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TIE OCCJLT SCIENCES.

THE

PHILOSOPHY OF MAGIC,

PRODIGIES AND APPARENT MIRACLES.

FROM THE FRENCH OF

EUSEBE SALVERTE.

WITH NOTES ILLUSTRATIVE, EXPLANATORY, AND CRITICAL

BY ANTHONY TODD THOMSON, M.D.

F.L.S., &c.

" Non igitur oportet nos magicis illusionibus uti, cum potestas philosophica doceat
operari quod sufficit."— Roo. Bacon, De seer. oper. art. et nat. c. v.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

LONDON:

RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
^u&ttsfar in ©rtiinari) to 1er Jïlajest».

M.D.CCC.XLVI.

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LOND on:
Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.

PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR.

Is not the history of civilization, in the most ex-
tended sense of this word, the history of mankind in a
social state, one of the most important of all our
studies ?

About twenty years ago, consulting less my talents
than my zeal, I undertook to retrace this history, and
in 1813 I published an introduction,* in order to give
an idea of the manner in which I thought it should be
treated.

This essay received some encouragement, which
only convinced me of the necessity of examining more
profoundly so important a subject. The history and
origin of the sciences occupied a large place in those
researches, in which I was engaged, and I was soon

* De la Civilisation depuis les premiers Temps historiques jusqu à
la fin du xvme siècle . . . Introduction.

VI PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR.

convinced that it was impossible to have a just idea of
the extent to which the sciences had been carried,
among the ancients, without examining the kind of
knowledge employed by the founders of those sciences, in
working the wonders related in their annals. In the
course of this inquiry, I discovered that much informa-
tion was shut up in the temples, and employed there,
during many ages, to excite either wonder or fear ; but,
in the flight of time, decaying and at last fading alto-
gether away, leaving behind only imperfect traditions,
which have since been ranked as fables. The attempts to
restore life to these ancient intellectual monuments,
accomplished a part of my task which, at the same time,
filled up a great period in the history of the human mind.
My treatise on this object soon became too ample to
form merely a part of the principal work for which it
was originally intended. It was easy to detach it, al-
though connected with the object which I had proposed
to myself to attain; and thus separated, it forms a
whole, susceptible of special interest.

I shall content myself with bearing in remembrance
the principle which has guided me in my various
researches : that principle which distinguishes two very
strongly marked forms of civilization, the fixed form,
which formerly governed almost the whole world, and
which still subsists in Asia ; and — the perfectible form,
which more or less reigns throughout Europe, although

PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR. Vil

it is not there fully developed ; nor has it as yet, borne
all those fruits which its elements permit us to antici-
pate in its progress to perfection.

In 1817 I published in the " Esprit des Journaux"
(July volume), an article in which those principles were
pointed out, which are here more fully developed, and
many of the facts and arguments on which they rest.
I only mention this on account of the date, that I may
not be accused of having borrowed, from some works
which have appeared more recently, those ideas and
explanations which I have now a right to reproduce,
since they were originally my own. Far from deceiving
myself otherwise on the insufficiency of this first essay,
I have remodelled it entirely and looked it over several
times, with the assistance and advice of learned and
benevolent men.

The first edition of this book published in 1829,
being entirely sold, I found it necessary, in preparing a
second to take advantage of those criticisms which had
been addressed to me, and of the numerous observations
that my subsequent studies had furnished. The theory
which guided me remains the same ; I shall sum it up
in a few words.

1. When the improbability of a fact is the chief objec-
tion to the belief in its reality, the evidence which attests
it, regains all its value, if the improbability be proved to

Vlll PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR.

be only apparent. Can a similar test be applied with suc-
cess to the greater part of the prodigies and assumed
miracles related by the ancients ? It is more reason-
able, then, to admit the truth of the facts, and the
accuracy of their explanation, than to condemn as im-
postures those recitals, of which modern discoveries
have frequently demonstrated the truth.

2. It is an incontestable fact, that anciently science,
and more especially that science which was confined to
the temples, was enveloped in a thick veil to conceal it
from the eyes of the vulgar ; and that it was employed
to produce wonderful works fitted to subdue the obsti-
nacy and credulity of the people, is a supposition so
natural, that it will be difficult to oppose it, at least by
any sound reasons. In the marvellous recitals which
have been handed down to our times, some of this
mystical learning may be discovered ; and in prosecuting
the research, we endeavour to complete the history of
science and of mankind.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

M. SALVERTE,

FROM AN ORATION SPOKEN OVER HIS GRAVE

BY M. FRANCOIS ARAGO,

MEMBER OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES AND OF THE INSTITUTE.

Salverte was born at Paris in 1771. His father, who
filled a high situation in the administration of finance,
destined him for the magistracy. At eighteen, after a
brilliant course of study, at the College of Juilly,
Salverte entered at the Châtelet, as an avocat du roi.
At this period France awoke from a long and profound
torpor. With the calmness which is always the true
characteristic of strength, but with the energy which a
good cause cannot fail to inspire, her children demanded
on all sides, the abolition of despotic government. The
voice of the people proclaimed that the distinction of

X BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF SALVERTE.

caste wounded at once human dignity and common
sense; that all men should weigh equally in the
scale of justice ; that religious opinions cannot, without
crime, be subject to the investigation of political autho-
rity.

Salverte had too much penetration not to perceive
the vast extent of reform which these great principles
would introduce, and not to foresee that the brilliant
career, on which he had just entered, might be closed to
him for ever. Behold, then, the young avocat du roi, from
his first entrance into life, obliged to weigh his opinions
as a citizen against his private interest. A thousand
examples demonstrate that in these circumstances the
ordeal is harsh, the decision doubtful ; let us hasten to
declare that the patriotism of Salverte carried it by main
force ; our colleague, without a moment's hesitation,
ranked himself with the most eager and conscientious
partizans of our glorious political regeneration. When
after a time, a culpable opposition and the insolent
interference of foreigners had thrown the country into
disorder, Salverte, with all the superior classes was
deeply afflicted. He foresaw the advantage that would
be taken of it, sooner or later, by the enemies of
the liberty of the people ; but his reasonable grief did
not detach him from the cause of progression. He was
deprived of the situation he held in the office of foreign
affairs ; he answered this unmerited brutality, by re-

BI0GRAPH1CA.L SKETCH OF SALVERTE. XI

questing an examination by a commission, as an officer
of engineers, and a mission to the army. The pre-
judices of the time caused the son of a fermier-
général to be refused military service ; Salverte,
however, not discouraged, requested at least to be
allowed to be useful to his country, in a civil career.
He entered, therefore, as a pupil, the College of Civil
Engineers ; and, soon afterwards, became one of its most
zealous tutors.

Salverte was too good a Frenchman to remain insen-
sible to the glories of the empire ; he was, on the other
hand, too friendly to liberty, not to perceive the heavy
and firmly riveted chains, that covered the abundant
harvests of laurels. He never let fall from his lips or
his pen, a word of praise that could swell the torrent
of adulation, which so soon led astray the hero of Cas-
tiglione and of Rivoli.

Our colleague devoted the whole period of the existence
of the empire to retirement and study. During that time
he became, by persevering labour, one of the most
learned men of our age, in languages, science, and
political economy.

Salverte was not mistaken as to the reaction of the
measures, into which the second restoration would be
inevitably led to precipitate itself. He thought, that
in spite of the explicit wording of the capitulation of
Paris, the thunderbolt of political passions would fall
upon many of our military leaders ; he guessed that

Xll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF SALVE RTE.

these sanguinary acts would be excited, or at least en-
couraged by the allied generals, he foresaw that in the
south, those odious dragonnades would be renewed
which history has ranked among the darkest stains in
the reign of Louis XIV. He felt his heart oppressed
by the prospect of so direful a future. He resolved
above all to avoid the humiliating spectacle of the
military occupation of France, and he, therefore, set
out for Geneva. Madame Salverte, so eminently distin-
guished, so capable of understanding and of entering into
his noble feelings : whose fate it had been to be united
to two men,# who in different modes, have done equal
honour to France, accompanied her husband in this
voluntary exile, which lasted for five years ,

The public and political life of Salverte only com-
menced, properly speaking, in 1828. In that year one
of the electoral districts, composed of the third and
fifth municipal districts of Paris, confided to our friend
the honour of representing it in the Chamber of Depu-
ties. With a few weeks' interruption, he ever afterwards
retained this honour :f and during the eleven years of

* M. de Fleurieu, who was successively Ministre de la Marine,
Sénateur, and Governor of the Tuileries .... and M. E. Sal-
verte.

t In 1839, at the time of the general election, M. E. Salverte
was paralysed, almost dying; the electors of the fifth district
of Paris, who knew the desperate state of their former deputy,
wished nevertheless to render him a last homage, in again

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF SALVERTE. Xlll

his legislative career, he was a model of honesty and
independence, zeal and assiduity.

Our age is essentially a writing age. Many persons
have doubted the necessity of the innumerable official
distribution of speeches, reports, tables, and statistics of
all kinds, which daily overrun our abodes. It is even said
that not one deputy has ever had the time or the per-
severance to read the whole of these pamphlets ; but I am
mistaken, gentlemen, one exception is cited by the
public, and that exception is M. Salverte.

There is not a single person, who, casting aside party-
feeling does not hasten to do homage to the integrity of
the Deputy of the fifth district of Paris. Perhaps the
same justice has not been rendered in other particulars.
The ambitious Salverte, since I am forced to connect
two words so little suited to each other, never
accepted a single one of those gewgaws, which,
under the name of decorations, crosses, and ribands,
are so strenuously sought after by all classes of
society. The ambitious Salverte, after the three im-
mortal days, refused the important place of director-
general of the posts. Still later, the ambitious Salverte
replied to an offer of a ministerial appointment,

choosing him to represent them ; and M. Salverte, without
the slightest canvass, was re-elected by an immense majority.
This homage, so rare at the period in which we live, was as
honourable to those who bestowed it, as to him who received it.

XIV BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF SALVERTE.

by demanding conditions so distinct, so precise, so
liberal, that they were in his opinion, as they proved
to be in fact, equivalent to a formal refusal. When we
recollect the excessive readiness of legislative votes on
matters of taxation, the reserve, the rigidness of Sal-
verte, far from being a cause of reproach, presents to
me the most honourable feature of his parliamentary
career. On questions where the honour, the dignity or
the liberty of France was concerned, the vote of our
colleague was certain.

Is it not principally to the deep indignation, to
the passionate repugnance, that every institution opposed
to the strict rules of morality, that existed in the noble
and elevated heart of our friend, that the town of Paris
owes the suppression of those privileged houses, peopled
by agents of the police, which were hideous gaming
houses, in which the honour and fortune of families
were daily swallowed up ? The memory of Salverte has
nothing to fear from the poisoned darts of calumny.

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

The Author of the following work, one of great
erudition and research, has endeavoured to establish a
theory which maintains that the improbability of the
prodigies and assumed miracles related by the ancients
is not sufficient to authorize their being regarded
as fabulous, "if that improbability be proved to
be only apparent." He founds his reasoning on the
fact, that the degree of scientific knowledge existing in
an early period of society, was much greater than the
moderns are willing to admit ; but that it was confined
to the temples, carefully veiled from the eyes of the
people, and exposed only to the priesthood. This fact
was well exemplified in Egypt, where the ascendency of
the priesthood, from this cause, was so paramount, that
a Prince could not be established on his throne until he
was initiated into the greater mysteries of the temples :
yet, prior to that period, if the royal personage happened
to be a member of the military order, he could not be a
partaker of these important secrets until he became
King.*

* Clement, of Alexandria, bears evidence to this fact.

XVI PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

The priests, consequently, were justly esteemed to
possess all the knowledge that could be acquired by a
peculiar education engrafted upon superior understand-
ing: and they constituted a hierarchy, having almost
unbounded influence in the civil as well as the religious
polity of the state. As priests, they were the interpreters
of the sacred books, the confidential advisers of the
monarch, and the regulators of his conduct. They were
also the judges of the land, and filled most of the
important offices of the government. Their great object
was to maintain their influence over the multitude ; for
which purpose, they not only preserved all knowledge in
their own body, but entrusted the higher mysteries of
their faith only to such individuals, even of the priest-
hood, as were known to excel in virtue and wisdom.
To render their ascendency, also, over the minds of the
people more secure, they pretended to skill in divination ;
to be able to presage future events ; to foresee and to
avert impending calamities, and to bring down the
vengeance of the gods upon the profane for every dere-
liction of duty, or neglect of their service.

It must be evident that such a state of mental con-
trol could not be preserved without operating on the
superstitious feelings of the multitude; consequently,
sacrifices, rites, and ceremonies were instituted; and
displays of sacerdotal power over the elements of
nature which appear altogether improbable were witnessed.
The object of our Author, as I have already -said, was to
explain the character of that power, and to remove
the effects produced by it from the region of fable, by
demonstrating that their improbability can be proved to

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. XVII

be only apparent. How far he has succeeded I shall
leave to the readers of his proofs to determine ; but, like
all promulgators of a theory, he has attempted to extend
it too far, and has supposed it capable of explaining not
only the apparent miracles of Polytheism, but even
those which, in a great degree, form the foundation of
our purer faith, and which the benevolence of the Deity
deigned to mortals as a revelation, and the best sanction
of its Divine origin.

For the above reasons, in undertaking the task of
editing these volumes, I have felt it my duty to expunge
from their pages every passage referring to the sacred
volume ; and, at the same time, to change somewhat the
title of the work, by substituting the words, " apparent
miracles," for the word " miracles." This has not been
done without due consideration, and from a conviction
that the author had no correct idea of miracles, and,
consequently, could not be supposed to regard those of
the Bible as objects of belief. I consider it necessary,
however, after this assertion, to lay before the reader
my own opinions of the distinction between real and
apparent miracles. But, before doing so, I must disown
my belief in an opinion often put forth, that the indul-
gence of a certain degree of scepticism tends to improve
argumentative acuteness ; on the contrary, in clouding
with a doubtful light both truth and error, it creates
a tendency to make error as worthy of assent as truth.

We may define a real miracle, a new and extraordi-
nary event, added to the ordinary series of events ; the
result of extraordinary circumstances, and such as may
be reasonably supposed to proceed directly from the

XVlll PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

Divine will operating on the usual phenomena of the
universe : certainly " not a violation of the laws of
nature."*

The recitals of real miracles that have been witnessed,
and the opinion that they are likely again, at any time,
to be witnessed, I may unhesitatingly assert can only be
denied by him who is sceptical as to the direct operation
of the Supreme Power which created the world, the
greatest, and assuredly the most incomprehensible of all
miracles. In every real miracle, the Deity must directly
act ; as it cannot be regarded otherwise than " as a new
event resulting from a new antecedent,"! depending
wholly on the will of the Omnipotent, in the same
manner as the creation of the world.

One of the greatest miracles, next to that of the
creation, is the universal deluge, a miracle anterior to all
existing records, and yet universally believed by every
nation and people on the face of the globe. It is,
indeed, remarkable that a theological philosopher, an
amiable and pious dignitary of the Church of England,
Bishop Burnet, should have laboured to explain this awful
catastrophe upon physical principles. It is unnecessary
to enter upon any refutation of the absurd, hypothetical
romance of this worthy divine. He conceived that this
globe consisted of a nucleus of waters, surrounded by
a crust of solid earth, which "at a time appointed by
Divine Providence, and from causes made ready to do
that great execution upon a sinful world," fell into the

* Browns Inquiry into the Relation of Cause and Effect. —
Notes E.F. p. 500—540.

f Dr. Brown, 1. c. ■

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. XIX

immense abyss, the waters of which, rushing out, over-
flowed " all the parts and regions of the broken earth,
during the great commotion and agitation of the
abyss."

Another theory, advanced by Mr. Whiston, although
more plausible, yet is not more difficult of refutation than
that of Burnet. He attributed the awful phenomenon
to the near approach of a comet. I have said it is
more plausible than that of the Bishop, because the effect
of such a shock might be, as La Place has stated (sup-
posing it possible), to change the axis and motion of
rotation of the globe ; and, consequently, not only to
overthrow everything upon its surface, but to cause the
waters to abandon their ancient beds, and to precipitate
themselves upon the equator, drowning every man and
animal in their progress. But this opinion cannot be
supported, even upon the physical proofs that are so
plausibly and ingeniously advanced. In the first place
there is every astronomical certainty that no change has
taken place in the axis of the globe ; in the second place,
the deluge, as it is recorded in the Bible, continued only
one hundred and fifty days, a period not of sufficient du-
ration to cause the extensive deposits in the crust of the
earth detected by geologists, which must therefore be re-
ferred to some prior catastrophe. Neither have any human
bones been found in these deposits, although the bones
of many other mammalia, equally perishable, are
abundantly scattered through them. Indeed it is pro-
bable that the bones and debris of any animals destroyed
by the deluge would not be preserved ; as the bodies of
both man and animals being exposed to the air when the

c 2

XX PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

waters retired, they would undergo rapid decomposition
and return to their primeval earth. In the third place,
La Grange and La Place have demonstrated that,
although, as Sir Isaac Newton conjectured, great irregu-
larities and disturbances may occur in the action of one
planet upon another, yet they are counterbalanced by
the period of every planet's revolution, and its mean
distance from the sun being unassailable by any of the
causes of change. From these elements, therefore, we
are authorized to affirm that the utmost order and
regularity must be preserved in our system, and disorder
so excluded, that neither a universal deluge, nor any
extraneous cause of destruction to this globe, can ever
occur without the immediate interposition of the
Creator; or, in other words, without a direct miracle. In
this great miracle, however, it must not be supposed
that there was any violation of the laws of nature, but
that a new event was required for a special purpose, and
that it was effected by a direct act of the Deity.

In contemplating the tremendous, and awfully sublime
nature of the universal deluge, the magnitude of the
catastrophe — the overthrow of a world — it cannot but be
regarded as an essential ingredient in constituting it a
miracle. But such sublime effects are not necessary to
constitute a miracle; the transmutation of water into
wine at Canna ; the healing of the sick ; and the raising
of Lazarus from the grave, with the other extraordinary
actions of our Saviour, are equally deserving the name
of miracles, and equally inexplicable upon every principle
except that which has been already stated as consti-
tuting a miracle. The Divine will that preceded them

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. XXI

may be safely regarded as the efficient cause of their
miraculous results ; and none but an atheist would
exclude the exercise of Omnipotence in producing new
events, at any period, as well as at that of the creation.
But it may be justly argued that every hitherto
unobserved, and, therefore, new and extraordinary
event, which is inexplicable by our experience, cannot
be regarded as a miracle. Certainly not. The fall of
aerolites has frequently taken place, although we are
utterly ignorant of the peculiar combination of circum-
stances that physically precede them; and, when first
observed, they must not only have excited the utmost
astonishment, but given sufficient occasion for belief in
their miraculous character. They have, now, so frequently
been observed, that the phenomenon can no longer be
doubted ; they cannot, therefore, be regarded as miracles,
because, " the necessary combination, whatever it may
have been, must previously have taken place ;" and al-
though they were not observed, yet there is much pro-
bability that they must have frequently before fallen. The
physical probabilities, therefore, have only to be weighed,
as in the case of every other extraordinary event related
to us ; and, according to the result, our belief or disbelief
will be fixed. If the event, however extraordinary, can be
explained by physical causes, it cannot be regarded as
supernatural, and, consequently, not as a miracle.

An apparent miracle may be defined an extraor-
dinary, and, as far as the knowledge of those who wit-
ness it for the first time extends, an unprecedented
event ; but when it is carefully examined, it can be ex-
plained upon ordinary physical principles, and, if not a

XX11 PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

natural event, it may be performed by any one who is
in possession of the method of working it.

The first attempt, which succeeded, to attract light-
ning from the clouds, when witnessed by those igno-
rant of the method of effecting it, was proclaimed as a
miracle, and consistently regarded as such by the
ignorant multitude. Nothing, indeed, could be better
calculated to subdue and enchain their minds in the
bondage of superstition ; but, since the principles
upon which the phenomenon depends are well under-
stood, it has ceased to be regarded as miraculous, and is
classed among the other remarkable discoveries of
physical science. Many of the astounding phenomena
of initiation into the mysteries of the temples, and
those intended to be considered as supernatural when
displayed before the people in ancient times, and even,
proh pudor ! some in our own times, especially in the
legends and the rituals of the Church of Rome, are readily
explained upon physical principles, and may be confi-
dently classed as sacred frauds. Nothing can be more
unworthy of the Church who sends them forth. Well
may the scoffer at religion exclaim, does the honour and
the worship of the Deity require for its advancement the
aid of falsehood and imposture !

Such is my opinion of the distinction between real
and apparent miracles. With reference to the former,
the Supreme Being may will, as he possesses the power,
to perform everything, at any time, that is truly mira-
culous ; and we can always trace the intention to some
gracious purpose. But, however closely the ingenuity
of man mav imitate real miracles, and however the results

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. XX1U

of his operations may appear miraculous, yet, when they
are examined, they can be referred, as I have already said,
to physical causes ; and their influence is found not to
be directed to the beneficent and gracious ends, which
follow, as a regular sequence, every real miracle. The
apparent miracle is worked, not for an act worthy of
the Divinity, but to elevate the dignity of certain
individuals, or to augment the consequence of particular
classes of men, in the eyes of the ignorant; or to
forward some other object not extending to general
good, but confined in its influence to comparatively
narrow limits ; namely, to satisfy ambition and the love
of power.

To affirm positively that an event which is conso-
nant with the ordinary powers of nature, is the imme-
diate result of the intervention of Divine agency, displays
an arrogant assumption of superior wisdom, and of such
an acquaintance with all the tendencies of the operations
of the works of nature as to pronounce them inadequate,
and must consequently lead to the suspicion of impos-
ture ; but to presume to imitate the awful phenomena of
nature, and to pronounce these imitations the result of
supernatural agency, deserves no other appellation than
that of actual imposture. Such attempts for the purposes
of ambition, and for the promotion of sacerdotal control
over the minds of the mass of mankind, are those
which our Author has endeavoured to expose ; and,
when he has confined himself to these alone, his object
has been accomplished.

With respect to another description of pretended
miracles in our own times, namely, those which occupied

XXIV PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

the public mind in 1820, during the career of Prince
Hohenlohe, who assumed to himself the miraculous gift of
healing ; and also some cures which were alleged to have
been obtained through prayer, and published in a periodical
called the Morning Watch, in 1830 : these appear not to
have been known to our Author. They are only mentioned
here to show that credulity and superstition belong to no
particular age ; and to demonstrate the powerful influence
of confidence in bestowing tone and energy upon the hu-
man frame, after long continued chronic diseases have worn
themselves out, and have left the individual in a state of
debility which only requires the action of some powerful
excitement to set the machine again in action.

" Of all moral agents," says Mr. Travers, in a letter
relative to the cure of a Miss Fancourt of a spine com-
plaint, in answer to the prayer of a Mr. Greaves, " I
conceive that faith which is inspired by a religious
creed to be the most powerful ; and Miss Fancourt's
case, there can be no doubt, was one of many instances
of sudden recovery from a passive form of nervous
ailment, brought about by the powerful excitement of
this extraordinary stimulus, compared to which, in her
predisposed frame of mind, ammonia and quina would
have been mere trifling." On the same principles may
be justly ascribed the cure of Miss Martineau, so con-
fidently ascribed by that highly talented lady to the
influence of mesmerism. It is a melancholy reflection
that in so advanced a period of civilization as the above-
named period, dupes should be found to believe, or self-
constituted miracle-workers presume, to operate upon the
credulity of mankind.

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. XXV

The ascribing of such events to the intercession of
the sanctified dead, or to the prayers of the living, or to
the particular intervention of the Deity called forth by
them, can be neither justified by sound reason nor
approved by true religion. The cures, really accom-
plished, can be explained by the operation of ade-
quate natural causes; and, consequently, require
no miraculous interposition. It may be argued that
the testimony of credible witnesses may be adduced in
support of such apparent miracles ; but, before ad-
mitting such testimony, we must take into account the
condition of mind of the witnesses ; for, when there is
a tendency in the mind, either from its original
structure, or from the nurture of improper education,
to believe in miraculous events, a spirit of self-decep-
tion is practised, and appearances are adopted as truths,
without the smallest feeling of doubt, and assuredly
without any attempt to estimate their degree of proba-
bility. Under such circumstances, the respectability of
the witnesses does not enhance the value of the testimony
if, after weighing all the probabilities, we are satisfied that
they concur against the truth of the event having really
happened. Do not, we may inquire, the strongest minds
sometimes, in such cases, demonstrate that the most
perfect specimens of human intellect, like the sun, have
their spots, since we find the immortal Newton himself
paying the penalty to mortal weakness on the subject of
prophetical interpretations? Selden, in his apology for
the law against witches, displayed a lurking belief in
witchcraft; and both Sir Thomas Brown and Sir
Mathew Hale were believers in that absurd infatuation.

XXVI PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

Indeed, the extraordinary extent to which the belief in
witchcraft existed during the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries in the north of Europe, and in Great Britain,
is almost incredible. Like the spectres which it was sup-
posed to invoke, it vanished before the light which
experimental science threw upon those events, natural
or artificial, that were previously considered to depend on
supernatural interposition.

On that portion of his subject which treats of Magic,
and its modifications, sorcery and witchcraft, our Author
has displayed much research ; but he has scarcely
noticed the opinion which at one time very generally
prevailed, and which still forms part of the Roman Catholic
faith, that every man at his nativity has a good and a bad
angel assigned to him. This belief was probably a remnant
of that part of the doctrine of Zoroaster, which describes
the Supreme Being as assigning, at the Creation, the
government of the world to two principles, one of good,
and the other of evil ; which originated the Pagan doc-
trine of the agency of good and evil genii, to which als o
the Grecian philosophers were addicted.

This belief seems to have prevailed even in the time
of Shakspeare, who refers to it in several of his dramas,
and especially in the following passage :

"Thy demon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee, is
Noble, courageous, high, untameable
When Caesar's is not ; but, near him, thy angel
Becomes a Fear, as being overpowered —

I say again thy spirit
Is all abroad to govern thee near him ;
But be aware, 'tis noble."*

* Anthony and CUopatra, act vu. scene 3.

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. XXV11

It is not my intention, as it would be out of place
here, to comment upon this subject, although one
of considerable interest, and still entertained by
several good and pious individuals, who ascribe all evil
thoughts and temptations to the immediate instigation
of the devil. It is also a curious fact that the act of
suicide, which too frequently is the consequence of
insanity, is often caused by the illusion of a voice constantly
whispering in the ear of the unfortunate individual,
and urging the committal of the crime.

On the subject of prodigies, and visions, our Author
is not so copious as the title of his work would lead the
reader to anticipate : those

" Signs,
Abortions, presages, and tongues of heaven,"

that in spite of the rapid advancement and extension of
knowledge, so characteristic of the present period, still
press like an incubus upon the minds of many persons,
and a total freedom from which can be conscientiously
boasted of only by a few. In confirmation of this asser-
tion, it is not necessary that I should prove a belief in
spectral appearanecs, although there are spectral illusions
occurring when the nervous system is deranged in any
one labouring under febrile disease, or in a healthy
person exhausted with long and anxious watching by
the bed of sickness, which might be regarded as predic-
tive of death ; nor is it requisite that I should refer to the
belief in screams and fearful noises heard at the dead of
night ; corpse candles, nor tomb fires ; nor those altera-
tions in the burning of lights which a guilty conscience
fancies may take place at midnight, and which are

XXviii PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

omens of some approaching disaster, the merited
punishment of crime.

" The lights burn blue : it is now dead midnight.
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
Methought the souls of all that I had murder'd
Came to my tent."*

But independent of any belief in these visions — these
aerial simulacra — there are certain feelings of the mind
which seem to indicate disaster, and which to a certain
degree influence more or less the belief of every
man.

Much might be said upon the Second Sight, a pro-
perty of recognising " the coming events which cast
their shadow before," and which is still believed to be
possessed by some persons in the remote parts of the
Highlands of Scotland. The second sight is a species
of divination ; a gift of prophecy, or of prediction from
visions. One writer on the Highlands, a man of genius
and high acquirements, Doctor Macculloch, treats the
whole as a fanciful romance ; a mere specimen of super-
stition in the believers, and of impudent assumption of
a possession which never existed only in the declaration
of the seers ; and the trick of which, in truth, might be
acquired by any one in the Island of Sky for a mere
trifle. The object seen by the mountain seer is often
a close resemblance of himself, at whatever period of
life he may be ; and upon this fact, believing that
the object is really seen, I have attempted an expla-

* Richard III., act v. scene 3.

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. xxix

nation in a note upon it. How far I have succeeded
I leave to the judgment of the reader. Certain con-
ditions of the nervous system, also, especially hypo-
chondriacal affections, cause spectral illusions, which
the patient in some degree believes to be real. My
explanation, however, refers to those visions only
that are seen of the seers themselves ; not to those
which display the whole machinery of the predicted
event, whether disastrous or joyful. In this respect I
am inclined to think, with Dr. Macculloch, that the
honesty of the seers may be placed on a parallel with
that of the Delphian Pythoness ; and it is of little
consequence what the cause of the excitement is,
whether whisky, or carbonic acid gas.

In the exercise of the second sight, the predictions
have been usually accomplished before the seer has
published his anticipatory knowledge ; hence the faci-
lity with which predictions may be at any time
announced. The wonder is that the impudent assertions
of their being known before hand should find believers ;
it can only be affirmed that the credulity balances the
imposture. Absurd as these facts show this assumed
gift of divination to have been, the belief in it was at
one time universal; but it is now, happily, on the
wane, and practised only in the remote Hebrides. If at
any period those predictive visions really occurred, they
must be viewed only as reveries, the sports of mental
association in a state between sleeping and waking.

With respect to other omens, they are nearly the
same over all the world, as well as in the Highlands.
" A spark of fire," says Dr. Macculloch, in treating of

XXX PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

Sky, "falling on the breast or arms of a woman, was
the omen of a dead child. Certain sounds were the
omens of death ;" and these are certainly not confined
to Sky ; we find them prevailing among the uneducated
classes, even in England, and, what is more remarkable,
among some whose education should have placed them
above lending an ear of credence to such absurdities.
Many of these forebodings attract the attention of
the individuals merely from that listless, dozing con-
dition which is the result of want of occupation. The
vision is, in truth, the recollection of something that
has previously occurred, which begins a series of
associations, or false ideas, that impress and keep their
hold of the imagination in hours between sleeping and
watchfulness.

It might be supposed that the seers could not believe,
and that, like the augurs of old, who laughed in each
others faces when they met, the seers, also, must
have felt strange emotions on encountering one an-
other; but this idea does not always hold. How
many confessions of witchcraft were made at the time
when that delusion enchained the human mind in its
bondage may be seen in the pages of our Author.
These confessions may be regarded as a species of
insanity, especially when those who uttered them were
carried to the stake, or were suffering under the
most horrific tortures of breaking on the wheel. The
argument in favour of witchcraft resting on evidence is
valid for every absurdity detailed of it ; but it is almost
degrading to condescend to prove the small value of
human testimony upon numerous points, when we see

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. XXXI

men of every rank and denomination deceiving their
eyesight, and believing that they have seen what never
existed. Instances of this extraordinary fact are abun-
dantly scattered through the following volumes ; and it
has been well remarked, that " when once the minds of
a people are prepared with a solution for every event,
there will never be wanting events adapted to the si-
tuation."*

With regard to the predictions of the temples, I am
of opinion that our Author ascribes too much knowledge
to the priesthood. In their own operations, there is no
reason why their predictions should not be fulfilled ; but,
in the series of natural events, where all things are so
mingled together, and the untwining of the complication
so much beyond our power, that to predict the manner
and the particular moment in which the anticipated
effect will take place cannot be supposed possible, Long
experience, and the constant observation of natural
events, may do much in enabling truth to be approxi-
mated under such circumstances ; but even these aids
are not adequate to insure its full attainment.

To suppose, however, that the fulfilment of a predic-
tion of a supernatural character can depend, in any
degree, on the interposition of the individual who has
hazarded it, must be regarded as absurd ; and as resting
upon the same ground as the belief in witchcraft ; the
stories of men without heads, described by St. Augus-
tine as having been seen by himself; or the satyrs of St.

* Macculloch's Highlands and Western Islands, &c. vol. ir,
p. 86.

XXX11 PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

Jerome ;* mermaids ; the clairvoyance of mesmerisers ;
the cures of Prince Hohenlohe, performed at two thou-
sand miles from the patient ; or those fictitious ones now
enslaving the minds of many whose rank in life and edu-
cation should have prevented them from becoming the
dupes of so silly an imposture — I refer to the gift of heal-
ing possessed by a young French woman, Mademoiselle
Julie, now in the British metropolis. She professes
to judge of diseases, when placed in the mesmeric
slumber, by feeling a few hairs from the head of
the sick person, who is not required to be present ;
and prescribing for them ; — a most impudent impos-
ture, which has been justly exposed by Doctor John
Forbes.f

A considerable portion of these volumes is occupied
in tracing many of the extraordinary apparent miracles
of antiquity to mechanical and scientific sources ; but the
knowledge of the erudite Author is not very profound on
this part of his subject ; and here I trust my Notes shall
be found to illustrate his remarks ; as well as to clear up
many obscure passages; to explain processes which seem to
have been little known to him ; and to correct errors into
which he has been led from being only superficially
acquainted with the subject. I have, also, added many
brief biographical notices of the principal individuals
mentioned in the text, chiefly for the sake of the general
English reader, whose moderate acquaintance with clas-

* St. Jerome averred that there were actual satyrs, men with
goats' legs and tails, exhibited at Alexandria ; and that one was
pickled and sent in a cask to Constantine.

f See British and Foreign Medical Review.

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. XXX111

sical antiquity may require such an aid. It is not for
me to say how much the Notes may be thought to
add to the value of the work ; they have been written
with the intention of rendering the whole subject better
understood. I contemplated adding to the Illustrations
at the conclusion of the second volume, an Essay on
Credulity in Medicine, tracing it to its course, and
giving an exposition of the various successful efforts
of charlatanism, which have at various times imposed
upon the understanding of mankind, and contributed
to the stability of the empire of superstition. But
on looking over my materials for such a dissertation,
collected during many years, I was convinced that the
subject could not be embraced within any reasonable
compass to serve as an appendage to these volumes ;
I have therefore determined to lay it, at some future
time, before the public as a distinct work.

In conclusion, I have no hesitation in declaring my
opinion that M. Salverte has performed a beneficial
service to mankind in throwing open the gates of the
ancient sanctuaries. The benefit would have been
enhanced had he extended his researches from the falla-
cies of polytheism to the pious frauds which disfigure
the middle age of the Christian world ; " and from
which," to borrow the language of Paley, " Christianity
has suffered more injury than from all other causes put
together;" another proof, were it required, that Cre-
dulity and Superstition belong to no particular age
nor country. Their labours constitute a large portion
of the history of the human race, which may be re-
garded as little more than a record of the follies and

d '

XXXIV PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

vices of man, rather than a display of his virtues and
intellectual energies. Whatever may be our religious
faith, we drink in, almost with our mother's milk,
an admiration of classic antiquity ; and from the
influence of early education we are insensibly led to
give some degree of credence to its mythology. One
beneficial effect, however, it must be confessed, results
from tracing traditions; namely, the tendency which
they have, in many important particulars, to confirm
the truths of the Bible. Whether disgraced by the
cruel and remorseless absurdities that deform the
Hindoo rites ; or emerging from the frowning darkness
that shrouded Egyptian mysticism ; or concealed by
the graceful drapery which decorated Grecian poly-
theism; we may discover in all of them nearly the
same account of the infant condition of the world ;
the creation of the human race ; and the catastrophe
of the deluge ; thence a confirmation of the cos-
mogony of the book of Genesis. The Hindoos, for
example, divide the creation into six successive
periods, the last of which terminates with the formation
of ,man ; and, in the Purana, amidst the wildest
allegories and most fanciful exuberance of machinery,
we discover evident traces of the universal flood, and
the preservation of one family destined to renew and
to continue the human race. Among the Parsees, the
followers of Zoroaster, the belief in one Supreme
Being, and of a good and an evil principle, con-
stitutes their primitive faith ; the superstitions now
mingled with the fire worship having originated
in the ambition of the priesthood for power, rather

PHEFACE BY THE EDITOR. XXXV

than in the tenets of its original founder. The
sun of Christianity has dispersed the darkness of
paganism ; and, as knowledge extends sufficiently to
dissipate the divisions introduced, unhappily, into the
Christian churches, the blessings that result more and
more from its influence, will aiford only additional evi-
dence of its divine origin.

A. T. T.

30, WELBECK STREET,
JUNE 1846.

d 2

CONTENTS

FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

Man is credulous because he is naturally sincere — Men of
superior intellect have reduced their fellow-men to submis-
sion by acting upon their passions through their credulity
— The recitals of marvels which conduced to this end are
not wholly inventive — It is useful as well as curious to study
the facts contained in these narrations, and their causes.

1—6

CHAPTER II.

Difference between Miracles and Prodigies — Circumstances that
render marvellous Histories credible — 1st. The number and
agreement of the narrations, and the confidence which the
observers and witnesses of them merit. — 2nd. The possibility
of tracing out some one or other of the principal causes
that may have given a miraculous colouring to a natural
event .... 7 — 16

XXXV111 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

Enumeration and discussion of Causes — Singular and deceptive
appearances of Nature — Exaggeration of the details and dura-
tion of Phenomena— Improper terms, ill-conceived and badly
explained — Figurative expressions — Poetic style — Erroneous
explanations of Emblematic Representations— Allegories and
Fables adopted as real facts . . 1 7 — 62

CHAPTER IV.

Real but rare Phenomena successfully held up as Prodigies pro-
ceeding from the intervention of a Divine Power ; and believed
because men were ignorant that a Phenomenon could be local
and periodical ; because they had forgotten some natural fact,
which would at once have removed all idea of the marvellous ;
and finally, because it was often dangerous to disabuse a
deceived multitude — As the ancient authors have adhered to
truth in this respect; they may be, also, depended upon in
what they relate of magical operations . 63 — 96

CHAPTER V.

Magic — Antiquity and universality of the belief in Magic — Its
operations attributed equally to the principle of evil and of good
— It was not considered by the ancients to imply the subversion
of the order of nature — Its truth was not disputed even when
emanating from the disciples of an inimical religion 97 — 108

CONTENTS. XXXIX

CHAPTER VI.

Trial of Skill between the Thaumaturgists — It was admitted that
the victor derived his Science from the Deity; but it was
founded on Natural Philosophy — The proofs of which are
derived; 1st. From the conduct of the Thaumaturgists — 2nd.
From their own assertions regarding Magic, that the Genii
invoked by the Magicians sometimes signified the Physical or
Chemical agents accessory to the Occult Science ; sometimes
the men who cultivated that Science — 3rd. The Magic of the
Chaldeans embraced all the Occult Sciences 109 — 131

CHAPTER VII.

Errors mingled with the positive truths of Science — These have
their origin sometimes in deliberate imposture, sometimes in the
mystery in which the Occult Science is involved — Impostures
exaggerated — Pretension of the Thaumaturgists ; Charlatanism ;
Jugglery ; Tricks of Legerdemain more or less palpable —
Chance and the facility with which its results may be controlled
— Oracles conjoined with equivocation and imposture, to insure
their fulfilment by natural means, such as Ventriloquism, &c. ;
and by finally exact, but very simple observations 132 — 168

CHAPTER VIII.

Safeguards of the mystery that surrounded the Occult Sciences —
Hieroglyphics, idioms, and sacred writing — Not understood by
the uninitiated — Enigmatical language of the invocations —
Gradual and partial revelations known in their plenitude only
to a small number of priests — Oaths, and falsehoods respecting
the nature of the processes, and the extent of Magical opera-
tions— Consequences of this mystery:' — I. The Science of

xl CONTENTS.

Magic was reduced, in the hands of the Thaumaturgists, to a
practice, the nature of which, devoid of theory, hecame in time
unintelligible — II. Great errors universally prevailed, owing to
ignorance of the limits that circumscribed this power; the
desire to penetrate into secrets of Magic, and the habit of attri-
buting its efficacy to the visible and ostensible processes of
Science .... 169—201

CHAPTER IX.

Notwithstanding the rivalry of religious sects, the spirit of a fixed
form of civilization existed — Mystery in the schools of philo-
sophy was ultimately banished by the influence of more perfect
civilization — In the first epoch there was an habitual communi-
cation of the Greeks with the successors of the Magi, who were
dispersed through Asia after the death of Smerdis — First the
revelation of Magic — Second, the impoverishing of Egypt, after
the conquest of the Romans caused priests of inferior grades,
who trafficked in the secrets of the temples, to abound in Rome —
Third, the polytheists who were converted to Christianity, carried
into its bosom the knowledge of the magic which they possessed
— In the second epoch, the remains only of tbe sacred science
existed; first, in the schools of the Theurgian philosophy;
secondly, in the possession of wandering priests, and, above all,
of Egyptian priests. As successors to the former may be
assigned, with much probability, the secret societies of Europe ;
tothe latter, the modern jugglers . 201 — 237

CHAPTER X.

Enumeration of the wonders that the Thaumaturgists acquired the
power of working, by the practice of the Occult Science.

238—243

CONTENTS. xli

CHAPTER XL

Apparent miracles performed by Mechanism — Moving floors —
Automata — Experiments in the art of flying 244 — 253

CHAPTER XII.

Acoustics — Imitation of thunder — Organs — Resounding chests —
Andro'ides, or speaking heads — The statue of Memnon

254—263

CHAPTER XIII.

Optics — Effects similar to those exhibited in the modern Dioramas
and Phantasmagorias — Apparitions of the Gods, and shades of
the dead — The Camera obscura — Magicians changing their
appearances and their forms, is an incredible miracle 264 — 292

CHAPTER XIV.

Hydrostatics — Miraculous fountain of Andros — Tomb of Belus —
Statues that shed tears — Perpetual lamps — Chemistry — Liquids
changing colour — Condensed blood becoming liquid — Inflam-
mable liquid — The art of distilling alcoholic liquors was for-
merly known, even beyond the temples . 293 — 307

CHAPTER XV.

Secrets employed in working apparent miracles, in initiations, and
in religious rites — Those giving security against the effects of

xlii CONTENTS.

fire, and used in the fiery ordeal, known in Asia and in Italy,
and practised in the eastern Roman Empire as well as in
Europe, in more modern times — Process by which wood may
be rendered incombustible . . 308 — 323

CHAPTER XVI.

Secrets to work upon the senses of animals — Ancient and modern
examples — Of the power of harmony — The power of good treat-
ment— Crocodiles and snakes tamed — Reptiles whose venom
can either be destroyed or extracted — Ancient Psylli — The
faculty which they possessed of braving the bites of serpents
put beyond doubt, by the frequent recent, and repeated experi-
ments in Egypt — This faculty proceeds from odoriferous emana-
tions, which affect the senses of the reptiles, and escape those
of man. .... 324—357

THE PHILOSOPHY

MAGIC, PRODIGIES,

AND

APPARENT MIRACLES.

CHAPTER I.

Man is credulous from the cradle to the grave ; yet
this disposition, the consequences of which plunge him
into many errors and misfortunes, proceeds from an
honourable principle. Naturally sincere, he is desirous
of making his words as correct an expression of his
feelings, thoughts, and recollections, as his tears and
exclamations of grief, and of joy, and, above all, his
looks, and the changes of his countenance, are of his
sufferings, his fears, or his pleasures. Speech is more
frequently deceptive than silent gesticulations ; since
it has a greater affinity to art than nature : yet, such

VOL. I. B

2 INTRODUCTION.

is the strength of that inclination which attracts us to
truth, that the man the most habituated to deceit is the
most disposed to believe that others respect truth ; and,
before refusing his credit to the statements of others,
he must detect something in them which does not
accord with his previous knowledge ; or he must have
some cause to suspect a design formed to deceive him.

Novelty and the difficulty of reconciling anomalies
with experience, will never startle the faith of an une-
ducated man. There are, moreover, some impressions
which all men are inclined to adopt without investiga-
tion ; and the very singularity of these is perhaps a
charm which causes them to be received with more
delight. Is this taste we may inquire natural ; or is it
the result of that education which for so many ages
the human race has received from its founders? This
is a vast and an unexplored field of inquiry ; but it
forms no part of our subject. It is sufficient to observe
that the love of the marvellous, and the preference ever
given to the extraordinary over the natural, have been
the cause why facts have been not only too much
disregarded but sometimes altogether set aside. There
are instances, nevertheless, and we shall bring forward
several, where the simple truth has escaped the power of
oblivion.

The man of a confiding disposition may be fre-
quently deceived : still his credulity will not be found
an instrument sufficiently powerful to govern his whole
existence. The marvellous excites but a transient
admiration. In 1798, our countrymen observed with
surprise how little the sight of balloons affected the

INTRODUCTION. 3

indolent Egyptians. Savages behold Europeans execute
feats of skill, and perform physical experiments that they
are neither able nor desirous to explain : the exhibition
amuses without exciting them, and without invading
their tranquil independence.

Man is governed by his passions, and above all by
Hope and Fear. What is better able to create, main-
tain, and exalt these feelings than unrestrained credu-
lity ? Reason is perplexed, and the imagination filled
with wonders. It is easy to believe in supernatural
events ; we are apt to discern benefits and punishments
in them; and to read in them also the mandates and
threats of all-powerful beings, whose direful hands hold
the destinies of frail mortals.

From the most ancient times, men of superior intellect,
desirous of enthralling the human mind, have adduced
miracles and prodigies as the certain proof of their
missions, and as the inimitable works of the divinities
whom they revered. Seized with terror, the multitude
have bent beneath the yoke of superstition ; and the
proudest man has touched the steps of the altar with
his humbled brow.

Ages have passed away, consoled and terrified by
turns : sometimes governed by just laws, more fre-
quently subject to capricious and ferocious tyrants,
the human race has believed and obeyed. The history
of every country and of all ages is encumbered with
marvellous tales: but, in the present day, we reject them
with a disdain not very philosophical. Do not the
convictions which have exercised so powerful an in-
fluence on the human race merit a high interest ? Shall

b 2

4 INTRODUCTION.

we forget that supreme power of Providence, visible we
believe in prodigies and miracles, has been almost
always the most powerful means of civilization : that
the wisest men have doubted whether it were possible
for laws, or for durable institutions to exist with-
out the guarantee of an intervention so universally
respected ?#

If we consider these facts in connection with their
causes, the contempt for them has still less foundation :
and the origin of fables which we often deem revolting,
merits, perhaps, an honourable place in the History of
Mankind. Statements, however incredible they may
seem, cannot all be falsehood and illusion. Credulity
and invention have alike their limits. Let us study man,
not from deceitful traditions, but in his ordinary habits
of life, and we shall see that it would be difficult for an
imposture to become established if, in our feelings
and recollections, we find nothing to second its pre-
tensions— nothing to support them. We recur again
to our inquiry. Man is credulous because he is naturally
sincere. A falsehood can more easily deny, disguise,
and set aside truth than imitate it.f

Invention, even in trifles, costs some effort of which
the inventor is not always capable. An inventive genius,
also, when exercised for our pleasure or for our instruction,
yields at every step to the desire of approaching reality ;

* J. J. Rousseau, du Contrat social, liv. iv. c. 8.

t It is with difficulty we can imagine anything full of impro-
bability : and we say " a fact of this nature is rarely forged."
— St. Croix, Examen critique des historiens d'Alexandre. — Paris,
1804. p. 29.

INTRODUCTION. 5

of mingling truth with its creations; convinced that with-
out this artifice, falsehood would find little place in the
human mind. With still more reason does the man
who has some great interest in practising upon our
credulity, rarely revert to a fable which has not for its
foundation some fact, or the possibility of which is
not at least probable. This skilful attempt appears in
referring to distant ages and countries, and to those
repetitions with which the histories of prodigies abound,
and which so imperfectly 'disguise the alteration of
some of the details. This will be obvious if we can
convince our readers, that the greater part of marvellous
facts may be explained by a small number of causes
more or less easy to discern and to develop.

An inquiry into these causes has not for its object
merely the gratification of idle curiosity. Prodigies
connected with natural phenomena, inventions, impos-
tures, the sorcery of thaumaturgy* can, for the
most part, be explained by physical science. Viewed
in this light, the history of science, its progress, and its
variations may furnish valuable ideas respecting the an-
tiquity, the changes, and vicissitudes of civilization ; and
we may thence draw some curious evidence regarding
the sources of part of our knowledge hitherto unsus-
pected.

Finally, another advantage will reward our researches :
history will be presented to us in a new light. We shall
restore to it facts ; give back to historians a character
for veracity, without which the whole of the past would
be lost to the annals of civilized man : for, convicted of

* From two Greek words signifying a worker of wonders.

6 INTRODUCTION.

falsehood and ignorance in their narrations, and of a
constant repetition of marvellous events, what credit
would they merit in their accounts even of the most
probable occurrences ? Justly denounced as an amal-
gamation of truth and error, and devoid of interest
moral or political. History would be regarded only as
an admitted fiction : and has it not been so designated
by the learned ? But a man who has described and
studied the manners of his species, is not reduced to
the degradation of preserving only the fables in those
records which are supposed to give an insight into past
ages. Far from presenting merely a collection of false-
hoods and folly, the most marvellous or incredible pages
of history open to us the archives of a learned and myste-
hdus policy, which some wise men in every age have
employed to govern the human race ; to lead it to
misfortune, or to happiness ; to greatness, or to
degradation ; to slavery, or to freedom.

DEFINITION OF MAGIC.

CHAPTER IL

The dominion of the marvellous may be divided into
two parts : that of prodigies, and that of magical works.

Independent of all human action, prodigies are singu-
lar events that nature produces, apparently deviating from
those laws which invariably regulate her operations.

Every thing is a prodigy in the eyes of the ignorant
man, who sees the universe only in the narrow circle of
his existence. The philosopher beholds no prodigies : he
knows that a monstrous birth, or the sudden crumbling
of the hardest rock, result from causes as natural as the
alternate return of night and day.*

* Our author's assertion in this paragraph is too general.
Prodigies are, undoubtedly, traceable to natural causes ; but not
to these in their regular and ordinary operation : on the contrary,
they are truly attributable to decided deviations from it. In a

8 DEFINITION OF MAGIC.

Those prodigies, once so powerfully acting upon
the fears, desires, and resolutions of mankind, awaken
in the present day only incredulity, and excite the
investigation of the learned. In the infancy of society,
men possessed themselves of rare facts, and of all real
or apparent wonders, in order to hold them up to the
eyes of the vulgar, as signs of the anger, the threats,
promises, or the benevolence of the Gods.

Miracles and marvellous events, equally in connection
with supernatural influence, are often wonders worked
by men, whether they pretend that a benevolent or a
terrible Divinity employs them as instruments ; or
whether, by the study of the transcendental sciences,
they assume that they have subjected to their empire,
spirits endowed with some power over the phenomena
of the visible world.

Every miracle impresses a religious man with a sense
of veneration ; at the same time he bestows this name
on those supernatural operations only that are consecrated
by his belief. We shall, therefore, apply the name magic
to the art of working wonders; and in so doing we
shall digress from received opinions, and recal the ancient
ideas of faith.

monstrous birth, the same organic force and formative power are
exerted in the development of the germ as in ordinary cases ;
but, in the progress of the development, something occurs to
interrupt the action of the organizing principle, and a monster is
the result. The formative power is a creative faculty, stamped upon
organic matter by the Deity, which modifies it, but operates " blind-
ly and unconsciously, according to the laws of adaptation."3 — Ed.

* Midler's Physiology, trans, vol. i. p. 25.

CREDIBILITY OF THE MARVELLOUS. 9

In the absence of religious revelation to regulate the
thoughts, what proof of credibility, we may inquire,
would be sufficient to make the thinking mind admit
the existence of prodigies and marvellous events?

The calculation of the probabilities will serve as a
guide.

It appears to a superficial view much more probable
that a man should be deceived by appearances more or
less specious, or, that having some interest to deceive,
he should himself endeavour to impose, than that there
should be perfect agreement in a relation which involves
something miraculous. But, if in different times and
places many men should have seen the same thing;
and if their recitals agree among themselves, then the
case is altered.

That which seemed incredible to the wise, and mira-
culous to the vulgar, becomes a curious but undeniable
fact : the vulgar are amused by it ; the learned study
it, and endeavour to develop its cause.

A single question remains then to be resolved in
order to form a just estimate of the past. Must we
admit that men have imprudently uttered and recorded
falsehoods, and have found other men, in all times, ready
to believe absurdities? Is it not more rational to conclude
that those recitals, in appearance marvellous, are founded
on reality, particularly when they can be explained
sometimes by the human passions, occasionally by the
state of science in former times ?

I shall fearlessly cite those witnesses hitherto regarded
with suspicion ; although they have narrated events that
have been reputed impossible. The discredit into which

b 3.

10 CREDIBILITY OF THE MARVELLOUS.

they have fallen makes part of our argument which goes
to show that discredit cannot be justly opposed to their
narrations.

Is it credible, I may ask, that, in the year a.d. 197,
a shower of quicksilver could have fallen in the
Forum of Augustus at Rome ?

Dion Cassius,* who relates the event, did not see it
fall, but he observed it immediately after its descent: he
collected some of the drops, and rubbed them upon a
piece of copper in order to give to it the appearance of
silver, which he affirms it preserved for three entire days.f
Glycas also speaks of a shower of quicksilver, which
fell in the reign of Aurelian.j But the authority of this
annalist is weak, and there is reason to believe, that
he has only disfigured the account of Dion by an
anachronism. The rarity and value of mercury at

* Dion Cassius Cocceianus, the son of Cassius Apronianus, a
Roman Senator, was born at Nicsea in Bithynia, a.d. 155. Although,
he was on his mother's side of Greek descent, and wrote in the
language of his native province, yet he was truly a Roman ; and
enjoyed the rank of a Senator under Commodus. He also held
several important official situations under Alexander Severus. His
History of Rome, from the period of Augustus to his own age, is
justly esteemed. — En.

•f- " Coelo sereno pluvia rori simillima, colorisque argentei, informa
Augusti defiuxit, quam ego, et si non vidi cum caderet, tamen ut
ceciderat, inveni ; eaque, ita ut si esset argentum, oblivi monetam
exœre, mansitque is color très dies ; quarto vero die quidquid oblitum
fuerat evanuit." — Xiphilinus, in Severo.

X " Aureliano imperante argenti guttas decidisse sunt qui tra-
dant." (Glycas. Annal, lib. in.) Little is known about this
author. He wrote a Chronicle of events from the Creation to
the year a.d. 1118. It has been valued on account of its
Biblical references. — Ed.

CREDIBILITY OF THE MARVELLOUS. 11

Rome, in both reigns, set aside the possibility that the
quantity necessary to represent rain could have been
thrown by any one into the Forum. This story is,
indeed, too strange to be believed in the present day.
Must it then be absolutely rejected ? Any one may say,
it is impossible — it never could occur: but to whom
does it belong to determine the limits of possibility, those
limits which science is extending every day under our own
eyes? Let us examine, let us doubt, but let us not
be too hasty in denying the possibility of such an
occurrence.*

If a similar prodigy had been related at different times
by different writers ; if it had been renewed in our own
times, beneath the eyes of experienced observers ; it would
no longer be regarded as a fable or an illusion, but as a
phenomenon, which would have a place in those records
to which science consigns facts, which she has recognized
as certain without being able to explain them.

We at one time regarded as fables all that the ancients
recorded respecting the falling of stones from the sky.
In the commencement of the nineteenth century, the

* There are many reasons for disbelieving the account of
Dion. In the first place, he did not see the shower fall ; he gives
no idea of the quantity of the quicksilver precipitated; and he
collected only some drops ; but, as the metal fell in a shower, and
as it would not sink into the ground nor evaporate like water,
the quantity must have been too considerable to require it to
be collected in drops. In the second place, metallic mercury is
rarely found any where in large quantity; and it must have
been elevated into the atmosphere in the form of vapour, and
condensed there, before it could descend in a shower. The
story is altogether unworthy of credit. — Ed.

12 CREDIBILITY OF THE MARVELLOUS.

most distinguished of the French philosophers rejected,
with some degree of harshness, the relation of a shower
of aerolites; but a few days afterwards they were
forced to acknowledge its truth : and the narration has
been verified by the frequent repetition of this pheno-
menon.*

On the 27th of May, 1819, a violent hail-storm

* Although the fall of aerolites, or meteoric stones is not
now doubted, yet it does not augment the credibility of the
shower of quicksilver related by Dion ; it only shows us how
cautious we ought to be in rejecting the accounts of ancient
writers, however inconsistent with our experience. The most
authentic account of a fall of aerolites is that which describes the
phenomenon as it occurred near L'Aigle, in Normandy, in 1803.
About one o'clock in the afternoon, the sky being clear, a ball
of fire was observed in the atmosphere in different parts in Nor-
mandy, and, at the same time, loud explosions were heard in the
district of L'Aigle. These lasted for five or six minutes, resem-
bling the discharges of cannon and musketry, followed by a long,
rolling noise like that of many drums. The meteor, whence the
noise seemed to proceed, was like a small triangular cloud, which
remained stationary ; but vapour seemed to issue from it after
each explosion. Throughout the whole district a hissing noise,
like that caused by stones thrown from a sling, was heard ;
and a great number of stones fell to the ground. Above two
thousand were collected : they varied in weight from two drachms
to seventeen pounds and a half. Aerolites, in whatever part of
the world they have fallen, resemble one another in composition,
and consist of silica, iron, magnesia, nickel, and sulphur ; but in
proportions different from those in any stones known on the sur-
face of our globe. Numerous conjectures have been advanced
respecting the source of these stones. They have been supposed
to be projected from the moon ; or from volcanoes ; or to be
formed in the atmosphere ; the most probable theory is that
proposed by Chladni, namely, that these meteors are either

CREDIBILITY OF THE MARVELLOUS. 13

devastated the country of Grignoncourt.* The mayor
of the place had some of the hail-stones collected ; they
weighed upwards of a pound avoirdupois; and when
they were dissolved, he found in the centre of each a
stone of a clear coffee colour, from about six to eight-
tenths of an inch in thickness ; flat, round, polished, and
with a hole in the centre, into which the little finger
could be inserted.f Such stones had never been observed
before in the country : they were seen scattered upon
the ground wherever the hail had fallen. I read the ac-
count of the phenomenon in a memorial (Procès verbal),
addressed to the sub-prefect of Neufchâteau by the
mayor, who viva voce related the same details to me ;
and the clergyman of the parish confirmed the account.
It might be said that the tempest and violent fall of the
hail had forced up to the surface stones previously buried
in the earth. The personal observation of the mayor,
however, refutes this hypothesis. Curious to know the
truth, I examined the soil at the time where the plough
opened it more deeply than the hail could possibly have
done, and I could not discover a single stone similar
to those that the mayor described in his narration.!

•
original, small, solid bodies, or fragments separated from larger
masses moving in space round the earth in eccentric orbits ; and
containing, according to Sir H. Davy, combustible or elastic
matter. — Ed.

* Neufchâteau in the department of the Vosges.

f Upon the banks of the Ognon, a river flowing about ten
leagues from Grignoncourt, a great quantity of similar stones was
found. Could they also be the product of a hail- storm charged
with aerolites ?

Î It is not likely that he could discover any; for, although the fall

14 CREDIBILITY OF THE MARVELLOUS.

Shall we reject a fact attested in so precise a manner ?
In Russia, in 1825, a fall of hail-stones, in which were
enclosed meteoric stones, took place. The stones were
sent to the Academy at St. Petersburg.* On the 4th
of July, 1833, in the district of Tobolsk, enormous
hail-stones were seen to fall simultaneously with cubical
aerolites. Macrisius relates, that in the year 723, of the
Hegira, an enormous-hail shower fell, the stones of
which weighed from one to thirty rotts.f

With what disdain, what ridicule, should we treat an
ancient author if he told us that a woman had a breast
on her left thigh, with which she nourished her own and
several other children : yet, this phenomenon has been
vouched for by the Academy of Sciences at Paris, j The
known correctness of the philosopher who examined it,
and the value of the testimonials upon which he rested

of aerolites be true, yet the improbability of the stones being such as
stated is evident. The story is thus justly criticized in the North
British Review, vol. in. p. 7. " The phenomenon," says the critic,
" was never seen in any other place, and the enveloped stone was
not a substance known to have a separate existence like quicksilver.
A great quantity of circular, perforated discs of a polished and
transparent mineral, could only have come from a jeweller's shop in
the moon, consigned to another jeweller in the atmosphere, who set
them in ice for the benefit of the Mayor of Grignoncourt." — Ed.

* Chemical analysis gave the composition of these stones — 70
per cent, of red oxide of iron ; 7.50 manganese ; 7.50 silex ; 6.25
micaceous earth ; 3.75 argil; 6 sulphur. — Bulletin Universel des
Sciences, 1825, tome m. p. 117. No. 137. 1826, tome vin.
p. 343.

f Kitab-at-Solouk. Quoted by M. Et. Quatremère. — Mémoires
sur l'Egypte, vol. n. p. 489—490.

% Séance du 25 Juin, 1827. See Revue Encyclopédique, tome
xxxv. p. 244.

CREDIBILITY OF THE MARVELLOUS. 15

his veracity, would have been sufficient to have placed
the matter beyond a doubt.#

There is still one cause which diminishes and destroys
much of the improbability of marvellous events : it is
the facility which one finds in stripping these events of
every thing monstrous, such as at first provoked a
challenge. In order to effect this, it is always necessary to
allow for that spirit of exaggeration peculiar to the human
mind. It is ignorance which prepares credulity to receive
prodigies and apparent miracles ; curiosity excites ; pride
interests ; the love of the marvellous misleads ; anticipa-
tion carries us on ; fear subdues ; and enthusiasm intoxi-
cates us ; whilst chance, that is to say, a succession of
events, the connection of which we do not perceive, and
which also permits us to attribute effects to erroneous
causes, seconding all these agents of error, sports with
human credulity.

Apparent miracles have been produced by the science,
or by the address of able men, who, in order to rule the
people, have worked upon their credulity ; or the same
individuals have made use of those prodigies which
strike the eyes of the vulgar ; of those real or apparent
miracles, the existence of which is rooted in their minds.
Both cases will enter into our discussions. We will
develop also the progress of a class of men, who,
founding their empire upon the marvellous, are anxious

* This was one of those sports of nature, which are not unfre-
quently seen, and which cannot be reasoned upon. As it may be
a solitary instance of the kind, there might have been indeed, and
properly, much doubt respecting the credibility of the narrative
mentioning it, had the phenomenon not been seen, and the nature
of it investigated by those well qualified for the task. — Ed.

16 CREDIBILITY OF THE MARVELLOUS.

that it should be recognised in every thing ; and as
anxious to dupe the stupid multitude, who so easily
consent to see the marvellous every where.

We shall narrow also the domain of the Occult Sciences
within its true limits ; the principal end of our investi-
gations, if we can exactly point out the causes, which,
with the efforts of Science and the works of Nature,
concur in producing apparent miracles, or even in deter-
mining the importance, and solving the nature of
the prodigies which thaumaturgists employ, prompt to
bolster up their real powerlessness by the efforts of their
ingenuity.

In this discussion, we shall not be afraid of multiplying
examples, nor of hearing the reader exclaim : I know
all that ! He, doubtless, may know it ; but has he
deduced from it the consequences ? It is not enough to
offer a plausible explanation of some solitary facts : we
must collect and compare a considerable mass of them,
in order to be able to draw the conclusion, that, as in
each branch of our system, our explanations tend to
preserve the foundation of truth, and to remove the
marvellous from a great number of events, it is extremely
probable this system has truth for its foundation, and
that there are no facts to which it may not apply.

CAUSES OF HISTORICAL FICTIONS. 17

CHAPTER III.

Enumeration and discussion of Causes — Singular and deceptive
appearances of Nature — Exaggeration of the details and dura-
tion of Phenomena' — Improper terms, ill- conceived and badly
explained — Figurative expressions — Poetic style — Erroneous
explanations of Emblematic Representations — Allegories and
Fables adopted as real facts.

So great is the charm attached to anything of an
extraordinary nature, that the man whose mind is but
little enlightened, regrets when his dreams of the
marvellous are dispelled by truth, and is vexed when
forced to confess that the slightest unusual appearances
are, in his eyes, capable of transforming the immove-
able objects of nature into living or moving beings.
This charm and the tendency to exaggeration, which
is a consequence of it ; the permanence of those tra-
ditions which would recal events as still existing that
have ceased for ages ; the singular pride which nations
have in transferring into* their own history; the
fabulous and allegorical traditions received from some
race preceding them ; incorrect expressions ; the still
more inaccurate translations of ancient narratives ;

vol. i. c

18 CAUSES OF HISTORICAL FICTIONS.

the energy peculiar to the languages of antiquity;
and the figurative style essentially belonging to poetry,
— that is to say, to the first language in which the
knowledge of the past was impressed on the memory
of the people; the desire natural to a half civilized
community to explain allegories and emblems, the
meaning of which was known only to the learned ; that
interest which leads both noble and base passions to
make use of the marvellous in acting upon the credulity
of the present and the future ; all conduce to deception,
and are the causes which, separately or collectively,
have debased the records of history with an immense
number of marvellous fictions, although these reposi-
tories of knowledge have not required their powerful
aid.#

In order to disencumber truth from the mantle of the
marvellous, it will be found sufficient to place, by the
side of the pretended wonders, a similar fact not yet
employed by superstition in support of her assertions ;
and then to separate from the accessories attached
to it, some one of those causes, the influence of which
we have just noticed.

The ringing of the bells at Rheims had the effect of
shaking one of the pillars in the Church of St. Nicasius;f

* One of these fictions, the production, duration, and univer-
sality of which belong to the union of these different causes,
appears to us worthy of a separate notice. See Appendix, note
A. On Dragons and monstrous y Serpents, which have figured in a
great number of historical and fabulous recitals.

f He was the ninth Bishop of Rheims. He was killed in the
sacking of that city by the Vandals in 407. {Stilting' s Life of
St. Viventius). — Ed.

TREMBLING MINARETS. 19

and giving to that heavy mass a vibration which con-
tinues for some minutes. A minaret of brick near Da-
mietta, also, received a very apparent movement from the
pushing of a single man placed near its summit.* These
accidents, which were certainly, neither foreseen nor
intended by the architects would in the hands of
a wonder-worker, become the act of some Divinity.
The mosque of Jethro at Hhulehf is renowned for its
trembling minaret. The officiating priest places his
hands on the ball at its summit, and invokes Ali.
At this sacred name the minaret trembles : and the
movement is so violent, as to cause the curious who
are mounted on its summit, to dread being precipitated
below.

Many of the metamorphoses, and of the wonders con-
secrated in the history, or embellished by the poetry of
the Greeks and Latins, are no more than the historical
translations of some particular names of men, nations,
or places ;| and they might be easily explained, if instead
of saying, that the recollection of the miracle had given
origin to the name of the town, the man, the people, or
the country, we should say, on the contrary, that the
name had originated the miracle. We have confirmed

* Macrisius, quoted by E. Quatremère, Mémoires sur l'Egypte,
tome i. p. 340.

t Hhuleh or Halleh, a town situated on the Euphrates, in the
Pashalik of Bagdad. In 1741, the traveller A'bdoul Kerym,
{Voyage de l'Inde à la Mekke, Paris, 1757), witnessed this miracle;
he tried in vain to accomplish it himself, but he had not the secret
of the priest.

. + Essai historique et politique sur les noms d'Hommes, de Peuples,
et de Lieux, par Eugène Salverte. Passim.

c 2

20 RIVERS OF BLOOD EXPLAINED.

this remark in another place ; and have, at the same
time, pointed out the origin of these significant names.

If the adoption of narrations evidently of fabulous
origin, proceeds from a love of the marvellous, how
much more readily will this disposition lead us to contem-
plate with astonishment some of the sports of nature,
such as the appearances of rivers flowing in waves of
blood, or the resemblance of rocks to men, animals, or
ships.

Memnon fell beneath the blows of Achilles ;# the Gods
collected the drops of his blood, and formed of them
that river which flows through the valley of the Ida.f
Upon every anniversary of that fatal day, when the son
of Aurora fell a victim to his courage, the waters of
that river assume the colour of the blood from which
their origin was derived. In this, as in a thousand
other instances, the Greek tradition is copied from one
still more ancient. From Mount Libanos flows the river
Adonis : at the same period of every year, it assumes
a deep red tint, and rolls in bloody looking torrents to
the sea. It is the blood of Adonis ; and the prodigy
indicates the period proper for commencing the mourn-
ing ceremonies in honour of this demi-god. An inha-
bitant of Byblos explained the phenomenon, by observing
that the soil of Mount Libanos, where it is watered by
the Adonis, is composed of a red earth ; and that, in
a certain period of the year, the wind drying up the
earth raises clouds of dust, and carries them into the
river.

* Q. Calaber. Prœtermiss. ab Homer, lib. n.
f Traite de la Déesse de Syrie, (Œuvres de Lucien), tome v.
p. 143.

RIVERS OF MILK: STONE SHIPS. 21

The water of a lake at Babylon reddens for several days
the colour of the earth bathed by it, " which suffices,"
says Athenius, " to explain the phenomenon." Analogous
suppositions account for the change of colour, which
the river Ida regularly experiences. During the rainy
season, or when the snow is melting, its waters proba-
bly reach and partly dissolve a bank of ochrous earth,
impregnated with sulphate of iron, the presence of
which is detected by the unwholesome vapours emitted
from the stream. The miraculous appearance is thus
reproduced only at a certain period; indeed, on that
particular day when the waters of the river acquire
their greatest elevation.

In Phrygia, where Diana is said to have rewarded the
love of Endymion, is seen from a distance the spot which
was the scene of their enjoyment ; and we are led to
believe, that we see a rill of fresh milk of a dazzling white-
ness flowing near it : but on approaching the spot, this
milky rill disappears ; and, at the foot of the mountain,
a simple channel* hollowed in the rock is all that is
visible ; the prodigy has disappeared. An optical illu-
sion which dispels itself, is sufficient nevertheless to
perpetuate the belief in the existence of the lactiferous rill.

A rock near the island of Corfu has the appearance
of a ship in sail.f Modern observers have confirmed this
resemblance which also struck the ancients, and which
is not a solitary instance. In another hemisphere, near
the land of the Arsacides, a rock, named Eddystone, rises
from the bosom of the waves, and so closely resembles a

* Plin. Hist. Natur. book iv. chap. xn.

t Observations sur Vlsle de Corfu, Bibliothèque Universelle,
vol. il, p. 195.

22 STONE SHIPS.

ship in sail, that French and English navigators have
heen more than once deceived.*

In the present day, we only note these singular objects.
In the eyes of the ancient Greeks, the rock near Corfu
was the vessel which, having brought Ulysses back to his
country, was changed into a rock by Neptune, indignant
that the conqueror of his son, Polyphemus, should
again see Ithaca and Penelope. We must here observe,
that this story is not founded on a poetic fiction only,
but perpetuates a pious custom, practised by ancient
navigators, of dedicating to the Gods a representation,
in stone, of the vessel which had borne them safely in
some perilous voyage. Agamemnon dedicated a vessel
of stone to Diana, when this goddess, happily pacified,
taught the art of navigation to the warlike ardour of
the Greeks. A merchant in Corcyra consecrated to
Jupiter a similar representation, which some voyagers,
nevertheless, believed to be the ship in which Ulysses
returned to his native land.f

A rock which is first descried upon the side of
Mount Sipylus, was regarded by the ancients as the
unfortunate Niobe transformed into stone by the anger,
or the pity of the Gods. Q. Calaber notices this meta-

* Labilladière, Voyage à la recherche de la Pey rouse, 4to.
Paris, an viii. tome i. p. 215.

f Procopius, Histoire mêlée, chap. xxn. Upon a high hill near
the town of Vienna, department of the Iser, is a monument called
the Boat of Stone. A vaulted cavern is all now remaining of it.
Its name, explained by no local appearance or tradition, must
have been preserved by some ancient fable. It most probably
supported a boat of stone, dedicated to the Gods, by voyagers
escaped ; from the perils of the Rhone navigation, and who placed it

STORY OF NIOBE. 23

morphosis, at once admitting and explaining it. " Far off,"
he exclaims, " is seen the figure of a woman stifled by
sobs and melted in tears ; but on approaching nothing is
visible but a mass of rock detached from the mountain."*
" I have seen this Niobe," says Pausanias ; " it is a
" craggy rock, which when viewed near, bears no resem-
blance to a woman ; but, when seen from a distance, it
has the appearance of a female figure, with the head bent
down, as if shedding tears. "f

Endemic diseases have in figurative language been
termed the arrows of Apollo and Diana, because their
origin was referred to the influence of the sun and the
moon upon the atmosphere ; or more properly to those
sudden changes from heat to cold, and dryness to damp-
ness, attendant upon the succession of day and night in
a mountainous and wooded country. There is nothing
more probable than that one of these diseases, peculiar
to the neighbourhood of Mount Sipylus, should have
carried off the children of a chief, before the eyes of their
distracted mother. Superstitious man, ever imagining
that he sees in misfortune the existence of crime,
believed that Niobe, too proud of the prosperity of her

on so elevated a spot, that all passengers embarked on the river
might see it.

* Q. Calaber, lib. i.

f Pausanias, Attic, xxi. — On the Calton Hill, at Edin-
burgh, is a tower erected to the memory of Lord Nelson. The
rock on which it stands displays nothing uncommon when
viewed near, or at its base ; but at a distance, in some posi-
tions, it represents a very accurate profile of the head of the hero.
—Ed.

24 IMPRESSIONS UPON ROCKS.

numerous family, was justly punished for having dared
to compare her happiness to that of the divinities,
whose resentment she experienced : and in the remem-
brance of this unfortunate mother, as well as observ-
ing that the rock resembles a female figure, in tears,
credulity beholds in it the portrait of Niobe. And
all this may, with as much probability, have been
a real history, as an allegory intended to show, by a
picture of the instability of human prosperity, the
folly of presumption. In either case, the priests of
Apollo and Diana seconded, if they did not create, the
established belief; and delighted to show upon Mount
Sipylus, this imperishable monument of the vengeance
of the Gods.

On surfaces of rocks, full of inequalities, are almost
always to be found forms which recal to us some
familiar object. The eye eager in discovering wonders
would easily recognize these impressions, as the pro-
duction of a supernatural power. I will not cite as an
instance the impression of the foot of Budda upon the
Peak of Adam, at Ceylon, because an attentive observer*
has suspected it to be a work of art ; and this, probably,
is also the case with the print of the foot of Gaudma,
three times reproduced in the Burmese Empire, and
which is more a hieroglyphicf than a freak of nature.
But in Savoy, not far from Geneva, the credulous

* Dr. John Davy, who states this as his opinion in a letter to his
brother, Sir Humphrey Davy.

f Symes' Travels in Ava, vol. n. p. 61 and 73, and atlas,
plate viii.

IMPRESSIONS UPON ROCKS. 25

peasant shows a block of granite, upon which the devil
and his mule have left evident traces of their footsteps.
Traces, not less deep, upon a rock near Agrigentum,
mark the passage of the cattle conducted by Hercules.*
This hero's foot has left, also, near Tyras in Scythia an
impression of two cubits in length jf and upon the
banks of the Lake Regillus, the form of a horse's foot
imprinted upon a very hard stone, attests the apparition
of Dioscurus, who announced in Rome the victory
gained by the Dictator Posthumus | over the Latins in
that place.

Upon the sides of a grotto near Medina, the Mussul-
man sees the impression of Mahomet's head ; and upon
a rock in Palestine that of his camel's foot, as perfectly
marked as it could be in the sand.§ Mount Carmel is
honoured by preserving the print of Elijah's foot ; and
that of the foot of Jonas is repeated four times near his
tomb, in the neighbourhood of Nazareth. Moses, when
hid in a cavern, left the impression of his back and arms
upon the rock. Near Nazareth the mark of the Virgin
Mother's knee is revered by Christian pilgrims ; also
the impressions of the feet and elbows of our Saviour
upon a rock rising from the middle of the Brook Cedron:
and that of his foot in the identical place from which
we are assured he quitted earth to ascend to his heavenly
abode. The stone upon which the body of St. Catherine
was laid, is said to have softened, and retains the

* Diod. Sic. lib. iv. cap. 6.

f Herodot. lib, iv. cap. 82.

% Cicer. De nat. Deor. lib. in. cap. 5.

§ Thévenot, Voyage au Levant, p. 300 et 320.

26 IMPRESSIONS UPON ROCKS.

impression of her back,* Not far from Manfredonia,
our admiration is excited by the face of St. Francisf in
relief, upon the rock of a grotto. Near the dolmen of
Mavaux, the villagers exhibit a stone which the mare
of St. Jouin struck, and left the impression of her foot,
one day when the pious Abbé was tormented by the
devil.j Another dolmen in the commune of Villemaur||
bears the print of St. Flavy's ten fingers.

Numerous as these instances are, (we might relate
many more) they fatigue neither faith nor piety ; they
are adopted and revered ; and, notwithstanding the
falsehood of the stories, they are believed in most
countries. §

At a little distance from Cairo, the impression of
Mahomet's two feet is exposed to the veneration of the
Faithful.^T The Mountain of the Hand, on the eastern
bank of the Nile, is so named from being supposed to
bear the impression of the hand of Christ.** At the

* Thévenot, ibidem, pages 319, 320, 368, 369, 370, 425 and
426.

t Swinburne's Travels, vol. n. p. 137.

X Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de France, tome vin.
p. 454.

|| Mémoires de la Société d' Agriculture du Département de l'Aube,
1er trimestre.

§ How lamentable is it to reflect, that such pretended prodigies,
the inventions of bigotry and misdirected enthusiasm, should be
regarded as in any degree essential for propagating and supporting
a faith, which requires nothing but its innate purity to prove its
divine origin and to sustain its truth. — Ed.

5[ J. J. Mared. Contes du Cheghet Mohdy, tome in. p. 133.

** Khalil Dakery cited by E. Quatremère, Mémoires sur
l'Egypte.

IMPRESSIONS UPON ROCKS. 27

north of the town of Kano in Soudan, there is a rock
which presents to the zealous Mussulman a gigantic
impression of the camel's foot, upon which Mahomet
ascended to Heaven.* In the Church of St. Radegonde,
in Poitiers, is a stone upon which our Saviour is said to
have impressed the form of his foot ;f and upon a rock
near Vienna, the inhabitants of the Department of La
Charente still recognize the print of St. Madelaine's
right foot.|

Near La Devinière, a place to which the memory of
Rabelais has given a very different kind of celebrity, is
to be seen the impression of a foot resembling that of
St. Radegonde :§ so natural is it for man to attribute

* Travels in Africa, by Denham, Clapperton, andOudney, vol, in,
p. 7 and 8, 1832.

t Mém. de la Société des Antiquaires de France, tome vu.
p. 42, 43.

t Ibid.

§ Eloi Johanneau. Commentaire sur les Œuvres de Rabelais, t. v.
p. 12. — Mankind do not always connect religious notions withtbe
extraordinary ideas they adopt, when endeavouring to explain some
unusual appearance in nature. At the foot of a precipitous rock,
near Saverne, are four impressions, well marked, upon the red
freestone (freestone of the Vosges). According to a tradition,
some three or four centuries old, a nobleman pursuing a stag, or
pursued himself by victorious enemies, was thrown from the
summit of the rock without being hurt, the horse only leaving
the print of his feet upon the stone. We must here observe that
after the appearance of these prints of the horse's feet, other impres-
sions less in size being discovered, the workmen, it is said, amused
themselves by enlarging the latter and deepening the former. If it
had not been for this last circumstance, the phenomenon would
"naturally, in the present day, have attracted the attention of
the learned. According to M. Humboldt and other naturalists,

28 PRETENDED PRODIGIES EXPLAINED.

some remarkable prodigy to places which his national
vanity, or his religious faith, renders dear to him.

In proof of the opinion that there is a desire to
convert natural objects into prodigies, Bethlehem for-
merly offered a striking example. According to Gregory
of Tours, when a person reposed upon the brink of a
well, with the head covered up in linen, the star which
guided the three Magi was seen to pass from one side
of the well to the other, brushing the surface of the
water : — " But," adds the historian, " it was visible to
those pilgrims only who were by their faith worthy of
such a favour : that is to say, to men whose minds were
so preoccupied by the truth of the tradition as not to
perceive in what they beheld, only a sunbeam reflected
in the water."*

Secondly. In reducing to truth those histories in
appearance fabulous, it will be often found sufficient

the impressions observed upon the freestone of Hildburghausen
must have been made by footsteps of antediluvian animals, either
quadrupeds or quadrumanni, before the stone had completely
hardened. Mr. Hitchcock has discovered upon the red freestone
of Massachusetts, an immense number of the impressions of the
feet of birds of a species no longer existing ; but M. de Blainville
thinks it possible that these may be only the impression of vegeta-
bles, similar to those which the red freestone frequently pre-
sents.

To this sensible note, the Editor would add, that impressions
of the feet of animals have frequently been found by geologists
in secondary rocks. An American geologist even asserts that
the prints of human feet are to be seen in the secondary lime-
stone of the Missisippi, near St. Louis. — American Journal of
Science, vol. xxxiii. p. 76.

* Greg. Turon miracul. lib. § 1.

PRETENDED PRODIGIES EXPLAINED. 29

to reduce to natural proportions details evidently exag-
gerated ; or to regard, as a weak and passing pheno-
menon, that which is presented as a continued and active
miracle. The diamond and the ruby, carried suddenly
into darkness, after a long exposure to the light of the
sun, emit for some time an apparent phosphorescent
light : a circumstance, which, in the energetic style of
the oriental writers, has produced accounts of diamonds
and carbuncles illumining all night, by the fires they
emit, the depths of a dark wood and the vast saloons of
a palace.

Under the name of Roukh, or Roc, the same narrators
have described a monstrous bird, whose strength exceeds
all probability. In reducing this exaggeration to the
measure of positive fact, Buffon was enabled to recog-
nise in this Roc, an eagle, whose strength and dimensions
nearly resembled those of the American Condor, or the
hammer Geyer of the Alps.# As far as we can judge,

* Gypâetus barbatus, Bearded Griffin of the Alps of Ornitholo-
gists, which Buffon confounded with the Condor, Surcoram-
phus Gryphus, Great Vulture of the Andes. No better instance
of the effect of exaggeration, in reference to natural objects, im-
perfectly known, could be advanced, than the early accounts of the
Condor. Setting aside writers of romance, we find Desmarchius,
a naturalist, stating that the extended wings of the bird measure
eighteen feet ; that it can carry off a stag, and will attack a man ;
and Linnaeus, misled by the narrators of the wild and wonderful,
says, " that in nearing the earth, the rushing of its wings renders
men as if planet struck, and almost deafens them !" The. most
authentic account of the largest Condor ever seen gives the mea-
surement of the extended wings under fourteen feet ; and Hum-
boldt saw none that exceeded nine feet. The utmost length of
the male bird, from the tip of the beak to the extremity of the

30 TRADITION OF SCYLLA EXPLAINED.

the Roc differs in little from the Burkout,# a very strong
black eagle, frequenting the mountains of Turkistan, of
whom the inhabitants relate the most extraordinary stories,
and have even declared it to be as large as a camel.

Although we may disbelieve all that has been related
respecting the immense Kraken of the north ; and may
accuse Pliny and Aelian of having exaggerated the
dimensions of the two polypi of the sea, which were,
nevertheless, seen by many who observed them, nearly
at the same time when these authors wrote ; yet, it will be
sufficient to admit with Aristotle, that the arms of these
polypi grew sometimes to six feet seven inches in
length : and, with the authors of the new Dictionary of
Natural History, we may believe that they were able to
destroy a man in an open boat.f What becomes, then,
of the tradition of Scylla ? That monster, the scourge
of the strongest fish that passed within its reach, and

tail, is rather more than three feet ; and his height, when perched,
two feet nine inches. The head of the male bird carries a comb,
and, like other vultures, the head and neck are bare of feathers.
The plumage is black, except the wing coverts, which are white ;
the claws are less powerful than those of the eagle. The Con-
dor inhabits the Andes at an elevation of 10,000 to 15,000 feet
above the level of the sea : it usually hunts in pairs, and the
couple will attack large quadrupeds ; but Humboldt affirms that
he never heard of men, nor even children having been carried off
by them. From these facts the reader may form some idea of
the reliance to be placed on extraordinary stories. — Ed.

* In Russian, Berkout ; in Chinese, Khar-tchaa Hiao. Guin-
kowski, Voyage à Pékin, tome i. p. 415.

f See Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. ix. cap. 30. Aelian. De Nat.
Anim. lib. xin. cap. 6. Aristot. Hist. Animal, lib. 4 cap. 1. et le
Nouveau Dictionnaire a" Histoire naturelle, 8vo. 1819, tome xxx.
p. 462.

PLANTS POSSESSING MAGICAL PROPERTIES. 31

which, raising its six heads from beneath the water,
drew in upon its long necks, six of Ulysses' rowers ?#
If we substitute for the poetical exaggeration, the
possible reality, this monster would be no more than an
overgrown polypus of great size, fastened to the rock
towards which these inexperienced navigators, fearing
the whirlpool of Charybdis, directed their frail vessel.
How many other fables in Homer are merely natural
facts' aggrandized by the poetical conception of the
narrators ?

In enumerating plants endowed with magical proper-
ties, Pliny names three, which, according to Pythagoras,
had the power of freezing water.f

In another place, without reference to magic, Pliny
bestows a similar property on the hemp. According to
him, the juice of this plant thrown into water, thickens
it suddenly to the consistence of jelly.j Many mucila-
ginous vegetables produce the same phenomenon in
different degrees ; and, among others, the Althea
cannabina of Linnseus, and the rose coloured Vervain,
Verbena Aubletia. " We have observed," says Valmont
de Bomasi, in speaking of this latter plant, " that three
or four leaves bruised, and put into an ounce of water,
will give to it in a few moments the consistence of apple
jelly."§ Althaea cannabina produces the same effect to a

* Homer, Odyss. lib. xn. vers. 90, 100, et 245, 269.

f Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxiv. cap. 12 et 13.

+ Idem, lib. xx. cap. 23.

§ Dictionnaire d'Hist. Art. Obletia. The common Vervain, Ver-
bena officinalis, indigenous in England, and many parts of Europe,
had formerly the reputationof possessing wonderful magical powers.

32 PLANTS EMITTING LIGHT.

certain degree ; and it may also be obtained from every
vegetable containing much mucilaginous matter : the
fact before stated has been, therefore, merely exagge-
rated.

The plant named by Aelian Cynospastos and
Aglaophotis, and Barras by the historian Josephus,
bears a flame coloured flower, which towards evening
flashes like a kind of lightning.* It has been stated
that a similar effulgence might be perceived upon the
flower of the Nasturtium, at the moment of its
fertilization; and, above all, in the evening after a
very hot day. Experience has not confirmed this
fact; nevertheless, we must not utterly reject the
possibility of other vegetables, such as the Agaric of the
Olive-tree, and the Euphorbia phosphorea, emitting
such a light under particular circumstances. The error
of Josephus and Aelian consists in supposing a casual
phenomenon to be constant.!

" In the valleys bordering on the Dead Sea," says
the traveller Hasselquist, " the fruit of the Solanum Me-
lt was termed Hiera Botane, " Holy Herb," by Dioscorides ; and it
entered into the composition of various charms and love-philters.
Among the common people, it has still the reputation of securing
affection from those who take it to those who administer it. It was
held in great esteem by the Romans, and the Druids ; and the
latter gathered it with religious ceremonies. These pretensions of
the Vervain were first set aside by the good sense of our country-
man John Ray, the Botanist. — Ed.

* Fl. Joseph de Bello jndaico. lib. vu. cap. 25; Aelian de Nat.
animal, lib. iv. cap. 27. This plant is the Atropa Belladonna.

f Comptes rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences, 2 vols.
1837.

PARTICULAR FACTS GENERALIZED. 33

longena (Linn.)# is attacked by an insect, (a Tenthredo)
which converts the whole of the interior into dust,
leaving the skin only entire, without destroying its
form or colour." It is in the same district that Josephus
places the Apple of Sodom, which, he relates, deceives
the eye by its colour, and crumbles in the hand into
ashes evolving smoke, a phenomenon intended to com-
memorate, by a permanent miracle, a punishment as
just as it was terrible. This particular incident, observed
by the modern naturalist, has been generalized by the
ancient historian, who has also added to it the divine
malediction.

An American naturalistf affirms that, at the approach
of any danger, the young of the rattle-snake take refuge
in the mouth of their mother. A similar instance
may have induced the ancients to suppose, that some
animals produce their young by the mouth, thus drawing
a most absurd and hasty conclusion from a real fact.

In some cases the duration of a phenomenon has been
exaggerated, and in others that which has long ceased to
exist, has been described as still existing. " The Lake
Avernus," say the ancient writers, " received its
name from the fact that birds could not fly over it

* Hasselquist, Voyage dans le Levant, tome n. p. 90. The
traveller Broucchi not having found the Solanum Melongena on the
borders of the Dead Sea, or near Jerusalem, thinks that Hassel -
quist had been deceived, and that the Apple of Sodom is merely a
gall nut, formed by the incision of an insect upon the Pistacia
terebinthus. — Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, tome vi. p. 3.

t Will. Clinton. Preface to the Transactions of the Philosophical
Society of New York, 1825. Bibliothèque universelle, Sciences,
tome ii. p. 263.

VOL. I. D

34 LAKE OF AVERNUS.

without falling down dead, suffocated by the vapours
exhaled from it." We know that, in the present day, birds
fly with impunity near to its surface. Is the tradition
thus cited then utterly false ? Some reasons induce me
to doubt : — " For," says a traveller,* " the marshes of
Carolina are in places so insalubrious, and so com-
pletely surrounded by great woods, that, during the
heat of the day, birds as well as aquatic animals die in
attempting to cross them. Full of sulphureous springs,!
and, like the marshes of Carolina, surrounded by thick
forests, the Lake Avernusj formerly exhaled most
pestilential vapours; but, Augustus having had these
woods thinned, this insalubrity was succeeded by an
agreeable wholesome atmosphere. The prodigy has
ceased to exist, but the tradition has been obstinately
preserved ; and the imagination struck with a religious
terror, looked for a long time upon this lake as one of the
entrances to the Valley of Death. §

* M. Bosc. Bibliothèque universelle, Sciences, tome v. (Mai,
1817), p. 24.

f Servius in JEneid. lib. in. vers. 441.

X Aristot. da Mirai. Auscult.

§ A real valley of death exists in Java. It is termed the
Valley of Poison, and is filled to a considerable height with car-
bonic acid gas, which is exhaled from crevices in the ground. If
a man, or any animal, enter it he cannot return ; and he is not
sensible of his danger until he feels himself sinking under the
poisonous influence of the atmosphere which surrounds him,
the carbonic acid of which it chiefly consists rising to the height
of eighteen feet from the bottom of the valley. Birds which fly
into this atmosphere drop down dead ; and a living fowl thrown
into it, dies before it reaches the bottom, which is strewed with
the carcases of various animals that have perished in the delete-
rious gas. — Ed.

ILL-CONCEIVED EXPRESSIONS. 35

Thirdly. Improper or ill-conceived expressions, not
less than exaggeration, tinge a real fact with a marvellous,
false, or ridiculous colouring.

A popular error, the origin of which has been traced
to the instructions of Pythagoras, had for a long time
established some mysterious connection between parti-
cular plants, and the diseases which men suffer at the
period of their blossoming : and, although the disease
might be perfectly cured, yet, when these plants
flowered again, the individuals always re-experienced#
some faint return of the disease. This is a fact
incorrectly stated, in order to deceive the multitude who
scarcely can distinguish the different periods of the
year, except by the phenomena of vegetation: the
fact has no connection with the plants, but strictly
belongs to the revolutions of the seasons. The
spring, for instance, frequently brings with it perio-
dical returns of gout, rheumatism, and even diseases
of the brain.f

The appearance of falsehood and prodigy, joined to
impropriety of expression, is more striking when ancient
authors repeat what has been related to them respecting
foreign countries in any other language than their own ;

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxrv. cap. xvn.

f Although the above explanation is true in part ; yet, it is
also true that various odours, such for instance as that of Ipeca-
cuanha and of the Pelargonium or African Geranium, cause in
some individuals an attack of spasmodic catarrh : in others the
odour of sweet vernal grass, Anthoxanthum odoratum, brings on
a fit of asthma attended with fever, hence the term hay-asthma ;
and such persons always suffer at hay-making time, for as the
grass dries, the odour is most powerfully exhaled. — Ed,

D 2

36 ILL-CONCEIVED EXPRESSIONS.

or when modern writers translate without fully under-
standing the originals, and then accuse them of error.

" In the vicinity of the Red Sea," says Plutarch,
" are seen creeping from the bodies of some diseased
people little snakes, which, on any attempt to seize them
re-enter the body, and cause insupportable suffering to the
wretched beings."* This statement has been regarded
as an absurd story, and yet it is an exact description of
a disease called " the Guinea Worm," known not only
in those regions, but on the coasts of Guinea and
Hindoostan.f

Herodotus relates, that in India " ants larger than foxes,
when digging their holes in the sand, discover the gold
which is mixed with it." j Another edition of this mar-
vellous narration, evidently compiled from the accounts of
the ancients, describes animals existing in an island near
the Maldives, which are larger than tigers, but in form

* Plutarch. Symposiac. lib. vm.

f The ' Guinea Worm' disease prevails in the marshy districts
of Africa ; and among negroes in the West Indies, where it is
endemic in the months of November, December, and January ; and
in the same months at Bombay. The worm is the Filaria dra-
cunculus : it is white, of great length, varying from eight inches to
three feet ; and the thickness of a violin cord, throughout its entire
length except at the tail, which is thin and curved. It is supposed
to have an external origin, and its eggs to be taken into the habit
with water used as drink ; but this opinion requires confirmation.
It appears under the skin, and when it is about to issue, a small
pustule rises, on the bursting of which the head of the worm is
obtruded. It is removed by winding it round a piece of stick,
desisting when it cannot be freely drawn forth, and continuing
the winding until the whole is obtained. — Ed.

t Herod, lib. in. cap. en.

ILL-CONCEIVED EXPRESSIONS. 37

resembling ants.* In the sandy mountains containing
gold dust near Grangue, some English travellers have
seen animals whose forms and habits in some measure
explain these accounts of Eastern and Greek historians.f

Fliny and Virgil describe the Seres as gathering silk
from the tree which bears it, and which the poet likens
to a cotton plant. j This too literal translation of a
correct expression, makes it appear as if the silk were the
produce of the tree, upon which insects deposit it, and
from which men gather it. Ktesias speaks of " a
" fountain in India, which was filled every year with
" liquid gold. Every year the gold was dragged up
" in a hundred earthern amphora, at the bottom of
" which, when broken, the gold was found hardened, of
" the value of a talent." || Larcher turns this account into
ridicule, and particularly insists on the disproportion of
the produce to the capacity of the fountain, which could
not contain less than a cubic fathom of this liquid. §

Ktesias's account is correct, but not his expressions ;
instead of saying liquid gold, he should have said gold
suspended in water. In other places, he is careful to
explain that it was the water, and not gold which they
drew up. In the marshes of Libya, (to which Achilles
Tatius compares the above mentioned spot), gold was

* Les Mille et un Jours, Jour cv. cvi. Aelian.

f Asiatic Researches, vol. xn. Nouvelles Annales des Voyages,
tome i. p. 311, 312.

+ Pliny. Hist. Nat. lib. vi. cap. xvii. Virgil. Georg. lib. n.
v. 120, 121, but Servius, in his Commentaries, assigns silk to
its true origin.

|| Ktesias in Ind. apud. Photium.

§ Larcher, Traduction d'Hérodote, 2e édition, t. vr. p. 243.

38 FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS.

obtained by plunging poles plastered with pitch
into the mud* of a fountain which was the basin
of a gold washing; such as exists wherever rivers
or soils containing auriferous earth are to be found,
and of which some very important ones exist in
Brazil.

For extracting the gold the method used in the
present day was that employed : namely, evaporating the
water until the gold was precipitated to the bottom,
and upon the sides of the vessels containing it,
which were then broken, and the fragments no doubt
washed or scraped. Ktesias adds, that iron was found
at the bottom of the fountain, and this statement
confirms the truth of his account. To disengage the
gold from the oxide of iron, is one of the greatest of the
labours of the gold washers of Brazil.f The gold of
Bambouk, which is also collected by washing, is so
mingled with iron and emery powder, as to require
great care in separating the base from the precious
metal. :[

From time immemorial, the Hindoos have had a
custom of placing a perfumed pastille in the mouth
before addressing any person of superior rank. This
substance were it described in any other than the Hin-
dostanee, would be looked upon as a talisman, the
possession of which was requisite to obtain a favour-
able reception to its possessor from the powerful ones of
the earth.

* Achill. Tat. de Clitoph. et Leucipp. amor. lib. n.

f Mawe, Travels in the interior of Brazil, v. i. pp. 135 and 330.

% Mollien, Voyage en Afrique, tome i. pp. 334 et 335.

FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS. 39

The Halliatoris* we are told was used in Persia to
enliven a feast, or to assist in procuring places nearest
the King; these are figurative expressions, the meaning
of which it is easy to decipher. They are merely intended
to show that certain favour and preeminence was shown
to him who, among a people addicted to wine and the
pleasures of the table, was at the same time the gayest
and the most capable of bearing much wine. The
Persians, and even the Greeks, exulted in being able
to drink much without suffering intoxication, and sought
out all kinds of specifics to counteract the effects of wine.
For this reason they eat the seeds of the cabbage,f and
boiled cabbage. Bitter almonds were used for the same
purpose, and it appears with some success. | All this
favours the conjecture that the halliatoris was endowed
with the same property to such an extent, that drunken-

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxrv. cap. xvn. different editions of
Pliny's Work.

f Athence. Deipnos. lib. i. cap. xxx.

X The Bitter Almond contains the constituents of Prussic Acid
and a peculiar volatile oil, resembling the peach-blossom in its
odour ; both are developed when the almond is bruised and brought
into contact with water. "When the bitter almond, therefore, is
masticated and receives moisture in the mouth and stomach, the
prussic acid then formed operates as a powerful sedative upon
the nervous system, and renders the body less susceptible of the
influence of excitants, consequently of wine. It forms, as it were,
the balance in the opposite scale, and preserves the equilibrium,
between the sinking which would result from its use were no
wine taken, and the intoxication which would follow an excess of
wine, were the bitter almonds not eaten. Plutarch informs us
that the sons of the physician of the Emperor Tiberius, knew
this fact, and although most intrepid topers, yet, they kept
themselves sober by eating bitter almonds. — Ed.

40 FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS.

ness had neither power to confuse the intellect, nor to
pass beyond the bounds of gaiety.

And what, it may be asked, was the plant Latacé
which the Kings of Persia gave to their envoys, and in
virtue of which their expenses were defrayed wherever
they went ?# It was a peculiar sign, a rod of a parti-
cular form, or a flower embroidered upon their gar-
ments, or on their banners, announcing the titles and
prerogatives which were borne by them.

Instead of the water, which the fugitive Sisera
exhausted with fatigue and thirst had supplicated, Jael,
with the intention of making him sleep,f gave him
milk. What reason have we, who call an emulsion
of almonds' milk, for doubting that in the original
Hebrew, this word signified a somniferous drink,
deriving its name from its colour and taste.j

* Plutarch. Symposiac, lib. i. quest 6. Athense. Deipnos, lib. n.
cap. xii.

t Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxvi. cap. iv.

X Book of Judges, cap. iv. vers. 17, 24. — It is surprising
that our author should have attempted an explanation of an
event which requires none. The following is the passage in
the Book of Judges. " Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to
the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kènite ; for there was
peace between Jabin the King of Hazor and Heber the Kènite.
And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, turn in
my Lord, turn in to me, fear not. And when he had turned
in unto her, into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
And he said unto her, give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink,
for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave
him drink, and covered him. Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a
nail, a nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and
went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and
fastened him into the ground (for he was fast asleep and weary) so

FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS. 41

When Samaria was besieged, the town was a prey to
all the horrors of famine ; hunger was so extreme, that
five pieces of silver was the price given for a small
measure (fourth part of a kal) of dove's dung.# This
seems at first sight ridiculous. But Bochart maintains
very plausibly that this name was then, and is still, given
by the Arabs to a species of vetch, (pois chiches.)

The Chinese historians affirm that wine in which the
feathers of the Tchin are macerated, becomes a deadly
poison ; and history contains numerous instances of
poisonings achieved in this manner.f We are not
acquainted with any bird endowed with so fatal a
property ; but the fact may be explained by supposing
that the poison was, in order to preserve it, inserted into
the quill of a feather ; and thus we are told Demosthenes
caused his own death by sucking a pen.

Midas, King of Phrygia,| Tanyoxartes, brother of
Cambyses,|| and Psammenites, King of Egypt,§ died, it
is said, in consequence of drinking bull's blood, and the
death of Themistocles has been attributed to the same
cause. Near the ancient town of Argos, in Achaia, was

he died." Every incident is natural ; his sleep arose from fatigue
as stated, and not from a narcotic. — Ed.

* Book of Judges, iv. cap. iv. vers. 25.

t I. Klaproth. Lettre à M. Humboldt sur l'invention de la
Boussole, p. 89. The Tchin, according to the Chinese writers,
resembled a vulture, and fed upon poisonous serpents. In refer-
ence to its name, a word has been formed which signifies to
poison. (I owe this note to M. Stanislas Jullien, a member of the
Institut of France.)

X Strabo, lib. i.

|| Ktesias in Persic, apud Photium.

§ Herodotus, lib. in. cap. xin.

42 FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS.

a temple of Terra, the moral purity of its priestesses,
was tried by making them drink the blood of the bull.*

Experience has proved that the blood of bulls does
not contain any deleterious property. But, in the East
and in some of the Grecian temples, they possessed the
secret of composing a beverage which could procure a
speedy and easy death, and which, from its dark red
colour, had received the name of Bull's blood, a name,
unfortunately, expressed in the literal sense by the Greek
historians. Such is my conjecture, and, I trust, a
plausible one. We shall also by and by, see how the
name, blood of Nessus, which was given to a pretended
love philter, was taken in a literal sense by some
mythologists who might have been set right by the
very accounts of it which they copied.f The blood of
the hydra of Lerna, in which Hercules' arrows being
dipped, rendered the wounds they inflicted mortal, seems
to us to signify nothing more than that it was one of
those poisons which archers in every age have been
accustomed to make use of, in order to render the
wounds of their arrows more deadly.

And again we have a modern instance of the same
equivocation. Near Basle, is cultivated a wine which
has received the name of blood of the Swiss ; not only
from its deep colour, but from the circumstance of its
being grown on a field of battle, the scene of Helvetian
valour. Who knows but that in a future day, some

* Pausanias, Achate, cap. xxv. — Whatever was the nature of
the poison termed Bull's blood, Dioscorides (lib. v. 130) informs
us that the antidote was a mixture of nitre and benzoin. — Ed.

t See to chap. xxv.

FIGURA. TIVE EXPRESSIONS. 43

literal translator may convert those patriots, who every
year indulge in ample libations of the blood of the
Swiss, at their civic feasts, into Anthropophagi.*

To confirm this remark we have only to seek in
history for proofs of the means by which a simple fact
has been transformed into a prodigy, owing to the
expressions employed to describe it being less correct
than forcible.

Assailed by the Crusaders, and scared by the looks
which these warriors, completely clothed in metal, darted
upon them through their visors, the trembling Greeks
described them as " men of brass whose eyes flashed fire."f

The Russians in Kamschatka are still called hrichtains,
men of fire, an appellation which the inhabitants gave
them, from their imagining when they saw them use
fire-arms for the first time, that the fire issued from
their mouths. :[

Near the burning mountains, north of the Missouri,
and the river of St. Peter, dwell a people who appear to
have emigrated from Mexico and the adjacent countries,
at the time of the Spanish invasion. According to their
traditions, they had hidden themselves in the inland
country, at a time when the sea coast was continually
infested by enormous monsters, vomiting lightning and
thunder, and from whose bodies came men who, with
unknown instruments, and by magical power, killed the
defenceless Indians at immense distances.! They observed

* W. Coxe, Letters upon Switzerland, letter xliii.

f Nicetas, Annal. Man. Comn. lib. i. cap. iv.

% Kracheninnikof, Hist, of Kamschatka, part. i. chap. i.

|| Carver, Travels in North America, etc., pages 80 — 81.

44 FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS.

that these monsters could not reach the land, and in
order to escape from their blows, they took refuge in
distant mountains. We see here that the vanquished
at first doubted, whether these advantages were not
more to be attributed to better arms, than to the
power of magic. It is probable that deceived by
appearances they endowed with life the ships which
seemed to move of themselves, and transformed them
into monsters ; and this prodigy has either from that
day been firmly rooted in their minds ; or on the
contrary, it was merely a bold metaphor invented to
depict and to perpetuate so novel an event.

But this instance leads us to the consideration of
one of the most fertile causes of the marvellous;
namely, the use of a figurative style.

Fourthly. That style which, contrary to the intention of
the narrator, clothes facts in a supernatural colouring, is
not confined to the art or rather the habit, common to
lively imaginations, of employing poetical expressions
and bold images in the recital of those deep feelings,
or those facts which they desire to fix upon the memory.
Man is everywhere inclined to borrow from the figura-
tive style the name which he gives to any new object,
with the aspect of which he has been struck. For
instance, a parasol was imported to the centre of Africa ;
and the inhabitants calld it the " cloud,"* a picturesque
designation, which, some day or other, may become the
foundation of a marvellous story. Our passions, in
short, which speak more frequently than our reason,

* Travels in Africa, by Denham, Clapperton and Oudeney,
vol. III.

FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS. 45

have introduced expressions eminently figurative into
every language, which no longer appear to be such,
so completely has their literal sense been lost in the
habit of differently applying them. To be boiling
with anger — to bite the ground — swift as the wind
— to cast one's eyes, are expressions which if a
foreigner, knowing the words but not the idiom of
the language, were to translate literally, would appear
nonsense ; and what fables might result. Such, indeed,
has been already done : for instance, we are seriously
told that Democrites, who devoted his life to observing
nature, had put out his eyes, that he might meditate
without distraction of mind.# It has been told also,
that stags are enemies to snakes, and can make them
fly ;f an assertion depending on the fact, that the smell
of burnt hartshorn is disagreeable to serpents, and
causes them to turn away.

The bites of the Boa are not venomous; but the
serpent squeezes its victim to death by twining round
it ; and from this fact, was derived the fable of the
dragon, whose tail was said to be armed with an enve-
nomed barb. When pressed by hunger, such is the
swiftness of the Boa, that its prey rarely escapes it :
poets have compared its course to a flight, and vulgar
superstition immediately bestowed real wings upon the

* According to Tertullian (Apologet, cap. xlvi), he blinded
himself that he might be placed beyond the influence of love, as
he could not see any woman without loving her. This tradi-
tion is also founded on the literal interpretation of a figurative
expression.

f Aelian, de Nat. Animal, lib. n. cap. ix.

46 FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS.

dragon. The names of basilisk and asp were employed
to designate reptiles so agile, that it is difficult to escape
their attack at the moment they are perceived ; the asp
and basilisk were, therefore, supposed to cause death by
their breath, or only by their look. Of all these figu-
rative expressions, the foundation of so many physical
errors, none was bolder than the expression applied by
the Mexicans to describe the rapidity of the rattle-
snake, they called it the ivind.*

A church threatened to give way, St. Germain at
Auxerre,f and St. Francis of Assisi,| at Rome, sus-
tained the edifice, which from that moment remained
immoveable on its foundations. Credulity believes this
to have been a miracle ; but the real meaning of the
allegory is, that the Bishop, and the founder of the

* Lacépède, Hist. Nat. des Serpents, art. Boiquira.

t Robineau Desvoidy's Description des Cryptes de l'Abbaye St.
Germain à Auxerre, (an unpublished work) liber conformitatum,
S. Francisci, etc. — St. Germain was born at Auxerre, of noble
parents, and died at Ravenna. He was originally a lawyer. He
married, and was created a Duke, by the Emperor Honorius ; but
through the means of St. Amater, he took the tonsure, lived
with his wife merely as a sister ; and at the death of Amater was
chosen Bishop of Auxerre. He is reported to have given sight
to the blind, raised the dead, and performed numerous miracles !
—Ed.

X St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the order of Francis-
cans, was born in 1182. He was baptized by the name of John,
but was afterwards called Francis, from the facility with which
he acquired the French language. His supernatural visions and
miracles would fill a volume. He died in 1226, and two years
afterwards he was canonized at Assisi, by Gregory IX. a — Ed.

a Butler's Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Saints, vol. i.
p. 137. Ibid, vol. ii. p. 569.

FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS. 47

order were, by the influence of their doctrine and works,
the support of a tottering Church.

In prayer and in religious contemplation, the fervent
man is, as it were, ravished into ecstasy ; he seems no
longer to belong to earth, but is raised to Heaven. The
enthusiastic disciples of Iamblicus affirmed, in spite of
their master's assertions to the contrary, that when he
prayed, he was raised to the height of ten cubits from
the ground :# and dupes to the same metaphor, although
Christians, have had the simplicity to attribute a similar
miracle to St. Clare,f and St. Francis of Assisi.

This transformation of an allegory into a physical fact,
may be traced to a remote period, if we can rely on a
learned individual of the fifteenth century ; but one, who
like most of his cotemporaries, too seldom indicates the
source from which he derived his information. Ccelius
Rhodiginus relates, that according to the Chaldeans,

* Eunap. in Iamblich.

f St. Clare, the daughter of Paverino Sciffo, a noble knight,
was born at Assisi in Italy, in 1193. At a very early age, she
displayed a strong bias for devout observances ; and at the age
of eighteen received the penitential habit from Saint Francis,
who placed her in the nunnery of Saint Paul, in Assisi, whence
her relations endeavoured in vain to remove her. She afterwards,
by the aid of Saint Francis, founded the order which bears her
name. Her humility, austerity, prayers, and her contempt for
the persecutions which she suffered, were remarkable even in the
period in which she lived. She died in 1253. The order was
brought into England in 1293, by Blanche, Queen of Navarre,
and had a house without Aldgate : the nuns were called Mino-
resses, as the Franciscans were called Minors, a name imposed
by their founder, on account of their humility. From them the
Minories received its name. — Ed.

48 FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS.

the luminous rays emanating from the soul do some-
times divinely penetrate the body, which is then of
itself raised above the earth. This, he says, occurred
to Zoroaster ; and he attempts to explain, in the same
manner, the translation of Elijah into Heaven, and the
trance of St. Paul.*

In the kingdom of Fez is a little hill, which requires to
be crossed either by dancing, or with a great deal of action,
in order to avoid an endemic fever prevalent there.f The
relation of this popular custom, which has existed and
been obeyed for more than a hundred years, has been
treated with scorn by some enlightened men. What,
indeed, at first sight, could have a more ridiculous
effect? Nevertheless, what is the advice given to all
travellers in the Campagna of Rome, and in the vicinity
of the Eternal City ? They are told to struggle against
the drowsiness that will insensibly steal over them, by
forced and violent movements ; as yielding to it only for
a moment would expose them to an attack of fever,
always dangerous, often fatal.

In Hai-nan, and in almost the whole province of
Canton, the inhabitants rear a species of partridge,
which they call tchu-ki. They say, that the instant one
of these birds is introduced into a house, the white ants
quit it : doubtless, because this bird destroys a quantity
of them for food. The Chinese, however, poetically

* Arbitrabantur chaldœorum scientissimi ab rationali anima id. . .
effici quandoque ut radiorum splendore, ab ipsa manantium, illustratum
diviniore modo corpus etiam surrigat in sublime, 8çc. &;c. (Ccelius
Rhodig. Lection. Antiq. lib. n. cap. vi.)

t Boulet, Description de l'Empire des Cherifs, p. 112.

POETIC FICTIONS AND METAPHORS. 49

assert that the cry of the tchu-ki, changes the white
ants into dust* it would be converting a ridiculous
saying into a prodigy, if we literally believed this em-
phatic expression.

We are told, also, that every spring time, in those
deserts which separate China from Tartary, yellow rats
are transformed into yellow quails; and that in Ireland and
in Hindostan, the leaves and fruit of a tree, planted near
the water, become first shell fish, and then aquatic bidrs.f

* Jules Klaproth, Description de l'Ile de Hai-nan (Nouvelles
Annales des Voyages), deuxième série, tome vi. p. 156.

t The aquatic bird, noticed in the above passage, is the Bar-
nacle goose, and it is scarcely possible to adduce a more striking
instance of the credulity of even those regarded, in their period,
as the learned and philosopliic, than their belief that the barnacle,
Pentalasmis antifera, (Leach), is the origin of that bird. The
barnacle is a marine, testaceous animal, covered with a nearly
triangular shell, composed of five distinct pieces. The animal
itself is compressed, enveloped in a thin mantle, and furnished
with curled tentacula. It attaches itself by along fleshy peduncle
to rocks, to the bottoms of ships, and even to the branches of trees
that grow upon the margin of the sea and dip into the waters
Many of the old writers described these animals, when they appeared
on trees, as the fruit in which, say they, is to be found the lineaments
of a fowl, and from which, when ripe and dropped into the sea,
the fowl comes forth and takes wing. Even so late as 1636,
Gerard, the celebrated author of the Herbal, a man of learning,
observation, and in many points of acknowledged accuracy,
impresses upon his readers the truth of this absurd fable. He
thus describes the coming forth of the bird, " next came the
legs of the bird hanging out ; and as it (the bird) groweth greater
it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it is all come forth
and hangeth only by the bill : in short space after it commeth to
full maturitie, and falleth into the sea, where it gathereth
feathers, and groweth to a fowle bigger than a mallard, and lesser
VOL. I. E

50 POETIC FICTIONS AND METAPHORS.

In both narrations, if we substitute the idea of the
metamorphose, for that of a successive appearance, the
absurdity vanishes and the truth appears.*

The amethyst is a precious stone, which is coloured
and sparkles like wine. Instead of this description,
so coldly exact, figurative language has substituted an
expressive image in its name, A/aetÔuo-tw, amethystos,
not intoxicating — or wine that does not inebriate ; and
it is from this name having been literally translated in
Greece, that the amethyst was supposed to possess the
miraculous power of preserving from drunkenness the
man who was adorned with it.

Is this, we may ask, the only poetical flight, the
only metaphor which has been transformed into a
history ? Bacchus,f with the thyrsus which he carried

than a goose." He adds, " if any doubt, may it please them to
repaire to me, and I shall satisfie them by the testimonie of good
witnesses." The absurdity of this delusion requires no comment.
—Ed.

* Eloge de Moukdem, p. 32 and 164.

t Bacchus was the Roman name for the Grecian God Diony-
sius, whom the Greeks, both in Asia and Europe, universally
worshipped. In the whole history of polytheism, we find no
rites more extravagant, sensual, and savage, than those of the
Dionysia or Bacchic festivals. The men present at them took
the disguise of satyrs, and the women acted the parts of bacchse,
nymphs, and other inferior deities, and committed the greatest
excesses. At an early period these festivals were often solem-
nized with human sacrifices ; and pieces of the raw flesh, cut from
the bodies of the victims, were distributed among the bacchse.
(From the Attic Dionysia, nevertheless, both tragedy and comedy
derived their origin). In Italy, the Bacchanalia were scenes of
the coarsest excesses, and the most unnatural vices. They were
latterly carried on at night, and often stained with poisonings,

POETIC FICTIONS AND METAPHORS. 51

in his hand, having pointed out a spring of water to
the troop who followed his steps,* " the God," it was
reported, " caused a spring to rise by striking the ground
with his thyrsus ;" and, with a slight alteration of the
fable, we read also, that Atalanta struck her lance against a
rock, from which instantly gushed a spring of freshwater. f
It is in this manner that poetry explains and describes, in
some brilliant allegory, the prodigy that credulity has
laid hold of, but which in reality is only the consequence
of its figurative style. XroVl MP~^>

Similar errors may be l^)tb the charge of history,
and even of natural history/ ïfE^h^5}iS|gajb^ the lhead
of a considerable army, I\a4 been able to unit? his
forces with the defenders of nsQv^ji^Qr/ççl^^nausted
by a ten years' struggle, would have despaired of
victory. A declaration of what was so easily foreseen, was
poetically expressed, and became one of the fatalities of
this famous siege. The Fates, it was said, would not per-
mit Troy to be taken, if the horses of Rhésus were once
permitted to taste the grass which grew on the borders
of the Xanthus, or to quench their thirst in its waters.

assassinations, and every crime. Although conducted in Rome,
and although the number of the initiated was said to be seven
thousand, yet the existence of these meetings appears to have
been unknown to the Senate, until a.d. 186, when they were
put down, after a report on them had been made to that august
assembly, by the Consuls Spurius Postumus Albinus and Quin-
tus Marius Philippus. The delinquents were arrested and tried ;
many of the men were imprisoned, others were put to death ; and
the women were delivered to their parents and husbands to be pri-
vately punished. (Livy, lib. xxxix. 14). — Ed.

* Pausanias, lib. iv. cap. xxxvi.

t Pausanias, Laconic, cap. xxiv.

E 2

52 POETIC FICTIONS AND METAPHORS.

On the celebration of the day of some saint revered
in Ireland,* the fish, if we could believe a writer of the
twelfth century, raise themselves from the bosom of
the sea, pass in procession before his altar, and disap-
pear after having rendered him homage.f The saint's
day most probably fell in that period of the spring,
when, on the coast where his church was built, might
be seen periodical shoals of herrings, mackerel, or
tunnies.

Nonnosus who was sent by the Emperor Justinian, on a
mission to the Saracens of Phoenicia and Mount Taurus,
heard that while the religious assemblies of these people
lasted, they lived in peace amoug themselves, and with
strangers, " that even beasts of prey respected their
universal peace, and observed it towards mankind and
their fellows, "j

Photius regards the traveller on this occasion as a
narrator of fables. Nonnosus, however, only repeated
what he had heard, but mistook for a fact, a poetic
expression or mode of speech, frequently used in the

* Saint Patrick, the titular Saint of Ireland. He was a Scotch-
Roman, and was born in 372, in the Roman village Benaven
Tabernise, now the town of Killpatrick, at the mouth of the
Clyde, between Glasgow and Dumbarton. His family name
was Caliphurnia. At an early age, he was carried captive into
Ireland, where he was forced to keep cattle, and suffered many
hardships, during which time he is said to have been admonished
in a dream, to undertake his mission. Many miracles, equally
absurd as the prodigy noticed in the text, are related as having
been performed by St. Patrick. — Ed.

f Gervais de Tilbery, Otia imper. cap. vm. Hist. Lilt, de la
France, tome xvn. p. 87.

% Photius Biblioth. cod. in.

POETIC FICTIONS AND METAPHORS. 53

East, and also to be found in one of the most eloquent
of the Hebrew writers ;* a mode of speech employed
by the Greeks and Romans also in their pictures of
the gojden age ; and which Virgil less happily made
use of in his admirable description of an epizootic, (a
disease amongst cattle) which desolated the north of
Africa and the south of Europe.f

It is a well known fact, that a sudden and striking
alarm often arrests speech ; such, for instance, as a
person experiences who finds himself unexpectedly
before a wild beast. But it has been said, that a man
loses his power of utterance when he is seen by a wolf,
although the animal is unobserved by him. This figur-
ative expression has been even taken literally, and it
has furnished a proverb, which is not only found in
Theocritus and Virgil,j but in Solinus and Pliny, who
have also adopted it. The former very seriously speaks
of "a particular species of wolf in Italy which affects
any man it sees with dumbness ; its victim in endea-
vouring to cry, finds that his voice is lost."||

* Isaiah, cap. xi, verse 6, 7, 8.

f Virgil, Georg. lib. in. See also Eclog.viu. v. 27.

% Theocrit. Eidyll, xiv. v. 22. Virgil Eclog. ix. v. 54.

|| Solinus, cap. vin. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vni. cap. xxn. Soli-
nus was a Roman author, who borrowed freely from Pliny. The
effect which he describes has been attributed to a supernatural
cause, by modern superstition. A woman, in the night, saw
four thieves enter her apartment through' the window : she
attempted to cry, but could not. They took her keys, opened
her coffers, possessed themselves of her money, and escaped by
the same window. The woman then recovered her voice, and

54 EMBLEMS AND SYMBOLS.

Varro, Columella, Pliny and Solinus,# relate that
the mares of Lusitania conceive by the breath of the
wind : but Pompeius Trogusf understood this expression
as merely metaphorical of the rapid multiplication of
these animals, and their swiftness in the course.

Fifthly. What emblems are to the sight, a figurative
style is to the mind. Their influence has produced many
extraordinary narrations : and in every age of antiquity
they were employed to illustrate any thing of impor-
tance, in dogmas, in recollections, in morals, and in
history. Their meaning perfectly understood in the
commencement, often became gradually less so; and
after some length of time was completely lost to the
ignorant and unreflecting. The emblem, nevertheless,
remained, and when seen by the people at once com-
manded their belief and veneration : henceforth the
representation, however absurd and monstrous, naturally
took its place in the common belief as the real object it
was originally intended to commemorate. From a
symbol representing religion and laws, emanating from
the supreme intelligence, sprung the fable that a falcon

called for assistance. The impossibility of her calling out, when
the thieves were in her chamber, was said to be the effect of
sorcery. Frommann, Tractatus de Fascinatione, p. 558 — 559.

* Varro. De re rustica, lib. n. Columell. lib. vi. cap. xxvu.
Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. viii. cap. xlii. Solinus, cap. xxvi.

f Justin, lib. xliv. cap. in. Pompeius Trogus was a Roman
historian in the time of Augustus. His great work, " Historiée
Phillippiœ et totius mundi origines," is known only in the
abridgement by Justinus ; but Pliny, Nat. Hist. lib. vu. 3.
mentions a work by Trogus on animals. — En.

EMBLEMS AND SYMBOLS. 55

had borne to the priests of Thebes, a book containing
religious rites and laws.# Certain islands of the Nile
were, according to Diodorus,f defended by serpents with
dogs' heads and other monsters. These monsters, and
serpents were probably emblems intended to point out,
that these islands were consecrated to the Gods, and
were .consequently inaccessible to profane mortals.

How many fables and prodigies in the records of
Egypt, how many in the records of India, and of Greece
have an analogous origin !

It has been related, and the story is still repeated
without reflecting that the thing is absurd, that such
was the strength of Milo of Croton, that, when
he stood on a narrow quoit, no one could displace or
tear from him a pomegranate, which he held in his
hand, but which, nevertheless, he did not press violently
enough to crush; nor could they separate from one
another the fingers of his right hand, which he held
extended. Milo, says a man learned in religious rites
and emblems, was, in his own country, high priest
of Juno : his statue placed in Olympia represented him,
according to the sacred rite, standing upon a little
round buckler, and holding a pomegranate, the fruit
of the tree dedicated to the Goddess. The fingers of
his right hand were extended and joined together, in the
manner the ancient sculptors always represented them.j
Thus was an imperfection of art made the foundation of
a miraculous story.

* Diod. sic. lib. i. par. 2, § 32.

t Diod. sic. lib. par. i. § 19.

X Apollonius de Tyanus, vit. Apollon, lib. iv. cap. ix.

56 EMBLEMS AND SYMBOLS.

It is not necessary to dive deep into antiquity for
similar facts. In the middle ages, figured almanacs
were used as the only means of instructing those who
could not read. To explain to them that a mar-
tyred saint had perished by decapitation, they painted
him as standing and holding between his hands, the
head which had been separated from his body.*
This emblem was doubtless the more easily adopted, as
it had for some length of time fixed the attention, and
consequently the reverence, of the multitude in the
hieroglyphic calendar of a more ancient religion. f

From the calendars the emblems naturally passed to
the statues and various representations of the martyrs.
I have seen Saint Clara in a church in Normandy;
Saint Mitrius at Aries ;J and in Switzerland all the
soldiers of the Thebean legion represented with their heads
in their hands.

Saint Valéry also is painted with his head in his
hands, upon the doors and other parts of the Cathedral
at Limoges. || Saint Felix, St. Régula, St. Exupe-
rantius,§ are presented in the same attitude upon the great
seal of the Canton of Zurich. This, no doubt, was the

* See Menagiana, tome iv. p. 103. Some of the illustrated
calendars are probably still existing and may be found in the
cabinets of the antiquary.

t Sphœra Persica, Capricornus Decanus, in. " Dimidium figura
sine capite quia caput ejus in'manu ejus est.'"

X St. Mitrius is the patron saint of Aix in Provence, where he
suffered martyrdom under Dioclesian. — Ed.

|| C.N. Allou, Description of the Monuments of the department
of Upper Vienne, page 143.

§ St. Exuperantius is not found upon any seals before 1240.

EMBLEMS AND SYMBOLS. 57

origin of the pious fable they relate of these martyrs,
of Saint Denis,* and many others, such as Saint
Maurice of Agen,f Saint Principius at Souvigny in
Bourbonnais, Saint Nicasius, the first Bishop of Rouen,
St. Lucian, Apostle of Beauvais, St. Lucain, Bishop of
Paris,j St. Balsemus at Arcy-sur-Aube, and St. Savinian
at Troy es. || The year 275, furnished no less than three
more headless saints to the diocese of Troyes in Cham-
pagne.§ The origin of the above legend may be traced
first of all to some cotemporary hagiographer having em-
ployed a strong figure of speech, still used among us ;
who, in attempting to describe all the obstacles and dangers
which attended the faithful eager to render the last services
to the martyrs, probably called the forcible carrying
away, and burying of the sacred remains, a real miracle.
The attitude in which the saints were offered to the
public veneration explained the nature of this miracle,
and gave some kind of authority for saying, that

* " Se cadaver mox erexit,

Truncus truncum caput vexit,
Quo ferentem hoc direxit
Angelorum legio."
Sung in the offices of St. Denis, until the year 1789.

f Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de France, tome m.
p. 268—269.

% J. A. Dulaure, Histoire physique, civile, et morale de Paris,
tome i. page 142.

|| Promptuarium sacrum antiquitatum Trecassinœ diœcesis, 335.
v. et 390. v.

§ L. P. Deguerrois, La Sainteté Chrétienne, fol. 33, 34, 38,
39, 48. In a life of St. Par, one of these three martyrs, printed
at Nogent- sur- Seine in 1821, this marvellous narration is repeated.

58 EMBLEMS AND METAPHORS.

although beheaded, the martyrs had walked from
the place of their decapitation to that of their sepul-
ture.

Sixthly. To what lengths will not a credulous curiosity
extend when from various explanations it selects the
most marvellous ? The veil of an allegory or a fable,
however transparent it may be, arrests attention.

The crowing of the cock makes the lion fly — is an
old remark, believed in its literal sense by the ignorant ;
the better informed know that at the dawn of day,
which is announced by the crowing of the cock, carni-
vorous animals voluntarily return to their dens.

Moral proverbs clothed in equally transparent garbs
have, nevertheless, passed as axioms of natural science.
Love vanquishes all things, even the most formidable :
the ferocity of the lion is appeased, we are told, at the
sight of a woman unveiled.

In spite of the facility of proving the contrary, Aelian
relates that, from the vernal to the autumnal equinox,
the ram sleeps lying upon his right side, and upon his
left from the autumnal equinox to the vernal.* In
natural history this is a ridiculous tale, but it is an evident
truth in the allegorical language of ancient astro-
nomy.

It is related that in the army which Xerxes led against
the Greeks, a man gave birth to a hare ; a prodigy
which presaged the issue of that gigantic enterprise :f
it was nothing more than the fable of the moun-

* Aelian, de Nat. Anim. lib. x. cap. xvui.
t Vider, Maxim, lib. i. cap. vi. § 10.

ALLEGORIES. 5 9

tain bringing forth a mouse improved, perhaps, by
lessening the distance between the physical relations,
and by a sarcastic allusion, through the hare, to an army
of fugitives.

Was it intended that we should understand and
believe as a miracle, the story, that innumerable rats,
by gnawing the bow-strings and the straps of the
bucklers of Sennacherib's soldiers, effected the delive-
rance of the King of Egypt, besieged by that leader ?#
Assuredly not : it was an expression used to designate
an army incapable, from want of discipline and from
negligence, of resisting the sudden attack of the Ethio-
pians, who arrived to the assistance of the King of
Egypt, and which consequently fell almost entirely
beneath their conquering sword. The priests, to whose
caste the Egyptian King belonged, willingly favoured
a literal interpretation of the allegory and the belief in
it as a miracle, which they ascribed to their tutelar
divinity, and which saved the national pride from
the humiliation of acknowledging that the victory was
due to the delivering allies. The tradition of this mira-
culous deliverance extended farther than the fable which
had given it birth ; Bérosus, quoted by Josephus,f says,
that the Assyrian army was the victim of a scourge, a
plague sent by Heaven, which at once struck down
one hundred and eighty-five thousand men. Thus
the Chaldean vanity covered with an unavoidable misfor-
tune, the opprobrium of a merited defeat. In the same
manner, fictions which are purely moral, and unconnected

* Herodot. lib. n. cap. cxli.

t Fl. Josephus, Ant.jud. lib. i. cap. n.

60 ALLEGORIES.

with any fact, become historical traditions. I might quote
the touching parable of the Samaritan assisting the
wounded man, when neglected by the priest and the
lévite. In the present day, in Palestine, it is looked upon
not as a parable, but as an historical fact, and the
scene of it was shown by the monks to the traveller
Hasselquist* There is, after all, in this nothing extra-
ordinary nor repugnant to reason ; and the heart, being
interested, is tempted to believe in its reality. Less
mindful of probabilities, a sage wishing to perpetuate
in a fable the maxim, " that it is not enough to sacri-
fice for the good of one's country, riches, luxury, and
pleasure, but more is necessary ; and although held
back by the dearest affections, life itself should be
devoted to it ;" he related that a frightful gulf, which
nothing could fill up, suddenly opened in the middle of a
city ; the Gods when consulted, declared that it would
only close on the most precious possessions of mankind
being thrown into it. Gold, silver, and precious stones
were instantly but vainly precipitated into it. At length
a generous man, tearing himself from a father and a
wife, voluntarily plunged into it, and the abyss closed
for ever over him.

In spite of the evident improbability of the result,
this fable, invented in Phrygia, or borrowed from a still
more ancient civilization, has passed into history.
The name of the hero was Anchurus, son of Midas,f

* Hasselquist, Voyage dans le Levant, tome i, p. 184.

f Parallels between Grecian and Roman Histories, § x. This
work, falsely attributed to Plutarch, merits in general but little
confidence ; but its testimony, it seems to me, may be admitted

ALLEGORIES. 6 1

one of the Kings of the heroic times. But such is the
charm attached to the marvellous, that Rome, some
centuries afterwards, appropriated to herself this fable
which, in place of a general precept, displays only an
individual example. It was not because the Sabine
chief, Metius Curtius* who, when almost overcome in
the midst of Rome, left his name to the marsh famed
as the scene of his vigorous defence against the efforts
of Romulus ; it was not because a Consul,f directed by
the Senate, enclosed with a wall this marsh upon which
the thunderbolt fell; but it was to perpetuate to the
veneration of the people a patrician, on whom the name
of Curtius was bestowed, as having nobly in the same
place thrown himself completely armed into a gulf,
which had miraculously opened, and not less miraculously
closed, that Rome borrowed from Phrygia this fable
of Anchurus, and introduced it into her own history.f
The desire of increasing the reputation of a country,
has favoured such plagarisms. It is one object of our

when its object is to take from history those facts evidently fabu-
lous, regarding which the ancient annalists of Rome do not agree.
Callisthenes, quoted by Stober (Sermo xlviii), also relates the
devotion of the son of Midas, whom he calls ^Egystheos.

* Such is the real origin of the name of the Lacus Curtius,
according to the historian L. Calpurnius Piso, quoted by Varro
(Varro de Lingua Latino), lib. iv. cap. xxxn. See also Titus Liv.
lib. i. cap. xii. and xin.

f This was also the opinion of C. ^Elius, and of Q. Lutatius
(Varro loc. cit.)

% Varro (loco citato) also relates this tradition ; but with the
air of a man who hardly believes it, since he terms the hero who
precipitated himself into the gulf a certain Curtius, " quemdam
Curtium."

62 ALLEGORIES.

task, to show how often, imposture assisting the vanity
of a nation, or a family, in effacing a stain, or adding
an ornament, has given birth to the history of
prodigies. From an immense number of instances, we
shall select but one. It was constantly repeated that,
from the amours of the God of war, sprung the
founders of a city which was destined to be raised to the
highest pitch of power, by the favour of that God ; and
this story was credited, notwithstanding the tradition
preserved by two grave historians, that the ferocious
Aurelius violated his niece Rhey Sylvia, who became
the mother of Romulus and Remus.*

* C. Licînius Macer et M. Octavius, quoted by Marcus Aure -
lius Victor. De origine gentis romance, cap. xix.

NATURAL PHENOMENA 63

CHAPTER IV.

Real but rare Phenomena successfully held up as Prodigies pro-
ceeding from the intervention of a Divine Power ; and believed
because men were ignorant that a Phenomenon could be local
and periodical ; because they had forgotten some natural fact,
which would at once have removed all idea of the marvellous ;
and finally, because it was often dangerous to disabuse a
deceived multitude. — As the ancient authors have adhered to
truth in this respect; they may be, also, depended upon in
what they relate of magical operations.

Although a great number of the wonders mentioned
in the writings of the ancients may have derived impor-
tance from enthusiasm, ignorance, and credulity only ;
yet others, on the contrary, such as the fall of aerolites
have been recognized as real phenomena ; and have not
been rejected by enlightened physical science, although
it has not always been able to explain them in a satis-
factory manner. The natural history of our species
details many extraordinary events, the existence of
which has been confirmed, but which some observers,
whose observations have been circumscribed within their
own narrow horizon, have regarded as chimerical.

64 NATURAL PHENOMENA.

Some of the most ancient Greek writers, such as Isi-
gonus and Aristeus of Proconesus, have spoken of
pigmies two feet and a half in height ; of people con-
stituting whole nations whose eyes were in their
shoulders; of anthropophagi existing among the nor-
thern Scythians ; and of a country named Albania,
in which were born men, whose hair was white in
childhood, and whose sight was exceedingly weak
during the day, but became very strong in the night.

Aulus Gelius* treats these narrations as incredible
fables ; nevertheless, in the descriptions of the two
first people, we recognize the Laplanders, and the
Samoyedes, although the diminutiveness of the one,
and the manner in which the heads of the other, are
sunk between their shoulders, has been greatly exag-
gerated.! Marco Palo asserts, that some tribes of

* A. Gell, Noct. Attic, lib. ix. cap. iv. Solinus, also (cap. lv)
doubtless copying the authors whose testimony Aulus Gelius re-
jected, speaks of a nation, the men of which had their eyes in
their shoulders.

f Sir W. Raleigh in 1595, and Keymis in 1596, received from
the inhabitants of Guiana, the most positive assurances of the
existence of a race of men, whose eyes were placed upon their
shoulders, and their mouths in their chests (The Discovery of
Guiana, by Sir W. Raleigh), that is to say, as the French trans-
lator has reasonably suggested, that the necks of these men were
extremely short and their shoulders very high. P. Lafiteau,
(The Manners and Customs of the American Savages, &c. vol. i.
p. 58 and 62), observes that the belief in the existence of such a
race of men is equally entertained in different parts of America,
and among the Tartars in the countries bordering on China.
Like the Samoyedes in Asia, the Esquimaux and people observed
by Weddel at Cape Horn, and in Terra del Fuego, and the adja-

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 65

Tartars eat the corpses of men condemned to death.*
In the inhabitants of Albania we cannot fail to recognize
the Albinos. The name of their supposed country
is nothing more than the translation of the appellation
bestowed on these singular beings, from the whiteness
of their hair, and the fairness of their skin. Ktesias has
frequently been accused of falsehood upon the authority
of the Greeks, whose opinions and pretensions were
somewhat inconsistent with his narrations. The pigmies
that this author describes as living in the centre of Asia,
and having their bodies covered with long hair, recal to
our recollection the Ainos of the Kourila islands, who
are four feet high, and covered with very long hair.
Turner also saw in Boutan, an individual of an exceed-

cent islands, have been the origin of this error respecting the
natives of the North and South of America. (A Voyage to the
South Pole, performed in the Years 1822 — 1824. Geographical
Journal) .

The natives of Bukaw, in central Africa, are of so diminu-
tive a stature as to accord completely with the ancient accounts
of pigmies. The Bushmen in Southern Africa, also, may be
regarded as a race of pigmies, very few male adults rising five
feet in height, and the females not so much. The latter are
delicately formed, and with remarkably small hands and feet.—
Ed.

* Peregrinatio Marci Pauli, lib. i. cap. lxiv. Mémoires de la
Société de Géographie, tome i. p. 361.— The New Zealanders
are confirmed and avowed cannibals ; so much so, that like the
Massagatse, described by Herodotus, (Kb. i. 216) they would
eat their own parents. Dr. Martius informs us, that among
the ancient Tupis of Brazil, when the chief (Pajé) despaired of
a sick man's recovery, he ordered the poor wretch to be killed
and eaten. (Lond. Geol. Journ. n. 199). The Battas of Sumatra
are also undoubted cannibals. — Ed.

VOL. I. F

66 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

ingly small race. The Cynocephali of Ktesias, (Aelian,
de Nat. Anim. lib. iv. cap. xlvi.) may possibly have
been the Oceanic negroes, Alphourians or Haraforas
of Borneo and the Malay Islands ; and the monkeys
against which, according to the sacred books of the
Hindoos, Rama made war in the island of Ceylon.*

In the Argippeans or " bald heads" of Herodotus, we
recognize the Mongols or Kalmucs, a nation among
whom the monks or Ghelongs have their heads closely
shaved. When among this nation, Herodotus was told
of a still more northern people, who slept six months
of the year. He refused to believe this assertion, which
was, after all, nothing more than an allusion to the day
and night of the Polar regions.f

The ancients supposed that pigmies existed in Africa.
A French traveller found some of them in the Tenda
Maia, on the banks of the Rio-Grande. " There,"
said he, " dwells a race of people remarkable for the
diminutiveness of their figures, and the weakness of
their limbs.]: If we descend from generalities to details,
we still find that facts of an extraordinary nature, the
recollection of which antiquity has preserved with so
religious a fidelity, have been too often depreciated. To

* Malte-Brun, Mémoire sur VInde septentrionale d'Hérodote et
de Ktesias, etc. ; Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, tome n. p. 335 —
357. lu El Rami, an island, near to Serendib (Ceylon), are to
be seen men who are but a metre in height, and who speak an
unintelligible language, Géographie d'Edrisi, trad. fr. tome i,
p. 75.

f Malte-Brun, ibid, p. 372 — 373. Herodotus.

X Mollien, Voyage dans l'Intérieur de l'Afrique, etc. (Paris,
1840), tome n. p. 210.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

suppose, says Larcher, that Roxana should have had a
child without a head, is an absurdity alone sufficient to
throw discredit on Ktesias.* Every medical dictionary,
however, would have shown Larcher, that the birth of
a headless, or acephalus, child is not so impossible.!

The respect to which the genius of Hippocrates is
entitled has been, I suppose, the only reason why he
has not been taxed with falsehood, when he speaks of a
disease prevalent among the Scythians, which changed
them into women.]: M. Jules Klaproth has seen men
among the Nogais Tartars, who, losing their beards
and their skin becoming wrinkled, have all the appear-
ance of old women ; and such among the ancient Scy-
thians were considered as old women, and no longer
treated as men. ||

The history of animals, such as the ancients have
transmitted to us, is filled with details apparently
chimerical; but which are sometimes only the con-
sequence of a defective nomenclature. The name
Onocentaur, which seems to designate a monster,
uniting the forms of a man and an ass, was given to a
quadrumanus which runs sometimes on four paws, but
at other times uses its fore paws only as hands ; merely
an immense monkey covered with grey hair, particu-
larly on the lower part of the body.§ It is only very

* Traduction d'Hérodote, 22e edit, tome vi. p. 266, note 35.
f Diet, des Sciences Médicales, art. Acéphale.
X Hippocrat. de Aère, Aquis et Locis.

|| Jules Klaproth, Voyage au Mont Caucase et en Géorgie, en
1807, 1808. Bibl. Univ. Littérature, tome vi. p. 40.

§ Aelian de Nat. Animal, lib. xvn. — This description

F 2

68 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

recently that we have recognised the jerboa, in the
description of those Lybian rats, who walked upon their
hind legs ;* and detected in the ErJcoom or Abbagumba of
Bruce, that African bird which bears a horn upon its fore-
head.f But what was the Catopleba,| that animal of the
wild sheep or bull species, said to be endowed like the
asp or basilisk, with a breath and glance of a deadly
nature ? It was the Gnoo described by Aelian ; and
the fact is placed beyond all doubt, by the examination

accords well with that of the Chimpanzee, which, in much
of its organization, bears a close resemblance to man, but dif-
fers from him in many important points. In the first place,
the Chimpanzee, like all the troglodyte ape tribe, is a qua-
drumanus, or four handed animal : the jaws are much more
developed than in the lowest tribes of the human species ; the
nasal bones are consolidated into one ; the lumbar vertebrae are
only four instead of five ; and the length of the upper and the
shortness of the lower extremities, is a marked distinction. The
circumstance, however, of the Chimpanzee walking often erect ;
arming itself with weapons and living in huts ; the form of the
head ; the long erect ears ; and the hairy body ; might easily
have afforded the idea of the Onocentaur described by Aelian. —
Ed.

* Jerboa, Dipus JEgypticus, belongs to the muridœ or mouse
tribe, an extensive section of the rodentia, or gnawers. They have
the head and body of a mouse, and a long tail bushy at the end.
Their fore legs are remarkably short, the hind proportionally
longer than in any other known quadruped. Theophrastus adds,
correctly, " they do not walk upon their fore feet, but use them
as hands ; and when they flee, they leap." It is found in India,
as well as in Egypt, and is eaten by one of the Hindoo tribes,
called Kunjers. — Ed.

f N. Mouraviev, Voyage dans la Turcomanie et à Khiva, p. 224
à 225.

I Le Constitutionnel du 7 Septembre, 1821.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 69

of the form of the head of one of those animals that
killed Marius' soldiers.* The head of the Gnoo is
always declined ; its eyes are small, but quick, and seem
almost covered by the thick mane which grows upon
its forehead. It is scarcely possible, unless it is very
nearly approached, to perceive its glance or to feel its
breath ; near enough, in fact, to hazard being struck
by this timid, yet savage animal.f The proverbial
expression of danger to which one would, therefore,
be exposed, has, by the love of the marvellous, been
transformed into a physical phenomenon.

Cuvier| has pointed out this resemblance; and in
discussing the ancient accounts of animals regarded as
fabulous, has expressed his opinion that what we have
found so incredible in them, is only the result of incor-
rect descriptions. These descriptions may have been
exact at first, but afterwards vitiated by details imper-
fectly preserved by traditions, or badly translated in

* Catoblepus Gorgon, the brindled Gnoo, an inhabitant of
Southern Africa, in the country near the Orange River, where
it is found in vast herds. The eyes, which are said to have so
deadly a glance, are small, black, piercing, wild, and sinister,
and placed very high in the forehead. In his general aspect, the
animal is singularly grotesque ; having the head of a bull, the
neck and mane of a horse, and the slender, muscular legs of the
antelope. " His snort," says Capt. Harris, " resembling the
roar of the lion, is repeated with energy and effect." (Wild Sports
of Southern Africa, p. 27, plate iv.) — Ed.

t Athenœ. Deip. loc. cit. Aelian, de Nat. Anim. loc. cit.

X Analyse des Travaux de la Classe des Sciences de l'Institut
de France en 1815. Magasin Êncyclop. Année 1816, tome i.
p. 44.

70 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

memoirs written in a foreign language, and probably
abounding in figurative expressions. They may have
been corrupted also by the inclination which the ancients
indulged in for drawing men and animals closer together,
and for connecting physical facts with causes of a moral
nature. Geoffroy St. Hilaire saw the little ring plover,
or dottrel,* free the crocodile from the insect suckers,
which attach themselves to the interior of its mouth,
exactly as the ancient Egyptians have described it. The
moderns considered their recital as a fable, because it
was supposed that there existed between the two animals
a compact of mutual obligation, which could not be
believed. It does not appear that the bird is ever
imprudent enough to enter the mouth of the amphibious
animal.

After these observations, may we not respectfully
recommend to the learned the examination of those
prodigies formerly exhibited to Princes and people, as
omens of the future ; as signs of the will of the Gods,
and undoubted tokens of their favour or their indigna-
tion ? Natural history might thence be enriched by some
interesting suggestions, and physiology find many rare
instances which, by this examination, would become
less problematical, and more easily connected with the
general scheme of nature. I shall first of all quote from the
collection of Julius Obsequens. This author seems to have
confined himself to the task of extracting from the regis-
ters to which the Roman Pontiffs annually consigned the

* Revue Encyclop. Mai, 1828, p. 300—301.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 71

prodigies declared to them. In the unfortunately short
fragment of his work, which remains to us, we find,
beside the mention of frequent showers of stones, the
assertion four times repeated, that the sterility of mules
is not an immutable law of nature ; also the account
of a spontaneous human combustion, which it was
thought might have been caused by the reflection of a
burning glass; and two examples of an extra-natural
accouchement, the possibility of which has been discussed
and undeniably proved in the present day.# Above
all we may mention the observations made upon an
animal presenting a similar phenomenon to that of
the young boy of Verneuil (Amédée Bissieux) in
1814.f In 1826, a young Chinese, without being
much inconvenienced, had a headless fcetusj attached
to his chest and breast bone. In the body of a stag

* Servio Flacco, Q. Calpurnio, Coss. Romœ puer solidus poste-
rior naturœ parte genitus. Sergio Galba, M. Scauro, Coss. Idem
(puer) posteriore nature solidus natus, qui, voce missa, expiravit.
Julius Obsequens, de Prodigiis.

t C. Valerio, M. Herennio, Coss. Maris Vituli cum exta deme-
rentur, gemini vitelli in alvo ejus inventi. Julius Obsequens, de Pro-
digiis.

t Séance de l'Académie de Paris, 28 Août, 1826. — These mal-
formations and deviations from ordinary nature are still re-
garded as the result of supernatural agency, or as prodigies by
the ignorant; but the researches of physiology have demon-
strated, that they are merely arrestments, or perversions of the
ordinary process of development. In these cases, some organs may
be either altogether absent, or defective in parts ; or they may be
redundant both in number and in parts. In all such cases, the
individuals are termed monsters. The varieties of monstrosities
are very numerous ; but a few only require to be here noticed, in

72 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

captured by Otto Henri in the sixteenth century, there
was found, if we may believe the physician, Jean Lange, a

addition to those mentioned in the text. Thus individuals have
been born without arms, whilst the head and trunk are natural ;
others in whom both hands and feet have been produced, without
arms and legs ; and the hands inserted upon the trunk, causing
such a similitude to the seal, as to give the name of phocomeles,
to such unfortunate beings. A man, aged sixty-two, of this
formation, was exhibited in Paris in 1800. In other cases, both
legs, or both arms have been, as it were, soldered together, so
as to form one member, giving the name symoles or siren to the
person. In some instances, the eyes approach and unite, so as
to give the appearance of a single eye only ; hence the name
cyclopia ; but these and the symoles, seldom live many hours after
birth. Children have been born, and have lived for years with two
heads, and in one case, the accessory head was planted on the
summit of the natural head.a Many instances have occurred, in
which otherwise perfect individuals are born united together, by
some part of their bodies, but free in all the others. Two
remarkable cases of this description are well known. One was
of two sisters, who were born united in Hungary, in 1701. They
were christened Helen and Judith, and lived to the age of twenty-
two, when Helen was attacked with disease of the lungs ; soon
after which Judith, who was in perfect health, also became ill ;
and both expired at the same instant. The second case was that
of the Siamese twins, who were exhibited in London in 1829 —
30. They were fine looking boys of twelve years of age ; but
united by a production of the navel of each. The writer of
this note saw them ; and found them intelligent boys. He is
uncertain whether they are alive. In all such cases, the forma-
tion of twins was the intention of nature, had not disturbing
causes interfered with the development. In no instance has the
monstrosity been of such a description, as to place the being out

a This child was born at Bengal in 1753, lived four years, and
died from the bite of a serpent. (Phil. Trans, vol. lxxx. p. 296.
Hume's Comp. Anat.)

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 73

well formed fœtus. Did the frequency of these hetera-
delphic monsters (the expression used by M. Geoffroy
de Saint-Hilaire to designate the union of two beings,
one of which is not completely developed) formerly
originate the belief in hermaphroditism, or the alternate
change of sex, in the hare and hyena ? We may believe
it, since a single observation of this kind made upon
the Mus Caspium (probably the marten) has been also
converted into a general fact.* It would not be unin-
teresting to ascertain whether martens, hysenas, and
hares, present this singularity more frequently than
other animals.

