1 
 
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 LIBRARY . 
 
 No. 
 
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 THOMAS TEGG AND SO^ 
 
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SKETCHES 
 
 IMPOSTURE, DECEPTION, 
 
 CREDULITY. 
 
 " The earth hath Bubbles, as the water has. 
 And these are of them." — Shakspeare. 
 
 " The prejudice of credulity may, in some measure, be cured by 
 learning to set a high value on truth." — Watts. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PUBLISHED BY THOMAS TEGG AND SON, 
 
 73, CHEAPSIDE. 
 
 MDCCCIXXYII. 
 
3 \2-^M^45^>^ 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PiaNTED BY BIIADBURY AKD EVAKS, 
 
 WHITEFRIARS. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 A COMPLETE history of the subject which occupies 
 these pages would fill an equal number of the 
 ponderous folios over which our ancestors were 
 accustomed to pore. The author of " Sketches of 
 Imposture, Deception, and Credulity,'* aspires only 
 to give, under various heads, a sample of the manifold 
 frauds which have, in all ages, been successfully em- 
 ployed to frighten and gull mankind. His volume may 
 be considered as a humble supplement to Sir Walter 
 Scott*s " Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft," 
 and Sir David Brewster's " Letters on Natural Magic." 
 If it should be found to afford to the Public" only a 
 quarter as much amusement and instruction as have 
 been derived from those excellent worksi, his ambition 
 will be amply gratified. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 P 
 
 l^tfects of IncreduUty and Credulity — Knowledge supposed to 
 be Remembrance — Purpose of this Volume — Progress of 
 rational Belief — Resemblance of Error to Truth — Contagi- 
 ous Nature of Excitement — Improved State of the Human 
 Mind in Modern Times .... 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 ON ANCIENT ORACLES, &C. 
 
 Remote Oiigin of Oracles — Influence of Oi-acles — Opinions 
 respecting them — Cause of the Cessation of Oracles — Super- 
 stition early systematized in E^ypt — Bceotia early famous 
 for Oracles — Oiigin of the Oracle of Dodona — Ambiguity 
 of Oracular Responses— Stratagem of a Peasant — Oracles 
 disbelieved by Ancient Philosophers — Cyrus and the Idol 
 Bel — Source of Fire- Worshipping — Victory of Canopus 
 over Fire — The Sphinx — Sounds heard from it — Sup- 
 posed Cause of them — Mysterious Sounds at Nakous — 
 Frauds of the Priests of Scrapis — The Statue of Memnon — 
 Oracle of Delphi — Its Origin — Changes which it under- 
 went — The Pythoness — Danger attendant on her Office — 
 Tricks played by Heathen Priests — Origin of the Gordian 
 Knot — The Knot is cut by Alexander — Ambrosian, Logan 
 or Rocking Stones — Representations of them on Ancient 
 Coins — Pliny's Description of a Logan Stone in Asia — 
 Stones at Sitney, in Cornwall, and at Castle Treryn — The 
 latter is overthrown, and replaced — Logan Stones are 
 Druidical Monuments ..... 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FALSE MESSIAHS, PROPHETS, AND MIRACLES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Susceptibility of the Imagination in the East — Mahomet — His 
 Origin — He assumes the Title of the Apostle of God — 
 Opposition to him — Revelations brought to Him by the 
 Angel Gabriel — His Flight to Medina — Success of his Im- 
 posture — Attempt to poison him — His Death — Tradition 
 respecting his Tomb — Account of his Intercourse with 
 Heaven — Sabatai Sevi, a false Messiah — Superstitious Tra- 
 dition among the Jews — Reports respecting the Coming 
 of the Messiah — Sabatai pretends to be the Messiah — He 
 
 is assisted by Nathan — Follies committed by the Jews 
 
 Honours paid to Sabatai — He embarlcs for Constantinople 
 — His Arrest — He embraces Mahometanism to avoid Death 
 — Rosenfeld, a German, proclaims himself the Messiah — 
 His Knavery — He is whipped and imprisoned — Richard 
 Brothers announces himself as the revealed Prince and 
 Prophet of the Jews — He dies in Bedlam — Thomas Muncer 
 and his Associates — Their Fate — Matthias, John of Ley- 
 den, and other Anabaptist Leaders — They are defeated and 
 executed — The French Prophets — Punishment of them — - 
 Miracles at the Grave of the Deacon Paris — Horrible 
 Self-inflictions of the Convulsionaries — The Brothers of 
 Brugglen — They are executed — Prophecy of a Life- 
 guardsman in London— Joanna Southcott: — Her Origin, 
 Progress, and Death — Folly of her Disciples — Miracles of 
 Prince Hohenlohe . . . . .24 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC SUPERSTITIONS, ETC. 
 
