in this inftance may allude to Vefcy’s tra- vels. Or more probably it is that bearing known © in books of heraldry, by the name of the Cathe- rine-Wheel ; a bearing, according to the Acci- dence of armory, proper to the moft honourable perfons only. It would be inaccurate not to ob- . ferve, that the form of this wheel ‘is different from that given’ to the Catherine-Wheel by: the heralds ; for in this before us; there are two’ con- centric circles, in the outer of which, radii, like fpokes, are drawn to the circumference; but whether this be a piece of ingenious flattery, by which the honour of the wheel is doubled, or whether in Huln Abbey. 305 whether it refers to fome particular incident in. De Vefcy’s life—I believe we cannot deter- mine. The thield charged with a plain bend, on the right of the trophy, is faid- to be the ancient bearing of the Northumbrian Vefcys. To whom the fhield charged with a chevron, on the left, belonged, I have attempted in vain to deter- mine. I do not remember, that it is to be found among the numerous efcutcheons difplayed on the gateways of the caftle and abbey of Aln- wick. Perhaps, in this inftance, Time, in mock- ery of human pride, has reftored the fymbol of ~ a family whofe name and memory have perifh- ed. The fword and bugle horn, fufpended on different fides of the trophy, intimate the baro- nial quality of the deceafed. The monument, therefore, certainly commemorates. a Baron de Vefcy. But I am led to believe that this Baron __. was the patron of the monaftery, not only from the place where the monument was found, but . from a note in the old plan of the abbey, firft publifhed by Mr: Grofe. The Founder's tomb is «there marked, at the eaft end of the church, “but no notice is taken of it, in the furvey which _ accompanies the plan. As it isa point undecided by authors, whe- _ ther Frefborn ereéted the building at his own _ expence, or whether the munificence of his friend that, as well as the park ; and chiefly Vor. Ill. X becaufe oe 306 = Account of an ancient Monument, Sc. becaufe I am inclined to be of the latter opinion ; I apprehend that the title of founder of the mon- aftery could only belong to William de Vefcy. It is well known that the tombs of founders and benefactors of religious edifices were generally placed near the altar; and nobody could fay to a Norman Baron, immemor fepulchri ftruis domos. So much of the monument of William de Vefcy.—A vindication of this little difquifition may appear necefflary to thofe who condemn the ftudy of antiquities, as ufelefs or uncertain. But I have ever thought, that purfuits, which add to the innocent happinefs of life, are too refpect- able to require defence. A knowledge of anti- quities implies labour and erudition, and I do not know that it difpofes either to vice or folly. The charge of uncertainty can never be brought againft this kind of knowledge, without recoil- ing on all fyftems; and a true philofopher will beware of under-valuing any refearches into hu- man life; efpecially fuch as intereft our nature fo ftrongly, as thofe of the antiquarian. For. every one mutt feel, in fome degree, on furvey- ing the works of former ages, thofe fentiments, fo well expreffed in that exquifite paflage, which Mr. Grofe has feleéted, as the motto of his Englifh antiquities ; I do love thefe ancient ruins ; We never tread upon them but we fet Our foot upon fome reverend hiftory. And On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 307 And queftionlefs, here, in this open court, Which now lies naked to the injuries Of ftormy weather, fome men lie interred, Lov’d th’ church fo well, and gave fo largely to’t, They thought it fhould have canopy’d their bones. Till doomefday. Bat all things have an end. Charches and cities, that have difeafes like to men, Muft have like death that we have. On the Nature and Utiitry of ELoquence ; by Ricuarp Suarp, F.S, A. “* Fraétu, et populari eftimatione, Sapientia Eloquentiz cedit. Ita enim Salomon, Sapiens corde appellabitur prudens, Sed dulcis eloguio majora reperiet; haud obf{curé innuens, Sapientiam famam quandam, et admirationem cuipiam conciliare, at in rebus gerendis et vita communi, eloquen- tiam precipué effe efficacem.” Bacon de Augm. Scien. lib, VI. Cap. 3. READ NOVEMBBR 2, 1787. I MUST hope to be forgiven, for owning that I confider myfelf as running fome rifque, in venturing to folicit the attention of the Society, when I have nothing to offer but a few thoughts, concerning fuch a kind of fubjecét as Eloquence. Generally prevalent as the ftudy of Phyfiology is at prefent, in this kingdom, and particularly culti- X 2 } vated 308 On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. vated as this fcience is by fo many of the moft eminent members of the Society, I fhould be fomewhat furprized if the philofophy of the fine arts were held in much eftimation, 1 never could, and I hope I never fhall allow myfelf to fpeak, or think difrefpe&tfully of other men’s purfuits, merely becaufe they differ from mine ; but furely I may be permitted to fay, that the ftudy of that grand and feducing fcience, Natural Philofophy, has a tendency te excite in its fol- lowers, low ideas of arts as ufeful as any that can be founded even upon its nobleft difcoveries. It is true, that in diftineuifhing the arts from each other, the fine arts have been ufually oppofed to the ufeful; but is not this imyproper? and ~ would it not be better to confider them as divi- ded into the liberal and the mechanical ? Had I thought eloquence to be a fine art only, in the common fenfe of that term, I fhould, in the firft inftance, have probably faved myfelf the trouble of thinking or writing about it at all, but, in the fecond, I fhould certainly have fpared the So- ciety the trouble of reading what I had written. Eloquence, fo far as it is an art, is undoubtedly clafled with propriety, among the fine arts, fince the means it ufes to effect its purpofes are not mechanical, and inafmuch as it is fo con- ftantly connected with the ftrongeft exercifes of the imagination; but furely it can never, be ex- cluded from an eminent place among the ufeful arts; ee On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 309 arts, fo long as men have prejudices to be at- tacked; fears to be allayed; hopes to be excited, or paffions to be moved; and fo long, it may be added, as they have underftandings to be ins formed. For, perhaps, the moft extenfive field for the difplay of real ability in fpeaking, is the rich, the vaft, and hitherto uncultivated tract of probable evidence. Withia the fphere of demonftration indeed, eloquence has but little to do, having only room enough to exhibit two of her loweft qualities, perfpicuity and order: but demonftration, though abfolute fo far as her power extends, reigns over a very narrow territory. I will not prefume to go quite fo far as D’Alembert, and fay of elo- quence, ‘‘ Les prodiges qu’elle opere fouvent «© entre les mains d’un feul fur toute une na- ‘© tion, font peut etre le témoignage le plus ** eclatant de la fuperiorité d’un homme fur un *< autre* ;”’ but ftill, that art which teaches us how we are likely, .in the moft effectual manner, to make ourfelves mafters of other men’s minds by fpeech, muft be permitted to rank very high in the feale of ufeful ftudies. It has in truth been common’ with thofe men of fenfe, who have themfelves been deficient in ~ expreflion, to fpeak with contempt of the elo- = quence of others, and to reprefent it as ufelefs * Difcours preliminaire a l’Encyclopedie, X 3 meh eS 310 Onthe Nature and Utility of Eloquence. at leaft, if not highly dangerous ; nay, fome men have very dexteroufly and fuccefsfully ufed the art itfelf to decry its importance, and vilify its tendency*. Quod fit indigniffimum, fays Quintilian, im accufationem orationis, utuntur orandi viribus +. . «* It is evident,” fays Mr. Locke, ‘* how “men love to deceive, and be deceived, “fince rhetoric, that powerful inftrument of ‘error and deceit, has its eftablifhed pro- “‘feffors, is publicly taught, and has always “been had in great reputationt.” What «¢ is the end of eloquence,” fays Warbur- ton in the chapter already referred to, ‘ but “©to ftifle reafon, and inflame the paffions ?” The prejudices of Mr. Locke were undoubtedly honeft, but they plainly fhow that he miftook the abufe of the art for the art itfelf; and hap- pily for mankind, my Lord Bacon’s obferva- tion is true|j: ‘* No man can well fpeak fair of *‘ things fordid and bafe, but in things honeft * The inftances of this felf-condemning cenfure are very numerous, but there are few examples of it fo remarkable, or fo entertaining, as a long paflage in Plato’s Gorgias, and another in the ninth chapter of Warburton’s Doétrine of Grace. + Lib. II. cap. 15. t Effay on Human Underftanding, book III. ch. 10. |] De rebus fordidis, et indignis non poffe quempiam pulchre loqui, at de rebus honeftis facillime. De Augm. Scient. lib. VI. cap. 3. “Cit 4 On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 311 7 ** it is an eafy matter to be eloquent.” To the Bifhop’s authority it may be objeéted, as Thucydides fays it was to Cleon’s, “ that becaufe ** he ufed to hold the bad fide in the caufes he ** pleaded, therefore he was ever inveighing *‘againft eloquence and good fpeech*.” It were eafy to multiply the examples of fuch mif- reprefentations; the fophifts and the fathers of old, the metaphyficians and theologians of late, have united in abufing an art, which they wanted judgment as well as tafte to underftand. Yet in all the various inftances of thefe incon- fiderate attacks, it ever appeared to me, that the objections ‘and cenfures conftantly arofe from a mifconception of the real nature of the art. How often is the epithet eloquent applied to fome ignorant coxcomb, who in every gefture, look, and word, offends againft the firft rudi- ments of fpeaking! forgetting, Ars ef celare artem! How many times muft every man have heard the title of Orator given to fome wretched phrafe-monger, whofe {kill confifted only in the. frequent ufe of a gaudy word, or an affected antithefis! Thus has this efficacious and im- portant art become difreputable, and been of courfe difregarded by many great and wife men, even among thofe whofe profeffions are con- ® Thucyd. lib. II, X 4 nected 312 On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. nected with the daily practice of public fpeak- ing. But this mifconception is far from being peculiar to thofe who have not attended to the fubject; for perhaps it is hardly poffible to pro- duce any definitions of rhetoric from the anci- ent, and there are but few to be found in the modern writings that treat of it, which do not either lay it open to juft objections, or degrade its importance, by confining its powers and its application. It cannot but have been matter of fome fur- prize to fuch as are converfant with the works of the moft celebrated Rhetoricians, that they fhould differ fo generally and fo widely refpect- ing the nature of the art which they profefs to teach. In the fifteenth chapter of his fecond book, Quintilian ftates and refutes a. great va- riety of differing definitions, which, even in his time, had been given of rhetoric, and he cen- fures among others, thofe that refted on the formidable authority of names no lefs eminent than Ifocrates, Plato, Ariftotle, and Cicero, He then proceeds to exprefs and -fupport his own opinion; but with lefs fkill, and lefs fuccefs than he had attacked the fentiments of his predeceffors. The fame irreconcileable variety of opinion prevails among later writers, on this fubjeét, which, to fay the truth, has been confidered by fo many able authors, and by fome of fuch exalted reputation, that I chufe On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 313 chufe to mention this. difference among them, as an apology for prefuming to go over the ground which fuch men have trodden. Since all cannot be right where all difagree, the au- thority of one ferves to counterbalance that of another; and thus a man may be allowed to differ from any of them, without dreading the imputation of vanity. Ariftotle fays it is the office of rhetoric } *€ O’y 70 THEIZAI Gaad to id ce umaexovla TI@ANA meglénaclov.” Rhet, hb: [os 5, ** Officium autem ejus facultatis videtur effe, dicere appofité ad perfuadendum.” Cicero de Inven. lib. I. S. 5. “Nihil enim eft eloquentia, nifi copiofé lo- quens fapientia.” Cicero Orat. Part. S. 23. “Scientia bené dicendi.” Quin. lib. IT, cap. 15. “ Eit igitur frequentiffimus finis rhetorices vis “* perfuadendi. ec opinio originem duxit ab “* [ocrate: apud Platonem quoqgue idem fere di- “cit.” Quin, lib. II. cap. Be ** L’Eloquence eft le talent d’imprimer avec * force, et de faire paffer avec rapidité, dans l’ame ** des autres le fentiment profond dont on eft pene- tré.”’ D’Alembert fur YElocution Oratoire. \ ** Oratory is the natural faculty of fpeech “‘improved by art.” Dr, Preftley’s Lectures on Oratory and Criticifm. ** Floquence d 314 On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. «¢ Eloquence is the power of fpeaking with fluency and elegance.” Dr. Johnfon’s Dic- tionary. *« Eloquence is the art of fpeaking or writing well, fo as to move and perfuade. ”Chambers’s Cyclopedia, Dr. Rees’s Edit. This is but a fmall fample of the various modes of fpeaking concerning the fubje&t; but no more need be produced, and:to me all thefe appear either falfe or imperfect. Perhaps the moft fenfible, moft fubftantial, and moft ufeful idea of eloquence, is that expreffed by Dr. Campbell, in the firft fentence of his pH1LosopHy OF RHETORIC. ‘* Eloquence is that art or talent by which a difcourfe is adapted to its end.’” The fame fentiment is intimated by Quintilian, when he fays, Quo qui/que plus efficit dicendo, hoc magis fecundum naturam eloquentia dicit*. ‘* What- ‘© ever compofition },” fays Mr. Wilkes, in one of his fpeeches, ‘ produces the effeét which is ec intended, in the moft forcible manner, is, in ‘© my opinion, the beft, and moft to be appro- «© ved. That mode fhould always be purfued : «* it has the moft merit, as well as the moft fuc- * Lib. XII. cap. to. ‘ + Inftead of ‘* whatever compofition produces the effect, ”” he fhould have faid, whatever compofition is bef calculated to produce the effet. The paflage would then be incontro- vertible. < cefs, ———— ry et % On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 3165 “* cefs, on the great theatre of the world, no *¢ Jefs than on the ftage, whether you mean to _ © infpire pity, terror, or any other paffion.” It may, perhaps, be objected, that the word elo- quence has generally been ufed in a more limited fenfe, and to fay the truth, it has by many been applied to denote ornamental compofition only : but has not this arifen froma miftake, by which a part of the art has been taken for the whole ? This has been the cafe with poetry, and it is amufing to obferve the difficulties into which the error has brought many learned men, in their attempts to fettle the nature and effential quali- ties of this noble art. Some have thought it’s nature to confiit in imagery, fome in imitation, fome in fiction, fome in metre, and in others in paffion; whereas, thefe are only fo many differ- ent means employed by the poet to effect his purpofes, and are all mere parts of that, of which it has been fuppofed they conftitute the effence. However, let the common meaning of the term be what it may, we are not now confi- _ dering the proper acceptation of a word, but the real nature of a ferious art. The exiftence of fuch an art can hardly be doubted, for that would be to queftion whether men fpeak beft by acci- dent or by defign ; when they take no thought, or when they previoufly confider what they are about to do. Nature, it muft be confeffed, does much, and will not only lead, but compel us, on - 316 On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. on interefting occafions, to ufe thofe forms of fpeech (even the moft complex) which rhetori- cians have arranged and named. Perhaps uo language is more zatura/l than that which abounds with figure and allufion. Yet ftill ability alone is not fufficient; and a living man, of high rank in politigs, might be pointed out, who, though gifted far beyond any of his cotemporariés, and greatly f{uperior to them in acquirements, has yet been often found an ufelefs, and fometimes a dangerous auxiliary, becaufe he wanted the {kill to manage his prodigious powers. He is ever faying fomething only for the fake of faying it; merely becaufe it is fingular, beautiful or fub- lime, and without any regard to its effect on his auditors. A real thought he never can difmifs, till he has made it the fubje&t of innumerable comparifons, or darkened it by fuperabundant il- luftration. If it be poffible for fuch a wafte of talents to be occafioned by a deficiency in the art we are fpeaking of, it may not ‘be amifs to con- fider, whether the definition of it given by Dr. Campbell be the true one, and, at the fame time, to examine the opinions of the other cele- brated writers, whofe definitions I have quoted, as they are maintained and defended by two au- thors of great reputation, and of peculiar abi- lities for the difcuffion of fuch a fubje&t, Dr. Browne and Dr. Leland, both of whom have tated their fentiments at length; the former in his ee OO On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 347 his ESSAY ON RIDICULE, and the latter in his: pis- SERTATION ON THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN ELO- QUENCE. Dr. Browne {peaks thus: “ As eloquence is of ‘a vague, unfteady nature, merely relative-to *‘the imaginations and paffions of mankind, “fo there muft be feveral orders and degrees of it, fubordinate to each other in dignity, ‘© yet each perfe&t in its kind. The common * end of each is perfuafion: the means are dif- ‘ferent, according to the various capacities, *¢ fancies and affections of thofe whom the artift "attempts to perfuade. The pathetic orator “© who throws a congregation of enthufiafts into ‘‘tears and groans, would raife affelions of ‘a very different nature, fhould he attempt to ** profelyte an Englifh parliament. As on the ‘© other hand, the fineft fpeaker that ever com- *‘manded the houfe, would in vain point ‘the thunder of his eloquence on a quaker “meeting.” Effay on Ridicule, fet. IIT. B32. mo 2G Of this paffage, fays Dr. Leland ; “ This is ‘© plaufibly and ingenioufly urged, but the whole “argument is founded on the fuppofition, that ‘eloquence and perfuafion are one and the “fame, and that to be denominated an orator, “©no more is neceffary than to-influence and ““move the hearer, A fuppofition which -can- “not be admitted, however witty men may hy “* have 318 On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. «have talked of the ‘ eloquence of /ilence,’ or «« the ¢ eloquence of nonfenfe.’ Perfuadent enim di- « cendo,” faith Quintilian, “ vel ducunt in id’ quod “ yolunt, alii quoque meretrices, adulatores, cor- “ yuptores. (lib. I]. cap. 16.) The alluring ac- «cents of an harlot move the fenfualift ; the ‘* abje&t and extravagant praifes of a flatterer << move the vain man; and the plain promife of “‘a large reward, expreffed without trope or “ fioure, may have the greateft power over the < conduét of a traitor or an affaffin. Buc it will “* by no means follow, that the harlot, the flat- ‘‘ terer, or the fuborner is eloquent. To merit «© this praife a man muft perfuade (if he does ‘© perfuade) by the real excellencies, the engag- « ing and conciliating qualities of fpeech. Ac- « cordingly, Ariftotle tells us it is the office of «« rhetoric, videre quecunque appofita fint ad ‘per- << fuadendum in quaque re. So that the doétor’s « orator, who throws a congregation of enthu- « fiafts into tears and groans, is, in reality, no «¢ orator at all, becaufe he owes his influence, «© not to clearnefs and ftrength of reafoning, not “< to dignity of fentiment, force, or elegance of “< expreffion, and the like, but to fenfelefs ex- bal clamation, unmeaning rhapfody, or to gri- «© mace, toa figh, to a rueful countenance ; << and if he would in vain endeavour to profe- «¢ lyte an Englith parliament, it is for this very «¢ reaion, becaufe he is no orator, nor can any *< man On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 319 *€ man without any one of the appofita, the ra- ** tional excellencies and engaging qualities of «© fpeech, be faid to poffefs a degree of elo- «* quence perfect in its kind.’