In the fabulous times of Greece, Iphis and Caenis
were both seen suddenly to change their sex by the
beneficence of a divinity. The ancients have related
similar metamorphoses in less uncertain periods. Pliny
quotes four instances, and relates one as having
been confirmed by himself.f Accurate observations
have proved to the moderns, that in some human
beings the development of the sexual organs is so
tardy, as to offer the appearance of such a transforma-
tion.

M. Geoffroy de St. Hilaire has described a polydactyle
horse as having fingers separated by membranes:]: yet, when
ancient authors have spoken of horses, the feet of which

of the natural series to which it belongs ; and in every instance,
however great the deviation, the species to which the individual
belonged has been readily recognized. — Ed.

* Aelian, de Nat. Anim. lib. xvm. cap. xvin.

t Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vu. cap. iv.

% Seance de V Académie de Paris, 13 Août, 1807.

74 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

bore some resemblance to the hands and feet of a man,
they have been accused of imposture. The history of
inanimate bodies is not less rich in singular facts, which
the ancients considered as prodigies, and which the
moderns long regarded as fables.

Upon Mount Erycus in Sicily, the altar of Venus
was situated in the open air ;# and upon it burnt, night
and day, an unextinguishable flame, without wood, coal,
or cinders, and in defiance of the cold, the rain, and
the dew. Bayle,f one of those philosophers who has
rendered the greatest service to the human intellect,
regards this as a fable. He would not have received, with
more indulgence, the account which Philostratus j gives of
a cavern observed by Apollonius near Paraca in India,
whence continually issued a sacred flame of a leaden
colour, emitting neither odour, nor smoke. Neverthe-
less, nature has kindled similar fires in other places.
The fires of Pietramala in Tuscany are, according to
Sir Humphrey Davy, owing to an escape of carburetted
hydrogen gas.|| The perpetual fires admired at the
Atisch-gah (place of fire), near Bakhou, in Georgia, § are
fed by the naphtha with which the soil is impregnated.
These are sacred fires, and the penitent Hindoos have
surrounded theirs with an enclosure of cells, similar to
those raised round the fire of Mount Erycus, the temple

* Aelian, Var. Hist. lib. x. cap. l.

-{• Bayle, Dictionnaire historique et critique, art. Egnatia, note D.
+ Philostrat. Vit. Apollon, lib. in. cap. in.
|| Journal de Pharmacie, année 18] 5, p. 520.
§ N. Mouraviev, Voyage dans la Turcomanie et à Khiva, p. 224
—225.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 75

of Venus. In Hungary, in the salt mine of Szalina,
in the circle of Marmarosch,* a strong current of
air, rushing from a gallery ignites spontaneously.
It is carburetted hydrogen gas, similar to that
employed in the present day for lighting our streets.
For this purpose it has been profitably applied, and
with a success which apparently will prove durable,
since the gaseous effusion is no less uniform than
abundant. In the province of Xen-si in China, several
wells emit volumes of carburetted hydrogen, which is
applied by the inhabitants to the common uses of life.f
Phenomena, similar to those we have described, would
at the disposal of thaumaturges, become powerful auxi-
liaries to superstition. The ignorant have been led to
believe, that water was metamorphosed into blood ; that
the heavens rained blood, and that the snow lost its
natural colour and appeared stained with blood ; and
even that flour bread has offered a blood-imbued nourish-
ment to man, from which severe diseases arose. These
are the facts we find in ancient history, and even in
some modern writings, almost of our own times.

In the spring of the year 1825, the waters of the
Lake of Morat presented an appearance, in many places
of being coloured with blood ; and popular attention was
directed towards this strange appearance. M. de Can-
dolle,| however, proved that the phenomenon was

* Le Constitutionnel, du 7 Septembre, 1826.

t Extract from the account of Vanhoorn and VanKampen, 1670.
Séance de l'Académie des Sciences, 5 Décembre, 1836.

t Professor de Candolle, the most distinguished botanist of the
present period. — En.

76 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

caused by the development of myriads of those creatures,
which are called Oscellatoria rubescens (purple con-
ferva of Fuller), and which form the link in the
chain between animal and vegetable beings.* The
phenomenon occurs every spring, and the fishermen
then say, the lake is in flower.f M. Ehrenberg,
when sailing on the Red Sea, discovered that the colour
of the water is occasioned by a similar circumstance.!
It would not, therefore, be impossible, for a naturalist,
were he to study the mode of reproduction of the Oscel-
latoria, to convert the waters of a pond, or a portion of
a river, or running stream into apparent blood.

We are acquainted with many natural causes which
explain those stains observed on stones and the walls
of buildings, which might easily be imagined to be
caused by a shower of blood. The phenomenon of red
snow, less often remarked, although as common as the
other apparent blood stains, yet results from many
natural causes. Naturalists have attributed it some-
times to the pollen powder of a species of pine ; some-

* Revue Encyclopédique, tome xxxiii. p. 676.

f The phenomenon on the occasion referred to continued for
several months. In the advanced period of the day, the lake
appeared covered at a little distance from its banks with long
parallel, red lines, which were driven by the wind into the
small bays ; and being collected round the weeds, formed a
spume of a beautiful colour, varying from greenish black to
lively red. A putrid odour exhaled from the shallow places.
The flesh of the pike and the perch became as red as if they had
been fed on madder, and the small fish died. — Ed.

% Revue Encyclopédique, tome xxxiii. p. 783, and Nouvelles
Annales des Voyages, 2nd edit, tome vi. p. 383.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 77

times to small insects, or minute plants, which attach
themselves also to the surface of certain marbles,* and
to those calcareous pebbles, which are found on the
sea shore.f

* See on this subject the interesting Memoir of M. le Profes-
seur Agardh, Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, vol. vi. p. 209
— 219 ; and the Mémoire de M. Turpin on the red substance,
which is found on the surface of white marbles, Académie des
Sciences, séance du 12 Décembre, 1836.

t The account of the red- snow, which Captain Ross observed
in the Arctic Region, and the specimen of the substance which
that officer brought home, excited in no ordinary degree the
attention of the naturalists, botanists and chemists, of Europe,
and many theories were formed to explain its nature. The most
satisfactory opinion was given by Professor Agardh, in a memoir
published in the twelfth volume of the Nova Acta Naturœ Curio-
sorum, p. 737. The Professor first notices a shower resembling
sulphur that fell near Lund, and which was found to be the
farina of the fir ; and two showers of apparent blood ; more
especially one which fell at Shonen in 1711, occasioned by insects ;
but which the Bishop of Swedberg pronounced to be a miracu-
lous intervention of the Divinity, and not a natural event. He
then mentions most of the parts of Europe, where red snow has
been observed ; and also the opinions of botanists respecting it ;
especially that of Baron Wrangel, that it was a species of lichen,
which he termed Lepraria kermesina ; but Dr. Agardh regarded it
to be one of the Algœ, and named it Protococcus nivalis, or kerme-
sinus. He examined it under the microscope, and found that it
consists of minute, blood-red opaque particles, perfectly round
and sessile : they were both aggregated, forming little clusters,
and solitary. He considers that there is a great affinity between
it and the infusory animals — beings which seem to be the link
between the animal and the vegetable kingdom, and which pass
into each other ; and for the existence of which the agency of
light and heat is essential. The protococcus has never been seen
except on white bodies. It has been asserted by naturalists that

78 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

In the environs of Padua, in 1819, the polenta pre-
pared with the flour of maize appeared covered with
numerous little red spots, which were soon considered,
in the eyes of the superstitious, as drops of blood. The
phenomenon appeared many successive days ; although
pious terror sought by fasts, prayers, masses, and even
exorcisms to bring it to a termination. Those feelings
excited to an almost dangerous degree, were at length
calmed by a naturalist,* who proved that the red spots
were but the results of a mould until then unobserved.f

it is precipitated from the atmosphere ; but this opinion, has not
been made out. Agardh supposes that the melting of the snow,
and the vivifying power of its light contribute to the production
of this plant ; but, I may remark that although these powers may
call the plant into existence, when its spawn or germs are present,
yet, we are still in the dark as to whence it is derived. An
excellent figure and account of the plant is contained in Dr. Gre-
ville's Scottish Cryptogamic Flora, vol. iv. p. 231. — Ed.

* Revue Encyclopédique, p. 144 — 5.

t Blood spots, as these were termed, were first observed
during the great general plague in the sixth century, and again
during the plague of the years 786 and 959. " The same spots
also, in the years 1500 to 1503, threw the faithful into great
consternation, because, as on the former occasions, they fancied
they recognized in them the form of the cross." Crusius, a writer
of that period, even gives the names of many on whose clothes
crosses were visible. In the vicinity of Biberach, on the Rhine,
a miller's lad, who ventured to make rude sport of those supposed
markings of the cross, was seized and burned. a These spots on
the last mentioned occasion, spread through Germany and France.
They were principally red, but they varied in colour. They
appeared on the roofs of houses ; on clothes, (whence the name

" Heoker's Epidemics of the Middle Ages, trans. 1844, p. 205.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 79

The grain of the bearded darnel (Lolium temulentum),
mixed with wheat, gives a reddish tinge to bread baked
on the ashes ; and if this food be eaten, it occasions
violent giddiness. Thus, in all the examples quoted,
the natural effect being satisfactorily made out, the mar-
vellous disappears, and with it falls the accusation of
imposture or ridiculous credulity with which ancient
authors are so frequently accused.

On the surface of the hot mineral springs of Baden
in Germany, and on the waters of Ischia, an island in
the kingdom of Naples, the zoogène is gathered, a
singular substance resembling human flesh and skin ;
and which, after undergoing the process of distillation,
produces the same results as animal matter. M. Gim-
bernat# has seen rocks covered with this substance
near the castle of Lépoména, and in the valleys of
Sinigaglia and Negropont.f This affords an explanation

Lepra vestuum) ; on the veils and neck-handkerchiefs of women ;
on household utensils ; and even on meat in larders. George
Agricola, a naturalist, who lived at the time, recognized them as
lichens, and regarded their appearance as an indication of exten-
sive diseased At so late a period as 1819, a red colouring mould
appeared on vegetable and animal substances, in the province of
Padua, which excited superstitious apprehensions among the
people. b — Ed.

* Journal de Pharmacie, 1821, p. 196.

f It is most probably an hœmatococcus, one of the Zoocarps,
peculiar organized bodies variously classed by botanists and
zoologists as animals or plants, owing to the difficulty of deter-

a Agricola, De Peste, 1554, lib. i. p. 45.
b Vincenzo Sette, sull' Arrosimento straordinario, &c, quoted
by Hecker, 1. c. p. 206, note.

80 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

of those showers of human flesh, which held a place
among the crowd of the prodigies of antiquity, and
which excited an excusable dread in those who beheld
in them an announcement of the decrees of fate, or
threatenings of the Divinity ; and who would impute
to divine intervention every rare and opportune
event.*

In 1572, some time after the massacre of St Bar-
tholomew, a hawthorn blossomed in the Cimetière des
Innocents ;f fanaticism saw in this pretended prodigy
a convincing proof of the approbation of Heaven of the
destruction of the Protestants.

When the soldiers of Alexander were digging wells
in the vicinity of the Oxus, they remarked that a spring
flowed in the tent of the King ; as they had not at first
perceived the water, they pretended it had arisen
suddenly; that it was a gift of the Gods; and Alex-
ander was willing they should believe it to be a
miracle.j

The same wonders have been displayed in very dif-
ferent times and places. In 1724, the Chinese troops
pursuing in Mongolia, an army of rebels, suffered severely

mining to which division of the organic kingdom of nature they
belong. — Ed.

* There can be no doubt that every event in the system of
nature is under the direction of the Deity ; but this does not set
aside the agency of secondary causes, which are continually
operating ; and by whose influence we explain both the ordinary
phenomena of nature, and rare and opportune events. — Ed.

f Thuan, Hist. lib. lii. § 10.

% Q. Curt. lib. vu. chap. x.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 81

from thirst. They discovered a spring near the camp,
and cried out that it had issued miraculously from the
ground. This favour was attributed to the spirit of the
Blue Sea,* which lay in the vicinity of the spot where
the miracle was observed ; and the Emperor ordered a
monument to be raised to record the event.

The Emperor Isaac Comnenus being overtaken by a
violent storm, took shelter under a beach tree. The noise
of the thunder alarmed him ; he, therefore, changed his
place ; and immediately afterwards the beach was up-
rooted by the violence of the wind. The preservation of
the Emperor's life passed for a miracle owing to the
intercession of St. Thecla,f whose day is even now
observed by the Christians ; and to whom Isaac Comne-
nus dedicated a church.]:

The rain which so opportunely succoured Marcus
Aurelius in the war against the Marcomans was attri-
buted by the Christians to the efficacy of their prayers ; —
by Marcus Aurelius to the favour of Jupiter ; — by some
polytheists to an Egyptian magician ; and by others to the
astrologer Julianus ; but all concurred in regarding it
as a celestial prodigy.

When Thrasybulus came at the head of the exiled

* Timkowski, Voyage à Pékin, t. n. p. 277.

f Saint Thecla was a native of Isauria. She was well educated,
and is renowned for her eloquence, which she is said to have
received from St. Paul, by whom she was converted from Paganism;
and on whom she attended in several of his apostolical journies.
Butler's Lives of Saints, 8çc. p. 498. — Ed.

X Anna Comnenus, Hist, de V Empereur Alexis Comnène,\iv. ni.
chap. vi.

VOL. I. G

82 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

Athenians to deliver his country from the yoke of the
thirty tyrants,* a fiery meteor illumined his path : it was
regarded as a divine fire, sent by the Gods to guide
him in the darkness of the night, and to conduct him by
roads unknown to his enemies.

The falling of aerolites has so frequently happened,
that it may concur with the moment of a combat: and
such a coincidence probably gave rise to the fiction that
Jupiter rained stones on the enemies of Hercules.f
Were we to credit the Arabs, a similar shower crushed
at the foot of the walls of Mecca, the Ethiopians, who
were the profane besiegers of the sacred city.j It is also
related that Basil, chief of the Bogomiles returning in
the evening from the palace of the Emperor || to his cell,
was assailed by a shower of stones, not any of which
were thrown by a human hand : and that the pheno-
menon was accompanied by a violent earthquake. The
enemies of Basil deemed this phenomenon a super-
natural punishment upon the heretical monk.

The inhabitants of Nantes, at the time when their

* S. Clement. Alex. Stromat. lib. i.

f This fable may also be explained by supposing it a specimen
of the figurative style. The pebbles which cover the plain where
the battle was fought would furnish abundant ammunition to the
warriors armed with slings, who under the auspices of their
national God, the Tirynthian Hercules, invaded the south of
Gaul and fought the natives.

% Bruce, Travels to discover the Source of the Nile, vol. n.
p. 446—447.

|| Anna Comnenus, Histoire de l'Empereur Alexis Comnene,
liv. xv. chap. ix.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 83

country was under subjection to the arms of Julius
Caesar, took refuge in the marshes, which form at some
distance the river of Boulogne. Their asylum enlarged,
and became a town, known under the name of Herba-
tilicum. In 534, the soil on which it was built, having
been undermined by water, sank into a lake, which
swallowed up the town ; one part of it situated on high
ground alone remained, and is at this day the village of
Herbauge. Hagiographers promulgated as a miracle
this disaster which is so naturally explained ; and we are
told that St. Martin, who was sent by St. Felix, Bishop
of Nantes to convert the inhabitants of Herbatilicum,
finding them immoveable in the faith of their fathers,
and in consequence of the reception he met with, departed
in despair ; the town immediately was engulphed, and a
lake usurped its place, presenting an enduring monument
of the chastisement inflicted on unbelief.*

In the bay of Douarnanez, similar marine ruins may be
observed. These, says ancient tradition, are the remains
of the town of Is, which was swallowed up by the sea
in the commencement of the fifth century. Gralon,
King of the country, alone saved himself; and the
impression made on the rock by the hoof of the horse
that carried him away is still pointed out.f Inunda-
tion is a local phenomenon which cannot be a matter
of surprise ; other ruins on the same coast attest the

* Actes de St. Martin, Abbe' de Vertou, in the Preuves de l'His-
toire de Bretagne de Dom Morice, tome i, p. 196. See also La
Vie de St. Martin, Oct. 24, and La Fie de St. Filbert, August 20.

t Cambray, Voyage dans le département de Finistère, tome n.
p. 221 -224.

G 2

84 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

ravages of nature : but it has ever been, in all ages, the
inclination of man to take advantage of natural disasters,
and to announce them as preternatural events intended
for the benefit of mortality.

The ignorance of the fact that certain phenomena are
peculiar to certain localities, has caused some events to be
either revered as supernatural interpositions, or rejected as
impossibilities. Among such are pretended showers of
nutritive substances. We are told that in 1824 and in
1828, a shower of this kind fell in a district of Persia;
and so abundant was the rain, that in some places it lay
five or six inches deep on the ground. The supposed fallen
substance, however, was a well known species of lichen,
which the cattle, and the sheep eat up with great
avidity ; and which was also converted into very eatable
bread.* How many natural occurrences have thus
passed for miracles.

If the multitude have often regarded as prodigies
some local phenomena, the periodical return of which
they did not reckon upon, ignorance also, or forgetful-
ness, has often obscured the knowledge of the natural
facts, even to the priests themselves, who proclaimed
them as prodigies. The following example affords a
proof of this remark. The iElians worshipped Jupiter
Apomyios (the fly catcher) ; and at the commencement
of the Olympic games, a sacrifice to the God was per-
formed for the banishment of all the flies. Hercules in
the place, where a temple was afterwards raised to him,
invoked the God Myagrusf (also a fly catcher), on which

* Séance de l'Académie des Sciences, Aug. 4, 1826.

f Myagrus, or Myodes, was an Egyptian demi-god. — Ed.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 85

account the story adds, the flies were never after seen
in that temple.* But independent of the use of secret
means, such as certain fumigations, which drive away
flies, the disappearance of these insects was only a
natural consequence of the profound obscurity which
always reigned in heathen sanctuaries. In order to
discover whether the prodigy bestowed the surname on
the God, or whether the surname of the God was the
origin of the pretended prodigy, let us examine where
the worship of the fly-catching God commenced.

In Syria and in Phenicia the God Belzebuth or
Baalzebud,f the God or lord of the flies, was wor-
shipped ; and at the approach of Pluto, or Hercules
the serpent, the constellation which rises in October, all
the flies disappeared. But such a coincidence could only
occur and be consecrated by religion in a country where
the presence of the flies amounts almost to a plague ;
and where the revolution of the seasons regulates their
periodical return.

The inhabitants of Gyrene made sacrifices to the God
Achro to be delivered from flies. J This draws us

* Solinus, cap. i. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. x. cap. xxviii. and lib.
xxix. cap. vi.

f The name of Baal-zebud may be traced in that of Bal-zub,
under which the ancient Irish worshipped the sun as the God of
Death ; that is the sun of the inferior signs ; the same as Serapis
and Pluto, (C. Higgins on the Celtic Druids, p. 119). It is
difficult now to prove a common origin between the divinities of
Ireland and those of Phenicia. Baal-zebud was in Phenicia the
star of the autumnal equinox, the God whose annual arrival put
an end to the plague of flies.

Î Plin. Hist. Nat.

86 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

nearer to the point we desire to arrive at. It was from
the platform of Meroe, # far from the formidable Tsalt-
salya, that the shepherds took flight, to await the
autumnal equinox, the desired termination of his six
months' reign. They must have worshipped in this
conqueror of flies, the constellation of the equinox,
afterwards represented by Serapis, Pluto, and the Ser-
pent. In the countries where this divinity was adored
as changing the face of the earth and the destinies of
men, the lively impression made on those who had
frequently witnessed the plague over which he triumphed,
concurred to extend his worship from Cyrenaiea into
Syria, among the Phenicians.

The Romans and the Greeks, perhaps, also borrowed
this superstition; but it is remarkable that Greece
attached itself only to African traditions. The Arcadians
of Hersea joined the worship of the demi-god Myagrus,
which they had acquired from Africa, to that of Minerva.
Their tradition reported indeed that Minerva was born
in Arcadia, but it was on the margin of the fountain
Tritonides, that we are told the same wonders were

* Modern geographers have differed in fixing the locality of
Meroe ; but M. Cailloux has settled the question. He describes
it to be that part of Africa in the vicinity of the Nile, which is
formed into a kind of peninsula by the Nile itself, not its branches
Astapus and Astaboras as formerly supposed. The river bends in
such a manner as nearly to insulate a space so large, that to travel
round it requires many weeks, while across its neck, is only one
day's journey. Its inhabitants resembled the Egyptians in their
refinement and their architecture ; indeed Meroe was supposed to
have been the cradle of most of the religious institutions of the
Egyptians . — E d .

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 87

displayed,* as those which assigned the lake or river
Tritonis in Lybia, as having the honour of being the
birth-place of Minerva. An Arcadian colony which
established itself among those hills on which, at a
future period Rome was built, carried there the worship
of Hercules. If Numa owes to the Tyrrhians the
knowledge which induced him to consecrate at Rome,
under the name of Janus,f a temple to the planetary
God of Meroe,| it was most probably communicated
by the companions of Evander, who, long before his
time, had raised an altar on the banks of the Tiber to
the annual liberator of the river Astapus and Astaboras.

When the worship of this local divinity was thus
propagated among a people, to whom it must have been
foreign, the prodigy attributed to him arose naturally
from the interpretation of his name, of the origin of
which they were ignorant. Analogous inventions have
at all times been numerous ; and especially when they
were often fostered by the exhibition of the emblems
appropriated to the name which the God bore, and
regarding which the supposed prodigy furnished a plau-
sible explanation.

The vulgar, for whose adoration prodigies are pre-
sented, believe without reflecting on the nature of their

* Pausanias, Arcud. cap. xxvi. The Bœtians also of Alalco-
menia show in their country a river Triton, on the banks of which
they placed the birth of Minerva, (Pausanias, Bœot. cap. xxxiii).

f Janus was merely a symbolical representation of the year.
Some of his statutes held the number 300 in one hand and 65 in
the other. — Ed.

+ Lenglet, Introduction à l' Histoire, p. 19.

88 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

belief; — the man of education submits, from habit, to
the established belief; — the endeavours of the priest is
to make it respected, and to increase his own influence. #

* It is curious to observe superstition holding her sway over
the minds of the ignorant long after the sun of Christianity dis-
pelled the shades of idolatry, and shed its benign influence upon
this island. Kirk, in his Essay on Fairies, seriously informs
us that these beings changed their places of abode at each quarter
of the year ; " and at such revolution of time," says he, " seers,
or men of the second sight, have very terrifying encounters with
them, even on the high ways ; who, therefore, usually shun to
travel abroad at these four seasons of the year, and thereby have
made it a custom to this day among the Scottish- Irish to keep
church duly every first Sunday of the quarter to sain or hallow
themselves, their corne and cattell from the shots and stealth of
these wandering tribes ; and many of these superstitious people
will not be seen in church againe 'till the next quarter begin, as if
no duty were to be learned or done by them, but all the use of
worship and sermons were to save them from these arrows that
fly in the dark."" The popular creed, also, at the same period,
and almost onward to the present day, was burthened with the
belief in omens, and auguries, whilst the common people nourished
as sacred the most absurd superstitions and observances. Regi-
nald Scot, who wrote a work entitled " Discoverie of Witchcraft,"
says, " amongst us there be manie women and effeminat men
(manie papists alwaies, as by their superstition may appeare) that
make great divinations upon the shedding of salt, wine, &c. ; and
for the observation of dates, and horses use as great witchcraft
as in anie thing. For if one chance to take a fall from a horse,
either in a slipperie or in a stumbling waie, he will note the daie
and hour, and count the time unlucky for a journie. Otherwise
he that receiveth a mischance, will consider whether he met with
a cat, or a hare, where he went first out of his doores in the
morning ; or stumbled not at the threshold at his going out ; or put

■ Kirk's Essays on Funerals, p. 2, 3.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 89

Miners who have died from suffocation, were at one
time thought to have been killed by the demons of the

not on his shirt the wrong side outwards ; or his left shoe on his
right foote."a Reginald's name-sake, Sir Walter Scott, informs us
that supernatural appearances are " still believed to announce
death to the ancient Highland family of MacLean of Lochbuy. The
spirit of an ancestor slain in battle is heard to gallop along a
stony bank, and then to ride thrice around the family residence,
ringing his fairy bridle, and thus intimating the approaching
calamity. "b Sir Walter refers to this omen in the Lady of the
Lake.

" Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast,
Of charging steeds, careering fast
Along Benharrow's shingly side,
Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride."

The tomb-fires of the Scandinavians, the tan-we of the Welsh,
were also omens announcing death ; and it was generally believed
that when a freeholder was about to die, a meteor was always
seen either to shoot over and vanish on his estate, or to gleam
with a lurid light over the family burying ground. Mrs. Grant,
in her Essays on the superstitions of the Highlanders of Scotland,
relates a singular instance of the belief of a learned and pious
clergyman in the predictive property of these tomb-fires, well
worthy of perusal.0 The apparition of the " corpse candle,"
canwyll corph, implicitly believed in Wales, is a light which is
supposed to pass from the habitation of a person about to die, to
the church-yard, precisely along the path which the funeral must
afterwards proceed. It is believed to be a mark of divine bene-
ficence conferred upon the Welsh, from the prayers of St. David,
who, on his death bed, obtained a promise that none of his flock
should die without having previous intimation of his death. The
Welsh have implicit belief in the apparition ; they give the name
" canwyll corph," also to the inflammable gas, fired by electricity

a Scot's Discover ie of Witchcraft, p. 203.

b Lady of the Lake, p. 106.

c Vide Grant's Essays, &c. vol. i. p. 259.

90 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

mine ; who were infernal spirits, guardians of treasures
hidden in the depths of the earth, and who destroyed all
covetous men, for endeavouring to penetrate to their asy-
lum. In these ancient and universal traditions we recognise
the effects of exhalations and noxious gasses, which are
disengaged in subterraneous places, particularly in mines.
In order to preserve the miners from their deadly
influence, science has investigated their nature, and by
thus acquiring a control over them, has dissipated the
phantoms, which were created by ignorance and terror.
But could this have been attempted with success, had
science been able only to point out the evil without
having discovered the remedy ? Could science have dared
to promulgate its beneficial discovery, when Princes, who
committed their gold to the bosom of the earth, beheld in
those superstitious terrors the surest safeguard of their
hidden treasures : or even so long as the miners referred to
the influence of the demons of the mine, not only the real
dangers that surrounded them, but also attributed to
them their own awkwardness, their faults, and their
misconduct in their subterranean dwellings?*

To science it still belongs to denounce and to
eradicate such universal errors, which may be regarded

in boggy grounds ; and which they believe indicates the death of
a Welshman in some distant country. They have, also, credulity
sufficient to give credence to another apparition which they
call teulu, a kind of phantasmagoria representation of the
funeral. — Ed.

* J. Tollins, Epist. Itiner. p. 96, 97.

"■ Meyrick's History and Antiquities of Cardiganshire, 4to.
p. 123.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 91

as real epidemics, by which multitudes are duped,
although without a deceiver. At one time it was be-
lieved in two countries of Italy that the accouchement of
women was always accompanied by the birth of
monsters, an event which was believed so common, that
these monsters were designated " brothers of the Lom-
bards, or Salernitans,"* and they went so far as to
believe that in the patrician families they were noble
animals, such as eagles, and hawks ; and, in the plebeian
families, the baser animals, such as lizards and toads.
This belief gave rise to frequent accusations of sorcery,
productive of atrocious condemnations ; and at that
time any learned man would have shared the same
fate as the victims whom he might have desired to
save; if, in opposing the general extravagance of
opinion, he had unveiled some ill-observed or incorrectly
reported phenomenon as the origin of it : and thus
exposed the deceptions inspired by folly, or interest, or
the spirit of revenge.f

* Flomann Tractatus de Fascinatione, pages 622, 623, 626.
Frater Lombardorum vel Salernitarum. Rabelais probably alluded
to this absurd belief in the prodigies described as having preceded
the birth of Pantagruel, (liv. n. chap, n.) prodigies which have
always been regarded as deserving a place among those extrava-
gant fictions which sometimes are destined to serve as passports
to bold truths.

f In the commencement of the seventeenth century, a French
priest having been, by an unlucky chance, attacked by one of
the lower animals in a manner too disgusting to relate, was accused
of sorcery by his own brother. On the outcry of the whole
town, struck with horror, he was taken before the tribunal of
justice ; and constrained by the pains of the torture to confess an

92 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

To explain many tales of sorcery, and elucidate many
features in mythology, it is only necessary to observe the
deviations from the usual course of nature among tame
animals, and among those in a state of confinement, and
detached from the society of their fellows.

But it would have been in vain for the voice of
science to have raised itself to explain a phenomenon
in which enthusiasm beheld a prodigy ; especially when
men who had the power of creating belief, had an
interest in persuading the multitude that the prodigy
was real. The priesthood would have menaced him
in the name of that Divinity, whose rights he might be
accused of contemning. Eresicthon, so says an ancient
fable, used his axe in cutting down a wood consecrated
to Ceres. Some time afterwards he was attacked
by the disease named Bulimia,* — a malady which was as

imaginary crime, for which he was condemned, and suffered an
ignominious death. Could a well informed man, had he then
related what Aristotle had written twenty centuries before re-
garding the charge, have ended the scandal, and terminated an ab-
surd criminal prosecution, or prevented its abominable issue? A
man, enlightened amidst a blind population, would he not have been
called upon to exculpate himself as a favourer of the crime, and as
an accomplice of the sorcery ? Such a result might be suspected,
when we are told that the illusion was entertained even by the
celebrated Aubigné, one of the most enlightened men of the time
in which he lived.

* The quantity of food consumed in some of the well authen-
ticated cases of this extraordinary disease, is almost incredible.
Among others, Dr. Cochrane, of Liverpool, has recorded the case
of a man, placed under his own personal inspection, who in one
day consumed four pounds of raw cow's udder, ten pounds of raw
beef, and two pounds of candles, besides five bottles of porter.
The disease has appeared in persons of all ages ; and many of

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 93

well known in the times of the ancients, as in our own.
He suffered insatiable hunger, which he attempted
in vain to satisfy. His wealth soon disappeared : all his
resources failed ; he sank under his malady, and died of
inanition : the priests of Ceres consequently triumphed ;
and a fable invented by them, records that the impious
Eresicthon perished miserably, the devoted victim of the
vengeance of the Goddess, whose gifts are bestowed for
the nourishment of the human species.*

Such were the nature of those accidents which the
priests knew how to turn to advantage, when cir-
cumstances threw them in their way: nor did they allow a
single phenomenon of this kind to escape their investiga-
tion. The Roman Pontifs, however, did not introduce the
practice of inserting in registers the miracles, which
were every year brought to light; they borrowed the
custom from the Etruscan priests, whose sacred books
are frequently quoted by Lydus :f and it is more than

them seemed to be, in every other respect, in good health. They,
however, have usually soon died, and not unfrequently of apparent
inanition.* The unfortunate Thessalian mentioned in the text, is
said to have been driven to devour his own limbs. Ovid extends
the tradition, and completely destroys its probability, by relating
that the daughter of Eresicthon could transform herself into
any animal she pleased; a power which she employed for her
father's benefit. — Metamorp. f. xvin. — Ed.

* Modern superstition equals in many respects the ancient.
Fromann {Tract, de Fascinatione, p. 6, 13) quotes instances of
Bulimia, which might be regarded as examples of persons pos-
sessed by a devil.

t Lydus de Ostentis.

* Medical and Physical Journal, vol. in.

94 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

probable that this usage has existed in all the ancient
temples. With whatever intention they may have been
at first established, such records must, in the end, have
afforded very extensive information. It is difficult to
collect a series of philosophical observations, without
even involuntarily drawing comparisons.

For instance, it would be interesting to discover
what is reasonable or scientific in the judgment given
by a priest or an augur, on the results of a miracle, or the
expiatory ceremonies proscribed for displaying them.
Often, without doubt, it was only meant to disturb, or
to reassure the alarmed imagination : often ignorance
and fear blindly obeyed a superstitious custom, however
stupid or ferocious. But as Democritus informs us, the
condition of the entrails of the animals sacrificed would
furnish to a new colony, disembarked on an unknown
shore, a probable idea of the nature of the soil and the
climate on which their future welfare depended.*

The inspection of the liver of the victims, an opera-
tion which afterwards served as a basis for many
predictions, had originally no other object. If they
found it in all victims presenting an unhealthy character,
they concluded there was little salubrity, either in the
waters, or the pastures. The Romans were also

* There can be no doubt that valuable information on the score
of health might occasionally be obtained from such inspections ; yet
animals like men become naturalized to the localities in which they
have long resided, and do not suffer from their insalubrity as animals
or men newly transported to them. More accurate information can
be obtained from observing the description of animals, reptiles,
and insects peculiar to the country, and particularly the plants
indigenous to the soil. — Ed.

EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE. 95

regulated by similar indications, in determining the
foundations of towns, and the position of fortified
camps.* Such examples prove that some of the reli-
gious practices of the ancients, emanated from positive
science, founded on long observation ; and in these we
may still discover instructive vestiges and real philosophy.
We have now reason for believing that magical
performances were much more useful to the priests than
prodigies, since far from happening suddenly, the
precise moment, the extent, and the nature of the
results were entirely dependant on the will of man. The
apparent miracles related by the ancients explain them-
selves naturally ; their accounts of them cannot, therefore,
be regarded as falsehoods : and wherefore should their
recitals be doubted, when they treat of magical per-
formances, which also admit of explanations not less
satisfactory ? It can only be believed that the priests
possessed and kept secret the knowledge necessary to
operate these wonders. Let us not overlook the rule by
which our belief may be regulated ; namely, the measure
of favourable or of contrary probabilities. Is it likely that
in every country, men whose veracity we have established
on points which have been powerfully attacked, should
relate so many absurd wonders, and yet have only for their
object to impose upon the ignorant ? Is it not more
probable that the recitals are founded on truth ; and
that these wonders have been affected by means acquired
from the study of the Occult Sciences, which were shut

* Vitruvius de Archit. lib. i. cap. iv. Cicer. de Dioni. lib. i.
cap. lvii.

96 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES CREDIBLE.

up in their temples ? And does not this likelihood
approach to certainty ; if we admit, that careful obser-
vation and a patient comparison of all prodigies and
extraordinary facts, would endow the priests with a con-
siderable fund of practical knowledge : — and, that from
these researches magic may have originated ?

ORIGIN OF MAGIC. 97

CHAPTER V.

Magic— Antiquity and universality of the belief in Magic — Its
operations attributed equally to the principle of evil and of good
— It was not considered by the ancients to imply the subversion
of the order of nature — Its truth was not disputed even when
emanating from the disciples of an inimical religion.

Time, the only power which refuses to regard any
thing as invariable, sports with creeds, as it does with
facts : it passes on ; and, in leaving traces on its steps
of the vestiges of obsolete opinions, we are astonished to
find expressions once nearly synonymous, now differing
very widely with respect to the ideas which they are
intended to convey.

During a long period of time the world was governed
by Magic. An art, which, as the sublimity of its origin
was credited, appeared little less than a participation in
the powers of Divinity; and which, at the commencement
of our era, was even admired by religious philosophers
" as the science which unveils the operations of Nature,*
and leads to the contemplation of celestial powers."!

* Phil. Jud. lib. De specialibus Legibus.
•j- Idem. lib. Quod omnis probus liber.
VOL. I. H

98 ORIGIN OF MAGIC.

A hundred and fifty years later than the period just
mentioned, the number of its professors, and still more
the worthlessness of the charlatans, who made it their
trade, held magic up to the contempt of all enlightened
men. So much, indeed, was this the case, that Philos-
tratus in his biography of Apollonius of Tyana,*
asserts with eagerness, that his hero was no magician.f
In resuming its importance, during the darkness of the
middle ages, Magic became an object of horror and
dread : but the progress of knowledge, and the dawn of
truth, in the last and in the present age, has again
reduced it to an object of ridicule.

The Greeks gave the title of Magic to the science, in
which they had been instructed by the Magi ; j and they

* This Apollonius, for there were many of the name, was a
Pythagorian, and an assumed magician, who gained much reputa-
tion by a few remarkable coincidences which seemed to establish
his pretended power of looking into futurity, and knowing what
events were transacting in distant countries, at the time he was
relating them. Thus, at the very moment the Emperor Domi-
tian was stabbed, Apollonius stopped short in the middle of a
harangue he was delivering at Ephesus, and exclaimed : " Strike
the tyrant — strike him ;" and when the news of the assassination
afterwards arrived, he asserted that he had seen the transaction
passing in his mind's eye. Although one of the most impudent
impostors of his period, yet he was courted by Princes, and com-
manded almost universal homage. The stories told of his super-
natural power by Philostratus are utterly unworthy of belief. —
Ed.

t Philostrat. Vit. Apollon, lib. i. cap i. et n.

X The Mobeds, priests of the Guebers, or Parsees, are still
named Magoi in the Pehivi dialect. — Zend-Avesta, vol. n. p. 506 ;
and chap. ix.

ORIGIN OF MAGIC.

thus established to the founder of that religion the claim
to its invention. But, according to Ammianus Mar-
cellinus,* Zoroaster had no other merit than that of
making considerable additions to the art of Magic, as it
was practised by the Chaldeans.f In the wars carried on
against Ninus by Zoroaster, who was King of Bactria,
Arnobeusj affirms that on both sides magical arts were
employed in common with more ordinary weapons. The
prophet of the Arieni, according to the traditions, pre-
served by his disciples, was subject from the cradle to the
persecutions of magicians ; and just before his birth the
world teemed with these pretenders to supernatural power.§
SaintEpiphanius|| relates thatNimrod in founding Bactria,

* Amian. Mar cell. lib. xxvi. cap. vi. — An historian of the
time of Constantine who wrote a history of Rome ; and who,
although a pagan, and consequently favourable to polytheisms
yet was moderate in his censure of Christianity. — Ed.
f The period in which Zoroaster, or Zerduster, is supposed to have
lived is uncertain but his religious system became that of Western
Asia from the time of Cyrus to the conquest of Persia by Alexander
the Great. The doctrine of a good and an evil principlewas thefoun-
dation of his religious system. He taught that both were created by
the Almighty ; but that man and all the materials of happiness were
created by the good spirit, who was named Ormuzd ; whilst the
latter, Ahrinnan, introduced all the evils abounding in this world.
The Magi were the sacerdotal class in ancient Persia : they wor-
shipped fire, and the sun as the emblems of Ormuzd. — Ed.
% Arnob. lib. i.

§ Life of Zoroaster. Zend-Avesta, tome i. Second part: p. 10,
18, &c.

|| S. Epiphan. advers. Tiaeres, lib. i. torn. 1. — Saint Epiphanius,
although a Christian Bishop, yet was born of Jewish parents
at Besanducan, near Eleutheropolis in Palestine. In early

H 2

100 ORIGIN OF MAGIC.

established there the sciences of Magic, and of astro-
nomy, the invention of which was subsequently attributed
to Zoroaster. Cassien speaks of a Treatise on Magic,*
which existed in the fifth century, and which is attri-
buted to Ham, the son of Noah ! The Father of the
Church, just quoted, places the commencement of Magic
and of enchantments as far back as the time of Jared,
the fourth from Seth, the son of Adam.

Magic holds a prominent place in the traditions of
the Hebrews. The ancient inhabitants of the land of
Canaan had incurred the divine wrath, by their use of
enchantments.f The Amalekites fighting with the
Hebrews,| in their flight from Egypt, and Balaam
besieged in his city by the King of the Ethiopians, and
subsequently by Moses, § alike recurred to Magic, as a

life he was a disciple of the Gnostics in Egypt ; was made Bishop
of Salamis, the metropolis of Cyprus, in the year 368, and
died at sea, a.d. 403. His writings are valuable as containing
many quotations from works no longer extant. Jerome affirms
that he was well acquainted with the Latin, Greek, Hebrew,
Syriac and Egyptian languages, and calls him Pentaglottos, the
five-tongued ; but Scaliger doubts his learning, and asserts that
he committed the greatest blunder, and told the greatest false-
hoods.— Ed.

* Cassien, Conferen. lib. i. cap. xxi.

f Wisdom of Solomon. " Whom thou hatest for doing most
odious works of witchcraft, and wicked sacrifices ; and also those
merciless murderers of children, and devourers of man's flesh,
and the feasts of blood ; with their priests out of the midst of their
idolatrous crew ; and the parents that killed with their own hands
souls destitute of help. — Chap. xn. ver. 4, 5, 6.

X De vita et morte Mosis, &c. p. 35.

§ Ibid. p. 18— 21. j

ORIGIN OF MAGIC. 101

mode of defence.* The priests of Egypt were looked
upon even in Hindustan, as the most subtle of all
magicians. Not less versed than themselves in the
secrets of their science,! the wife of Pharoah was able
to communicate its mysteries to the remarkable child
saved from the waters of the Nile by her daughter ; and
who, " learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians^ was
mighty in words and in deeds."! Justin, agreeing with
Trogilius Pompeius, relates that, Joseph having been
carried into Egypt as a slave, acquired there the arts of
Magic, which enabled him to foresee, and to avert the
horrors of famine, which, without this interposition,
must have depopulated that beautiful kingdom.^

From the earliest ages, Magic has obtained the
highest consideration in Hindustan. M. Horst^[ esta-
blishes the truth, that the collection of the Vedas
contains many magical writings. He remarks that the
laws of. Menou, in the Code published by Sir William

* Les Mille et une Nuits, 507e Nuit, {traduction d'Edouard
Gauthier), tome vu. p. 38.

t De Vita et Morte Mosis, &c. note, p. 199.

I Acts of the Apostles, cap. vu. vers. 22.

§ Justin, lib. xxxvi. cap. n.a

% M. Greg. Conrad Horst, published in 1820 and 1821, The
Library of Magic, 2 vols. I have not been able to consult the
German original, what I quote from it here, and in the 4th chapter,
is obtained from a notice which the erudite M. P. A. Stapfer has
had the kindness to communicate to me.

a That Joseph might have acquired some of the learning of the
Egyptians, and even a knowledge of Magic is not improbable ;
but Justin has no authority for referring his foresight of the famine
which he predicted, and provided for, to that art. — Ed.

102 ORIGIN OF MAGIC.

Jones, mention various magical ceremonies, which are
permitted to be employed by the Brahmans, (chap. ix.
p. 11.) There exists also in Hindostan, a belief not
less ancient, and which likewise prevails in China ; that,
by the practice of certain austerities, the penitent
acquires an invincible, and truly magical power over
the elements, over men, and even over the powers of
Heaven. The Hindoo Mythology in many places,
represents penitents dictating laws, and inflicting pu-
nishments on the Supreme Divinity.

If, from the East, we carry our inquiry Westward
and towards the North, we find Magic bearing equal
marks of ascendancy, and of high antiquity. Under its
name, " Occult Science" it was known to the Druids of
Great Britain* and those of Gaul.f Odin, so soon as he
had founded his religion in Scandinavia, was regarded
there as the inventor of Magic.j Yet how many had
preceded him ! Voëleurs or Volveurs,§ priestesses well

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxx, cap. i.

f Ibid. lib. xvi, cap. xiv ; lib. xxiv, cap. xi ; lib. xxv.
cap. ix ; lib. xxix, cap. in.

% Odin flourished about seventy years b.c., as a conqueror, a
priest, and a monarch. He took advantage of the ignorance and
credulity of his countrymen, the Scandinavians, to impose upon
them the most absurd ideas of his supernatural power. He fell
by his own hands ; and in dying, promised eternal felicity to such
of his followers as should lead a virtuous life, fight with intrepi-
dity, and die in the field of battle. — Ed.

§ The Gothic women were supposed to possess, in a peculiar
degree, the faculty of looking into futurity ; on which account,
those amongst them who made profession of magic and divination,
were every where received with respect and honour. On this fact,
the Veglam's Kivitha, or Descent of Odin, so admirably translated

ORIGIN OF MAGIC. 103

versed in Magic, were associated with the ancient reli-
gion, which Odin attempted either to destroy or to
remodel.* The first tales of Saxo Grammaticus, are
connected with times greatly anterior to the age of
Odin; there are few of them which do not contain a
display of magical power.

Erudition and physiological criticisms have arrived
at a point of perfection which renders it superfluous to
discuss the question, whether a knowledge of the Occult
Sciences was obtained by the Northern tribes, from the
Greeks and Romans. There is sufficient reason for saying
that they were not ;f and there can be little doubt that the
Greeks and Romans were but the imperfect scholars of

by Grey, the Poet, is founded. Odin wends his way to Niflheliar,
the hell of the Goths, to consult Hela, the Goddess of Death, who,
in life, had been one of these prophetesses.

Right against the eastern gate,
By the moss grown pile he sate ;
Where long of yore to sleep was laid
The dust of the prophetic maid.

His object was to know the fate of his son, Balder, who was
sick, and for whose life he was alarmed. — Ed.

* Munter, On the most ancient religion of the North, before the
time of Odin. Dissertation extraite par M. Depping, Mémoires
de la Société des Antiquaires de France, tome n, p. 230, 231.

t M. Tiedman has put this truth beyond a doubt. See his
Prize Dissertation in 1787, crowned by the Academy of Gôt-
tingen. De Qucestione qucefuerit artium magicarum artium origo ;
quomodo illœ, ab Asice populis ad Grœcos atque Romanos, atque ab
his ab cœteras gentes sint propagates quibusque rationibus adducti
fuerint it qui, ad nostra usque tempora, easdem vel defenderent, vel
oppugnarent? (Marpurg, 4to. p. 94 et 95.) I have taken advan-
tage more than once of this excellent Dissertation by Tiedman.

104 ORIGIN OF MAGIC.

the sages of Egypt, of Asia, and of Hindustan. At
what period the communications of the priests of the
Ganges, with the Druids of Gaul, or the Scalds of
Scandinavia took place, it is difficult to determine. He
who can develop the origin of superstition, and of the
human sciences, may be supposed also capable of
informing us of the source of Magic. But in reference to
the period in which Magic was assiduously studied, we
are taught to believe that the sages attempted to
govern nature by means of science, in the name of the
principle of all good; and at another, by the art of working
miracles through invocations of the evil powers. This
distinction of equal and unequal powers, operating against
one another, being sometimes productive of similar results,
may be traced in the history of Zoroaster, and in that of
the Hindoo Mythology ; and such must always be the case
where men of opposing interests are endowed with the
same resources. Who were the evil genii ? The Gods
and the priests of rival religions. This omen, or that
miracle, still in fact the same, was attributed to, by one
set, to the intervention of Heaven, by another, to the
interposition of the infernal demon ; according as parti-
cular opinions prevailed, or according to the locality
where they occurred.

To this direct opposition respecting the origin of
miracles, alternately the objects of adoration and of
abhorrence to the superstitious, was allied the unani-
mous concurrence as to their reality. The general
assent of mankind, is said to be an irrefragable proof
of truth ;# and we may ask when was this assent ever
* Consensus omnium populorum, &c.

NATURE OF MAGIC. 105

given with greater decision, than in favour of the
existence of Magic, or the science of working miracles,
by whatever name it is designated, by whatever title we
adorn it ? For thousands of years, civilized nations as
well as the most barbarous tribes, if we except a few
savage hordes, cherished, denounced, and endeavoured
to protect themselves against the power, which they
believed was granted to some men to change the com-
mon course of nature, through the medium of certain
mysterious operations. We say the common course
of nature, because it is important to remark that
the doctrines of the Ancients regarding apparent mira-
cles, and their generally admitted opinions, differ
materially from those which the Moderns of the West
appear to have formed for themselves, and according
to which the attempt to explain a miracle is, in effect,
to deny it. The theory that a miracle bespeaks a sub-
version, or a suspension of the laws of nature, may have
been first admitted by fear or astonishment, and after-
wards continued by ignorance and want of reflection ;
but, against this admission, both reason and scepticism
are speedily armed. In this sense there exists no
miracle. Under our very eyes a conjurer has apparently
revived a man, who has been beheaded ; and Aelian
relates that Esculapius reunited the heart of a woman
to her corpse, and restored to her both life and
health.*

The Kurdes or Ali-Oulahies, who worship Ali, the
son-in-law of Mahomet, as an incarnation of the
Deity, ascribe a similar miracle to him; and it has
* Aelian, De Nat. Animal, lib. ix, cap. xxxiii.

106 ART OF THE JUGGLER NOT MAGIC.

been still more recently asserted, that a noble magician
possessed the secret of performing it.* Admitted
among the spectators, a philosopher would at first be
suspicious of imposture. He would recollect how much
the address of the mere juggler may affect. A juggler,
very recently, indeed, exhibited to the public, the
spectacle of apparently beheading a man, as he lay upon
the stage, in such a manner as to produce very painful
feelings in the spectators.! He displayed the severed
head to convince the sceptical, and even invited them to
touch it ; to open the mouth which shut again of its own
accord, and to examine the bleeding section of the neck
at the extremity of the trunk. He afterwards with-
drew a curtain ; and, almost immediately, the living
man re-appeared. Now, let us suppose the juggler to
be above the suspicion of chicanery, the sceptic might
say : "I presumed the thing to be impossible, but it
appears that I was wrong, if my senses are not spell-
bound by some insurmountable illusion. I admit that
the fact, if once established, becomes a valuable acqui-
sition to science ; but before I can recognize a miracle
in it, I must have the demonstration, that the thing
could not occur, except God himself should reverse the
order of his own fixed laws. At present, your proof

* Fromann, Tract de Fascin. &c, p. 635, 636. Rabelais, a
philosopher, who under the mark of folly, has so many times
exalted reason, seems to have had in his view this imposture. He
displays to us Panurge completely curing one of his companions
in arms, who had had his head cut off in battle. {Pantagruel,
liv. ii, chap. xxx).

t At Nancy, in 1829.

ANCIENT OPINION OF A MIRACLE. 107

reaches no further, than what is afforded by my pro-
bably deceived sight, and your skilfulness."

By presuming the existence of a thing, on the
ground of its possibility, the Ancients, inspired with
religious gratitude, did not require that the apparent
miracle which astonished them should be of a descrip-
tion to subvert the order of nature ; every unexpected
succour in urgent necessity was received by them as a
direct benefit from the Gods ; all that implied worth,
prudence, or learning superior to that of ordinary men,
was ascribed by them to an intimate participation in
the divine essence, or at least to a superhuman inspi-
ration, of which the Superior Being, who displayed these
gifts, was the first to boast. In ancient Greece, the
wonderful exploits of great men were rewarded by
gaining for them the title of heroes, a term synonymous
with that of Demi-Gods ; and, also by conferring upon
the hero of divine honours.

If the remembrance of this ancient and universal belief
were preserved among us, we should censure less severely
Homer and other poets of antiquity, for the repeated
intervention of the Gods; the narrative of the poet
expresses,in the clearest manner, the sentiment of the hero,
who having been saved from imminent peril, or crowned
by a signal victory, imputes these advantages to the God,
who deigns to act as his guardian and to be his guide.
Actuated by such a belief, which assimilates perfectly
with our hypothesis, regarding the origin of civiliza-
tion,* the religious man does not perceive any necessity

* De la Civilisation, liv. i, chap. vu.

108 ANCIENT OPINION OF A MIRACLE.

for ascribing imposture to the miracles cited in favour
of the revelations of other sects ; he neither exposes
himself to dangerous recriminations, nor does he listen to
any retaliation with regard to his own creed, or to argu-
ments tending to weaken that human testimony, on which
is founded our faith in all these extraordinary events, which
we have not personally witnessed. The priests and the
Magi, of religions the most widely different, unhesitatingly
acknowledged the assumed miracles performed by their
adversaries. On several occasions, Zoroaster entered
the lists with necromancers inimical to his new doc-
trines : — he did not deny their power, but he surpassed
them in performing wonders; and he asserted that
whilst they were executed by the power of the Dews,
emanations of the principle of evil ; he established the
truth of his assertions by maintaining that he surpassed
them only through the aid of the principle of good.*

* Anquetil, Vie de Zoroaster, Zend-Avesta, tome i, partie u,
passim.

TRIALS OF MAGICAL SKILL. 109

CHAPTER VI.

Trial of Skill between the Thaumaturgists — It was admitted that
the victor derived his Science from the Deity ; but it was
founded on Natural Philosophy — The proofs of which are
derived: 1st. From the conduct of the Thaumaturgists — 2nd.
From their own assertions regarding Magic, that the Genii
invoked by the Magicians, sometimes signified the Physical or
Chemical agents accessory to the Occult Science ; sometimes
the men who cultivated that Science — 3rd. The Magic of the
Chaldeans embraced all the Occult Sciences.

Wherever divisions arose in the sacerdotal colleges,
on account of interests involving power or glory, then
combats of skill, analogous to those that constituted the
triumphs of Zoroaster were exhibited; the attendant
consequences were, the infusion of greater energy and
the addition of increased lustre to the Occult Sciences.
The multitude, at once the dupes of credulity and the
slaves of fear, willingly revered as prodigies, myste-
rious omens, and miracles, the unusual phenomena of
nature ; but the Thaumaturgist had a more difficult task,
when enlightened men were to be at the same time his
rivals and his judges. The marvellous was then inves-
tigated with critical severity. The fleeting apparition

110 HOW DECIDED BY THE ANCIENTS.

was not admitted as sufficient proof of the miracle, but
a permanent effect was required. The miracle was
to be displayed not by such dexterity as the ordinary
necromancer could boast ;# but by the most consum-
mate skill. The prodigy was required to stand out
in bold relief, and to display unusual characters ; and,
above all, it was requisite that the omen should have
been predicted by the Thaumaturgist, and that it should
happen at the precise moment indicated by his prophecy.f

Victorious in the trial of skill, conducted in accordance
with these laws, the Thaumaturgist had no difficulty in
establishing his claim to be considered as the disciple
and interpreter of the Divinity. In short, that piety,
which referred to divine inspiration every token of
virtue in the mind, or in the deeds of man, naturally
led to the particular study, acquirement, and practice of
the Occult Sciences. The fruits of virtue, such as
prudence, temperance, and courage, assimilate in degree,
and, even between their most distinct extremes, admit
of a parallel sufficiently palpable to exclude in general
the necessity of imputing to them an extraneous origin ;
it was not so with the results of science, always sur-
rounded by the marvellous, its connection or reference
to arts purely human, was studiously concealed.

These considerations, if we regard them without
prejudice, would, I believe, absolve the Greek and
Roman authors from the censure of having too readily

* In the present day, the Dalai-Lama punishes the priests of
his religion, who deceive the people by swallowing knives or
vomiting flames. — Timkowski, Voyage à Pékin, tome i, p. 460.

f Rabbi Meiraldabic. Semit. fedei. lib. i. Gaulm. n. De Vita
et morte Mosis. nota, p. 208 — .9.

THE ANCIENT BELIEF IN MIRACLES SINCERE. 1 1 1

admitted into their narrations, pretended miracles only
worthy of contempt. They not only believed, but they
felt an obligation imposed on them to transmit to posterity
those which their own religion required them to hold
in reverence, as well as those consecrated by the worship
of other nations. In performing this duty, and knowing,
or at least suspecting the connection of miracles, with a
mysterious knowledge emanating as they believed from
the Gods, they, by their fidelity in detailing such
miracles, preserved the history of their faith from oblivion.

Charlatanism or jugglery certainly intermingled with
the operations of the Thaumaturgists as we shall have
occasion to prove. But the tricks of legerdemain,
sometimes truly astounding, that are exhibited by
modern impostors in our theatres and public places, are
not unfrequently founded on chemical and physical facts
connected with magnetism, galvanism, electricity, and
chemistry; although the vulgar charlatan depends for
the secret of these deceptions merely on the possession
of recipes, which only teach him how to practice ; but
this does not entitle us to deny that the principles,
whence such recipes are derived, should be ranked
among the Sciences.

And this is what we discover in the temples as soon
as the first glimmerings of historical light enable us
to penetrate their obscurity. It is impossible to devote
oneself to researches connected with the origin of the
sciences, without perceiving that in the depth of these
sanctuaries alone, one vast branch of ancient lore
flourished ; and that this one constituted an all-important
part of the mysteries of religion. All miracles, which

112 MAGIC A PART OF SACERDOTAL LORE.

cannot be referred to adroitness or imposture, were the
fruits of this secret science ; they were, in short, real
experiments in physics. The processes by which their
success was to be secured formed an essential part of
sacerdotal education. Who, it may be asked, originally
conceived and arranged these scientific formularies ?
Was it not the philosophical guardians of a code of
doctrines recognized by their disciples under the name
of Magic, Theurgic Philosophy,* and the Transcendental
Science ?

Why did Mahomet refuse to work miracles, declaring
that the Almighty had denied to him the power ? We
may reply, because the Occult Science of the Thaumatur-
gists was unknown to him.f Why, in our own times, did
Swedenborg surrounded by truly enlightened spectators,
have recourse to a similar subterfuge, and affirm that
his revelations being a sufficient miracle, those who
refused to credit them, would not yield to the prodigies
which they demanded as proofs of their truth ? j We
may also reply, because he was aware the time for
miracles was over. It is said mankind are too enlight-
ened to believe in them. Is not this in other terms, to
say, that that which constitutes a secret science, reserved
exclusively for some privileged beings, has now stepped

* Theurgy is defined, " the power of performing supernatural
acts by lawful means, as by prayer to the Deity." — Ed.

f This is too severe a censure on Mahomet, who, if we fully
concur in his condemnation as an impostor, cannot be charged
with making his ignorance the reason for not extending his impos-
tures. It is a charge for which the author has no authority. — Ed.

t Swedenborg. Vera. Christ. Relat. p. 846, 850. De cœlo et
inferno prœfatio. Abrégé des ouvrages de Swedenborg , par Daillant
Latouche, 8vo. 1788, p. 37, 38, 293, 294.

WORKS OF ART REFERRED TO MAGIC. 1 1 3

into the vast domain of general science, accessible to
all inquiring minds. Let us examine this opinion in its
consequences. There can be no hesitation in admitting
that four descriptions of prodigies narrated by the ancients
cannot be rejected, and, therefore, that they ought at
once to be acknowledged as facts.

1st. Arts, which come into common use, may pass for
Divination or Magic, as long as the secret of displaying
them is confined to a few individuals.

On Mount Larysium, in Laconia, the feast of
Bacchus was celebrated in the commencement of spring;
and ripe grapes were produced at this season to bear
testimony to the power and beneficence of the God.#
The priests of Bacchus were probably acquainted with
the use of hot-houses and stoves.

Industrious men had carried the arts of working in iron
into the Islands of Cyprus and of Rhodes ; an ingenious
allegory personified them under the name of Telchines,
Children of the Sun the Father of Fire, and of Minerva
the Goddess of the Arts.f Ignorance and Fear added to
the terror with which those who first appeared in arms
were regarded ; and they were looked upon as magicians,
whose very glance was to be guarded against.

* Pausanias, Laconia, cap. xxn.

f The name Telchines, was in reality derived from Telchinia,
the ancient name of the Island of Crete, whence the Telchines
originally emigrated to Rhodes. They were skilful workmen and
the inventors of many useful arts, and were also the first who
raised statues to the Gods. Ovida bestows upon them the power
of assuming various shapes, of fascinating all animals with their
eyes, and of causing hail and rain to fall when they pleased.
Jupiter, envious of their power, destroyed them by a deluge. — Ed.
" Metam. vu. 365.
VOL. I. I

114 WORKS OF ART REFERRED TO MAGIC.

Acquainted with the treatment of metals, the Fins
also figure, in the early poetry of Scandinavia, as sorce-
rer-dwarfs, dwelling in the depths of the mountains.
Two dwarfs inhabiting the mountains of Kallova, and
skilful in forging and fabricating arms, consented, on
hard conditions, to initiate the blacksmith Wailand, into
the secrets of their art ; on which account he acquired
much fame in the legends of the North for the excel-
lency of the arms which he furnished to the warrior.*

In the esteem of men who knew only how to combat,
the perfection of defensive armour and offensive weapons
was so important, as to lead them to refer the art, which
produced them, to supernatural agency. Enchanted
arms, bucklers, cuirasses, helmets, on which every dart
was blunted, every lance broken ; swords which pierced
and could dissever any suit of armour, do not only be-
long to the romances of Europe and of Asia, but they
originated under the hammer of Vulcan; and their
value was recited in the songs of Virgil, in the immor-
tal verses of Homer, and also in the Sagas. Such
arms were said to be fabricated by necromancers, or
men who succeeded in obtaining the secrets of those
wonder-workers.

2nd. The works of magic were circumscribed within
the limits of science : and beyond these, ignorance
was forced to supplicate its aid. Indeed, the bio-
grapher of Apollonius of Tyana, ridicules the sense-
lessness of those, who expected through magic to gain
the crown in the combats of the Circus; or to

* Depping, Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de France,
tome v. p. 223.

CONTESTS OF MAGICIANS. 115

ensure success in their love; or in their commercial
speculations.*

3rd. In the trials of strength, when opposing interests
were to be settled between those who were the guardians
and depositaries of the Occult Science ; as it was feared,
that the limits of magical resource might be accidentally
exposed to the profane and uninitiated, a tacit, formal
compact existed among theThaumaturgists themselves, in
the observance of which the interest of all, even the
most exasperated rivals, was involved.

The Greek mythology did not admit one Deity to
interfere with, or subvert the schemes or operations of
another : and the same reciprocal safe-guard may be
traced through most of the fairy tales, which have been
borrowed from early tradition and handed down to us
by our ancestors. At an epoch greatly antecedent to
the first Odin, the heroic history of the north speaks
of the cruel fate of a female magician ,f sentenced to a
barbarous death by her whole tribe, for having instructed
a Prince, whom she loved, in the means of contro-
verting the schemes of a magician who was bent on
his destruction. In a collection of wonderful tales of
undoubted Hindoo originj, we find a female magician,

* Philostrat. Vit. Apollon, lib. vu. cap. xvi.

f Saxo Grammaticus, Hist. dan. lib. i.

J Tbe Hindoo origin of the Thousand and One Nights, main-
tained by Hammer and Langlès, is denied by M. Silvestre de
Sacy, who ascribes the composition of this collection to a Syrian
Mussulman, of no earlier era than four centuries ago. (Memoir
read at the Académie des Insertions et des Belles -Lettres, 31st July,
1829). That four hundred years ago, a compiler may have disse-

116 CONTESTS OF MAGICIANS.

and one of the genii, strongly opposed to each other in
their inclinations, yet bound, by a solemn treaty, restrain-
ing each from any contravention of their schemes ; or from
injuring the person of the other party. But, notwith-
standing this agreement, they attempted to conquer
each other, by other means ; but, neither consenting
to yield, they ended by fighting outright, throwing

minated a collection of such of these tales as are known in Arabia
and in Syria, is possible ; that he was a Mussulman, is evident
from the pains he has taken to introduce Mussulmen, throughout
the whole, with a total disregard of time or of country ; but it may
still be asked, is this writer the original author ? I reply in the
negative, because, 1st. Several of the narratives here brought
together, may be found in the collections of the Hindoos, and of
the Persians, which are of an earlier period, than the supposed
date of this writer. 2nd. Judaism and Christianity were well
known in Syria and in Arabia ; and the disciples of both, but espe-
cially those of Christianity, must have played some part in tales
invented within four hundred years, that is to say, nearly two
centuries after the last of those famous Holy Wars, in which the
standard of the Cross had more than once driven back the
ensigns of Islamism, and yet we find no notice of other adversa-
ries to the disciples of Mahomet than magicians and evil genii.
3rd. We retrace here the traditional existence in Asia, of pigmies ;
men who have their heads beneath their shoulders ; and others
having the head of a dog ; traditions which some very ancient
Greek authors had gathered from the East ; but which had been
subsequently, voted to oblivion, as absurd fables. 4th. Their
Hindoo origin is evident ; from the history of the Brahman Pad-
Manaba, a favourite of the God Vishnou (Fourteenth Night).
A Mussulman could never have invented a fable so contrary to
his own creed. If the Syrian compiler introduced it without
mutilation, it undoubtedly was admitted because^the grounds of it
were too familiar and too popular to risk any alteration.

CONTESTS OF MAGICIANS. 1 1 7

about jets of burning matter, which killed and wounded
several spectators, and finally put an end to both
combatants. #

If, instead of beings endowed with pretended super-
natural powers, we substitute men like ourselves; the
process and the result would have proved nearly the same.
They only differed in one respect, namely, in the blind-
ness of their fury, at the risk of betraying a secret
which it was their interest to preserve, they employed
weapons prohibited among magicians, and exhibited
themselves to the vulgar, mortally wounded by the
same magical implements which their prudence should
have reserved to terrify or to punish the uninitiated.

4th. In such struggles, the triumph of a Thaumaturgist
might possibly appear to his adversary less decisive
than it would to his partizans ; particularly when the
pretended miracle had been one of his own choosing,
and one which he defied his rival to imitate : his
antagonist might indeed recover his superiority by
displaying, in his turn, a proof of his power which
should secure to him the victory.

Nothing is better adapted to confirm these ideas than
a glance at the manner in which the ancient magicians
worked. Their art does not appear to have been the
result of natural genius, nor assuredly of supernatural
power ; but of the knowledge of secrets painfully acquired
and with difficulty preserved. To work magically, there-
fore, to conjure genii, or, so to invoke the Gods as to
constrain them to apparent obedience, required very

* Mille et une Nuits, 4e Nuit, tome i. p. 318, (5e Nuit),
ibid. p. 320—322.

118 SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE.

extensive preparations ; but over the nature and opera-
tion of these, the veil of mystery was thrown. Plants
and animals, collected in secret, were in various ways
combined and subjected to the action of fire ; and
scarcely one step was taken without the assistance of
some formulary, or the consultation of books, the loss
of which was almost equivalent to the loss of all magic
power. Such were the sources of the power of the greater
number of the Thaumaturgists, who were truly scholars
of natural philosophy, and who were forced continually
to seek in their sacred volumes the prescriptions, without
which they could neither properly work out their charms
nor display their delusions.

Traces of the existence of these books are found
among a people fallen, in the present age, into the most
lamentable barbarism, but whose traditions are con*,
nected with a very ancient and probably an advanced
state of civilization.* The Baschkirs believe that the
black books, the text of which they allege originated in
hell, give to their possessor, provided he is capable of
interpreting them, an absolute empire over nature and
demons. These books, together with the power which
they conferred, generally descended by inheritance to the
individual among the pupils of their possessor, whom
he judged most worthy to succeed him.f Sound works
on physics and on chemistry, as applied to the arts,

* The Baschkirs, like the Laplanders, the Bouraetes, the Os-
tiaks, and the Samoiëdes have, from time immemorial, made use
of hereditary family names. (E. Salverte, Essai sur les Noms
d'Hommes, de Peuples, et de Lieux, tome i. p. 143).

f Annalen der Erd-, Volker- und Staaten-Kunde.

SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE. 119

might replace, with advantage the magic books of the
Baschkirs : but we are still not much in the advance of
the time, in which certain persons, indifferent as to either
the enlightenment or the ignorance of mankind, would
have assumed that such works could only emanate from
the principle of evil. Let us now, however, consult the
Thaumaturgists themselves on the nature of their art.

Apollonius* denied that he was of the number of
the magicians : they are, says he, only the artizans of
miracles. They are often stranded in their attempts ;
but when they fail, they acknowledge that they have
neglected to employ such a substance, or to burn
such another. Inexpert charlatans, who permit the
mechanism of their miracles to be seen ! Apollonius
himself boasted that his science was the gift of God, the
reward of his piety, his self-denial, and his austerity :
and in order to produce miraculous eifects, he needed
neither preparations nor sacrifice. His presumption,
which equalled that of the Hindoo penitents, merely
proves that he was a more accomplished Thaumaturgist,
and one who could boast of a higher knowledge of his art
than those whom he depreciated. What he says of the
ordinary Thaumaturgist confirms our former assumption,
that the sect were mere labourers in natural philosophy.

Chaerémon, a priest, and sacred writer (scriba sacer)
taught the art of invoking the Gods, so as to force them
to perform the miracles demanded of them. Porphyry,!

* Philostrat. vit. Apollon, lib. i. cap. n.

f Porphyry was born at Tyre in the year 233. He became a
pupil of Origen, and afterwards of Longinus, who named him
Porphyrius, implying " man in purple," or adorned with a kingly

120 SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE.

in refuting Chaerémon, affirms that the Gods them-
selves taught men the ceremonies and the spells by
which they might be conjured.* But this is merely the
attack of one school upon another ; a strife of words.
The beings who obeyed the invocation were not those
who dictated the rites by which the invocation was
to be expressed. Iamblicus enables us to recognize a
distinction between them.

In the attempt to explain the manner by which a man
may acquire an influence over the genii, Iamblicus
arranges these deities in two divisions ; the one higher
divinities, from whom nothing could be obtained, but
through prayer and the practice of virtue : these were
the Gods of Porphyry. The other subordinate, corres-
ponding to the obedient deities of Chaerémon, and they
are thus described by the Theurgist, " spirits devoid of
reason or discernment, and of intelligence; and only
brought forward for particular purposes, although gifted
with power in some measure greater than that which
man possesses ; yet, they are forced to exercise their
peculiar functions at his command, because he is en-
dowed with reason and discernment, of which they are
devoid; and which enable him to ascertain, and to
amalgamate the properties of various existences."! Let

robe. His original name was Melech, which is the Syrian for
King. He died at Rome, a.d. 304, towards the conclusion of the
reign of Diocletian. He is chiefly celebrated for his writings
against Christianity. — Ed.

* Euseb. Prcep. Evang. lib. v. cap. vm. ix. x. xi.

f Iamblicus. De Mysteriis, cap. xxxi. Invocationes et opera
hominum adversus spiritus . . . " Est etiam aliud genus spirituum. . .
indiscretum et inconsideratw/n, quod unam numéro potentiam est

SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE. 121

us suppose that we are attending a lecture on chemistry
and natural philosophy. " There exist," the professor
may say, " substances capable of producing extraordinary
results, incapable of being effected by man, when
assisted only by his natural faculties; such as eliciting
sparks from ice, or the production of ice in a heated
atmosphere : effects which have been produced although
the substances displaying them operate without design
and without discernment. Blind agents in themselves }
they become miraculous instruments of power in the
hands of the man, who, by the deductions of science,
possesses the secret of skilfully applying their properties,
and making them subservient to his purposes."* The

sortitum. . . unde unum uni tantum operi addictum est. . ,
Jussa et imperia violenta diriguntur ad spiritus nee utenles pro-
pria ratione, nee judicii discretionisque principium possidentes.
Cum enim cogitatio nostra habeat ratiocinandi, naturam atque
discernendi qua res ratione se habet. . . spiritibus imperare solet,
non utentibus ratione et ad unam tantum actionem determinatis. . .
imperat, quia natura nostra intellectualis prœstantior est quam
intellectu carens, et si illud in mundo latiorem habeat actionem."
* At the meeting of the British Association, at Cambridge, in
June, 1845, Professor Butigny amused the ladies by producing
ice in a vessel at a glowing red heat. This was performed by
making a deep platinum capsule red-hot ; and, at the same moment,
liquid sulphurous acid, which had been preserved in the liquid
state by a freezing mixture, and some water, were poured into the
vessel. The rapid evaporation of the sulphurous acid during its
volatilization when it entered into ebullition, a state which takes
place at the freezing point, produced such an intense degree of
cold, that a large lump of ice was immediately formed ; and, being-
thrown out of the red-hot vessel, was handed round to the com-
pany in the section. How powerful would have been the influence
of such an experiment, if asserted to be a miracle, in a Pagan
sanctuary. —Ed.

122 SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE.

professor may thus display with precision, latent
influences rendered active in the service of chemistry
and of philosophy ; and all that he can say of them
has been said by Iamblicus, touching the genii of the
second order.

The professor may then continue : — " When an
ignorant person tries an experiment, without closely
following processes which are put down for him, he will
assuredly fail, if the employment of one only of the
substances prescribed by science is neglected." If for
the words ignorant persons, experiment, process, and
substances, we substitute profane, religious observances,
rites, divinities, or genii, the professor will have spoken
as if he had translated two passages from Iamblicus, on
the course to be followed in working miracles.*

Among the genii obedient to magical power, we are
informed that some were to be conjured in the Egyptian,
some in the Persian language.f Is not this a demon-
stration that the ceremonies were preserved in the
formulary of the philosophers, which each temple pre-
served in their sacred language, so as to make them
practical. The Egyptian priests worked a miracle
by a process of which the Persian priests were ignorant ;
while the latter either worked the same miracle by a
different process, or set up another miracle equally
brilliant in opposition to it.

To the mind that revolts at the idea of exalting
physical agents into supernatural powers, let us exhibit

* Quando profani tractant sacra contra ritus, frustratur eventus.
Iamblich. De Mysteriis, cap. xxx. " Uno praetermisso numine sine
ritu, communis ipsa Religio finem non habet," ibid. cap. xxxiii.

f Origen, contr. Cels. lib. i.

SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE. 123

the divination based on the most simple operations of
industry. What among the Romans, the disciples of
those Etruscans who derived their original civilization
from religion, and ascribed to it their entire existence,
were the Gods to whom the Flamen appealed, at the
feast celebrated in honour of Terra, the Earth, and the
Goddess of Agriculture ? We recognize them by their
names. The first was Vervator, implying the ploughing
of the fallow land ; the second, Reparator, labour ; the
third, Imporcitor, the sowing of the seed ; the fourth,
Insitor, the operation which covers the seed ; the fifth,
Ob ar at or, harmony ; the sixth, Occator, the weeding
with the hoe ; and the seventh, Sarritor, the second
weeding, and so on.# The priest only enumerated
the operations of agriculture, and superstition converted
them into divinities. The same superstition, regarded
as a supernatural being the man whose talents pro-
duced works above the ordinary capacity of his fellow
mortals.

The art of treating metals was deified under the name
of Vulcan. The Telchines, the earliest artificers in iron
known among the Greeks, were at first regarded as
magicians, but subsequently looked upon as demi gods,
genii, and malevolent demons. The Fifes, (fairies, fay es,
or genii) f were famed in Scotland as excelling in

* Servius in Virgil. Géorgie, lib. i. vers. 21. et seq. et Varro
de Re rust. lib. i. cap. i. The names of the other divinities
■were Subruncinator, Messor, Convector, Conditor, Promitor. The
improvement of the soil was also under a divinity named Ster-
quilinius, or, Stercilinius .

t There is no part of the world, and no portion of the history
of the human race, that is devoid of superstitious observances ;

124 SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE.

art.# And to a similar belief we, probably, owe the
proverbial expression ' to work like fay es.' " The

and the predilection for the wild, the wonderful, and the terrible
may be regarded as universal. Even in the present day, when
Science and a rational Theology have dissipated, in a great degree,
these illusions, still the vestiges of them remain, and impress
sentiments which although they are endeavoured to be concealed,
yet, are strongly felt.

No subject would be more interesting than an inquiry into the
origin of the superstitions of uncivilized tribes : but it is of too com-
prehensive a character to be entered upon in this place ; we shall,
therefore, content ourselves with tracing, to their birth place, a few
of the most popular delusions in the olden times of our own country.
TheFayes and Fairies are evidently of Scandinavian origin, although
the name of Fairy, is supposed to be derived from, or rather a
modification of the Persian Peri, an imaginary benevolent being,
whose province it was to guard men from the maledictions of evil
spirits ; but with more probability it may be referred to the Gothic
Fagur, as the term Elves is from Alfa, the general appellation for
the whole tribe. If this derivation of the name of Fairy be admitted,
we may date the commencement of the popular belief in British
Fairies to the period of the Danish conquest. They were supposed
to be diminutive aerial beings, beautiful, lively, and beneficent in
their intercourse with mortals/ inhabiting a region called Fairy

[Land

* Suidas verbo Telchines. See the article on Telchines in the
Dictionnaires de la Fable de Noël et de Chompré et Millin. — Men
who attached to the worship of nature, or the Goddess of the
Earth, (Cybêle, Magna Mater, etc. ), introduced into many places
the art of working in metals ; and were known in different coun-
tries under different names — Telchines, Curates, Idœan Dactyles,
Corybantes, etc. ; but all pertained to the same priesthood, and
transmitted their knowledge from generation to generation. It
is on this account, that ancient writers sometimes confound them,
and at other times assert that some were the ancestors of others.
Diod. Sic. Strabo. Pausanius.

a Remains of Kirk White, vol. i. p. 34.

SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE. 125

gnomes," say the Cabalists, " are people of small
stature, guardians of hidden treasures, of mines, and of

Land, Alf-heinner ; commonly appearing on earth at intervals —
when they left traces of their visits, in beautiful green-rings, where
the dewy sward had been trodden in their moonlight dances. The
investigations of science have traced these rings to a species of
fungus, Agaricus oreades ; but imagination still leads us, willingly,
back to the traditional appearances of these diminutive beings in
the train of their Queen ; and, whilst in the mind's eye, we see
her asleep, cradled on a bed of violets, ever canopied

" With sweet musk roses and with eglantine,"

we also behold her tiny followers dancing away the midnight hours
to the sound of the most enchanting music. In Scotland the exist-
ence of Fairies was believed in the seventeenth century; and in some
places in the Highlands, the belief is not yet extinct.* No idea is
attempted to be given of the situation of the "countree of Fairie •"
but the favourite haunts of its people on earth are green hills
romantic glens, and inaccessible water- falls. At a linn, or water-
fall on the river Crichup in Dumfriesshire, is a cell or cave, called
the Elf's Kirk, where the fairy people, " the imaginary inhabitants
of the linn were supposed to hold their meetings. "b So late as
1586, a woman named Alison Pearson, was tried, convicted and
burnt, for holding intercourse with and visiting her Majesty of
Faire land. The indictment runs thus : " for hanting and repair-
ing with the gude neighbours, and Queene of Elfland, thir divers
years by-past, as she had confest ; and that she had friends in
that court, which were of her own blude, who had gude acquaint-
ance of the Queene of Elfland ; and that she was seven years ill
handled in the court; of Elfland." Can a stronger proof be adduced
of the awful abuse of power into which mortals may be betrayed,
when the mind is enfeebled by credulity and superstition ?

[One

Sinclair's Statistical account of Scotland, vol. xiii. p. 243.
Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. n. p. 206.

126 SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE.

precious stones : they are an ingenious race, friendly
to mankind, and providing the children of the wise with

One of the tricks of the Scottish elves, for they were not always
beneficent, was stealing new-born infants and replacing them with
monsters. These thefts were committed in order to enable them to
pay tithe to theDevil with the stolen child instead of one of their own
brood, a tribute which they were obliged to pay every seventh year.
A beautiful child, of Caerlaveroc, in Nithsdale, was thus changed,
on the second day of its birth, and its place supplied by a hideous
elf. The servant to whom the changeling was entrusted in the
absence of her mistress, however, discovered the trick. She could
not perform her other work owing to the fretfulness of the
changeling ; but the elf, hearing her complain, started up and per-
formed all her work, and on her mistresses approach returned to
to the cradle. She told her mistress her discovery, and at the
same time said : ' I'll wirk a pirn for the wee diel.' With this
intention she barred every outlet in the room ; and, when the em-
bers were glowing, undressed the elf, and threw it upon the fire.
It uttered the wildest and most piercing yells, and in a moment
the fairies were heard moaning, and rattling at the window boards
and the door. ' In the name o'God bring back the bairn,' cried the
servant : — the window flew up ; the earthly child was laid un-
harmed on the mother's lap, while its grisly substitute flew up the
chimney with a loud laugh."*

Another description of Scottish elves was the Brownies ; a race of
beings both diminutive and gigantic, benevolent and knavish. The
former was the most common, and are described by Mr. Cromekb as,
" small of stature, covered with short curly hair, with brown matted
locks, and clad in a brown mantle which reached to the knee,
with a hood of the same colour." They were fond of sweet cream,
honey, and other dainties, portions of all of which were generally
left for them, as if by accident, in some part of the dwelling ; the
brownies being forbidden by the higher powers to accept of wages

[or

a Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, p 308.
" Cromek's Remains, p. 330, et seq.

SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWL EDGE. 127

all the money they require."* Credulity peopled the
mines in several countries of Europe with genii ; they

or bribes. They, nevertheless, revenged themselves when inten-
tionally neglected, and they could

"Bootless make the breathless housewife churn;
And sometimes make the drink to bear no barm."
This brownie was the same kind of sprite as the goblin- groom
of the English, " who," says Dr. Hibbert, " was an inmate of
many houses so late as the seventeenth century ;"a and also the
same as a sprite named Putscet, whom the Samogitœ, a people on
the shores of the Baltic — who remained idolaters in the fifteenth
century — invoked to live with them ; and for whom, according
to Mr. Douce,b a table, covered with bread, butter, cheese, and
ale, was placed every night in the barn ; and which, we may ven-
ture to add, was regularly cleared before morning. The northern
nations regarded these sprites as the souls of men of libertine
habits, doomed to wander on the earth, and to labour for mankind,
for a certain fime, as a punishment of their crimes.0 In Orkney
and Shetland, the belief in such sprites continued even in the
eighteenth century. " A domestic spirit of this kind," says Dr.
Hibbert, " was the inmate of the house of Ollaberry about a
century ago."

In Shetland we find numerous traditions of the Duergar, or
Scandinavian dwarfs, under the name of Trows. They are stated
to be malevolent beings, partaking of the nature of men in having
material bodies, and of the nature of spirits in the power of making
themselves invisible. Besides the name Trows, they are also
called familiarly guide folk ; and are still believed to exist. They
live on beef and mutton, and drink milk like mortals ; are
much addicted to music and dancing ; and are great quacks,

[compounding

a Hibbert's Description of the Shetland Islands, p. 467.
b Illustrations of Shakespeare.
c Olaus Magnus.

* Revue Encyclopédique, tome xxxi. p. 714. Le Comte de Ca-
balis, ou Entretiens sur les Sciences secretes. Second entretien,
pages 48 et 49.

128 SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE.

were known under the appearance of small, but robust
brown men, always prepared to punish the indiscretion
of the profane person that intruded on their labours.
All that has been said of these genii, or gnomes, might
hold good of the miners themselves, at a time when
their art, pursued in obscurity, was exclusively destined
to increase the riches, and maintain the power of the
enlightened classes. But the veil of allegory, which
graced the tales* "of the East, is now rent, and the
labourers in the iron mines are no longer the genii of
these subterranean workshops. Sensitive as they are
described to have been to the kindness of Princes, who

compounding many salves, and performing many special miracu-
lous cures. Like the English fairies, they are also addicted to the
stealing of children, and leaving their own unholy progeny in their
places.

" While around the thoughtless matrons sleep,
Soft o'er the floor the treacherous fairies creep,

And bear the smiling infant far away :
How starts the nurse, when, for the lovely child,
She sees at dawn a gaping idiot stare. a

It is melancholy to reflect that these superstitions still exist in
any portion of the British Empire. That they were not expelled
when Christianity was introduced into Shetland, is attributed by
Dr. Hibbert, to their being " conveniently subservient to the
office of exorcism, which constituted a lucrative part of the emo-
luments of the inferior Catholic clergy, with which Orkney and
Shetland were at one time overrun. "b The whole history of these
imaginary beings is, indeed, a melancholy picture of human reason
degraded to a state of the most abject slavery beneath the tyranny
of Credulity and Superstition. — Ed.

a Erskine's additions to Collins' Ode on the Superstitions of the
Highlands.

b Hibbert's Scotland, p. 451.

* Thousand and one Nights.

SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE. 129

instituted festivals in their honour, they no longer
hasten to their aid when their necessities are great, nor
can they now be saved by their grateful intervention.

We may sometimes trace the means by which such
metamorphoses were accomplished.* Agamede, in
Homer, implies a woman devoted to the good of
others, and intimately acquainted with the properties of
all medicinal herbs. Orpheus, a wise emissary of the
Gods,f who, by the charms of metrical verse, and the
harmony of language, drew around him the rude
people whom he came to civilize, as well as the wild
beasts of the forest.j The historians, quoted by
Diodorus, represent the mysterious arts of Circe and
Medea as purely natural,^ especially where their know-
ledge rested on the efficacy of poisons and their
antidotes : but mythology has, nevertheless, preserved
the reputation of iEetes' daughter as an invincible
magician. The poets, who succeeded Homer, represent
Orpheus as being versed in Magic : || and Theocritus
describes Agamede as the rival of Circe and Medea^[ in
the magical arts.

The Egyptian priests, who ranked next in order to

* Homer. Odyss. lib. iv. v. 226. Iliad, lib. xi. v. 737—739.

t Horat. De Art. Poet. vers. 390—393.

+ Pausanius asserts that he was deeply versed in magic. Many,
among whom Aristotle is placed by Cicero, doubted altogether
the existence of Orpheus : but there are many reasons for believ-
ing that such a person existed, without crediting the absurd
legends interwoven with the traditions concerning him. — Ed.

§ Diod. Sic. lib. n. cap. i. et vi.

|| Euripid. Iphigen. in Aulid. vers. 11, 12. Cyclop, vers. 642.

5[ Theocrit. Idyll, n. vers. 15 — 16.
VOL. I. K

130 SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE.

the sovereign Pontiff, are called magicians in the
ordinary translations of Exodus, while their arts are
styled enchantments. Mr. Drummond,* an archaeologist,
who has made deep researches into the language and
history of the Hebrews, considers these interpretations
as incorrect: according to him the text implies secret,
not magical working ; and the title of the priests
chartomi, derived from a word which signifies to
engrave hieroglyphics, expresses nothing further than
the knowledge they possessed of hieroglyphics in general.

Who, we may inquire, were the prophets consulted
by Pythagoras at Sidon ; and from whom he received
sacred instructions ? They were the descendants of
Mochus,f the physiologist, a sage, deeply versed
in the phenomena of nature ; and the inheritors of the
knowledge of his science. If Justin does not scruple
to admit the reality of the greater proportion of the
miracles ascribed to Apollonius of Tyana, he could
have observed in them only dazzling proofs of the
noble science of the Thaumaturgists. }

In conclusion, the learned Moses Maimonides § has
demonstrated that the ground-work of Chaldean Magic
lay substantially in an extensive acquaintance with the
resources of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.
One object of such knowledge was to acquire the power of
indicating the propitious time when the magical results

* Mr. Drummond. Memoir on the Antiquity of the Zodiacs of
Esneh and Dendera, 8vo. London, 1823, pages 19, 21.

f He was a native of Sidon, and is regarded as the founder of
the philosophy of anatomy. — Ed.

% S. Justin. Quest, et Repond, ad Orthodox, Quest. 24.

§ Moses Maimonides. More Nevochim. lib. in. cap. xxxvn.

SOURCES OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE. 131

might be expected ; that is to say, the moment in which
the season, the temperature, and the state of the atmos-
phere, gave a reasonable hope of success, in working by
means of. physical and chemical agents ; or which aided
the learned observer in predicting natural phenomena,
that could not be foreseen by the multitude. Intro-
duced into the sanctuary of the Occult Science, the
mystery of Magic vanishes : we see in it only the
school where the various branches of natural science
were taught; and we admit in their literal sense all
the assertions of mythology and of history, regard-
ing men and women invested by the talented foun-
ders with the possession of their secret, and who not
unfrequently became superior to their masters. To
this end, it was sufficient, after having submitted to
trials imposed with a view of insuring discretion, that
the pupil should give himself up to the zealous study of
the Secret Science; and his perseverance and capacity
only could enable him to extend its limits ; the advan-
tages of which he afterwards reserved to himself, or
partially communicated to the objects of his particular
regard.

k 2

132 AIM OF ANCIENT MAGIC.

CHAPTER VII.

Had the Thaumaturgists cultivated science with
the noble ambition of becoming themselves enlightened,
and of enlightening their fellow-creatures, we should
have only to look into their works for the vestiges of
doctrines, no doubt incomplete, but pure, and free
from any base alloy. It is not so. Their whole aim
was to gain power, veneration, and an obedience that
knew no bounds ; hence, every thing that favoured this
end was deemed legitimate : mere sleight of hand, fraud,
and imposture were resorted to, as well as the practice
of the most elevated science.

After having conquered, it was necessary to insure the
possession of the sceptre : and it was deemed essential, for
this purpose, to exhibit every where the semblance of super-
natural power, and to conceal the instrumentality of man,
even when the display of this empire of genius over nature

AIM OF ANCIENT MAGIC. 133

would have redounded to his glory. An inviolable
secrecy enveloped the principles of the science ; a par-
ticular language ; figurative expressions ;• emblems, and
allegories ; threw a veil over even its minor details. The
desire to solve these sacred enigmas gave rise among
the profane to a thousand extravagant conjectures ; the
dissemination of which, instead of being checked, was
favoured by the Thaumaturgists. They regarded them as
so many guarantees of the impenetrability of their secrets ;
and we shall convince our readers that the absurd opinions
originating from this source, were not the only evils
which this conduct entailed upon the human mind.

We shall consider in succession these two sources of
error : and demonstrate that their consequences form a
part of the history of civilization as well as that of
magic.

The present operates less forcibly on the human mind
than the future. The former, positive and limited in
its nature, confines our belief to that which is real;
the latter, vague and uncertain, leaves it open to the
unrestrained dreams of fear, of hope, and of imagina-
tion. The Thaumaturgist, therefore, could easily promise,
and inspire a belief of the fulfilment of wonders, which
he had no hope of realizing.

Nothing can be more absurd than the details con-
nected with the renewal of the youth of Eson,* by the
enchantments of Medea; yet, at an early period the
Greeks, the Arabs, and even the Hebrews, believed in
the possibility of this phenomenon.

* Eson, was the father of Jason, the hushand of Medea. Owing
to his age and infirmities, he was unable to assist at the rejoicing
for the victory of the Argonauts ; but Medea, says the tradition,

134 DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS.

Credulity, in assigning no limits to the power of the
Thaumaturgists, forced them occasionally to refuse, without
compromising themselves, to perform impossible mira-
cles. A Cilician invoked iEsculapius in his temple, in
the expectation that by rich presents, pompous sacrifices,
and magnificent promises, he might move the God to
restore an eye which he had lost. He was unsuccessful,
because, says Appollonius of Tyana, who was well ac-
quainted with the subterfuges which were commonly
resorted to in the temples, he was unworthy of the
favour he besought ; and the loss of his eye was the just
punishment of an incestuous adulterer.*

Even when the required miracle did not surpass the
boundaries of science ; it was still necessary in performing
it, so to occupy the attention of the spectator, that his
observation might be withdrawn from the mechanism of
the operation, or from the embarrassment which the
Thaumaturgist experienced, when the result was re-
tarded. This species of artifice, so familiar to modern
jugglers, was no less so to the magicians of old. What
the former obtains by address, or ingenious raillery,
the latter insured by the aid of cabalistic rites, well
adapted to inspire reverence and awe. The third part
of the magic of the Chaldeans belonged entirely to
that description of charlatanism, which consists in the
use of gestures, postures, and mysterious speeches, as
by-play ; and which formed an accompaniment to the
proceedings of the Thaumaturgist well calculated to mis-
ât the request of his son, restored him to the vigour and spright-
liness of youth, by drawing all the blood from his veins, and filling
them again with the juices of certain herbs. — Ed.

* Philostrat. vita Apollon, lib. i. cap. vu.

DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS. 135

lead.* The priests of Baal, in their unequal emulation,
with the Prophet Elijah, made incisions in their bodies
which were perhaps more visible than deep.f The
Theurgists of Greece and of Italy, threatened those genii
who were too slow in obeying them, that they would
invoke them by a name which they dreaded4 Whatever
were the means, the aim was to gain time, and to distract
attention : for, either penetrated with compassion or filled
with awe, the spectators were thus induced to regard
with less distrust the practices necessary for the con-
summation of the pretended miracle.

But we have already observed, that similar difficulties
were confined to the public trials of skill among the
Thaumaturgists : on every other occasion the credulity
was in advance of the miracle. How many tales have
we for example of the marks of blood, preserved for
centuries, to bear testimony to a crime, or a remarkable
judgment ! It is related, by some travellers, who,
in 1815, visited the room in which David Rizzio was
stabbed, that the guide, in pointing to the stains of his
blood, took particular care to inform them the boards
were stained anew every year.§ At Blois likewise,

* Moses Maimonides, More Nevochim, lib. in. cap. xxxvn.

f 1 Kings, chap. xvin. v. 28. " And they cried aloud, and
cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances. Till the
blood gushed out upon them."

t Lucan. Pharsal. lib. vi. vers. 745. Stat. Thebaid, lib. iv.
vers. 156.

§ Voyage inédit en Angleterre en 1815 et 1816. Bibliothèque
Universelle, Littérature, tome vu. p. 363. — The murder of Riz-
zio, who was secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots, was committed
by Lord Ruthven and his accomplices, at the door of the private
apartment or cabinet of the Queen, in Holyrood House, on the

136 DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS.

during the annual fair, the warder of the castle causes
blood to be sprinkled on the floor of the room, where
the Duke of Guise was murdered; and this is exhi-
bited to the curious, as the blood of this martyr of the
League. It is scarcely necessary to say that the histories
of all such relics are alike.

The head of a statue, struek by lightning, fell into the
bed of the Tiber ; the augurs indicated the spot where it
might be found, and the event confirmed their prediction.*
Without doubt, they had previously taken infallible mea-
sures to ascertain the fact; and had pursued "the same
measures, which at various periods, in other countries
have discovered to us so many holy, and curious images,
in grottoes, in forests, and in the channels of rivers.f
In short, we might refer to what happened a very short
time since, when a rabbit, a dog, and two oxen, revealed
to the adoration of the Portuguese, a Madonna, to whom
soon afterwards solemn thanks were offered up for the
destruction of men, who would have rescued the people
from the bondage of ignorance and of fanaticism. In

9th of March, 1566. The blood stains, renewed as described in
the text, are displayed to every visitor of that palace. — Ed.

* Cicer. De Divinat. lib. i. § 10.

f Swinburn (Travels in the Two Sicilies, vol. i. p. 199), sup-
poses, that during the invasions of the Saracens into Italy, the
Christian fugitives frequently concealed the objects of their devo-
tion in almost inaccessible places, where after a certain lapse of
time, they were accidentally discovered. But in every part of
Christian Europe, in countries never subject to the invasions of
the Mussulman, in dark ages, crucifixes, statues and images have
been found, which have never failed, subsequently, to work mira-
cles. Let us not impute to chance, too often repeated, that

DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS. 137

1822, an attempt to unveil imposture, could not be
made but at the risk of life.*

At Temersa, a virgin was annually sacrificed to
the manes of Lybas. Euthymus, the wrestler, desirous
of putting an end to this barbarity, had the courage to
challenge the spectral Lybas; who presented himself,
black, horrible, and clothed with the skin of a wolf.
The intrepid wrestler, however, overcame the spectre,
who in his rage, at being defeated threw himself into
the sea.f There is little doubt, that a priest, disguised
as a satyr, was the actor in this scene, and that he was
unable to survive his defeat. We are told that the conqueror
also soon afterwards disappeared, and the manner of his
death remained a profound secret. The colleagues of
the spectre were probably better informed on this point
than the public.

Sinan Raschid-Eddin,| chief of the Bathenians or
Ishmaelites of Syria, concealed one of his pupils in a

which results from the machinations of a subtle and persevering
policy ; and let us remember that other religions have enjoined
on their disciples the worship of newly discovered relics. Thus
we are told, that at Patras, adoration was offered to a statue of
Venus, which had been recovered from the sea by some fisher-
men in the act of dragging their nets. (Pausanias, Achaic. c. 21).
The fishermen of Methymna also drew to land, a head sculptured
from the wood of the olive tree ; the oracle commanded the
Methymneans to worship this head under the name of Bacchus
Cephallenianus, (Pausanias, Phocic. cap. 19).

* Mrs. Marianna Baillie, A Sketch of the Manners and Customs
of Portugal, &c, London, 1824. Nouvelles Annales des Voyages,
tome xxx. p. 405.

f Pausanias, Eliac. lib. n. cap. vi.

I Mines de l'Orient, tome i v. p. 377. A fragment translated
from original authors, by M. Hammer, who died in 1192.

138 DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS.

cavity, permitting the head only to appear, which being
surrounded by a disk of bronze, having the appearance
of a basin filled with blood, seemed to be the head of a
man recently decapitated.

Uncovering it before his disciples, he commanded the
deceased to relate what he had experienced, since he
ceased to live. The well-trained interlocutor delivered,
according to previous instruction, a brilliant account of
the joys of Heaven, declaring at the same time, that he
would rather continue to experience them, than be again
recalled to life ; and dictated, as the only security for
their future enjoyment, an implicit obedience to the will
and decrees of Sinan Raschid-Eddin. This scene re-
doubled the enthusiasm, the devotion, and the fanaticism
of the audience. After their departure, Sinan put his
accomplice to death, in order to secure the secret of his
miracle.

But for what purpose, it may be asked, do we thus
multiply instances of fraud, so palpable, that the most
adroit or subtle, scarcely deserves the name of jugglery?
I reply, that if the art of imposing on the senses, in spite
of incredulity and a scrutinizing observation, has been
made subservient to the interest, the cupidity, or the
policy of men who trade in the credulity of their fellow
creatures, the art of the juggler is not alien to our
subject. That it has been thus instrumental, is proved,
by its existence in all ages, with every refinement that
could possibly aid or second it, by inspiring awe,
or commanding astonishment. Thus, it has always
flourished in Hindustan ; and to all the other characte-
ristics, which attest the Hindoo origin of the Bohemian

DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS. 139

gypsies (Zingari) may be added their perfection in tricks
of every kind.*

That it has been so subservient in all countries, we
may infer from the fact, that the apparent miracles with
which it astounds the unenlightened, have held, univer-
sally, a prominent place in the works of pretenders to
supernatural influence. The examples which we shall
hereafter bring under consideration will afford sufficient
proof of this being the case among civilized people ;
but at present we shall confine our attention to those
magicians, who in the centre of a half savage horde,
united the functions of priests, magistrates and physi-
cians. These magicians among the Osages, owed their
influence principally to the extraordinary nature of their
deceptions. Some of them plunged large knives
into their throats, and the blood flowing profusely
left no doubt of the apparent reality of the wounds. f
Can we, therefore, wonder that among the aborigines of
America, the utmost respect is inspired for the man,
whose power can prevent the smallest trace of so frightful
a wound. European conjurors will go through the

* The term Zingari was one of the many appellations by which
these extraordinary wanderers are known. In Holland they were
called Hey dens-, in Hungary Pharachites ; in Spain and Portugal,
Gltanos ; in Germany, Tzianys ; and in Turkey, Tschingenes. The
original country of these wanderers is still undetermined, although
the similarity of their language with Sanscrit gives a colouring of
probability to the opinion that they came originally from Hin-
dustan. My friend, Major Moor, says that he showed two gipsy
women, at different times, a knife, and asked what they called it ?
The reply was " Chury-" exactly as half the inhabitants of the
great Indian range would have answered — from Indus to the
Brahmaputra." Oriental Fragments, p. 351. — Ed.

f Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, tome xxxv. p. 263.

140 DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS.

same process for our amusement ; and persons who do
not desire to pass for jugglers have carried on similar
deceptions, though with a different intention. It is
attested by a priest, who witnessed the fact, that in
Italy penitents have appeared to inflict upon themselves,
with scourges of iron, the most cruel flagellations, with-
out in reality, suffering any injury.*

In the fifteenth century, at the solemnization of the
excommunication of the Hussites, in the churches of
Bohemia, the lighted tapers were spontaneously extin-
guished at the precise moment in which the priest
concluded the ceremony of excommunication ; and this
deception was regarded by the awe-struck congregation,
as a clear manifestation of divine power.f

To expose the manner in which sacerdotal policy can ren-

* Le P. Labat, Voyages d'Espagne et d'Italie, tome vu. p.
31—32.

f Joachimi Camerarii. . . De Ecclesiis fratrum in Bohemia et
Moravia, p. 71. — To the above instance of credulity we may add
the following : " On the summit of the Ochsenkopf, in the Fichtel
Gebirge, immediately opposite to the church tower of Bischofsgrun,
is supposed to be seated a Geister-Kirche, (a church for super-
natural beings), adorned with incalculable wealth. The entrance
to it is through the fissure of a rock, which, it is said, begins to
open when the church-bell at Bischhofsgrun rings ; it is wide
open when the priest begins to read the Gospel of the day, and it
closes with a crash as soon as he has finished. Although this
statement might be easily refuted, yet, none dare attempt the
refutation ; and the report is current that several persons now
living at Bischhofsgrun have entered the temple, and have taken
away some of the treasures ; but they would scarcely be safe if
they were to talk of it."a Such is the ignorance, superstition,
and credulity of the population of Fichtel Gebirge. — Ed.
a Edinburgh Review, vol. lxxxii. p. 351.

DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS. 141

der an art, in appearance rutile, serviceable to its own pur-
pose, we have only to select a few examples. In the judicial
trial by cold water, everything depended on the manner of
binding the accused : the ligatures might be arranged,
so as to cause him either to sink or to swim, according
to their specific gravity, in comparison with that of the
water. The iron collar of Saint Sane, in Bretagne, was
used as an ordeal : in cases of supposed perjury it infal-
libly strangled the guilty.# The priest who applied the
collar was master of the secret, and consequently the
result lay in his hands. The Iodhan-Moran, a collar,
worn at the commencement of our era, by the Governor
of Iceland, was, if we may believe the traditions of the
island, no less formidable. Placed on the neck of a
deceitful or refractory person, it was drawn so close,
that the power of respiration was almost extinct, and
any attempt to reopen it, before a true confession was
obtained, invariably failed.f In public market places,
it is not uncommon to see the scales of a balance, at
the command of a juggler, alternately ascending and
descending. This trick may be sport in Europe, but
in Hindustan, it places the life of an accused person in
the power of the priests, who employ it as an ordeal.
They declare, that if guilty, the crime will manifest itself,
by adding perceptibly to the previously ascertained weight
of his body. After some ceremonies, he is weighed

* Cambry, Voyage dans le département du Finistère, tome i.
p. 173.

t G. Higgins, Celtic Druids, Introduction, p. lxix. The
Iodhan-Moran was also intended to strangle the judge who gave
an unjust judgment, but it is doubtful whether this miracle was
ever displayed.

142 DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS,

with care ; the act of accusation being then attached to
his head, he is weighed again. If he be lighter than at
first, his innocence is admitted ; if heavier, or if the
balance breaks, the crime is proved. Should the equi-
librium remain, the trial must recommence, and then,
the sacred books declare, there will certainly be a dif-
ference in weight.* When the result of an apparent
miracle is thus confidently predicted, one may easily
conjecture the method by which it has been worked.

An example of another description may be taken from
a people, we should scarcely suspect of such refinement
of subtlety. An English traveller, the first white man
who visited the tribe of the Soulimas, near the sources of
the Dialliba, describes the following curious scene. A
body of picked soldiers fired upon their chief, who
defended himself with nothing but his talismans ; and
although their muskets were charged, yet they all missed
fire ; immediately afterwards, without any particular pre-
parations, the soldiers veered round, and pointing their
muskets in another direction, they all went off. These
men must, therefore, have had the address to open and
cover at will the priming of the muskets,f but in some
manner which is carefully concealed ; and the design was
evidently to persuade the people, that they have nothing
to fear from the arms of the enemy, as long as they are
furnished with amulets, consecrated by the priesthood.

From an earlier time than might at first be believed,
men have existed in Europe, who required only audacity

* Recherches Asiatiques, tome i. p. 472.

f Laing's Travels among Timanni, the Kourankos, the Soulimas,
&c.

DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS. 143

or a dominant interest, to induce them to set up their
claims to supernatural power.* Now, if we suppose
this desideratum supplied, and instead of this being
employed for the amusement of a few idle spectators, it
is directed to ends less futile, it would command at once
the veneration of those whose ridicule alone it now
excites.

This deduction is not forced. In our own days a
juggler called Comus (and the secret was solely his) could
announce privately to any one, the card of which another
was thinking ; and this when there was no possibility of
connivance. Witnesses of this fact are still in existence.
In England, also, he repeatedly performed the same
trick, before numerous spectators, who, having large
bets depending on the result, could not be suspected of
collusion. The clear sighted Bacon bears witness to
the performance, of the same trick, at a period when
the performer by giving such a proof of his skill, incurred
the risk of being led to the stake, prepared for wizards
and the punishment of witchcraft. The juggler, said
he, " whispered in the ear of one of the spectators, that
such a person will think of such a card."f The philoso-
pher adds that the trick might be ascribed to connivance,

* Fromann acknowledges that many jugglers (cauculatores aut
saccularii) have been taken for magicians. (Tract, de Fascin.
p. 771 et seq.) He notices also, as partaking of the nature of sor-
cery, the well known tricks, of breaking a glass, cutting a gold
chain or a plate into many pieces, and afterwards exhibiting them
as perfect and entire as they were before. Ibid, p. 583.

f " He did first whisper the man in the eare, that such a man
should think of such a card." Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum, Century x.
946.

144 DECEPTIONS OF THAUMATURGISTS.

which, however, from his own observation, he had no
reason for suspecting.

If men so talented were anxious to signalize them-
selves by working apparent miracles, in the midst of an
ill-informed population, would they find their object
impossible ? If they are asked, for example, to tell a
fortune, fate will undoubtedly become the interpreter of
the inquirer's wishes ; and by this rule may be measured
the extent of their power. Time out of mind, an im-
portant part has been played by fate, in the greatest as
well as in the most trivial events of life, even where fraud
was not suspected. How often, distrustful of their own
prudence, or unable to reduce different opinions to har-
mony, have men referred to the arbitration of fate !
The early Christian church had recourse to this appeal,
in order to decide whether Joseph or Matthias, should
succeed the traitor Judas Iscariot, in the apostleship ;
and Origen* commends the apostles for this act of

* This remarkable man was born in Egypt, a.d. 184; and,
when he was seventeen years of age, his father Leonidas having
suffered martyrdom, he was with difficulty prevented from offering
himself as a martyr. At forty years of age he had acquired so
much celebrity by his eloquence and preaching that it excited the
jealousy of his cotemporaries who persecuted him and obtained his
expulsion from the office of a presbyter; but his opinion and
advice were, nevertheless, eagerly sought after. He successfully
answered the objections urged against Christianity by Celsus, a
philosopher who lived in the reigns of Hadrian and the Antonines;
but some years afterwards, during the Dorian persecution, he
was imprisoned ; and suffered so severely from the torture, that
soon after his release from confinement, he died a.d. 253, in his
seventieth year. The talents, learning, and eloquence of Origen,
were admitted both by Christians and Pagans ; and his piety was

BELIEF IN FATE. 145

humility, by which they submitted their own judgment,
to the decision of Heaven, in a choice which they might
have made for themselves.*

This idea has appeared sufficiently plausible, to induce
men otherwise enlightened to push it to an extravagant
length. Origen did not scruple to advance the opinion that
the angels in Heaven,f decide by lot, regarding the parti-
cular nation or province, over which each shall watch ; or
to what individuals they shall act as guardians. A Protes-
tant minister, nearly a century ago, maintained, that an
appeal to Fate was of a sacred nature ; and consequently
that the smallest games, those in which there is but little
to be won or lost, are on that account most profane.j
The question has been viewed in a different light, by a
writer who employed his brilliant eloquence to introduce
the spirit and doctrines of the temples into philosophy
and politics. Plato, § in his " Republic," suggests that
the marriages of citizens should be contracted by lot ;
but, at the same time, that some secret artifice, known
only to the rulers of the State, should enable them to over-
rule the decision and to render it conformable to their views;

equal to his learning. The writings of Origen, however, led to
violent controversies in the church, during the fourth century;
and although he settled many disputed points in Scripture, yet he
also introduced some dangerous interpretations of them. — Ed.

* Act Apost. c i. v. 24, et seq. " And they gave forth their
lots, and the lot fell upon Mathias, and he was numbered with
the eleven apostles." Origen, Homil. xxiii. in libr. Jes. Nave.

f Origen, Homil. xxiii. in lib. Jes. Nave.

X Dejoncourt, Lettres (quatre) sur les Jeux du Hasard, La
Haye, 1713, p. 19.

§ Plato in Timœo. . . et Republic, lib. v.
VOL. I. L

146 BELIEF IN FATE.

and that the artifice should be so well concealed, that
such as considered themselves ill-assorted would impute
it solely to chance or Fate.

To one or the other opinion, we may refer those
events, by which Fate has been forced to represent the
will of the Deity, and to be the instrument of
the revelation of his decrees. The same means of
decision having been employed by policy, and adopted
by credulity as true. Nebuchadnezzar mingled his
arrows, to decide whether he should go against Ammon
or against Jerusalem : the arrow went out against Jeru-
salem, and the dreaded conqueror did not long delay
the accomplishment of the decree of Fate.* This species
of divination was in use among the Arabs, in the time
of Mahomet : but that prophet proscribed it as a hateful
sin.f The Tartar hordes led on by Gengis Khan to
the conquest of Asia, endeavoured by this means also
to ascertain the issue of a battle. A trick rendered the
effect more striking. The magicians wrote the respec-
tive names of the rival armies on two arrows, which,
without any apparent cause, became agitated, approached
each other, and fought ; lastly, one placed itself upon
the other, which was supposed to indicate the army
destined to succumb. | Jugglers, who know the use of a
hair, or an almost imperceptible thread of silk, in moving
cards from a distance, would find no difficulty in working
this miracle of the Tartars.

The Christians themselves, have not abstained from

* Ezekiel, chap. xxi. 19 — 22.

f Le Coran, Sourate v. verset 99.

X Petis de la Croix, Histoire de Gengis Khan, p. 65 — 67.

BELIEF IN FATE. 147

this superstitious practice. Alexis* Comnenus, in order
to ascertain whether he should attack the Comanes, and
whether he should offer battle, or march to the assistance
of a besieged city, placed two tablets on the altar, in the
belief that the one which should first strike his eye,
after a night passed in prayer, would convey an expres-
sion of the will of Heaven. # The Senators of Venice,
under the reign of the Doge Dominique Michieli,f not
being able to agree respecting the town which they
should first attack, referred the decision to the lot, and
abode by its result.

Although at Venice, even more than elsewhere, Fate
had been frequently consulted in this manner, with a
view to modify the elections and divide the suffrages ;
yet it may be doubted, whether it was seriously allowed
to exercise the same influence over the schemes for a
campaign, particularly in a Senate renowned for its
policy, and at that time composed of accomplished
warriors. It was more likely to have been a studied
stratagem, intended to engage a brave but undisciplined
and insubordinate people, in an expedition the dangers
and fatigues of which, robbed it of its glory, and made
its necessity less apparent ?

In the decline and miserably weak condition of the
Greek Empire, neither honour, national interest, nor
religion, nothing in fact but superstition, was capable of
inspiring a degraded population with energy ; it was this
decision of Fate that roused Alexis, a Prince who was in
advance both of his age and his nation, to action. And

* Anna Comnène, Histoire d'Alexis Commue, liv. x. chap. v.
t D. Michieli, 35e Doge. . . Hadrian, Barland, De ducib. venet.

L 2

148 BELIEF IN FATE.

although, in former times, we find the interpretation of
Fate proclaimed in a thousand shapes hy the oracles, and
its decision sought after with avidity, as well as received
with blind veneration ; yet, we believe at the same time,
that the King of Babylon, having previously arranged his
plans, resorted to this superstitious ceremony, merely as a
means of insuring its success, by demonstrating its
infallibility, as guaranteed by the Gods, to the enthu-
siasm of his soldiers.

To lead men on by their credulity, in pretending to
partake of it, is an artifice of policy, which, in every
quarter of the globe, and in all times has been politically
employed, without any other care than varying its form,
so as to make it coincide with the habits, and the intel-
ligence of the race of men on whom it was destined to
act.

The chief of a Brazilian tribe, having taken up arms
at the instigation of the Dutch, who had promised him
efficient assistance, had some reason to suspect, that
his allies intended to leave him to give battle unsup-
ported, and afterwards to reap the fruits of his exertions
against their common enemy. On several occasions,
therefore, he consulted his Gods in presence of the Dutch
Ambassadors. From the sacrificial hut, voices seemed to
issue predicting defeat and flight, should the combat
commence before the arrival of the promised succour ;
they also announced, that the time was not yet arrived
for receiving their aid ; and commanded the chief, mean-
while, to retire before the enemy. With the assent of
his soldiers, he protested that he should obey, and retire
even into the territories of the Dutch ; this was a sure

BELIEF IN FATE. 149

mode of putting an end to the delay. The Dutch
envoy, Baro, firmly believed the oracle to proceed from
the devil. # We may ascribe it with greater probability
to priests concealed in the sacrificial hut. The artifice
was rude, but the policy was complete.

The augur Naevius, after having in the name of
religion, boldly opposed the alterations which the elder
Tarquin was desirous of effecting in the Roman consti-
tution, was summoned to give a proof of his science, by
demonstrating the possibility of a design secretly thought
of by that monarch. He replied that he would give a
proof. The design was to cut through a flint with a
razor ; and we are told that the miracle was performed
in the sight of all the people, f The oracle of Delphi
indicated with precision the occupation of-Crcesus in the
interior of his palace at Sardis, at the very moment of
the inquiry.

We are inclined to suspect that Tarquin, unable
honourably to withdraw from a project, the danger of
which he perceived too late, connived at the opposition
of the augur, and with him, preconcerted the miracle
best adapted to give him an apparent triumph; thus
preserving his honour by seeming to yield to the Gods
alone. We know that the ostensible pretext, for the

* Voyage de Roulox Baro au Pays des Tapayes en 1647.

f Dionys. Halic. lib. in. cap. xxiv.— Tarquin as a reward of
the skill of Naevius, erected him a statue in the Canitium, a large
open place of Assembly in Rome, and buried the razor and flint
near it. Cicero, who had himself been an augur, treats this
absurd story as it deserves. — Ed.

150 ORACULAR PREDICTIONS.

religious embassies of the King of Lydia, was to consult
the Fates on his projects, while their real end was to
gain the cooperation of his people, and to encourage
them by the brilliant promises made to him by the
most celebrated of oracles. #

These promises proved deceitful ; and the equivoca-
tion by which the Delphic God maintained the repu-
tation of his infallibility, recurs so naturally to our
memory, and awakens the recollection of so many
similar events, that we might give a sufficient explanation
of almost all these oracles, by recalling the ambiguity of
terms ; the connivance that favoured them ; the mecha-
nical inventions that suggested the omens ;f and the acci-
dental advantages offered by the simplicity of those who
came to consult them. We may, indeed, remark that
many of these oracles do not seem so much to have been
verified, as credulity desired and believed them to be.

* The same power of stating what is passing in places at a
great distance from that in which the person is at the moment he
is making the statement, has been assumed by the mesmerists of
the present day ; and such is the influence of credulity over even
educated persons, that many have believed it to be possible. —
Ed.

f Lavater had made a promise to the metaphysician Bonnet,
that a sorceress, residing at Morat, should four times in a day,
declare what Bonnet himself was doing at Geneva. At first, two
predictions exactly corresponded ; but the succeeding ones were
all absurd. (Dumont, Traité des Preuves Judiciaires de J. Ben-
tham, tome n. p. 233 — 234). In an earlier age, credit would
have been given to the two first trials, and their fortuitous suc-
cess would have been deemed confirmatory of a supernatural
power.

ORACULAR PREDICTIONS.

151

Every one who has read the excellent History of Oracles
by Fontenelle, chiefly* taken from the work of Vandale,f
must be aware that it leaves us but little to add respecting
a widely spread error of a belief in oracles, which was so
universal indeed, that it appears scarcely to have ceased
under one form, before it was reproduced under another ;
so unable are reason and experience to combat with the
passionate desire to penetrate into futurity.

I may now merely remind my readers that Apollo
bestowed on his favourites the gift of divination, on
the condition, that they should not inquire of him
concerning that which was not permitted to be revealed,!
a wise precaution, to avoid perplexing queries. The
sybil wrote her oracles on leaves,§ which dispersed on
the winds, were by this artifice rendered obscure and
incomplete, and opened a door for equivocation until
time brought about the event. I need likewise merely

* See Clavier's Mémoire sur les Oi'acles Anciens, 8vo. 1818.
Lucien (Alexandre ou le Faux Prophète, Œuvres de Lucien, t. ni.
p. 18—23, and 42—46), gives an idea of the artifices employed
by the priests of the oracles in his time ; amongst others was the
secret of unsealing letters so familiar to modern governments.

f Anthony Vandale, a learned Dutchman, who practised both
physic and theology. He wrote two dissertations De Oraculis,
which were published in 1700. The Histoire des Oracles of Fon-
tenelle is taken entirely from Vandale's work. Its object is to
prove that the oracles were not the responses of supernatural
agents or demons ; and that they did not cease after the appear-
ance of our Saviour, or the commencement of the Christian era. —
En.

{ Servius in Virgil, Eclog. vin. v. 30.

§ Virgil, Mneid. lib. vi. v. 442—450.

152 EVILS OF ORACULAR PREDICTIONS.

recal to recollection the colossal statue of Siva,* in the
rear of which are paths leading to a commodious seat,
just under the head gear of the God ; a place meant
undoubtedly for the priest, whose office it was to utter
the oracles, in the name of the God.

Weak impassioned men, the slaves of interest and
ambition, of pride and of policy, were those who pro-
nounced these oracles. It is known and a thousand
instances demonstrate the fact that they even appeared
respectable in the eyes of those who profited by their
deluding intervention. This consideration gives the cha-
racter of history to many mythological tales. A chief or
a king is led to believe that intimation had been received
from Heaven, that his life and his throne are in jeopardy ;
and the murderer whom he has to fear, it is said, is his son,
or his son-in-law, or the son of his only daughter. By
an inconsistency so frequently repeated, that it passes
unnoticed, the alarmed Prince, acting on an implicit
credence in the prediction and its infallibility, neverthe-
less adopts such measures as show that he believes it
possible to avert his destiny. Condemning himself or
his daughter to celibacy, he may die without posterity ; or
jealously combating an imaginary danger, he may become
an unjust aggressor, or a suspicious father, and expose

* Maria Graham, Séjour aux Indes, p. 96. — Siva Kala is one of
the Hindoo triad, the Indian God of Fire, and is called the Destroyer.
His ministers are evil spirits, Saktis, who are supposed to live in
the stars, clouds, and lower part of the Heavens : and bloody
sacrifices are offered up both to the principal God, and to his
satellites. — Ed.

EVILS RESULTING FROM PREDICTIONS. 153

himself to assassination, from one whose days he had
himself proscribed. His riches and his power thus pass
into the hands of the men who dictated the prediction,
and who had long been prepared to reap its fruits. In
this story there is nothing marvellous, nothing difficult
for human credulity to believe ; an apparent miracle con-
fined to no age, and to no particular locality.

Only such of the Greeks as were bound by a solemn
oath to follow Menelaus, were led by him to the walls of
Troy; and among these might have been found many who
went with reluctance, and many more who were desirous
to abandon a cruel enterprise, the issue of which seemed
every day more doubtful and more distant. Of this
number Calchas appears to have been a prophet on
whom the confidence of the whole army depended.*
Sure of his ascendancy, he multiplied discouraging pre-
dictions. From the opening of the war he declared
that a ten years' siege would be necessary to capture Troy.
He reduced the commander-in-chief to the alternative of
sacrificing his only daughter Iphigenia to Diana, or
renouncing the expedition. At a later period, he
required him to part with a favourite slave. The
omens which protected the city of Priam, were multi-

* Calchas had received the powers of divination from Apollo ;
and, at the same time, he was informed that, should he find one more
skilled in the art than himself, he must perish. This prediction was
fulfilled at Colophon, after the Trojan war. Mopus, another augur,
mentioned the exact number of figs on the branches of a certain
fig tree after Calchas had failed ; and the chagrin which this defeat
occasioned was the death of the unfortunate soothsayer. — Ed.

154 TREATMENT OF PROPHETS.

plied by him at will. It was not enough to have dragged
Achilles to certain death ; the son of that hero should
also come there after the death of the father. It was
necessary that Philoctetes, removed by an offence which
was unpardonable, and only aggravated by time, should
be brought there : lastly it was necessary to penetrate
into the heart of the besieged city, and to abduct the
mysterious image of its protecting deity. Considered
in this light, do not oracles, apparently fabulous, form
an important part of the history of a people, over whom
they exercised so irresistible an empire ?*

* The oracles of antiquity were very numerous, but in all of
them the pretended revelations were made through some medium,
which was different in the different places where the oracles existed.
They were consulted on all important occasions of public and pri-
vate life ; and they were expected to point out both what ought to
be done, and what ought not to be done by the inquirer.

The most celebrated of the Greek oracles were those of Apollo,
of which there were twenty- two ; but the chief was that of Delphi,
which was more resorted to and consulted than even that of Zeus,
or Jupiter, at Olympia. At Delphi, the Pythia, when intoxicated
by the vapours which issued from under the tripod on which she
sat, uttered unintelligible sounds, which were written down, and
explained by the priestess before they were delivered to those who
consulted the oracle. The Pythias were, in early times, young
girls ; but, owing to an indiscretion committed by one of them,
they were afterwards not elected until they had attained the age of
fifty years, although, even then, they were attired as young
maidens. They were frequently obliged to be changed on account
of the deleterious influence of the gas on their constitutions ; and
sometimes, indeed, they fell victims to its power, although they
prepared themselves before ascending the tripod by fasting three
days, and bathing in theCastalian fountain. Plutarch informs us (de

TREATMENT OF PROPHETS. 155

If the future may be predicted with certainty, then
must it be irrevocably fixed ; and thus the prophet
resembles the sun-dial, as it passively reveals the sun's
diurnal progress. But credulity is as unreasoning as it

Orat. Def. c. 51), that the Pythia in her delirium has leaped from
the tripod, been thrown into convulsions, and after a few days
has died. In the zenith of the prosperity of Greece, there were
three Pythias, who alternately officiated.

It is curious to find that, amidst the superstition which gave
to oracles such great authority, responses were refused to any one
who came with any evil design, or who had committed a crime,
until he had atoned for it ; the natural effect of which was to
insure a sincere faith in the oracle. The opinions respecting the
source of the wisdom displayed in many of the answers have been
various ; some ascribing them truly to divine influence ; others,
with more probability, to the priests being men of education and
elevated sentiments, who, for the sake of power, lent themselves
to a sacred imposture.

The next in celebrity of the oracles of Apollo, was that at
Didyma, in the territory of Miletus. It was called the Oracle of
the Branchidœ, from Branchos, a son of Apollo, who came from
Delphi, and built the altar at Didyma. The same ceremonies
were observed here as at Delphi.

Another oracle of Apollo, much consulted, was situated at
Claros, in the territory of Colophon. The responses were deli-
vered in verse by a priest, who descended into a cavern, drank of
the water from a secret well, and then pronounced the oracle."

Besides the oracles of Zeus, Apollo, and other Gods, there were
also oracles of heroes. That of Amphiares, near Thebes, was
consulted chiefly by invalids, who, after sacrificing a ram, slept a
night in the temple, where they expected the means of their
recovery to be revealed to them in their dreams ; a specimen of
credulity only equalled by that displayed in the present time, in
the confidence reposed in the healing power of every nostrum
which knavery and impudence offers to the public.

[The
a Tacitus. Annal, n. 54.

156 TREATMENT OF PROPHETS.

is passionate : and according as the predictions please
or afflict, the prophet is exalted as a God, or hated as a
malevolent Spirit ; is adored, or cursed ; rewarded, or
punished. By fear he is taxed with imposture, with
malevolence, or with corruption ; he is insulted, menaced,
given up to torture; he is supplicated to retract his
words, as though the pretended gift of penetrating the
future was accompanied by the power of changing its
decrees ; yet these revelations always obtained credit.
If we compare the bearing of these contradictory senti-
ments with the influence possessed by these oracles,
there will be just reason for suspecting that the prophets
themselves did not always know the extent of their
resources ; that they kept within the limits of the power
attainable by them : and we may trace the natural pro-
gression of the human passions, in what, until the

The oracle of Trophonius shall be noticed in a future note.

The oracles of vEsculapius were numerous, but the most cele-
brated was that of Epidaurus, in which recovery was sought
in the same manner as at Amphiarus, by sleeping in the
temple. A German author of the name of Wolf,a has endea-
voured to show, that what is now termed Mesmerism, was known
to the priests of this temple ; but the point is not satisfactorily
made out.

The most singular of all the oracles were those of the dead, in
which sacrifices were offered to the Powers of the lower regions,
and the spirits of the dead were supposed to be called up. It is
probable that the agent in this case was ventriloquism ; and the
shades made to appear by means similar to those employed in the
phantasmagoria, of which an explanation will be found in a sub-
sequent note. — Ed.

' Beitrag zur Gesch. des Somnambulismus, fyc. (Vermischte
Schriften, p. 382).

VENTRILOQUISM EMPLOYED IN ORACLES. 157

present time, has appeared to be a mere tissue of false-
hoods, or the delirium of the imagination.

I have already said, that many things which, in the
present day belong only to the sphere of amusement
were formerly employed to extend the dominion of .the
Thaumaturgists. The ventriloquist, whose only aim
now is to excite our laughter, formerly played a more
serious part.*

This internal voice, which is apparently extraneous to
the utterer, whose lips remain motionless, whether it ap-
peared to come from the earth, or from a distant object, was
anciently regarded as a supernatural and superhuman

* Ventriloquism is the power of imitating voices, sounds, or noises,
as if they were perfectly extraneous and not originating in the
utterer, but in some other person, and in places at various distances,
and even in several directions. A skilful ventriloquist produces these
effects without any apparent movement of his jaws, lips or features.
Various opinions have been advanced by physiologists with regard
to the manner of producing such an effect. The most commonly
received opinion refers it to the power of articulation during in-
spiration. M. Majendie regards it as a mere modification of the
ordinary voice, so as to imitate the sounds which the voice suffers
from distance : and latterly Miiller contends that, it " consists in
inspiring deeply, so as to protrude forward the abdominal viscera by
the descent of the diaphragm, and then speaking while the expira-
tion is performed very slowly through a very narrow glottis by means
of the sides of the chest alone, the diaphragm maintaining its
depressed position. Sounds may be thus uttered which resemble
the voice of a person calling from a distance." a This is a very
probable explanation, especially as the imagination influences the
judgment when we direct the ear to the place whence the ventri-
loquist pretends that the sounds proceed ; a part of the trick which
is always taken advantage of by the ventriloquists. — En.

* Mtiller's Elements of Physiology, translated by Bali/, vol. n.
p. 1307.

158 VENTRILOQUISM EMPLOYED IN ORACLES.

sound.* The expressions of the historian Josephus,f leave
no room to doubt that the witch of Endor was a ventrilo-
quist, and thus had no difficulty in conveying to Saul
responses from the assumed shade of Samuel. Other
beings similarly endowed with the spirit of a Python,
and the power of sorcery, expressed their oracles through
the medium of a low dull voice, apparently issuing from

* Flav. Joseph, aut. Jud. lib. iv. cap. xv.

t The art of ventriloquism was known at a very early period,
and was generally regarded by the ignorant as a supernatural gift,
associated with sorcery. It was one of the evidences against a
person accused of sorcery, and of course had a share in producing
their condemnation. In the seventeenth century a woman named
Cécile, astonished the inhabitants of Lisbon with her powers as a
ventriloquist ; she was convicted of being a sorceress, and possessed
of a demon; and, although she was not burnt, yet, she was
transported to the island of St. Thomas, where she died.3

" One of the most successful ventriloquists of modern times
was M. St. Gille, a grocer, of St. Germain en Laye. He exhibited
his art merely as a matter of amusement, but with a degree of
skill which appears almost incredible. He had occasion to take
shelter from a storm in a convent, while the monks were lament-
ing, over the tomb of a lately deceased brother, the few honours
that had been paid to his memory. A voice was suddenly heard
to proceed from the roof of the choir, bewailing the condition of
the deceased in purgatory, and reproving the brotherhood for their
want of zeal. The tidings of this supernatural event brought the
whole brotherhood into the church. The voice again repeated
its lamentations and reproaches, and the whole convent fell upon
their faces, and vowed to make a reparation of their error. They
accordingly chanted in full choir a De Profundis, during the inter-
vals of which the spirit of the departed monk expressed his satis-
faction at their pious exercises. The Prior afterwards expressed
himself strongly against modern scepticism on the subject of ap-

a Hist. Cvrieuse des Sorciers, &c. par Mathias de Giraldo.

VENTRILOQUISM EMPLOYED IN ORACLES. 159

the earth : from which custom a striking comparison is
borrowed by the prophet Isaiah.*

The name of Engastrimythes, given by the Greeks to
the Pythise, women practising the art of divination,f indi-
cates, that they made use of the same artifice. Pythagoras
addresses a speech to the river Nessus, which answered
in a distinct voice, I greet thee, Pythagoras. I

paritions ; and M. St. Gille had great difficulty in convincing the
fraternity that the whole was a deception. a

The influence of ventriloquism over the human race is not, there-
fore, wonderful, when we perceive that it is not merely confined
to the imitation of sounds and voices on earth, but that he has, in
a certain degree, the supernatural at his command. The power
which it must have given to the Pagan priesthood, in addition to
their other deceptions, may be easily imagined. — Ed.

* " And thy voice shall die as one that hath a familiar spirit,
out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust."
Isaiah, cap. xxix. v. 4.

f D. M. K. Putonissse Martis. An inscription found in the
village of Colombiers, in the diocese d'Usez, (Voyage littéraire
de D. Martenne et de D. Durant, Premiere Partie, Paris 1712.
p. 313.) shews us that Mars had in Gaul, Pythise, or priestesses,
having the gift of ventriloquism.

% Iamblich vita Pythagor. cap. 28. — Pythagoras was born at
Suma, about the year 608 b.c. His father Menarchus,
was a person of distinction, and therefore capable of afford-
ing his son every advantage which education can bestow ;
and Pythagoras lost no opportunity of profiting by them,
both in respect to bodily and mental vigour, and energy.
He travelled expressly to acquire knowledge, and submitted to
much severe discipline for that purpose. In the temple of Thebes,
and by a residence of twenty-two years in Egypt, he became
deeply versed in all the learning of the Egyptians, which he at
first unsuccessfully endeavoured to transfer to Samos ; but after-

a Quoted from a record of Abbé de la Chapelle, in Brewster's
Nat. Magic, p. 172.

160 VENTRILOQUISM EMPLOYED IN ORACLES.

At the command of the chief of the Gymnosophists,
of Upper Egypt, a tree uttered words, in the presence of
Apollonius, with a clear voice, resembling that of a
woman ;# in both these cases, the voice was that of a
ventriloquist, placed in a convenient situation ; and to
the same origin we may with probability, ascribe the
oracles said to proceed from the oaks of Dodona.f It
is by astonishing his auditors by ventriloquism, that
the Chinese prophet, or magician, persuades them that

wards succeeded by affecting mystery, living in a cave, and des-
cending to practise on the credulity of his countrymen, who,
having discovered his frauds, forced him to leave the island. At
Crotona, where he settled, he taught the virtues of temperance,
and made numerous proselytes among the most voluptuous and
abandoned. He was, nevertheless, still an impostor, practising
for the sake of ambition. He lived upon vegetables, clothed
himself in a long white robe, allowed his beard to grow, and im-
pressed upon the multitude, that he had received his doctrines
directly from heaven. These he publicly delivered under the veil
of symbols ; but those initiated in private, were bound by a vow
of silence, not to divulge what they had acquired. He main-
tained the doctrine of the metempsychosis, or the transmigration
of the soul : and pretended that he remembered being the person
in whom his soul had resided before he became Pythagoras. His
doctrine of the universe was that lately revived in the " Vestiges of
Creation," namely: — that the universe was at first a shapeless
mass ; and all subsequent forms progressed through certain gra-
dations, until they arrived at perfection. He invented the fanciful
doctrine of the music of the spheres ; and he was supposed to
have heard it through the favour of the Gods. He died 497 b.c.,
it is supposed at Metapontum, where his disciples paid supersti-
tious honours to his memory. — Ed.

* Philostrat. vit. Appollon. lib. vi. cap. v.

f It is more probable, that the priests were concealed in
among the oaks, and delivered the responses which were attri-
buted to the trees. — Ed.

VENTRILOQUISM EMPLOYED IN ORACLES. 161

they listen to the voice of their divinity. This art was
not unknown to the black slaves at Saint Thomas.
About the commencement of the last century, one of
these unfortunate people having caused a voice to ema-
nate from an earthern figure, and even from a cane,
carried by one of the inhabitants, was burned alive as a
sorcerer.* In our own days, the credulous planter has
been known to consult a noted sorcerer, in other words,
a ventriloquist slave, who in order to retain his confi-
dence, was not backward to devote even the innocent to
death or torture, for a real or an imaginary crime, the
authors of which, he is required, by his divinations, to
discover and to name.f

A blind, and even eager credulity, favoured the
subtle and audacious deceptions that maintained the
credit of the oracles. But a day at length arrived, in
which the lessons of philosophy were spread among the
enlightened classes; and from that moment credulity
was prostrated before the spirit of inquiry. Almost at
the same time arose the Christian religion, which
in its progress exposed the miracles of Polytheism,
with such a scrutinizing observation that it succeeded
in rendering the manoeuvres of which, till then, the
diviners had availed themselves, not only difficult but
almost impracticable. Such were the real causes of the
gradual cessation of the most celebrated oracles. To
replace those fallen into disrepute, the Polytheists endea-
voured to bring new ones into notice ; but these being

* In 1701. — Labat. Nouveau Voyage aux îles françaises de
l'Amérique, tome n. p. 64 — 65.

f I learned this fact from a credible witness.
VOL. I. M

162 SOURCES OF SOME ORACLES.

narrowly watched from their birth, never obtained an
extended or permanent confidence. Oracles necessarily
disappeared sooner than miracles, the execution of which,
as they depended on scientific acquirements, continued to
command the admiration, not only of the credulous
but also the sceptical who were unable to discover their
origin, as long as that knowledge remained enveloped
in mystery.

It is not correct, however, to assume that, in the deli-
vering of oracles, all was intentional imposture and deceit.
Those who uttered them were often under the influence of
real delirium. M. de Tiedmann very plausibly believes,
that the German priestesses, prophesying amidst the din
of the tumult of waters, and fixedly regarding the eddies
formed on the rapid course of the river,* would, in such
a position, soon become vertiginous. Something similar
may be seen in the cataleptic state into which the mag-
netizers throw their subjects who are weak in organiza-
tion, and still more feeble in mind, by disturbing the
imagination and fixing attention for a considerable time
on a succession of monotonous and absurd gestures.

Music, exercising its well known influence, is calcu-
lated to dispose an enthusiast to believe that the Gods
adopt it as a medium of revelation. Even among the
Hebrews, as among other people of antiquity, the
prophet had recourse to music to maintain the pro-
phetic elevation of his spiritf The prophets, or

* Plutarch, in Ccesar. cap. xxi. — S. Clem. Alex. Stromal, lib. i.

t Elisha after declaring that except for the presence of Jehosa-
phat, he would not prophecy for Jehoram, says, "But now bring
me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played,
that the hand of the Lord came upon him." — 1 Kings, n. c. iv.
v. 15.

SOURCES OF THE BELIEF IN ORACLES. 163

Barvas, of the Billhs, in Hindustan, excite their minds
by sacred songs and instrumental music, during which
they are seized with a kind of frenzy, attended with ex-
travagant gestures, and end by giving utterance to what
are regarded as oracles. The Barvas receive disciples,
and after some preparatory ceremonies, subject them to
a kind of musical ordeal. Such as are not moved by it to
the borders of ecstatic frenzy, are immediately rejected, as
incapable of being the recipients of divine inspiration.*

Unless the mind is excited, there can be no belief
in oracles; and to produce this in the auditor, the
excitement must be experienced by the utterer. In the
temples of Greece and those of Asia, besides the use of
flutes, of cymbals, or of trumpets, more powerful agents
were summoned, when heavenly interpretations were to
be delivered.

When a dream was the chosen mode of revelation,
the youngest and most simple persons were selected as
best adapted to succeed in this divination; and they
were assisted in it by magical invocations, and by the
incense of particular perfumes.f Porphyry acknow-
ledges that such processes are calculated to inflame the
imagination, and Iamblichus expresses the same opinion
in different words, asserting that such preparations ren-
der a man worthy of approaching the Divinity.

At Didyma,| previous to prophesying, the priestess of

* Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, tome xxvu. pages 333 — 334.

f Iamblichus, de Mysteriis, cap. xxix.

% A place near Miletus, where the Branchidse, a family who
were the hereditary priests of the Temple of Apollo Didymœus,
held their oracle. — Ed.

M 2

164 SILENCE OF THE DELPHIAN ORACLE.

the oracle of Branchides inhaled for some time the
vapour of a sacred fountain.* The oracle of the Colo-
phonians, at Claros, was delivered by a priest, who pre-
pared himself by drinking the water of a basin inclosed
in the grotto of Apollo. This beverage is said to have
shortened his days.f It is well known in how strange a
manner the Pythia was exposed to the vapour exhaled
from the cavern of Delphi, j Pindar and Plutarch assure
us, that the escape of the sacred vapour was accom-
panied by a sweet odour, which penetrated even to the
cell, where those who came to consult awaited the
responses of the oracle. § Whether natural perfumes were
combined with the physical agents, or that the priests
sought with the assistance of artificial perfumes to conceal
the foetid odour of the gas which issued from the cavern,
cannot now be determined. But, after a time, the Pythia
ceased to answer ; the exhalations, also, at length ceased ;
and owing to that cessation, the contemporaries of Cicero
accounted for the silence of the oracle. Cicero rejects this
explanation with contempt ; and, theologically speaking,
it was absurd, but quite admissible as a physical reason
for the silence of the oracle. || Centuries later, Por-

* Iamblichus, de Mysteriis. cap. xxv.

t Bibentium breviore vitd. — Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. n. cap. cv.
Iamblich. de Myst. cap. xxv.

X S. Johan. Chrysost. Homelia, xxix. super cap. xn. Epist. i.
ad Corinth.

§ Pindar. Olym. vu. ver. 59. — Plutarch, de Oracul. defect.

|| Cicer. de Divinat. lib. n. The original temple, if it could be
called such, at Delphi, was a hut made of boughs of laurel ; but it
afterwards became a splendid edifice. It was three times destroyed
by the accidents of war and of fire, and three times rebuilt. The

SILENCE OF THE DELPHIAN ORACLE. 165

phyry* unhesitatingly affirms that the exhalations of the
earth, and the water of certain fountains, tended to excite
divine ecstacies, in the midst of which the oracles were
delivered. Inebriated with the gas that exuded beneath
the sacred tripod, the Delphic priestess fell into a ner-
vous, convulsive, and ecstatic state, against which she
might struggle without being able to regain her self-
possession. Whilst out of her senses, and under the
sway of an over-excited imagination, she uttered some
words, or mysterious phrases, from which it was the
priest's care to extract the revelations of the future.f
All this is as natural as the sinking languor which suc-
ceeded this excessive disorder of body and mind, and
which sooner or later proved mortal.

We may thus see, that it is in vain to follow the
history of miracles and of prodigies, or to think of
examining separately what appertains to the history of

responses were at first delivered in verse, but on some one remark-
ing that Apollo was the worst versifier in Greece, they were
afterwards delivered in prose. The tripod on which the Pythia
sat, is still in existence at Constantinople, where it was carried
by Constantine ; but the hollow column on which it stood, remains
in the cavern. — Ed.

* Euseb. Prœp. evangel.

•f The tripod was placed over the mouth of the cavern, whence
issued the vapour, which was supposed to be carbonic acid gas ;
but that is not sufficiently intoxicating ; and I suspect the gas
was sulphurous acid, as it caused almost frantic delirium, as
already mentioned (note, p. 154). The secondary effects of this
gas are also similar to those experienced by the Delphic priestess,
namely, vertigo, nausea, and great weakness of the lower extre-
mities. The Piachi, or Mexican priests, uttered their responses,
or oracles when drunk with the fumes of tobacco, which, on these
occasions, was thrown upon the fire of the altar, and the fumes
inhaled by the priests. — En.

166 SOURCES OF SOME ORACLES.

ancient science. When the priest of Claros was affected by
a beverage destructive to his health, when the priestess
of the Branchides, and the Delphic Pythia, exposed
themselves to gaseous exhalations, the power of which
was augmented by other physical agents ; when the pro-
phetesses of Germany, rapt in contemplation, sat immo-
veable on the borders of torrents ; when the Barvas
abandoned themselves to the power of music, whose
influence over them was fostered by their religious edu-
cation, no results, in all these cases, could be more natu-
ral than the dreams, the delirium, the intoxication, the
vertigo, and the frantic excitement, that were consequent
on their proceedings. The subsequent inspiration, or
rather the oracles attributed to it, were but the impos-
tures of priestcraft ; but science presided over their
craft, and regulated the causes of the vertigo, and of the
frenzy, and pointed to the advantages to be derived from
them by the Thaumaturgists.

Simple observations, which require nothing beyond
common reflection, and which we scarcely venture
to range under the head of science, have also been
the foundation of oracles. Instructed by general
laws, the priest was able to risk a prediction respect-
ing the soil and the climate of a country, by consulting
the entrails of particular victims. The science of the
Auspices, and of the Augurs, was also founded on obser-
vations appertaining to physics, to meteorology, or to
natural history.

In Livonia and in Esthonia, a religious opinion, ante-
rior to the establishment of Christianity,* forbad the

* Debray, Sur les préjugés et idées superstitieuses des Livoniens,
Lettoriiens et Esthoniens, — Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, tome
xviii. page 114.

SOURCES OF SOME ORACLES. 167

agriculturist to destroy by fire the crickets (Gryllus do-
mesticus) that he should find in his habitation ; as those
insects which the crickets kill would tear his clothes and
his linen to pieces. When about to build a house, he
was directed to observe what species of ant showed itself
first at the appointed place. The appearance of the
great fawn-coloured ant, or the black ant, was regarded
as pointing out the spot as a favourable site ; but should
the small red ant appear, another spot was to be selected.
This precaution was proper, as this little insect makes the
greatest havoc in the provisions and stores of man, while
the two former species, by preying upon the latter, neces-
sarily put an end to its ravages. In the same manner,
the cricket devours other insects ; and it is especially de-
structive of ants ; a fact which has entitled it to consider-
ation, and in many countries rendered it a sacred insect.
There is no difficulty in predicting to the man who
destroys them, that he will suffer from the ravages of
those insects of which it is the natural enemy.

From infancy, Nsevius announced his future talent
for the profession of an augur. In order to obtain a fine
bunch of grapes, as an offering to the Gods, he consulted
the birds with as much success as sagacity :# he knew
that by frequenting the spot where the grapes were ripe
and abundant, their preference should lead him to the
object of his search. A similar proof of juvenile sagacity
was exhibited in our times. Gassendi, directing the atten-
tion of his school-fellows to the sky, as they stood under
a tree, proved to them that the clouds, driven rapidly by
the wind, moved over their heads, and not the moon,

* Dionys. Halic. lib. in. cap. xxi — lvi.

1 68 MEANS EMPLOYED TO IMPOSE ON CREDULITY.

although she appeared the moving object. In the days
of oracles we should have beheld in him an embryo
prophet.

The Thaumaturgist has always proposed to himself
one great end ; and, in order to attain it, he has not
scrupled to make use of all means indifferently, whether
charlatanism, tricks, allegories, natural phenomena, ob-
servations, reasoning, or true science. But of all the
means employed, perhaps the most powerful, at least
that which increased the efficacy of all the rest, was the
inviolable secresy which, by general consent, concealed
his operations. To envelop events in the veil of
mystery,* said the sages themselves, serves to raise
veneration for those divinities, whose nature eludes the
senses of man.

* Mystica sacrorum occultatio majestatem numini conciliât,
imitans ejus naturarn effugientem sensus nostras.— Strabo. lib. x.

SAFEGUARDS OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 169

CHAPTER VIII.

Safeguards of the mystery that surrounded the Occult Sciences —
Hieroglyphics, idioms and sacred writing — Not understood by
the uninitiated — Enigmatical language of the invocations —
Gradual and partial revelations known in their plenitude only
to a small number of priests — Oaths, and falsehoods respecting
the nature of the processes, and the extent of Magical opera-
tions — Consequences of this mystery : — I. The Science of
Magic was reduced, in the hands of the Thaumaturgists, to a
practice, the nature of which, devoid of theory, became in time
unintelligible — II. Great errors universally prevailed, owing to
ignorance of the limits that circumscribed this power; the
desire to penetrate into secrets of Magic, and the habit of attri-
buting its efficacy to the visible and ostensible processes of
Science.

Ought we to be astonished, that the writings of
the ancients discover only scattered traces and imperfect
notions of the Occult Science ; or even that some portion
of the science is entirely lost ? The student of history
well knows, that in former times, not only the more
refined pursuits, but also all the treasures of real
knowledge, were under the careful guardianship of
the genius of mystery, and therefore more or less
inaccessible.

170 SAFEGUARDS OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES.

How many causes concurred to maintain that power !
The subsistent influence of the settled form of civiliza-
tion ; the rites of initiation, subsequently adopted by the
schools of philosophy ; the value of exclusive possession ;
the well-grounded fear of drawing on itself the hatred of
men, who cherished this property with a jealous pride ;
and lastly, above all, the necessity of keeping mankind in
darkness, in order to retain the control over him, with the
desire to preserve what formed, as it were, the patrimony
of the enlightened classes, the guarantee of their honours
and their powers.

This last consideration did not escape the observation
of a man, who knew how to enhance by sound and deep
philosophy the value of his extensive erudition. Michaelis*
remarks, that a universal language, invented by the
learned, and exclusively for their use, would secure to
them the sole possession of science. " The multitude
would resign themselves to the governance of those
learned impostures, as was the case in Egypt, when all
discoveries were concealed under the veil of hieroglyphics."
For instance, were the discoveries relative to electricity
only expounded in such a language, what could be more
easy than to metamorphose the phenomena of that science
into apparent miracles, and establish a sacred tyranny by

* Michaelis, On the influence of opinions on language, and of
language on opinions, 1759.— John David Michaelis, a native of
Halle, Professor of Theology, and Oriental Literature in the
University of Gôttingen. He is celebrated for his biblical and
oriental researches. It is said that his religious opinions were
never very firmly fixed ; but his writings are strikingly demon-
strative of his reverence for the Sacred Scriptures. — En.

SAFEGUARDS OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 171

means of false wonders ? " Thus the opportunity would
tempt, and the facility of deception augment the number
of impostors."

One step farther, and Michaelis might have observed
that his hypothesis was the actual history of antiquity ;
that almost all nations have possessed some species
of sacred writings, not more intelligible to the vulgar
than the hieroglyphics of Egypt. The Roman pon-
tiffs, in their rites, made use of names and words
known to themselves alone ; the few we are acquainted
with, relate only to ceremonials ; those having reference
to real science have been too carefully concealed to
reach us.

This is precisely what we learn from Lydas,* relative
to the people from whom the Romans borrowed their
religious system. The Etruscans, he informs us, were in-
structed in divination by the Lydians, before the arrival
of Evander,f the Arcadian, in Italy. At that time
there existed a form of writing different to that
afterwards made use of, and which was not generally
known ; and without its aid no secret would have long

* Lydas, de Ostentis. cap. in.

f The son of the prophetess Carmente, and a King of Arcadia.
He was driven from Arcadia on account of an accidental murder.
He retired to Italy, drove out the aborigines, and acquired the
sovereignty of that country. He raised altars to Hercules in his
new possessions : introduced the Greek alphabet, and many of
the customs of Arcadia. He was a contemporary of iEneas,
and assisted him in his wars with the Rutuli. He was deified
after his death, and an altar erected to him on Mount Aven-
tine. — Ed.

172 SAFEGUARDS OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES.

remained hid from the profane. Tarchon, the ancient*
(anterior to the contemporary of iEneas of that name), had
written a book upon the mysteries and the religious rites
of divination; in which he represented himself as interro-
gating Tages (the miraculous child, born from a furrow of
the earth), precisely as Arjuna questions the God Krishna,
in the Bhayhuat Ghita.j- The questions of Tarchon were
expressed in ordinary language ; but in his book the
answers of Tages were conveyed in ancient and sacred
characters; so that Lydas, or the writer whom he
copies, was not able to do more than conjecture the sense
by reflecting on the questions themselves, and from some
passages relating to them in Pliny and Apuleius,| Lydas
insists on the necessity of not clearly exposing the secret
science, and of concealing it from the profane by fables
and parables : it is only in this spirit that he writes on

* Photius says, that Tarchon instructed the Etruscans in the
Mystical Sciences. — Biblioth. Cod.

f It is a curious fact, that the name Krishna in Irish, as well as
in Sanscrit, is applied to the sun. — Ed.

X Lucius Apuleius, a Platonic philosopher of the second century.
He was born at Madauras, in Africa ; and, after studying at
Carthage, Athens, and Rome, he travelled with the intention of
obtaining initiation in the mysteries which then enveloped many
religions, and almost all science. He became a priest of Osiris,
and having married a rich widow, he was accused by her relations
before Claudius Maximus, Proconsul of Africa, of having em-
ployed sorcery to obtain her hand. He wrote numerous works
in prose, and in verse ; the best known of which is the Golden
Ass, a satire on the absurdities of Magic, and the crimes of the
Priesthood. It is a romance, but written with so much resem-
blance of truth, that many persons have believed all related in it
as true history. — Ed.