 Account of Pope Joan — Artifice of Pope Sextus V. — Some 
 Christian Ceremonies borrowed from the Jews and Pagans 
 — Melting of the Blood of St. Januarius — Addison's 
 opinion of it — Description of the Peiformance of the Mi- 
 racle — Miraculous Image of our Saviour at Rome — Ludi- 
 crous Metamorphosis of a Statue — Relics — Head of St. 
 John the Baptist — Sword of Balaam — St. Ursula and the 
 Eleven Thousand Virgins — Self-Tormenting — Penances of 
 St. Dominic the Cuirassier — The Crusades — Their Cause 
 and Progress, and the immense numbers engaged iu them . 55 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HINDOO AyO OTHER ORIENTAL SUPERSTITIONS. 
 * PAGE 
 
 Gross Superstition of the Hindoo Religion — The Bramins and 
 their Privileges — Immolation of Widows — Ceremonies and 
 fanatical Sacrifices at Jaggernaut — Pilgrimages to Hurdwar 
 — Sacred Character of the "Waters of the Ganges — Follies 
 committed by Hindoo Devotees — Tortures which they in- 
 flict on themselves — A Youth induced to sacrifice himself 
 to Bhyroo by a supposed Vision — Mutilation to propitiate 
 the Goddess Kali-Ghat — Wild Superstitions of the Malays 
 — Spirits in wliich the Malays believe — Pontianaks — Tuju 
 Jindang — The Polong — Mode of exercising the Polong — 
 The Penangalam — Charms to obtain Revenge on Ene- 
 mies — The Tuju and the Tuju Jantong — The Panaw, a 
 Charm of the Mahometan Malays — Desperate Conduct of a 
 Man who wore a Panaw — Incantations of the Shamans, 
 or Priests, in Sibeiia . . . . . 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ROYAL IMPOSTORS. 
 
 Pretenders to Royalty numerous — Contest between the 
 Houses of York and Lancaster gives rise to various Pre- 
 tenders — Insurrection of Jack Cade — He is killed — Lam- 
 bert Simnel is tutored to personate the Earl of Warwick — 
 He is crowned at Dublin — He is taken Prisoner, pardoned, 
 and made Scullion in the Royal Kitchen — Perkin Warbeck / 
 
 pretends to be the murdered Duke of York — He is coun- 
 tenanced by the King of France — He is acknowledged by 
 the Duchess of Burgundy — Perkfn lands in Scotland, and 
 is aided by King James — He is married to Lady Catherine 
 Gordon — He invades England, but fails — His Death — 
 Pretenders in Portugal — Gabriel de Spinosa — He is hanged 
 —The Son of a Tiler pretends to l>e Sebastian — He is sent 
 to tho G allies— Gonyalo Alvarez succeeds him — He is 
 executed — An Individual of talents assumes the Character 
 of Sebastian — His extraordinary Behaviour in his Exami- 
 nations — He is given up to the Spaniards — Mis Sufferings 
 and dignified Deportment — His Fate nof known — Pre- 
 
Ill CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 tenders in Russia — The first false Demetrius — He obtains 
 the Throne, but is driven from it by Insurrection, and is 
 slain — Other Impostors assume the same Name — Revolt 
 of PugatschefF — Pretenders in France — Hervegault and 
 Bruneau assume the Character of the deceased Louis XVII. ** £3 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DISGUISES ASSUMED BY, OR IN BEHALF OF, ROYALTY. 
 
 Disguise of Achilles — Of Ulysses — Of Codrus — Fiction em- 
 ployed by Numa Pompilius — King Alfred disguised in the 
 Swineherd's Cottage — His Visit, as a Harper, to the Danish 
 ' Camp — Richard Coeur de Lion takes the Garb of a Pilgrim 
 — He is discovered and imprisoned — Disguises and Escape 
 of Mary, Queen of Scots — Escape of Charles the Second, 
 after the Battle of Worcester — Of Stanislaus from Dant- 
 zick — Of Prince Charles Edward from Scotland— Peter 
 the Great takes the Dress of a Ship Carpenter — His Visit to 
 England — Anecdote of his Conduct to a Dutch Skipper — 
 Stratagem of the Princess Ulrica of Prussia — Pleasant De- 
 ception practised by Catherine the Second of Russia — Joan 
 of Arc — Her early Life — Discovers the King M'hen first in- 
 troduced at Court — She compels the English to raise the 
 Siege of Orleans— Joan leads the King to be crowned at 
 Rheims — She is taken Prisoner — Base and barbarous Con- 
 duct of her Enemies— She is burned at Rouen — The Devil 
 of "Woodstock — Annoying Pranks played by it — Explana- 
 tion of the Mystery — Fair Rosamond . . .96 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MILITARY STRATAGEMS. 
 