? Leland’s Differ- tation, ch. XIV. ~ What Leland fays of Browne’s, may be as juftly faid of his own argument, that it is plau- fibly and ingenioufly urged ; but probably the opinion of neither is true. Although it may be acknowledged that ‘* Eloquence is relative to the imaginations and paffions of men,” yet it does not therefore follow, that it is of a “* vague, unfteady nature.” It might as juftly be faid, that the art of mufic is of a vague, unfteady nature, becaufe it produces compo- fitions fo infinitely various; or that the art of the painter is liable to the fame reflection, be- caufe it is fometimes exercifed on copper and fometimes on canvas. The arts themfelves are fixed, fteady and immutable ; it is only the ob- jects on which they operate, that are various and perifhable. Neither is it true, that the only end of all eloquence, is perfuafion. An orator un- doubtedly often aims ‘to perfuade, but he ge- - nerally has fome other end in view. He fre- quently wifhes to alarm, to roufe, to deprefs, to excite our pity, or to fire our indignation, and fometimes is only defirous to delight the ima- gination. Now thefe different objects can ne- ver be reduced under the general head of per- fuafion, 320 Onthe Nature and Utility of Eloquence. fuafion, without departing moft unwarrantably from the common acceptation of that term. The ingenious inftances adduced in the laft fen- tence of the quotation from Browne, are certain- ly not fufficient to prove either of his pofitions, namely, that eloquence is of a vague, unfteady nature, or that the common end of all eloquent difcourfes, is perfuafion. The anfwer juft given to the principles themfelves, will alfo deftroy the application of thefe inftances. And, in truth, the faéts which he takes notice of may be accounted for, in a much more reafonable and unobjeGtionable manner. That the methodift preacher wet produce no other effect, in parliament, but that of making himfelf ridiculous, is unqueftionable, and why ? becaufe, in attempting to affe&t the houfe, by the ufe of the fame means as thofe that are fuc- cefsful in his own pulpit, he would ceafe to be eloquent. He would be violating one of the fundamental rules of rhetoric, which teaches us, thata fpeaker ought to have a conftant re- gard to the quality of his audience. His ill fuc- cefs, therefore, would be owing to his want of art. He would fail, becaufe he was ineloquent. The eloquence which he had difplayed on his own ground would {till remain unimpeachable, and he would be in a fituation fimilar to that of a ftatuary, who is able to ee his art only up- on marble, The On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 321 The fame reafoning is juft as applicable to the parliamentary fpeaker, who fhould point the thunder ofhis eloquence onaquaker-meeting. The thundering fort of eloquence would here be mif= applied, and how many foever he might ufe of thofe conciliating qualities of fpeech, which Leland fpeaks of, he would ftill be unfuccefsful, becaufe his fpeech would not be ad homines. Dr. Leland’s remarks are truly fenfible, and would not be liable to objection,. if altered but a little. The addition to be recommended, is a fhort ex- planation of what he means by thofe rational and real excellencies, thofe conciliating qualities of fpeech, which he repeats, as the bafis of his rea+ foning. Had he been called upon for fuch an explanation, he would, I am perfuaded, have expreffed himfelf fo, as to deviate materially from the truth of the cafe. He would probably have faid, that Nature had at firft fuggefted certain forms of fpeech, which rhetoricians had ar- ranged and fettled, and that thefe he meant to defcribe by the terms, rational and real-excellen- cies, engaging and conciHating qualities. This others bave faid, and to fuch let it be anfwered, that perhaps the moft common faults of all bad writing arife from this fuppofition, of fomething intrinfically excellent and eloquent in certain forms of fpeech, even when confidered without any view to the effects they are fitted to produce. Vou, SIF. ‘4 Moft 7 322 Onthe Nature and Utility of Eloquence. Moft writers, it muft be confeffed, employ tropes and figures becaufe they avetropes and figures, and not becaule they are calculated to produce certain effects on the minds of their readers or hearers. The term conciliating is itfelf relative, and fup- pofes fomebody to be conciliated; and thefe conciliating qualities of fpeech muft vary, as much as the tempers and underftandings of thofe who are to be conciliated. That which is a con- ciliatory quality in a methodift congregation is not foin parliament, and that which is fo in par- lament, is not fo in a quaker-meeting. The grimaces and rueful exclamations, which Leland fuppofes are fo effectual in a conventicle, are certainly more ufeful than even his concili- ating qualities and rational excellencies of {peech ; but it is alfo true, that exclamations more pathe- tic, and geftures more natural, would be ftill more effectual, even in an affembly of enthu- fiafts ; and the tears and groans produced by thefe grimaces only fhew the great advantage of ap- propriating and adapting both flyle and gefture, fince he himfelf allows, that thefe ‘awkward at- tempts at fpeciality and adaptation, have more effect than the moft polite and fplendid oration, if compofed and delivered without any regard to the peculiarities of the audience. Yet although the variety of temper, intelligence, cuftoms, opinions and prejudices, among mankind, is very great Onn the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 324 great, there are at bottom certain leading prin- ciples, certain mafter-paffions and prevailing pre- judices that all men have in common, which form the-character of the fpecies, and greatly overbalance all accidental and acquired differ- ences. Variety of character is undoubtedly one of the charatteriftics of man, but fimilarity is a more important one. We all both refemble and differ from each other, in countenance and form, as well as in the turn and quality of our minds, Juft fo it is in the art of eloquence ; the kinds are as various as the kinds of men, and yet all arife from a few fixed and invariable principles, and no other forms of fpeech can de- ferve the names which Leland has given them, but fuch as are addreffed to thofe qualities in human nature, which every perfect individual of the fpecies is found to poffefs. Such qualities there undoubtedly are, and fo far as we are all alike, fo far are the rules of eloquence invari- able, fo far muft a fpeaker’s addreffes to our un- derftandings and tempers, be in all cafes the fame. In what fituation, or at what feafon, would it be wrong that the ftyle fhould be pro- portioned to the fubject, fhould be perfpicuous in explanation, accurate in reafoning, decorated in giving delight, or animated in exciting paf- fion? That the opening of a fpeech fhould not’ _ betray infolence or conceit ; that the narration : ae fhould 324. On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. fhould be intelligible; that the arguments fhould be cogent; that the arrangement fhould be ad- vantageous; that the expreffion fhould be fuit- able; that the pronunciation fhould be varied and diftinct ; thefe are not the precepts of one age or one country: they are as neceflary to be ob- ferved at this time, as they were when Ariftotle or Quintilian firft inculcated them. Inftead, therefore, of concluding with Dr. Browne, that eloquence is of a vague, unfteady nature, or with Leland, that the enthufiaft would fail becaufe he is no orator, let thefe inferences be drawn; that eloquence is fixed on fteady and unchangeable principles ; that it is exceedingly extenfive in its ufe, and relates to every kind of difcourfe or fpeech that can be imagined: that he who follows its precepts in one inftance, is in that inftance truly eloquent, however he may fail ef fuccefs, when attempting another kind of fpeaking, whether it be of a higher or lower de- gree; and, in fhort, let Dr. Campbell’s definition be thought the true one, when he fays, that «* Eloquence is the art by which a difcourfe is adapted to itsend.” This definition folves all difficulties, explains, and, as it were, embodies all rules, and is the grand axiom, by which the pro- priety of every fubordinate rhetorical precept muft finally be tried. If fuch conclufions can be fatisfactorily drawn from the foregoing thoughts, the — On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 325 the examination of the fubject has not been ufe- lefs. For it is plainly of material confequence, to be right in the firft principles of a practical queftion, fince real condué in life and bufinefs cannot but be greatly affected by their truth or falfehood. He who thinks eloquence to be the art of deceiving, with Mr. Locke, will, if he be a good man, never ftudy to be eloquent. He who thinks it is fpeaking ornamentally, will be fpeaking ornamentally, when fpeaking plainly would have been more efficacious. He will, moft probably, be lavifh of his tropes and figures, when thefe ambitious decorations fhould have been fhunned, or employed with the moft {paring caution. He who thinks it confifts in moving the paffions, will often be weeping unaccompa- nied by the tears of his audience: and he who thinks it is the art of perfuading, will not un- frequently be urgent when he ought to be in- {tructive, or ufing vehement entreaties inftead of powerful proofs. He, and he only, will not be cramped in the exercife of his art by the narrow- nefs of his principles, who thinks it is the art of _fpeaking and writing, in fuch a manner as is moft likely to obtain the ends which he propofes to himfelf in fpeaking or writing. Does he ad- drefs the multitude ? He will aim at being per- {picuous, intelligible and impaflioned. Does he fpeak before men of learning, and fuch as are Bis eloquent 326 On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. eloquent themfelves ? He will endeavour to be unaffected, rational and concife. Does he defire to convince? He will reafon. Does he wifh to give delight? He will be copious, flowing, rich in imagery, and elegant in expreffion: nothing will be harfh, nothing carelefs; nothing unpolifhed or repulfive. Does he mean to agitate or per- fuade? He will be warm, animated and glow- ing. He will arm himfelf with the thunders and lightnings of eloquence; or will fpeak in the mild, infinuating tone of gentle infinuation ; with ‘* bated breath and whifpering humble- nefs.” In fhort, he will at all times accom- modate himfelf to his fituation ; he will be Orpheus in filvis, inter delphinas Arion. Yet this is not all his praife, for it is not only on public and folemn occafions that he will find opportunities to ufe his manifold fkill*—his elo- quence is not only fitted for the bar, the pulpit, or the public aflemblies of the ftate, but for the numberlefs interefting occurrences of private life, and may even defcend to the narration of events, the compofition of a letter, or the dex- terous management of common. converfation. * Is orator erit, mea fententia, hoc tam gravi dignus no- mine, qui guecumque res inciderit, prudenter, et compofité, ornaté, et memoriter dicat. Cic. de Or. lib. I, fect. 15. To On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 327 To men who have lived in the world, and feen real affairs, the utility of fuch a varied, accom- modating and ready fkill, cannot but be obvi- oufly apparent. It is thus fpoken of by Lord Bacon, and is fet down by him among the de- fiderata. <* Surely it will not be amifs to recommend ** this whereof we now fpeak, to a new inquiry, **to call it by name, The Wifdom of private «© Speech, and to refer it to deficients; a thing “© certainly which the more ferioufly a man fhall “* think of, the more highly he fhall value’*. But fetting afide the evident advantages arifing from a fuperior ability in delivering one’s fentiments on great occafions, and even omitting to lay any ftrefs on the obvious utility of the fame fkill when exerted in a. man’s private affairs ; the pleafures that arife from fine writing are fo great, fo various, fo often to be communicated, and fo eafy to be obtained, that this confider- ation alone would defend the art from the imputa- tion of infignificance. For I can never be * Certe, non abs re te Ey circa hoc ipfum, de quo nunc dicimus, novam inftituere inquifitionem, eamque no- mine Prudentie fermonis privati indigitare; atque inter defiderata reponere : rem certe, quam quo attentius quis Tecogitet, eo pluris faciet. De Augm. Scient. lib. VI, cap, 3, Soe brought 328 On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. brought to believe that they are unprofitably em- ployed, who are conftantly increafing the daily pleafures of their fellow creatures ; who can con- trive, without corrupting men’s minds, to divert and entertain them. Shall thofe be called un- profitable labours, which deliver a private man from the influence of his domeftic anxieties ;°an artizan from the effects of his labour; a foldier from his fufferings ; a ftatefman from his cares : which enable one man to forget his poverty,’ another his difeafe, a third his captivity, and all, their misfortunes ? Who are thefe fevere judges that are ever in- fitting upon the exclufive excellence of the me-— chanical, commercial, or even philofophical em- ployments? as if thofe employments were good for any thing, confidered feparately from the end which they aim at in common with works of imagination, THE PROMOTION OF HAPPINESS, Are there any of them that tend more im- mediately to this great purpofe? Which of them has more power to refine the manners, to foften the temper, to diffufe tranquility and cheerfulnefs; to correct and enlarge the mind ? Away then with fuch fhort- fighted objections, and let thofe that chufe it - prefer the man who makes a blade of grafs grow where it grew not before, to the poet and the moralift, who water the fickly feeds of virtue, and \ On the Nature and Utility of Eloquence. 329 and caufe a rich harveft of good deeds to fpring up, from the barren and unfriendly foil of a de- praved or neglected heart. © ! Not far beneath the hero’s feet, Nor from the legiflator’s feat, Stands far remote the bard, Though not with public terrors crown’d, Yet wider fhall his rule be found ; More lafting his award. Lycurgus fafhioned Sparta’s fame, And Pompey to the Roman name, Gave univerfal fway : Where are they ?—Homer’s reverend page Holds empire to the thirtieth age, And tongues and climes obey. ! AKENSIDE on the Ufe of Poetry. TO 33° Dr. Rotheram on Some Properties TO THE REV. Dr. BARNES, STR, I BEG your acceptance of the following paper ; and if you think that it deferves the attention of your Philofophical Society at Manchetter, I take the liberty of requefting you to prefent it to that learned body. I have the honour to be, SiR, Your moft-obedient humble Servant, ‘ ‘TurnwamM GREEN, JOHN ROTHERAM. Mrppresex, Dec. 3, 1787, Some PROPERTIES of GEOMETRICAL SERIES eéx- plained in the So.ution of a Prosiem, which hath been thought indeterminate. By Joun RotHeram, M. D. PROBLEM. Given, the fum (a), and the fum of the fquares (2), of any Geometrical Series: to determine the Series. INCE every Geometrical Series, as, x xr ol age to wr*—1 is univerfally expref- fed by three quantities, viz. #, the firft term, r, the ’ r f | h 1S ¢ * of Geometrical Series. 33! y, the common ratio, and z#, the number of terms; and fince there are only two conditions, given by the problem, whence thefe three quan- tities are to be found, it hath hitherto been thought indeterminate, or one that would ad- mit infinitely many anfwers. In an infinite geometrical feries, whofe fum, xpergxr*+xer>, &c. ad infinitum =a, is a finite quantity, it is evident that r, the common ratio, muft be lefs than unity: but it may be either a pofitive or a negative quantity. If it be a pofitive quantity, then it muft be a proper fraction; but if negative, it may be either a proper fraction, or an improper fraétion, or a whole number. If r be pofitive, the feries will be, x+xr+x«r*4«r3, &c. ad infinitum; but if negative, it will be x—xr4*r*—,r3, &c. ad infinitum. I fhall firft folve the general cafe where a+ar+xr*44r?, &c. ad infinit. =a, and Hr 44? 7 ay ro 4+x77%, &c. ad infinit, = 3d. If the firft of thefe equations be multiplied by 7, it will be xrt+xr*4xr24xr*, &c. ad inf.=ar; and this, taken from the firft, leaves “=a—ar. If the fecond equation be multiplied by 77, it will be x*7* 447744778, &c. ad inf.=br, and this, taken from ”* 4.47 774% gan &c. ad inf. =, leaves x*=b—dr?, But 332 Dr. Rotheram on Some Properties But x=a—ar, whencex* =a*—2a*rta*r’ ; and confequently, 6—dr*=a* —2a*r+a*r? ; a*—b Whence, after proper reduction, Soe Eee T This value of r being fubftituted in the equa- tion x=a—ar, gives, after proper reduction, nab : : hears Whence, x and 7 being found, the feries will be known. ExampLe. Let a=24, and 6=192; then 4° —b- §76—192.' 384, d 2ab Sg be so bia 768 eRe 24X192X%2 mn =12; and the feries is 12, 6, 3, 145 7 i) $18 &c, ad inf. Again. Let a=243, and b=295245; then y=, and »__162; and the feries will be 162, 54, 18, 6, 2, 3) 3» z7 &c. ad infinitum. In the infinite feries »4xr4ur*4x«r3, &c, o) inf. =a, a=—; becaufe, x —a—ar, as above. x 2 < . For the fame ay * reafon, if xr* be the firft term of an infinite feries (” being any pofitive whole number) then, By a fimilar deduction, = : 2 ad t= a nd b= Fi i—/ eT The finite feries x4xrqzxr*4nri+ ... to xv’—t is the difference of two infinite feries, of which «x is the firft term of the greater, and xr” of the lefs feries, and confequently the fum of the of Geometrical Series. 333 . . . “rn re the finite feries will be ~-——— or"; I—r I—r I—r Zz and the fum of the fquares will be — _— 1—r BUF 78. ety F7F _xX—xrn :27.€.a=— » and d= Iv * I-=7 ; and if x be taken for the leaft term, I1—r* and «xr* for the greateft, in which cafe 7 will xr? —x% y—I = 4, and be greater than unity, then x rr 5 ee + oa b. only, it is impoffible to obtain the values of the three unknown quantities, x, 7, and 7; recourfe. mutt therefore be had to another property of the feries. Let there be given xt+xrtur*+xr3, &c. .... to xr—t=4; andx*+x*r*4x7r*, &c. .... to xr2"—2 =), where x, r, and z are whole pofitive numbers. Then the latter of thefe equations divided by the former, gives x—xr+xr*— ariasurt*—wxre, &e.=—. If this be added to From thefe two equations the firft equation, the fum will be, 2x+2x7r° 4+2xr*, &c.=a+ é ; and, if it be fubtraéted, the difference will be, 2x7+2xr*+2xr°, &.= a——. Again, let 2¥+2xr7+oxr++axr®%, &c. =4a4+— be divided by 2xr+axri+anrs, &c. b : dS = 4—-—, the quotient will give 7, and the re- mainder 334 Dr. Rotheram on fome Properties mainder 2x; as will appear by the operation ; 2erfaoxri+oxr’, &c.)axtoxr*+oxrt++axr’, &e.