SAFEGUARDS OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 173

miracles. The same opinions are contained in the works
of a writer of the sixth century, and they must indeed
have been anciently very widely spread.

We must not, however, imagine that the Egyptian
priests trusted entirely to the impenetrability of their
hieroglyphics. When Apuleius obtained the first degree
of initiation, the books destined for his instruction were
brought by the priest from the most secret part of the
sanctuary. It was not enough that the images of diverse
species of animals were used in place of stenogra-
phic writing ; one part of these books was written in
unknown characters ; and the language in all of them
was further preserved from the curiosity of the profane,*
by the addition of numerous accents, absurd and varied
in their forms, and undoubtedly changing the value of
the letters above which they were placed.

In Egypt, and probably also in the temples of other
countries, these mysteries were concealed under a second
envelop, namely the language in which the invocations
were couched. Chaerémonf gave instructions how to
command the genii, in the name of him who sitteth on
the Lotus — borne in a vessel, or who appears differ-
ent in each of the signs of the Zodiac. These
marks unequivocally distinguish Osiris, the Sun-God.

* " De opertis adyti profert quosdam libros litteris ignorabilibus,
prœnotatos, partim figuris cujusce modi animalium concepti sermonis
compendiosa verba sugger entes j partim nodosis, et in modum rotse
tortuosis capreolatimque condensis apicibus, a — curiosâ profano-
rum lectione munitos." — Apuleius, Metamorph. lib. xi.

f Porphyre, quoted by Eusebius. — Prœp. evang, lib. v. cap.
vin. et ix.

174 MAGIC A RELICT OF OCCULT SCIENCE.

Emanating from an astronomical religion, the sacred
formularies transferred the language of Astronomy to
magical operations.

We shall prove that the sorcery and magic of the
moderns, were in a great measure composed of the
relicts of the Occult Science, formerly preserved in
the temples. We can trace in it that confusion of
language, so much the more striking, that nothing
could give rise to it at an epoch distant from the
reign of astronomical religion ; so that we are autho-
rized to affirm that it is referable to a period, when
its expressions were comprehended, its origin known
and revered. A sorcerer of Cordova* invoking a star,
conjured it in the name of the angel-wolf : now, we
know well that the wolf in Egypt was emblematical of
the sun and of the year, yet this example, were it a soli-
tary one, would prove little. But on examining the
fragment published by J. Wierius under the title of
Pseudo-Monarchia Dœmonum,-f we cannot fail to see
in it the disfigured vestiges of a celestial calendar. In
the pretended list of the genii obedient to the invoca-

* Llorente, Histoire de l'Inquisition, cap. xxxvui. tome in,
page 465.

f J. Wierius, De Prœstigiis dœmonum et incantationibus ac
veneficiis. — Basilese 1583. The magicians give pompous titles to
this fragment. They call it sometimes Liber empto-Solomonis ;
but in all probability it is but an extract of a more extensive
work that bore this name, and the authority of which is even
cited in Wierius' work. Joannis Wierius was a native of Graves
in Brabant. He flourished in the middle of the sixteenth century.
He studied both Theology and Medicine, and was a man of very
extensive erudition. — En.

MAGIC A RELICT OF OCCULT SCIENCE. 175

tion of the Theurgist, we find one whose double face
recals that of Janus the emblem of the close and the
opening of the year.

Four kings are stated to preside over the four cardi-
nal points ; the Man, the Bull, the Lion, all three-
winged; and the Crocodile which, in the Egyptian
planisphere stands instead of the Scorpion ; and these
are the ancient solstitial and equinoctial signs. Some
genii, we are told, inhabit the celestial signs ; one in
particular resides in Sagittarius. Among them may be
found the dragon fdracoj, the marine monster, the
hare flepusj, the crow fcorvusj, the dog fcanis
major J the virgin fvirgoj, the little horse, whose
name figures among the constellations. Some other
genii, described with more detail, have distinguishing
characters, similar to those ascribed to the genii of the
stars, months, decades, and days, in the Indian and
Persian spheres, and the Egyptian calendar.* It is
not, therefore, rash to presume that these terms and
astronomical allegories were introduced by religion into
the ceremonial of the Occult Science ; and it must be
acknowledged they not only tended to make this study
complex, but also to render it obscure ; because the
mind involuntarily established an erroneous connection
between the objects allegorically presented and the
results, totally foreign to the religions whence they
were derived.

Borrowed, as it may sometimes have been, from a

* Sphœrarum Persicœ, indicœ et barbaricœ ortus, ex libro Aben
Ezrae Judseorumdoctissimi. — Monomœriarum ascendentes cum signi-
ficationibus et decanis suis JEgyptiacis. — J. Scaligeri, Notœ in
Manilium, pages 371 — 384 et 487-504.

176 MAGIC A RELICT OF OCCULT SCIENCE.

language, distinct from that of astrology, the mystery
would have been not less difficult to penetrate, nor less
fitted to mislead the uninitiated, who might endeavour
to pierce its obscurity. A modern example, and one
apparently futile, will explain this remark.

Populeam virgam mater regina tenebat.

If I assert that it is necessary to remember this
latin verse, in order to ensure success in a complicated
trick at cards, persons familiar with this kind of
amusement, will readily conjecture that, by their conven-
tional numerical value, the vowels mark the number
of cards, or points, which it is necessary consecu-
tively to add, or to cut off. They will easily conceive,
that the same means may serve to design the proportions
of substances necessary to combine in a chemical expe-
riment ; and they will recognise the fact that five or six
verses, composed of barbarous words, and constituting
no sense, were in a similar manner employed, during
several ages, to indicate the different forms that may be
taken by syllogism in argument.

But let us transport ourselves into times when the in-
telligence of man was in this manner awakened. by any
experiment ; and we should find in the verse borrowed
from a foreign language, a magic formulary, similar to
those repeated, but not understood, by the Greeks and
the Romans. The curious will not suspect that its effi-
cacy rests on the respective position of the vowels ; they
will seek it in the sense of the words, if they can attain
a knowledge of them ; but ignorance will establish a
mysterious relation between the art of divining the

MAGIC A RELICT OF OCCULT SCIENCE. 1 77

thoughts, and the Latin line, which may thus be trans-
lated, " a branch of poplar held by a queen and a
mother."

Even these obstacles were not sufficient to free from
alarm the jealous uneasiness of the possessors of the
sacred sciences.

From the expressions of several writers, we may con-
clude, with probability, that in the process of initiation,
all the secrets of Nature were revealed to the adept.
That these revelations were bestowed upon him by slow
degrees, we may be satisfied by the example of Apu-
leius. It was only after a length of time, and after
several successive initiations, that he arrived at the
highest degree; nevertheless he congratulated himself
on having obtained in youth an honour and a perfection
of knowledge usually reserved for old age.*

Whatever may have been the extent of the revelations
made to the initiated, we may ask, did the efficient
causes of the prodigies form a part of them ? We are
inclined to think that soon after the institution of the
initiations, the knowledge of these causes was reserved
for a class of priests who, in several religions, were known
as a separate body, under a distinct name. Mr. Drum -
mondf is of opinion that the Chartomi, Egyptian priests,
possessed alone, to the exclusion of the inferior priests, the
knowledge of all the hieroglyphics. We may also inquire
what was the reason that the books of Numa, discovered
nearly five centuries after the death of that Prince, were

* Apul. Metamorph. lib. xi. — Ad finem.

t S. W. Drummond. Memoir on the Antiquity of the Zodiacs of
Esneh and Dendera, pages 19 — 21 .

VOL. I. N

178 MAGIC A RELICT OF OCCULT SCIENCE.

burnt at Rome, as capable of doing injury to religion ?#
What, but chance, which, instead of throwing them into
the hands of the priests, had first given them to the
inspection of the profane ; and the volumes exposed, in
too intelligible a manner, some practices of the Occult
Science cultivated by Numa with success. Two of
these books, if we may credit tradition, treated of phi-
losophy:! a name which, it is well known, was often applied
in ancient times to the art of working miracles ; and it
was in perusing the Memoirs left by Numa, that his
successor, Tullus Hostilius, discovered one of the secrets
of that art : an imprudent experiment j which proved
fatal to its possessor. §

To these various precautions, was added the solemnity
of a terrible oath, the breach of which was infallibly
punished with death. The initiated were not permitted
to forget the long and awful torments of Prometheus,
guilty of having given to mortals the possession of the
sacred fire. Tradition also relates, that as a punish-
ment for having taught men mysteries, hitherto hidden,
the Gods cast thunderbolts on Orpheus, a fable probably

* Valer. Max. lib. i. cap. i. § 12.

f Tit. Liv. lib. xl. cap. xxix. : Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xiu. cap.

XIII.

% See Chapter xxiv.

§ Tullus Hostilius was the third King of Rome after Numa.
The cause, of his death is not precisely known ; for although some
suppose that he was killed by lightning, the result of a magical
process, conducted in his palace ; yet, others assert that he was
murdered by Ancus Martius, who at the same time set fire to the
palace, in order to originate the belief that the impietv °f Hosti-
lius had been thus punished by heaven. — Ed.

FALSEHOOD THE PROP OF MAGIC. 179

derived from the nature of the death of one of the priests
of the Orphic mysteries that bore the name of the founder
of the sect.*' Until the downfal of Paganism, the accu-
sation of having revealed the secrets of initiation was the
most frightful that could be laid to the charge of any indi-
vidual, especially in the minds of the multitude, who,
chained down to ignorance and submission by the spirit
of Mysticism, firmly believed that, were the perjured
revealers permitted to live, the whole nation would be
sacrificed to the indignation of the Gods.

Falsehood was another resource and security of mystery ;
but this is onefamiliar in all ages; and, unhappily, still prac-
tised by the votaries of Commerce, always fearful of losing
the benefits of exclusive possession. f The magic art
had stronger reason to disseminate lies regarding the

* Pausanias Bœotic. cap. xxx. — Two epigrams of the Antho-
logy suppose that Orpheus died by lightning. It is said there
is some reason for doubting the existence of Orpheus : " Orpheum
poetam docet Aristoteles nunquam fuisse," says Cicero, although that
orator himself believed in the existence of the musician : but it is
a matter of little moment. The mysteries termed Orphic were
introduced into Greece from Egypt, prior to the worship of Dio-
nysius, which was also of foreign origin. It is supposed that the
fable of the destruction of Orpheus by the Thracian women in a
Bacchic festival, was merely typical of the victory of the new
over the old religion. — Ed.

f The Indians, who alone traded in cinnamon, affirmed, that
it was not known whence this aromatic substance came ; and that
it was procured by obtaining the nests, constructed of branches
of cinnamon, by particular birds. — Aelian. De Nat. Anim. lib. n.
cap. xxxiv. — Lib. xvn. cap. xxi. The censure of our author,
however, cannot be justly applied to modern merchants, who, de-
sirous as they may be to obtain all the advantages which monopoly
can secure to them, do not condescend to employ falsehood to
advance their plans and render their speculations successful. — Ed,

N 2

180 FALSEHOOD THE PROP OF MAGIC.

nature and extent of its power. Had it been openly exposed
and rendered familiar, the admixture of valuable know-
ledge, puerilities, and charlatanism of which it consisted
could not have commanded either admiration or obe-
dience.

Aglaonice* having been able to predict an eclipse at the
moment of its occurrence, persuaded the Thessalians that,
by her magical incantations, the moon was obscured and
forced to descend upon earth.f Such marvellous virtues
were ascribed to the plant named baaras, or cynospastos,^
that it was important for the Thaumaturgists to retain it
entirely for their particular use. Thence sprung the asser-

* Aglaonice was the daughter of Hegeman, a Thracian poet,
and versed in astronomy, and the doctrine of eclipses. — Ed.

f Plutarch. De Oracul. Defectu.

X It was also called Aglaophotis. It is the Atropa Mandra-
gora of modern botanists, the Mandrakes of the Old Testament,
for which Rachel bargained with Leah. The grossest superstitions
are employed in taking up the root of the mandrake ; and its vir-
tues were supposed to depend altogether on the mode in which this
was accomplished. The earth was loosened, and a cord fastened
around the root, with the opposite end tied to the tail of a dog :
the poor animal was then whipped so as to make it run forwards,
and thus to drag the root out of the ground. " In the mean-
time," says Bulleine, speaking of those engaged in taking it up,
they " stopp'd their own eares for feare of the terrible shriek and
cry of the mandrack. In whych cry it doth not only dye itselfe,
but the fear thereof killeth the dogge, or beast which pulleth it
out of the earth." R Shakspeare refers to this when be makes
Juliet exclaim :

" And shrieks like mandrakes torn of the earth,
That living mortals, hearing them, run mad."
This belief, and the supposed virtue of the root against barren-
ness afforded ample opportunity for impudent impostors to impose,
in an extraordinary manner, on the credulity of the vulgar. — Ed.

* Bulwarks of defence against sickness, 1573. fol. p. 41.

FALSEHOOD THE PROP OF MAGIC. 181

tion that it could not be pulled out of the earth without
the risk of life, unless by the employment of some sin-
gular precautions, the details of which are given by
Josephus with all the gravity of conviction.*

Such in general was the policy which the Thaumatur-
gists employed to mislead men as to the manner of
attaining their ends by the use of certain ostensible pro-
ceedings which, in reality, were altogether indifferent and
useless. To throw an appearance of enchantment and
supernatural agency around operations often so simple
that, apart from the deceptive covering of fraud and jug-
glery and left open for inspection, they would have been
quickly understood and easily imitated by any one. In
short, to load the expression of real facts with false or futile
accessories, or according to them, "to hide the discoveries
of the wise, from a multitude unworthy to possess them "f
These are the words of Roger Bacon : they demonstrate
that the same policy existed in the middle ages ; but its
origin may be traced to the earliest times, in which men
of research were ambitious of securing for their acquire-
ments a supernatural reputation,! an(^ an incommunicable
nature, in order to exalt themselves above ordinary

* Fl. Joseph. De Bell. Judaic. lib. vu. cap xxiii. — Aelian. De
Nat. Animal, lib. xiv. cap. xxvu.

t Quœ philosophi adinvenerunt , in operibus artis et naturae, ut
secreta occultarent ab indignis. — Rog. Bacon, de secret, oper. art.
cap. i.

I Thus it was asserted, that instructed by a revelation,
Elizabeth, the wife of Charles I. King of Hungary, in the begin-
ning of the fourteenth century, discovered the spirit produced by
the distillation of alcohol on rosemary, and known by the name of
Hungary water. — J$oqui\lon,DictionnairebiograpMque,tomei,Tp.208.

182 EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF MYSTERY.

humanity, and to wield an influence over the rest of
mankind.

What were the effects, generally, on the human mind
in the infancy of science, when it was cherished by men
of jealous habits, so contrary to the liberal philosophy
of the present day,* which finds its noblest gratification
in the duty of imparting its treasures and its discoveries?

" The ancients," says Buffon, " reduced all the sciences
to practise. All that did not immediately concern so-
ciety, or the arts, was neglected ; and, as they regarded
man only in the light of a moral being, they would not
allow that things of no palpable utility were worthy of
occupying his attention."! This universal precept was ap-
plied with force to the study of the Occult Science ; but
nothing was expected from the knowledge it imparted
except the power of working miracles ; and all that did
not lead to this result was regarded as unworthy of
attention. From such a course, the consequence could
only have been the acquirement of a partial knowledge,
accompanied with great ignorance in other respects ; and,
instead of a science, whose connected parts so depend
upon, and suggest one another that the unity of the
whole effectually preserves the details from oblivion,
every fact held an isolated position, and ran the risk of

* About two hundred years ago a book was published, shewing
that learned works should be written in Latin, and not in French;
because, says the author, great evils have resulted from the com-
munication of the secrets of science to the people. — Belot.
Apologie de la langue latine, etc. 1637.

t Discours sur la manière de traiter l'Histoire naturelle. Œuvres
de Buffon, tome i. pages 52, 53.

EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF MYSTERY. 183

being altogether lost, a danger rendered more probable
every day by the increase of mystery.

If any one can remain sceptical regarding these facts,
he may convince himself by reference to the analogy dis-
played in the progress of Alchemy prior to the rise of true
Chemistry. We have there a type of the empirical man-
ner in which the sciences were studied, cultivated, and
fostered in the ancient temples. The priests searched
after, and sometimes produced, astonishing phenomena ;
but, neglecting the theory of the processes, and preserving
no record of the means employed, they rarely succeeded
twice in obtaining the same results. Their great object
was to conceal the processes, and to retain exclusive pos-
session of their secrets. But what is now less valued
than their labours, or less known than their discoveries ?
It is difficult to cite an example more ancient than eighty
years back. A Prince, San Severo, occupied himself with
some success in chemical experiments, at Naples: for
example, he had obtained the secret of penetrating marble
with colours in such a manner, that in cutting plates from
it, each newly exposed surface presented a repetition of
the coloured figures designed on the exterior.* In 1761,
he exposed human skulls to the influence of various re-
actives, and subsequently to the heat of a glass-blower's
furnace, but kept so careless an account of the processes,
that, from his own acknowledgment, he could not hope
to arrive at the same result a second time. The product
of the last-mentioned experiment was a vapour, or gas,
which became illuminated at the approach of flame, and
burnt several months in succession, without any apparent
* Grosley. Observations sur l'Italie, tome in. page 251.

184 EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF MYSTERY.

diminution of the materials, (the parts lost by evapora-
tion were more than replaced by the combination of
oxygen during the combustion.) San Severo imagined
that he had found the secret of inextinguishable lamps ;
but he would not divulge the process, lest the vault, in
which the Princes of his family were inhumed, should be
deprived of the distinguishing mark with which he hoped
to honour it, namely, that of being lighted by an ever-
lasting lamp.# Had he laboured like a philosopher of the
present day, the name of San Severo would have been
linked to the important discovery of the existence of
phosphorus in bones ; for it was undoubtedly the slow
escape of phosphorus, in a gaseous form, that caused the
phenomena he obtained. But he operated like a Thau-
maturgist, and his name is forgotten with his works ;
while science gives honour to Gahn and Scheele, who
eight years later, in 1769, established the fact, and pub-
lished the process by which phosphorus might be elimi-
nated from bones.f

The comparison drawn between the early labours of

* See the four letters written by him on the subject, translated
into English, by Charles Hervey. — Letters from Italy, Germany,
etc. vol. in. page 408 — 436.

t Bones are composed of phosphoric acid, lime, and some animal
matter. In order to procure the phosphorus, the bones are cal-
cined, then ground to powder, and acted upon by sulphuric acid,
which takes away a large portion of the lime, and leaves the
remainder combined with a large portion of phosphoric acid.
This super-phosphate is then dissolved in water, and, after the eva-
poration of the solution, the residue is distilled with charcoal, which
abstracting oxygen, the acidifying principle, from the phosphoric
acid, phosphorus is formed, and distils over into the receiver, which
contains water kept cold ; and in which it congeals. — Ed.

EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF MYSTERY. 185

modern chemists and those of the Thaumaturgists, fails,
perhaps, in one important point. While the former
were free to choose the objects of their researches, it is
doubtful whether, in the temples, the same liberty was
allowed to the latter. We are led to this conclusion by
an obscure and very curious passage in Damascius. # At
Hierapolis in Phrygia, the temple of Apollo was placed
near a cavern abounding with hot springs ; whence arose
dangerous exhalations, which extended to a great dis-
tance, and into which the initiated alone could enter with
impunity. One of them, Asclepiodotus, by the combi-
nation of various substances, succeeded in producing a
gas resembling that of the sacred cavern.f " Thus de-
spising, and rashly violating the laws of the priests, and
the precepts of the philosophers." Such are the expres-
sions of Damascius, and in quoting them, may we not
exclaim, how powerful and how awful must have been
the vow of secrecy required of the priests and the phi-
losophers; since in the sixth century of the Christian
era, we find Damascius still employing a term of reproach
in recording the scientific imitation of a natural pheno-
mena, exalted into a miracle by the spirit of Polytheism !
Thus knowledge, straitened in action, was concentrated
in a small number of individuals ; deposited in books,

* Damascius, apud Phot, biblioth. cod. 242.

f It is probable, that this vapour was sulphuretted hydrogen
gas: which can be artificially produced by acting on iron pyrites,
with water, aided by sulphuric acid; and which although ex-
tremely dangerous to persons introduced for the first time into a
concentrated atmosphere of it, yet becomes innocuous to those who
are gradually accustomed to breathe it. — Ed.

186 EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF MYSTERY*.

written in hieroglyphics, or in characters legible only to
the adept; and the obscurity of which was further increased
by the figurative style of the sacred language. Sometimes,
even the facts were only committed to the memory of the
priests, and transmitted by oral tradition from generation
to generation. They were thus rendered inaccessible to
the community, because philosophy and chemistry, being
destined to serve a particular object, were scarcely heard
of beyond the precincts of the temples ; whilst the de-
velopment of their secrets involved the unveiling of the
religious mysteries. The doctrines of theThaumaturgists
were reduced, by degrees, to a collection of processes,
which were liable to be lost as soon as they ceased to
be habitually practised. There existed no scientific bond
by the means of which one science preserves and advances
another; and thus the ill-combined doctrines were
destined to become obscure, and finally to be extin-
guished, leaving behind them only the incoherent vestiges
of ill-understood and ill-executed processes.

A condition of things, such as then existed, we do not
scruple to say, is the gravest injury that can happen to
the mind of man, from the veil of mystery cast by religion
over physical knowledge. The labours of centuries
and the scientific traditions derived from the re-
motest antiquity, are lost in consequence of the inviolable
secresy observed respecting them; the guardians of
science are reduced to formularies, the principles of which
they no longer understand ; so that, at length, in error
and superstition, they rise little above the multitude,
which they too long and too successfully have conspired
to keep in ignorance.

EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF MYSTERY. 187

Let us now quit the enlightened caste, which, from its
own act, gradually ceased to merit so high a title, and
place ourselves for a while among the credulous multi-
tude, whose information was confined to the fact, that
the sublime art of working miracles was preserved, and
incessantly practised in the depths of the sanctuaries.
Ignorance, superstition, and the love of the marvellous,
were found to exert an unlimited influence over
the greater number ; there was nothing that might
not be hoped for, or feared from these sources. But in
some more energetic minds, curiosity, cupidity, and pride,
awakened the wish and the hope of being able to pene-
trate the mysteries. This desire rather favoured than
injured the interests of those in authority ; they, there-
fore, neglected no means of encouraging it by amusing
credulity, and by holding out exaggerated promises. To
the existence of the hope they were no strangers ; and
they so managed, that deceitful information, erroneous
indications, and false explanations, should reach the ear
of the uninitiated, and mislead the profane, who might,
perhaps, bypersevering researches, or by some favourable
chance, possibly stumble on the discovery of some of the
sacred mysteries.

Let us again analyse the correctness of these ideas by
experience. To say that chemistry, and astronomy owe
their birth to alchemy and astrology, and are thus, the
wise daughters of foolish mothers, is to judge falsely of
the progression of the human mind. One child, Astro-
nomy, gazes on the stars as they shine in the heavens,
without imagining that they possess any influence over
the course of events passing on earth : the other, Che-

188 EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF MYSTERY.

mistry, admires the colour and the brilliancy of a piece of
gold or silver ; and, if he is not misled, will no more
imagine that it is within the range of art to fabricate a
metal than to create a piece of wood or a flint. But
when a people, acquainted only with the native gold de-
posited in their rivers, saw this metal extracted from a
body displaying no outward indication of its presence, the
belief was natural that various substances were capable of
being transmuted into gold by means of a peculiar pro-
cess, of which a few superior beings alone possessed the
secret. The knowledge of such a wonderful art being
passionately desired by the avaricious, caused attempts
and inquiries to be multiplied and brought to bear on all
the metals, on all the minerals, and on all the various
bodies in nature ; and thus Alchemy arose out of the
ignorance of true science. From the observations of the
stars, the return of the seasons, and several meteorological
phenomena were predicted by the priest.* He regulated
agricultural labours in a rational manner, and foretold its
probable success with tolerable exactness. The ignorant
men, therefore, under his direction, set no bounds in their
own minds to the power of science ;'and doubted not that
the futurity of the moral world, as well as that of the
physical, was to be read on the face of the starry heavens.
In this mistaken idea, they were not undeceived by the
priest; and, from the remotest times, astrology has held

* The two calendars of Ptolemy were regulated, one according
to the Egyptian, the other according to the Roman months ; and
the Roman calendar, taken from Ovid, Columella, and Pliny, indi-
cated diurnally the state of the heavens, and predicted that of the
atmosphere.

EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF MYSTERY. 189

a place among the sacred sciences ; and over a portion of
Asia it still preserves the empire which it long exercised
over the whole earth.

One cause, already referred to, concurred in the pro-
gress, or in the birth of error ; this was the falla-
cious interpretation of emblems and of allegories. From
the earliest times, both have been taken into the service
of astronomy. Do not the Egyptian dynasties, cited by
Manethon, apparently belong to the domain of history ?
Do not the epithets, also, which follow their names refer
to men ? For instance, "Friend of his friends." "A man
remarkable for the strength of his limbs" "He who
increases the power of his father" Yet, in these pre-
tended Kings, Dupuis distinguishes the thirty-six decades
which divide the Zodiac into periods of ten degrees each ;
and, in the titles given to them, he sees the indication
of astronomical phenomena, corresponding to each de-
cade.* Under the titles of Barbaric, Persian, or Indian
spheres, Aben Ezraf has collected and published three
ancient calendars.! The first, believed to be that of
Egypt, simply indicates the rising and the setting of the
constellations in each decade. The second combines
with this indication various allegorical figures. The
third presents similar figures, and occasionally attributes

* Dupuis, Origine de tous les cultes, torn. xn. (in 8vo.)
pp. 116—126.

f Aben Ezra, or Abraham ben Moir ben Ezra, was a learned
Jew of the 12th century, who spent a considerable portion of his
life in travelling, and was in England in 1159. He wrote a
Commentary on the Old Testament, besides Treatises on Mathe-
matics, Physics, Astronomy, and Medicine. — Ed.

I J. Scaligeri, Notœ in M.Manilium, pp. 371 — 384.

190 ANCIENT ASTRONOMY.

to them sentiments which cannot be rendered by the
pencil, such as the intention to assassinate a father, or of
returning home. The basis of the three calendars is the
same ; but the last, viewed alone, awakens ideas utterly
irrelevant to Astronomy. That similar allegories, distri-
buted over certain portions of time, may have appeared
to contain predictions referring to each of these divisions,
is highly probable. If we examine an Egyptian calen-
dar, this probability will be changed into certainty ;# for,
in one column we find, corresponding to each degree of
the Zodiac, an emblem intended, as the title announces,
to indicate the corresponding rising of the stars ; and, in
the second column, we observe the indication of the
future character or destiny of any child born under the
influences of such or such a degree ; an indication always
conforming to the nature of the emblem. Thus, if it
represent a man bruising in a mortar, the child would
prove laborious ; but if an eagle was the sign, he would
rise high, and be of an ambitious character.

This calendar is evidently the joint production of two
labourers : the one has arranged a series of astronomical
emblems from previous observations ; the other, deceived
or the deceiver, has striven to divine the meaning of a
book, which he did not understand, or to lead into the
paths of error those who attempted to explain its
meaning.

We are too ignorant of the interior philosophy of the
school of Pythagoras, to decide whether this sage pro-
fessed in its literal, or in its figurative sense, the strange

* Monomœriarum ascendentes, etc., J. Scalig. Not. in M. Manil.
pp. 487—504.

ANCIENT ASTRONOMY. 191

doctrine regarding the properties of numbers ascribed to
him.# But we conceive the doctrine itself to have been
at first the allegorical veil, and at a later period the super-
stitious envelop of a real science ; a science, the vestiges
of which may still be traced, in Hindustan, where Pytha-
goras had promulgated his dogmas ; and which, along
with the bases of great astronomical calculations, in all
probability, comprehended the principles and theories of
a sublime arithmetic.

The somewhat recent discovery of a fragment of this
science tends to support our conjecture.

Towards the end of the 17 th century, the French
astronomers learned with surprize, that there existed in
Siam a mode of calculating eclipses by successive addi-
tions, worked upon numbers in arbitrary appearances.
The key to this method has been long lost by those who
make use of it, perhaps, indeed it was never possessed by
them,f the inventor having applied his genius to the
construction of an instrument infallible in its results,

* When we reflect upon the just and sublime notions of Pytha-
goras, respecting the motion of the earth, and the nature of
comets, we cannot avoid regretting that he should have entertained
and taught the extravagant and fanciful speculations on numbers
and harmony which are ascribed to him. — Ed.

f The great Tables of Logarithms published, at Paris, by the
"Bureau du Cadastre," had been calculated by a method similar to
this. It was also a succession of additions and of subtractions,
worked on numbers, in arbitrary appearances, by men who were
not under the necessity of knowing the elements and the march of
the calculation necessary to determine these numbers ; and who,
nevertheless, arrived at such precise results, that after the deter-
mination of a hundred logarithms, the possible error affected only
the eighth decimal fraction.

192 PREDICTIONS EFFECTED BY NUMBERS.

while he refused to reveal the principle of its action.
However that may be, let us suppose a similar feeling to
actuate the philosophers who operated, before the eyes of
the people, in ancient Asia, in Egypt, and even in civi-
lized Greece. With the aid of numbers, combined
according to the principles of a hidden science, it may be
seen that they arrived at prognostications, and uttered
predictions, which nature could not fail to verify on the
day and at the moment indicated. Forced to attribute
to these numbers the property, which in fact they possess,
of producing correct predictions, how could the ignorant
man refrain from ascribing to them other properties, and
apparently not more marvellous qualities ? He demanded
from them, as from the courses of the stars which they
served to measure, revelations of the future, and con-
sulted the Babylonish numbers* with respect to his fate
in life, as well as the nature and the moment of its ter-
mination. It is not without interest to observe how the
theory of the mysterious properties of number pervades,
in the same manner as in astronomical allegories, the
instructions of magic. We are told that, among the
spirits of darkness, the magicians enumerated seventy-
two princes (six multiplied by twelve), and 7,405,926
demons of an inferior rank.f This last, apparently
absurd number, is the product of six multiplied by
1,234,321. Is it necessary to draw observation to the
fact, that 1,234,321, taking it right and left, gives the

* neu Babylonios

Tentaris numéros "

Horat. Od. lib. i, od. xi. vers. 2, 3.
f J. Wierius. De Prœstigiis, etc.

THE DIVINING ROD. 193

four numbers constituting the mysterious Tetractys of
Pythagoras and of Plato ?

The divining rod naturally shares the miraculous fame
of Numbers ; and the Rhabdomantic art, or divination
with the divining rod, was held in honour, wherever
variously marked pieces of wood served as arithmetical
machines. Very complicated calculations were made with
pieces of wood by the Khivans, who were much inclined
to believe in the Rhabdomantic art.*

The Rhabdomantic art was practised among the Alani
and the Scythians,f the ancestors of almost all the present
inhabitants of Tartary ; and also by the Chaldeans, from
whom the Hebrews appear to have borrowed it. | Such
being the case, it is unreasonable to suppose that this
method of divining with this rod, which cannot be ex-
plained even by those who now employ it, may not be
traced back in Asia to an antiquity as remote as the
superstition to which it has given rise.§

* N. Mouraviev, Voyage en Turcomanie et à Khiva.

f Herodot. lib. iv. cap. lxvii. ; Amm. Marcell. lib. xxxi. cap. n.
The ancient Germans also made use of it. Tacit. German, cap. x.

% Hosea, chap. iv. verse 12. " My people ask counsel of their
stocks, and their staff declareth unto them."

§ The divining rod was also employed as a curative agent ;
and passing a child through a cleft ash tree is still, in Suffolk,
believed to be a remedy for rickets, ruptures, and many other
diseases. The stem of a young tree is split for the purpose, and
the child thrice passed through the cleft, which is then bound up ;
and " the impression is that, as the tree heals of its wound, so
will the child's ailment be removed.* This ceremony was once
performed in the garden of my excellent friend, Major Moor, the

a Moor's Oriental Fragments, p. 508.
VOL. I. O

194 AMULETS.

It has been truly remarked, that ignorance almost
universally places error at the side of that which appears
miraculous. By local applications, medicine has often
allayed, and even prevented, the return of pain in a
limb. But the physicians belonging to the sacred caste
led the multitude to believe that the efficacy of the
remedy depended entirely on the hand that administered
it, and which alone could imbue it with its healing
virtue. In consequence of the belief in this doctrine,
the charlatan was supposed by the credulous to impart
to these beneficial substances, not only the power of
curing existing diseases, but the influence of preserving
them from those which were likely to occur in future.
From this successful application of local remedies, sprung
the belief of the supernatural properties assigned to
amulets or talismans.* Here controversy again played a

author of the " Hindu Pantheon," at Woodbridge, in Suffolk. On
the bank of the Lake of Killarney is a natural cleft tree, through
which people are once or more passed. Croker, in his Legends of
the Lake, does not overlook this superstition : — "It is called the eye
of the needle." — "Sure your honour will thread the eye of the needle
— every one that comes to Innisf alien threads the needle," said
Plunket, the Cicerone of Killarney. — "Pshaw!" said I, " I shall
never be able to squeeze through that hole — I am too fat —
besides, what's the use of it ?" — " The use, Sir ? Why it will
ensure your honour a long life, they say. And if your honour
was a lady in a certain way, there would be no fear of you after
threading the needle. "a — Ed.

* The term Amulet is Arabic, and implies anything suspended.
Thus, a stone, a morsel of amber, a bezoar, a plant, an animal, a
piece of written parchment or paper, hung upon any part of the
body, in the belief that it is capable of preventing disease, or

" Legends, p. 70,

SUPERNATURAL POWERS ASCRIBED TO AMULETS. 195

part : — figures borrowed from it are traced on many of
these amulets ; the most celebrated, the Abraxas which is
said to derive its virtue from the chief of the good geni,
simply expressed the number of the days of the year.

counteracting poisons, warding off witchcraft, or any evil which
is likely to attack the wearer, is an amulet. The faith reposed on
amulets was universal in the ancient world, and the belief in them
has outlived most of the olden superstitions. In our time, the
anodyne necklace, which consists of beads turned out of the root
of the white Bryony, and which is hung round the necks of in-
fants, in order to assist their teething, and to ward off the con-
vulsions sometimes incident to that process, is an amulet. In
Turkey various kinds of amulets are still generally worn ; and in
Greece, at the present time, the priests sell to the sick, amulets
which are pieces of triangular paper, containing in writing the
name of the disease under which the sick man is labouring ; and
which are attached to the door of the sick chamber.

In ancient times amulets were of two kinds, namely, natural and
artificial. Among the former, Pliny says that any plant gathered
on the bank of a river before sunrise, provided the person who
gathers it is unperceived, and tied on the left arm without the patient
knowing what it is, cures ague, and is an amulet.a Beads of
selenite were worn as necklaces by women, and even tied to trees,
to make them fruitful.15 In India, many stones and gems are
used as amulets. The Turquoise is supposed to avert the evil
eye ; but the most remarkable is the Salagrama, which is about
the size of a billiard ball, of a black colour and usually perforated
as if by worms. It is supposed to be found only in the Gandaki,
a river in Nepaul, which according to the followers of Vishnu,
flows from the foot of that Deity ; but, according to the Saivas,
from the head of Siva. The fortunate possessor of this stone,
preserves it in a clean cloth, from which it is frequently taken
and bathed, and perfumed. The water with which the ablution is

a Pliny. Hist. Nat. xxiv. 19.
ta Dioscorides , lib. v.

o 2

196 SUPERNATURAL POWERS ASCRIBED TO AMULETS.

Faith in talismans survived the ancient forms of wor-
ship. Even under the dominion of Christianity, an
unenlightened piety tended to foster it. It is related
by M. Tiedmann,* that three Agnus Dei, with verses f
expressing their magical virtues, were sent to the Emperor
of Constantinople by Pope Urban V. After such an
instance, can one blame the ignorant who put their faith
in the talismans of the magician? Wherein lies the
difference, except in the mode of consecration !

Why did the Scandinavians attach to verse the idea of
a magical power ? j Why did the Greeks and Romans
believe in the power of songs and verses to cause the

performed, acquires a sin- expelling potency, and it is, therefore,
drank and greatly prized. The Salagrama possesses many other
mysterious powers ; and in death it is an essential ingredient in
the viaticum. The departing Hindoo holds it in his hand, and,
through his confidence in its influence, hope brightens the future,
and he dies in peace.

Many amulets are believed to possess the power of warding off
the blow of the king of terrors : but Lucillius, in one of his epi-
grams, describes a sick man who, having seen a certain physician
in a dream,

. . . Awoke no more,
Although an amulet he wore.
The galvanic rings now worn as protections from rheumatism ;
and the camphor bags, as guardians of female virtue, are amulets.
Thus we are told that in 1568 the Prince of Orange condemned
a Spanish prisoner to be shot at Juliers. The soldiers tied him to
a tree, and fired, but he was invulnerable. The soldiers therefore
stripped him, to see what armour he wore, but they found only an
amulet bearing the figure of a lamb. This was taken from him,
and death followed the first shot aimed at him. — Ed.

* Tiedmann. De Quœstione, etc., p. 103.

f These verses have been quoted by Fromann, p.p. 947, 948.

X C.V. de Bonstetten. La Scandinavie et les Alpes, pp. 42 — 53.

SUPERNATURAL POWERS ASCRIBED TO AMULETS. 197

destruction of dangerous reptiles, and to draw the moon
from the vault of heaven ? * We reply that magical for-
mularies were originally couched in verse, in a similar man-
ner as the principles of policy, and of morality, and religious
and historical narratives; and these verses were always
chanted. The Theurgists, deriving their ceremonial rites
from the Egyptian priests or from the disciples of Zo-
roaster, did not hold this opinion. They were ignorant
whether some had or had not expressed themselves in
verse ; they were certain that others had not done so ;
and poetry was prohibited by the religion of Egypt, as
being the language of fiction.f Modern sorcerers have
not ascribed magical powers to verse ; but they find virtue
in absurd figures, strange characters, and words of un-
couth pronunciation.

In the hands of men who either had never been in
possession of, or who had no knowledge of hieroglyphics,
or of sacred language and characters, the greater propor-
tion of the magical formularies became useless ; yet
nevertheless, though they had ceased to be comprehended,
the remembrance of their powers was not forgotten.
Even when meaning was no longer attached to the terms
mysteriously recited, or those graven on stones, or writ-
ten on parchment, perhaps a greater reverence was con-
ceded to them because their origin and the measure of
their real virtue were not suspected.

It is thus that errors arise, and become extended.

The Hindoos affirm that " each letter is governed by an

angel, an emanation of the virtue of God's omnipotence ;

and these angels are represented by the letters which

* Virgil. Eclog. viii. v. 69 — 71.

t Dio. Chrysost. Orat. de Ilio non capta.

198 BOOKS BELIEVED TO BE SPIRITS.

compose the oration, or form of incantation, by which
miracles are to be wrought.* With what facility, aided
by such a doctrine, has the impostor been able to defraud
the credulous in the sale of amulets ; some composed of
the letters expressing a prayer, or a vow ; some inscribed
with strange or absurdly grouped characters; their
efficacy, indeed, becoming greater in proportion to the
complicated and extraordinary aspect of the writing." f

A missionary,! having written a vocabulary of the
native language in Louisiana, frequently referred to it,
in order to answer the questions of those who addressed
him. The natives believed this paper to be a spirit,
which communicated to the missionary all his know-

* Les Mille et une Nuits, tome 1, pp. 128, 129 (14e Nuit.)
Hist, du Brame. Pad. Manaba.

t The word Abracadabra, written as below, is still employed to
cure agues, by what the ignorant call a charm, and in which they
have the utmost confidence :

d
d

a
a
a

b
b
b
b

r
r
r
r
r

a
a
a
a
a

Indeed, such is the influence of the imagination over the body,
that the sincere belief of the credulous in the efficacy of this
charm, is adequate to effect a cure. — Ed.

t P. Hennepin. Description de la Louisiane, pp. 249, 250.

BOOKS BELIEVED TO BE SPIRITS. 199

ledge. The Nadoëssis are, though able to count,
ignorant of ciphers. Carver,* opening a book before
them, told them exactly how many pages there were
between the beginning and the page which he showed
them ; they immediately concluded that the book was a
spirit, which dictated answers to the traveller. At Kano,
in Africa, Clapperton met with a person who believed
that the traveller had the power of transforming men
into beasts, and the earth into gold, simply by the act of
reading a book.f The Runic letters^ were numbered
with other magical agents, so soon as this species of
writing was lost to the vulgar. An algebraic formu-
lary would be similarly regarded by the superstitious,
if they beheld an undeniable solution, to questions appa-
rently widely different, furnished by its aid ; and in which
they could not discern the point, common to all, which
the science had seized upon.§

The extravagance of credulity causes steps still

* Carver. Travels in South America.

f Travels in Africa, etc. vol. in. p. 37.

I Runic letters constituted the ancient alphabet of the Teutonic
and Scandinavian tribes. It consisted of sixteen letters, which
are supposed to have been of Phoenician origin. They were cut
on stones ; and those specimens of them which remain, have much
similarity to the portions of wood, or sticks, which were anciently
employed in casting events by the Germans ; and in this simi-
larity, most probably, originated the magical properties ascribed
to the Runic letters. — -Ed.

§ The notation of music would undoubtedly appear supernatural
to a people having no idea of it, were a man to repeat exactly one
of their songs which he had never heard before, but which he
possessed the power of noting down.

200 OBSCURE CAUSES REGARDED AS SUPERNATURAL.

more surprising than those already mentioned to take
place. In the provinces situated to the east of the Baltic,
which by force of arms and political stratagem have been
united to the empire of Russia, it is firmly believed, that
if a woman with child introduces a piece of wood into
the stove, in a direction opposite to the growth of the
branches, the infant will be presented in an unnatural
direction at the moment of birth.* Sometimes the cre-
dulous man, ignorant of hieroglyphics, has believed that,
by imitating, as far as he could do so, the postures repre-
sented in the hieroglyphics, he could work the apparent
miracle which, at an unknown period, was obtained by
the process described by them. Of this we find several
examples in the collection of Gaffarel.f

We believe it is allowable to refer to error, or to
reveries of this nature, the origin of universally held
or popular opinions, sometimes so strange and so
absurd, that we can neither divine their meaning, nor
assign to them a plausible pretext or motive. Causes,
with respect to the nature of which men have been always
profoundly ignorant, have exerted, and continue to exert
an influence over their existence.

* Debray. Sur les préjugés et les idées superstitieuses des Livo-
niens, etc. Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, tome xvm. p. 127.
f Gaffarel, Curiosités inouïes, etc. chap. vu. § 1 et 2.

MYSTERY IN THE SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY. 201

CHAPTER IX.

Notwithstanding the rivalry of religious sects, the spirit of a fixed
form of civilization existed — Mystery in the schools of philo-
sophy was ultimately banished by the influence of more perfect
civilization — In the first epoch there was an habitual communi-
cation of the Greeks with the successors of the Magi, who were
dispersed through Asia after the death of Smerdis — First the
revelation of Magic — Second, the impoverishing of Egypt, after
the conquest of the Romans caused priests of inferior grades,
who trafficked in the secrets of the temples, to abound in Rome —
Third, the polytheists who were converted to Christianity, carried
into its bosom the knowledge of the magic which they possessed
— In the second epoch, the remains only of the sacred science
existed; first, in the schools of the Theurgian philosophy;
secondly, in the possession of wandering priests, and, above all,
of Egyptian priests. As successors to the former may be
assigned, with much probability, the secret societies of Europe ;
to the latter, the modern jugglers.

The mystery which had enveloped the sacred science,
like the type of civilization, of which it was one of the
principle foundations, has submitted to the power of
time : the veil is torn from it ; the statue of Silence,
seated for so many centuries before the door of the sanc-
tuaries and of the philosophic schools, has been over-
thrown.

202 MYSTERY IN THE SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY.

We may inquire, when was this revolution effected ?
Was it when rival religions were at war with each
other; before the inflexible Zoroaster and his succes-
sors, and the worship of foe, and Sabaism,# and the
adoration of Siva, Vishnu, and Bramah, had received a
check? I reply, no. Persecuted as magicians, the
Hindoo and the Chaldean priests carried their sacred
arts and their inviolable silence into exile.

The invasion of the Hebrews had dispersed the pagan
priests of Canaan, — Moses having declared sentence of
death against whoever should declare oracles, or work
miracles, in the name of a strange God. But the entire
conquest of Palestine was but slowly achieved. The
Hebrews, unfaithful to the law, and living among indige-
nous tribes, often consulted the priests and the diviners
of their neighbours. The diviners, in particular, were
renowned, and even revered; and, when they died, be-
queathed their secrets to adepts only, who often found in
them a source of wealth and of profit, if not the means
of obtaining power. Their last successors may be
recognized in those whom Saul persecuted with so much
zeal, that, when he fell himself into the error from which
he had wished to preserve his people, he with difficulty

* The word, correctly written, should be Tsabaism. It was a
religious system prevalent to a great extent in Arabia, in which,
although one supreme Deity was acknowledged, yet adoration was
paid to all the stars, or the lower divinities supposed to reside in
them, and to aid in governing the world. Their religious books
were written in Syriac. Their fasts and prayers were numerous ;
they believed in future punishments for the wicked, but, at the
same time, that after 4000 years they should be pardoned. — Ed.

MYSTERY IN THE SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY. 203

found a woman who professed the art of invoking the
shades of the dead.

In Judea, these pretended prophets were divided
amongst themselves, and were at variance with each
other ; some espousing the rival claims of Jerusalem ;
others those of Samaria ; but neither anathema nor per-
secution could unveil the sources from which their inspi-
rations flowed in the time of need.

The fierce Cambyses, in killing Apis, insulted the
supreme God of Egypt, typified by that sacred bull. He
condemned the priests and the worshippers of Apis to the
torture, and despoiled the temples. He died, leaving
behind him an execrable name, without having, notwith-
standing so much violence, struck one blow at the reli-
gious mysteries of the sanctuaries.*

The spirit of the fixed type hovered over the theatres

* This conqueror was well aware of the height of superstition
which enslaved the people whom he sought to subdue. It is even
said that, knowing the veneration in which the dog and the cat were
held by the Egyptians, when he attacked Pelusium, he placed a
number of these animals in the front of his army, and by this
means easily became master of the place. In his attempt to send
an army of 50,000 men into Upper Egypt, in order to destroy the
temple of Jupiter Ammon, his object was defeated by the over-
whelming of the troops in a whirlwind of sand, a circumstance
which was attributed to the vengeance of the God whose sanctuary
was threatened. An oracle predicted that he should die at Ecba-
tana : and, by a remarkable coincidence, his death occurred at a
small town of that name, from a wound which he received from his
own sword, when mounting on horseback. It happened in the
year 521, a. c. He left no issue ; and his throne was usurped by
the Magi, whom, during his life-time, he had severely persecuted.
—Ed.

204 MYSTERY IN THE SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY.

of these diverse events, and permitted only one new
light to shine in the eyes of the people, who themselves
never desired anything further. For several centuries,
however, a revolution of which neither the cause, the
activity, nor even the. existence had been suspected, was
gradually taking place among the inhabitants of the earth ;
and which five-and-thirty or forty centuries have not been
able to overturn. In the colonies, which the Phoenician navi-
gators had founded on distant shores, they had introduced,
unknown to themselves, the germ of progressive civiliza-
tion. Too wealthy, and too much occupied by mercan-
tile interests to desire to subjugate by force of arms, and
too little instructed to found civilization upon religion and
sacred science, they were contented to blend their own
customs with those of the tribes amongst whom they
settled for commercial purposes.

It may be said, that man, for the first time, then
learned that the mode of life which he had received
from his ancestors might be ameliorated by the result of
his free will, and not by a course of blind obe-
dience to assumed supernatural beings. Curiosity is
the first effect of the desire for mental perfection;
and when this is even moderately satisfied, it teaches us
to appreciate the value of knowledge, and does not relax
in the pursuit, from the conviction that it must be
sought for and obtained from distant sources. A long
voyage does not alarm the philosopher impatient to
instruct himself; nevertheless, he is not always able to
break the seal of mystery. The instructions obtained in
India, Chaldea, and in Egypt, bound the ancient sages,
as far as we can judge, to particular opinions inde-

MYSTERY IN THE SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY. 205

pendent of theory. Thaïes, indeed, was enabled to pre-
dict an eclipse, but only one ;# and Pythagoras found, by

* There is much reason for believing that Chaldea was the
cradle of Astronomy, the origin of which has been fixed at a
period so remote as 2,232 years before the birth of our Saviour.
The astronomical learning was obtained from Chaldea ; and, in
every problem of difficulty the Egyptians were forced to have
recourse to the assistance of the Chaldean astronomers. But
what La Place has designated as the most ancient monument of
astronomical knowledge, namely ,a the invention of the period of
seven days of the week, is said to be due to the Egyptians. It
is, nevertheless, remarkable, that the names of the days among the
Brahmans, are the same as those in Egypt, and correspond to the
same physical portions of time. Thaïes, who was a native of
Miletus in Ionia, acquired, according to the custom of his day, the
greater part of his knowledge by travelling, and was taught geo-
metry and astronomy by the priests of Memphis. He soon, how-
ever, outstripped his instructors in the race of knowledge; and, by
the mere force of his genius, invented several fundamental propo-
sitions which were afterwards incorporated into the Elements of
Euclid. There is little doubt that the true doctrine of the motion
of the earth was promulgated in the schools of Thaïes and Pytha-
goras ; and it is equally certain that Thaïes introduced into
Greece the prediction of solar eclipses, and the explanation of their
real cause ;b although it has, with much probability, been sup-
posed that the method of working the problem was borrowed from
the Chaldeans, who were enabled to arrive at it by an extensive
series of observations, conducted with great care and regularity,
which they possessed. Thaïes also corrected the Greek calendar,
and determined the length of the year to be 365 days. He died
in the 96th year of his age, about 548 years before Christ;
one proof, among a thousand, that the exercise of the mental
energies is favourable to longevity. — Ed.

a Syst. du Monde, 1. v. c. 1 .

b Plutarch, de Placit. Philosoph. 1. n. p. 24.

206 MYSTERY IN THE SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY.

force of genius alone, the demonstration of the theorem
that had been revealed to him, of the equality of the
square of the hypothenuse to the sum of the squares of
the two other sides of the rectangular triangle. Philoso-
phers, besides, looked upon themselves as the initiated ;
the pride of exclusive possession exalted them like
their institutors : and the disciples of Pythagoras received
his revelations, not in proportion to their capacity, but
according to the elevation in rank to which they had
attained in a doctrine, which, like the initiations, had its
prefixed duration, its language, and its proofs. It was
only by gradual steps, and by the exterior influence of
progressive civilization, that the same discretion which
regulated the temples ceased to govern the schools of
philosophy.

Thus, even in those countries where protecting civili-
zation showered down its blessings abundantly, where the
cultivation of the art of writing and the sciences opened
the way for brilliant fame, the doctrines of the sanctua-
ries and the Occult Science, that had emigrated from
Thrace or Egypt, remained impenetrable. The priests
maintained around them the most profound obscurity, the
density of which was proportioned to the power and the
veneration which they could obtain.

Demosthenes is the first author who noticed the exist-
ence of sorcerers in Greece.* At that time Occult
Science had ceased to be centered in the temples ; and
some shreds of it had fallen into the hands, of pro-

* Demosthen. in Aristogit. 1; M. Tiedmann. de Qucestione, etc.,
p. 46.

MYSTERY IN THE SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY. 207

fane and obscure men, who were complete strangers to the
sacred mysteries, and who had dared to profess the art of
working miracles. We must retrace more than thirty-
five lustres, and recal to recollection one of the most
remarkable events of ancient history, the massacre of the
magi, after the fall of Smerdis,* in order to assign the
cause of this fact. This sacerdotal tribe, very numerous
and very powerful, could not be entirely annihilated.
It was dispersed, without doubt, to all parts; and
when the political views of Darius made him anxious to
re-assemble it, we may believe that all the Magi were
not equally desirous of becoming the supporters of the
assassin. To these fugitives, successors were often
found amongst men born in a period of higher civiliza-

* Smerdis was the name of the brother of Cambyses, who
was privately put to death by the order of that monarch, and who
was represented after his death by an impostor of the same name,
who greatly resembled him in person. This Smerdis, the im-
postor, was one of the Magi, and the person referred to in the
text. He had been deprived of his ears by Cyrus, on account of
some atrocity which he had committed. On the death of Cambyses,
he usurped the throne, under the cover of his resemblance to the
real Smerdis, whose death was only known to him. The fraud,
however, was suspected, and discovered by Phsedyma, one of
the wives of the late monarch, who, at her father's request,
took an opportunity of examining the head of the usurper when
he was asleep, and ascertained that he had no ears. A con-
spiracy was immediately formed, which accomplished not only his
destruction, but terminated in the massacre of the Magi, and
the elevation of Darius to the throne of Persia. The term Magi
is of Greek derivation, and implies men devoted to study, and
meditation ; but my friend, Major Moor, suspects it is derived
from the Sanscrit Mahaji, and means great, or wise men. — Ed.

208 ORIGIN OF THE NAME MAGIC.

tion, especially amongst the Greeks, scattered over the vast
empire of Persia, as commanders and soldiers in the auxili-
ary troops of Darius, Governors of his provinces, and active
agents of commerce in his ports, who, in the centre of
Asiatic Greece, and under the yoke of the great King,
maintained both the culture and the idiom of European
Greece, with the spirit of perfectible civilization, # To
these they transmitted their hatred and their secrets.

The subsequent events, and the war of Cyrus the
younger against Artaxerxes, above all, the ascendancy
which the King of Persia had obtained over Greece,
both during and after the Peloponesian war, had
increased the intimate communication between the
Greeks and the interior of the empire. They ad-
mired the wonders performed by the Magi, and
from the name of these priests they gave the title of
magic to the art of working miracles ; and this title soon
became sufficiently celebrated for Euripides to impose it
on the celestial inspiration with which Orpheus had been
animated. The Greeks in Persia, both curious and rapa-
cious, drew near to the proscribed Magi and their
descendants, and profited, without doubt, by the frequent

* A powerful evidence supports our assertion. If the poem
attributed to Phocylides, was really written by that author, and
in which he says, " Abstain from the books of the Magi," (verse
138.) He was born at Miletium, in Asiatic Greece, 637 years
before our era. According to Suidas, Phocylides must have
written his moral precepts at a mature age, and consequently when
the fugitive Magi were twenty or thirty years in communication
with the Greeks of Asia.

EXTENSION OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAGIC. 209

occasions that they had of instructing themselves ;# so
that, on returning to Greece, they were enabled to carry
on a lucrative trade, by employing the secrets they had
acquired for the purposes of vengeance and wickedness.f

The conquests of Alexander established the power
of the Greeks over those parts of Asia, where every
temple had its peculiar mysteries ; whilst the numerous
priests of Phrygia and of Syria threw open their sanc-
tuaries to the conquerors, and were eager to initiate
them into their creeds.

The second Idyl of Theocritus presents a picture of a
conjuration, or enchantment, worked by an ordinary
female, thus showing that the use of magic had, long
before that period, been practised by the Greeks. The
Idyl concludes with the threat of poisoning which it is
the object of the magical incantation to effect.j The
simple idea is thus succeeded by one of superstition ; and
the language peculiar to the temples in the expression of

* The communications of the Magi with the philosophers of
Greece soon became frequent. Plato, in one of his dialogues, (in
Axiocho), introduces the Magus Gobry as revealing religious secrets
to Socrates.

t One learned man whom I have already mentioned, M. G. C.
Horst, states, in his Bibliothèque Magique, and has proved, that
Italy and Greece received from Asia, and from the followers of the
two principles (that is to say, the worshippers of Ormusd and
his opponent Arhiman) , the magic doctrines which were gradually
blended with the ancient mythology, founded in both countries
upon the worship of divine nature. It will be seen that this opi-
nion relates to the time when the doctrines of magic had penetrated
into the temples, an epoch much anterior to the period when the
magic arts ceased to be concentrated there.
% Theocrit. Eidyll. n. v. 160.
VOL. I. P

210 PRESERVATION OF THE EGYPTIAN FAITH.

the fact which alone had been employed by the Greeks
before their intercourse with a people, governed by the
depositaries of the Occult Science. An atrocious crime
was, therefore, no longer to be regarded as the work of
man, but as the result of the intervention of supernatural
beings. In the same manner, Theocritus transforms
Agamede, a woman, celebrated for her knowledge of
medicine, into a sorceress.

The religion of Egypt, which Cambyses had attacked
in vain, and which had never been disturbed by Alex-
ander,* was preserved, and honoured by the Ptolemies ;

* The peaceable possession of their religion, and the sacred
mysteries, which Alexander conferred upon the Egyptians after his
conquest of Egypt, arose, in a great measure, from the adulation
paid by the priests to the conqueror. On visiting the temple of
Jupiter Ammon, he bribed the priests to salute him as the son of
their God ; and, through their influence, his army was induced to
pay him divine honours. It is also well known that, after he
overcame Darius, he ordered himself to be worshipped as a God ;
and when Callisthenes, a philosopher of Olynthus, who accom-
panied him as a preceptor in his Oriental expedition, and to whom
he had been recommended by Aristotle, refused to degrade him-
self by obeying this command, the unfortunate philosopher was
accused of a conspiracy, mutilated, exposed to wild beasts, and
dragged about in chains, until Lysimachus relieved him of his per-
secutions by giving him poison. We can readily conceive that an
individual spoiled by a successful career of glory, such as fell to the
lot of Alexander, and elated with such a degree of pride as led
him to assume divine honours, would not only protect but warmly
patronize a fraudulent priesthood, who might aid in securing the
object of his ambition. The most curious fact in the history of
this great and bad man, is the part which the priests most pro-
bably played in causing his death, which occurred exactly as the
Magi had predicted, on his entering the city of Babylon, after his

DECLINE OF POLYTHEISM. 211

and, as masters of Egypt, the Romans allowed it to reign
in peace over their new subjects. But external wars
and internal feuds had ruined the people, and impo-
verished the temples. The ancient religion of the
country, like the country itself, languished under the
influence of a foreign yoke. The priesthood was no
longer the first body in the state : it had lost too much
of its dignity, its power, and its riches, to preserve its
numerous hierarchy unsullied. On this account,
oppressed by want, priests of inferior orders repaired
in crowds to the capital of the world ; and, to the super-
stition and credulity already almost predominant there,
they added jugglery and oracles. The enlightened
classes of the people had the same contempt for these
sacred mendicants as for those who flocked from Syria
and from Phrygia. Occupied with other interests of too
much importance, and nourished with too independent a
philosophy, the contemporaries of Cicero* and of Csesar
held the Thaumaturgian subalterns in little or no esti-
mation.

The multitude, doubtless, still followed them, when,

Indian expedition, loaded with the spoils of the East. His death
happened in the month of April, 323 b.c., in the 32nd year of his
age, and was very likely the effect of poison. — Ed.

* To Cicero has been attributed the remark, " that two
auruspices, or augurs, cannot pass each other in the street without
thrusting their tongues into their cheeks :" but

Faith — fanatic faith — once wedded fast
To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last. — Ed.

p 2

212 DECLINE OF POLYTHEISM.

for a few pieces of money, they displayed their juggling
in the public places, and engaged the attention of the
people by oracles, cures, and wonderful apparitions :#
but the general improvement of intellect could not fail
to increase the degradation of the sacred science. The
prodigies that it had formerly offered to the public vene-
ration, now encountered many sceptics ; and when a
miracle is either denied or discussed, the little reality
that it possesses enables the fraud to be easily unveiled.
The priests, whose tact had been successful in upholding
their deceptions under a fixed form of civilization, soon
experienced how much their influence was lessened under
a civilization which was progressive. They strove with
difficulty against the latter, chiefly because its influence
was founded upon an extension of knowledge. The
oracles were silenced ; prodigies became more rare, and
the obscurity of the sanctuaries and the mysticism of
superstition alike diminished, when the triumph of
Christianity imparted a new impulse to the mind, and
propagated a higher creed. Behold on one side, the
temples destroyed ; the priests dispersed ; some doomed
to ignominy and to indigence, and others reduced
at last to traffic for their livelihood with the sacred
science : and on the other side, persuasion, enthusiasm,
interest, ambition, and persecution at last, causing num-
berless desertions from the old faith, whilst they aug-
mented the ranks of the. proselytes under the banners

* Origen. Contr. Celsum, lib. i ; Plutarch, Cur nunc Pythia non
edit or acuta carmine.

DECLINE OF POLYTHEISM. 213

of the new religion ; among these proselytes there
were many who were ready and desirous of carrying
with them those secrets of magic, which belonged
to the different creeds that they had abandoned.
The miracle which dispersed the workmen, sent by
Julian to raze the Temple of Jerusalem, proved that the
Christians also were tainted with the knowledge of the
processes, which the ancient Thaumaturgists had used
with such brilliant success.* Then, the old religion
received a mortal blow : its adversaries could combat it

* The great efforts which the Emperor Julian made at this time
to restore Paganism in all its brilliancy and power, proved unavail-
ing ; not on account of any deficiency of talent, or feebleness of
energy in that extraordinary man, but because the faith which he
was anxious to press was destitute of theological principles and
moral precepts. It was the object of that Emperor to remedy
these defects ; and laws were enacted to reform morals, and to
promote the practice of benevolence and charity, which he was
wise enough to admire in the Christians. But this was impos-
sible ; the union of fraud and truth could never be effected ; and
whilst the priests of restored Paganism were selected from amongst
the philosophers and Magi, who were deeply skilled in magic and
divination, and who dealt openly in impostures, it was impossible
to oppose the progress of the new faith, based upon truth and
purity of morals. It is, nevertheless, melancholy to reflect upon
the apostacy of many Christians, who, from mere prudential
motives, embraced the religion of their sovereign. The crafty
monarch even went so far as to dream of rebuilding the Temple of
Jerusalem, which was not only " destroyed by the arms of Titus
and Hadrian, but a ploughshare had been drawn over the ground,
as a sign of perpetual inter die tion."a He hoped to establish in it

a Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 2nd edit,
vol. iv. p. 100.

214 DECLINE OF POLYTHEISM.

with its own weapons, or unveil to the day the weakness
of its impostures.

As long as Polytheism existed, detested but not yet
proscribed by supreme authority — as long as its temples
stood, or their recent ruins recalled a worship to which
so many recollections were attached — the most earnest
endeavour of its adversaries was to demonstrate the
falsehood of its miracles, as well as the absurdity of its
dogmas. But gradually the ivy and moss covered the
rubbish, in the midst of which persevering zeal no longer

all the ceremonials of an imposing faith, which should eclipse
those of the Church of the Resurrection on the adjacent hill of
Calvary. The Jews assembled to aid this object, intent alone on
exasperating the Christians, without reflecting on the ultimate
aim of the Emperor. It was on this occasion, when the workmen
of Julian, and the infatuated Jews, were equally engaged in clear-
ing away the ruins of the former edifice, and founding the new
temple, that an earthquake, a whirlwind, and a fiery eruption,
destroyed the enthusiastic labourers, scattered the foundations of
the projected edifice, and overthrew for ever the triumphs and
hopes of Polytheism. Our author has raised some doubts respect-
ing the supernatural character of this event ; but it was not at
the time disputed by the infidels ;a and notwithstanding the scep-
ticism of Gibbon, and the doubts of the pious Dr. Lardner," there
is not the smallest evidence to prove that it was the result of
artifice or of Occult Science. " The horrible balls of. fire," says
>Ammianus Marcellus, " bursting forth near the foundations, with
frequent reiterations, rendered the place from time to time inac-
cessible to the scorched and blasted workmen ..." and " the
undertaking was abandoned."0 — Ed.

a Gregory Nazianzen. Orat. iv. p. 110.

b Ammianus Marcellinus, xxin. xxiv.

c Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, vol. iv.pp. 47 — 71.

DECLINE OF POLYTHEISM. 215

re-assembled its worshippers. Habit, the course of
things, and necessity, drove whole populations into
the new faith : they ceased to combat that which they
had ceased to disbelieve ; they ceased to arm them-
selves against that reason which one day might extend
itself beyond the end prescribed to its efforts. The
remains of the sacred science then rested in the
hands of two classes of men, very different from one
another.

To priests of a superior order, to the enlightened dis-
ciples of the sages of Babylon, of Etruria, of Persia, of
Egypt, and of Hindustan, were united the successors of
the Theurgian philosophers, who, since the second cen-
tury, had attempted to raise up Polytheism by transform-
ing its legends into moral allegories, and its impostures
into divine acts, effected at the commands of virtuous men,
through the celestial powers. All of them together pro-
fessing the ancient Polytheism less than the worship of
one Divinity, which they adored under a thousand
different names in different religions, opened the schools
of philosophy to the Christians ; who, being the friends of
knowledge, believed themselves permitted to search for it.
A Platonic theosophy, with austere and exalted morals,
formed the foundation of the doctrines. But they revered
also the memory of men who had been, in consequence
of their piety, in communication, as they believed, with
supernatural beings, and had obtained the gift of
miraculous works. The just dread of hearing their
miracles discussed, denied, or vilified, by their too power-
ful adversaries, re-animated the ancient spirit of mystery ;
and they made it a religious duty, more than ever, to be

216 DECLINE OF POLYTHEISM.

silent on all that they still possessed of their knowledge.
Synesius* bitterly reproaches one of his friends for having
revealed to uninitiated auditors, a part of the secret doc-
trine of the philosophers.! The entire work of Lydus
upon prodigies, and the passage that we have quoted
from Damascius,j prove how far the two latter believed
themselves still strictly bound by their promises of
silence. § The initiated of Memphis,! the disciples of

* Synesius was born at Cyrene in Africa, in the year 378. He
attached himself to the school of the New Platonists, but was
converted to Christianity when little more than twenty years of
age, by Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria. He was a most re-
markable man, both for learning and piety ; and although, after
his conversion, he still retained a fondness for the New Platonism,
yet, Theophilus urged him to permit him to consecrate him for a
Bishopric. The entreaties of the Bishop were long resisted, on
account of the affection he bore for his wife ; but he at length
yielded, was separated from her, and became Bishop of Ptolemais
in 410. He was the author of many curious and learned disqui-
sitions.— Ed.

f Synes, p. 143.

% Damascius, the Stoic. He was a native of Damascus, and wrote
several works, some of which are now lost. Those writings by
which he is best known, are four books on extraordinary events
which occurred in the age of Justinian. — Ed.

§ The trace of this custom of mystery is found at a much later
period. It was only in the 12th century that Tzetzes and Zonaras
revealed the secret of the mirror of Archimedes, although this mir-
ror had been employed by Proclus, at the beginning of the
sixth century, to burn the fleet of Vitellius, who besieged Con-
stantinople.

|| Memphis situated on the banks of the Nile, near the
Pyramids, was the capital of Egypt before Alexandria was built,
and contained the Temple or Apis, the Ox- God, the type of
Osiris, whose soul the Egyptians believed passed into the body of

DECLINE OF POLYTHEISM. 217

the Etruscan priests could not have held a more reserved
language.

In noticing the philosophic dogmas, we shall be able to
follow into Greece, and then into Italy, after the capture

an ox. The great festival of this God was performed with the
most magnificent ceremonies at Memphis, at the commencement
of the annual inundation by the Nile, and lasted seven days.
The ox, selected to represent the God, was distinguished by par-
ticular marks, which were most probably, the ingenious produc-
tions of the priests ; the whole animal was black, except a white
crescent, or a mark resembling the figure of a man, on the right
side ; and on the back, the figure of an eagle ; on the forehead
was a white square spot ; under the tongue a knot resembling a
beetle ; and the hairs of the tail were double. This ox was led
in solemn procession, and having made the round of the city in
order that those who smelt his breath, might gain a knowledge of
futurity; and, after a variety of other absurd ceremonies, he was led
to the river, and if he had attained to twenty-five years of age, he
was drowned, and a new Apis elected. On this occasion, although
the God was purposely drowned, the priests shaved their heads
as an indication of mourning ; cries, and lamentations resounded
through the city ; and these continued until a new Apis, with all
the characteristic marks, was found. This new representative
of Osiris had to perform a probation of forty days, before being
initiated in all his dignities ; during which time, women only admi-
nistered to him.

Bull and kine worship passed into Egypt, from Hindustan ; and
it is still retained in the East ; for Siva rides upon a white bull,
called Handi ; and Brahmany, or sacred Bulls, are seen wandering
unmolested in all the cities of Hindustan. But the most curious
circumstance relating to Bovine worship, is the fact that it was
practised in England, in the fifteenth century. Another proof
among many, of the difficulty of shaking off old habits, and a
verification of the remark, that the early Christians had ingrafted
some of the abominations of Paganism on their ritual. Major
Moor, in his Oriental Fragments p. 516, has given the following
translation of a register of the monastery of St. Edmondsbury,

218 DECLINE OF POLYTHEISM.

of Constantinople, the traces of the existing influence of
the schools. This will be, however, less easy in all that
concerns Occult Science : the founders of the school cer-
tainly possessed it, but its transmission is only probable.

contained in a volume entitled Corolla varia, by the Rev. William
Hawkins, of Hadleigh, Suffolk, printed at Cambridge, 1634.

" This indenture certifies, that Master John Swarsham,
sacrist, with the consent of the prior, and convent demise and let

to the manor called Habyrden in Bury,

and the said . . his executors, &c.

shall find, or cause to be found, one White Bull, every year of his
term, so often as it shall happen that any gentlewoman (mulierem
generosum,) or any other woman from devotion, or vows by them
made, shall visit the tomb of the glorious martyr St. Edmund, to
make the oblation of the said white Bull, etc. Dated the 4th of
June, in the second year of Henry vii.(a.d. 1487)." Two other
indentures nearly similar, are of the 11th and 25th of Henry vni.
Now the worthy Mr. Hawkins informs us, that when a married
woman wished to make this oblation; " the white Bull, who was
never yoked to the plough, nor baited, was led in procession
through the principal streets of the town, to the principal gate of
the monastery, attended by all the monks singing, and a shouting
crowd : the woman walking by him, and stroking his milk white
sides, and pendent dewlaps. The bull being then dismissed, the
woman entered the church, and paid her vows at the altar of St.
Edmund, kissing the stone, and entreating with tears the blessing
of a child." It is not easy to say how many other equally ridicu-
lous Pagan superstitions deformed the purity of Christianity before
this period. I will mention one only at present. When Clovis,
the first Christian King of France was baptised, the vial contain-
ing the sacred unction was stated to have been dropped from
Heaven, into the hands of St. Remigius, then Bishop of Rheims,
about the end of the fifth century ; where it has ever since been
preserved for the purpose of anointing all succeeding Kings. To
confirm its divine descent, as soon as the coronation is over, the
oil in the vial begins to waste and vanish, but is again renewed of

DECLINE OF POLYTHEISM. 219

How many accidents might have buried it in the mystery
from which it must have escaped, but for the great pre-
cautions that were observed to secure it ! Some facts
remain, however, to shed a little light upon this interest-
ing problem.

The doctrines of the Theurgists, which transformed
into supernatural beings and genii both those substances
which serve and are made use of in experimental science,
as well as the men who employed them, was entirely
revived in the cabalistic doctrines of modern times.* To
produce miraculous works, science also caused the genii
to act, and to submit to the power of the philosopher
whom she enlightened with her rays. Genii of the earth,
of the air, of the water, and of fire were dispersed in
the four elements which physics, at that period, consi-
dered the bases of all bodies ; and have we not discovered
in the gnomes, the labourers who worked mines?* The
brilliant and romantic details with which a lively ^magi-
nation has embellished the principles of the cabalists, do
not prevent the identity of the two doctrines from being
easily recognised.

It is known what sublime power is attached to om
(oum), which designates the Hindoo Trinity, composed

itself, for the service of every succeeding coronation. By such
falsehoods has the Church of Rome defiled a faith which requires
nothing but the simple light of truth to display and uphold its
divine origin. a — Ed.

* The four elements were personified by Sylphs, Nymphs,
Gnomes and Salamanders. The Gnomes were the evil demons of
the earth. — Ed.

a Nie. de Brain de St. Remigio.

220 SECRET SOCIETIES.

of Siva, Vishnu, and Bramah^ in pronouncing which
the pious Magi are raised to the intellectual knowledge
of the three united Gods. This divine name, and its mys-
terious energy, were again brought forth in two books of
magic, published in Germany at the beginning of the
sixteenth century.* We may regard these as the last
link of the chains still remaining, in spite of the remote-
ness of countries and of ages, and in spite of the difference
of idioms and of religions, a remaining link of that chain
which binds to the transcendental doctrines of Hindo-
stan the wrecks which modern adepts have preserved of
them.

Of those inventions which anciently produced so many
miracles, some are to be found in the writings of men
whom, as being versed in the Occult Science, the middle
age either admired or persecuted.! It is certain that in
that age of ignorance learned men have often conveyed
the charge of their knowledge to secret societies, which
have existed almost in our day, under the name of Rosi-
crucians,| or under other names equally enigmatical.

* They are quoted in the " Bibliothèque Magique," of M.
Horst.

f Albertus Magnus, l'Abbé Tritheme, the Franciscan Barthélemi,
Robert Fludd, Roger Bacon, &c.

% Rosicrucians, or brothers of the Rosy Cross, were a sect of
hermitical philosophers, who first appeared in Germany, at the
beginning of the 14th century.

Their chief was a German gentleman, called Christian Rosen-
cruz, educated in a monastery, where he learned the languages.

About the close of the 14th century, he went to the Holy Land,
where, falling sick, he consulted the Arabs at Damascus, and
other eastern philosophers ; and by them he was supposed to be ini-

SECRET SOCIETIES. 221

One of the brightest geniuses who shed honour upon
Europe and the human race, Leibnitz, penetrated into
one of these societies at Nuremberg, and, from the
avowal of his panegyrist,* obtained there instruction
which, perhaps, he might have sought for in vain else-
where. Were these mysterious reunions the remains of

tiated into the mysteries he professed. On his return to Ger-
many he formed a society, to which he communicated his secrets,
and died in 1484.

The whole of this account is generally regarded as fabulous.
The members of the society bound themselves to secrecy, and
certain rules. They professed to know all sciences, but especially
medicine ; and they pretended to have their traditionary know-
ledge from Egyptians, Chaldseans, and others. They have been
called Immortals, Illuminati, Invisible Brothers, and from signing
themselves F.R.C., also Fratus Roris Cocti; it being pretended
that the philosopher's stone is concocted dew. They have been
confounded with the Freemasons.

The Rosicrucians have had some respectability, because Luther's
arms were a cross and a rose ; and as it was assumed by chemical
druggists, it was asserted to be derived from chemical signs. Detv,
ros was esteemed the best solvent of gold ; and the cross, or crux,
is the symbol for light in chemistry. Now light, according to this
sect, is rarefied gold ; and thus the name arose. A Rosicrucian
is one, therefore, who by dew seeks light (gold).

At the head of these fanatics was Robert Fludd, an English
physician, Jacob Behmen, and Michael Mayer. They all main-
tained that the dissolution of bodies by fire is the only way that
man can arrive at wisdom and obtain the first principles of things .
They taught that there was a certain harmony in creation ; that
even the Deity rules the kingdom of grace by the same chemical
laws as those by which he rules the kingdom of nature ; and they
therefore expressed religious truths by chemical signs, and various
other strange incomprehensible doctrines. — Ed.

* Fontenelle, Eloge de Leibnitz. Eloges des Académiciens, tome. i.
pp. 464—465.

222 SECRET SOCIETIES.

the ancient initiations? Everything conduces to the
belief that they were : not only the ordeal and the exami-
nations to which it was necessary to submit before
obtaining an entrance to them ; but, above all, the
nature of the secrets they possessed, and the means that
they appear to have employed to preserve them. Some-
times, indeed, there is found in the writings of the
authors of the twelfth and thirteenth century indications
of the knowledge of Thaumaturgy, and its application ;
but more frequently merely the remembrance of the
wonders that they had formerly worked, and scarcely
throwing a gleam of light on the oblivion into which
the means by which they have fallen were performed.

It is thus, at least, that we are tempted to interpret these
authors erroneously when they describe such marvellous
works and pronounce them possible to their art ; usurping
the glory of having revived many of the old inventions —
for example, having re-discovered, before Buffon, the
burning mirror of Archimedes, of having invented the
telegraph, &c, &c. ;' but, with their pretensions, they
have not indicated the method of effecting these wonders.

Their silence, however, is not a decisive proof of their
ignorance: — loving mystery, and proud of exclusive posses-
sion, they were learned but for themselves and a small num-
ber of adepts; they were silent also, or expressed themselves
only in allegories.* But this silence, this love of mys-

* In the 1 6th century, Leopold of Austria, son of Duke Albert
the Second, published a picture of the Paranatellons des Decerns,
(printed at Venice, in 1520. SeeDupuis Origine de tous les Cultes,
vol. xii. pp. 127, 128). It is an extract of the Persian sphere;

RISE OF MAHOMMEDANISM. 223

tery, are but traits of resemblance which recal the
Theurgic schools, in whose bosom the expiring secrets of
polytheism were deposited.

That we may assign the same origin to the know-
ledge possessed by the members of the secret societies,
is rendered probable from the horror, the fear, and the
spirit of persecution which their science inspired; feel-
ings much stronger than if the science had been more
extended. They were designated the descendants of the
polytheist priests, — the ministers of those dethroned Gods
who were but the genii of the wicked and of the
ignorant.*

but Leopold, instead of transcribing positive indications from
tbem, has drawn only the emblematical figures.

* The accusations against these secret societies ought not to
surprise us ; and although much falsehood may have been pro-
pagated respecting the views and the proceedings of the initiated,
yet it should be recollected tbat suspicion cannot fail to be
awakened where secrecy is cherished ; and charges will be made
that something exists which cannot be exposed to the light of day,
nor to general observation. The chief secret societies in Europe
have been the Templars : the Secret Tribunals of Westphalia ;
the Freemasons ; and the Illuminati of Germany. It would be
impossible, in a note, to do justice even to a slight sketch of these
mysterious societies ; and, therefore, I will only adjoin the initia-
tion of an assessor, or Schôppe, into the Fehmgerichte of Westphalia,
an institution of Charlemagne, The person to be received ap-
peared bare-headed before the assembled tribunal, and kneeling
down, with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand on a
naked sword and a halter, he pronounced the following oath, after
the Court, or the President of the Assembly ; —

" I promise, on the holy marriage, that I will from henceforth
aid, help, and conceal the holy Fehms, from wife and child,
from father and mother, from sister and brother, from fire and

224 RISE OF MAHOMMEDANISM.

Christianity having maintained powerful pre-eminence
for more than six centuries, and having carried her con-
quests farther than the Romans had extended their empire,
becoming the conquerors even of the Romans themselves,
seemed to have nothing to fear except from the unceasing
doctrinal dissensions springing up among her children.
At length, upon an almost unknown part of the globe, a
man appeared, a stranger to the resources of the Occult
Sciences, in the person of Mahomet.* He had the

' wind, from all that the sun shines on, and the rain covers,
from all that is between sky and ground, especially from the
man who knows the law ; and I will bring before this free
tribunal, under which I sit, all that belongs to the secret
jurisdiction of the Emperor, whether I know it to be true
myself, or have heard it from trustworthy people, whatever
requires correction or punishment, whatever is Fehm-free
(i.e. a crime committed in the county), that it may be judged,
or, with the consent of the accuser, be put off in grace ;
and will not cease to do so, for love or for fear, for gold or for
silver, or for precious stones ; and will strengthen this tri-
bunal and jurisdiction, with all my five senses and power ;
and that I do not take on me this office for any other cause
than for the sake of right and justice ; moreover that I will
ever further and honour this free tribunal more than any other
free tribunals ; and what I thus promise will I steadfastly and
firmly keep, So help me God and his holy Gospel."a
However harshly stigmatized secret societies may have been, I
have no hesitation in saying, that the imposition of such an oath
as the above could scarcely fail of throwing a suspicion of illegal
practices upon them, and consequently that they were properly
suppressed. — Ed.

* Mohammed, or Mahomet, was the son of a noble Arab, Abd-
Aliah, of the tribe of Koreish, and Amineh, the daughter of a

* Secret Societies of the Middle Ages, Lond. 1837, p. 349.

RISE OF MAHOMMEDANISM. 225

courage to reject them, and to establish a belief in revela-
tion, and to found a religion by declaring that the God
whom he preached had refused him the gift of working mi-
racles. In Syria, Egypt, and Persia, which were rapidly con-
quered, his fierce followers overturned civilization ; and in
Persia especially their fanaticism pursued the magii, the
depositaries of the sacred science, with implacable rage.

Four hundred years later again, in the name of
Islamism, and animated with that enthusiasm for destruc-
tion that seldom fails to excite savage hordes, the Turks
overran Asia, from the foot of the Caucasus to the

chief of high rank. He was, however, left an orphan with a very
small patrimony of five camels and a female Ethiopian slave, and
was brought up by his uncle, Aboo Talib. At the age of twenty-
five, he became the confidential servant of Khadijah, a wealthy
widow, whom he afterwards married, although she was fifteen
years his senior. At this time the Arabs were idolaters ; and even
Christianity was corrupted by many superstitions. The ardent
spirit and ambitious mind of Mohammed led him to regard him-
self as a mortal selected by Heaven to correct these evils ; but it
was not until he attained his fortieth year that he revealed his
pretended divine mission to his wife and friends. For the 300
Gods of the Caaba, worshipped by the Arabs, he substituted the
adoration of one God, and taught the doctrine of future rewards
and punishments ; but his ideas of the rewards were sensual, and
of the punishment, those only that are offensive to the body. It is
probable that, deluded into the belief of his mission, his views at first
were honest, and his object was to check the evil propensities of
his countrymen. But elated by the success in his attainment of
temporal power, he diffused his tenets by the sword, and to ele-
vate their origin, declared that each sura, or revelation of the
Koran, was brought to him from heaven by the angel Gabriel.
That he was an impostor there is no doubt ; but it might become
a question whether his appearance had not greatly contributed to
the fall of polytheism. — Ed.

VOL. I. Q

226 MOORISH SCHOOLS.

shores of the Red Sea; from the Persian Gulf to the
Euxine ; and over those countries, barbarism seemed
always to have reigned with them. Similar causes produce
similar effects; and in these two epochs the secrets of
the Occult Science were spread abroad in consequence
of the dispersion of its possessors.

From the eighth century, when, tranquil in the bosom
of their conquests, the Arabs gave themselves up with
ardour to the study of magic, they sought to obtain
from it the art of making gold and of discovering hidden
treasures — a wish natural in a people enervated by
luxury, and for whom despotism rendered all property
precarious, but that which could be carried with them.

In the eleventh century, when in their turn the civi-
lized Moslems dreaded the fanaticism of their new
brethren, the intercourse between Europeans and the
Arabs and Moors became very active ; and it may be
observed, that this commercial communication of the lat-
ter infested the sciences, that they had carried to the
west, with magical superstitions.* Students from divers
countries of Europe hastened to frequent the schools of
the professors of the Occult Science which were opened
at Toledo,f Seville, and Salamanca. | The school of
Toledo was the most celebrated, and continued to be
so from the twelfth until the end of the fifteenth century. §

* Tiedmann. De Quœstione, &c, &c. page 97.

f " Complures ex diversis regionibus scholares apud Toletum
student in arte necromanticâ, " are the expressions of Caesar Heis-
terbach, a writer at the end, or the commencement of the thir-
teenth century. Illustr. Mirac. et Hist. Mir. lib. v. cap. iv. page
207, (edit, of 1605.)

% Fromann. Tract, de Fascin. pages 173 — 174.

§ See the Commentaire de Leduchat sur Rabelais, liv. in. chap.
xxiii. note 9.

SEVERE LAWS AGAINST MAGIC. 227

The secret societies of Europe took an active part in
these communications ; and it is in a great measure from
the adepts, of which these societies were composed, that
we have acquired the knowledge of most of the physical
and the chemical inventions of the Arabs.

It was in the lowest class of society that the secrets
of polytheism were at this period partially deposited.
The degradation of the fallen religion caused the most
ignorant men to become successors to the Thaumatur-
gists, who had so long governed both Kings and people.

The vulgar can be undeceived by exposing the tricks
of jugglers and other impostors who take advantage of
their credulity ; but, if their reason has not been aided
by sound instruction, their superstitious prejudices never
die; they only abandon one object to uphold another.
The subaltern ministers of polytheism were men whose
science was almost limited to words, and their know-
ledge to the art of persuading others that they possessed
secrets which were great and extraordinary. Forgetting
their despised Gods, they spoke of demons, genii, and
fates who, at their command, directed either terrible or
benevolent actions.

Towards the middle of the sixth century, the Franks
and the Visigoths issued severe laws against magic, that
is to say, against the lowest class of magicians. The
great Theurgic secrets were guarded with sufficient care
' to prevent them from spreading in an alarming degree
among barbarians. Such laws prove how numerous
this class was, and how great its power had become over
the minds of the people.

In fact, from the commencement of the fifth century

Q 2

228 SORCERY A REMNANT OF PAGANISM.

St. Augustin speaks of the Sabbat* and of the assem-
blies of sorcerers. Before this period only isolated magi-
cians were known, such for instance as those whose jug-
gleries have been recorded by Apuleius and Lucian. This is
remarkable, as the idea of a Sabbat, of reunions, implies that
of an organized society which recognises within it chiefs
and different orders ; in short, the idea of an initiation.
But although it bears an ignoble appearance, yet it is, in
fact, an initiation. The subaltern magicians, not con-
tented with trafficking in miracles, next communi-
cated the gift of working them ; they imitated the trials,
vows, revelations, and the pageantry of the ancient initia-
tions.

It has been thought possible to trace the origin of the
assemblies of the Sabbat, or rather the traditions which
relate to them, to the nocturnal meetings of the Druids;
their religious dances by torch-light; the processions of
Druidesses clothed in white robes; and the solemnities
which were celebrated only in remote places, or in
deserts, from the period that Christianity had induced
sovereigns to put down the ancient religion of their
countries.f This is not at all improbable, and it can

* The Sabbat was a fabulous assembly of sorcerers and witches
presided over by the devil, which is supposed to have originated in
the mystery that shadowed the religious meetings of the Wal-
denses, the earliest seceders from the Romish creed ; and which
brought upon them the charge of indulging in unhallowed rites,
similar to those of heathenism. — Ed.

f M. Brodel thinks that the immense grottos that are found
in the Alps, were formerly inhabited by the Faidhs, or adepts in
the Occult Science ; and he is also of opinion, that from this cir-
cumstance the belief has arisen, that these grottos have been, and
still are, the dwellings of fairies.

SORCERY A REMNANT OF PAGANISM. 229

easily be believed, that in the same manner as in the
formation of the modern Secret Societies, the remains of
diverse institutions, borrowed from different ages and
from different countries, have been brought together,
and so intermingled that it would be difficult to perceive
what had originally belonged to each of them.

Whatever may be the general opinion, are we right in
regarding as successors to the sorcerers of the fifth and
sixth centuries, those sorcerers whose meetings have been
impeached by all the tribunals of Europe, even until the
eighteenth century?

We have already attempted to point out an analogous
relation between the Secret Societies, formed by
learned men of the middle ages, and the schools of the
philosophic Theurgists. In the former, the changes pro-
duced by time have affected the forms and the
secrets of the initiation : the knowledge which they
wished to preserve, existed as long as they could
understand the formularies of it: in the latter, on
the contrary, the design of the initiation and its his-
tory have alike fallen into oblivion. If we endeavour
to trace it back to its origin, we have only for our
guidance some imperfect remains of its practices, and its
fictions ; and that which deceit and cupidity, eager to
find dupes, have been able to preserve.

Several considerations demonstrate that such an
analogy is of little value. M. Tiedmann supposes
that several barbarous words, used in the operations of
witchcraft, are only Latin and Greek words, badly read
and pronounced by the uneducated,* which originally
* Tiedmann. De Quœstione, &c. &c. page 102 — 103.

230 SORCERY A REMNANT OF PAGANISM.

were part of the formularies of operations or of invocations.
Nothing is more probable : and thus the three unintel-
ligible Greek words, pronounced by the high priest at
the Eleusian mysteries, Kongco, Om, Panx, have been
recognised by Captain Wilford, in the Sanscrit words,
cansha, om, panscha, which are repeated by the
Brahmans every day at the conclusion of their religious
ceremonies.*

Do we not also remark, in the invocations of modern
sorcerers, a confusion of astrological ideas, for the inven-
tion of which they assuredly cannot account, because
they do not understand them, and which must have been
received from more learned predecessors ?

To transport themselves to the Sabbat, or rather to
dream that they were transported there, the sorcerers
rubbed their bodies with a sort of pommade ; the secret
of composing which, a secret which so often was fatal to
them, is the last, perhaps the only one, which they have
preserved. A sudden, deep* and continued sleep, sad
and mournful visions, sometimes mixed with voluptuous
movements, were generally produced by the magical
unction, the effect of which was to combine the two
most powerful feelings of the human soul — pleasure
and terror. The choice of the efficacious substances of
which the pommade was composed, the discovery of
their virtues, and the manner of employing them, cannot
be attributed to the modern sorcerers, who are always
found in the lowest and most ignorant classes; this
knowledge has doubtless descended from a much higher
source. Ancient magic used mysterious unctions ;
* The Monthly Repertory; vol. xxm. page 8.

SORCERY A REMNANT OF PAGANISM. 231

Lucian and Apuleius have described those with which
Pamplida, and the wife of Hipparcus practised. These
two writers, however, have only copied from the Mile-
sian Fables, as much celebrated for their antiquity as for
their amusing character.

The magical unction, as we have thus described it,
has no effect in modern times, except in producing the
dreams that followed its use. But, in the primitive
initiations, when composed of ingredients less soporific, it
probably served to prepare adepts for the mysteries
that they were about to celebrate, by bringing upon
them that moral intoxication, the frenzy of belief, so
necessary for creating and maintaining superstition and
fanaticism.

It may be asked, are we able to trace any vestiges of
the primitive initiations ?

Amidst the avowals drawn by torture from pretended
sorcerers, as to what had passed at the Sabbat ; amidst
details varied by all the incoherence of profound delirium;
we may perceive a certain number of uniform ideas. M.
Tiedmann,# ascribes this to the continuance of the tor-
tures of these unfortunate beings until they had confessed
every thing of which they were accused ; and because the
accusations were always identical and conformable to the
ideas received among the judges. But it is not likely that
the magistrates invented these absurd confessions : how
then, we may ask, were they originally imprinted in the
minds of these poor wretches, if they were not recitals
founded either on real actions, or on recollections preserved
by long tradition ? The common foundation, therefore,

* Tiedmann. De Quœslione, &c. pages 137 — 138.

232 SORCERY A REMNANT OF PAGANISM.

of all the confessions, which were composed of these
ideas, was probably, allowing for the alterations, which
time and ignorance could not fail to give to them, some
ceremonies formerly practised in the subaltern initia-
tions.

It is natural to believe that these initiations were
attached to the last remains of the destroyed worship,
and divers indications render this probable. Thus if a
hundred and fifty years have passed, since magical vir-
tues as in the time of our ancient Druids, were attributed
to the misletoe of the oak ;# if, in the country, attentive
observers daily discover legends, superstitions, and
observances which have emanated from the ancient
religions, how much more is it likely that in an epoch

* Fromann. Tract, de Fasc. p. 697. — The Misletoe, Viscum
album, grows upon many trees; but it was that only which
is found upon the oak that the Druids employed; and being
a parasitic plant, the seeds of which are not sown by the
hand of man, it was well adapted for the purposes of super-
stition. Its virtues, however, depended altogether upon the
manner in which it was obtained : and for this purpose, a religious
procession of Druids and Druidesses repaired to the forest, and
having found the Misletoe, the chief priest ascended the oak in
which it was growing ; and a hymn having been sung, the plant was
cut down with a silver sickle, and received in a clean, white sheet
spread out below, and held by the other priests ; for the Misletoe
lost all its virtue if it touched the ground. The custom, still
extant of decorating houses at Christmas with evergreens, of
which the Misletoe is one, is a remnant of Druidism ; and was
originally intended as an inducement for the Sylvan spirits to
" repair to them, and remain unnipped with frost and cold winds,
until a milder season had renewed the foliage of their darling
abodes." a — Ed.

' Brand on Bourne's Antiquities, p. 193.

SORCERY A REMNANT OF PAGANISM. 233

far less remote from that of their splendour, these re-
ligions still preserved an influence over the habits and
the faith of the multitude ! The priestesses and druides-
ses of polytheism, retired to a distance from cities, and
long preserved the confidence and the respect of the
people. Gregory of Tours speaks of the existence of
Pythonesses among the Gauls; and in 798, we see by
the capitulars of Charlemagne that there were Divine-
resses prescribed under the name of Striœ. At a much
later period, a crowd of men and women assembled by
night to celebrate the worship of Diana, or the Lady
Abunde, who was also called Hèra, from the Greek
name of Juno, with feasts, races, and dances.* It
appears that the priest who presided at the assembly
was clothed in a goat's skin, carrying a horned and bearded
mask, and thus represented the god Pan, the divinity
of Mendesf whom the Greeks had borrowed from Egypt.
As in some secret ceremonies of Polytheism, there
were other priests who probably bore the disguise of ani-
mals. The names of Diana or Hera, and the recollection
of Pan carries us back to the religion which Chris-
tianity had overturned ; but, do we not also find details,

* See Dulaure. Histoire de Paris, 1st edition, vol. v. p. 259 ;
and also Carpentier, Glossar. verbis Diana et Holda.

f Mendes, which, in the Egyptian dialect, was the name for a
goat, was a city near Lycopolis, in Egypt, situated on one of the
mouths of the Nile, where Pan, under the form of a goat, was
worshipped ; and a sacred goat was kept with the most ceremonious
sanctity. Notwithstanding the disgusting form which he assumed,
this God had gained the affection of Diana, on which account, in
her festivals, one of the priests always assumed the disguise des
cribed in the text. — Ed.

234 SORCERY A REMNANT OF PAGANISM.

which were repeated in the confessions of the sorcerers :
for example, the dances, the races, and the feasts ;
the goat that they adored; the different animals which
a heated imagination transformed into demons, and
which, it was supposed, served for mounting the prin-
ciple personages, who attended at the ceremony.
Maximus of Turin, in the fifth century, describes
similar meetings as the remains of Paganism. Seven
hundred years later, John of Salisbury speaks of them.
He mentions them in the fourteenth century ; but it
is doubtful whether they really took place then : the
romance of the Rose says that those who believed in
them, and united themselves with the third part of
the population were deceived by an illusion. From
that time, the meetings and ceremonies of the Sabbat
fell into disuse, and no longer existed, save in the re-
veries of the sorcerers.

After having endeavoured to restore the historic
chain, which united those wretches, whom a stupid
ignorance condemned to death as sorcerers, with the
last depositories of the ancient occult knowledge, it is
necessary that we should, among the latter distin-
guish the subaltern Magi from wizards. Those men
who came from different temples, and who were
possessed of different secrets, without doubt assisted
to extend the knowledge of such secrets; but we
suspect that sorcery was founded by those Egyptian
priests of the last order, who, from the commencement
of the Roman empire, had wandered in every direction ;
and who, although they were publicly despised, yet, were
consulted in secret ; and continued to make proselytes

SORCERY A REMNANT OF PAGANISM. 235

amongst the lowest classes of society. The apparition
and the adoration of a Goat, formed an essential part of
the ceremonies of the Sabbat. The Cat, also, unhappily
for itself, played in these a considerable part, for it often
shared the dread which the sorcerers inspired, and the
punishments inflicted upon them. It is well known
how ancient the worship of the cat and the goat was
in Egypt. It is also well known of what importance
another agent, the Key was in the tricks of witchcraft ;
how many cures the Key of St. John* and the Key of
St. Hubert performed.! The handled cross Crux ansata,
so frequently observed on the Egyptian monuments,
was a key ; j and from the religious ideas which placed
it in the hand of the principal Gods of Egypt, we discover
in the key the hieroglyphic of sovereign power.

The Pseudo-monarchia Dœmonum, appears to us to

* The number of the saints of this name in Butler's alpha-
betical list of the Fathers, Martyrs, and principal Saints, is 32 ;
but I imagine the St. John referred to in the text, is he " of the
cross," who flourished in the sixteenth century. — Ed.

f St. Hubert must have been originally a man of wealth and con-
sequence, as he was mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, a.d. 681, in
which year St. Lambert, by whose efforts he was united to the ser-
vice of the Church, was murdered. St. Hubert was chosen his
successor or Bishop of Maestricht ; and among other praiseworthy
acts, drove the remnants of idolatry from their last stronghold, in
the great forest of Ardennes, on the Meuse. But, like many of
his predecessors, he pretended to work miracles ; and his shrine
has always been celebrated for wonderful cures, especially of per-
sons labouring under hydrophobia ; but we possess no evidence of
the value of the remedies, when the disease is not the result of
imagination. — Ed.

% Encyclop, method. Antiquités. Article, Key.

236 SORCERY A REMNANT OF PAGANISM.

have had an Egyptian origin ; an important fact, since
most of the names which this work contains are re-
produced, with a little alteration, in the pamphlets res-
pecting witchcraft, which are found in country places.*
Among the genii of the Pseudo-monarchia one is a
mermaid, a figure peculiar to the Planispheres ;f another,
a venerable old man, mounted on a crocodile and carry-
ing a hawk upon his wrist. A third is represented
under the form of a camel, which bespeaks its Egyp-
tian origin, (in the astronomy of the Arabs the camel is
known to take the place of the constellation of the kneeling
Hercules) , whilst another appears partly a wolf and partly
man, displaying like Anubis, the jawbones of a dog ; and
a fifth is Ammon or Hammon,| whose name reveals
its origin. Ammon was the universal, the invisible God,

* On the second band of the soffit of the Portico of the Temple
of Dendera, may be remarked (says M. Jollois, in* the Description
de l'Egypte) a woman whose body terminates with the tail of a
fish. On this emblem which is also found in the Hindoo, Japan,
Chaldean, Phoenician, and even Greek mythologies, see § xn. of
the note A. of dragons and monstrous serpents.

f J. Scaligeri notce in M. Manilium, page 484.

+ The ruins of the temple of Jupiter-Ammon are situated in
an Oasis, five degrees nearly west of Cairo, called the Oasis of
Siwah. They were discovered by Browne, who travelled into
Upper Egypt in 1 792 ; and were visited by Horneman in 1798, and
Belzoniin 1816. Horneman discovered there, the fountain of the
sun, described by Herodotus as warm at dawn, cool as the day
advanced, extremely cold at noon, gradually again becoming
warmer until sunset, and boiling hot at midnight. Belzoni had
no thermometer to measure its temperature ; but judging from
his feelings, he states that he found it about 80° early in the
morning, 40" at noon, and 100° at midnight. The well is sixty

SORCERY A REMNANT OF PAGANISM. 237

whom the Egyptian priests supplicated to manifest him-
self to his worshippers.*

We have already given sufficient space to this discus-
sion: if the inferences which we have drawn from it
have any probability, they will authorize us sometimes to
quote in our researches, from the modern sorceries, either
as borrowed from ancient science, or as proper for explain-
ing by analogy, some of the apparent miracles of the
ancients : and they will at the same time show us, in ex-
plaining the progress of the science, how the knowledge of
it extended to our times ; — the errors to which it led in
the uneducated classes : — the reason why it was enveloped
in mystery ; — the prejudices that this mystery have
given birth to in the human mind ; — and how it silently
perished in the hands of the truly enlightened.

feet deep in a shaded spot, and it is probable that, were its tem-
perature measured by a thermometer, it would be found nearly the
same at all times : but when measured by the hand, a fallacy is
produced by the different temperament of the body at the time.
At midnight the body being cool, the water would feel hot;
but at mid-day, the body being hot, the water of the same tem-
perature as at midnight would feel cool. — Ed.

* According to Hécatee of Abdera, quoted by Plutarch (Plu-
tarch, de Isid. et Osirid.) Joannis Wieri, Opera omnia Pseudo
monarchia Demonum, p. 650, § 5.

238 WONDERS OF INITIATION.

CHAPTER X.

Enumeration of the wonders that the Thaumaturgists acquired the
power of working, by the practice of the Occult Science.

The theatre where so many prodigies were concen-
trated for the purpose of trying the courage of the ini-
tiated, for subjugating their reason, and rewarding
their constancy, the temple, is about to be thrown open.

After having been for many days submitted to
various preparations, the design of which was hidden
from him, and their nature disguised by religious cere-
monies, the aspirant entered upon a course of apparent
miracles, with the issue of which he was ignorant ; and
from beholding which he was uncertain whether he
should be permitted to emerge a victor.

At first he seemed to be placed immoveably, and, as it
were, enchained in the depth of an obscurity as profound
as those of the infernal regions ; and although now and
then flashes of light broke for a moment the darkness
which surrounded him, horrors only were revealed to him.
By these transient flashes he caught glimpses of monstrous
phantoms, and awful spectres ; he heard near him the
hissing of serpents and the howling of wild beasts ; and

WONDERS OF INITIATION. 239

echo repeated and prolonged in the distance these
noises so well calculated to excite alarm. During the
calmer intervals such were the overpowering emotions
awakened in his mind, that a slight rustling, or even an
agreeable sound made him tremble.* The scene next be-
came lighted up ; and, suddenly, he perceived a change
coming over the aspect of the place and its decorations ;
the earth trembled and raised itself up, almost into a
mountain, and again sunk into a profound abyss. He
then felt himself raised or drawn rapidly along, although
unable to discover the impulse he felt constrained to obey.
Under his eyes, whilst gazing upon them, the pictures
and marbles became animated ; the bronzes shed
tears ; unwieldy and colossal figures moved and walked ;
and statues uttered harmonious sounds. He was
compelled to advance forwards, whilst awful monsters,
centaurs, harpies, gorgons, and serpents with a hundred
heads, surrounded and menaced him, bodiless heads
grinned at him, and mocked alike his fear and his
courage.f

Phantoms bearing a perfect resemblance to men who
had been long laid in the grave, and who, whilst alive,
had been the objects of his admiration or his attachment,
fluttered about him, and shrunk from embraces which
they appeared to seek. Thunders rolled, lightnings
flashed, water became inflamed and flowed in torrents of

* I have borrowed this sketch from the highly poetical picture,
drawn by the Author of the " Livre de la Sagesse," (chap, xvii.)
displaying the terrors which tormented the Egyptians during the
three days of darkness.

t An exhibition similar to the Phantasmagoria. See a subse-
quent note. — Ed.

240 WONDERS OF INITIATION.

fire. A dry and solid body fermented, dissolved and
changed into waves of foaming blood. In one place were
seen wretched beings in vain attempting to fill with
water a shallow urn, the liquid they unceasingly poured
into it never rose to its top; in another place the favoured
of the Gods proved their right to this title by braving
the influence of boiling water, of red-hot iron, melted
metal, and burning wood. They commanded as masters
the most ferocious beasts ; they gave the word, and veno-
mous serpents came and crouched at their feet ; they
seized asps and vipers and tore them asunder, whilst the
reptiles dared not to bite nor revenge themselves upon
their tormentors. Then the aspirant heard near him the
tones of a human voice j* calling him, and answering his
questions, but the nearer he approached to the spot
whence the sound proceeded, the less able was he to per-
ceive the person by whom the voice was uttered.
At the bottom of a narrow cavern, into which the
daylight never penetrated, a light as bright as that of
the sun, suddenly bursting forth, discovered to him, at
an immense distance, enchanted gardens and palaces, the
beauty and the magnificence of which induced him to
recognise in them the abode of the immortal Gods.
There the Gods appeared to him, their presence being an-
nounced by the most indubitable indications. He saw and
he heard them ; his mind troubled, his imagination con-
fused, and his reason, overwhelmed by so many miracles,
abandoned him ; and, intoxicated and transported with
admiration, he worshipped the glorious proofs of super-

* This was evidently the effect of ventriloquism. — Ed,

WONDERS OF INITIATION. 241

natural power, and bent in devotion before the certain
presence of Divinity.

However dazzling these pretended miracles were, they
sunk to nothing compared with the knowledge which was
preserved for the initiated if his birth, his courage, his
zeal, should enable him some day to take a place amongst
the highest orders of the priesthood. All that had struck
him with so much admiration he was himself to acquire
the power of performing, and the secret of still more
important wonders was to be revealed to him.

The minister of a divinity by turns beneficent and
revengeful, but ever omnipotent, he was assured that
both man and the elements should obey him. He should
be rendered capable of astonishing the multitude by his
power of abstinence from food ; and load the ignorant man
with gratitude by purifying the impure beverage that
excess of thirst might oblige him to accept. He was
informed that he should possess the power of disturbing
the minds of men, of plunging them into brutish stu-
pidity or ferocious rage ; of obliterating from their me-
mory the recollection of their sorrows, and of freeing them
from the power of grief. In addition, he was to be able
to exalt their audacity, or their docility into fanaticism ;
fulfil their most ardent desires in visions; and often,
even without any intermediate means, to act on their
senses and govern their will. Arbiter of their disputes,
he would have no necessity to interrogate witnesses or to
weigh opinions ; a simple ordeal should enable him to
distinguish the innocent and truthful man from the crimi-
nal and perjured, who might be convicted by him to be
worthy of a dreadful and merited death. He was told

VOL. I. R

242 WONDERS OF INITIATION.

that in their maladies men should call upon him ;
and, at his voice, the aid of heaven would descend and
heal their diseases ; and he should even have the power of
snatching from Death the prey which the grim destroyer
had already seized. Woe to the man who should offend
him : he might be struck with leprosy, with blindness, or
with death. He was farther informed that he might forbid
the earth to yield its fruits ; that he might poison
the atmosphere ; and the exhalations, which would thus
furnish him with arms against his enemies. The most
terrible of the elements, fire, should be his slave ; at his
command it would spring up spontaneously, and bewil-
der the eyes of the incredulous ; water should not
extinguish it ; it should burst forth awful as thunder
against his victims, and, tearing open the bosom of the
earth, compel it to engulph and devour them. The
heavens even should be subject to his control, and he
might predict to the anxious and fearful the variations of
the weather and the convulsions of the earth. He
should have power to still the thunder, and to play with
the lightning ; while trembling men should believe him
to be endowed with the power of hurling it at their
heads. Such were the promised gifts of the Deity who
inspired ; such the tools of conviction by which the initi-
ated chained to the foot of the altar all men, whatever
their rank might be, out of the temple. All were
constrained to believe, to adore, and to obey.

These unbounded promises were fulfilled through the
means of the Occult Science : a thousand times has
the attentive eye witnessed these apparent miracles, into
the causes of which enthusiasm forbade inquiry. And

WONDERS OF INITIATION. 243

we, to whom this inquiry is permitted : (for to whom,
indeed, is it now denied?) we believe these apparent
miracles, and admire them for the variety of knowledge
necessary to their production; but we are not blind
to the charlatanism and imposture so cleverly mixed
up with these mysteries ; and, therefore, we have endea-
voured to expose this shameful alliance. By purifying
it from the dross that soils it, the precious ore recovers
all its brilliancy and value.

r 2

244 MECHANICAL AGENCIES,

CHAPTER XL

Apparent miracles performed by Mechanism — Moving floors —
Automata — Experiments in the art of flying.

Among the wonders which were invented and com-
posed, as experiments and exhibitions for the initiated,
we cannot avoid, at the first glance, perceiving that
many were the result of an ingenious application of
the principles of mechanism and acoustics. The skilful
illusions of optics ; of perspective ; the phantasmagoria ;
many inventions belonging to hydrostatics and che-
mistry; the practical use made of observations of
the habits and sensations of animals; and lastly,
the employment of those secrets, practised in all
ages and always beheld with astonishment, which pre-
serve our frail organs and susceptible skins from the
ravages of fire — were all called in to assist in deluding
the aspirant. We do not discover, it is true, in the
writings of the ancients any positive indication of their
possession of all this knowledge ; but the effects speak
for themselves, and constrain us to admit their existence
as causes. We repeat that it is wiser to concur in such
views, than boldly to accuse the accounts of such
miraculous events of being misrepresentations. The

MECHANICAL AGENCIES. 245

marvellous, and apparently impossible, have been robbed
of their wonderful character by the progress of science.
Much that the ancients assert was done, we possess the
means of doing : equivalent means were therefore known
to them. I demand of those who would reject this
conclusion, to say whether the history of the sciences —
that history enveloped in so much darkness — has been
handed down to us so detailed and complete that we
can with certainty define its extent, or determine its
limits? In reference to mechanism, at least, we dare
not attempt it. The science of constructing wonderful
machines, whose effects seem to overthrow the whole
order of nature ; in one word, mechanism — for it is thus
that Cassiodorus# defines it — was carried by the ancients
to a point of perfection that has never been attained in
modern times. We would inquire have their inventions
been surpassed in our age ? Certainly not ; and at the pre-
sent day, with all the means which the progress of
science and modern discoveries have placed in the hands
of the mechanic, have we not been assailed by numerous
difficulties, in striving to place on a pedestal one of those
monolithes that the Egyptians, forty centuries ago,
erected in such numbers before their sacred edifices. It
is, indeed, sufficient to point to the inventions of
Archimedes, to render credible the wonders that are said
to have been performed by mechanism in the temples. But

* Cassiodor. Variar. lib. i. cap. xliv. — Cassiodorus, a states-
man and learned writer of the sixteenth century, who filled several
offices under Theodoric. He lived to the age of one hundred ; but
some time before his death he grew tired of public life, and retired
to a monastery, where he ended his days, a.d. 562. — Ed.

246 MECHANICAL AGENCIES.

let us observe how that great man, misled by the doctrines
of Plato, attached only an ordinary value to the most bril-
liant applications of science ; holding theory and specula-
tive disquisitions in a much higher estimation. It is even
believed,* though perhaps incorrectly,! on the evidence of

* Plutarch in Mar cell. § 18 and § 22.

t Cassiodorus (Variar. lib. i. cap. lxv), in commenting upon
the works translated from Greek into Latin by Boethius,* positively
mentions a Treatise on Mechanism by Archimedes, entitled, "Me-
chanicum etiam Archimedem latialem siculis reddidisti." The epithet
conferred by Cassiodorus on every author, explains the title or the
subject of the translated work: "Pythagoras musicus;" "Plato
theologus ;" " Aristotle logicus ; &c." The meaning of the word
mechanicus is rendered obvious in the continuation of the letter in
which Cassiodorus gives mechanism the definition we have quoted.
When it is recollected that Plutarch was not an infallible authority
in facts, we shall be inclined to give more weight to the assertion
of Cassiodorus, the friend and contemporary of Boethius. It
would, at least, be very desirable that a search should be made in
all libraries containing manuscripts, for a Translation of the
Treatise, the original of which, if it ever existed, has long since
disappeared.

a Annius Manlius Torquatus Severius Boethius was born
a.d. 455, of an ancient, noble, Roman family. He studied at
Athens, and acquired so early a character for learning and genius,
that on his return to Rome, it secured for him many friends and
admirers, and also the Consulship at the age of thirty-two, when
Theodoric reigned in Italy. He devoted the whole of the time
which he could spare from the service of the Commonwealth to the
cultivation of science. His Treatise upon music was one only of
his voluminous labours, the principal of which was entitled, " De
consolatione Philosophise," composed in prison, into which he had
been thrown by Theodoric, under a false accusation that he
attempted to excite discontent against that monarch, and that he
sought means to restore freedom to the Romans. He had scarcely

MECHANICAL AGENCIES, 247

Plutarch, that he left nothing written on the construction
of those machines which had acquired him so much re-
nown. Thaumaturgists alone understood the true value of
the secrets acquired by the practice of science, yet beheld
unmoved the injustice done to the philosophers, who
aided them by preserving their means of power in inac-
cessible security.

In the infamous mysteries, which were properly and
severely denounced by the Roman magistrates, in the
year 186 a.c, and which were doubtless derived from
more ancient initiations, certain machines were employed
to raise up, and cause the disappearance of the unhappy
victims, who were said to have been ravished by the
Gods.# In a similar manner, in other cases, the
aspirant to initiation felt himself suddenly lifted up by
some invisible power. We might be astonished that
imposture thus exposed should continue to be revered in
other mysteries, if human credulity did not everywhere
present contradictions as palpable. In order to descend
into the Cave of Trophonius, those who came to consult
the oracle, placed themselves before an aperture appa-
rently too narrow to admit a middle-sized man; yet, as soon
as the knees had entered it, the whole body was rapidly
drawn in by some invisible power. The mechanism used

finished his Treatise, when Theodoric ordered him to be beheaded,
which was done in prison, October 23, a.d. 526. Although a
Christian, yet it is remarkable that he refers none of the consola-
tions to that faith. Boethius must not be confounded with
Boetius, the Scottish historian, who flourished in the fifteenth
century, and who was also a writer of undoubted veracity. Eras-
mus, speaking of him, says, " he knew not to lie." — Ed,
* Tit. Liv. lib. xxix. cap. xiii.

248 MECHANICAL AGENCIES.

for this purpose was connected with other machinery, which
at the same time enlarged the entrance to the grotto.*

When the sages of India conducted Apollonius to the
temple of their God, singing hymns and forming a sacred
march, the. earth, which they struck with their staves in
cadence, was agitated like a boisterous sea, and raised
them up nearly two feet ; then calmed itself and resumed
its usual level.f The act of striking with their sticks
betrays the necessity of warning workmen, who were
placed beneath, to raise a moving stage covered with
earth ; an operation readily effected by the aid of
mechanism, very easy to be comprehended.

According to Apollonius, it was only the sages of
India who could perform this miracle, j Nevertheless, it

* Clavier. Mémoire sur les oracles anciens, pages 149 — 150.
The cave of Trophonius was one of the most celebrated oracles
of Greece. The individual whose name the cave bore, and who
was thus honoured as a God, was, in conjunction with his
brother Agamides, the architect of the temple of Apollo at
Delphi, and was rewarded by the priests with assassination instead
of payment for his labours. The brothers were desired by the
God, through the priests, to be cheerful, and to wait eight days
for their reward, at the termination of which time, however, they
were found dead in their beds.

The person who went to consult the oracle, was obliged to make
certain sacrifices ; to bathe in certain rivers ; and to anoint his
body with oil. He was then clothed in a linen robe, and, with a
cake of honey in his hand, he descended in the manner described
in the text into the cave. What passed there was never revealed,
but the person on his return generally looked pale and dejected.
—Ed.

f Philostrat. De vit. Apoll. lib. in. cap. v.

% Philostrat. De vit. Apoll. lib. vi. cap. vi. Apollonius was,
however, a mere narrator of wonders, not very worthy of belief.

MECHANICAL AGENCIES. 249

is probable that a similar secret existed in other temples.
English travellers,* who visited the remains of the temple
of Ceres, at Eleusis, observed that the pavement of the
sanctuary is rough and unpolished, and much lower than
that of the adjacent portico. It is, therefore, probable
that a wooden floor, on a level with the portico, covered
the present floor, and concealed a vault destined to admit
of the action of machinery beneath the sanctuary for
moving the floor. In the soil of an interior vestibule,
they observed two deeply indented grooves, or ruts ; and
as no carriage could possibly be drawn into this place, the
travellers conjectured that these were grooves intended to
receive the pullies which served in the mysteries to raise
a heavy body ; " perhaps," said they, " a moving floor,"
In confirmation of their opinion, they perceived further

He was a native of Tyanus, in Cappadocia, and lived in the com-
mencement of the Christian era. He travelled by land into India,
and on his return propagated accounts of the most incredible pro-
digies and miracles which he had witnessed ; but he was a shameless
impostor, and one of the many pretenders to miracles in his time.
One of the few redeeming acts in the life of Nero was the banishment
of our hero and his fellow miracle- workers from Rome. At Athens,
Apollonius was initiated into the Eleusian mysteries, and per-
formed many pretended miracles before his death, which occurred
when he was above one hundred years of age. It is remarkable
that Philostratus, his biographer, should have believed a tithe of
the wonders he has related in his life : and, notwithstanding the
evident falsehoods of Apollonius, such was the superstition and
credulity of his period, that temples and statues were erected in
his honour, and his appellation was, " the true friend of the Gods !"
—Ed.

* The unedited Antiquities of Attica, by the Society of Dilettanti.
London, 1817.

250 MECHANICAL AGENCIES.

on other grooves, which might have served for the
counter-balances to raise the floor ; and they also detected
places for wedges, to fix it immoveable at the desired
height. These were eight holes fixed in blocks of
marble and raised above the ground, four on the right,
and four on the left, adapted to receive pegs of large
dimensions. The seats, on which a person sitting down
finds himself fixed, and without the power of moving from,
are not, as was supposed, the invention of the eighteenth
century. It is related by the mythologists, that Vulcan
presented a throne to Juno, on which the Goddess had
no sooner seated herself than she found herself enchained
to it.*

Vulcan decorated Olympus with tripods which, with-
out any apparent motion, took their places in the
banquet hall of the Gods.f Apollonius saw and admired
similar tripods amongst the sages of India. % The
construction of automata is not a recent invention;
and we may venture to relate, on the authority of Ma-
crobius,§ that at Antium and in the temple of Hierapolis
there were moving statues.

Another proof of the ingenuity of the ancients was
the wooden dove, so wonderfully constructed by the phi-
losopher Archytas,|l that it flew, and sustained itself for

* Pausanias. Attic, cap. xx.

f Homer. Iliad, lib. xvin. verses 375 — 378.

X Philostrat. De vit. Apoll. lib. vi. cap. vi.

§ Macrobe. Saturnal. lib. i. cap. xxiii.

|| Archytas was a native of Tarentum, in Italy, and nourished
400 years before the birth of our Saviour. He was a contempo-
rary of Plato, who had been his pupil. He is said to have been a
man distinguished for his mathematical knowledge and discoveries

MECHANICAL AGENCIES. 251

some time in the air.# This masterpiece of art naturally
reminds us of the desire of man, in all ages, to become
a rival of the birds of the air, as swimming and the art
of navigating in the waters have enabled him to become
the rival of the inhabitants of the rivers and seas. We
need not mention the story of Daedalus and Icarus as an
example. Daedalus, pursued by Minos, for having be-
trayed to Theseus the secret of the windings and openings
of the labyrinth of Crete, flew from that island with his
son :f but his wings were sails, which he was the first
in Greece to apply to barks, whilst the vessels of his per-
secutor were only rowed with oars. It is probable that
he learned the use of sails in Egypt, as he had borrowed
from that country the idea of the construction of the
labyrinth. But if we turn our eyes towards the East —
which we shall often have occasion to do — an author,
although we must admit that he is not much to be
relied upon,| describes a statue of Apollo which, when
carried in religious ceremonies by the priests of the
God, raised itself in the air and fell again on exactly the
same spot from which it had been carried — a feat simi-
lar to that which may be seen performed by any aeronaut
in our public gardens. Narratives, the origin of which

in practical mechanics ; and to have been also a profound states-
man and a skilful general. Besides the wooden dove, he invented
the screw, the crane, and various hydraulic machines. He perished
by shipwreck on the coast of Apulia. — Ed.

* A. Gell. Noct. Attic, lib. x. cap. xin.

f Heraclit. De Politiis. verb. Icarus. It is supposed that their
sails were their cloaks elevated on oars, and that the son having
exercised less skill than his father, in managing his bark, was
wrecked on the coast of Icaria. — Ed.

% Le traité de la déesse de Syrie.

252 MECHANICAL AGENCIES.

is certainly very ancient, furnish us, also, with two facts
which should not be passed over in silence. The one
describes a flying chariot, which a man directed through
the air as he pleased, and which was exhibited as a
masterpiece of art, and not of magic* The other states
that, beneath a balloon was attached a little car, in which
a man placed himself, and the balloon shooting up into
the air rapidly, transported the traveller wherever he
desires to go.f

What shall we conclude from these recitals ? There
can be only one conclusion, namely, that the perform-
ances of this description of mechanism may probably be
assigned to an epoch even more remote than that of Archy-
tas ;| and that the Tarentine, the disciple of Pythagoras,

* Les Mille et un Jours. Jours ex — cxv.

t Les Mille et une Nuits, 556e nuit, tome vi, pages 144 — 146.

X It is a curious fact, that notwithstanding the efforts which were
made at various periods to enable men to raise themselves in the
atmosphere, the first aerial voyage in Europe did not take place
until the year 1783, when the Mongolfiers, paper manufacturers
at Annonay, near Lyons, raised a paper balloon of 23,000 French
cubit feet of capacity, filled with air rarified by heat in a chaffer
placed below the mouth of the balloon. It rose with great force
and rapidity to an elevation of 10,000 toises ; but, as the air soon
cooled, it gradually descended. It was, however, thought impru-
dent to risk human life in these balloons, and even in those filled
with hydrogen gas, when it was first employed ; but, on the 15th
of October, 1783, M. Pilatre de Rozier ascended in a Montgolfier,
held by ropes to the height of one hundred feet ; and on the 2nd
of November, of the same year, M. Pilatre and the Marquis
d'Arlander, left the earth in a free balloon, and descended after
travelling 5000 toises. The possibility of travelling in this man-
ner being thus established, aerostation has gradually improved ;
but, although aeronauts can now rise and descend at pleasure, yet
they are not able to direct a balloon in the manner of a vessel : they

MECHANICAL AGENCIES. 253

who was himself the disciple of the sages of the East,
perhaps only excited the admiration of Italy by secrets
acquired in the temples of Memphis or of Babylon.

are, therefore, at the control of every current of air into which
the balloon is carried. — Ed.

254 MECHANICAL AGENCIES.

CHAPTER XII.

Acoustics — Imitation of thunder — Organs — Resounding chests —
Androïdes, or speaking heads — The statue of Memnon.

Imposture always betrays itself. However much
the mind of the candidate might have been preoccu-
pied ; the creaking of the pullies ; the coiling of cordage ;
the clicking of wheels ; and the noise of the machines ;
must necessarily have struck upon his ear, and disclosed
the weak hand of man in those exhibitions, which were
intended to excite admiration as the work of superna-
tural powers. This danger was felt and foreseen ; but
far from seeking to deaden the sound of the machines,
those who worked them studied to augment it, sure of
increasing the terror intended to be excited. The tre-
mendous thunder accompanied with lightning was
regarded by the vulgar as the arm of the avenging Gods ;
and the Thaumaturgists were careful to make it heard
when they spoke in the name of the Gods.

The labyrinth of Egypt enclosed many palaces so
constructed that their doors could not be opened without
the most terrific report of thunder resounding from

MECHANICAL AGENCIES. 255

within.* When Darius, the son of Hystaspes, mounted
the throne, his new subjects fell prostrate before him,
and worshipped him as the elect of the Gods, and as a
God himself; and at the same moment, thunder rolled
and they saw the lightning flash.f

The art of charming the ears was as important to the
Thaumaturgists as alarming the multitude with awful
noises. Pausanias who seriously recounts so many
fabulous miracles, nevertheless taxes Pindar with having
invented the fable of the golden virgins,vtho were endowed
with a ravishing voice, and, according to the Theban
poet, adorned the roof of the temple of Delphi.! Less
incredulous than Pausanias, we may suppose that behind
the statues of the virgins, or within the gilded bas-relie-
vos, was concealed a musical instrument, the sounds of
which imitated the human voice. A simple organ would
suffice for this purpose, and hydraulic organs were well-
known to the ancients. A passage in the writings of
St. Augustin seems even to indicate that organs with
blowers were not unknown to them.

An invention much less familiar is noticed in the
history of a wonderful stone, said to have been found
in the Pactolus. This stone, when placed at the entrance
to a treasure, kept away thieves whose fears were
aroused by hearing the loudest tones of a trumpet issue
from it.§ There are strong coffers made at the present

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. cap. xiii.

f Tzetzès. Chiliad.

X Pausanias. Phocic. cap. v.

§ Treatise on Rivers and Mountains, attributed to Plutarch,

§ VIII.

256 MECHANICAL AGENCIES.

day, which, when clandestinely opened, produce loud
sounds.* The Phrygian inventor of the first of these won-
ders of mechanism had, perhaps, as we are led to believe,
veiled his secret under a fable ; for, if he had described
it literally, it would not have been credited that a stone
found on the shores, or the neighbouring mountains of
Pactolus could possess such a power. As to its pro-
perties of sound, they were only possessed in common
with the sounding stone preserved at Megara ;f the red
granite of Egypt; the stones employed in China for
making musical instruments ; the sparkling green stone
of which a statue found in the ruins of Palenqui-viejo was
made ;| and the basalt, of which there are large blocks
existing in Brasil, from which a very distinct sound is
awakened whenever they are struck. § The rest is due
to ignorance and a love of the marvellous.

It is often related in ancient history, that distinct
words have been uttered by a child at the moment
of its birth ; that trees also and statues have spoken ;
and that sounds have been spontaneously uttered in
the sombre gloom of a temple. The phenomena of
ventriloquism affords a satisfactory explanation for
many of these stories ; but not for all of them.
It is, therefore, more natural to admit that these
sounds, the origin of which is not perceptible, are

* Louis XV. possessed one, and one was offered to Napoleon
in 1809.

f Pausanias. Attic, cap. xlii.

% Revue Encyclopédique, tomexxxi. p. 850.

§ Mawe's Journey into the Interior of Brazil, vol. i. chap. v.
p. 158.

SPEAKING HEADS AND STATUES. 257

the effects of art ; and to attribute these to the inven-
tion of the Androïdes, which, although, in our own times,
explained in well-known works,# yet has, under the
name of the Invisible Girl, excited the admiration of the
vulgar, and even of those who are unwilling to class
themselves among the ignorant. Questions are ad-
dressed, in a low tone, to a doll, or a head made
of card-board or of metal, or even to a glass-box ; in
a short time replies are heard which appear to proceed
from the inanimate object. Acoustics teach us the
methods which enable a person, at some distance, to
hear and to be heard as distinctly as if he occupied the
place whence the doll apparently speaks. It is not at
all a modern invention ; for more than two centuries
have elapsed since Portaf explained the principles of
this invention in his Natural Magic :| but, in more
ancient times, its principles were kept secret and only
the wonders performed by it presented for the admiration
of the multitude.

Towards the end of the fourteenth century, a speak-
ing head, made of earthenware, excited in England
* Encyclopédie, art. Androide.

f Giambatista Porta, a Neapolitan, in the 16th century, wrote,
at a very early age, the first books of his work on Natural Magic,
which accounts for the many absurd and fantastic notions which,
mixed up with deductions of true science, they contain. He was,
however, a man of learning and genius, and did much in his time
to forward the pursuit of science. He invented the camera ob-
scura. His " Magia Naturalis," is a compilation from both ancient
and modern authors, and contains much curious matter, badly put
together. Besides many philosophical treatises, he wrote several
dramatic works. — Ed.

% Porta. De Magia Naturali. Pancirol. Rerum recens invent.
Giambatista, tit. x. For the explanation of the Invisible Girl, see
Brewster's Letters on Natural Magic.

VOL. I. S

258 SPEAKING HEADS AND STATUES.

the astonishment of the curious. The one made by
Albertus Magnus,* in the thirteenth century, was

* Albertus, surnamed Magnus, from the Latinizing of his sur-
name, which was Great, was a native of Swabia, and born in 1205.
He was ardently desirous of acquiring knowledge, and studied with
assiduity; but being of slow comprehension, his progress was
not adequate to his expectations, and, therefore, in despair, he
resolved to relinquish books, and bury himself in retirement. One
night, however, he saw a vision of a beautiful woman, who
accosted him, and inquired the cause of his grief. He replied,
that in spite of all his efforts to acquire information, he feared he
should always remain ignorant. "Have you so little faith,"
replied the lady, " as to suppose that your prayers will not obtain
what you cannot of yourself accomplish ? I am the Holy Virgin,
and I have heard your prayers." The young man prostrated him-
self at the feet of the Virgin, who promised him all that he
desired, but added that, as he preferred philosophy to theology,
he should lose his faculties before his death. She then disap-
peared ; and the prediction was accomplished. Albertus became
unwillingly Bishop of Ratisbon, but he relinquished the See within
three years, and resided chiefly at Cologne, where he produced
many wonderful works. It was said that he constructed an
automaton which both walked and spoke, answered questions, and
solved problems submitted to it. Thomas Aquinas, who was
the pupil of Albertus, was so alarmed on seeing this automaton,
which he conceived to be the work of the Devil, that he broke it
to pieces and committed it to the flames. When William, Count
of Holland and King of the Romans, was at Cologne, Albertus
invited him to a banquet, and promised that his table should be
laid out in the middle of his garden, although it was then winter,
and severe weather. William accepted the invitation ; and, on
arriving at the house of Albertus, was surprised to find the tempe-
rature of the ^ air as mild as in summer, and the banquet laid out
in an arbour formed of trees and shrubs covered with leaves and
flowers, exhaling the most delicious odours, which filled the whole
of the garden. Albertus was reputed a magician ; but, neverthe-
less, after his death, which occurred in 1282, in his seventy-seventh
year, he was canonized. — Ed.

SPEAKING HEADS AND STATUES. 259

of the same material. Gerbert, who under the name
of Sylvester the Second, occupied the papal throne from
the years 199 to 1003, constructed a brazen head pos-
sessing a similar property.* This master-piece of art
was the cause of his being accused of magic ; perhaps
the accusation was not unfounded, if they applied the
same meaning to the word as we do ; it was the
result of science concealed from the knowledge of the
common people.

The philosophers, in these inventions, made no new
discovery ; they had received from their ancient prede-
cessors a secret which surpassed and alarmed the weak
understandings of their cotemporaries.

Odin, who implanted among the Scandinavians a
religion and magical secrets borrowed from Asia, pos-
sessed a speaking head. It was said to be the head of
the wise Mirme, which Odin after the death of that
hero, had caused to be encased in gold. He consulted
it, and the replies which he was supposed to have
received were revered as the oracles of a superior being.

Besides the Northern legislator there were others
who had endeavoured to render credulity more eager and
submissive, by asserting that the speaking heads they
served had always been animated by the spirits of living
men.

We shall not, however, quote, in this sense, the
story of the child that was devoured whole by the ghost
of Polycritus, with the exception of its head, which
uttered prophecies that were afterwards verified : f

* Elias Schedius. De Diis Germants, p. 572 — 573.
t Phlego. De Mirahilibvs Noël. Dictionnaire de la Fable, art.
Polycrite.

s 2

260 SPEAKING HEADS AND STATUES.

this fable is most probably an allegory. But at Lesbos
a speaking head delivered oracles ; it predicted to the
great Cyrus, (in rather equivocal terms, it is true,) the
bloody death which should terminate his expedition
against the Scythians. It was the head of Orpheus ;
and it was so celebrated for its oracular responses
among the Persians, and also among the Greeks, from
the time of the Trojan war, that Apollo himself became
jealous of its fame.*

According to many Rabbins, the Theraphim consisted
of the embalmed heads of the dead, under whose tongues
a thin plate of gold was fixed,f and, like the head of
Mirme, also incased in gold. Other Rabbins report
that the Theraphim were phantoms, who, having received
the influence of powerful stars, conversed with men
and gave them wholesome advice.f We are led from
the expressions of Maimonides, on this subject to infer
that buildings were erected expressly to contain these
speaking images ; a circumstance which explains why
so much care was taken to place the images against
the wall ; . a certain position being absolutely neces-
sary to produce an apparent miracle depending on
acoustics. This miracle was not unknown in that
country of wonders, whence the Hebrews acquired
their knowledge. The priests (Mercurius Trismegis-

* Philostrat. Vit. Apollon, lib. iv. cap. iv. Philostrat. Heroic
in. Philoctete.

f Fromann. Tract, de Fasc. p. 682 — 683.

% R. Maimonides. More Nevochim, part in. cap. xxx. " Et
cedificaverunt palatia et posuerunt in eis imagines." Elias Schedius
De Diis Germanis, p. 568 — 569.

SPEAKING HEADS AND STATUES. 261

tus# is our authority) possessed the art of making
Godsf and statues endowed with understanding ; who
predicted future events and interpreted dreams. It was
even asserted that the Theurgists, who were addicted to
doctrines less pure, knew also how to make Gods and
statues animated by demons, that were, little inferior in
their supernatural powers to those made by the real
priests. In other words, the same physical secrets were
known and practised by the rival priesthoods.

The ancients, as we are informed, were acquainted
with the art of constructing Androïdes,| and this art
has been preserved and handed down to our work-
shops from their temples. Through the dark period of
the middle ages, we draw this conclusion from what has
preceded ; and it seems more admissible than the
supposition of impostures and gross deceptions§ constantly
renewed. We may inquire whether it was an applica-

* The Egyptian Hermes, who is reported to have invented
writing, and first taught astrology and the science of astronomy.
—Ed.

f " Artem quel deos efficerent." Mercurii Trismegisti Pymander.
Asclepius, pp, 145, 146, et 165, (in 12mo. Basilese, 1532.)

I We believe this explanation sufficient ; but to render it more
complete, we may cite the speaking heads presented by the Abbé
Mical to the Académie des Sciences in 1783. They pronounced
words and phrases, but did not produce an exact imitation of the
human voice.

§ Far from exaggerating the knowledge possessed by the
ancients in acoustics, we do not go so far as Fontenelle, who
-suspects (Histoire des Oracles, part i. chap, xm.) that the
ancient priests were acquainted with the use of the speaking-
trumpet. Kircher thinks Alexander made use of a speaking-
trumpet, that he might be heard at the same moment by the
whole of his army. It does not seem very probable.

262 SPEAKING HEADS AND STATUES.

tion of science, superior or equal to those we have
enumerated, that produced in Egypt the wonder of the
statue of Memnon, which every morning raised its har-
monious voice to welcome the rising sun? Was the
secret of this apparent miracle derived from an art inge-
niously concealed, or only from a phenomenon, which the
spectators, eager for miracles, did not attempt to unfathom?
It seems to me, that all the conjectures that have been
hazarded on this subject are reduced to this alternative. #
The second supposition furnishes us with another ex-
ample of the artifice which the priests employed to convert
into apparent miracles extraordinary facts, calculated to
astonish the vulgar. The first opinion has been adopted

* See note B, yol. n. on the statue of Memnon. Wonderful
as many of the automata of the ancients were, they yield
the palm to some of the modern. I must refer the reader
to Dr. Brewster's "Letters on Natural Magic" for a de-
scription of several, and among them the Automaton Chess-
player, which was some years since exhibited in London, and
excited much astonishment. I shall notice here only the Flute-
player of Vaucauson, which was exhibited in Paris in 1736. It
was seen and described by M. d'Alembert,a who says, " it really
played on the flute ;" that is, it projected the air with its lips
against the embouchure, producing the different octaves by expand-
ing and contracting their opening, forcing more or less air, in the
manner of living performers, and regulating the tones by its
fingers. It commanded these octaves, the fullest scale of the
instrument, containing several notes of great difficulty to most
performers. It articulated the notes with the lips. Its height
was nearly five and a half feet, and was placed on a pedestal, in
which some of the machinery was contained. Dr. Brewster15 has
given a popular description of the machinery. — Ed.

a Encyclop. Math. art. Androide.
b Letters on Natural Magic, p. 204.

SPEAKING HEADS AND STATUES.

263

by many cotemporary authors ; and it was what I believe
the priests themselves were anxious should prevail.

Juvenal denominates the sounds that issued from the
statue, magical ;* and we have mentioned that among
the ancients, magic was the art of working wonders by
scientific means, unknown to the multitude. A scho-
liast of the Latin satirist is still more explicit ; for, in
commenting on this passage, he speaks of the wonder-
ful mechanism in the construction of 'the statue ;f and
adds that its voice was clearly the result of the working
of machinery. When this writer thus reduced to the per-
formance of mechanism the wonder of Memnon's statue,
he spoke undoubtedly from the authority of ancient tra-
dition. This tradition, however, never lessened the senti-
ments of admiration and piety, which were awakened by
the sacred voice in the souls of its auditors ; j they recog-
nized in it a miracle according to the primitive meaning
of the word. A wonderful circumstance, the invention
of which they delighted to ascribe to the inspiration of
the Gods, but which, we need scarcely add, was not at
all supernatural. In the end, the idea of its divine
origin darkened the minds of the multitude ; and, per-
haps, without the priests having attempted to deceive
the worshippers, this wonder of art would have become
transformed into a religious prodigy, which was every day
renewed.

* " Dimidio magicœ resonant ubi Memnone chorda."
f Quoted by J. Phil. Casselius. Dissertation sur les pierres
vocales ou parlantes, p. 8. Langlès, Dissertation sur la statue
vocale de Memnon. Voyage de Norden, tome il. p. 237.

X See the inscriptions engraved on the colossal statue. M. Le
Tronne has reunited and explained them in a work entitled la
statue de Memnon (in-4to. Paris, 1833), p. 113—240.

264 OPTICAL EXHIBITIONS,

CHAPTER XIII.

Optics- — Effects similar to those exhibited in the modern Dioramas
and Phantasmagorias — Apparitions of the Gods, and shades of
the dead — The Camera obscura — Magicians changing their
appearances and their forms, is an incredible miracle.

All our senses are tributary to the empire of the
marvellous ; the eye is more so than the ear. By too
much prolongation, agreeable sounds lose their charm ;
loud, fear-inspiring noises become merely deafening ; and
miraculous voices become suspected ; but optical illusions,
though succeeding each other without a pause, never
fail to keep up the attention of the individual eager after
novel spectacles : their variety and their contrasts leave
no space for reflection, nor cause any fatigue in beholding
them.

From the nature of some optical wonders displayed in
the assumed miracles of the Thaumaturgists, and in the
pompous and terrible representations of mysteries and
initiations, we are authorised to conclude that the
aid of scientific resources was requisite for carrying
them into effect. The ancients were acquainted with

OPTICAL EXHIBITIONS. 265

the mode of fabricating mirrors, which presented the
images multiplied or reversed; and, what is more
remarkable, in certain positions lost entirely the pro-
perty of reflecting. It is unimportant whether the
latter peculiarity depended solely on sleight of hand, or
was analogous to polarized light, # which reaching the
reflecting body, under a certain angle, is absorbed with-
out producing any image. It is very evident that, in
either case, the employment of such mirrors was well
fitted to give birth to numerous apparent miracles.
Aulus Gellius,f quoting Varro, informs us of these facts,
at the same time, he considers the study of such curious
phenomena as unworthy the attention of a philosopher.

* On the supposition that light consists of particles of matter
transmitted from the sun and luminous bodies, in rectilinear
directions or straight lines, its polarization is the effect produced
upon these particles by the attraction exercised upon them by the
particles of what are called doubly-refracting crystals, and certain
reflecting surfaces ; when the particles of light pass through the
former, or fall upon the latter at a particular angle. — Ed.

■j- Aul. Gell. Noct. Attic, lib. xvi. cap. xviii. The following
is the termination of the Latin passage : " ut speculum in loco certo
positum nihil imaginet ; aliorsum translatum faciat imagines." The
compiler repeating what he has not proved, believes that the phe-
nomenon belongs to the place, and not to the position of the
mirror.

Aulus Gellius, a celebrated Roman grammarian, was born
at Rome in the commencement of the second century, and
died in the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. His " Nodes
Atticœ" were written in the winter evenings, whilst he was in
Attica, to amuse his children. The work is a medley of history,
anecdotes, poetry, and dissertations on philosophy, geometry,
and grammar ; but it often affords good explanations of antique
monuments. — Ed.

266 OPTICAL EXHIBITIONS.

From whatever may have given rise to an opinion
so unreasonable, yet so universal, even among the
enlightened classes of the ancients, and held by Archi-
medes himself,* its vast advantage to the Thauma-
turgists is easily perceived. Had those who, under the
enlightening influence of increasing civilization, were the
reformers of science devoted their efforts to the experi-

* Although the wonders related as having been achieved by this
extraordinary mathematician have been probably exaggerated, yet
there can be only one opinion of his advance far beyond the period
in which he lived, in every branch of physical science. Indepen-
dent of the machinery which he is said to have employed to lift
out of the water, and again drop into it, the barks that constituted
the fleet of Marcellus, the Roman Consul, when he besieged Syra-
cuse, the burning mirrors which he constructed to set on fire the
enemy's fleet is a sufficient proof of his acquirements. According
to Tzetzes, the historian, who has recorded the events of the siege,
" when the fleet of Marcellus was within bow-shot, the old man,
Archimedes, brought an hexagonal mirror, which he had pre-
viously prepared, at a proper distance from which he also placed
other smaller mirrors of the same kind, that moved in all direc-
tions on hinges ; and when placed in the sun's rays, directed them
upon the Roman fleet, whereby it was burnt to ashes." The
screw known by his name, and now employed instead of paddles in
steam navigation ; and the art of determining the value of metals
by their relative specific gravity, are among the inventions ascribed
to Archimedes. His acquaintance with the power of the lever
led him to make this celebrated declaration — " Give me the place
on which I may sfand, and I will move the earth." He was so
deeply engaged in solving a problem when the Roman soldiers
entered Syracuse, that he was not aware of their being in posses-
sion of the town ; and a soldier , not knowing who he was, killed
him, although Marcellus had given orders intended to secure the
safety of the philosopher. His death occurred 212 years before
the birth of Christ. — Ed.

OPTICAL EXHIBITIONS. 267

mental elucidation of phenomena, instead of confining
themselves to theoretical inquiries, the miraculous secrets
of the charlatan could no longer have merited the name
of magic.

The luxurious gardens, the magnificent palaces,
which in the initiations suddenly appeared, from the
depths of obscurity, brilliantly illuminated by magic
light, or, as it were, by a sun of their own,* are
reproduced for us in the justly-admired modern inven-
tion of the Diorama. The principal artifice lies in
the manner of throwing light upon the objects, while
the spectator is kept in darkness. This was not
difficult, as the initiated hurried from one subter-
raneous apartment to another; and, being now ele-
vated in the air, and again suddenly precipitated, he
might easily imagine himself to be still in the bowels of
the earth, from the obscurity of the place that inclosed
him, although on the level of the ground. And how,
we may inquire, could it happen that the Thaumaturgist,
whose whole aim was to discover means of multiplying
his wonders, could remain unacquainted with this inven-
tion? Observation was sufficient to reveal it, without
any effort of art. If a long gallery was terminated by
an arbour of umbrageous trees, and the gallery lighted
at one extremity only, the landscape, beyond the arbour,
would appear nearer, and display itself to the eye of a
spectator like the picture in a Diorama.

The illusion was susceptible of being increased, by

* Solem que suum, sua lumina norunt.

Virgil. Mneid, lib. vi. ver. 641.

268 OPTICAL EXHIBITIONS.

the union of mechanical agents aiding the effects of
painting and of perspective. Thus, in the Diorama,
exhibited in Paris, in 1826, representing a ruined
cloister,* a door was violently closed and opened, as if
from the effects of a strong wind. When open, an
extensive beautiful country was seen beyond it ; shadows
were cast, by trees, on the old walls, more or less
deep, according as the clouds flew rapidly across
the sky above the ruins, and might be supposed
occasionally, to interrupt, more or less, the light of
the sun. When this artifice, however little it is es-
timated by the severer votaries of the fine arts, trans-
ported the credulous spectator to the interior of a
sanctuary, and displayed before him, excited as he was
by other apparent miracles, would he have had the
smallest doubt regarding the reality of the appearances ;
or, that they were true representations of animated nature ?

Apparitions, although the most common of miracles
founded on optics, have obtained the greatest cele-
brity.

In very remote times, and under the empire of
unprogressing civilization, it was believed that every
man who had seen a God must die, or at least lose
the use of his eyes. This singular belief, the cause
of which we shall notice elsewhere, and the dread it
excited in the ardent imaginations of the enthusiastic,
yielded in time, owing to the direct communication
with the object of his adoration, which circumstances
afforded. Apparitions of the Gods, far from being

* The cloister of Saint Wandrille, near Rouen.

OPTICAL EXHIBITIONS. 269

dreaded, were deemed significant of their favour; and
hallowed the place, where they received the homage
of mortals. The Temple of Enguinum, in Sicily,
was revered, not so much on account of its antiquity,
as because it had been occasionally favoured by the
apparition of the Goddess-Mothers.* Esculapius had
a temple at Tarsus, where he frequently manifested
himself to his worshippers.f Cicero mentions frequent
apparitions of the Gods.j And Varro, quoted by St.
Augustine,§ affirms that Numa and Pythagoras saw
images of the Gods in the water, and that this kind of
divination had been brought from Persia into Italy, as
well as the art of causing apparitions of the dead.|| In

* Plutarch, in vit. Marcell.

f Philostrat. in vit. Apollon, lib. i. cap. v.

% Cicer. de natur. Deor. lib. n.

§ S. Augustin. De civitate Dei. lib. vu. cap. xxxv.

|| The efficacy of invocation of the dead, is not doubted by St.
Justin, (Pro christianis. Apoll. n.) In the dialogue with the Jew
Tryphon, this father of the church acknowledges that the souls
of the just, and of the prophets, are subject to the power of the
Psychagogues, as the soul of Samuel obeyed the witch of
Endor.

The ancient Greeks, who obtained their theology from the
Egyptians ; the Romans, who procured theirs from the Greeks,
and the northern nations, who followed the superstitions of both,
were firm believers that the souls of the dead revisited the earth,
and appeared to the living ; and that magicians had the power of
calling them up. They also believed that the spirits of the
departed were capable of foretelling future events. Spirits were,
therefore, apparently called, and the images of the dead presented
to the eyes of the living. It was not essential that these should
necessarily be deceptions of the priests ; for when the mind is

270 OPTICAL EXHIBITIONS.

fact, these two arts ought to form but one ; and we find
them in Asia, long before the age of Numa, or of

prepared for them, and the nervous system is in an excitable state,
spectral phantasms are both seen and heard.

It is unnecessary to insert here any of the many thousand tales
of apparitions which have been recorded both in ancient and in
modern times, in every country in both hemispheres of the globe ;
my object being to explain these spectral-phantasms, not to relate
instances of them, except such as may be useful for the illustra-
tion of my argument, I contend that these phantasms never
occur in a healthy condition of the brain and nervous system,
which, in order to produce them, must be either transiently or
permanently excited.

Under transient changes from the normal state of the nervous
system, if these have been produced by an exciting agent, all
ordinary sensations are felt with an increased intensity ; and, con-
sequently, in certain states of the habit, impressions of former
things, by the influence of association alone, awakened, as it were,
by incidental circumstances, become so vivid to the mind, that
they appear as actual impressions perceived at the moment
through the organ of sight. The inhalation of some gases, as,
for instance, nitrous oxide, and the excitement of the mind by
expectation, will produce such a change in the nervous centres as
will cause either the most pleasurable or the most frightful sensa-
tions to be experienced, accompanied with vivid images of a
corresponding character. The delirium of a fever is an augmented
derangement of the nervous system ; during the continuance of
which, images of persons often long before dead became vivid to
the eye, and their voices audible to the ear, so that: the patient
sees them, and holds conversation with them, and can only be
aroused from the reverie by some one really speaking to him, and
for a moment interrupting the morbid association of ideas ; into
which, however, he relapses, as soon as his attention ceases to be
directed into a new channel. Such spectral illusions occurring
independent of fever, in a highly susceptible frame, operate so
energetically on the brain, as to make impressions sufficiently power-

OPTICAL EXHIBITIONS. 271

Pythagoras. The witch of Endor, who summoned be-
fore Saul the shade of Samuel, declared she saw Gods

ful to produce disease, and even to destroy life, when a confirmed
belief in their reality exists. Many cases might be quoted cor-
roborative of this opinion. I will mention two only. A distin-
guished physician having suffered great fatigue from a long pro-
fessional journey, during which he had taken scarcely any nourish-
ment, after seeing his patient, retired to his sleeping apartment,
and sat down before the fire, previously to undressing and going
to bed. He had not sat long, before he imagined he saw the door
of the room open, and a little old woman, dressed in a scarlet
riding-habit, enter, leaning on a crutch. She advanced towards
him, and raising her crutch, gave him a blow with it upon the
head. He fell to the ground, and lay a considerable time insen-
sible ; but on recovering his senses, he became conscious that he
had had an epileptic fit, and that the little woman was a mere spec-
tral illusion. The daughter of Sir Charles Law, being awake about
two o'clock in the morning, saw close to her bed the apparition of
a little woman, who told her that she was her deceased mother ;
that she was happy, and at twelve o'clock that day she should be
with her. On receiving this information, the young lady called her
maid to bring her clothes ; and when she was dressed, she went
into her closet, and did not leave it until nine, and then brought
with her a sealed letter, addressed to her father, which she deli-
vered to her aunt, the Lady Everard, told her what had happened,
and desired that as soon as she was dead it might be sent to him.
She requested the chaplain to read prayers to her ; and, when
these were ended, she took her guitar and psalm-book, and sat
down upon a chair, " and played and sung so melodiously and
admirably that her music-master, who was then there, admired at
it. And near the stroke of twelve, she rose and sat herself down
in a great chair with arms ; and fetching a strong breathing or
two, expired." In the first of these two cases, the physician was
a man of strong mind, and possessed of that knowledge which
enabled him to refer the illusion to a temporary physical change
in his nervous system, and therefore to disregard it. The lady

272 OPTICAL EXHIBITIONS.

rising out of the earth. # This expression, repeated
more than once, in the text, serves to interpret a passage
in Pliny, where he speaks of a seat, made of a conse-
crated stone, and placed in the ancient temple of Her-
cules at Tyre ; from which " The Gods arose," or in
other words, from which miraculous apparitions appeared
to issue.f

was a person of delicate frame of body and highly susceptible ner-
vous system, with a corresponding degree of superstitious credu-
lity, which induced her to believe that the illusion was truly a
visitation of her deceased mother, the overpowering effect of which
upon the brain was sufficient to verify the prediction. To the
same cause may be referred the well-known death of the libertine
Lord Lyttleton.