 , Chai-acteristic Mark of a skilful General — Importiince anciently 
 attached to military Stratagems — The Stratagem of Joshua at 
 Ai the first which is recorded — Stratagem of Julius Cfesar 
 in Gaul — Favourable Omen derived from Sneezing — Arti- 
 fice of Bias at Priene — Telegraphic Communication — Mode 
 adopted by Hystiajus to convey Intelligence — Relief of 
 Casilinum by Gracchus — Stratagem of the Chevalier de 
 Luxemboui-g to convey Ammunition into Lisle — Impor- 
 tance of concealing the Death of a Gep^ral,.-^The manner in 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 which tlie Death of Sultan Solyman was kept secret — 
 Stratagem of John Visconti — Stratigem of Lord Norwich at 
 Angoul^me — Capture of Amiens by the Spaniards — Man- 
 ner in whicli the Natives of Sonia threw off the Yoke. . 122 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MALINGERING, OR SIMULATION OF DISEASES. 
 
 Former Prevalence of Malingering in the Army ; and the 
 Motives for it — Decline of the Practice — Where most Pre- 
 valent — The means of Simulation reduced to a System — 
 Cases of simulated Ophthalmia in the 50th Regiment — The 
 Deception wonderfully kept up by many Malingerers — 
 Means of Detection — Simulated Paralysis — Impudent Tri- 
 umph manifested by Malingerers — Curious case of Hollidge 
 — Gutta Serena, and Nyctalopia counterfeited — Blind 
 Soldiei-8 employed in Egypt — Cure, by actual cautery, 
 of a Malingerer — Simulation of Consumption and other 
 Diseases — Feigned Deafness — Detection of a Man who 
 simulated Deafness — Instances of Self-mutilation com- 
 mitted by Soldiers — Simulation of Death. . • 131 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS IMPOSTORS AND IMPOSTURES. 
 
 Mary Tofts, tlie Rabbit Breeder, of Godalming — Progress and 
 Detection of her Impostures — Poisoning of St. Andr^ — The 
 Bottle Conjuror — Advertisements on tliis Occasion — Riot 
 produced by the Fraud — Squibs and Epigrams to which it 
 gave rise — Case of Elizabeth Canning — Violent Controversy 
 which arose out of it — She is found guilty of Perjury and 
 transported — The Cock Lane Ghost — Public Excitement 
 occasioned by it — Detection of the Fraud — Motive for the 
 Im^Msture — The Stockwell Ghost — The Sampford Ghost — 
 Mystery in which the Affair was involved — Astonishing 
 Instance of Credulity in Perigo and his Wife — Diabolical 
 Conduct of Mary Bateman — She is hanged for Murder- 
 Metamorphosis of the Chevalier d'Eon — Multifarious Dis- 
 guises of Price the Forger — Miss Robertson — The Fortunate 
 Youth — The Princess Olive — Caraboo — Pretended Fasting 
 — Margaret Scnfrit — Catherine Binder — The Girl of Unna 
 — The Osoaburg Girl — Anne Moore. . . .140 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 LITERARY IMPOSTORS AND DISGUISES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Controversy respecting the Works of Homer; Arguments of 
 the Disputants — Controversy on the supposed Epistles of 
 Phalaris — Opinion of Sir William Temple on the Superi- 
 ority of the Ancients — Dissertation of Dr. Bentley on the 
 Epistles of Phalaris — He proves them to be a Forgery — 
 Doubts as to the Anabasis being the Work of Xenophon 
 — Arguments of Mr. Mitford in the Affirmative — Alcyo- 
 nius accused of having plagiarised from, and destroyed, 
 Cicero's Treatise "De Gloria" — Curious Mistake as to Sir 
 T. More's Utopia — The Icon Basilike — Disputes to which 
 it gave rise — Arguments, pro and con, as to the real Au- 
 thor of it — Lauder's Attempt to prove Milton a Plagiarist 
 — Refutation of him by Dr. Douglas — His Interpolations 
 —George Psalmanazar — His Account of Formosa — His 
 Repentance and Piety— Publication of Ossian's Poems 
 by Mr. Macpherson — -Their Authenticity is doubted — Re- 
 port of the Highland Society on the Subject — Pseudonymous 
 and anonymous Works — Letters of Junius — The Drapier's 
 Letters — Tale of a Tub — Gulliver's Travels — The Waver- 
 ley Novels — Chatterton and the Rowley Poems— W. H. 
 Ireland and the Shakspearian Forgeries — Damberger's pre- 
 tended Travels— Poems of Clotilda de Surville — Wallad- 
 mor — Hunter, the American — Douville's Travels in 
 Africa. . . . . . .163 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Masterpieces and deceptions in painting and sculpture. 
 