( r, in the quotient 2xr>+2xr4++oxr®,&e. | “26 © © © the re- mainder. Hence this general Rule. Divide the fum of the fquares by the fum of the feries. Add the quotient to, and fubtraét it from, the fum of the feries. Divide the greater of thefe two numbers by the lefs; the quotient of this fecond divifion fhall be the common ratio, and the remainder twice the firft term. Examptet I. Let @=242, and d= 29524. Then <= 122, and 242 4122= 364, and 242— 122=120; and 364 divided by 120, gives 3 in the quotient, for the common ratio, and 4 in the remainder, the half of which, 2, for the firft term of the feries. And, thefe being known, the number of terms will be found by the common rules. Whence the feries is 2, 6, 18, 54, 162. Examp ell. Let 2=68887 and d=2372950489; then <= 34447, and a += 103334, which di- vided by a— == 34440, gives, in the quotient, 3 for the common ratio, and in the remainder 14, the half of which, 7, for the firft term; whence the feries is 7, 21, 63, 189, &c. tog places. EXAMPLE of Geometrical Series. , 335 Examp ce ill. Leta— 1820, and 6= 1660750; then a= gi2i, and a+—= 27324, and 4-== 907%; and 27324 divided by 9074 gives 3 in the quotient, and ro in the rhe io thus 997 =) 27322(3 9722-7 10 | fo that 3 is the common ratio, and ¢ the firft term; and the feries is 5, 15, 45, 135, 405, 1215. Exampte IV. Leta=75, b=212¢5; then < = 284 and at—— 103% divided by q——— 462, gives 2 in the quotient, and ro in the remainder; fo that the feries is 5, 10, 20, 40. . It remains that fomething be faid of the feries x—xr-+xr*—xr>, 8c, ad infinit. Here ¢ is nega- tive; and fince —= the fum of the feries x+xy 4ar>4xr*, &c. ad infinit. confequently, by changing the fign of the quantity 7, i. e. by inftead of - - writing — 7 —the fum of the fe- 4 2 5 3 * nes x—xr4xr° —xr*, &c. ad inf. will be — at If in this feries r—1, then the feries is w—x+x * —x+x*, &c. ad infinitum, and its fum= ar iI —_— Be I have 336 On Halos. I have added this laft feries; xxv4x—wx, 8&c. becaufe it has lately been the fubje@ of much debate, and I have determined its fum by a dif- ferent method to others. Mr. Vince is right in calling the fum of this feries =, though the me- thod by which he made his deduétion was falfe, and which gave his opponents the opportunity of faying, that the fum of the feries might have x“ x“ x been —, a as well as = x 3 y any thing Oz Hatos, by the Rev. Jamts Woop, A. M. Fellow of St. Fobn’s College, Cambridge. Commu-~ nicated by Thomas Percival, M.D. F.R.S. &e. READ OCTOBER 12, 1787. IFFERENT hypothefes have been made * ufe of by Des Cartes, Huygens and New- _ ton, to account for the appearance of Halos, or coloured circles, round the fun and moon. The firit of thefe fuppofes rays of light to be refracted by pieces of ice formed like double convex lenfes, which however, he confeffes, we never find upon the furface of the earth. Huygens fays that halos are caufed by fmall globules of f{now, furrounded each by a fhell of water; the rays P y —— se sy 4 hae eae eee ~ ‘ Ow Halos. 337 trays which fall upon the fnow being ftopped, whilft thofe which fall on the water are refracted into their refpective colours. Newton accounts for the appearance, by fuppofing that rays of light, in paffing through globules of water, are fome- - timesin a difpofition to be reflected, and fome- times tobe refracted. All thefe fuppofitions how- ever feem.to be unfatisfaCtory, as the rays will not fall upon the eye in fufficiently ftrong pencils. The order of the colours in thefe crowns, ag laid down by Des Cartes and Huygens, is con- trary to that which Sir Ifaac Newton gives. If they judged from fuch as are commonly feen round the moon, they might eafily be deceived, as the colours are in general not very diftiné : the halos I have obferved have uniformly been fimilar to thofe defcribed by Newton, at the end of his fecond book of optits. ° Cambridge, Nov. 30, 1786. Three very brilli- © ant halos appeared round the moon: the order of the colours, beginning from the moon, was, white of confiderable breadth, yellow, orange, red ; violet, green, yellowifh, red ; violet, - green, yellowifh, red. The red of a fourth was fo faint as to be fearcely vifible. The radii of thefe rings might be about one, two, and ; three degrees, but they were not meafured. The ted and violet in each cafe feemed contiguous, ‘Dec. ad. A fingle halo appeared round the moon: its diameter was about 22, and the 2) ~~ ¢olours 338 On Halos. colours, as in the firft of thofe mentioned above ; the red of a fecond was juft feen, and its diame- ter, as far as could be determined by the naked eye, was double the diameter of the firft. In at- tempting to account for thefe appearances it will be neceffary to lay down the following Lemmas. . LEM. 1. A ray of red light cannot pafs out of — water into air if the ang. of incidence exceed 48° 35! 26”. Nor aviolet ray, if that ang. ex- ceed 47° 59! 53”. LEM.II. Ifa fmall pencil of parallel rays fall upon a fpherule of water ABE (fig. 1.) and CD be drawn perpendicular to the refracted rays, they will converge to a point F, which is found by taking FB: FD:: tang. of incid. : tang. of refraction. Cor. 1. Let the angle of incidence approximate to a right angle, and the tangent of incid. will ul- timately be indefinitely greater than the tangent of refraction, and confequently F will coincide with D. Cor. 2. If a fimall pencil of rays diverging from D be incident the contrary way, they will be refracted parallel. LEM. III. Let a fmall pencil of rays fall upon the convex fpherical reflector BF G (fig. 2.) con- verging toF; from C its centre draw C D perpen- dicular to BF, and CD to Bf the direétion of the reflected ray produced back; bifect BD, Bd ing and 4, andtakeFa+aB;: Bo: df: the rays, after reflection will diverge from f Cor. On Halos. ° 339 ~ Cor.1. If the rays: converge to D they will, after reflection, ‘diverge from f. | Cor. 2. ‘Inthe fame manner, if the rays diverge from D upon the concave fide of the reflector, they will after reAle€tion converge to d. For the truth of thefe lemmas vid. Smith’s Optics, book II. ch, 9. Let us fuppofe now with Dr. Halley that vapour confifts of hollow fpherules of water, filled with an-elaftic fluid; and let BGi (fig. 3: ) reprefent fuch a fhell. Take C its centre, and fuppofe MB to be a {mall pencil of parallel homogeneal . Fays, whofe angle of incid. is nearly go° 3 they will be refracted to F the middle point of the chord Bi or EI, (Lem. II. Cor. 1.) and fince the ang. BED is greater than EBC, or 48° 36/, they fall at E upon a convex fpherical refle@tor converging to the middle of the chord EI; making then the ang. DEG = to the angle DEB they will after re- flection diverge from f, the middle point of EK or Gk (Lem. III. Cor. 1.) they will therefore be refracted at G in the dire&tion of the tang. GO, and parallel to each other; and ifan eye be placed any where in GO, they will excite’ the idea ‘of their proper colour. From O draw OM parallel to BM, and fuppofe the whole figure to revolye round OM as an axis, all the particles which touch the furface defcribed by OG will refract to the eye a fimall pencil of parallel rays of the fame Cogent. a : Z 2 The 340 On Halos. The apparent femidiameter of this ring is meafured by the angle GOM or HDB = to the angle BCG or 2 the angle BCE ; and if the radii CB, CE, remain the fame, the greater the angle EBC the greater will be the angle BCE; and therefore the greater the femidiameter of the ring; confequently, the redrays will berefracted to the eye from the outermoft drops, and the violet from the innermoft, and rays of an intermediate degree of refrangibility from the intermediate ones, J Theyays which do not pafs out of the water at G (fig. 4.) will be reflected converging to the middle of the chord GL or IN (Lem. III. Cor, 2.) and as before, will be reflected at I, diverging from the middle of the chord Ip or KP,: and thofe which pafs out at K will be refracted in the direction of the tang. KO, parallel to each other, Thus a fecond ring may ‘be formed, -and becaufe the angle BCK is double of the angle BCG, the apparent femidiameter of this ring will be double that of the former, which being ‘true of every other ring of.a given. colour, the order-of the colours in the fecond halo muft be the fame as in the firft. In the fame manner maya third and fourth be formed at equal diftances from the preceding ones, in which the order of the colours will be the fame, but the brightnefs lefs. _ Having given the-proportion of the radii CB, CE (fig. 3.) the diameter of the halo may be found : eee On Halos. 341 found: Rad. ; S. of the angle CBE :: S.of incid. ; S..of refraction; and CE: CB.:: S. ofthe angle CBE: S. of the angle BEC, andtheangles C BE, CEB being known, theangle BCE isknown, which meafures 2 of the diameter. And the converfe. The greateft halo will be formed when BE touches the interior furface EI: in this cafe the -angle at E is a right angle; therefore the angle BCE = go° — 48° 36! = 41° 24/, and the appa- rent femidiameter 82° 48’. Alfo CB: CE:: rad : S. of the angle CBE :: S. of the angle incid. :S. of the angle of refraction. “If we calculate the angle BCE for the red and violet rays, and to twice the difference of thefe angles add the moon’s apparent diameter, we get the breadth of the halo. Ex. If we fuppofe the ‘radius of the halo to its outermoft edge 1°, CE: CB bite | 10 : S. of the angle BED :: 75 : 75.57086 :: 131 : 132 nearly, and the angle BCE for the violet rays will be about 29/ 10!/; confequently, the breadth of the colours will be 1’ 40!’ + apparent diameter of the moon. Hence it appears that the rad. of the firft halo, mentioned above, could not much exceed 30/ if there were no interval © between the red and fucceeding violet. | If from the fame point in the luminous body M (fig. 5.) tangents, MA, MF, be drawn to the furfaces AB, FD, all the rays which fall be- Z 3 } tween i 342° On Halos. tween MA and MF will be reflected by the furface FD; for, rad. : S ofthe angle CBF :: CB : CF :: CB : CD (BD being the direction of MB after refraction) :: S. of the angle CDB : S. of the angle CBD :: S. of the angle EDB : S.of the angle CBD :: S. of theangle CBF ~= rad. x S.:of the angle CBD S. of the angle EDB CBF : S. of the angle CBD :: S. of incid. : S. of rad. x S.oftheangleCBD . S. of S. of the angle EDB the angle CBD :: S. of incid. : S. of refraét. or rad. : S. of the angle EDB :; S. of incid. : S. of refrac. Confequently, the angle EDB is the leaft angle of incidence on the fecond furface that the rays can have, and be reflected. _ Thefe rays will be emergent in different di- rections, and the nearer they are to MB (fig. 3.) the lefs will be the inclination of thofe in the fame pencil to each other and toGO. Hence it appears that the lefs refrangible rays will be nearly parallel to the more refrangible effectual rays which come from the fame drop, and by a mixture of the different colours, may be pro- duced the whitenefs in the interior part of the firft halo. Thefe rays will be too much difperfed to produce any effect in the fecond and third. It may eafily be conceived, from the manner in which Sir Ifaac Newton ‘has expreffed himfelf, that had the diameters of : cethalds he mentions been but S. of the angle refract. hence Mr. Henry's Confiderations, “Se. 343 been accurately meafured, they would-have agreed fufficiently well with this theory. It is not how- ever confidered as free from objections, but by future obfervations muft its truth or fallacy be afcertained: fhould it be found to agree with fuch obfervations, it may throw fome light on the doétrine of the afcent of vapours, a matter hitherto fo much difputed. 8 ee eee ConsiDERaTions relative to the NatTuRt of Woo, ‘Sirk, and Cotton, as Osyects of the ART of Dyinc ; on the various PREPARATIONS, and Morpants, requifite for thefe different Sus- STANCES ; and on the NaTuRE and PROPERTIES of corourinc Matter. Together with fome OxsERVATIONS on the THEORY of Dyinc in general, and particularly the Turxey Rep; dy Tuomas Henry, F.R.S. and of the Amer. Philof. Society, beld at Philadelphia. RAK T.ELRS ¥. READ DECEMBER 20, 1736. [N the following Memoir, on a fubjeét to which too little attention has been directed by Englifh writers, my principal intention is to prefent, at one view, the preparatory and other ZA proceffes 344. Mr. Henty’s Confiderations on different Materials, proceffes for the dying of wool; filk, and>cotton, and to endeavour to deduce a theory better fuited to account for the refults, than has hitherto been advanced, | In the execution of this undertaking it will be neceffary to repeat feveral things ‘from Hellot, Macquer, and d’Apligny, who have written feparate treatifes on the dying of thefe materials; and I am to confefs. great obligations to that very celebrated chemift M. Berthollet, whofe refearches are, every day, affording new and important information in the feveral a ments of the hermetic art, The art of dying, or of imparting to different _ materials, employed for the fabrication of gar- ments .and furniture, thofe beautiful colours which are afforded by many articles of the vege- table, animal, and mineral kingdoms, appears to have been of high antiquity*. As moft of thefe materials are, of themfelves, either of dark and difagreeable colours, or elfe devoid of all colour, it is probable, that, even in the very earlieft ages, the love of ornament, which is natural to mankind, would induce them to ftain their vett- ments with various colouring ingredients, efpe- cially with vegetable juices. But the art of _ imparting: permanent dyes to cloth, and affixing to its fibres fuch colouring materials, as. could not eafily be wafhed out by water, or. obliterated * Delaval on Light and Colours. . sly or * a et te ra tis nee, ge Vb pene Apts Ae == = a SST Oe as Objedts of the Art of Dying, &8c. 345 ot greatly changed by the action of air, or of certain faline fubftances, to which they are liable to be expofed, and which are neceffary to render them clean, when foiled ;—this was an art which required the knowledge of principles not within the reach of untutored men, and only to be ob- tained by gradual inveftigation, and in long procefs of time. It has been’ proved by our ingenious affociate, Mr Delaval, that the Egyptians were poffeffed of the art of dying, and even of that of printing on cloths. In a paffage, which he has quoted from _ Pliny, that author relates that the Egyptians hav- ing befmeared, or drawn on white cloth, with various fubftances, which were in themfelves colourlefs, but capable of abforbing colouring matter, threw them into a caldron of hot liquor, tinged with dying materials; and that, though the parts, thus drawn upon, were not diftineuifhable, before the cloth,was immerfed in the colouring liquor, and though this liquor contained only one colour, it was furprizing to fee the cloth taken out, ftained with feveral different colours, accord- ing as the different parts of it had been irnpreg- mated with the various fubftances, capable of receiving and altering the nature of the pigment. This is fo plain ‘a defeription of the art of what ‘is now called callico printing, that though it is my intention to refer thofe gentlemen, who wifh to be more intimately acquainted with the ancient hiftory 346 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations ondifferent Materials, hiftory of dying, to that written by Mr. Delaval, and prefixed to his ingenious treatife on light and-colours, yet I could not en from panera it on this occafion. Oi rons Permit me alfo to mention another hiftorical fact from the ancient hiftory of this art. The Phoenicians held a decided pre-eminence in the tinctorian art, for many ages: their purple and fcarlet cloths were fought after by every civilized nation, and the city of Tyre, enriched by its commerce, increafed to an amazing extent. But her career was ftopped by the vanity and . folly of the Eaftern emperors; under whofe do- minion, this opulent city had unfortunately fallen. Defirous of monopolifing the wearing of the beautiful cloths of Tyre, thefe misjudging tyrants iffued moft fevere edicts, prohibiting any one from appearing in the Tyrian blue, purple, or fcarlet, except themfelves, and their great officers of ftate. The enacting, and enforcing of fumptuary laws requires great judgment, and de- licacy ; and much caution fhould be ufed, left, in curbing exceffive luxury, the arts, which are fupported by its moderate indulgence, fhould be deftroyed. Such however was the fate of the Tyrian dyes. Under the impolitic reftraint im- pofed on the confumption of the Pheenician cloths, the manufacturers and dyers were no longer able to carry on their trade, it grew lan- guid, as Objetts of the Ari of Dying, ec. 347 guid, fickened, and expired: and, with. the trade, ‘the art likewife perifhed. This example of the interference of govern- ‘ment, fo materially injuring, and even annihila- ting an ufeful art, and the commerce depending On it, though carried to an excefs, never likely to be imitated in thefe days, fhould make minifters cautious that they do not form laws which may difcourage or fetter our manufactures. For freedom is the very foul of trade; and, in proportion as the one is invaded, the other will certainly decline. In this nation, the art of dying had made no confiderable progrefs till about the beginning of the laft century*. Before that period, our cloths were fent to Holland, to be dreffed and dyed. Probably however this was practifed only in the cafe of particular colours; for it appears that the dyers of London received their charter of incorpo- ration from Henry the fixth. My friend Mr. Charles Taylor has put into my hands a fmall tract, entitled, 4 profitable book declaring dyvers approved remedies, to take out [pots and ftaines, in filkes, velvets, linen, and woollen clothes. With divers colours how to die velvets and filkes, linen and woollen fuftian and threade. Alfo to drefs leather and to colour felles Fc. Se. very neceffarie for all men, e/pecially for thofe who hath or fhall have any doings * Chamber’s Cyclopedia, article Dying. therein : 348 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, therein: with a perfect table thereto, to find all things ready, not the like reveled in Englifh. heretofore. Taken out of Dutche, and Englifbed by L. M. imprinted _ at London by Thomas Parfoot, dwelling in the new rents. 