When the derangement of the nerves is of a more permanent
nature, it is frequently productive of that description of hypochon-
driasm which borders upon insanity, but differs from it in the
patient not believing in the reality of the spectral phantasms, which
are generally also of a different character, not transient visitations,
but continued illusions. I was acquainted with a young lady, who
imagined that she was constantly attended by a small black dog,
which ran by her side when she walked out, and sat on a table or on
a chair near her at home. Sir Walter Scott, in his " Demonology,"
details the case of a gentleman who imagined that a little smartly
dressed fop always attended him, in the capacity of a master of
ceremonies, and, after some length of time, changed into a ske-
leton, which always remained near him, night and day. He was
sensible both were illusions, but the distressing character and the
constancy of the latter, brought on a state of irritative fever, which
terminated fatally»

Looking at these conditions of the nervous system, and their
results, I have no hesitation in referring to them every tale of
apparitions, however well authenticated, ancient or modern. — Ed.

* 1 Kings, cap. xxvur.

t Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxvu. cap. xl. — Eusebius, ex eo lapide
. . . .facta sedes, ex quâ DU facile surgebant.

INVOCATIONS OF THE DEAD. 273

Among a people, situated far from Asia, but one of
whose colonies occupied a part of the shores of the
Euxine, traditions and secrets exist referring to the art
of questioning the dead. In the Hervorar Saga, we
find a Scandinavian poet clothing in exalted poetry, the
invocations to a warrior killed in battle ; the long
resistance by which he opposed the demand made to
him to yield ; the menacing predictions which he uttered ;
and by which he threatened vengeance for the violence of
his death.

An art transmitted by Persia to Italy was not likely
to remain unknown in Greece; and, at a very early
period, we find traces of it there. " Orpheus inconsolable
for thedeath of Eurydice/'resorted to Aornos,# where stood
a sanctuary (Nekyomantion), for the invocation of the
dead. He was led to imagine that he was followed by
the shade of Eurydice; but on turning, and finding
himself deceived, he committed suicide. f This historical
explanation of the fable of Orpheus, reveals to us the
curious fact of the existence, in ancient times, of places,
specially consecrated to the invocation of the dead, and
the apparition of spirits.

Sometimes these shades were dumb ; but more fre-
quently the engastrimysme, which was employed by the

* Aornos was situated in Thesprotia, and was the place of a
celebrated Oracle, which delivered responses by calling up the
dead. But the whole story of Euridyce is properly regarded as
a mere allegorical allusion to events connected with the religious
observances which Orpheus attempted to establish; and the
moral instructions which he taught in opposition to the Baccha-
nalian mysteries, and their gross immoralities. — Ed.

f Pausanias. Bceotic. cap. xxx.

VOL. I. T

274 INVOCATIONS OF THE DEAD.

sorceress consulted by Saul, generally furnished them
with speech, and enabled them to utter Oracles. This
conjecture, not easily set aside, throws a new light on
the Eleventh Book of the Odyssey. There Homer des-
cribes the admission of Ulysses, and of him alone* into
a Nekyomantion, where he converses with his friends,
who have been separated from him by death. An in-
numerable multitude of apparitions, and a terrific noise
interrupted this marvellous discourse ; and Ulysses re-
tires, dreading lest Proserpine enraged might, from the
depths of the infernal regions, cause the head of the
Gorgon to appear.f Such was, probably, the method
put in practise, in order to get rid of the spectators, as
soon as their curiosity became embarrassing, or was
prolonged beyond the resources for the exhibition.

It is into one of these that Achilles is introduced by
Homer, extolling life as the greatest blessing, preferring
the most miserable lot of a living man, before his own
imperishable celebrity. j The inconsistency of the spirit
of Achilles with the established character of the intre-
pid warrior has been severely criticised. As a poetic
fiction it may be open to censure, but it is to be admired
for its fidelity as a narration. An epoch existed, and
it was, in Greece, still recent at the date of the siege of
Troy, in which the priesthood, till then commanding
exclusively the veneration of men, became indignant, in
seeing the warriors crowned with any other titles than
those of courage and strength, and those which their

* Odyss. lib. x. vers. 528.

f Odyss. lib. xi. vers. 631—634.

% Odyss. lib. xi. vers. 486 — 490.

INVOCATIONS OF THE DEAD. 27 5

battles claimed for them ; recognised as the children of
Divinities, as Demi-Gods and Heroes ; and occupying the
admiration and influence which they conceived to be due
only to the possessors of the magical art. What doc-
trines, conveyed by religious revelation, was it their in-
terest to promulgate ? Such undoubtedly as were best
fitted to check the enthusiasm of the warrior. And in
Greece, with the refinement of art, they adroitly chose the
great soul of Achilles to be the means of communicating
that pusillanimous sentiment, which implies that "A
living dog is better than a dead lion,"* At least two cen-
turies subsequent to the travels of Ulysses, the same
lesson was inculcated on the warlike Arabs, in a work
evidently emanating from the theocratical school.

The dispute between the censer and the sword ap-
pears to have been quite at an end, when Virgil
undertook to tread in the steps of Homer: and the
poet would have gratuitously dishonoured himself, had
he placed in his hero's mouth words opposed to the
contempt of death. The sixth book of the iEneid is
a magnificent picture of the most prominent and
dramatic scenes of initiation, rather than a description
of a Nekyomantion.

From the commencement of its purely historical times,
the art of invocation declined in Greece. The last appa-
rition that restored it to notice, was that of Cleonice,
who appeared to her murderer Pausanius. Remorse and
love drove this Prince to a Nekyomantion, There the
Psychagogues summoned the shade of Cleonice to
appear before him ; the ambiguous answer he received
* Ecclesiast. cap. ix. vers. 4.

276 INVOCATIONS OF THE DEAD.

from her, might be interpreted either as conveying
the pardon of Heaven, or the announcement of a
violent death to Pausanias, as the just punishment
of his crimes.*

Elysius of Therina having lost an only son, and
desirous to invoke the spirit of this beloved child,
unexpectedly visited a Pschycomantium ; but as
there was no time to prepare an apparition, bear-
ing the resemblance to the object of his affection,
the bereaved father was obliged to rest satisfied with
an oracle which declared death to be the greatest
boon.f

We should be in error were we to conclude from
this fact, that the art had perished in Italy: when
Cicero wrote, it still existed in Rome ; and that author,
in several places, speaks of experiments in Pschyco-
mantics, to which his cotemporary Appius was greatly
addicted»! Two centuries later Caracalla invoked the
shades of Commodus and of Severus.|j

One cause, however, effectually operated to prevent the
people from frequenting the Nekyomantions : namely,
the terrible consequences which sometimes arose from
these apparitions. Those that applied for them, were
not always mere restless, inquisitive, men, eager to

* Pausanias. Laconic, cap. xvn. — Plutarch. De sera numinum
Vindictd.

f Cicer. Tuscul. Quœst. lib. i. cap. xlii. — Plutarch. De consola-
tione.

X Cicer. De divinat. lib. i. cap. lviii. — Tuscul. Qucest. lib. i.
cap. xvi. et xl vin.

|| Xiphilin. in Caracalld. — Dion. lib. lxxvii.

INVOCATIONS OF THE DEAD. 277

dive into the secrets of futurity ; they were more fre-
quently persons, like Orpheus or Elysius, beings full of
love and deprived, by death, of the object that had
engaged their fondest affections. Thus the faithful wife of
Protesilaus, importuning the Gods to grant her, but for
one moment, to behold again her husband who had
fallen on the shores of Troy, no sooner saw his spirit,
than, without hesitation, she endeavoured to follow him
by precipitating herself into the flames, and was des-
troyed. These apparitions acting on broken hearts and
exalted imaginations at a crisis of grief, the sen-
sitive being fled to death as the greatest blessing ; and
with a strong conviction that death would afford a re-
union with the dearer and better part of itself.

Nothing was more calculated to aid such a belief
than the apparition, which, in restoring for an instant
the semblance, seemed to point out the road by which
fondly remembered felicity might be regained.

Disuse, however, although it threw into oblivion, yet
did not annihilate the secret of invoking apparitions.
In the second century, St. Justin mentions invocations
of the dead, as a fact which no one thought of doubting.*

* S. Justin. Apologet. lib. n. — St. Justin, called the Philoso-
pher, was born at Neapolis, the ancient capital of Samaria, early
in the second century. He was educated in all the errors and
superstitions of Paganism; but after seeking for truth in the
schools, he was converted to Christianity by an old man he met
accidentally on the sea- shore ; and he soon afterwards went to
Rome. His previous education had conferred upon him the powers
of elocution, in an eminent degree ; and he employed it assidu-
ously in promoting and defending the faith he had adopted.
Justin left Rome, but returned ; when he was arrested and carried

278 INVOCATIONS OF THE DEAD.

Lactantius,* in the third century, still more posi-
tively represents the magicians as always prepared
to convince the sceptical by apparitions of the dead.f
In the ninth century, the Emperor Basil, the Macedo-
nian, inconsolable for the death of his son, had recourse
to the prayers of a Pontiff already celebrated for the
power of working apparent miracles.j An image of
this dear son, magnificently apparelled, and mounted on
a superb horse, was made to appear before him; but,
the spectral son advancing towards him, disappeared,
in the act of rushing into his father's arms. To ex-
plain this historical extract, is it requisite to admit the
improbable supposition, that a horseman was appointed

before Rusticus, the Roman prefect, who after endeavouring to
persuade him and his companions to renounce Christianity and
return to the worship of the Gods, and finding them immove-
able, condemned them to be scourged, and then beheaded ; a sen-
tence which was immediately executed. St. Justin's martyrdom
occurred in a.d. 164. He wrote two works in support of Chris-
tianity, which he termed " Apologies ;" the first was addressed
to the Emperor Antoninus, the second to Marcus Aurelius. — Ed.

* Ceecilius Ferminius Lactantius, was in his youth a disciple of
Anobeus at Sicca in Africa, and celebrated as a Latin orator. In
317, when an old man, he was appointed preceptor to Crispus
Csesar, the son of Constantine the Great ; and in the execution of
that trust, he nearly fell a victim to a false accusation of the
Empress Fausta, that he had made an attempt upon her chastity.
He early became a convert to the Christian faith ; and, on account
of his eloquence, was called, the " Christian Tully." He outlived
his royal pupil, and died at Triers. — Ed.

f Lactant. Div. institut, lib. vu. cap. xiii.

X Theodore Santabaren, Abbot Archbishop of Euchaites.
See Glycas, Annal, part iv. page 296; Leo. grammat. in vitd
Basilii imp. § 20.

INVOCATIONS OF THE DEAD. 279

to play the part of the young Prince, as the resemblance
must have been perfect ; and would not the father have
seized, held, and folded him in his embrace ? And would
not the false nature of the apparition have been discovered
and denounced, by the enemies of the Thaumaturgists,*
on the knowledge of the existence of the man ; and
would not the remarkable resemblance, which made him
of use on this occasion, have afterwards discovered him.f
Connecting this fact with earlier traditions, and par-
ticularly with the very ancient writers on the Nekyoman-
tions, is it not more consistent with probability, to
acknowledge that in our own days, the phantasmagoria
has been only restored, not invented,! and to trace many
of the apparitions of the Gods, and the invocations of
the dead to its deceptions;! especially when we read of

* The resemblance of a woman named Oliva, to the Queen
Marie Antoinette, aided in 1785, the intrigue known by the name
of the Procès du Collier. But Oliva was soon arrested and tried.
The substitute for the son of the Greek Emperor would have been
seized in like manner, by the rivals of Santabaren : for envy is as
clever, and active as a police, especially at court.

f Sir David Brewster has explained the mode in which this
apparition was produced by means of two concave mirrors reflect-
ing the image of a picture of the Emperor's son on horseback,
as if in the air. As the picture was approached towards the first
mirror, the image appeared to advance into the father's arms,
when it was withdrawn, it of course eluded his grasp. — Ed. See
Letters on Natural Magic, p. 68.

+ See in the Souvenirs d'un homme de cour, tome i. pages 324 —
329, the account of a phantasmagoric apparition, which dates
about the middle of the eighteenth century. It consisted parti-
cularly in giving the appearance of life and motion to figures on
tapestry.

|| Pythagoras taught that the spirits of the dead do not wink

280 INVOCATIONS OF THE DEAD.

shades, endowed with a striking resemblance, to the
beings, or images they represent, suddenly vanishing
from the embrace that would retain them ?

with their eyes. The assertion is just, says our author ; as this
movement would be difficult to manage with a phantasmagoric
apparition. But the Editor must remark that it is not so difficult ;
and that it was executed to the life in the exhibition of M. Philip-
stal.

The phantasmagoria brought out in London in 1802, by
M. Philipstal, produced the most impressive, and, in some
instances, terrific effects upon the audiences who thronged to
witness the exhibition. The theatre was in profound darkness,
and the stage, which represented a cavern with terrible figures
and skeletons displayed in relief upon its walls, was dimly seen
through a gauze screen, invisible to the audience, and upon which
all the spectral appearances were represented; and through
which lightnings flashed, whilst thunder, intended to prepare
the mind for the terrific exhibition, rolled over the heads of the
spectators. The figures thrown upon this screen were reflected
from a concave mirror, through double lenses, constituting the
well-known magic lantern ; but modified in such a manner that
they appeared to advance and recede ; to dilate to a gigantic mag-
nitude, and then immediately diminish to the size of pigmies ; to
come forward with all the appearance of real life, and on retiring
instantly to return in the form of skeletons. Terrific heads,
moving their awful eyes and tremendous jaws, seemed close to the
spectators' eyes, then suddenly vanished ; and were succeeded by
spectres and skeletons of the most frightful aspect. The writer
of this note saw this phantasmagoria, and can easily conceive the
effect which it is fitted to produce, when skilfully worked, upon
ignorant and superstitious spectators. If we can suppose that
the ancients were acquainted with the influence of the combina-
tion of mirrors and lenses, which admits of living objects instead
of pictures being employed, as described in " Brewster's Natural
Magic," p. 86, the representations of Gods, and the apparitions
of the dead, appearing at the command of magicians and of priests

INVOCATIONS OF THE DEAD. 281

We might borrow from P. Kirch er# a description
of the instruments which probably formed the phantasma-
gorias of the ancient temples r but it will be more curious
to display their effects as they have been described by a
disciple of the philosophical Theurgists. "In a manifes-
tation which must not be revealed. . . . there appeared
on the wall of the temple a diffusive mass of light,
which in becoming concentrated, assumed the appearance
of a face evidently divine and supernatural, severe of
aspect, but with a touch of gentleness, and very beauti-
ful to look upon. According to the dictation of their
mysterious religion, the Alexandrians honoured it as
Osiris and Adonis."f In describing a modern phantas-
magoria how could it be differently set forth ?

Damascius j informs us, that this apparition was em-
ployed to prevent the rulers of the city from giving way
to hurtful dissensions. The miracle had a political aim ;
indeed, we may discover the same object in many of
the anciently recorded miracles ; and even presume the
existence of the same cause in nearly all of them.

The "Camera Obscura served, in other cases, to re-
produce moving and animated pictures. Here, the
remark, regarding the Diorama, applies with greater
force ; namely, that simple observation serves to indi-

in the sanctuaries, may be readily and satisfactorily explained. An
excellent account of an exhibition of demons, conjured up by a
Sicilian priest, is given in the words of Benvenuto Cellini, who
witnessed it, in Roscoe's life of that celebrated artist. — Ed.

* Kircher. Œdipus, tome n. page 323.

t Damascius apud Photium Biblioth. cod. 242.

X Damascius was a Stoic philosopher of Damascus, who wrote
four books of extraordinary events which occurred in the age of
Justinian. — Ed.

282 APPARITIONS THE WORK OF SCIENCE.

cate its use. If the window of a room is closed by
a tightly fitting shutter, and a hole be made in it,
the men, the animals, the passing carts, and all
moving objects are seen clearly depicted on the ceil-
ing: when sufficiently illuminated, the colours of the
exterior objects, if at all bright, are perfectly recogniz-
able in the picture ; and even the images, as I have seen,
preserve a very striking resemblance both in the details
and as a whole, even, when in proportion to the original
objects, the dimensions are only as one in twelve or fifteen.
That, in ancient times, these apparitions were the
result of scientific means,* is proved by the fact, that,

* Nothing in my opinion can be more unworthy of human rea-
son than the belief of the power of any class of men, good or evil,
to recal the immortal essence of our being, after it has quitted its
mortal vestment, and with a visible form, similar to that from
which it has been for ever separated. If this opinion be correct,
every spectral apparition, — every ghost which has rendered mid-
night hideous — every warning of supernatural voices that has
fallen upon the ear of shuddering guilt — and every sound that has
awakened the smitten conscience of the murderer — must alike be
regarded as illusions of the mind, raised by extraneous circum-
stances acting upon a deranged nervous system, so morbidly
excitable, that creative Fancy is set to work, and gives to aerial
nothings a corporeal presence and a form. These spectral illusions,
whatever appearance they may assume, are usually conjoined with,
or productive of some prediction, which, if not fulfilled, is for-
gotten; but if, by any coincidence it should apparently be fulfilled,
the mind becomes more strongly convinced of the truth of super-
natural agency, and the empire of superstition and credulity gains
an accession of power. The apparitions of the ancients, therefore,
as we have no reason for doubting the accounts of them which
have been transmitted by historians, must have assuredly been
impostures, produced in the manner afterwards detailed in the
text. — Ed.

APPARITIONS THE WORK OF SCIENCE. 283

by the aid of a convex lens, or concave mirrors, the
Thaumaturgists were acquainted with the art of restoring
an inverted image to its proper position. According to
Theodoretus, and the Rabbins, the cause of the terror
which seized, or was feigned by the Sorceress consulted
by Saul, was owing to the shade of Samuel appearing
in an upright posture ; whilst till then the attitude of the
spirits had been reversed.*

* Theodoret. in Reg. lib. i. quaest. lxii. — Theodoretus, a theo-
logian of the fourth century, was born in a.d. 393, and educated
under Theodore of Mapsuestia and John Chiysostom. He became
a deacon in the church at Antioch, and in 423 was chosen Bishop
of Cyrus, in Syria. The greater part of his life was occupied with
the controversy carried on between the Nestorians and the Oriental
Christians, or Eutychians. He died in 457.

There is, however, no necessity for this supposition of Theo-
critus and the Rabbins ; for it is probable that the figure of
Samuel did not appear at all, at least it was not seen by Saul ;
and if the witch could have produced it by her science, there
would have been no cause of alarm on her part. Her dread
arose from the fear of punishment from Saul. When the
apparitions spoke, the deception was probably the effect of ven-
triloquism : for that ventriloquism was employed by the ancient
sorcerers may be inferred from the fact that it, at this day,
forms a part of the performances of the Eskimaux wizards.
Captain Lyon details the performances of one of his Iglolik
acquaintances, named Toolemak, in the darkened cabin of his ship.
The wife of Toolemak sung the Annaaya during the whole per-
formance. The first imitation was that of the invocations of the
spirit Tronga, when a loud snorting, resembling that of the walrus,
was heard; then the voice seemed smothered, and retreated
beneath the deck, as if to a distance, when it ceased altogether.
His wife said he had dived, in order to bring up Tronga, and in
half a minute was heard distant blowing very slowly approaching,
and a voice mingled with the blowing, until both the voice and

284 APPARITIONS THE WORK OF SCIENCE.

Buffon allows the possibility of the existence of the
steel or polished iron mirrors, placed in the port of
Alexandria for the purpose of discovering vessels at a
great distance off at sea. It may be presumed, that
long before falling into the service of industry, the
sciences which suggested the construction of the mir~
rors of Alexandria were preserved in the temples ; and
apparent miracles, far superior to those we have just
noticed, must have awakened the admiration of the people
— and filled, even the philosophers, with astonishment.*

" If this mirror," says Buffon, " really existed, as it
seems probable that it did, to the ancients belongs the
honour of the invention of the telescope." May we be
permitted to add to this weighty authority, one of a very
different nature. In those ancient Tales of the East, whose
details of miracles we conceive to have been founded on
disfigured traditions, rather than to have been the inven-
tions of a roving imagination, we find a tube spoken of,
which was a foot long, and little more than an inch in

blowing became quite distinct ; and the old woman said Tronga
was come to answer any questions put to him by the Captain. He
asked some questions, which were answered by two loud claps on
the deck. A hollow voice next chanted, and was succeeded by
a strange jumble of hisses, groans, shouts, and gabbling like a
turkey. The voice then gradually sunk from hearing, and was
succeeded by a sound not unlike the wind on the bass chord of an
yEolian harp, which " soon changed to a rapid hiss like that of a
rocket, and Toolemak, with a yell, announced his return." When
the light was admitted, the ventriloquist was apparently much
exhausted by his performance, " which had continued for at least
half- an -hour." — Ed. Private Journal of Captain G. F. Lyons.
Lond. 1824. p. 358.

* Buffon. Histoire naturelle des minéraux. Introduction, sixième
mémoire, art. n.

APPARITIONS . THE WORK OF SCIENCE. 285

diameter, and at one extremity furnished with a glass.
By the application of the eye to one end of this tube, a
person saw every thing he desired.* Let us substitute
for this, the apparent miracle of perceiving an object
lost to the naked eye by its distance ; and the magic
instrument becomes an opera-glass, if not a telescope.

May we not refer to a knowledge of the refraction of
light, an extraordinary faculty, of which the writers, of dif-
ferent ages and countries have spoken, in order to assure
ourselves that they have not copied from one another ?

Thus, as we are told, Jupiter, in love, transformed
himself, alternately, into an image of Diana and of
Amphytrion; and Proteous and Vertumnus could
change their forms and aspects at will. These
are dazzling mythological fictions, the brilliancy of
which conceals their absurdity. But when a biographer
relates that, under a borrowed appearance, his hero
deceives even his friends, he becomes ridiculous, because
the excessive credulity into which his enthusiasm has
betrayed him appears ; and the relation of several such
adventures would only be met with scepticism. We do
not speak, however, of an isolated fact, but of an uni-
versal art. " The end of magic," says Iamblichus, " is
not to create beings, but to cause images resembling
them to appear and soon again to vanish, without leaving
the slightest trace behind them." f

Among the conquests of Genghis KhanJ was a town,

* Mille et une Nuits, 606e Nuit, tome v. p. 254 — 256, etc.

f " Ejus-modi namque magies, finis est, non facere simpliciter,
sed usque ad apparentiam imaginamenta porrigere, quorum mox nec
vola, quod dicitur, compareat, nec vestigium." (Iamblich. de Myst.)
% Gengis Khan flourished in the end of the sixth and the be-
ginning of the seventh century. — Ed.

286 APPARITIONS THE WORK OF SCIENCE.

the mart for all the commerce of China. " The inha-
bitants," says the historian,* "were versed in an art
which could cause that which is not to appear, and that
which really is to disappear." " Men," says Suidas,f
" who were called Magi (magicians), knew how to
surround themselves with delusive apparitions." His
translator adds, by way of explanation, " who so de-
ceived the eyes of men, by their miracles, as to appear
utterly different from what they really were." Saxo
Grammaticus, j who, besides the Greek and Latin authors
now lost to us, consulted the traditions imported with
the religion of Odin from Asia into the North of Europe,
speaking of the illusions produced by the scientific magi-
cians, says : — rt Very expert in optical delusions, they
succeeded in giving to themselves and others the appear-
ance of various objects, and, under attractive forms, to
conceal their real aspect." ||

John of Salisbury,^ who doubtless had access to sources
no longer open to us, relates that " Mercurius,^[ the
most skilful of the magicians, had discovered the secret of
fascinating the eyes of men in such a manner as to render

* Histoire de Gengis Khan, p. 471 — 472.

t Suidas, verbo Magos.

X A Danish author of the twelfth century, who wrote a history
of Denmark of mixed authority. — Ed.

|| Saxo Grammat. Hist. Dan. lib. i. cap. ix.

§ He lived in the reign of Henry VII. ; and although that
period was ranked among the dark ages, yet John of Salisbury
was a man of learning, and well versed in the Greek and Latin
languages, mathematics, and every branch of natural knowledge
then known. His principal work is entitled, " Polycraticon." — Ed.

^[ Trismegistus Mercurius, or Hermes, one of the Egyptian
Magi, who was a contemporary of Moses, when he led the chil-
dren of Israel from Egypt. — Ed.

APPARITIONS THE WORK OF SCIENCE. 287

persons invisible, or rather to give them the appearance
of beings of a different species."*

Simon, the magician,f could also make another man
resemble him so exactly, as to deceive every one. An
ocular witness, the author of the "Recognitions," ascribed
to Pope Saint Clement, relates this incredible story, j

Pomponius Mela attributes to the Druidical priestesses
of the island of Sena the art of transforming them-
selves into animals at will ; |j and Solinus§ regards the
enchantments of Circe as delusive apparitions.

Eustathius^[ enters into important details. In Homer,
Proteus transforms himself into a consuming fire. "This,"
says the commentator,* * " must be understood as a mere
apparition; thus Proteus becomes a dragon, a lion, a
boar, &c, not really changing, but only appearing to be

* Joan. Salisb. Poller, lib. i. cap. ix.

f Simon Magus was a Samaritan by birth, a Pagan, and addicted
to sorcery. He, nevertheless, pretended to believe in Cbristianity,
and was baptized by Philip, the deacon; but when Peter and
John went to Samaria, he offered them money to bestow upon
him the same power which they possessed. Peter sharply rebuked
him, and refused his request, saying, " Thy money perish with
thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be pur-
chased with money." {Acts, chap. vu. ver. 20.) He was one of
the earliest supporters of the Gnostic system, addicted to abomina-
ble vices, and one of the principal opponents of Chirstianity. — Ed.

% Recognit. lib. x. Epitome de rebus gestis. B. Petri.

|| Pompon. Mela. lib. in. cap. vi.

§ Solin. cap. viii.

% Eustathius was Archbishop of Thessolonica in the twelfth
century, under the Emperors Manuel Alexius and Andronicus
Comnenus. He was a man of great erudition, and wrote a cele-
brated commentary on Homer, and on Dionysius the geographer.
—En.

** Eusthat. in Homer. Odyss. lib. iv.v. 417 — 418.

288 APPARITIONS THE WORK OF SCIENCE.

so." Proteus was a very learned, very versatile, and
very adroit worker of miracles (Terasios), and was
acquainted with the secrets of Egyptian philosophy.
After having noticed Mercury, and other beings con-
nected with the mythology, and who, by an apparent
metamorphosis passed, like Proteus, from one form to
another, Eustathius continues : — " Cratisthenes has been
admired for the same art : he created an appearance of
flames which seemed to issue from him, and to display
a peculiar motion. He also contrived other apparitions,
by which he forced men to confess their thoughts to
him. Such, also, were Xenophon, Scymnos, Phillipide,
Heraclidus, and Nymphodorus, who forced men to obey
their wills by inspiring them with dread."

Athengeus# speaks in similar terms of Cratisthenes
and of Xenophon, who appeared to create flames ; and of
Nymphodorus; all three skilful in deceiving men by
apparent miracles, and terrifying them by apparitions.f

What, we may inquire, were these apparitions ? The
term has no equivocal meaning ; for the commentator
proposes to prove, that the pretended metamorphoses of
Proteus! are *° De considered as apparitions; it was,
therefore, necessary that the enchanters should them-
selves appear clothed in the forms with which they
alarmed the spectators.

But let us remark that, in asserting their possession of

* Athense, Deipnosoph. lib. i. cap. xiv.

f Some idea of the manner in which this was performed is
given in a subsequent note. — Ed.

I A Greek, a native of Nancratis, in Lower Egypt, who lived
in the third century. His work, entitled " Deipnosophista," is a
very curious performance, treating chiefly of the pleasures of the
table, and illustrating ancient art. — Ed.

DECEPTIONS OF THE MAGICIANS. 289

this talent, neither Eustathius nor Athenseus describe
Cratisthenes or Xenophon as being endowed with super-
natural power ; both of these, as well as Proteus, are
mentioned only as skilful adepts in deception.

In another age, and in another hemisphere, we hear of
a similar apparent miracle. It is mentioned by Joseph
Acosta, who, towards the end of the 1 6th century, resided
in Peru ; he affirms that there existed at that epoch sor-
cerers who possessed the power of taking any form they
pleased. He relates that the ruler of a city in Mexico, who
was sent for by the predecessor of Montezuma, transformed
himself, before the eyes of the men who went successively
to seize him, into an eagle, a tiger, and an immense serpent.
At last he yielded, and was conducted to the Emperor, who
condemned him to death.* No longer in his own house,
and no longer within his own theatre, he then lacked
the power of working miracles in order to save his life.

The Bishop of Chiapa (a province of Guatemala), in a
writing published in 1702, ascribed the same power to
the Naguals, or national priests, who laboured to win
back to the religion of their ancestors the children
brought up as Christians by the Government. After
various ceremonies, when the child he instructed advanced
to embrace him, the Nagual suddenly assumed a fright-
ful aspect ; and, under the form of a lion or tiger, ap-
peared chained to the young Christian convert.f

It may be observed, that these apparent miracles, like

* Joseph Acosta. Histoire Naturelle des Indes, etc. feuillets, 251
et 351—358.

f Recueil de Voyages et de Mémoires, publié par la Société de
Géographie, tome n, page 182.

VOL. I. U

290 DECEPTIONS OF THE MAGICIANS.

those of the Mexican enchanters, were performed in a
place previously chosen and adapted to the purpose ; they
prove, therefore, simply a local power ; they indicate the
existence of a mechanical art ; but they do not lead to an
acquaintance with its resources.

May not the fire with which, after the example of
Proteus, Cratisthenes and Xenophon enveloped them-
selves, have served to conceal some other operation ?

It is well known that the ancients often thought they
could perceive objects of a determinate figure in the
midst of a body of flame. The vapour of burning sul-
phur, and the light of a lamp fed by a particular unctuous
substance, were made use of by Anaxilaus of Larissa*
to work various apparent miracles, which are referable not
so much to magic, as to real experiments in physics.f

A modern wizard,]: in the revelation of his secrets,
allows the possibility of producing an apparition in
smoke. The Theurgists caused the appearance of the
Gods in the air, in the midst of gaseous vapours, dis-
engaged from fire. || Porphyrus admires this secret ;
Iamblichus § censures the employment of it ; but he con-
fesses its existence, and grants it to be worthy the atten-
tion of the inquirer after truth. The Theurgist, Maxi-

* Anaxilaus was banished from Italy by Augustus, on account
of his impostures. — Ed.

f VUn.Hist. Nat.lib. xxvm, cap. n, xxxn, 52. lib. xxxv. cap.xv.
Anaxilaus had composed a book quoted by Saint Ireneus, and
Saint Epiphanes, and intitled xaltivia, Jeux, Enfantillages.

% These illusions were evidently produced by concave mirrors,
as explained in a former note. They required the aerial, reflected
images to be thrown into the midst of smoke. — Ed.

|| Robertson. Mémoires, &c. tome i. page 354.

§ Iamblichus. De mysteriis. cap. xxix.

DECEPTIONS OF THE MAGICIANS. 291

mus, undoubtedly made use of a secret analogous to this,
when, in the fumes of the incense which he burned before
the statue of Hecate, the image was seen to laugh so
naturally, as to fill the spectators with terror.*

Such illusions, supposing there were ever anything
real in them, may have been managed by the magician
who had previously surrounded himself with apparent
flames. But we will not dwell on doubtful probabilities,
nor attempt to explain what we can scarcely regard as
credible. Our aim has been merely to excite reflection on
narrations which refer the same apparent miracle to many
different places. They prove, at least, that in employing
either science or subtlety, the Thaumaturgists had carried
out the art of optical deception far enough to raise an
exaggerated, or rather an absurd idea of their power.
Indeed we may conclude that they were acquainted with
wire-gauze ; as we are told in the fable of Vulcan, that he
made an iron-net as delicate as a spider's web, in order
to expose the infidelity of his wife with Mars. May we
not, therefore, conjecture that they might have used wire
gauze on the same principle as did Sir H. Davy.f

* Eunap. in Maximo.

f If we admit that the ancients possessed a knowledge of many
extraordinary inventions, which have heen regarded as altogether
modern, we may suppose that the knowledge of non-conducting
substances, and of substances such as wire- gauze, through which
flame cannot pass, the foundation of Sir H. Davy's safety-lamp,
was not unknown to them. The Chevalier Aldini, early in this
century, invented an incombustible dress, by means of which fire-
men can proceed with impunity into the midst of flames. The
body, arms, and leg-pieces are made of strong cloth, steeped in a
saturated solution of alum, while the cap which covers the whole

u 2

292 DECEPTIONS OF THE MAGICIANS.

head and neck, and is perforated only with openings for the eyes,
nostrils, and mouth, and the gloves and shoes are made of cloth
of abestos. Over this dress is placed another, made of iron- wire
gauze, consisting of a casque, or cap, and mask, large enough to
leave a space between it and the asbestos cap ; a cuirass, with
brassets ; armour for the trunk and the thighs ; and a pair of
double boots. There is also an oval shield, made of the wire-
gauze, stretched on a slender frame of iron.

Many experiments were made to prove the efficacy of this appa-
ratus. Among others, two parallel rows of straw and brushwood,
supported by iron wires, extending thirty feet, were placed three
feet apart, and then set on fire. The heat was sufficient to pre-
vent any one from approaching nearer than eight or ten yards
from the fire. Six firemen, however, habited in the above dresses,
marched repeatedly to and fro, through the whole length of the
double row of flames uninjured. They breathed without difficulty
in the midst of the flames, so completely was the heat of the air
which entered their lungs interrupted by the wire-gauze cap. In
another experiment, a fireman remained so long enveloped in
flames and smoke, which rendered him invisible, that doubts were
entertained of his safety ; but he issued from them uninjured.
—Ed.

HYDROSTATICS USED TO UPHOLD IMPOSTURE. 293

CHAPTER XIV.

Means yet more simple and more easily exposed than
those already noticed here, served to giye the phenomena
of Occult Science the appearance of miracles. In the
island of Andros* was a fountain esteemed miraculous,
from its discharging wine for seven days, and water only
during the rest of the year.f An elementary acquaint-
ance with hydrostatics, and the effects of the pressure of
fluids, serve to explain this apparent miracle, as well
as that connected with another fountain at Rome,
which, on the return of Augustus to the city, after
the war in Sicily, flowed with oilj during an entire

* Andros was an island in the iEgean sea, in the capital of
which, called also Andros, was a temple of Bacchus, and the above
celebrated fountain. The apparent miracle was performed during
the ides of January. — Ed.

f Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. n. cap. cm.

X Paul Orose, who relates this prodigy, believes it to be a pro-
phetic emblem of the birth of Christ, under the empire of
Augustus. We think that this fact was not in its commencement

294 HYDROSTATICS USED FOR

day. Another apparent miracle was performed every
year at the feast of Bacchus, in a town of Elis :# three
empty urns, that were closed in presence of the strangers
attracted in crowds to this spectacle, on being reopened,
were found to have filled themselves with wine.f A
more striking exhibition might have been obtained, by
employing the machine to which we give the name of
the Fountain of Heron, (although, in all probability, it
was not invented, but simply described by that mathe-
matician), as the water poured into the reservoir before
the eyes of the spectators, would seem to have issued from
it in the form of wine.

It is believed, with much probability, that the represen-
tation of the infernal regions, as they were conceived by the
Greeks, formed a part of the celebration of the mysteries.
The curious punishment of the Danaidesj must then have

exhibited as a miracle ; credulity allowed itself, subsequently, to
be deceived by the figurative expressions made use of by contem-
porary writers, to celebrate the return of the conqueror. Foun-
tains of wine, in these later days, have flowed in our own market
places, on the occasion of public rejoicings.

* The capital of a country in Greece, where the Olympic
games were celebrated on the banks of the Alpheus. It was
celebrated for a temple of Venus, and a statue of the goddess
made of gold and ivory, with the feet resting on a tortoise, the
work of Phidias. — Ed.

f Athene. Deipnosoph. lib. i. cap. xxx. — Pausanias. Eliac. lib.
ii. cap. xxvi.

% The daughters of Danaus, King of Argos, who with the
exception of one, namely Hypermnestra, destroyed their husbands
in the first night of their nuptials, at the suggestion of their
father; because an oracle had foretold his death, by the hands of
one of his son's-in-law, all of whom were his nephews. Hyperm-

UPHOLDING IMPOSTURE. 295

been displayed to the initiated, and history has indicated
the manner in which this was managed. Xerxes caused
the monument of Belus* to be opened. The body of this
Prince lay in a glass coffin, nearly filled with oil, and
bearing an inscription on the side of it, which conveyed
the following warning : " Woe, woe to him, who having
opened this tomb, shall neglect to fill the coffin !"
Xerxes gave immediate orders to fill it up with oil ; but,
however great the quantity poured in, it was impos-
sible to fill it. This phenomenon was regarded as the
presage of those disasters which darkened, and finally
terminated the life of Xerxes.f Hidden from notice by
the position of the corpse, or by some less remarkable
obstacle, was a tube, by which the coffin communicated
with a reservoir of oil, owing to which that in the coffin
was always kept at the same height ; and the mouth of the

nestra was tried for her disobedience, in favouring the escape of
her husband, Lynceus, but acquitted by the unanimous voice of
the people. Her sisters were purified from the murder by Mer-
cury, and Minerva, at the command of Jupiter ; but condemned
at death to eternal labour, in the regions of Pluto, by attempt-
ing to fill with water a vessel full of holes, so that the water ran
out as soon as it was poured into it. — Ed.

* Belus, who was one of the ancient Kings of Babylon, reigned
about 1800 years before Semiramis, and was deified at his death.
His temple is stated to have been originally the tower of Babel :
Xerxes plundered and demolished it. Among other curious relics,
besides the coffin, were several statues of gold, one of which was
forty feet high. The cause of the permanent level of the oil in
the coffin, must have been discovered when the temple was des-
troyed : but, it nevertheless, in the mean time deluded the igno-
rant, and passed for a miracle. — Ed.

t Ktesias in Persicis. — Aelian. Variar. Hist. lib. xm. cap. in.

296 HYDROSTATICS USED FOR

tube opening at that point, carried off the surplus, and
thus prevented the coffin from becoming full.

Formerly, the perspiration, or sweating of statues,
which arose from the drops of water deposited upon them
by the atmosphere saturated with aqueous vapour, which
resolved itself into liquid on coming into contact with
these cold dense bodies, was superstitiously regarded as
really miraculous. Such a metamorphosis in our
times, in damp weather and moist climates, is too fre-
quently renewed to be turned to much account. But
historians and poets unite in the assertion, that the sta-
tues of heroes and images of Gods have both perspired
and also have shed visible tears, the certain presages of
calamities about to descend on their fellow-citizens or
worshippers. The determination of the Czar, Peter the
Great, put an end to a pretended miracle of this kind at
St. Petersburg. An image of the Blessed Virgin, painted
on wood, wept abundantly, in order, so it was given out,
to testify her abhorrence of the reforms projected by the
Czar. Peter himself discovered and exposed to the
people the mechanism by which the fraud was managed.
A reservoir, filled with oil, was concealed between the
two panels of which the picture consisted, from which
the oil, thinned by the heat of the multitude of tapers
lighted up around the image, was conveyed by conduits,
and found its way through small holes at the angles of
the eyes, thus representing tears as it filtered.* All
the miracles of weeping statues, &c, are referable to
similar artifices ; and to the same source we may trace

* Lévêque. Histoire de Russie. (Eleventh Edition.) tome v.
pages 161 — 162.

UPHOLDING IMPOSTURE. 297

another of a somewhat different nature, related by Gre-
gory of Tours. This historian saw, in a monastery at
Poitiers, a lamp lighted before a fragment of the true
cross, the oil of which miraculously overflowed, and
in the space of an hour poured out a quantity equal to
that contained in the reservoir. Indeed the rapidity of
its rising increased in proportion to the incredulity at
first displayed by the spectator.*

The learned of the sixteenth century have so often
spoken of perpetual lamps, and the students of natural
philosophy have so ardently sought to revive the secret,
that we might suppose their credulity to be 'founded on,
and the perseverance of their attempts to be sustained
by, some tradition. For the realization of this seeming
miracle, the fulfilment of two apparently impossible condi-
tions was necessary. In the first place, it was necessary to
provide an inexhaustible aliment for combustion ; and in
the second, to furnish an inconsumable wick for the
combustion of this aliment. Recollecting the miracle at
the tomb of Belus, the mystery is easily detected. At
some hidden point, let a tube be placed by which the
lamp may communicate with a secret reservoir, so large
that the consumption of one, or even of several days,
will but little alter its level : thus, the first part of the
problem is resolved. The second disappears before the
common invention of the present period, namely, that of
lamps without wicks,f an invention resulting from the same

* Greg. Turon. Miracul. lib. i. cap. v.

f These lamps serve for night-lamps ; but care is necessary to
clean the tube frequently, otherwise they are liable to be extin-
guished. This inconvenience was not experienced where the

298 HYDROSTATICS USED TO UPHOLD IMPOSTURE.

cause as the two last miracles we have cited, the dilatation
of oil by heat. In the precaution of filling the con-
cealed reservoir with regularity, there could be nothing
embarrassing ; and as to any perplexity from the neces-
sity, in case of accident, of changing the tube at the orifice
of which the expanded oil was inflamed, the wonder-
worker was skilful enough, while giving it his own atten-
tion, to distract that of the spectators from his operations
for a few moments.*

The agency of heat, in the expansion of oil, or any
other liquid, belongs to another science than hydrosta-
tics ; thus, we are naturally led to examine, what was the
extent, or rather how much, we can trace of those
pretended miracles, for which the ancients were indebted
to a practical knowledge of chemistry.

Passing to more elevated ideas, we may recal the
example of Aclepiodotus,f who chemically reproduced the
deleterious exhalations of a sacred grotto, | which proves
that a science so prolific of apparent miracles was not un-
known in the temples. Other facts tend to confirm this

lamp was to burn without interruption ; the tube becomes ob-
structed, only because the oil, partly decomposed, attaches itself
to the sides of the tube, when the night lamp is extinguished in
the morning.

* There is no necessity for explaining the above described phe-
nomenon by the great expansion of oil, for a wick of asbestos
would, although incombustible, yet be fully adequate to raise the
oil, and keep up the flame as long as the lamp was duly fed with
the combustible fluid. — Ed.

f A general of Mithridatus. — Ed.

% Dissertation de M. Virey. Journal de Pharmacie, chap. vin.
page 153.

CHEMICAL DECEPTIONS. 299

opinion. Marcos, the leader of one of those sects which,
in the earlier ages of the Church, endeavoured to amal-
gamate with Christian doctrines particular dogmas and
rites of initiation, filled three cups of transparent glass
with colourless wine ; during his prayer, the fluid in one
of these cups became blood-red, in another purple, and
in the third, of an azure blue.*" At a later period, a
well might be seen, in an Egyptian church, the waters of
which, whenever they were placed in a lamp, became of a
sanguine colour.f

In addition to these seeming miracles, probably bor-
rowed from the mvsteries of some ancient temnle, let us
add one of later times. At the Court of the Duke of Bruns-
wick, Professor Beyruss promised that, during dinner, his
coat should become red : and, to the amazement of the
Prince and his other guests, it actually became of that
colour.;}: M. Vogel, who relates the fact, does not reveal
the secret made use of by Beyruss ; but he observes that,
by pouring limewater on the juice of the beet-root, a colour-
less liquid is obtained ; and that a piece of cloth steeped in
this liquid and quickly dried, becomes red in a few hours,
simply by contact with the air ; and further, that the
effect is accelerated in an apartment where champagne
and other wines are being plentifully poured out. || It

* S. Epiphan. contra Haeres. lib. i. tome in. contra Marcosios.
Haer. 24. Sainte Croix has inadvertently ascribed tbis miracle to
the Pepuzziens. Recherches sur les Mystères du Paganisme, tome n.
pages 190—191.

f Macrizy, quoted by Et. Quatremère. Mémoires sur l'Egypte,
tome i. page 449.

% Journal de Pharmacie, tome iv. (février 1818.) pages 57 — 58.

|| In this case the lime, which in its pure or alkaline state,

300 CHEMICAL DECEPTIONS.

has been proved, by recent experiments, that wool dyed
by orchil* of a violet colour, or stained blue by the
acidulated sulphate of indigo, in a bath of hydro-sulphuric
acid, becomes colourless, yet resumes the blue or the violet
colour on exposure to the free air.f Either explanation
applies to the modern fact, and indicates the possibility
of reviving ancient prodigies : it also discovers the man-
ner in which, amidst flaming torches, and smoking in-
cense, in the sanctuaries of Polytheism, the veil conceal-
ing the sacred things may have been seen to change
from white to a deep blood-red hue, and which spectacle
was considered as the presage of frightful disasters.

Blood boiling on the altars, or upon the marbles, or
in the vases of the temple, was also indicative of peril
and calamity. In Provence, in the sixteenth century,
when a consecrated phial, filled with the blood of St.
Magdalene, in a solid state, was placed near her pre-
tended head, the blood became liquid, and suddenly
boiled.j The same phenomenon was exhibited in the
Cathedral of Avellino, with the blood of St. Lawrence,!

unites with the acid of the juice of the beet-root, and decolourizes
it, attracts carbonic acid from the air, which converts it into car-
bonate of lime, so that the acid of the beet being again set free,
aided by any excess of the carbonic acid, acts upon the colouring
matter, and restores the colour. The quantity of carbonic acid
extricated by the breathing of many persons in a crowded room,
and evolved by the champagne, would greatly facilitate this change.
—Ed.

* A dye-stuff made from a species of lichen named Rocella
tinctoria. — Ed.

t Académie des Sciences, séance du 2 Janvier, 1837.

X Longueruana, tome i. page 162.

|| Travels of Swinburn, vol. i. page 81. — St. Lawrence Scopali
was a native of Otranta. He was forty years of age before he

CHEMICAL DECEPTIONS. 301

and also at Bisseglia, with that of St. Pantaleon,# and of
two other martyrs.f In the present day, at an annual
public ceremony at Naples, some of the blood of St. Ja-
nuarius,! collected and dried centuries ago, becomes spon-
taneously liquified, and rises in a boiling state to the top

was admitted into holy orders. He became an ardent preacher,
and amongst other works, published, " The Spiritual Combat,"
a production of considerable merit twenty years before his death,
which happened in 1610, in his 80th year. — Ed.

* St. Pantaleon was physician to the Emperor Maximianus :
he fell into idolatry, but was rescued from it, and afterwards
ardently desired to expiate his crime by martyrdom, a wish which
was granted to him, in the barbarous persecution of the Chris-
tians by Dioclesian. — Ed.

f Travels of Swinburn, vol. i. page 165.

X St. Januarius was a native of Naples ; he became Bishop of
Beneventa, and was ultimately beheaded at Puzzuoli. In the fifth
century, his remains were removed to Naples, and his head and
two phials of his blood are still preserved in a chapel, called the
treasury, in the great church of that city. The usual time at
which the pretended miracle recorded in the text is performed, is
the 19th of September, the feast of St. Januarius. — Butler, in his
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, &c. (vol. vu. p. 4.) endeavours to
maintain the reality of this miracle, by mentioning the names of a
number of royal, venerable, and noble persons who had witnessed
it. The blood, or rather pretended blood, in its congealed state, is of
a dark red colour ; but when brought in sight of the head, though
at a considerable distance, it melts, bubbles up, and on the least
motion, flows on one side. Notwithstanding the great antiquity of
this assumed miracle, and the argument of Butler in support of
its authenticity, drawn from the improbability that so many holy,
venerable, and learned persons who have vouched for its truth,
can have been, and are hypocrites, impostors, and jugglers, we
see no reason for altering our opinion that the blood is not real
blood, and its liquifaction is most probably the effect of warming
the chemical compound mentioned in the text, not so wonderful as
he supposes. — Ed.

302 CHEMICAL DECEPTIONS.

of the phial that incloses it. These phenomena may be
produced by reddening sulphuric ether with orcanette
(Onosma, Linn.) and mixing the tincture with sperma-
ceti. This preparation, at ten degrees above the
freezing point (centigrade), remains condensed, but melts
and boils at twenty. To raise it to this temperature, it
is only necessary to hold the phial which contains it in
the hand for some time. If a little simple jugglery be
combined with this philosophical experiment, the apparent
miracle is complete. At Naples, the pretended relics of
St. John the Baptist annually sheds blood ;# and blood
trickles from the withered bones of St. Thomas Aquinas,
thus proving the authenticity of the relics, held in vene-
ration by the monks of Fossa Nuova ;f and the bones of
St. Nicholas of Tolentius, j exposed on the altar for the
adoration of the faithful, soon fills with blood a large
silver basin placed below it, by the foresight of the
priests. ||

From this solution, it seems to follow, that the Thau-
maturgists were acquainted with alcoholic liquors, and
with the art of distilling necessary to obtain them; and

* Pilati de Tassulo : Voyages en diférens pays de l'Europe,
tome i. pages 350 — 351.

f Prèz de Piperno. — Pilati de Tassulo. Voyages, &c. tome i.
pages 345 — 350.

% St. Nicholas was a native of St. Angelo, near Fermo, in the
Marca of Amona. He was born, a.d. 1245, of opulent parents.
Whilst a young man, he entered himself as a noviciate in the order
of Tolentino. After a life of austerity, he died in 1306, and
was canonized by Eugenius IV. in 1446. — Ed.

|| Le P. Labat. Voyages d'Espagne et d'Italie, tome iv. pages
100—101.

CHEMICAL DECEPTIONS. 303

that thus it was easy for them to produce the spectacle
of burning liquids, with which they astonished the mul-
titude. This is not a rashly hazarded supposition. In an
ancient sacred book of the Hindoos,* in which are col-
lected doctrines of the remotest ages, under the name of
Kea-soum, mention is made of the distillation of spirits.
This secret, indeed, was not confined to the temples, for
the art of distillation had been practised in Hindostanf
from a very early age ; atNepaul;| atBoutan;| and also
at Thibet, where arrack is extracted from chong, or rice-
wine,§ by a process which the natives have certainly not
learned from Europeans.^

It may be asked, was it from Europe that the art of
distilling was received by the Nagals,## a free people of
the mountains of Assam. The same question may be
asked respecting the inhabitants of the provinces situated

* Oupnek'hat. Brahmen 24 ; Journal Asiatique, tome n. pages
270.

\ Recherches Asiatiques, tome i. pages 335 — 345.

\ Bill. Univ. Litter at. tome iv. page 272.

|| Turner. Embassy to Thibet, etc. vol. i. page 50.

§ Rice wine is still made in China ; and the lees when distilled , yield
a spirit not unlike brandy, which is named show-choo, san-tchoo, and
sumtchoo, which literally means, burnt, or hot wine. How long prior
to the Christian era the Chinese exercised the art of making wine,
and distilling it into spirits, it is impossible to say : — but Du
Haldea informs us, that 2207 years before Christ, in the reign of
the Emperor Yu or Ta-yu, Rice wine was invented, and its use pro-
duced such evil consequences, that it was expressly forbidden to
be made, or drank under the severest penalties. — Ed.

% Cadet Gassicourt. Article Distillation, in the Dictionnaire des
Sciences Médicales.

** Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, tome xxxn. page 234.
a Du Halde's Annals of the Monarche, &c. vol. i. page 145.

304 CHEMICAL DECEPTIONS,

between Ava, Siam, and Pegu, where toddy is made from
the juice of the Nipa palm tree ; or in reference to the
islanders of Sumatra, who in 1603, were seen by a tra-
veller* making use of earthern tiles in extracting a liquor
stronger than our brandy, from a mixture of rice, and
the juice of the sugar-cane. We may safely reply in the
negative, and it is probable, that five centuries before our
era, this art had passed into Asia Minor, and into
Greece. Traces of this communication exists, if we
admit the ingenious inferences, by which Schulzf en-
deavours to establish, that the liqueur of Scythia the
Scythicus latex, of Democritus, was nothing else than
alcohol, the Polish name of which, gorzalka,| recalls the
name chrusoloucos (xçvçoXovxoç) given it by the ancients.
Not that we ought to regard the liqueur of Scythia as a
preparation of spirit of wine, which only became known
in Poland in the sixteenth century : but some of the
kinds of spirits of which we have spoken might reach
Scythia, as an article of its commerce with Thibet, or
Hindustan. The Scythians indeed, may have obtained
it themselves from the productions of their own
territories. Siberia has been long shut out from the
ag;e of inventions. There the stems of the birch are
annually collected, || not only in order to obtain the

* François Martin. Description du premier Voyage aux Indes
Orientales par les Français (Paris 1609), p. 56 — 71, and 166.

f Cadet Gassicourt. Art. Distillation. Dictionnaire des Sciences
Médicales.

X In Sclavonia, gorilka or horilka. . . In Slavonian and in Polish
gore signifies a thing that burns ; the termination 'Ika indicates a
diminutive.

|| Heracleum sphondylium ; fausse brancursine ; patte d'oie, Cow-
parsley. Cours d'Agriculture de Rosier (1809), art. Berce.

CHEMICAL DECEPTIONS. 305

sugary efflorescence with which, in drying, they become
covered, hut more particularly to extract from them a
large quantity of alcohol, by causing them to ferment in
water.

Aristotle assures us that art had been successful in
producing oil from common salt.* It can scarcely be
doubted that he alludes to the production of hydro-
chloric acid, which may have received the name of oil, in
the same way that sulphuric acid has long been known
under the name of oil of vitriol.f Finally, the art of
distillation, as employed for the extraction of mercury
from cinnabar, has been described by Pliny and Diosco-
rides, j with no indication of its being a recent discovery :
now this art, having once become known, was it unlikely
that the doctors of the temples should endeavour to apply
it to fermented liquors ?

When we recollect that, placed in contact with
flame, the wine of Falerno became ignited;! that
the wines of the Greeks and the Romans, even when
diluted with two parts of water, were intoxicating in
their effects ; that these wines were preserved and
improved by being kept in the highest story of their
houses, in cellars protected from the heat of the sun, it
is natural to suppose that a portion of pure alcohol, more
or less strong, was mixed with them ; and thus, that the

* Aristot. Problem xxiii . 13.

t Hydrochloric acid, which is procured from salt, is still popu-
larly called spirit of sea-salt. — Ed.

X Dioscorid. lib. v. cap. ex. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxm. cap.

VIII.

|| Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xiv. cap. vi. — All wines contain either
free or combined alcohol. — Ed.

VOL. I. X

306 CHEMICAL DECEPTIONS.

art having issued from the temples, was ministering to
the uses of domestic life. But this supposition would
ill accord with all that we know of the ancient art of
making wine. Faithful to the path we have marked out,
let us limit ourselves to inquire if, when more abstruse
secrets passed over from the temples of India to enrich
those of Asia Minor, of Etruria, and of Greece, the
art of obtaining spirituous liquors by distillation, uni-
versal in the East, would not follow in the same route,
and fall also into the hands of the priests of these coun-
tries ? The general argument applies here in all its
force ; this art must certainly have been known in temples
where apparent miracles, referable to its agency alone,
were performed.*

* In the opinion of the Editor, the reasoning of our author as to
the introduction of the art of distillation into Asia Minor, Etruria,
and Greece, from Hindustan, is by no means necessary in order
to account for the knowledge of ardent spirits by the priesthood,
and their employment in some of the mysteries of the temples. It
is a well known fact, that there is no variety of the human race,
of however low a grade, that has not some means of inducing
intoxication, by means of beverages. In the Friendly Islands,
when Captain Cook first visited them, the natives made an intoxi-
cating beverage, by chewing the root of the Kava plant, and
mixing the juice thus extracted with water. The Tartars make
Araka, a strong liquor, from the fermented milk of the cow and
the horse : in Egypt Araki is the produce of the date'; and in
India that of the flowers of the Madhuca tree (Bassia butyracea).
The Siamese become intoxicated with lau, made from rice : the
Chinese with show-choo, a species of brandy, distilled from the lees
of mandarin, a rice wine : the Mexican on a spirit made from
pulyne, the fermented juice of the Agave Americana; and the
Kamschatkains on Slutkaia trava, a spirit made from a sweet grass,

CHEMICAL DECEPTIONS. 30 7

and another from the juice of the whortle berry, mixed with that
of the Amanita muscaria. Now all inebriating liquors, how-
ever produced, and whether obtained from vegetable or from
animal substances, derive their inebriating properties from
alcohol ; and, if that opinion be admitted, it is easy to conceive
that as, when these liquors were heated or boiled, they must
consequently have become weaker, and lost much of their in-
toxicating properties, those who observed this effect would be led to
suppose that something was driven off with the vapour during the
boiling, and without this the liquors ceased to intoxicate. The
natural result of such an observation would be an attempt to re-
gain this important ingredient, by condensing the vapour ; and
the possibility of doing this would be observed almost as early as
the discovery of its being carried off by the vapour : hence
the first step to the performance of the process of distillation.
It is, therefore, probable that the discovery of ardent spirits is
coeval with civilization ; and that the process of procuring them
was known in many countries, without being communicated from
other nations ; and, consequently, must have been familiar in the
temples, the repositories of all the science and learning of an-
tiquity.— Ed.

x 2

308 SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES.

CHAPTER XV.

Secrets employed in working apparent miracles, in initiations, and
in religious rites — Those giving security against the effects of
fire, and used in the fiery ordeal, known in Asia and in Italy,
and practised in the eastern Roman Empire as well as in
Europe, in more modern times — Process by which wood may
be rendered incombustible.

The knowledge of those energetic substances which,
acting externally on organized bodies, enable man to come
in contact with flame, boiling water, red-hot iron, and
fused metals, had likewise its origin, or at least was prac-
tised, in the temples. It was long confined to them ;
and it has never been fully revealed to the multitude.

The mere approach of fire to any combustible body is
so frightful, and its ravages are so devastating, that an
apparent miracle, displaying the power of resistance to
its influence, could not fail to further the designs of the
workers of wonders, as the following facts demonstrate:

1st. The candidate for initiation probably experienced
this trial on his admission. It would be absurd to
believe that in this mystery all the proofs to which the
aspirant were subjected, were illusions and juggling
tricks ; and especially the ordeal by fire.

SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES. 309

The Tartars, on the approach to their hordes of a
stranger, or an Ambassador, or a King, or even of an
ordinary traveller, long observed the custom of causing
him to pass between two lighted piles of faggots, in order
to his purification from any malignant influence which he
might bear about him.* It merely required the space
between the faggots to be widened or narrowed, and this
purification became either a trial, or a torture, or a mortal
punishment. In the initiations, this ceremony, undoubt-
edly borrowed from the Tartars, might have been so
managed as to enable the priests easily to punish impru-
dent individuals, who put themselves in their power, after
having offended them ; or who had attempted to shake
the sincerity of the faith of others, or to thwart their
intentions, by making them disappear among the flames.

In the rites of the most ancient initiations, fire was an
important agent in the frightful trials of this nature,
which were endured by Zoroaster before commencing his
prophetic mission.f

Among the preparations of initiation, were one or
many baths, regulated by the priests. It is not difficult
to conceive that, by immersion in these baths, a transient
power of resisting fire was communicated to the aspi-
rant. | In submitting afterwards to the fiery ordeal, the

* Abel Remusat. Mémoires sur les Relations Politiques des Rois
de France avec les Empereurs Mongols. — Journal Asiatique, tome i.
p. 135.

t Vie de Zoreastre, Zenda-vesta, tome i, 2nd part, p. 24.

X It is not easy to conjecture the nature of these baths ; but the
solution, whatever was the substance dissolved in the water, must
have left upon the surface some incombustible matter; but it was not
necessary that it should have been a non-conductor of heat, as some

310 SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES.

faith of the aspirant must have been great enough to
persuade him that he would be preserved from all injury
by his confidence in the Divinity ; or, were this convic-
tion not felt, he must have relied on his intrepidity.

contend. Albertus Magnus informs us that it consisted of pow-
dered lime, formed into a paste with the juice of the radish,
the white of egg, the juice of the marsh-mallow, and the seeds
of the flea-bane. He adds that, if one coat of this compound is
applied to the body, and allowed to dry, and another coat laid
on it, the body will be preserved from the effects of fire."
Many experiments have proved that the living body has an
extraordinary power of resisting heat, provided it does not
come into immediate contact with the burning substance. The
experiments instituted by Duntze and Tillet on the continent,
and by Dr. Fordyce, Sir Joseph Banks, and Mr. Blagden, in this
country, proved that a temperature between 198° and 260°
Fahr. may be borne with impunity, if the feet of the person be
covered with flannel, which is a non-conductor. To prove the
influence of this temperature on inanimate bodies, they placed
eggs and a beef-steak upon a tin frame in a heated room to
nearly 300°, near the thermometer : in the space of twenty
minutes the eggs were roasted quite hard, and in forty -seven
minutes the steak was overdone and dry.b The female of a baker
at Rochefoucault, clothed in flannel, was in the daily habit of enter-
ing her master's oven, and remaining long enough to remove all the
loaves ; and Dr. Brewster informs us that the late Sir Francis
Chantry's workmen entered the oven employed for drying the
moulds, an iron apartment fourteen feet long, twelve feet high,
and twelve feet broad, the temperature of which, with closed doors,
was 350°, and the iron floor red hot. They were guarded against
the heat of the floor by wooden clogs, which were, of course,
charred on the surface. "On one occasion," he adds, "Mr.

a De mirabilibus Mundi. Amatelod. 1762, 12mo. p. 100. His
words are, " et post hoc poteris anduetar sustinere ignem sine
nocumento."

b Phil. Transactions, 1773.

SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES. 311

Issuing triumphant from this trial, his enthusiasm or his
courage might fairly be calculated on ; and it might be
presumed that, on a necessary occasion, he would brave
similar dangers, either in the possession of the secrets
revealed to him, when deemed worthy to know them ;
or by the religious trust, without which even these
secrets were reputed to lose their efficacy.

2nd. It was not, however, only at the period of initia-
tions that men were inspired with sacred awe, by wit-
nessing the marvellous invulnerability with which these
assumed favourites of heaven were endowed : its success
being so well ascertained, it was frequently displayed in
public.

Modern jugglers have appeared to eat burning fire,
without being incommoded by it, yet we pay little atten-
tion to the circumstance. Eunus, the Syrian,* who

Chantry, accompanied by five or six of his friends, entered the
furnace, and, after remaining two minutes, they brought out a
thermometer which stood at 320°. Some of the party experienced
sharp pains in the tips of their ears and in the septum of the nose,
while others felt a pain in their eyes." These experiments prove
the extraordinary heat which the living body can bearwith impunity,
and favour the possibility of persons passing uninjured through
flame, provided the body can be guarded from being scorched by
a non-conducting covering of an incombustible nature. — Ed.

* Eunus was a Syrian slave, who pretended to have immediate
communication with the Gods; and he obtained credit for his
visions and pretended prophecies, by playing off the trick men-
tioned in the text. Florus (in. 19) says, that it was performed
by concealing in his month a walnut shell, bored and filled with
ignited sulphur, which when he spoke threw out a flame. His

a Letters on Natural Magic, 12mo. 1832, p. 312.

312 SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES.

revived the revolt of the slaves in Sicily,* and Baroche-
bus,f who headed the last revolt of the Jews against
Adrian,j both appeared to vomit flames while speaking ;
and though this trick had enriched the public spectacles
three centuries before the Christian era,|| still it seemed
miraculous ; and supported, in the eyes of the multitude,
the reality of the inspiration which the one pretended

words are, " inore abolita mice quam sulfure et igné stipaverit,
leniter inspirans flammam inter verba fundebat." Not a very
satisfactory explanation — Ed.

* Florus. lib. in. cap. xix. To explain how Eunus worked
this miracle, the historian indicates a process almost impracticable.
We thence conclude that Eunus, like many others, resorted to false
assertions, in order the better to conceal his secret.

f Barochebus, or Shimeon Bar Coehba, signifying in Hebrew
the Son of the Star, was a Jew, who pretended that he was the
Messiah, and applied to himself the prophecy of Balaam, " There
shall come a star out of Jacob," &c. His approach, as the Mes-
siah, was preached by the Rabbi Aquiba, who was active in
stirring the Jews to revolt, and was cast into prison by Lucius
Quietus, the Roman Governor of Palestine, under Trajan. Soon
after the return of Adrian, the rebellion of the Jews commenced,
headed by Bar Coehba, who gained much confidence for his pre-
tended miraculous power and his intrepidity. He took Jerusalem
a.d. 132; and issued coins, bearing his head on one side, and
on the other, the legend, " Freedom to Jerusalem." He was,
however, defeated, and slain by Julius Severus, a.d. 135, at the
capture of Bethar, to which he retired after being driven from
Jerusalem, and in which he reigned as a King, for three years.
His pretensions being refuted, both by his life and death, he
received the nick-name of Bar Coziba, " the son of a lie." — Ed.

% S. Hiéronym. Apologetic, n. adv. Rufin.

|| In Macedonia there figured, says Athenseus, at the espousals
of Caranus, naked women who vomited flames. (Athen. Deipn.
lib. iv. cap. i.)

SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES. 313

to have received from the Goddess of Syria, and the
other from the Omnipotent God of Israel.

The priestesses of Diana Parasya, in Cappadocia,
commanded no less veneration, by walking with naked
feet on burning coals. * The Hirpi,f members of a
small number of families established on the territories
of the Faliscii,| renewed the same miracle annually
on Mount Soractes, in the temple of Apollo : their
hereditary incombustibility was of value to them, as it
secured their exemption from military service, and other
public business. Varro|| ascribes it to the efficacy of a
liniment, with which they were careful to anoint the
soles of their feet.§

* Strabo. lib. xn.

f They were called Hirpi, which signifies wolves in the Sam-
nite dialect, from a tradition, that they followed the tracts of these
animals in migrating to the south of Sumnium Proper, where they
settled. They performed the feat attributed to them at the annual
festival, at the temple of Apollo, on Mount Soracte, in Etruria.
—Ed.

% Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vn. cap. u. Solin. cap. viu.

|| Ut soient Hirpini qui ambulaturi per ignem, medicamento
plantas tingunt — Varro. apud Servium in Virgil. jEneid. lib. xi.
verses 787—788.

§ This is attributed by Beckmann also (History of Inventions,
transi, vol. in. page 277,) to the skin of the soles of the feet
being made callous and horny, so as to defend the nerves from
the impression which the hot coals would otherwise make upon
them. He relates the following anecdote in support of his asser-
tion : "In the month of September, 1765, when I visited the
copper works at Awestad, one of the workmen for a little drink
money, took some of the melted copper in his hand, and after
showing it to us, threw it against the wall. He then squeezed
the fingers of his horny hand, close to each other ; put it a few

314 SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES.

Thus, in order to penetrate into a sanctuary, the hero
of an oriental tale# crossed some water, which was boil-
ing without the application of fire (evidently a gaseous
thermal spring), and traversed plates of red-hot steel.
A pomatum, with which he had anointed himself, ena-
bled him to brave both these dangers with impunity .f

3rd. A more popular use, and one still better adapted
to augment the sacerdotal power, was made of this
secret.

Man, unskilled in the discernment of error, and inca-
pable of confuting falsehood, has in every country
demanded from heaven some miracle, which should
expose the criminal or clear the innocent ; thus giving
up the honour, or the life of his fellow-creatures to the
decision of the priest ; to the success of a philosophical
experiment ; to blind chance ; or to shameful fraud. Of
all ordeals, that of fire is the most ancient and universal ;
it has made the tour of the globe. In Hindustan, its
antiquity reverts to the reign of the Gods. Sita, the
wife of Rama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, sub-
minutes under his arm-pit, to make it sweat, as he said ; and
taking it out again, drew it over a ladle filled with melted copper,
some of which he skimmed, and moved his hand backwards and
forwards very quickly, by way of ostentation." Beckmann adds,
" I remarked a smell like that of singed horn, or leather, though
his hand was not burnt." — Ed.

* Les Mille et un Jours. 491e. Jour.

f This is much better explained by the callous state of the
soles of the feet as already mentioned ; and we are told by Beck-
mann (loco citato) that this may be effected by frequently moisten-
ing tbe parts with sulphuric acid, or by constantly, for a long
time, rubbing the feet with oil, which produces in the skin the
same horny state as it causes in leather. — En.

SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES. 315

mitted to it, and stood on red-hot iron, to clear herself
from the injurious suspicions of her husband. " The
foot of Sita," say the Hindoo historians, " being clothed
in innocence, the devouring heat was to her as a bed of
roses. "#

This trial is still practised in several ways by the
Hindoos. A creditable witness saw two accused persons
subjected to it ; one carried in his hand a red-hot ball of
iron without receiving any injury, the other submitted
to the trial of boiling oil.f But we must observe, that
the latter was accused by a Brahman, and that all the
Hindoo ordeals are under the influence of the priests.

For the rest, the mystery of their success is not very
difficult to penetrate. The same writer was acquainted
with a preparation, known also to the Hindoo Pandits,
by which the hands, when anointed with it, might resist
the effects of heat, and handle red-hot iron, j Thus it is
easy for the Pandits to do a good turn to those crimi-
nals, whom they favour, by attaching various substances,
particularly leaves of trees to their hands, before the
trial. §

A Mahometan traveller, who visited Hindostan in the
nineteenth century, saw the fiery ordeal conducted in
the same manner. The trial by boiling water, he also
found in use there, and a man, who submitted to it in
his presence, withdrew his hand, quite uninjured.

* Forster. Travels from Bengal to Petersburg, vol. i. pages 267
—268.

f Recherches Asiatiques, tome i. pages 478 —483.
X Recherches Asiatiques, page 482.
|| Ibid, pages 477—479.

316 SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES.

Zoroaster eager to confute his calumniators, allowed
melted lead to be poured over his body, and he received
no injury.* Does it follow that he employed a preser-
vative, analogous to that made use of by the Hindoo Pan-
dits ? On this point, his biographer is silent ; but we
learn, that previous to undergoing this frightful trial, his
adversaries rubbed his body with various drugs ;f was
this not evidently intended to destroy the effect of the
salutary liniments, which had been previously applied,
and the knowledge and application of which they supposed
him to be forearmed, although they failed in effecting their
intention ?

The ordeal by fire, and the secret of enduring it
without injury, were very early known in Greece.

In Sophocles, the Thebans^ suspected of exhuming
the body of Polynicius, exclaim : " We are prepared
to prove our innocence, by handling heated irons, or
walking on the flames. This ordeal and the secret of en-
during it, survived the decline of Polytheism.!

* Anciennes relations des Indes et de la Chine, traduites par
Renaudot, pages 37 — 38.

f Vie de Z 'oroastre. Zenda-vesta. tome i. partie n. pages 32 — 33.

+ Sophocl. Antigon. vers. 274.

|| Simplicus was elevated to the Papal throne, a.d. 497. He
was previously married, hut he separated himself from his wife,
although she lived in the house with him. This circumstance
having given birth to some scandalous reports, the lady resolved
to prove her innocence by the ordeal of fire ; and, for this purpose,
chose a solemn day ; and in the presence of the assembled people,
carried fire in her hands, and threw it upon her clothes without
their being in the smallest degree damaged. She then placed
some of the fire on the clothes of her husband with the same
effect, and addressed him in the following words : " Receive this

SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES. 317

Pachymerus* asserts, that he saw several accused
persons acquit themselves, by handling red hot iron, with-
out receiving injury. At Dydmotheque,f a wife was or-

fire, which will not burn you, in order to convince our enemies
that our hearts are as inaccessible to the fire of nuptial intercourse,
as our clothes are to the action of these burning coals." This
apparent miracle astonished all who witnessed it, and at once
silenced the calumny. After what has been said upon the power
of walking on burning bodies, and the fact that the formation of
cloth with asbestos, and the property of rendering common cloth
incombustible by soaking it in a concentrated solution of alum,
was known long before the above period, we can have no difficulty
in explaining the assumed miracle.

It is melancholy to know that this custom had been transplanted
from the Pagan temples into the Christian churches. At the
same time, it is gratifying to find, that in the year 840, the learned
Agoband, Archbishop of Lyons, pronounced ordeals to be tempt-
ing God, and contrary to his law, as well as to the precepts of
charity. They had been previously condemned by the council of
Worms in 829 ; and they were also prescribed to Gregory the
Great. In England, they were suppressed by act of parliament
in the third year of the reign of Henry III.a There were three
ordeals, or as they were also termed, vulgar purgations ; namely,
one by fire, in which the accused person either placed his hand on
red hot iron, or walked barefoot over it ; another by boiling water
into which the supposed culprit plunged his bared arm, to take out
a stone at the bottom of the vessel ; and a third by cold water,
in which, if the person was drowned, he was pronounced guilty.
The last was chiefly used for the trial of witches, and was resorted
to long after the law for the suppression of ordeals was passed.
—Ed.

* Pachym. lib. i. cap. xn.

t Towards the year 1340, of our era. — Cantacuzen. lib. in. cap.
27.

'Johnson's English Canons, a.d. 1065.

318 SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES.

dered, by her husband, to submit to this trial, to clear her-
self from injurious suspicions These were well-founded,
as the woman confessed to the Bishop. By his advice she
consented to lift the red hot iron ; and having carried it
three times round a chair, at her husband's desire, she
placed it upon the chair, which immediately took fire.
The husband no longer doubted the fidelity of his
wife. Cantacuzene relates the fact as a miracle : we
quote it as a proof of the wise instructions and indul-
gent connivance of the Bishop.

In 1065, some Angevin monks, in a lawsuit, pro-
duced as a witness, an old man, who, in the midst of
the Great Church of Angers, was subjected to the ordeal
of boiling water. The monks declared the water in the
cauldron to be heated to an extraordinary degree,* the

* Water, unless it contain common salt, or some other saline
substance, cannot be heated above 212°Fahr. ; so that this very-
declaration displayed a disposition to mislead the ignorant specta-
tors by enhancing the severity of the ordeal. Fluids that boil at
a low temperature may have been substituted for water ; and, as
Sir David Brewster properly remarks, " even when the fluid
requires a high temperature to boil, it may have other properties,
which enable us to plunge our hands into it with impunity." He
details a fact, mentioned to him by Mr. Davenport, who saw one
of the workmen in the King's Dock at Chatham immerse his arm
in boiling tar ; and Mr. Davenport immersed his forefinger in it,
and moved it about for some time " before the heat became incon-
venient." Now tar does not boil at a lower temperature than
220°, or eight degrees above that of boiling water : and the phe-
nomenon can only be explained by the fact that tar is a worse
conductor of heat than water, and altogether a bad conductor,
Mr. Davenport ascribes this non-conducting power of the boiling
tar to the abundant volatile matter which is evolved " carrying off

SECRETS USED IN PAGAN RITES. 319

witness confirmed the truth of his testimony, by coming
out of it uninjured. At the commencement of the same
century, the Deacon Poppon, desirous to win Sweyn IL,
King of Denmark, and the Danes back to Christianity,
thrust his hand and arm, bared to the elbow, into a
gauntlet heated to a white heat ; carried it through the
assembled Danes ; and having laid it at the feet of the
Prince, appeared quite unscathed.*

Harold, pretending to be the son of Magnus, King of
Norway, f and as such claiming the succession, he was
required to prove his birth by the fiery ordeal. He sub-
mitted to it, and walked over red hot iron with impu-
nity.

Two centuries later, Albertus Magnus f described
two processes, by which a transient incombustibility
might be imparted to the body of a man. A writer of
the sixteenth century! pretends that it is sufficient to
wash the hands in wine lees, and subsequently to steep
them in fresh water, in order to allow a stream of molten
lead, to pass over them without injury. His assertion,
that he proved it experimentally upon himself, may be
doubted.

The charlatans, who plunge their hands into molten

rapidly the caloric in a latent state, and intervening between the
tar and the skin, so as to prevent the more rapid communication
of heat." a- Ed.

* Saxo-Grammat. Hist. Dan. lib. x.

f Died in 1047. — Saxo-Grammat. Hist. Dan. lib. xiii.

X Albert. Dé mirabilibusjnundi.

|| E. Taboureau. Des faux sorciers.

» Brewster's Letters on Natural Magic, p. 302.

320 FIRE AND WATER ORDEAL.

lead, may deceive our eyes, by substituting for lead a
composition, of the same colour, which becomes liquid,
at a very moderate heat ; such is the fusible metal
of Darcet.* Were it necessary, I believe that Science
could also readily furnish an easily fusible metal,
outwardly resembling copper or bronze. From Science
also may be derived the secret of giving the appearance
of ebullition, to a moderately heated fluid. But judicial
or religious ordeals have not always been in the hands of
men disposed to favour deceit. In that of the red hot
iron, it is not easy to conceive fraud, and the secret of
nullifying its effects has ever been as universal as its
use. The knowledge of it has also been widely extended.
One of the Eastern Tales, we have so often quoted,
mentions a man, of the inferior classes, who plunged
his hand into the fire, and handled red hot iron, without

* The fusible metal is a compound of mercury, tin, and bis-
muth, and resembles lead in its colour. It melts at so low a tem-
perature, that a tea-spoon made of it dissolves in a cup of hot tea.
It was most probably this metal, in a fused state, which Richard-
son, an English juggler in the end of the seventh century, poured
upon his tongue instead of melted lead, which he professed to
employ. We are not informed what he substituted for melted
glass and burning coals, which he appeared to chew. A con-
jurer, who exhibited himself ten or twelve years ago in the
metropolis, excited much astonishment by swallowing phosphorus.
I am of opinion that this was effected by instantly closing the
mouth, so as to prevent the ignition of the phosphorus ; and in
a few minutes afterwards on leaving the room, which he always
did after the feat, he ejected it from the stomach, by causing
vomiting. Phosphorus does not inflame unless it be exposed to
the action of the air. — Ed.

ORDEALS BY FIRE. 321

being burnt.* We discover the same secret in two
different parts of Africa. In the country of the Caffres,
and in Loango, some Portuguese travellers saw the
accused, called on to justify themselves, by taking hold
of red hot iron. It is a law among the Ioloffs,f that,
when a man denies a crime imputed to him, a red hot
iron shall be applied to his tongue ; and according as
the fire affects him, he is declared culpable or innocent ;
but all the accused are not condemned.

How is it then, that the secret of resisting this ordeal
is still so imperfectly known to European philosophers,
notwithstanding our intercourse with Hindustan, where
it certainly exists. In our own days, men, claiming to
be considered incombustible, have submitted their ex-
periments to the inspection of the most enlightened men
in France with as much confidence as a mere popular
exhibition ?

Uncertainty on this point must soon end. Whilst
this invulnerability has been, by several learned men,
ascribed to long habit, and a peculiar organization, Doc-
tor Semintini proposes, as the solution of the problem,
the probable interposition of some foreign substance
between the skin and the glowing body : he has ascer-
tained, that a saturated solution of alum preserves any
part strongly impregnated with it, from the action of
fire ; particularly if the skin is rubbed with soap, after
the application of the alum.J He states that, by means

* Contes inédits des Mille et une Nuits. (Paris 1828.) tome ni.
page 436—437.

f G. Mollien. Voyage dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique, du Sénégal et
de la Gambie, tome i. p. 105.

X This opinion is highly probable, as we are informed by Beck-

VOL. I. Y

322 ORDEALS BY FIRE.

of this preparation, he repeated, on his own person, the
experiments of the incombustible men.*

This process, the efficiency of which has been tested
and confirmed, by recent experiments, was probably the
same as made use of by the ancients, since they also
employed inert materials to enable them to encounter the
flames.

Independently of the art of spinning and weaving
the asbestos, which was carried so far as to surprise the
ignorant by apparent miracles wrought with its agency :
the ancients were acquainted with the fact, that wood,
saturated with alum, was capable of withstanding the
flames for a length of time. Such was the wooden
tower raised by Archelausf in the Pireus, which Sylla,
in vain attempted to burn : and which, if we can
credit the historian Quadrigarius, was rendered in-
combustible by Archelaus having taken care to impreg-

mann that, in Catholic countries, where the ordeal by fire was
taken as the exculpatory evidence of crime, the accused person
was placed three days and three nights under the care of the
priests, both before and after the trial, in order, it was alleged, to
prevent him from preparing his hands by art. His hands were
covered up, and the coverings sealed during the three days which
preceded and followed the ordeal. " It is highly probable," says
Beckmann, "that during the three first days the preventive was
applied to those persons whom they (the priests) wished to appear
innocent : and that the three days after the trial were requisite to let
the hands resume their natural appearance." When the ordeal was
abolished, and this art became valueless, the secret was lost. — Ed.
— Beckmann. Hist, of Inventions, Trans, vol. in. p. 281.

* Essai sur la Physiologie Humaine, par G. Grimaud et V. C.
Durocher, Paris, 1826, p. 76.

f A King of Cappadocia who was conquered by Scylla, as a
punishment for assisting Mithridates. — Ed.

ORDEALS BY FIRE. 323

nate the wood of which it was constructed with alum.#
The wooden tower of Larch wood, which Csesar found
it impossible to set on nre,f must have been preserved by
a similar precaution. This was also, without doubt, the
secret of the wood made use of in Turkistan, which
preserved the houses built of it from fire.j We are
acquainted with no species of incombustible wood, con-
sequently the opinion prevailing, in Asia, Greece, and
Gaul respecting the existence of this marvellous quality
in the Larch, || or any other tree, only served, under
the veil of a pretended miracle, to conceal a real, and
valuable secret, the exclusive possession of which was
thus secured.

* A. Claud. Quadrigar. Annal, lib. xix. apud. A. Gell. lib. xv.
cap. i.

-j- Vitruv. de architect, lib. n. cap. ix.

X Histoire de Gengiskan, p. 144.

|| Abies Larix, a native of Europe, Russia, and Siberia. — Ed.

Y 2

324 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

CHAPTER XVI.

Almost as terrible in their effects as fire, and often
more difficult to avoid, are venomous reptiles, and fero-
cious animals : it may be asked do they lose their power to
injure, at the command of a man, aided by a supernatural
science ? Many of the recitals of the ancients upon this
subject have aroused the incredulity of the moderns. The
history of Orpheus passes with many for a pleasing
allegory ; and it was believed that those men, those
Manades who played with tigers and panthers, and
who, in the representations of the initiations, handled
serpents with impunity, were merely Jugglers.

It is not, however, denied that there existed occult
methods of acting on animals who are free from our
empire by their natural indépendance. The odour of

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 325

Cat-mint* and that of marum,f exercises so powerful
an influence on the sense of smelling of cats, particu-
larly in warm climates that it appears marvellous to any-
one who witnesses the effects of it for the first time. It
is easy to take advantage of these and similar plants for
enticing the animals whom they affect. If we may believe
ancient observers, the elephant loves sweet odours,
such as those of flowers and perfames,j and she-goats
of the Caucasus are so delighted with the odour of
cinnamon, that they will eagerly follow the hand which
presents it to them.|| In London, at this day, some
men possess the art of enticing rats from their holes, and
constraining them, in broad day, to enter into a rat-
trap ; the charm consists in some of the straw placed in
the trap with the oil of cumin,§ and of anis.^f In

* Nepeta cataria, a perennial plant, common on gravelly and
chalky banks, and on road sides, flowering in July. It is a soft,
hoary plant, with the upper part of the flower white, but the lower
lip spotted with crimson. The whole plant exhales a strong,
pungent odour, peculiarly grateful to cats. — Ed.

f Teucrium marum, Cat-thyme, a native of the shores of the
Mediterranean. Cats are so fond of the odour of this marum,
that they tear the plant when they meet with it. Our author
might have added Valerian to his list of plants. — Ed.

% Aelian. de Nat. Anim. lib. i. cap. xxxvm. lib. xui. cap. vm.

|| Philostrat. vit. Apollon, lib. m. cap. i.

§ Cuminum Cyminum, a native of Upper Egypt, and cultivated
in Sicily and Malta. The fruit resembles carraway, and has a
powerful aromatic odour, depending on its volatile oil, the odour
of which is not agreeable to men, although extremely delightful to
cats. — Ed.

% Pimpinella Anisum, a native of Scio, Egypt, and Asia, The

326 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

the last century, a man might have been seen walking
covered with a swarm of bees, which spread them-
selves over his hands and face, and seemed to have
forgotten the use of their wings and their stings. It
is probable that his secret resembled that which we have
pointed out.

Exposure to ferocious beasts was an ordeal used
in the Roman Empire ; consequently, secrets proper
for lulling the ferocity of ravenous animals were,
most probably, well known. Maricus, who under Vi-
tellius, endeavoured to restore the Gauls to freedom,
passed himself off for a God. Being captured in
battle, he was delivered up to wild beasts; but he
received no injury from them ; an event which appeared
to confirm his pretensions, until Vitellius caused him to
be devoured.* The Egyptian Serapionf predicted a simi-
lar death to Caracalla ; a famished lion was let loose
upon the prophet : he presented his hand to the animal,
who retired without injuring him. Another ordeal,
however, proved fatal to him.! When wild beasts were
let loose upon Thecles, some of the women having

volatile oil has a powerful, not unpleasant aromatic odour. It
is poisonous to pigeons. — Ed.

* Tacit. Histor. lib. n. cap. lxi.

t Serapion was a physician of Alexandria, in the third century.
His prediction was drawn forth by the vices and cruelties of Cara-
calla, who, in consequence of a joke, which likened him to Œdipus
and his wife to Jocasta, slaughtered many thousands at Alexandria.
He was assassinated at Edessa, by Macrinus, a.d. 217, in the
forty-third year of his age. The author, therefore, labours under
a mistake in attributing his death to an ordeal. — Ed.

X Xiphilin. in Anton. Caracal,

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 327

thrown upon him spikenard ;* others cassia ;f a
third set precious aromatics ; and a fourth perfumed oil ;
the beasts were as if overcome with sleep, and The-
cles escaped untouched. This recital, borrowed from a
work which dates from the commencement of Christi-
anity, is probably founded on a real incident ; and affords
a proof that the use of penetrating odours has some-
times been able to save the wretches condemned to
satiate the hunger of carnivorous animals. From a fact
related with some details, by Athenseus, it would appear
that, in Egypt, the juice of the citron ; taken internally,
was used to work this assumed miracle. The experi-
ment that he relates is the more striking ; as on repeating
it, one of the wretches, who had escaped death, was
permitted to use this precaution, a favour which was

* Spikenard, Nardastachys Iatamansi of De Candolle, the Nard of
the Bible, and the Nardo-stachys of the ancients. It is known
in India by the name bal-chur. It is a mountain plant, belonging
to the natural order, Valerianacese, and has a close affinity to the
Celtic Valerian, which is found on the mountains of Austria ;
whence it is exported to Egypt, on account of its powerful, yet
agreeable odour, for perfuming baths. In India, the Iatamansi is
used for scenting oils and perfumes. — Ed.

f The name Cassia is here probably intended for Cinnamon,
as the oil of the Laurus Cassia has not an agreeable odour. The
term Kaschu-manis , sweet wood, derived from two Malayan words
is frequently used for Cinnamon in India. The wood of the tree,
without being barked, was anciently carried into Greece by the
Phoenicians, who, at the same time, probably also imported the
oil : and it is more likely that, in the ceremony referred to in the
text, neither the Spikenard nor the Cinnamon was used, but merely
the volatile oil of these plants. — Ed.

328 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

denied to another. The first was spared by the ferocious
beasts; the* second perished, being immediately torn
to pieces.* It may be rationally doubted whether the
Citron has ever been thus efficacious ; but the rind might
serve to inclose more powerful ingredients.f Accord-
ing to Aelian a coating of elephant's grease is an infalli-
ble preservative, j the odour, as penetrating as it is foetid,
peculiar to the carcase of this great quadruped, renders
this less incredible. A similar secret will doubtless
explain the security of the jugglers who, says Tertullian,
are seen, in public places, exposed to the fury of ferocious
beasts, whose bites they defy and avoid with wonderful
agility. Firmus, who was invested for a time with the
imperial purple at Alexandria, swam amongst croco-
diles with impunity ; it is supposed that he owed
this preservation to the o our of the crocodiles' grease
with which he had rubbed his body.|| It is probable
that the knowledge of an analogous secret having become
common, was the cause of a similar ordeal formerly em-
ployed in Hindustan falling into disuse. The accused was
obliged, in the presence of Brahmans, to swim across a
river frequented by the Moudela (crocodile) ; and was
only absolved when he escaped from the jaws of this

* Aihen. lib. in. cap. v.

f The juice of the Citrus Medica is not unlike that of the
Orange. The odour of the rind is grateful, but not very power-
ful ; it is, therefore, more probable that, the fruit after the abstrac-
tion of the juice, was filled with strong odours, than that the
juice of the fruit itself taken internally, was employed for the pur-
pose mentioned in the text. — Ed.

X Aelian. de Nat. Animal, lib. i. cap. xxxvu.

|| Vospic in Firmo.

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 329

amphibious animal.* The Mexican priests rubbed the
body with a pommade to which they attributed magical
virtues ; and at night they wandered in desert places,
without fearing ferocious beasts; the odour of this
unguent keeping them at a distance. There still exists
a method of making animals, generally formidable, fol-
low any one without danger ; a feat commonly practised by
men, who make a trade of enticing away dogs for sale
to supply anatomists; and sometimes by hunters, who wish
to allure wolves into a snare. It consists in striking
the sense of the male by odours resembling the emana-
tions which the female exhales in the time of rutting.
It has been mentioned, in detail, by one of the most
original and the most philosophical writer of the six-
teenth century.f Galenj has also mentioned it ; but it

* Paulin de St. Barthélemi, Voyage, &c. vol. i. page 428. — The
Crocodile of the Ganges differs from that of the Nile, and is placed
by Cuvier in that division of the tribe, named Glaviales ; but it is
equally voracious as the Egyptian reptile. As the Egyptian priests
possessed the secret of taming their crocodiles, it is not improbable
that the Brahmans also tamed the Moudela. The ordeal mentioned
in the text, was performed in their presence : and when they were
desirous of exculpating the accused, a part of the river containing
the tame crocodiles might be selected. The tame crocodiles in
Egypt were fed with cakes, and sweatmeats ; and rings and pre-
cious stones were hung in the opercula of their ears, which were
pierced for the purpose, and their fore feet adorned with bracelets
when they were presented tor the veneration for the people : a de-
monstrative proof of the tameness to which they were reduced.
—Ed.

t Rabelais. Hist, de Gargantua et de Pantagruel, liv. i. chap.

XXII.

% Galen, lib. i. Aphorism, xxii.

330 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

was known long before the time of that celebrated
physician. In the temple of Olympus, a bronze horse
was exhibited, at the sight of which real horses expe-
rienced the most violent emotions. Aelian judiciously
observes that the most perfect art could not imitate
nature sufficiently well to produce so strong an illusion :
like Pliny and Pausanius,* he, consequently affirms, that
in the casting of the statue, a magician had thrown some
Hippomanes upon it ; and thus we have the secret of
the apparent miracle. Every time they desired to work
it, they duly covered the bronze with liquid Hippomanes,
or with a drug which exhaled the odour of it.f

A similar artifice attracted the bulls towards the
brazen heifer, the masterpiece of Myron ; as it is not
probable that these animals were sensible of the beauty
of the sculpture ; a less perfect representation, would under
similar circumstances, have equally provoked their de-
sires.

The same secret shows, perhaps, the origin of the
dream by which, it was said, a mortal favoured by the
Gods drew after him lions and tigers, who were thus
deprived of their ferocity. This miracle has been attri-

* Pausanias. Eliac. lib. i. cap. xxvu. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib.
xxviii. cap. ii. Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. xiv. cap. xvm.

f The Hippomanes is a plant which grows in Arcadia: by
which young coursers and swift mares are excited to furious
desires. — (Theocrit. Eidyll. n.vers. 48 — 49.) Junius Philargyrus
(in Géorgie, lib. in, vers. 280.) confines the effect of this plant to
the mares who eat of it. Nevertheless, perhaps, the odour
which this vegetable exhaled was the principle of its properties,
and they were enabled to make use of it to work the assumed
miracle which has been noticed.

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 331

buted more generally to the power of music. Plato
assures us that song and melody can tame savage ani-
mals, and even reptiles.* We might be tempted to
believe that, in this case, the philosopher had allowed
himself to be governed by the not very philosophic live-
liness, of his imagination, or that he had only repeated an
opinion, which we might suppose was not received from,
nor founded upon observation. The charm of music,
however, has consoled elephants in their captivity, when
they have fallen into the power of man ; and, in their
domestic state, the execution of measured airs and har-
monised chords is sufficient, it is said, to make them
stand erect upon their hind legs.f In. Lybia, savage
mares are so sensible to music, that it has been used as a
method of taming them. J Even some fish, we are told,
are not free from its power, and it has made the capture
of them much more easy;|| and moderns, less disposed
to be credulous, are nevertheless forced to acknowledge
the power which music exercises over tortoises and
spiders.^ Its influence over elephants has been frequently
verified before our eyes, in public exhibitions. A tra-

* Plato, de Rep. lib. n.

f Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. xn. cap xliv. et lib. n. cap. n.

% Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. xu. cap. xliv.

|| Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. vi. cap. xxxi. — xxxn.— It is
perhaps upon this account, that fishermen, who are generally ex-
tremely superstitious, sing a peculiar crone in dredging oysters.
—Ed.

§ We are not aware of the ground upon which this remark of
our author is founded ; as the organ of hearing in spiders has not
been discovered ; and that of the tortoise is not well adapted for
the delicacy of musical sounds. — Ed.

332 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

veller has also informed us that he saw, with surprise, the
cumbrous Hippopotamus so delighted by the measured
noise of a war march, as to follow the drums, swimming
the whole length of a river. Large Lizards and Iguanos
are still more susceptible of harmonious sounds. A song,
and even soft and measured whistling, has more than
once been able to stop them, until they were under the
hand of the hunter.*

Cats, who are overcome or frightened by sounds that
are too piercing, are agreeably affected by music, if the
softness of its modulations are proportionate to the sus-
ceptibility of their organs. Dogs, on the contrary,
appear to be sensible to none but mournful music. Loud
and piercing sounds draw from them only prolonged
howlings.

In a temple, a lyre, which passed for that of Orpheus,
was preserved : an amateur bought it, persuaded that in
touching it he should, like the first possessor of the in-
strument, see animals running round him charmed by
the melody. He made a trial of it in a remote place,
and soon perished, having been torn to pieces by savage
dogs.f It was not only, as Lucian pretends, his pre-
sumption which cost him his life, but his imprudence ;
and the forgetfulness of a physical effect which daily
experience recals to our recollection, and which would place
the life of an organ player in danger, if out of the reach

* Lacépède. Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupèdes Ovipares, art.
Iguane. — Fournier-Pescay. Dictionnaire des Sciences médicales, art.
Musique.

f Lucian. " Contre un Ignorant qui achetait beaucoup de Livres,"
Œuvres complètes de Lucien, tome. iv. page 274 — 276.

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 333

of succour. He made the harsh sounds of his instrument
to resound in the midst of a troop of wild dogs.*

The influence of modulated sounds upon animals must
have been more studied formerly than it is in the pre-
sent day ; the experiments were more varied, and their
results more extended. Let us remember that, in the
temples, they sought out and tried every method of work-
ing what they desired to be regarded as miracles ; and
what wonder could be more seducing or more worthy
of being represented in the celebration of those
mysteries, of which Orpheus was one of the prin-

* The influence of loud and harsh sounds on dogs, is well
exemplified in the following anecdote, recorded by Sir David
Brewster, in his Letters on Natural Magic. " When peace was
proclaimed in London, in 1697, two troops of horse were dis-
mounted, and drawn up in line in order to fire their vollies. Op-
posite the centre of the line was the door of a butcher's shop,
where there was a large mastiff dog of great courage. The dog
was sleeping by the fire ; but when the first volley was discharged,
it immediately started up, ran into another room, and hid itself
under a bed. On the firing of the second volley, the dog rose,
ran several times about the room, trembling violently, and appa-
rently in great agony. When the third volley was fired, the dog
ran about once or twice with great violence, and instantly fell
down dead, throwing up blood from the mouth and nose." (p. 216.)
It may be said, that the dog, in this instance, might have been
dreaming, and connected the noise of the firing, with some inci-
dent in his dream, sufficient to excite great alarm : but we are
told that he was a dog of great courage, and although he might
be greatly agitated on being awakened by the firing, yet it is not
likely that this alarm would continue to such an extent as to cause
death. We must, therefore, refer it to the great susceptibility of
dogs for sound ; and the effect of so loud a concussion of the
air on his nervous system. — Ed.

334 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

cipal founders, than that which realised the brilliant mi-
racle of that musician ?

We are ignorant how far the moral development of
animals extends. We, who in our relations with them,
obtain everything by terror, by constraint, by hardship,
and by punishments, rarely or never seek to know what
may be obtained from them by mildness, by caresses, or
by amiable feelings. We seem practically to follow the
absurd opinion of Descartes ; we treat animals as if they
were only machines. Less enlightened nations than our-
selves treat them as sensible beings, as creatures not less
susceptible of kindness than men ; beings who may be
led by good treatment, and by that part of their feelings
and affections of which these nations know how to take
advantage. What can be thus obtained, renders probable all
that ancient authors have related of savage animals which
have become domesticated, and have even been rendered
affectionate. Cynocephali have lost their love of unsettled
independence ; and bulls their wild and suspicious tem-
per ; even lions and eagles have lowered their pride, and
exchanged it for a submissive attachment to the man
from whom they have received kindness.*

* Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. n. cap. xl. lib. v. cap. xxxix.
lib. vi. cap. x. lib. xn. cap. xxm. — The Editor saw the exhibition
of Van Amburg, when he visited London in 1843. He fear-
lessly entered the grated boxes, or dens, containing tigers and
other savage animals, who seemed to regard him with no evil
intentions : and, indeed, were completely submissive to his con-
trol. The method which this man employed to tame these
animals is not known; but it is probable that it was partly
gratitude, and partly fear which held them in submission. He
regularly fed them himself, and their hunger was well satiated

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 335

Goats and crows were brought into the temples to
declare the oracles ; but the learned animals that are fre-
quently offered to public curiosity, show us what part of
the will of heaven charlatanism could draw from these
singular interpreters.

We may hesitate, therefore, before denying the existence
of the tamed tigers, which so many traditions inform
us figured in the fêtes of Bacchus ; and which, bred
at Thebes, attended in the temples of that God, opening
and closing their frightful jaws, that there might be
poured into their throats, at long intervals, draughts of
wine,* with which prudence probably mixed some sopo-
rific drugs.

The employment of carrier pigeons did not take its
rise in civilized Europe; its antiquity is so great in
the East, that the national writers affirm it was used

before his public exhibitions. The ferociousness of wild carnivo-
rous animals may be regarded as a gift of Providence, to enable
them to obtain their subsistence. They occasionally fight with
each other ; and the conquered may even be devoured by the con-
queror ; but it does not follow that their dispositions are naturally
cruel, or that the ferocity which they display is exerted for other
purposes than in procuring their prey when hunger prompts.
Even animals usually supposed to have a natural enmity to each
other, as the hawk and the linnet, if well fed, display no disposi-
tion to exert animosity. A striking proof of this remark is daily
exhibited in the streets of London, by a person who has a cage
containing cats, mice, hawks, linnets, rabbits, and various other
animals, living together in perfect amity. It is, therefore, very
possible that a man, being exposed to wild beasts, soon after they
have been well fed, would remain unattacked ; and thus an appa-
rent miracle be produced. — Ed.

* "Expectant que cibos, fuso que horrenda supinant ora mero."
(Stat. Thébaid. lib. vu. vers. 575—576.)

336 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

in the Pantapole of Palestine. Among the Arabs two
months were sufficient for the education of a pigeon :
bad treatment had no part in it ; and the pigeons were
so well brought up that, according to the direction in
which they were placed, they carried messages to three
different places.* The Greeks were not ignorant of this
art. A dove flew from Pisa to the isle of Egina, to
announce to the father of Taurosthenus the victory which
that wrestler had won, the same day, in the Olympic
games. This fact, though not common, appeared too
simple for the friends of the marvellous ! In detailing the
event, instead of the winged messenger they substituted
a phantom, an apparition.f Ancient history informs us
of more than one victory, the news of which had arrived
almost at the moment in which it was accomplished ;
and, probably by an analogous process, even in places
distant from that in which the battle had been fought.
The means of communication being kept secret, its rapidity
appeared a miracle due to the intervention of some su-
pernatural agent.

If it were proposed to a European to tame a Cro-
codile, and if he undertook the task, he w7ould probably
employ hunger and the privation of sleep ; and he would

* The Carrier Dove, (translated from the Arabic by Sylvester
de Sacy. in 8°. Paris, 1805.) pages 36, 52, & 74.

f Aelian. Var. Hist. lib. ix. cap. n. Pausanius Eliac. lib. n.
cap. ix. — In the last days of the Roman republic, Hirtius em-
ployed the same method to communicate his movements to Deci-
mus Brutus, besieged in Modena. (Frontin Stra. lib. in. cap.
xiii.) The impatience of swallows to fly back to their nests, has
caused them to be employed in a similar manner. Pliny has
quoted two examples of it. (Hist. Nat. lib. x. cap. xxv.)

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 337

endeavour to weaken the animal until he rendered him
docile or incapable of resistance. Would he succeed ?
We may reply in the negative. Mr. Laing# saw, at the
house of the King of Soolimas,f a tamed Crocodile as
gentle as a dog ; but this animal was a prisoner, shut up
in a pond in the palace. Would it not, we may inquire,
regain its natural ferocity were it set at liberty ? The
Scheik of Suakem| having caught a young Crocodile,
tamed it and kept it in a pond near the sea. The
animal grew very large, but did not lose its docility : the
Prince placed himself upon its back, and was carried a
distance of more than three hundred steps by it.|| In
the isle of Sumatra, in 1823, an immense Crocodile
established itself at the mouth of the Beaujang : it had
chased away all the other Crocodiles ; and devoured all
those who ventured to return. The inhabitants rendered
it divine homage, and respectfully supplied it with food.
" Pass," said they to the English missionaries who relate
the fact, and who seemed afraid to approach the formi-
dable amphibious creature, " pass on, our God is mer-
ciful." In fact, it peaceably regarded the European's
boat, without giving any signs either of fear or anger

* Laing's Travels among the Timaunies, the Kouranko, and the
Soolimana, p. 353.

f The Soolimas are a negro race, occupying the country near
the river Ioliba, on the coast of Sierra Leone. They are a short,
muscular, and warlike people. — Ed.

X A sea-port town in Nubia, on the west coast of the Red Sea.
—Ed.

|| Vincent Le Blanc. Voyages.— 1ère, partie, chap. ix. tome i.
p. 39.

VOL. I. Z

338 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

or of a wish to attack it.* This trait recals to recol-
lection the sacred Crocodiles, which the people of Upper
Egypt worshipped. We might ask, is that a fact? Can it be
possible ? Did not the priests, every day, run the chance of
becoming the prey of their divinities, of pondrous and
fierce animals, formidable on the earth, and still more
so in the water ? Far from this being the case, we
see how easy it is to tame the worshipped animals,
who thus re-assured, by long experience, against the
fear of the aggressions of man, and the anxiety of
want, lose their savage instinct. There was, therefore,
probably little exaggeration in what was said of the
sacred Crocodiles : by a disciple of the Egyptian priests,
" The Soukh-oos is kind, for he never harms any ani-
mal."!

* John Anderson, Missionary to the eastern side of Sumatra, in
the year 1823. Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, tome xxx. p. 260.
— The crocodile of the Ganges is also very easy to tame. Voyages
aux Indes Orientales, by P. Paulin de Saint Barthélemi, tome ni,
p. 281—282, note.

f Damasc. Isidori Vit. ap. Photium. Bill. Cod. 242. — Soukh-
os ; this name, according to M. Geoffroy de St. Hilaire, designated
a distinct speciesof crocodile. TheEgyptians detested the Crocodile
T'emsah, a voracious animal, which caused them to suffer frequent
injuries : but they liked the Soukh, a species of a less size, rarely
terrible to men : and which, showing itself on earth before all the
other Crocodiles, at the swelling of the Nile, seemed to announce
and to bring the benevolent inundation, of which it became the
sacred symbol. Upon the banks of the Ganges the Indians also
distinguished two species of Crocodiles, one ferocious and carnivo-
rous, the other perfectly innocent. (Aelian. De nat. anim. hb. xn.
cap. xli.)

The reptile thus worshipped is supposed by M. Geoffroy
de St. Hilaire not to have been the common Crocodile, Crocodilus

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 339

The agility of the movements of serpents, the
enormous strength of these reptiles; the difficulty of
distinguishing at the first glance those whose bite is not
venomous from those which are poisonous, is sufficient
to explain the fear and horror which serpents inspire ;
and the idea of supernatural power attached to the

vulgaris, the T'emsah of the Egyptians, but the Monitor, or
Suchus ; an opinion, however, which Cuvier combats, because he
affirms that the Monitor is as ferocious as the common Crocodile.
In ancient Egypt, the Crocodile was one of the symbols of Typhon,
the evil Deity ; and some of the bronzes bear the representation
of a man, supposed to be Horus (whose father, Isis, was slain
by Typhon,) standing on a Crocodile. The tame Crocodiles, as
stated in a former note, were daily fed with roasted meat and
cakes, and had occasionally mulled wine poured down their
throats. Their ears were ornamented with rings of gold and pre-
cious stones, and their fore feet adorned with bracelets. As such
was the treatment of the sacred Crocodiles, there is no difficulty
in accounting for their docility. The most ferocious animals will
not attack their ordinary prey, when well fed. The following-
account is given of a tame Alligator, in a private letter, quoted in
a review of the Erpétologie Générale, and affords an excellent
proof of the foregoing remark. The writer having ridden a consi-
derable distance to a village about eight miles from Kurrachee,
in Scinde, and feeling thirsty, went to a pool to procure some
water. " When I got to the edge," says he, " the guide who was
with me pointed out something in the water, which I had myself
taken to be the stump of a tree ; and although I had my glasses
on, I looked at it for some time before I found that I was standing
within three feet of an immense Alligator. I then perceived that
the swamp was crowded with them, although they were all lying
in the mud so perfectly motionless that a hundred people might
have passed without observing them. The guide laughed at the
start I gave, and told me that they were quite harmless, having
been tamed by a Saint, a man of great piety, whose tomb was to
be seen on a hill close by ; and that they continued to obey the

z 2

340 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

art of handling them, and of rendering them power-
less. The biographer of Pythagoras, anxious to exalt his
hero, calls our admiration to the philosopher's exercising
a power equal to that of Orpheus upon animals,
and handling with impunity serpents, dangerous to all

orders of a number of Fakeers, who lived around the tomb. I pro-
ceeded to the village immediately, and got some of the Fakeers to
come down to the water with a sheep. One of them then went close
to the water with a long stick, with which he struck the ground,
and called to the Alligators, which immediately came crawling out
of the water, great and small together, and lay down on the bank
all around him. The sheep was then lolled and quartered; and
while this was going on, the reptiles continued crawling until
they had made a complete ring around us. The Fakeer kept
walking about within the circle, and if any one attempted to en-
croach, he rapped it unmercifully on the snout with his stick, and
drove it backwards. Not one of them attempted to touch him,
although they showed rows of teeth that seemed able to snap him
in two at a bite. The quarters of the sheep were then thrown to
them, and the scene that followed was so indescribable that I shall
not attempt it ; but I think if you will turn to Milton, and read
his account of the transformation of Satan and his crew in Pande-
monium, you may form some faint idea ' how dreadful was the
din.' In what manner these monsters were first tamed I cannot
say. The natives, of course, ascribe it to the piety of the Saint,
who is called Miegger Pier, or Saint Alligator." a

Another reason might be assigned for the impunity with which
persons have gone amongst Crocodiles, namely, that in some places,
as in the Nicobar islands, there may be two species of Crocodiles ;
one small, fierce, and rapacious ; the other large, less fierce, and
preying only upon carrion. This anecdote is, at all events, quite
sufficient to give authenticity to the stories of the ancients respect-
ing the Crocodile. The Egyptian God, Souk, is represented with
the head of a Crocodile. — En.

a Edinburgh Review, vol. lxxx. p. 428.

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 341

but himself.* Jugglers who exhibit in a similar man-
ner in public, profit by their facility in inspiring fear,
to extort money from the curious ; and this singular
kind of pilfering has been repeated often enough to draw
down the animadversion of the law upon its authors.f

There were always supposed to be a great number of
serpents, the bite of which was not of a venomous cha-
racter which easily admitted of their being tamed. Such
were doubtless those immense, but harmless serpents,
that were seen in many ancient temples ; j the serpent,
fifteen feet long, which Ajax, son of Oileous, had
tamed,|| and which followed him like a faithful dog, and
the enormous reptile that was taken alive by the soldiers
of Ptolemy Auletes,§ and which became as gentle as a
domestic animal. Tamed adders, perfectly docile and
affectionate, have been seen a thousand times in Europe.
In Timauni a serpent was shown to the traveller Laing,^[
which, at the order of the musician, curved itself, rolled
itself, and jumped, as obediently and adroitly as the best
disciplined animals.** Among the negroes of Dutch

* Iamblich. in Vit. Pythag. cap. xiv. et cap. xviii.

f " In circulatores qui serpentes circumferunt et proponunt, si
cui, ob eorum metum, damnum datum est, pro modo admissi actio
dabitur." Digest, lib. xlvii. tit. xi. § xi.

X Aelian. De Nat. Anim. lib. xm. cap. xxxix. xv. — 321.
xvi. 39.

|| Philostract. in Heroic.

§ Tzetzès. Chiliad, in. n. 113.

^| Laing. Travels among the Timaunies the Kouranko, etc. p. 244
—246.

** I shall quote the passage, to show the extraordinary influence
which the Soolimana jugglers possess over serpents. " A droll-
looking man," says M. Laing, " who played upon a sort of guitar,

342 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

Guinea, there are women who have the occupation of divi-
neresses, one of the proofs of whose supernatural art is
to tame the serpent, papa or ammodite, a reptile of
large dimensions but which is never dangerous ; and to
make it descend from a tree only by speaking to it.#

the body of which was a calabash, commenced a sweet air, and
accompanied it with a tolerably fair voice. He boasted that by his
music he could cure diseases ; that he could make wild beasts
tame, and snakes dance : if the white man did not believe him, he
would give him a specimen. With that, changing to a more lively
air, a large snake crept from beneath a part of the stockading in
the yard, and was crossing it rapidly, when he again changed his
tune, and playing a little slower, sung, ' Snake, you must stop :
you run too fast ; stop at my command, and give the white man
service.' The snake was obedient, and the musician continued,
' Snake, you must dance, for a white man is come to Falaba ;
dance, snake, for this is indeed a happy day.' The snake twisted
itself about, raised its head, curled, leaped, and performed various
feats, of which I should not have supposed a snake capable." L. c.
p. 245.

In India the snake charmers are equally adroit, and play many
tricks to excite the astonishment of Europeans who have shortly
arrived in the country. They also pretend to catch snakes, when
these reptiles get into houses. Those who practise this employ-
ment are called Sampoori ; but they are great rogues, and gene-
rally take the snake, which they pretend to catch, with them.
Among other tricks, they assert that they take a stone from the
head of the snake, which has the virtues of an amulet. Major
Moor gives an amusing anecdote of his having detected this im-
position of extracting a snake-stone, in a Sampoori, whom he
employed to catch a snake in his fowl-house. " At the proper
moment," says he, " I seized the snakeless hand of the operator,
and there found, to his dismay, perdue, in his well closed palm, the
intended to be extracted stone. The fellow made a free and good
humoured confession of the trick." — Ed.

* Stedmann. Voyage in Surinam, vol. in. p. 64 — 65.

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 343

Even the Asp,# so justly dreaded, may be tamed with-
out trouble. In Hindustan, sugar and milk, which are
given to it every day, suffice to work this miracle. The
reptile returns regularly at the accustomed hour to take
the repast which awaits him, and never injures any
one.f Was it not by an analogous artifice that the
Egyptian priests caused inoffensive Asps to come forth
from the altar of Isis ? And by which, so often in Greece

* The Asp, Vipera Haje, Puff Adder ? is a snake of a green colour,
about five feet in length, marked with brown bands ; and which
like the Cobra de Capella, has the power of swelling its neck
externally when it raises itself to strike its victim. Its venom is
most deadly, and is supposed to be that which Cleopatra employed
to terminate her existence after the loss of her imperial paramour.
The reptile, although most venomous, yet possesses remarkable
social qualities, never living alone, and revenging the death of its
fellow with the utmost fury. The jugglers of Grand Cairo possess
the art of taming it, and of depriving it of its poison bag. They
have also the art of throwing it into a state of catalepsy, by pressing
the nape of the neck with their fingers, so that it becomes stiff and
immoveable like a rod. The rods of the Egyptian priests who con-
tended with Aaron,were probably real cataleptic Asps, which regain-
ed animation when thrown upon the ground. The Asp erects itself
when approached, a circumstance which led the ancient Egyptians
to assume that it thus guarded the place it inhabited ; and to ve-
nerate it as the emblem of the Divinity protecting the world. It
is found sculptured on their temples, erect, on each side of a globe.

The poison of the Asp is secreted at some distance from the
fangs, and is conveyed to them by a tube which terminates in the
pulp cavity, at the base of the fang, where a groove commences,
superficial at first, but gradually sinking into the substance of the
tooth, and terminating in a longitudinal fissure near its apex.
Through this groove the poison is ejected and infused into the
wound. — Ed.

f Paulin de St. Barthélemi. Voyages aux Indes Orientales, vol. i,
p. 477.

344 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

and in Italy, sacred serpents came to devour the presents
disposed upon the altars of the Gods, thus giving to the
people, a certain presage of happiness and of victory.

There are few stories more common than those of
genii being metamorphosed into the form of serpents,
and placed to guard subterranean treasures. This belief
is still popular in Brittany, in the district of Lesneven.*
It is general in Hindustan : and there, at least, it is
supposed it is not always without foundation. Forbes, an
English observer, who is generally quoted with confidence
in his veracity, relates the following anecdote. In a village
of Hindustan, a vault, placed under a tower, contained, it
was said, a treasure guarded by a genii, under the form
of a serpent. Guided, even by the workmen who had
built the vault, Forbes caused it to be opened : it was
of considerable depth and, he discovered there an enor-
mous serpent, which he compared, by its size, to the
cable of a vessel. The reptile, unrolling itself slowly,
raised itself towards the opening made in the upper part
of the vault. The workmen immediately threw into it
some lighted hay, and the serpent died from suffocation.
Forbes found there its carcase, but not the treasure ; the
proprietor having probably carried it away.f The reader
will observe, that the construction of the vault was not
ancient. The serpent, that had been placed there, had
already attained to a large size, and it must have been
well tamed, and very docile, to allow itself to be con-
fined there : it also must have known its master well

* Cambry. Voyage dans le département du Finistère, vol. n.
p. 25.

f Oriental Fragments, p. 84.

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 345

since the latter was able to carry off his riches, without
having any thing to fear from the sentinel, which watched
over them ; and whose life he should then have saved,
by restoring it to liberty.

The most dangerous serpents, with the exception of
those which are terrible from their strength, cease to
be hurtful from the time when they lose their fangs,
which are destined by nature to convey the poison, with
which they are armed, into the wounds that they make.
To make them bite several times, a piece of rag or some
stuff, such as felt , is held out to them ; and thus the
reservoirs of venomous liquid are drained, a circumstance
which is often sufficient to prevent their bite, for one or
more days, from carrying with it any danger. In the capi-
tals of Europe, and in the savage interior of Africa, # one
or other of these secrets is used by those impostors, who
play with snakes before the eyes of a frightened crowd.f

* Voyages and discoveries in Africa ; &c. by Oudney, Denham,
and Clapperton. vol. in. pages 39 — 40.

f Our author labours to prove, that the serpents played with
by the Indian, and Egyptian jugglers, are either harmless serpents,
or those from which, as the Abbé Dubois would lead us to believe,
the venom fangs have been extracted.a But there can be no doubt
that the ancient Psylli had some method of fascinating all kinds
of serpents ; and the art may be still known to their successors
in Egypt, and Hindostan. — In the Psalms (chap, lviii. v. 4), we
find the words " like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear ; which
will not hearken to the voice of the charmers, charming ever so
wisely ;" a proof that the art was formerly practised. The ser-
pent usually exhibited by the Hindoo charmers is the Hooded
Serpent, Cobra de Capello, (Naja lutescens of Laurenti) one

* Description of the People of India, p. 469 — 479.

346 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

Both will explain the gentleness of the serpent, which, a
hundred years ago, was seen by two French travellers,*
in Upper Egypt ; and which superstition represented, by
turns, as an angel ; as one of the benevolent genii ; and
as the demon who formerly strangled the first six hus-
bands of the wife of the young Tobias.

Hindoo jugglers, says a traveller, allow themselves to
be bitten by snakes ;f and when the strength of the

of the most venemous of the tribe. Music, which seems to be
peculiarly delightful to that description of serpent, is the power by
which they appear to be fascinated. The reptile raises itself from
the ground, and keeps time by the most graceful movements and
undulations of the head and body, to the notes of the flute.
"When the music ceases, it sinks down, as if exhausted, in a state
of almost insensibility; when it is instantly transferred to the
charmer's basket. That such snakes are still poisonous is verified
by a fact, related in Forbes' Oriental Memoirs, (vol. i. p. 44. vol.
ii. p. 387.) On the music stopping too suddenly, or from some
other cause, the serpent, who had been dancing within a circle of
country people, darted among the spectators, and inflicted a wound
in the throat of a young woman, who died in agony, in half-an-
hour afterwards.

The structure of the ear in serpents does not indicate the faculty
of acute hearing; yet, when newly caught, these reptiles seem
delighted with music, and writhe themselves dining its continua-
tion into graceful attitudes. I am of opinion that, although coated
with scales, yet, the sensibility of the serpent is great, and the
vibration of sound is felt over the whole body, and when the notes
are harmonious, the effect is soothing. The Hindoos, from seeing
the docile character of venomous serpents in the temples, believe
that the Deity has condescended to adopt that form. — Ed.

* Voyage du sieur Paul Lucas in 1699. vol. i. pages 72 — 78,
&c. Voyage du sieur Paul Lucas in 1715. vol. n. page 348 — 354.
— Voyage fait en Egypte par le sieur Granger, pages 88 — 92.

t Terry, East India, sect. ix.

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 347

poison causes the wounds to become extraordinarily in-
flamed, they suddenly cure them with oils and powders,
which are then sold to the spectators. # The swelling is
certainly only apparent ; the art of counteracting the effect
of a poison which has already entered the system, and is
so much advanced in its progress, is too wonderful to be
lightly believed. For fortifying themselves against dan-
ger from the bites which they encounter, it is sufficient
for the jugglers to force the reptile previously, to exhaust
the reservoirs in which its venom is enclosed. It cannot
be doubted but that they make use of this secret ; since
Koempferf has seen it put in practise in the same
country, by those jugglers, who teach the serpent Naja,
(Cobra de Capello), the poison of which is so justly
dreaded, to dance.

But to suppose that the venomous bite of a reptile is
not dangerous to certain men, but proves mortal to all

* The snake-stones mentioned in a former note, are generally-
employed by the Indian snake-charmers, to render the bites of the
snakes, which they pretend to be still venomous, innocuous.
" He suffers himself," says Major Moor, detailing an exhibition of
this kind, "to be bitten by the seemingly enraged reptile, till he
bleed. He then, in haste, terror, and contortion, seeks a snake-
stone, which he is never without, and sticks it on the wound, to
which it adheres. In a minute, or two, the venom is extracted, the
bitten part recovers, and the stone falls off, or is removed. If put
into a glass of water, it sinks and emits small bubbles every half
score of seconds. This is the usual test of its genuineness ; and
it is odd if no one will give a rupee, or half a rupee, for such a
curiosity .a — Ed .

f Koempfer. Amoen. exot. page 565 et seq. — Lacépède. Hist.
Nat. des Reptiles, art. du serpent à lunettes ou Nagd.
a Oriental Fragments, p. 80.

348 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

others, is an assertion belonging peculiarly to the fabu-
lous ; the numerous passages in books of travels, in which
the power of charming serpents is mentioned, must be
interpreted in an allegorical sense. In China there are
men who appear to be as bold as the ancient Psylli,
and who expose themselves to bites apparently dangerous,
but who can only be looked upon as clever impostors.
In vain do the Latin and Greek writers assure us, that
the gift of charming venomous reptiles was hereditary
in certain families, from time immemorial ; that, on the
shores of the Hellespont, these families were sufficiently
numerous to form a tribe ; that in Africa the same gift
was enjoyed by the Psylli ; that the Marses in Italy, and
the Ophiogenes in Cyprus possessed it, for, on examining
their origin, we find that the former pretended to derive
it from the enchantress Circè, the latter, from a virgin
of Phrygia united to a sacred Dragon.* They forget
that, in Italy, even at the commencement of the sixteenth
century, men, claiming to be descended from the family
of Saint Paul, braved, like the Marses, the bites of ser-
pents.f

To repel a statement, which seemed too wonderful,
the evidence of Galen may be brought forward ; he says,
that, in his time, the Marses possessed no specific secret,
and that their art was confined to deceiving the people
by address and fraud ;l and that it may be concluded

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vu. cap. n — A. Gell. Noct. Attic, lib.
ix. cap. xii. et lib. xvi. cap. n. — Strabo. lib. xiii. — Aelian. De
Nat. Animal, lib. i. cap. iivn. et lib. xn. cap. xxxix.

f Ascensius. Not. in A. Gell. Noct. Attic, lib. xvi. cap. n.

X Aelian. libr. de Theriac. ad Pison.

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 349

that fraud and address had, alike, been put into practice
at all times. The assertion of the physician of Pergamus
is not destroyed by a well known anecdote in the history
of Heliogabalus.# This Emperor made the Marsian priests
collect serpents, and caused them to be thrown into the
circus at the moment when the people came there in
crowds. Many of them perished from the bites of these
serpents, which the Marses had braved with impunity.

Travellers worthy of credence have at length arisen,
and have said to us, " I have seen." Thus says Bruce,
Hasselquist, and Lemprière,f and they have been con-
vinced by their own eyes, that in Morocco, in Egypt, in
Arabia, and above all, in Sennaar, there are many men
who have such a peculiarity of habit that they disregard
the bites of vipers and the sting of scorpions; and both not
only handle these reptiles with impunity, but also throw
them into a state of stupor. To complete their resemblance
to the ancient Psylli, they assured Bruce they were born
with this marvellous faculty. Others pretended to owe
it to a mysterious arrangement of letters, or to some
magic words, which resembled the ancient songs,
used for charming serpents ; and furnished a new
example of the habit so prejudicial to science, of con-
cealing a physical secret, in attributing its effects to in-
significant and superstitious practices.

Doubts upon this subject, if they could have existed,

* Lamprid. in Ant. Heliogabal.

Î Bruce. Travels to discover the sources of the Nile, vol. x.
pages 402 — 403 — 412 — 447. Hasselquist. Voyage in the Levant.
vol. i. pages 92 — 93 — 96 — 100. Lemprière, Voyage dans l'empire
de Maroc et le royaume de Fez, en 1790 — 1791. pages 42 — 43.

350 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

were removed for ever at the time of the brilliant expe-
dition of the French into Egypt; and the following
relation is attested by thousands of eye-witnesses. The
Psylli who pretended, as Bruce had related, to possess
the faculty which distinguished them, went from house
to house to offer their assistance to destroy serpents of
every kind, which were almost common there. If we
may believe them, a wonderful instinct drew them at
first towards the place in which the serpents were hid-
den. Furious,— howling, and foaming at the mouth, they
hurried there, and then, rushing upon the reptiles, they
seized and tore them asunder with their nails and teeth.

Let us place to the account of charlatanism, the howl-
ings, the foaming, and the fury, in fact, all that recals
the painful efforts which the Marses feigned, in repeating
the songs, proper for destroying the reptiles ;f still the
instinct which warned the Psylli of the presence of the
serpents has in it something more real.

In the Antilles, the negroes discover by its odour a
serpent which they do not see ; a power in fact owing
solely to the nauseous odour which the serpent exhales.f
In Egypt, the same tact, formerly possessed is still enjoyed
by men, brought up to it from their infancy, and born,
as with an assumed hereditary gift, to hunt serpents, and
to discover them even at a distance too great for the
effluvia to be perceptible to the dull organs of an Euro-
pean. The principal fact above all others, the faculty of
rendering dangerous animals powerless, merely by touch-

* Venas intendens omnes. Lucil. Satyr, lib. xx.
f Thibaut de Chanvallpn. Voyage à la Martinique.

INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS. 351

ing them, remains well verified ; and we shall, perhaps,
never understand better the nature of this secret cele-
brated in antiquity, and preserved to our time, by the
most ignorant of men.*

Some reflections on this subject will not, perhaps,
seem here out of place.

The senses of animals resemble our own, but the re-
semblance is not complete ; we cannot perceive some sub-
stances which affect them strongly ; and they do not seem
differently affected by those which appear to us the most
dissimilar. This is true of the sense of smelling, f The
dog who possesses so exquisite a nose, so susceptible of
delicate impressions, of which nothing can give us a
correct idea ; — the dog seems to make no difference in
the pleasure derived from a sweet perfume and a foetid or

* It is extraordinary to find an individual so little credulous as
our author, respecting circumstances of a marvellous character,
believing the possibility of rendering poisonous serpents powerless,
merely by touching them. If we can believe the existence of such
a power, upon what ground can we venture to deny the reality of
any apparent miracle, which we may see, or read of, however,
contrary to the course of nature ? The fangs of serpents are
equally defensive and offensive weapons ; and as the instinct of
the reptile leads him to regard man as his enemy ; it is not likely
that he would submit to his control, unless as the result of a long-
course of training, which is the most probable explanation of the
phenomenon mentioned in the text. I cannot credit the possi-
bility of such an effect being produced upon newly caught ser-
pents, utter strangers to the juggler ; and, therefore, the perform-
ance must be placed amongst the numerous other feats, which
attest the high degree of perfection in the deceptive art, to which
these serpent tamers have attained. — En.

f Aelian. de Nat. Anim. lib. vi. cap. xxxin.

352 INFLUENCE OVER ANIMALS.

an infectious odour. So marked a difference existing
between our sensations and those experienced by animals,
explains why they may be acted upon by causes which are
inadequate to affect the senses of men. At Rome, dogs
never entered the temple of Hercules ; the smell of the
club, which the God had, formerly, left at the door, was
sufficient, after fourteen centuries, to banish them from
it.# The priests, no doubt, were careful to renew,
from time to time, the odour which perpetuated the
miracle, and which was not apparent to the sense of
men. Albertus Magnusf possessed a stone which
attracted serpents. If any part of this tale could be
true, we should attribute it to an analogous cause:
reptiles, like many insects, are susceptible of being
much affected by odorous emanations.

Galen had, I think, been deceived by a false de-
claration, which the Marses and the Psylli had made

* Solinus. cap. n.

f Albertus the Great, or Magnus, the word Groat, his family name,
the Dutch for Great, being thus Latinized, was a Dominican, born
in Swabia ; and who, after he had been made Bishop of Ratisbon,
abdicated, and returned as a plain monk to his convent at Cologne,
where he died in 1282, in his 77th year. His Historia Animalium
is the most remarkable of his works. Numerous prodigies have
been attributed by the multitude to him : among others, that he
made an earthenware head that could answer questions ! Thomas
Aquinas is said to have been so terrified when he saw it, that he
broke it in pieces ; upon which the mechanist exclaimed, " There
goes the labour of thirty years !"a If the apparent speaking of
this head, and similar speaking heads, was not the result of ven-
triloquism, no idea can be formed of the means employed to effect
the prodigy — Ed.

1 Brewster on Natural Magic, p. 159.

INFLUENCE OVER SERPENTS. 353

for the better concealment of their secret, when he
says that they owed their power over serpents to the
habit of nourishing themselves with the flesh of vipers
and venomous reptiles.* Hiny, Aelian, Silius, Italicus,
have more correctly ascribed it to the employment
of an odorous substance which stupified the serpents,
and with which it appeared their enemies rubbed
their bodies.f This proceeding inspired the Psylli
with so much confidence, that they did not hesitate to
expose new-born infants to the bites of serpents, under
the plea of assuring themselves of their legitimacy ;j or

* Galian. De Art. Curator, lib. n. cap. xi.

f " Ut odore sopirent eos (serpentes.)" Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vn.
cap. ii. The same author observes, that the Ophiogènes of the
isle of Cyprus, above all, exhaled, in spring, a strong poisonous
odour. Lib. xxviii. cap. in. Aelian. De Nat. Anim. lib. xn. cap.
xxxix. et lib. xvi. cap. xxvn.

"Et somnum tacto misisse Chelydro (SU. Italic, lib. v.

verse 354).

" et Chelydris cantare soporem,

" Vipereum que herbis hebetare et carmine dentem." (idem, lib.

vin. vers. 496— 497.
An impostor caused himself to be bitten in public by Asps : Aelian
thinks that he used a beverage prepared to preserve himself from
the consequences of the bite. But this could only be an artifice
destined to hide the true secret.

X The Psylli never divulged to their wives the secret. " Mulier
enim. Psylla esse non potest." (Xiphilin. in August. — Aelian. De
Nat. Anim. lib. i. cap. lvii.) Their modern disciples have not
imitated their reserve. Hasselquist (vol. i. p. 96 — 97) mentions
a woman who, under his eyes, rendered serpents completely
powerless.

VOL. I. A A

354 INFLUENCE OVER SERPENTS.

rather, in accordance with their suspicions, to destroy
the presumed fruits of the adulterer. Bruce assured us
that the secret of the Egyptians and Arabs, in bearing the
bites of serpents with impunity, consists in bathing them-
selves in a decoction of herbs and roots, the nature of
which they carefully conceal. Forskhal informs us, that
the Egyptians charm serpents with a Bitter-wort, an
Aristolochia, with the species of which he was not ac-
quainted. According to Jacquin, the aristolochia an-
guicida is the plant which is employed by the indige-
nous tribes of America* for the same purpose.

At this day, when the traces of the emigrations, which
had conducted people from the plains of Tartary into
equinoctial America have been discovered, it is not
surprising to find this secret propagated in the New
World. After being convinced of its great antiquity,
comparing the narrations of modern travellers with those
of ancient historians, it is much more astonishing that
we never re-discovered it in Hindostan. It existed there,
in fact, from time immemorial.

By the side of every secret of this kind, we are almost

* Hasselquist. Voyage dans le Levant, vol. i. p. 100. — This
species of Aristolachia is a twining plant, with oblong, sharp-
pointed, cordate leaves, with solitary heart-shaped stipules sur-
rounding the stem, and an erect dilated corolla, with a lanceolate,
somewhat truncated lip. It is a native of Mexico, where the juice
of the root of the plant, mixed with saliva, and called Gti-Gtii, is
poured into the wound made by the bite of a serpent ; and, after
being left undisturbed for some time, ensures the safety of the bit-
ten person. Such is the description of its use and its effects by
Jacquin. — Ed.

INFLUENCE OVER SERPENTS. 355

certain to find some custom which has so far rendered
the discovery of it necessary, and to which, on the
contrary, it owes, in part, its birth. In Hindustan, in
order to ascertain the truth of an accusation, " they
throw a hooded serpent, called Naga,* into a deep
pot of earth, into which they let fall a ring, a seal,
or a piece of money, which the accused is obliged
to take up with his hand. If the serpent bite him, he
is declared guilty ; and, on the contrary, if not bitten,

* The Naia tripudians, the Cobra de Capello, or Hooded Ser-
pent of the Asiatic Portuguese. It is characterized by the expan-
sive neck which covers the head like a hood ; and, when thus
dilated, displays upon its upper part two oval disks, united by an
arch, which produce the resemblance of a pair of old fashioned
spectacles laid upon a beautifully ribbed and dotted ground. Its
length is from six to fifteen feet, and its general colour brown. It
is the most venomous of the Indian serpents, and its bite is mor-
tal ; but, nevertheless, it is rendered docile by music, by being
pampered with milk and sugar, and by kind treatment. It is an
object of worship in some of the Hindoo temples, and is stated by
the priests to be the form which the Deity occasionally assumes.
When enraged, and about to strike, it raises its head and part of
its body, and dilates the hood, whilst the rest of the body is coiled
up on the ground to give force to the spring. Dr. John Davy, in
his Account of Ceylon, mentions having seen a hen bitten by one
of them : it kept its hold for two or three minutes, and was then
shaken off by Dr, Davy. " The hen, which at first seemed to be
little affected, died eight hours after she was bitten ;" but so long
a time seldom elapses between the bite and the death of the
animal which is struck. The poison, when recent, is colourless,
limpid, and in consistence resembles a solution of gum-arabic in
water ; it is acrid, and loses much of its virulence after being
kept. — Ed.

A A 2

356 INFLUENCE OVER SERPENTS.

innocent.*" It was thus in Egypt, that the sacred Asps,
the intelligent ministers of the vengeance of Isis, gave
death to evil, and respected good men.f

* Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 473. We find that the greatest
part of the Hindoo ordeals are equally used in Pegu, among the
Burmese.

t Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. x. cap. xxxi.

END OF VOL. I.

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THE OCCULT SCIENCES,

VOL. II.

E OCCULT SCIENCES.

THE

PHILOSOPHY OF MAGIC,

PRODIGIES AND APPARENT MIRACLES.

FROM THE FRENCH OF

EUSEBE SALVERTE.

WITH NOTES ILLUSTRATIVE, EXPLANATORY, AND CRITICAL

BY ANTHONY TODD THOMSON, M.D.

F.L.S., &c.

" Non igitur oportet nos magicis illusionibus uti, cum potestas philosophica doceat
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IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

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CONTENTS

SECOND VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

Preparations of drugs and beverages ; some soporific, others for
producing temporary imbecility. Circé ; Nepenthes. Delight-
ful illusions ; fearful illusions ; involuntary revelations ; invin-
cible courage, produced by meats and potions.- — The Old Man
of the Mountains deceived his disciples by illusions : he pro-
bably fortified them against torture by stupifying drugs. The
use of them becomes habitual, and conduces to bodily insensi-
bility and imbecility ... 1 —34

CHAPTER II.

Effect of perfumes on the moral nature of man — Action of lini-
ments ; the Magic Ointment frequently operated, by occasioning
dreams, whieh the predisposition to credulity converted into
realities — Such dreams may explain the whole history of
Sorcery — The principal causes which multiplied the number

VI CONTENTS,

of Sorcerers, were the employment of mysterious secrets — The
crimes which these pretended mysteries served to conceal, and
the rigorous laws absurdly directed against the crime of sorcery

35—66

CHAPTER III.

Influence of the imagination, seconded by physical accessories ;
in producing an habitual belief in marvellous narrations, by
music, by the habit of exalting the moral faculties, by un-
founded terror, and by presentiments — Sympathetic emotions
increase the effects of the imagination — Cures produced by the
imagination — Flights of the imagination, effected by diseases,
fastings, watchings, and mortifications — Moral and physical
remedies successfully opposed to these flights of the imagination

67—98

CHAPTER IV.

Medicine formed a part of the Occult Science : it was not long
exercised by the priests ; diseases were supposed to be sent by
malevolent Genii, or the irritated Gods; the cures were considered
miracles, or works of magic — Credulity and the spirit of mystery
attributed marvellous properties to inanimate substances ; and
Charlatanism assisted this species of deception — Counterfeit
cures — Extraordinary abstinences — Nutritious substances taken
in an almost imperceptible form — Apparent Resurrections

99—126

CHAPTER V.

Poisonous substances — Poisons, the effect of which can be gra-
duated— Miraculous deaths — Poisons employed in ordeals —
Diseases asserted to be caused by Divine vengeance; — Diseases
foretold .... 127—144

CONTENTS, VU

CHAPTER VI,

Sterility of the soil — The belief in the means which the Thauma-
turgists were supposed to possess for causing sterility arose
particularly from the language of emblems — Sterility produced
naturally — Cultures which injure one another— Substances
which are prejudicial to vegetation — The atmosphere rendered
pestilential — Deleterious powder and nitrate of arsenic employed
as offensive weapons — Earthquakes and rumblings of the earth
foreseen and predicted . ; 145 — 158

CHAPTER VII.

Meteorology — The art of foreseeing rain, storms, and the direction
of the winds ; this is converted in the minds of the vulgar into
the power of granting or refusing rain, and favourable winds
— Magical ceremonies for conjuring a hail storm 159 — 169

CHAPTER VIII.

The art of drawing lightning from the clouds — Medals and tradi-
tions that indicate the existence of that art in antiquity — Dis-
guised under the name of the worship of Jupiter Elicius and of
Zeus Cataibates ; it was known to Numa and many others
among the Ancients — The imitators of thunder made use of it
— It may be traced from Prometheus ; it explains the fable of
Salmonious : it was known to the Hebrews, and the construc-
tion of the Temple of Jerusalem is a proof of this — Zoroaster
made use of it to light the sacred fire, and operate in the ini-
tiation of his followers : his experiments and miracles — If the
Chaldeans possessed the secret, it was afterwards lost among
them — There existed some traces of it in India in Ktesias' time
— Wonders resembling those performed through this art, which
however, may be otherwise explained. . 170 — 201

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IX.

Phosphorescent substances— Sudden appearance of flames- — Heat
developed by the slacking of lime — Substances which are kindled
by contact with air and water — Pyrophorus, phosphorus,
naptha, and alcoholic liquids employed in different apparent
miracles — The blood of Nessus was a phosphuret of sulphur ;
and also the poison that Medea employed against Creusa —
Greek fire — This fire, re- discovered, after many attempts —
In Persia and Hindustan an unextinguishable fire was used.

202—225

CHAPTER X.

Compositions similar to gunpowder — Mines worked by it under
Herod ; by the Christian priests under the Emperor Julian at
Jerusalem ; and in Syria under the Caliph Motassem ; and by the
priests of Delphi in order to repulse the Persians and Gauls —
Antiquity of the invention of Gunpowder ; its probable origin
in Hindustan ; it has been known from time immemorial
in China — Tartar army repelled by artillery — Priests of India
employed the same means to hurl thunder upon their enemies
—The thunder of Jupiter compared to our fire-arms — Many
assumed miracles explained by the use of these arms — Gun-
powder was known in the latter empire, probably until the
twelfth century. . . . 226—242

CHAPTER XI.

CONTENTS. IX

and in China the compass has been used since the foundation of
the empire — Other means of working pretended miracles — Gal-
vanic phenomena — Action of vinegar upon lime — Amusements
of physics — Lachryma Batavica, &c. . 243 — 262

CHAPTER XII.

Conclusion — Principles followed in the course of the discussion —
Reply to the objection that the scientific acquirements of the an-
cients are lost — Democritus alone, among them, occupied himself
with observations on experimental philosophy — This philosopher
perceived, in the operations of magic, the scientific application of
the laws of Nature — Utility of studying the apparent miracles
of the ancients in this point of view — The Thaumaturgists did
not connect together their learned conceptions by any theory,
which is a proof that they had received them from a prior
period — The first Thaumaturgists cannot be accused of imposi-
tion ; but it would be dangerous, in this day, to attempt to sub-
jugate a people by apparent miracles ; voluntary obedience to
the laws is a certain consequence of the happiness which just
legislation procures to men. . . 263 — 271

Illustrations .... 273—353

General Index . . . 355—387

THE PHILOSOPHY

MAGIC, PRODIGIES,

AND

APPARENT MIRACLES.

CHAPTER I.

Preparations of drugs and beverages ; some soporific, others for
producing temporary imbecility. Circé ; Nepenthes. Delight-
ful illusions ; fearful illusions ; involuntary revelations ; invin-
cible courage, produced by meats and potions. — The Old Man
of the Mountains deceived his disciples by illusions : he pro-
bably fortified them against torture by stupifying drugs. The
use of them becomes habitual, and conduces to bodily insensi-
bility and imbecility.

Triumphant over the obstacles which debarred him
from attaining perfection, the initiated beheld all the
hidden treasures of science laid open to him. It was no
difficult task for him to unravel the secret of the won-
ders that, in the scenes of his first reception, penetrated
him with religious admiration : but destined, thenceforth,
to lay open to the profane the path of light, it was time
he should learn to what operations he himself had been
submitted ; how his whole moral being had been sub-
jected to their influences, and how he must employ the same
means that had been used in his initiation, in order to

VOL. II. B

2 PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION.

obtain dominion over the minds of those who might aim
at attaining to the same point at which he had arrived,
and by what means he should display himself all power-
ful by his works, before those who were not permitted
to participate in the divine dignity of the priesthood.

The aspirants to initiation, and those who came to
request prophetic dreams of the Gods, were prepared by
a fast, more or less prolonged, after which they partook
of meals expressly prepared ; and also of mysterious
drinks, such as the water of Lethe* and the water of
Mnemosyne in the grotto of Trophonius; or of the Ciceion
in the mysteries of the Eleusinia. Different drugs were
easily mixed up with the meats, or, introduced into the
drinks, according to the state of mind or body into
which it was necessary to throw the recipient, and the
nature of the visions he was desirous of procuring.

We know what accusations had been raised against
some of the early sects of Christianity, charges which
were unjustly reflected upon all christian assemblies.
They would scarcely be considered as unfounded, had
many heresiarchs adopted the criminal practices imputed
by popular rumour to the high-priests of the Markesians.f

* The river which yielded the water of Lethe, and the fountain
Mnemosyne, were both near the Trophonian grotto, which was
in Beotia. The waters of both were drunk by whoever consulted
the oracle ; the Lethian draught was intended to make him forget
all his former thoughts ; the Mnemosynian to strengthen his me-
mory, that he might remember the visions which he was about to
see in the grotto. The latter seemed essential, as the consulter
was obliged, after emerging from the grotto, and recovering from
his alarm, to write down his vision on a small tablet which was
preserved in the temple. — Ed.

f The Markesians were a sect named from their chief, the

PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION. à

It is said that in their religious ceremonies aphrodisaic
beverages were administered to women. Without judg-
ing in this particular case, we believe that powerful aphro-
disiacs* were occasionally used in the mysterious orgies
of polytheism ; and it is only by admitting such a sup-
position, that we can explain the monstrous debaucheries
to which the votaries of Bacchus gave themselves up in
the Bacchanalian festivals, denounced and punished at
Rome, in the year 186, before Christ. A scene in a
romance by Petroniusf shows that they were used much
later in the nocturnal reunions where superstitious rites
were employed as a veil and an excuse for the excesses
of libertinism. But such an expedient was extremely
limited in its power ; it disordered the senses ; yet it did
not act on the imagination, though it delivered up the phy-
sical man to the power of the guilty Thaumaturgist ; it did
not destroy the moral faculty. The substances destined to
produce, in secret ceremonies, the most important effects,
were the simplest and most common opiates. We may

heresiarch Mark, who was guilty of so many superstitions and
impostures. Among others, St. Irenseus informs us, that in con-
secrating chalices filled with water and wine, according to the
Christian rite, he filled the chalices with a certain red liquor which
he called blood. He also permitted women to consecrate the holy
mysteries. — Butler's Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, 8çc. vol. v.
chap, xxviii.

* S. Epiphan. contr. Haereses. lib. i. tome in. contr. Marco-
sios. Haeres. 24.

t Arbiter Petronius is supposed to have been a fictitious name
bestowed upon the romance alluded to in the text ; whilst others
assert that the romance was the production of Caius Petronius, a
favourite of Nero, and a minister to his vicious pleasures. The
work is a picture of the profligate manners of the period it de-
scribes, totally unfit for general perusal. — Ed.

B 2

4 PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION.

readily conceive of what service they were to the
Thaumaturgist ; whether intended to close eyes too
observing, and too quick to scrutinize the causes of
the apparent miracles ; or to produce the alternatives
of an unconquerable sleep, and a sudden awakening;
effects well adapted to persuade the man who expe-
riences them, that a supernatural power is sporting
with his existence, and changing at his pleasure every
circumstance that troubles or that amuses it. Their
methods were various ; a collection that we possess, and
from which we shall quote, furnishes us with two ex-
amples. In one case we are informed that a young
Prince was sent to sleep every evening by the juice of a
plant, and every morning recovered from his torpor by
the scent of a perfume.* Again — a sponge steeped in
vinegar, and passed under the nose of Aben Hassan,
provoked sneezing and a slight vomiting, which sud-
denly destroyed the effects of the soporific powder
which rendered him insensible. In another instance,
the same symptoms and results were produced, when a
young Princess, who had been sent into a deep sleep by
a narcotic, was exposed to the open air.f

In a spot, far removed from the scenes of the thou-
sand and one nights, we find the employment of a
similar secret. Among the Nadoessis J in South Ame-
rica, there existed a religious society of men devoted to
the Great Spirit. Carver witnessed the admission of a
new member into it. The priests threw into the mouth
of the candidate something that resembled a bean :

* The Arabian Nights, xxvith Night, tome i. p. 221.

f The Arabian Nights, ccxcvth Night, vol. iv. p. 97 — 149.

X Carver. Travels in South America, p. 200 — 201.

PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION. 5

almost immediately he fell down, immoveable, insensible,
and apparently dead. They gave him violent blows on
the back, but these did not restore sensibility; nor, for some
minutes, bring him as it were to life again. When he did
revive, he was agitated with convulsions, that did not
cease until he had thrown up what they had made
him swallow. *

Plutarch has preserved to us a description of the
mysteries of Trophonius, related by a man who had
passed two nights and a day in the grotto, f They
appear to be rather the dreams of a person intoxicated
by a powerful narcotic than the description of a real
spectacle. Timarches, the name of the initiate, ex-
perienced a violent head-ache, when the apparitions
commenced; that is to say, when the drugs began
to affect his senses, and when the apparitions vanished
and he awoke from this delirious- slumber, the same
pain was as keenly felt. Timarches died three months
after his visit to the grotto ; the priests, no doubt,
having made use of very powerful drugs. It is said
that those who had once consulted the oracle acquired
a melancholy which lasted all their lives, j the natural
consequence, no doubt, of the serious shock to their
health from the potions administered to them.

The consulters of the oracle, were, I believe, carried

* It is probable that the seed employed was the fruit of a species
of Strychnos, the effect of which is to produce paralysis, with con-
vulsions. That it did not cause death might depend on the entire
seed having been swallowed ; its influence in that state being con-
siderably less than if it had been administered in powder. — Ed.

f Plutarch. De Dœmonio Socratis.

t Suidas . , . Clavier, Mémoire sur les Oracles, etc. p. 159—
160.

6 PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION.

to the gate of the grotto, when their forced sleep began
to be dissipated. The visions that occupied this slum-
ber most probably formed (as has been also suspected
by Clavier*) all the incidents of the miraculous
spectacle they believed to have been exhibited by the
Gods. On awakening also after having been presented
with a drink, probably intended to restore entirely the
use of their senses, they were ordered to relate every thing
they had seen and heard ; the priest requiring to know
what they had dreamed.

Powerful soporifics often possess the property of
deranging the intellect : the berries of the Belladonnaf
when eaten produce furious madness, followed by a sleep
that lasts twenty-four hours. Still more frequently than
bodily sleep, the sleep of the soul, temporary imbecility,
delivers up man to the power of those who could reduce
him to this humiliating state. The juice of the Daturaj
seed is employed by the Portuguese women of Goa : they

* Clavier. Mémoire sur les Oracles, &c. p. 158 — 159.

t Atropa Belladonna, Deadly Nightshade, has fruit resembling
a black cherry, seated within a large, green, persistent flower-cup
or calyx. The fruit is of a deep black-purple colour, and contains
many seeds, enveloped in a sweetish juice. Every part of the plant
is poisonous, and when eaten causes symptoms resembling those of
intoxication, with fits of laughter and violent gesticulations, fol-
lowed by dilatation of the pupils of the eyes, delirium, and death.
Buchanan, the Scottish historian, states that the victory of Mac-
beth over the Danes was obtained chiefly by mixing the juice of
this plant with wine, which was sent as a donation from the Scots
to Sweno during a truce. He adds, "vis fructui, radici, ae maxime
semini somnifera, et quae in amentium, si largius sumantur, agat."
— Rerum Scot. Hist. lib. vm. § vi. — Ed.

X Datura ferox, in doses sufficiently large to affect the brain,
causes indistinctness of vision, with a disposition to restless

PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION. 7

mix it, says Linschott,* in the liquor drank by their hus-
bands, who fall, for twenty-four hours at least, into a stupor
accompanied by continued laughing ; but so deep is the
sleep, that nothing passing before them affects them ;
and when they recover their senses, they have no recol-
lection of what has taken place. The men, says Pyrard,f
make use of the same secret in order to submit to their
desires women who would consent by no other means.
Francis Martin,j after having detailed all the injurious eifects
of the Daturas, adds, that the delirium may be arrested
by placing the feet of the patient in hot water : the
remedy causes vomiting, a circumstance which reminds
us of the manner in which the sleeper and the young
Princess in the Arabian Nights, and the initiated Na-
doëssis, were delivered from their stupor.