 Early Practice of Painting and Sculpture — Deception not the 
 purpose of Painting — Deceptive Powers of early Painters : 
 Zeuxis, Parrhasius, Apelles, and Protogenes — Anecdote of 
 Vandyke and Frank Hals — Apelles and the shoeniaking 
 Critic — Apelles at Alexandria — Instances of the Skill of 
 Apelles and Parrhasius, and of some modern Artists — Effects ' 
 of Chance in Painting — Origin of the Corinthian Capital — 
 Origin of Gothic Architecture — Admirable Copy of Raphael 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 by Del Sarto — Imitative Powei-s of Sebastian Ricci ; Speech 
 of La Fosse to him — Ingenious Stratagem of Lord North- 
 wick — Laughable Cheat by Mabuse — Superstitious Stories 
 respecting Pictures— Presentation Picture by Rubens — 
 Juan de Pereja, the Mulatto Slave of Velasquez — Picture- 
 dealing ; Ti-icks of Picture-dealers — Secret of the Venetian 
 Style of Colouring — Anecdote of a Picture Collector — 
 Originals mistaken for Copies — Imitations of Painting— 
 The Polygraphic Society — Mosaic— Mexican Feather Pic- 
 tures — Stratagem of an Architect — Michael Angelo's Cupid 
 —Statue of Charles I. ; of Charles II. . . • 209 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 IMPOSTURKS IN ENGRAVING. 
 
 Fashion of decrying modern Artists — M. Picart asserts the 
 Merit of modern Engravers — Means employed by him to 
 prove the Truth of his Assertions — " The innocent Im- 
 postors" — Goltzius imitates perfectly the Engravings of 
 Albert Durer — Marc Antonio Raimondi is equally suc- 
 cessful — Excellent Imitation of Rembrandt's Portrait of 
 Burgomaster Six — Modern Tricks played M'ith respect to 
 Engraved Portraits — Sir Joshua Reynolds metamorphosed 
 into " The Monster." ..... 232 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FORGED INSCRIPTIONS AND SPl'RIOUS MEDALS. 
 
 Ancient Memorials of Geographical Discoveries — Mistakes 
 arising from them — Frauds to which they gave occasion — 
 Imposture of Evemerus — Annius of Viterbo wrongfully 
 charged with forging Inscriptions — Spurious Works given to 
 the World by him — Forged Inscrij)tions put on Statues by 
 ignorant modem Sculptoi-s — Spurious Medals — Instances of 
 tliem in the Cabinet of Dr. Hunter — Coins adulterated 
 by Grecian Cities — Evelyn's Directions for ascertjiining the 
 Genuineness of Medals— Spurious Gold Medals — Tricks of 
 the Manufacturers of Pseudo-Antique Medals — Collectors 
 addicted to pilfering Rarities — Medals swallowe<l by Vail- 
 lant — Mistakes arising from Ignorance of the Chinese 
 Characters. ...... 235 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SEPULCHRAL AND PERPETUAL LAMPS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Belief in ever-burning sepulchral Lamps — Such Lamps sup- 
 posed to have originated with the Egyptians — Reason of their 
 Origin — Various Shapes of Egyptian Lamps — Description of 
 one — Lamp said to have been found in the Tomb of Pallas 
 — Its unextinguishable Nature — Lamp and embalmed Body 
 mentioned by PanciroUus — Observation of Ferrari us — Per- 
 petual Lamps in the Temple of Jupiter Amnion and at 
 Edessa — Kircher on the Formation of perpetual Lamps — 
 Trithemius's Recipes to make them — Why such Lamps 
 were supposed to be possible in Egypt — Sir Thomas Browne's 
 Conjectures respecting them — Modern Philosophers anxious 
 to form perpetual Lamps — Suggestions of Dr. Plott respect- 
 ing the Method of making them . . . .241 
 
 CHAPTER XVT. 
 
 PANTOMIMIC DELUSIONS. 
 
 The Art of Mimicry in ancient and modern Times — Superi- 
 ority of the Ancients in that Art — Advice given by Periander 
 — Fable of Proteus — Education required by a Professor of 
 the Pantomimic Art — Herodotus — Personation of the insane 
 Ajax — Timocrates — Archimimes employed at Funerals — 
 Demetrius the Cynic converted — Striking Effect of Panto, 
 mime on two Barbarian Princes — Pleasure felt by the Ro- 
 man People on the Recal of Bathyllus — Contest of Bathyllus 
 and Hylas — Anecdote of John Kemble — Pantomime in 
 Italy — Acting of Portraits and historical Pictures in Italy 
 — The Harlot's Progress represented as a Pantomime — 
 War Dances of the American Indians . . .248 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 MYSTERY OF THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK. 
 
 The Man with the Iron Mask proved to be Matthioli— Who 
 Matthloli was — He is bribed by Louis XIV. to obtain the 
 Surrender of Casale — He violates his Engagement with the 
 French Monarch — Louis resolves to take Vengeance on him 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 PAGE 
 
 — Matthioli is lured into the Hands of the French Agents — 
 He is made Prisoner — Instructions given by Louis, relative 
 to the Treatment of the Prisoner — Matthioli is compelled to 
 wear a Mask — A mad Jacobin Monk is confined with him — 
 He is removed to Exilles — Again removed to the Island of 
 St. Margaret — Manner in which he travelled — Anecdotes 
 respecting him — He is again removed to the Bastile — 
 His death — Precautions taken after his Death to preserve 
 Secrecy . . . . . . . 254 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 TUE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. 
 