1596. This little book, publifhed at fo early a period, contains many good proceffes; and it is to be lamented, that during fo longa lapfe of time, the Englifh nation has not produ- ced any work, on this fubjeé, that I know of, much fuperior to it. The mode of computing the length of time, employed in many of the proceffes contained in this publication is curious. The immerfion of the fubject in the dying ‘Jiquor is, in general, ordered to be continued, not for fo many minutes, but for five, fix, or feven Pater-nofters long. The dying of woollen and filken goods has long fince attained a confiderable degree of ex- cellence, while the manufactures of cotton, owing to the fmall attraction of that fubftance for colour- ing matter, have been very deficient in this point. Till within thefe few years, the colours employed in the dying of fuftians and cotton vel- vets were few; and, even at this day, many of them are fugitive. But it muft be allowed that great improvements have been made, within thefe few years; improvements principally ow- ing to the ingenuity and public fpirit of Mr. Wilfon, of this fociety; who by the application of shemical principles, and by a diligent invefti- gation as Objetts of the Art of Dying, Ge. 3.49 gation of the nature of colouring fubftances, laid the foundation on which the ei fabric is erected. Much room is however. ftill left for the im- provement of the art, and I am convinced that - it is only by our praétical dyers acquiring chemix cal knowledge, that it can ever be effected, to any great extent. While men do not underftand the grounds on which they fhould proceed, many errors muft arife, many needlefs materials mutt be employed, and much expence, which might be fpared, muft be incurred. To promote this defirable end, I fhall, with the permiffion of this Society, Jay before them, ‘not only fuch information, as I have extracted from the beft writers on the fubje&t, but fuch faéts as I have been able to colleé&t, and obfervations which 1 have had ‘opportunities of making, tending ‘to form a juft theory of dying; und ‘etpeetany of thofe proceffes where mordants are employed. The variety which obtains in the facility with which animal and vegetable fubftances attrat colouring matter is a curious fubject for invefti- gation, Itis known'that fome colouring ingredi- ents which are moft readily imbibed, and tenaci- oully held, by wool, have much lefs effe& on filk, and are either -wholly rejected, or very flightly attached to, cotton or linen. Differenr preparations and mordants, applied under differ- ent 350 Mr. Henry's Confiderations ondifferent Materials, ent circumftances, are requifite for thefe feveral materials.:M. du Fay’s experiment, which he made before the Royal Academy of Sciences, has been fo often related, that I fhall not, quote the particulars,, Let us rather refer to the. theories which have been advanced to account for thefe phenomena; inquire how far they appear to be founded on truth; and give the chemical analyfes of the various fubftances; which may perhaps ferve to throw. fome new light on the fubje&. Thefe phenomena have been varioufly ex- } plained... Some have attributed the variety in the power of the feveral fubftances to retain the dying ingredients applied to them, to the differ- ent ftructure of their filaments; to the porofity of wool, and to the impenetrability of cotton and linen*; at leaft, to the latter poffeffing © pores of much inferior dimenfions ; filk being fuppofed to hold a middle rank; Wool, fay thefe theorifts, is compofed of numerous fila- ments, fimilar to hairs, and like them confifting of tubes, containing a medullary or oily matter. The fides of thefe tubes are alfo perforated with an infinite number of fmall orifices, communica- ting with. the longitudinal -canal.. From this mechanifm, it is excellently adapted for receiving extraneous bodies, which are not only capable of * Le Pileur d’Apligny Art de la Teinture des fils, & etoffes de Coton. ; i being as Objedts of the Art of Dying, Fc. 358 being applied to the fuperficial pores of the fila- ments, but even of penetrating into the interior ftruéture of the tubes, when divefted of the medulla they naturally contain. Silk is deferibed, by thefe writers, asa glutin- ous liquor, formed, in, and excreted from, the body of the filk worm, who fpins it into a kind _ of :thread, which hardens on expofure to the air. An operation which is facilitated by another fub- ftance, analogous to wax, which the worm alfo fecretes, and with which the furface of the fila- ment is varnifhed. . This thread being formed by a continued feries of the dried glutinous particles, in the act of drying many pores muft be formed on its furface, But. thefe pores are fuperficial;, and the thread. not containing a longitudinal canal, is therefore incapable of ad- mitting any but minutely divided particles, and thofe in very limited quantities: and as. thefe particles cannot penetrate dzeply into the fub- ftance of the filk, they require, for their confine- ment, fome addition, which fhall more ftrongly agglutinate them than is neceffary for the dying of wool. Hence the difficulty of attaching per- manent colours to filk; and hence the greater wafte of the dying materials: for as only the fineft particles can be admitted into the pores, the remainder is loft. Cotton is reprefented as a filamentous ence envelloping the feed of the cotton plant. The filaments 352 Mr.Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, filaments are faid to be tubular, and, like wool, to have exterior lateral pores, communicating with the longitudinal tubes. Thefe are much fmaller than thofe of wool, and are-filled with an unctuous matter, of which they miuft be depri- - ved, before they can be penetrated by the parti- cles of the- dying ‘materials.. This matter is dificult of folution, and hence, and from the . minutenefs of the tubes, arifes the labour requi- fite to complete the dying of cotton. That it really contains this un¢tuous fubftance is evident, they add, from the flow manner in which cotton imbibes water, previous to its being prepared or fcoured, and from its increafed power of abforp- tion, fubfequent to that operation ; by which alfo, though opake before, it is rendered clear and tranfparent. Linen, in the ftate of flax, is sais alfo porous; but its pores being fmaller than thofe of the other fubftances; and being of a more com- pact texture, they admit, with more difficulty, the tinging particles, efpecially thofe of the.good dye. The particles of the falfe dye, however, find pretty eafy admittance. But, when the flax is fpun, a number of-accidental pores are formed in the thread, into which the particles of the greater or true dye may enter, and be better re- tained than in the flax. And for this reafon the twifted thread takes a better colour than either the flax, or fingle thread. If as Oljetts of the Art of Dying, &e. 353. if we allow of the authenticity of the above faéts, they will certainly account, in a farif- factory manner, for the different effets produced, by the fame tinging materials, on fubjeéts coms pofed of wool, to thofe produced on filk, cotton or linen. If they be all porous, and the dimen- fions of the pores of each be different, the fub- ftance, which has the largeft pores, will be capa- ble of receiving a much greater portion of tinging matter, than that which has the fmalleft. It may feem fome confirmation of this theory that cloths, woven in various modes, are faid to receive colour, more or lefs freely, according to their texture. But perhaps the various fhades, obfervable in thefe cafes, may proceed from fome circumftances, in the reflection and tranfmiffion of the rays of light, arifing from the alteration in the pofition of the reflecting and tranfmitting bodies. To this theory it has been objected, and with much appearance of reafon,* that the colouring matter is not merely infinuated into the pores of the fubftance to be dyed, but becomes firmly attached to it; and, that the more numerous and large the pores are, the more of the colour- ing matter fhould be abforbed, and, as it were hidden, within them; whereas wool, which is fuppofed to contain pores, more numerous and Macquer Dittionaire de Chymie, Edit. 2, Vol, IV. Aa large 354 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, large than thofe of filk, receives an equally brilli- ant crimfon, from two parts of cochineal, as is produced by five parts, on filk; both fubjeéts being prepared in the fame manner, by aluming. And this, not becaufe the filk rejects any of the colouring particles of the cochineal; for the li- quor'is equally exhaufted of colour, in one cafe as in the other; but, it fhould feem, that filk can abforb much more colouring matter, and yet is much lefs eafily dyed, than wool. It is therefore more probable that dying is a mere application of colouring matter to the fibres of the materials to be dyed, aided by a chemical attraction between thefe fubftances ; and that the entrance of the colour into the pores of the cloth, &c. is an ill founded hypothefis. But is it not probable, admitting that a differ- ent mechanifm may exift in the ftructure of thefe * fubftances, that there may, alfo, be a difference - in the nature of their conftituent or proximate principles, which may vary the force of their at- traction for the tinging matter, or for thofe fub-. ftances which are ufed as bafes for that matter to adhere to; into the nature of which we fhall hereafter examine? Neuman analyfed, by fire, wool, filk, and cotton; and he found them to confift of proximate principles, differing in each, from eb glk of the others*. * Neuman’s Chemitry by Lewis, vol, If. From eee < Oey ‘pedro te ee as Oljetts of the Art of Dying, Sc. 355 From one pound, avoirdupois, of wool; he obtained by diftillation, one ounce, fix drachms of volatile -alkaline falt, feven ounces of ‘emetous {pirit, and two ounces and half of empyreumatic oil; The caput mortuum weighed three ounces, fix drachms, of which two drachms were diffipated by calcination. Silk yielded, from a fimilar weight, nine ounces of mixed matter, confifting of four ounces, two drachms of urinous fpirit; three ounces, fix drachms of volatile falt, and one ounce of empyreumatic oil. The refiduum weighed feven ounces ; loft one ounce on calcination, and then afforded, to water, forty grains of fixed faline matter. . Cotton did not yield the fame fcetid fmell as wool, when burned in the open air; nor any urinous falt or fpiric in clofe veffels. A pound, avoirdupois, of cotton gave over, on diftillation, feven ounces of an acidulous, fuliginous, oily {fpirit, and about ten drachms of an empyreu- matic oil, The remaining coal was reduced, by calcination in a crucible, to eight fcruples of white afhes; which afforded a fimall portion of fixed alkali. Monfieur Berthollet, a very in- genious French chemift, bas lately analifed thefe fubftances in a different manner.* On diftilling flk with nitrous acid, he obtained faccharine acid, and a greafy matter; which, * Journal de Phyfique, vol. XXIX. part Il. Aa2 though 356 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, though it at firft congealed on the furface of the liquor in the receiver, was afterwards dif- folved in it, by means of heat, even though diluted with water, with which it paffed through the filter. Wool alfo afforded the fame greafy matter, and acid of fugar; the latter in much larger portion than any other fubftance which he treated in the fame manner. But the oil of vegetable. fubftances was entirely deftroyed by this treatment, no greafy matter being pro- duced; and, on analyfing cotton, he procured faccharine acid, but no other product; and the quantity of that acid was far inferior to that yielded by animal fubftances,* It fhould appear, then, that there is a con- fiderable difference between the conftituent parts of animal and vegetable fubftances. Animal * M. Berthollet found the portion of faccharine acid, yielded by cotton to be very fmall indeed; nor did he find any other refiduum, in the retort, or any thing but the pure nitrous acid, in the receiver. Almoft the whole, therefore, of this vegetable matter, feems to have been changed from a folid, to an aérial form, and to have beer diffipated as gas; a ftate to which the faccharine acid is alfo eafily reducible. Thus, fays he, probably, are the moft folid bodies convertible into elaftic vapours, as on the other hand, the moft compact fubftances in nature may be formed by the union of different gafes. The faccharine acid was firft difcovered by Bergman, in fogar, but is-obtainable from many other fubftances both animal and vegetable, which contain its bafis, particularly from galls, which yield it in great abundance. — . fubftances creat a ee r ASTER SAO IOS pais re eee ~ as Oljetis of the Art of Dying, Se. 357 fubftances contain much more oil than vegetable ones, and this oil is foluble in water, which the vegetable oil is not. The animal oil, on diftil- lation yields an alkaline; the vegetable, an acid, liquor. On the different properties of thefe oils, the diftinction between the nature of animal and vegetable fubftances feems chiefly to depend. It is to be remarked, in the analyfis of wool by M. Berthollet, that though animal fubftances yield much volatile alkali on diftillation, no nitrous ammoniac was formed in his procefs; which might have been expected, had the alkali been previoufly contained in the wool. This fact favours the opinion that the volatile al- kali is formed during the procefs of diftillation. It is at leaft probable that the alkali is fo com- bined in animal bodies, as to require the aid of heat to free it from thofe fubftances, which neu- tralife or conceal it. Or, as we know that there is a ftrong refemblance between volatile alkali and the inflammable principle, may we not fup- pofe that this principle may be forced by heat, into combination with the animal acid, and the alkali be, thus, created*? Vegetables yield but — * M. Berthollet has fince proved the volatile alkali to be formed by the union of inflammable with phlogitticated gas; and that it does not exift in animal fubftances, pre- vious to their diftillation or putrefaétion. The effects therefore that have been afcribed to the fuppofed volatile alkali of thefe fubftances, in the procefles of dying, mutt depend on fome other caufe. A.a.3 little H {3 58 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, little of this volatile alkali, but much — liquor. It may be added, that vegetable dina whofe oil is wholly deftroyed by nitrous acid, and to whofe texture the mineral acids, in general, are highly i injurious, bear fteeping in folutions of cauftic alkali, of fuch ftrength, as would prove totally deftructive to wool. How far thefe varieties, in the component parts of animal and vegetable fubftances, may influence their power of attracting colouring matter, I do not pretend to determine, but the propriety of a different previous treatment, feems clearly dedu- cible from it. _ Wool has naturally fo ftrong an attraction for colouring matter as to need but little prepara- tion, ‘previous to the more immediate procefies of dying ; ; and it is only neceffary to {cour it from a greafy or fatty fubftance, called the yolk, which is contained in the fleece. For this pur- pofe an alkaline liquor is neceffary ; but as alkalis injure the texture of the wool, it is re- quifite that a very dilute folution be employed ; for were the quantity of {alt greater than is fuffi- cient. for converting the yolk into a foap, it would attack the fubitance of the wool. Putrid urine, therefore, wis generally ufed, as being : cheap, and containing a volatile alkaline. falt, which, uniting with the greafy matter, renders it foluble into water. + * Hellot Art de la Teinture des Laines, &c. By Es er Ge eS SARTO TPF carta A, "i ae Lda ~ ss .. as Objeéts of the Art of Dying, &'c, 359 Silk, when taken from the cone, is covered with a kind of varnifh, which makes it feel rough and hard to the touch, tarnifhes its white- nefs, and is generally faid to be of fuch a nature, as to be neither foluble in water, nor in fpirit of wine. It has been thought that the only folvent for this fubftance is a folution of alkaline falt; and this is commonly applied in the form of foap. The foap fhould always be of the beft - quality ; for inferior foaps, efpecially thofe made | with animal fat, are not only lefs powerful in =" action, but apt to ftain or difcolour the filk. e filk in this operation lofes about 2 of its weight. The matter feparated from it is highly putrefcent ; for if a hank of filk which has been thus treated, be not wafhed, after the operation, it will, in a few days, grow hot, ftink, and be covered with fmall white worms, which feed on the foapy and glutinous matter remaining in the filk. The liquor in which it has been boiled, alfo foon putrifies, and becomes ufelefs. Could this animal matter, fays M. Macquer, be pre- cipitated from the foap, before putrefaction takes place, the foap might be recovered, and thus, a confiderable faving made to the dyer. * The ufe of the beft foaps has been recom- mended ; but even thefe are fufpected of being detrimental to the whitenefs of the filk ; and the Chinefe filks, which exceed the European in * Macquer Art de la Teinture en Soie. Aa4 luftre, 360 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, luftre, are faid to be prepared without foap. The French Academy, therefore, fome ‘years ago, offered a prize for the difcovery of a method of cleaning filk, without foap; and the prize was obtained by M. Rigaut, whofe mode was to ufe a flender alkaline folution inftead of foap. But Monf. l’Abbe Cullomb* has lately gone farther, and has actually diffolved in water, the varnifh of filk, which has always been fuppofed to be of that oleo-refinous kind, as not to be aéted on even by fpirit of wine. He expofed a quantity of raw filk to the action of boiling age water, for nine hours, and found it freed from the yarnifh, with the lofs of one fourth of its weight. Though the filk, by thefe means, acquires a confiderable degree of whitenefs ; if intended to receive fome of the moft brilliant colours, a far- ther operation is requifite. This confifts in ex- pofing the filk to the fumes of burning fulphur, fo confined in a ftove, that none fhall efcape, but the whole be applied to the material in- tended to be whitened. Of the rationale of this operation Mr. Delaval has given a very ingenious explanation. + But, though thus rendered more fit for exhi, biting the brilliant colours, the attraction of the filk, for colouring matter is rather diminifhed * Journal de Phyfique, part II. vol. XXIX. + Manchefter Memoirs, vol. II. p. 2. than as Oljetis of the Art of Dying, Sc. 361 than increafed. The raw or’ unfcoured filk being more eafily and permanently dyed, than that which has paffed the above defcribed procefs, Cotton and linen are prepared, for the pur- pofes of dying, by boiling in folutions of alkaline falts, and afterwards expofing to the air and fun’s rays, in the bleach field. Linen, containing much oily and refinous matter, requires a ftrong fo- lution of alkaline falts, and that they be in a cauttic ftate; but cotton, not having any refinous ‘matter, and not much fuperabundant oil, the milder alkalis are more beneficially employed for the bleaching of it.* This bleaching, or fteeping in the alkaline tse Jeaves in the cotton, however well wafhed, fome _earthy matter, which being unequally diftributed, would, when the cotton is to be dyed, render the application of the colour unequal, This therefore is to be removed by fteeping in a dilute vitriolic acid, which is capable of diffolving and carrrying off the earth. But this acid is * The new mode of bleaching, by means of the deph- logifticated marine acid, which has been introduced into our manufactures fince the reading of this paper, promifés to be of great utility to them, not only by fhortening the time required for the procefs, which has been generally extended from one to two eo now be reduced toa few hours; but by fending up the goods in a ftate mach better adapted to the fubfequent proceffes, alfo 362 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, alfo to be carefully removed by wafhing. the cloth in water: otherwife, as it becomes. dry, the acid, being gradually concentrated by the evaporation of the water, will attack and corrode the cotton. The intention of thefe previous preparations feems to be two fold. The firft is to free the material, to be dyed, from any. extraneous matter, which might, by its want of attraction for water, prevent the abforption of the colour- ing liquor. For we find that unbleached ftuffs do not imbibe water, with near fo much avidity as thofe that have been bleached. The fecond is, that the yarn or cloth may be rendered whiter, and, by reflecting the rays of light, more co- pioufly, enable the colouring matter to exhibit more brilliant tints; and, to thefe, a third inten- tion has been added, viz. to enlarge or dilate the pores of the fubftance. But, for fome particular purpofes, cotton re- quires a different and more complex preparation, In the procels for dying the Turkey or Adria- nople red, it is boiled, and repeatedly fteeped, in mixtures of mineral alkali, oil, and animal ~ excrement,—and, though thefe operations have been confidered, as only. anfwering the above defcribed purpofes, I truft I fhall be able to make it appear, in the fequel of this paper, that important additions are thus made to the cotton, whereby its attraction for colouring matter is increafed. Having as Objetts of the Art of Dying, Se. .. 