A secret so effectual having fallen into the hands of the
ignorant, must, there is reason to believe, have belonged to

sleep, accompanied with delirium, in which the most ridiculous
actions and absurd positions are exhibited. All the Daturas,
namely, fastuosa ; Metel : Tatula ; and even Stramonium, which
is employed as a medicine in this country, possess nearly similar
poisonous properties. The species Metel and Tatula are employed
in the East Indies to cause intoxication for licentious and criminal
purposes. — Ed.

* Linschott. Narrative of a Voyage to the East Indies, with the
notes of Paludanus. 3rd edition, folio, pp. 63, 64, 111. The
Thorn Apple, Stramonium, a plant of the same family as the
Datura, produces similar effects ; it has sometimes been criminally

employed in Europe.

f Voyage of Francis Pyrard. (2 vols. in-4°. Paris 1679). tome

ii. p. 68—69.

+ Francis Martin. Description of the first Voyage made by the

French to the East Indies, p. 163 — 164.

8 PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION.

the Thaumaturgists to whom it was much more impor-
tant. Among the aborigines of Virginia, the aspirant
to the priesthood was made to drink, during the course
of his painful initiation, a liquor* which threw him into a
state of imbecility. If, as we may suppose, the object
of this practise was to render him docile, we may believe
also, that the custom did not commence in the New
World.f Magicians have, in all ages, made use of
similar secrets.

The Oriental tales frequently present to us stories of
powerful magicians changing men into animals. Varro,
quoted by St. Augustine,! relates that the magicians of
Italy, attracting near them the unsuspecting traveller,
administered to him, in cheese, a drug which changed
him into a beast of burthen. They loaded him then
with their baggage, and at the end of the journey res-
tored him to his own form. Under these figurative
expressions, quoted from Varro, who probably quoted
from some prior work, we perceive that the traveller
being intoxicated by the drug he had taken, blindly
submitted himself to this singular degradation until the
magician released him by giving him an appropriate
antidote. This tradition has no doubt the same origin
as that of Circe. ||

* This liquor was procured by decoction from certain roots
called Vissocan ; and the initiation was termed Husea nawar.

f In consulting most of the Grecian oracles, it was the custom
either for the officiating priest, or the consulting person, to drink
of some secret well, the water of which most probably contained
some narcotic infusion. — Ed.

% S. August. De civit. Dei. lib. xvm. cap. xvn. xvm.

|| This does not contradict the assertion of Solinus, that Circé

PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION. 9

Wearied by the amorous pursuit of Calchus, King of
the Daunians, Circé, if we may believe Parthenius,
invited him to a banquet, in all the viands of which she
had infused narcotic drugs. Hardly had he eaten of
them, when he fell into such imbecility that Circé shut
him up with the swine. She afterwards cured him, and
restored him to the Daunians, binding them, however,
by a vow, never to allow him to return to the island she
inhabited.

The cup of Circé, says Homer, contained a poison
that transformed men into beasts ; implying that, when
plunged by it into a state of stupid inebriety, they be-
lieved themselves reduced to this shameful degradation.
This explanation, the only one admissible, agrees with
the relation of Parthenius. In spite of the decision of
some commentators, I venture to affirm, that the poet
did not intend this narration as an allegorical lesson
against voluptuousness. Such an explanation would
not accord with the rest of the narrative, which terminates
by the wise Ulysses throwing himself into the arms of
the enchantress, who kept him there a whole year. In
many other passages, also, of his poems, Homer has
noticed purely physical facts. This is so true that he
mentions a natural preservative against the effect of
poison ; a root which he describes with that minuteness,
which,better than any other poet,he knew how to unite with
the brilliancy of poetry and the elegance of versification.

Neither can we take, in a figurative sense, the account

deceived the eyes by phantasmagorial illusions. She might make
use of these to strengthen the established belief, that the drugs
which rendered men imbecile, metamorphosed them into
beasts.

10 PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION.

given by the prince of poets, respecting the Nepenthes
which, bestowed by Helen on Telemachus, had the
effect of suspending all feelings of grief in the
heart of the hero.# Whatever might have been
the substance thus designated, it is certain that in
Homer's time, there was a belief in the existence of
certain liquors, which were not less stupifying than wine,
and more efficacious than the juice of the grape, in dif-

* Many opinions have been advanced respecting Nepenthes ;
but the most probable is, that which refers it to the hemp,
Caunabis satira, from which the Hindoos make their bang, which
is narcotic, and produces delightful dreams.

The native plant, after it has flowered, is dried, and sold in the
bazaars of Calcutta for smoking, under the name Ganjah. The
large leaves and capsules employed also for smoking, are called
Bang or Subjee. In both of these forms the smoking of the Hemp
causes a species of intoxication of a most agreeable description,
and consequently the plant has acquired many epithets, which
maybe translated " assuager of sorrow," " increaser of pleasure,"
" cémenter of friendship," "laughter-mover;" and several others
of the same description.

In Nepaul, the resin only is used, under the name of Churrus.
It is collected in some places by naked coolies walking through
the fields of hemp at the time when the plant exudes the resin,
which sticks to their skin, from which it is scraped off, and
kneaded into balls. In whatever manner it is collected, when it
is taken in doses of from a grain to two grains, it causes not only
the most delightful delirium ; but, when repeated, it is followed by
catalepsy, or that condition of insensibility to all external impres-
sions which enables the body to be, as it were, moulded into any
position, like a Dutch jointed doll, in which the limbs remain in
the position in which they are placed, however contrary to the
natural influence of gravity ; and this state will continue for many
hours. Such an instrument could not fail to prove a most power-
ful agent in working apparent miracles in the hands of a Thau-
maturgist. — Ed.

PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION. 1 1

fusing a delicious calm over the mind. It is probable
that Homer was acquainted with these beverages,
and those also that Circé poured out for her guests ;
either from having witnessed the exhibition of their
effects, or from tradition only ; it always appears
from his narrative, that the ancients possessed the
means of making them. Wherefore should we, then,
doubt, that such a secret was practised in the tem-
ples, whence the Greek poet derived the greatest part
of his knowledge ; and where all the secrets of experi-
mental philosophy were concentrated.

Roman and Greek historians, and also modern na-
turalists, in speaking of the properties of different
beverages, mention facts, which prove that they were
known to the ancient Thaumaturgist, and that their
powers have not been exaggerated.

A. Laguna, in his Commentary on Dioscorides, men-
tions a species of Solarium, the root of which taken in
wine, in a dose of a drachm weight, fills the imagination
with the most delicious illusions. It is well known that
Opium, when administered in certain quantities, produces
sleep accompanied with dreams so distinct and so agree-
able that no reality can equal the charm of them.* In

* The magical influence of opium is well described, allowing
for some degree of exaggeration in M. de Quincy's extraordinary
work entitled The Confessions of an English Opium Eater, to which
the editor refers the reader. It is necessary to mention here only
a few facts descriptive of its influence on the inhabitants of
Turkey and India.

In the Teriakana, or opium shops of Constantinople, and
throughout the Ottoman empire, opium is usually mixed with
aromatics, and made into small cakes or lozenges, which are

12 PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION.

recapitulating all the speculations that have been made
respecting Nepenthes, M. Virey supposes that he has
discovered it to be the Hy osciamus Datura ofForskhal,*
which is still employed for the same purpose in Egypt,
and throughout the East. Many other substances, capa-

stamped with the words '* Mash Allah," — gift of God. After a
certain number of these have been swallowed, the first effect is a
degree of vivacity, which is even followed by delirium and hallu-
cinations, that vary in their character, according to the natural
disposition of the individual. Is the opium-eater ambitious,
he beholds his sublime ideas realized, monarchs at his feet,
and slaves in chains following his triumphant chariot. Is he
timid, he feels himself either endowed with courage to which
he is naturally a stranger, or scenes of horror and dismay arise
before him ; the brain of the lover heaves with tenderness and
rapture ; that of the vindictive man swells with a ferocious delight,
in feeling his victim within his power, and his dagger already in
his heart. High-flown compliments are uttered, and the most
ridiculous actions performed, until sleep overpowers the senses,
and leaves the person on awaking pensive, melancholy, and ex-
hausted, until recourse is again had to the regular daily supply.

In China, Siam, Bornea, and Sumatra, opium prepared in a
peculiar manner, and called Chandoo, is both eaten and smoked
with nearly the same effects as the Turks experience ; but it ren-
ders the Malays almost frantic. When misfortune, therefore, or
a desire of desperate revenge influences a Malay, he makes him-
self delirious with opium ; then sallies forth armed, and running
forward calling out " Amok ! amok !" he attempts to stab, indis-
criminately, every one he meets, until he himself is killed for the
preservation of others.

Such is the apparent supernatural felicity in some, and the
demoniacal frenzy and wretchedness in others, which the juice of
the poppy occasions ; and there can be little doubt that it was
administered in some form to the aspirants during their initiation
into the mysteries of Polytheism. — Ed.

* Bulletin de Pharmacie, tome v. (Février, 1813,) p. 49 and 60.

PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION. 13

ble of producing effects not less marvellous, are mentioned
by the same learned person.

The Potamantis, or Thalasseglé, says Pliny,* grows
on the banks of the Indus, and Gelatophyllis near to
Bactria. The juices extracted from both these plants
produce delirium ; the one causing extraordinary visions,
the other exciting continual laughter. The one acts in
a similar manner as the beverage made with the
Hyosciamus of Forskhal ; the other like that expressed
from the seeds of the Datura f Other compositions con-
cealed virtues still more useful to the workers of miracles.

In Ethiopia, says ï)iodorus, j was a square lake of a
hundred and sixty feet in circumference and forty feet
broad, the waters of which were of the colour of ver-
million, and exhaled an agreeable odour. Those who
drank these waters became so delirious, that they con-
fessed all their crimes, and even those that time had
permitted them to forget. Ktesias|| mentions a foun-
tain in India, the waters of which became, when
newly drawn, like cheese. This coagulum when dis-
solved in water possessed virtues like those mentioned by
Diodorus. In the first example the name of lake, parti-
cularly after the dimensions specified, reminds us of the
sea of brass in the Temple of Jerusalem, which signified

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxiv. cap. xvn.

f All the Daturas are narcotic ; but, from its native place,
that species mentioned by Pliny under the name Gelatophyllis, was
either Datura fer ox or Datura metel. — Ed.

% Diod. Sic. lib. n. cap. xn. p. 12.

|| Ktesias. Indie, apud. Photium. Biblioth. cod. lxxii.

14 PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION.

only a large basin hollowed by the hand of man,* such as
is seen in every village of Hindostan.f The word fountain
as employed by Ktesias is equally applied to the spring
whence water flows, and to a reservoir from which water is
drawn. When we reflect on the colour and scent of the
water contained in the Lake of Ethiopia ; the property
of the Indian liquid of coagulating like cheese ; and call
to remembrance also the fluid drugs employed by the
magicians of Egypt ; do they not all announce pharma-
ceutical preparations ?

Democritus had, before Ktesias and Diodorus, men-
tioned plants that were endowed with such virtues, that
they caused the guilty to confess what the most
rigorous tortures would not have constrained them
to avow. According to Pliny, j there is an Indian plant
called Achœmenis, the root of which, when made into
lozenges, and swallowed in wine during the day, torments
the guilty all night. They suppose that they are pur-
sued by the Gods, who appear to them under many
forms ; and they confess their crimes. The juice of the
Ophiusa, a plant of Ethiopia, when taken internally,
creates a belief of being attacked by serpents : the
terror that it produces is so violent, that it leads to

* Lacus, in Latin, often takes the same signification. Pliny
applies this name to the hasin of a fountain situated near Man-
durium, in the country of Salente. Vitruvius also applies it to
a basin prepared for receiving lime.

f Some of these basins (tanks) are more than 23,239 yards in
circumference. Haafner. Travels in the Western Peninsula of
India, 8çc. passim, tome n. p. 299.

X Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxiv. cap. xvn.

PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION. 15

suicide ; therefore the sacrilegious were compelled to
drink this liquor.

These wonders seem fabulous : they may be repeated,
however, every day under the eye of the observer. The ex-
tract of Belladonna is given to children affected with the
hooping-cough : if the quantity exceeds ever so little the
proper dose, this remedy occasions the most painful dreams
that fill the little patients with fear. In Kamtschatka they
distil from a sweet herb,* " a spirit which easily intoxi-
cates in a very violent manner. Those who drink it,
although even in very small quantities, yet are tormented
during the night with fearful dreams ; and the following
day they are afflicted by inquietudes and agitations as
great as if they had committed some crime."

The muchamore is a fungus common to Kamtschatka
and Siberia.f If it be eaten dry, or infused in liquor and
drunk, it sometimes produces death, and always profound
delirium, which is sometimes gay, sometimes full of sor-
row and fear. Those who partake of it believe themselves
subject to the irresistible power of the spirit that inhabits
the poisonous fungus. In a fit of this stupor, a Cossack
imagined that the spirit ordered him to confess his sins ;
he made, therefore, a general confession before all his
comrades.j

* Pastinaca. Gmelin.

f Krachenninikof. Description du Kamtschatka, lstpart.chap.xiv.
Beniowski relates that a Siberian Schaman whom he consulted,
made use of an infusion of muchamore ; the beverage first plunged
him into raving delirium, and then into deep sleep.

% The Muchamore, the plant here referred to, is the Fly Ama-
nita, Amanita Muscaria, found in Kamtschatka, and also abun-

] 6 PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION.

Other beverages have a different influence, but are
equally capable of creating the marvellous. The Caliph
Abdallah, son of Zobeir, when besieged in Mecca,
decided on making a sally, and thus finding either
deliverance or death. He received from the hands of
his mother a beverage containing musk,# to sustain
his courage; and he only yielded after prodigies of valour,
which made the victory, for a long time, uncertain.!
When the Turks go to battle, a strong drink, named
maslach, mixed with opium, is distributed among
the soldiers, and excites and renders them almost

dantly in the Highlands of Scotland, and in woods in England in
the autumn. It is a beautiful plant, rising like a mushroom upon
a white stalk four to eight inches high, bulbous at the base ; the
pileus, or top, is from three to six inches broad, of an orange-
brown colour, with white warty spots regularly scattered over its
surface. It is the most splendid of the Agaricoid tribe. " In the
Highlands of Scotland," says Dr. Greville (Scottish Cryptogamic
Flora, vol i. p. 54,) "it is impossible not to admire it, as seen in
long perspective between the trunks of the straight fir-trees ; and
should a sunbeam penetrate through the dark and dense foliage,
and rest on its vivid surface, an effect is produced by this chief of
a humble race which .might lower the pride of many a patrician
vegetable." It is always deleterious, and often fatal when eaten.
In Kamtschatka its juice, mixed with that of the Great Bilberry, or
the runners of the Willow Herb, is drank to cause intoxication.
It acts most powerfully when dried and swallowed after mas-
tication : it then causes delirium, and occasionally convulsions.
—Ed.

* Musk is a powerful stimulant ; it raises the pulse without
elevating the heat of the body ; and increases, in a remarkable
degree, the energy of the brain and nerves. — Ed.

f Hegira, 73 ; Ockley. Histoire des Sarrasins, torn. n. p.
4—5.

PREPARATION OF ASPIRANTS TO INITIATION. 17

frantic* The intoxication produced by the much-
amove often brings on an increase of strength, inspires
fearless boldness, and excites a desire of committing
criminal actions, which are then regarded as imperiously
inspired by the Spirit of the Muchamore. The savage
inhabitant of Kamtschatka, and the fierce Cossacks,
have recourse to this intoxication to dissipate their fears
when they project assassinations. f

The extract of hemp, mixed with opium, has, even
in the eighteenth century, been used in the armies of the
Hindoo Princes, by the Ammoqui, fanatic warriors,
whom it makes fiercely delirious. They dart off, striking
without distinction every thing they meet before them,
until, overwhelmed with blows, they fall on the bodies of
their victims.j Neither fear nor humanity arrests their
course of crime. Those fanatics, also, who have been
named Assassins, were intoxicated by a preparation of
hemp, called Hashiche, given to them by the Old Man
of the Mountain. i|

All the historians of the Crusades have spoken of the
enchanted abode of the Old Man of the Mountain, § who

* Considérations sur la Guerre présente entre les Russes et les
Turcs. 1769—173.

f Krachenninikof. Description du Kamtschatka. parti, chap. xiv.

% Paulin de St. Barthélemi. Voyage aux Indes Orientales, tome
ii. p. 426—427.

|| J. Hammer. Mines of the East. Nouvelles Annales des
Voyages, tome xxv. p. 337 — 378.

§ This is an absurd translation of the title of Seydna, and

Sheikh-al-Jebal, literally, Elder Mountain Chief, which was

assumed by Hassan Saba, a Chief of a sect of Eastern Ismailites,

who made himself master of Alamoot, one of the strong hill for-

VOL. II. C

18 TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION.

gave to his credulous neophytes such a foretaste of Para-
dise, that the hope of one day returning to this place of

tresses which cover the mountainous region that divides Persian
Irak and the northerly provinces of Dilem and Taberistan. The
followers of Hassan were bound to the most rigid obedience to the
precepts of Islam, or Abdallah Maimom, the projector of the sect.
It is unnecessary here to describe the rules which were requisite
to be practised by the aspirants, proselytes to the faith of the
society. Assassination was an obligation on the Ismailite Fedavee,
one of the divisions of the sect ; any one of whom, ordered by a
superior to assassinate a stranger, was obliged to obey ; and, in
the performance of the order, the wretched Fedavee firmly believed
he was promoting the cause of truth. It has been supposed that
the name Assassins, given to the society, originated in this obliga-
tion ; but the appellation is derived, according to M. De Sacy,
from the Oriental term Hashisheen, corrupted by the Crusaders
into Assassin. This term implies takers of Hashiché, a species of
hemp, from which an intoxicating drug was compounded, which
the Fedavee took previously to their engaging in their daring
enterprises ; and which procured for them the delicious visions of
Paradise, promised to all the followers of the Sheikh-el-Jebal.
This Paradise was typified on earth, according to Marco Paulo,
who travelled over the East in the thirteenth century, by gardens
of the most luxurious description, stored with the most delicious
fruit and flagrant flowers and shrubs, and containing palaces inha-
bited by exquisitely beautiful and highly- accomplished damsels,
clothed in the richest dresses, and education to display every grace
and fascination that could captivate the senses.

The Chief, in discoursing of Paradise to his followers, persuaded
them that he had the power of granting admission to it ; and to prove
the truth of his assertion, he caused a potion of a soporific kind to
be administered to ten or twelve of them at a time, and when they
were sound asleep, he had them conveyed to the palaces in the gar-
den. On awaking from their sleep, their senses were struck with the
beauty and splendour of every object upon which their eyes rested ;
their ears were ravished with the most harmonious voices ; and their
fond glances at the lovely damsels were returned with the most allur-

TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION. 19

delights, made them consent to the commission of every
crime, brave the most cruel tortures, and undaunted

ing caresses ; until, truly intoxicated with the excess of enjoyment,
they believed themselves actually in Paradise. After a time they
were again thrown into sleep, and carried out of the garden.
They were questioned before the whole Court as to where they
had been, and what they had seen ; and having detailed all the
pleasures they enjoyed, the Chief assured them that those who
yielded implicit obedience to him should inherit such a Paradise
for ever.

The effects of such an imposture display, most strikingly, the
lengths to which credulity and superstition will conduct mortals .
The following anecdote powerfully elucidates this remark. " An
Ambassador from the Sultan Malek Schah having come to Ala-
moot to demand submission and obedience of the Sheikh, Has-
san received him in a hall in which he had assembled several
-of his followers. Making a sign to one youth, he said, ' Kill
thyself!' Instantly the young man's dagger was plunged into
his own bosom. To another he said, ' Fling yourself down from
the wall !' In an instant his shattered limbs were lying in the
castle ditch. Then turning to the terrific envoy, he exclaimed —
■* I have seventy thousand followers who obey me after this
fashion. This is my answer to your master!' "a These victims
died in the full conviction that they were immediately to pass
into that sensual Paradise, of which they had received a foretaste
in the gardens of the Sheikh.

It is out of place to trace here the history of a people whose
chief object was evil ; and who, for Providence provides retribution
for crime even in this world, have ceased to live politically for
nearly six centuries. The sect still exists in Persia, and scattered
over great part of Asia. They regard their Imam as an incarnate
ray of the Divinity ; they hold him in the highest veneration ; and
they make pilgrimages from the most distant places to the village
of Khekh, in the district of Koom, where he resides, to obtain his
blessing. — Ed.

■* Marinus Sanatus, 1. in. Secret Societies, Library of Enter-
taining Knowledge, p. 81.

c 2

20 TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION.

meet certain death. At a much earlier period, Shedad-ben-
ad, King of Arabia, desiring to be worshipped as a God, col-
lected in a garden, the name of which was proverbial in
the East, all the delights of Paradise ; and allowed them
to be enjoyed by the faithful whom he deigned to admit
into it.# In both cases, we think that these gardens of
pleasure only existed in dreams, caused among young
men, habituated to a simple and austere diet by the use
of potions to which they were unaccustomed, and which
exalted their weak reasons, and filled their heated imagi-
nations.! Under the name of Bendjé, a preparation of
Hyosciamus (henbane) ,{ the same plant, no doubt, as the
Hyosciamus datura, served to intoxicate them so com-
pletely, that they believed themselves in Paradise, of which
glowing descriptions had been previously given to them ;
they experienced also a violent desire to be transported
to it, even through death ; whilst, in order to incite them
to some desperate act, the hashiché, or extract of hemp,
was administered to them ; and is still employed in the
East for the same purpose.

The real existence of the gardens of the Old Man of
the Mountains has, nevertheless, been acknowledged by

* D'Herbelot. Bibliothèque Orientale, art. Iram.

f The foregoing note has proved that the opinion of this author
is erroneous as far as regards the followers of Hassan Sabah. — Ed.

X M. J. Hammer (loc. cit.) appears to think that the Bendjé
was the same thing as the hashiché ; but in a fragment of an Ara-
bian romance, for the translation of which we are indebted to him,
it is positively stated that the bendjé was a preparation of Henbane,
p. 380.

I am disposed to differ from the opinion of our author respect-
ing Bendjé, which I have been informed is a preparation of Hemp,
Cannabis Indica. — Ed.

TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION. 21

enlightened men.# In opposition to them, however,
we may be permitted to mention the basis upon which
we had established our opinion to the contrary,! even
before it acquired another degree of probability by the
assent of M. Virey.j This is no deviation from our
subject ; the wonders employed for operating upon the
credulity of men by beings who pretended to be endowed
with supernatural powers form a part of our inquiry.

The Old Man of the Mountain, whose history is
obscured by so many fables, surrounded himself by a
troop of fanatics, ready to dare every thing at his first
signal. It is said, that their unbounded devotion was
produced by a narcotic, during the effect of which
they were transported into the most delicious gar-
dens, where, when they awoke, every hixury was
collected to make them believe, that for some hours
they tasted the pleasures of Heaven. The exacti-
tude of this recital may be questioned. How
many indiscretions might every day compromise the
existence of a fictitious Paradise ? How would it be
possible to assemble and bind to inviolable secrecy so
many agents, exempted from the fanaticism which
their artifices produced in others, and who, not regarding
silence as a duty, would, on the contrary, doubt

* MM. Malthe-Brun et J. Hammer. Mines de l'Orient. Nou-
velles Annales des Voyages, tome xxv. p. 376 — 382.

t Bulletin de Pharmacie, tome v. p. 55 — 66 (Février, 1812.)
X Eusèbe Salverte. Des Rapports de la Médecine avec la Poli-
tique (in- 12. 1806.) We transcribe this passage, with the correc-
tions that have been prepared for another edition. The whole
work was read in 1804 to the Société Médicale d'Emulation de
Paris.

22 TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION.

the blind obedience which they laboured to inspire,
since, at the least caprice of the tyrant, they might
become the first victims of it? The slaves of both
sexes, who figured before the initiated as angels and
houris, could not be supposed to prove always
discreet. What would become of them, at last,
when the progress of years did not permit them to
appear in the same parts? Death alone could insure
future silence ; and would not the prospect of such a re-
ward untie their tongues on the first favourable occasion,
or lead them to kill their tormentor when, wandering
alone among them, he came to confirm the neophyte in
his false persuasion? How, also, would this tribe of
actors support themselves? Could their master every
day administer to their wants without its being per-
ceptible abroad ? In addition, the number of precau-
tions to be taken, — the provisions to be renewed, — the
frequent necessity of getting rid of these agents, from
whose indiscretion there was every thing to be feared, —
are all difficulties in the way of our belief in this
abominable mystery, much less that it could be main-
tained for even three years.

" Besides, it is certain that bodily enjoyments, with
whatever ingenuity they may be varied or arrested, have
intervals too marked — contrasts too sensible of void and
reality — to permit the creation, or the long endurance, of
such an illusion. How much more simply is every thing
explained, by ascribing the illusions to physical intoxica-
tion, combined with the intoxication of the soul ! Among
credulous men, previously prepared by the most flattering
pictures of Paradise, and promises of future felicity, the

TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION. 23

narcotic potion would easily produce the most pleasurable
and desirable sensations, and the magical continuation of
themwould render them doubly valuable. ' To speak plain-
ly, they can only be regarded as a vision,' says Pasquier,*
who, after having examined every thing related by cotem-
porary authors on the subject of the Assassins, arrives at
that conclusion. Ask a man, in whom a dose of opium
has lulled an excruciating pain, to display a picture of
the enchanting illusions which he experienced, and
the state of ecstacy into which he was plunged for more
than twenty-four hours, and they will be found exactly
those of the supernatural delights heaped by the chief of
the Assassins upon his future Sei'des. We know with
what avidity the Easterns, who are accustomed to take
opium, give themselves up to its delights, in spite of the
ever-growing infirmities which it heaps upon their
wretched existence. This eagerness may afford some
idea of the pleasures that accompany this species of
intoxication, and enable us to comprehend that uncon-
trollable desire which may urge an ignorant and super-
stitious youth to dare every thing in order to possess,
for eternity, such ineffable delights."

The remembrance of the devotion of the disciples of
the Old Man of the Mountain to their master, is natu-
rally united to that of the constancy with which they
endured the most cruel tortures. The intoxication of
fanaticism would arm them with this invincible con-
stancy : the noble pride of courage, the obstinacy even
of a trifling point of honour, would often be sufficient to

* E. Pasquier. Les Recherches de la France, liv. vin. chap. xx.
(2 vols, in-fol.) Amsterdam, 1723. tome i. p. 798.

24 TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION.

inspire it. It was, however, much too important to their
chief, to be certain that none of them should fail him ;
to allow him to rely solely on the power of the recol-
lection of the delights that they experienced ; espe-
cially when time and distance might reasonably be
supposed to weaken their influence. If he was acquainted
with the means of allaying bodily feelings, he doubtless
took care, also, to provide for the ministers of his ven-
geance the same means, in order that they might employ
it in a critical moment. The promise of sustaining his
followers when under the empire of pain, exalted still
more their fanaticism ; and the accomplishment of this
promise became a new miracle ; an additional proof of
the certain power of him they regarded as the governor
of nature. - In advancing this conjecture, we must
acknowledge that we cannot support it by any historical
proofs.* But is it likely that the Thaumaturgists

* The reasoning of our author is ingenious and very plausible ;
but it is not sufficient to overthrow the testimony of Marco Palo,
Hanmer, and others respecting the existence of the gardens of the
Ismailite Chief at Alamoot. What, we may ask, would the fol-
lowers of the Sheikh-al- Jebal, to whom were entrusted his secrets,
not suffer rather than divulge them, when we see them laying
down their lives in his service every time that he demanded the
sacrifice ? These were not acts of obligation, but of a persuasion
that obedience to their Chief was to gain them eternal felicity in
Paradise after death. Besides, the pains that are taken by all
Oriental nations, to confirm the truth of their creeds, cannot be
denied; and the secrecy in which their impostures are veiled and pre-
served is almost incredible. Thus, in a late communication made
to the Royal Asiatic Society, by Sir Claude Wade, on the geogra-
phy of the Punjab, we are informed that, in a small but deep lake
seven coss from Soohait, named Rawalsir, are seven floating

TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION. 25

would be unacquainted with a secret known to all anti-
quity, and especially in Palestine? The Rabbins* inform
us, that a drink of wine and strong liquors was given to
the unhappy ones condemned to death* and powders
were mixed in the liquor, in order to render it stronger,
and to deaden the senses. The object of this custom
was, no doubt, to reconcile with humanity the intention
of exciting alarm by the sight of executions. In the
second century of our era, it is related by Apuleius, that
a man fortified himself against the violence of blows by a
potion containing myrrh.f If, as we think, myrrh could
only be drunk in the form of a tincture, the effect of the
alcohol must have increased the efficacy of the stupifying
drag. We observe everywhere, that this property attri-
buted to the myrrh, is not among those for which it is
employed in the present day as a medicine. The name

islands, which are objects of worship to Hindoo pilgrims. These
votaries proceed to the shores of the lake, address the islands, and
present their offerings ; upon which, it is stated, the islands
approach the shores, receive the offerings upon their surface, and
then retire. " As this tale," adds Sir Claude, " is invariably
accredited among the natives, it is not improbable that artificial
means are taken to cause tbe islands to traverse the yielding sur-
face." a What the nature of this cause is, however, remains an
inviolable secret ; although many persons must be employed in
working it, and successive cbanges of workmen must be required.
This fact, therefore, gives the colouring of truth to all that has
been related respecting the gardens at Alamoot. — Ed.

* Tract. Sanhedr. D. Calmet. Commentaire sur le Livre des Pro-
verbes, chap. xxxi. verse 6.

t Evang. sec. Marc. cap. xv. verse 25.

a Literary Gazette, n. 1524. p. 317.

26 TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION.

of myrrh, however, might serve to disguise a preparation,
the ingredients of which were intended to be kept secret.
But in either case, the Old Man of the Mountain could
not certainly have been ignorant of a secret which had
for so long a time prevailed in Palestine, and which he
might also have borrowed from Egypt. The stone of
Memphis (lapis memphiticus) was a round body, spark-
ling, and about the size of a small pebble ; it was regarded
as a natural body. I consider it to have been a work of
art. It was ground into powder and laid as an ointment
on the parts to which the surgeon was about to apply the
knife or the fire.# It preserved the person, without dan-
ger, from the pains of the operation ; if taken in a mixture
of wine and water, it deadened all feelings of suffering.f
A similar secret has existed in all ages in Hindustan.
It is probably by such means that the widowsj are pre-
served from shrinking from the dread of the blazing
pile upon which they place themselves with the dead
bodies of their husbands. The eye-witness of one of these
sacrifices, that took place in July 1822, saw the victim
arrive in a complete state of bodily insensibility, the effect
no doubt of the drugs which had been administered to
her. Her eyes were open, but she did not appear to see ;
and, in a weak voice, and as if mechanically, she answered
the legal questions that were put to her regarding the
full liberty of her sacrifice. When she was laid on the

* Dioscorid. lib. v. cap. clviii.
f Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvm. cap. vu.
X Le P. Paulin de St. Barthélemi. Voyage aux Indes Orientales,
tome i. p. 358.

TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION. 27

pile, she was absolutely insensible.* The Christians
carried this secret from the east into Europe, on the
return of the Crusaders. It was probably known to

* The Asiatic Journal, vol. xv. 1823. p. 292—293. The cus-
tom of drugging the Indian widows previous to gaining their
consent to this monstrous concremation, is stated to he not
unusual, when their relations have any advantage to gain by
their decease ; but as many of those who submit to it are of the
lower order of women, vanity, and the force of a prevailing super-
stition, are the chief inducements. There can be no doubt that
this, one of the dominant passions of the sex, frequently impels
them to the sacrifice : for women who commit this suicide are
canonized after death, and crowds of votaries frequent their
shrines, to implore their protection, and to pray for their aid and
deliverance from evil.

When this self-sacrifice is by concremation, it is termed Saha-
marana ; but occasionally, although rarely, it is performed when
the husband is at a distance ; it is then solitary, or Anamarana.
The name given to these immolations, by the English in India, is
Suttee, a corruption of the word Sati, or pure, the appellation
bestowed not upon the sacrifice, but upon the female after she has
been purified by the fire. The woman is not, say the Brahmans,
destroyed, but only consumed; not annihilated, but merely
changed. The tradition of the origin of the custom relates, that
the father-in-law of Siva having omitted to invite her to a wed-
ding, his wife Paravati felt so offended at this neglect, that in
the paroxysm of her rage she flung herself into the fire, and was
consumed. She thence became Sati, (transcendent purity), which
is also one of her names.

These shameful immolations have been „ attempted to be put
down by the Indian Government, but ineffectually ; and, so late
as 1825, the number in one year amounted to one hundred and
four. When once a woman declares her intention of submitting
to concremation with the dead body of her husband, she cannot
revoke. The interest of the whole community is at stake as well as
her own character ; for if she refuse, it is a prevailing belief that the
whole country would be visited with some awful calamity. Every

28 TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION.

the subaltern magicians, as well as that of braving the
action of fire, from which I imagine arose the rule of
jurisprudence according to which physical insensibility,

effort is therefore employed to inspire her with sacred heroism, and
to exalt her imagination to the highest pitch that fanaticism and
superstition can impart ; and when these are likely to fail, she is
rendered nearly insensible by some narcotic beverage. The
sacrifice is preceded by a procession, in which the wretched victim
appears decorated with jewels and flowers of the Tulse, or holy
Ocymum plant (Ocymum sanctum, Lin.) is borne on a rich palanquin,
following a kind of triumphal car, on which the dead body of her
husband is seated, also decorated with jewels and costly vestments.
When the procession has reached the pile, and the dead body has
been laid upon it, the widow is bathed without removing her
clothes and jewels, and then re-conducted to the pile, around
which she is walked three times, supported by some of her nearest
relations. These ceremonies being concluded, she is cast upon
the dead body of her husband ; and gee, a species of semi-fluid
butter, being poured upon the dry wood, it is instantly fired, and
she quickly dies of suffocation before the fire reaches her body.

In examining the accounts of the composure and almost philo-
sophical indifference with which these women sacrifice their lives
to the prevailing superstition, there is no necessity for believing
that it is the sole result of the narcotics administered to them.
Woman, in every country and in every age, displays more the
character of the sincere devotee than man. Convinced of the
truth of the doctrine she embraces, it absorbs her whole mind,
her contemplation rests firmly upon it ; and when an hour of trial
arrives, she reposes upon its promises in undisturbed tranquillity :
all the ties of relationship and of country are forgotten ; every act
of memory and consciousness is suppressed ; and under the cir-
cumstances, such as have been described as taking place in these
concremations, her whole mind turned upon the beatitude she is
about to attain, the frailties of our nature are surmounted, and the
mortal seems almost already invested with supernatural powers. To
the operation of this state of mind, in the opinion of the writer of this
note, may we attribute some, at least, of the extraordinary displays
of heroism occasionally exhibited in these self-immolations. — En.

TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION. 29

whether partial or general, was a certain sign of sorcery.
Many authors quoted by Fromann,* speak of the
unhappy sorcerers who have laughed or slept through
the agonies of torture ; and they have not failed to add
that they were sent to sleep by the power of the devil.

It is also said that the same advantage was enjoyed
by pretended sorcerers about the middle of the fifteenth
century. Nicholas Eymeric, Grand Inquisitor of Arra-
gon, author of the famous Directoire des Inquisiteurs,
loudly complained of the sorceries practised by accused
persons, through the aid of which, when put to the tor-
ture, they appeared absolutely insensible.f Fr. Pegna,
who wrote a commentary on Eymeric's work, in 1578,
believed also the reality and efficacy of the sorceries. {
He strengthens himself by the evidence of the inquisitor
Grillandus, and Hippolytus de Marsilies. The latter,
who was Professor of Jurisprudence at Bologna in 1524,
positively declares, in his ' Pratique Criminelle,' that he
has seen the effect of the philters upon the accused
persons, who suffered no pain, but appeared to be asleep
in the midst of the tortures. The expressions he makes
use of are remarkable ; they describe the insensible man,
as if plunged into a torpor more like the effect produced
by an opiate, than the proud bearing which is the result
of a perseverance superior to every pain.

To many instances of this temporary insensibility,

* Fromann. Tract, de Fasc. &;c. pp. 593, 594, and 810, 811.

t Aliqui sunt maleficiati et in quœstionibus malefictis utuntur —
efficiuntur enim insensibles. — Direct. Inquisit. Cum. adnot. Fr.
Pegnse. (Romse. folio) part in. p. 481.

X Direct. Inquis. &c. p. 483.

30 TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION.

Weirus adds an important observation ; he saw a woman
thus inaccessible to the power of torture, her face was
black, and her eyes were starting out as if she had been
strangled ; her exemption from suffering was due to a
species of apoplexy.* A physicianf who witnessed a
similar state of insensibility, compares it to fits, epileptic
or apoplectic.

A humurous writer, a cotemporary of Francis Pegna,
and of J. Wierius, whose name inspires us with little
confidence, but who, on this occasion, speaks of what he
had seen, and whose place in a tribunal enabled him to
know with certainty what occurred,! has also described,with
Taboureau, the soporific state which preserved the accused
from the sufferings of torture. According to him it was
almost useless to put the question. All the jailors were
acquainted with the stupifying recipe, and they did not
fail to communicate it to the prisoners ; nothing could
be easier than to practise it elsewhere, if confidence
was reposed in its influence. The secret consisted in
swallowing soap dissolved in water.

Common soap does not, certainly, possess the virtues
ascribed to it by Taboureau : but does it therefore follow
that the principal incident, namely the administration
of some potion, is false. I consider it does not ; for this
author is not the only person who has stated this fact.

* J. Wierius. De Prœstig. lib. iv. cap. x. p. 520, et seq.

t Fromann. Tract, de Fasc. p. 810, 811.

X Et. Taboureau. Des faux sorciers et leurs impostures (1585).
Discourse inserted in the fourth book of the Bigarrures du Sieur des
Accords. Et. Taboureau was the King's Counsel at the bailiwick
of Dijon.

TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION. 31

On this occasion only, did the possessors of the secret
impose on mankind, less to insure to themselves the
exclusive possession of it, than to preserve the power of
employing it. This becomes credible, if there are sub-
stances capable of realizing it ; and how many may
we not number that stupify, that suspend, and destroy
nervous sensibility. Opium, Henbane, Belladonna,
Aconite, Solanum, Stramonium, have been used to
deaden pain in surgical operations ; and if they are not
now so much prescribed, it is because the stupor they
induce endangers the cure, and sometimes the life of the
patient. Such a fear would not, however, prevent them
from being used by the Brahmans, who conducted the
Hindoo widows to the funereal piles of their husbands.
It had, however, we perceive, little hold on the dis-
ciples of the Old Man of the Mountain, or on the
accused who were menaced with torture. Among the
substances mentioned, we may distinguish some that
were no doubt made use of by the eastern Thauma-
turgist; and others so common in Europe, that they
might easily have been furnished, as Taboureau states,
to the prisoners by the jailers when they were required.
Such there are, and from the number of these sub-
stances, and the facility of procuring them, we may be
permitted to suppose that, known in all ages, they
have been, at all times, employed to work apparent
miracles. It is not the moderns alone who have wit-
nessed the atrocious cruelties, almost above human
strength to bear, which before the eyes of a whole nation
have been endured by the Hindoo penitents ; — the histo-

32 TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION.

rians of Greece and Rome have spoken of them;* and
national traditions state their practise to have existed from
the commencement of religious civilization. The patience
of man in submitting to them, most probably, has resulted
from the cause we have pointed out, namely, the actual
use of stupifying drugs : they repeat it often, and this
practice, thus prolonged, ends in a perpetual torpor, and
renders these fanatics capable of supporting tortures that
last their life time. The almost entire destruction of
bodily feeling cannot be effected without injuring the
mind, and plunging the soul into complete imbecility ; —
which is in fact the ruling feature of nearly all these
miraculous penitents.

It is also in this state of imbecility that Diodorus
represents the Ethiopian savages, whom he describes as
being quite insensible to blows, wounds, and the most
extraordinary tortures.f A learned man of the seven-
teenth century,| supposes that the traveller Simmias,
from whom Diodorus copied his narration, had taken as
the general character of a nation the temporary state of
some individuals intoxicated by a potion similar to the
Nepenthes which Homer mentions. It is more probable
that Simmias|| met, on the shores of Ethiopia, penitents
such as those that exist at the present day in Hindustan ;

* Solinus, cap. lv.

X Diod. Sicul. lib. in. cap. vni.

X Pierre Petit. D. M. Dissertation sur le Nepenthes, 8vo.
Utrecht.

|| Simmias was a philosopher of Thebes, but neither he nor
Diodorus is high authority : both were extremely credulous ; and
both equally ambitious of recording wonders. — Ed.

TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION. 33

and the state in which he saw them had become perma-
nent by the continual use of drugs competent to pro-
duce it.#

* Hasselquist (Voyage dans le Levant, 1st part, p. 257), observes,
that opium habitually taken in excess by the dervises, conduces to
complete stupidity.

The torments which the Yogis, or Indian penitents, impose
upon themselves, are not borne by the individual becoming insen-
sible through the influence of stupifying drugs, but they are truly
the result, either of an ambition to become worthy of eternal bliss,
or a slavish obedience to vanity, that they may enjoy in this world
the respect of the noble and the great, and the admiration of the
unthinking multitude. A Yogis will stand in a certain position
for years ; sometimes with his hands above his head, until the
arms wither, and become incapable of action ; others keep the
hands closed until the nails pierce through their palms ; some
double themselves up like a hedgehog, and thus are rolled along from
the Indus to the banks of the Ganges ; or suspend themselves by
the heels over the fiercest fires, or sit in the centre of many fires,
throwing combustibles into them to increase the flames. - These,
and a thousand other tortures which they brave, are not all the
result of trick, aided by stupifying drugs, as our author asserts,
but the effects of an absurd, superstitious credulity, that those
acts are to gain for them eternal felicity. That many of them are
sincere, is demonstrated in their belief that even tigers will respect
them ; will come voluntarily to them ; and lie down, and fondle
and lick their hands ; a belief which sometimes costs them their
lives. Upon what other plea can we account for the suicides that are
perpetrated at the temple of Juggernaut, and at the sacred spot where
the Ganges and the Jumna mingle their waters ; and the disgust-
ing abominations that nothing but a sincere belief in their efficacy
could have admitted into several of their religious ceremonies. That
many penitents perish by tigers every year ; but nevertheless that
numbers of these penitents are imposters, there is little doubt. Their
putting to death and resuscitating a human victim, or what is termed
pahvadam, is undoubtedly a mere counterfeit rite to impose upon the
ignorant and extort charity from the rich ; and many others of their
VOL. II. D

34 TYRANNY OF SUPERSTITION.

exhibitions are intended for the same purpose. This does not, how-
ever, weaken our argument in favour of the. extreme length to which
a desire to confirm extraordinary doctrines will carry enthusiasts.
Without going to Hindustan, we may find in Europe sufficient
evidence of this fact ; but the mention of one only will suffice to
demonstrate the temper of the period when such proofs could be
demanded or believed. When Antioch was taken by the Chris-
tians, in the eleventh century, the identity of the lance which was
reputed to have pierced the side of our Saviour was disputed.
The monk who had recently made the discovery, by the sugges-
tion of a vision, offered to undergo the ordeal of fire to establish
the truth of what he said. His offer was accepted, and he passed
through the terrible proof. He died, however, within a few days,
and the fact of the supposed discovery became problematical.8
—Ed.

a Berrington's Literary History of the Middle Ages, 4to. 1814,
p. 265.

INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY. 35

CHAPTER II.

Effect of perfumes on the moral nature of man — Action of lini-
ments ; the Magic Ointment frequently operated, by occasioning
dreams, which the predisposition to credulity converted into
realities — Such dreams may explain the whole history of
Sorcery — The principal causes which multiplied the number
of Sorcerers, were the employment of mysterious secrets — The
crimes which these pretended mysteries served to conceal ; and
the rigorous laws absurdly directed against the crime of sorcery.

The impression of the marvellous increases upon us
in proportion to the distance which seems to separate
the cause from the effect. Draughts and drugs could
not be administered without the concurrence of the
individual on whom they were intended to operate :
but persons might involuntarily become intoxicated by
the perfumes shed around the altar, and the incense
lavishly used in magical ceremonies, even without a
suspicion of their powers. This fact afforded many
advantages to the Thaumaturgist, especially when it was
his interest to produce visions and ecstacy. The choice
and the combination of these perfumes were scrupulously
studied.

d 2

36 INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY.

It may be remembered that in order to give children
a capability of receiving revelations in dreams, the use
of fumigations with certain ingredients, was recom-
mended by Porphyrus.* Proclus, who, frequently in
common with his philosophic contemporary transmitted
mere medicinal prescriptions, under the form of an
allegory, relatesf that the founders of the ancient priest-
hood, after collecting various odours combined them ac-
cording to the process of divine art : by which means, a
singular perfume was compounded, in which the energy
of the numerous odours was brought to a climax by
this union, and became necessarily weakened by separa-
tion.

In the Hymns ascribed to Orpheus, and which
evidently belong to the ritual of some very ancient
worship, a separate perfume is assigned to accompany
the invocation of each divinity. These diverse rites
had not, invariably, an actual meaning in their appli-
cation : but general rules being thus established, they
were more easily taken advantage of, on necessary
occasions, the priest having the power of directing the
perfume to be used in addressing any particular divinity. :{:

* Proclus. De Sacrifias et Magid.

f Proclus. De Sacrifias et Magid.

I The ancients were particularly fond of perfumes. In Athens,
when the guests invited to a feast entered the house of their host,
their beards " were perfumed over with censors of frankincense,
as ladies have their tresses, on visiting a Turkish harem. The
hands, too, after each lavation, were scented." It was usual, also,
" after supper to perfume the guests. a The influence of odours

» St. John's Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, vol. i.
p. 175—184.

INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY. 37

The physical and moral action of odours has not
perhaps, in this view, been so much studied, by modern
philosophers, as by the ancient Thaumaturgists. He-
rodotus, however, informs us, that the Scythians became
intoxicated by inhaling the vapour arising from the
seeds of a species of hemp, thrown upon heated stones.*
We learn also from modern science, that a disposi-
tion to anger and to strife, is produced, by the mere
odour of the seeds of henbane, when its strength is
augmented by heat. Three examples, related in Le
Dictionnaire de Médecine, fmd mV Encyclope'dieMkho-
on the organs of smelling, depends more on the condition of the
nervous^tissue of that organ, than upon the nature of the odours;
and much also is due to the healthy or the diseased condition
of the system. Odours delightful to one person, are intolerable
to another : mignionette possessed nothing agreeable in its odour
to the celebrated Blumenbach ; and the distinguished Baron Haller
declared, that no odour was so agreeable to him as that of a dis-
secting-room. The impression made upon the olfactory nerves is
generally transitory, the sensation vanishing when the odorous
substance is withdrawn ; but the sensations of some odours con-
tinue after the impression of the odorous matter has ceased. In
some persons odours do not operate as merely topical stimulants,
but affect the whole system : thus, in some, Ipecacuanha causes
an asthmatic fever ; in others, the odour of the African geranium,
Pelargonium, causes faintings ; the odour of the rose has produced
epilepsy ; whilst a few nervous people either lose the power of
smelling, or have a constant consciousness of a bad odour, or of
something which is not present. Many odours excite powerfully
the brain ; some animals, as, for example, cats, are intoxicated by
valerian ; whilst other animals, and man himself, are sickened by
the odour of tobacco. — Ed.
* Herodot. lib. iv. cap. lxxv.
f Tom. vu. art, Jusquiame.

38 INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY.

dique go to prove this effect. The most striking is the
case of a married couple, who although, every where else,
they lived in perfect harmony could not, without coming
to blows, remain a few hours in their ordinary work-room.
The room got credit for being bewitched, until the cause
of these daily quarrels, over which the unfortunate pair
were seriously concerned, was discovered ; a considerable
quantity of seeds of henbane were found near the stove,
and with the removal of the substance, which emitted
this unfortunate odour, all tendency to quarrel vanished.

This class of agents was so much the more valuable,
to the Thaumaturgist, that it not only eludes the eye, but
it does not even affect the olfactory nerves, in propor-
tion to the violence of its effects.

There are substances still more energetic than per-
fumes, which affect our nature by acting on the exterior
of the body. The extract or the juice of Belladonna,
when applied to a wound, produces delirium accompanied
by visions; — one drop of this juice, if it touch the
eye, will also cause delirium, but preceded by ambliopia,
or double images.* A man under its influence, sees
every object doubled;f and when subjected to its influence

* This observation was made by Dr. Hymli. See also Pinel,
NosographiePhilosophique (5th edition), torn, in, p. 46, et Giraudy.
" Sur le délire causé par la Belladone," &c. A Thesis sustained in
1818.

f No extract, or expressed juice of Deadly Nightshade, Atropa
Belladonna, known at present, will produce the effect described in the
text, when the eye is touched with it ; but when it is taken in full
doses, into the stomach, it causes dilatation of the pupils, visual
illusions, confusion of the head, and delirium resembling that of
intoxication . — En .

INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY. 39

by the vengeance of the Thaumaturgist, he would exclaim
like a new Pentheus — " that he beheld two suns, and
two cities of Thebes."*

Experiments have decidedly proved, that several me-
dicaments, administered in the form of liniments,
are taken in, by the absorbent system, and act upon
the habit in the same manner as when they are directly
introduced into the stomach. This property of liniments
was not unknown to the ancients. In the romance of
Achilles Tatius, an Egyptian doctor, in order to cure
Leucippus of an attack of frenzy, applied to his head a
liniment composed of oil, in which some particular me-
dicament was dissolved: the patient fell into a deep
sleep, shortly after the anointing. What the physician
was acquainted with, the Thaumaturgist could scarcely
be ignorant of; and this secret knowledge endowed him
with the power of performing many apparent miracles,
some merciful, some marvellous and fatal in their ten-
dency. It cannot be disputed that the customary and

* Virgil. Mneid. lib. iv. verse 469. Pentheus was King of
Thebes, in Bœotia. In his efforts to put down, in his kingdom
the Bacchanalian rites, on account of the gross sensualities which
attended them, and his refusal to acknowledge the divinity of Bac-
chus, he was allured into a wood on Mount Cithseron, with the view
of witnessing the ceremonies unnoticed, and was attacked by the
Bacchanals and murdered. It is said that his mother was the first
who attacked him, and she was followed by his two sisters, Ino
who afterwards committed suicide, and was deified by the Gods,
and Antihoe. His body was hung upon a tree, which was after-
wards cut down by order of the oracle, and made into two statues
of the Dyonesian God, which were placed on Mount Citheeron.
The priests, no doubt, could have given a satisfactory explanation
of the whole transaction. — Ed.

40 INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY.

frequent anointing, which formed part of the ancient
ceremonials, must have offered opportunities, and given
facility for turning this knowledge to advantage. Before
consulting the oracle of Trophonius, the body was rub-
bed with oil j* this preparation undoubtedly concurred
in producing the desired vision. Before being admitted
to the mysteries of the Indian sages, Apollonius and his
companions were anointed with an oil, the strength of
which made them imagine that they were bathed with
Jire.f

The disciples of the men who established, in the
heart of America, religious doctrines and rites, evidently
borrowed some of them from the Asiatics. The priests
of Mexico, preparatory to their conversing with their
divinity, anointed their bodies with a foetid pomatum.
The base of it was tobacco, and a bruised seed called

* Pausanias, lib. ix. cap. xxxix. Pausanias was initiated into
these mysteries. The priests first made him drink from the
well of Oblivion, to banish his past thoughts ; and then from
the well of Recollection, that he might remember the vision he
was about to behold. He was then shewn a mysterious repre-
sentation of Trophonius, and forced to worship it. He was
next dressed in linen vestments, with girdles around his body,
and led into the sanctuary, where was the cave into which he de-
scended by a ladder : at its bottom, in the side of the cave,
there was an opening, and having placed his foot in it internally,
his whole body was drawn into it by some invisible power. He
returned through the same opening at which he had entered ; and
being placed on the throne of Mnemosyne, the priests inquired
what he had seen, and finally led him back to the sanctuary of the
Good Spirit. As soon as he recovered his self-command, he was
obliged to write the vision he had seen on a little tablet, which
was hung up in the temple. — Ed.

t Philostrat. De vit. Apol. lib. in. cap. v.

INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY. 41

Ololuchqui, the effect of which was to deprive man of
his judgment, as that of the tobacco was to benumb his
senses. After this, they felt themselves very intrepid
and not less cruel ;# and, no doubt, predisposed to have
visions, since the intention of this practise was to bring
them into connection with the objects of their fantastical
worship.

But, quitting the temples for a while, let us trace the
effects of this secret when divulged, and after it had
fallen into the hands of ordinary magicians.

It is difficult to conceive that all is imposture in the
imaginings of poets and writers of romance, respecting
the effects of magical ointments. The ingredients of
which they were composed had, undoubtedly, some effi-
cacy. We have suggested that sensual dreams were
mingled with the sleep which they induced ; a suppo-
sition whose probability rests on the fact, that those who
sought their aid were generally those whose love had
been disappointed or betray ed.f

* Acosta. Histoire desIndes Occidentales, liv.v. chap.xxvi, French
translation (in 8vo. 1616), pp. 256, 257. The Mexican priests
introduced into this ointment the ashes of the bodies of insects
that were esteemed venomous, undoubtedly to distract the atten-
tion from the nature of the drugs that were to prove efficacious.

f As these ointments seem to have operated upon the nervous
system nearly in the same manner as the philtres of the Greeks
and Romans, it is probable that cantharides was one of the ingre-
dients. Its active principle, Canthariden, is very soluble in oil, and
fatty matters, and in this solution it is readily absorbed and carried
into the system. It is this principle that causes stranguary after
the application of a blister. The ancient love philtres were admi-
nistered in the form of potions, which often acted so violently as
to produce dangerous delirium. The madness of Caligula was

42 INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY.

The demands of passion or curiosity for enchantments
were generally answered by means of dreams, produced
by these magical ointments ; and so vivid were the illu-
sions that they could not fail to pass for reality ; a cir-
cumstance demonstrated in the history of prosecutions
for sorcery, the number of which almost surpass belief.

It was in the night, and during sleep, that the sor-
cerers were transported to the Sabbat. In order to
obtain this privilege, they were obliged to rub themselves
in the evening with pomatum,* the composition of which
was unknown to them, but its effects were precisely such
as we have mentioned.

A woman accused of sorcery was brought before a
magistrate of Florence, a man whose knowledge was
greatly in advance of his age and country. She
declared herself to be a sorceress, and asserted that she
would be present at the Sabbat that very night, if
allowed to return to her house and make use of the
magic ointment. The judge assented. After being
rubbed with foetid drugs, the pretended sorceress lay
down and immediately fell asleep ; she was tied to the
bed, while blows, pricking, and scorching failed to break
attributed to one which was given to him by his wife Cœsarina.
Juvenala speaks of the Messalian philtre as one of the most power-
ful.—Ed.

* The confessions made by the sorcerers, at the Inquisition of
Spain, in 1610, speak of the necessity, in order to be present at
the Sabbat, to rub the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet,
&c, with the water of a frightened or irritated toad, (Llorente,
Histoire de l'Inquisition, chap, xxxvu. art. 2, torn. 3, p. 431, et
suivantes) : a puerile receipt, only intended to conceal the com-
position of the real ointment, even from the initiated.
* Juv. vi. p. 610.

INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY. 43

her slumber. Roused at length, with much trouble, she
related the next day that she went to the Sabbat, and
she detailed the painful sensations which she had really
experienced in her sleep, and to which the judge limited
her punishment.*

From three anecdotes precisely similar, which we might
quote, from Porta and Fromann,f we shall only extract
a physiological remark. Two of the reputed sorcerers,
sent to sleep by the magic ointment, had given out that
they should go to the Sabbat, and return from it, flying
with wings. Both believed that this really happened,
and were greatly astonished when assured of the con-
trary. One in his sleep even performed some move-
ments, and struck out as though he were on the wing.
It is well known that, from the blood flowing towards
the brain during sleep, it is not uncommon to dream of
flying and rising into the air. j

* Paolo Minucci, a Florentine jurisconsult, who died in the
sixteenth century, has transmitted this interesting fact, in his
commentary on the Malmantile Racquistato, cant. iv. Ott. 76.

f J. B. Porta. Magia Natur. lib. n. cap. xxvi, ; Fromann.
Tract, de Fascin. pp. 562, 568-569.

X When sleep is not very profound, the senses, in a certain
degree, are excitable ; and the conception of ideas by the mind
does not entirely cease, consequently dreams occur. If a light is
suddenly brought into a room where a person is in this kind of
sleep, he will either dream of being under the equator, or in a tropi-
cal landscape ; or of wandering in the fields in a clear summer's day ;
or of fire. If a door is slammed, but not so loud as to awake the
sleeper, he will dream of thunder ; and if his palm be gently tickled
his dreams will be one of ecstatic pleasure. If some particular idea
completely occupies the mind during the waking state, it will recur
in dreams during sleep ; hence the minds of these unfortunate people

44 INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY.

. While they acknowledge that they used a magical
ointment in order to be present at the Sabbat, these
ignorant creatures could give no recipe for making it ; but
medicine will readily furnish one. Porta and Cardanus#
have mentioned two ; the Solanum somniferum forms the
base of one, while Henbane and Opium predominate in
the other. The learned Gassendi endeavoured to discover

mentioned in the text, being strongly impressed with the idea of
being present at the Sabbat, the dreams would apparently realize that
event. If a person in sleep folds his arms closely over his breast,
he is likely to dream of being held down by force, and the images
of the persons employed in holding him down will be also present
to his mind. The predominant emotions of the mind influence
greatly the character of dreams. When the influence is depress-
ing, the dreams are generally terrible or distressing ; when the
exhilarating occupy it, the dreams are delightful and joyous. In
dreams, circumstances may present to the mind forebodings ; and
it is not impossible that these may really come to pass, without any
thing wonderful in the occurrence ; yet it appears wonderful, al-
though when the circumstances are analyzed, it will be seen to be
merely the result of some leading thought fixed upon the mind,
and cherished during the hours of waking. In sleep, a certain
degree of voluntary motion may be exerted, and the person may
talk, and appear to hear and understand those who speak to him
in return : such a state constitutes somnambulism. In such a
condition, the functions of the brain are always more or less dis-
turbed. The oily frictions said to have been employed by the
sorcerers must have had narcotic properties ; but, independent of
these, whatever gently stimulates the skin operates sympatheti-
cally on the sensorium, and favours sleep and dreaming. — Ed.

* J. Wierius. De Prœstig. lib. n. cap. xxxvi. p. 4 ; J. B. Porta.
Magia Natur. lib. 11. ; Cardan. De Subtilitate, lib. xvm, Wierius
says that the ointment mentioned by Cardanus, consisted of the
fat of boys, mixed with the juice of parsley, aconite, solanum,
pentaphylum, and soot. — Ed.

INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY. 45

and to imitate this secret, in order to undeceive the
miserable beings who imagined themselves to be sorcer-
ers. He anointed some peasants, whom he had fully
persuaded that they should attend the Sabbat, with an
ointment containing opium After a long sleep, they
awoke, satisfied that the magic process had produced its
effect ; and they gave a detailed account of all they had
seen at the Sabbat, and the pleasures they had enjoyed :
in the particulars of which, and the mention of volup-
tuous sensations, we may trace the action of opium.*

* The most absurd stories were told and believed respecting
this assembly of demons and sorcerers. Among others, we are
told that a husband having suspected his wife of being a sor-
ceress, and desirous to know whether she attended the Sabbat,
and how she transported herself there, watched her, and, one
evening, found her occupied in anointing her body. She then
took the form of a bird, and flew away; but, in the morning, he
found her in bed at his side. He questioned her respecting her
absence ; but she would make no confession until she was severely
beaten.when she acknowledged that she had been at the Sabbat. He
pardoned her, on the condition that she would convey him thither,
and she assented to his wish. On arriving at the place, he was
placed at table with the assembled magicians and demons ; but
finding the food very insipid, he asked for salt, which was
not brought. Perceiving, however, a salt-cellar near him, he
exclaimed, — " God be praised, the salt is come at last !" In an
instant, the whole assemblage and the repast vanished, and he
found himself in the midst of barren mountains, more than thirty
leagues from his house. On returning, he related the whole affair
to the Inquisitors, who immediately ordered the arrest of his wife,
and many of her accomplices ; all of whom, accordingly, were
found guilty, and unmercifully condemned to the stake.

In such a period, it was unnecessary to poison or to murder a
wife who had lost her husband's affection, or incurred his suspi-
cion ; the law was willing and ready to perform the office of exe-
cutioner for him. — Ed.

46 INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY.

In 1545, a pomatum composed of opiates was found
in the house of a sorcerer. André Laguna, physician to
Pope Julius III., made use of it to anoint a woman
labouring under frenzy and loss of rest. She slept
thirty-six hours consecutively ; and when they succeeded
in awaking her, she complained of being taken from a
most extraordinary situation.* We may, with the judi-
cious and unfortunate Llorente, compare this illusion
to those experienced by the women devoted to the wor-
ship of the Mother of the Gods, when they heard
continually the sound of flutes and of tambourines, saw
the joyous dances of the fauns and satyrs, and tasted
inexpressible pleasures : similar medicaments were the
cause among them of a similar kind of intoxication.

To this cause we may, likewise, refer the success of the
magicians in their amours, such as those which Lucian
and Apuleius have rendered so famous. This gives new
grounds for the probability that the same secret, with
slight variations, was obtained by the wretched sorcerers
of the West from the inferior magicians, who made a
merchandise of love philtres in Greece and in Italy.

In all ages the number of sorceresses has surpassed
that of sorcerers ; which is accounted for by women pos-
sessing a warmer imagination and a more sensitive
organization than men. In the same way we may ex-
plain why, in the fables so often repeated, where the
demons or magi were magically united to mortals, the
greater number of instances are referable to night-mare.

* A. Laguna. Commentaire sur Dioscoride, lib. lxxvi. cap. iv.
cité par Llorente. Histoire de V Inquisition, torn. in. p. 428.

INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY. 47

They were real dreams, heightened by a disposition to
hysteria, and this was the only reality they possessed.

In short, we do not scruple to say that, in order to
explain the principal facts registered in the bloody
archives of civil and religious tribunals, and in the volu-
minous records of demonology ; in order to explain the
confessions of the multitude of credulous or imbecile
persons of both sexes who firmly believed themselves to
be sorcerers, and were convinced that they had attended
the Sabbat, it is only necessary to connect, with the use
of the magical ointment, the deep impression on the
imagination produced by previous descriptions regarding
the Sabbat, with the ceremonies that were witnessed
there, and the joys in which those who joined such
abominations were to participate.

These presumed assemblies, indeed, and their guilty
purposes had been notorious from the commencement of
the fifth century, and awakened at an early period the in-
creasing severity of the clergy and the magistrates. They
are described as of frequent occurrence and long duration ;
yet all this time the sorcerers were never once detected at
any of these meetings. It was not that fear prevented it ;
the same records and trials mention certain proceedings
by which either the legal agents or ministers of religion,
far from having any thing to fear from the spirits of dark-
ness, obtained an ascendancy over them, and had power
to apprehend the miserable creatures, in spite of the evil
spirit by whom they were misled. But in reality these
assemblies had no existence, otherwise they must have sur-
vived the wrecks of Polytheism. Solitary initiations were
substituted for them, and these were soon reduced to a

48 INFLUENCE OF PERFUMES IN SORCERY.

mere confiding of secrets ; all that remained then was a
mutilated tradition of ceremonies borrowed from various
pagan mysteries, and a description of the joys promised to
the initiated. Conformably to the declarations of the
sorcerers themselves, we cannot fail to perceive that they
believed the ointment, with which they rubbed their
bodies, to be magical ; and the facts quoted prove that its
effect was so powerful as to leave them no more in doubt
as to the reality of the fanciful impressions it occasioned,
than of those sensations received by them in their
waking hours. Thus they had the full persuasion of
having partaken of rich feasts, while they acknowledged
before the judges that at these banquets neither hunger
nor thirst were appeased;* the impression of reality was
so great, that they could not believe they had merely
dreamed of eating and drinking. With their dreams,
however, as is usually the case, were mingled various
reminiscences. On one hand, memory presented to them
a confused succession of absurd scenes, which they had
been led to expect; and, on the other, in the midst of magi-
cal ceremonies they saw introduced, as actors, persons of
their own acquaintance, whom they actually denounced,
swearing they had seen them at the Sabbat ; yet this ho-
micidal oath was no perjury ! They made it with the same
conviction that led them to confessions and revelations,
and which devoted them to frightful punishments.
Fromann relates f that the confessions of sorcerers
condemned to be burnt at Ingolstadt, were publicly read;
they confessed to having cut off the lives of several per-

* Fromann. Tract, de Fasc. p. 613.
f Fromann. Tract, de Fasc. p. 850.

PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY. 49

sons by their witchcraft : these persons lived, were pre-
sent at the trial, thus refuting the absurd confession ;
and, nevertheless, the judges continued to institute suits
against sorcery. In 1750, at Wurtzburg, a nun was
accused of this crime, and carried before a tribunal,
where she firmly maintained that she was a sorceress : like
the accused at Ingolstadt, she named the victims to her
sorceries ; and although these persons were then alive, yet
the unfortunate creature perished at the stake.*

The opinion which these revelations tend to establish

* Voltaire. Prix de la Justice et de V Humanité, art. x.

In 1515 not less than fire hundred persons were tried at Geneva,
on charges of witchcraft, and executed ; and in Scotland, in 1599,
scarcely a year after the publication of the " Dsemonologie" of
King James, not less than six hundred human beings were
destroyed at once for this imaginary crime.* The sufferers in
England, also, were very numerous. The statute of James, which
adjudged those convicted of witchcraft to suffer death, was not
repealed until the year 1736, the ninth of George the Second.

In every country, it maybe asked, who were the assumed witches ?
We may reply in the words of Reginald Scott, in his " Discoverie
of Witchcraft, "b they were "women which be commonly old.lame,
bleare-eied, pale, fowle, and full of wrinkles ; poore, sullen,
superstitious, and papists ; or such as know no religion ; in
whose drousie minds the divell hath gotten a fine sear ; so as,
what mischafe, mischance, calamitie, or slaughter is brought to
passe, they are easilie persuaded the same is doone by themselves,
imprinting in their minds an earnest and constant imagination
thereof. They are lean and deformed, shewing melancholie in
their faces, to the horror of all that see them. They are doting,
scolds, mad, divelish, and not much differing from them that are
thought to be possessed with spirits ; so firm and stedfast in their
opinions, as whosoever shall onlie have respect to the constancie

*~N&$he' s Lenten Stuff, 1599; Drake's Shakespeare, vol. n.p.477.
h See book i. chap. in. p. 7.
VOL. II. E

50 PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY.

is not new ; J. Wierius had already honoured himself
by establishing it. A Spanish theologian* addressed a
Treatise to the Inquisition, in which, representing the
opinion of many of his contemporaries, he maintained that
the greater number of the crimes imputed to the sor-
cerers have existed only in dreams; and that for the
production of these dreams it was only necessary to
anoint the body with drugs, and to establish a firm faith
in the individual that he should really be transported to
the Sabbat.-f

We do not say that particular causes, in subordination

of their words uttered, would easilie believe they were true in-
deed." No comment could throw any additional light upon the
cruel nature of these persecutions, and the description of their
miserable victims. — Ed.

* Llorente. Histoire de l'Inquisition, torn, m, pp. 454, 455.
f It has been, with some degree of probability, supposed, that
the idea of the Sabbat arose from the secrecy with which the meet-
ings of the Waldenses were compelled to be held ; and the accu-
sations of indulging in unhallowed rites which were brought
against them. At a very early period, these persecuted people had
separated and kept themselves distinct from the Church of Rome.
In ] 332, Pope John XXII. issued a Bull against them, and another
was sent forth, in 1487, by Innocent VIII., enjoining the Nuncio,
Alberto Capitaneis, "to extirpate the pernicious sect of malignant
men called the poor people of Lyon, or the Waldenses, who
have long endeavoured in Piedmont, and other neighbouring parts,
to ensnare the sheep belonging unto God, under a feigned picture
of holiness." Many persecutions followed ; but the Waldenses de-
fended their opinions with the most determined resolution, and even
with the sword. In some of the defeats which they suffered, both
women and children were put to death ; and the prisoners were,
in several instances, burnt alive. These excesses drove the
wretched Waldenses, thus suffering for conscience sake, to take
refuge in the fastnesses of the mountains, a step which brought

PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY. 51

to this general one, may not have had a very sensible in-
fluence in producing the accusations of witchcraft among
a very ignorant population ; for example, the possession
of superior science has brought upon a man the reputa-
tion of being a sorcerer. The opportunity afforded for
observation, was the source of the accusation of sorcery
against shepherds. In their frequent isolation from
society, necessity has forced these men to be the physi-
cians and surgeons of their flocks; and, favoured by
chance and guided by analogy, they were sometimes
enabled to perform cures on their own race. The sick man
was healed; and the question was put, whence did the

upon them the accusations already noticed, and originated the
supposition that the Sabbat, which the wretches suspected of
witchcraft were stated to attend, was a real meeting. The Wal-
denses were also sometimes called Scobases, from the belief that,
like the witches, they proceeded through the air to their meetings
riding upon broomsticks. Credulity regarded the Sabbat as real ;
for Reginald Scott informs us, that it was generally believed that
the witches met together " at certaine assemblies, at the time pre-
fixed, and doo not onlie see the divell in visible forme, but confer
and talke familiarlie with him :" and he adds that, on the intro-
duction of a novice, the Arch-demon, " chargeth hir to procure
men, women, and children also, as she can to enter into this
societie ... At these magical assemblies, the witches never fail
to danse, and whiles they sing and danse everie one hath a
broome in hir hand, and holdeth it up aloft. "a Such was the ex-
traordinary length to which credulity extended respecting this
imaginary assembly ; and one of the chief features of the mon-
strous and gross superstition which existed, at the period alluded
to, was the melancholy fact that it was the creed of all ranks, from
the monarch to the beggar. Happily since the light of education
has penetrated into the cottage, it remains merely as a matter of
fanciful tradition. — Ed.

«■ Discoverie of Witchcraft . book i. chap. in.

E 2

52 PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY.

uninstructed individual derive so marvellous a faculty if
not from magic ? Several shepherds, it is well known, also,
become, in a short time, so intimate with the individual
physiognomy of their sheep, as readily to distinguish any
one of his own flock mingled with the flock of another
shepherd.* The man who could thus select his own
from a thousand animals, apparently similar, could
not easily avoid being deemed a sorcerer; particularly
if vanity or interest should lead him to favour the
error, which gains him the reputation of superior power
and knowledge. What must be the consequence then, if
the centre whence light ought to emanate ; if the autho-
rity, which rules the destiny of every citizen ; is governed
by the common opinion ? Even in our own day, the
French legislation has treated shepherds, as accused,
or at least as suspected of sorcery ; for we find that
simple menaces, from them, are punished by tortures,
reserved, in other cases, for assaults and murders.
Does not this arise from the supposition, that there
is a power of evil in their mere words ? This law,
enacted in 1751,f although fallen into disuse, has not
yet been formally abrogated.

The severity exercised towards sorcerers, although

* M. Desgranges. Mémoire sur les Usages d'un Canton de la
Beauce. Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de France, torn. i.
pp. 242, 243.

f A similar law forbids all shepherds to menace, ill treat, or do
any wrong to the farmers or labourers whom they serve, or who
are served by them, as well as their families, shepherds, or domes-
tics, under penalty, for the said shepherds, of five years at the
galleys for simple menaces, and for ill treatment nine years." —
Préambule du Conseïl-d' Etat du Roi, du 15 Septembre, 1751.

PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY. 53

altogether absurd in principle, yet was not always un-
just in its application, since sorcery served frequently, as
the mask or instrument for the perpetration of criminal
actions. Thus the use of drugs, by which the fish in a
preserve are rendered so stupified, that they can be taken
by the hand, although considered now a delinquency, pro-
vided against and punished by law, was formerly regarded
as the effect of sorcery. The tricks of sharpers, with whose
delinquencies our small courts are daily filled, and
which consist of selling the imaginary aid of super-
natural power at a high rate, were acts of sorcery.
Sorcery, indeed, was a cover for many atrocities, and
crimes, sometimes arising from the mere desire to impose ;
sometimes from transports of cruelty or refinements of
revenge, and the wish to transfer their load of guilt to
those whom they initiated.*

* " Commodus sacra Mithriaca homicidio vero polluit ;

cum illic aliquid, ad speciem timoris, vel dici, vel fingi soleat." —
(Ael. Lamprid. in Commod. Anton.) This phrase is obscure ; and
shews us the extreme reserve of ancient writers on all that con-
cerned the initiations. We may , nevertheless, deducefrom it, that the
novice in the mysteries of Mythra believed himself obliged to obey
the command of the initiating to kill aman. These mysteries, which
penetrated into Rome, and afterwards into Gaul, towards the com-
mencement of our era, belonged, in Asia, to the remotest anti-
quity, since Zoroaster was thus initiated before setting out on his
religious mission. Now this prophet was much earlier than Ninus ;
the religion which he founded was general and powerful in the
empire of Assyria, in the time of Ninus and Semiramis. The
trial which the priests of Mythra, in order to assure themselves,
made use of to determine the resolution and docility of an aspi-
rant, is still practised by one of the superior Lodges of Free-
masons. Similar trials necessarily passed into the schools of
magic, from the ancient temples ; and that which was only used
as a pretence in general, might easily on occasion become reality.

54 PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY.

But, it cannot be denied, that poison alone, has too
often constituted the real efficacy of sorcery ; this is a
fact of which the ancients were not ignorant, a proof of
which exists in the passage in the second eclogue of
Theocritus,* which we have just quoted. It is a curious
fact, confirmed by judicial trials in modern times,f
that the victim persisting in ascribing his sufferings to
supernatural agency, has thus aided in shielding the
real crime of the guilty from the investigation of the
law.

In such a case, had the magistrates been enlightened,
as well as severe, they would have acquired great claims
to public gratitude, by giving some attention to the real
nature of the crime, as well as to the punishment of it.
They might, by unveiling and giving publicity to pre-
tended magical operations, have exposed the impotency
of the magicians, when prevented by circumstances from
having recourse to their detestable practices; and by

* See chap. ix.

t In 1689, some shepherds of Brien destroyed the cattle of
their neighbours, by administering to them drugs on which they
had thrown holy water, and over which they recited magical
incantations. Prosecuted as sorcerers, they were condemned as
poisoners. It was discovered that the basis of these drugs was
arsenic.

It is curious to observe the similarity of customs in very distant
countries. In Shetland the religious charmer imbued water with
magical powers for a very opposite purpose, namely, to pre-
serve from mischance ; to combat an evil eye or an evil tongue.
The charmer muttered some words over water, in imitation of
Catholic priests consecrating holy water, and the fluid was
named " forespoken water." Boats were sprinkled with it;
and diseased limbs washed with it, for the purpose of telling out
pains. — Ed.

PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY. 55

such revelations, many disordered imaginations might
eventually have been cured.

But far from doing so, the judges, for a long period,
reasoned like the inquisitors who, when obliged, by for-
mal depositions, to admit that the secret of the sorcerers
consisted in the composition of poisons, punished never-
theless the imaginary rather than the real crime.*
Legislators had no clearer discernment than the populace :
they issued terrible decrees against sorcerers, and even by
these means doubled, nay tenfold increased their num-
ber. To doubt, in this case, the effect of persecution,
were to betray great ignorance of mankind. Opening a
vast field for all the calumny and tale-bearing, that
might be dictated by folly, by fear, by hatred, or ven-
geance, in preparing instruments of torture, and erecting
stakes in every market-place, they multiplied absurd
or false accusations and still more absurd confes-
sions.f In giving importance to these foolish terrors,

* Llorente. Histoire de V Inquisition, tome in. pp. 440 — 441.

t No portion of the history of witchcraft is more extraordinary
than the confessions occasionally made by the wretched beings
who were brought to trial as sorcerers. Although many of them
were extorted uDder torture, and afterwards revoked during mo-
ments of mental and bodily resuscitation, yet some of those
recorded were voluntary. What condition of mind, it may be
asked, could lead to the latter, if we can believe that the accused
could ever fancy that they were really actors in such supernatural
transactions ? In reply, we may venture to suggest, that vanity,
one of the most powerful agents in the female character, in raising
an idea of importance at being thought possessors of the extraor-
dinary powers which they assumed, must have had a considerable
share in producing them. As a specimen of these confessions, we
may mention that of Agnes Tompson, who was implicated in the

56 PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY.

by bringing the sacred character of the law to bear upon
them, they rendered this general apprehension incurable.
The multitude no longer doubted the guilt of men who
were so rigourously prosecuted ; enlightened individuals
swelled the ranks of the multitude, either from the
influence of the general panic, or lest they should them-
selves become suspected of the crimes, whose existence
they denied. How can we otherwise account for the
lengthened and deplorable annals of sorcery, whose
daily records tell of acts perfectly impossible, but which
the accused confessed, the witnesses affirmed, the doc-
tors established, and the judges visited with punishment

supposed detected conspiracy of two hundred witches with Dr Fian,
" Register to the Devil," at their head, to bewitch and drown
King James, on his return from Denmark in 1590. Agnes con-
fessed that she and the other witches, her comrades, " went
altogether by sea, each one in her riddle or sieve, with flaggons of
wine, making merry and drinking by the way, to the kirk of North
Berwick, in Lothian, where, when they had landed, they took
hands and danced, singing all with one voice —

" Commer goe ye before, Commer goe ye ;
Gif ye will not go before, Commer let me :"
and " that Giles Duncane did go before them, playing said reel
on a Jew's trump ; and that the devil had met them at the kirk."

The silly monarch, who was present at their confession, ex-
pressed some doubts as to the last part of it ; but, taking Agnes
aside, he affirmed that she " declared unto him the very words
which had passed between him and his Queen on the first night of
their marriage, with their answers to each other ; whereat the
King wondered greatly, and swore by the living God, that he
believed all the devils in hell could not have discovered the same.*
—Ed.

"■ Newes from Scotlandt reprinted in the Gent. Mag. vol. xlix.
p. 449, and quoted in Drake's Shakespeare, vol. n. p. 476.

PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY. 57

and death ! It was, for instance supposed, that the phy-
sical insensibility of the whole, or some part of the body,
was a sure sign of a compact with the devil. In France,
in 1589, fourteen pretended sorcerers, who were declared
incapable of feeling, were, for this cause condemned to
death, on the testimony of the surgeons who formed
part of the legal commission. On an appeal from these
unfortunate beings, another examination was ordered by
the parliament, at that time assembled at Tours. The
sentence was stayed by the sensible men who conducted
the second inquiry, and who reported that the accused
were imbecile or deranged, (perhaps in consequence of
the misery they had endured), but in other respects
physically possessing a keenly sensitive nature.* For
once, truth was triumphant, and the lives of the poor
wretches were saved. But this was a singular instance.

The course of the seventeenth century again saw a
great number of prosecutions for sorcery ; till at length
the progress of knowledge, the great benefit of civiliza-
tion, drew the film from the eyes of the supreme autho-
rities. The Act of the Parliament of France, of 1682,
decrees that sorcerers shall be no longer prosecuted, ex-
cept as deceivers, blasphemers, and poisoners, that is to
say, for their real crimes ; and from that time their number
has diminished every day.f

This discussion may appear superfluous to those im-
patient spirits, who believe it but loss of time, to refute
to-day, the error of yesterday ; forgetting that the de-
velopment of the sources of error form an essential

* Chirurgie de Pigray. lib. viii. chap. x. p. 445.
t Dulaure, Histoire de Paris, tome v. pp. 36 — 37.

58 PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY.

part of the History of the human mind. Besides
although the better instructed throughout Europe have
ceased to believe in witchcraft, is this progress so very
remote ; has the light already shone on so vast a circle
that this subject merits only to be consigned to oblivion ?
Scarcely a hundred years have elapsed since a book ap-
peared in Paris, recommending the rigour of the laws, and
the severity of the tribunals against sorcerers, and against
those who were sceptical, as to the existence of witchcraft,
and magic ; yet this book has received the approbation
of the judges of literature.*

We have already related the punishment of a pretended
witch, who was burned at Wurzburg, in 1750. At the
same period, in an enlightened country, the rage of popu-
lar credulity survived the rigour of the magistrates, who
had ceased to prosecute for a chimerical crime. " Scarcely
half a century has elapsed," writes a traveller, an enthu-
siastic admirer of the English, " since witches have been
drowned in England. In the year 1751, two old
women, suspected to be witches, were arrested, and in
the course of some experiments made on these unfortu-
nate creatures, by the populace, they were plunged three
several times into a pond, and were drowned; this occurred
near Tring, a few miles from London. "f Notwithstand-
ing the vicinity of the metropolis, it does not appear
that any steps were taken to punish the actors in these

* Traité sur la Magie par Daugis (in 12mo. Paris, 1732),
extracted, with an eulogium on it, in the Journal de Trévoux,
September, 1732, pp. 1534—1544,

f Voyage d'un Français en Angleterre, (2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1816,
tome i. p. 490.)

PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY. 59

two murderous assaults, to which the traveller gives the
gentle name of experiments.*

* It is curious to trace the influence of the belief of witchcraft
in England and Scotland, at different periods. It had attracted
the attention of Government in the reign of Henry the Eighth, in
the thirty-third year of which a statute was enacted which adjudged
all witchcraft and sorcery to be punished as felony, without benefit
of clergy. This statute did not regard these crimes as impostures,
but as real supernatural demoniacal gifts, and consequently
punishable. In the subsequent reign, Elizabeth, the Queen,
suffered " under excessive anguish by pains in her teeth,"a which
deprived her of rest, a circumstance which was attributed to the
sorcery of a Mrs. Dyer, who was accused of conjuration and witch-
craft on that account ; indeed, the belief had infatuated all ranks,
and extended even to the clergy. Bishop Jewel, in a sermon
preached before the Queen in 1558, made use of the following
expressions: — "It may please your Grace to understand that
witches and sorcerers, within these few last years, are marvellously
increased within your Grace's realm. Your Grace's subjects pine
away, even unto the death ; their colour fadeth, — their flesh
rotteth, — their speech is benumbed, — their senses are bereft ; — I
pray God they never practise further upon the subject."1" Regi-
nald Scott, also, in his excellent work, entitled " The Discoverie of
Witchcraft," says, " I have heard, to my greefe, some of the
ministerie affirme, that they have had in 'their parish, at one
instant, xvii or xviii witches ; meaning such as could work miracles
supernaturaUie."c Were we not accurately informed of the deep
root, and consequently firm hold, which the idea of the existence
of witchcraft had taken of the public mind at this period, the
neglect of Scott's work, and that of Johannis Wierus, de Prestigiis
Dœmonuvn, would greatly astonish us. Both of these valuable
productions were intended to free the world from the infatuation
which had seized upon it ; to prove the falsehood of the accusa-
tions, and even of the confessions ; and to shield the poor, the

a Styrpe's Annals, vol. iv. p. 7.
b Styrpe's Annals, vol. i. p, 8.
c Discoverie of Witchcraft, chap. i. p. 4.

60 PROSECUTIONS FOR SORCERY.

After such an example, it may be understood, how

ignorant, and the friendless aged from falling victims to the arm of
murder, under the perverted name of justice, uplifted by terror
and the darkest superstition. Scott informs us, that the whole
parish of St. Osus, in Essex, consisting of " seventeene or
eighteene, were condemned at once." On the accession of James
to the English throne, the superstition of that weak and absurd
monarch, which had been previously displayed in his " Demo-
nologie," published at Edinburgh in 1597, brought forth a new
statute against witches, which contains the following clause : —
" Any that shall use, practise, or exercise any invocation or con-
juration of an evill or wicked spirit, or consult, covenant with,
entertain, or employ, feed or rewarde, any evill or wicked spirit, or
to or for any intent or purpose ; or take up any dead man, woman,
or child, out of his, her, or their grave, or any other place where
the dead body resteth, or the skin, bone, or other part of any dead
person, to be employed or used in any manner of witchcraft, sor-
cery, charme, or enchantment, whereby any person shall be killed,
destroyed, wasted, consumed, pined, or bound in his or her body,
or any part thereof ; such offenders, duly and lawfully convicted
and attainted, shall suffer death."" After such edicts as these,
issuing from the highest authorities in the kingdom, can we won-
der at the extension of the credulity of the people respecting
supernatural agency ; or at their faith in the power of those who
professed to do " a deed without a name ;" and who, as the silly
monarch and royal author, to whom we have referred, sayeth,
" gave their hand to the devil, and promised to observe and keepe
all the devil's commandments. "b The early Christians were not
only dupes to these deceptions, but they preferred their assistance
by means of prayers and benedictions to obviate the influence of
the demon ; and thus contributed to rivet the chains that already
enslaved the human mind in the darkest superstition.0 — En.

» This statute was not repealed till the 9th of George the
Second, in 1736.

b Discoverie of Witchcraft, book iii. chap. i. p. 40.

c The act of clucking supposed witches in England, has been
practised more than once within the present century.

PERSECUTIONS OF SUPPOSED SORCERERS» 61

in 1760, in one of the inland provinces of Sweden,* it
required the authority and the courage of the wife of a
great personage, to save twelve families, under an ac-
cusation of witchcraft, from the fury of the populace.

In 1774, in Germany, where philosophy is so ardently
cultivated, numerous disciples and followers of Gassner
and Schrcepfer, adopted their doctrines respecting mira-
cles, exorcisms, magic, and Theurgy.f In 1785, in the
canton of Lucerne, J. Muller, the celebrated historian
and one of his friends, while peaceably seated under a
tree and reading Tacitus aloud, where assailed by a
troop of peasants, who had been persuaded by some
monks, that the strangers were sorcerers. They nar-
rowly escaped being massacred.} At the commence-
ment of the century several sharpers were condemned
in France for traversing the country, and persuading
the peasants, that spells had been cast, both on their
cattle and on themselves ; and, not satisfied with ex-
acting payment for taking off the pretended spells, they
raised violent enmities, and occasioned even murderous
encounters, by pointing out the authors of these pre-
tended spells.

It was still a matter of serious argument, in the
schools of Rome, in the year 1810, as to whether
sorcerers were mad or possessed.! They went further

* En Dalécarlie. — Barbier, Dictionnaire Historique, p. 1195.
f Tiedman. Queestione, &c. pp. 114 — 115.
î C. V. de Bonstetten. Pensées sur divers objets de bien public,
pp 230—232.

Il Guinan Laoureins. Tableau de Rome vers la fin de 1814,
p. 228.

62 PERSECUTIONS OF SUPPOSED SORCERERS.

in Paris, for in 1817, works* were there published in
which the existence of magic was formally maintained ;
and in which the zeal of the learned and virtuous,
but mistaken men, who formerly had caused sorcerers
to be burned, was applauded.

Let the upholders of such doctrines applaud them-
selves ; the doctrines are still dominant in those distant
countries, where colonization has oftener introduced
the vices than the advanced knowledge of Europe.
The elevated and arid soil of the American islands, is,
in summer, a prey to maladies which attack the horses
and flocks, and do not even spare men. It cannot
be doubted that they arise from the noxious proper-
ties of the stagnant water, which they are obliged to
make use of; as a proof of which the habitations, near
a running stream, invariably escape the scourge. Far
from recognising this fact, the planters persist in ascrib-
ing their losses to sorcery, practised by their slaves ; and,
consequently the unlucky individuals, on whom chance
fixes the suspicion, are condemned to perish by torture.f

But, to find examples of such horrible extravagance,
it is unnecessary to cross the ocean. In the year 1617, in
a country village of East Flanders, a father murdered
his daughter, who was only ten years old, " because," he

* Les Précurseurs de I' Anti-Christ. — Les Superstitions et Pres-
tiges des Philosophes. Voyez le Journal de Paris, 28 Décembre,
1817. — The maladies to which our author alludes are the conse-
quence of malaria, arising from decomposing animal and vegetable
matters. If such accusations as he mentions occur in the French
West Indian Islands, they are happily unknown in the English.
—Ed.

f I got this fact from an eye witness.

PERSECUTIONS OF SUPPOSED SORCERERS. 63

asserted, " she was a sorceress." For a similar motive
he intended the same fate for his wife and sister. # It
was pleaded in excuse that he was insane. What awful
insanity was that, which converted the husband and
father into an assassin ! How fearful the credulity that
led to such a delirium ! Can we qualify the culpability
of those who awaken, or who dare to encourage it ?

In 1826 the town of Spire was much scandalized by
a circumstance that was more deplorable from the cha-
racter given to it by the position of those with whom it
originated, and from the moral consequences which
might have ensued. The Bishop of that town died at
the age of eighty-two years, and had bequeathed 20,000
florins to its cathedral. He was not buried in a chapel
of his church, as his predecessors had been ; nor would
the clergy take part in his obsequies, because they
accused the venerable prelate of sorcery.f

How can one, after this, be surprised at the ignorant
credulity of the multitude, with such an example from
their spiritual advisers ?

In the peninsula of Hela, near Dantzic, a woman was
accused by a charlatan of having cast a spell over a sick
person. She was seized, and tortured several times in
the course of two days ; twice they tried to drown her,
they ended by murdering her with a knife, because she
refused to acknowledge herself to be a witch, and
because she declared herself incapable of curing the sick
person. |

* Voyez le Journal de Paris, Jeudi, 3 Avril, 1817. p. 3.
f Voyez le Constitutionnel, du 15 Août, 1826.
X Voyez le National du 28 Août, 1836.

64 PERSECUTIONS OF SUPPOSED SORCERERS.

In France also, justly proud of its enlightenment, of
its civilization, and the gentleness of its manners, this
error has been fruitful. A countrywoman of the neigh-
bourhood of Dax having fallen ill, the friends who were
with her were persuaded by a quack that her illness was
the result of a spell, thrown upon her by one of her
neighbours. The peasants seized on the accused indivi-
dual, and after violently beating her, thrust her into the
flames to compel her to dissolve the spell; there they
held her in spite of her cries, her screams, and assertions
of innocence, and at last drove her from the house only
when she was on the point of expiring.*

This crime, which was committed eleven years ago,
has lately been repeated in a village in the department
of Cher. The victim, who was accused of bewitching
the cattle, will probably die, owing to the atrocious treat-
ment she has met with.f It is true that justice will
pursue her murderers, and punish them ; but of what
use is the condemnation of a few grossly ignorant pea-
sants, while the source of the evil remains unremoved ?
Has the time not yet passed for maintaining the opinion
that it is well for the people to remain in ignorance, and
to believe whatever is told them without examination ?
In the schools open to the lower classes can no one
venture to expostulate, or to forewarn and forearm them
against the dangers of a blind credulity ? Even in the
vicinity of the capital, the country districts are infested
with books on witchcraft. I speak of what I have my-

* Voyez le Constitutionnel du 26 Juillet, 1826.
f Voyez le National du 6 Novembre, 1836.

PERSECUTIONS OF SUPPOSED SORCERERS. 65

self witnessed. One, amongst others recently printed,
particularly attracted my observation, from the typogra-
phical character, the whiteness of the paper, the state of
preservation, and the general neatness of the volume, so
uncommon in the rough hands of a herdsman. With
various absurdities, and extracts from conjuring books,
less innocent recipes were interspersed: for example,
one for the composition of the waters of Death, a violent
poison, described as being capable of transmuting all
metals into gold ; another for procuring early abortion ;
and a third for a more active medicine, should the mother
have felt the infant move : so true it is, as we have
already observed, that lessons of crime have been almost
always mixed up with the absurd fancies of sorcery !

Is this error, then, to be left to root itself out ? Is it
not rather the duty of the higher classes to strive against
the principles that lead to it, until the progress of know-
ledge shall afford a guard to men of simple and limited
understanding ? Should they not endeavour to save
those who wildly believe themselves to be endowed
with supernatural power, from the consequences of
this belief, and release the credulous who, through
fear of this power, are tormented by anxieties
equally formidable in their issue, and ridiculous in
their origin ? Or, is this a mere speculative question of
philosophy ? The age is not long past since peaceable
individuals were dragged to punishment by a multitude
agitated by that excessive terror, which is so much the
more difficult to cure because it has no real foun-
dation ; an age in which a single word, a vague rumour,
was sufficient to constitute the same person at once an

VOL. II. F

66 PERSECUTIONS OF SUPPOSED SORCERERS.

accuser, a judge, and an executioner. Do not these su-
perstitious terrors, which convert man into a ferocious
animal, place a powerful engine in the hands of those
whose interest it is to excite him ; whose aim is the
subversion of order and of government? Should the
opinions I have proffered affix upon me the charge of
profaneness from some fanatical hypocrites, I can only
answer, I am obeying my conscience in endeavouring
to expose the shameful absurdity of a belief as contrary
to the best interests of society, as to all which true piety
teaches of the power, the wisdom, and the goodness
of God.

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 67

CHAPTER III.

Influence of the imagination, seconded by physical accessories ;
in producing an habitual belief in marvellous narrations, by
music, by the habit of exalting the moral faculties, by un-
founded terror, and by presentiments — Sympathetic emotions
increase the effects of the imagination — Cures produced by the
imagination— Flights of the imagination, effected by diseases,
fastings, watchings, and mortifications — Moral and physical
remedies successfully opposed to these flights of the imagination.

To the physical causes which involved pretended
sorcerers in deplorable errors, was added an auxiliary
which alone is sufficient to produce the evil — namely,
Imagination.

Such is its power, that some men have ascribed to its
wanderings the origin of all magical illusions, but this is
going too far. Imagination combines the impressions it
has received ; it does not create.* In the phantoms of

* This definition of our author, although critically correct, yet
does not embody the idea generally entertained of Imagination,
which may be truly said to create ; inasmuch as it selects quali-
ties and circumstances from a great variety of different objects,
and, by recombining and disposing them differently, forms a new

F 2

68 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

sleep, or the reveries of waking hours, it presents nothing
which has not either been seen, or felt, or heard. Terror,
melancholy, uneasiness, or pre- occupation of mind, easily
produce that intermediate state between waking and
sleeping, in which dreams become actual visions. Thus,
proscribed by the triumvirs, Cassius Parmensis fell asleep,
a prey to cares too well justified by his position. A man of
an alarming form appeared to him, and told him he was
his evil genius. Accustomed to believe in the existence
of supernatural beings, Cassius had no doubt of the
reality of the apparition ; and by superstitious minds
such a vision is regarded as the certain warning of that
violent death which an outlaw can scarcely escape.

creation peculiarly its own. It is true that its influence is chiefly
confined to objects of sight ; and we must admit that " we cannot,
indeed," as Addison remarks, " have a single image in the fancy,
that did not make its first entrance through the sight." Were we,
therefore, capable of analysing every illusion, we should most pro-
bably be able to trace, at least, many of its components, although
perhaps not the whole, to objects which had previously made a
lively impression upon our sight. It admits of intellectual combi-
nations and the association of abstract ideas, without which none of
those conversations and reasonings that are carried on in dreams
could occur. This view of imagination, however, does not weaken
the position of our author; and there can be no doubt that, in a mind
not under the control which education bestows, dreams and the
most extravagant illusions acquire a powerful influence in regu-
lating its affections and exciting its passions. Much depends on
the physical condition and health of the individual at the time ; and,
to the state of the nervous system may be ascribed the pleasurable
or distressing nature of illusions, whether the effect of simple
reverie or of dreaming : the influence which they exert on our
conduct, or apparently on our destiny, depends much on the
degree of superstitious credulity which governs the individual.
—Ed.

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 69

The same explanation may be applied to the vision
which appeared to Brutus, without intimidating him,
on the eve of the battle of Philippi ; and still more for-
cibly to the dream of the Emperor Julian.*

The night preceding his death, a Genius seemed to
retire from him with an air of consternation. He re-
cognised in the spectre, the Genius of the Empire, whose
image might be seen in everything around him; reproduced
upon the coin ; reverenced by the soldiers upon the centre
of his standards ; and doubtless also placed in his tent.
Uneasy at the famine which afflicted his troops ; certain
that, even in the bosom of his army, a religion op-
posed to his own faith raised up numerous enemies,
and perhaps assassins ; on the eve of a decisive battle ;
is it surprising that the enthusiastic disciple of the
theurgian philosophy, whose doctrine assigned so impor-
tant an office to the Genii, should have seen such a vision
in a perplexing dream ? Julian believed that he actually
saw the Genius of the Empire sad, and ready to abandon
him.

Let us take another example. An aged woman was
mourning for a brother whom she had just lost : suddenly
she thought she heard his voice, which, by a blameable
deception, was counterfeited near her. Seized with fear,
she declared that the spirit of her brother had appeared
to her radiant with light. She would not have seen such
a vision if her memory had not, from her childhood,
been filled with stories of ghosts and apparitions.

These stories may be traced to the most ancient times,

* Ammian Mar cell. lib. xxv.

70 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

and then they were not counterfeited. Let us remember
that in the sanctuaries, in the time of Orpheus, they in-
voked the dead. Even in ancient Judea these phantas-
magorical apparitions abounded. The first accounts of
which were then neither founded on dreams, nor upon the
wandering of the imagination, nor upon the desire of
deceiving; the individuals did actually see what they
asserted they had seen; and which, as they were con-
stantly stimulated by such narrations, or the recollection
of them, and overcome by sorrow yet full of curiosity,
they both feared and desired to behold.

In the mountains of Scotland, and in some countries
of Germany, the people still believe in the reality of
apparitions, which are said to be warnings of an approach-
ing death.* One sees, distinct from one's self, as it were,

* Fantasmagoria, or Collection of Stories, &c. translated from
the German, (2 vols. 12mo., Paris, 1812), vol. n. pp. 126—142.
These apparitions are denominated " Wraiths," or " Taisch,"
which means simply visions ; and the persons beholding them are
called seers. They are generally prophetic of evil, but not
always ; as births, marriages, and many other events, are said to
be foretold by these beholders of the shadows "of coming events."
In the Highlands of Scotland, at one period, they were generally
and firmly believed. Although many seers might be in the same
place or apartment, yet all of them did not see the same vision,
unless they touched each other, when it became common. The
gift was also inherent : it could not be taught ; but Mr. Aubrey
says it: was taught in the Isle of Skye.

Every Highlander believes that he has an attendant genius or
spirit, which is always present with him from the cradle to the grave.
This spirit is a counterpart of himself, in form, in dress, and in every
other respect : but, although thus peculiarly his attendant, yet the
spirit may be separated from him for a time, and may perform
acts, when distant from him, which his principal shall execute at

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 7 I

another self, a figure in every respect resembling one's own
in form, features, gesticulations, and attire. To produce
a similar miracle is not beyond the resources of art. It

somefuture time. Thus if the person is likely to die, or to perform
some act that may endanger life, his wraith may appear to his
distant friends, and thus communicate the sad news, or anticipate
the event. In a few words, the Highland wraith is the simulacrum
or imago of the ancient Romans. The visions may be of the
spectre alone, who may be seen either by the individual himself,
or by his friends or by strangers ; but, when the attendant genius
appears to his principal his back only is seen : on other occa-
sions the vision may consist of a number of persons or things ; for
example, the whole ceremony of a funeral or a marriage may be
displayed.

The inhabitants of the Western Islands and of St. Kilda were
especially liable to be affected by these impressions. The apparitions
were generally exact resemblances of the individuals, in person, in
features, and in clothing. They attacked the individuals some
months before they sickened of the disease of which they died. A
man on a sick bed was visited by a lady, the wife of the clergyman
of St. Kilda, and was asked by her if at any time he had seen
any resemblance of himself : he replied in the affirmative, and told
her that, to make farther trial, as he was going out of his house of
a morning, he put on straw rope garters, instead of those he for-
merly used ; and having gone to the fields, his other self appeared
in straw garters. The conclusion of the story is, that the sick man
died of that ailment ; and the lady no longer questioned the truth
of such presages. — (Sir W. Scott. A Legend of Montrose,
chap. xvii. note Wraiths.)

In such cases, it is evident that the illusion was truly the result
of imagination, operating under the influence of derangement of
the nerves, the body being already in a state of incipient disease.
The uneasy sensations of approaching disease would naturally
awaken in a mind educated in the belief of such apparitions, the
idea of some impending evil, and Imagination would readily
operate in completing the illusion. [It

72 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

will be necessary in the first place to place a concave
mirror, or segment of a large sized sphere, at the
back of a deep closet ; and to dispose a lamp at
the top of the cabinet, in such a manner that

It is, also, probable that, as the wraiths or apparitions of them-
selves, which are seen by these islanders, always appear in the
early morning, and in mountainous districts subject to fogs, they
may be the result of an optical deception, such as occurs at the
Brocken, one of the Hertz or Harz Mountains, and occasionally in
Cumberland. St. Kilda is the most northern of the Hebrides,
and consists of an unequal mountainous ridge, the highest point of
which Benochan, rises 1,380 feet above the level of the sea ; and,
as in the Harz, the south-west wind, which prevails, brings with
it fogs. As many of our readers may not be aware of the nature of
the Spectre of the Brocken, we shall abridge the lucid account of
it, from Gmelin" given by Sir David Brewster. — {Letters on Natu-
ral Magic.) We may remark that this spectre seems to have been
observed at a very early period, as the blocks of granite on the
summit of the Brocken are called the sorcerer's chair and altar ;
a spring of pure water, the magic fountain ; and the anemone, on its
margin, the sorcerer's flower, — names which are presumed to have
originated in the rites of the great Saxon idol Vortho, who was
secretly worshipped in the Brocken. This mountain was visited
by Mr. Hane, on the 23d of May, 1797. " The sun rose at four
o'clock, a.m., through a serene atmosphere, which afterwards
became clouded with vapours brought by a west wind. A quarter
past four, Mr. Hane, looking towards the south-west, observed at
a great distance a human figure of monstrous size. His hat
having been nearly carried away by a gust of wind, he suddenly
raised his hand to his head ; the colossal figure did the same.
He next bent his body — the spectral figure repeated the action,
and then vanished. It soon, however, returned in another spot,
and mimicked all his gestures as before. He then called the
landlord of the inn, when, after a short time, two colossal figures
appeared over the spot where the single figure had previously

' Gbttingen. Journal der Wissenschaften, 1798, vol. i. part in.

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 73

its light may not pass straight through, but, on the con-
trary, fall with all its brilliancy upon the spot where it
will be necessary to; place yourself, in order to obtain the
best possible effect from the mirror. To this spot conduct,
without his knowledge, an uneducated man, one given
to reverie and the terrors of mysticism ; contrive that the
folding-doors of the closet shall suddenly open, and pre-
sent to him the deceptive glass. He will see his own
image come forth from the depth of the darkness, and
advance towards him radiant with light ;* and in such

appeared. Retaining their position, these two spectral figures
were joined by a third ; and all three mimicked the movements of
the two spectators. These spectres appeared standing in the air."
Similar aerial figures have been several times observed, amongst
the hills surrounding the lakes in Cumberland.

These spectral illusions, so admirably calculated to impress the
credulous with their supernatural origin, " are merely shadows of
the observer, projected on dense vapour or thin fleecy clouds, which
have the power of reflecting much light." They are most
frequently seen at sunrise, when the sun throws its rays hori-
zontally, when the shadow of the observer is thrown neither
upwards nor downwards. Sometimes, " owing to the light
reflected from the vapours or clouds becoming fainter farther from
the shadow, the head of the observer appears surrounded with a
halo ;a which affords another reason for strengthening the belief in
the reality of the spectre. The St. Kilda spectre, with its straw
garters, is thus easily explained." We refer our readers to
Brewster's little volume, to which we are indebted for the above
explanation of the Spectre of the Brocken.

Time and superior education, however, will gradually expel such
superstitions : they have ceased to prevail even at St. Kilda. — Ed.

* " I approached the closet ; the two doors opened without the
least noise, the light which I held in my hand was suddenly extin-
guished, and, as if before a mirror, I saw my own image advance
* Brewster, 1. c. pp. 153, 154.

74 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

a shape that he will think it possible to take hold of
it, but in advancing for that purpose it will disappear.
He cannot explain this vision naturally; he does not
attempt it ; he has seen it, actually seen it ; he cannot
forget it. The recollection of it pursues him, besets him,
and soon, perhaps, his imagination becomes so excited
that the phenomenon is spontaneously reproduced with-
out the aid of the exterior cause.* The disorder of
the mind is communicated to the nerves. The credulous
man languishes, wastes away, and at last dies. The
records of his unhappy end survive him. Invalids, or
people with a tendency to disease, hearing the legend
repeated, meditate upon it ; their reveries are impregnated
by it ; and they end at last, by seeing the vision which
they have heard related from their youth ; and being per-
suaded that it is the forerunner of death, they die of
their own conviction.f

from the closet, the light which it spread illuminating a large
portion of the apartment." — Fantasmagoriana, torn. n. pp. 137,
138.

* This explanation is perfectly correct in reference to spectral
illusions within a house or a temple ; but those of the second
sight seen in the morning, and in the open air, can only be ex-
plained as in the foregoing note. — Ed.

t No better explanation can be given of the fulfilment of the pre-
diction of these seers : death, when predicted, and the prediction
when believed will take place. Such creeds assimilate every event
to themselves ; even the seer himself is the dupe of his credulity,
a circumstance less wonderful than the confessions of witchcraft,
or of the insane German werewolf, Peter Stump, who murdered
sixteen persons, from an idea that he was one of the sorcerers
termed werewolves, who, by means of an ointment and girdle, were
believed to become real wolves ; tearing to pieces and devouring
men, women, and children. This wretched maniac was inhumanly
tortured with red-hot pincers, and broken on the wheel. — En.

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 75

If such is still human credulity, can we suppose that,
in less enlightened times, the Thaumaturgists, endowed
with so many means of acting upon the imagination,
would have allowed so powerful an instrument for ex-
tending the empire of the marvellous to have remained
idle.* Supported by some real, but extraordinary facts,
the recital of prodigies and apparent miracles everywhere
governed credulity ; or rather it formed, as in the present
day, almost all the instruction allotted to the vulgar, and
prepared their eyes beforehand for seeing everything,
their ears for hearing everything, and their minds for
believing everything.

Thus prepared, thus excited by some powerful cause,
where will the influence of Imagination stop ? By turns
it is terrible and seducing, but always ready to confound
us with unforeseen phenomena, and intoxicate us by fan-
tastic marvels; to suspend or excite the action of our senses
to the highest possible degree ; to withdraw the play of
our organs from the empire of our will, and the regular
course of nature ; to impress upon them emotions and
an unknown strength, or to render them rigid and im-
moveable ; to excite the mind to folly, or even to frenzy ;
at one time creating objects far above the tameness of
humanity, and at another raising terrors more dangerous
than the perils which they represent ; such are the
flights, such the freaks of the Imagination ; and ruled,
in its turn, by the disorder fallen upon our physical func-
tions, it originates fresh errors, new fears, more powerful

* See chap. xm. upon the subject of the optical illusions pro-
duced by the ancient Thaumaturgists.

76 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

deliriums, and torments ; until remedies purely material,
by curing the body, restore to the mind that calm which
the diseased condition of the nervous system had taken
from it.

What pretended miracles would not a skilful Thauma-
turgist work with a power susceptible of such various
application, and endowed with so irresistible an influ-
ence ? Let us not speak of contracted minds only ; or of
men as ignorant and weak as the unfortunate beings
whose miseries we have just retraced ; let the strongest
minded man suppose himself, unconsciously, exposed to
every cause which can act upon his imagination, will he,
we may inquire, dare to affirm that these influences will
not operate upon him; that his moral strength will
triumph, and that there shall be no perturbation in his
heart, no confusion in his thoughts ?

The ancients were not ignorant of the advantages
which, under various relations, could be taken of the in-
fluence of the Imagination. This fascinating and power-
ful agent explains an immense number of the wonders
described in their histories. Our path, however, is traced
out, namely, to render these marvels credible, by opposing
to them analogous facts observed in modern times, facts
in which imposture has not been more suspected than
the intervention of a supernatural power.

No less calm than persevering in her mystic reveries,
the celebrated Madame de Guyon declared to Bossuet,
her accuser and judge, and also related in her life,* that
she had received from God such an abundance of grace

* Vie de Mme. de Guyon écrite par elle-même, torn. ii. chap.
xiii — xxii. ; torn, in, chap. i.

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 77

that her body could not bear it ; and that it was
necessary that she should be unlaced and placed upon
her bed, in order that some other person should receive
from her the superabundance of the grace which filled
her. This communication, she asserted, was effected in
silence, and often upon the absent; and could alone
relieve her feeling of excess. The Duke de Chevreuse,
a man of serious and austere manners, also affirmed to
Bossuet that he had felt this communication of grace
when seated near Madame de Guyon ; and he ingenuously
asked the prelate if he did not experience a similar sen-
sation.* Entitled at once to ridicule, and equally to
compassion, these two persons were not very unlike the
Prophets and Pythonesses, who are described to us as
being so subjugated by the God whose presence filled
their whole being, as to be forced to utter the oracles,
which he himself placed in their mouths, to be an-
nounced to the world.

Let the excitement increase, and man will fall into a
state of slavery capable of making him not only believe
in assumed miracles, but in his power of working them,
because it withdraws him as much from the empire of
reason as from that of physical impressions. This ecs-
tacy has attracted the attention of physiologists, and
provoked some learned researches, the results of which
will probably be confirmed by ulterior observations.

To examine it in this light would carry us too far from
our subject ; we must, therefore, limit ourselves to those
facts immediately connected with it. We are assured

* Burigny. Vie de Bossuet, (12mo. Paris, 1761) pp. 274, 275
et 280.

78 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

that the Hindoos can fall at pleasure into ecstacy, a state
to which the Kamschatdales, the Jakoutes, and natives
of North and South America are very prone. It has
been observed, that since the persecutions exer-
cised by Europeans in the formerly happy countries
of Tahiti and the Sandwich Islands, the imagina-
tion of the followers of the ancient religion has been
much excited.* This ecstacy, or trance, is in some
degree a benefit to an ignorant and superstitious people ;
it gives them instantaneously the power of forgetting
their miseries, beneath the weight of which they drag on
a languishing existence. We may, in this point of view,
compare it to intoxication, to the heavy torpor produced
by stupifying drugs, which have been sometimes used by
unhappy beings to enable them to bear the agonies of
torture.f Volney attributed the extraordinary courage
exhibited in the midst of most frightful torments by the
natives of Northern America, to the effects of a state
bordering on ecstacy.j

* Ferdinand Denis, Tableau des Sciences Occultes, pp. 201 —
205.

f See chap. i. vol. n.

% Œuvres complètes de Volney, torn. vu. pages 443 — 450.
The Editor is of opinion, that this degree of insensibility to cor-
poreal suffering, depends on directing the mind powerfully to
some object, or train of recollection, capable of abstracting it
wholly from the sensations produced upon the nervous system by
extraneous impressions. It is well known that directing the mind
to the seat of disease, will augment both the diseased action going
on in the part, and also increase to a degree of acute suffering any
pain previously felt in the part. Thus, independent of the counter-
irritation produced by a blister, much of its- beneficial influence arises
from the attention being directed to a new seat of pain. On this

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 79

Ecstacy has, above all, the advantage of supplying, to
the believer, all that the coldness of the testimony has
left defective in the descriptions of celestial happiness.
Man being, by reason of his weak nature, susceptible of
prolonged pain and short enjoyments, can much more
easily imagine the torments of the infernal regions than
the joys of heaven. This ecstacy does not describe these
pleasures, nor prove their future existence ; it causes them
to be actually tasted. That the ancients should have
studied the cause and known the power of this ecstatic
fervour is hardly to be doubted ;# and if it was necessary
to lead some ardent imaginations by secondary agents, the
Thaumaturgists had at their control the pomp of cere-
monies, the splendour of illusions, the charm of pageants,
and the seductions of melody. Music alone was sufficient
to plunge many young and tender souls into the most
delicious illusions. It was from that source that Cha-
banon f twice in his youth experienced feelings similar
to the descriptions of the ecstacies of the Saints.
" Twice/' said he, " when listening to the notes of the
organ or to sacred music, have I thought myself trans-
ported into heaven ; and this vision had something so real
in it, and I was so carried out of myself while it lasted,
that the actual presence of the objects could not have

principle, Protestant martyrs, by concentrating their thoughts on
the eternal triumphs they are about to enjoy for their constancy
in their faith, have felt little or nothing under the tortures of the
Inquisition, or the consuming flames of the stake. — Ed.

* Tertullian. De Ecstasi.

f Chabanon. Tableau de quelques circonstances de ma vie, 8çc.
Œuvres posthumes, pp. 10, 11.

80 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

had upon me a stronger effect." Had this young man,
in less enlightened times, been placed under the disci-
pline of Thaumaturgists, who were desirous of cultivating
this inclination to reverie, the momentary ecstacy would
have become an actual durable vision which he would no
more have doubted than his own existence, and the truth
of which he would have attested with all the obstinacy
of a convinced man, and all the enthusiasm of a martyr.

We have already spoken of the magical influence of
harmonious sounds.* We can also recal to remembrance
how Alexander and Erick-le-bonf were excited to a
deadly anger by warlike songs. The feeling experienced
by these two heroes is still produced upon soldiers when
marching to battle to the sound of warlike instruments.

Alone, without exterior aid, without physical im-
pressions, the imagination can warm itself to a degree
of fury, to the pitch of delirium.

To be convinced of this fact, it will be sufficient
to attempt upon ourselves a similar experiment, and in
disposing ourselves either for or against any object
occupying our thoughts, we shall be surprised at the

* Refer to chap. vu. vol. i.

f Saxo Grammat. Hist. Dan. lib. xn. pp. 204, 205. Erick le
Bon, or St. Erick, was a Swedish nobleman of the name of Ind-
wardun, connected by alliance with the Royal Families of Sweden
and Denmark. He was elected to the throne of Denmark in 1155.
He marched against Finland, which he subdued, solely to convert
the inhabitants to the Christian faith ; and left the Bishop of Upsal
in the country to found churches, whilst he himself framed a code
of laws for them. He was killed by a party of Danes, who had
unexpectedly landed on the coast, under Prince Magnus, in 1161.
The fact mentioned in the text merely demonstrates the highly
excitable condition of his nervous system. — Ed.

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 81

degree of anger or tender feeling to which this voluntary
illusion would soon lead us. Let us ask ourselves
whether it is not necessary for the dramatic author to
identify himself with the impassioned character he
personifies, in order to portray the real expression of his
feelings. Where such is not the case, eloquence and
poetry offer him but insufficient resources ; we perceive,
at once, that it is he, and not his hero, that speaks. The
actor, in his turn, cannot succeed if he does not actually
become the character he represents, as far at least as the
theatrical regulations permit him, The costume, the
attendance, the presence, and language of the personages,
whom he is to struggle against or defend, second him
in his illusion ; he is moved, before he dreams of having
excited our emotions ; his cries come from his heart ;
his tears are often not feigned. What then would be the
effect, if a personal interest actually deep and present
were to be attached to the passions and sentiments he
expressed ? He would then actually be what he assumes,
and with more truth, perhaps, or at least more energy,
than the personage whose transports he reanimates. Let
us go farther, and freeing the imp assioned being from the
restraint imposed by public observation, place him in the
situation in which I have several times observed a young
woman placed, who was endowed with a powerful organi-
zation and a very excitable and lively imagination. It would
have been more than imprudent to have confided to her
the character of an heroine, chanting the song of war, and
precipitating herself armed upon the enemies of her
country. This single thought, a weapon of which she
might possess herself, some words, some verses that she

VOL. II. g

82 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

might recite, would suddenly intoxicate her with* fury
strangely contrasting with her gentle and amiable disposi-
tion. The most loved being would not long have been safe
from her blows. This sudden and formidable excite-
ment inspires the belief that what has been related of
the Scandinavian heroes is perfectly credible. " They
were seized, from time to time, with a fit of frenzy.
They foamed with rage, made no distinction of persons,
but struck at random with their swords, friends, enemies,
trees, stones, animate and inanimate objects ; they swal-
lowed burning coals, and threw themselves into the fire.
When the fit was at an end, they suffered long from
extreme exhaustion."* If as the author I have just quoted
seems to think, this was the effect of an intoxicating
beverage, the Sagas which contain so many examples of
the fact, would sometimes have alluded to the causes of
it. I have no doubt that these furious movements
proceeded from the habitual state of the Imagination
rendering it liable at times to an excessive excitement.
The peculiar sentiments of these warriors, who knew no
happiness but that of seeing the blood of their enemies
or their own blood flow ; and whose paradise was open
only to heroes dying in battle, were quite sufficient to
excite this transient frenzy : we are neatly as much
astonished that they were not continually a prey to it.f

* Depping. History of the Expeditions of the Normans, and their
Settlement in France in the 10th century, vol. i. p. 46.

f The same degree of wild enthusiastic fervour was lately wit-
nessed by a British officer, who was travelling in Algeria, at the
festival of a sect termed Arouates. The ceremonies consisted in
the most frantic exhibition of actions almost preternatural, but
evidently the result of a highly excited imagination. — Ed.

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 83

Will not an excess of terror sometimes produce the
same delirium as an excess of courage? Why not, if
reason is equally disordered by both ? The Samoyedes,
says a traveller, are exceedingly susceptible of fear.# If
they are unexpectedly touched, or if their minds are struck
by some unforeseen terrifying object, they lose the use of
their reason, and are seized with a maniacal fury. They
arm themselves with a knife, a stone, a club, or some
other weapon, and throw themselves upon the person
who has occasioned their surprise or fright ; and if un-
able to satisfy their rage, they howl and roll upon the
ground like an enraged animal. We must here observe,
that the original cause of these peculiarities is the fear
the Samoyedes entertain of sorcerers ; and the unhappy
beings, tormented by the delirium which is the result of
it, are consequently looked upon as sorcerers. What a
fertile mine for the exploits of a worker in miracles !

More generally fear places the weak man completely
in the power of him who inspires him with the
passion. If, as many observers have thought, fear is
the real operating principle in all that has been related
of serpents and other animals charming the feeble bird
they intend to make their prey, the look of a strong
threatening man ought to exercise a similar influence
over weak minds ; nor can they, in fact, withstand it.
Their enchained faculties leave them powerless, senseless,
under the influence of the charm. In the legends of
every country there is nothing more common than the

* Wagner. Memoirs of Russia, %c. p. 207.

G 2

84 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

inevitable power which the fascinating glance of a magi-
cian has exercised. This power is not entirely chimerical ;
although mean, or common in its origin, yet it has an
unbounded ascendancy over the timid Imagination.

And does not, we may inquire, man himself conspire
to aid such an ascendancy, when, at the very moment
that he is attempting to fortify himself by plausible
reasonings, he spontaneously gives himself up to deadly
terrors. Without any exterior circumstance to cause
his folly, a weak mind (often so on this point only) is
filled with one fixed idea ; for example, that such or
such an age will inevitably lead to the end of life ! Such
a disease must terminate fatally ! How many of these
vain presentiments have rendered inevitable the event
which seemed to justify them. They operate continually
and destructively upon the weakened nerves, which would
have recovered their natural vigour if they had not been
influenced by these mournful apprehensions.

If fear, instead of spontaneously rising in a soul where
reason can still struggle against it, should be the result
of a formidable power, the limits of which we dare not
assign, its effects will be no less sure and terrible than
those of steel and poison. To prove this assertion, a recent
example can be joined to the testimony of all the facts
offered to us in ancient history. There exists in the
Sandwich Isles a religious community pretending to a
power, obtained from heaven by the prayers addressed
to it, of destroying every enemy they wish to overcome.
If any one incurs its hatred, they announce to him that
imprecations against him will be commenced ; and not

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 85

unfrequently this declaration is sufficient to cause the
unfortunate individual exposed to their anathema to die
of fright, or to commit suicide.*

The influence that sympathy and a propensity to imi-
tation f exercise upon the organs, is also felt upon the

* Lisianski. Voyage round the World in 1803 — 1806. Biblio-
thèque Universelle, année 1816. Littérature, tome ni. pp. 162 —
163.

f A thousand instances might be brought forward to demon-
strate the influence of imitation. One of the most remarkable
was the dancing mania which prevailed all over Europe in the
fourteenth century, and which actually grew into a real epidemic.
It is only requisite to relate two or three instances of more recent
date in this kingdom. At a cotton manufactory, at Holden
Bridge, in Lancashire, a girl, on the 15th of February, 1787, put
a mouse into the bosom of another girl, who was thereby thrown
into convulsions, which lasted for twenty-four hours. On the
following day, six girls, who had witnessed these convulsions, were
affected in a similar manner, and on the 17th six more. The
alarm became so great, that the whole work was stopped, under
the idea that some particular disease had been introduced in a bag
of cotton opened in the house. On the 18th three more and on
the 19th eleven more girls were seized. Three of the whole
number, namely twenty-four, lived two miles from the factory,
and three were at another factory at Clitheroe, about five miles
off, but who were strongly impressed with the idea of the plague,
as the convulsions were termed, being caught from the cotton.
Dr. Sinclair relieved all the cases by electrifying the affected girls .
The convulsions were so strong, as to require four or five persons
to hold the patients, and to prevent them from tearing their hair
and dashing their heads on the floor or on the walls."

Upwards of a century ago, a woman in Shetland, labouring
under epilepsy, was attacked with paroxysms of the disease in the

8 Gentleman's Mag. 1787. p. 268, quoted in Hecker's Epidemics,
trans, by D. Babington, p. 141.

86 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

Imagination like the contagious effects of laughter,
yawning, tears, depression, and enthusiasm. A widow
who was affected with an hysterical melancholy, com-
mitted actions so strange that she was supposed to be
possessed with a demon. It was not long before some
young girls about her were similarly attacked. They
were cured as soon as they were taken from her ; and
the widow herself, under the treatment of an able physi-
cian, recovered her reason with her health.* How many
stories of demons could be reduced to as few words. We
should be wrong if we supposed there was nothing but
deception in the history of the convulsions of St. Me-
dard,f and those of other people who fell at once under
the influence of the evil spirit. The greatest number
of these men were, on the contrary, honest in intention,
but necessitated to this imitation from their excitable
organization, weak minds, and heated imaginations. The

church ; the result was, that many adult females and some chil-
dren became affected in a similar manner ; and the disease has
continued to occur very frequently, ever since, during divine ser-
vice. When Dr. Hibbert visited the Island of Unst, and was
attending the kirk of Baliasta, a female shriek was heard ; but the
person was carried out by the desire of the clergyman, who also
requested any woman, who felt that she might be similarly
affected, to leave the church. Dr. Hihbert says, " On leaving the
kirk, I saw several females writhing and tossing about their arms,
on the green grass. "a — Ed.

* Fromann. De Fascinatione, &c. p. 55.

f St. Medard was a native of Salency, in Picardy. He was
descended of a noble family, and flourished in the fifth and sixth
centuries. He was inaugurated Bishop of Noyonin 530, and died
in 561, not at a very advanced age. — En.

a Description of the Shetland Islands. 4to. p. 401.

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 87

poets have probably not exaggerated in their descriptions
of the fury with which the Bacchants were seized when
celebrating their orgies. The greater part of these Bac-
chants were more morally than physically intoxicated.
They only imitated involuntarily the transports of some
priestesses ; but whether the latter kept within the bounds
of and played an arranged part, or whether, placed under
the influence of the Imagination, excited by spirituous
liquors, songs, instruments of music, and the cries, and the
mystic disorders that surrounded them, they were them-
selves the first to feel that all which their example inspired
in others, may be questioned.

The Imagination is not always hurtful, for how many
unhoped-for, sudden, and prodigious cures have been
effected by it. Our medical books are filled with facts
of this nature, which among an unenlightened people
would easily pass for miracles. It requires also some
effort of reason to see nothing but what is natural in
these sudden effects of the influence of Imagination. Man
is so accustomed to look for the marvellous wherever the
cause does not strike upon him as forcibly and closely as
the effect.*

* In the fourteenth century, a disease appeared in Europe

which induced those afflicted with it to leap and dance. It was

called St. Vitus's dance, from a firm-rooted belief that the shrine

of St. Vitus possessed the power of curing it ; and, solely from

the influence of this belief on the mind, many were cured. The

legend whence this belief arose, taught that St. Vitus, before he

bent his neck to the sword, at his martyrdom, prayed that the

Deity would protect from the dancing mania all who should

solemnize the day of his commemoration, and fast on its eve ;

whereupon a voice from heaven was heard saying, " Vitus, thy

prayer is accepted."

[The

88 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

Animal magnetism, in which all the real phenomena

The cures effected by the Royal touch, and the money (716,
see Excerpta Historica, p. 87, etc.) given to each person touched,
were due solely to the influence of confidence operating as a
powerful tonic on the animal S3*stem, labouring under the relaxa-
tion on which scrofula chiefly depends : the anticipation also of
benefit caused an increase of nervous energy equivalent to that
effected by physical excitants. The celebrated Flamstead, the
astronomer, when a lad of nineteen, went into Ireland to be touched
by a celebrated empiric, named Greatracks, who cured his patients
without medicines, "by the stroke of his hand." Flamstead
says, " he was eye-witness of several cures," although he himself
was not benefited. (Bailey's Life and Observations of Flamstead.)
He awaited, but did not anticipate the result.

A more impudent quack than Greatracks has seldom appeared ;
he flourished in the seventeenth century. The belief in his power
general, from the most highly born and educated, to the most
abject and illiterate mendicant, all sacrificed at the altar of Cre-
dulity, and relied on the healing touch of Greatracks. In a letter
to Lord Conway, who sent for him from Ireland on account of the
health of Lady Conway, this prince of impostors thus expresses
himself; — " The virtuosi have been daily with me since I writ to
your honour last, and have given me large and full testimonials,
and God has been pleased to do wonderful things in their sight,
so that they are my hearty and good friends, and have stopped
the mouth of the Court, where the sober party are now most of
them believers, and my champions. The King's doctors, this day,
(for the confirmation of their Majesties' belief) sent three out of
the hospital to me, who came on crutches; but, blessed be God!
they all went home well, to the admiration of all people, as well
as the doctors. Sir Heneage Finch says, that I have made the
greatest faction and distraction between clergy and laymen, that
any one has these thousand years." Such was his boast; there
is retribution in this world as well as in the next : the reputa-
tion of Greatracks soon afterwards declined as suddenly as it had
risen. [But

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 89

are produced by an excited imagination, was first cried up
by charlatans as a physical agent ; and has become in the

But we need not go to the seventeenth century for examples of
the power of Imagination as a curative agent. In the early part
of the present century, a Miss Fancourt was cured of a spine com-
plaint, in answer to the prayers of a Mr. Greaves. She had been
ill eight years, and during the last two years had been confined to
her sofa. She was apparently cured ; she again walked ; and the
only question was, how was the cure effected ? Dr. Jervis, a very
sensible physician, remarks, " that her disease had probably been
some time previously subdued, and only wanted an extraordinary
stimulus to enable her to make use of her legs. Both my friends,
Mr. Travers, and the late Mr. Parkinson, concurred in thinking
that there had been nothing in the illness or the recovery but what
might be accounted for by natural causes." Mr. Travers, in a
letter on the subject, says — " Credulity, the foible of a weakened,
though vivacious intellect, is the pioneer of an unqualified and
overweening confidence ; and thus prepared, the patient is in the
most hopeful state for the credit, as well as the craft, of the pre-
tender." On the same principle are to be explained the cures
performed by the metallic tractors ; mustard seed ; brandy and
salt ; the prayers of Prince Hohenlohe ; the embrocations of
St. John Long ; the miracle performed by Mesmerism on my
talented friend Miss Martineau ; and a thousand cases in which
hysteria played a notable part, and which only required full con-
fidence in the prescriber to effect a complete cure.

The means employed as the remedial agents in these cases are
very varied ; but they were all fully confided in by the patients ; and
in that confidence lies the secret of their success. Music, as in the
dancing mania, has often performed wonders. Democritus affirms
that diseases are capable of being cured by the sound of a flute,
when properly played. Asclepiades employed the trumpet to cure
sciatica : its continued sound, he affirmed, makes the fibres of the
nerves to palpitate, and the pain vanishes. Even the great Bacon
believed in the power of charming away warts. — Ed.

90 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

hands of fanatics and impostors one branch of modern
Theurgy.*

" When the imagination of an invalid has been much
struck by details of the efficacy of some remedy which
is naturally inefficacious, it may in such a case become
truly salutary. Thus, " an invalid may be relieved by
magical ceremonies, if he be convinced beforehand that
they will effect his cure."f Have not these words of an
ancient physician been verified in the happy applications
of animal magnetism, Perkinism, the sympathetic pow-
der, and jugglings of the same kind, that both in ancient
and modern times have been seen by turns to triumph or
fall into contempt ? j

* The magnetic sleep, and the miraculous effects it produces,
were predicted by the enthusiast Swedenborg, in the year 1763,
when he said. " Man may be raised to the celestial light even in
this world, if the bodily senses could be entombed in a lethargic
slumber," &c. (Of Angelic Wisdom, p. 357.) This conclusion
belongs to the >partizans of Swedenborg ; but they hastened to
add, that we must not implicitly believe all that the somniloquists
or somnambulists have stated, that all is not good that is revealed :
they depend upon that verse of St. John's 1st Epistle, chap. iv.
verse 1, "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether
they are of God." They recommend, above all, no dépendance
upon those somnambulists who would dispute with Swedenborg
his office of messenger of God, or who would speak against his
doctrine. (Daillant Latouche. Abrégé des Ouvrages de Swedenborg,
pp. 55, 58.

f De Incantatione libellus (inter libros Galeno ascriptos),
" Quando mens humana rem amat aliquam," etc.

X It would be well if they always fell into contempt ;
but wherever ignorance and superstition enslave the mind,
there credulity erects her temple. At so late a period as 1837,
the Honourable Robert Curzon, jun., travelling in the East,

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 91

The Imagination, although having so powerful an
effect upon our bodily organs, is in its turn subjected to
their deranging influence when disease has disturbed
the harmony of their functions.

Four hundred years before the Christian sera, Carthage
was a prey to one of those endemics which the ancients
denominated Plagues: agitated by a frenetick transport,
the effect of the disease, the greater part of the inhabit-
ants flew to arms to repulse an imaginary enemy, who
they believed had penetrated into the city.#

The shipwrecked mariners of the Medusa, when
exhausted by fatigue, hunger, and affliction upon the raft
to which they had been so cruelly abandoned, experienced
ecstatic illusions, the charm of which contrasted fright -

arrived at Nagadi, and had a conference with the Bishop. In the
midst of it, a tall figure, with a heavy chain tied to his legs,
entered the apartment, waving a brazen censer in his hand, with
which he made an attack upon the party, and was with some diffi-
culty secured, and carried off. " He was the son of the Bishop,
and, being a maniac, had been chained down before the altar of St.
George, — a sovereign remedy in these cases ; only he pulled up the
staples of his chain, and came away with the censer, before his
cure was completed."11 Is it wonderful, indeed, that the decep-
tions of the Asclepiades should have succeeded, when we observe
Charlatanism flourishing and patronised by the aristocracy, and even
by the educated and learned, in our own times. In the temples,
during the influence of the Asclepiades in Greece, the patients
slept on goat- skins ; and when they were supposed to be asleep,
but known to be kept awake by the novelty of their situation, a
priest, dressed as iEsculapius, accompanied by young girls, trained
to represent the daughters of the God, entered and delivered a
solemn medical opinion, which the result confirmed in proportion
to the credulity and intellectual imbecility of the hearers. — Ed.
* Diodod. Sic. lib. xv. cap. ix.

a Quarterly Review, vol. lxxvii. p. 53.

92 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

fully with their desperate situation.* In these two
instances, the moral disorder may have been augmented
by sympathy and the propensity to imitation. But more re-
cent and individual instances are not wanting. The mother
of the Regent Duke of Orleans relates, in her correspond-
ence, an anecdote of a lady of her acquaintance, which
seems the height of absurdity, yet has nothing improbable
in it if we look upon it as a vision produced, during the
lying-in of a woman, by the delirium accomp anying the
milk fever.f A young man, victim to bad habits, had fallen
into a marasmus ;| he was tormented with phantoms,
and complained that he heard the sentence of his eternal
condemnation perpetually sounding in his ears. General
Thiebault, a man equally distinguished by his mind and
military talents, during the weakened state which followed
an inflammatory disease, was attacked by visions, the
more strange from the fact of his enjoying undiminished
reason, and that none of his senses were altered. The
fantastic objects, nevertheless, which annoyed him, and
which he knew did not exist, struck so forcibly upon his
sight, that it was as easy for him to enumerate and describe
them as the real objects by which he was surrounded.!

* Relation du naufrage de la Méduse. 1st edition, pp. 72 — 73.

f Mémoires sur la Cour de Louis XIV, &c. edit. 1823, pp.
74—75.

X The patient was under the care of Dr. Marc, in 1843.

|| M. le Lieutenant- General Thiebault has permitted me to
relate his case. Let us observe that similar hallucinations have
been experienced by very important persons. The learned
Gléditsch, three hours after noon, clearly saw in a corner of the
Academy-hall, at Berlin, Maupertuis, who had died at Basle some
time before. He attributed this vision to a momentary derange-
ment of his organs ; but in speaking of it, he affirmed that the

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 93

We shall be little astonished to see how the Thauma-
turgists, in every country, debilitated the corporeal organs
in order to rule the Imagination more surely. Mortifi-
cations and fasts were an essential part of the ancient
initiation, to which it was absolutely necessary to
submit before receiving the answer of several oracles,
and above all, of those which were revealed only in
dreams.*

We cannot be ignorant how the disposition for, and
liability to see phantoms, is increased by an irritation of
the visual organs, caused by long vigils or by a steady
contemplation of any luminous body, particularly when
the mind is disordered or the body weakened. The
principal trial to which the Sannyassi (meditative Hin-
doos) are subjected, is that of looking fixedly at the sun.
It is not long before they have visions, see sparks of
fire, flaming globes, meteors ; the end of which is, not
unfrequently, that they lose their sight, and even their
reason, f

vision was as perfect as if Maupertius had been placed living
before him.— (D. Thiebault. Recollections of a Residence at Berlin,
vol. v. p. 21. 5th edition.) "The maternal grandfather of
Bonnet, when in perfect health, independent of all exterior
impressions saw the figures of men, birds, and boats produced,
moving, growing, decreasing, and disappearing. His reason could
not have been affected, as he was quite aware it was an illusion."
— (Laplace, Essai Philosophique sur les Probabilités, pp. 224
—226.)

* Before consulting the oracle of Amphiaraus, at Oropas in
Bœotia, the votaries fasted a whole day, and received the answer
in a dream. Philostrat. vit. Apollon, lib. n. cap. iv.

f Dubois. Mœurs et Institutions des Peuples de l'Inde, tome n. pp.
271 — 274. The Sannyasi are Brahmans of a very strict order, who

94 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

To these powerful auxiliaries, the strength of which is
increased by solitude and darkness, is added an intoxica-
tion produced by the sacred food and drinks ; and thus,
already a prey to beliefs, to fears, and to superstitious
hopes, and given up to so many causes of excitement,
how would it be possible for any man, even the greatest
master of his reason, to defend his Imagination from the
power of such superstitions ? And without the assist-
ance of other artifices, would not the union of these
means be sufficient to make a superstitious man, shut
up in a cavern without an opening, such as has received
the name of the Purgatory of St. Patrick, believe that
he was in an immense place, surrounded by all those ap-
paritions which the monks of Ireland had beforehand
promised to his terrified imagination ?*

have renounced the society of wives and children, altogether for-
saken the world, and adopted the vow of mendicity, to subsist
solely upon alms. The duty of a member of this sect is to seek
solitude ; to subdue every passion ; to shun the slightest approach
to pleasure, or any earthly enjoyments ; and to concentrate his
whole mind in meditation upon holy things, and, among others,
the constant perusal of the Veda. The penances to which he is
to subject himself are numerous and truly ridiculous. Thus — he
is to slide backwards and forwards on the ground ; to stand a
whole day on tiptoe ; to continue a whole day in motion, rising
and sitting alternately ; to expose himself to hot fires in the
warmest weather ; to look fixedly for hours upon the sun ; and to
feed entirely on roots and fruits. Such are the rules imposed on
a Sannyasi ; and such the idea of human perfection, which Super-
stition has impressed on the minds of her Hindoo votaries. Under
such discipline, in addition to that mentioned in the text, it is not
surprising that visions should be seen and believed. — Ed.

* Gerard Boate. Natural History of Ireland, pp. 137 — 141, of
the French translation. Twiss. Travels in Ireland, pp. 128 — 129.

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION. 95

Instructed by observation of the intimate connexion
between every part of our being, the ancients well knew
that the Imagination could produce diseases apparently
supernatural, which often defied the art, and always the
precautions of the physician ; and that also, on the con-
trary, it could effectually struggle against a really diseased
state of the organs, with a success equal to that effected
by physical remedies. They armed the Imagination
against physical evils, and forced it to be productive of
as much benefit as it sometimes was of evil.

During the dog-days in Egypt, an epidemic disease, which
is attributed to the influence of the atmosphere, prevails.
As a remedy for it, the priests were accustomed, after so-
lemn ceremonies and sacrifices, to light numerous wood
piles with fire taken from an altar dedicated to an ancient
deified sage.* This proceeding was no doubt useful, as
it increased the circulation of the air, and tended to
purify it; but fire taken from the domestic hearth
would have been as efficacious. In this instance, there-
fore, they addressed themselves also to the Imagination.
These religious mummeries, and the sacred fire, tended
to increase the persuasion among the people, that a pro-
tecting God would come to their relief. The Roman
people were cut off in numbers by a pestilential disease,
which would not yield to any known remedy: the
Pontiffs, therefore, ordered, in the name of Heaven, a
celebration of the public games and festivals.! This
remedy, which appears so strange to us, was, neverthe-

* Aelian. Var. Hist, (quoted by Suidas) verb, évaveiv — Va%iv
Tepoypafifiarels.
t Valer. Maxim, lib. n. cap. iv. § iv'. a. u.c. 389.

96 INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION.

less, found so efficacious, that it was resorted to more
than once. Let us suppose that the endemic disease*
was of the nature of those pestiferous fevers, which often
resulted in Italy, from the crowding together of a nume-
rous population in confined dwellings ; or from privations
and fatigue ; and also from variations of the temperature,
to which the citizens were exposed during their military
expeditions. Under such circumstances, a general terror
would be spread ; it would freeze every soul, and thereby
add doubly to the deadly power of the scourge. Were not
the games which kept the population in the open air,
and agreeably occupied the mind ; the festivals, or nume-
rous sacrifices of animals, presenting means of substi-
tuting a more substantial and wholesome food, to that
provided by habitual parsimony; and the ceremonies which
reassured the Imagination, and promised that the Gods
would throw a compassionate glance on their obedient
worshippers ; sufficient to combat the progress, and acce-
lerate the disappearance of the malignant contagion. To
prostrate the people before the altar, believing that they
owed to the Gods their miraculous deliverance, was a
course frequently resorted to ; and when cures were
effected, it was indeed a miracle in the sense of the
ancients ; an immediate, but assuredly not a supernatural
benefit from the Gods.

We could recal to remembrance, without trouble, innu-
merable examples of physical remedies employed to cure
supernatural diseases, as far, at least, as we should con-
tinue to translate into modern meaning the ancient ex-

* Endemic diseases are those that originate in some circum-
stance connected with the locality in which they appear : they are
not contagious. — En.

INFLUENCE OF IMAGINATION. 97

pressions. As every benefit was ascribed to the benevolence
of the Gods, so were all evils supposed to emanate from
their vengeance, or from the malevolence of evil genii.
What ought we to recognise in the evils attributed to this
latter cause ? Nervous infirmities, epilepsy, hysteria, the
symptoms of which were developed, or at least increased,
if not originated, by a disordered Imagination, Hellebore
cured the daughters of Proteus of a madness with which
the anger of the Gods had afflicted them. When the
Samoyedes are by terror thrown into a paroxysm of
frenzy which they regard as the effect of enchantment,
and as the characteristic sign of sorcery, they are cured
by having the hair of the rein-deer burnt under their
nostrils.* The Hebrew exorcists ejected demons from
the human body by the smell of the smoke of the burning
Baaras plant. Aelian described this plant under the name
Cynopastes ; and Josephus attributed to it the power of
expelling demons and of curing epilepsy .f The mode of
treating these maladies did not differ greatly from that
now employed. Like the Hebrews, the Thaumaturgists
of antiquity, the Samoyedes, and those magi who, two
centuries ago, dared to oppose medical art by their pre-
tended magical fascinations, % we also use fumigations
and ammoniacal odours when fighting against diseases

* Wagner. Recollections of Russia, p. 207.

f Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. xiv. cap xxvu. One of the
Sea Algse, which the same author compares to the Cynospastos
(ibid. ibid. cap. xxiv.), contained a very strong poison. It was
perhaps this last quality which induced the Thaumaturgists to
reserve to themselves the exclusive possession of it.

I See the indication of this medicine in Fromann, De Fasci-
natione. pp. 955—958.

VOL. II. H

98 INFLUENCE OF IMAGINATION.

of the nature of epilepsy, hysterics, hypochondriasm, and
those mournful results of a disordered Imagination
under which reason is prostrated. The apparent mira-
cle would disappear, if we were to recal to mind that
it was the custom of the ancients to personify the prin-
ciples of good and evil.

MEDICTNE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 99

CHAPTER IV.

Medicine formed a part of the Occult Science : it was not long
exercised by the priests ; diseases were supposed to be sent by
malevolent Genii, or the irritated Gods ; the cures were considered
miracles, or works of magic — Credulity and the spirit of mystery
attributed marvellous properties to inanimate substances ; and
Charlatanism assisted this species of deception — Counterfeit
cures— Extraordinary abstinences — Nutritious substances taken
in an almost imperceptible form — Apparent Resurrections.

Carried away by our subject, we have already entered
that province of science in which promises will always
have the greatest power over the Imagination, namely,
the science of the physician.

Medical science is, although it may be thwarted
by unforseen anomalies, founded upon much positive
knowledge. It has not, however, been able to overcome
the diseases of the intellect in a manner equal to its
influence over those of the body ; neither has it placed
us upon our guard against those numerous secrets used
by the Thaumaturgist to disarrange the play of our organs,
to deceive our senses, and to terrify our imaginations.

Although originating in the temples, and revealed as
an emanation from the Divine Intelligence, yet medicine
did not infringe upon the province of other sacred
sciences. In treating of it, we need not diverge from
the empire of the wonder-workers ; for, every where, cures

h 2

1 00 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

were long esteemed miracles, and physicians were re-
garded as priests or as magicians.*

Physicians, under some circumstances, were even
looked upon as Gods. In Armenia,f under the name
of Thicks or Haralez, the Gods were said to revive those
heroes who died in battle, by sucking their wounds.
Angitia,j the sister of Circe, established herself in Italy
only in order that she might merit altars there, by ap-
plying her salutary science to the diseases that desolated
that country. Formerly in Greece, and even after the
siege of Troy, the sons of the Gods and the heroes alone
understood the secrets of medicine and surgery ;|| and
even to a late period Esculapius, the son of Apollo, was
there worshipped as a deity. §

In Egypt, Theurgy divided among thirty-six genii, in-
habitants of the air, the care of the different parts of

* In the earliest periods of society the character of priest and
physician is always combined in the same person. The Payes of
Brazil are priests, exorcists, and physicians ; they cure diseases
by sucking the affected part, and spitting into a pit, to return to
the earth the evil principle, which they assert is the cause of disease.
The Hebrew priests, according to the Mosaical account of the Jews,
were also physicians ; the Aslepiadae, the priests of ^Esculapius,
were the first physicians of the Greeks ; and the Druids those of
the northern nations.

f Cirbied. Mémoires sur l'Arménie. Mémoires de la Société des
Antiquaires de France, tome n. p. 304.

X Solin. cap. vin.

|| Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. u. cap. xvni.

§ The original seat of the worship of ^Esculapius was at
Epidaurus, where he had a splendid temple, adorned with a gold
and ivory statue of the God, who was represented sitting, one hand
holding a staff, the other resting on the head of a serpent, the
emblem of sagacity and longevity ; and a dog couched at his feet.
This temple was frequented by harmless serpents, in the form of

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 101

the human body ; and the priests practised a separate
invocation for each genii, which they used in order to
obtain from them the cure of the particular member
confided to their care.* It was from Egypt also that
the formularies which taught the use of herbs in
medicine originally came ; and these formularies were
magical.f The magicians of the islands of Sena cured
invalids by others deemed incurable.^ The Scandina-
vian virgins were instructed at the same time in magic,
medicine, and the treatment of wounds. || Diodorus, who
has often attempted to extricate history from its medley
of fables, looks upon the science of Medea and Circe as
natural, as a profound study of all remedies and poisons ;
and he relates that the former cured the son of Alcemenes
of a furious madness. §

which the God was supposed to manifest himself. He had, also,
temples at Rhodes, Cindos, Cos, and one on the hanks of the
Tiber. According to Homer, his sons, Machaon and Padalirius,
treated wounds and external diseases only ; and it is probable that
their father practised in the same manner, as he is said to have
invented the probe, and the bandaging of wounds. His priests,
the Asclepiadse, practised, however, incantations ; and cured
diseases by leading their patients to believe that the God himself
delivered his prescriptions in dreams and visions ; for which im-
postures they were roughly satirised by Aristophanes in his play
of Plutus. It is probable that the preparations, consisting of
abstinence, tranquillity and bathing, requisite for obtaining this
divine intercourse, and, above all, the confidence reposed in the
Asclepiadœ, were often productive of benefit. — Ed.

* Origen. Contr. Cels. lib. vin.

t Galen. De SimpL Médicam. Facult. lib. vi. prooem.

% Pomponius Mela. lib. in. cap. vi.

|| 0. V. de Bonstetten. La Scandinavie et les Alpes, p. 32.

§ Diod. Sic. lib. iv. cap. u. et xvi.

102 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

For a long time after the age of Hercules and the
heroic times, invalids in Greece sought relief from their
sufferings from the descendants of Esculapius in the
temples of that God, which an enlightened policy had
raised on elevated spots and salubrious vicinities.* Those
men who pretended in right of their birth to hold the
gift of curing, finally learnt the art of it, by preserving
in the temples the history of those diseases, the cure of
which had been sought from them.f They then added
to their number disciples, whose discretion was secured
by the trial of a severe initiation. By degrees the pro-

* Plutarch. Quœst. Roman. § lciv.

f The temple of Cos was rich in votive offerings, which gene-
rally represented the parts of the body healed, and an account of
the method of cure adopted. From these singular clinical records
Hippocrates is reported to have constructed his treatise onDietetics.
It is a curious fact, that many similar votive offerings of legs, arms,
noses, &c. are hung up in the Cathedral of Aix la Chapelle, and some
other continental churches, as records of cures performed by the holy
relics in those sacred edifices. The crutches of the Countess Droste
Vischering, also, are hungup in the Cathedral of Treves, in memory
of the sudden and miraculous cure of a contraction of the knee-joint,
which had long withstood all medical skill, by the mere sight of
the seamless coat of our Saviour, before which she prostrated her-
self, and was instantaneously cured. But although the crutches
attest the cure, and the Countess walked from the church to her
carriage, merely leaning on the arm of her grandmother, yet, like
most other miraculous cures, it was only a temporary alleviation ; and
her walking was an effort of sudden excitement, the result of mus-
cular energy, produced by the.confidence of obtaining relief from the
miraculous power of the holy coat. She became once more a cripple.
These facts display the melancholy truth that many pagan
customs were engrafted on Christianity, and are still employed by
the Church of Rome to delude the ignorant and superstitious, in
order to support her powers. — Ed.

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 1 03

gress of philosophy raised the mysterious veil, behind
which they would have still concealed the science. Hip-
pocrates at last placed medicine on a real foundation, and
taught its precepts in his immortal works. Its doctrines,
till then imprisoned in the archives of the Asclepiadse,
were given entire to swell the patrimony of perfectible
civilization. From this moment the priests ought to
have renounced their pretensions to the healing art,* but
they were careful to prevent the science from being en-
tirely divested of its heavenly and magical origin. The
greater number of the thermal waters, more frequently used
then than in the present day, remained consecrated to the
Gods, to Apollo, to Esculapius, and, above all, to Hercules,
who was surnamed Iatricos, or the able physician.f

* Coray. Prolégomènes of the French translation of Hippocrates'
Treatise on Air, Water, and Places.

f The sacred character of healing springs, is a relic of classical
and druidical superstition that still remains. In Fosbrooke's
British Monachism (477) we learn that, " on a spot, called Nell's
Point, is a fine well, to which great numbers of women resort on
Holy Thursday, and having washed their eyes in the spring,
they drop a pin into it. Once a year, at St. Mardrin's well, also
lame persons went, on Corpus Christi evening, to lay some small
offering on the altar, there to lie on the ground all night, drink of
the water there, and on the next morning to take a good draught
more of it, and carry away some of the water each in a bottle at
their departure. a At Muswell Hill was formerly a chapel, called our
Lady of Muswell, from a well there, near which was her image :
this well was continually resorted to by way of pilgrimage.b At
Walsingham a fine green road was made for the pilgrims, and there
was a holy well and cross adjacent, at which pilgrims used to

a Antiq. Repertory, vol. n. p. 79.

b Simpson's Agreeable Historians, vol. n. p. 622.