 General Infatuation with respect to the South Sea Bubble — 
 Literary Men caught the Infection — Gay, the Poet, loses all 
 his Property — Chandler is ruined, and forced to become a 
 Bookseller — Origin of the South Sea Scheme — The House 
 of Lords is hostile to it — Difference of the South Sea and 
 Mississippi Schemes — Lying Reports spread by Sir John 
 Blunt, to raise the Price of Stock — Consequence of them 
 — Change-alley is crowded by all Classes — Numerous- 
 Bubbles — Ludicrous Impudence of some of them — Down- 
 fall of the South Sea Scheme — Escape of Knight, the 
 Treasurer — Bribes to Members of the Administration, &c, 
 — Parliamentary Measures against the Guilty — The Bub- 
 bles put down by Proclamation — Sir R. Steele's Mul- 
 tiplication Table-^i)Cculations in 1825 . . .261 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ATTEMPT TO STEAL THE REGALIA FROM THE TOWER. 
 
 First Opening of the Regalia to public Inspection — Eklwards 
 appointed Keeper — Plan formed by Blood to steal the Re- 
 galia — Ho visits the Tower with his pretended Wife — 
 Means by which he contrived to become intimate with Ed- 
 wards — His Arrangements for carrying his Scheme into 
 Execution — He knocks down Etlwards, and obtains Posses- 
 sion of the Jewels — Fortunate Chance by which his Scheme 
 was frustrated — He is taken — Charles II. is present at his 
 Examination — Blood contrives to obtain a Pardon, and the 
 Gift of an Estate from the King . . . 270 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 VAMPYKISM. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Horrible nature of tlie Superstition of Vumpyrisin — Persons 
 attacked by Vam pyres become Vampyres themselves — Signs 
 by Avliich a Vampyre was known — Origin of one of the 
 signs — Effect attributed to Excommunication in the Greek 
 church — Story of an excommunicated Greek — Calmet's 
 theory of the origin of the Superstition respecting Vampyres 
 — St. Stanislas — Philinnium — The Strygis supposed to 
 have given the idea of the Vampyre — Capitulary of Char- 
 lemagne — Remedy against attacks from the Demon — 
 Anecdote of an impudent Vampyre — Story of a Vampyre 
 at Myconc — Prevalence of Vampyrism in the north of 
 Europe — Walachian mode of detecting Vampyres. , 273 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 JUGGLING. 
 
 Feats of Jugglers formerly attributed to witchcraft — Extract 
 from Ady's Candle in the Dark — Anglo-Saxon Gleemen — 
 Norman Jugglers or Tregetours — Chaucer's Description of 
 the Wonders performed by them — Means probably employed 
 by them — Recipe for making the Ap])earance of a Flood — 
 
 Jugglei's fashionable in the Reign of Charles H Evelyn's 
 
 Account of a Fire-eater — Katterfelto — Superiority of Asiatic 
 and Egyptian pretenders to magical Skill — Mandeville's 
 Account of Juggling at the Court of the Great Khan — Ex- 
 traordinary Feats witnessed by the Emperor Jehanguire — 
 Ibn Batuta's Account of Hindustanee Jugglers — Account of 
 a Bramin who sat upon the Air — Egyptian Jugglers — Mr. 
 Lane's Account of the Performance of one of them — Ano- 
 ther fails in satisfying Captain Scott . . . 280 
 
 CHAPTER XXn. 
 
 PRODIGIES. 
 
 Hold taken on the public Mind by Pr6digies— Dutch Boy 
 with Hebrew Words on the Iris of each Eye — Boy with 
 the word Napoleon in the Eye — Child with a Golden 
 Tooth — Speculations on the Subject — Superstition re- 
 specting changeling Children in the Isle of Man — Waldron's 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Descriplion of a Changeling — Cases of extraordinary Sleep- 
 ers — The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus — Men supposed, in 
 the northern Regions, to be frozen during tlie Winter, and 
 afterwards thawed into Life aguin — Dr. Oliver's Case of a 
 Sleeper near Bath — Dr. Cheync's Account of Colonel 
 Townshend's power of voluntarily suspending Animation — 
 Man buried alive for a ^lonth at Jaisulmer — The Manner 
 of his Burial, and his Preparation for it . . .290 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 BOTANICAL SUPERSTITIONS AND DELUSIONS. 
 
 Botanical Absurdities numerous — Shepherds study the Nature 
 of Plants — The doctrine of Signatures deseribed — Stipposed 
 Qualities of Plants, according to that Doctrine — Maidenhair, 
 Quinces, Balm, Woodsorrel, Walnut — The Shamrock an 
 Emblem of the Trinity — Method of gathering and digging 
 up Plants — Veneration in which the Misletoe was held — 
 Fern-seed rendered the Bearer invisible — The Enchanter's 
 Nightshade — The Mandrake — Mode of obtaining it — The 
 Mandrake mentioned in Genesis — Pliny's Mention of it — 
 The Root counterfeited by means of the Briony Root — Its 
 soporific Virtues — The Tartarian Lamb, or Barometz, de- 
 scribed — Poetical Descriptions of it by De la Croix and 
 Darwin — Holy Trees — Early- budding Oaks in the New 
 Forest — Glastonbury Thorn — ^Miraculous Walnut Tree at 
 Glastonbun.' — Early Blackthorn at Quainton — The Groan- 
 ing Tree at Badesly — Hazel used for the Divining Rod — 
 Vindication of the Belief in the Divining Rod — Various Su- 
 perstitions respecting Trees and Plants — The Peridexion. 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE DELUSIONS OF ALCHEMY. 
 