363 Having thus confidered the natures of the different fubje€ts of dying, and the various preparations neceflary for fitting them for the reception of colouring matter, in general. Let us next proceed to fome defcription of the colouring fubftances which are employed in dying. — Thefe are divided into two claffes, viz. thofe which are themfelves poffeffed of colour; and thofe, which poffeffing no colour in themfelves, alter the power of the former to tranfmit the various rays of light; thereby enabling them to exhibit colours different from thofe which they would naturally exhibit. When I fay that fubftances do themfelves pof- fefs colour, I only mean, that they poffefs the power of tranfmitting particular rays of light; fo as to produce, by the attion of thefe rays on the retina, the idea of certain colours, t Though the primitive colours, into which a say of light may be divided, are feven; yet the original colours produced by dyers.are no more than five, viz. blue, red, yellow, brown and black. From thefe, perhaps, the two laft may be excluded as compounds. All the other fhades, of various denominations, are formed by. dif- ferent combinations of thefe original colours. The fubftances which do, themfelves, contain colouring matter, and are ufed in dying, are chiefly of the vegetable, fome’ of the animal, and, ina few inftances, of the mineral kingdom. The 364 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, The laft confift of metallic calces, and chiefly thofe of iron and copper. Of the two former*, moft of their component parts, in which the colouring matter refides, fuch as their mucilage, their gum, and the falts which they contain, are foluble in water; as, by means of thefe falts, are alfo their oily parts. To thefe the French writers have given the general name of extractive foapy matter. Other conftituent parts of vegetables are not foluble in water, as fome of their oily, their refinous, and their earthy parts. Yet we fhould be deceived, as M. Macquer juftly obferves, if we were to expec to make a perfect feparation, by means of water, of the ex- tractive foapy matter from the other parts. For, a portion of that matter is defended from the action of the water, by the refinous and oily fubftances ; while, on the other hand, thefe are partially diffolved, being rendered capable of uniting to the water, by means of the mucila- ginous parts. The colouring animal and vegetable drugs of the materia tinéoria have been formed by chemiftry into three divifions +. - aft. Thofe fubftances, which, together with extractive, contain fome refinous, and_alfo, fome portion of earthy, matter in their com- * Macquer Dictionaire de Chymie. + Ibid. pofition ; ne | wae aes ee? AD eT ss gi es eke ae “as Objects of the Art of Dying, &c. 365 pofition: and the colouring principle, having a ftrong attraction to the earth, and this to the fubftance to be dyed, a feparation from the water is eafily effected, and the colour is capable of being applied, and of adhering, in a durable manner, without the intervention of any medium, Of this tribe are galls, walnut rinds, and the root of the tree, fumach, and alder bark; and thefe are called root colours, as being the foun- dation of others, | adly. Other articles of the materia tinforia confift of fuch materials, whofe parts are either wholly extractive, or, though containing fome refinous matter, are capable of being diffolved in water alone; and being deficient in the earthy principle, contained in the articles of the former divifion, require that an earth be previoufly in- troduced into the pores or interftices of the fub- ftance, intended to be dyed; to form a bafis, to which the colour may adhere. Without this medium the attraction of that fubftance to the colouring matter would be fo weak as either not to be able to feparate it from the water; or, if feparated, to retain and prevent it being re- diffolved by the water, when aided by mecha- nical means, or the addition of certain fubftances which increafe its folvent Pawerss even in a fmall degree*. diy. * Many of thefe colouring bodies, as well as thofe of the fir divifien, alfo contain a principle, known by the appellation 366 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, “gdly, Another clafs confifts of principles fo prevalently refinous, that we are obliged to promote their folution in water, by fermentation or by the addition of fome.fubftance, which may act on the rezinous particles, For this purpofe alkaline falts or quicklime are employ- ed; and by their means we extract the colouring matter of fome bodies, fuch as indigo, archil, ‘faffower and arnatto. Thefe alfo attach them- ‘felves to the cloth, without the intervention of an éarthy medium. But, the degree of fixity is various in the different articles of the materia tinéforia be- longing to all thefe divifions. Some of them belong to the leffer or falfe dye, as it is called, and are liable to be injured, and even deftroyedy by the action of the fun’s rays, air, water, and alkaline or acid liquors. The ingredients of the good dye, on the contrary, in a great mea- fure withftand the influence of thefe agents. appellation of the aftringent principle, which greatly con- tributes to their fixity, and has much effect in feparating the earthy parts of the faltemployed to afford the above- mentioned bafis. Under this defcription are compre hhended, cochineal, madder, weld, quercetron bark and feveral other drugs. But other-articles of this divifion feem to be either deficient in this principle, or elfe to ' poffefs it of fo volatile a nature, that it readily efcapes, and carries, along with it, the colouring matter, to which it has a clofe attachment. Of the nature of this principle, we fhall hereafter give a more particular detait. The as Objetts of the Art of Dying, Gc.’ 364 The former'are more eafily managed, cheaper, and more brilliant; but the latter make amends for their other defeéts by their folidity and per- manency. The colouring matter itfelf is formed, per- haps, in a great meafure, of the inflammable, ma, in fome cafes, united to the aftringenr, principle. The identity of light and phlo- gifton, or, at leaft, that the one is a modifi- cation of the other appears to be pretty clearly proved. Plants, totally excluded from the fun’s light, acquire no colour; and flowers are ob- ferved, ceteris paribus, to poffefs the moft beau- tiful tints, in thofe climates where they enjoy the influence of that luminary, the moft liberally. This matter therefore muft of itfelf be very fu- _ gitive, and as phlogiftic bodies aé& on, and diffolve, each other, very powerfully, we are _ hence enabled to account for the deftructive effects of folar light, on colour, when applied to the dead fibre, from its diffolving the phlo- gifton, in the fame manner, according to Mr. Delaval, as fpirit of wine diffolves camphor.* The acids alfo aét on, and deftroy, colouring ‘matter, in proportion to their attraction for -phlogifton. Thus nitrous acid is highly and in- ftantaneoufly deftructive to many colours: but is exceeded, in power, by the dephlogitticated marine acid; This very aétive fubftance is the ftrongeft teft of all others for the goodnefs of dyes * Manchefter Memoirs, vol. IT. 368 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, dyes ; for, thofe that can withftand its action; will endure every other hardfhip without injury. Again, fome chemifts have confidered iron, as the colouring matter of vegetables, as it cer- tainly is, in many inftances, of minerals. But this theory does not neceffarily exclude phlo- gifton, For it is fuppofed that the varieges colours which, plants exhibit, may depend on the various ftates of phlogiftication in which the iron exifts. . Thus iron, when diffolved in vi- triolic acid, is green. Apply fuch a degree of heat, as may drive off a part of the remaining inflammable principle, and the acid, it becomes yellow; and, on carrying the procefs {till farther, it defcends farther to red, and purple. It muft be allowed that iron enters as a component part into moft plants: and that its calces are capa- _ ble of exhibiting great variety of colours. But ftill it is to phlogifton or light, that we are to look up as the real caufe of colour; this being the active, while the martial calces, can, at moft, be regarded as the paffive principle. Since the formation of the antiphlogiftian theory, indeed, by which the exiftence of phlo- gifton is denied, the various colours of plants have been accounted for, from the different pro- portions of dephlogifticated air, they may retain. Plants, when expofed to the action of the fun’s rays, have their water decompofed and part with this pure air, yielding it in proportion to the quantity Sayre > PES ‘as Objetts of the Art of Dying, ce. 369 quantity of light they receive, and which, joining with it, gives it elafticity. But plants, kept in the dark, throw out none of this air, and are white. Thofe of the fame kind, expofed to a weak light, will have fome of the air feparated, and have a faintdegree of colour; and thofe, which undergo the action of a ftrong light, will exhibit vivid tints. But though we allow of the dephlogitti- cated air as producing whitenefs, yet we may alfo acknowledge the effect of phlogifton in pro- ducing colour; and, in fact, the antiphlogittians are obliged to admit of inflammable gas as a fubftitute for it; and, to acknowledge, that this gas, which they fuppofe to be the other confti- tuent part of water, is the principle of colour*. The colourlefs ingredients ufed in dying confift of alkaline; acid, nitrous, earthy, and metallic, falts, which contribute either to extra@ the colouring matter, from other fubftances which contain it; or, by either attenuating or incraffating its particles, to caufe the colour to afcend or defcend, according to the prifmatic range. Thus, acids raife the blue colour of ve- getable juices to indigo, violet, red, and yellow, while alkalis reduce the tints, thus raiféd, to violet, indigo, blue, and, on a farther addition, to green. ashy _ * Journal de Phyfique, tome KXVI. part I. Vou. TI. Bb é' In 370 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, In the fubfequent part of this paper, we fhall proceed to confider the nature of the feveral bafes ; endeavour to deduce a theory of dying ; and, particularly, to account for the action of the fubftances employed in the pre- paration for the Turkey red, and in the other parts of that procefs. PUA PT 2S ECO NOD: READ DBCEMBER 27, 1786. N the former part of this Memoir, it muft have been evident to the Society, that the proceffes which have been already defcribed, are founded on chemical principles ; and that a know- ledge of chemiftry muft, confequently, be advan- tageous to thofe who have the direCtion of fuch operations, and ferve to expedite improvements in them. In thofe which remain for defcription, the Hermetic Art, is equally ufeful.—The whole bufinefs of dying, is, indeed, fo truly a chemical procefs, or rather a combination of feveral che- mical proceffes, that I am convinced thé inven- tion, or at leaft the principal improvements, of the fundamental parts, muft have proceeded from men fkilled in chemiftry, We have feen that the Egyptians were even acquainted with the more com- _ a3 Objests of the Art of Dying, &e. 371 complicated kind of dying, or callico printing, and this knowledge was not confined to them, but was poffeffed by other Eaftern nations. From the Eaft alfo proceeded, to us, Chemiftry her- felf ; and, it is highly probable that the art was of great antiquity in that partof the globe; and had arrived at a degree of perfection, of which we have at prefent, no fuitable ideas. To have invented the procefs of printing, in the manner defcribed by Pliny, the inhabitants of India muft, probably have known how to prepare alum*, they mutt have been dcquainted with the manner of diffolving lead in the vegetable acid; they mult, at leaft, have been acquainted with the component parts of thefe falts; and they muft have had a knowledge of double eleétive attractions. In our divifion of the various colouring fub- ftances, of the animal and vegetable kinds, we | took notice that there are fome, viz. thofe of the third divifion, which not having, of them- felves, a fufficient attraction for the cloth, re- quire to have an earthy fubftance applied as an intermedium. The requifites in this earth are, that it fhould have a ftrong attraétion for the material to be dyed, and alfo for the colouring * The faétitious falt, which is now called alum, was firft dif- covered in the Eaftern ‘countries; but when, where, and by what means, is unknown. Bergman’s Effays, vol. I. p. Bb2 339. E. tranfl. principle ; 372 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, principle ; and, in many cafes, that it fhould poffefs perfe&t whitenefs, for the purpofe of Fe. fleéting the rays of light, fo as to enable the ting- ing matter to exhibit its peculiar colour with the greater brilliancy.—If to thefe properties, be added, that, though foluble in acids, its folu- bility fhould not be too eafy, and that it fhould even be capable of forming infoluble compounds with fome other fubftances, which may be occa- fionally added to it, for that purpofe, we have perhaps a complete defcription of fuch a bafis, or, as it is commonly called, a mordant. This is a term, that appears to have been firft introduced by the French dyers; who, appre+ hending that the intention of pafling the fub- ftances which were to be dyed, through certain faline liquors, the nature of. which they did ‘not underftand, was to corrode fomething that ‘op- pofed the entrance of the colouring principle, and to enlarge the pores of the fubftances, pave to the liquors, the appellation of mordants,—~A term which, as conveying a wrong idea, it is to be wifhed were rejected.: I fhall therefore take theliberty.to change the word Morpanr for Basis, adding an epithet occafionally, defcriptive of the body, from which it is obtained. The fubftances principally ufed to afford the white bafes for colouring matter, are alum, and foluti- ons of tin in different acids, but generally in ma- rine acid, or ina mixture of marine and nitrous acid, commonly known by the name of aqua regia. Alum, as Oljetts of the Art of Dying, ec. 373 .. Alum, being a cheap fubftance, is moft com- monly ufed. It confifts of vitriolic acid, pure clay*, or argillaceous earth, and water, Accord- ing to Bergman, one hundred parts of cryftalifed alum contain thirty-eight of vitriolic acid, eigh- teen of clay, and forty-four of water. The clay is generally. fuperfaturated with acid, which is proved by the phenomena produced on the ad- dition of mild, vegetable, fixed, alkali. On the firft portions of alkali being added a fmall portion of the earth precipitates from thofe parts of the alum with which the alkali comes in con- tact; and as pure clay has an attraétion for aérial acid, the effervefcence produced is at firft {mall ; but prefently the remaining free acid, attacking this precipitate, rediffolves it, an effervefcence appears, occafioned by the difcharge of the aerial acid from the clay. This precipitation, follow- ed by rediffolution, anda difcharge of gas, conti- nues, till the acid be perfeétly faturated; the precipitation then goes on regularly and the earth is no longer diffolved a new, except the alkali be continued to be added, after the pre- cipitation is fully accomplifhed ; nor does any ° -effervefcence follow, when frefh portions of al- kali are added. Thefeare the appearances when mild, or aerated, vegetable alkali is ufed ; but if the pure or cauftic _ * The conftituent parts of common clay are argillaceous, mixed with filiceous earth, in various proportions. Pure argillaceous earth is only obtainable from alum. Bb 3 alkali 374 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, alkali be employed, the precipitation takes place more flowly ; and if the pure alkali continue to be added, after the precipitation is effected, the earth will be rediffolved. This earth has a ftrong attraction for colour- ing matter; particularly for fuch as forms the red and yellow colours. Infomuch, that if a folution of alum be poured into water, deeply tinged with madder or weld, the earth will quit its acid to unite with the colouring particles of thefe fubftances, and form with them a precipi- tate or laque; from which it cannot be feparated, either by the action of water, or fpirit of wine, and which is not even totally-deftroyed by that _ of fire. Marine falt of tin, and that formed Bg aqua regia have, for their bafis, the white earth of that metal, which has alfo a ftrong attraction for colouring matter, and is, in foil cafes, pre- ferred to that of alum. When united to the colouring matter of cochineal, it forms a beauti- ful pigment, well known by the name of car- mine. If the addition of thefe faline fubftances to the coloured liquors, be fufficiently long continued and under proper circumftances, the whole, of the colouring matter will be preci- pitated, and the water be left colourlefs*. Tin is not the only metal which affords bafes for colouring fubftances. Lead, bifmuth and zinc alfo afford earths or calces, which attract * Macquer Dictionaire de Chymie. , colouring as Objelts of the Art of Dying, €e. 375 colouring matter; but the two firft have defects which render them lefs eligible The calx of zinc may perhaps be ufefully employéd. But fhould firft be thoroughly purified from the i iron which it generally contains. Thefe all form bafes for the more brilliant reds and yellows. For the laft, the calx of copper is alfo employed, having a ftrong attration for the colouring matter of weld, Salts containing iron furnifh a bafis, which, with the aftringent matter of vegetables, produces a black dye. When alum is ufed to fupply a bafis for the dying of wool, it is the practice to join with it, either crude tartar or its purified cryftals, in the proportion of five ounces of alum, to one of tartar. This laft fubftance we know confifts of an alkaline vegetable falt, fuperfaturated with a peculiar acid, which bears its name. The fuperabundant vitriolic acid of the alum, will decompofe a part of the tartar, by attaching itfelf to the alkali; and thus the quantity of free tartarious acid is increafed; which has no properties injurious to the cloth. In the aluming of filk, no tartar is employed ; for the filk, in the previous preparation, being impregnated with alkaline or foapy matter, tthe fuperabundant acid will be neutralifed by it. In this procefs, when the tubs have been long ufed, a very confiderable incruftation’ is formed on their fides; which, the dyers, finding no injury BB, from, 376 Mr. Henry's Confider ations on different Materials, from; fuffer tg accumulate. Some of the foap, ufed for the aadouring, adheres to the filk, not- withftanding*the wafhing it undergoes. and the alkali of the foap, uniting with the acid of the alum, fome of its earth is precipitated, joins with the detached oil, and forms the incrufting fubftance; the undecompofed alum and the vitriolated tartar perhaps alfo, in part, entering into the combination*. * Cotton requires a ftill different treatment—as the vitriolic acid is injurious to cotton, and it is neceflary that the aluminous folutions fhould be well dried on it, before it be wafhed ; the.acid, being concentrated, by the evaporation of the water, would corrode the cotton, It is therefore proper to faturate the fuperabundant acid, previ- ous to the aluming of the cotton; and for. this purpofe ; or + of pearl afhes is to be added, But the aluminous liquor, ufed by the printers, is prepared in a different manner. To three pounds of alum diffolved in a gallon of hot water, a pound and half of fugar of lead is added; the mixture is ftirred together for a confiderable time, and the agitation repeated often, during two or three days; when a few ounces of whiting are