104 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

Those philosophers who never left the temples incur-
red accusations of dealing in magic, when by natural
means they cured their fellow-beings of the evils which
desolated their abodes : this happened to Empedocles.
An endemic disease raged in Selinuntia ; Empedocles
saw that it arose from the hurtful vapours exhaled from
the stagnant waters of a sluggish river ; and to remedy
the evil he changed the course of two brooks, and by
conducting them into the bed of the river, he increased
the current of the waters ; after which, as the river ceased
to be stagnant, it ceased to exhale the pestilential
miasma ; and, consequently, the plague disappeared. *

If, in the second century of our era, the Emperor
Adrian succeeded in relieving himself for a time from an

kneel while drinking the water. * It is remarkable that the Anglo
Saxon laws had proscribed this as idolatrous." Such springs
were consecrated upon the discovery of the cures effected by them.0
In fact," Fosbrooke properly adds, " these consecrated wells
merely imply a knowledge of the properties of mineral waters, but
through ignorance, a religious appropriation of these properties to
supernatural causes."

I may add to this record, that Holywell, in the county of Flint,
derives its name from the Holy Well of St. Winifred, over which
a chapel was erected by the Stanley family, in the reign of Henry
the Seventh. The well was formerly in high repute as a medicinal
spring. Pennant says that, in his time, Lancashire pilgrims were
to be seen in deep devotion, standing in the water up to the chin
for hours, sending up prayers, and making a prescribed number of
turnings ; and this excess of piety was carried so far, as in several
instances to cost the devotees their lives. — Ed.

* Diogen. Laert. in Empedocl.

a Beauties of England (old edit.), vol. n. p. 118.

b Brompton and Script. 123.

c Decern. Scriptures, 2417.

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 105

aquseous congestion which swelled his body,* it was said
to have been effected by some magic art. Tatian, a sin-
cere defender of Christianity, who lived about the same
time, does not deny the wonderful cures effected by the
priests of the temples of the Polytheists ; he only attempts
to explain them by supposing that the Pagan Gods were
actual demons, and that they introduced disease into the
body of a healthy man, announcing to him, in a dream,
that he should be cured if he implored their assistance ;
and then, by terminating the evil which they themselves
had produced, they obtained the glory of having worked
a miracle.f

These opinions were not peculiar to a civilized people.
Less enlightened nations have believed that diseases were
signs of the vengeance or the malevolence of beings
superior to humanity; consequently, priests and magi-
cians were everywhere selected as physicians. Among
the Nadoëssis and Chippeways the three titles of Priest,
Physician, and Sorcerer were inseparable, and they are
so still among the Osages.j The priest-magicians were
the only physicians of Mexico. || In the heart of the
Galibis nations, the Payes are priests, physicians, and ma-
gicians; and they form a corporation, the admission
into which can only be obtained by submitting to a
very painful initiation. §

* Xiphilin. in Adrian.
f Tatian. Assyr. Orat. ad. Grœcos. p. 157.
X Carver. Travels in North America, p. 290.
|| Joseph Dacosta. Natural History of the Indies, book v.
chap. xxvi.

§ Noël. Dictionnaire de la Fable. Article Piayes.

106 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

Christianity could not in Asia and Europe entirely
destroy the prejudices which had prevailed under the
reign of Polytheism. They reappeared with renovated
strength in the dark ages ; when, in spite of the antipa-
thy which the Jews inspired in the Christians, the
Israelites were almost the only surgeons to princes and
kings : and the remarkable cures they effected seemed
the results of some mysterious influence. This opinion
was strengthened by the sedulous concealment of their
prescriptions, which were probably borrowed from the
Arabians ; and they evidently were not unwilling that
their Christian adversaries should deem them possessed
of supernatural secrets. It was not long before some of
the indiscreet supporters of Christianity brought forward
miraculous cures to oppose to the influence of the Jews.
Like the ancient temples, many of the Christian churches
displayed within their walls holy springs, the waters of
which were reputed to possess great healing virtues. The
belief of the Christians in their healing powers partly origi-
nated from a sincere confidence in their adopted faith, and
partly from failure of any other resource. It may, how-
ever, have been a legacy of Paganism, hastily accepted
by men, who would rather sanctify an error than allow
confidence to exist in a proscribed religion. Whatever
might be the reason, when these healing springs were
resorted to, the sick could derive no benefit from them
unless they submitted to, the regulations of the priests.
The diseases sometimes yielded to the regimen, to time,
and to the calm that hope and a pious confidence, aided
by the Imagination, produced ; sometimes, however, they
resisted their influence, but the failures were attributed

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 107

to the sins and the want of faith in the patient : hence the
miraculous virtue which was proved by cures in some
cases, was not, therefore, nullified by the failures in others.
The institutions were conformable to the opinion
that all cures were effected by the direct interposition of
the Divinity ; and they long survived it. The Christian
physicians who, in conjunction with the Arabians and the
Israelites began to spring up, formed part of the clergy5
long after the idea of anything supernatural in their art
had exploded. " The professors of medicine," says
Et. Pasquier, were formerly all Clerks ; and it was not till
the year 1542 that the Legate in France gave them per-
mission to marry.* Towards the same time Paracelsus,
who during his travels in Africa and the East had acquired

* Et. Pasquier. Recherches de la France, liv. in. chap. xxix. —
Until this period, the four instructing faculties of the University
were condemned to celibacy, In 1552, the doctors in law obtained
like the physicians, the permission to marry. But it was long-
after the first dignities in this faculty were accorded. to the canons
and priests. In many of the Protestant cantons of Switzerland,
in the present day, it is necessary, before being promoted to the
chair of the public establishments to give proof of theological
talent. The pretext for this arrangement was, that these esta-
blishments had been endowed at the expense of the ancient
religious foundations. This motive would not, however, have
been decisive without the established prejudice that the instructing
body should belong to the church and the sacerdotal corporation

Richard Fitz-Nigel, who died Bishop of London, a. d. 1198, had

been apothecary to Henry the Second. The celebrated Roger

Bacon, who flourished in the 13th century, although a monk, yet

practised medicine. Nicolas de Famham, a physician to Henry

the Third, was created Bishop of Durham ; and many other doctors

of medicine were at various times elevated to ecclesiastical dis-
cs

nities. — Ed .

aTiedmann. De Queeslione, &c, p. 122,

108 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

secrets which secured him great superiority over his
competitors, renewed the example which had been given
by Raymond Lully and other adepts, and presented him-
self as instructed and inspired by a divinity.* Had his
life been prolonged and his conduct less light, who would
have dared to say that there might not have been found a
public credulous enough to have recognized his assump-
tions ?f

* Tiedmann. De Quœstione, &c. p. 113.

f The birth-place of Paracelsus is not accurately known, but it
is supposed to have been Einsiedeln, in the canton of Schwyz. He
was born in 1493. He was the son of a physician, who instructed
him in alchemy and astrology, as well as medicine. He displayed
early an ardent desire for knowledge ; not such, however, as is
derived from books ; but such as he could pick up wherever it could
be procured, without being very difficult of acquirement ; or without
much nicety being shewn as to the source whence it came. For this
purpose he travelled over the greater part of Europe, and also into
Africa and Asia. He was chosen professor of medicine at Basil in
1526 ; and at his first lecture, he publicly burnt the works of Cel-
sus and Avicenna, asserting that they were useless lumber. He was
a man of the most irreligious character and immoral habits, a
glutton, and a drunkard ; and in falsehood, vanity, and arrogance
unequalled. He pretended to possess the philosopher's stone,
asserted that he imprisoned a demon in the pummel of his sword,
and that he had discovered the elixir of life. His medical writings
are specimens of credulity and imposture. He was a believer in
magic, and boasted of having conversed with Avicenna, in the
vestibule of the infernal regions. He had, however, the merit of
introducing into medicine the use of mercurials, and several metallic
remedies, and greatly improved pharmaceutical chemistry. He
left Basil, in less than a year, after his appointment ; and, after
having undergone many hardships and vicissitudes, he died in
great poverty at Salzburg, in the Tyrol, in 1541, in the 48th year
of his age, giving the lie to the impudent boast of his possessing
the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone. — Ed.

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 109

The habit of associating a supernatural power to the
natural action of remedies, particularly those which were
kept secret, has been preserved to the present day. The
best physicians have proved that the only effectual remedy
against the bite of a rabid animal is cauterization of the
wound with a red hot iron : and this remedy has been
employed for many centuries in Tuscany, and also in
some provinces in France. But in the former place, the
iron which they heat is one of the nails of the true
cross;* and in the French provinces it is the key of
Saint Hubert,f which is, however, only useful in the
hands of those persons who can trace the illustriousness
of their genealogy to this noble Saint. It is thus a kind
of heir-loom or hereditary possession, similar to that
assumed by the Psylli and the Marses, and the descen-
dants of Esculapius.

We must again repeat what we have so often before
stated, that it was originally rather a feeling of pious
gratitude than a spirit of deception, which united the
idea of an inspiration and the gift of the Divinity to the
recipes and salutary operations of medical science. Upon
the banks of the river Anigrus was a grotto dedicated to
the nymphs. There resorted persons afflicted with herpes,
who, after prayers and a previous friction, swam across
the river, and by the favour of the nymphs were cured.

* Lullin-Châteauvieux. Lettres écrites d'Italie, torn. i. p. 129.

t Particularly in the village of La Saussotte, near Villenauxe,
department of the Auhe, At the Abbey of St. Hubert, in the
diocese of Liege, the intercession of the Saint is alone sufficient
to effect the cure, provided it is seconded by some religious cere-
monies, and a diet which will reassure the imagination. ( Voyage
Littéraire de D. Martenne et de D. Durand. Part second. Paris,
1724, pp. 145—147.)

110 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

Pausanius,* who relates this apparent miracle, adds that the
waters of the Anigrus exhaled a foetid odour; that is to say,
they were charged with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, and
were, therefore, antiherpetic. Our physicians succeed in
curing it by means of the same agent, without the cere-
monies, and without speaking of miracles.

But the ancient teachers and the rulers of the people
were often obliged to speak of, and sanction salutary
precepts, through the illusion of the marvellous, whether
necessary to overcome, as in Esthonia and Livonia, the
apathy of men stupified by slavery and misery, by com-
manding them, in the name of the Gods, to combat the
epizootics, which in their ignorance they deemed the effect
of sorcery, by fumigating their stables with assafcetida ;f
or whether, in the midst of a society rich and abandoned
to pleasure, they attributed to a particular stone the pro-
perty of preserving the purity of the voice, provided the
singer, who would profit by its salutary virtue, lived in
chastity.|

The pride and interest attached to exclusive posses-
sion involved the concealment of the secrets which were
valuable enough to be preserved, under a supernatural
veil. || Juno recovered her virginity every year by bath-

* Pausanias, Eliac. lib. i. cap. v.

t Debray. Sur les Préjugés et les Idées Superstitieuses des
Livoniens, Lettoniens et Esthoniens. — Nouvelles Annales des Voyages,
tome xviii. p. 3.

X Solin. cap. xl.

|| This was very natural, at a period when the whole of the art
of curing disease was supposed to depend on the possession of
such secrets. The sick, on this account were carried on biers, and
exposed on the highways, for the inspection of the passers by, and
to obtain from them prescriptions.— Ed.

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 1 1 1

ing in the fountain of Canathos* and it is said that the
women of the Argolides bathed there with the same
hope. It is certain, however, that the Argians, in relating
the prodigy, mention that, in order to be relied upon,
some occult ceremonies practised in the worship of Junof
were requisite. According to tradition, the Goddess
immediately after her nuptials bathed in an Assyrian
fountain, the waters of which immediately contracted a
very delightful odour, j Does not this last trait denote
that both in Syria and in Greece the property which had
caused the myrtle to be dedicated to the Goddess of Love,
and used by women to repair the exhaustion of child
bearing, was known ?||

But we are informed, that the priest administered the
beneficial effects with mysterious ceremonies only, offer-
ing them as a miracle resulting from these ceremonies.

The books of the ancients are inexhaustible on the
healing and magical properties of plants. The greater
number have no doubt originated in the love of the
marvellous; and many have obtained reputation from

* A fountain of Nauplia. — Ed.

t Pausanias. Corinthiac. cap. xxxviii. — Noel. Dictionnaire de la
Fable, art. Canathos.

t Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. xn, cap. xxx. — The Greeks pre-
tended to recognize Juno (Hera) in the Goddess of Assyria, the
celestial virgin spouse of the Sun, who at the period when Gemini
makes the equinox of the spring, was every year found a virgin
by her husband, when the summer solstice led him again to her.

|| Rabelais (livre i. chap, xliv.) puts for this reason abundance
of myrtle water in the baths of the ladies of the Abbey of Thé-
lème. For myrtle water, in the first editions, published during
the life of the author, the re-impressions have erroneously substi-
tuted water of myrrh.

112 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

no greater reason than an inaccurate translation of the
name of the plant. We must nevertheless observe, that
modern writers have not been more reasonable upon this
subject than the ancients. The herb scorzonera, for in-
stance, derived its name from the exterior colour of its
stalk, scorzo nero. It is quite evident that this name
has been taken from scurzo, the Spanish for viper ; and
the scorzonera, from that circumstance, is regarded as a
powerful antidote for the bite of the viper.*

Charlatanism, in short, in order to conceal from view
the action of natural agents, in medicines as in other
branches of the Occult Sciences, attributed a magical
efficacy to points of an insignificant nature. An adept,
quoted by Fromann,f pointed out a remedy for con-
sumption and the sweating sickness, which was in itself
simple enough, but was not to be prepared with common
fire. A saw was to be manufactured from an apple tree
struck by lightning, and was to be used to saw the wood
of the threshold of a door through which many people
had passed, until the continued friction of the instru-
ment upon the wood had produced a flame.j The
extravagance of the proceeding inspired a pious con-
fidence in those who resorted to the remedy, and the
difficulty of executing it well, secured beforehand, in

* Dictionnaire de Furetière, art. Scorsonère. Plants were valu-
able as remedies only when collected under the influence of cer-
tain planets ; they were also required to be collected on certain
days. This superstition, indeed, was upheld until the seventeenth
century ; and directions were given for collecting the plants, in
the Herbals of Turner, Culpepper, and Lovel. — Ed.

f Fromann. Tract, de Fascinatione, pp. 953 — 964.

\ Fromann. Tract, de Fascinatione, pp. 363 — 364.

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 113

case of failure, the infallibility of the medicine. This
instance is one of the strongest that can be cited, but it
recals millions of others.

To cure dislocations, and displacements of the thigh-
bone, Cato* prescribes the applications of splinters so
disposed as to replace and support the injured member
in its natural position. He then points out some words
which are to be used during the operation. These un-
intelligible words were possibly nothing more than the
same direction expressed in another language : expres-
sions upon which, though no longer understood, the
magical efficacy of bandaging was supposed to depend.

The sacred words may, in a similar case, have been a
prayer by which the use of any natural remedy was ac-
companied, and to which the success was thought to be
due. Men who pretended to be endowed with secret
powers, taught that it was possible to stop a hemorrhage
from the nose by repeating an Ave or a Pater, provided
that, at the same time, the nostrils were compressed with
the fmgers,f and linen steeped in cold water applied to
the head. More frequently the pretended miracle origi-
nated in the care which the Thaumaturgists took to make
an inert substance the mask of an efficacious medicine.

The Kicahans, subjects of the Burmese, and who
appear to have been driven by them to the mountains ot
Assam, go out after every storm in search of aerolites,
and if they find any, transmit them to their priest, who

* Cato De Re Rustled, cap. clx.

f Fromann. Tract, de Fascinatione, (4to. 1675), lib. i. cap.

XXIX.

VOL. II. I

1 1 4 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

preserves them as remedies sent by heaven for the cure
of every disease.*

The miraculous powers of the Bezoars,f experienced
and celebrated in Asia, for some time found credence in
Europe ; yet these bezoars have no more effect than the
aerolites upon the nervous system, and could only be
used like the latter to disguise the use of more active
substances.

A Greek inscription,! which we believe must have

* Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, 2nd series, vol. in. p. 229. The
Parthian Magi carefully seek a stone which is only to be found
in places struck by thunder. They doubtless attribute great vir-
tues to it. — Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvu. cap. ix.

f The Bezoar is a concretion found in the intestines of the
stag, and sometimes of the goat. It was formerly supposed to
have the power, not only of curing diseases, but also of driving out
poisons, whence the name, from the Persian words Pdd-zahr,
" expelling poison ;" Pad meaning to remove or cure, and Zahr
poison. The Hindoos and Persians have still great confidence in
its curative powers, especially that one which is formed in the
stomach of the Caprea Acyagros, the wild goat of Persia, which is
sold for its weight in gold. The bezoar was, at one time, in as high
estimation in Europe as in the East ; and its value as a remedy was
enhanced by the marvellous manner in which it was supposed to be
produced. "When the hart is sick," says Garner, " and hath
eaten many serpents for his recoverie, he is brought unto so great
a heate, that he hasteth to the water, and there covereth his body
unto the very eares and eyes, at which distilleth many teares from
which the stone (the bezoar) is gendered." Bezoars consist almost
entirely of phosphate of lime ; and, as curative agents, afford an
addition to the many thousand proofs of the influence of mind
over the body, and how truly efficacious Imagination may prove in
removing disease. — En.

X J. Gruter. Corp. Inscript. folio, Amstelodami, 1707, p. 71,
insc. 1 .

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 115

been anciently placed in the temple of Esculapius at
Rome, and which perpetuates four cures effected by that
God, presents us with four examples of the different
ways in which credulity lends itself to the marvellous.
There is nothing surprising in stopping a haemoptyses,
spitting of blood, by the use of sweet kernels and honey*
nor even in the oracle that ordered it, But when the God,
in order to cure a pain in the side, prescribed a topical
application, the principal ingredient of which was to be
the cinders collected from his altar, it is easy to conjec-
ture that his priests mingled some drug with those cin-
ders. If a salve, in which the blood of a white cock
was added to honey, produced beneficial results, we may
be permitted to think that the colour of the bird was
only of use to veil in mystery the composition of the
remedy. A blind man, after some genuflections, placed
the hand that had been extended upon the altar over his
eyes, and suddenly recovered his sight. He had never
lost it ; and he probably executed this juggling at
some critical moment, when it was of importance to
revive the declining reputation of Esculapius and his
temple.

We could compile whole volumes with similar impos-
tures. Worn by the sufferings of an incurable disease,
Adrian invoked death, and it was feared he would have
recourse to suicide: a woman appeared, who declared

* Under the term sweet kernels, is meant the bitter almond, or
the kernels of the peach, both of which, when they are moistened,
evolve hydrocyanic acid, which operating as a powerful sedative,
would arrest the flow of blood. The honey, which is an excitant,
was a bad addition. — En.

I 2

116 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

that she had received in a dream an order to assure the
Emperor he should soon be cured. Not having obeyed
this order at first, she lost her sight : but, being warned
by a second dream, she fulfilled her mission, and her eyes
immediately re-opened to the light.* But although
Adrian died some months afterwards, the witnesses of
this trick were not the less disposed to believe in every
other assumed miracle set before them.

The greatest of all prodigies to reasonable minds is,
in my opinion, the belief in assumed miracles by the
very men who have unmasked and unveiled the
falsehood of such miracles. And, by a remarkable
singularity, the superstitious man and the philoso-
pher may each, in his own way, profit by a prodigy
often repeated. The one sees in it a proof of the truth
of his assertions, and the effect of the gifts of heaven,
which display themselves in overcoming human reason ;
the other, finding this contradiction everywhere, main-
tains that it proves nothing, since, if it was applied to
one real belief, it would allow a hundred false ones to
triumph : and that its only principle is, therefore, the
facility with which the human race ever abandon them-
selves to those who attempt to deceive them.

Credulity is, in fact, the disease of every age and of
every country. The haunts of those mendicants who
deceive the public by obtaining their sympathy for the
most deplorable deceptive infirmities, were formerly called
in Paris Cours des Miracles, because, on entering those
quarters of the city, these wretches deposited the cos-
tumes of the different parts they acted. At once the

* Aelian, Spartian. in Adrian.

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 117

blind saw, and the cripple recovered the use of his limbs.
Nearly a dozen of these " Courts" exist in the French
capital; and it is lamentable to add, that their inhabit-
ants are sometimes employed by the priests and monks
to give an authority to their relics, by vouching for the
miraculous cures which these pretended invalids receive
from their touch.* The name Cours des Miracles^
having become popular, proves that no one was ignorant
of the impostures which were every day enacted there,
and yet, daily, these sharpers find dupes ; and with a
perfect knowledge of this habitual deception, superna-
tural cures are still believed.

Obstinate and ingenious in deceiving herself, Credulity
is found intrenched behind well-attested wonders, that
have not been denied by experience. This is very well !
but let science take from these marvels what belongs to
itself, it will quickly aid the honest man in detecting
that which appertains to imposture.

It is not by opposing to the boasts of the charlatan
an immense number of proofs of his errors, however
credible, but it is by demonstrating that these marvels
may have occurred in the order of nature, that we can
cherish any hope of curing mankind of an infatuation
which has already cost him very dear.

* When Louis XL was ill, he sent for the holy man of Calabria,
and fell upon his knees before him, begging that his life might be
prolonged. The holy vial was sent to him, and St. Peter's vest
from Rome ; but, alas ! both confidence and faith were of no avail
in this case. "The monarch," says Commines, " could command
the beggar's knee, but not the health of it." — Ed.

t Sauvai. Antiquités de Paris, tome i. pp. 510 — 515, quoted
by Dulaure. Physical, Civil, and Moral History of Paris. (1821,
vol. iv. pp. 589—596.)

1 1 8 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

When we hear accounts of those miraculous fasts,
which men of superior intellect have endured for days
and for weeks, we are tempted to class them with the
Oriental tales,* in which similar inconceivable abstinences
figure. But as these narrations are so numerous, can
we attribute them wholly to a desire to deceive, and
affirm that they are altogether without foundation?

Let us first of all remark that certain substances pos-
sess, or have attributed to them, the property of suspend-
ing the sensations of hunger and of thirst. Such, for
instance, as the leaves of the tobacco plant, and the
leaves of the Cocoa (a Peruvian plant). People have
gone so far as to say that, if either of these plants be
held in the mouth by a man, who has worked all day
without eating, they will prevent him from suffering
from hunger.f

Matthiolusf attributes to the Scythians the use of an
herb agreeable to the taste, and so efficacious in supply-
ing the place of nourishment, that its effects had some-
times prolonged life for twelve whole days. Another
herb sustained in a similar manner the strength

* Les Mille et un Jours. The Thousand and One Nights ;
Nights 137 and 138.

f J. Acosta. Natural History of the Indies, etc. book iv, chap.
xxii. — Opium has the same power of allaying the sensation of
hunger. The Turkish courier, who performs long and fatiguing
journeys without rest, on horseback, provides himself with a small
bag of opium lozenges, Mash ■ Allah ; and, when greatly fatigued,
he alights, opens his bag, takes a lozenge himself, and having also
given two to his horse, remounts, and proceeds with as much
alacrity as when he set out ; both horse and man are refreshed,
and the sensation of hunger is subdued. — Ed.

X Matthiolus. Commentar. in Dioscorid. — E pistol. Nuncu-
pator.

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 1 19

of those indefatigable cavalier's horses. This apparent
miracle may have been the result of a desire to deceive,
and may have been effected by reducing substances
eminently nutritious to a very small bulk.* To the use
of such an art we may explain what was said of Abaris,
that he had never been seen to eat or to drink ;f an art
also which was successfully practised by Epimenides, the
cotemporary of Solon, j is well known in the present day,
and has very recently been brought to perfection by a
learned man.§ It is nearly fifty years ago since the plan

* This opinion of our author is not very tenable ; and, although
the period is much exaggerated, yet, it is not inconsistent with
experience, that the sensation of hunger may be destroyed, and
life sustained, by some description of herbs. — Ed.

t Iamblich. Vit. Pythag. § 27. — Abaris was a Scythian, the son
of Seuthes ; he flourished during the Trojan war, and is supposed
to have written some treatises in Greek. Many absurd fables are
related concerning him ; among others, that he received a flying
arrow from Apollo, which gave oracles, and transported him
through the air wherever he pleased ; that he returned to the
Hyperborean countries from Athens without eating, and that he
made the Trojan Palladium with the bones of Pelops. — Ed.

X Plutarch. Sympos.

§ M. Gimbernat. Revue Encyclopédique, tome xxxv. p. 235. —
More absurd stories are related of Epimenides than of Abaris.
He was said to have entered into a cave, where he fell asleep,
and slept for fifty- seven years ; so that, when he awoke, he
found everything altered ; and he scarcely knew where he was ;
a degree of ignorance which is surprising, as he is also reported
to have been able to dismiss his soul from his body, and
recal it at pleasure. During its absence, he affirmed that it
had familiar intercourse with the Gods, and obtained the gift
of prophecy. In plain language, he was a man of genius, a poet,
and a learned man, capable of great abstraction; and, for the

120 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

of giving nourishment of this kind to mariners was
attempted in France : its small bulk would have enabled
a much greater quantity than of any other provision to
have been embarked at a time ; it was, however, aban-
doned, for although the men thus fed did not suffer from
hunger, yet, they were found less capable of sustaining
fatigue.

This would not be any inconvenience to the Thauma-
turgists. A holy man, who lives without any, or very
little excitement, commonly remains motionless in his
cell, receiving the respect and adoration of those who
seek him there ; and if, after a long period of trial, he
should be found sinking from weakness, this circumstance
would only increase the faith in the reality of his miracu-
lous abstinence.

This difficulty, besides, could not have existed in ear-
lier times. According to Edrisi,# the Berber tribes of
the neighbourhood of Roun, prepared, with honey and
roasted and bruised corn, so nourishing a paste, that a
handful eaten in the morning enabled them to march

sake of justifying his pretensions of intercourse with the Gods, he
lived in great retirement, and chiefly upon herbs. So high was
his reputation for sanctity, that, during a plague in Attica, 596
b.c., the Athenians sent for him to perform a lustration, by which
the Gods were appeased, and the plague ceased. He was a native
of Crete ; and the Cretans paid him divine honours after his death.
Notwithstanding his celebrity, however, he can only be regarded
in the light of an impostor, living in an age of almost incredible
credulity ; therefore every thing related of him must be received
with doubt. — Ed.

* Géographie d'Edrisi, translated by M. Am. Jaubert, vol. i.
p. 205.

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 121

until evening without experiencing hunger. The Cale-
donians and the Meates,# who formed the greatest part of
the population of Great Britain, understood, says Xiphilin,
a method of preparing their food in a way so capable of
sustaining their strength, that having taken a quantity
equal to the size of a bean, they felt neither hunger nor
thirst. The Scythians, doubtless, possessed the art of
a process similar to this, and even extended it to the
food of their horses ; but the miraculous herbs mentioned
by Matthiolus were merely intended to delude others as
to the secret of their real nature. But this secret could
not have been unknown, at least to the learned portion,
among people much more civilized than the Caledonians
and Scythians ; its existence, therefore, render such nar-
rations credible, and divest them of their miraculous
covering.

Far above the miracle of making man independent
of the most pressing wants of nature, is that of restoring
to him the life that he has lost.

It is agreed that there is nothing so difficult to de-
termine as the certain and irrefragable signs of death ;
and the special study of these signs, and a complete
experience of what is doubtful and positive in them, alone
furnish the means of distinguishing between a real and
an apparent death. To restore to life a being who is
threatened to be deprived of it by a too hasty burial

* Xiphilin. in Sever. Anno. 208. In a story which appears to
be of oriental origin, the secret of composing pills, or an opiate
endued with the same virtue, is attributed to Avicenna and another
learned man. (The Thousand and One Nights.)

122 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

would, in the present day, be a benefit ; formerly it was
a miracle.

The laws and customs of an enlightened people will
always prescribe laws for ascertaining that life is ac-
tually extinct. From time immemorial the Hindoos
have employed fire, the most certain, perhaps, of all proofs,
for even if it does not rouse the sensibility, there is a
visible difference in the action of burning when exercised
on an inanimate body, and that on one in which life still
exists.* It is not until after a portion of cow-dung has
been burned in the hollow over the stomach of the corpse,
that the funereal pile, which is to consume it, is lighted.
According to appearances, a similar custom formerly
existed in Italy and Greece. Tertullianf ridicules those
spectacles in which Mercury is represented as examining
corpses, and convincing himself by a red-hot iron that
the exterior marks of death were not deceptive. This
custom must then have been at one time in full force,
but had fallen into disuse, and existed only in mytholo-
gical remembrances. Democritus had, at an early period,
asserted that there did not exist any certain signs of real
death.j Pliny || maintained the same opinion, and even
remarked that women were more exposed than men to

* Fodéré. Dictionnaire des Sciences Médicales. Art. Signes de
la Mort.

f Tertullian. Apologetic, cap. xv. — Cœlius Rhodiginus, (Led.
Antiq. lib. iv. cap. xxxi.) reads, as we do, Cauterio in the text of
Tertullian, and not Cantherio. This last version, adopted by some
modern writers, does not seem to me to offer any reasonable
sense.

+ A. Cornel. Cels. lib. n. cap. vi.

|| Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vu. cap. lu.

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 123

the dangers of an apparent death. He cited numerous
instances of apparent deaths, and among others, one
mentioned by Heraclides, of a woman who revived after
having passed for dead during seven days.# Neither did
he forget the sagacity of Asclepiades, who, seeing a funeral
procession pass by, exclaimed that the man who was
being carried to the pile was not dead.f To conclude,

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vu. cap. lii.

f A. Cornel. Cels. loc. cit. — Heraclides wrote a Treatise
entitled, The Disease in which the Respiration is suspended.
Asclepiades was a learned physician, and was the founder
of a sect in medicine. There can be no difference of opi-
nion with respect to the correctness of the observations of
these distinguished men. Numerous cases of apparent deaths
have been recorded as having occurred in modern times. The
mention of a few will suffice to demonstrate the difficulty of deter-
mining the fact that death has actually triumphed over mortality ;
unless the signs be of that unequivocal nature that they cannot be
mistaken — namely, the extinction of animal heat, that rigidity of
the body in which the direction of the limb, when changed,
remains, and commencing decomposition. Francis Civile, a
Norman gentleman, who lived in the time of Charles the Ninth,
twice apparently died, and was twice in the act of being buried,
when he spontaneously revived at the moment in which the coffin
was deposited in the grave. In the seventeenth century, a Lady
Russell, apparently died, and was about to be buried ; but, as the
bell was tolling for her funeral, she sat up in the coffin, and
exclaimed, " It is time to go to church." Diemerbroesk {Treatise
on the Plague, book iv.) mentions the case of a peasant, who dis-
played no signs of life for three days ; but, on being carried to the
grave, revived, and lived many years afterwards. So recently as
the year 1836, a respectable citizen of Brussels fell into a profound
lethargy on a Sunday morning. His friends conceiving that he
was dead, determined to bury him ; and on Monday he was placed

124 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

might not humanity have adopted this means of safety,
to which the instinct of tyranny instigated Nicocrates*
to make use of, in order to prevent the inhabitants of
Cyrene from feigning death, and by thus leaving the
town to withdraw from his cruelty.

Would it be absurd to suppose that the Thaumatur-
gists were so well acquainted with the distinction between
apparent and real death, as to take advantage of it, and to
boast the power of so brilliant a miracle as a resurrection :
and consequently they exerted themselves to lead to the
disuse of the salutary practice, attributed by tradition
to the God Mercury.

It is at least certain that many Theurgists boasted of
being endowed with the power of recalling the dead to
life. Diogenes Laertius relates that Empedocles resus-
citated a woman,f that is to say, " that he dissipated

on a bier, with all the usual accompaniments of the dead, previous
to interment, in Catholic countries. His body was placed in the
coffin ; and, when the undertaker's men were about to screw down
the lid, the supposed corpse sat up, rubbed his eyes, and called for
his coffee and a newspaper.* From these, and many instances of
a similar description, it is evident that a temporary quiescent con-
dition of the vital principle must not be confounded with real
death. The immobility of the body, even its cadaverous aspect,
the coldness of the surface, the absence of respiration and pulsa-
tion, and the somewhat sunken state of the eye, are not unequi-
vocal evidences that life is wholly extinct. The only unequivocal
signs are those mentioned above : and, happily, in this country,
interment does not take place until some evidences of putrifaction
display themselves. — Ed.

* Plutarch. Mulier, Fort. Fact. § x.

t Diogen. Laert. lib. vm. cap. lvii. et lxix.
» Morning Herald, 21st July, 1836.

MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE. 1 25

the lethargy of a woman attacked by uterine suffoca-
tion."*

The biographer of Apollonius of Tyana more cau-
tiously expresses himself, relatively to a young girl who
owed her life to the care of this philosopher. He says,
that she had seemed to die ; while he confesses that the
rain which fell upon her, when she was in the act of being
carried with her face exposed to the pile, might have
commenced exciting her senses. Apollonius had at
least, like Asclepiades, the merit of distinguishing at a
glance between real and apparent death.f

An observer of the seventeeth century j relates that a
servant finding on returning from a voyage, his master
dead, tenderly and frequently embraced the inanimate
body. Thinking that he discovered some signs of life
in it, he breathed his breath into it with so much perse-
verance as restored respiration, and reanimated the
apparently dead man. This was not regarded as a
miracle ;|| and happily for the faithful servant, it was no

* Diderot. Opinions des Anciens Philosophes. Art. Pythagore-
Pythagoriciens .

f Philostrat. Vit. Appollon. Tyan. lib. iv. cap. xvi. — Apollo-
nius began by asking the name of the young girl, doubtless in
order to address her. He knew that of all articulated sounds
which strike upon our ear, our own name is that which we most
easily recognize, and which most quickly excites our attention.

% Petr. Borellus. Hist, et Observ. Medic. Centur. m. observ.
Lvin. quoted by Fromann, Tractât, de Fascinatione, pp. 483 —
484.

|| This mode of restoring the respiratory function in suspended
animation, is often successfully resorted to in the present day ;
and as a medical man has often to determine the question of real
or apparent death, it is consolatory to know, that he possesses the

126 MEDICINE A PART OF THE OCCULT SCIENCE.

longer the custom to attribute such an occurrence to
magic*

means of deciding with sufficient accuracy, to authorize the adop-
tion of the measures which experience has proved to be the most
likely to restore animation when it is merely suspended. When
death has actually taken place, it is surely unnecessary to say, that
any human attempt to restore life would not only display the most
outrageous arrogance, but prove indubitably ineffective. We
believe most sincerely in the real miracle of raising Lazarus from
the grave by our Saviour, as firmly, indeed, as in the resurrection
of our Saviour himself ; and, although we are ready to admit that
the Almighty, for some special purpose, as in the case of the
Apostles and the early promulgators of Christianity, might even
now endow a mortal with such a supernatural gift, yet, all expe-
rience is against such an event. Many impostors, however, have
presumptuously asserted their possession of this power ; and, even
at so recent a period as that of the French prophets, it was
assumed by these insane enthusiasts, who, not contented with
the reputation of many cures performed upon nervous and imagi-
native individuals, by means of prayer, destroyed their reputation by
indiscreetly staking it on the resurrection of Dr. Eames ; a striking
proof how readily the intellect may become the slave of
fanaticism. — Ed .

* The subject of the powerful influence of mind over the body,
is of so much importance, especially at the present time, when
the public is so open to the promises held forth by every pretender
to the healing art, who blazons forth, in advertisements, the mar-
vellous cures effected by his nostrums, that the Editor has added
an essay upon that subject to the Appendix. (See note c.) — Ed.

INFLUENCE OF POISONS. 127

CHAPTER V.

Poisonous substances — Poisons, the effect of which can be gra-
duated— Miraculous deaths — Poisons employed in ordeals —
Diseases asserted to be caused by Divine vengeance — Diseases
foretold.

Fear is more permanent, as well as more exacting,
than gratitude. It was easy for Thaumaturgists to
inspire the former, in employing the agency of poisonous
substances on organized bodies. Nature has produced
these substances principally in those parts of our globe,
which were first inhabited ; and the art of increasing their
number and their power is not less ancient than civiliza-
tion. What could have appeared more magical, what
more miraculous, we may inquire, in the eyes of ignorant
men, at least in apparent connection with its cause, than
poisoning by prussic acid, by morphia, or by certain
preparations of arsenic, had they been known in ancient
times ? The author of the crime would have appeared
in all eyes as a being endowed with supernatural power ;
even perhaps as a God, who could sport with the life of

128 INFLUENCE OF POISONS.

weak mortals, and who with a breath could cause them
to vanish from the face of the earth.

The ancient use, however, of this formidable know-
ledge at one time proved a blessing. The territory of
Sycion was desolated by the ravages of wolves. The
oracle, which was consulted, pointed out to the inhabit-
ants the trunk of a tree, the bark of which it enjoined
them to mix with the morsels of flesh which they threw
to the wolves. These animals were destroyed by the
poison. But the inhabitants could not recognize the
tree, of which they had only seen the trunk- The priests
reserved this part of the secret to themselves.

If in Greece, more than two thousand years ago, a
man had fallen a victim to the influence of poison, or
from an excess of intemperance, the incident in itself
would not be interesting. But, when the short sojournment
of that man on earth had cost more deaths and more
evils to humanity than the greatest scourges of nature ;
and, nevertheless, when the illusion of conquests and
the fallacy of vulgar opinions, had converted that mon-
ster polluted with innumerable crimes and vices into a
model for heroes ; when, in a word, that man was Alexan-
der, the son of Phillip, the problem becomes historical,
and excites curiosity. Its solution interests us, from its
connexion with scientific ideas, the existence of which it
enables us to reveal.

Aelian, Pompeus Trogas, and Quintus Curtius attri-
bute the death of Alexander to poison.* The two latter
add, that the poison was sent from Macedonia to Baby-

* Pausanias. Corinthiac. cap. ix.

POISONINGS HAVE AIDED THE BELIEF IN MAGIC. 1 29

Ion, and was water from a spring at the foot of Mount
Nonacris, in Arcadia. This water was so cold and so
bitter that it occasioned death to both men and animals ; it
broke or corroded all vases, except those which were made
from the hoof of an ass, or a mule, or a horse, or from
the horn which the Scythian asses* have on their fore-
head. One of these horns had been offered as a present
to Alexander: he had dedicated it to Apollo, in the
temple of Delphi, with an inscription, relating its won-
derful property. f In this recital we may perceive some
dubious or obscure expressions ; and remark that sub-
stances are frequently qualified as being hot or cold, inde-
pendent of their temperature. Instead of the horn of a
fabulous animal, a vessel might have been substituted
which, like many vessels that were used by the ancients,
was in the shape of a horn, and perhaps, also, displayed
the colour of one, with its polish and its semi-transparency;
but which, being brought from Scythia, or Upper Asia, j
might have been made of thick glass, or of porcelain suffi-
ciently well baked, and calculated to resist the action of cor-
rosive liquids. Without entering into such an inquiry, the
narrators have detailed only the marvellous part of
the recital, and have made of it a ridiculous story.

I suppose, without entering into any explanation, that

* We are told by Aristotle, that, in his time, there were no
asses in Scythia : some other animal, therefore, must have pro-
duced the horn sent to Alexander. — Ed.

t Aelian, De Nat. Animal, lib. x. cap. xl.

X The name of Scythia began to be applied to the northen parts
of Asia, in the Macedonian period, and was employed at the time
of the conquest of Asia by Alexander. — Ed.

VOL. II. K

] 30 POISONINGS HAVE AIDED THE BELIEF IN MAGIC.

the wonderful springs of which they boasted, and the
water of which, we are told, corroded all metals with the
exception of one alone, which they described simply by
this property of inalterability, from the facility with
which it was volatilized by heat, and a residue pro-
cured under the form of powder, perfectly white, and
of extreme tenuity, was such as we need not refer
to the land of fables. Such springs are at the doors
of the French capital, at Enghien : and for distributing
the water, pipes and taps of zinc are used,* because
this metal appears to be the only one which does not
decompose sulphureous waters.

Our incredulity would be redoubled, if an unaccredited
author had made us acquainted, for the first time, with
the Zagh ; that substance which is employed in the East
for inlaying steel arms with apparent gold. It is drawn
from a spring in the mountains of the Druses, and can
only be preserved in vessels of lead, or of glass, or
porcelain. Zagh is a mixture of the acidulated sul-
phate of alumina, and sulphate of iron,f the solution 01
which will corrode any other metal except lead.j This,
and the preceding example, at once sets aside part
of the improbability which pervades the recitals relative
to the water of Nonacris. Nothing precludes the Zagh
from being, as the Orientals assert, a production of
nature. In a work|| which does as much honour to his

* Revue Encyclopédique, tome xxxv. p. 501.

f Report of the Society for encouraging National Industry, De-
cember 1821, p. 362.

% Our author here labours under a mistake. Such a solution
will not affect vessels of platinum, gold, or silver. — Ed.

|| Senec. Qucest. Nat. lib. in. cap. xxv.

POISONINGS HAVE AIDED THE BELIEF IN MAGIC. 131

vast knowledge as to his philosophy, Seneca describes a
spring near to Tempe in Thessaly, the waters of which are
mortal toanimals,and penetrate through iron and copper.*
In Thrace, in the country of the Cyclops, also, there flowed
a rivulet whose limpid water seemed to differ in nothing
from common water ; yet every animal who drank of it
instantly died.f

The water of Non acris, which corroded iron, and cracked
or dissolved vases of silver and of brass, and even those
of baked clay,| could only have been a solution more
charged with corrosive substances than the Zagh, and
the water of the stream of Tempe. I think, nevertheless,
that it was a production of art. Firstly : because it was
according to Quintus Curtius a production of Macedonia,
and according to many other authors, of Arcadia also, which

* It is probable that this spring contained either free sulphuric
acid, or a highly acidulous salt of that acid. Modern chemistry
has detected this acid in a free state, as well as hydrochloric acid
in the water of the Rio Vinagre, which descends from the volcano of
Paraiè, in Colombia, South America. Sulphuric acid is also found
in the waters of other volcanic regions. The sour Springs of Byron,
in the Genessee country, about sixty miles south of the Erie Canal,
contain pure sulphuric acid. Such waters, therefore, would rapidly
corrode both iron and copper; converting the former into green, the
latter into blue vitriol — sulphates of both metals. — Ed.

f Arist. De Mirab. Auscul.

% Q. Curt. lib. x. cap. ultim. — Vitruv. De Architect, lib. in.
cap. in. — Justin, lib. xn. cap. xiv. — Pausanias. Arcad. cap. xvin.
— Plutarch in Alexandr. cap. xcix. — Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxx.
cap. xvi. — Arrian. De Exped. Alexand. lib. vn. cap. vn. — Plu-
tarch extends -the dissolving virtue of the water of Nonacris to
glass and to crystal. The ancients were anxious to exaggerate ;
and the possessors of the secret probably seconded this disposition
with all their power.

K 2

132 POISONINGS HAVE AIDED THE BELIEF IN MAGIC.

could not have been the case unless it was manufactured
in both countries. Secondly : Plutarch adds, that it was
obtained under the form of a light dew,# an expression
which seems to characterise it as the production of dis-
tillation. Thirdly : at Nonacris, Herodotus says, they took
an oath on the water of the Styx. Stobeus adds that, ac-
cording to the general opinion, this water possessed the
terrible property of punishing perjurers who had dared to
swear by it.f If this fact is regarded as the employment
of poison in ordeals, we may believe that the water of
Nonacris, and the water of the Styx, was a production of
Occult Science which rendered it, at will, either innocent
or injurious. Fourthly : the water of Nonacris could not
be detected by its taste, when mixed with wine, which was
not the case with the Zagh, nor is it with the water of
Enghien, which can be detected, however small the quan-
tity, when mixed with wine or any other liquid. It
could not be suspected, says Seneca,! either by its ap-
pearance or by its smell ; similar in this respect to the
poisons composed by the most celebrated poisoners,
which could only be discovered at the expense of life.
In speaking thus, does not Seneca describe a composition
analogous to the acqua Toff ana of the Italians ;|| espe-

* Plutarch, in Alexander cap. xlix. — Herodot. lib. vi. cap.

LXXV.

f Herodot. lib. vi. — J. Stobaci. Eclog. Physic. De Statu, ani-
marum.

% Senec. Loc. Cit.

|| The Aqua delta Toffana, or Acquetta di Napoli, was the in-
vention of a woman of the name of Toffana, a celebrated secret
poisoner, who resided at Naples in the end of the 1 7th and the
commencement of the 18th century. This water was so powerful,

POISONINGS HAVE AIDED THE BELIEF IN MAGIC. 133

daily when he adds, that its deleterious action is exerted
particularly on the entrails, which it contracts and binds,
and thus occasions death.

Setting aside historical discussion, it is sufficient for
us to draw the attention of our readers to the extent of
the apparent magical power which such a secret had
put into the hands of the Thaumaturgists. What
could they not accomplish, if joined to the power of gra-
duating the effect of poison, they could determine the
exact day when the victim should fall? This art
has existed at all times in India, where the possession of
it is not concealed.* " There are," says a personage in
the Eastern Tales,f " all kinds of poisons. There are
some which take away life a month after they have been
taken : there are others which destroy it at the

that from four to six drops were sufficient to destroy a man. It
was sold in small phials, inscribed " Manna of St. Nicholas
of Bari," and ornamented with the image of the saint. By
thus concealing her drops under the name of a miraculous
oil for curing diseases, then in high repute in Naples, Toffana
long carried on her abominable trade of assisting heirs to
their estates, and wives to new husbands. This violation of
a sacred name, however, having raised a loud outcry against her
amongst the clergy, the wretched woman was arrested, put to the
rack, and afterwards strangled. These drops were stated by Garelli,a
physician to the Emperor Charles VII., to be a strong solution of
arsenious acid in an infusion of the Ivy- leaved Toadflax, Linaria
Cymbalaria, which was an unnecessary addition, as the arsenious
acid is perfectly tasteless. — Ed.

* The Hindoo poison is named Powst, and is a preparation of
the Poppy. — Ed. '

f Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Fourteenth night. Story of
the Forty Thieves.

a Hoffman quotes Garelli's letter to him, in his Medicirue Ra~
tionalis Symptomata. torn, n p. 2.; cap. n. § 19, p. 185.

1 34 POISONINGS HAVE AIDED THE BELIEF IN MAGIC

end of two months ; and there are others, the effect
of which is still more gradual. When a Hindoo widow,
in 1822, burnt herself upon the funereal pile of her hus-
band, the Brahmans said frankly to the English observer
whom we have quoted,* that had she been prevented or
dissuaded from accomplishing the sacrifice, she would
not have survived the violation of her vow more than
three hours, as they had graduated, for that time, the
strength of the poison which they had administered
to her.

Aelian,f who mentions the art of the inhabitants of
India in manufacturing poisons, the effect of which is
slow, and graduated at will, ascribes to them also the
possession of a substance, a very small dose of which
will occasion almost sudden death, without pain. It
was sent to the King of Persia, who promised his
mother that she alone should share with him the posses-
sion of this valuable poison. In fact, it served as well
for murderous political unions, as for the sacred ven-
geance of the Thaumaturgists.

When the church, scarcely delivered from the persecu-
tions of the Polytheists, was torn by disputes on transub-
stantiation, which, to use the expression of a great poet,
caused Christians to perish martyrs of a dipthong, j Saint

* See chap. xvn. Asiatic Journal, vol. xv. (1823) pp. 292 —
293.

t Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. iv. cap. xxx. cap. xli.
% " Lorsque attaquant le verbe et sa divinité,
D'une syllabe impie un saint mot augmenté,
Faisait, dans une guerre et si vive et si longue,
Périr tant de Chrétiens, martyrs d'une dipthongue."
Boileau. Satire xn. vers. 199 — 202. — Omousios, unsubstantiate

POISONINGS HAVE AIDED THE BELIEF IN MAGIC. 135

Athanasius* and his partizans had the imprudence to cele-
brate the miracle which had freed them from Arius.
Let the names be suppressed ; let the details alone of this

or of equal essence j Omoiousios, or of similar essence. The dip-
thong oi, which distinguished these two words from one another,
was adopted by the Arians, and rejected by their adversaries.

* St. Athanasius was born in Alexandria, a.d. 206, of Chris-
tian parents. He received the most liberal education, andprofited
by it to a degree that admirably fitted him for the station in the
Church which he afterwards filled. Arius, his opponent, was a
native of Cyrenaica. He had been expelled the communion of the
Church by St. Peter, who had ordained him a Deacon, on account of
having joined the Meletians ; but having repented, he was re-
admitted by Achillas, who had succeeded St. Peter as Patriarch of
Alexandria, and was ordained a priest and pastor to one of the
churches of Alexandria. The ambition of Arius was disappointed
when his patron was succeeded by St. Alexander ; and he soon
afterwards began to preach the heresy known by his name, respect-
ing the divinity of our Saviour, which caused his second expul-
sion from the communion of the Church. St. Athanasius was
then merely a Deacon ; but, in the Council of Nice, he combated
so successfully the doctrines broached by Arius, and supported by
the followers of the heresiarch, that, on the death of Alexander,
he was elected Patriarch of Alexandria, a.d. 326. Soon after this
event, the Meletians and Arians having joined, and St. Athanasius
having had a sentence of deposition pronounced against him,
through the means of Eusebius, Arius made a kind of retraction
of his former opinions to Constantine, and was re-admitted to the
Church generally, but nevertheless he was refused to be admitted
by the Church at Alexandria. It is unnecessary to enter into the
history of Arianism, and the various controversies, feuds, and even
appeals to arms, which this heresy occasioned. On the recanta-
tion of Arius to Constantine, in a third confession of his faith, and
his profession on oath to submit to the Nicene Creed, the Empe-
ror, in 336, commanded that the Patriarch should leave his See
in case he persisted to refuse admitting Arius to communion, and

136 POISONINGS HAVE AIDED THE BELIEF IN MAGIC.

unexpected death be recalled; — those which have been

transmitted to us by three church historians,* there is

no man, however indifferently educated, who will not

there recognise symptoms produced by violent poison. No

physician would have hesitated to counsel a circumstantial

examination, in order to clear up some very plausible

suspicions, and no magistrate would have declined to

order it. And if it is added, that a few hours before

the death, Saint Alexander, the adversary of x\rius,

was heard addressing fervent prayers to heaven, that

rather than the heretic should be permitted to enter in

triumph into the church, and his heresy with him, he

might be struck dead,f it is not surprising that the

partizans of Arius did not think his death natural,

although they had supposed it to be a miracle, and that

their accusations were sufficiently public, to induce one of

their adversaries to think it necessary to pass them over

in silence.J

resolved that he should be received in a solemn manner. St. James,
who was then at Constantinople, exhorted the people to have
recourse to God by fasting and prayer for seven days ; and on the
eighth day, the Sunday on which Arius was to have been admitted,
that wretched man was found dead in a privy. Socrates relates
that he was taken ill of a bowel complaint during the procession.
Some writers ascribed his death to poison ; but as the Arians
ascribed his death to the magical practices of his enemies, the
accusation of poisoning was not believed. — Ed.

* Socrat. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. xxxviii. — Sozomen. Hist.
Ecoles, lib. n. cap. xxix — xxx. — Theodorit. Hist. Eccles. lib. i.
cap. xiv.

f Theodorit. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. xiv.

% Sozomen. Hist. Eccles. lib. n. cap. xxix. — From what
has been already stated, the Editor cannot avoid blaming our

POISONINGS HAVE AIDED THE BELIEF IN MAGIC. 137

Such, in those days of discord, was the transport of
zeal ! The Christians, in the excess of joy which the
death of the Emperor Julian occasioned them, indis-
creetly published that his tragical end had been foretold
by marvellous dreams, and that they perceived in it a
signal miracle of the Divine vengeance. The philosopher
Libanius,* the friend of the monarch, after his death, and
under successors who had very little respect for his me-
mory, boldly declared that Julian had fallen beneath the
blows of a Christian assassin. To this imputation an
orthodox writer replies, " The fact might be true ; and
who will blame that man, who for his God and his reli-
gion would have committed so courageous an action ?"f
This shameful glorying in crime, so contrary to the pre-
cepts of the religion which the writer believed, may,
however, be natural ; for it is natural that, in proportion
to the keenness of the interests by which they are affected,
men become eager, reject reason, and precipitate them-
selves into -delirium and fury.

author for great partiality, in insinuating the charge of poi-
soning against the opposers of Arius. Such feuds in the
Christian Church were undoubtedly most unhappy at the time,
for the progress of the true faith, and led to much of the
apostacy that followed : but there are no grounds for the accusa-
tion of the poisoning of Arius. — Ed.

* Libanius was a native of Antioch, in Syria. He became so
celebrated a teacher of rhetoric, that, although a Pagan, yet he
numbered some Christians amongst his scholars ; and was on
intimate terms with Saint Basil. He was the personal friend of
Julian ; and, being adverse to the Christians, his assertions
respecting the death of the Emperor can, therefore, be scarcely
regarded as worthy of much credit. — Ed.

t Sozomen. Hist. Eccles, lib. vi. cap. 11.

ISS ORDEALS BY POISON.

It must be lamented that in every nation, the ancient
priests enjoyed an influence equally infallible and myste-
terious, in submitting the judgment of crimes to ordeals,
more especially to those of beverages prepared by their
hands; and which were generally deadly or innocent
beverages, according to their wish to save or to destroy
the accused person.

The Hindoo law, the most ancient of all, is the only
one which dares frankly to utter the name— poison.
The accused who submits to this ordeal, in taking the
poison which he is about to drink, believes that it will
change, if he is innocent, into a delicious draught.* This
is a remarkable formulary, which, conformable with what
we have elsewhere declared, addresses itself to the phy-
sical agent as if it were a being endowed with supernatural
power and knowledge ; as, for instance, a genius, or a God.
Sometimes the trial was confined to swallowing the
water in which the priest had bathed the image of one
of the divinities,! which, although less formidable in
appearance, yet was, in fact, as decisive, j

* Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 473 and 486.

f Refer to vol. i. chap. vi.

X Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 474 and 486. — Upon the dif-
ferent ordeals employed among the Hindoos, namely, those of fire, of
a weight, of freezing water, of scalding oil, of the serpent, of poison,
&c, see Dubois, Mœurs et Coutumes des Peuples de l'Inde, tome n.
pp. 546 — 554. There is not one of them, the success of which
does not depend on the will of the priests.

The Hindoo code of laws is a pure theocracy, the law-giver
being supposed to promulgate nothing but what was revealed to
him by the Divinity ; hence the unconditional and implicit obe-
dience which the people yield to their priests, who must be neces-
sarily the interpreters of revealed laws. Princes are even subject to

ORDEALS BY POISON. 139

In Japan, the accused is obliged to swallow, in a cup
of water, a piece of paper, on which the priests have
traced magical characters and pictures ; and this beve-
rage tortures him cruelly, until he has confessed his
crime.*

Guided, probably, by ancient tradition, more than by
any knowledge which belongs to them, the Arabs prac-
tise similar trials.

The negroes of Issyny dare not drink the water into
which the Fetiche has been dipped, when they affirm
what is not the truth. f Before consecrated water could
inspire so great a fear, must there not have been several
examples to prove its deadly efficacy ?

The initiated of Para-belli, a very powerful religious
society in the interior of Southern Africa, prepare, among
the Qojas negroes, a water of trial, which is thrown over
the legs, the arms, or the hands of the accused. If the
water burns him, he is declared guilty ; if it does not
burn him, he is innocent.]: Is not the mysterious com-

them ; and, so far, does the assumption of power by the Brahmans
extend, that we find these words in the Institutes of Menu: —
"What Prince could gain wealth by oppressing those (Brahmans),
who, if angry, could frame other worlds ; and could give being to
other Gods and to other mortals."" After such an assumption in
the priesthood, the degree of superstition and mental degradation,
which has kept the condition of man servile and stationary in
India, will no longer excite surprise ; for, what follows so closely
in the steps of superstition, as popular ignorance, mental despotism,
and barbaric tyranny ? — Ed.

* Koempfer. History of Japan, bookm. chap. v. p. 51.

f Godefroy Loyer. Voyage to the Kingdom of Issyny .

t O. Dapper. Description de V Afrique, pp. 269 — 270.
a Institutes of Menu, chap. ix. verse 315.

140 ORDEALS BY POISON.

position of the water, and the care that is taken to wash
the limbs before they are exposed to its action, sufficient
to explain the assumed miracle ?

Among the Qojas, and among numbers of other
African tribes, a person suspected of poisoning is made
to drink a very acid liquid, prepared by scraping the in-
side bark of the Quony tree, from which the sap has been
first pressed out, into water. The accused who sur-
vives the trial is declared innocent ; he who dies is pro-
nounced guilty. # It may be believed that the care with
which the bark is pressed, decides the fate of the accused.
In other countries, the accused is obliged to drink a
liquid prepared by the hands of the priests : in Mono-
motapa he is condemned if he vomits it ; and in the
kingdom of Loango, if the liquid has a diuretic effect
upon him, he is also condemned. f

Nations more advanced in civilization, have authorized
those trials in which the Divinity is called upon to
work a miracle to manifest the truth. At Rome, in the
time of Cicero and Horace, a master who suspected that
his slaves had robbed him, conducted them before a
priest. They were each obliged to eat a cake over which
the priest had pronounced some magical words, {carmine
infectum.) This plan undoubtedly discovered the author
of the theft.J Near Tyana, an inexhaustible spring of
very cold, but always bubbling water, (water strongly
gaseous), served to test the truth of vows. The truthful
man drank of it with impunity ; the man guilty of a

* O. Dapper. Description de l'Afrique. 1. c. p. 263.

f Ibid. pp. 325—326 and 392.

% Acron. in Horat. Epist. lib. i. Epist. x. verse 9.

ORDEALS BY POISON. 141

false vow, if he dared to taste it, saw his body covered
with blisters and abscesses, and was so deprived of his
strength, that he could not quit the place until he had
confessed his perjury.*

Christianity has not altogether rejected these kind of
ordeals. The fountain of Wieresf is still celebrated in
Picardy. The unfaithful wife of Saint Genoulf dared to
plunge her arm into it, vowing that her conduct was
irreproachable: but her arm immediately became withered.
The fountain however is now less malicious, and all women
wash their hands in it with impunity. It may, therefore, be
believed that this ordeal has not been always harmless ;
and that, more than once, the terror which it inspired had
restrained many from attempting it. This has often
occurred with other ordeals. The collections of anecdotes
are replete with stories of the guilty, who, by the fear of
a miracle, have been induced to confess their crimes.
Here we repeat the reasonings that we have already
offered, that fear would not have been occasioned, if pre-
ceding experiments had not proved that the ordeal was
sometimes well founded. It was so managed that the pro-
mised miracle should not exceed the powers of the Thau-
maturgist.

Death was not the only revenge which was foretold
by the interpreters of an irritated God. Turning against
his enemies the secrets of the sacred science with which
he was armed, with more address and less danger to him-

* Philostrat. Vita Apollon, lib. i. cap. iv.

f A fountain situated near Samer, department of the Pas
de Calais. — Mémoires de l'Académie Celtique, tome v. pp.109 —
110.

142 APPARENT MIRACULOUS BLINDNESS.

self, the priest often reserved to himself the power of
producing a second miracle in favour of repentance.

A very bright light, such, for example, as the Bengal
fire, can dazzle the eye so effectually, that the power of see-
ing will remain suspended for some time. At the taking
of Milet by Alexander, when the soldiers entered the
temple of Milet to despoil it, so strong a light shone
forth from the sanctuary, that the soldiers were struck
with temporary blindness. * But the effect produced by
such a method of revenge is of very short duration ; and
its success depends too much on the concurrence of
favourable circumstances to permit it to be often prac-
tised.

Near the river Archeloiis grew the plant Myope ;f
it is impossible to rub the face with it, without losing the
sight. The leaves of the Stramonium possess a property
differing very little from the Myope. A young man
having accidentally spurted a drop of the sap into his eye,
remained for several hours deprived of the use of the
organ.! We know, in this day, that the extract of Bel-
ladonna, diluted with water, paralyses for a time the
organ of sight. To seize the propitious moment for
causing the poisonous substance to act, and for working
the miracle, requires nothing more than address. Thus,
with the talents of the Juggler aiding the science of the
Thaumaturgist, the histories of men miraculously struck

* Valer. Maxim, lib. i. cap. i. — Lactant. Divin. Instit. lib. n.
cap. vu.

f Plutarch, de Nomin. Fluv. et Mont. § xxn. — M. Vallot, of
the Academy of Dijon, is of opinion that this plant was a kind of
Tithymale, most probably Euphorbia officinarum.

X Bibliothèque Universelle des Sciences, tome iv. p. 221.

ORACLES CONSULTED IN ENDEMIC DISEASES. 143

blind, and as miraculously recovered, present nothing im-
probable.

Endemic diseases, which ravage a country, an army,
a city, sometimes assume so malignant a character that
ignorance believes, and policy feigns to believe them as
contagious as the pestilence.

Formerly, before the oracles were abolished, desolated
populations had recourse to them ; and it was the wish
of the oracles that the people should always recognise in
these diseases the vengeance of Gods, justly irritated against
their worshippers. This belief, being once established,
the priest menaced countries rebellious to his commands
with the invasion of the plague : more than once he has
announced the appearance of it at a certain time, and his
prophesy has been fulfilled. It was, in fact, easy for him
to found his opinion upon probabilities, equivalent to cer-
tainty ; it is only requisite to have observed beforehand
the return of circumstances capable of reproducing these
diseases. It was this science in ancient Greece which
procured for Abaris* the reputation of being a prophet.
The same observations will, at the present time, serve for
similar predictions, although the honest man will con-
fine himself to indicating precautions for preventing the
evil; and he is afflicted if, in neglecting them, a triumph is
provided him of passing for a true prophet.f But instead

* Iamblich. in Vit. Pythag. lib. i. cap. xxviii.

t In 1820, the Port of Roquemaure (an arrondissement of Uzes,
department of Gard), was discovered to be surrounded by stagnant
waters in those places where the Rhone had been turned from its
course. .M. Cadet, of Metz, predicted that, from the month of
March, the country would certainly be ravaged by an endemic

144 ORACLES CONSULTED IN ENDEMIC DISEASES.

of the philosophical observer, let us substitute a Thau-
maturgist ; would not the coincidence of the prophesy,
and of the disaster strike many minds, even at this day,
with a deep and religious terror ?

fever, if, before summer, the river was not restored to its old bed.
The works could only be completed in autumn, and the summer
saw Roquemaure depopulated by raging fevers. {Letter from
M. Cadet, of Metz, to the Minister of the Interior, March 23,
1820.)

PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE. 145

CHAPTER VI.

The threats of celestial anger were not alone pointed
at isolated individuals ; they were not alone confined to the
production of transitory diseases : they raised alarms in a
whole people that the earth would deny them its fruits; that
mortals would only inhale death from the air ; that under
their feet the tremhling earth would sink and open in
abysses ; or that rocks, shaken from their foundations,
would roll upon them, and crush them to atoms.

The habit of observation, assisted by reflection and
enlightened by reasoning, imparts to mankind some
plausible idea of the results of the different cultures to
which he devotes himself, Thaïes, in purchasing before

VOL. II. L

146 PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE.

hand, a crop of olives, the fecundity of which he had
prophesied,* proved to the Milesians that the philosopher
depended only upon his scientific skill to obtain wealth.
If the Thaumaturgist also could thus predict an abundant
harvest, he might be able to predict others less abundant ;
being enabled also to foresee a true famine, they have
the power of threatening the people with it. Should
the event justify his prophesy, he would be regarded not
merely as the interpreter, but as the agent of the Gods,
who had thus punished guilty mortals by the scourge
of famine.

Nevertheless, how distant is this point still from that
absolute sterility with which the imprecations of a sacred
man, or the maledictions of a perfidious magician, were
formerly believed to strike plants, trees, or even the soil !
This remark will scarcely escape a judicious reader, when
he reflects that, according to the principle upon which I
have constantly reasoned, some positive facts have given
birth to the opinion of the possibility of this terrible
means of vengeance. In the eloquent menaces that
Eschylus ascribes to Eumenides,f I can only perceive
the expressions of poetic enthusiasm and the hyperbole
which belong to the Oriental style.

In vain I recal to remembrance the inclination which
man always has had to ascribe, to the wrath of the Gods,
scourges the cause and the remedy of which nature has
hidden from him. The edifice which I have attempted
to raise is shaken, if the belief in apparent miracles has

* Diogen. Laert. in Thalet.

* Aeschyl. Eumen. vers. 783, 786, 803, 806, &c.

PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE. 147

no other origin than some transient predictions, and the
dreams of a terrified imagination.

Let us first retrace the influence of the language of
emblems, and then observe how its power has been effectual
in misleading writers of veracity, when they have related
similar menaces, the accomplishment of which they have
themselves witnessed in foreign countries.

For a long period of time, when a conquered city was
condemned to eternal desolation, salt was sown among
its ruins ; and, in the face of experience to the contrary,
the property of rendering the earth unfruitful was for a
long time attributed to salt. Let us turn our eyes to-
wards those climates where, in immense deserts, salt is
seen every where effloresced on the surface of the ground.
There one privileged spot may be seen productive. An
enemy invades it, disperses its inhabitants, fills up its wells,
turns the course of its rivers, destroys the trees, and burns
up its vegetation ; and this previously fruitful spot is
confounded with the desert which surrounds it ; and
almost immediately, under a burning sky, the despoiled
soil becomes covered with the saline efflorescence, the
forerunner of future sterility. The emblem of salt strewn
upon the earth was most expressive, therefore, in those
countries where this phenomenon was known : better than
an edict, better than the sound of trumpets and the
voice of heralds, it proclaimed the will of the destroyer ;
it announced that the country should remain unin-
habited, without cultivation, and devoted to eternal
sterility. The menace was not vain ; even where climate
and the effects of time did not hasten the work of
violence.

L 2

148 PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE.

What a conqueror is to a weak people, so is the wicked
man to a defenceless fellow-being. The Roman law
punished as a capital offence that which may appear to us
as a trivial delinquency, namely, the act of putting stones
on the inheritance of another person. But in the country
to which this law belonged, in Arabia, Scopelism* such
was the name of the crime, was tantamount to the threat
that whoever should dare to cultivate an inheritance thus
insulted would perish by a violent death. That this
mute language was understood, and that the field
remained from that time uncultivated and sterile, was a
sufficient reason for the seriousness of the punishment
carried out against this emblematical threat. Let us
transfer, without any explanation, the indication of this
fact into a different order of things; the emblem of
Scopelism, like that of salt, would soon be regarded as
a physical agent capable of destroying the earth by ren-
dering it unalterably sterile.

Sterility is known to be the result of natural causes.
Agriculturists know that every perennial plant with a
tap root, such as the Luzerne,f sown at the foot of young
and delicate trees, injures their growth, and frequently
destroys them. The Thaumaturgists were able to collect
several observations of this kind, and they thus acquired
the power of predicting the unfruitfulness of trees, and the
barrenness of corn-fields, when the imprudence of the
cultivator placed such mischievous neighbours near useful

* " Scopelismus, lapidum positio — lapides ponere indicio futur os
quod si quis eum agrum coluisset malo letho periturus esset, &c."
Digest, lib. xlvii. tit. xi. § ix.

f Medicago laciniata, a native of Syria. — Ed.

PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE. 149

vegetables; and, as may be supposed, their predictions were
frequently fulfilled. The parable of the Gospel, which de-
scribes tares being sown, in the night amongst the wheat,
by the enemy of the proprietor,* evidently alludes to a
known and even a common delinquency. No police, and
especially no rural police, existed among the ancient na-
tions ; hence every one was the guardian of his own pro-
perty. It was then much easier, than it is at this day, to
injure a field already sown, by treacherously scattering
other seed over it, whether it was expected that the person
thus acting would profit by the antipathy existing be-
tween divers plants, or that the result would be the
choking of the good grain by the excess of a useless plant.

From the judicial avowals of several pretended sor-
cerers, it appears that, among the inventions taught in
the Sabbat, the composition of powders for injuring every
kind of crops, for drying up plants, and blasting fruits,f
were included. All that has been related by these
wretched beings as to their occupations there, we have
considered as dreams ; but as dreams founded upon the
recollection of ancient practices. To the tradition of the
possibility of the assumed miracle, was attached the idea
that it could still be worked.

A Chinese book, j the antiquity of which is undoubted,
notices the crime of destroying a tree, by watering it se-
cretly with poisoned water. According to ancient tradi-
tions, individuals, envious of the fertility of their

* The Gospel of St. Matthew, chap. xin. vers. 24—28.
t Llorente. Histoire de l'Inquisition, tome ni. pp. 440 — 447.
X Le Livre des Récompenses et des Peines, translated by M.
Stanislas Jullien, p. 346.

150 PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE.

neighbours' fields, threw upon them a Stygian water* to
destroy their fertility. Theophrastus, quoted by St. Clement
of Alexandria, affirms, that if the shells of beans are
buried among the roots of a tree recently planted, the
tree decays.f To obtain a similar result, even to a great
extent, Democritus has directed that the roots of trees
should be watered with the juice of the hemlock (Conium
maculatum) , in which the flowers of the Lupine have
been steeped, j I am ignorant whether experience has
ever confirmed these assertions ; but they indicate that
some efficacious secret was concealed under a veil,
more or less dense, and that the ancients were not igno-
rant of the existence of a process capable of destroying
plants and trees. Recent experiments have proved that,
to succeed in producing such an event, it is only neces-
sary to spread upon the soil a combination of sulphur
and lime, in the proportion of fifteen parts of the former
to one of the latter ; a combination which is found to
be formed in the residue of the lixivium, which is used
in making curd soap ; and in the residue of the
artificial fabrication of soda. It is also proved, by
daily observation, that the waters proceeding from coal-
pits, and from the workings of metallic mines, first change,
and finally destroy vegetation, upon every soil which is wa-
tered by them : and is it not natural to connect these waters
with that Stygian water, of which the Telchines, a race
celebrated in the art of excavating mines, and of working

* See the Scholiaste of Stace. in Thébaid. lib. n. verse 274.
verbo. Telchines.

f S. Clement. Alexandr. Stromat. lib. in.
X PUn. Hist. Nal. lib. xvm, cap. vi.

PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE. 151

brass and iron, were accused of employing for so guilty
a purpose. But it matters little, as we have thus observed,
more than once, whether these mischievous properties were
formerly known or discovered by the founders of modern
sorcery, the possibility of their being known is unques-
tionable ; and the belief established among the ancients,
and verified by the assertions of Theophrastus and
Democritus, is unrefuted, that a natural process was
sufficient to realise this possibility.

Let us apply the same reasoning to the terrible art of
rendering the air pestilential. Natural phenomena were
doubtless, at first, attributed to the vengeance of the
Gods. Under the government of Marcus Aurelius, a
temple at Seleucia was delivered up to be plundered : the
soldiers having discovered a narrow aperture, en-
tered it, and broke open a door which had been carefully
shut by the Chaldean priests. Suddenly there was ex-
haled a lethiferous vapour, the disastrous effects of which
extended itself to some distance.* It was, I believe, a
gas similar to that which sometimes escapes from mines,
and from deep and deserted wells.f From two gulfs,

* Amm. Marcell. lib. xxiii. — Jul. Capitol, in Aelio-Vero.

f The deleterious gas, mentioned in the text, must have been
chiefly, if not wholly, carbonic acid gas, which frequently accumu-
lates in old cellars that have been long shut up, especially if they have
contained any fermentable, vegetable matter. It was not the fire-
damp, or gas exhaled in mines, which consists almost solely of light
carburetted hydrogen : and which issues from fissures in the beds of
coal ; and, being light, collects in the upper part of the mines,
owing to deficient ventilation. This gas is very explosive when
mingled with atmospheric air, and prior to Sir Humphrey Davy's in-
vention of the safety-lamp, frequently proved dangerous to miners,
when the atmosphere of it sunk so low down in the pit as to be fired

152 PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE.

one near to the borders of the Tigris, and another si-
tuated near Hierapolis of Phrygia, there arises, in the
same manner, a vapour mortal to every animal that
inhales it.#

According to a tendency which we have already no-
ticed, art has attempted to imitate the modes of destruc-
tion which nature produces ; and at different periods,
certain traces have been found of these means having
been employed as offensive weapons. In 1804, the
French Government accused the English sailors of having
attempted to poison the atmosphere of the coasts of
Bretagne and of Normandy, by leaving on shore horns
containing burning nitrate of arsenic. Several of these
horns being extinguished, they were collected, and their
contents having been chemically examined, no doubt re-
mained of the nature of the composition with which they

by their candles ; but it is not so poisonous when breathed as car-
bonic acid gas, fixed air, which destroys life even when mixed
with an equal portion of pure atmospheric air. Carbonic acid gas
causes a sensation of giddiness, ringing in the ears, dimness of
sight, drowsiness, and hurried respiration ; and the debility, which
also attends it, comes on so suddenly, that the person is unable to
make his escape, and falls down insensible ; hence the dread and
horror which it must have occasioned in the Roman soldiers, when
their comrades nearest the door were immersed in the flood of this
gas which rolled from the apartment. This gas is also con-
siderably heavier than atmospheric air ; and, therefore, when those
who fell first were attempted to be raised by their companions, the
necessity of stooping would bring them also into the same
atmosphere, and thus increase the number of victims. Ignorance
would be most likely to deem their deaths a punishment for
the sacrilege. — Ed.

* Amm. Marcell. lib. xxur. — The modern Bambuk-Calasi.
—Ed.

PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE. 153

were charged.* The enemies of France, in this instance,
only renewed and perfected an invention which, in Europe,
followed close upon the invention of cannon. At that
time, bombs and grenades were filled with a powder pre-
pared for the purpose ; and these projectiles, in bursting,
diffused, to a great distance, an odour so deleterious, that
it proved mortal to all who had the misfortune to inhale
it. Paw, who has discovered in an Italian pyrotechnic
the composition of this offensive powder, recollects that
a trial of it was made in London with a melancholy rë-
sult.f A long time before, if we may believeS trabo,| the
Soanes, not contented with wounding their enemies with
poisoned weapons, endeavoured to suffocate, with poisonous
exhalations, those warriors whom they were unable to strike.
It is evident that this poisonous odour developed itself
only in the enemy's ranks ; for, if such had not been the
case, it would have first destroyed the men who carried
the weapons which concealed it. It will be necessary
to distinguish these weapons from poisoned arrows, and
to suppose that they were filled with a composition simi-
lar to the exploding powder ; a composition which acted
either on the rupture of the vessel containing it, or by
the contact of fire. As this secret was known by the
barbarians of the Caucasus, it might have been also

* See the Newspapers of 1804.

f Paw. Traité des Flèches empoisonnées (inserted in vol. xu. in
4to. of the translation of Pliny's Natural History), pp. 460 — 470.
Paw calls into question the efficacy of this offensive powder. We
think, with him, that it was trifling, since the use of it was so
speedily abandoned.

t Strabo. lib. xi.

154 PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE.

known amongst more enlightened nations. Its nature
might have been understood also by the Thaumaturgists,
and have been made the origin of a belief in the appa-
rent miracles which rendered the air pestilential.

If the iniquity of man can injure the fertility of the
soil, and the salubrity of the air, it is not so easy for
him to shake the earth, and to cause mountains to roll
upon the people, whom his hatred has devoted to de-
struction. But if signs, which escape the observation of
the unobserving vulgar, warn him of the approach of
some great convulsion of nature, and if he dares to pre-
dict it, whether with the intention of. calling his fellow-
creatures to prevent the sad consequences of the event,
or to induce them to see in it the effects of the vengeance
of the Gods, what glory and what power will be his
share, when the event shall have confirmed his prediction !

Iamblicus* attributes the possession of this wonderful
sagacity to Pythagoras, to Abaris, to Epimenides, and to
Empedocles. At a much later period, in the thirteenth
century of our era, a monk, wishing to persuade the
Emperor Andronicus to recal the Patriarch, Saint Atha-
nasius, threatened him with divers scourges, and,
amongst others, with that of an earthquake ; and three
days had scarcely elapsed, when many shocks, not in-
deed dangerous, were felt in Constantinople.!

Is it necessary to reject this recital, and the assertion
of Iamblichus : and should we forget that Pherecydes,
the first master of Pythagoras, in tasting, or only in
looking at the water drawn from a well, announced to the

* Iamblich. Vit. Pythagor. lib. i. cap. xxviii.
f Pachymer. lib. x. cap. xxxiv.

PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE. 155

inhabitants of Samos an approaching earthquake?* or
ought we, with Cicero, to reply, that the thing is im-
possible? Thucydides was enabled to discover the
connexion that exists between volcanic fermentations and
earthquakes ; and the appearance of water generally
pure and clear, becoming suddenly muddy and sul-
phurous, was sufficient to enable him to foresee the phe-
nomenon which he predicted. In 1693, at Bologna, in
Italy, the waters became muddy on the evening of an
earthquake.f This observation is not singular : the
water of several wells beeame equally muddy, a few days
before the earthquake which was felt in Sicily in the
month of February 1818. | The symptoms of the ap-
proaching disaster might even appear much sooner.
There was an eruption of a volcano at the summit of
Mount Galoungoun, in the island of Java, on the 8th of
October 1822. In the preceding month of July, the
waters of the Tji-Kounir, a river which rises in the same
mountain, were seen to become troubled ; they had a
bitter taste, and exhaled a sulphureous odour; and a
whitish scum || settled upon the legs of travellers who
forded the river at that time. The prophecy of Phe-

* Diogen. Laert. in Pherecyd. — Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. n. cap.
lxxix. — Maxim Tyr. Dissertât, in. § v. — Cicer. de Divinat. lib. i.
cap. l. lib. xin. — Iamblique (Vit. Pythag. lib. i. cap. xxvin.)
attributes this prediction to Pythagorus.

t Histoire de V Académie des Sciences, année 1696. Buffon. Hist.
Nat. — Preuves de la Théorie de la Terre, art", xi.

î Agathino Longo. Mémoire Historique et Physique sur le
Tremblement de Terre, &c. Bibliotheca Italiana, September, 1818.
- — Bibliothèque Univ. Sciences, tome ix. p. 263.

|| Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, tome xn. p. 204.

156 PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE.

recydes, founded upon observations of a similar descrip-
tion, was that of a sage, and not of an impostor.

From the passage quoted from lamblichus, it may
be concluded, that the art of foreseeing earthquakes was
common among the first masters of the Pythagorean
school. It must have been a portion of the secret
science among the ancients. Pausanias, who believed
these phenomena to be the effect of the wrath of the
Gods, enumerated, however, the signs which preceded
and announced them.# Pliny adds to the indication
of these signs, the number of which he does not omit
to reckon, the fœter and the change of colour of the
water of the neighbouring wells. He also discusses the
proper methods of preventing the return of the scourge,
and advances the plausible opinion, that they may some-
times succeed, by digging very deep wells, in those
countries where it has been felt.f

Let us suppose, that in the Island of Hayti, a strange
population were to establish itself. Whilst living under
the most beautiful sky, and in the midst of productions
of a fruitful and rather prodigal soil, let us imagine
that a subterraneous noise, a tremendous sound, should
occur to alarm their minds, and that the chief who
conducted the colony to this shore, assembles them toge-
ther. Let us then suppose that he announces to them
that the Gods, irritated with their want of submission to
his commands, are going to shake the earth from the
depths of the valleys to the summits of the hills. They
would, probably, laugh at a prediction that appeared to

* Pausanias. Achaic. cap. xxiv.

f Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. n. cap. lxxxi. — lxxxii.

PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE. 157

belie the universal tranquillity ; and they would give them-
selves up to indifference, to pleasure, and to sleep. But
suddenly the threat is accomplished in all its horror. The
terrified population simultaneously prostrate themselves,
and the chief is triumphant. How often will not this
phenomenon be renewed before experience teaches what
at this day is known by the most ignorant of the blacks,
that the noise known by the name of Gouffre, is a pre-
sage, as natural as it is certain, of an approaching earth-
quake, and not the voice of an angry God, nor the
announcement of his inevitable revenge.

It was a subterraneous noise of a particular kind,
which announced to a Peruvian observer, the earthquake
which desolated Lima in 1828,* and led him to predict
it four months before it occurred.

Nine lustres before the above period, a similar predic-
tion had proved the perspicuity of a French scholar. In
1 782, M. Cadet, de Metz, observed very thick sulphureous
vapours over all the plain which serves as a basis to
Calabria. He concluded, from this appearance, that
the country was threatened with an earthquake, and
publicly predicted the disaster, which took place at the
commencement of I785.f

* M. de Vidaurre. This scholar revived the opinion of Pliny
regarding the possibility of preventing earthquakes, by digging very
deep wells. See the Moniteur Universel, No. for August 27, 1828.

t The notes in which he had consigned his prediction were
added to the archives of an Agricultural Society, founded in
Corsica by the Intendant, M. de Boucheporn. The latter, writing
in April 23, 1783, to M Job de Fleury, then minister, recals the
prediction of M. Cadet, with details much anterior to the event.
M. Denon also recals it in a letter addressed to M. Cadet, dated
April 19, 1783.

158 PREDICTIONS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURE.

About the same time, a subterraneous road was dug
through the Alpine mountain, called Tenda, with the inten-
tion of opening a direct communication between Piedmont
and the province of Nice : the nature of the mountain
rendered the soil easily penetrable to the filtration of
waters. The same scholar announced the fast approach-
ing falling in of the subterraneous passage, and solicited
the suspension bf the works : but the engineers did not
dream of profiting by his counsels until the event proved
how well his fears had been founded.*

Anaximanderf foretold to the Lacedaemonians a sub-
terranean concussion, and the fall of the Peak of
Taygetes ; doubtless his foresight depended on the obser-
vation of analogous symptoms as to the nature of the soil,
as well as of phenomena which were the precursors of an
earthquake. Anaximander, Pherecydes, the Peruvian
observer, and our own countryman, were only philoso-
phers ; but had any one of them been a soothsayer, the
adoration for the Thaumaturgist would have succeeded to
the esteem for the sage.

* Cadet of Metz. Histoire Naturelle de la Corse, note aa. pp.
138—147.

f Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. n. cap. lxxviii. Cicer. De Divinat. lib. i.
cap. l.— Anaximander was a Milesian, a disciple of Thaïes, and
a consummate mathematician for the period in which he lived.
—Ed.

METEOROLOGY A SOURCE OF PREDICTION. 159

CHAPTER VII.

Difficult to be foreseen, and followed by results
still more difficult to be repaired, are the crumbling
of mountains, earthquakes, and all great convulsions
of nature ; but they are happily rare. Such is not
the case, however, with many atmospheric phenomena,
attendant upon the course of the seasons, the months,
and the days; phenomena the occurrence, the repeti-
tion, and the variation of which promise to mankind en-
joyments or privations, and the laws regulating which,
although formerly inscrutable, have yet been at length par-
tially revealed to persevering and reflective observation.
The knowledge which has been acquired on this subject
constitutes meteorology ; a branch of science destitute of
fixed principles, and without particular truths, but which
has been, in all ages, most powerful in acting on the

160 METEOROLOGY A SOURCE OF PREDICTION.

credulity of mankind.* It influences the fate of the
labours of the year ; of the subsistence of the morrow ;
or that of to-day ; and, stimulated by present suf-
ferings, or by anxiety for the future, the curiosity
which awakens the desire to know what may be ex-
pected from atmospheric phenomena, becomes excuse-
able to man when we consider his hopelessness ; the
intensity of his fears ; and the excess of his gratitude
under such circumstances. Every menace would be

* The limited extent of information in meteorology, and the
laws which regulate aerial phenomena and perturbations, is morti-
fying to the pride of science. When atmospheric changes occur of
a violent and desolating nature, man becomes conscious how little
he is acquainted with their causes ; and how inadequate his means
are even to shield himself from the fury of elements which he
cannot control. He is forced to tremble upon his hearth, the slave
to the apprehension of anticipated evil ; and powerless to await
the spontaneous lulling of the sweeping tempest, and the driving
hurricane. It is, however, gratifying to know that, of late years,
some progress has been made in the philosophy of storms ; and we
must, therefore, hope that a more effectual investigation into
the origin and laws of these overwhelming disturbers of atmo-
spheric quiet, may lead to some practical means of evading their
fury, and foretelling their approach. Some progress, indeed, has
been made in the latter : for example, in the hurricane which de-
solated Barbadoes in 1831, Mr. Simons, of St. Vincent, before it
reached that island in its passage from Barbadoes, observed a
threatening cloud in the north, of an olive-green colour, which
indicated an approaching aerial conflict. He hastened home, and,
by nailing up his doors and windows, saved his habitation from
the general calamity. If the power of predicting atmospheric con-
flicts formerly existed, when ignorance contemplated every
acquirement which was not universal as a direct gift from Heaven,
we can scarcely wonder that those who possessed meteorological
knowledge were regarded as little less than divinities. — Ed.

METEOROLOGY AN AID TO MAGIC. 161

listened to with religious submission ; and all prognostics
that call for salutary precautions against great disas-
ters, or in pressing urgency, reanimate almost extin-
guished hope, would be hailed as celestial inspirations.*

" The Cape of Good Hope is famous for its tempests
and for the singular cloud that precedes them; this
cloud appears at first like a little round spot in the sky ;
and sailors call it the bull's eye. In the land of Natal, a
little cloud also forms itself like the bull's eye of the
Cape of Good Hope, and from this cloud there seems to
issue a terrible wind, that produces the same effects. Near
the coast of Guinea, storms are also announced like those
of the Cape of Good Hope, by a small black cloud ; whilst
the rest of the heaven is usually very serene, and the sea
calm."f Is it requisite to direct the attention of the
reader to the consideration of the marvellous predictions
produced by the knowledge of these symptoms of ap-
proaching storms, and the astonishment thereby created
among men who could have no cognizance of them ;
or ask him if he would be astonished at Anaxagoras
and Democritus in Greece, and Hipparchus at Rome,
all three accustomed, no doubt, by observation, to judge
of the state of the atmosphere, having in fine weather
predicted abundant rains, which of course, when they fell,

* Many valuable observations on the statistics and philosophy
of storms are contained in the Treatises of Lieutenant- Colonel
Reid, of the Royal Engineers ; and those of Mr. William C. Red-
field, of New York ; and there is much reason for hoping that the
foundation having been laid by these able observers, a superstruc-
ture may be raised, honourable to science, and practically beneficial
to the human race. — Ed.

t Buffon. Hist. Nat. Preuves de la Théorie de la Terre, art. xv.

VOL. II. M

162 METEOROLOGY AN AID TO MAGIC.

justified the clear-sightedness of the three naturalists ?#
When a drought had lasted a long time in Arcadia,
the priest of Jupiter Lycasus addressed prayers and offered
a sacrifice to the fountain Hagno ; and then touched the
surface of the water with an oak branch. Suddenly
there arose a vapour, a mist, and a cloud, which soon
dissolved into abundant rain. The priest, no doubt,
did not attempt to operate the assumed miracle until
promising circumstances guaranteed success. Thus in
modern Europe, the priests never carry the shrines or
images of saints in procession, or order solemn prayers for
the restoration of fair weather or for rain, until they are able
to reckon on the near approach of the one or the other.
Many atmospheric phenomena exercise so great an
influence on agricultural labours, that to the art of fore-
seeing the one is naturally joined the hope and the
possibility of divining the success of the other.f There

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xvm. cap. xxviii. Diogen Laert. in
Thalet. Cicer. de Divinat. lib. i. cap. ni. Aristot. Polit, lib. i.
cap. ii. — Hipparcbus was an astronomer, who flourished between
the 154th and 163d Olympiads. He predicted the times of eclipses ;
discovered a new star, and also the procession of the equinoxes,
and the parallcex of the planets. After a life of labour in the cause
of science, he died 123 years before the Christian era. — Ed.

t Simple observation alone is often sufficient to enable such
predictions to be successfully advanced. Sir Isaac Newten, one fine
morning, taking an accustomed ride, was accosted by a cow-
herd, and assured that he would soon be overtaken by a shower.
As the sky was cloudless and the sun brilliant, Sir Isaac disre-
garded the remark and rode on : but, before he had proceeded
far, a heavy shower fell. The philosopher immediately rode
back to ascertain the foundation of the prediction. " Well,
Sir," replied the countryman, " all I know about it is this — my
cow always twirls her tail in a particular way before a shower." — Ed.

METEOROLOGY AN AID TO MAGIC. 163

is nothing at all improbable in a fact related both by
Democritus and Thaïes, who, it is said, were able to
foretell what would be the produce of the olive-trees.
These philosophers only made use of their success to
prove to the detractors of study how science might lead
to wealth. If they had pretended, however, that heaven
had revealed its secrets to them, they would have been
listened to with greater admiration. Science, cultivated
by the followers of learning, or by the disciples of the
priesthood, has been able to extend its foresight still
farther ; and, consequently, observations on the habitual
course of the winds and tides of certain latitudes, would
enable either an oracle or a philosopher to announce the
success or unfortunate issue of a voyage. Thus, in the
present day, such issues have been predicted many years
previously, by anticipating what obstacle the movement,
which carries the icebergs to the east or to the west would
oppose to the attempts of navigators to reach the Arctic
Pole; and that as long a time as they would take for sailing
from the west to the east would be required also for the
voyage. But to an ignorant people, only accustomed to
regard the physical sciences environed by the marvellous,
these circumspect announcements of learned foresight
would not have sufficed, in order to satisfy impatient
desire; it was, therefore, necessary to transform these
prognostics into positive assurances. Thus the priests
of Samothrace* promised to those who came to consult

* Samothrace is situated on the Thracian coast, and peopled
by Pelasgians. It was so celebrated for its mysteries, that it ob-
tained the name of sacred ; and its shrines were resorted to by
pilgrims from every country. — Ed.

M 2

164 METEOROLOGY AN AID TO MAGIC.

them, favourable winds and a happy voyage. If the
promise was not realised, it was easy to exculpate the
Divinity, by alleging (whatever might have been the
faults of the candidate, or the harm done to his boat,)
that he was guilty of some crime, or, what was worse,
some want of faith.

The Druidesses of the isle of Sena also pretended to
the power of appeasing waves and winds ;# and, doubt-
less, it was by the same artifice they preserved their title
to infallibility.

Empedocles and Iamblicus only repeated the language
of the temples, when the one, in his verses, boasted of
being able to teach the art of enchaining or loosing the
the winds, exciting the tempest, and calming the hea-
vens ;f while the other ascribed to Abaris and Pytha-
goras a power no less extended. {

Such promises were too flattering to credulity not to
be taken in the most literal sense. Contrary winds
were at Ulysses' return shut up in a leather bottle by
Eolus, and liberated by the imprudent companions of the
hero. The Laplanders believe that their magicians pos-
sess the power attributed by Homer to the God of the
winds. Do not let us mock their ignorance ; at least, it
does not render them unjust or cruel.

The belief that endowed the adepts of philosophy with
the power of arresting and enchaining the winds, existed
in the fourth century, even among men enlightened by

* Pomponius. Mela. lib. hi. cap. vi.

f Diogen. Laert. lib. vin. cap. lix. S.Clement. Alex. Stromat.
lib. v.

% Iamblich. Vit. Pythagor. lib. i. cap. xxvm.

METEOROLOGY AN AID TO MAGIC. 165

Christian knowledge. Constantinople, encumbered with
an immense population, suffered from famine. Vessels
freighted with corn were stopped at the entrance of the
straits ; they could only pass them by a south wind, and
they still awaited this propitious gale. Jealous of the
favours which the philosopher Sopater# received from
Constantine, the courtiers accused him of having en-
chained the winds, and caused the famine ; and the weak
Emperor had him put to the torture, and murdered.f
It mattered little whether the denouncers themselves
believed in the truth of the accusation ; it is clear that
the Prince and the people regarded the thing as possible,
and as a fact of which many examples were already
known.

We shall no longer doubt this, when we find that in
the eighth and ninth centuries, among the number of
magicians proscribed by Charlemagne, some were desig-
nated by the name of tempestarii, or those who regu-
lated storms, tempests, and hail.j

Did this superstitious belief, and the agitation excited
by it every where disappear before the progress of civili-
zation? We believe not. On one occasion, when
excessive rains were unpropitious to the labours, and
destroyed the hopes of the agriculturist, the long conti-

* Sopater was a native of Apamea, and like his master, Iambli-
chus, pretended to possess supernatural powers ; so that, in some
degree, he may be considered as having brought his death upon
himself. — Ed.

t Suidas, verbo Sopater. Photius. Bibliothec. cod. cli. Euna-
pius, in Aedesio, Sozomen. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. v.

% De Auguriis et aliis Maleficiis. — Capitul. lib. i. cap. lxxxiii.
(in 12mo. Parisiis, 1588.) See also Ducange. Glossar. verb.
Tempestarii — Tempestuarii.

166 METEOROLOGY AN AID TO MAGIC.

nuation of these evils were attributed by the multitude
to the sorceries of a woman who had arrived in the
country to exhibit the spectacle, a hundred times re-
peated, of an aerostatic ascension. This persuasion
spread and acquired so much force, that the aeronaut was
obliged to take precautions for her safety ; or to run the
risk of being burned alive by men about as enlightened
as those who formerly applauded the murder of Sopater.
Who, we may inquire, were these men ? They were
peasants in the environs of Brussels, and the inhabitants
of the town itself; and the date of the event was so
recent as 1828.* The same case may again occur in
another century, or in three centuries hence, or as long
as those who, pretending to the exclusive right of instruct-
ing the people, make them believe in magic and sorcery.
Those who have accorded to the wonder-worker the power
of inflicting plagues, attributed to them, with not more
reason, that of being able to cure those produced by nature.
In order to confirm an opinion so favourable to their credit,
it is only necessary to remark, that the possessors of
sacred science have disguised more than once the most
simple operations under a magical veil.

They ordered, for example, the husbandman who desired
that in the season his fruit trees should be laden with fruit,
to cover them with a band of straw on the night celebrated
by the Polytheists as the renewing of the invincible sun ;
and in the Christian church, as the coming of our
Saviour.f The night when the sun, supposed to be en-
chained for ten days by the winter solstice, begins to
arise again towards the equator, and on which we often

* Le Moniteur Universel of the 23d August, 1828.
t Froraann. Tract, de Fascionatione.^. 341 — 342.

METEOROLOGY AN AID TO MAGIC. 167

find cold suddenly and intensely developed. Experience
has proved that this precaution will effectually protect
trees from the hurtful effects of frost.

In the present day, natural physics are consulted for
preservatives against hail : magic formerly was consulted
for that purpose. The inhabitants of Cleone in the Argo-
lide, imagined they could distinguish, from the appearance
of the sky, the approach of frost that would endanger
their crops ; and immediately they endeavoured, by offer-
ing sacrifices to the Gods, to avert the evil:* other
nations sang sacred hymns for this purpose.f These
were only acts of piety ; like the secret, taught by some
theologians to avert the hail supposed to be conjured by
witchcraft, which consisted in making signs of the cross,
and such long continued prayers, that in the interval,
the rain might have time to cease, f

But, in ancient Greece, men pretended to obtain by
enchantments || what elsewhere was only asked through
the mercy of Heaven. § Pausanias even declares that, he
himself witnessed the successful issue of their magical

* Senec. Qucest. Nat. lib. iv. cap. vi.

f Carmina. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxviii. cap. n.

% Wierius. De Prcestigiis Damon, lib. iv. cap. xxxn.

|| St. Justin. Qucest. et Respons. ad Orthodox. Qucest. 31.

§ The inhabitants of Methana, in Argolis, when a strong south-
east wind blew up the Saronic Gulph, defended themselves from it
by the following spell. They took a white cock, and having cut
the bird in halves, two men seized each a part, and then standing
back to back, started off in opposite directions, made the tour of
the vineyard, and returning whence they set out, buried the re-
mains in the earth. After this the wind might blow as it listed
since it possessed no power to injure any man's property within
the consecrated circle. Pausan. n. 34. 2. quoted in St. John s
History of the Customs, &;c. of Greece, vol. n. p. 339.

168 METEOROLOGY AN AID TO MAGIC.

operations.* Until positive experience has proved the
still doubtful efficacy of the paragrales,f we shall think
that if the men who boasted of success of this kind have
sometimes appeared to obtain it, hail would not have
fallen whether they had recourse or not to magical cere-
monies for conjuring it. It is not undesignedly that we
place modern attempts and ancient opinions in juxta-
position. In the eighth century, they hoped to avert
hail and storms by pointing long poles towards the skies.
This measure reminds us of what was recently proposed,
and, fifty years ago, was accredited by Berthollon, the
naturalist. But, as at the end of the poles just men-
tioned, pieces of paper inscribed with magical characters
were affixed, the custom seemed to be tainted with sorcery,
and was consequently proscribed by Charlemagne.

Did the sorcerers of that age then, we may inquire,

* Pausanias. Corinthiac. cap. xxxiv.

t In a Report read to the Académie des Sciences, in 1826, their
efficacy is represented as somewhat doubtful. — These instruments,
more properly called Par agrandines, are intended to avert hailstorms;
and, according to Signor Antonio Perottiand Dr. Astolfi they have
succeeded in averting hail as efficiently as conductors in obviating
danger from lightning. Signor Perotti reports that, having fixed up
several of them on a piece of land containing 1 6,000 perches, both his
corn and his vines were protected, although fourteen hail storms had
occurred in the current year, which did great mischief in the
neighbouring fields ; and in an official notice to the Government
of Milan, by the Gonfaloniere of St. Pietro, in Casale, a very
favourable account, also, is given of these protectors from hail.
They are formed of metallic points and straw ropes, bound
together with hempen or flaxen threads. If we admit that the
ancients were acquainted with the use of lightning conductors, we
may imagine that they were also aware of the value of the para-
grandines, and employed them. The protection from the effects
of hail of certain fields by their means, might have been readily
passed off as the result of supernatural influence. — Ed.

METEOROLOGY AN AID TO MAGIC. 169

only revive the belief, and, perhaps, the practice, adopted
in preceding ages ? We may certainly reply in the
negative. But what appears decided to us is, that
processes, tending to the same ends, were very anciently
described, written in hieroglyphics; and, what is still
more remarkable, they gave rise to an error already
exposed by us.# The ignorant man, deceived by these
emblems, imagined that by imitating, well or ill, what
they represented, he should obtain the effect procured by
the success of the prescription which they served to dis-
guise. We may thus explain two very ridiculous examples
of Tuscan ceremonies that, according to Columella,! the
husbandmen, instructed by experience, employed to
appease violent winds, and calm the tempest. Gaffarel
furnishes us with a third example, in a magical secret,
supposed to be efficacious in averting hail.J It is the
heighth of absurdity ; yet, such is the point to which
man's credulity will ever conduct him, that whenever the
results of science only, without its principles are presented
to him, and displayed as the effects of supernatural
power, and not as the ideas acquired by the union of
reason and experience, he believes and confides in the
apparent miracle.

* See chap, viii., vol. i.

t Columell. lib. x. vers. 341 — 345. Farther on the author
mentions a plan, probably efficacious for preserving the seed in the
ground from the approach of insects. It is the employment of a
mixture of the juice of bitter plants with the grain together with
the lees of ashes. (Ibid. vers. 351 — 356.) But directly after this,
he relates a ridiculous secret for destroying caterpillars — a secret
which the same author (lib. xi. sub. finem.) pretended was taught
by Democritus, but which is probably only an hieroglyphic put
into practice.

* Gaffarel. Curiosités inouïes, chap. vu. § i.

170 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

CHAPTER VIII.

The art of drawing lightning from the clouds — Medals and tradi-
tions that indicate the existence of that art in antiquity — Dis-
guised under the name of the worship of Jupiter Elicius and of
Zeus Cataibates; it was known to Numa and many others
among the Ancients — The imitators of thunder made use of it
— It may be traced from Prometheus ; it explains the fable of
Salmonious : it was known to the Hebrews, and the construc-
tion of the Temple of Jerusalem is a proof of this — Zoroaster
made use of it to light tbe sacred fire, and operate in the ini-
tiation of his followers : his experiments and miracles — If the
Chaldeans possessed the secret, it was afterwards lost among
them — There existed some traces of it in India in Ktesias' time
— Wonders resembling those performed through this art, which,
however, may be otherwise explained.

Of all scourges that alarm men for the preservation
of their wealth and their lives, the most fearful, although
perhaps the least destructive, is thunder. The fiery
clouds ; — the roaring wind, — the shaking earth, — the
dazzling lightning, — long peals of rolling thunder ; or,
suddenly, a frightful crash, presaging the fall of celestial
fire, redoubled in the distance by the mountain echoes ; all
are so conducive in producing terror, that even the frequent
repetition of these phenomena does not at all familiarise

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 1 7l

us with them, nor lessen the alarm of the multitude.
Realizing every thing that a poetic imagination can pic-
ture, and the menaces threatened by the priesthood, they
are the most imposing of all the signs of divine wrath,
and in addition they always present to the ignorant the
direct feeling, that Heaven is warring against earth.

Trembling man will supplicate the Gods, and appeal to
those privileged mortals whom the Gods have deigned to
instruct in order to avert from his head this instrument
of terror. The miracle which he would demand has
been performed by the genius of the eighteenth century;*
but, we may ask, was it known to the ancients ?

At first sight it seems absurd to admit such a suppo-
sition ; for we are aware how little the ancients were in
general acquainted with electricity. The horse of
Tiberius at Rhodes, we are told, threw off sparks when
strongly rubbed by the hand ; and another horse is men-
tioned as being endowed with the same faculty. The
father of Theodoric, and many others, had observed it on
their own bodies :f yet these simple facts were ranked

* Admitting that the ancients were acquainted with the means
of drawing lightning from the clouds, the merit of the invention of
protecting our dwellings from its direful influence is not the less
due to Dr. Franklin. That philosopher having demonstrated the
identity of lightning and electricity, and that metals are its best
conductors, recommended that pointed metallic rods should be
raised some feet above the highest point of any building, and con-
tinued down into the ground, as the best mode of securing the
safety of the edifice during thunder storms. The pointed rods at-
tract the lightning, which then passes along their surfaces, and is
thus carried into the earth, instead of being scattered upon the
building on which they are erected. — Ed.

* Damascius in Isidor. Vit. apud Phot. Biblioth. cod. 242. —

172 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

among prodigies. We may also call to remembrance
the superstitious terrors that were formerly awakened by
the fire of Saint Elma shining on the masts of ships ;
and the place the apparitions of light evidently held
among the histories of supernatural events: to these
proofs of ignorance, we may add the absurd belief in
the pretended preservatives against lightning. Tarchon,
in order to guard against thunder strokes, as he terms
them, surrounded his dwelling with the white bryony.*
Here, however, a legitimate suspicion is aroused.
Tarchon, the disciple of the mysterious Tages,- — Tarchon,
the founder of the Theurgism of the ancient Etrus-
cans, might very probably have alleged the efficacy
of these ridiculous means, in order to enable him more
effectually to conceal the true secret that preserved
his habitation and temple from lightning. A similar
stratagem has perhaps been the reason why the property
of averting lightning was attributed to the laurels that

" In winter, at Stockholm, the accumulation of animal electricity
is quite perceptible ; a great quantity is visibly discharged when
people undress in a warm apartment." James's Travels in Ger-
many and Sweden. Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, tome xxxv.
page 13. I have often, adds our author, made the same observation
at Geneva ; and the Editor has done so, in this country, on draw-
ing off silk stockings in a dark room.

* Columell. lib. x. vers, 346—347. In Hindustan, the property
of averting thunder is attributed to certain plants ; and this is the
reason these plants are seen on all the houses. The White Bryony,
Biyonia Alba, is a common weed in the hedgerows and the
woods in the South of Europe as well as in Hindustan. It is a
climbing plant, with five-lobed, angular, cordate leaves, with cal-
losities on both sides. The flowers are unisexual on the same
plant, and the fruit berries of a black colour in clusters. It pos-
sesses acrid and purgative properties. — Ed.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 173

surrounded the temple of Apollo, a virtue regarded as real
in spite of the evidence throughout all antiquity to the
contrary ; and which caused the laurel to be consecrated,
until nearly our own time, in all poetical language.

The same may be alleged of the apparitions of light,
of which ancient histories discourse. All cannot be false ;
all cannot be accidental. We can produce all these bril-
liant phenomena in the present day : is it wise, there-
fore, we may ask, to deny that other ages have possessed
the power of producing them ? To balance the reasons
for doubting, we may oppose many other reasons in favour
of the supposition. We will not argue from the numerous
traditions on the art of turning away thunder. Neither
will we scrutinize the origin of the religious precept, that
ordered the Esthonians to close their doors and windows
whenever there was a thunder storm, " for fear of allow-
ing the evil spirit that God was then pursuing to enter."*
This precept reminds us of the belief, not unfounded,
that a current of air, especially humid air, will attract and
conduct the thundery explosion. But what is the reason
of another precept, which commanded this people to place
two knives on the window-ledge, in order to dispel
lightning ?f Whence arose the immemorial habit in the
district of Lesneven,| of placing a piece of iron, during a
thunder storm, in the nests of hens that are sitting ? Prac-

* Debray. On the Prejudices and Superstitions of the Livonians,
Lethonians, and Esthonians. — Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, torn.
xviii. p. 123.

f Ibid. ibid.

% Department of Finistère. — Cambry. Voyage dans le Depart-
ment du Finistère, tome n. pp. 16, 17.

174 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

tices of this nature, when observed in only one place, are
of little importance ; but when they are found in places at
considerable distances from one another, and among nations
who have had no communication with each other, it is almost
sufficient to prove that the science that dictated them was
anciently possessed by men who carried instruction among
these different nations. " In the Castle of Duino (says P.
Imperati, a writer of the seventeenth century), there was a
very ancient custom of proving lightning. The sentinel
approached an iron pike, or a bar of iron, erected upon
the wall, and the moment he perceived a spark, he rang
the alarm bell, to warn the shepherds to retire to their
homes." In the fifteenth century, St. Bernardin, of
Sienna,* reprobated, as superstitious, the precaution used
in all ages of fixing a naked sword on the mast of a
vessel to avert the tempest.

M. la Boëssiere, in a learned commentary, whence I
have taken these two last quotations, and in which he
discusses the knowledge of the ancients in the art of
conjuring and dispelling lightning,f speaks of many
medals that are apparently connected with his subject.
One of them, described by Duchoul, represents the
temple of Juno, the Goddess of the air : the roof that
covers it is armed with pointed blades of swords. The
other, described and engraved by Pellerin, bears as its

* St. Bernardin was born at Massa, in 1380, and died at the
same place, in 1444. — Ed.

f Notice sur les Travaux de l'Académie du Gard, from 1812
to 1821. Nismes, 1822. First part, pp. 304—313. The
Paper of M. la Boëssiere, read in 1811, was only published in
1822.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 175

legend Jupiter Elicius. The God appears with lightning
in his hand, while below is a man, who is directing a
flying stag. But we must remark, that the authenticity
of this medal is suspicious. Other medals, also, described
by Duchoul in his work on the religion of the Romans,
bear the inscription, XV. Viri Sacris faciundis, and
the figure of a fish, with bristly spikes, lying on a globe
or partera. M. la Boëssiere thinks that a fish, thus
armed with points on a globe, was the conductor em-
ployed by Numa to attract the clouds of electric fire.
And, putting together the image of that globe, with
that of a head covered with bristly hairs, they afford an
ingenious and plausible explanation of the singular
dialogue between Numa and Jupiter, related by Valerius
Antius, and ridiculed by Arnobe, without probably either
of them comprehending its meaning.* The history of
the knowledge possessed by Numa in natural physics
merits more particular examination. f

In an age when lightning made frequent devastation,
Numa, instructed, we are told, by the nymph Egeria,
attempted to propitiate it (Fulmen piare) ; that is to say,
setting aside the figurative style, to put in practise the
means of rendering it less mischievous. He suceeeded

* Arnob. lib. v.

f Numa was more of a philosopher than a King, and cultivated
science long after he was invested with the imperial purple. Al-
though a pagan, yet he had the wisdom to dissuade the Romans
from worshipping the Deity through images, on which account
no statues nor paintings of the Gods appeared in the Roman
temples for upwards of 100 years. He nevertheless imposed upon
their credulity, and flattered their superstitious prejudices in many
respects. — Ed.

176 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

in intoxicating Faunus and Picus, whose names probably
are used to designate the priests of the Etruscan
Divinities, from whom he learned the secret of making
Jupiter, the Thunderer, descend upon earth : and he
immediately put it into execution. From this time
Jupiter Elicius was worshipped in Rome.*

Here the veil of mystery is too transparent not to be
seen through. To render lightning less hurtful, and
to make it descend without danger from the bosom
of the clouds, was, both in effect and in end, ob-
tained by Franklin's beautiful discovery, as well as by the
religious experiment repeated many times with success
by Numa. Tullus Hostilius was less fortunate. " They
relate," says Titus Livy,f " that this Prince, when
perusing the notes left by Numa, found among them
some instructions on the secret sacrifices offered to Jupi-
ter Elicius. He attempted to repeat them ; but in his
preparations for, or celebration of them, he deviated from
the sacred rite ; and being thus exposed to the anger of
Jupiter, aroused by a defective ceremony (sollicitati
prâva religione), he was struck by lightning, and con-
sumed in his own palace."

An ancient annalist, quoted by Pliny, explains this
event much more explicitly, and justifies the liberty I
have taken in deviating from the sense commonly given
to the words of Livy by his translators. " Guided by
Numa's books, Tullus undertook to invoke the aid of
Jupiter by the same ceremonies employed by his prede-

* Ovid. Fast. lib. in. vers. 285 — 345 ; Arnob. lib. v.
f Tit. Liv. lib. i. cap. xxxi ; Plin. Hist. Nat. lib, n. cap. lui;
lib. xxvin. cap, iv.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 177

cessor. But having performed imperfectly the prescribed
ceremony (parum rite), he perished, struck by thunder."*
Instead of the term ceremony, if we substitute the
word experiment, we shall perceive that the fate of
Tullus was similar to that of Professor Reichman. In
1753 this learned man was killed by lightning while
repeating, with too little caution, one of Franklin's
experiments.f

Pliny, in the exposition of Numa's scientific secrets
makes use of expressions which seem to indicate two
distinct processes : the one obtained thunder (impetrare),
the other forced it to lightning (cogère) ; the one was,
doubtless, gentle, noiseless, and exempt from any dan-
gerous explosion ; the other violent, burning, and in the
form of an electric discharge. It explains the story of
Porsenna destroying the terrible monster who desolated
the territory of Volsinium ; j an explanation, however,
which can scarcely be received : because, although it is
not absolutely impossible, yet it is very difficult and dan-

* Lucius Piso; Plin. Hist. Nat. lib, xxviii. cap. n.

f He had constructed an apparatus for observing atmospheric
electricity, and whilst intent upon examining the electrometer, a
large ball of electric fire glanced from the conducting rod, which was
insulated, to the head of the unfortunate experimentalist, and
instantly deprived him of life. His companion, Sokolow, an en-
graver, who was present to delineate the appearances that might pre-
sent themselves, was also struck down, and remained senseless for
some time ; the door of the room was torn from its hinges, and
the door case split. — Ed.

X Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. it. cap. lui.

VOL. II. N

178 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

gerous to cause a strong electric detonation to take effect
at a very distant point ; and there still remains the diffi-
culty of drawing to this exact point the being whom
it was intended to overthrow by the magical commo-
tion. We shall propose, elsewhere, another explanation
of this Etruscan apparent miracle. But, in the coactive
process mentioned by Pliny, and the well-known and
well-attested possibility of obtaining, either from an
isolated thunder rod or an immense electrical battery,
a discharge of such power that the luminous flash,
the noise, and the destructive influence of it com-
pletely resemble the effects of lightning, do we not
perceive the secret of these imitators of thunder who so
often themselves became the victims of their own success ;
and who, on that account, were said to have fallen under
the vengeance of the God whose arms they dared to
usurp ?

Among these we may name Caligula, who, according
to Dion Cassius and John of Antioch, opposed lightnings
to lightnings, and to the voice of thunder one not less
fearful ; and shot a stone towards heaven at the moment
the lightning fell. A machine, not very complicated,
would suffice to produce those effects, so well suited to
the vanity of a tyrant, ever trembling before the Gods
whom he sought to equal.

It is not in times so modern that we are to look for a
mysterious idea, which had already extended into all the
temples.

On the contrary, we must trace it into antiquity : and
we may first remark, that Sylvius Alladas (or Remulus) ,

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 179

eleventh King of Alba after Eneas, according to Euse-
bius,* imitated the noise of thunder, by making the
soldiers strike their bucklers with their swords ; a fable
as ridiculous as that afterwards related by Eusebius of
machines which the King of Alba made use of to imitate
thunder. " This Prince," says Ovid, and Dionysius of
Halicarnassus, " despising the Gods, had invented a
method of imitating the effects of lightning and the noise
of thunder, in order to pass as a Divinity in the minds
of those whom he inspired with terror; but

" In imitating thunder, the thunderer perished, "f

the victim of his impiety, according to the priests of his
time; according to our ideas, only of his own im-
prudence.

Here then we perceive that the secret of Numa and
Tullus Hostilius was known a century before their time.
We will not attempt to fix the epoch when it was first
possessed by the Divinities, or rather by the Etruscan
priests, whose successors taught it to the King of Rome,
and to those from whom the King of Alba must have re-
ceived it; but the tradition relative to Tarchon being
acquainted with a mode of preserving his dwelling from
lightning, enables us to trace it to this Theurgist, who
was much anterior to the siege of Troy.

It is from these historical ages that we trace the fable
of Salmonius. Salmonius, said the priests, was an

* Euseb. Chronic. Canon, lib. i. cap. xlv — xlvi.

f " Fulmineo periit imitator fulminis ictu." Ovid. Metamorphos.
lib. xiv. vers. 617, 618 ; Fast. lib. iv. vers. 60 ; Dionys. Halic
lib. i. cap. xv.

N 2

180 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

impious man, blasted with lightning by the Gods for
having attempted to imitate thunder. But how unlikely
is their recital ! What a miserable imitation of thunder
would the vain noise of a chariot going over a bridge of
brass appear ; whilst torches, to imitate lightning, were
thrown upon victims who had been condemned to death!*
How was it likely that the bridge, which could only be of
a moderate size, would by the noise of a chariot passing
over it astonish the people of Greece ?f EustathiusJ ad-
vances a more plausible idea : he describes Salmonius as a
learned man, clever in imitating lightning and the noise
of thunder; and who perished the victim of his dan-
gerous experiments. In this perfect imitation we discover
the coactive process of Pliny ; the art of attracting from
the clouds and condensing the electric fluid when on the
point of a fearful explosion.

What confirms our conjecture is, that in Elidia, the
scenes of Salmonius' success,! and the catastrophe that
put an end to his life, there may be seen, near the great
altar of the temple of Olympus, another altar§ sur-
rounded by a balustrode, and consecrated to Jupiter
Cataibates {the descending) . " This surname was given

* Hygin. lib. i. fab. lxi. — Servius in Mneid. lib. vi. verse
508.

f Virgil. JEneid. lib. vi. vers. 585, et seq.

X Eustath. in Odyss. lib. n. vers. 234.

\\ Salmonius was a King of Elis, whose ambition led him to
desire that he should be thought a God ; for which purpose he
is said to have taken the means mentioned in the text. But the
whole story is too absurd to deserve any reference being made to
it.— Ed.

§ Pausanias. Eliac. lib. i. cap. xiv.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 181

to Jupiter to indicate that he demonstrated his presence
on earth by the noise of thunder, by lightning, by
meteors, or by apparitions."* In fact, many medals of
the town of Cyrrhus in Syria represent Jupiter armed
with lightning, with the legend Cataibates below him. It
would be difficult to mark more strongly the connexion
between this word and the descent of lightning. In the
temple of Olympus also they worshipped the altar of
Jupiter the Thunderer (Keraunios), raised in memory of
the lightning that had destroyed the palace of Œnomaûs.f
This surname and that of Cataibates present, however,
different ideas to piety. It becomes difficult to avoid
confusion between Jupiter Cataibates and Jupiter Elicius,
that is, between the thunder that descends, and the
thunder constrained to descend. It must be seen that
we are obliged to reason from analogy, in defect of posi-
tive traditions ; but the analogy receives great strength
when we recollect that Jupiter Catabaites was worshipped
in the places where Salmonius reigned, a Prince whose
history closely resembles that of the two Kings who at

* Encyclop. Method. Antiquités, tome i. art. Cataibates.

f Pausanias loc. cit. — Œnomaus was King of Pisa, in Elis. He
was informed by an oracle that he should perish by the hands of
his son-in-law ; to prevent which, being a skilful charioteer, he
determined to give his daughter in marriage only to him who
could outmatch him in driving, on condition that all who entered
the lists should agree to lay down their lives if conquered. Many
had suffered, when Pelops opposed him. He bribed Myrtilus, the
chariot-keeper of Œnomaus, who gave his master an old chariot,
which broke down in the course, and killed Œnomaus. Pelops
married Hippodamia, the daughter of Œnomaus, and became King
of Pisa. — Ed.

182 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

Alba and Rome fell victims to the worship of Jupiter
Elioius.

It is true, that there remain no proofs of Greece
having possessed, in past ages, any idea of the che-
mical experiment that proved fatal to Salmonius ; but
the worship of Jupiter Elicius existed at Rome when the
mysterious process used by Numa had long ceased to be
employed, and had indeed been completely forgotten. A
similar forgetfulness could not hinder the worship of
Jupiter Cataibates from being kept up in Elidia.

Whenever we look back into the past, we find the
most certain vestiges of the existence of the knowledge
of the sciences.

Servius carries us back to the infancy of the human
race. " The first inhabitants of the earth," said he,
" never carried fire to their altars, but by their prayers
they brought down the heavenly fire."# He relates this
tradition when he is commenting on a verse where
Jupiter is described by Virgil as ratifying the treaty
between the nations by a peal of thunder.f It would,
therefore, seem that the priests regarded this miracle
as a solemn proof of the guarantee given by the Gods
to the covenant.j From whom, we may inquire, had
they received the secret? " Prometheus," says Servius, ||

* Servius in Mneid. lib. xn. vers. 200.

f " Audiat hsec genitor qui fulmine fœdera sancit."

Virgil. Mneid. lib. xn. vers. 200.

% This use of the coactive process may explain the apparent
miracle, more than once repeated by the poets, of claps of thunder
being heard in calm weather.

|| Servius in Virgil. Eclog. vi. ver. 42. This passage, which
has been overlooked by so many modern writers, had, however,

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 183

" discovered and revealed to man the art of bringing down
lightning (eliciendorum fulminum) ; and, by the process
which he taught to them, they brought down fire from
the region above {supernus ignis eliciebatur)." Among
the possessors of this secret, Servius reckoned Numa and
Tullus Hostilius. The former only employed the celestial
fire for sacred purposes; the latter was punished for
having profaned it.

The legend of the Caucasus, upon the rocks of which
an expiation for the partial divulgement of an art so
precious had for many centuries been pending, leads us
towards Asia, over which country this art must have been
diffused before it penetrated into Europe. The legend of
Jupiter Cataibates has been, as we before observed, dis-
covered on the medals of the town of Cyrrhus. Now it
is hardly probable that the Greeks would have carried this
worship into a distant land, the foundation of which
could not have been posterior to the time of Cyrus. It
is, therefore, allowable to suppose that the legend quoted
was only a Greek translation of the name of the thun-
dering God ; and that the secret to which it alluded was
not anciently unknown in Syria.

The Hebrews, however, appear to have been acquainted
with it. Ben-David has asserted that Moses possessed some
knowledge of the phenomena of electricity ; and M. Hirt,
a philosopher of Berlin, has brought forward very plau-

struck, more than three centuries ago, an author who is never read
but for amusement, but who may be well read for instruction : —
" Qu'est devenu," said Rabelais, " l'art d'évoquer des cieux la
foudre et le feu céleste, jadis inventé par le sage Prométhée ?" —
Rabelais, livre v. chap, lxvii.

184 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

sible arguments in support of this opinion. Michaelis*
has even gone farther. He remarks— Firstly, That there
is no indication that lightning ever struck the temple of
Jerusalem, during a thousand years. Secondly, That,
according to Josephus,f a forest of points either of gold
or gilded, and very sharp, covered the roof of the temple,
in a manner similar to that of the temple of Juno as
figured on the Roman medals. Thirdly, That this roof
communicated with the caverns in the hill upon which the
temple was situated, by means of pipes in connexion with
the gilding which covered all the exterior of the building ;
in consequence of which the points would act as con-
ductors. Now we can hardly suppose that they acciden-
tally performed so important a function, or that the
advantage to be derived from them had not been calcu-
lated upon. It cannot be supposed that so many points
had been placed upon the temple merely for the birds to
perch on ; nevertheless, that is the only use assigned to
them by the historian Josephus. We may, however, readily
consider his ignorance as a proof of the facility with
which the knowledge of important facts is forgotten.

This secret certainly does not appear to have survived
the destruction of the empire of Cyrus ; and yet there is
much reason for thinking that so powerful an instrument
for displaying apparent miracles was not unknown to
Zoroaster and his successors.

Khondemirj relates that the devil appeared to Zoro-
aster in the midst of fire, and that he imprinted a

* Magasin Scient, de Gottingen, 3e année, 5e cahier, 1783.
f Fl. Josephus. Bell. Jud. adv. Roman, lib. v. cap. xiv.
î D'Herbelot. Biblioth. Orientale, art. Zerdascht.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 185

luminous mark on his body : and, according to Dion
Chrysostome,* when the prophet quitted the mountain
where he had so long dwelt in solitude, he appeared
shining with an unextinguishable light, which he had
brought down from heaven; a prodigy similar to
the experiment of the electric beatification, and easy
to be produced in the entrance of a dark cavern. The
author of the Recognitions (attributed to St. Clement
of Alexandria,! and St. Gregory of Tours, j) affirms that,
under the name of Zoroaster, the Persians worshipped a
son of Shem, who, by a magical delusion, brought down
fire from heaven, or persuaded men that he possessed
that miraculous power. May we not ask whether these
facts do not indicate, in other terms, the experiments on
atmospheric electricity of which a Thaumaturgist might
so easily avail himself, as to appear sparkling with
light in the eyes of a multitude struck with admira-
tion ?||

We have in another work§ attempted to distinguish
the founder of the religion of the magi from the princes
and priests who, to ensure the respect of the people, had
assumed, after him, the name of Zoroaster. We are

* Dion. Chrysost. Orat. Borysthen.

f Recog. lib. iv.

X Greg. Turon. Hist. Franc, lib. i. cap. v.

|| The Editor is of opinion that the arguments of the author, on
this part of his subject, are far from convincing, as they are
founded altogether upon an assumption for which there is no
tenable foundation. It is more probable that the accounts are
wholly fabulous, and, consequently, require no comment.— Ed.

§ Eusèbe Salverte. Essai Historique et Philosophique sur les
Noms d'Hommes, de Peuples, et de Lieux. Additional Notes B.

186 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

reminded of this distinction in relating what has been re-
corded respecting Zoroaster, by authors who were ignorant
of this fact: for these writers would not have attributed to
that prophet what belonged to his disciples, the inheritors
of his miraculous science. Zoroaster, say they, perished,
being burnt up by the demon whom he importuned too
often to repeat his brilliant miracle. In other terms, they
describe a natural philosopher who, in the frequent repeti-
tion of a dangerous experiment, ended by neglecting the
necessary precautions, and fell a victim in a moment of
carelessness. Suidas,* Cedrenus, and the chroniclers of
Alexandria relate that Zoroaster, King of Bactria, being
besieged in his capital by Ninus, prayed to the Gods to
be struck by lightning ; and when he saw his wish about
to be accomplished, desired his disciples to preserve his
ashes, as an earnest for the preservation of their power.
The ashes of Zoroaster, says the author of the Recogni-
tions, were collected and carried to the Persians, to be
preserved and worshipped as a fire divinely sent down
from heaven. There is here an evident confusion of
ideas ; they apply to the ashes of the prophet the worship
that was never rendered by his disciples to the sacred fire,
which they had received from him. Must not this confu-
sion have arisen from the pretended origin of the sacred
fire, kindled, it was said, by lightning ? " The magii,"
says Ammianus Marcellinus,f " preserved perpetually, in

* Suidas, verbo Z oroastres. — Glycas. Annal, p. 129.

f Ammianus Marcellinus was a celebrated historian, who
nourished in the reigns of Constantine, Julian, and Valens. He
is supposed to be correct in his statements ; and certainly he dis-
plays less of the acrimony against Christianity than is usuall

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 187

their furnaces, fire miraculously sent from heaven. "# The
Greeks, who bestowed on the first Persian chief the name
of his country, also relate that in the time when Perseus
was instructing some Persians in the mysteries of the
Gorgons,f a globe of fire fell from heaven. Perseus
tookfrom it the sacred fire, which he confided to the Magii;
and from this event arose the name that he imposed
upon his disciples.j Here we recollect what was said

found in the writings of pagan historians, although he enjoyed the
favour of Julian, and was a warm advocate of paganism. — Ed.

* Ammian. Marcel, lib. xxiii. cap. vi.

f Three fabulous sisters, Stheno, Euralye, and Medusa, the
two first of whom were immortal. Their bodies were stated to be
covered with impenetrable scales ; their hands were of brass ;
their heads covered with snakes ; their teeth like the tusks of the
wild boar ; and their eyes capable of turning to stone all on whom
they were fixed. The absurd traditions respecting them are un-
worthy of being mentioned ; but it may be necessary merely to
remind the reader, that Perseus being provided with a mirror by
Minerva, winged shoes by Mercury, and a helmet which rendered
him invisible by Pluto, attacked these damsels ; — cut off the head
of Medusa, the only mortal of the three ; and presented it to Mi-
nerva, who wore it on her segis. Perseus was still more favoured ;
for, after this conquest, he took his flight through the air towards
Ethiopia, but dropping some of the blood from Medusa's head on
Lybia, the drops changed into serpents, which accounts for those
that infest the Lybian deserts. Diodorus explains this fable by
supposing that the Gorgons were a tribe of Amazons, which Per-
seus conquered in war. The Abbé Bannier supposed that the
three sisters were three ships, belonging to Phareys, their sup-
posed father, who traded with Perseus ; and that these ships were
laden with elephants' teeth, horns of fishes, and the eyes of
hyaenas ; a supposition as improbable, as far as concerns the cargo
of these ships, as the original tradition. — Ed.

î Suidas, verbo. Perseus. — In the Chah-namah of Ferdousi,

188 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

by Servius of the celestial fire which the ancient inha-
bitants of the earth brought down on their altars, and
which they only employed for sacred purposes. The resem-
blance between the two traditions shows us the origin of
this fire that fell from heaven -at the voice of the institutor
of magic; and was destined to burn for ever on the
Pyres, in honour of the God who had granted it to earth.
Two of the magical oracles* which Plethon has pre-
served and commented on, seem to bear some connection
with this subject. These oracles were attributed to the
first disciples of Zoroaster, or to Zoroaster himself, which
is not at all improbable, since antiquity possessed two
hundred verses, the authorship of which was attributed
to this prophet.f They contain the following lines :

" Oh, man ! the production of Nature in her boldest mode ;

If thou dost more than once invoice me, thou shalt behold alone

that which thou hast invoked :
For, neither the heaven, nor its arched concavity shall be visible

to thee :
The stars shall not shine ; — the light of the moon shall be veiled ;
The earth shall tremble ; and lightning alone shall be presented

to thy sight. Vers. 39 — 43.

Plethon, after having observed that man is properly
called the workmanship of an intrepid nature, because he
undertakes the most daring deeds, adds — " The oracle
speaks in the character of the God to the initiated. ' If
more than once thou dost invoke me, thou wilt see every
where Me that thou hast invoked ; for thou shalt see

Hou-cheng, father of Dj ah- Muras, as Perseus is of Merrhus, collects
also in a miraculous manner the sacred fire. Annales des Voyages.

* Oracula Magica, edente Joanne Opsopoeo, 1589.

t Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxx. cap. i.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 189

nothing but lightnings, that is fire falling throughout
the universe.' "

The commentary, which informs us that the last oracle
relates to the initiations, refers us, by one of its expres-
sions, to the second oracle, whence it is borrowed.

" When thou seest the holy and sacred fire devoid of form,
Burning and flying about every where into the depths of the

universe !
Listen to the voice of the Fire !"

Vers. 46—48.

" When thou shalt see," says Plethon, " the divine
fire that cannot be represented under any form," (it is
well known that the laws of Zoroaster proscribed all
images) " give thanks, and full of joy listen to the voice
of the Fire, which will give to thee a very true and cer-
tain prenotion (knowledge of the future).

Through the obscurity of the text, and its explanation,
we seize upon an important feature in the Zoroastian
initiations. If the initiated is fearless, he will in-
voke the God he worships, and will soon see the God
alone. Every other object disappears ; he is surrounded by
meteors and lightnings, which neither can nor may be de-
picted by any image ; and from the midst of which a loud
voice is heard, that pronounces infallible oracles. From
the preceding, we may conclude, with some probability,
that Zoroaster had ideas upon electricity ; and possessed
the means of attracting lightning, which he made use of
to operate the first apparent miracles destined to prove
his prophetic mission ; and especially to light the sacred
fire, which he offered to the adoration of his disciples.
Such being the case, may we not inquire whether we
are correct in adding, that in his hands, and in the

190 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

hands of his disciples, the heavenly fire became an instru-
ment for proving the courage of the initiated, for con-
firming their faith, and for dazzling their vision by its
immense splendour, impossible to be gazed upon by
mortal eyes; which is at once the attribute and the
image of the divinity.

A tradition (most probably known to the reader) seems
to attribute the death of Zoroaster to that want of precau-
tion to which many other victims had fallen a prey. Ano-
ther story presents in a more noble aspect the prophet,
or King of Bactria, who, in order not to fall into the hands
of a conqueror, decided to die, and drew down lightning
upon himself; and by this last wonderful effort of his art,
he gave himself an extraordinary death, worthy of the
envoy of heaven, and the institutor of the fire worship.*

Thus we trace this great secret from the earliest
period of history; and it perhaps existed even before it.

The Chaldeans, who aided Ninus in the war against
the Bactrians, with all the power of their magic arts, must
have possessed the same knowledge, relative to lightning
as their rivals, although the fact is not established by any

* Zoroaster admitted no visible object of adoration except fire,
which he considered the only proper emblem of the Deity. It is
said, that it is difficult to ascertain who the great institutor of fire-
worship was ; as there were several, at least six, lawgivers of the
name of Zoroaster ; but this opinion has been satisfactorily refuted
by Hydea and by Pasteret ;b and there is sufficient reason for be-
lieving that there was only one Zoroaster or Zerdusht, the founder
of the religion of the Parsees. He was the son of humble but
nobly descended parents. He was born at Urmia, a town
of Azerbijan, about the year 589, b.c., in the reign of Lehrasp,
the father of Darius Hystaspes, or Gushtasp. It is unnecessary to

K Velerum Persarum et Magorum Religionis Hist.

b Zoroastre, Confucius et Mahomet comparés.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 191

historical documents. It might not be impossible for these
priests to have lost it, perhaps from want of the occa-
sion of- using it ; whilst it was preserved in the moun-
tainous countries of Asia and Etruria, that were much
more exposed than Babylon to the ravages of lightning.
The magical oracles, that are attributed by Plethon to
Zoroaster, or his disciples, are commented on by Psellus,

mention the prodigies that announced and appeared at the birth
of this extraordinary man. His early years, nevertheless, were
productive of nothing remarkable ; but, at the age of twenty, he
secluded himself from the society of mankind, and in his retirement
conceived the idea of effecting a religious reformation, and restoring
the faith of his forefathers in greater purity, and more adapted for
the exigencies of his country, than he found it. The Par see
authors teach that, in this retirement, he was taken to heaven, and
there received the following instructions from Ormuzd, (the Prin-
ciple of Good): — "Teach the nations that my light is hidden
under all that shines. Whenever you turn your face towards the
light, and you follow my commands, Ahriman (the Evil Principle),
will be seen to fly." He then received from Ormuzd the Zend-
Avesta and the sacred fire.

Setting aside this fable, Zoroaster repaired, about the age of
thirty, to the Court of Darius Hystaspes, who soon was converted
to his faith, and became a zealous and efficient propagator of it.
He introduced it into every part of his dominions ; and had its
precepts written upon parchment, which were deposited in a vault,
hewn out of a rock in Persepolis, and placed under the guardianship
of holy men. He commanded that the profane should not be per-
mitted to approach the sacred volumes. Darius not only aided
Zoroaster in the propagation of his faith in Iran, but his attempt
to promulgate it in neighbouring states involved him in a war with
Arjasp, King of Tureen. Instead of being killed by lightning, as
the tradition states, the prophet is said to have been murdered
during the persecution of the Fire-worshippers by Arjasp. His
death took place in his 76th year, 513 b.c.

Of all the pagan faiths, that of Zoroaster, which acknowledges
the Supreme Being, and a good and evil principle, is undoubtedly

192 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

under the name of the Chaldaic oracles,* regarding
them as emanating from the Chaldean priests ; and the

the most rational ; and, if emblems of the Deity are admissible,
the sun, or fire is the most sublime of all visible emblems-

The ancient religion of Iran, which was the same as that of
Zoroaster, was established by Djamschid ; and was, in truth, Fire-
worship, which renders the supposition of our author respecting
the knowledge of electricity by Zoroaster at least problematical ;
for, unless the traditional fable of his obtaining fire from heaven be
admitted, we have no data for the assumption that he drew light-
ning from the clouds. It is more probable that the original fire
of the altars was lighted by reflected mirrors, or by burning
glasses, as is now done in the houses of the Parsees in India, when
their fires are accidentally extinguished, or allowed to go out : in
which case it may be said to be bestowed by the sun.

It is remarkable, that although the Parsees (Fire- worshippers)
in India are an active, rich, and intelligent class, and follow their
religious faith without hindrance, yet, in Persia, they are a
degraded and oppressed race. They have no temples and no
priesthood ; and, according to Sir Kerr Porter, their whole wor-
ship "has sunk into nothing more than a few hasty prayers, mut-
tered to the sun, as Supreme God : and, what they call comme-
morative ceremonies are now only sad confused shadows of their
former religious festivals."11

The Parsees of India, in the emigration from the Isle of Ormuz,
where they had fled from the Mohammedan persecutions, carried
with them the antus-byrum, or sacred fire, which is still preserved at
Oodwarra, near Nunsarree ; and from it all the fires in their temples
have been lighted. It is intended as a sacred and perpetual monitor
to preserve their purity. The Parsees are a tall, comely, athletic,
and well formed race; and much fairer than the Hindoos, and wear a
peculiar cap, which distinguishes them from the Hindoos. — Ed.

* The compilation of Psellus differs from that of Plethon, in
the order in which the oracles are disposed. There are also
various readings, and considerable additions. Besides, the Greek
verses are much more correct, which seems to indicate a less faith-
ful translation, or one taken from an original not so ancient.
a Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Persia, vol. n. p. 40.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 193

explanation he gives respecting those we have quoted, is
only astrological and allegorical. The sages of Babylon,
and the prophet of Ariema had probably drawn from
the same source. It is possible that the secret alluded
to by the Oracles having been preserved for a long time
by the successors of Zoroaster, traces might be found in
the doctrine of the magii, from which Plethon borrowed
the idea developed in his Commentary. The Chaldeans,
on the contrary, would have thrown themselves into
allegory, and drawn their followers with them, in desiring
to solve an enigma the secret of which was lost to
them, and which could alone furnish the solution.

If we turn towards Hindostan, the cradle of civilization,
we find the substance, and some of the most striking
expressions of the two oracles in this stanza of
the Yadjour-Veda : — " There the sun shines not, neither
do the moon nor the stars ; the meteors do not fly
about," (that is, in this place) : " God overwhelms these
brilliant substances with light, and the universe is dazzled
by its splendour."* Zoroaster, who borrowed much

* Recherches Asiatiques, tome i. pp. 575 — 376. The Vedas
are the Scriptures, or Revelations of the Hindoos ; and, like the
sacred parchments of Zoroaster, they must not be read by the
multitude, nor approached by the profane. They are supposed to
have proceeded from the mouth of Brahma; and to be intended
for the universal sacrifice. They are supposed, however, to have
been scattered ; but again brought together and arranged by a
Sage, named Derâparâyana, or arranger, who flourished more
than 5000 years ago, or in the second age of the world. He was
assisted in his labour, and divided the whole of the recovered frag-
ments of the Vedas into four parts.

I. The Rigveda, which contains invocations addressed to deities
VOL. II. O

194 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

from ancient India, doubtless, in this instance, might
have changed the sense of the words, and applied a me-

of Fire, of the sun, the moon, the firmament, the winds, and the
seasons, whose presence is invited to the sacrifices intended to
supplicate their aid. Some of the Manhras, or hymns contained
in it, display specimens of the most exalted poetry. The sun,
savitri, is addressed as the light of the Divine Ruler ; but in an
allegorical sense as the divine light which sheds its rays over all,
and emanates from the Supreme Being. One of the hymns,
translated by Mr. Colebroke, contains expressions closely resem-
bling those in the Book of Genesis, which describe the period
prior to the creation of this world. — "Then there was no entity
nor nonentity ; no world, nor sky, nor aught above it : nothing,
any where, in the happiness of any one, involving or involved ;
nor waters deep and dangerous. Death was not ; nor then was
immortality ; nor distinction of day or night. "a In another por-
tion of the Veda, called Aitareya Brahaman's, we find this sen-
tence : — "Originally this was indeed soul only, nothing else
whatever existed, active or inactive." He thought, " I will create
worlds." These, and similar expressions, are supposed to imply the
Monotheism of the Ramadam Hindoo faith, according to which, the
creation of man arose from the circumstance that every element
begged from the Creator a distinct form, and the whole choose a
distinct body.

II. The Yajish, or, Yadjour-Veda, which relates chiefly to obla-
tions and sacrifices. One of the most splendid of which is "to
light ;" and another " to fire ;" which induces the Editor to attri-
bute the Hindoo faith to the same origin as that of Zoroaster.
All the hymns in this Veda relate to sacrifices and ceremonies. It
is scarcely necessary to say that many of these are of a character
inconsistent with the original faith, and seem to belong to an
after period ; especially the bloody sacrifices to Kali ; indeed,
the following is one of the texts of the Veda. "O ye Gods, we
slaughter no victim, we use no sacrificial stake, we worship by the
repetition of sacred verses." — (Sdmaveda Sanhitd. p. 32. v. 2).

III. The Sdmaveda concerns the names of ancestors, and re-
lates chiefly to a sacrifice termed Soma-Yâga, or moon-plant

a Colebroke's Essays, vol. i. p. 43.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 195

taphorical picture of the divine splendour to the magical
ceremony of initiation. But Sir W. Jones is inclined to

sacrifice ; to which the three highest classes of Brahmans only
are admitted. The plant (Sarcostema viminalis) must be pulled
up by the roots in a moonlight night, from the top of a moun-
tain ; and, at the same time, the Arani wood (Premna Spinosa)
must be collected for kindling the sacred fire. From the juice of the
Sarcostema, an intoxicating liquor, called Sama, is prepared, for the
oblation, and also for the consumption of the officiating Brahmans,
after the fastings, during the sacrifice, have been finished. The fire
with which the altar is lighted is produced by the friction of
one piece of the Arani wood upon another ; and may, conse-
quently, be regarded as being procured from the air. The fol-
lowing verses from one of the hymns demonstrate that this
sacrifice was originally a kind of purifying sacrament, although
it is now degenerated into a festival disgraced by excesses of
all kinds. " That saving moon plant, by its stream of pressed
sacrificial viands, makes us pure. That saving moon plant makes
us pure." — (Stevenson's translation of the Sdmaveda, part. i.
Prapathaka, vr. Dasiata, n. v. 4. p. 94).

IV. The Atharvana contains incantations for the destruction of
enemies ; and is not much reverenced by the Hindoos on that
account.

The real age of the Vedas is supposed to be much less than that
assigned by the Brahmans ; and it probably does not extend
beyond two centuries b.c. It is singular that throughout these
Scriptures there is a decided allusion to the fall of man, who,
although emanating from, and a part of the Deity, had lost
his primœval purity; to recover which a great and universal
sacrifice was required. It is impossible not to perceive in these,
and in all the earliest traditions of all nations, that the primœval
faith of man was the belief in one God : and that Polytheism
arose out of the vices and backsliding of the human race ; and it
is satisfactory to trace in the Cosmogony of so ancient a faith ;
and in its account of the fall of man ; and the consequent ne-
cessity of a propitiatory sacrifice ; a confirmation, if any were
required, of the truths of our own sacred volume. — Ed.

o 2

196 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

think that this stanza is a modern paraphrase of some
text of the ancient sacred books."*

This explains why these terms do not exactly cor-
respond with those of the magic oracles ; and may be
applied in a less explicit manner to the secret of attract-
ing lightning from the clouds. The paragraph might
have been written at a period when this process had been
forgotten and lost sight of; and, consequently, the pro-
per sense of the sacred text also forgotten.

Elsewhere the following passage of the Oupnek-
hat, " to know fire, the sun, the moon, and light-
ning, is three-fourths of the science of God,"f proves
that the sacred science did not neglect to study the nature
of thunder ; and by the possession of this knowledge the
priests might indicate the means of averting it. Finally,
this opinion is also strengthened by an historical
fact. In the time of Ktesias, India was acquainted with
the use of conductors of lightning. According to this
historian,^ iron placed at the bottom of a fountain of
liquid gold (that is to say a sheet of gold), and made in
the form of a sword, with the point upwards, possessed,
as soon as it was fixed in the ground, the property of
averting storms, hail, and lightning. Ktesias, who had
seen the experiment tried twice, before the eyes of the
King of Persia, attributed to the iron alone this quality
which belonged to its form and position. Perhaps they
used in preference iron, naturally alloyed with a little gold,
as being less susceptible of rusting ; for the same

* Recherches Asiatiques, tome i. p. 375.

t Oupnek' -hat . Brahmen xr.

X Ktesias in Indie, ap. Photium. Bibl. Cod. lxxii.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 197

motive that leads the moderns to gild the points of
lightning conductors. Whatever might be the intention,
the principal fact remains ; and it is not useless to re-
mark that, from that time, the ancients began to perceive
the intimate connection between the electric state of the
atmosphere and the production not only of lightning,
but also of hail and other meteors.

If the question, so often resolved, be renewed : namely,
why no vestiges of a knowledge so ancient can be disco-
vered since the time of Tullus Hostilius, more than four-
and-twenty centuries ago ? We reply, that it was so
little diffused, that it was only by chance, and in an
imperfect manner, that it was discovered even by Tullus
Hostilius, when perusing the Memoirs left by Numa.
Would not the dangers attached to the least error in
repeating the processes in these memoirs, — dangers so
often proved by fatal experience, — have been sufficient to
cause the worship of Jupiter Elicius, and Jupiter Ca-
taibates, to fall into disuse through fear ?

The destruction of the Persian empire by the Greeks,
anterior to the nearly general massacre of the magii, after
the death of Smerdis, might cause this important gap in
the Occult Sciences known to the disciples of Zoroaster.
In India, which has been so often the prey of the con-
queror, analogous causes might exercise an influence as
destructive. In all countries, indeed, over what subject
more than this would the veil of religious mystery have
been thrown, and greater obstacles placed in the way of
ignorance, so as ultimately to plunge it into oblivion.

Other questions arise, more important and more diffi-
cult. We may ask, whether electricity, whatever
were the recources whcih it afforded would be

198 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

sufficient to explain the brilliant apparent miracle of
the Zoroastrian initiation ? Does it sufficiently explain
what Ovid describes so accurately in the worship of
Jupiter Elicius by Numa, namely, the art of making
the lightning, and the noise of thunder seen and heard
in a clear sky ?# Does it explain the terrible power
of hurling lightning upon an enemy, such as attri-
buted to Porsenna, f and which two Etruscan magi-
cians pretended to possess in the time of Attila ? Cer-
tainly not : — at least it is not within the limits of our
knowledge, a limit which has, probably, not been sur-
passed by the ancients. To supply any deficiency, may
we not suppose that, by a happy chance, the Thauma-
turgists, profiting by the explosion of a luminous meteor,
attributed it to the influence of their art, and led enthu-
siasm to look upon it as a miracle, although it was only
a natural effect? May we not, for example, recollect
how, according to an historian, when a miraculous rain
quenched the thirst of the soldiers of Marcus- Aurelius, the
Emperor, at the same time, drew down, by the influence
of his prayers, lightning on the warlike machines of his
enemy, j We may also transport the apparent miracles of
one country into another ; and discover at the present day,

* Ovid. Fast. lib. in. vers. 367—370.

t Porsenna was a King of Etruria, in whose tent, when the
Etrurian army lay before the gates of Rome, Mutius Scsevola put
his hand into the fire, and allowed it to be burnt, without any
expression of suffering, in order to convince Porsenna that it was
in vain to make head against a people who could display such for-
titude and daring. Porsenna was supposed to possess many ma-
gical secrets. — Ed.

% " Fulmen de cœlo, precibus suis, contra hostium machina-
mentum extorsit," Julius Capitolinus in Marc-Aurel.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 199

in a place consecrated through all ages to religion, a secret
equivalent to the miracle of Numa. Naptha, when dis-
solved in atmospheric air, produces the same results as a
mixture of oxygen and hydrogen. Near Baku* is a well,
the water of which is saturated with naptha ; if a mantle
be extended, and held above the water for some minutes,
and then some lighted straw thrown into it, there is
suddenly heard, says the traveller whose words I quote, " a

* The town of Baku is the capital of a territory of the same
name, situated on the southern extremity of the peninsula of
Abesheron, on the west side of the Caspian sea. The soil of the
whole territory is saturated with Naptha ; and the peninsula con-
tains many volcanoes. Not far from Baku, a spring of white oil
gushes from the cleft of a rock at the base of a hill ; it is pure
naptha, and readily burns in the surface of water. The inhabitants
of these districts sink a hollow cane, or tube of paper, about two
inches into the ground, and by blowing upon a burning coal, held
near the orifice of the tube, the gas lights, but the flame does not
consume the paper, nor the cane. There are many wells of the same
substance ; and these as well as the burning places, or Atesch-gah, as
they are called, were generally shrines of grace ; and many thousands
of pilgrims, and fire-worshippers, resorted there to purify them-
selves. Notwithstanding the degradation of the Parsees when the
Mahommedan religion was established in Persia, a few, as stated in
the text, still find their way to the Atesch-gah of Baku ; and spend,
five, seven, or even ten years on the spot, worshipping the sacred
fire ; and performing prayer and penitential exercises. This sanc-
tuary which is surrounded by four low walls, is a space about twenty
feet square, and contains twenty cells, in which the priests and
Ghuebres reside ; and from each corner of the quadrangle arises
a chimney, abcut twenty-five feet high, out of which a bright
flame, three or four feet in height, continually issues. The
penances to which these deluded creatures subject themselves are
so severe, that scarcely one individual out of ten who visit the
shrine, ultimately survives them. — Ed.

200 ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA

thundering noise, like that of a line of artillery, accompa-
nied by a brilliant flame."* Restore to the Atesch-gah its
ancient majesty ; and for its little number of penitents
and pilgrims, who still awakens religious associations,
substitute a college of priests, clever in turning to the
glory of their divinity phenomena, the causes of which
are carefully concealed from the eyes of the profane, and,
under the clearest skies, at their command fire and peals
of thunder would issue from the wells of Baku. Let
us admit that substances, which are abundant in certain
countries, might have been transported by the Thauma-
turgists into those countries where the action of them,
being quite unknown, would appear miraculous. The
Tiber might have seen, in the age when Numa invoked
Jupiter Elicius, the same wonder which at the present
day, is famous on the banks of the Caspian.f The cere-
monies, indeed, of the same magic worship, might be
enhanced by the effects of a composition of naptha; and by
those of the lightning conductors and electricity elicited
by the artifice of the Thaumaturgist, always careful to
make the treasures of his science impenetrable, and thence
more respected.

* Journey of George Keppel from India to England by Bassora,
etc. ; and Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, 2e série, tome v. page
349.

t Native Naptha is, in the present day, exported to almost
every part of Europe, from the neighbourhood of the Caspian. It
is a limpid, nearly colourless, volatile liquid, with a strong, pecu-
liar odour. It is much lighter than water, having a specific gravity
of 0.753 ; consequently it swims on that fluid, for it does not mix
with it. Naptha is very inflammable, and burns with a white
flame, which evolves much smoke. It is a compound of carbon
and hydrogen. — Ed.

EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS. 201

But, in spite of the principle we have hitherto followed,
it is with regret we admit that it affords only a partial
or local explanation, applicable to some isolated facts.
We prefer general facts, such as were for so long a
period concealed within the bosom of the temple. In
recalling to remembrance the brilliant or destructive
influence of the different inflammable compositions, the
existence of which is indicated by these facts, we shall
measure the extent of the resources in the power of the
possessors of the sacred science, calculated to enable them
to rival the fires of heaven, by the apparent miracles of
terrestrial fire.

202 PHOSPHORESCENT SUBSTANCES

CHAPTER IX.

Phosphorescent substances — Sudden appearance of flames — Heat
developed by the slacking of lime — Substances which are kindled
by contact with air and water — Pyrophorus, phosphorus,
naptha, and alcoholic liquids employed in different apparent
miracles — The blood of Nessus was a phosphuret of sulphur ;
and also the poison that Medea employed against Creusa —
Greek fire — This fire, re-discovered, after many attempts — In
Persia and Hindustan an unextinguishable fire was used.

Nothing is more striking to the vulgar, than the
sudden production of light, heat, and flame, without any
apparent cause; or with a concurrence of causes seemingly
opposed to such an effect.

Art teaches the preparation of substances, which
emit light, without allowing any sensible heat to escape.
The phosphorus of Bologna,* and the phosphorus of

* The Bologna phosphorus is a natural gypseous spar, or sele-
nite, which has the property of emitting light, when it is calcined
for that purpose. It is powdered after calcination, and then formed
into small cakes by means of a solution of gum-tragacanth ; these
cakes are dried, brought to a state of ignition, and then suffered to

USED IN MAGIC. 203

Baldwin,* are known to the learned, but they now only
figure in books, among the amusements of physics. The
ancients were acquainted with bodies endowed with a
similar property. Isidoref mentions a brown stone,
which became luminous when sprinkled with oil.

The Rabbins, given up to the study of the Cabbala, f
speak of a light belonging to Saints, to the elect, upon
whose countenance it shines miraculously from their
birth, or when they have merited this sign of glory. ||
Arnobus,§ on the authority of Hermippus, gives to the

cool. If kept from air and moisture, they shine like a burning coal
when carried into a dark place, after being exposed for a few minutes
to the light. In 1602, Vincentius Casciorolus, a shoemaker of
Bologna who had discovered the properties of this spar, showed
it to Scipio Bezatello, an alchemist, and several learned men,
under the martial name of lapis solans, and as the substance called
the sol of the alchemist, or philosopher's stone, fitted for con-
verting the ignoble metals into gold.8 — Ed.

* Baldwin's phosphorus is nitrate of lime which, after the
water of crystallization has been evaporated, and the salt has be-
come dry, acquires the property of emitting light in the dark. —
Ed.

f Savinius lapis, oleo addito, etiam lucere fertur, Isid. Hispal.
Origin, lib. xvi. cap. iv.

% The Cabbala is the work which contains the esoteric philo-
sophy of the Jewish doctors, and which derives its name from the
Hebrew word Kibbel, to receive; as the laws it contains were re-
ceived by Moses from above. — Ed.

1| Gaulmyn. De vitd et morte Mosis, not. lib. n. pages 233 —
325.

§ Arnobus lived in the reign of Dioclesian, and was converted
to Christianity. In proof of his sincerity, he wrote a Treatise in
which he exposed the absurdity of irreligion, and ridiculed the
heathen gods. — Ed.

a Beckman's Hist, of Inventions, Tran. vol. iv. p. 423.

204 DRUIDICAL FIRE.

magician Zoroaster* a belt of fire ; a suitable ornament
for the institutor of the worship of fire. A philosopher
of the present age would be very little embarrassed how
to produce these brilliant wonders, particularly if their
duration was not required to be much prolonged.

The Druids extended the resources of science much
further. The renowned person, who, in the poem of
Lucan, proclaims their magical power, boasts of possessing
the secret of making a forest appear on fire, when it does
not burn.f Ossian paints old men, mixed with the sons
of Loda, and at night making conjurations round a
Cromlech, or circle of stones ; and, at their command,
burning meteors arose, which terrified the warriors of
Fingal ; and by the light of which Ossian distinguished
the chief of the enemy's warriors.f An English transla-
tion of Ossian observes that every bright flame, sudden,
and resembling lightning, is called in Gaelic the Druid's
flame. || It is to this flame that Ossian compares the
sword of his son Oscar.§ Connected with the recital of
the bard, this expression indicates that the Druids pos-
sessed the art of causing flames to appear, for the
purpose of dismaying their enemies.^[

* Nunc veniat quis, super igneam zonam, magus interiore ab orbe
Zoroaster. — Arnob. lib. i. It is without any reason that some
commentators wish to read it thus : Quin Azonaces magus, %c.

t " Et non ardentis fulgere incendia sylvse." — Lucan. Phars.
lib. in. vers. 420.

X Ossian's Poems, &c. published by John Smith, 1780.

|| Ibid.

§ G. Higgins. The Celtic Druids, p. 116.

% From one strophe of the Hervorar Saga, it may be inferred
that this art was not unknown to the Scandinavian magicians.
(See Magasin Encyclop. 1804, vol. iv. pp. 250—260.)

FLAME EVOLVED BY MOISTURE. 205

We may join to the traits of resemblance already
observed between the Celts and the ancient inhabitants
of Italy, the fable of Caeculus, the founder of the city
of Preneste. Wishing to make himself known as the
son of the God Vulcan, he implored the aid of his
sire, when suddenly an assembled multitude, who had
refused to acknowledge his brilliant origin, was en-
veloped in flames, and the alarm quickly subdued their
incredulity.*

We may remark, that Caeculus, most probably, had
chosen the place of assembly ; and that the Druids only
exercised their power in sacred enclosures, interdicted to
the profane, as in certain optical illusions, where fire has
often played a part ; for these apparent miracles required
a theatre suitable to those who worked them ; and, in
other places, in spite of the urgency of necessity, they
would have experienced great difficulty in any attempt to
produce them.

The instantaneous development of latent heat is not
less likely to excite astonishment, particularly if water
kindles the flames. Substances susceptible of evolving
heat, or of taking fire, in absorbing or in decomposing
water, are numerous ; and they have very often occasioned
fires ; such as were attributed, formerly, to negligence or
to malice. Stacks of damp hay, and slates of pyrites,f

* Servius in JEneid, lib. vu. vers. 678 — 681.

f Pyrites consists of a natural combination of iron and sulphur.
It is frequently found in seams of coal ; and when it is exposed to
moisture, the sulphur and the iron aid one another in decomposing
the water, and attracting its oxygen, which changes the sulphur
into sulphuric acid, and the iron into an oxide ; and thus forming,

206 SUBSTANCES EXTRICATING HEAT

moistened by a warm shower, will produce this pheno-
menon.*

Were the Thaumaturgists acquainted with phenomena
similar to the latter ? I reply, without doubt, they were.
The prodigious heat, which is emitted by quick lime,
sprinkled with water, could not have escaped their
observation. Now, let us suppose that a sufficient
quantity of quick lime is hidden at the bottom of a
pit, or kiln, and that the pit is then filled with snow :
the absorbed snow will disappear ; and the interior tem-
perature of the pit or kiln will be so much more raised,
owingto its being thus closely shut, that less of the expanded
heat will be allowed to escape ; and an apparent miracle

by the union of these two, the sulphate of iron. During these
natural processes the degree of heat developed is often suffi-
cient to inflame the hydrogen, the other constituent of the water,
as it escapes into the air. — En.

* In ricks of hay thus consumed, the combustion is the result
of fermentation, a fact which was known to the ancients, for
Galen informs us, that the fermenting dung of pigeons is sufficient
to set fire to a house, a phenomenon which he has witnessed ; and
it is recorded on good authority, that the fire which consumed the
great church of Pisa, was occasioned by the fermentation of the
dung of the pigeons that had for centuries built their nests under
its roof. Many other substances, also, cause spontaneous combus-
tion. When recent charcoal is reduced to an impalpable powder,
by rollers, it gradually absorbs air, which is consolidated, and
heat is developed during the process equal to 360° of Fahrenheit,
which soon causes the combustion of the charcoal. The inflamma-
tion is more active in proportion to the shortness of the interval
between the production of the charcoal, and its reduction into
powder ; and the free admission of air is indispensable." — Ed.

* Brewster's Natural Mayic, p. 215.

KNOWN TO THAUMATURGISTS. 20 7

will be proclaimed. Thus a writer of legends has orna-
mented the History of St. Patrick, by relating that the
Apostle of Ireland lighted a kiln with snow.

Theophrastus# gives the name of Spinon to a
stone which is met with in certain mines ; and which,
if pounded, and then exposed to the sun, ignites of
itself; particularly if care has been taken to wet it
first. The Spinon, there can be little doubt is merely
an efflorescing pyrites. The stone named Gagatesf
(true pyritic jet) is black, porous, light, friable, and
resembles burnt wood. It exhales a disagreeable odour ;
and when it is heated, it attracts other bodies in
the same manner as amber. The smoke which it
exhales in burning, relieves women attacked with hyste-
rics ; and it is kindled by means of water and extinguished
when immersed in oil. This latter peculiarity was also
the distinguishing feature of a stone which, according
to Aelian and Dioscorides,| ignited in a like manner,
when sprinkled with water ; and, in burning, exhaled a
strong bituminous smell ; but, as it was extinguished by
blowing above it, its combustion seems to have de-
pended on the escape of a gaseous vapour. ||

* Theophrast. De Lapidihus,

f Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi, cap. xix. — Solin. cap. xxv. —
Isid. Hispal. Origin, lib. xvi. cap. iv. — So named from being ob-
tained near the river Gagas, in Lycia. — Ed.

% Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. ix. cap. xxvin.

|| Many instances of spontaneous combustion can be traced to
the escape of carburetted and sulphuretted hydrogen gases
through rents in the earth. Near the village of Bradley, in Staf-
fordshire, an unextinguishable fire has burned for seventy years,
arising from a burning stratum of coal, to which the air has free

208 PERSIAN PHOSPHORUS STONE.

Those three substances, whether they were the pro-
ductions of art or of nature, might have sufficed to work
miraculous conflagrations. But Pliny and Isidore of
Seville have described a fourth, still more powerful : a
black stone that is found in Persia; and which, if
broken between the fingers, burns them.# This is
precisely the effect produced by a bit of pyrophorus,
or phosphorus stone ; and this wonderful stone was
probably nothing else. It is known that phosphorus
melted by heat, may become black and solid ;f and the
word stone, ought not to impose more upon us here,

access from beneath it. At Bedly, also, near Glasgow, a constant
stream of inflammable gas issues in the bed of a river, which is
occasionally set on fire, and, in calm weather, continues burning
at the surface of the water for weeks together. It consists of a
mixture of two volumes of hydrogen gas, and one volume of
carbon, so that it is little more than half the weight of atmospheric
air.a The light, which has been termed the " Lantern of Mara-
caybo," in South America, and which is seen every night hovering
over a mountainous, desert spot, on the banks of the river Cata-
tumba,b near its junction with the Sulia, is another example of the
escape of inflammable gas issuing from the ground, inflamed, most
probably, at first by electricity. In some places these gases are
applied to domestic use, as at the salt mine of Gottizabe, near
Rheims in Fecklensburg. — Ed.

* " Pyrites ; nigra quidam, sed attrita digitos adurit." Plin.
Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvu. cap. 11. — "Pyrites; Persicus lapis ....
tenentis manum, si vehementius prematur, adurit." Isidor. Hipsal.
Origin, lib. xvi, cap. iv.

t It is not probable that it was phosphorus ; but it might have
been a natural pyrophorus, which took fire on the exposure of a
fresh surface to the air. — Ed.

a Edinb. Journal of Science, New Series, vol. i. p. 71.

b Humboldt's Personal Narrative, vol. iv. p. 354.

PHOSPHORUS KNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS. 209

than the words lake and fountain when a liquid is
spoken of. Custom has consecrated in our own lan-
guage, the words infernal-stone (lapis infernalis), and
cauterizing -stone* for a pharmaceutical preparation.

But were the ancients acquainted with phosphorus
and pyrophorus? I reply in the affirmative, since they
relate wonders which could have been produced by
no other means than the employment of these sub-
stances ; or by reactives, endowed with analogous
properties. We shall have occasion to mention an ancient
description of the effects of a combination of phospho-
rus ; a description as exact as if it had been made at
the present time by a modern chemist. As to pyro-
phorus, science possesses so many substances which
ignite after some minutes' exposure to the air, that it
may without improbability, be believed, that many of
them were known to the ancients. Without mention-
ing bitumens as being highly inflammable; or petroleum,
or naptha, which take fire at the approach of a
lighted candle ; how many of the residue of distillations
kindle spontaneously in a damp atmosphere. This pro-
perty, to which no attention is paid, except to explain it
by a general principle, was certainly never neglected by
the performers of apparent miracles, since the art of dis-
tillation formed an important part of the Sacred Sciences.

We will not then hesitate to believe, though it may
well astonish us, what history relates of a vestal,
threatened with the punishment reserved for those who
allowed the sacred fire to go out, that she had only to
spread her veil over the altar in order that the flame

* It is a preparation of pure potassa. — Ed.
VOL. II. P

210 PHOSPHORUS KNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS.

should suddenly rekindle, and burn more vividly than
before.* From beneath the friendly veil, we may imagine
that we perceive a grain of phosphorus or of pyrophorus
to fall on the hot cinders, and supply the place of the
intervention of the divinity.

Nor need we longer share the incredulity of Horace,
respecting the apparent miracle which was worked in
the sanctuary of Gnatia;f where the incense kindled
of itself in honour of the Gods, j We also may under-
stand how Seleucus, sacrificing to Jupiter, saw the wood-
pile upon the altar ignite spontaneously to offer a bril-
liant presage of his future greatness :j| neither can we deny
that the Theurgist, Maximus,§ offering incense to
Hecate, might have been able to announce that the
torches, which the Goddess held, would light them-
selves spontaneously ; and that his prediction had been
accomplished.^

* Vuler. Maxim, lib. I. cap. iv. § 8.

f A town of Apulia, about eighty miles from Brundusium. —
Ed.

X Horat. Serm. lib. i. sat. v. vers. 97 — 190; Plin. Hist. Nat.
lib. ii. cap. vu.

|| Pausanias. Attic, cap. xvi.

§ This Maximus was a cynic, and a magician of Ephesus. He
instructed the Emperor Julian in magic j but refused to reside in
his Court. He was appointed Pontiff in the province of Lydia.
When his patron Julian went into the East, Maximus promised
him success ; and that his conquests should be more numerous
than those of Philip. After the death of Julian, he was almost
sacrificed to the fury of the soldiers, but escaped to Constanti-
nople, where he was, soon afterwards, accused of magical prac-
tices before the Emperor Valens ; and being condemned, he was
beheaded at Ephesus, a.d. 366. — Ed.

% Eunapius in Maxim.

PHOSPHORUS KNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS. 211

Notwithstanding the precautions which the love of
mystery inspired, and which was seconded by the
enthusiasm of admiration, the working of the science
was sometimes openly shown in its assumed miracles.
Pausanias relates what he saw in two cities of Lydia,
the inhabitants of which, subjected to the yoke of the
Persians, had embraced the religion of the Magi. " In a
chapel," he says, " is an altar, upon which there are always
ashes, that in colour do not resemble any others. The
Magi placed some wood upon the altar, and invoked I
know not what God, by orisons taken from a book,
written in a barbarous language unknown to the
Greeks : — the wood soon ignited of itself without fire,
and the flame of it was very brilliant."*

The extraordinary colour of the cinders which were
always kept upon the altar, doubtlessly concealed an
inflammable composition ; simply, perhaps, earth soaked
in petroleum or naptha; a species of fuel still
employed in Persia, in every place where these bitu-
menous substances are common. The Magi in placing
the wood, probably threw there, without its being
perceived, a few grains of pyrophorus, or of that stone
which was found in Persia, and which was kindled by
a light pressure. Whilst the orison lasted, the action
of either substance had time to develop itself.

The vine-branches which a priest placed upon an
altar, near Agrigentum, lighted spontaneously in the
same manner. Solinusf adds, that the flame ascended
from the altar towards the assistants without incom-

* Pausanias. Eliac. lib. i. cap. xxvn.
t Solin. cap. xi.

p 2

21 2 PHOSPHORUS KNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS.

moding them. This circumstance announces that be-
tween the vine-branches, a gas escaped, and was lighted,
from below the altar, in a manner similar to that at Mount
Eryx, where a perpetual flame is preserved on the altar
of Venus.* The fumes of a spirituous liquor would have
produced the same phenomenon. By the inflammation
of an ethereal fluid, also, may be explained the power
that Fromann attributes to the Zingarif of making
fire appear upon a single bundle of straw placed
among many others, and of extinguishing it at pleasure.!

* Refer to chap. iv. vol. i.

f Zingari is the Italian appellation of that extraordinary race
of mankind known as wanderers in almost every part of the world,
but whose original home, or aboriginal region, is still a problem.
In every country, although the same people, yet they have a dis-
tinct name. In England, we term them Gypsies, from their sup-
posed Egyptian origin ; in France, they are called Bohemians ; in
Holland, Heydens ; in Germany, Zigeuners ; in Spain, Gitanos ; in
Russia, Tzengani ; and in Italy, Zingari ; whilst the Oriental na-
tions call them Tschingenes. From the time they first appeared
in Europe, they pretended to possess magical science, and to have
the power of looking into the future. The art of chiromancy, or
telling fortunes, by the inspection of the hand, however, is not of
their invention ; lectures having been read in colleges upon that
absurd art, long before the Gypsies appeared in Europe. With
respect to their origin, the most probable opinion brings them ori-
ginally from Hindostan. Their language has a close resemblance
to the Hindostanee ; and it is supposed that they migrated from
India in the beginning of the fifteenth century, when Timur-Beg
invaded that country, and endeavoured to establish in it the Ma-
homedan faith. Whatever may have been their origin, they are
now little better than lawless wanderers, thieves, impostors, and
the only pretenders to sorcery in Europe at the present time. —
Ed.

% Fromann. Tract, de Fascinatione, pp. 263, and 527, 528.

COMBUSTIBLES INFLAMED BY MOISTURE. 213

In this manner school-boys amuse themselves by making
alcohol burn in their hands : — a puff of breath disperses
the flame at the moment when they begin to feel the
heat of it.

" It has been observed," says Buffon,* " that some
substances thrown up by Etna, after having been cooled
during several years and then moistened with rain, have
rekindled, and thrown off flames, with an explosion
violent enough to produce even a slight earthquake."
The composition of these volcanic productions may have
been imitated by art, or the Thaumaturgist may have
carefully collected and preserved those which nature had
formed. One of the four stones inflammable by water,
of which we have spoken, shall be explained elsewhere.

In fact we may remark, with a man whom science and
his country have equally regrettedf , that quick-lime mixed
with sulphur, by the heat which it emits when sprinkled
with water, first fuses, and then causes the combustion of
the sulphur ; that this mixture rapidly sets on fire mixed
with sulphur and chlorate of potassa ; and as suddenly
ignites gunpowder and phosphorus ; and that, in the latter
case, there exists a physical means of fixing the precise
moment, when the developed heat will cause the combus-
tion.

Let us transport ourselves among a people whose
first historical centuries, owing to the marvellous recitals
with which they are filled, are thrown back into the
indefinite ages of mythology.

* Théorie de la Terre. Preuves. § xvi.

f Cadet- Gassicourt. De V Extinction de la Chaux, etc. Thesis
sanctioned before the Faculté des Sciences. August, 1812.

214 COMBUSTIBLES INFLAMED

The impartial reader will follow us in the march of
these recitals. Let him weigh well all the expressions which
Dejanira* employs for describing the first effects of the
Blood of Nessus, a marvellous philtre, with which she im-
pregnated the precious tunic that was to bring back the
heart of her inconstant husband.f " Nessus," says she,
" advised me to keep this liquid in a dark place until the
moment when I wished to make use of it. This is what
I have done. To-day in the dark, with a flock of wool
dipped in this liquid, I have dyed the tunic which I
have sent, after having shut it in a box, without its
having been exposed to the light. The flock of wool,
exposed to the sun upon a stone, was spontaneously
consumed, without having been touched by any one. It
was reduced to ashes ; into powder resembling that which

* Dejanira was the daughter of Olmus, King of ^Etolia. She
was married to Hercules, and travelling with him, on one occa-
sion, being stopped by the swollen waters of the Evenus, she was
conveyed across the river by the Centaur Nessus, who no sooner,
however, landed her on the opposite shore, than he offered violence
to her person in the sight of her husband. Hercules, to revenge
the insult, killed the Centaur with a poisoned arrow. Nessus, in
dying, beqeathed his tunic, stained with his poisoned blood, to
Dejanira, observing that it had the power of reclaiming husbands
from infidelity. The lady gladly accepted and preserved the tunic ;
and when Hercules proved faithless to her bed, she sent it to him ;
and he, having put it on, was burned to death. The romance of
the legend is scarcely destroyed by the explanation given by our
author. — Ed.

f Sophocl. Trachin, act iv. sc. 1. — To be more concise, I have
blended together two passages very much like each other. Se-
neca (Hercules Œtacus, act in. sc. 1.) describes the same details,
and particularly the efflorescence produced, whenever the philtre
touched the earth.

BY MOISTURE AND LIGHT. 215

the saw causes to fall from wood. I have observed
that above the stone on which I had placed it, froth
bubbles appeared, like those which, in Autumn, are
produced from wine poured from a height."

Let a chemist read these details, stripped of all
mythological recollections ; what will he recognize in
this pretended philtre, given by the hand of vengeance,
and which, from its consistence, colour, or some other
property, received the appellation of blood ? I reply, a
liquid preparation of phosphorus,* which, owing to the
proportions of its elements, inflamed spontaneously when
it was exposed to the light and heat of the sun. The phos-
phoric acid produced from its combustion, would pro-
duce upon the stone the effervescence, which struck
the eyes of Dejanira ; and also the ashes of the wool
reduced to a dry and insoluble phosphate.

Hercules clothed himself with the fatal tunic ; then he
sacrificed twelve bulls; but scarcely had he taken the
fire to the wood-pile, on which the victims were de-
posited, than he felt the effects of the philtre.f The
vicinity of the flame, the chemist will say, and the
humid heat of the skin of a man who works with
strength and activity before a kindled pile will infal-
libly determine, though without visible inflammation,
the decomposition of the phosphoret spread upon the
garment. The compound being dried up and there-

* A portion of phosphorus, combined with one portion of
sulphur, composes a phosphoret which remains liquid at the tem-
perature of 10°, and is ignited at that of 25° of the centrigrade
thermometer, 50° and 77° of Fahrenheit.

t Sophocl. Trachin, act iv. sc. 2.

216 COMBUSTIBLES INFLAMED

fore much more caustic, would act upon all parts of
the body, disorganize the skin and the flesh, and
by inexpressible pains, cause the death of its unfortu-
nate victim. Even at this day, when its nature is not
unknown, it would be difficult to arrest the action
once begun of these consuming substances : formerly it
would have been impossible.

In discovering so perfect a uniformity between the
picture painted by Sophocles and the illustrations of
science, can it fairly be supposed that by chance alone
the dreams, or the imaginings of a poet should coincide
exactly with the operations of nature ? It is more reason-
able to admit that the details of these marvellous facts
were preserved in the memory of men ; than that the poet
would digress from the received tradition, of which he
knew not the origin. There can be little doubt that this
origin belonged to Occult Science, to Magic studied in
Thessaly, in the country of Nessus, from the time of
the siege of Troy.*

Convinced that the Greek tragedian has described
the effects of a secret preparation which, perhaps, in his
time, still existed in the temples, I have given to the
blood of Nessus the property of inflaming spontaneously
in the light, although this may not have been an essen-
tial condition of the phenomenon that it produced.
Every potential cautery spread in sufficient quantity
upon the surface of the body will exercise -the same
power ; will cause the same pains, and soon occasion
the same impossibility of taking off the garment which

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxx. cap. i.

BY MOISTURE AND LIGHT. 217

is daubed with it, without tearing the skin and the
flesh, and without redoubling instead of diminishing
the sufferings of the victim, irrevocably doomed to
death.*

The poison poured by Medea upon the robe which
she sent to her rival, resembles, by its effects, that
which Dejanira, without knowing its malignity, em-
ployed. But this myth presents, farther, an impossible
circumstance. From the fillet of gold offered with the
dress to the unhappy Creusa, there shot unextinguish-
able flames.f As it cannot be supposed that here there
was an elevation of temperature, or the power of a
burning sun, the spontaneous inflammation discloses the
employment of naptha, which takes fire at the approach
alone of a lighted body. Many authors relate that
Medea really rubbed the robe and the crown destined
for Creusa with naptha.j Procopius strengthens this
tradition by twice observing that the liquor called
naptha by the Medes, received from the Greeks the
name of the oil of Medea. \\ Pliny, in fact, says that

* Towards the end of the last century, a pharcomopolist of
Paris, M. Steinacher, was called into a house, under the pretext
of giving relief to a sick person. Some people who pretended to
condole with him, made a barbarous game of covering him with
blisters, and holding him in this state during several hours. When
he recovered his liberty, the most active and best directed means
to relieve him were useless ; he languished for some time and died
in the most horrible torments ; the authors of this crime remained
unknown and unpunished.

t Euripid. Medea, act vi. sc. i.

X Plutarch. Vit. Alexandr.

|| Procope. Histoire mêlée, chap. xi.

218 THE GREEK FIRE.

Medea having rubbed the crown of her rival, whom she
wished to destroy with naptha, it caught fire at the in-
stant when the unfortunate individual approached the
altar to offer a sacrifice.*

In the tragedy of Seneca, Medea, after having announ-
ced that the " golden frontlet, sent to Creusa enclosed
a hidden fire, the composition of which she had learnt
from Prometheus, adds that Vulcan had also given her
fire, concealed under the form of a light sulphur, and
that she borrowed from Phseton the flashes of an unex-
tinguishable flame."f In withdrawing the veil from these
figurative expressions, it is difficult not to perceive there
a genuine Greek fire, which a grain of pyrophorus, or a
little naptha, would kindle, when the fatal mixture was
dispersed through the air, or by the vicinity of flame,
such as that burnt upon the altar, which the wife of
Jason approached.

We do not inadvertantly add the Greek fire to the
number of the weapons of Medea. According to every
probability, we may ask, what was the foundation of the
Greek fire ? 1 answer, naptha ; the oil of Medea : and
those bulls which vomited flame in order to defend the
golden fleece that Medea's lover had delivered up to
Jason ; those bulls, the feet and the mouth of which were
of brass, and which Vulcan had fabricated J— were they

* Plin Hist. Nat. lib. n. cap. 105.

t " Ignis fulvo. .clausus in auro..latet obscurus . . quel mihi
cœli. .qui furta luit, .viscère fœto. .dédit et docuit. .condere vires
. . arte Prometheus . . dédit et tenui . . sulfure tectos . . Mulciber ignés
. .Et vivaces . . fulgura flammée. -De cognato. .Phœtonte tuli .."
— Senec. Medea, act iv. se. 2.

% Apollon. Rhocl. Argonaut, lib. m.

THE GREEK FIRE. 219

not machines adapted for throwing out the Greek
fire?

Faithful to the method which we have followed, we
shall endeavour to trace the history of this weapon, for-
merly so dreaded, from the earliest times when it was
employed, till the latest records of it ; when nothing
announced that the discovery of it was still recent.

Two troubadours, one of whom flourished in the first
years of the 1 3th century, mention the Greek fire. One
of them says that it was extinguished by means of
vinegar.* Joinville enters into a curious detail upon the
use of this fire, which the Saracens darted forth upon the
Crusaders.f The Arabs have, at all times, made a great
use of inflamed darts for the attack and the defence of
places ; so that the Sheik of Barnou, who derived his
knowledge from this people, was much astonished to
learn that the English had never employed this method
of destruction in war.f
Manuel Comnenus || employed the Greek fire upon the

* Millot. Histoire littéraire des Troubadours, vol. i. page 380,
tome ii. pages 393 — 394.

t Mémoires de Joinville. Edition in-folio de 1761, p. 44.

% Voyages of Denham, Oudney and Clapperton. vol. i. pages 115
and 238.

|| Manuel Comnenus, although the second son of John Com-
nenus, yet, ascended the throne after the death of his father, in
1143. His reign, of thirty years, was filled with the vicissitudes
of military enterprizes against the Christians, the Saracens, and
the scarcely civilized nations beyond the Danube. He believed in
astrology, and the professors of that mystical art had promised
him many years of glory, even when his death was approaching ;
but not feeling any confidence in their predictions, he requested to
have the habit of a monk brought to him, and, substituting it for
the royal robe, he expired. — Ed.

220 THE GREEK FIRE.

galleys, which he had armed to oppose Roger of Sicily ;
and the historian observes that he restored the use of it,
after it had been given up for a long time.* Alexis Com-
nenus had employed it, however, against the Pisans.
Upon the prow of his vessels were lions of bronze, which
vomited flame in every direction where it was intended
to falLf Anna Comnenusj speaks of fire that the
soldiers, armed with tubes resembling our fusees, shot
forth upon the enemy. But, according to her, they pre-
pared their fire with a mixture of sulphur and resin
reduced into powder. This account, however, is not
worthy of credit ; for such a composition would have
melted before igniting, and would not have shot forth
with an explosion.

Here, three observations present themselves : firstly,
the lions in bronze, employed by Alexis Comnenus, recals
to our remembrance the fire-vomiting bulls manufactured
in bronze by Vulcan — they are evidently the same
description of weapon ; secondly, sixty years had scarcely
elapsed between the maritime expedition of Alexis, and
that of Manuel Comnenus : in so short a space of time
had the Greek fire been almost entirely forgotten ! How
many other processes of Occult Science may have
perished by a more prolonged disuse. Thirdly, the delu-

* " Ignis Grsecus qui longo jam tempore abditus latuerat."
f Ann. Comnen. Hist. lib. xi. cap. ix. — Alexius Comnenus
commenced his reign in 1081. His daughter Anna endeavoured
to immortalize his memory in the Alexiad, or the history of his
reign. If her narrative can be depended upon, it would almost
induce the belief that the use of gunpowder was then understood
and employed instead of the Greek fire ; or that gunpowder was
that fire. — Ed.

J Ibid. Hist. lib. xm. cap. ix.

THE GREEK FIRE. 221

sive process which Anna Comnenus gives for the compo-
sition of the Greek fire, is another proof of the care with
which the ancients then concealed these processes beneath
a double ve!l of mystery and of falsehood.

Constantine Porphyrogenetus,* indeed, recommends
his son never to disclose to the barbarians the secret of
the composition of the Greek fire ; but to say to them
that it was brought from heaven by an angel, and that it
would be sacrilegious to reveal it to them.f Leon, the
philosopher,]: ordered brass tubes to be placed upon the
vessels, and tubes of smaller dimensions to be put in
the hands of the soldiers. Both shot forth fire upon the
enemy, with a noise similar to that of thunder ; but the
Emperor alone directed the fabrication of that fire.

It is said that Callinicus, of Heliopolis, in Syria,
invented the Greek fire in the seventh century of our era ;
but he only restored or divulged a process, the origin of

* He was the son of Leo, and, although clothed with the im-
perial purple, yet, he was of a retired habit, and dedicated much of
his time to the cultivation of literature and science. He drew many-
learned men to his court; and himself became an author. He
delineated what he regarded as a perfect image of royalty, in the
life of his grandfather, Basil : he also wrote a Treatise, intended
to instruct his son in the practice of government ; and another
entitled Theurata, in which a detailed account of the empire is
given. Such a monarch was likely to inquire into the nature
of the Greek-fire ; and, knowing it, to secure its influence for
his people. Water only increased its burning ; it was only
extinguished by stifling it under a heap of dust. — Ed.

f Constantin, Pophyr. De administ. imper.

X Léon le philosophe. Institutions militaires. Inst. xix. vol. n.
page 139.

222 THE GREEK FIRE.

which, like many others, was lost in the obscurity of
initiations. The initiated, who were discovered and
punished at Rome in the year 186 b.c., possessed the
secret : they plunged their lighted torches into water
without extinguishing them, " because," says Livy, " the
composition consisted of lime and sulphur ;# but they
most probably added a bitumen, such as naptha or pe-
troleum to the other ingredients."

Callinicus and the initiated must have borrowed their
unextinguishable fire from some Asiatic initiation. The
Persians possessed the secret, but they reserved the use
of it for combats. " They composed an oil, with which
they rubbed the darts which, when thrown with a
moderate force, carried with them wherever they fixed
themselves devouring flames,f increased and strengthened
by water, and only extinguishable by dust."

Traditions almost always lead us back towards Hin-
dustan, when we are desirous of discovering the inventors
of ancient arts.

Among the numerous writers, who have transformed
the history of Alexander into romance, some relate that
the Macedonian, when in India, opposed to the elephants

* Tit. Liv. lib. xxix. cap, xxm.

f Ammian. Marcell. lib. xxm. cap. vi, and Pliny {Hist. Nat. lib.
ii. cap. civ.) describes the effects of a substance called Maltha,
of which the inhabitants of Samosate made use against the
soldiers of Lucullus. The Maltha was drawn from a neighbour-
ing pond situated near the town. Naptha, or petroleum,
doubtless formed the basis of it. Beseiged by Lucullus, the defen-
ders of Tigranocerta shot out inflamed naptha upon their enemies.
(Dio. Cass. Xiphilin. in Pompeio.)

THE GREEK FIRE. 223

of his enemies machines of bronze, or of iron, which
vomited fire, and which secured his conquest.* Others,
on the contrary, describe " the large flashes of flame that
Alexander beheld as showered upon his army, on the
burning plains of India."f These conflicting recitals have
a common foundation, and the tradition only relates that,
in India, a composition analogous to the Greek fire was
employed as an engine of warfare. It was a composition
similar to that which a sorcerer and a sorceress shot
forth from inflamed jets, mentioned in one of the mar-
vellous narrations of Hindoo origin. The spectators of the
combat, and the combatants themselves experienced
the bad effects of it.| Fictions of this kind generally
originate in reality. Thejire which burns and crackles
on the bosom of the waves, instead of being extinguished,
denotes that the Greek fire was anciently known in Hin-
dustan, under the name of the fire of Barrawa.\\ It was
employed against besieged towns. " On the banks of
the Hyphasis, an oil was composed, and enclosed in pots
of earth; and on being shot out against the wood-works,
or the gates of a city, kindled with an unextinguishable
flame. The fabrication of this dangerous substance was
left to the King ; no other person had permission to pre-

* J. Vactrius Vit. Alexand. (discovered and published by M.
Mai.) Biblioth. Univ. Littérature, vol. vu. pages 225, 226. —
Extract from the romance of Alexander the Great, from a Persian
manuscript, &c. — Bibliothèque des Romans. October 1775, vol. i.

f This tradition given in an Apocryphal letter of Alexander to
Aristotle, has been adopted by Dante. Inferno, cant. xiv.

X The Arabian Nights' Entertainments, 55th. night, vol. i. pages
320—322.

|| Sacountala, ou l'Anneau fatal, act in. sc. 2.

224 THE GREEK FIRE.

pare even a drop of it."* This recital by Ktesias has
been rejected, because what the historian adds, as to the
manner of composing this unextinguishable oil, is thought
improbable. He has been assured that it was drawn
from a very dangerous water serpent. This circum-
stance does not appear absolutely destitute of truth.
Philostratusf says that the unextinguishable oil was
extracted from afresh water animal, resembling a worm.
In Japan, the Inari, an aquatic lizard, black and vene-
mous, furnishes an oil, which is burnt in the temples. |
Nothing interferes with the supposition that, in India the
element of the unextinguishable fire, an animal grease or
oil, is united to the naptha for giving more body to the
incendiary projectile, and a longer duration to its action.
In supposing, moreover, that Ktesias had, incorrectly
translated and misunderstood the account he received ;
or that an erroneous account purposely had been given to
him, the fact itself does not remain less probable. We
again repeat, that we are too apt to accuse the recitals
of the ancients of absurdity. To confirm what they had
said of the Greek fire, Cardan has indicated the method of
preparing fire-works endowed with similar properties.!

* Ktesias in Indie. — Aelian de Nat. Animal, lib. v. cap. in.

f Philostrat. Vit. Apollon, lib. in. cap. i. — Aelian (Be Nat.
Animal, lib. v. cap. in.) quoting Ktesias, also uses the expression
ScwXjj^, worm ; but this worm which lives in the river Indus, is
seven cubits long and of proportionate breadth. From the expres-
sion of Aelian it may be inferred, that the oil thus prepared,
kindled without fire, and by the contact alone of a combustible
body.

\ Koempfer. Histoire du Japon, liv. in. chap. v. p. 53.

|| H. Cardan. De Subtilitate. lib. n.

THE GREEK FIRE, 225

Prompt to refute Cardan, Scaliger,* a man more erudite
than able, and more presumptuous than erudite, boldly
ridiculed those who professed that they could produce
physical compositions, which, exposed to the rays of the
sun, or sprinkled with water, would ignite. A student
of chemistry, would ridicule Scaliger for such an opinion,
and work, before his eyes, the two apparent miracles
which he had declared to be impossible.

* J. C. Scaliger. Exoteric, ad. Cardan, xm. no. 3.

VOL. II.

226 GUNPOWDER KNOWN TO THE MAGI.

CHAPTER X.

Compositions similar to gunpowder — Mines worked by it under
Herod ; by the Christian priests under the Emperor Julian at
Jerusalem ; and in Syria under the Caliph Motassem ; and by the
priests of Delphi in order to repulse the Persians and Gauls —
Antiquity of the invention of Gunpowder ; its probable origin
in Hindostan ; it has been known from time immemorial
in China — Tartar army repelled by artillery — Priests of India
employed the same means to hurl thunder upon their enemies
—The thunder of Jupiter compared to our fire-arms — Many
assumed miracles explained by the use of these arms — Gun-
powder was known in the latter empire, probably until the
twelfth century.

Physical phenomena, and the services that Science
extracts from them, link the one to the other. The exa-
mination of the brilliant apparent miracles effected by
spontaneous inflammations, leads us to a discussion of the
resources that the Thaumaturgists employed in war to
turn fire into an offensive or defensive weapon. From
the facts which we have already quoted, we may presume
that very anciently they were in possession of some in-
flammable composition more or less similar to gunpow-

GUNPOWDER KNOWN TO THE MAGI. 227

der ;* and that those tubes which threw out a brilliant
fire, with a noise like that of thunder, may have been
the first rough delineations of our canons and fire-arms.f
We could not then have been accused of romancing, if we
had said that the ancients possessed, by these means,
the power of imitating the most formidable scourges ;
whether by shaking the earth by mines they saw it open
in chasms at their enemies' feet; or by sending from
afar bolts as burning, speedy, and inevitably fatal as
lightning.

Herod descended into the monument of David in the
hope of finding treasure there. His cupidity not being
satisfied with what he had already found, he extended
his researches, and caused the vaults, in which the
remains of David and Solomon were laid, to be opened.
A fierce flame suddenly burst out ; two of the king's
guards, suffocated and burnt by it, perished, j Michaelis
attributes this prodigy to the gas, which, escaping from
the vault, was kindled by the torches destined to light the
workmen, who were employed in clearing an entrance.!
But if such had been the case, these latter would have
been the first victims, as the expansion of the gas must
have taken place as soon as an opening had been

* Dutens, p. 194, supposes that they were actually acquainted
with gunpowder. — Ed.

f Bacon is inclined to think that the Macedonians had a kind
of magic powder, in its effects approaching to those of gunpowder.
(Encyclop. method. Philosophie, vol. i. page 341. column 1.

% Josephus. Ant. Jud. lib. xvi. cap. lit.

I| Magasin Scientifique de Gottingue. nie année. 6e cahier,
1783.

Q 2

228 GUNPOWDER KNOWN TO THE MAGI.

effected in the vault. We should rather think that the
priests, who had more than one motive for hating Herod,
and who, looked upon the treasures enclosed in David's
monument, as the property of the theocratic govern-
ment, being justly indignant at the sacrilegious pillage
which the Idumean Prince was committing; sought,
by stimulating his cupidity, to attract him into the inte-
rior vault, where they had prepared the certain means for
his destruction, if, as they expected, he should be the
first to enter it.*

Michaelisf explains, in the same manner, by
the inflammation of subterraneous gas, the miracle
which interrupted the works ordered by the Em-
peror Julian for the restoration of the Temple of
Jerusalem, and at which the Christians rejoiced so
exceedingly, that they were suspected to have been the
authors of it. This explanation seems to us even less
plausible than the former. If in the globes of fire which
shot out from the midst of the rubbish, wounding and
putting the workmen to flight — if in the shaking of the
ground, and the overthrow of several buildings, we are

* The conjecture of Michaelis is much more probable than the
explanation of our author. In long shut up vaults and caverns,
carburitted hydrogen gas, fire-damp as it is termed by miners,
frequently forms in large quantity, and is instantly fired on coming
into contact with a torch or any burning body. Now, as the
torches must have been in the hands of the soldiers, not in those
of the workmen who preceded them, the gas would pass unin-
flamed over the workmen and be ignited only when it reached
those who held the torches. — Ed.

f Magasin Scientifique de Gottingue, loc. cit.

EXPLOSIONS APPARENTLY SUPERNATURAL. 229

not to recognise the springing of a mine — we ask, what
are the signs by which the springing of a mine is to be
recognized ?*

* This opinion, so confidently advanced by our author, is not
authorized by the account of Ammianus Marcellinus, who witnessed
the event, and who, being inimical to the Christians, was not likely
to conceal the opinion, if it existed, that the explosions, and
emissions of fire, which defeated the intention of Julian to rebuild
the Jewish temple, were the result of art. The Jews, also, who
were eager for the restoration of the temple, would have searched
out the artifice and exposed it, had any existed : besides, had the
cause, which forced Alypius to discontinue the work, been a mine
which was sprung, although it might have overthrown the build-
ings and killed the labourers, yet, it would not have been constantly
repeated in the manner described by the historian, who, indeed,
evidently ascribes the event to the elements in these expressions :
" hocque modo elemento obstinatius repellente.a And also by his
statement that " the victorious elements continuing in this man-
ner obstinately and resolutely bent in driving them (the workmen)
to a distance, Alypius thought proper to abandon the enterprize."
Had the materials for springing several mines been placed in
a limited space, and the eruptions confined to one spot, the
destruction caused by the first explosion would have rendered
any after attempts to produce the same ineffective. Again, were we
to admit that new explosive materials were employed in the sub-
sequent explosions, new excavations must have been made; but any
attempts to effect such a purpose could not have been carried
on unknown to the Jews and the Pagans assembled on the
spot ; yet the eruptions were constantly renewed as soon as
the labour was resumed, until they effectually constrained the
abandonment of the enterprise. The Editor has no hesitation
in saying, that if these explosions, and earthquakes were not a
real miracle, as he firmly believes they were, there are no data,
whatever, for asserting that they were produced by human art
as our author would imply ; and, consequently, although they

a Ammianus Marcellinus, 1. xxxiii. c. i.

230 EXPLOSIONS APPARENTLY SUPERNATURAL.

We may observe, that neither the Jews of Jerusalem,
the Emperor Julian, nor Ammianus Marcellinus, who
has transmitted the account of it to us, were converted
to Christianity by this miracle.

If we consult the annals of Greece, we shall find that
the priests of Apollo at Delphi, after having announced
by the voice of the oracle, that their God knew well how-
to save his temple, did, in fact, preserve it from the inva-
sion of the Persians, and then from that of the Gauls,

may ever remain otherwise unexplained, yet, they certainly cannot
be regarded as the result of the springing of a mine. In favour of
their being a real miracle, the prohibition of our Saviour, with re-
gard to the restoration of the temple, required to be fulfilled, and it
has been accomplished up to the present time ; hence we see a
purpose which the miracle was intended to fulfil : and, in the
event, the operation of a power adequate to the effect. To
borrow the language of Dr. Thomas Brown, " the possibility of
the occasional direct operation of the power which formed the
world, in varying the usual course of its events D it would be
iu the highest degree unphilosophical to deny; nor even, we
presume, to estimate the degree of its probability ; since, in
many cases, of the wide bearings of wbich on human happiness
we must be ignorant, it might be the result of the same bene-
volent motives, which we must suppose to have influenced the
Divine mind, in the original act of creation itself. "'* Such is,
also, the firm belief of the Editor ; and, in the events detailed,
he perceives no law of nature violated ; and certainly no reason
to withhold our faith in the testimony of the historian of the
event; on the contrary, we may rationally suppose that the
statement given of it by Ammianus, was in opposition to his
personal interest. The phenomena presented no violation of
nature ; but, as in every real miracle, it was an extraordinary
event, the result of new and peculiar circumstances, and a display
intended to sanction the revelations of that Being by whom the
universe itself was called into existence. — En.

' An Inquiry into the Relation of Cause and Effect, p. 500, notes.

EXPLOSIONS APPARENTLY SUPERNATURAL. 231

by the explosion of mines placed in the rocks that sur-
rounded it. The assailants were crushed by the fall of
innumerable blocks of stone, which, in the midst of
devouring flames, were rained upon them by an invisible
hand.*

Pausanias, who attributes the defeat of the Gauls to
an earthquake and a miraculous storm, thus described
their effects : " The lightning not only killed those who
were struck by it, but an inflammable exhalation was
communicated to those who were near, and reduced them
to powder."f

The explosion, however, of many mines, as violent as
we could imagine, could not have produced that total
destruction of the assailants depicted by the historians.
On the contrary, we hear of the same Gauls imme-
diately afterwards making a successful incursion into
Asia. They had been repulsed, not exterminated, at
Delphi.

With regard to the cause assigned for their repulsion,
would not the construction, it may be argued, of consi-
derable mines, hollowed in the rocks of Delphi, have
required the aid of too many co-operators for the secret
to have been so long kept ? To this argument it may
be answered, that the more simple and toilsome details
must have been confided to rude workmen, who could
neither dream, guess, nor divulge the intention of them ;
and that these excavations were probably commenced
long beforehand, as in the defensive works of modern

* Herodot. lib. vm. cap. xxxvn — xxxix; Justin, lib. xxiv.
cap. vm.

t Pausanias. Phoc. cap. xxin.

232 EXPLOSIONS APPARENTLY SUPERNATURAL.

strong places, and merely required the fulminating com-
position to be deposited in them when needed. Historical
tradition furnishes us, however, with a more decisive
answer. Every Greek, from Delphi to Thermopylse, was
initiated in the mysteries of the Temple of Delphi.* Their
secresy upon every point, where silence was commanded,
was guaranteed, therefore, by a fear of the evils threat-
ened to a perjured revelation, and by a general confes'sion
required from each aspirant to this initiation ; a confes-
sion which rather caused them to fear the indiscretion of
the priests than to give the latter occasion to doubt theirs.

We may finally remark, that the God of Delphi, so
powerful in protecting his temple from strangers, made
no attempt to rescue its wealth from the hands of
the Phocians. When these latter drained its resources,
in order to defend their country against the hypocritical
ambition of Philip, they had probably either obtained or
compelled the acquiescence of the priests, and no longer
feared a destructive apparent miracle, which could hardly
be effected without the consent or the aid of their chiefs.

So customary is it to deem the use of gunpowder of a
very modern date, that these remarkable facts have
remained unnoticed, or, at least, have merely led to the
supposition that ancient nations were acquainted with
some composition almost as deadly.f " All that has been

* Plutarch. De Oracul. Defect.

f Various explosive substances are as destructive as gun-
powder, and some of them might have been known to the ancients.
When a solution of gold in aqua regia, is precipitated by ammonia,
and the product washed and dried without heat, it becomes fulmi-
nating gold. It is exploded by the slightest friction, and even

INVENTION OF GUNPOWDER. 233

written," says M. Napione, " by Egidio Colonna,* on
instruments of war employed at the end of the thirteenth
century, gives rise to a suspicion that the invention of
gunpowder is of much more ancient date than we are
accustomed to believe, and that this formidable compo-
sition was perhaps nothing more than a modification or
perfection of the Greek fire, known many centuries
before gunpowder was invented in Europe."

cannot be put into a bottle witb a glass stopper without the
greatest danger. It explodes with a loud noise.

When nitrate of silver is acted upon by nitric acid and alcohol
at the same time, a grey powder is procured, which, being washed
and dried, is fulminating silver. The explosive force of this
powder is great ; it detonates with a tremendous noise on being
touched with a glass rod dipped in sulphuric acid.

When mercury is dissolved in nitric acid, and afterwards alcohol
added, effervescence takes place, and a precipitate is thrown down,
which, after being washed and dried with a very gentle heat, forms
detonating mercury. It explodes with the least friction.

A mixture of chlorate of potassa and sulphur detonates with
friction, and even evolves flame. The noise caused by the explo-
sion of a few grains is equal to that of a musket.

The choride of nitrogen, which was discovered by M. Dulong,
in 1812, is one of the most violent of all detonating substances.
It is procured in the form of an oil, and requires the utmost
caution both to make it and to preserve it. If a small globule of
it be thrown into olive oil, the most violent explosion takes place,
and this also happens when it is brought into contact with phos-
phorus, naptha, volatile oils, and many other matters.

All these compounds may have been unknown to the ancients ;
but they are mentioned to show the probability of our ancestors
having an acquaintance with many detonating powders besides
those which we possess. — Ed.

* A Roman monk, who had a share in the education of Philip-
le-Bel. Memorie della reale Accidentia delle Scienze di Torino, tome
xxix. Revue Encyclopédique, torn. xxx. p. 42.

234 INVENTION OF GUNPOWDER.

We have established the fact, that the invention
of the Greek fire belongs to a remote antiquity ; and
we think that Langles was right in placing that of
gunpowder in an equally distant period. The following
is the substance of the facts by which he supports his
opinion.* The Moors in Spain made use of gunpowder
at the commencement of the fourteenth century. From
the year 1 292, a poet of Grenada celebrated this means
of destruction in his verses. There is also some
reason for believing that the Arabs had made
use of it against the fleet of the Crusaders in the
time of St. Louis; and in 690 they employed it
in the siege of Mecca. Missionaries have undeniably
proved that gunpowder has been known in China from
time immemorial. It was also known in Thibet and in Hin-
dustan, where fireworks and jire-halls have been always
used in war, and in public rejoicings. In districts of
that vast country, where neither Mussulmen nor Euro-
peans had ever penetrated, iron fusees, attached to a dart,
which carried them into the enemy's ranks by the violence
of the powder have been found. The laws collected
in the code of the Gentoos, the antiquity of which is
lost in the obscurity of the times, forbids the use of fire-
arms (a prohibition which, no doubt, prevented them
from becoming common).

These laws make a distinction between darts of fire
and those bolts that killed a hundred men at once : the
latter remind us of the effects of our own cannon. The
Hindoos, though unacquainted with mortars, hollowed

* Dissertation inserted in the Magasin Encyclopédique, fourth
year, torn. i. pp. 333—338.

INVENTION OF GUNPOWDER, 235

out holes in the rocks, and, filling them with powder,
rained down stones upon their enemies, precisely like the
hail which the priests of Delphi sent down upon the
Persians and Gauls. Finally, a commentator of the
Vedas attributes the invention of gunpowder to Visva-
carma,* the artist God, who is said to have manufactured
arrows which the Gods made use of when fighting against
the evil Genii.

From this feature of the Hindoo mythology, learnt
from travellers, is it not likely, we may ask, that Milton
derived the idea of attributing to the rebel angels the
invention of gunpowder and fire-arms ? Langles has
omitted to notice this resemblance ; and, doubtless, the
right of poets to invent, appeared to him to weaken
very much the authority of their narrations. It was,
nevertheless, easy for him to find in unexceptionable
authorities on physical facts, the confirmation of his
conjectures. He might have observed that, in China
and in Hindustan, the soil is so impregnated with salt-
petre, that this salt frequently effloresces on the surface of
the earth: a phenomenon which must have early suggested
and facilitated the confection of pyrotechnical composi-
tions ; and, at the same time, have rendered the know-
ledge of them common, in spite of their importance, as
a part of the sacred and Occult Sciences. It is this, also,
that has given to the Asiatic pyrotechnics so great a pre-
ponderance over the European, and a superiority scarcely
yet controverted. Both the one and the other advantages

* If this name has, as we are tempted to believe, furnished the
etymology of a French word (vacarme), but little known, it would
be inaptly translated " burning power."

236 INVENTION OF GUNPOWDER.

have often excited our incredulity, and prevented us from
confessing, that others may be able to perform feats
of which we know nothing. Fontenelle says that in
China, according to the annals of that empire, " Thou-
sands of stars are seen to fall at once from the heavens
into the sea, with a great noise, or to dissolve away into
rain. One star went bursting towards the east, like a
fusee, and always with a great noise."# How came it
that the ingenious philosopher did not recognise the
effects of fusees and firework bombsf in this description ?
It was well known that the Chinese excelled in composing
both ; but Fontenelle preferred jesting on the pretended
astronomical science of the Chinese.

With more reason has a remarkable passage from the
voyages of Plancarpinus been turned into ridicule. The
Tartars informed this monk that Prester-John, King of
Great India, (probably a chief of Thibet, or of some
nation professing the Lamich religion), when attacked
by Tossuch, son of Tchinggis-Khan, led against his
assailants figures of bronze mounted on horseback. In
the interior of these figures was fire, and behind each a
a man, who threw within them something, which imme-
diately produced an immense smoke, and enabled the

* Fontenelle. De la Pluralité des Mondes. Sixième soir, (vers
la fin).

f " A very brilliant meteor, as large as the moon, was seen
finally splitting into sparks, and illuminating the whole valley."
Ross's Second Voyage to the North Pole, chap, xlviii. We might
have thought that the Chinese tradition related to some fact simi-
lar to that which Ross had observed ; but no European had seen
such meteors in China, and every traveller boasts of the fireworks
of that country.

INVENTION OF GUNPOWDER. 237

enemies of the Tartars to massacre them.* It is diffi-
cult to believe that an intense smoke would be sufficient
to put to flight the companions in arms of Tchinggis.

It is less repugnant to one's prejudices to suppose
that these bronze figures might be either small swivel
guns, or cannon similar to those used in China, which,
by being taken to pieces, could be easily transported
about on horses ;f pieces of artillery, in short, that most
certainly emitted something else besides smoke. Tossuch's
soldiers unacquainted with these arms, and having in
their flight abandoned their dead and wounded, could
only tell Plancarpinus of the flames and smoke they had
seen ; but we can recognize the real cause of their defeat,
which was neither difficult to understand nor miraculous.
We know the intercourse that Thibet, and the nations fol-
lowing the religion of the Lamas, have always held with
China. Now, a grandson of Tchinggis-Khan, in 1245,
had in his army a body of Chinese matrosses ; and, from
the tenth century, they had in China thunder chariots
(chars à foudre), producing, from the same causes, the
same effects as our cannon. | Being unable to fix the
period when the use of gunpowder, fire-arms, and artillery
was commenced in that empire, national tradition has
ascribed the invention to the first King of the country. ||
Now, as this Prince was much versed in magic arts,§ it

* Voyage de Plancarpin, art. v. p. 42.

f P. Maffei. Hist. Indie, lib. vi. p. 256.

% Abel Remusat's Memoirs upon the Political Relations of the
Kings of France to the Mongol Emperors. — Asiatic Journal, vol. i.
p. 137.

|| P. Maffei. Hist. Indie, loc. cit.

§ Linschott's Travels in China, 3rd edit. p. 53.

238 INVENTION OF GUNPOWDER.

was not without some reason, that we ranked the disco-
very, of which he has the honour, among the means
employed for working apparent miracles.

These affinities strengthen, instead of affecting the
opinion of Langles, which ascribed the invention of
gunpowder to the Hindoos, from whom China, no doubt,
received her civilization and arts, as well as her popular
religion.

The Greeks were not ignorant of the formidable power
of the weapons which were prepared in India by a secret
process. Philostrates describes the sages who dwelt
between the Hyphasis and the Ganges, as launching
forth with redoubled fury lightning upon their enemies,
and thus repelling the aggressions of Bacchus and the
Egyptian Hercules.*

We may recal to remembrance the particular arrows
with which the Gods of Hindustan armed themselves
against the evil genii. In the Greek mythology, dis-
tantly, but decidedly derived from the Hindoo, the
Gods are described as fighting against the rebellious
Titans, and securing their victory by similar terrible arms.
The numerous points of resemblance, indeed, in the
details of these battles assimilate the weapons of the King
of the Gods and men to modern artillery. " The
Cyclops," says the historian Castor,f " assisted Jupiter
against the Titans with dazzling lightnings and thunder."

* Philostrat. vit Apollon, lib. n. cap. xiv. lib. in. cap. in. —
Themist. Oral. xxvn.

t Euseb. Chronic. Canon, lib. i. cap. xni. — Nota. This im-
portant passage is only found in the Armenian version published
by Zorhab and Mai.

INVENTION OF GUNPOWDER. 239

In the war of the Gods against the giants, Vulcan, ac-
cording to Apollodorus, killed Clytius,# by sending fiery
stones against him. Typhon, brought forth by the
earth, to avenge the giants, sent fiery stones flying
against the heavens, whilst from his mouth issued flames
of fire. " The brothers of Saturn," says Hesiod,f " freed
from their bonds by Jupiter, gave to him the thunder,
the dazzling lightnings, and thunder-bolt, which had
been enclosed in the centre of the earth ; and by these
weapons secured to this God his empire over men and
immortals."

It is from the bosom of the earth that saltpetre,
sulphur, and bitumen, which most probably composed
the fulminating substance of the ancients, are taken.
Minerva alone, of all the divinities, knew where the
thunder! was kept ; the Cyclops alone understood the
manufacture of it ; and Jupiter severely punished Apollo
for having attempted the life of these invaluable artists.
Now, if we set aside the mythological ideas attached to
these names and recitals, we shall fancy that we are
reading the history of a Prince, to whom some indivi-
dual, from gratitude, had imparted the secret of fabricat-
ing gunpowder, and who was as jealous of the exclusive
possession of it, as the Byzantine Emperors were of
reserving to themselves the secret of the Greek fire.

The resemblance between the effects of thunder and
those of the inflammable compound we have noticed is
so striking, that it has been recorded in all the historical
and mythological narrations : nor did it escape the obser-

* Apollodor. Bibliothec. lib, i. cap. v.
f Hesiod. Theogon. vers. 502—507.
X vEschyl. Eumenid. vers. 829 — 831.

240 INVENTION OF GUNPOWDER.

vation of the natives of the new continent discovered by
Christopher Columbus, and conquered by Cortes and
Pizarro. These unfortunate people took their conquerors
for Gods, armed with thunder, until they obtained the
knowledge, for which they had paid dearly, namely, the
right of knowing in their persecutors only malevolent
spirits and enemies to humanity.

This resemblance explains a passage which Pliny
probably borrowed from some ancient poet, and which
has been the torment of his commentators. In treating
of the origin of magic, Pliny expresses his surprise that
this art had been dispersed over Thessaly from the time
of the siege of Troy, before which time Mars alone
directed the thunder (solo Marte fulminante). Is there
not a visible allusion to the power possessed by the
Sacred Science ; and which magic, originating in the
temples, aimed at arrogating to itself the power of
producing lightning, as well as that of arming itself
with it in battle, and of producing explosions equal-
ling claps of thunder.

Finally, it explains the death of Alexander's soldiers,
who, having penetrated into the temple of the Ca-
bira, near Thebes, perished there, struck by light-
ning and thunder :* and also the story of Porsennaf
killing, with one stroke of lightning, a monster which
ravaged the lands of his subjects. In addition to
these, we may mention the presumption of the Estrus-
can magicians who, when Rome was threatened with a
siege from Alaric, offered to repel the enemy, by send-

* Pausanias. Baetic. cap. xxv.

f Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. ii, cap. lui.

COMBUSTIBLES INFLAMED BY MOISTURE. 241

ing down upon him lightning and thunder ; boasting that
they had effected this miracle at Narnia, a town which
did not in fact fall into the power of the Gothic King.#

But, it may be asked, how came an art which was
known to the Christians of the fourth century ; to the
Etruscan magicians at the end of the fifth ; and preserved
until the ninth century in Syria, to fall into oblivion ?
And why, for instance, did the historian Ducas describe
the falconets used against Amurat the Second, by the
defenders of Belgrade,! as a novel invention, utterly un-
known to his countrymen ? In reply, I may inquire,
how have so many other arts perished which were more
widely dispersed, and more immediately useful, than those
referred to ? And, besides, the secret imposed by severe
laws against revealing the composition of the Greek fire,
may have existed as strictly with respect to other im-
portant compositions.

I may, nevertheless, venture to affirm that this art
was not lost until a more recent period in the latter
empire. In the fifth century, Claudian describes in verse
fireworks, and particularly the burning suns.\ Anthemus

* Sozomen. Hist. Eccles. lib. ix. cap. vi. — If we may believe
Zozimus (Hist. Rom. lib. v.) the Bishop of Rome had consented
that the magicians should attempt the fulfilment of their promises;
but they were sent away, on account of the repugnance of the
people to their proposal, and the town capitulated,
f Ducas. Hist. Imp. Joann, fyc, cap. xxx.
X " Inque chori speciem spargentes ardua fiammas
Scena rotet : varios effingat Mulciber orbes,
Per tabulas impunè vagus ; pictseque citato
Ludent igne trabes ; et non permissa morari,
Fida per innocuas errent incendia turres."

(Claudian. De Mall. Theodos. consulat, ver. 325 — 329.)
VOL. II. R

242 COMBUSTIBLES INFLAMED BY MOISTURE.

of Tralles, the architect, who, under Justinian, traced out
the designs and directed the construction of the church
of St. Sophia,* is reported to have sent lightning and
thunder upon the house adjoining his own.f Another
learned man points out a process for the manufacture
of fire to be sent against the enemy, which reminds us
of the composition of our gunpowder, f In short, the same
composition for making it, and in the proportions used
in the present day, is described by Marcus Grgecus,||
who certainly did not live later than the twelfth cen-
tury, and has been thought by some to have existed
before the ninth. It would, no doubt, be curious to
trace out these inventions from the period when they still
existed in the latter empire to that in which they
became spread over Europe. One obstacle, difficult
to overcome, is opposed to this investigation, namely,
that ignorance which, disdaining the simple truth, and
eager after the marvellous, first treated as miracles,
and then rejected as fabulous, the very histories that
might have instructed us.

* Procop. De JEdific. Justiniani, lib. i. cap. xxn.

f Agathias. De Rebus Justiniani, lib. v. cap. iv.

X Julius Africanus, cap. xliv. — Veter. Mathem. edit. Paris,
p. 303.

|| Marcus Grœcus. Liber Ignium ad comburendos hostes. Edi-
tion de La Porte du Theil, Paris, 1804.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE AFFORDS AID TO MAGIC. 243

CHAPTER XL

The Thaumaturgists might have worked pretended miracles
with the air-gun, the power of steam, and the magnet — The
compass was probably known to the Phocians, as well as the
Phoenician navigators — The Finns have a compass of their own;
and in China the compass has been used since the foundation of
the empire — Other means of working pretended miracles — Gal-
vanic phenomena — Action of vinegar upon lime — Amusements
of physics — Lachryma Batavica, &c.

We approach the termination of our career. Brilliant
as may have been the promises we placed in the mouth
of the Thaumaturgist, we believe we have proved that
it would not have been impossible for him to accomplish
many of them.

The subject is not yet, however, wholly exhausted. We
might draw upon the knowledge possessed by the
ancients, as affording more than one means of account-
ing for many marvels.

In speaking of missile weapons, we have not included
those set in motion by the elasticity of compressed air.
Even in the present day, the display of an air-gun, send-
ing out some deadly projectile, without noise or explo-
it 2

244 PHYSICAL SCIENCE AFFORDS

sion, would present a miraculous appearance to men who
were indifferently educated. Philo, of Byzantium,* who
must have flourished in the third century before our era,
has left an exact description of the air-gun. He does
not claim the invention ; and no one would dare to decide
how far it may or may not have been of ancient date.f

Many historians speak of poisoned needles, projected
through a tube by the breath ;| and in the abridgment of
Dion CassiusJ we find two instances of this crime
having been committed with impunity. The rapidity
with which the poison of these needles acts, must in
particular cases have rendered their effects more marvel-

* Revue Encyclopédique, tome xxin. p. 529. — Philo was an
architect and built a dock at Athens. — En.

t The air-gun expels the ball by the sudden expansion of
strongly condensed air, in a hollow ball screwed on to the barrel
of the gun, immediately under the lock. The bullet is charged with
the air by means of a condensing syringe before it is screwed on
the barrel. When it is to be used, the ball is introduced into the
empty barrel ; and the trigger being pulled, opens a valve which
admits the condensed air to rush from the hollow ball, and,
acting upon the bullet, to impel it to the distance of sixty or
seventy yards, according to the degree of condensation of the dis-
charged air. If the condensation be twenty times that of atmos-
pheric air, the velocity of the bullet will be equal to one seventh
of that caused by gunpowder, the elasticity of the gas formed by
the inflammation of which is equal to one thousand times that of
common air. No noise accompanies the expulsion of the bullet,
hence the astonishment in the mind of a person wholly ignorant
of the nature of the air-gun would be greatly increased. — Ed.

% Some of the tribes in South America, and on the coast of
Africa, impel small poisoned arrows through long tubes in this
manner, and thus kill their prey, or victims, at a considerable
distance. — Ed.

|| Xiphilin. in Domitian ... in Commod.

AID TO MAGIC. 245

lous. Some Frenchmen, employed in the service of
Hyder Ali and Tippoo Saib, saw the prick of poisoned
needles cause death in less than two minutes ; neither
amputation nor any other means being of the least use
in preventing the fatal event. The ancients were
acquainted with poisons no less rapid.# We repeat
once more, therefore, what we have frequently had occa-
sion to say; namely, that with such a secret, how easy
must it have been to work apparent miracles !

The expansive power of water, when converted into
steam, is an agent, by the use of which, in the present
day, the aspect of the mechanical arts has been com-
pletely changed ; and which, engrafting upon them an
ever-increasing progress, has prepared for future genera-
tions an aid to industry, the results of which we are
unable to predict. We may inquire, was this agent
absolutely unknown to the ancients ? Did not Aristotle
and Seneca, when they attributed earthquakes to the
action of water, suddenly vaporized by subterranean
heat, point out a principle, the application of which alone
remained to be tried ? And did not Hero, of Alexandria,
a hundred and twenty years before our era, demonstrate
how steam might be used for giving to a hollow sphere
a rotatory movement ?f We shall quote, in conclusion,
two remarkable facts, one of which belongs to Anthemus

* The Gauls impregnated their arrows with so powerful a
poison, that the hunters made great haste to cut from the animal
they had hit, that part touched by the arrow, lest the venomous
substances should infect and corrupt the entire mass of the flesh.

f Arago. Notice sur les Machines à Vapeur. — Almanack du
Bureau des Lonyitudes, 1829, pp. 147, 151.

246 PHYSICAL SCIENCE AFFORDS

of Tralles, a learned man of the latter empire, to whom
we have already referred. It is related by Agathias, his
contemporary, that in order to revenge himself upon
the inhabitant of the house next his own, he filled several
vessels with water, upon which he fixed copper tubes,
very narrow at the upper end, but sufficiently large at the
lower extremities to cover the vases to which they were
hermetically sealed. He applied the upper openings to the
rafters supporting the roof of the house, which was the
object of his anger ; then causing the water to boil, the
steam soon rose in the tubes, expanded and affected the
rafters opposing its escape with violent movement.* The
coppers, it may be said, would have burst a hundred
times before one rafter would have been lightly shaken.
True, — but we may ask were these tubes really copper ?
And might not the philosopher of Tralles encourage such
an erroneous opinion, in order to conceal and to preserve
to himself the secret of this proceeding. Strange,
therefore, as is the explanation related by the credulous
Agathias, it clearly indicates that Anthemus was ac-
quainted with the gigantic powers of steam.f

Another example conducts us to the banks of the
Weser, where Busterich received the homage of the

* Agathias. De Rebus Justiniani, lib. v. cap. iv.

f The same historian had also adopted (he. citat.) an erroneous
explanation of the marvel quoted by us at the conclusion of the
twenty-sixth chapter. According to him, Anthemus had managed it
by means of burning machines, and a concave mirror, the move-
ment of which made the dazzling reflections of the sun to fly here
and there. So slight an artifice would not have persuaded a man,
Avho was, like Anthemus' enemy, a little instructed, that they were
sending the lightning against his dwelling.

AID TO MAGIC. 247

Teutons. His image was of metal, and hollow ; it was
filled with water, and the orifices, or openings for the
eyes and the mouth were closed with wooden wedges.
When burning coals were placed upon its head, the steam
forced out the wedges with an explosion, and escaped in
torrents of vapours from within ;* a most certain sign of
the God's anger in the minds of his rude adorers.

If, passing from a nation a little civilized, we look into
the very infancy of society, we shall observe a similarity
between the miraculous image of the Teutonic God and
the missile weapons used by the natives of New Guinea,
the explosion of which, although they were not muskets,f
was accompanied by smoke ; a fact which seems to indi-
cate their impelling power to have been analogous to
steam. It would be curious to investigate this matter !

Are we also certain that we know how far the ancient
Thaumaturgists made use of the magnet? Its attrac-
tive property was so far understood by them, that it was
employed, it is said, for suspending a statue from the
vault of a temple, j This tradition, whether true or false,
shows that the ancients may probably have taken advan-
tage of magnetic attraction in working pretended
miracles.

* Tollii Epistolœ Itineraries, pp. 34 — 35.

f Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, tome i. p. 73.

% Vitruvius {de Archit. lib.iv.) and Pliny (Hist. Nat. lib. xxiv.)
says that this marvel was projected but not executed. Suidas,
Cassiodorus, Isidorus of Seville, and Ausonius speak positively of
its existence. According to Ausonius (Eidyllium x. Mosella, vers.
314 — 320.) Dinochares by this means elevated to the vault of the
temple, the image of Arsinoe, the wife and sister of Ptolemy Phi-
ladelphia : an iron hidden from sight by the hair of the statue

248 PHYSICAL SCIENCE AFFORDS

The attractive power of the magnet was not unknown
to the ancients ; but, following the custom adopted for
increasing the veil of mystery, they affirmed, and at-
tempted to make it generally believed, that this property
belonged to one species of magnet only, namely, that
of Ethiopia.* We are well aware, in the present
day, of the effects displayed by magnetic attraction
and repulsion in the exhibitions of experimental philo-
sophy ; and let us remember that, in the temples, such
performances would have been looked upon as miracles.

Modern Europe claims the discovery of the principle

being attached to a magnet in the summit of the vault. Suidas
(verbo Mâyvrjç) speaks of a statue of Serapis which he says was
of brass (probably plate copper), and supported by the same arti-
fice. Cassiodorus (Variar. lib. i. page 45) and Isidorus {Origen.
lib. xvi. cap. 4.) says, that suspended to the vault of one of
the temples of Diana, was an iron statue (doubtless of very
thin iron plate) which, according to the first of these writers
was a statue of Cupid. Isidorus says that it was held there by
the power of the magnet, a particular and important feature in the
narrative which Cassiodorus passed over in silence. Vitruvius
and Pliny being more ancient may have been better informed than
the writers of the latter empire : but in order to show that these
may not have sinned against probability, it will be only sufficient
to state that the statue may have been hollow and light, and the
magnet very strong.

The fable which is extensively known touching the coffin
of Mahomet, which is said to be suspended to the vault of a
mosque, furnishes an example of the inclination which men have of
naturalizing among themselves wonders borrowed from a foreign
country and religion ; nevertheless a gross counterfeit does not
destroy the possibility of a fact, however much it may bear the
appearance of improbability.

* Isid. Hispal. Origin, lib. xvi. cap. iv.

AID TO MAGIC. 249

that regulates the compass ;* but this pretension may be
contested. A remarkable passage in the Odyssy has
inspired an English scholar with a very ingenious conjec-
ture on this point. Alcinousf tells Ulysses that the
Phocian vessels are regulated and guided by a spirit.
Unlike common boats, they require, says he, no helms-
man or pilot ; and, in spite of the profound darkness of
the night, and the haze, they traverse the ocean with the
greatest rapidity, running no risk of being wrecked. Mr.
William Cookj explains this passage, by supposing that
the Phocians understood the use of the compass, and
that they had learnt it from the Phoenicians.

Upon this conjecture we shall offer some observations :
Firstly. — His author might rely upon what Homer
several times|| says of the swift sailing of the Phocian

* For the sake of some of our readers, it may be necessary to
state that the compass consists of a fiat bar of steel, which being
repeatedly rubbed with a magnet, and fixed upon a delicate pivot,
takes a direction nearly corresponding to the meridian. When
used for marine purposes, the needle is placed on a steel pivot,
which works in an agate socket let into the centre of the mag-
netized bar. A circular card is divided into thirty-two parts, or
points, and these subdivided, so as to form three hundred and
sixty points at the circumference. It is attached to the needle
with its point to the north pole, marked usually by a kind of
fleur-de-lis. The whole apparatus is fixed in a circular box, in
such a manner that the card and needle are always level, and
move freely, and yet so as not to be deranged by sudden concussions.
As far as regards Europe, the compass was first used at sea by
Sig. B. Givaia, of Naples, in the thirteenth century .—Ed.

t Homer. Odyss. lib, vin. vers. 553 — 563.

% William Cooke. An Inquiry into the Patriarchal and Druidical
Religion, 8çc, in 4to. London, 1754, p. 22.

|| Homer. Odyss. lib. vu. lib. viii. lib. xiii.

250 PHYSICAL SCIENCE AFFORDS

vessels. Directed at large by the compass, their speed
must, in fact, have appeared prodigious to navigators
accustomed and forced to coast, from the fear of losing
sight of land for too long a period.

Secondly. — The figurative style characterising the pas-
sage quoted, belongs to a secret which the poet knew
only by its results. Homer thus transforms a natural fact
into a miracle ; and when he relates that Neptune, un-
willing that the Phocians should save more strangers
from the perils of the sea, had changed into a rock the
vessel which brought back Ulysses to his country, adopts
this opinion, the origin of which we have already pointed
out,* in order to explain that the art which had rendered
navigation so secure was lost from among the subjects
of Alcinous.

Thirdly. — That the Phoenicians should have under-
stood the use of the compass it is not difficult to believe,
particularly when we remember the frequent voyages
their navigators made to the British isles : but there is
nothing to prove that they communicated this secret to
the inhabitants of Corey ra. Homer, who is so exact in
collecting all traditions relative to the communication
between the ancient Greeks and the East, is silent upon
this point. But he informs us that the Phocians dwelt
for a long time near the Cyclops, and had but recently
separated from them ; and, at the same time, he terms
the Cyclops very ingenious men :f an appropriate expres-
sion when applied to artists learned in the docimasic
and pyrotechnic arts, and who, for more than thirty cen-

* Refer to chap. in. vol. i.

f Homer. Odyss. lib. vu. ver. 4 — 8.

AID TO MAGIC. 251

turies, have left their names on the gigantic monuments
of architecture in Italy, Greece, and Asia. We have
elsewhere established,* and, perhaps, with some probabi-
lity, that the Cyclops, like the Curetés, belonged to a
learned tribe, who had come from Asia to civilize and
govern some of the Pelasgian nations of Greece. It is
not surprising that the Phocians should have profited by
the instructions of this caste, before becoming so tired
of its despotism as to have separated from it for ever.
We can even discern why their good fortune or skill in
their voyages ceased soon after this separation. The
father of Alcinous had decided upon it ; and under the
reign of Alcinous, the Phocians renounced navigation.
Might it not have been because the instruments obtained
from the liberality of their ancient masters had been
destroyed ; and that they were ignorant how to re-con-
struct others ?

It remains only to prove that the Cyclops did possess
so valuable a knowledge ; a proof which is nearly im-
possible.

We only know that they came from Lyciaf into Asia ;
but they might have only crossed Lycia, and have come
from some more interior country of Asia, like the hyper-
borean Olen, when, with hymns and a religious faith, he
brought the elements of civilization into Greece.

It was from the extremities of Asia also that there came
into Greece and Italy that northern or Scythian Abaris, said
to be endowed by the God he worshipped with an arrow,
by the assistance of which he could overrun the universe.

* Historical and Philosophical Essay upon the Names of Men,
Nations, and Places, § 81. vol. n. pages 161 — 172.
f Lycia was a Pelasgian settlement. — Ed,

252 PHYSICAL SCIENCE AFFORDS

It has been poetically said, and repeated by Suidas and
Iamblichus, that, by the virtue of this precious gift,
Abaris traversed the winds.* This expression has been
taken in its strictest sense ; but Iamblichus adds imme-
diately afterwards, that " Pythagoras deprived Abaris of
the golden arrow with which he steered his course
(qua se gubernabat) ; that, having thus robbed him,
and having hidden the arrow, without which he was
unable to discover the track he should follow, Pythagoras
compelled him to explain its nature.f If instead of the
pretended arrow, we substitute a magnetic needle of the
same form and large dimensions, gilded to preserve it
from rust, instead of an absurd fable, we shall have in
the narration of Iamblichus a real fact, related by a man
who had not penetrated its scientific mystery.

All this, nevertheless, offers us only conjectures more
or less probable. Let us quote a fact. The Finns possess
a compass which could not possibly have been given
to them by Europeans, and the use of which among them
can be traced to ages unknown. It presents this pecu-
liarity ; — it describes the rising and setting of the sun
in summer and winter, in a manner that could only
agree with the latitude of 49° 20'4 This latitude crosses
in Asia the whole of Tartary, the Scythia of the ancients.
It is that under which Bailly was led to place the nation,
which might be called " inventors of the sciences ;"|| and

* Suidas, verbo Albaris. — Iamblich. vit. Pythagar. cap. xxvui.
See also Herodot. lib. iv. § 36. — Diod. Sic. lib. in. cap. xi.

f Iamblich. loc. cit.

% Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, torn. xvn. p. 414.

|| Bailly. Lettres sur l'Origine des Sciences. — Lettres sur l'At-
lantide.

AID TO MAGIC. 253

that, too, in which, as Volney# has remarked, the Boun-
dehesch, or fundamental book of the religion of Zoroas-
ter, was written. If we follow it, we are conducted in
the East to that portion of Tartary, the population
of which, sometimes conquerors — sometimes subjects,
were yet intimately connected with the Chinese empire.
Now, the ancient existence of the compass in China
has been denied by no one ;f and we cannot regard
as false the tradition, | according to which a Chinese
hero, a long time before our era, successfully made use
of the magnet to guide his march in the midst of dark-
ness.

As the compass was known at the same time among the
Chinese and the Finns, it is but natural to recollect that
the use of family names, unknown in Europe for so long
a period, but existing from antiquity in China, seems to
have passed from the latter country to the Samoyedes, the
Bashkirs, and the Laplanders. || This extension in the dark
ages of so useful and popular an institution, points out

* Volney. Œuvres Complètes, tome iv, pp. 202 — 203.

f The Chinese trace the use of the compass among themselves
to the reign of Hoang-ti 2600 years before the year of our
Lord. There is mention made of magnetic chariots or bearers
of compasses, in the historical Memoirs of Szu-ma-thsian, 1110
years before our era. J. Klaproth. Letter upon the Origin of the
Compass. — Bulletin of the Geographical Society, second series,
vol. ii. p. 221.

X Abel Remusat. Memoirs upon the Political Relations between
the Kings of France and the Mongol Emperors. — Asiatic Journal,
vol. i. p. 137. — The Hindoos made use of the compass, and there
is nothing to prove that they received it from the Europeans.

|| Eusèbe Salverte. Essai Historique et Philosophique sur les
Noms d'Hommes, de Peuples et de Lieux, § 21, torn. pp. 35 —44.

254 PHYSICAL SCIENCE AFFORDS

to us the route which the disciples of the learned caste,
the possessors of a secret capable of displaying miracles
apparent, useful and brilliant, might possibly have taken in
emigrating westward. It renders probable an opinion,
which at first might seem chimerical, that the knowledge
of the magnet came from the latitude beneath which
the religion of Zoroaster sprung,* into those western
countries of Asia Minor where this religion was already
established, and where it had naturalized the practice
of working apparent miracles peculiar to the worshippers
of fire.f

* Isidore de Seville. (Origin, lib. xvi. cap. iv.) says that the
magnet was first found in India, and consequently received the
name of Lapis Indiens ; but this isolated and vague fact does not
seem a sufficient reason for us to seek for the origin of the com-
pass in Hindustan.

t The idea suggested by the author, that the knowledge of the
magnet, consequently of the compass came from the East is inge-
nious, and most probably correct. Both, assuredly were known in
China, Japan, and India, from a period of high antiquity, although
they were unknown to European nations until the twelfth cen-
tury. It does not, however, appear that, although the Chinese had
long before employed the compass on land, it was not used by them
for maritime purposes until the dynasty of Tsin, which ex-
isted in a.d. 419; at least there is no direct proof that such
was the case. It is stated in the great dictionary, Poi-wen-yeu-
fou, that ' ' there were then ships directed to the south by the
needle." That it was generally known as a guide at sea, to the
Asiatic nations, may be inferred from the following passage con-
tained in a M.S. written in 1242, by Baiiak Kibdjaki, and quoted
in the Penny Cyclopaedia, (art. History of the Compass.) "The
captains who navigate the Syrian sea, when the night is so dark
as to conceal from view the stars which might direct their course
according to the position of the four Cardinal points, take a basin
full of water, which they shelter from the wind b5T placing it in the

AID TO MAGIC. 255

We must hasten to add, in order to forestal objections,
in which a natural partiality would be mingled with a

interior of the vessel ; they then drive a needle into a wooden peg
or a corn-stalk, so as to form the shape of a cross, and throw it
into the basin of water on the surface of which it floats. They
afterwards take a loadstone of sufficient size to fill the palm of the
hand, or even smaller, bring it to the surface of the water, give to
their hands a rotatory motion towards the right, so that the needle
turns on the surface of the water : they then suddenly withdraw
this hand and the magnet, when the two points of the needle face
north and south. They gave me ocular demonstration of this pro-
cess during our voyage from Syria to Alexandria in the year 640
(of the Hegira.)" The use made of it on land by the Chinese, for-
merly referred to is founded on the following story, connected with
the history of a Chinese hero named Tehi-yeou, the truth of which
is admitted to be undoubted.

" Tehi-yeou bore the name of Kiann ; he was related to the
Emperors Yan-ti. He delighted in war and turmoil. He made
swords, lances, and large cross-bows to oppress and devastate the
empire. He called and brought together the chiefs of provinces ; his
grasping disposition and avarice exceeded all bounds. Yan-ti- wang,
unable any longer to keep him in check, ordered him to with-
draw himself to Chae-hao, in order that he might detain him in
the west. Tehi-yeou, nevertheless, persisted more and more in
his perverse conduct. He crossed the river Yang-choui, ascended
the Kieounae, and gave battle to the Emperor Yang-ti at Khoung-
sang. Yan-ti was Hinan-yuan, the proper name of the Emperor.
Houang-ti then collected the forces of the vassals of the empire,
and attacked Tehi-yeou in the plains of Tehou-lou. The latter
raised a thick fog, in order, that by means of the darkness, he
might spread confusion in the enemy's army. But Hinan-yuan
constructed a chariot/br indicating the south, in order to distinguish
the four cardinal points, by means of which he pursued Tehi-yeou
and took him prisoner."1 It appears also that the Chinese used

" Davies' Early History of the Mariner's Compass. — British
Annual, 1837.

256 PHYSICAL SCIENCE AFFORDS

just love of truth, that the existence of particular know-
ledge in antiquity, and among nations long unknown
to us, does not prove that the Europeans did not in
modern times really invent the arts and sciences, the
discovery of which they claim, and which they have
undoubtedly re-discovered. The art of typography is as
ancient in Thibet and China as the histories of these
countries ; but it is less than four centuries ago since
Faust, Schôeffer, and Guttenberg enriched European
civilization with it. It is sixteen or seventeen lustres
since the progress of science has enabled us to recognise
in the narrations of antiquity the art of conducting
lightning, re-discovered by Franklin. The learned, per-
plexed in determining the precise period of the re-inven-
tion of the compass and of gunpowder, have no less
difficulty in stating that the use of either has been known
over Europe for not more than five or six hundred years.
The secrets of Thaumaturgy must have been very
numerous, since the learned caste studied the physical
sciences only with the view of finding in them, almost
with every new discovery, a fresh means of astonishing,
alarming, and governing the multitude. If, then, many
of these secrets have irrecoverably perished with the
priests and the temples, there may be others, the memory
of which, entombed in some ancient documents, beneath

the compass for maritime purposes in the third century of the
Christian era ; it was also, as stated above, employed on the coast
of Syria, before it came into general use in Europe ; and although
the Syrian compass was of a very rude construction, yet, it was
sufficient for navigating their vessels at night : Vasco de Gama,
when he doubled the Cape of Good Hope, found the Indian pilots
expert in the use of the compass. — Ed.

AID TO MAGIC. 257

a fabulous covering will some day emerge from their
graves, awakened by fortunate events, in effecting the dis-
interment of which, without doing less honour to the
human mind, their authors will nevertheless be but re-
inventors.

We might proffer some specimens of this kind.
Chance revealed to Cotugno the first phenomena of
galvanism, as accident also afterwards revealed them to
Galvani, who has merited the title of the discoverer,
from having brought to perfection, by reasoning and
investigation, a knowledge at first fortuitous. If chance
had enriched some ancient Thaumaturgist with the same
discovery, with what apparent miracles would he not
have electrified his admirers, even although he had merely
limited himself to the first principles of galvanism, and
to the experiments, which they might place in his power
upon the bodies of animals recently deprived of life.* Even

* Galvanism is a modification of electricity, which is capable of
producing on bodies effects not usually obtained from ordinary elec-
trical excitation. The first display of its power was noticed by Sub-
zer, a German, who found that when a disc of lead is placed under
the tongue, and one of silver over the tongue, and the edges of both
metals are brought into contact, a peculiar taste is perceived :a but
he pursued the inquiry no farther. Other fortuitous incidents after-
wards might have led to the discovery, but, for the reason stated
in the text, Galvani, Professor of Anatomy at Bologna, is justly
regarded as its discoverer. It is unnecessary, here, to enter upon
the general phenomena produced, both on organic and inorganic
matter, by galvanism : but in order to demonstrate how it might
be employed to excite astonishment and even terror ; and, conse-
quently become an instrument of power over the ignorant and the
superstitious, in periods of less general intellectual cultivation than

* Théorie des Plaisirs, p. 115.
VOL. II. S

258 PHYSICAL SCIENCE AFFORDS

in the eighteenth century we have witnessed men who
pretended from some internal feeling, or by the aid of a
divining rod, to discover the springs concealed in the
earth at depths more or less considerable.* Edrisi re-
lates that a caravan traversing Northern Africa was

the present, I will only mention a few of its physiological effects.
If a piece of tin-foil, attached to the extremity of a wire connected
with one pole of a galvanic pile be placed on the tongue, and the
bent extremity of another wire from the opposite pole be pressed
upon the inner corner of the eye, a flash of light, and a sensation
of a blow on the eye will be immediately perceived by the person
thus treated. "When a current of galvanism is passed along a
nerve to any muscles of voluntary motion, these muscles are
thrown into convulsive contraction, even if the animal has been
dead for a short time, as long as the muscles retain their irri-
tability. Aldini operated on the body of a criminal executed at
Newgate, the convulsive movements were such as might have
excited a belief that the dead man was restored to the power of
sensation ; and, from the terrific expressions of human passion
and agony, that he was enduring the most intense suffering. I
may again repeat — what extent of power would such experiments
have, placed in the hands of those who aimed to deceive the cre-
dulous into the conviction that the whole was the result of super-
natural agency ; a deception easily effected were the instrument
concealed, and the wires only brought into view. — Ed.

* The divining rod is a forked branch of hazel, or even any
tree, which, if carried slowly along, loosely suspended in the
hand, is said to dip towards the ground when brought over the
spot where a mine or a spring is situated. Compared with other
divinations, this rod is of recent introduction, and demonstrates
that superstitious credence, and impudent imposture, are not con-
fined to any age ; and humanity is humbled in beholding men
with considerable pretensions to science believers in the powers
ascribed to the divining rod. Thevenot published a Memoir on
the relation of the phenomena of this rod to those of electricity
and magnetism ; and Pryce, our countryman, in his work entitled

AID TO MAGIC. 259

nearly perishing from thirst upon a barren and sandy soil,
when one of the travellers, a black Berberi man, taking
a little of the earth up and smelling it, pointed out a
spot where they might dig and find a spring of water.*
His prediction was instantly verified. Place a charlatan
in such a situation, he would pride himself upon having
performed a miracle, and the gratitude of his companions
in danger would support his pretensions.

In the month of August, 1808, an egg was found
upon the altar of the Patriarchal Church at Lisbon,
bearing upon its shell the sentence of death of all the
French, although there did not appear to be traces of
the writing being the production of the hand of man.
This apparent miracle caused much anxious excitement
among the Portuguese, until the French distributed
throughout the town, and had placed in all the churches,
an immense number of eggs, upon the shells of which
the contradiction of this lie was written ; at the same
time proclamations were everywhere posted up, explaining
the secret of the supposed miracle, which consisted in
writing upon the shell, when covered with an oily sub-
stance, and then plunging and retaining the egg for
some time in an acid.f

By the same method, letters or hieroglyphics can be
engraved, either grooved or in relief, upon a table of

Mineralogia Cambriensis, published in 1778, has collected accounts
of many successful experiments which he affirms were performed
by it. — Ed.

* Edrisi. (traduction française), lib. i. chap. xxn.

f P. Thiebault. Relation de l'Expédition de Portugal, pp. 170
—171.

s 2

260 PHYSTCAL SCIENCE AFFORDS

calcareous stone, leaving behind no traces of a mortal
hand. Now, the ancients were acquainted with the
strong action of vinegar upon such stones, although
they have somewhat exaggerated it, by adopting the
story which they have recorded in history of the passage
of the Alps by Hannibal.*

The area of the base of a vessel compared with its
height, whatever may be its form, is the measure of the
pressure of the liquid it contains. This principle, which
explains the powerful action of the hydrostatic press, may
possibly have been known in the ancient temples ; and
how easy would it not have rendered the execution of
many apparent miracles ? Indeed, is it not very closely
resembling a miracle, when the effect produced appears
so greatly disproportioned to its actual cause? What
more wonderful than the enormous pressure which the
small quantity of liquid necessary to produce it causes ?f

Let us descend, however, to the amusements of expe-
rimental philosophy. Let us suppose that the ancient
Thaumaturgists were acquainted with inventions, the

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxin. cap. i. and n. — Dion. Cass. lib.
xxxvii. cap. viii. — Might not the story this refers to have its
origin in some manœuvre employed by Hannibal to restore to his
troops that courage which the multiplicity of the obstacles they
had to overcome were depriving them of ?

f Without entering into any explanation of the nature of this
machine, some idea of its power may be given by simply stating
the fact that, in a machine the area of the section of the piston
of which is sixty-four inches, that of the valve admitting the
water into the cylinder is an eighth of an inch, and the power
of the pump applied to it is one ton, the pressure effected by it
will be four thousand and ninety-six tons ! — Ed.

AID TO MAGIC. 261

singular effects of which will always astonish the vulgar —
the Lachryma Batavica,* for instance, or the Bologna
mattrasses;f even the games of children, such as the
kaleidoscope,| or those little dolls which, when placed
upon musical tables or instruments, move in time, and
turn one another round, as in waltzing. || If it be possible
to effect wonders by such insignificant means, are we not
right in concluding that an immense number of the
assumed miracles of antiquity proceeded from similar

* Tears of glass, which may be struck by a hammer upon their
spherical surface without breaking, but which fall into powder
as soon as the thread which forms the tail of the tear is
broken.

f Little pear-shaped bottles of unannealed white glass, within
which balls of marble or of ivory may be rolled, without injuring
them ; but if a fragment of flint, although no larger than a grain of
hemp seed, fall into them, they break in the hand into five or six
pieces. These mattrasses and Batavian tears are truly interesting
to curiosity ; they are now seldom manufactured ; and when the
time arrives, long after they shall have ceased to be made, the
account of them will appear a fable, and we shall refuse to believe
in their wonderful properties.

X The kaleidescope is a small instrument invented by Sir
David Brewster. It consists of a cylindrical tube, containing two
reflecting surfaces inclined to each other at any angle which is an
aliquot part of 360° ; and having their edges in contact, so as to
have the form of a half opened book. When any object is placed
in the tube, so as to be reflected by the above surfaces, and the
other end of the tube is applied to the eye, and turned round, an
ever varying succession of splendid tints and beautiful symmetrical
forms are perceived ; sometimes vanishing from the centre, some-
times emerging from it, and sometimes playing around it in double
and opposite oscillations in the most pleasing manner. — Ed.

|| This game was known, when invented, under the name of
danso-musicomanes.

262 PHYSICAL SCIENCE AFFORDS AID TO MAGIC.

causes ? The means are lost, but the remembrance of
the effects remain ?

We might multiply such suppositions, but we think
we have said enough to attain our object. Setting aside
everything belonging to sleight of hand, to imposture, or
the illusions of the imagination, there are none of the
ancient apparent miracles that may not be re-produced
by any person well versed in the modern science, either
immediately, or by applying himself to penetrate the
mystery, and discover the causes. Modern science also
affords facility for operating other apparent miracles, not
less numerous nor less brilliant than those contained in
history.

The observation of what modern jugglers are able to
effect, tends, in a great degree, to explain many of the
magical operations of the ancients.

CONCLUSION, 263

CHAPTER XII.

Conclusion — Principles followed in the course of the discussion —
Reply to the objection that the scientific acquirements of the an-
cients are lost — Democritus alone, among them, occupied himself
with observations on experimental philosophy — This philosopher
perceived, in theoperations of magic, the scientific application of
the laws of Nature — Utility of studying the apparent miracles
of the ancients in this point of view — The Thaumaturgists did
not connect together their learned conceptions by any theory,
which is a proof that they had received them from a prior
period — The first Thaumaturgists cannot he accused of imposi-
tion ; but it would be dangerous, in this day, to attempt to sub-
jugate a people by apparent miracles; voluntary obedience to
the laws is a certain consequence of the happiness which just
legislation procures to men.

We have undertaken to restore to ancient history that
grandeur of which an apparent mixture of puerile fables
robbed it; and to demonstrate that the apparent miracles,
and the magical operations of the ancients were the
result of real scientific knowledge, more or less advanced,
which the Thaumaturgists, for the most part, had secretly
transmitted from one period to another; at the same time,

264 CONCLUSION.

with the greatest care, concealing that knowledge from
all other men.

Two principles have regulated our conclusions :

Firstly. — We consider it absurd to wonder at, or to
refuse to believe, what appears supernatural, when it can
be naturally explained.

Secondly. — We regard it reasonable to admit that
the physical knowledge proper for the working of appa-
rent miracles was possessed by some men, at the time,
and in the country where historical tradition has placed
the miracles.

There must, we maintain, be a plausible motive
for denying what has often been attested by many
authors, and repeated at divers times: that motive no
longer exists, and the apparent miracle re-enters the
class of historical facts, when an explanation, deduced
from the nature of things, has dispelled the superna-
tural appearance that caused it to be regarded as
chimerical.

But, again, how is it that conceptions of such
high interests have never descended to us ? Histo-
ries have been lost over all the world connected with
the greatest parts of past times ; and also much know-
ledge of every kind, the possession of which by the
ancients cannot be disputed. To the general causes
of destruction, which have occasioned these immense
gaps in the domain of human intelligence, are joined
two in particular, the power of which we have des-
cribed ; the one is the mystery with which religious and
political interests endeavoured to envelop free ideas;
the other is the want of a systematic connexion,

CONCLUSION. 265

which alone could have established between them an
accurate theory, a connexion without which facts were
successively lost. There was also no possibility re-
maining for those which survived to recover those
which sank gradually into the abyss of oblivion, from
the lapse of time, from negligence, fear, superstition,
and ignorance.

We must not judge ancient conceptions by our own.
Experimental chemistry, considered as a science, dates
from the last century. It only existed before as a capri-
cious empiricism, directed by chance, misled by the
dreams of the alchymist. More anciently, the Romans
had copied the writings of the Greeks, who themselves,
without attempting more experiments, copied what they
found in the most ancient books, or in the recitals of
foreign authors, whom they did not always understand.
Democritus* alone seems to have felt the necessity of

* Democritus was born at Abdera, in Tbrace, in the year 460,
b.c. He received his first instructions partly from some Magi
that were left by Xerxes at Abdera, partly from Leucippus, a cele-
brated philosopher of Elea. He travelled into Egypt, in order to
acquire geometry from the Egyptian priests ; and also visited
Persia and Athens for the purpose of obtaining knowledge, in the
pursuit of which he expended all his patrimony, and returned to
Abdera in a state of indigence. This rendered him liable to a law
which denied funereal rites in the State to any native who had
spent his patrimony : but having read one of his works, the Dias-
cosmus, aloud to his fellow- citizens, he not only acquired an
exemption from this law, but received a present of, it is said, 500
talents ; and, at his death, was buried at the public expense.

Democritus loved retirement and study ; and the tradition runs,
that he put out his eyes that he might not be disturbed from
meditation by external objects. He was, perhaps, on this account

266 CONCLUSION.

observing, of learning, and of knowing for himself.* He
passed his life in making experiments, in noting down in
a book which treats of Nature, facts that he had verified-!
We may ask, to what point had he conducted his re-
searches, in pursuing which he had probably no theory to
serve him as a guide ? It is difficult to conjecture, his works
having long since perished. It is at least certain, that in
the general opinion they had acquired very great autho-
rity. So great was the weight of his testimony in physics
and in natural history, that works published under his
name, but not written by him, circulated widely, although
filled with ridiculous fables upon the properties of minerals,
animals, and plants4 Pliny, who often quotes these
pretended works of Democritus, believed in their authen-
ticity ; but Aulus Gellius has unveiled the impositions,

accused of insanity ; but Hippocrates declared that his accusers,
not Democritus, were mad. His doctrines were of a very singular
character. Thus, he contended for the eternity of the universe ; —
that everything, even mind, was material ; — and that the latter was
only different from material bodies by the arrangements of its com-
ponent atoms. In morals, he contended that the only thing needful
was a cheerful spirit ; and as he took every opportunity of laugh-
ing at the follies of mankind, he acquired the appellation of the
Laughing Philosopher. From the extent of his acquirements, he
was regarded by the ignorant as a magician, especially in the
close of his life, which extended to 104 years. He died in the
year 357, b.c. — Ed.

* Encyclop. Method. Philosophie Ancienne et Moderne, tome i.
p. 319.

t Petron. Satyric. — Vitruv. De Architect, lib. ix. cap. ni.

X Aul. Gell. Noct. Attic, lib. x. cap. xn. — Columell. De ReRus-
tica, lib. vu. cap. v. — Diogen. Laert. in Democrit. vit. sub.
finem.

CONCLUSION. 267

and is justly indignant at the outrage made on the
memory of so great a man.

In a passage, unfortunately too concise, Solinus* seems
to present Democritus as engaged in a frequent contest
against the magii, and opposing to their impostures pheno-
mena prodigious in appearance, but nevertheless natural,
to show them how far the power of the hidden properties
of bodies can extend. " Democritus," says Lucian,f " be-
lieved in no miracle ; persuaded that those which were
effected owed their success to deception ; and he applied
himself to discover the method by which they could
deceive : in a word, his philosophy brought him to this
conclusion, that magic (an art well known by him, since
the magij were its institutors,) was entirely confined to
the application and the imitation of the laws and the
works of nature."

This opinion, professed by the first acknowledged
philosopher of antiquity, who studied science as it ought
to be, is precisely that which we have striven to establish.
If we have not laboured in vain, we may be allowed to
deduce from this theorem some consequences upon the
possible advances of the knowledge of nature, in reference
to the history of mankind, and the principles of civili-
zation.

I. — The ancients, until an epoch which we have

* " Accepimus Democritum Abderitem, ostentatione scrupuli hujus
(catochitis lapidis) frequenter usum, ad probandam occultam natures
potentiam, in certaminibus quœ contra magos habuit." (Solin.
cap. ix.)

f Lucian. Philopseud.

% Diogen. Laert. in Democrit. vit.

268 CONCLUSION.

not presumed to trace back, were so much occupied
with particular facts, that they did not seek to arrange
and connect them. The moderns, perhaps, fall into the
opposite excess. Do they not neglect too much to take
advantage of isolated facts deposited in books, and re-
produced even in the laboratories, but which, otherwise,
do not direct our researches to any immediate applica-
tion, nor display either any affinity or any opposition to
the existing theories ?

We have seen that much may be gained to natural his-
tory by the examination and the discussion of the prodigies
related by the ancients : and we contend that the study
of their apparent miracles and their magical operations
would not be without advantage to physics and to che-
mistry. In attempting to arrive at the same results as
the Thaumaturgists ; and at which they have allowed us
to glance, or that can be supposed to have emanated from
them, curious, even useful discoveries, in application to
the arts, would be obtained ; and a great service thus
rendered to the history of the human mind, as the
important sciences lost sight of would be recovered.
The loss of these among the Romans, and the Greeks,
was owing to, or at least was accelerated by, the absolute
defect of method and of theory.

II. The inevitable consequence of this failure is that
the magicians and the Thaumaturgists have never been
separable from their books, and have been merely the
slaves of their formularies — truly apprentices ; and indeed,
they were only mechanically acquainted with the processes
of their art ; without even distinguishing how far super-

CONCLUSION. 269

stition, or the intention of imposing it, had mingled with
superfluous ceremonies. The most ancient, as well as the
most recent, present this characteristic trait. If they did
not then invent anything, — from whom, it may be asked,
did they procure their secrets, their formularies, their
books, and their entire art? We have to investigate
this branch of knowledge, as every other, precipitated
into indeterminate times, when the sciences were
either invented or perfected. They afterwards fell into
decay, and only were kept in view by incoherent lights,
shed upon the minds of men, who retained the employ-
ment of them, without understanding their nature. We
are here thrown back into that antiquity, which history
points out confusedly, but which is anterior to history.

in. In attempting to penetrate, by the aid of some
probable conjectures, into that darkness which the course
of time renders progressively more profound, a remarkable
trait has struck us ; namely, that the opinion, which as-
cribed a celestial origin to miracles and to magic, was not
in the main the consequence of an imposition, but was
born of that piety which desired that every kind of excel-
lence should emanate from the Divinity.* It was main-
tained by the figurative style, which naturally amal-
gamated itself with religious sentiments. Thus, among
the legislators, who have had recourse to this venerated

* As far as respects real miracles no other opinion can be
formed: for what idea can be formed of a miracle if not that
published by Dr. Thomas Reid, namely, that it is "an effect
that indicates a power of a higher order than the powers which
we are accustomed directly to trace in phenomena more familiar
to us, but a Power, whose continued and ever present existence,
it is atheism only that denies." — Ed.

270 CONCLUSION,

agent, for giving stability to their operations, the most
ancient, at least, are not supported by falsehood ; they
have not professed that execrable doctrine, that it is
necessary to deceive men. It was in good faith, that
they declared themselves inspired ; and that they offered
their marvellous works as proofs of their mission, because
they humbly ascribed their knowledge, their virtues,
their sublime views, and their conceptions above the
vulgar, to the Divinity.

These great men, were they now alive, would adopt
a very different method. He who would seek, in the
present day, in the art of working apparent miracles
an instrument for acting upon civilization, would soon fail,
because he would knowingly deceive : his dishonesty,
contrary to morality, would be contrary to the spirit of
progressive civilization, which ever tends to draw aside
the veil behind which nature and truth are often con-
cealed.

Must it then be concluded that, deprived of this
powerful lever, legislation must be powerless over the
minds of men, and that to direct their actions, it has
need of a perpetual coercive force ? We reply, certainly
not ! Whatever may be said of our own times, it is not
necessary to deceive men, when it is intended to
conduct them to happiness. The man who deceives
thinks less of serving those whom he deceives, than of
upholding his own pride, securing his personal ambition,
or satisfying his cupidity. The desire of being governed
is natural to men, when they become members of the
social state : it increases among nations in the ratio of
their knowledge and well-being and, in proportion to the

CONCLUSION. 271

reasonable desire of enjoying undisturbed the advantages
that they possess. It is with this sentiment that the
politician, whose intentions are upright, will find a foun-
dation to build upon, not less solid than that which he
would acquire from an assumed intervention of Divinity ;
a foundation which will never give way, nor leave him
exposed to the inconveniences, nor to the serious conse-
quences that religious fiction leads to ; and which will
never threaten to overthrow what is founded upon rea-
son, and upon the progress of natural perceptions.

" Kings ! reign for your people !" and then to the
astonished observer, who shall ask to what illusions their
obedience and your power are due, you can reply, " Here
is all our magic ; here is the source of all our apparent
miraculous power."

ILLUSTRATIONS.

UPON DRAGONS AND MONSTROUS SERPENTS, MENTIONED IN A
GREAT MANY FABULOUS OR HISTORICAL NARRATIONS.

There are, perhaps, in the empire of the marvellous, no
narrations that occur more frequently than those which describe
some winged dragon, or serpent of monstrous dimensions,
devouring men and animals, until by the force of heroic valour
or some miraculous power, the country which is exposed to its
ravages is delivered. Dupuis* and M. Alex. Lenoir f have
imagined these narrations to be the figurative expressions of the
astronomical themes of Perseus, the liberator of Andromeda :
threatened by a sea monster ; of Orion, the vanquisher of a
serpent, emblems in themselves of the victory of virtue over
vice, the principle of good over the principle of evil. They regard
it also, when divested of every allegorical veil, as intimating the
victory of the spring sun over the winter sun, and of light over
darkness.

It is under a different aspect that we propose to treat of the
same subject : we shall inquire how it is that an astronomical

* Dupuis. Origine de tous les cultes.

t A. Lenoir. Du Dragon de Mets, appelé Graouilly, &c. Mémoires de
l'Académie Celtique, tome u. pp. 1 — 20.

VOL. II. T

274

ILLUSTRATIONS.

emblem has been so frequently converted into a positive subject of
history ; what are the causes which have, in different places, intro-
duced such remarkable variations into the legend; and, finally,
why other myths or other facts have been added or united to this
legend, which originally were unconnected with it ?

§ I.

OF REPTILES ATTAINING UNCOMMON GROWTH, WHICH HAVE
EXISTED, AND GIVEN RISE TO, OR CONFIRMED, MANY OF
THESE NARRATIONS.

We may inquire whether there ever existed reptiles of a propor-
tion extraordinary enough, or animals of a form monstrous
enough, to have given a natural origin to the legends now under
discussion ?

Finding, from traditions, that Dragons abounded in the depart-
ment of Finisterre, and were overcome by supernatural power, an
observer* has conjectured that these monsters, the subjects of so
many legends, might have been the crocodiles that formerly
infested the rivers of France, and the bones of which have been
found in several parts. The thing is not impossible.

In 1815 a crocodile was killed near Calcutta, which measured
from seventeen to eighteen English feet in length, armed with
enormous claws. " At the place Avhere the head and body joined,
was a swelling, from which rose four bony projections ; and upon
the back were three other rows of similar projections, and four
more diverged from the tail, the end of which formed a kind of saw,
being, indeed, the continuation of these projecting files. "f These
swellings and these bony projections were looked upon as defensive
weapons ; and similar projections were also found upon the
famous Tarasque of Tarascon, and many other dragons or serpents
represented in the pictures of different legends. Here, again,

* M. de Fréminville. Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de France,
tom. xi. pp. 8, 9.

f Bibliothèque Universelle (Genève). Sciences, tome iv. pp. 222, 223.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 27o

the fiction may possibly have originated in the paintings exagge-
rating a fact actually observed.

It was rumoured several years ago, that a monstrous reptile had
been killed at the foot of Mount Salevus ; and ravages proportioned
to its size were attributed to it. Its carcase was examined by
naturalists, first at Geneva, and then at Paris. It proved to be
nothing more than an adder of extraordinary growth, but in no
respect prodigious. In a less enlightened age, we may ask, would
more have been necessary for furnishing to the mountaineers of
Savoy a marvellous narration, which would have been confirmed
by tradition, and probably enlarged in each succeeding generation ?

History has perpetuated the memory of the serpent which
Regulus opposed in Africa with engines of war. It was

probably a boa constrictor, which had attained to its greatest
degree of growth.* Allowing something to exaggeration, the

* The tradition, as Livy relates it, make this gigantic Numidian Python one
hundred and twenty-feet long ; and it also stated that, when destroyed, the
decomposing carcass of the monster so polluted the air, that the Romans were
forced to move their camp. The skin was nevertheless seemed, and sent in
triumph to Rome. This serpent, the African Python, differs in some of its
features from the hoa of South America, hut it resembles that reptile in its
hulk, its muscular strength, and the absence of poison fangs. In South
America the boa is viewed with horror, on account of a belief that it exercises
a certain influence over the destiny of any one who injures it, and, sooner or
later, he suifers severely for his audacity. a Allowing for exaggeration, it is
probable that the Python referred to in Livy was of unusual size, and hence
well calculated to strike terror into the minds of those unaccustomed to the
sight of enormous serpents. It seized its victim with its teeth, but, like the
boa, destroyed it by pressure within the folds of its powerful body. The
author of The Seasons describes this Python —

From his dark abode,
Which e'en Imagination fears to tread,
At noon, forth issuing, gathers up his train
In orbs immense. — Thomson. — Ed.

1 Smith's Illustrations of South America.

T 2

276 ILLUSTRATIONS.

natural language of surprise and fear, it becomes easy to reconcile
the tradition here with truth and probability.

It is not always necessary to assume much exaggeration. A
modern traveller* assures us that in the mountains of Galese
serpents from thirty to forty feet in length are still to be met with.
Aelianf mentions also, in several places, reptiles of an extraordi-
nary size. Let us recollect that an almost religious respect for
the lives of certain animals must formerly, particularly in India,
have permitted serpents, by growing old, to attain to enormous
dimensions. This respect for serpents was seconded by a super-
stition which, in the temples, consecrated many of the reptiles.
Alexander admired in one of the Indian temples a serpent which
is recorded to have been seventy cubits in length. % We know
that sacred dragons were revered at Babylon, at Melita in Egypt,
in Phrygia, in Italy, in Epirus,|| in Thessaly,§ in Bocetia, and in
the grotto of Trophonius.^[

Finally we may remark, that the progress of civilization has ex-
pelled these immense reptiles from countries where they formerly
lived in peace. There are no longer any boas in Italy. Solinus
places them in Calabria ; and describes their habits with so much
correctness, that we cannot suppose he meant to speak of mon-
strous adders. Pliny confirms this narration, by mentioning a
boa in the body of which a child was found. It was killed in the
Vatican, in the reign of Claudius, only thirty years, at the utmost,
before the period in which Pliny wrote.**

These positive facts would prepare credulity to confound with
history every legend in which, for some other reason, these
monstrous serpents figured.

* Paulin de Saint-Barthélemi. Voyages, 8çc. tome 1, p. 479.

f Aelian. De Nat. Anim. passim, et lib. xvi. cap. xxxix.

% Ibid. lib. xv. cap. xn.

|| Ibid. Ub. xi. cap. xvn. ; lib. xn. cap. xxxix. ; lib. xi. cap. ccxvi.

§ Aristotel. De Mirabil. Auscult.

^ Suidas, verbo Trophonios.

** Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vm. cap. xiv.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 277

§ II.

OTHER LEGENDS FOUNDED ON FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS TAKEN
IN A PHYSICAL SENSE.

Winged serpents, the true dragons, could never have existed :
and the supposed union of two natures so opposite, must have
been originally merely a hieroglyphic — an emblem. But poetry,
which lives in figures, did not hesitate to possess itself of the
image as well as the expression. The reptiles which tore to
pieces the sons of Laocoon were called dragons by Q. Calabar ;*
Virgil gives them the name of dragons and serpents by turns. f
The two terms seem to have been synonymous in poetical lan-
guage ; and the wings with which dragons have been endowed are
only the emblem of the promptitude with which the serpent poun-
ces upon its prey ; or in order to seize it, raises itself to the tops
of trees. Here, as in many other circumstances, the figurative
expressions have taken place of the reality in the belief of the
vulgar, not less ignorant than eager after the marvellous.

The modern Greek gives the expressive name of winged ser-
pents to the locusts, which carried on the wind, in vast swarms,
devastate his harvests. f This metaphor is probably ancient ; and
may have originated many fables and narrations respecting the
existence of ivinged serpents.

But these explanations and those connected with physical facts
are vague ; and sometimes purely local. They cannot be applied

* Q. Calaber. De Bella Trojano. lib. xm. — A Greek poet, who lived in the
third century, and wrote a poem in fourteen books, as a continuation of the
Illiad.— Ed.

f " Irnmensis orbibus, angues" (vers. 204.)
" Serpens ampleœus uterque," (vers. 214.)
" Delubra ad summa dracones," (vers. 225.)

Virgil. JEneid. lib. ir.
% Pouqueville. Voyage dans la Grèce, tome in. pp. 562, 563.

278 ILLUSTRATIONS.

to a precise fact, which is found in every country and in every
age, related in the same manner, and with only slight variations
in the principal circumstances.

§ III.

MONSTROUS SERPENTS MAY BE EMBLEMATIC OF RAVAGES
PRODUCED BY INUNDATIONS.

St. Romanus, in 720, or 628, delivered the town of Rouen
from a monstrous dragon. " This miracle," it is said in a disser-
tation upon the miracle of St. Romaine and La Gargouille is only
the emblem of another miracle of St Romanus, who made the Seine
which had overflowed its banks, and was about to inundate the
town, return to its bed. The very name given by the people to
this fabulous serpent is another proof of it : gargouille is derived
from gurges, etc.*

In support of his opinion, the author quoted a strophe from the
hymn of Santeuil :

Tangit exundans aqua civitatem ;
Voce Romanus jubet efficaci ;
Audiunt fluctus, docilisque cedit
Unda jubenti.

In Orleans, also, a town frequently exposed to the ravages of
the waters which bathe and fertilize its territories, a ceremony is

* History of the Town of Rouen, by Servin, 1775, 2 vols. 12mo. vol. n,
p. 147. — It is more probable that the fable of the destruction of the serpent
is founded on the fact of St. Romanus having destroyed the remnant of idola-
try, and levelled with the ground temples of Venus, Jupiter, Apollo, and Mer-
cury which existed in his diocese. " No traces of this story," says Butler,
speaking of the story of the serpent, " are found in any life of this saint
nor in any writings before the end of the fourteenth century. The figure of
a serpent, called Gargouille, seems here, as in some other towns, originally to
have been meant to represent symbolically the devil overcome by Christ." —
Ed. Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, Sfc. Oct. 22.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 279

celebrated similar to that which perpetuates the miracle of St.
Romanus at Rouen. Indeed a great number of traditions might
be quoted in support of this conjecture.

The island of Batz, near St. Pol de Leon, is said to have been
desolated by a frightful dragon. St. Pol, who died in 594, by the
virtue of his stole and staff precipitated the monster into the sea.
Cambry,* who relates this tradition, tells us that the only foun-
tain existing in the island of Batz, is alternately either exposed or
covered by the tides of the sea. He then relates, that ' ' near the
castle of Roche Maurice and the ancient river of Dordoun, a dra-
gon devoured men and animals. "f

It seems but natural to suppose that these two narratives are
emblematical of the ravages committed by the sea and the waters
of the Dordoun.

St. Julian, first Bishop of Mans, in 59, destroyed a horrible
dragon at the village of Artins, near Montoir.j This dragon,
under the system discussed by us, should represent the inunda-
tions of the Loire, which flows in the vicinity. It might be also
imaged by a dragon of nine or ten fathoms long, over which, in
a cavern by the side of a fountain^ near Vendôme, the hermit St.
Biéor Bienheuré, towards the end of the fourth century, triumphed.
The inundations of the Scarpe might be represented by the dra-
gon who terrified and expelled from an island, the holy Bishop who
has bequeathed his name to the town of St. Amand :§ those of
the Moselle, by the Graouilli, the monstrous serpent which St.

* Cambry. Travels in the Department of Finisterre, vol. i. pp. 147, 148.

f Ibid. ibid. vol. i. p. 57.

X Moreri. Historical Dictionary, art. Saint Julien. M. Duchemin-La-
Cbenaye gives the name of la Roche-Turpin to the scene of this victory. Mé-
moires de l' académie Celtique, tome iv, p. 311.

|| M. Duchemin-La-Chenaye. Ibid, pages 308 and following.

§ M. Bottin. Traditions des Dragons volans dans le Nord de la France.
Mélanges d' Archéologie. (8vo. Paris, 1831), pp. 161 — 164.

280

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Clement overcame at Metz* ; and those of Clain by the dragon of
Poitiers, which hid itself near this river, and whose death was a
benefit conferred by Saint Radegonde, towards the middle of the
sixth century .f

In the same manner may be explained by the inundations of the
Rhone, the history of the monster of Tarascon, which in the first
century, was bound with the garter of St. Martha, who caused
its death ; and the representation of which, called Tarasque, is
still carried in procession, in the town, on the morning of the
Penticost.J The overflowings of the Garonne would be emble-
mized by the dragon of Bordeaux, yielding, in the eleventh
century, to the virtue of the Virgin of St. Martial ; and the dragon
of St. Bertrand de Comminge, conquered by the Bishop of St.
Bertrand in 1076.||

Thus also the dragon from which Saint Marcel delivered Paris,§
and the w inged dragon of the Abbey of Fleury^[ offer images of
the overflowing of the Seine and Loire.

Thus, also, at Lima, on the fête day of St. Francis of Assisi, if one
observes figuring in the procession an ideal monster called Teras-

* A. Lenoir. Du Dragon de Metz, 8fc. Mémoires de V Académie Celtique,
tome ii. p. 1 and following.

f M. Jouyneau-des-Loges. Mémoires de V Académie Celtique, tome v. p. 57.

% Rouvière. Voyage du Tour de la France, 12mo. 1713, pp. 401, 402. —
Dulaure. Description des principaux Lieux de la France, tome i. p. 16, art.
Tarascon. — Millin. Voyage dans le Midi de la France, 4 vols. 8vo. tome ni.
pp. 451 — 553. The figure of the Tarasque may be found in the atlas of the
Travels, plate 63 ; it is not, however, very correct.

|| M. Chaudruc. Mémoires de l'Académie Celtique, tome iv. p. 313.

§ Lives of the Saints for every day of the year, 2 vols. 4to. Paris 1734,
tome n. p. 84, Life of St. Marcel, 3rd November. — Gregor. Turon. De Gloria
Confess, cap. lxxxix. — It is thought St. Marcel occupied the episcopal throne
of Paris towards the end of the fourth century.

If Du Cange. Glossar. verbo Draco, 2 . . . tome n. p. 1645.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 281

con,* it will recal the fact that Lima, situated near the sea, is
watered by a river which supplies every house with water. Thus
M. Champollion explains with probability the hieroglyphic of the
two serpents, each with the human head, seen in the church
of St. Laurence at Grenoble, by the proverb " Serpens et draco
devorabunt urbem," rendered by the vulgar tongue into these
two verses : —

" Lo serpein et lo dragon
Metront Grenoble en savon,"

alluding to the situation of the town at the mouth of the Drac
(Draco), in the Isère, represented by the serpent whose sinewy
windings are pretty well imitated by the course of this river. f
The comparison between the windings of a river and the writhings
of a serpent are, indeed, as frequently found in common language,
and in ordinary names as in poetical metaphors. Near to Heleno-
Pole, a town in Bythinia, flows the river Draco, Dragon ; this name
says ProcopiusJ was given to it from its numerous windings which
obliged travellers to cross it twenty times together. It is doubt-
less for a similar reason, that a river which rises in Mount Vesu-
vius and waters the walls of Nuceria (Nocera), received the name
of dragon. ||

This explanation is strengthened by a confession, the more
remarkable, because the author, with whom it originated, had col-
lected and tendered as positive facts, all the popular stories of
dragons and monstrous serpents which, at the commencement of
the eighteenth century, were broached in the interior of Switzer-

* Description of the actual State of Peru, extracted from the Mercurio
Peruviano. — Annals of Travel, by M. Malte-Brun, vol. 1. p. 92.

f Dissertation upon a Subterraneous Monument existing in Grenoble, in 4to.
année xn. — Encyclopedical Magazine, ixth year, vol. v. pp. 442 — 443.

X Procop. De édifie. Justin, lib. v. cap. n.

|| Procop. Hist. Miscell. lib. i. cap. lv.

282 ILLUSTRATIONS.

land. Scheuchzer* allows that the name of Drach (Draco) was
frequently given to impetuous torrents which suddenly burst forth
like avalanches.

The dragon, the multitude would then exclaim, has made an irrup-
tion (Erupit Draco). The cavity in which the torrent rose, or that
in which the waters were absorbed, were consequently naturally
called the Dragon's hole, or the Dragon's Marsh, names which
we find in many places celebrated by some one or other of the
legends which have occupied our attention. In spite of the pro-
bability which many of these affinities present, two grave objec-
tions refute the system they are destined to establish.

Firstly. — If it is as easy for a supernatural power to arrest
the inundations of a river, or the sea, as to put to death a
monstrous serpent, such a comparison cannot be applied to the
limited strength of an ordinary man. Now, in these legends
we shall see figuring chevaliers, soldiers, banished men, and
obscure malefactors, who no celestial grace could have called out to
work miracles. And who can be persuaded that a single individual,
whatever may be his zeal or his power, would be able to turn back
into their beds the Loire and the Garonne, widely inundating the
plains with their waters ?

Secondly. — The multitude of the legends does not allow us to
suppose that, in times and places so different, it would have been
agreed to represent by the same emblem, events, which although
similar, yet were peculiar to each period. An emblem always
the same, supposes a fact, or rather an allegory received in all
ages and in all places. Such as that of the triumph obtained
of the principle of good and light over the principle of evil and
darkness represented by the serpent.

* Scheuchzer. Itinera per Helvetia Alpinas Regiones, Sfc. torn. m. pp. 377
—397. Vide pp. 396 et pp. 383, 384, 389, 390.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 283

§ IV.

THE LEGEND OF THE SERPENT HAS BEEN TRANSPORTED FROM
ASTRONOMICAL PICTURES INTO MYTHOLOGY AND HISTORY.

We shall not here retrace, in its details, the astronomical
picture of this triumph so frequently renewed. Let us only
observe that three accessory objects are grouped, almost always
with the principal subject : namely a virgin, a young girl, or a
woman ; a precipice, a cavern, or a grotto ; and the sea ; a river,
a fountain, or a well* We find one part of this legend put into
operation, if I may so express myself, in the manner in which
the sacred dragons of Epirus, Phrygia, and Lanuvium received
their food. It was carried to them in their cavern by a young
girl, who was exposed to terrible punishment if she was not a
virgin. f A woman also, the magician, whom the unfortunate
Dido expressed a desire to consult, presented the nourishment
to the sacred dragon which guarded the Hesperides.J

The Greek mythology is rich in legends, the astronomical
origin of which is not dubious. Is it necessary to explain why
a serpent or a dragon figures so often in the celestial planisphere ?
In the war of the gods against the giants, an enormous serpent
attacked Minerva. The virgin goddess seized the monster and
threw it towards the heavens, where it became fixed among the
stars. || Ceres placed in the heavens one of the dragons that
drew her chariot. Triopas having offended the same divinity,
the goddess punished him first by the torment of an insatiable
hunger, and then put him to death by a dragon, which from that

* A. Lenoir. Du Dragon de Metz, &çc. Mémoires de V Académie Celtique.
tome ii. pp. 5 et 6.

t Aelian. De Nat. Animal, lib. xi. cap. n. et xvi. — Propert. lib. iv.
Eleg. vin.

X Virgil. ^Eneid. lib. iv. vers. 483—485.

|| Hygin. Poet. Asironom. Serpens,

284 ILLUSTRATIONS.

time took a place with her in the heavens. According to other
mythologists, Phorbas, the son of Triopas, merited this honour,
for having delivered the island of Rhodes from a monstrous ser-
pent. Some observe in the constellation of Ophiucus, Hercules
upon the borders of the river Sagaris, vanquishing the serpent
which Omphalus had commanded him to combat.*

Themis, the heavenly virgin, answered the petitions of mortals
at Delphi. Python, the monstrous dragon approached, and the
oracle was deserted ; nor did any one dare to resort to it until
Apollo (the sun) had pierced Python with his irresistible arrows. f
Let us observe that the tradition in these narrations, does not
omit the divine nature of the dragon. Apollo after having destroyed
the monster was obliged to submit himself to a religious aspiration ;
and the sacred serpents of the Epirus were supposed to have owed
their being to Python. J

Near the river in Colchis, Jason, assisted by Medea, who was
yet a virgin, triumphed over the dragon which guarded the golden
fleece. Hercules and Perseus delivered Hesione and Andromeda,
virgins who were exposed as prey to the voracity of a sea monster.
A woman learned in the arts of enchantment saved the inhabitants
of Tenos, by destroying a dragon that threatened to depopulate
their island. ||

According to a legend, preserved by the Christian faith in the
figurative sense only, but adopted literally by painters, and which
has a host of believers, St. Michael felled to the ground, and pinned
down with his lance, a dragon which was vomited forth from the
infernal pit, and which was the same that, according to Dupuis, in
the Apocalypse, pursued the heavenly virgin. Half- a- mile on the
road to Baruth (the ancient Berythe), is to be seen the cavern

* Hygin. Poet. Astronom. Ophiucus.
t Pausanias. Photic, cap. v.

J^Aelian. Var. Hist. lib. m. cap. i, etc. De Nat. Animal, lib. xi. cap. u. —
Plutarch. De Oracul. Defectu.

|| Arist. De Mir alii. Auscult.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 285

where dwelt the dragon killed by St. George, at the moment
when about to devour the daughter of the King of the country.*
According to another legend, it was on the borders of a lake, the
asylum of this monster, that St. George saved the King's daughter
and twelve other virgins, whom an oracle had commanded to be
given up to this horrible drag on. f

Almost all mythologies contain, with some variations, the same
legend ; and, we may add, in how many of the Greek myths may
it not be traced ! Hercules, conqueror of the dragon of the garden

* Voyages de Villamont (1613). liv. in. p. 561. — Thévenot. Relation d'un
Voyage fait au Levant, etc. 4to. Paris, 1668. p. 442.

f Memoirs and Observations made by a Traveller in England. (La Have,
1698. pp. 214—232.) This work is attributed to Max. Misson.

As this celebrated religious hero, St. George, is the patron Saint of England, it
is proper that some account of him should be here given. He was born in Cappa-
docia, of noble Christian parents. After the death of his father he went into
Palestine with his mother, who had a considerable estate there, which fell to
him. He became a soldier, and after having served as a Tribune, he was raised to
the rank of a Colonel, and afterwards to higher rank, by the Emperor Diocle-
tian, as a reward for his courage and conduct. But being equally strong in
his faith, he threw up all his well-merited honours when that Emperor began
lus persecutions of Christianity ; an act, in conjunction with his reprobation
of the Emperor's cruelties, which cost him his life. He was thrown into pri-
son, and cruelly tortured, and on the following day he was beheaded.

St. George became the patron Saint of military men ; and, like all the other
Saints of the Romish calendar, did many wondrous acts and performed many
miracles, both during his life and after his death : hence churches were erected
in honour of him in various parts of Europe. He was constituted the patron
Saint of England by our first Norman Kings ; and, under his name, Edward III.
instituted the most noble order of knighthood in Europe. The promulgation
of the pretended apparition of St. George to Richard I. in his Saracenic expe-
dition, had such a beneficial effect on the spirits of his troops, as insured them
victory. He is usually represented on horseback, slaying a dragon, an emble-
matical representation of his Christian fortitude in overcoming the Devil, the
arch-dragon. — Ed. — See Butler's Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, 8fc.

286 ILLUSTRATIONS.

of Hesperides, a monster whose defeat was followed by the disco-
very of a fountain till then unknown ; again, a dragon dwelt in a
gloomy cavern, and guarded the fountain of Mars, until killed by
Cadmus, who was himself afterwards transformed into a serpent ;
and it was a dragon from which Diomedes, on his return from
Troy, delivered the Corcyreans.* Cenchreus was implored by the
inhabitants of Salamis to be their King, as a reward for his
victory over a dragon that had devastated their territories. f

Upon a monument discovered in Thebes, Anubis is represented,
as St. Michael and St. George are in Christian paintings, armed
in a cuirass, and having in his hand a lance, with which he pierces
a monster that has the head and tail of a serpent. %

In a succession of narrations, the marvellous portions of which
have been principally borrowed by their compilers from the
ancient mythology of Hindustan, we see some monstrous figures :
now in the form of enormous serpents ;|| then as gigantic
dragons, flapping their tails against their scaly sides ;§ and
having their voracity yearly satiated by young virgins, but
yielding to the valiant attacks of warriors aided by supernatural
powers, at the very moment when the king's daughter is about to
become their victim.

Chederles, a hero revered among the Turks, we are told " killed
a monstrous dragon, and saved the life of a young girl exposed to
its fury. After having drunk of the waters of a river which
rendered him immortal, he traversed the world upon a steed

* Heraclides. in Politiis.

f Noël. Dictionnaire de la Fable, art. Cenchreus.

% A. Lenoir. Du Dragon de Metz, etc. Mémoires de V Académie Celtique,
tome ii, pp. 11 — 12.

|| The Thousand and One Nights, translation of Ed. Gauthier. 7 vols. 8vo.
Paris, 1822—1823. vol. v. pp. 425—426.

§ Ibid, tome vi. pp. 303—305. et tome v. pp. 423—424.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 287

as immortal as himself."* The commencement of this recital
recals to mind the Hindoo myths and the fables of Hercules and
Perseus. The termination may be regarded as an emblem of the
sun, the immortal traveller, who ceases not his revolutions around
the earth.

Among the figures sculptured on a granite block, discovered in
the deserted town of Palenqui-Viejo, was remarked a serpent,
from the throat of which issued the head of a woman, f One is
tempted to connect this emblem to the legends of monstrous
dragons. It is, at least, difficult not to imagine that the legend
had passed into the New World. The Caribbees believe that the
Supreme Being made his Son descend from heaven, in order to
kill a dragon, which, by its ravages, desolated the nations of
Guiana.J The monster succumbed ; and the Caribbees sprung from
the worms generated in the decomposition of its corpse ; and on this
account they regard all those nations with whom the cruel monster
had formerly waged cruel war as their enemies. At first sight this is
but the myth of Python ; but what are we to think of the strange
origin that the Caribbees attribute to themselves ? We can but
suppose that they had formerly received this tradition from a nation
superior to themselves in strength, who wished to humiliate and
degrade them ; and that they had preserved it from custom, and
to justify their national hatreds and thirst for conquest. A
no less singular belief is to be found among the same people.
The Caribbees of Dominica assert that a monster, having its re-
treat in a precipice surrounded by rocks, bore upon its head a
stone as brilliant as a carbuncle, from which issued so bright a
light that the neighbouring rocks were illumined by it.|| Similar
legends have for a long time been received in countries with

* Dictionnaire de la Fable, art. Chederles.
f Revue Encyclopédique, tome xxxi. p. 850.
X Noël. Dictionnaire de la Fable, art. Cosmogonie Américaine.
|| Rochefort. Histoire Naturelle et Morale des Isles Antilles. (Rotterdam
1658), p. 21.

288 ILLUSTRATIONS.

which it is supposed the Caribbees could not have had any com-
munication.

At some period, which chronologists have had pretensions
enough to fix, St. Margaret overcame a dragon, and from the
head of the monster this virgin, afterwards raised to a heavenly
abode, extracted a ruby, or carbuncle, an emblem of the brilliant
star of the northern crown (Margarita), placed in the heavens near
the head of the serpent.

In the history of Dieudonné of Gozon, we find mention also of a
stone taken from the head of the dragon killed by this hero at
Rhodes, and preserved, it is said, in his family. It was the size
of an olive, and displayed many brilliant colours.*"

Two Helvetian traditions describe a serpent offering to a man a
precious stone, as a token of homage and gratitude.f Faithful
to these old superstitions, the popular language of the Jura still
designates under the name of voupvre, a winged and immortal ser-
pent, the eye of which is a diamond .|

Pliny, Isidorus, and Solinus|| speak of the precious stone which
the dragon carries in its head. An eastern story teller, § who des-
cribes a miraculous stone, the real carbuncle that shines in dark-
ness, states that it is only to be found in the head of the dragon,
the hideous inhabitant of the island of Serendib (Ceylon) . Phi-
lostratus also assures us that in India a precious stone, concealed
in the heads of dragons, was endowed with a powerful brilliancy
and wonderful magical virtues.^

That error which, by transforming an astronomical allegory into
a physical fact, decorated the heads of serpents with a brilliant

* Dictionnaire de Moréri. art. Gozon (Dieudonné). Gozon died in 1353.

t Scheuchzer. Itinerar. per Helvet. Alp. reg. tome ni. pp. 381 — 383.

% Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires, tome vi. p. 217.

|| Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvu. cap. x. Isidor. Hispal. Origin, lib. xvi. cap.
xiii. Solin. cap. xxxiii.

§ Stories of Cheikh El Mohdy, translated from the Arabian by J. J. Marcel.
1833.

If Philostrat. De Vit. Apollon, lib. ni. cap. II.

1LLUSTRATATI0NS. 289

stone, had its rise in a great antiquity. " Although the serpent
has a ruby in its head, it is, nevertheless, injurious," says a Hindoo
philosopher, who has collected into his proverbs the precepts of
the most ancient times.* This legend, arising from the figurative
expressions of the relative positions the constellations of Perseus,
the Whale, the Crown, and the Serpent occupy in the heavens,
has been, we have seen, first connected with the victory of the
spring sun over winter, and of light over darkness. The car-
buncle, or ruby, which there held its place, and with which
Ovid decorated the palace of the sun,f was, in fact, consecrated
to that orb from its colour of flaming red. J

§V.

THE SAME LEGEND CREPT INTO CHRISTIANITY, ESPECIALLY
AMONG THE PEOPLE OF THE WEST.

As long as oppressed Christianity strove in secret against Poly-
theism, its worship, no less austere than its code of morals, only
admitted in its ceremonies, still concealed by the aid of mystery,

* Proverbs of Barthoveri, etc. inserted in the work of Abraham Roger.
The Theatre of Idolatry ; or, the Door Opened, etc. : a French translation,
1 vol. 4to. (1760). p. 328.

f Flammasque imitante pyropo.

Ovid. Metamorph. lib. n. ver. n.

% The Cardinal Dailly and Albertus Magnus, Bishop of Ratisbon, said
Cartaut of La Villate, distributed the planets among the different religions.
The sun fell to the lot of the Christian religion. It is for that reason we
have always held the sun in singular veneration ; that the town of Rome is
called the solar town ; and that the Cardinals who reside there are habited in
red, the colour of the sun. {Critical Thoughts on Mathematics). 1 vol. 12mo.
Paris, 1752 ; with permission and approbation.

In India an idea universally prevails that a stone exists in the head of
serpents ; and the snake charmers pretend to extract it from the head of the
Cobra de Capella. — Ed.

VOL. II. U

290 ILLUSTRATIONS.

simple rites, unencumbered by material representation. The
researches and cruelties of persecutors could only tear from the
Faithful their holy books and sacred vases ; they had few or no
images.*

But public worship could ill dispense with remarkable outward
and visible signs : for, in the midst of a large assembly, words
could hardly be conveyed to the ears of all the audience, but the
images would speak to the eyes of all ; they could awaken the
most natural, the most universal inclinations. The multitude,
therefore, delight in the magnificence of religious acts, and think
that it cannot multiply too many images.

This would necessarily happen, even to Christianity, when (on
the ruins of Polytheism) it publicly established its temples and
worship. The progress was much more rapid, because the reli-
gion of Christ succeeded a religion rich in pomp and emblems ;
and it feared to repulse, by too rigid a simplicity, men accustomed
to see and to touch what they believed in and worshipped.

Hence, as it was difficult to destroy and utterly to proscribe
the former objects of a veneration, the Christians often preferred
appropriating them to their own faith. More than one temple
was changed into a church ; more than the name of one God was
honoured as the name of a Saint ; and an immense number of
images and legends passed without difficulty into the new faith,
and were preserved by the ancient respect of the new believers.

The legend of a heavenly being overcoming a serpent, the prin-
ciple of evil, was conformable to the language, the spirit, and the
origin of Christianity. It was received, therefore, and reproduced
in the religious paintings and ceremonies of the early Christians.
St. Michael, the first of the archangels, was presented to the
eyes of the faithful, piercing the infernal dragon, the enemy of the
human race.f

* Encyclop. Method. Théologie, art. Images.

f This mode of representing the triumph of the faithful over the evil prin-
ciple was general over every Christian country in the middle ages. The ser-
pent, or dragon, was usually placed in the painting or the sculpture, under

ILLUSTRATIONS. 291

In the fifth century in France,* and rather later in the West,
were established the processions known by the name of Rogations.f
For three days the image of a dragon, and winged serpent were
presented to the observation of the faithful ; and his defeat was
depicted by the ignominious manner in which he was borne about
on the third day. J

The celebration of the Rogation varied according to the Dioceses,
from the first days of Ascension week to the last days of the week

the feet of the Saint : hut the populace could not understand the allegory .
and as it was the interest of the monks to nourish their credulity, a fable or
legend was attached to these representations, detailing the victory of the Saint
over a true dragon or a real serpent. Thus, the allegorical representation of
the patron Saint of England, St. George, destroying the dragon, is still ex-
tensively believed by the multitude as the record of a real victoiy over a
material dragon : and to prove how eager the monks were to maintain the
belief, " the monks in Mount St. Michael, in France, did not hesitate to ex-
hibit, as pious relics, the sword and shield with which St. Michael, the Arch-
angel, combated the dragon of the Revelations." a — Ed.

* Saint Mammert, Bishop of Vienna in Dauphiny, instituted the Rogations
in 468 or 474. Encyclop. Method. Théologie, art. Rogations.

f The fasts termed Rogations were established by St. Mammestus on the
occasion of an assumed miracle, said to have been performed through the in-
fluence of his prayers. A terrible fire broke out and raged in the city of
Vienne, in Dauphiny, where he was Archbishop, in spite of every effort to ex-
tinguish it ; but suddenly went out in consequence of the prayers of the Saint :
and the same result followed his supplications on the occurrence of a second
great fire, which alarmed the city more than the first. The worthy Prelate
then formed the design of instituting an annual fast and supplication of three
days to appease the Divine wrath, by fasting, prayers, tears, and the confes-
sions of sins.b This fast gradually extended to other churches ; hence, we find
the Rogations kept in many other parts besides Vienne ; but why the proces-
sion of the Dragon was engrafted upon those of the Rogations does not ap-
pear.— Ed.

X Guill. Durant. Rationale Divinorum Officiorum. fol. 1479. folio 226
recto.

a Foreign Quarterly Review, vol, xxxvi. p. 331.

b Butler's Lives of Fathers, Sfc,

u 2

292 ILLUSTRATIONS.

of Pentecost. It corresponds to the time in which, the first half
of the Spring being passed, the victory of the sun over winter is
fully achieved, even in our cold and rainy climate. It is difficult
not to perceive an intimate connection between the legends of the
allegorical dragon and that period in which its appearance was
each year renewed.

Other circumstances increase the strength of this argument.
In the sixth century, St. Gregory the Great ordered that Saint
Mark's day, 25th April, should be annually celebrated by a pro-
cession similar to that of the Rogation. The origin of this cere-
mony was as follows. Rome was desolated by an extraordinary
inundation. The Tiber rose like an immense sea to the upper
windows of the temples. Innumerable serpents, it is said,
have emerged from the overflowing waters of the river, and finally
an immense dragon,* a new Python, was born of this new deluge .f
Its breath infected the air and engendered a pestilential diseased
by which the inhabitants were cut off by thousands. An annual
proeession perpetuated the remembrance of the scourge and of its
cessation obtained by the prayers of the Pope and his flock. The
date of the 25th of April, less distant than that of the Rogations
from the equinox, is suitable to a country in which the spring is
always more forward than in Gaul.

Whether by chance or by calculation, those people who trans-
ported to Lima under a southern hemisphere the Tarasque, the
dragon of a northern nation, have fixed it on the 7th of October,
the fete day of St. Francis of Assisi. This period approaches

* Guill. Durant, fol. 225 verso. — Siffredi Presbiteri Mimensis. Epitome.
lib. i. De Miro Prodigio.

f " Ut Noe Diluvium renovatum crederetur." Platina. De Vitis Max.
Pontifie, in Pelag. II.

% " Pestis inguinaria seu inflatura inguinum." These are the expressions
made use of by the author of the Rationale (loco citato) ; he adds, that the
Pope Pelagius II., successor to St. Gregory the Great, suddenly died of the
same disease, with seventy other persons, while in the midst of a procession.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 293

still nearer to the equinox of the Spring. But in equatorial
countries, as under the moderate climate of Lima, the victory of
the sun is not so long undetermined as in our northern regions
where the first weeks of spring seem but a prolongation of winter.
Pliny has spoken of a mysterious egg,* to the possession of
which the Druids attributed great virtues, and which was formed
by the concurrence of all the serpents of a country. The inhabi-
tants of Sologne, the echo of the Druids after two thousand years
have passed, assert, without doubting the antiquity of the myth,
they repeat, that all the serpents of the country assemble to pro-
duce an enormous diamond which, superior to the stone of Rhodes,
reflects the liveliest colours of the rainbow. The day assigned for
their miraculous production is the 13th of May,f a day belong-
ing to the second half of the spring, like the days when the serpent
of the Rogations was paraded. The epoch of this apparition
furnishes us with a remark which is not devoid of interest. Its
fixedness alone proves contrary to what we have hitherto advanced,
that the dragon was not the emblem of inundations, of overflow-
ings of rivers which could not every where have taken place on the
same day. How then, it may be asked, came such an opinion
to be established ? When the original emblem was lost, the atten-
tion would naturally be arrested by a circumstance occurring in all
the legends, which reproduced it, namely that the scene of action
was always upon the shore of the sea, or banks of a river. The
idea of the cessation of the ravages of the water must have ap-
peared the more probable, from the procession of the dragon being
regularly celebrated at a period of the year when the rivers, which
had been swelled by the fall of snow, or the equinoxial rains,
returned to their usual course.

* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxix. cap. in.

f Légier (du Loiret). Traditions et usages de la Sologne, Mémoire de
l'Académie celtique, tome il. pp. 215, 216.

294 ILLUSTRATIONS.

§ VI.

ALLEGORICAL EXPLANATIONS OF EMBLEMS IN WHICH THE
FIGURE OF THE SERPENT OCCURRED.

Every church had its dragon. The emulation of exterior piety
had, in these representations, the effect of making them excel in a
desire to excite in the spectators sensations of admiration,
astonishment, and fright. The visible part of the worship became
soon the most important part of the religion to men who were
solely attentive to that which struck their senses : the dragon in
the Rogation processions was too remarkable not to attract the
attention of the populace, and to usurp a prominent place in their
belief. Each dragon had soon its peculiar legend, and these
legends were multiplied without end. To those who would throw
a doubt upon the probability of this cause we shall answer by one
fact, that among the lives of the saints revered by the christians of
the East, who did not adopt the institution of the Rogations, the
victory achieved by a heavenly being over a serpent is rarely to be
found.

The word dragon, contracted to that of Drac, designated a
demon, a malevolent spirit, whom the credulous Provençal sup-
posed to exist beneath the waters of the Rhone, and to feed upon
the flesh of men. To act the drac was a term synonymous with
doing as much evil* as the devil himself could be supposed to
desire. Persons bitten by serpents were cured as soon as they
approached the tomb of Saint Phoeas, owing to the victory
which this Christian hero, by undergoing martyrdom, achieved
over the devil, the old serpent. f "When in the eighth century, it
was related that an enormous serpent had been found in the

* Du Cange. Glossar. verbo Dracus. — Millin. Travels in the interior of
France, vol. III. pages 450 — 451.

t Gregor, Turon. De Miracul. lib. i. cap. xcix.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 295

tomb of Charles Martel,* was anything else meant, but the in-
sinuation, than the demon had taken possession of this war-
rior, who though he saved France, and probably Europe from
the Mussulman yoke, had had the misfortune to thwart the
ambition of the heads of the church, and the cupidity of the
monks.

It seems then reasonable to believe, as the author of the Ratio-
nalef expressly teaches, that the serpent or dragon carried in the
processions of the Rogations, was the emblem of the infernal spirit,
whose overthrow was supplicated from heaven ; and that this
defeat was attributed to the saint more particularly revered by the
faithful in each diocese and parish. This kind of explanation has
been reproduced under different forms by sensible christians who
could not believe, in a physical sense, recitals too often renewed
ever to have been true.

The demon is vice personified ; victories achieved over vice may
then have been figured by the same emblem. At Genoa, upon a
small spot near the church of Saint Cyr is to be seen an ancient
well, which, it is stated, formerly concealed a dragon, the breath of
which was destructive to men and flocks. St. Cyr exorcised the
monster, and forced him to come out of the well and to throw him-
self into the sea.:}: This miracle is still represented in pictures, and
is allegorically interpreted by the erudite as the victory achieved by
this holy preacher over impiety and libertinism. The same inter-
pretation might be applied to the triumph of Saint Marcel over
the serpent that ravaged Paris, since they say : " This serpent
first appeared outside the town near the tomb of a woman of
quality who had lived an irregular life."||

* Mézérai. Abrégé chronologique de l'Histoire de France, année 741.
f Guill. Durant. Rationale divinorum officiorum. folio 226 recto.
% Desertion of the Beauties of Genoa. 8vo. Genoa, 1781, pp. 39, 41.
Millin. Travels in Savoy and Piémont, vol. n. p. 239.

|| Lives of the Saints for every Day in the Year, vol. n. p. 84.

296 ILLUSTRATIONS.

M. Dulaure,* nevertheless, is of opinion that ;this and many-
other legends were emblematical of the triumph of the christian
faith over the Roman and Druidical rituals. Incredulity is in
fact, the worst of all vices in the eyes of the heads of any faith.
The retreat of the dragon which was vanquished by St. Julian, f
was near a temple of Jupiter ; its fall may have figured that of
Polytheism, when, at the voice of the apostle of Mans, its wor-
shippers overthrew the altars of the dethroned God, and left his
temple desolate. Upon the site of Epidaurus is to be seen a cavern
which tradition has sometimes designated as the retreat of Cad-
mus when metamorphosed into a serpent, but more frequently as
the abode of the serpent of Esculapius. "When St. Jerome related
that at Epidarus, St. Hilary triumphed over a devastating serpent
concealed in that cavern, the learned seemed to have some reason
for supposing the recital to be emblematical of the victory of the
preacher of the gospel over the worship of Esculapius. J A
similar allegory also explains the miracle that rendered St. Donat,
Bishop of Corinth, the vanquisher of a serpent so enormous
that eight yoke of oxen could scarcely drag along its corpse. ||
The date of the miracle, in the year 399, is also the period in
which paganism fell irrevocably beneath the blow struck against
it by the command of the two sons of Theodosius.

A monstrous dragon desolated the neighbourhood of Theil near
Roche aux Fées (Rock of the Fairies), in the department of the
Isle and Vilaine. St. Arnel, the apostle of that country, led it
with his stole to the summit of a mountain and then commanded
it to precipitate itself into the river Seiche. M. Nouai de la
Houssaye is of opinion that this miracle is emblematical of the

* Dulaure, Physical, Moral, and Civil History of Paris, 1st edit. pp. 161,
162 and 185, 186.

f Mémoires de l' académie celtique, tome iv, p. 311.

X Appending Notizie istorico-critiche sulle Anticliita, 8fc. de' Ragusei,
tome i, p. 30. Pouqueville, Voyage dans la Grèce, tome i, pp. 24, 25.

|| Sigeberti, Chronicon, anno 399.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 297

victory this Saint achieved over the remains of the Druidical
religion, the ceremonies of which had, till then, been perpe-
tuated on the Rock of the Fairies. He explains in the same way
the repetition of a similar miracle in the legend of St. Efflam, and
in that of other saints.* His conjecture may be easily extended
to the works of a Thaumaturgist, who, before a stone, most pro-
bably druidical and still honoured by superstitious rites, overcame
a dragon which had ravaged the territory of Neuilly- Saint-
Front skirting Chateau-Thierry.f On a leaden medal, struck at
Amiens in 1552, (doubtless from some more ancient type), St.
Martin is represented as piercing with a lance the body of a
dragon which he tramples under foot. This was intended to
designate the victories of the Saint over the pagan divinities. J

Constantine, the overthrower of paganism, loved to have himself
painted, armed with a cross and striking with his lance a formi-
dable dragon. || Thirty years ago, in a town of Normandy, might
be seen an old picture which served as a sign to an hotel ; the cos-
tume and the figure were those of Louis XIV, the new St. Michael
levelling to the earth the infernal dragon. It was, I presume, as a
commemoration of the revocation of the edict of Nantes.

Heresy, indeed, not less than false religion, is reputed to be the
work of the spirit of darkness. § The bronze dragon, therefore, which
until 1728, the monks of St. Loup, at Troyes, carried in the pro-
cession of Rogation*[[ passed for the emblem of the victory of St.
Loup over the Pelagian heresy.