 Origin of Alchemy — Arguments for Transmutation — Golden 
 Age of Alchemy — Alchemists in the 13th century — Medals 
 metaphoriiyilly descnbed — Jargon of Dr. Dee — The Green 
 Lion — Roger Bacon — Invention of Gunpowder — lmj)rison- 
 mentof Alchemists — Edictof Henry VI — Pope John XXII 
 Pope Sixtus V — Alchemy applied to Medicine — Paracelsus 
 — Evelyn's hesitation about Alchemy — Narrative of Hel- 
 vetius — Philadept on Alchemy — Roeicrucians — A Vision — 
 Ilaydon's description of Rosicrucians — Dr. Price — Mr. 
 Wo'ulfe — Mr. Kellerman . . . .314 
 
XVI CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ASTROLOGY. 
 
 PAGR 
 
 Suppposed Origin of Astrology — Butler on the Transmission 
 of Astrological Knowledge — Remarks on Astrology by 
 Hervey — Petrarch's Opinion of Astrology — Catherine of 
 Medicis — Casting of Nativities in England — Moore's Alma- 
 nack — Writers for and against Atrology — Horoscope of 
 Prince Frederick of Denmark — Astrologers contributed 
 sometimes to realize their own Predictions — Caracalla — 
 Mr. Turner — Woman who Foretold, from a Portrait, the 
 time when the Original would die — Stiff the Fortune Teller 
 and his foolish Pupils — Expulsion of the Cholera from 
 Jaypore — Cingalese Astrological Instructions . .331 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 MEDICAL DELUSIONS AND FRAUDS. 
 
 State of Medicine in remote Ages — Animals Teachers of Medi- 
 cine — Gymnastic Medicine — Cato's Cure for a Fracture—^ 
 Dearness of Ancient Medicines and Medical Books — Ab- 
 surdity of the Ancient Materia Medlca: Gold, Bezoar, 
 Mummy — Prescription for a Quartan — Amulets — Virtues 
 of Gems — Corals — Charms — Charm for Sore Eyes — Medi- 
 cine connected with Astrology — Cure by Sympathy — Sir 
 Kenelm Digby — The real Cause of the Cure — The Vulne- 
 rary Powder, &c. — The Royal Touch. — Evelyn's Descrip- 
 tion of the Ceremony — Valentine Greatrakes — Morley's 
 Cure for Scrofula — Inoculation — Vaccination — Dr. Jenner 
 — Animal Magnetism — M. Loewe's Account of it — Mes- 
 mer, and his Feats — Maimer of Magnetizing — Report of a 
 Commission on the Subject — Metallic Tractors — Baron 
 Silfverkielm and the Souls in white robes — Mr. Louther- 
 bourg — Empirics — Uroscopy — Mayersback — Le Febrc — 
 Remedies for the Stone — The Anodyne Necklace — The 
 Universal Medicine— Conclusion . . . 342 
 
SKETCHES 
 
 OF 
 
 IMPOSTUEE, DECEPTION, 
 
 AND 
 
 CEEDULITY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 Effects of Incredulity and Credulity — Knowledge supposed to be 
 Remembrance — Purpose of this Volume — Progress of rational 
 Belief — Resemblance of Error to Truth — Contj^ious Nature of 
 Excitement — Improved Stale of the Human Mind in Modern 
 Time*. 
 
 Incredulity has been said, by Aristotle, to be 
 the foundation of all wisdom. The truth of this as- 
 sertion might safely be disputed ; but, on the other 
 hand, to say that credulity is the foundation of all 
 folly, is an assertion more consonant to experience, 
 and may be more readily admitted: and the con- 
 templation of this subject forms a curious chapter iu 
 the history of the human mind. 
 
 A certain extent of credulity, or, more properly, 
 belief, may, indeed, be considered as absolutely neces- 
 sary to the well-being of social communities ; for 
 universal scepticism would be universal distrust. Nor 
 could knowledge ever have arrived at its present 
 rimazing height, had every intermediate step in the 
 
2 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 ladder of science, from profound ignorance and slavery 
 of intellect, been disputed with bigoted incredulity. 
 