to be added, gradually, as a {trong effervefcence enfues. . On adding the fugar of lead to the alum, a double elective attraction prodsices two decompofitions, and two new compounds. The vitriolic acid forfakes . the * Macquer, Art de la Teinture de Soie. as Objects of the Art of Dying, Se. 377 the earth of alum to unite with the calx of lead of the faccharum faturni; and this new {falt, pofleffing very little folubility,. falls to the bottom of the veffel in form of a white precipi- tate. The earth of alum, being left at liberty, and in fo minutely divided a ftate, is attacked, in the act of precipitation, and diffolved by the acetous acid; which, having quitted the lead, is ready to form this new union; and thus a very foluble falt, being the produd, it remains diffolved in the-water; and, when thickened with gum, is applied by means of blocks to the cloth. The piece being afterwards dried in a hot ftove; the vinegar, which as the cloth dries, becomes highly concentrated and very volatile *; not having a ftrong attachment to the aluminous earth, flies off and leaves the earth, upon the cloth, ready to receive the colouring matter. And herein confifts the advantage of the change of the vitriolic for the acetous acid, Thus we fee that the printer’s liquor, for the red and yellow colours, is not, as thofe artifts generally imagine, a mixture of alum and fugar of lead, but merely an acetated argill, or alumi- nous earth, combined with vinegar. The addition of whiting is intended only to neutralife the * The vinegar, by its union to the calx of lead, feems to have acquired fome new properties. For on feparating it from the Jead, by diftillation, it always contains fome portion ‘oféther. When the cloth has become dry in the hot ftove, Mr. Charles Taylor has obferved flathes of electric light, dart- ing from its furface. fuper- 378 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, fuperabundant acid ; and would perhaps be better made to the alum, before the mixture of the fugar of lead. For as that acid immediately precipitates fome of the lead, without furnifhing the acetous acid with aluminous earth in return, a wafte of the /accharum faturni is the confe- quence, which might be prevented by the mode now recommended. . The folutions oftin, and the other white metals, fhouid be as perfeétly faturated as poffible; otherwife not only the fuperabundant acid will injure the cloth, but the calx will not fo readily precipitate, to form the white bafis. In the dy- ing of wool, the folution of tin is mixed with the decoétion of cochineal, and falls in the form of carmine on the cloth. But filk has in vain been attempted to be dyed fcarlet, in this mode. M. Macquer has however accomplifhed this de- fideratum, by firft fully impregnating the filk withthe folution, before he proceededtothe dying. By this means M. Macquer declares that he has produced fcarlet, though not equal to that dyed on wool; yet fufficiently beautiful, and fuperior to the fcarlet formed by a mixture of fafflower and arnatto. And, he adds, that an eminent ma- nufa¢turer at Lyons had fucceeded in dying great variety of colours on filk, by applying the tin bafis, after the fame manner*. ‘Ifa fcarlet could be dyed without the ufe. of nitrous acid, the tin bafis might be employed for * Dittionaire de Chymie, 2d Edit. Z this ' as Objeéts of the Art of Dying, Se. 379 this purpofe, on cotton; but that acid being re- quifite for the production of this beautiful colour, and being highly corrofive to cotton, this bafis is prevented from being applied to that fubftance. But if this metallic earth has any preference to alum, for other colours on cotton; it might be procured united to acetous acid, by a procefs, which I have lately difcovered, fomewhat fimilar to that for making the printer’s liquor; viz. by adding to a folution of tin in marine acid, a fo- lution of fugar of lead. The marine acid will unite with the lead, and precipitate as plumbum sorneum ; and the vegetable acid will unite with the tin—with which it could not eafily be fatu- rated by any other mode; for the acetous acid has very little power to diffolve tin in its metallic form. The cupreous bafis may be obtained from blue vitriol, and from verdigreafe, or acetated cop- per. It is feldom ufed by itfelf, but generally in conjunction with alum. The martial bafis, where wool and filk is con- cerned, is obtained from green vitriol or cop- peras ; but, this bafisis beft procured for cotton, from a folution of iggn acetous acid, or even as it fhould feem in the aftringent principle. For a fo- Jution of iron is ufed by the dyers of cotton with great fuccefs, which is formed by ftratifying old iron with alder bark, and digefting them in water, It 380 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, _ It may alfo, be worthy of remark, that cotton, having but.a weak attraction for colouring mat- ter, requires that it fhould be prefented under every advantage : and the Dijon Academicans having, proved, that the mineral acids are de- ftructive of the aftringent principle, in which the colouring matter of thofe fubftances requiring a bafis feems to refide ; this property, added to others, may be a reafon for their rejection, and for the preference given to the acetous acid, Having thus given an account of the various preparations that are generally ufed for wool, filk, and cotton, and of the bafes, applied for the reception of the colouring matter, let us next take a view of the particular preparatory operati- ons, practifed in the procefs for dying the Adrian- ople or Turkey red on cotton ; and to thefe alfo add a detail of the procefs itfelf. It is proper to premife, that all the wooden veflels employed fhould be made of deal, or of fome white wood, free from aftringent matter; and that the moft convenient quantity for operating on, in propor- tion to the ingredients ufed in the feveral opera- tions, is fixty-fix pounds of cotton. From fixty pounds of Alicant barilla, a ley is drawn, by means of foft water, amounting to fixty gallons—and then, by the pouring on of frefh water, a fecond ley is formed, meafuring forty gallons—after this, a third ley is alfo extracted . from as Objetts of the Art of Dying, €9c. 381 from the fame barilla, the quantity of which fhould be about fifty-two gallons. A liquor is alfo prepared, confifting of four gallons of fheeps’ dung, collected, after it has been excreted from the animal, and before it has been expofed to rain, diffolved in twenty gal” lons of water, and ftrained through a hair fieve, to feparate from it the groffer parts. ’ ‘Thefe preparatory meafures being taken, the firft operation confifts in adding nine pounds of Gallipoly oil, to eight gallons of the fecond ba- fila Tiquor ; this forms a kind of foap, to which. are'to be added twenty-four gallons of the firft barilla liquor, twelve gallons of the dung liquor, and’ forty- eight suticts of foft water. Into this liquor, when nearly of a fcalding heat, the cot- ton isto be put; room being made for it by taking out about twenty gallons of the liquor, which is to be gradually returned into the pan, in proportion to the wafte by evaporation: and the whole is to ‘be kept boiling, during five hours. After which the cotton is taken out of the pan, ‘fafpended over it to drain, and then well rung, wafhed in clear water, and hung on fmooth poles to dry, either in the open air, or in a'%tove ; but the former is to be preferred, if ‘the weather be fair. ‘Phe liquor wrung out of the cotton is to be preferved, together ‘with the remainder in the pan, for a future operation; and, at this time, fixteen 382 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, fixteen gallons of foft. water are to be added ta the dung liquor. The fecond operation confifts in pouring three poundgand half of Gallipoli oil, into a bucket, containing four gallons of the fecond barilla liquor, and adding this mixture to fix gallons of the firft barilla liquor, and four gallons of dung liquor. Of this compofition two or three gallons are to be put into a tub, and, in it, about a pound and quarter of the cotton is to be well foaked, and afterwards wrung, but not too clofely, over a tub, kept for that purpofe, A fimilar portion of cotton is then to be treated in the fame way; and fo on, till the whole has paffed through the mixture ; adding about a pint or three half pints of liquor, on the immerfion of every frefh parcel of cotton, The cotton is then to be thoroughly dried; which it mutt alfo be after the fubfequent opera- tions; and thefe are to be conduéted in the fame manner, with refpect to the manipulations, as in the prefent one. In the third operation, the liquor which had been wrung out of the cotton, is to be poured back into the tub, in which the foaking has been performed: and to this are to be added of Gallipoli oil three pounds and half, and of the fecond barilla dung, and firft barilla liquors, four gallons, each. After this operation the dung liquor is to be ftrengthened by the addition of as Objeéts of the Art of Dying, &e. — . 383 of about two handfuls of fheep’s dung, diluted with a little water. The fourth operation is fimilar to the third. ‘The liquor which remains, is to be fet afide, for the purpofe of mixing with the refiduary liquor, after the eighth operation; to be ufed for other cotton, in any fubfequent procefs. The dung liquor is omitted in the fifth opera- tion; and the mixture employed in the three following operations is called the white liquor, to diftinguifh it from that ufed in the three pre- ceding pai of the procefs, which, from the colour imperted by the dung is named the green liquor. .The fame quantity of oil, as before, is to be mixed in a bucket with four gallons of the fecond barilla liquor; and poured into a tub, where are tO be added to it, three gallons more of the fame liquor, and four gallons of the firft barilla ley. About four gallons of this liquor remain after the wringing, and thefe are to be added in the fixth operation. To the fame quantity of oil, firft mixed with four gallons of the fecond ley, and then with two gallons (more or lefs, in proportion to the quantity of white liquor remaining after the preceding operation) of the fame ley, and four gallons of the firft. In the feventh operation, the quantities of all the ingredients are the fame asin the fixth. The refiduum of the white liquor, after the three laft operations 384 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, operations, will be about eight gallons, and is to be preferved to be ufed in the fourteenth operation. The eighth operation confifts in heating the third barilla liquor, amounting to fifty-two gallons, to about the warmth of new milk; re- moving it, when thus warmed, from the copper to a tub, immerfing the whole of the cotton therein, and fuffering it to remain for twelve hours, or longer. It is then to be taken out, and laid on a cloth fpread on four or five fticks, placed acrofs a large tub, into whiclg the liquor drains, as it runs from the cotton. “The cotton is then to be well wrung, and afterwards thoroughly wafhed, that no loofe oil may remain, which would be injurious to the next opetation. Y . The ‘wringing tub and peg are, now, to be well wafhed, and a freth fet of poles ufed; for if any oil were to come into contact with the cotton, in the next parts of the procefs,” it would recive a blackifh tinge inthe dying. The galling forms the ninth operation.—Six- teen pounds of galls, or if the blue galls be ufed, a fomewhat fmaller portion, are put into twenty- four gallons of water, nearly boiling. The liquor is then brought to boil, and the ebullition continued for fifteen minutes. But as foon as the boiling commences, the fire fhould be with- drawn; as the heat already received, will keep it as Oljetts of the Art of Dying, Sc. 385 it up for a fufficient time, and the galls will not fettle if it be too violent. The liquor is to be carried to the wringing tub, in the quantity of three or four gallons at a time, according as it is foaked up by ‘the cotton; till one half of it has -sbeen thus employed. And the cotton is to be worked in it; as ‘hot as poffible, by means of 4 ftick paffed through the fkains. After this, it is to be dried either wholly, or in part, in the open air. If it cannot be thus completed, for rain would in this ftate, and efpecially as the cotton approaches to drynefs, be highly pre- judicial, the drying muft be finifhed in a ftove. The ‘liquor which has been wrung out is to be added to the remaining ‘half in the copper. For the tenth operation, this remaining de- coction of galls is to be heated, the thick fedi- ment at the bottom being previoufly feparated by a hair fieve, and the cotton again treated as in tne ninth operation. _ The eleventh operation is the aluming of the cotton. Thirty pounds of Roman alum, finely powdered is put into fixteen gallons of water, gradually heated, and continually ftirred. As foon as it becomes fo hot that the operator can eafily bear his hand in it, the fire is to be removed. Six gallons of the firft barilla liquor are, then, to be added, by degrees, and the whole agitated till the folution is complete. Vor, IH. Ce The 386 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, The cotton is to be placed in the wringing tub, about three gallons poured on it, and in proportion as the folution is foaked up, more is to be added, till about one half of it is em- ployed. The cotton, having been thoroughly worked in the alum liquor, is to be well wrung and dried, and the portion which is wrung out, is to be returned to the remainder in the pan, and ufed in the twelfth operation, which is per- formed, exactly in the fame manner as the eleventh. After which the dried cotton is to be well wafhed, by handfuls, in running water, the workman holding in each hand, about twenty ounces of cotton. for two minutes. Each portion is then wrung, and feparated, wafhed and wrung again, and laid upon a coarfe cloth. The whole is then carried-up from the river, wrung a third time and hung to dry. The cotton will now be ready for the thirteenth operation, in which the colouring fubftance is applied to the cotton. Fhe cotton is firft divided into four equal parts, each of which is to be dyed feparately ; and thefe are fubdivided into fkains or parcels of about a pound and quarter each. The-copper pan is then to be filled with water, within about fix inches of the top; and twenty fix pounds of Smyrna, or rather of Cyprus madder, added to it. As foon as the water becomes milk warm, fourteen. pounds of fheep’s blood, as frefh as it 3 can as Objetts of the Art of Dying, &e. 337 27e Aer can be procured w@ to be ftirred into it. When the liquor is fo warm that the workman can juft bear his hand in it, one fourth. part of the cotton is to be put into it, fufpended on fticks ; by means of which it is moved backwards and forwards in the pan, every five minutes; and the fkains are to be inverted every ten minutes, fo that they may receive the dye equally in every part. This bufinefs is conti- nued for about fifty minutes, The cotton is then hung on five fticks only, and fo fufpended by ftrings as to be wholly immerfed in the liquor, which is now made to boil, and con- tinued boiling for forty-five, or fifty minutes. A white froth, which about this time appears on the furface is a fign that the madder is exhaufted of its colouring matter, and that the cotton can receive no benefit, though it will get no injury from continuing longer in the liquor. It is then to be withdrawn, carried to be well wafhed in the river, or wafh-wheel, and then wrung and dryed. . : The other three fourths of the cotton, are then to be fucceffively dyed in the fame manner, freth ingredients being ufed for each parcel. * The fourteenth operation is reprefented as highly effential to the fuccefs of the procefs. Should it be omitted, the colour, it is faid, would not only be fo unfixed, as to lofe much in the fubfequent operation, but’ would likewife = Cg 2 require 388 Mr. Henry's Confiderations ondifferent Materials, require more time for the enlivening. About eight gallons of the white liquor, which re- mained after the feventh operation and were dire€&ted to be referved, are now to be mixed with four gallons of the firft barilla ley. Two gallons of this mixture being put into the wringing tub, the whole of the cotton is to be wafhed in it, adding more liquor in proportion as it is foaked up by the cotton; which is after- wards to be wrung and dryed. To this fucceeds the fifteenth and laft opera- tion, viz. that of enlivening or reviving the colour, The copper pan being about half filled with water, twenty-eight or thirty gallons of the liquor remaining after the firft operation, are to be added, fo that the liquor may reach to within fix inches of the top. When the liquor is nearly boiling, the cotton is to be put in; being previoufly formed into parcels of about two pounds and a half each; nearly four ounces being kept feparate, for a purpofe hereafter to be defcribed. The cotton is to be well preffed down in the © pan, and confined by fticks. The pan is covered with a wooden lid, having a fmall hole, through ‘which the fmall portion of cotton, re- ferved for that intention, may bé occafionally withdrawn, in order to obferve the progrefs of the operation. This hole has a moveable cover. The lid is then to be fecured by a ftrong crofs ' of as Objeéts of the art of Dying, 8c. .