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.
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