 It has been said, that all knowledge is remem- 
 brance, and all ignorance forgetfulness, — alluding to 
 the universal knowledge which, in the opinion of the 
 schoolmen, our first father, Adam, possessed before 
 the fall, — and that the subsequent invention of arts 
 and sciences was only a partial recovery or recollec- 
 tion, as it were, of what had been originally well 
 known. The undefined aspirations of many minds, 
 to seek for what is distant and least understood, in 
 preference to that near at hand and more in unison 
 with our general state of knowledge, seem to favour 
 this idea. 
 
 It will be the endeavour of the following pages to 
 show that the credulity of the many — in some cases 
 synonymous with the foolish — has been, from the be- 
 ginning, most readily imposed upon by the clever and 
 designing few. It is a curious task to investigate the 
 gradual development of rational belief, as exhibited in 
 the proportionate disbelief and exposure of those things 
 which, in earlier ages, were considered points of faith, 
 and to doubt which was a dangerous heresy; and 
 how, at first, the arts and sciences were weighed down, 
 and the advantages to be derived from them neu- 
 tralised, by the fallacies of misconception or fanaticism. 
 We are, in spite of ourselves, the creatures of imagi- 
 nation, and the victims of prejudice, which has been 
 justly called the wrong bias of the soul, that efi^ec- 
 tually keeps it from coming near the path of truth ; a 
 task the more difficult to accomplish, since error often 
 bears so near a resemblance to it. Error, indeed, 
 always borrows something of truth, to make her more 
 acceptable to the world, seldom appearing in her 
 native deformity ; and the subtilty of grand deceivers 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 3 
 
 has always been shown in grafting their greatest 
 errors on some material truths, and with such dex- 
 terity, that Ithuriel's spear alone, whose touch 
 
 " no falsehood can endure," 
 
 would have power to reveal them. 
 
 Many, and even contradictory, causes might be as- 
 signed for the constant disposition towards credulity ; 
 the mind is prone to believe that for which it most 
 anxiously wishes ; difficulties vanish in desire^ which 
 thus becomes frequently the main cause of success, 
 Tims, when Prince Henry, believing his father dead, 
 had taken the crown from his pillow, the King in re- 
 proach said to him,* 
 
 " Thy wish was father, Harrj-, to that thought." 
 
 Belief is ofken granted on trust to such things as 
 are above common comprehension, by some, who 
 would thus flatter themselves with a superiority of 
 judgment; on the other hand, what all around put 
 faith in the remaining few will, from that circum- 
 stance, easily believe. This is seen in times of popu- 
 lar excitement, when an assertion, quite at variance 
 with common sense or experience, will run like a 
 wild-fire through a city, and be productive of most 
 serious results. It would appear that this springs 
 from that inherent power of imitation, which is sin- 
 gularly exemplified even in particular kinds of dis- 
 ease, — comitial, as they were called by the Romans, 
 from their frequent occurrence in assemblies of the 
 people, — and, more fatally, when it impels us to "fol- 
 low a multitude to do evil." 
 
 ♦ Second Part of King Henry IV. 
 b2 
 
4 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 After a long and dreary period of ignorance, the 
 nations of Europe began to arouse themselves from 
 the lethargy in which they had been plunged : re- > 
 ligious enthusiasm then awakened the ardour of 
 heroism, and the wild but fascinating spirit of chivalry 
 — whose actions were the offspring of disinterested 
 valour, that looked for no reward but the smile of 
 favouring beauty or grateful tear of redressed mis- 
 fortune, — taught the world, that humanity and be- 
 nevolence were no less meritorious than undaunted 
 courage and athletic strength. 
 
 Knowledge, however, advanced with slow and 
 timid steps from the cells of the monks, in which 
 she had been obliged to conceal herself, whilst her 
 rival, ignorance, had been exalted to palaces and 
 thrones. From the period which succeeded that twi- 
 light of the Goths and Vandals, when all the useful 
 arts were obscured and concealed by indolent indiffer- 
 ence, we shall find that each succeeding age happily 
 contributed to enlighten the world by the revival and 
 gradual improvement of the arts and sciences ; a cor- 
 responding elevation in the general sagacity of the 
 human mind was the natural consequence : this can 
 readily be shown by the proportionate decrease of the 
 numerous methods by which specious impostors lived 
 upon the credulity of others. 
 
 Few, it is to be hoped, in the present day seek 
 consolation for disappointment in the mysteries of 
 astrological judgments, or attribute their ill success in « 
 life to an evil conjunction of the stars, as revealed by 
 the deluding horoscope of a caster of nativities. 
 
 That age has at length passed away, when the 
 search after the philosopher's stone, or the universal 
 solvent, terminated a life of incredible toil and hope- 
 less expectation, in poverty and contempt. But there 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 5 
 
 are still many, who neglect the experience of the past, 
 and, anxious to know their future fate, seek it in the 
 fortune-teller's cards ; or, unhappily, a prey to some of 
 those ills that flesh is heir to, would rafther seek to 
 expedite their cure by some specious but empirical 
 experiment, than wait for the slower but surer results 
 of time and experience. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON ANCIENT ORACLES, &C. 
 