° 389 of wood, with a ftraight piece over it; and the’ fides made clofe, fo as to confine wae vapour, ° by laying round the edges of the lid, a quantity of damp linen cloth. The fire is then: to be raifed, fo as to make the liquor boil, and the boiling. is to be continued, for nine hours. The procefs is finifhed by taking the cotton out of the liquor, wringing and drying it. But the:drying is never to be performed either in a ftove, or in ftrong fun-fhine. The colour will be moft brilliant, if the cotton be dried in the _ fhade, with a free accefs of air. I muft beg the indulgence of the Society fad another divifion; in which I fhall endeavour to give a theory of dying, as far as da/es are con- cerned; and efpecially of the procefs of which we have juft given a detail. PART THI we READ JANUARY 3, 1786. OTHING can lead more effectually to the improvement of any art, than a right underftanding of the inftruments, or agents employed in the practice. Though long experience may eftablith a number of faéts, yet if the rationale of the manner by which they are produced be not underftood, mifapplications are Cc 3 liable 390 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, liable to be made; fimilar practices are purfued, where the cafes differ effentially ; and improve- ments are attempted at hazard, and often on falfe principles, | Though it may not be granted, that in the fcouring of the feveral materials, which are to be fubjected to the art of the dyer, their tubular pores are enlarged, or even divefted of any matter which obftructs them; yet it will not be difputed that the intention of thefe proceffes, is to re- move, an oily or a refinous matter which invefts the fibres, and fills up the interftices of the filaments; either rendering the material lefs white, or leffening its attraction for water, and for the colouring matter, intended to be applied. For the more brilliant colours, in order that they may be exhibited in their greateft luftre, the fcouring and bleaching is generally carried to fuch a degree, as only to be fhort of injuring the texture; and the material always fuffers a lofs of fubftance. In the preparation for the Turkey red, the cafe feems to be different. No bleaching is allowed; and the firft operation of the procefs is of a kind, that is rather likely to add to the weight, than to fubtract any thing from it. The cotton is boiled in a mixture of barilla, or im- pure mineral alkali, oil, and animal excrement. Were the fole intention of this operation to fcour the cotton, or, as the dyers phrafe is, to open as Objects of the Art of Dying, Se. 391 open its pores; would not the barilla alone be more efficacious? And for what reafon can we fuppofe that the fheep’s dung, which contains a quantity of foul, colouring matter, fhould be. ’ added? We have feen that in the fcouring of filk, where a perfect foap is ufed, fome portion of it adheres, notwithftanding the wafhing the filk undergoes. . The cotton is indeed alfo well wafhed after this firft operation; but it is moft likely that water will not be able to remove the whole fubftance of this animalifed foap, And it feems alfo probable that the im- perfect foap, or mixture of oil and alkali, together with the dung liquor through which the cotton is fo often paffed, will continue to furnifh fomewhat to it. . For animal fubftances, contain an acid which is feparated in various forms, We have already feen that .faccharine acid is obtainable from them by means of nitrous acid; the blood affords the Pruffian acid, and alfo phofphoric acid. This laft is contained ftill more abun- dantly in the urine and in the bones, but we fhall defer the confideration of the ufe of animal acid in dying till we come to treat on the fubjeé of bafes. _ The idea of animalizing vegetable fubftances to promote their attraction for colouring matter, occurred to me many years fince; and the late Sir Torbern Bergman feems to haye held a Cc4 fimilar 392 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, fimilar opinion. We have feen in the abftraé ] have given, of M. Betholet’s analyfis of animal and vegetable fubftances, that wool and filk yield much acid of fugar, together with a fatty oil, whereas cotton gives no faccharine acid, no oil, and, in fhort, that the whole fubftance is capable of being diffipated in the form of _ gas, leaving no refiduum in the retort, and communicating nothing permanent to the ni- trous acid which diftils into the receiver, I with that fome perfon, whofe opportunities and leifure are greater than mine, would compare, by fuch an analyfis, cotton, in its natural ftate, and cotton prepared in the feven leading operations for the’ Turkey red; in order to determine whether it have, by this treatment, acquired properties more nearly approaching to animal matter; viz. whether in the latter {tate it will afford more acid of fugar, and give over on diftillation, an oily matter, re- fembling that obtained from animal fubftances. — Another point which it might be important to. afcertain is, what increafe of weight the cotton acquires after each fteeping. It appears from the account of the Gentlemen appointed to fuperintend and repeat Mr. Borelle’s pro- cefs, that, previous to the maddering, or imparting of the colouring matter, the cotton had increafed to the amount of + of its ori- ginal weight, though it had been well wafhed ee) | previous as Objects of the Art of Dying, &'c. 393 previous to that: operation. In this increafe however, was included what it had acquired in the operations of galling and aluming. The operation of galling, in this as. well as fome other proceffes of dying is ufed previous to the application of the bafis to the material. Galls contain an aftringent matter to which chemifts have lately given the appellation of the aftringent principle; and the Dijon Acade- micans have proved it to be of an acid nature. It has not only the property of de- compofing metallic, but alfo earthy foluti- ons, and of combining, with’ the preci- pitates which fall from them. Hence its ufe previous to the aluming in the procefs of dying. Steep cotton, which has not been galled, in a folution of alum, the folution remains clear, and the cotton, when dried, fhall be covered with aluminous cryftals.. Let another parcel of cotton, which has ~ been galled, be immerfed in a fimilar folution, the _ liquor fhall become turbid, and plain marks _of precipitation appear. This aftringent principle is of ftill farther ufe in the are of dying, and we fhall prefently fee the manner in which it aéts, when com- bined in thofe vegetables which afford colouring . matter. Having thus given an account of the previous - Operations in dying relative to the vagnigpeee ) 394 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, of the bafis, let us next inquire into the prin- ciples on which this application is made, and the modes by which it is more firmly attached to the material. We have already remarked, that alum con- tains an earth in its compofition, united -to vitriolic acid, This earth is purely argillaceous, and may be feparated from the acid to which it is united, by any fub{tance to which either the earth or the acid, has a ftronger attraction ran they poffefs to each other. The fir! theory we meet with to account for the action, alum and other intermediate fub- ftances ufed to furnifh bafes for colouring matter in dying, is that of M. Hellot, who fuppofes that thefe faline bodies form vitriolated tartar, a falt difficult of folution in water; and, that the minute cryftals of this falt, infinuate them- felves into the pores of the material to be dyed; that to thefe cryftals the colouring matter becomes attached and firmly united, and they to the material, fo as to refift the folvent power of water. Thus, when tartar and alum are ufed, he imagines the vitriolated tartar to be formed from them; and, in every other cafe of dying, he accounts for the production of a vitriolated tartar; but often in a manner by no means fatisfa€tory. This vitriolated tartar, he de- {cribes, as cryftallizing in the dilated pores of the cloth; attracting the colouring matter; and being as Objeéts of the Art of Dying, &8e. 395 being difficult of folution in water, detaining the colouring particles, which are farther ce- mented by the crude tartar. But though thefe falts are not eafly foluble in water, yet a fuficient quantity of water will diffolve them; and, if the colouring particles: were attached to them, they muft be carried off whenever the folution of the falts is effected. But as this is not the cafe (for when thefe par- ticles are properly affixed to the material, they are not moveable by any quantity of water, how- ever large) their fixity muft depend on fome more permanent bafis. Mr. Keir, the ingenious tranflator of Mac- quer’s Dictionary of Chemiftry, appears to: have been the firft who fufpected that the earth of alum: was precipitated, and in this form attached to the material. Indeed it feems wonderful that this idea did not occur to M. Hellot, who was fully aware that in the dying of fearlet; the cochineal . became firmly united to the white calx of tin. M. Macquer, in the laft edition of his Dic- tionary, has been more explicit on this fubje@.. From the experiments which have been alluded to, in the fecond part of this paper, by which laques and carmine are made by pouring folutions of alum or of tin, into clear decoétions of extrac- tive refinous colouring ingredients, he concludes that the fame effets take place in dying; that when the materials are loaded with thefe earthy 396 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, garthy or metallic falts, and then thrown into the liquors impregnated with the colouring fub- ftances, the colouring matter quits the other principles to which it was united, feizes on the earthy bafis of the falt, and uniting with it, lofes its folubility in water, and, in this com- bination, becomes attached to the material, in fo permanent a manner, as not to be wafhed away by water. M. Macquer, however, does not feem to have been aware that it is by means of the aftringent principle that this precipitation is effected. All the fubftances which form la- ques contain this principle; as is evinced by the blacknefs they produce with martial folutions ; and to this the colouring principle feems to be clofely united. A few drops of infufion of galls produces an immediate precipitation of the earth of alum from its acid, This precipitation is more copious than that produced by any of the common colouring fubftances, and is, at the fame time, white. Here again new experiments are fuggefted. Let a large quantity of earth of alum be thus precipitated by galls. Let the precipitate be . well wafhed, and afterwards expofed in a retort, with a receiver adapted to it, to a ftrong heat. The aftringent principle, if united to the earth of alum, being volatile, will probably be driven over into the receiver, and thus the fuppofed combination be rendered evident. Again, as Objelts of the Art of Dying, Ge. 3,97 Again, let the fupernatant liquor, from which all the earth has been precipitated, be examined, to fee in what ftate of combination, the vitriolic acid of the alum, remains. In the common dyes, then, with metallic or earthy bafes, the theory is pretty clearly as M. Macquer has reprefented, only taking the aftrin- gent principle’ into the account; and, with re- {pect to wool and filk, nothing more feems necef- fary than the impregnation of the one, with alum and tartar, and, of the other, with alum alone, previous to their immerfion in the co- toured liquor. But when Corton is to be dyed, and fome of thefe bafes are, requifite, not only the bafis. is to be precipitated by the aftringent colouring principle, but the attraétion of the material to the bafis is to be increafed by other inter- media. The permanency of the extra¢tive dyes, therefore, depends on the previous treat- ment of the cotton, and, where alum is em- ployed, of that falt, fo as to procure a more copious precipitation of its earth, and to unite ‘it, by medns of other fubftances, to the material. For this reafon, in the common dying of ‘cotton, the alum is previoufly neutralifed by the addition of alkaline falr, whereby not only ‘the acid is prevented from injuring the cotton, but the alum is put into a ftare more ready to be 398 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, be precipitated by the aftringent colouring matter. For this reafon alfo, in the procefs of callico printing, the earth of alum is made to change its natural acid for the acetous, For by this means, not only a falt is prepared, capable of diffolying more copioufly in water than common alum, but, the acetous acid being more loofely attached to the aluminous earth, is, as it be- comes concentrated by drying, eafily driven off by heat; the earth being left fpread upon, and -cemented to, the callico. When fpeaking of the ufe of animal fub- ftances, it was obferved, that they yield feveral different acids by various modes of analyfis, viz. The phofphoric, the febaceous, the Pruffian and the faccharine. Of thefe the two firft are formed in the animal fyftem, the third is perhaps. the creature of fire, and originates from a combination of fome of the more fimple conftituent parts of animal fubftances; and of the laft it fhould feem that thefe fubftances only contain the bafis*. M. Bertholet by uniting cauftic alkalis with animal fubftances is faid to have found them neutralifed, and that the animal matter, when afterwards feparated from the alkali, is no longer fufceptible of putrefaction. This animalifed neu- tral falt may be decompofed by means of alum, * Critical Review, vol. LXII. p. 377. and as Objects of the Art of Dying, €e. 399 and, while the vitriolic acid feizes on the alkali, the earth of alum becomes intimately combined with the animal acid. It appears to me highly probable, that this acid is fupplied to the cotton, in the procefs for dying the Adrianople red, That the attraction between the cotton and acid being ftrong, and that between the latter and _ the earth of alum being likewife powerful, fuch an union is effected as affifts in rendering the material capable of attracting and retaining the colouring matter, in as forcible and permanent "a manner, as can be done either by wool or filk. ; . The ufe of the galls alfo in this and other pro- ceffles feems intended to promote a fimilar pur-. pofe. Cotton either unbleached, or which has undergone no procefs but that’ of bleaching, when immerfed in a folution of alum, produces no change in the appearance of the folution; but as has been already fhewn, cotton previoufly fteeped in an infufion or decoétion of galls, foon renders the liquor turbid, occafioning a precipi- tation of the earth of alum on the cotton. The imperfect foap alfo, formed by the union of the alkali and oil when mixed with the alum, will both decompofe that falt, and be itfelf de- compounded, and a foap of a different naturewill refult from the union of the oil, with the earth of alum. M. Bertholet who has made feveral ex- periments on earthy and metallic foaps, found this 400 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, this argillaceous foap to be totally infoluble in water and in fpirit of wine. It is probable alfo that the blood which is employed with the mad- der, may fupply both animal falts and a glutin- ous matter to the cotton. This feems to be the ufe of the blood, and not, as M.’Borelle fup- pofes, to communicate a pinky tinge to the madder. ‘Here then appear to be feveral different fub- ftances employed, tending to form infoluble compounds with the argillaceous earth of the alum. But whether, when depofited on the cloth, they remain fo many diftin¢ét compounds, or may all unite into one infoluble body, I do not pre- tend to determine. M. Macquer, whofe opinions always deferve the moft refpectful attention, declares, that the excellence and permanency of the Turkey red depends on the great quantity of alkali, ufed in the procefs of aluming, rediffolving the earth of alum after its feparation from the vitriolic acid, and forming with it a faline compound, eafily feparable into its conftituent parts, fo that the aluminous earth may be conveniently de- pofited on the cotton and united to the colouring matter. The following is a tranflation of his own words, from the laft edition of his Dic- tionary. . <¢ In examining,” fays this excellent chemift, <¢ the effects of all the complicated operations, arth “© attendant - oe as Objeéts of the Art of Dying, Ge. 401 “¢ attendant on the Levant or Adrianople procefs ““ for giving to cotton a more beautiful and du- “‘ rable red, by means of madder, than can be ‘© communicated ,by the common methods, I - was ftruck with a fingularity which attends ‘the aluming in this procefs, and confifts in ‘‘ mixing a great quantity of alkali with the *< folution of alum, previous to the impregnation <* of the cotton with it. ‘© As the alum is certainly decompofed, by <¢ the mineral alkali, in this operation, I wifhed “¢to difcover what was the refult; and I found “the alkali, at the inftant it precipitated the ‘earth of alum, rediffolved a confiderable part ¢¢ of it, and that the alkaline fale with aluminous “© bafis is the real mordant in the Levant procefs. ‘‘T have actually determined, by fuitable ex- « periments, 1ft. that both fixed and volatile ‘alkalis, efpecially if cauftic, are capable of “‘ reducing to a faline ftate a fufficiently large ** portion of earth of alum, even in the moift ** way; and that, by calcination, the fixed alkali *is capable of diffolving a fomewhat larger ** quantity of this earth. 2dly. That this alka- “‘Jine earthy falt is decompofed, even by water *‘alone, but ftill more eafily by means of a -“ decoétion of madder, or other extractive tinc- *© tures, on the colour of which the earthy part *¢ of the falt feizes, and forms with it a laque, “or coloured precipitate, in the fame manner ~, Vor. Ill. Dd “as 402 Mr. Henry's Confiderations on different Materials, «as the mordants when formed of an acid com- ¢ bined with an earth or a metal. gdly. I have ‘« proved, by feveral experiments that when << cotton or linen is impregnated with a ftrong ‘* folution of this alkaline mordant without any | ‘«‘ other preparation than fcouring and galling, “«¢ thefe fubftances receive, in the madder bath, a «¢ red much more beautiful and deep, than can be ‘€ given them, when alum alone is ufed.*” Notwithftanding my deference for the opinion of this great man, yet I mutt on this occafion differ. from him, for reafons which, it is hoped, will prove fatisfactory to this fociety. 1. The portion of barilla ufed in the opera- tion of aluming, is only fix pounds, fup- pofing the whole quantity employed to be diffolved in the firft liquor; but as there are two other folutions made before the whole of the falt is diflolved, it is probable that fix gallons of the firft liquor, will not contain near one half of that weight; for the barilla being dry and hard, and the mineral alkali lefs foluble than the vegetable, the firft water will act but flowly on it; and it is obfervable that, through the whole procefs, the fecond liquor is confidered as the ftrongeft, and ufed for mixing with the oil. Befides not much above one half of the barilla -confifts of aérated mineral alkali. We may there- * Macquer, Didtionaire de Chymie, feconde edition, tome quatrieme, article Teinture. fore Mr. Henry's Confiderations, 8c. 403 fore conclude that the amount of this falt, con- tained in fix gallons of the firft barilla liquor, the quantity added to thirty pounds of alum, does not exceed one pound and half. Now as roo parts of alum contain 38 of vitriolic acid, thefe will require for their faturation, 37 of aérated mineral alkali; fo 30 parts of alum containing 11: 4 of that acid, thefe will require for their faturation 11:1 of the fame alkali. Whereas the quantity employed amounts only to 1 5; or rather more than ¢ of the quantity requifite for the neutralization of the acid. And as a fuperabundant quantity of the precipitant, above what is necefflary to the faturation of the acid, is neceffary before re-folution of the pre- cipitate can take place, we have in this cafe no reafon to expect it. 2. The quantity of alkali employed is not fuperior to that ufed in the aluming in other proceffes for dying with madder.