* Mémoires de l'Académie celtique, tome v. page 377.

f Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de France, tome i. pages 426,
427.

% Mémoires de l'Académie du département de la Somme, tome i. page 699.

|| Euseb. Pamph...de vitâ Constantini. lib. ni. cap. m.

§ The Emperor Sigismond instituted the order of the Vanquished Dragon,
in celebration of the anathema denounced by the council of Constance against
the doctrines of John Huss and Jerome of Prague. The dragon signified
heresy overcome.

If Grosley, Ephémérides, 3e partie, chap, xci, tome n. pages 222 — 225.

298 ILLUSTRATIONS.

§ VIL

MULTIPLICITY OK FACTS OF THIS NATURE, ADOPTED AS REAL
FACTS.

Allegories are beyond the comprehension of the ignorant multi-
tude, who are accustomed to believe whatever they are told. The
serpent paraded on Rogation day was generally regarded as the
representation of a real serpent, to the existence of which they
assigned a certain date. In vain was the meaning of the allegory
revealed to the superstitious ; in vain were they shown, for instance,
a picture of St. Veran loading the evil spirit with chains ; they
persisted in believing, and in relating that the territory of
Aries was formerly delivered by St. Veran from the ravages of a
monstrous serpent ; and a picture perpetuates the remembrance of
this victory,* which according to the legend was obtained at the
entrance of a grotto near a fountain.

Every parish had its dragon ; and, stiil in all the parishes in
Spain, the image of the serpent (Taras) is carried in procession
on Corpus Christi day. The history of the monster varies still
more than its forms, as imagination and credulity attributed to it
supernatural deeds. From dread they passed to respect. The
dragon of Poitiersf was piously surnamed the good Saint Vermine ;
they prayed to it ; and they were eager to obtain chaplets touched
by it. It is difficult to say, whether as a monument it remained
what it had formerly been, an idol, or that it became so by
degrees, among a superstitious people.

More commonly the emblem was surrounded by signs of hatred
and horror. Its legendary history justified these sentiments. It
had been the curse of the country in which its image was paraded.
Its venom had poisoned the springs, and its breath infected the

* I saw these pictures in 1813, in Majore, Laa church in Aries,
f Notes of the Society of the Antiquaries of France, vol. i. page 464.
Notes of the Celtic Academy, vol. v. pages 54 — 55.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 299

air with contagious diseases. It devoured the flocks ; killed men,
and chose young girls, virgins consecrated to the Lord, for its
victims ; whilst children disappeared engulphed in the abyss of
its terrible jaws. The Bailla, a figure of a dragon that was
paraded at Rheims every Easter day, had probably this origin.
The gilded dragon that figured in the processions of the Roga-
tion, in the parish of St. James of Douai, was the emblem of the
demon that had devoured the corn in the ear, and destroyed the
harvest to punish the cultivators of it for having refused to pay
the tithes.*

At Provence until 1761 — in the parishes of Notre Dame and
St. Quiriace, there was carried in the former in the processions of
the Rogation, a winged dragon, and in the latter a monster termed
a lizard, two animals which had formerly desolated the town and
its environs. f St. Florence went, we are told, by the command
of God, to establish himself in a grotto or cavern situated on
the left bank of the Loire, and to expel from it serpents with
which it was filled. Soon afterwards he delivered the inhabi-
tants of Mur, now Saumur, from an enormous serpent, which
devoured men and animals, and hid itself in a wood upon the banks
of the Vienne .%

At Tonnerre, the holy Abbot Johan overcame a basilisk which
infected the waters of a fountain. || The Vivre of Larré, to
which a Burgundian proverb likened any woman accused of
beshrewing,§ was a serpent hidden near a fountain in the vici-
nity of a Priory of the order of St. Benoit, and long an object

* Bottin. Traditions des Dragons volants, etc. pages 157 and 160 — 161.

t Ch. Opoix. Histoire et Description des Provins, pp. 435, 436.

+ J. J. Bodin. Recherches historiques sur Saumur et le Haut-Anjou, tome i.
pages 117 — 122.

|| Greg. Turon. De gloria confessor, cap. lxxxvii.

§ La Monnoye. Noel borguignon. 12mo. 1729, pages 399 — 400. — Vivre,
vouivre or, guivre, viper, serpent. The word guivre has still this sense in the
heraldic vocabulary.

300 ILLUSTRATIONS.

of public terror. At Aix in Provence, the procession of the Ro-
gations deposits upon a rock, called the Rock of the Dragon, and
near a chapel dedicated to St. Andrew, the figure of a dragon,
killed by the intercession of this holy apostle.* No less the
source of succour than St. Andrew and St. George, St. Victor at
Marseilles overcame a monstrous reptile. f St. Theodore tramp-
led a serpent under foot; J and St. Second, patron of Asti, is
represented on horseback, piercing a dragon with his lance. ||
We might quote many other similar legends without pretend-
ing to exhaust the subject. Knowing the common origin of
all, and the causes which, since the fifth century, multiplied
them in the East, we are far from being astonished at their
number ; on the contrary, we are surprised that more do not
exist.

§ VIII.

VARIATIONS IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND DATES OF THE NARRA-
TIONS ; NEW VESTIGES OF THE ASTRONOMICAL LEGEND.

The custom of bearing the image of the serpent in the ceremo-
nies of the Rogations ceased very gradually ; and it may be said,
this emblem of the Prince of Darkness yielded but slowly to the
advancement of the light of truth. Several churches in France
did not abandon the use of it until the eighteenth century ; in
1771, Grosley found it kept up in full force, in all the Catholic
churches of the Low Countries. § During so long a lapse of time

* Fauris Saint-Vincent. Mémoire sur l'ancienne cité d'Aix. — Magasin en-
cyclopédique, year 1812. vol. vi. page 287.

f In the Abbey of Saint Victor at Marseilles.

% Dorbessan. Essay upon Sacred Serpents. Historical and Critical Miscel-
lanies, vol. ii. page 138.

|| Millin. Travels in Savoy and Piedmont, vol. i. p. 121.

§ Grosley. Travels in Holland. Unpublished Works of Grosley. 3 vols.
8vo. Paris, 1815. vol. in. page 336.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 301

the narrations must necessarily have varied, and, consequently,
the explanations of them.

To overcome the Gargouille, the dragon of Rouen, Saint Ro-
mans caused himself to be accompanied by a criminal condemned
to death, whose pardon was obtained by the miracle of the Saint.

The clergy willingly gave credit to these kind of tales. They
augmented their power, by obtaining for the heads of their order
the right of pardoning ; or at least, as at Rouen, that of giving
liberty to prisoners. It was regarded as not granting too much
to the memory of a miracle, of which, by the will of God, a
condemned criminal became the instrument.

Still more willingly did the vulgar receive this variation of the
universal legend ; according to them no man could have resolved
to undertake so perilous a combat, unless with the fear of some
infamous and cruel death before him. In this manner, a criminal
condemned to death, robbed St. Radegonde of the honour of
having vanquished the Grand' gueule, the terrible dragon of
Poitiers, which issuing every day from its cavern on the banks of
the river Clain, devoured the Virgins of the Lord, the nuns of
the convent of St. Croix.* Another doomed man was said to
have delivered the parish of Villiers, near Vendôme, from the
ravages of a serpent.f A third killed a dragon, or a crocodile,
which, hidden beneath the waters of the Rhone, was the scourge
of the sailors and the inhabitants of the country. \ A deserted
soldier, in order to obtain his pardon, fought with a dragon that
spread terror into the environs of Niort. || He triumphed; but
lost his life in the struggle.

In discussing the history of this pretended soldier,§ M. Eloi-
Johanneau remarks how suspicious it is rendered, by one of the

* Mémoires de l'académie celtique, tome v. pages 52, 53, 55. Mémoires de
la Société des Antiquaires de France, tome i. page 464 — 465.
f Mémoires de l'Académie celtique, tome iv. page 311.
% Ibid, tome v. page 111.
|| Ibid. ibid, pages 58, 60, 132, 134.
§ Ibid. ibid, pages 59, and 134—135.

302 ILLUSTRATIONS.

names given to him signifying the vanquisher of a beast, or a mons-
ter, and particularly by its date 1589 or 1692, a date much too
recent for history not to have recorded the fact. .The date assigned
by D. Calmet to the appearance of the serpent of Luneville is still
more modern. He places it a century from the time in which he
wrote.* Of all the variations which popular traditions are subject
to, in the course of time, the most common are those which relate
to date. For such stories there exist no archives ; and it is in the
nature of man to be for ever endeavouring to appropriate to himself
recollections bequeathed to him by the past. Too long an inter-
val between them and the time present wearies his imagination,
unable to fill up the gap ; he, therefore, endeavours to narrow it
in proportion as the lapse of time may demand. Thus the
dragon of Niort has been successively placed in 1589, and in
1692. That of the Grand' gueule of Poitiers, when attributed
to a condemned criminal, was placed at so great a distance
from the period in which St. Radegonde lived, that in 1280
the apparition of the flying dragon was also attributed to that
town.f Although St. Jerome has described the combat of St-
Hilary against the serpent of Epidaurus, the caverns and remains
of which are still shown to travellers, its defeat has been attri-
buted to himself.^ The tradition which attributes the destruction
of the Tarasque to St. Martha, is modern compared to that
which gave the honour to sixteen brave men, eight of whom
perished victims to their courage ; the others founded the towns
of Beaucaire and Tarascon.||

We might instance several other dates that time has also
disarranged and modernised. It is, nevertheless, for a different

* Journal of Verdun, June 1751. page 430.

f Mémoires de l'Académie celtique, tome v. pages 61, 62.

% Pouqueville. Voyage dam la Grèce, tome i. pages 24, 25.

|| Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de France, tome i. page 423.
The foundation of Tarascon (or more properly the establishment of the
Marseillaise in this town) appears previous to the war of Caesar against Pom-
pey.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 303

cause that the death of the heroes of Tarascon and the soldier of
Niort deserve to be remembered. In those myths which describe
the struggle of the principle of light over the principle of darkness,
the former frequently paid for its victory with its life. It is thus
related of Osiris, of Bacchus, of Atys, and of Adonis. In the
Scandinavian mythology, likewise, at that terrible day when
the world is to be destroyed and renewed, the God Thor,
after having exterminated the great serpent, engendered by the
principle of evil, is to perish himself, stifled by the venomous
breath emitted by the monster. We are not astonished at finding
another vestige of the solar legend, or in seeing several vanquishers
of enormous serpents falling in the midst of their triumphs, or
unable to survive them.

Ancient Greece offers an example of such generous devo-
tion. The town of Thespia, by the command of a miracle,
offered every year a youth to a homicidal dragon. Cleos-
trates was destined by fate for this horrible sacrifice. His
friend, Menestrates, took his place ; and clothed in a cuirass,
each scale of which bore a hook with the point turned upper-
most, he delivered himself to the monster whose death he caused,
although he himself perished.*

Towards the end of the fifteenth century, or according to a
more ancient tradition in 1273, (for here the date is varied
that it may be brought nearer to our times), the mountains of
Neufchatel were ravaged by a serpent, the recollection of which
is still maintained by the names of several places in the environs
of the village of Sulpy f Raymond of Sulpy, fought with the
monster, killed it, and died two days afterwards.

Such was also the fate of Belzunce who delivered Bayonne

* Pausanias. Boœtica, cap. xxvi.

f Roche à la Vuivra ; Combe à la Vuivra, Fontaine à la Vuivra (vivra
vivre, guivre, serpent.) Description des Montagnes de Neufchâtel, Neufcha-
tel, 1776, 12mo. p. 34—37.

304 ILLUSTRATIONS.

from a dragon with several heads ; he perished, suffocated by the
flames and smoke vomited by the monster.*

Patriotism celebrates with enthusiasm the name of Arnold
Strouthan of Wihkelried who, at the battle of Sampach, in 1386,
devoted himself for the safety of his countrymen. The name of
one of his ancestors has a less authentic but not less popular title
to immortality. Upon the banks of the river Meleh, near Alpen-
ach, in the Canton of Underwald there appeared, in 1250, a
dragon, the cave of which is still shown. Struth de "Winkelried
condemned to banishment for having fought a duel, determined
to regain the right of re-entering his country by delivering it from
this scourge ; he succeeded, but died of his wounds the day after
his victory. f Petermann Eterlin (who in truth wrote two hun-
dred and fifty years later), J has recorded this fact in his chronicles.
The hand of the artist has sketched it upon the walls of a chapel
near the scene of the encounter ; the place has preserved the
name of the Marsh of the Dragon (Drakenried) ; and the cavern
that of the Dragon's Hole (Drakenlok.) These commemorative
names and those of the same kind, existing near Sulpy, indicate,
perhaps, like that of the Rock of the Dragon, at Aix, the places
where the procession of Rogations stopped, and where the image
of the allegorical dragon was momentarily deposited. || Perhaps,
they may also have related, as we have already suspected, to the
course of some devastating torrent.

* Mercure de France, March 29th, 1817. p. 585.

f Le Conservateur Suisse, 7 vols. 12mo. Lausanne. 1813 — 1815. tome
vi. p. 440 — 441. Mayer. Travels in Switzerland, vol. i. p. 251, seems to at-
tribute this adventure to Arnold of Winkelried, and places the dragon's
cavern near Stanz.

% W. Coxe. Letters upon Switzerland, vol. i. p. 160.

|| The mountain nearest to Cologne, is called Rocks of the Dragons.
Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de France, tome h, pp. 139, 140.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 305

§ IX.

THIS LEGEND HAS BEEN APPLIED TO CELEBRATED PERSONAGES :
AND HISTORY HAS BEEN ALTERED THAT IT MIGHT SEEM TO
RELATE THE EVENTS.

Eterlin, the biographer of Struth of Winkelried, has transferred
to William Tell the adventure of the apple*, which Saxo Gram-
maticus, who wrote more than a century before the birth of Tell,
had already related of a Danish archer named Toko ;f an adven-
ture borrowed, with precisely the same circumstances, from a still
more ancient tradition of Egil, father of the clever smith Wailland,
and himself an expert archer. I Eterlin seems to have taken
pains to impress, with an historical character, the religious myths
and fables imported from other countries into his own. He wrote
down all popular beliefs ; and nothing is more usual with the
vulgar than to apply the histories and fables, composing their
documents, to personages well known to them. Winkelried and
Tell, are to the Swiss peasants, what Alexander was and still is
in the East. To the name of the King of Macedonia, the Asiatics
attached a thousand recollections, some of them anterior to his
existence, and evidently borrowed from mythology. The tradi-
tions of a devastating dragon over which Alexander triumphed,

* W. Coxe. Letters on Switzerland, vol. i. p. 160. See a writing, entitled :
William Tell, a Danish Fable, by Uriel Freudenberger, a work published at
Berne, in 1760, by Haller, jun. 1 vol. 8vo. — Uriel Freudenberger, Pastor of
Glarisse, Canton of Berne, died in 1768.

f Saxo Gramm. Hist. Danic. lib. x. folio. Francofurti, 1576. pp. 166 —
168. Saxo died in 1204. Harold who plays in history the same part as
Gessler, fell beneath the blows of Toko in 981. The fable of the apple being
much more ancient, it was renewed by the public hatred, under the name of
Harold, as it has since been reproduced in Switzerland, under the odious
name of Gessler.

% Mémoires de la Société' des Antiquaires de France, tome v. p. 229.

VOL, II. X

306 ILLUSTRATIONS.

was, in the twelfth century, still preserved in an island of Western
Africa.* The Paladine Roland enjoyed the same honour in the
West ; and this is still attested by the names of several places. f
Ariosto, when singing of Roland, the vanquisher of the Orca, a sea
monster about to devour a young girl, J probably did no more than
copy and embellish a tradition of preceding ages, as in a thousand
other passages of his poem.

An individual whose existence and fame are in no respect fabu-
lous has, nevertheless, become like Roland, the hero of a fable
which renders him a rival of Hercules and Perseus. The import-
ance which the remembrance of him had acquired in a country
which was so long his abode, has doubtlessly gained this honour
for him. Petrarch was following Laura in the chase : they arrived
near a cavern where a dragon, the terror of the country, was
concealed. Less ravenous than amorous the dragon pursued
Laura. Petrarch flew to the assistance of his mistress ; fought
with, and stabbed the monster. The sovereign pontif, however,
would not allow the picture of the triumph of love to be placed
in any sacred building. Simon of Sienna, the friend of the poet,
evaded this prohibition, by painting this adventure under the
portal of the church of Notre Dame du Don, at Avignon. Laura
is depicted in the attitude of a suppliant virgin ; and Petrarch, in
the costume of St. George, armed with a poignard instead of a
lance. Time, though it has lowered the estimation in which this
work was held, has not weakened the tradition, which it perpe-
tuates, and which has been repeated to me as a real historical fact. ||

In the examination of traditions, sufficient attention has not
always been paid to that inclination which induces the ignorant
man to find in everything, the myths occupying the first place in

* L'île de Mostachiin, Géographie cCEdrisi, tome i. pp. 198 — 200.

f La Baume Roland, near Marseilles ; la Brèche Roland, in the Pyrenees ;
il C. ... d? Orlando, three miles from Rimini, &c.

X Orlando Furioso. canto xi.

|| In 1813. I ohserved that in recitals concerning Laura at Avignon or at
Vaucluse, she is always respectfully called Madame Laura.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 307

his belief. To arrive at such a result, he perverts his recollec-
tions, either by attributing to some individual events that have
never happened to him ; or, by introducing into history, the in-
credible parts of a fable. The story in which Petrarch figures,
is an example of the first kind' of alteration; we shall find one
of the second kind, without diverging from our subject.

A Swedish Prince* had nurtured up near his daughter, named
Thora, two serpents to be the guardians of her virginity. Grown
to an immense size, these monsters spread terror and death
around them, chiefly by their pestilential breath. The King, in
despair, promised the hand of his daughter to the hero who should
kill the serpents. Regner-Lodbrog, a Prince, a Scald, and a
warrior, achieved this perilous adventure, and became the husband
of the beautiful Thora. That is the fable : — but, according to the
Ragnara-Lodbrog's-Saga,t the history is as follows. It was not
to two serpents, but to one of his vassals, the possessor of a strong
castle, that the King had confided the charge of his daughter ; the
guardian becoming enamoured of the Princess, refused to
restore her ; and the King, after vain attempts to compel him,
promised that Thora should espouse her liberator. Régner- Lod-
brog was this happy individual.

In an incursion upon the coasts of Northumberland, however,
Régner was conquered, made a prisoner, and thrown into a sub-
terranean dungeon filled with serpents, their bites proved fatal.
This is said to have occurred about the year 866. The
story is related by every historian^ perpetuated also in the Dirge
which has been attributed to Régner himself. I nevertheless
suspect that, in the nature of his punishment, an attempt was

* Saxo. Grammat. Hist. Dan. lib. ix, p. 153. Olaus Magnus Hist. sept,
gentium. Brev. lib. v, cap. xvn.

t Quoted in the work of Biorner, entitled: Koempedater (Stockholm,
1737) and by Graberg of Hemsôe. Saggio istorico Sugli caldi, 8vo. Pisa,
1811, p. 217.

% Saxo Grammat. Hist. Dan. lib. ix. p. 159. — Olaus Magnus, loc. cit. —
Ragnara-Lodbrog 's- Saga.

x 2

308 ILLUSTRATIONS.

made to connect it with the legend of which this hero was already
the object. The same spirit which had altered the history of his
hymeneals, so as to recal or emblemize the struggle in which the
principle of good triumphed over the principle of evil, intended
perhaps that his tragical end should also recal the death suffered
by the principle of good in the allegorical combats. The name of
the vanquisher, Regna Hella, favours this supposition ; the Scan-
dinavians can discern in it the name of Héla, goddess of death,
like the great serpent, the offspring of the principle of evil. What
sanctions my conjecture, is the great importance accorded in
Scandinavian mythology to the great serpent ; it is never described
as perishing, except it draws after it, into annihilation, the god
with whom it fought. In this manner, serpents and dragons
reappear more than once in the Scandinavian annals. I find
that, both before and after Régner, the general myth is inter-
woven, in two several places, into the individual history . Frotho I.
ninth King of Denmark,* requiring money to pay his soldiers,
attacked, in a desert isle, a dragon, the guardian of a treasure,
and killed it at the very entrance of its cavern. Harold, f exiled
from Norway, took refuge in Byzance. Having been guilty
of homicide, he was exposed to the fury of a monstrous dragon.
More fortunate than Régner, he overcame it, and returned
to occupy the throne of Norway, and to annoy the nephew of
Canute the Great, who was then seated upon the throne of
Denmark.

* 761 years before J. C. — Saxo Grammat. Hist. Dan. lib. n. pp. 18, 19.

f In the 11th century. — Saxo Grammat. Hist. Dan. lib. xi. pp. 185, 186.
I translate the word antrum into cavern. The ditch in which Régner Lod-
brog perished, seems to me to correspond with the caverns of almost all the
legends quoted.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 309

PHYSICAL OBJECTS AND MONUMENTS, IN WHICH THE VULGAR
FIND AGAIN THE PICTURE OF THE DESTRUCTION OF A MON-
STROUS SERPENT.

That which daily strikes the senses has an influence upon the
belief of uneducated men, at least as much as the recollections
which are engraved on the memory ; physical objects, paintings,
and sculpture, like history, aid the imagination to discover every
where legends that favour credulity.

In the Abbey of St. Victor, at Marseilles, in the Hospital
of Lyons,* and in a church at Ragusa, the skin of a crocodile is
shown to travellers. It is pointed out as the skin of a monster,
the hero of legends, belonging to these different places ; and,
nevertheless, at Ragusa, for example, it is not unknown that it is
a skin which was brought from Egypt by Ragusan sailors. f
These kind of relics, intended for keeping up and confirming
faith, when they do not originate it, have never appeared mis-
placed in our temples, into which, probably, they were first
introduced in the quality of votive offerings. This was the
opinion passed by MilhnJ upon the skin of a cayman, || suspended
from the roof of a church at Cimiers, in the province of Nice. It
did not appear that any history was attached to it; whether it
was from the lapse of time the legend has fallen into oblivion,

* Mémoires de l'Académie celtique, vol. v. p. 111.

f Pouqueville. Voyage dans la Grèce, tome i. pp. 24, 25.

% Millin. Voyage en Savoie, en Piémont, à Nices, à Genes, tome n. p. 124.

|| The CaymaD, Crocodilus Pal/pebresus (Cuvier) is a native of Surinam
and Guiana. It does not attain to as large a size as the other species of
crocodiles ; nor will it attack a man either on the land, or in the water as
long as he keeps his legs and arms in motion. This species of crocodile has
never been found in the old continent ; hence it is not found in any of the
ancient temples. — Ed.

310 ILLUSTRATIONS.

or that the ex voto was too recent to presume to apply any
legend to it.

Another monument of this kind, the existence of which however
is less certain, is the head of the dragon, which was so miraculously
conquered by Dieudonné of Gozon. It was preserved at Rhodes.
The Turks, when they became masters of Rhodes, respected it.
The traveller Thévenot saw it towards the middle of the 17th
century, and the description which he gives of it, would lead it to
be regarded as belonging rather to a hippopotamus than to
a serpent.* Will it be considered too bold, to think that this
head, like the cayman of Cimiers, like the crocodiles of Ragusa,
of Lyons, and of Marseilles, was first exposed by public piety or
by interest ; and that, constantly attracting the observations of
the multitude, it furnished an occasion for applying, at a later
period, the legend of the hero who conquered the dragon, to a
celebrated cavalier, a Grand Master of the Order ?

At Wasmes, near Mons, on Pentecost Tuesday, and on Trinity
Day, the head of a crocodile is carried in procession. In the eyes
of a credulous population, it represents the head of the dragon,
which in the 12th century, ravaged the environs of Wasmes,
and which, when about to devour a young girl in his cavern,
fell under the blows of Gilles, Lord of Chin.f A tradition,
carefully preserved in the country, attributes to the father of
Chin, who died in 1137, the most striking traits of an exploit,
the honour of which, two centuries later, was given to Dieu-
donné, of Gozon, namely, the difficulty of obtaining permis-
sion to combat the dragon, the care with which a figure resem-
bling it was manufactured a long time previously, for the purpose
of training the horses and the dogs gradually to attack it fear-
lessly, and the precaution of being followed by devoted servants

* Thevenot. Relation d'un Voyage fait au Levant, &c. p. 223.

f Recherches Historiques sur Gilles, seigneur de Chin, et le Dragon. Mons.
1825. — Revue encyclopédique, vol. xxvin, pp. 192, 193. — M. Bottin. Tradi-
tions des Dragons volants &" "" ■""

ILLUSTRATIONS. 3 1 1

to the place of combat. Here is another example of the facility
with which they applied to persons known at one period and in
one country, the myths borrowed from another country, and from
an anterior epoch.

A direct interest is not always requisite for changing an astro-
nomical myth into local history. There is at Clagenfurt, placed
upon a fountain an antique group, found at Saal or Zolfeld, the
ancient Colonia Solvensis, representing a dragon of a prodigious
size, and a Hercules armed with a club. The people believe it to
be a poor peasant who had formerly delivered the country from
the ravages of a dragon, the image of which they conceive is
properly placed by the side of his own.*

Upon a cross, placed in the cemetery of Dommarie, a commune
of the department of the Meurthe, (of which the forest of Thorey
is a dépendance), is sculptured the figure of a winged dragon.
Calmet, deceived by this emblem, has related that a winged
dragon was formerly the terror of this country .f

The inhabitants of Trebizonde relate, that in 1204, Alexis
Comnenes overthrew with his own hands a monstrous dragon.
In memory of this exploit, he caused a fountain, which he called
the fountain of the dragon, to be constructed in the town. This
monument remains ; the mouth of the pipe whence the water
issues, representing the head of the fabulous animal. J This figure of
the spout has given to the fountain the name which it bears ;
and, consequently, is the origin of the legend.

Augustus Caesar, wishing to immortalize the remembrance of
his conquest, and the submission of Egypt, gave as a type for the
medals of a colony which he had just founded in Gaul, a crocodile
tied to a palm-tree. The town in which the colony settled had

* Ed. Brown. Narrative of many Voyages.

f Bottin. Traditions, &c. pp. 156, 157. Journal de Verdun, Juin, 1751.
p. 454.

% Prottiers. Itinéraire de Tiflis à Constantinople, (Brussels, 1829),
p. 206.

3 1 2 ILLUSTRATIONS.

for several centuries recognised Nemausus whose name it bore, and
who was its founder, as its local divinity ; and this name could not
fail to figure upon its medals. Very soon, and notwithstanding
that the palm-tree never grew on the soil of Nismes, (the ancient
Nemausus), the crocodile became one of those monsters in all the
different legends, which stated that the imitators of Hercules,
holy men, or those worthy of being regarded as such, had over-
come. This terrible animal poisoned the waters of a fountain,
and desolated the country. The hero had triumphed over it ;
and he thus received, and transmitted to the town which he
founded near the fountain, the name of Nemausus, which still
recals that he alone had performed, what none had dared to
attempt*

Here at least, a real representation, although badly interpreted,
had attracted observation and excused the error. According to a
received tradition at Pisa, Nino Orlandi, in 1109, succeeded in
confining an enormous and dangerous serpent in an iron cage,
and paraded it thus into the middle of the town. How can we
doubt of the truth of the fact ? A bas-relievo, placed in the
Campo Santo, represented it ; an inscription attested it. Ob-
servant eyes have, in our time, examined these two monuments ;
the inscription was placed in 1777 ; the bas-relief, a fragment in
Paros marble, does not pourtray a single object that can relate to
Orlandi's pretended victory.f

* Nemo Jusus. — M. l'Abbé Simil. Mémoires sur la Maison carrée. —
Notices sur les travaux de l'Académie du Gard, of 1812 to 1822. 1st Part,
pp. 329, 330. — Eusèbe Salverte. Essai sur les noms d'Hommes, de Peuples
et de Lieux, tome u. pp. 279, 280.

t See the Moniteur Universel of Monday, July 2, 1812.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 313

§ XI.

COATS-OF-ARMS AND MILITARY ENSIGNS GIVE PLACE TO NEW
APPLICATIONS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL LEGEND.

Greedy of glory and of power, it was natural for the nobles
and the warriors to wish to share with the demi-gods of paga-
nism, with the favoured of Heaven, the honour of those triumphs
which would secure immortal claims on the gratitude of the
people. After the Scandinavian heroes, after Struth of Win-
kelried, Belzunce, and Dieudonné of Gozon, we can refer to
a young noble who accompanied St. Pol, when he wished to
destroy the dragon of the Isle of Batz ;* and also St. Bertrand,
the conqueror of the dragon of Comminges ; a bishop, who
belonged to an illustrious race ; for he was the son of a Count
of Toulouse. f

We might also quote the pretended origin of the prœnomen
of the Nompar of Caumont. Reviving for themselves the
fabulous history of the founder of Nismes, they relate that this
prœnomen was transmitted to them by one of their ancestors,
who, in fact, showed himself sans pair (non par), in giving death
to a monstrous dragon, whose ravages desolated his territory.

But to avoid tedious repetitions, we shall confine ourselves
to remarking how much this pretension on the part of the
nobles was favoured by the figures with which each of them
ornamented his helmet or his shield, and which, from them
have passed into coats-of-arms.

Ubert was the first who, among the Milanese, fulfilled the
functions delegated to the Counts (Comités) of the Lower-
Empire, and of the Empire of Charlemagne. He adopted, in
consequence, the surname of Vice-Count, which he transmitted

* Cambry, Voyage dans le département du Finislerre. tome i. pp. 147, 1 18.
f Dictionnaire de Moreri, art. Saint -Bertrand.

314 ILLUSTRATIONS.

to his descendants. At Milan, in that place where the very
ancient Church of St. Denis rears itself, there was there a deep
cavern, the dwelling of an ever-hungry dragon, whose breath
spread death to a great distance. Ubert fought it, and killed it ;
and he wished its image to figure in the coats -of- arms of the
Visconti.* According to Paul Jove, Othon, one of the first
Vice-Counts distinguished himself in the army of Godfrey of
Bouillon : a Saracen chief, whom he slew in single combat,
bore upon his helmet the figure of a serpent devouring an
infant; the conqueror placed it in his coat-of-arms, and left
to his posterity this monument of his glory .f The recital of
Paul Jove, if it is not as true as the other, is at least as
probable.

Aymon, Count of Corbeil, bore upon his shield a dragon
with two heads. In a street of Corbeil there may be seen a
covered drain, which terminates at the river of Etampes :
according to popular tradition, this was formerly the den
of a dragon with two heads, the terror of the country ; the
Count Aymon had the honour of conquering it. J

The family Dragon of Ramillies had as its arms, a gold
dragon in an azure field. This family traces the origin of its
name, and of its coat-of-arms, to a victory obtained by John,
Lord of Ramillies, over a dragon which desolated the neigh-
bouring territory of Escaut; and which the intrepid Baron
combatted even in the cavern into which the monster enticed
its victims. ||

The lion, being the symbol of strength, generally decorated the
tombs of the knights. Upon the tomb of Gouffier of Lascours,
a serpent is added to it, as the symbol of prudence. In these
representations one may perceive an evident allusion to a

* Carlo Torre. Ritratto di Milano. p. 273.
f Paul. Jov. in Vit. duod. Vicecom. mediol. princip. . . . Prafatio.
X Millin. Antiquités nationales, tome n. art. Saint Spire de Corbeil.
|| Bottin, Traditions, &c. pp. 164, 165.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 315

marvellous adventure, related by the chronicles, in which this
warrior had delivered a lion, from an enormous dragon by which
it was pursued. The grateful animal attached himself to his bene-
factor, and followed him every where, like a faithful dog.* We
may observe that this is precisely the adventure that the author
of the Morgante ascribes to Renaud of Montauban.f But the
invention does not belong to him ; the same story is found
again in the poetical romance of Chrestien of Troyes, entitled
the Knight of the Lion. J

Similar recitals have arisen from similar causes, before the
invention of chivalrous emblems and coats-of-arms.

A warrior always desires to present to his adversaries, objects
capable of striking them with terror. The serpent is the
emblem of a prudent and dangerous enemy ; the winged- serpent,
or dragon, is the presage of rapid and inevitable destruction.
These signs found their place upon the banners, as well as upon
the face of the shields, and upon the tops of the helmets. The
dragon figured also among the military ensigns of the Assyrians ;
and Cyrus, the Conqueror of the Assyrians, caused it to be
adopted by the Persians and by the Medes.|| Under the
Roman Emperors, and under the Emperors of Byzantium, every
cohort, or centurion, bore a dragon as its ensign. § Grosley
affirms (but without bearing out his assertion by decisive proofs)
that the dragons, from being military ensigns, which were the ob-
jects of the wortehip of the Roman soldier, passed into the churches,
and figured in the processions of the Rogations, as trophies
acquired by the conquests of religion. %

* N. Dallou. Monumens des différens Ages observés dans le Département de
la Haute-Vienne, p. 359.

t Morgante. Cont. iv. ottav. 7 et seq.

X Manuscr. de la Bibliothèque du Roi, No. 7535, folio 16 verso, colonne 2.

|| Georg. Codin. Curop. de Officiai. Palat. Constant Feriœ quai in

palatio soient, &çc.

§ Modestus. De Vocabul. Rei. Milit. — Flav. Veget. De Re Militari, lib. n.
cap. 13 ; Georg. Codin. Curop. loc. cit.

If Grosley. Ephemérides, me, partie, chap, ix, tom. n, pp. 222 — 225.

3 1 6 ILLUSTRATIONS.

We must admit, also, that similar signs have more than once
recalled the remembrance of astronomic myths ; and, when
it is known that in religious ceremonies, the image of the dragon
was carried by the side of that of St. George, before the
Emperor of Constantinople,! we are tempted to believe, that
St. George owes to this custom, the legend which has placed
him in the same rank as St. Michael.

Uther, the first King of England, the father of the famous
King Arthur, imitated in battle the example of the Assyrians
and the Persians, and hoisted a dragon, with a golden head,
as an ensign. In consequence of this transaction, he received
the surname of Pen-dragon (Dragon-head), a surname which
gave rise to many marvellous recitals. For instance, it is related
that he saw in the skies a star which had the form of a fiery
dragon, and which foretold his elevation to the throne. % The
astronomical origin of the primitive legend had not been for-
gotten.

§ XII.

ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY ALTERED FOR THE PURPOSE OF FINDING
IN IT THE LEGEND OF THE SERPENT.

After having corrupted history ; after having mistaken the
origin of physical representations ; forgotten the signification
of monuments ; and even having read and seen upon them what
had never existed, the desire of discovering every where a myth
which had been familiarised, required but one step more : — it
only remained to sacrifice objects of ancient credulity, and to
disfigure a preceding mythology, in order to bend it to the
recitals of a new mythology. The following is a fact of this

t Georg. Codin. Curop. De Official. Palal. Cons. loc. cit. " Cantata igitur
lilurgia . . . aliud (Flammeolum) quod fert sanctum Ceorgium equitem, aliitd
clraconteum," &c.

X Ducange. Glossar. verbo. Draco.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 3 1 7

species, which without being positive, is not devoid of proba-
bility. It is attached to a memorial sufficiently famous, to
render excusable the details upon which we are forced to
enter.

In explaining a medal which appeared to belong to the
15th century, and which, on the reverse of the head of Geoffrey
of Lusignan, says, Geoffrey à la grand'dent, displayed the head
of a fantastic monster. Millin* relates that Geoffrey was
invited to combat a monster, which had already devoured an
English knight. When prepared to attempt the adventure,
Geoffrey died of sickness. The head drawn upon the medal
is, he adds, that of the monster, "which Geoffrey would cer-
tainly have conquered, had not death prevented him." But a
medal would never have been struck out to immortalize what had
never occurred : it must then have been, that tradition in the
family of Lusignan, to which Millin attributes the manufacture
of the medal, and which related that the brave Count, like so
many saints and heroes who have passed in review before us,
was the vanquisher of the monster.

Let us remember, firstly, that Geoffrey was the son or rather
the descendant of the famous Mellusine or Merlusine.f Mele-
sendis, who transformed herself every Saturday into a serpent ;
secondly, that the Sassenages, who considered Geoffrey of the

* Voyage au Midi de la France, tome iv. pages 707, 708 ; Geoffroy à la
grand'dent, died about the year 1250.

t I shall not contest with M. Mazet, quoted by Millin (Voyage au midi de
la France, tome iv. page 706), whether the mother of Geoffrey was entitled Me-
licendis, Melesindis (Melisende), and that this name may have been confounded
with that of Mellusine. But far from admitting that it has produced it,
it is my opinion that the confusion arose because the name of Mellusine
was already celebrated. Still less easily shall I adopt another etymology
according to which the lady of Melle, bearing this lordship as her dower
to the Sieur de Lusignan, the two names united and formed that of Mellusine.
(Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de France, tome ni. pages 279, 280.)
At the commencement of the thirteenth century, women did not join their
names to that of their husband's dominions. I do not even think that they

318 ILLUSTRATIONS.

great tooth (à la grand'dent) as among their ancestors, had
sculptured upon the exterior door of their castle a figure Mellu-
sine,* that is to say, half woman half serpent.

Merlusine was a benevolent fairy, it seemed, therefore, natural
to rank one of her descendants among the number of hero-
destroyers of the deadly serpent, and when applying to him
the universal and common legend, to ascribe to him a victory
perpetuated by the medal, of which an explanation has been
attempted by Millin.

But where in the marshes of Poitou, could a being half
woman, half serpent, or alternately the one or the other, have
originated ?

A tradition, preserved to the present day, informs us that
Merlusine transformed herself into a fish, and not into a ser-
pent, f This is the key to the enigma which belongs to a high

commonly bore the name of their own possessions. In pronouncing it Merlusin
with Brantôme (Vies des Hommes illustres, etc. tome, vin. p. 322) and with
the people, more certain guides than the learned upon the pronunciation
of names handed down in ancient stories, I draw near to the orthography
of the family name of Geoffroy, thus written upon the medal before men-
tioned, Godefridus de Lusinem. You have only to place mère (mater) before
the last word to reproduce the name of Merlusine, and to prove that it was
nothing more than the simple title of Mother of the Lusignan (Mère des
Lusignan), applied by the people to the woman-serpent, to the fairy from
whom this family claimed or adduced their descent. Our etymology is the
less probable from the fact that Jean d'Arras, the first author who compiled
the history of Merluzine, wrote in the reign of Jean in the fourteenth cen-
tury, when the family name of the Lusignans had been long fixed and
become celebrated.

* Millin. Magasin Encyclopédique, 1811. tome vi. pages 108 — 112.

f Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de France, tome ni. page 320.
Scarron was not ignorant of this tradition, for in his third satire he makes a
fop declare that he will make,

" The infant Mellusine ;
The heroine will be half woman half fish,"
appear on the stage. [Let

ILLUSTRATIONS. 319

antiquity. The image of the mermaid, which the moderns
deemed a syren although all the ancient writings and monuments
depict the syrens as bird and woman,* this image, so common in
the time of Horace, that the poet cited it as the type of absurdity, f
— this image, that the Greeks applied to Eurynome, one of the
wives of the God of the Sea, this image is that under which
the Syrians and Phoenicians invoked Astarte, or Atergatis,
the Celestial Virgin. % It may be found in the Egyptian
planisphere, where it represents the sign of the Fishes united
to that of the Virgin. It is perpetuated in the religions of

Let us observe the most generally received tradition very nearly approaches
this in placing Mellusine in an immense basin, the blows of her tail forced
the water up to the vaulted roof of the chamber. — Bulletin de la Société
d'Agriculture de Poitiers, 1828. p. 214, 215.

* In a wall of the interior court of the Museum of Paris is in crusted
an ancient alto-relievo of white marble, a bird-woman, a syren. Mount-
faucon saw similar figures of syrens in red marble in the town of Aldo-
brandino (Diarium Italicum, 170) p. 190, 191. At Stymphales upon the
borders of Argolis and Arcadia, marble statues represent young girls hav-
ing the legs of birds, {Pausanias Arcad. cap. xxn). In the ruins of the
ancient temples of the island of Java, several figures of birds having the
heads of girls have been discovered, and one was remarked as having the
head of an aged man {Description of Java, by Marchai, 4to. Brussels, 1824).
This proves the antiquity of the myth relative to the syren, but does not in-
dicate the origin of it. Plato assisted, perhaps, by the traditions of ancient
India, placed a syren on each of the eight circles of the heavens, who sung
whilst following the periodical revolution {Plat, de Repub. lib. x.) Mene-
phylle, in Plutarch, rejects this idea, because the syrens, he says, are ma-
levolent genii ; but Ammonius justifies Plato.

t Turpiter atrum

Desinit in piscem mulier formosa superne.

Horat. De Art. Poet.

X According to the scholiast of Germanicus {Aratcsa Phenomena Virgo),
the celestial virgin is identical with Atergatis, Hyginus recognises Venus in
the sign Pisces,

320 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Japan* and Hindustan, \ and preserved in the ancient mythology
of the island of Java.+

It has even penetrated into Kamtschatka, doubtless with the
Lamich religion. In the Iortes (iourtes) of the northern Kamts-
chatdales one sees the idol, Khan-tai, represented with a human
body as far as the chest, the remainder resembling the tail of
a fish. A fresh image is fabricated every year, and the number of
these point out the number of years the Iourt has been con-
structed. || This peculiarity proves that the idol, Khan-tai, like
the mermaid of the Egyptian planisphere, is of an astronomical
origin, since it has remained the symbol of the renewal of the
year.

We are not able to speak so decidedly of the Mother of the
Water, a malevolent divinity, half fish, half woman, who, accord-
ing to the natives of Guiana, delights in attracting the fishermen
to the open sea, and then sinking their frail vessels. This fable,
it is said, was spread over America before the arrival of the
Europeans. §

Could a symbol so frequently reproduced reach Gaul ? Could
time modify it sufficiently to have changed the extremity of a fish
into that of a serpent ?

1 . To the first question I answer, that this symbol still exists
in one of the most ancient towns of France, namely, at Marseilles.
Upon an angle of the Fort St. John can be distinguished the
gigantic figure of a monster, half- woman, half-fish. If it has
been thus reproduced in the construction of Fort St. John, it was
most probably because it existed long before as a national monu-
ment. Its name, the same as that of the town, Marseilles,

* Canon, Japanese Divinity.

f Third Avater of Vishnu.

% Description of Java.

|| Krachéninnikow. Description of Kamtschatka, first part, chap. iv.

§ Barbé Marbois. Journal aVun déporté, tome n. p. 134.

ILLUSTRATIONS, 321

indicates that it represented the local divinity, the town itself
deified. The Phoceans, in adopting a symbol so suitable for
characterizing a large maritime city, would not have had occasion
to borrow from Tyre, Sidon, or Carthage. They had founded
their colony under the auspices of the Great Diana of Ephesus,
the heavenly virgin who was adored in this form not only in Asia,
but even in Greece, for the statue, half woman, half fish, honoured
at Phigalia, was frequently regarded as a statue of Diana.*

2. Almost all the Tartar Princes trace their genealogy to
a celestial virgin, impregnated by a sunbeam or some equally
marvellous means. f In other language, the mythology which
serves as the starting point of their annals, belongs to the age in
which the sign of the Virgin was used for denoting the summer
solstice.

The Greeks deduced the origin of the Scythians from a virgin,
half- woman, half- serpent, who had intercourse with Jupiter or
Hercules,^ both emblems of the generating sun. If, as it is
allowable to suppose, the two origins are synonymous, the Greeks,
in the image of the national divinity of the Celestial Virgin, from
whom the Scythians and Tartars pretended to derive their descent,
will have mistaken or not recognized the form of the lower part,
but in place of the extremity of a fish have seen that of a serpent.

* Pausanias. Arcad. cap. xli. A priestess of Diana, at Ephesus, had fol-
lowed the Phoceans to Marseilles, bearing with her a statue of the Divinity
and these latter instituted the worship of Diana as they had received it from
their ancestors, in every town they founded in Gaul, as, for instance, at Agde.
Strabo, lib. iv.

f Eulogiumof Moukden, pp. 13 and 221 — 225. Alankava, or Alancoua, a
Mongol Princess, experienced three times successively that a celestial light had
penetrated her bosom, and she confidently announced that she should bring
forth to the world three male children. Her prediction was verified. Of her
three sons, called children of the light, one beeame the father of the Kap-
Giaks Tartars, another the ancestor of the Selgink, or Selgionkides, and from
the third Genghis and Tamerlane were descended. Petis de la Croix, History
of Genghis Khan, pp. 11 — 13 ; Dherbelot, Biblioth. Orientale, art. Alankava.

X Herodat. lib. iv. cap, ix. — Biod. Sic. lib. n. cap. xx.

VOL. il. Y

322 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Now, in order to fix upon the banks of the Sevre both the
ancient symbol and the alteration by which it has been disfigured,
I need not refer to the Druids, who honoured a virgin who was to
bring forth children — the Celestial Virgin, who every year shining
in the highest heavens, should at midnight restore to the earth
the child- god, the sun, born of the winter solstice. It does not
appear that the Druids ever offered physical representations to the
veneration of our ancestors, or at least, not until the times when
communication with other nations induced them, by degrees, to
imitate their idolatry. But Pytheas, who had coasted along the
western shores of Gaul, could not assuredly have been the only
one among the Marseillaise navigators ;* nor could the Phoe-
nicians and Carthagenians, in their researches after tin in the
Cassiterides islands, have omitted landing upon the coasts of
Brittany and Poictiers. One of these nations may have brought
the worship of the mermaid into Western Gaul ; for under the
name of Onvana or Anvana, the Gauls adored a figure of a
woman, having the tail of a fish.f A Gallic chief, as jealous as
the Tartars of ascribing to himself a supernatural origin, may
have pretended to have been descended from this divinity, and
would therefore select the image as his distinctive emblem. The pro-
gress of Christianity would have the effect of making the goddess
regarded as a woman only, yet endowed like a fairy with supernatu-
ral powers, but not of abolishing her memory or effacing her image.
Time and the imperfection of sculpture would, rather later, occa-

* The Marseillaise established the worship of Diana of Ephesus in every
town they founded. Strabo, lib. iv.

t Martin. Religion of the Gauls, vol. n. p. 110. — Toland. History of the
Druids, p. 137. — Amongst the descriptions discovered upon the ancient wall at
Bordeaux, the following was remarked :

" Cuius Julius Florus onvav^e."
(Mémoire de l' Académie de Bordeaux. Meeting of 16th June, 1829, p. 182,
and Shelf 3, No. 52.) I think onvavee is the dative of the same noun as
onvana ; either the inscription may have been copied incorrectly, or the work-
man may have made a mistake in transcribing a strange name.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 323

sion an error similar to that which the Greeks had already-
committed ; the tail of a fish would pass for the extremity of a
serpent. Founded upon this mistake, the new tradition would
prevail with greater ease, because, as we have already seen, from
the 5th to the 15th century, serpents held a prominent part
in the popular superstitions of the West ; and thus the form given
to Merlusine, and the exploit attributed to her descendant, would
be the consequences of the sacrifice of an ancient belief to one
more recently and generally adopted.

§ XIII.

RECAPITULATION, OR SUMMARY.

The discussion of this conjecture, which we submit to the
decision of archaeologists, has not caused us to diverge from our
subject. We had proposed seeing how a narration, evidently
absurd, false, and impossible, could be spread, and multiplying
itself under a thousand different forms, universally meet with an
equal and constant credulity.

Metaphorical expressions of real facts may sometimes have
given rise to it ; but not have the effect of sending it beyond the
narrow circle where the one was observed and the other put
in practice.

An accident, as local and variable as the overflowing of a river,
could not have been universally represented by the same allegory
which elsewhere could be but very imperfectly applied.

The pretended fact is, in -its origin, nothing more than the
representation of an astronomical picture, adopted by the greater
part of the mythologies of antiquity. When the tradition of this
dogma of polytheism ceded to the progress of Christianity, an
outward ceremony, perpetuated in this religion, ereated as many
repetitions of the original myth as the Western church could num-
ber congregations of the faithful. In vain they attempted to draw

y 2

324 ILLUSTRATIONS.

the attention of the vulgar to the allegory expressed by the cere-
mony, their minds and looks remained fixed on the physical
representation. Their habits getting the better of their piety,
they looked not for their deliveries among the inhabitants of the
heavens alone, but recognized them among men, particularly when
conformable with a point of the astronomical allegory, the victor
was supposed to have lost his life in the bosom of victory. The
names of celebrated personages, those of nobles whose power had
been feared, or courage admired, were unceasingly reproduced.
Historical remains were falsified for this end, every physical repre-
sentation which might recal it, renewed the recital ; and it was
sought out among emblems and monuments utterly foreign to it,
and even in signs invented by glory or military pride» They even
went so far (if our last conjecture is not too rash) as to alter the
symbols and beliefs of a mythology prior to it, in order to appro-
priate them to it. Singular progress of an incredulity, not only
blind and easy, but greedy and insatiable. Does it not merit
being signalized by the meditations of a philosopher ? The his-
tory of credulity is the most extensive branch, and certainly one
of the most important in the moral history of the human race.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 325

ON THE STATUE OF MEMNON.

Notices and Inscriptions attesting the Vocal Property of the Statue ; some
of them mention even the particular words pronounced — Explanations
pronounced — Explanations proposed by various Authors, but little conclu-
sive— According to Langlès the sounds occasionally uttered by the Statue
correspond to the Seven Vowels, emblematical of the Seven Planets — The
Oracle delivered by the Statue of Memnon — Refutation of the System of
M. Letronne — The apparent Miracles, most probably the result of chi-
canery— The impossibility of arriving at a satisfactory solution of the
Problem.

In the vicinity of ancient Thebes stood two colossal figures,
each consisting of a single stone, the secret enclosure of which
bore the name of Memnonia. This word, employed in the
Egyptian language to signify " a place sacred to the memory of
the dead,* suggested to the memory of the Greeks, one of their
heroes, celebrated by Homer. With a vanity, ever ready to
appropriate and attach to their own traditions, whatever might
be borrowed from the mythology or the history of a people more
ancient than themselves, they regarded one of these colossal figures
as consecrated to Memnon, and representing the son of Aurora, a
warrior who fell in the Trojan war, invested at an earlier period than

* M. Letronne. La Statue Vocale de Memnon, 1 vol. 4to. We shall have
occasion, more than once, to quote this erudite work, though we do not adopt
the system it advocates.

326 ILLUSTRATIONS.

the remotest date of Grecian history.. This was the statue famed for
the peculiarity of emitting, on the rising of the sun, sounds which,
to the enthusiast, appeared to convey a salutation addressed to
Aurora or to the sun.*

The upper part of the statue was broken at a period not cor-
rectly ascertained ; but the miraculous sounds continued to be
heard, appearing to arise from the lower part. M. Letronne
believes the colossus to have been restored in the third century of
our era ; large masses of grey stone being substituted for that
part of the original monolithe, the fragments of which covered the
ground.

When Juvenal saw this colossus, in the reign of Adrian, it was
broken ; Lucian, under Marcus Aurelius, and Philostratus under
Severus, describe it as entire. It is true, that Lucian mentions it
in a satirical work ; but his raillery is directed against the exag-
geration of a witness to the assumed miracle ; and does not refer
to the statue, whether in its mutilated or restored condition. Phi-
lostratus, by a palpable anachronism, causes a contemporary of
Domitian to speak of it. This licence, which could not be the
effect of ignorance, tends to prove that the restoration was not
recent ; for no one could place an event which had just taken
place in a past century.

The witnesses who attested the vocal nature of the statue, cease
with the reign of Caracalla. We are ignorant at what period,
and by what means the restored statue was again broken, and
equally so as to the time at which its lower part, long silent, ceased
to reveal its ancient glory, except by the inscriptions by which it
is covered.

Before discussing the various explanations which have been
offered of this apparent prodigy, let us call to mind what has
been said regarding it by the Greeks and Romans, the only
people from whom we derive direct testimony.

* The sound was said to resemble the snapping asunder of a musical string,
when the first beam of the morning sun fell upon it. — Ed.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 327

The Egyptians accused Cambyses of having broken and over-
turned the statue of Memnon, with the same impious fury that
led him to insult or to destroy, other sacred monuments* in
the land of Osiris. Their well-founded detestation for the
memory of a barbarous conqueror, induced them to impute
to him the result of a natural catastrophe, if it be true, as
related by Strabo, that the fall of the Colossus was occasioned
by an earthquake, the date of which is given by this writer.

But, for what reason, it may be asked, did Cambyses limit
the work of destruction to one of these sacred images ? This
inquiry, which, at first sight, appears to weaken the generally
received tradition, tends, on the contrary, to strengthen it, if
we admit that the miraculous sound proceeding from this image
only, made it the marked object of religious veneration to the
natives, while it attracted to it the fanatic hatred of the fire-
worshippers.

Manethon, as quoted by Eusebius, by Josephus, and also
by St. Jerome, affirms that the colossal statue of Amenophis,
was identical with the vocal statue of Memnon. Had not its
authority been contested, the testimony, given by Ptolemy Phila-
delphus, an Egyptian priest, of great research into the antiquities
of his country, would be of much importance.

Dionysius, Periegites,f describes in verse " the ancient Thebes
where the sonorous Memnon hails the rising of Aurora." It
is generally supposed that the poetical geographer wrote shortly
after Egypt had been reduced to the condition of a Roman
province ; from which it would follow, that the miracle, as
well as the fabulous tradition connected with it by the Greeks
and Romans, was at that time, and had long been, known and

* Justin, lib. I. cap. ix.

f Dionys. Perieger. vers. 249, 250. This Dionysius was a writer of the
Augustan age. He singularly enough wrote a geographical Treatise in Greek
hexameters ; consequently he occasionally sacrifices truth to his poetical ima-
ginings.— Ed.

328 ILLUSTRATIONS.

celebrated. But the critic is left at liberty to fix the epoch
at which Dionysius flourished : in the reign of Augustus, of
Severus, or of Caracalla.

In speaking of Memnon, " There were," says Strabo, " two
colossal statues, each composed of a single stone, and standing
near one another. One of them remains entire. It is said that
the upper part of the other was overturned by an earthquake ;
and it is also believed, that a sound resembling that produced by
a slight blow proceeds from the base, and from that part of the
colossus resting on it. I myself, in company with Aelius Gallus,
and a number of his soldiers, heard it towards the dawn of day.
But whether in reality it proceeded from the base, or the colos-
sus, or was produced by connivance, I cannot decide. In un-
certainty of the real cause, it is better to believe anything, than
to admit that a sound can issue from stones similarly dis-
posed."*

During his travels in Egypt, Germanicus was struck with
admiration at the stone image of Memnon, which, as soon as
the rays of the sun fell upon it, emitted a sound resembling that
of a human voice (vocalem sonum). It is thus that Tacitus
expresses himself, an historian so much the more worthy of
credit, that he had, in his youth, learned various important details
respecting Germanicus, from several old men, contemporaries of
that Prince.f

" At Thebes," says Pliny, " in the Temple of Serapis, stands
the image said to be consecrated to Memnon, which daily is
heard to emit a sound, when the first rays of the sun fall upon
it."J

Juvenal, who resided in, or was banished to upper Egypt,
not far from the district which owes its fame to the monuments

* Strabo, lib. xvn.

f Tacit. Annal, lib. n. cap. lxi. et lib. in. cap. xvi.
% Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. cap. vu. N. Dion Chrysostome {Orat. xxxi.)
speaks of the statue of Memnon as of the image of a divinity.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 329

Memnonium, notices the statue in these words : " There,"
said he, " the magic chords of the mutilated Memnon, may
he heard."*

"I admired this colossus much," says Pausanias.f "It is
a sitting statue, which appears to represent the sun ; many
people call it the statue of Memnon, but the Thebans deny this.
It was destroyed (literally broken in two) by Cambyses. At
the present day, the upper part, from the crown of the head,
to the middle of the body, lies neglected on the ground. The
other part still remains in a sitting posture; and, every day
at sunrise, it gives out a sound, resembling that produced by
the strings of a guitar, or of a lyre, when they break at the
instant they are screwed up."

From the times of Lucian, the fame of this colossus attracted
the curious into Egypt. In the dialogue upon friendship, [Tox-
aris), it is related by Lucian, that " the philosopher, Demetrius,
travelled into Egypt, in order to see Memnon having heard that
the statue caused its voice to be heard at the rising of the
sun, (/3oâv) I set out for Coptos," he causes Eucrate to say, in
the Philopseude, "to see Memnon, and to hear the miraculous
sound which issues from it at day-dawn. I did hear it, and
not like many others, producing an uncertain sound :
Memnon himself, opening his mouth, addressed to me an
oracle in seven lines, which, were it not superfluous, I would
repeat to you."

Philostratus says, that " the statue of Memnon, which is
turned towards the east, is heard to speak, as soon as a ray
of the sun falls upon its mouth."J

At a period when this assumed miracle had undoubtedly
ceased, Himerius, a contemporary of Ammienus Marcellinus,
again asserted that the colossus spoke to the sun with a human

* Juvenal. Sat. xv. verse 5.

f Pausanias. Attic, cap. xlii.

% Philostrat. De Vit. Apollon, lib. vi. cap. vi.

330 ILLUSTRATIONS.

voice.* But on consideration of the dates, we find that his
testimony, as well as that of Calistratus,f merely attest the
existence of a tradition, which these authors notice without
further discussion.

Two unedited works of Juvenal, and the erudite Eustathius,
inform us of the modifications that the tradition had undergone
in subsequent times.

According to the firsts " the statue of Memnon, the son of
Aurora, was so contrived, by a mechanical artifice, that it ad-
dressed a greeting both to the sun and to the King, with a voice
apparently human. In order to ascertain the source of the
apparent miracle, Cambyses caused the statue to be cut in
two : after which it continued to salute the sun, but addressed
the King no longer. Thence, the poet has adopted the epithet
Dimidio (of which there remained only the half.)"

The other scholiast strangely alters the generally received tra-
dition. || It says " that a statue in brass, representing Memnon,
and holding a guitar, was heard to sing at particular hours of the
day. Cambyses caused it to be opened, on the supposition that
mechanism was concealed within the statue. But notwithstand-
ing its mutilation, the statue having received a magical consecra-
tion, still produced the same sounds at the customary hours. It
is on this account that Juvenal applies to Memnon the epithet
Dimidius, open, or divided into two parts."

In commenting on verses 249, 250, of Dionysius Periegites,
Eustathius notices first, that the colossus represented the Day,
the son of Aurora. " It was," he adds, " the statue of a man,
from which by means of a particular mechanism, a voice appeared
to issue and seemed to salute the day, and to render it homage
from an inward spontaneous emotion.

* Himerius. Orat. vm et xvi. — Photii, Bibl. cod. 243.

t Callistrat. Exercit. de Memnon.

% Scholiaste inédit de Juvenal, cité par Vandale, Casselius et Douza.

|| Scholiaste inédit cité par Vandale.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 331

Numerous Greek and Latin inscriptions engraved upon the colos-
sus testify that various persons, attracted by motives of religion or
curiosity, had heard the miraculous voice. Monsieur Letronne*
made a collection of them to the number of seventy-two, and has
restored and explained them. In preserving his enumeration I
shall quote such of them only as seem to throw some new light
on my subject.

Six inscriptions (Nos. x, xn, xvn, xx, xxxvi, and xxxvn,) affirm
that it had spoken to the sun twice on the same day. Another,
No. xix, that the voice had been heard three times in the presence
of the Emperor Adrian, who looked on this miracle as a pledge of
the favour of the Gods.

The author of the xvnth, asserts that Memnon spoke to him,
addressing him in a friendly manner.

The following according to Jablonskif and several other learned
men, is the translation of the xnth inscription.

" Memnon, the son of Tithon and Aurora, up to this date, had
merely permitted us to hear his voice ; to-day he greeted us as
his allies and friends. I caught the meaning of the words as they
issued from the stone. They were inspired by nature, the creator
of all things." M. Letronne thinks, that for this last phrase,
the following should be substituted : " Did nature, the creator
of all things, inspire this stone with a voice and understanding ?"
Without entering into a discussion on these words we may observe
that in reality, the correction is of less importance than at first
sight it appears to be.

The marked distinction between the unnecessary sound which
generally issued from the statue, and the particular friendly salu-
tation, appears to me to prove that the authors, both of this in-
scription and of the xvnth have heard distinct words, which they
entirely believe to proceed from the sacred stone.

* La statue vocale de Memnon, &c.
t Jablonski.

332 ILLUSTRATIONS.

On comparing these various testimonies, we find that, towards
the dawn of day, a sound similar to that produced by a lute, or
copper instrument, usually proceeded from the statue (inscr. xix).
This apparent miracle was repeated two and even three times in
a day; at last increasing in proportion to the credulity of the
witnesses, the statue arrived at the pronunciation of consecutive
words, and the delivery of complete sentences.

This last prodigy calls to remembrance the inscriptions and
traditions preserved by Homer and Philostratus and in the Phi-
lopseude of Lucian, and is apparently the least admissable of any ;
yet I believe it to be the most easily explained.

It was not exclusively confined to Memnon : at Daphne, near
Antioch, stood the temple of Apollo, where at noonday the image
of that God was heard to chaunt a melodious hymn to the admira-
tion of his worshippers.*

If the reader bears in mind what has been already said (c. xn.),
concerning the vocal statues celebrated by Pindar, the speaking
heads, the uses of ventriloquism, and the advantages derived from
the science of acoustics, by the Thaumaturgists, the impossibility
of the account disappears ; all depends on the choice of the
moment and the absence of inconvenient spectators. We may
even conclude, that while believing that he repeated an absurd
falsehood, Lucian has related a real fact, an apparent miracle,
that under advantageous circumstances, might again be performed
in the presence of enthusiasts, who are generally as incapable of
penetrating an artifice, as of conceiving a doubt or raising an ob-
jection.

It is not impossible even that we may recover the oracle in seven
Unes, heard by Philopseude, which he regarded as an inspiration of
" Nature the creator of all things !" The following oracle com-
posed of a similar number of lines, and transmitted to us by
Eusebius,f appears to answer this question.

* Libanius. Monodia super Daphn. Apollin.

t Euseb. Prœpar. Evangel, lib. iv.

ILLUSTRTAIONS. 333

" Invoke Mercury ; the Sun and in the same manner
The day of the Sun ; and the Moon when her day
Arrives ; and Saturn's ; and Venus' in her turn ;
By means of the ineffable invocations, discovered by the most skilful of

the Magi.*
King of the seven times resounding, known to a great number of men ;

And invoke always, much, and in secret, the Gods of the sevenfold
voice."

The text itself indicates that a verse is wanting, as may be
concluded by the omission of the names of Mars and of Jupiter ;
this verse was the first, the third, or the fourth, rather than the
sixth, completing the oracle, both as to the sense and the
number of lines. Having no meaning in the position of the sixth,
where it was placed by the inadvertence of a copyist, it would
have been totally omitted at a later period.

The oracle prescribes the addressing of invocations to planets,
as well as the observations of days particularly consecrated to
each. Notwithstanding the loss of the fine, it is very clear that
the invocations must have been seven in number, in accordance
with the days of the week, and the number of the planets. He
who instituted this form of worship, was the King (director) of
the seven times resounding , a name which appears to indicate a
machine or statue, capable of producing seven intonations. It is
subsequently commanded to address continual invocations to the
God of the sevenfold voice. Compared with the title, seven times
resounding, it appears that this was the God to whom the machine
was consecrated, or of whom the statue was the image ; even the
sun, recognized by the ancients as the King of the celestial world.
The statue of Memnon was that of the sun, according to Pau-
sanias.

* This expression does not specify Zoroaster. The Greeks have frequently
given the title of Magi^ to the Chaldean and even to the Egyptian priest;
they signified by it, a person consecrated to a particular Goddess, inspired by
her, and superior to other men, in science and wisdom.

334 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Other observations concur to support our conjecture.

In the earlier ages of Christianity, a religious signification was
attached to the seven vowels. Eusehius observes, that by a won-
derful mystery, the ineffable name of God, in the four grammatical
modifications to which it submits, comprehends the seven vowels.*
This religious signification serves also to explain an inscription
composed of seven lines, each of which presents the seven Greek
vowels, under a different combination. t Gruter and his editor
regard the inscription as apocryphal ; but Edward Holten has
seen the seven vowels sculptured on a stone in a similar arrange-
ment.J " All the mystery which they contain," says he, " con-
sists in the name of Jehovah, composed of seven letters, and
seven times repeated." With sufficient plausibility, he attributes
inscriptions of this nature to the Basilidians, who, like many other
sectarians in the earlier ages of the church, were only Theurgists,
who grafted on Christianity the rites and superstitious initiations
of a more ancient religion.

From Egypt was borrowed, among others, this superstition
relative to vowels. The Egyptian priests chanted the seven
vowels as a hymn addressed to Serapis.|| In an inscription
preserved by Eusebius,§ Serapis declares to his worshippers :
" The seven vowels glorify me, the great and immortal God, the
unwearied Father of all things." Is it necessary to call to mind,

* Prcep. Evangel, lib. vi. cap. vi.

f Jan. Gruter. Corp. inscript. tome n. p. 21.

% Ibid, p. 346.

|| Dionys. Halicarn.

§ Euseb. Prcep. Evangel. — Scaliger, Animadvers. Euseb. no. 1730. Let
us observe, that the vowels were retained, to a comparatively late
period, in the mystic allegories, relative to the solar system. The modern
writers, probably more faithful echos of the ancients, because they do
not fully comprehend them, have preserved the tradition that connects the
seven vowels with the idea of the planets. In the sixteenth century,
Belot, curate of Milmont, asserted in his Chiromancie, (chap, xvm.) that
the seven vowels are consecrated to the seven principal planets.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 335

that in divination, Serapis stood as one of the emblems of the
solar s}rstem, and that Pliny assigns to Serapis the temple with
which the statue of Memnon was consecrated.

The mystery attached to this mode of adoration explains the
application to the invocations of the epithet ineffable, as well as
the silence which Eucrates observes respecting the substance of
the oracle, in seven lines, which he pretends to have heard.
Thus, in the religion of the Hindoos, of the Parsees, and even of
Islam, certain syllables are consecrated, the pronunciation of
which is equivalent to a prayer, and whose sacred efficacy must
not be revealed.*

Whatever weight we may attach or refuse to these conjectures,
with regard to particular occasions, it may be readily admitted,
that where the operations of the Thaumaturgists were unrestrained
by enlightened curiosity, the machinery employed for animating
an automaton, or perhaps mere ventriloquism, would suffice to
produce the words and the oracles attributed to Memnon.

It is not so easy to explain the repetition of the apparent miracle
every morning.

The idea of an artifice that might lend its aid to the colossus,
appears to have struck Strabo. His language is that of a man
who is on his guard respecting any deception that might be
practiced on him, rather than to admit that the sound could really
issue from the stone. Otherwise, he adduces no fact in support
of his conjecture.

The term of which Juvenal makes use, appears to indicate, that
in his opinion, the miracle was the result of magical art, that is to

' * The great mystical word in the Hindoo faith is O'M., applied to the
Supreme Being. It occurs in many of the hymns in the Vestas ; as for
example in the following passage translated from them by Sir William Jones :
'' God, who is perfect wisdom, and perfect happiness, is the final refuge of the
man who has liberally bestowed his wealth, who has been firm in virtue, and
who knows and adores that great one !

" Remember me, O'M, Thou divine spirit !" — Ed.

336 ILLUSTRATIONS.

say, of an ingenious and a concealed mechanism. Eustathius*
positively affirms it, as well as the two scholiastes of the Latin
satirist. One of them even alludes to a magical consecration of
the statue ; but he is in the habit of taking so much license with
history and with received tradition, that his testimony is almost
without value.

The learned Langlès adopted a similar explanation. To render
it plausible, he sets out from the supposition, that Memnon
repeated the seven intonations in the hymn of the Egyptian
priests. To produce these, only required a succession of ham-
mers, ranged along a key-board, and striking on sonorous tones,
such as from time immemorial have served as instruments of
music in China.f

If we could credit the assertion of Philostratus, that the
colossus, facing the east, emitted a sound on the rays of the sun
falling upon it, and at the very moment when they fell on its
mouth, we might easily conceive that this miraculous mechanism
was put in motion by some secret familiar to the ancients. A
strong and sudden heat, produced by the concentration of the
solar rays, would be sufficient to expand one or more metallic
rods, which in lengthening, might act on the key-board, the
existence of which is presumed by Langlès. Thus would have
been derived from the sun itself, the power by which the statue
greeted the return of the God to whom it was consecrated, and of
whom it was emblematical.

But, notwithstanding this plausible explanation, what grounds
exist for the supposition that seven successive intonations proceeded
habitually from the colossus ? If, in certain very rare cases, the
skill of the priest was able to produce something similar to this,

* Eustathius was Archbishop of Thessalonia, in the twelfth century. He
was a man of great ambition, and distinguished as a commentator on Homer.
His annotations abound with historical and philological descriptions. — Ed.

t Langlès. Dissertation stir la Statue Vocale de Memnon .... At the
end of the Voyages de Norden. tome n. pp. 157, 256.

ILLUSTRATIONS, 337

the historical testimonies, or the inscriptions, attest in general the
emission of but one single sound. Moreover, the miracle was
discovered long before the restoration of the statue, and at a time
when the head lying in the sand no longer communicated with
the lower part whence the sounds appeared to proceed ; and again,
no researches have been able to discover in the colossus a cavity
capable of containing the musical mechanism supposed by Lan-
glès.

This last remark refutes also the conjecture of Vandale, which
suggests, that in this colossus, as well as in several other statues,
a cavity was contrived for the introduction of priests,* whose office
it was to lend the assistance of their voice to the divinity.

The explanation proposed by Dussault is not more admissible.
" The statue being hollow," says he, " the air which it contains
became affected by the heat of the sun, and in escaping by some
passage, produced a sound which could be interpreted as best
suited to the interests of the priests. f I may ask, what testimony
has ever been given that the statue was hollow ? and, more-
over has not Dussault ascribed to the elevation of temperature an
unnatural consequence ? To arrive at the interior air, the sun
must have penetrated a layer of stone of great thickness, and that
almost instantaneously and when the disc of the sun was scarcely
risen above the horizon.

In the immense apartments constructed entirely of blocks of
granite, which are concealed among the ruins of Carnac, the
celebrated sounds emitted from the stones have been heard at the
rising of the sun, by French artists. " The sounds appear to
issue from enormous stones which roof in the apartments, and
are threatening to fall : the phenomena undoubtedly proceeds from
the sudden change of temperature on the rising of the sun. J" I
am rather inclined to think that the sounds were produced by the

* Vandale. Be oraculis. pp. 207 — 209.

f Dussault. Traduction de Juvenal. 2e edit, tome n. p. 452. note 5,
% Description de l'Egypte, tome i. p. 234.
VOL. II. Z

338 ILLUSTRATIONS.

creaking of one of these blocks, apparently about to fall. Masses
of red granite, when struck by a hammer, sound like a bell.* In
short, if we admit this explanation, we must also grant that the
statue of Memnon could never have ceased to be sonorous ; and
we must believe that the ceilings, the walls, the colossal figures,
the obelisks of granite, raised in such numbers in Egypt, also
rendered sounds, at the rising of the sun. Allow this, and the
miracle disappears ; the sonorous tones claim no more attention
than any other simple fact, as common as the course of a stream,
or the noise of a tempest. But we know that the colossus of
Memnon alone enjoys the prerogative ; and since that peculiarity
has disappeared, its exposure to the sun, and the temperature of
the climate have not been subjected to the slightest alteration.

The assertion on which this explanation is founded, is other-
wise destitute of probability. Could the successive change of
temperature, such as is supposed, cause a sonorous body to sound ?
I reply, No. There is no direct experiment on record, which can
authorize us to credit the assertion. A bell, or tam-tam, would
remain silent if exposed to it ; no sounds proceeds from the seolian-
harp though the coolness of night is succeeded by a tempe-
rature very perceptibly higher ; and yet the strings of this harp
readily procure lengthened chords on meeting with the slightest
breath of air.

Sir A. Smith, an English traveller, asserts that he has visited
the statue of Memnon ; and that, accompanied by a numerous
escort, he heard very distinctly, about six o'clock in the morning,
the sounds which rendered this image so celebrated in antiquity.
He conceives the mysterious sound to issue from the pedestal, not
from the statue ; and believes it to arise from the percussion of
air on the stones of this part, which are so disposed as to produce
this singular effect. But what can this disposition mean, since
the base and lower part of the colossus have always consisted of,

* Magasin Encyclop. 181G. tome n. p. 29-
t Revue Encyclop. 1821. tome ix. p. 592.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 339

and do still form but one piece ? And how could it produce the
result indicated ? This the traveller does not explain. In con-
clusion, it may be asked, how he alone, of all modern spectators,
should have heard the colossus, whose voice has been for centuries,
silent ? How could such an important phenomenon have escaped
observation of the French who remained several years in Egypt,
and who pushed their learned investigations to a great length ? In
all probability Sir A. Smith was deceived by a crashing noise,
similar to that heard by the French artists at Carnac.

Such was the state of the question, when M. Letronne attempted
to resolve it definitively by a new hypothesis which he supports
with profound erudition and more logical meaning.*

The silence of Herodotus and Diodorus of Sicily respecting the
existence of this apparent miracle, and also in reference to the
tradition which imputes the destruction of the monument to
Cambyses, induces him to reject it ; whilst he fixes the period at
which the statue of Memnon was first heard, to have been some
centuries later. He puts aside, as an interpolation, the important
passage from Manethon ; and sets out, from the assertion of
Strabo, comparing it with the notice by Eusebius, of a great
earthquake which caused many disasters in Egypt, twenty- seven
years before our era.f This brings him to the conclusion, that
at that time the colossus was one among many other monuments
that were broken ; and that by its mutilation, it acquired a
vocal power, which previously it had not enjoyed.

This new property appeared at first of little importance to the
surrounding population. At a subsequent period, the Greeks and
Romans recognized it as a miracle ; but its renown did not become
universal, or widely spread, before the reign of Nero. It was
then the traveller commenced to inscribe on the columns the
reverential admiration he had experienced. None of these inscrip-
tions are of Egyptian authorship ; a proof that it excites in the

* De la Statue Vocale de Memnon, &c.
f Euseb. Chronicon.

z 2

340 ILLUSTRATIONS.

natives neither enthusiasm nor admiration. Tacitus, in relating
the travels of Germanicus in Egypt, has spoken of the statue of
Memnon, as it is described by Domitian and Trajan : he erred, in
substituting for the opinions of an earlier century, the ideas con-
ceived regarding it in his own times. The fame of the assumed
miracle increased continually, and in the reign of Adrian it reached
its height. It had suffered no diminution when Septimus Severus*
conceived and executed the project of restoring the colossus, by
substituting blocks of grey stone for that portion of the original
mass which had been broken by the fall. The statue then became
mute; the last inscriptions alluding to its vocal power do not
extend after the simultaneous reign of Severus and of Caracalla ;

* Lucius Septimus Severus, who acquired the Empirial purple, by pro-
claiming himself Emperor ,^when he commanded the Roman forces, stationed
against the Barbarians, on the borders of Illyrium ; and to secure his aim he
joined Albinus, who commanded in Britain, as his partner in the Empire.
His first object was to depose Didius Julianus, who had purchased the
government ; and who, being soon deserted by his dependents, was assas-
sinated by his own soldiers. At this time, however, another rival for the
purple existed in Pesuntius Niger; but, after many battles, he also was
defeated ; and Severus left with no other rival than his partner, who however
soon fell beneath his fortunate sword at the plains of Gaul ; and he thus
became sole master of the Empire.

It "was this Emperor who built the wall across the northern parts of our
island, to defend his territory in Britain from the frequent invasions of
the Caledonians.

As a monarch he was tyrannical and cruel ; and having risen by ambition,
he maintained his power by severity, and by the unhesitating destruction of
every one whom he thought likely, in any manner, to oppose his inch-
nation.

The restoration of the statue of Memnon, mentioned in the text, was
attempted during a progress made by Severus into the East with his sons.
He was recalled by a revolt in Britain, which he soon reduced ; but his
triumph was sullied by an attempt of his son Caracalla to murder him ; an
event which so much depressed his spirit, and added so cruelly to his bodily
sufferings from gout, that he died at York, a.d. 210, after a reign of less
than eighteen years. — Ed.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 341

after this reign, also, no writer speaks of the miracle in the cha-
racter of a witness.

M. Letronne adopts the conjecture which refers the sounds pro-
ceeding from the ruins remaining in their place after the fall of the
anterior portion of the statue, to the sudden difference of tempe-
rature between night and day. The massive blocks with which,
at a later period, it was loaded, forced it, by their weight, to resist
this influence. This pretended miracle, therefore, thus confined
in duration within the limits of two centuries, he considers was
not the result of fraud, as the Egyptian priests did not attempt to
attach to it a religious importance.

This system is plausible ; sufficiently so, indeed, to tempt one,
on a cursory glance, to regard the problem as definitively solved :
on reflection, however, several grave objections present them-
selves.

First, the silence of Herodotus and of Diodorus furnish, it is
confessed, an argument of apparent weight ; but it is one of a
negative character only. To make it conclusive, it must be shewn
that, if the fact were true, these authors could not have avoided
making mention of it. But, in exploring a foreign country, some
things may escape the attention of the observer ; and, still more
possibly, some of those things which he has seen or been informed
of, may be omitted in description. The learned of modern times
have had proof of this in Egypt itself, when they visited that
country with works of their predecessors in their hands. Fur-
ther, it was a history, not a description, that was written by He-
rodotus. This distinction is important : description cannot be
too complete, while history, passing by even interesting details,
gives prominency only to the principal features.

We will not take advantage of the exaggerated accusation with
which Josephus stigmatizes Herodotus, as having, through igno-
rance, disfigured the history of the Egyptians.* But Herodotus

* Joseph. Adv. Apion. lib. i.

342 ILLUSTRATIONS.

himself, in his journey to Memphis,* to Heliopolis, and to Thebes
mentions, that from what he had been able to learn, he intended
merely to notice the names of the divinities. When an author
thus fixes beforehand the limits of the information he proposes to
give, what argument can be drawn by the critic, from his silence,
respecting facts of which he has declared his determination not to
speak ?

The plan of Diodorus being on a still more comprehensive scale
than that of Herodotus, allows still less of detail. We may ob-
serve also, that this writer, who flourished in the reign of Augus-
tus, just concludes his work at the period when, according to M.
Letronne, the vocal powers of the statue were well attested. He
has not, however, spoken of it. Is it fair to conclude, from his
silence, something against the reality of a lately ascertained fact,
sufficiently singular to attract his attention ? Certainly not ; as
his silence, proves nothing against the real existence of the ancient
and well known apparent miracle.

Secondly, M. Letronne looks on the passage from Manethon,
quoted by Eusebius, as an interpolation, merely because Josephus
has omitted quoting it in from the text of the Egyptian priests ;f
yet, in a quotation otherwise exact, an incidental phrase is fre-
quently suppressed, if it do not bear on the subject treated of,
or if it tend to distract the reader's attention from the point on
which it is desirable to fix it. Josephus had no concern in the
identity of the statues of Amenophis and of Memnon ; and as
irrelevant to the Jewish history, he has passed over these particu-
lars in silence. In fact, he expressly says, at the close of the
quotation, that for the sake of brevity he purposely omits many
things. This acknowledgment is sufficient to overturn M. Le-
tronne's argument. The passage of Manethon exists, as it was
•quoted by Eusebius, who could have no object in altering it. The

* Herodot. lib. n. cap. m.
t Joseph. Adv. Ajnon. lib. i.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 343

vocal powers of the colossus and its form, were then facts known
in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus ; thence they might be re-
ferred to a much earlier time, even to the reign of Cambyses.

Thirdly, the mutilation of the colossus, falsely ascribed to
the Persian King, was, according to Strabo, the effect of
an earthquake : the same which, says M. Letronne, in the
twenty- seventh year of our era, overturned the whole of Thebes.
The Greek text of Eusebius confirms this opinion ; but the
Armenian version corrects the exaggeration of the extent of
this disaster, limiting its effects to the suburbs.

An earthquake has at all times been a rare phenomenon
in Egypt : a circumstance proved by the number of ancient
edifices that, after the lapse of so many centuries, remain stand-
ing in tbat country. The Egyptians, therefore, were not likely
to forget a catastrophe so fatal to their ancient capital, and
to a monument which was the object of national veneration.
Yet the terms are very vague, in which the testimony by
Strabo respecting it, is addressed. His words are, "It is said
that the upper part was overthrown."

The consideration which has been supposed to supplant the
theory which I combat, namely, that Strabo must have wit-
nessed the earthquake in the year 27 b.c.,* mentioned by
Eusebius, does not make his language the less extraordinary.
The expedition of Aelius Gallus into Arabia took place in the
year 24 b.c., according to Dionysius Cassius : and we must
assign the same date to the journey of Strabo, when he visited
Thebes in company with that General. Would, we may
inquire, such a judicious writer have expressed himself so
incorrectly, respecting a contemporary event ; or one, the traces
of which must still have been obvious, after the interval of
only two or three years ?

Again, how can we admit that five hundred years after

* The Armenian versions of Eusebius, place this event three years later,
the year 24 b.c.

344 ILLUSTRATIONS.

the death of Cambyses, the mutilation of the colossus could
have been attributed to that Prince, if it were really the effect
of an earthquake, of which all Egypt must have been aware,
and must long have retained in their remembrance ? Would
the contemporaries of Charles VII. have attributed the fall of an
edifice crumbling away before their eyes, to the ravages of
the Normans, to whom Charles the Simple yielded Neustria ?
The coincidence between the passages of Eusebius and of Strabo
is an hypothesis, contrary to all probability, and supported by
no certain indication ; yet this forms the foundation of M. Le-
tronne's theory.

What, I would ask, is the testimony of Strabo ? — He visits
the statue, hears the miraculous voice, and quits the spot without
further research, convinced that it is better to believe anything,
than to admit that stones, so disposed, were capable of pro-
ducing sound ! This is the language of a witness too prejudiced
to allow of consideration for bis opinions.

M. Letronne concludes, that the vocal statue did not yet
bear the name of Memnon, because Strabo does not give it that
title. I do not think so absolute a conclusion may be drawn
from so simple an omission. It is already answered in the
passage from Manethon.

Fifth, M. Letronne believes, that he can fix the epoch when
the miracle acquires celebrity, by the date of the earliest
inscriptions engraved on the colossus. We may consent to
his rejecting the authority of Dionysius Periegites, by taking
advantage of the uncertainty respecting the time at which
the poetical geographers wrote. But we cannot go along
with him in supposing, that an historian, such as Tacitus,*
a man who, in his youth, had conversed with the contempo-
raries of Pison and of Germanicus, would, in relating the
travels of that Prince, insert facts which could not have
been observed till forty years afterwards. In order to establish

* Tacit, Annal, n. cap. lxi, and in. cap. xvi.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 345

the existence of so strange an inconsistency, it were necessary
to produce positive proofs ; but none are brought forward by M.
Letronne.

Sixth, Shall we conclude, with M. Letronne, that the miracu-
lous sound was not heard by Germanicus, because we do not
find the name of that Prince inscribed upon the colossus ?
Aelius Gallus and Strabo both heard it, yet did not engrave
their names on the stone as witnesses.

Seventh, M. Letronne has rendered valuable services to science,
in collecting and deciphering the existing inscriptions ; but does
he not go too far in saying, that the apparent miracle had no
religious interest attached to it, for the natives, owing to the
inscriptions being all Greek or Roman, could not decipher them ?
And again, in supposing that their dates fixed the duration of the
sonorous property between the reign of Nero and that of
Septimus Severus.

Was it possible that a phenomenon, to say the least of it, sur-
prising in itself, could either have existed for ages, or been sud-
denly discovered, within the observation'of the most superstitious
people in the world, and yet not have been sought out and turned
to advantage by those who traded in the credulity of men ? This,
indeed, would be a miracle, without a precedent in history ; and,
in its own way, no less astonishing than the existence of a speak-
ing stone. "We have traced the priest, in every country, to be
the inventor of assumed miracles, or having dignified with this
name natural facts, often in themselves scarcely extraordinary.
Wherever the populace imagined they could discern the work
of a God, privileged men were not long in appearing to receive,
in the name of that God, the tributes of admiration and of
gratitude. The Egyptian priests were not likely to prove
exceptions, where so singular a phenomena, as the vocal statue,
invited them to profit by it; even though by the Greeks and
Romans, it was revered under a name they did not acknowledge,
and which did not impart an idea of their own mythology to the

346 ILLUSTRATIONS.

credulous stranger. Thanks to the daily apparent miracle,
which could be produced in no other temple, they were entitled
to receive offerings on their altars, and to entertain respect for
themselves.

But, it may be argued, they have celebrated it by no inscrip-
tion. In Egypt the walls of the temples, and even the bodies
of the statues, were loaded with hieroglyphics, the sense
of which is, as yet, imperfectly revealed to us. Can we
confidently affirm, that none of the mysterious inscriptions
in the Memnonia, make mention of the vocal properties of the
statue ?

Men, not belonging to the sacerdotal order, would not presume
to supply the silence of the priests. The usurpation of such a
right was incompatible with the sentiment of religious venera-
tion, if we may judge ancient by modern manners. The devotees
might fill the temple of the saint, to whom they believed them-
selves indebted for some benefits, with their vows ; but to write
on the statue itself, far from being a testimony of their gratitude
it would be a sacrilegious profanation.

The Ptolemies introduced the worship of Saturn and of Serapis
into Egypt, without being able to obtain permission to erect
temples in the interior of cities, either to one or the other.* But
whether from policy or superstition, and far from carrying this
attempt on the national faith, the Lagidesf adopted both their

* Macrob. Saturn, lib. i. cap. vu.

f The Ptolomies were named Lagides, from the surname Lagus, being
imposed on the first of their race, owing to the following tradition con-
nected with his birth. Arsinse, the daughter of Meleager, having had a
disgraceful intercourse with Philip of Macedon, was, in order to cover her
disgrace married to Lagus, a Macedonian of low birth, but opulent.
Lagus, as soon as the child was born, exposed it in the woods, where, says
the tradition, an eagle sheltered him under her wings, and fed him with her
prey. Lagus having had this prodigy divulged to him, adopted the infant
and called him Ptolemy, from an idea that, having been so miraculously

ILLUSTRATIONS. 347

worship and their traditions. The priests, then, remained as
formerly, the guardians of the images of the Gods, and preserved
them from the injury they might receive from indiscreet admira-
tion. It was only under Augustus, that the assumed miracles of
Egypt were revealed to the disciples of a foreign religion, to
whom they were then, for the first time, entirely subjected. The
first travellers who visited Memnon, abstained, nevertheless,
from an act which the natives, too recently subdued, would have
regarded as an outrage. The Greeks and the Romans, thronging
to the shores of the Nile, gradually familiarized the people with
their propensity to recognize then own divinities in every country.
They pretended to remember Memnon ; they had heard him, and
among them, inscriptions were as allowable to private individuals
as to the priesthood. The inscriptions multiplied, sometimes
owing to superstition, sometimes to the pleasure of confirming
the existence of a peculiar phenomenon, which might be doubted
by those who were not themselves able to verify it. Vanity also
played its part. No one could have been in Upper Egypt without
boasting of having heard Memnon. These motives were gradually
weakened by the number of visitors. The difficulty of being
raised sufficiently high to find a space for the reception of new
inscriptions,* caused this custom also to cease, after the death of

preserved and nurtured, he would become a great and powerful man. The
supposition became true; for after the death of Alexander, one of whose
generals Ptolemy had been, as the general division of the Macedonian Em-
pire, the government of Egypt and Libya fell to the share of Ptolemy, who
after he had ascended the Egyptian throne, preferred the title of Lagides to
every other appellation ; and it was transmitted to all his descendants, ante-
rior to the reign of Cleopatra. — Ed.

* The height of the statue was about thirty feet ; and on the legs of it
only, the inscriptions in latin and greek^were engraven. Most of them
belong to the period of the early Roman Emperors. There is a copy of this
statue in the British Museum ; but it does not exceed nine feet six inches
and a half in height. The head of the colossal Memnon, also in the British

348 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Severus and of Caracalla ; and other causes, independent of the
duration of the miracle, may have contributed to the same effect.
To presume a necessary connection between that duration and the
date of the latest inscriptions, is to suppose that every witness
must have written on the colossus ; and consequently, that the
number of witnesses was not greater than that of the names pre-
served in the seventy-two inscriptions collected by M. Letronne,
which are inadmissible consequences, and proofs that the principle
itself is erroneous.

History is silent respecting the restoration of the colossus, and
consequently, it does not indicate the date. The fact is esta-
blished by the existence of the remains of the blocks, placed upon
the ancient base ; and it appears that Lucian and Philostratus
were acquainted with it ; as they express themselves to the
effect that, in their times, the statue was entire. Let us only
remark, that in admitting their testimony, we must not mutilate
it; the miraculous voice of the colossus is mentioned by
both ; thus, contrary to M. Letronne's opinion, the apparent
miracles must have continued after the restoration of the sacred
image.

Lucian died in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, and Juvenal
in that of Adrian ; the restoration of the statue, consequently,
must be placed between these two epochs ; and it must have been
the work of Adrian or of Antonius.

This opinion, M. Letronne will not admit to be correct for
according to his theory Severus must have been the author of the
restoration, in order to make the silence of the God coincide with
the date of the last inscriptions. But however little weight we
may attach to the testimony of Philostratus, it certainly refutes
this hypothesis. In addressing a tale, or rather a legend, to a
superstitious Empress, would Philostratus have placed the resto-

Museum, is not that of the vocal Memnon. There were, indeed, many co-
lossal statues called Meranonian, in Egypt ; but only one celebrated vocal
Memnon. — Ed.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 349

ration of the colossus, an act not only eminently religious, but
executed by the reigning Emperor, in the times of Domitian
or of Titus ? Would the author of a work, dedicated to Queen
Anne of Austria, have conducted a contemporary of Francis I.
or of Henry II. to the celebrated procession, of the vow of Louis
XIII?

In default of historical testimonies to the effect that the restora-
tion took place under Septimus Severus, or in the absence of the
hieroglyphical scrolls where it might be registered, M. Letronne
asserts, that, in imitation of Spartian, the Emperor Severus
avoided inscribing his name on the monuments which he raised.
But this assertion seems only applicable to Roman monuments,
M. Letronne himself instances certain Egyptian monuments on
which Severus had inscribed his own and the names of his chil-
dren. It is not, therefore, probable that he would omit placing
it on the colossus restored by his care.

M. Letronne conjectures that the unlooked-for silence of the
restored Memnon was the motive which prevented the dedication,
by an inscription, of this act of piety and vanity. This sugges-
tion lays too much stress on the silence of Spartian,* as Hero-
dotus and Dionysius (the two last nearly contemporary with
Severus) respecting a fact so notorious as the restoration of the
colossus, especially in an account of that Prince's travels in
Egypt, and his visit to the statue of Memnon. So strange a
silence would astonish us much more, if the cessation of a prodigy
so long admired, had immediately succeeded the restoration of
the statue. Would not these writers have spoken of it, were it
only as a fatal presage ? It would have been so natural for
superstition to connect with it the rapid extinction of the race of
Septimus Severus !

In conclusion : I believe we may consider it as fully demonstrated,

* .Mius Spartianus, a latin historian : but he is not much esteemed either
as an historian or a biographer. — Ed.

350 ILLUSTRATIONS.

that if the vocal statue was overturned by an earthquake, (and not
by the fury of Cambyses), it was not the earthquake which Eusebius
places as having occurred in the year twenty- seven or twenty-four
before our era ; and, consequently, that M. Letronne's theory is
raised upon a defective foundation.

Secondly, That the hypothesis, of the restoration of the statue,
having been effected by Severus, is supported neither by proofs,
nor by historical indication.

Thirdly, That it is not demonstrated that the statue of Mem-
non became silent immediately after the commencement of the
reigns of Severus and Caracalla ; and if the period at which the
assumed miracle commenced is unknown, we are equally ignorant
of the still more recent period at which it ceased.

The cause of the prodigy remains in equal obscurity. M. Le-
tronne, as we have seen, adopts the explanation founded on
the expansion caused by the sudden change of temperature.
To the objections we have already offered, we may add the
following : —

First, That this variation of temperature could not recur in
a degree adequate to ensure the sounds on several different
occasions during the day ; whilst it must be admitted that
the voice of Memnon has been heard two and even three times,
at different periods of the same day.

Second, It appears to me a gratuitous supposition, that the
weight of the blocks that were placed on the base, at the res-
toration of the colossus, became the cause of its sudden silence.
The immense blocks of granite, the cracking of which was
heard at Carnac, supported masses of greater weight than the
stones which must have served for the restoration of the colossus ;
and their almost spontaneous sounding, is beyond a doubt. As
a general fact, the imposition of even a considerable weight, though
it may arrest the vibrations of a body, at the moment when it is
actually sounding, yet does not destroy the power of producing

ILLUSTRATIONS. 351

sound, but generally changes its quality. The change becomes
less perceptible, if the substance imposed, forms one body with
the original, and if it is of the same nature. Now, the blocks,
vestiges of which are still to be seen, are of a stone identical with
that of which the base of the statue is composed,* and they are
almost equally sonorous.

Lastly, these blocks having been almost entirely overturned,
and the colossus being nearly in the same state, as at the period
of its first mutilation, would it not have recovered the voice
which, in its restoration, it had lost ?

"Was the apparent miracle, we may now inquire, produced by
fraud ? I conceive that it was the result of a deception. M. Le-
tronne absolutely denies it. He concludes it impossible that a
subterraneous passage, or a cavity, should have been formed in
the base of the statue, several centuries after its erection. The
objection supposes that the apparent miracle was not coeval with
the erection of the statue ; yet the attempt to prove this has
failed. Why, adds M. Letronne, did not Memnon cause him-
self to be heard every time that he was visited ? I reply, because
to deny occasionally, or to defer the assumed miracle, excited a
more lively curiosity, and struck superstition with deeper awe,
and inspired a more profound respect, than it would have done,
had it become familiar, and of every day occurrence.

At Naples, has not the pretended miracle of St. Januarius been
frequently deferred, in order to serve the passions, the caprice, or
the interest of the priest ?

Mr. "Wilkinson, an English traveller, has recently discovered a
sonorous stone, situated under the knees of the colossus. Behind
this he discovered a cavity, which he conceives to have been pur-
posely made for the reception of the man whose function it was to
strike the stone, and perform the miracle. M. Nestor l'Hote, a

* Moniteur, Mardi, 9 octobre, 1838, Lettre de M. Nestor l'Hote à M.
Letronne.

352 ILLUSTRATIONS.

French traveller, ascertained the existence of this harmonious
stone, under the knee of the statue.* It is of the same nature as
the stone employed in its reconstruction, and produced, on per-
cussion, a sound similar to that of melted metal. The cavity
behind it is nothing more than an enormous fissure, that rends the
seat of the statue from top to bottom. We are authorized in
concluding that it has not been made by design, and that the
sonorous stone was only one of the materials employed in restor-
ing it.

This fair conclusion, while it overthrows the hypothesis of Van-
dale, which we have already rejected, proves nothing in favour of
M. Letronne. Many other modes of performing the pretended
miracle might be found, f

If we inquire when the vocal properties of the statue ceased,
we find the thread of history broken. In the midst of the disor-
ders and dissensions that distracted the Empire, even after the
accession of Constantine, the annalists had few opportunities of
reverting to an isolated prodigy, foreign to the new religion whose
tenets then began to predominate. It was even with difficulty
that the assumed miracle could be renewed, and it was destined
shortly to cease altogether ; as, by the succession of controversies
arising between the Christians and the Polytheists, religious
frauds were often brought to light, and when, at a later period,
the dispersant pagan priests, reduced to indigence, and exposed to
persecution, abandoned their temples and their images, all was
thenceforward deprived of the veneration of the people.

As too often happens at the end of the most conscientious
researches, we are constrained to acknowledge our ignorance,

* Moniteur, No. de Mardi, 9 octobre, 1838, Lettre de M. Nestor VHote a
M. Letronne.

t In whatever manner the sounds were produced it is probable that, as
the priests were aware of the sounds still heard at Carnac, from the rocks
on the east bank of the Nile, they would take advantage of that phenomenon
to produce similar sounds from the colossal statue. — Ed.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 353

being neither able to deny the existence of the assumed miracle,
to fix its duration, nor to give such an explanation of it as would
defy all objections.

The numerous examples of apparent miracles produced by
means of the science of acoustics, authorize us to ascribe this
one to the skill of the priests, who never allowed a singular fact
to escape them, without seizing on it, and turning it to advantage.
But of what nature was their intervention here ? How shall we
explain a fraud, varied in certain cases, to render the miracle more
imposing, but generally performed in one way, in the light of the
sun, in the open air, and in the midst of witnesses, who presented
themselves in crowds to observe its effect, and which, nevertheless,
was never discovered ? This, the real question, remains yet to be
solved.

VOL. II.

A A

GENERAL INDEX.

Abaris, the son of Seuthes, n. 119.

Abbagumba, or Erkoom, 68.

Abracadabra, a word employed to cure Agues, 198.

Abraxas, 195.

Abunde, who was also called Hèra, 233.

Academy, St. Petersburg, Aerolites sent to, 14.

of Sciences at Paris, phenomenon vouched for by the, 14.

Achilles, the blows of, 20.

Tatius, 37.

inconsistency of the Spirit of, 274.

Achro, Sacrifices made to the God, 85.
Aclepiodotus, 298.

Acosta, Joseph, miracle mentioned by, 289.

Acqua de Toffana, n. 132.

Adam, Peak of, at Ceylon, 24.

Adonis, the liver of, and blood of, 20.

Aelian, supposed a casual phenomenon to be constant, 32.

Aerolites, sent to St. Petersburgh, 14.

falling of, frequent occurrence, 82.

— nature of, 12.

— sought for by Kicahan, u. 113.

Metes, her reputation preserved as an invincible Magician, 129.
iEsculapius, invoked in his Temple, 134.
Africa, a parasol imported into, 44.
Agamede, Theocritus's account of, 210.

358 GENERAL INDEX.

Aganiede, what it signifies in the language of Homer, 129.

accused of having exaggerated, 30.

plants named after him, 31.

Agamemnon, dedicated a vessel of Stone, 22.
Agaric, of the Olive Tree, 32,

Agnus Dei, sent to the Emperor of Constantinople, 196.

Agrigentum, a rock near, 25.

Ainos of the Kourila Islands, 65.

Air, rendered pestilential, n. 151.

Albania, men described in, 64.

Albertus Magnus, account of, 258.

Alchemy arose from ignorance of true Science, 188.

Alexander the Great employed the Greek Fire, n. 221.

death of, attributed to Poison, n. 128.

cause of the destruction of his Soldiers at Thebes, u. 240.

Alexander, the flowing of a Spring in the Tent of, considered as a

miracle, 80.

excited to deadly anger by songs, n, 80.

Ali, a miracle ascribed to him, 105.

Alladas, Sylvius, imitated the noise of Thunder, n. 179.

Almanacs, used to instruct the ignorant to read, 56.

Almond, the bitter, described, 39.

Alamoot, account of, n. 24.

Alphourians or Haraforas of Borneo and the Malay Islands, 6C.

Althaea Cannabina of Linnaeus, 31.

Amalekites inured to Magic, 100.

Amanita Muscaria, is the Muchamore, n. 15, 16.

Ambbopia, or double images, n. 38.

Amethyst, a precious stone, 50.

figurative description of, 50.

Amis, the oil of, 325.

Amulet, definition of the term, 194.

Ammianus Marcellinus flourished in the .reign of Constantine, Julian and

Valens, n. 186.
his account of the failure to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem,

ii. 229.
Ammon Jupiter, account of the Temple of, 236.
Anamarana, n. 27.
Anaxilaus of Larissa, 290.
Anaximander, what he foretold, n. 158.
Anchurus, Son of Midas, fable relating to, 60.
Andronius, Emperor, threatened with an earthquake, H. 154.
Androi'des, 257.
art of constructing, known to the Ancients, 261.

GENERAL INDEX. 359

Andros, miraculous Fountain in, 295.

Animals, History of, filled with details apparently chimerical, 67.

Annius Manlius Torquatus, &c, account of, 246.

Anthropophagi, 45.

Ants, described by Herodotus as larger than foxes, 36.

Aomos, where stood the sanctuary of, 273.

Apollo, Endemic diseases, termed the arrows of, 23.

water from the Grotto of, 164.

the Priests of, 24.

Apollonius, of Tyana, denied that he was ono of the Magicians, 98.

his Miracles admitted by Justin, 130.

account of, as an assumed Magician, 119.

Note on, 249.

he called a Girl to life, n. 125.

Apuleius Lucius, account of, 172.
Apparitions of the Dead, 269.

of the Goddess Mother, 269.

of Cleonice, 275.

produced in smoke and air, 290.

Apple of Sodom, described by Josephus, 35.

Arabs, gave themselves up to the study of Magic, 226.

Arcadia, Tradition that Minerva was born in, 86.

Arcadian Colony, carried the Worship of Hercules to Rome, 87.

Arcadians of Herea, joined in the Worship of Myagrus, 86.

Archelaus, the tower raised by, 322.

Archimedes, 266.

Archytas, 250.

Argippeans are recognized as Mongols, 66.

Argos, in Achaia, 41.

Arieni, traditions concerning the Prophet of the, 99.

Aristeus of Proconesus describes pigmies, 64.

Arius, Death of, n. 135.

Arouates, some Account of, n. 82.

Arsacides, a Rock in the land of, 21.

Asbestos, the art of spinning and weaving the, 322.

Asclepiades, u. 123.

Asclepiodotus, 185.

Ashes, that spontaneously inflamed, n. 211.

Asp, may be tamed, account of, 343.

Assassins, what Tribe so named, n. 23.

Assisi, St. Francis of, 46.

Atalanta, table of, 51.

Atesch-gah of Baku, n. 199

Athar'vaDa, character of, II. 195.

360 GENERAL INDEX.

Atmospheric Phenomena, ancient use of, n. 162.

Auhletia, Verhena, 31.

Aulus GeUus, treats some narrations as fables, 64, 265.

Aurora, Son of, 20.

Avernus, the Lake of, described by ancient writers, 33.

formerly exhaled pestilential vapours, 34.

Baal-zebud or Belzebuth, origin of the name, 85.

Baaras, or Cynospastos, 180.

Babylonish Numbers, 192.

Bacchus, Note on, 50.

Bactria, founded by Nimrod, 99.

Baden, hot Mineral Springs of, 29.

Bailla, a figure of a Dragon, n. 299.

Bakhou, in Georgia, the perpetual fires near, 74.

Baku, naphtha, spring of, at, n. 199.

Baldwin's Phosphorus, n. 203.

Bambouk, the Gold there collected by washing, 38.

Barnacle goose, account of, 49.

Barochebus, Son of the Star, 212.

Barvas, or Prophets of the Billhs, 163.

Baschkirs, their faith in the Black Book, 118.

Basil, Emperor, 278.

Basle, a wine cultivated near, 41.

Baths, employed in initiation, 309.

Batz, Dragon of, u. 278.

Bayle, a philosopher who has rendered the greatest service to the human

intellect, 74.
Bedley, burning spring near, n. 208.
Belladonna, its soporific power, n. 6.

its juice gained Macbeth's victory, n. 6.

Belus, Monument of, 295.

Belzebuth, a God worshipped in Phenicia, 85.

Bendjé, a preparation of Hyosciamus, n. 20.

Berkout, wonderful stories related of the, 30.

Bethlehem otfered a striking example of Natural Objects converted into

prodigies, 28.
Beverages, preparation of, n. 1.
Beyruss, Professor, anecdote of, 299.
Bezoar, miraculous powers of, n. 114.

GENERAL INDEX. 361

Bishop of St. George, act of his insane Son, n. 91.
Black Books, generally descended by inheritance, 118.
Blood of Nessus, n. 214.

marks of, preserved for centuries, 135.

of Magdalene, 300.

of the Swiss, 42.

of Bulls, caused the death of Midas, 300.

what it indicated on the Altars of Temples, 300.

of the Bones of St. Nicholas, 302.

of the Bones of St. Thomas, 302.

■ of St. Januarius, 301.

■ — of St. Lawrence, 300.

of St. Pantaleon, 301.

of the Relics of St. John the Baptist, 302.

Blue Sea, a favour attributed to the Spirit of the, 80.
Boa Constrictor, once common in Italy, n. 276.

Bites of it, non venomous, 45.

Bohemians, Gipsies so named, n. 212.
Bochart's assertions, 41.
Bohemians, the Chief of the, 139.
Bones, composition of, 184.

of St. Nicholas, 302.

of St. Thomas Aquinas, 302.

Boutan, 65.

Bedley, unextinguishable fire of, n. 207.

Bramah, the adoration of, 202.

Brahman's, Magical Ceremonies permitted among them, 202.

Branchides, the oracle of, 164.

Brazil, the Goldwashers of, 38.

Brocken, Spectre of the, n. 72.

Brownies, description of the, 126.

Brichtains, the Russians in Kamschatka are called, 43.

Buflfon, quotation from, 182.

allows the possibility of the existence of steel mirrors, for the

purpose of seeing vessels at a distance, 284.

Bukaw, the natives of, 65.

Bulimia, well known among the Ancients, account of, 92.

Bull's blood, those who died in consequence of drinking it, 41.

Bull's blood in the East, a poisonous beverage called by this name, 42.

eye, a small Cloud, so called, n. 161.

Bushmen, of South Africa, may be regarded as a race of Pygmies, 65.
Byblos, an inhabitant of, explains the phenomenon of the blood of
Adonis, 20.

362 GENERAL INDEX.

Cabbala, n. 203.

Cadet, M. de Metz, prediction of, n. 157.

Calaber, Q., 22.

Calcbas, a Prophet, Note on, 153.

Caligula, power of against the Elements, n. 178.

shot Lightning against the Gods, n. 178.

Callinicus, knew the composition of the Greek Fire, ii. 222.

of Heliopolis invented the Greek Fire, n. 221.

Cambyses, his Brother was supposed to have died from drinking Bull's
Blood. 41.

Camera Obscura, 281.

Canaan, Inhabitants of, incurred Divine "Wrath by their Use of Enchant-
ments, 100.

Candolle, M. de, Note regarding him, 75.

Cantharides, used in Love Philtres, n. 41.

Canton, the Province of, 48.

Cape of Good Hope, storms at, 176, n. 161.

Caracalla, death of, predicted, 326.

Carbuncle, legend respecting, n. 288.

Cardan, indicated the mode of making Fireworks, n, 224.

Note on, 203.

Caribbees, legend of respecting Dragons, n. 287.

Carolina, the marshes of that place described, 34.

Casciorolus, Vincentius, discovered the Bologna Stone, n. 203.

Caspian, Well of Naphtha near, u. 200.

Cassia, 327.

Cassiodorus, Note on, 245, 246.

Catharine, St., body of laid on a stone, 25.

Cat-mint, Note on, 325.

influence of, 325.

Cato, what he prescribed for dislocations, n. 113.

Catopleba, what it was, 68.

Cave of Trophonius, 248.

Cedron, Brook, a rock rising from the middle of, 25

Ceres, remains of the Temple of, 249.

Ceylon, Peak of Adam at, 24.

Chaerémon, taught the art of invoking the Gods, 119.

his instructions how to command gain, 173.

Chaldaic Oracles, n. 192.

GENERAL INDEX. 363

Chaldea, the Cradle of Astronomy, 205.

Chaldeans, the Magic of the, 134.

Charlemagne, proscribed the Tempestarii, n, 165.

Chartomi, derivation of the word, 130.

Charybdis, whirlpool of, 31.

Chederles, an account of him, n. 286.

Chevreuse, Duke of, confirmed Mme. de Guyon's fraud, n. 77.

Child, Birth of an Acephalus not impossible, 67.

China, Gunpowder long known in, n. 235.

Guns used in, n. 236.

Thunder Chariots used iu, n. 236.

Chiapa, Bishop of, 289.

Chong or Rice Wine, account of, 303.

Christ, the impression of the hand of, 26.

Cicero, Remarks attributed to, 211.

Circe, her Mysterious Arts represented as purely natural, 129,

Agamede described as the rival of, 129.

account of her, n. 9.

Citron, how efficacious, 328.

Clapperton, anecdote by, 199.

Clare, St., miracle attributed to her, 47-

account of her, 47.

Claros, the Oracles of the Colophonians at, 164.

Cleonice, apparition of, 275.

Clerks, professors of Medicine formerly, n. 107.

Chtheroe, anecdotes of some girls at, n. 85.

Coals, walking on burning, 313.

Cloud, a picturesque designation given by the Africans to a Parasol, 44.

Ccelus Rhodigenus, Quotation from, 47.

Coeculus, imagined himself the son of Vulcan, n. 205.

explanation of a magical trick of, n. 205.

Colophoniaus, the Oracle of the, 164.

Comnenus, Manuel, knew the Composition of the Greek Fire, n. 219.

Anna, speaks of fire-arms, n. 223.

Alexis, employed the Greek Fire, n. 220.

Anna, her account of the Greek Fire, n. 220.

Alexis, how he ascertained whether he should attack the Comanes,

147.

■ Manuel died as a monk, n, 219.

Compass, Mariner's, n. 343.

long known to the Ancients, n. 252.

Comus, the Juggler called, 143.
Condor, the American, 29.
Corfu, rock near the Island of, 21.

364 GENERAL INDEX.

Corfu, rock near the vessel which brought Ulysses back, 22.

Cos, Temple of, 102.

Cotugno, discovered Galvanism, n. 257.

Cratisthenes, how spoken of by Athenseus, 288.

described as merely being a skilful adept, 289.

Creusa, killed by a poisoned robe, n. 217.

Crickets, in Esthonia not allowed to be destroyed, 167.

Crocodile, large one killed near Calcutta, n. 274.

how one should be tamed, 336.

tamed, 337.

sacred, 338.

Croesus, indication of the Oracle of Delphi concerning, 149.

Crusaders, described by the Greeks as Men of Brass whose eyes flashed fire,

43.
Cumin, how employed, 325.

Cyclops, made lightning and thunder for Jupiter, n. 238.
Cynocephali of Ktesias, 66.

Cyprus, the art of working Iron carried into the Islands of, 113.
Cyrus, the younger, 208.

Daedalus and Icarus, story of, 251.
Damascius, the expressions of, 185.

account of, 216.

who, 281.

Danaides, punishment of, 294.

Dance, St. Vitus, n. 87.

Darius, son of Hystaspes, 255.

Datura, its poison, n. 6.

David, King, explosion at his monument, n. 227.

Deacon Poppon, 319.

Dead, apparitions of the, 269.

art of questioning the, 273.

invocations of the, 277.

power of recalling the, n, 124.

sea, the valleys of the, 32.

Death, the Valley of, account of the, in Java, 34.
Dejanira, nature of her poisoned Tunic, n. 214.

Note on, u. 214.

Delphi, explosion at, n. 281.

Oracles of, 149.

Democrites, devoted his life to observing Nature, 45.
Demons of the Mine, account of, 90.

GENERAL INDEX» 365

Demosthenes, the first Author who noticed the existence of Sorcerers, 206.
Devil, appeared to Zoroaster, 11. 184.
Devinière, La, 27.
Dews, power of the, 108.
Diana, divers names for, 233.

Goddess, 22.

Endemic Diseases termed the Arrows of, 234.

Priestesses of, 313.

Dion Cassius, account of, 10, 11.

Dionysius of Halicamassus, imitated lightning, n. 179.

Diorama, effect produced hy a, 268.

Dioscuras, the apparition of, 25.

Distillation, art of, introduced into Asia Minor, &c, 306.

Distilling, art of, known to the Thaumaturgists, 302.

practised in Hindustan, Nepaul, &c, 303.

how received hy the Nagals, 303.

Divining Rod, Note on, 193.

Divination, the gift bestowed by Apollo, 151.

Dodona, Oracles proceeded from the Oaks of, 160.

Dogs, influence of harsh sounds on, 333.

Douarnanez, marine ruins in the Bay of, 83.

Drac, its meaning, n. 294.

Dragons, winged, 275.

Notes upon, n. 273.

one destroyed by St. Julian, ii. 279.

are mere emblems of Inundations, n. 280.

■ of St. George, Legend concerning the, n. 285.

legend of the Caribbees regarding, n. 285.

Stones taken from their heads, n. 288.

legend of, crept into Christianity, n. 289.

every Parish had one, n. 298.

that of Poitiers canonized, u. 298.

often overcome by condemned men, n. 301.

~ of Thespia, annual sacrifices to, n. 303.

Drugs, Preparation of, n. 2.

Druidesses of Sena, pretended to allay Storms, n. 164.

— act attributed to the, 287-

Druidical Fire, n. 234.

Druids, Magic known to the, 102.

Duergar, traditions concerning the, 127.

Dyer, Bishop, preached against Witchcraft, n. 59.

266 GENERAL INDEX.

Earthquake, a rare phenomenon in Egypt, n. 343.

Ecstasy, account of, n. 79.

Eddystone, Rock of, in the land of Arsacides, 21.

Egyptian Priests sole possessors of the complete Knowledge of Hierogly-
phics, 177.

Egyptians, little affected at the sight of Balloons, 2.

Elijah, Coelius Rhodiginus attempts to explain his translation into Heaven,
48.

Elis, miracle performed in, 194.

Elysius of Therina, 276.

Emblems, figure of the Serpent in, n. 294.

Empidocles, what happened to, 104.

Endor, the Witch of, 158.

Engastrimythes, why this name was given to the Pythiae, 159.

Euthymus, combat of, with Lybas, 137.

Epimenides, stories related of, n. 119.

Eresicthon, story of, 92.

Erick-le-bon, who, n. 80.

Esculapius, Note on, worshipped as a Deity, II. 100.

Eternal City, advice given to travellers in the vicinity of, 48.

Etna, substances thrown up by it inflame spontaneously, n. 213.

Etruscans instructed by the Lydians, 171.

Eunus, account of, 311.

Euralye, one of the Gorgons, n. 187.

Eustathius, Note on, 287.

Evander, raised an altar to the God of Meroe, 87.

account of, 171.

Exhalations, deleterious, from a sacred Grotto, 298.

Experience thas proved that the Blood of Bulls contains no deleterious
property, 42.

Eymeric, his Work, n. 29.

Fancourt, Miss, cured of a spine disease by Prayer, u. 89.
Fairies, derivation of the word, description of, 124.

Falsehoods and Prodigies joined to impropriety of expression more striking
when proceeding from Ancient Authors, 35.

GENERAL INDEX. 367

Fates would not permit Troy to be taken, 51.

consulted at Venice, 51.

consulted by Tarquin, 150.

Fez.a little hill in the Kingdom of, 48.

Fifes or Fairies, famed as excelling in the art of working Metals, 123.

Figurative Style, clothes facts in supernatural colouring, 44.

Fins, acquainted with the treatment of Metals, 114.

Fire Worshippers at Baku, n. 199.

of Pietramala, 74.

Fire, Greek, Langles's account of, n. 234.

perpetual at Atisch-gah, 74.

■ Trials by endured by Zoroaster, 309.

eating, burning, 311.

Darts and Balls, n. 233.

Firmus, how, escaped Crocodiles, 328.

Flamen, the Gods to whom it appealed, 123.

Flies, the presence of, in Phoenicia amounts almost to a plague, 85.

Myagrus, God of, Jupiter Apomyios, God of, 84.

Forbes, anecdote related by, 344.

Forespoken Water, .54.

Fountain, Water of which coagulates, u. 14.

Miraculous, in Andros, 293.

Miraculous at Rome, 293.

of Heron, 294.

ofWieres, it. 141.

Francis, St. of Assisi, account of him, 46.

Gaffarel, the Collection of, 200.

Galvani, account of, n. 257.

Ganges, Crocodile of the, account of, 329.

Gargouille, the Dragon of Rouen, II. 301.

Gassendi, sagacity of, 107.

Gelatophyllis, perhaps a Datura, il. 13.

Gengis Khan, Tartar hordes led on by, 146.

where he flourished, 285.

Genii, il. 69.

who were the evil, 104.

some conjured in the Egyptian, others in the Persian lan-
guage, 122.

368 GENERAL INDEX.

Genii, their habitations, 175.

of the Earth, Air and Fire, 219.

— metamorphosed into Serpents, 344.

the care of the parts of the body divided among, 36, n. 100.

Genius of the Empire, appeared to Brutus, n. 69.

Gerbert, his construction of a brazen head, 259.

Germain, account of him, 46.

Ghelongs, heads closely shaved of, 66.

Giambatista Porta, account of, 257.

Gimbernat, Mr. remarks on the Zoogène, 79.

Gipsies, n. 212.

Gitanos, what people so called, n. 212.

Gléditsch, saw the ghost of Maupertuis, n. 92.

Glycas, speaks of a shower of Quicksilver in the reign of Aurelian, 10.

very little known of him, 10.

Gnomes, description of the, 125.
Gnoo, described by iElian, 68.

brindled, inhabitant of Southern Africa, 69.

Gold legend, 37.

of Bambouk, tempered with iron and emery powder, 38.

Gorgons, who they are, n, 187.

————— supposed to be ships, n, 187.

Gothic Women, Account of, 102.

Gout, spring brings periodical returns of, 35.

Gralon, King, tradition how he was saved, 83.

Grangué, near sandy mountains containing Gold Dust, 37.

Greatracks, an Irish quack, n. 88.

■ Flamstead touched by him, n. 88.

■ Lady Conway, a believer in, n. 88.

Greece, attached itself to African traditions only, 86.
Greek Fire, n. 218, 219.

invented by CaUineus, n. 221.

supposed to be Gunpowder, 233.

Grignoncourt, devastated by a violent hailstorm, 13.

Neufchâteau in the department of the Vosges, 13.

Gryphus, great Vulture of the Andes, 29.

Guinea Worm, account of it, 36.
Gunpowder, compositions similar to, n. 227.

invention of, ascribed to Visvacarma, n. 235.

. known to Magi, n. 226.

long known in China, n. 234.

Guyon, Madame de, Confession of, 76.

Gypàetus Barbatus, Bearded Griffin of the Alps, 29.

GENERAL INDEX. 369

Hagiographers, Miracle promulgated by them, 83.
Hagno, fountain of, 11. 162,
Hail Storms, securities against, n. 168.
Halliatoris, used in Persia to enliven a feast, 39.

able to counteract the effect of wine, 39.

Halleh or Hhuleh, a town on the Euphrates, 19.

Harz Mountains, Spectre of the, u. 72.

Haschiché, a preparation of Hemp, u. 17.

Hay-ricks, how spontaneously consumed, n. 206.

Healing Springs, M, 103.

Heat, the agency of, to what it belongs, 298.

Heaven, Translation of Elijah into, 48.

Hebrew, in this language the word milk signified a somniferous drink, 40.

Hecate, the Statue of, 291.

Hellebore, its cure, n. 97.

Hemp, its intoxicating quality, n. 17.

'Herbatilicum, the causes of its being swallowed up, 83.

Hercules, passage of cattle conducted by, 25.

death of, n. 215.

composition of the Fire which killed him, n. 215.

the blood in which his Arrows were dipped, 42.

invoked the God Myagrus, 84.

the Serpent, 85.

surnamed Iatricos, or the able Physician, n. 103.

his death, n. 215.

Herod, opened the Tomb of David and Solomon, n. 227.

Herod, Ins descent into David's Tomb, n. 227.

Herodotus, quotation from, 36.

Hervorar Saga, 273.

Heydens, people so called, n. 212.

Hhuleh, or Halleh, a town on the Euphrates, 19.

Hinan-yuan, singular Chariot of, n. 255.

Hibbert, anecdote related by him, II. 86.

Highlanders, superstitions of, n. 70.

second sight of, n, 70.

Hindoo Mythology, 102.

Hindoos, acquainted with lightning conductors, II, 196.

custom of placing a perfumed Pastille in their mouths, 38.

Hirpi, 313.

Hindoostan, what diseases known on the coast of, 36.

VOL. II. B B

370 GENERAL INDEX.

Hindustan, belief, existing in, 102.

Hippolytus de Marseilles, n. 29.

Hippomanes, its power, 330.

Hohenlohe, Prince, impositions of, n. 89,

Homer, his many fables, merely natural facts, aggrandized by poetical

conception, 31.
Horse of Tiberius of Rhodes, n, 171.

Hussites, the celebration of the excommunication of the, 140.
Hydrostatics, 244.
Hyphasis, unextinguishable oil, made at, u, 223.

Is, town of, 83.

Isaac Comnenus, Emperor, anecdote of, 81.

Idyl of Theocritus, the Second, 209.

Iamblicus, arranges the Genii into two divisions, 120.

Ice, account of it produced in a vessel at a great heat, 121.

Ida, River of, change of colour of, 21.

Imagination, influence of, n. 67.

definition of, ii. 67.

warmed to delirium, n. 82.

Imitation, force of, n. 85.

anecdote of its power, n. 85.

Imporcitor, 123.

India, Ktesias speaks of a fountain in, 37,

Innocents, Cimetière des, blossom of a hawthorn in, 80.

Insitor, 123.

Intoxication, Greek and Persian drank much without suffering, 39.

Invocation, decline of the Art of, in Greece, 275.

the Art of, in Italy, 276.

Iodhan-Moran, 141.

Iphigenia, sacrifice of, 153.

Iphis and Caenis, fable of them, 73.

Justinian, the Emperor, 52.

Jael, note on Sisera, 40.

Jakoutes, prone to Ecstacy, n. 78.

James, King, a believer in Witchcraft, if. 55.

GENERAL INDEX.

371

Janus, Nuraa consecrated a temple under the name of, 87.

a Symbolical Representation of the Year, 87.

Jerusalem, Temple of, could not be rebuilt, 229.

■ temple of, protected from Lightning, n. 184.

attempt by Julian to raze the, 213.

not struck by lightning during a thousand years, n. 184.

Jethro, mosque of, 19.

John of Salisbury, when he lived, 286.

Jouin, St., the Mare of, 26.

Julian, efforts of, to raze the Temple of Jerusalem, 213.

Juno, Temple of, protected from Ughtning, u. 174.

Milo, High Priest of, 55.

Jupiter Cataibates, origin of the Surname, n. 180.

miracle attributed by Marcus Aurelius to, 81.

fiction that stones were rained by, 82.

Elicius, ii. 181.

Apomyios, worshipped by the iElians, 84.

Ammon, temple of, 236.

transformations of, 285.

Kaleidescope, Note on, 261.

Kamschatka, the name of Brichtains still given to the Russians in, 42.

Kea-soum, what, 303.

of St. Hubert, n. 109.

Key, the cures of the, 235.

Khivans, complicated calculations made from pieces of wood by, 193.

Kicahans, subjects of the Burmese, n. 113.

Klaproth, M. Jules, describes the Nogais Tartars, 67.

Kongx, Om, Panx, 230.

Kraken, we may disbelieve all that has been related of the, 40.

Krishna, the God, definition of the Name, 172.

Ktesias, saw experiments on Lightning in Persia, n. 196.

speaks of a fountain in India filled annually with liquid gold, 37.

his accounts correct, but not his Expressions, 37.

Kurdes, or Ali-Oulahies, 105.

Labyrinth of Crete, 251.

of Egypt, 254.

La Charente, the Department of, 27.
Lacryma Batavica, n. 261,

B B 2

372 GENERAL INDEX.

Lactantius, Note on, 278.

Laguna, André, physician to Pope Julius, n. 46.
Lammer Geyer, the eagle of the Alps, 29.
Lamp, miraculous account of the oil of one, 297.

perpetual, 297.

common invention concerning, 297.

Lapis Memphiticus, n. 26.

Laplanders, described as pigmies, 84.

Larcher, turns the account of Ktesias into ridicule, 37.

Larysium, the Mount, 113.

Latacé, explanation of, 40.

Laurels, protectors against lightning, n. 172.

Law, Hindoo, account of the, n. 138.

Lead, molten, poured on Zoroaster, 316.

substitute for, 320.

Lebanos, Mount, composed of red earth, 20.

Leibnitz, penetrated into a secret society at Nuremberg, 221.

Lenoir, his opinions on dragons as emblems, n. 273.

Lerna, the blood of the hydra of, 42.

Lethe, waters of, n. 2.

Letronne, M., his opinions of the statue of Memnon, u, 341.

Letters, governed by angels, 197.

Runic, 199.

Lightning, various means to guard against, n. 1 72.

custom of proving, n. 172.

conductors of, reprobated by St. Bernardin, n. 174.

Llorente, who, n. 46.

Lot, division of angels by, 145.

suggestion of Plato regarding the contraction of marriages by,

145.
Lybas, sacrifice to the manes of, 137.
Lydas, the Sacred Books of the Etruscan priests often quoted by, 93.

Macrisius, his relation of an enormous Hail Shower, 14.
Madelaine, St., the print of her right foot, 27.
Magi, the star which guided them, 28.

wonders performed by, 208.

should be distinguished from Wizards, 234.

GENERAL INDEX. 373

Magic, name applied to the art of working Wonders, 8.

for some time the world was governed by, 97.

originated from researches into the Occult Science, 96.

Name given by the Greeks to the science which they learnt from

the Magi, 98.

established in Bactria by Nimrod, 99.

Cassien speaks of a treatise on, 100.

the highest consideration in Hindustan given to, 101.

acquired by Joseph in Egypt, 101.

the mysteries of, known to Pharoah's Wife, 101.

known to the Druids under the name of Occult Sciences, 102.

Voëleurs or Volveurs, priestesses well versed in, 103.

arts which come into common use may pass for, 113.

the works of, much circumscribed within the Limits of science,

114.

those ridiculed by Apollonius of Tyana who expected to gain by

the ends of, 114.

how the mystery is removed from, 131.

severe laws issued against by the Franks and Visigoths, 229.

Magical performances much more useful to the priest than prodigies, 95.
Magician, fate of a female, 115.

power of those in the Isles of Sena, n. 101.

priest, li. 105.

Magnet, its attractive power known to the ancients, n. 248.
Magnetic sleep, n. 90.
Magnus, Albertus, Note on, 258.

his description of two processes, 319.

possessed a stone for attracting serpents, 352.

Mahomet, ascended to heaven, 27.

impression of the head of, 25.

why did he refuse to work miracles ?

what species of divination used in the time of, 146.

account of, 224.

Marcomans, war against the, 81.

Marcos, miracle by, 299.

Maricus passed himself off for a God, 326.

Marses, the gift they pretended to possess, 349.

Marsian priests made to collect serpents, 349.

Martineau, Miss, her cure, u. 89.

Marum, Note on, influence of, 325.

Mash allah, what, n. 12.

Maupertuis, appeared as a ghost to Gléditsch, n. 92,

Maximus, the Cynic, ir. 210,

374 GENERAL INDEX.

Maximus of Turin, 234.

the Theurgist, 291.

Miracles, apparent, have heen produced by the Science, or by the address of
able men, 15.

at St. Petersburgh, 296.

Mecca, shower of stones at the foot of the walls of, 82.
Medals, legends discovered on, n. 183.
Medea, poison used by her, n. 217.

poisoned robe sent by her to Creusa, ii, 217.

oil of, ii. 217.

■ renewal of the youth of Eson by, 133.

how her mysterious arts were represented , 129.

Medina, a grotto near, 25.

Medusa, one of the Gorgons, n. 187.

Memnon, opinions respecting the sounding of the statue of, ii. 33.

■ statue of, ii. 252.

— fell beneath the blows of Achilles, 20.

— ancient inscriptions on, u. 33-1.

— oracle connected with, u. 333.

Memphis, situation of,. 216.

stone of, n. 26.

Menelaus, Greeks bound to him, 153.

Mendes, Note on, 233.

Meroe, locality of determined, 86.

Metal, fusible, 320.

Meteorology, limited information in, ii. 160.

Mexico, Traditions of the people who emigrated from, 43.

Midas, King of Phrygia, how he died, 41.

Michaelis, his explanation of several explosions, ii. 227.

account of, 170.

Mines, supposed to be inhabited by Genii, 127.
Miners, supposed to be destroyed by Demons, 89.

what was said of the Genii, might hold good of the, 128.

Milo of Croton, 55.

Miracle, on the attempt to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, u. 229.
Mirme, head of, 259.
Misletoe, account of the, 232.

Missouri, the people who dwell in the burning mountains north of, 43.
Mnemosyne, waters of, u. 2.
Mochus, who were his descendants, 130.
Mongolia, an army of rebels pursued in, 80.
Morat, Lake of, extraordinary appearance of, 75.
Moses, understood Electricity, n. 183.

GENERAL INDEX. 375

Moses, possessed some knowledge of electricity, n. 183.
Mother of, the Water, description of, n. 320.
Moudela, Crocodile, 328.
Mountain of the Hand, 26.
Muchamore, plant of, n. 15.
Music, the influence of, 162.

the power of, on animals, 331.

Cats agreeahly affected by, 332.

Myagrus, the God, invoked by Hercules, 84.
Myrope, the plant, occasions blindness, n. 142.
Mystery, custom of, 216.

Mythology, Greek, did not admit one Deity to interfere in the schemes of
another, 114.

Nadoëssis, ignorant of ciphers, 199.

a religious society, n. 4.

Naevius, the Augur, 149.

his talent as an Augur appeared from infancy, 167.

Nagals, how the art of distilling was received by, 303.

Naguals, power ascribed to the, 289.

Naptha, its abundance and use at Baku, n. 196.

native, brought from the Caspian, n. 200.

Navigators, French and English deceived, 22.
Natural Physics employed by Magicians, n. 167.
Nazareth, the mark of the Virgin Mother's knee near, 25.
Nebuchadnezzar, method of decision, 146.
Nekyomantion, introduction of Achilles into a, 274.

Virgil's description of, 275.

Pausanias driven to a, 275.

Nelson, Lord, monument to, on the Calton Hill, 23.
Nepenthes of the Greeks, account of, n. 10.
Nessus, blood of, n. 214.

— — misnamed, 42.

Newton, Sir Isaac, anecdote of, it. 162.
Nicasius, St. Bishop of Rheims, 18.

Church of, 18

Niobe, 22.

Nipa, Palm Tree, 304.
Nonacris, the water of, n. 131.
account of, n. 132.

Nonnosus, regarded as a Narrator of Fables, 52.

376

GENERAL INDEX.

Numa, killed by lightning, u. 175.
the books of, 177.

Obarator, 123.

Obsequens, Julius, 70.

Occator, 123.

Occult Science, its use in removing the mystery of Magic, 131.

■ unknown to Mahomet, 112.

lustre added by Zoroaster to the, 109.

Odin, regarded as the inventor of magic in Scandinavia, Note on, 102

Odin possessed of a speaking head, 259.

Odours, influence of, n. 37.

Œnomaus, King of Pisa, killed by his son-in-law, n. 181.

Note on, n. 181.

Oil of Medea, a poison, u. 217.

of vitriol, 305.

fraudulent practices with, 296.

unextinguishable, whence obtained, n. 224.

Miraculous overflow of, 297.

produced from common salt, 305.

Old Man of the Mountain, account of, n. 18.

Ololuchqui, account of, n. 41.

Olympia, the statue of Milo in, 55.

Olympic games, 84.

ODocentaur, what is designated by, 6'7.

resembles the Chimpanzee, 68.

Ophiogenes in Cyprus, 348.
Ophiusa, a plant of Ethiopia, n. 14.
Opium, power of, n. 118.
Oracle, belief in by Baro, 149.

of Delphi, indication of, concerning Croesus, 149,

history of, 151.

account of the ancient, 154.

Chaldaic, n. 192.

of Dodona, 160.

Ordeal of heat, 315.

by fire, early known in Greece, 316.

of boiling water, 318.

— of exposure to ferocious beasts, 326.

of swimming among crocodiles, 328

of poisons, ii. 138.

GENERAL INDEX, 377

Organs not unknown to the ancients, 255.
Origen, account of, 144.

opinions advanced by, 145.

Orose, Paul, 293.

Orpheus represented as versed in Magic, 129.

Note on, 179.

historical explanation of the fable of, 273.

Orpheus, account of, n. 36.

Orphic mysteries, 179.

Osages, Magicians among the, 139.

Oscellatoria rubescens, what was caused by the development of, 76.

Ossian, a comparison of his, ii. 204.

Oupnek'-hat, passage of, n. 196.

Oxus, wells dug in the vicinity of the, 80.

Pachymerus, assertion of, 317.

Pactolus, wonderful stone found in the, 255.

Palo-Marco, 64.

Paracelsus, Note on, n. 108.

Paragrales, n. 168.

Paragrandines, security against hail, n. 168.

Pausanias, his initiation, n. 40.

Paw, ii. 153.

Pegna, Francis, who, n. 30.

Pelops, accessory to the death of Œnomaus, ii. 181.

Pentheus, Note on, 39.

Perfumes, use of, by the Ancients, ii. 36.

Perkinism, account of, n. 90.

Persian Greeks listened eagerly to the Magi, 209.

Persians, exulted in being able to drink much without suffering intoxication ,

39.
Peter, the river of St., 43.
Petersburgh, St., pretended miracle at, 297.
Petronius Arbiter, his romance, n. 3.
Phantasmagoria, now only restored not invented, 279.

account of that brought out in London, 280.

the instruments which formed, 281.

Phosphorus, how used by the ancients, ii. 209.

Bologna, n. 202.

Baldwin's, ii. 203.

378 GENERAL INDEX.

Phosphorus, ancients acquainted with it, n. 209.

Phrygia, where Diana rewards the love of Endymion, 4.

Rome borrowed the fable of Anchurus from, 61.

Physical science, for the most part can explain the sorcery of Thaumaturgy, 5.

Physicians, looked upon as Gods, n. 100.

Physics, natural employed by magicians, n. 167.

Pisa, church of, how set on fire, n. 206.

Pietramala, the fires of, in Tuscany, 74.

Pigeons, carrier, 335.

dung, burnt the church of Pisa, n. 206.

Pigmies described by Ktesias, 65.

supposition of the ancients concerning them, 66.

Pliny discusses proper methods for preventing a return of the plague, u. 156.

Pliny and Aelian accused of having exaggerated, 30.

names three magical plants endowed with magical properties, 31.

Poisons, Hindoo, named Powst, n. 133.

trial by, n. 138.

Pontiffs, the Roman in their rites made use of words known only to them-
selves, 171.

Polycritus, the ghost of, 259.

Polyphemus, conquered by Ulysses, 22.

Polypi, dimensions of the, exaggerated, 30.

Polytheism, miracles of, exposed by the Christian religion, 161.

legends of, transformed into moral allegories, 215.

Porphyrogenetus, Constantine, advice to his son, n. 221.

used the Greek fire, n. 221.

Porphyry, account of, 119.

his refutation of Chaerémon, 120.

Porsenna, story of explained, n. 178.

Posthumus, Dictator, victory gained by him, 25.

Potamantis, a plant, n. 13.

Powder, offensive, n. 153

Prayers, miracle attributed by the christians to the efficacy of, 81.

Priest, title inseparable with physician and sorcerer among the Nadoëssis,
&c, ii. 105.

Proclus, a physician, n. 36.

Priests of Phrygia and Lyria, threw open their sanctuaries, 209.

Prodigy, every thing so in the eyes of the ignorant, 7.

Protesilaus, the wife of 277.

Proteus, account of, 288.

Psammenites, King of Egypt, cause of the death of, 41.

Psendo-monarchia Daemonum, of what origin, 235.

genii of, 236.

Psychagogues, 275.

GENERAL INDEX. 379

Psychagogues, visited by Elysius, 276.

Ptolemies, introduced the worship of Saturn and Serapis, 11. 346.
Pyrites, what composed of, n. 203.

Pythagoras, three plants according to him had the power of freezing water,
31.

who were the prophets consulted by him at Sidon, 130.

account of, 159.

what sagacity attributed to, n. 154.

Pythonesses known among the Gauls, 233.
Purgatory of St. Patrick, n. 94.

Queen Elizabeth, Statute against witchcraft, u. 59.

sermon against witchcraft preached before her, n. 59.

Quicksilver, a shower of, 10.

Raymond of Sully, his exploit, n. 303.

Rabelais, the memory of, 27.

Radegonde, the Church of St., 27.

Rain, diverse opinions of that which succoured Marcus Aurelius, 81.

Raleigh, Sir W. Note on, 64.

Rats, Lybian, Note on, 68.

yellow, transformed into yellow quails, 49.

Rattle Snake, the young at the approach of danger take refuge in the

mouth of the mother, 33.
Religion of Egypt, disturbed by Cambysis, 40.
Regillus, Lake, 25.
Reparator, 123.
Rhabdomantic Art, 193.
Rheims, ringing of Bells at, 18.
Rhésus, horses of, 51.
Rigveda, Character of, n. 193.
Rosicrucians, account of the, 220.
Roukh, or Roc, under this name narrators have described a monstrous

bird, 29.
Royal Touch, Account of, it. 88.
Rogations, n. 291.

Serpents carried in the processions, n. 295.

Rome, legend of its inundation, n. 292.

380 GENERAL INDEX.

Sabat, account of, 11. 42.

St. Augustus speaks of, Note on, 228.

what passed at the, 231.

inventions taught at, n. 149.

Sabarsen, Religious System, prevalent in Arabia, 202.
Saint Arnel, his exploit with a Serpent, n. 296.
Athanasius, Note on, n, 135.

— — — Balsemus, 57.

Bernardin, reprobated lightning conductors, n. 1 74.

Clara, in a church in Normandy, 56.

Clare, account of her, 47.

Cyr, well at the church of, n. 295.

His victory over a dragon, n. 295.

Denis, 57.

Epiphanius, account of, 99.
Exuperantius, 56.

Felix, represented on the seal of the Canton, 56.
sent St. Martin to Nantes, 83.

Florence, his exploit with a serpent, ii. 297.

Francis of Assisi, account of, 47.

Germain at Auxerre, account of, 46.

Hilaire, Geoffroy, 71.

Hilary, his triumph over a serpent, n. 298.

Hubert, Note on, n.

Januarius, Note on, 301.

John the Baptist, Relics of, 302.

Justin, Note on, n, 11.

Lawrence Scopali, Note on, 300.

Lucain, 57.

Lucian, 57.

Magdalene, the blood of, 300.

Martin, sent to convert, 83.
his triumph over a Serpent, n. 297.

Maurice of Agen, 57.

Michael, legend of killing the dragon, n. 290.
His sword and shield exhibited, u. 291.

Mitrius, at Aries, Note on, 56.

GENERAL INDEX. 381

Saint Nicasius, first Bishop of Rouen, 57.

Nicholas of Tolentius, bones of, 302.

Painted, holding his head, 56.

■ Patrick, lighted a kiln with snow, u. 207.

Pantaleon, Note on, 301.

Note on, 52.

Purgatory of, n. 94.

Par, one of three martyrs, 57.

Paul, Trance of, 48.

Phocas, curative power of his Tomb, it. 294.

Principius at Souvigny.

Régula, 56.

Sané, the iron collar of, 141.

Savinian, 57.

Thecla, miracle attributed to her, Account of, 81.

Thomas, the black slaves at, 161.

Aquinas, bones of, 302.

Vitus' Dance, n. 87.

Salmonius, the fable of, n. 179, 180.
Samaria, a prey to the horrors of famine, 4L
Sâmaveda, character of, n. 194.

Samoyedes, a people recognised in the narrations of Greek writers, 64.

very susceptible of fear, n. 83.

how cured, n. 97.

San Severo, occupied with chemical experiments, 183.
Sannyasi, visions of, n. 93.

Description of the sect of, ii. 94.

Sarritor, 123.

Savoy, a block of granite at, 24.
Saxo Grammaticus, first tales of, 103, 285.
Scandinavians, the power they attach to verse, 196.
Schools of Philosophy, opened to the Christians, 215.

of Toledo, Seville and Salamanca, 226.

Sciences, Occult, the domain of, reduced within true limits, 16.
Scopelism, the emblem of, n. 148.
Scrofula, royal touch and cure for,, n. 88.
Scylla, what becomes of the tradition of, 30.
Scythia, the liqueur of, 304.

impression of Hercules foot left in, 25.

Scythian asses, u. 129.

Scythians, Anthropophagi existing amongst the, 64.

sometimes have the appearance of old women, 64.

Seals, representation of saints on, 56.

Second sight, Note on, n. 71.

382 GENERAL INDEX.

Sementini, Doctor, 321.

Serapion, the Egyptian, 326.

Serapis, constellation of the nquinox represented by, 86.

Seres, described by Pliny and Virgil, 37.

Serpent, tamed of Ajax, 341.

in Timauni, 341.

Papa, or Ammodite, 342.

Naja, 347.

discovered in the Antilles by its odour, 350.

that opposed by Kegulus, not a Boa-Constrictor, n. 276.

winged, coidd only have been emblems, ii. 277.

monstrous, emblematic of inundations, n. 278.

legends of, adopted into History, n. 283.

of Sologne, Legend respecting, n. 293.

figure of, in emblems, n. 294.

ancient Mythology, connected with legends of, n. 316.

Shells of beans, m. 150.

Siam, mode of calculating Eclipses existing in, 191.
Siberia, shut out from the age of inventions, 304.
Simmias, a Philosopher of Thebes, u. 32.
Simon, the Magician, 289.
Simplicus, Pope, 316.
Sipylus, Mount of, 22.

Mount of, endemic diseases peculiar to the neighbourhood

of, 23.

Sisera, Note on Jael, 40.
Sita, wife of Kama, 314.
Siva, colossal statue of, account of, 152.

adoration of, 202.

Smerdis, brother of Cambyses, 207.

Snakes, Hindoos allowed themselves to be bitten by, 347.

stones, account of, 347.

Snow, from what causes it becomes of a red hue, 76.

red, account of, Note, 77.

Synesius, account of, 216.

Soap, its incombustible influence, u. 33.

Solanum, poison of, n, 11.

Solinus, Note on, 52.

Solomon, explosion at his Tomb, n. 287.

Soolimas, the King of the, 334.

the tribe of the, 142.

Sorcery, Bishop of Spires, accused of, n. 63.

various accusations of, u. 64.

Soukh-oos, Note on, 338.

GENERAL INDEX. 3S3

Spikenard, Note on, 327.
Spinon, nature of, n. 207.
Spots, Red, appearance of, 78.
Spring, fatal, in Thrace, u. 131.

■ of water near Tyana, u. 140.

Statues, sweating and weeping of, 279.
Steinacker, M., death of, n, 217.
Stheno, one of the Gorgons, n. 187.

Hercules, the Constellation of the Equinox represented by, 86.

Stone, Boat of, 22.

Stones, account of wonderful, 256.

Striae, 233.

Sun, effect of looking on the, i. 93.

Superstitions, Note on various, 88.

Superstitious observances, Note on, 123.

Sutee, ii. 27.

Sweet Kernels, what is meant by, n. 115.

Swedenborg, affirmed his revelations to be a sufficient Miracle, 112.

Szalina, salt mine of, 75.

Taisch, Note on, n. 70.

Tanyoxartes, brother of Cambyses, how he died, 41.

Tarasque, account of, n. 274.

emblematical of the inundation of the Rhine, n. 280.

Tarchon, founder of the Etruscan Theurgists, n, 172.

the ancient, 172.

Tarquin, the elder, Note on, 149.

Tartars, some tribes eat the condemned to death, 65.

curious custom of the, n. 212.

Tchin, wine poisonous, in which are macerated the feathers of, 41.
Tchu-Ki, a species of partridge, called the, 48.
Telchines, derivation of the name, 113.

first regarded as magicians, 123.

Tell, William, story of the apple, n. 305.
Temersa, sacrifice at, 137.

Temple of Jerusalem, attempt to rebuild, n. 229.

of Juno protected from lightning, n. 174.

384 GENERAL INDEX.

Temple at Delphi, Account of the, 104.

Tenda Maia, pigmies found there, 66.

Teraphim, account of, 250.

Teriakana, or opium shops, n. 11.

Terra, the Temple of, 42.

Tetractys of Pythagoras and Plato, 193.

Thaïes, enabled to predict an eclipse, 205.

Thaumaturgian subalterns held in like estimation, 211.

Thaumaturgist, his facility of inspiring a belief in the fulfilment of won-
ders, 133.

Thaumaturgists, the sect mere labourers in natural philosophy, 119.

unknown to Mahomet and Swedenborg, 112.

in what consisted their power, 118.

Thaumaturgy, can for the most part be explained by physical science, 5.

Tiberius of Rhodes, his horse electrical, n. 171.

Tji-Kounir, waters of troubled, n. 155.

Thecles, how he escaped the wild beasts, 326.

Themistocles, the cause of his death, 41.

Theodoretus, Note on, 283.

Theophrastus, named a mineral stone spinon, n. 207.

Theurgists, spirits, described by a, 120.

Theurgy, defined, 112.

Thibault, General, anecdote of, n. 92.

Thompson, Agnes, a witch, n. 55.

Thousand and one Nights, Tales of the, of Hindoo origin, 115.

Thrasybulus, what appeared when he was at the head of the exiled Athe-
nians, 81.

Toddy, made at Ava, Siam and Pegu, 304.

Toko, story of Tell's apple applied to him, 305.

Touch royal, in scrofula, n. 88.

Tours, Gregory of, quotation from, 28.

Miracle described by, 297.

Tower, raised by Archelaus, 322.

— _ of Larch wood, 323.

Travers, Mr. his opinion of Miss Fancourt's case, xxxiv.

Trance, sometimes beneficial, n. 78.

Trial of burning coals still practised among the Hindoos, 315.

— by poisons, n. 138.

. — by water, n. 139.

Tritonides, the formation of, 86.

Tritonis in Lybia, the lake or river of, 87.

Tripod, how placed, 165.

Trogus, Pompeius, Note on, 54.

Trophonius, mysteries of his cave, n. 5.

GENERAL INDEX. 385

Trophonius, cave of, 247.

Timarches, his account of his initiation, n. 5.

Trows, under what names are recognised the, 127,

Tsaltsalya, account of, 86»

Tschingis, 309.

Tullus Hostilius, drew lightning from the clouds, n. 183.

disco very from the books of Numa, Note on, 178.

Tullus, his death, n. 177.

Ulysses, vessel of, 22.

his rowers, 31.

admission of into a Nekyomantion, 274.

Unctions, mysterious, belonging to ancient Magi, 230,
the effect of, 231.

Valmont de Bomasi, quotation from him, 31.

Vandale, Anthony, account of, 151.

Varro, Columella, Pliny and Solinus, extraordinary relations of, 54,

Vedas, scriptures of the Hindoos, 193.

the collection of the, 101.

Vegetation, various methods of destroying, n. 150.
Ventriloquism, definition of, 157.

account of the art of, 158.

Venus, altar of, on Mount Erycus, 74.
Vervator, 123.

Vishnû, the adoration of, 202.
Vitus, Saint, his dance, n. 87.
Voëleurs or Volveurs, priestesses, 102.
Vulcan, arms fabricated by, 1 14.

art of treating metals deified under the name of, 123.

traditions of, 250.

Wailand, by whom instructed in the art of forging, 1 14.
Waldenses, account of, n. 50.

VOL. II. c c

386 GENERAL INDEX.

Water, forespoken, account of, m. 54.

ordeal of boiling, 118.

used in Hindustan, 115.

Water, expansive power of known to the ancients, n. 246.
Waters becoming muddy previous to an earthquake, u. 155.
Wierius, J., fragment published by, account of, 174.
Wilkinson, Mr., discoveries of, in the statue of Memnon, n. 351.
Wine, rice, made in China, 303.

of Salerno, 305.

Wire-gauze, used by the ancients on the principles of Sir H. Davy, 291.
Witchcraft, numbers condemned at Geneva, n. 49.
— — Reginald Scott's work on, u. 49.

■ — Shepherds supposed to practise, n. 52.
— — Mrs. Dyer accused of, u. 59.

■ — belief in, leads to every vice, n. 62.
Witches burnt at Wurzburg in 1750, n. 58.

burnt in England in 1751, u. 58.

seventeen burnt at Osus in Essex, n. 60.

■ — statute of James I. of England against, n. 60.
Words, used in the operations of Magic only Greek and Latin, 229.
Wraiths, account of, n. 70.

Xanthus, the horses of Rhésus not permitted to taste of the waters of, 51.
Xen-si, the province of, 75.

Yadjour-Veda, its character, ir. 194.
Yogis, account of, n. 33.

Zagh, description of, u. 130.
Zealanders, the New, avowed cannibals, 65.
Zigeuners, what people so called, n. 212.
Zingari, origin of, n. 212.

'..■ what description of people, n. 212.

— — their perfection in tricks of every kind, 139.

. definition of the term, 139.

GENERAL INDEX. 387

Zoogène, description of the appearance of, 79.
Zoroaster had an interview with the devil, 11. 184,
— — — — perished by lightning, n. 186.

verses by, u. 188.

his doctrines, n. 190.

— — — what occurred to him, 48„

had no other aim than that of making additions to the art of

Magic, 99.
often entered the lists with necromancers mimical to his doctrine,

108.

trials of fire endured by, 309.

— — ■ — allowed melted lead to be poured over him, 318.

— — that under the name of, the Persians worshipped a son of Shem, n.

185.

oracles attributed to the disciples of, n. 188.

— — prayed to the Gods to be struck by lightning, n. 186.

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