* 3. The alkali, being aérated, is in the moft unfavourable ftate for rediffolving the aluminous earth ; and 4. The re-folution of the aluminous earth takes place only fo long as any of the fuper- abundant vitriolic acid remains unneutralifed ; except the addition .of alkali be continued, after the precipitation of the aluminous earth is * ior } of the alum, Dda wholly 404 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, wholly effe&ted: and it cannot be fuppofed that the alkali with which the cotton has been impregnated, in the previous operations, added to that contained in the barilla liquor, mixed with the alum can be fuch, even if it were in an un- combined ftate, as to produce fuperfaturation. It fhould feem probable therefore that the permanency of the Turkey red depends on the caufes already affigned, and that its brightnefs is produced by the aétion of the mineral alkali on the madder. This appears, at firft fight, difcordant with the theory of Mr. Delaval that alkalis reduce red colours to crimfon, and thefe to purple; whereas in the prefent cafe the red is brightened, by boiling in a ftrong folution of mineral alkali; but the fact is perfectly agreeable with that theory ; for the madder colour is too ‘much inclining to a dufky orange, and this, by means of the incraffating alkali, defcends to red. Before I conclude, permit me to advance a few circumftances relative to the black dye. For the dying of black, the calx of iron is the mordant employed, and this uniting with the aftringent principle of the galls forms a black pigment which is attraéted and adheres to the material to be dyed. The late Dr. Lewis had afcertained, by a number of well conduéted experiments, that the colouring matter of ink, confifted of a very finely attenuated calx of iron, combined with this as Objetts of the Art of Dying, Sc. 405 this principle. He found alfo that this matter, ’ (which, if not kept fufpended by fome muci- laginous fubftance, feparates and precipitates from the liquor) refembles, in fome degree martial :zthiops, but that it was not, like that powder, attraéted by the magnet, till after it had been’ expofed to a red heat; when it loft its: blacknefs,, and» became of a rufty brown colour:—a proof that the black colour of ink or of the black dye, which is formed on fimilar principles, does not depend, merely; on the iron acquiring phlogifton from the galls. He alfo. found that: both acids. and alkalis deftroy blacknefs thus produced ; the former by’ dif- folving the 'ferrugineous body, the latter by acting on the aftringent principle. He, how- ever, was of opinion, that this principle was of a fixed, not ‘a volatile nature. But our worthy prefident, ‘Dr. Percival, very early fufpected that this aftringent principle poffeffed fome vola- tility. In fupport of:his opinion, he mentions, artichoke talks, . lofing ‘their aftringent prin- ciple by being dried in an oven. He likewife appears to be the’ firft who obferved the action of acids and aftringents on each other. The fubje&t ‘has been‘ farther purfued by the Dijon academicians ;' from the refult of whofe experiments it appears, that the - aftringent principle is foluble in water, in fpirit of wine, in oils; and in ether; that it rifes copioufly Dd3 in 406 Mr. Henry’s Confiderations on different Materials, in diftillation, reddening the blue vegetable juices, but capable of uniting, with equal facility, with acids, and with alkalis. That though ic does not revive iron, without the aid of fire, yet gold and filver are precipitated, by it, in their metallic form; and that it is eapable of decompofing moft metallic folutions, and giving different colours to their precipitates. - Dr. Percival had endeavoured to produce an ink, by macerating iron filings, without their being combined with any acid; but, making his infufion without heat, he did not fucceed. The Dijon chemifts, not content with making a fimilar attempt, boiled the liquor; and thus obtained a violet coloured ink, the traces of which were as well defined and permanent, as thofe produced by ink prepared in the common way, even ‘without the addition of gum. Hence jit fhould feem, that the heat not only enabled the aftringent principle to diffolve the iron, but alfo extraéted a mucilaginous matter which fupplied the ufe of gum. —. . [have related thefe fagts in order to elucidate fome circumftances attending the dying: of black. Green vitriol was formerly ufed; but the calx of.iron is too much dephlogifticated in this falt, and the black produced, by it is not permanent. . Solutions of iron in acetous acid have of late been preferred, efpecially for ; cotton ; as Objelis.of the Art of Dying, Ec. 407 cotton; and even folutions of that metal, made by macerating it with alder bark and water, in which the aftringent principle fhould feem to unite with the vegetable, acid, toform the folvent. In thefe folutions the iron is not too much depri- ved of its phlogifton ; and contrary to thofe made in mineral acids, they improve with age, for the vegetable acid, tending to putridity evolves phlo- gifton, which unites with the iron; whereas the vitriolic folution is continually parting with that volatile principle, and thereby becoming not only lefs fit for producing blacknefs, but the calx of iron, when highly dephlogifticated, is very injurious to the texture of the cloth. ‘The improvements made in the dying black, are perhaps the ftrongeft proofs that can be given of the utility of chemical. knowledge. Nor can a more apt inftance be adduced of the inconvenience arifing from the want of it, than the French procefs, related by M. Macquer for this purpofe ; in which no lefs than thirty different ingredients, or at leatt bearing different names, are directed to be employed; feveral of which are the fame things under different denominations ; and. others tend directly to de- ftroy.each other. I know not whether to apologife more to the Society, for the length of this paper, or for the imperfections it contains. The former I could Dd4 not 408 On Phyfiognomy. not well avoid, in order to make it fufficiently comprehenfive; and for the latter, I muft beg leave to plead my numerous avocations which have caufed me to compile it in hafte, and in a very interrupted manner. OBSERVATIONS refpeling the History of Puysiocnomy ; dy THomas Cooper, Eq.) « HE difpute among the Literati of the' laft century, on the comparative merit of the ancients and moderns, has at length fubfided. The few late attempts by fome of our writers * to reinftate Plato and Ariftotle at the head of the ranks of fcience, have been coolly received; and the moderns in general! have acquiefced in their own pre-eminence. There feems indeed fome reafon for this decifion in our own favour:' and it will be readily acknow- ledged, that within a century or two, we have greatly extended the bounds of knowledge; ‘by contenting ourfelves with flow but fure advances, and by relying upon faét and experiment in pre- * Harris Monboddo. ference On. Phyfiognomy. 409 ferenee to conjecture and hypothefis. I cannot help thinking however, that although we may have fhewn many of the ancient fyftems to be merely the creatures of imagination, we have in fome cafes concluded much too hattily ; and unreafonably denied the exiftence of that know- ledge, which we have not been at the pains of acquiring. Thefe obfervations feem to me to be fuffici- ently applicable to the /cience of phyfiognomy ; a f{cience, which, though prattifed by Pytha- goras,* defended by Socrates,+ approved by Plato,{ and treated by Ariftotle,|| is hardiy mentioned at prefent, but in conjunétion with magic, alchemy and judicial aftrology. With- out, any pretenfions however to a knowledge of phyfiognomy as a fcience myfelf, I have always regarded it in a light more refpeétable ; and as the recently publifhed work of M. Lavater feems to have excited a confiderable degree\ of atten- tion on the continent, the fociety perhaps will not be ieee if I lay before them fuch wer * Anli Gellii, lib. I. cap. 9. | + Cic. de fat. V. & Tufc. Queft. XX. IV. * t In Timezo. | Phyfiognom. Ariftotles Phyfiognomy has been. fuf- pected as fpurious, but without fufficient reafon. Dioge- nes Laert. quotes it, lib. V. literary 410 On Phyfiognomy. literary obfervations refpecting the progrefs of phyfiognomy as my reading has fuggetted. . There has been forme difpute* refpecting the etymology of the term; fome deriving it from gvoie nature and ywywecx» to know; others from puoi and youwv an index; others from gue and youn a mark; according to thefe laft derivations, phyfiognomy, will be, a knowledge of nature from the indices or marks of it. This extended fignification to which the etymology of the word leads, I have noticed, becaufe I think it is re- motely conneéted with the doctrine of /ignatures. For the fame reafon it may be worth while to mention. the controverfies refpecting the definition of phyfiognomy. The ancients feem to have confined phyfiognomy to man, or at leaft to animated nature. Thus Ariftotle, + nunc autem dicam ex quibus generibus figna accipian- tur: et fint omnia; ex motibus enim phyfiognomizant et ex figuris et coloribus, et ex moribus apparentibus in facie, et ex levitate, et ex Voce, et ex Carne, et ex partibus et ex figura totius corporis. So Cicero, t hominum mores naturafque, ex corpore oculis * Voflius Etymolog. & Martini Lexicon fub voce. + Phyfiognomic. cap. II. aaa wv de yevav ra onusia, &c. To fave the room that the originals aad tranflations of all the paflages quoted, would occupy; I have given the Latin verfions only of the Greek quotations. t De fato. V. vultu, On Phyfiognomy. 411 vultu, fronte pernofcere. To the fame purpofe Aulus Gellius,* Jd verbum fignificat mores natu- rafque hominum coneciatione quidam, de oris et vul- tis ingenio, deque totius Corporis filo atque babitu Stifeitari. But when the ftudy of phyfiognomy was revived in the middle ages, the comprehenfive- nefs of the etymological meaning (as I imagine) led thofe who treated on the fubject, to indulge the prevailing tafte for the marvellous, and extend the fignification of the word, far beyond the ancient limits. This feems to have been particularly the cafe among thofe naturalifts who adopted the theory of /ignatures. Hence phyfiology came to fignify, the knowledge of the internal properties of ayy corporeal being, from the external appearances, Thus Joannes Baptitta Porta, a phyfiognomift and philofopher of great note, wrote a treatife concerning the phyfiog- nomy of plants (Phytognomonica) throughout which he ufes phyfiognomy as the generic term, The fame perfon I believe it was, who wrote the Treatife de Phyfiognomia Avium. Gafpar Schottus, in his Magia Phyfiognomica, makes the phyfiognomia humana, a fubdivition of the fcience, Hen. Alfted+ adopts alfo the extenfive fignifica- * Lib. I. cap. 9. + In his Cyclopedia. tion 412 On Phyfiognomy. tion now mentioned. So alfo does Boyle,* and it feems to have been the common one with us, in’ thé time of Hudibras.¢ At pre- fent phyfiognomy feems to be confined to the knowledge of the moral and intellectual cha- raéter of human creatures, from their external manners and appearance. (' -Thefe variations of the meaning however, it was proper to notice, not only for the reafon before affigned,’ but becaufe the definition of phyfiognomy was a fubjeé&t of long difcuffion between two modern authors of fome note, in the Berlin Tranfaétions, + M. Pernetty and M. Le Cat. The former infifted that all know- ledge whatever, was merely phyfiognomy, and the latter, as unreafonably, confined it to the fubje&t of the human face. Mr. Pernetty’s fe- cond Memoire is entirely occupied, in defending the extenfive fignification he has annexed to * Experimental hiftory of mineral waters; append. § 4. ‘And I have fometimes fancied there may be a phyfiognomy of many if not of moft other natural bodies. as well as of human faces, whereby an attentive and experienced confiderer may himfelf difcern in them many inftruétive things that he cannot fo declare to. another man as to make him difcern them too. ¢ They’ll find i’ th’ phyfiognomies O’th planets all men’s deftinies. + For the years 1769 and 1770. the On Phyfiognomy. 413 the term, and which had been controverted by M. Le Cat. The fubjeé& did not drop here: foon after appeared the celebrated Treatife of Mr. Lavater, who although he exprefsly defines phyfiognomy, the art of difcovering the interior of a man by means of his exterior; * does more than countenancet the extended fignification of the term, adopted by M. Pernetty. This work produced an attack upon phyfiognomy itfelf in the Memoires of the fame academy for the year 1775, by*M. Formey, who beftowed a great deal of pains in controverting the extent which M, Lavater had. affigned, to his favourite {cience. The common idea annexed to phyfiog- nomy before mentioned, feems upon the whole as proper as any that have been given. I do not find any authority fufficient to con- clude that phyfiognomy was treated as a /cience, {at leaft in Greece,) before the time of Pytha- goras. Of him it is afferted by Aulus Gellius, + Ordo atque ratio Pythagore ac deinceps Familia Succeffionis eus recipiendi inftituendique difcipulos bujufmodi fuiffe traditur. ‘fam a principio Adolo-— Jeentes qui Jefe ad difcendum obtulerunt spucwyvoyovis. * Vol. I. p. 22, of the French edition, 4to. ¢ Ibid, p. 33, and vol. Il. p. 89. t Lib. I. cap. 9.—Proclus in Alcib. prim. Plat.—Iamb. in vit. Pythag. fub, Init. Id 414. On Phyfiognomy. id verbum fignificat mores naturafque hominum comjectatione quddam, de oris et vultus ingenio deque totius corporis filo atque habitu fcifcitari. It is not improbable (if this be true) that Pythagoras acquired a great part of his phyfiognomical knowledge, and his attachment to that fcience during his travels; the Indians* and Egyp- tians ¢ being great profeffors of phyflognomy. In the time of Socrates, it appears not only to have been ftudied as a fcience, but adopted as a profeffion, of which the known ftory of - * Nicoftratus fpeaking of the Indians in his book de Nuptiis, fays that in marrying they judge of their wives by their appearance, and declare they are never deceived ; among the phyfiognomical marks he mentions thefe, benigni enim oculi, fummam animi pulchritudinem comitantur, et fieri folet ut qui non excandsfeit, nec facile irafeitur, aut bile movetur, faciem Jplendidam Jerenamque habet. Malignus et dolofus vero, ftatim et oculis tranfverst implacideque tuetur. Qui frolidus ac fimplex eft, pupillas et oculos patentes gerit ut afini et oves. Cui Supercilia conjunguntur improbus ef}, Cujus Juperficies in vultu non rubet, fed obfcura caliginofaque eff nunquam ullo modo exhilaratur. Ceterum ejufmodi nota, non modo virginibus et mulieribus, fed etiam viris infunt. Raynaudi Moral. Difcip. p. 367. See alfo Philoft. Vit. Apoll. Tyan, lib. III. cap. 30, p. 83. sroaaw mev yap o opbaruor, &e. & lib. III. cap. 5. + Aryumrias uev yap tac mast, &c. Gronov. Not. in Aul. Gell. lib. I. cap. 9. from the phyfiognomy of Adaman- tius. See alfo Jambl. in Vit. Pythag. lib. I. cap. 17. mapacxivacuevw ds avta, &c. the On Phyfiognomy. 415 the judgement paffed upon Socrates by Zopyrus* isa fufficient proof; fubfequently it was noticed by Plato, + and exprefsly treated by Ariftotle in a diftinc book. As this forms a kind of literary epoch in the fcience of phyfiognomy it may be worth while to give a brief outline of Ariftotle’s fentiments on the fubject. _ He obferves (in fubftance) that the fubject had been treated in three different ways. That fome phyfiognomifts claffed animals into genera, and afcribed a certain corporeal appearance, and a correfponding mental difpofition to each genus. Others diftinguifhed ftill farther and divided the genera into fpecies. Thus among men, they diftinguifhed the Egyptians, the Thracians, and the Scythians, and wherever elfe there was a known difference in habits and manners, and afligned the phyfiognomic marks accordingly. Some decided more from the actions and manners of the individual, taking for granted that fuch and fuch manners, pro- ceeded from fuch and fuch difpofitions. His own method of confidering the fubjeét was this : there is always a peculiar difpofition of mind, attendant on a peculiar form of body; fo that there is never found a human mind, in the corporeal form of any beaft. Again; it is evident that the mind and the body aét mutu- * Cic. de fato V. + In his Timeus. ally 416 On Phyfiognomy. ally on each other. Thus in the cafes of intoxication, ficknefs, and mania, the mind is affected by the affections of the body. In fear, forrow, joy, &c. the body is affeéted by the affections of the mind. From thefe faéts he concludes, that wherever a particular form or bodily character, appears in a human crea- ture, and we know before hand from obfervation, and_an induétion of particulars, that a certain mental character is conftantly concomitant, and therefore neceffarily connected therewith, we have a right in all fuch cafes to infer the difpofition from the appearance —and this, whe- ther we have drawn our obfervation from men or other animals. For as there is one mental charaéter, and one corporeal form of a lion, and another of a hare, wherever in human creatures we obferve the bodily characteriftics of alion, (fuch as ftrong and thick hair, large extremities, a deep tone of voice, &c.) we ought to infer, ftrength, firmnefs and courage. Wherever on the contrary, we fee the flender extremities, foft capillament, or any other feature of the hare, we ought to conclude a proportional correfpondence in the mental cha- racter. Upon this principle he enumerates the . various corporeal features of man, and the correfpondent difpofitions fo far as they have been obferved; and as opportunities offer, he illuftrates them by an appeal to the foregoing analogy, On Phyfiognomy. 417 analogy, and in fome cafes attempts to explain them by phyfiological reafoning, This plaufible and even probable. theory, evinces a confiderable degree of knowledge on this fubje&t, at a very early period—indivi- dual phyfiognomy, national phyfiognomy, and comparative phyfiognomy, are here. diftinétly noticed ; but it:cannot with truth be afferted, that the enumeration of particular precepts and obfervations in the phyfiognomical treatife of this great man, are equally well founded with this outline of the fubject. In faét, the ftate of . knowledge in his time, did not admit of a com- plete elucidation of his general principles, nor was the brief and pithy ftyle of Ariftotle adapted to a fubjec&t, which even at this day will require frequent periphrafis to make it clearly compre- henfible. Such as it is however, this work of Ariftotle, appears to have ferved as a foundation for almoft every phyfiognomical treatife that hath fince been publifhed. His comparative phyfiognomy of men with beatts indeed, though - frequently, has not been aniverfally adopted, but his language and his manner, fententious, obfcure and indifcriminate, have been copied too clofely, by his imitators of the fixteenth and feventeenth centuries. Befide this work of Ariftotle exprefsly on the fubject, there are many incidental obfervations refpecting phy- » fiognomy that occur in his Hiftory of Animals, and other parts of his writings. Vox, III. Ee The 418 On. Phyfiognomy. The ethic charaters of Theophraftus, the difci- ple and fucceffor of Ariftotle. deferve alfo to be particularly noticed, as a diftiné treatife ona moft — important branch of the fcience in queftion, the Phyfiognomy of Manners. This fingular and. enter- taining performance compofed by the author at the age of ninety-nine, defcribes fynthetically, with great juftice and accuracy, the moft remarkable traits of behaviour which certain predominant cha- racters, would refpectively occafion. The tranf- lations and imitations of La Bruyere, render it unneceffary to give any examples of what other- wife it would be unpardonable to omit: fuffice it to obferve; that this work of Theophraftus evinces fuch a degree of accurate obfervation, and lively defcription as will. preferve it in the rank of claffical performances fo long. as, the {cience of man, and the prominant features, of human fociety, fhall continue to be regarded as objects of attention. About this time Adamantius the fophift appears to have written; whofe ‘* Phyfiognomics’’ were publifhed in feveral places about the middle of the fixteenth century. Adamantius however only trod in the fteps of Polemon the Athenian, who had written before him, and whofe treatife was republifhed in Greek and Latin much about the time of the former.* So many au- * I was not aware till lately that the Greek writers on the fubje&t of phyfiognomy were colleéted and publithed toge- ther, by Franzius, ‘* Phyfiognomiz veteres {criptores Greci. Gr. & Lat. A Franzio. Altenb. 1780, 8vo.” I have not feen the book. thors Ou. Phyfognomy, 4lg thors * on the fubject, fufficiently thew that \phyfiognomy was much cultivated as a feience ‘among the Greeks about this period. The pro- feffors of phyfiognomy however appear foon to have connected. with it fomething of the mar- vellous, as we may fufpe& from the ftory told of Apelles by Apion, Imaginem adeo fimilitudinis indiferete pinxit ut (incredibile diftu) Apion gram- Maticus Seriptum reliquerit quemdam ex facie hominum addivinantem (quos, metopofcopos vocant) | eg ‘iis dixiffe aut future mortis annos, aut preterite.t ‘From the known practice of the Pythagorean School, t whofe novitiates were all fubjected to ‘the phyfiognomi¢ obfervation. of the teachers, it is not improbable that the firft phyfiognomitts by profeffion among the Greeks, |, were of that ‘Od Herines Trifmevitus, Alchyndtis, ‘Helenus, Loxias, ‘Pharaotes Indus (mentioned by Philoftratus)