 Remote Origin of Oracles — Influence of Oracles — Opinions re- 
 specting them— Cause of the Cessation of Oracles — Superstition 
 early systematized in Egypt — Boeotia early famous for Oracles — 
 Origin of the Oracle of Dodona — Ambiguity of Oracular Re- 
 sponses—Stratagem of a Peasant — Oracles disbelieved by An- 
 cient Philo8ophei*s — Cyrus and the Idol Bel — Source of Fire- 
 Worshipping — Victory of Canopus over Fire — The Sphinx — 
 Sounds heard from it — Supposed Cause of them — Mysterious 
 Sounds at Nakous — Frauds of the Priests of Serapis — The 
 Statue of 'Memnon — Oracle of Delphi — Its Origin — Changes 
 which it underwent — The Pythoness — Danger attendant on her 
 Office — Tricks played by Heathen Priests — Origin of the Gordian 
 Knot — The Knot is cut by Alexander — Ambrosian, Logan or 
 Rocking Stones — Representations of them on Ancient Coins — 
 Pliny's Description of a Logan Stone in Asia — Stones at Sitney, 
 in Corawall, and at Castle Treryn — The latter is overthrown, and 
 replaced — Logan Stones are Druidical Monuments. 
 
 The knowledge of the origin of the ancient oracles 
 is lost in the distance of time ; yet it seems reasonable 
 to suppose, that traditionary accounts and confused 
 recollections of the revelations graciously vouchsafed 
 to Noah, to Abraham, and the Patriarchs, more es- 
 pecially Moses, may have been the foundation of 
 these oracles, which were venerated in ancient times ; 
 and established in temples, which were, in some in- 
 
6 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Stances, supposed to be even the abode of the gods 
 themselves : thus, Apollo was supposed to take up 
 his occasional residence at Delphos, Diana at Ephe- 
 sus, and Minerva at Athens. 
 
 The manner of prophecy was various, but that em- 
 ployed by oracles enjoyed the greatest repute ; because 
 they were believed to proceed, in a most especial man- 
 ner, from the gods themselves. Every thing of es- 
 sential consequence being, therefore, referred to them 
 by the heads of states, Oracles obtained a powerful 
 influence over the minds of the people ; and this 
 popular credulity offered tempting opportunities to 
 the priests for carrying on very lucrative impostures, 
 nor did they disdain or neglect to take advantage of 
 those opportunities. Added to this, the different 
 functions of the gods, and the different and often op- 
 posite parts which they w^ere made to take in human 
 affairs by the priests and poets, were plentiful sources 
 of superstitious rites, and therefore ' of emolument to 
 those who, in consequence either of office or pre- 
 tension, were supposed to have immediate communi- 
 cations with the deity in whose temples they pre- 
 sided. 
 
 Much has been written on this subject; and some 
 have even gone so far as to suppose that Divine per- 
 mission was granted to certain demons, or evil spirits, 
 to inhabit pagan shrines, and thence, by ambiguous 
 answers, to deceive, and often to punish, those who 
 sought by their influence to read the forbidden volume 
 of futurity. 
 
 This doctrine was strenuously opposed by Van 
 Dale ; and Moebius (of Leipsic), although opposed 
 to Van Dale's opinion, allows that oracles did not 
 cease to grant responses immediately at the coming 
 of Christ ; and this has been considered a sufficient 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 7 
 
 proof as well as argument, that demons did not deliver 
 oracular responses; but that those responses were 
 impostures and contrivances of the priests themselves. 
 
 The true cause of the cessation of oracular pro- 
 phecy, however, appears to be, that the minds of men 
 became enlightened by the wide spreading of the 
 Christian faith ; and by the circumstance, that their 
 superstition was compromised by the metamorphoses 
 of their favourite heroes and deities into saints and 
 martyrs. As an instance of which, it will hereafter 
 be shown, that the statues of the ancient gods, even 
 to this day, are allowed to stand and hold places in 
 the churches and cathedrals of many catholic countries. 
 
 Those, who argue that oracles ceased immediately 
 at the coming of Christ, relate, in confirmation of 
 their opinion, that Augustus having grown old, be- 
 came desirous of choosing a successor, and went, in 
 consequence, to consult the oracle at Delphos. No 
 answer was given, at first, to his enquiry, though he 
 had spared no expense to conciliate the oracle. At 
 last, however, the priestess is reported to have said, 
 *'the Hebrew Infant, to whom all gods render obe- 
 dience, chases me hence ; He sends me to the lower 
 regions ; therefore depart this temple, without speak- 
 ing more.** 
 
 Superstition was formed into a system in Egypt at 
 an age prior to our first accounts of that country. 
 Vast temples were built, and innumerable ceremonies 
 established; the same body, forming the hereditary 
 priesthood and the nobility of the nation, directed 
 with a high hand the belief and consciences of the 
 people ; and prophecy was not only among their pre- 
 tensions, but perhaps the most indispensable part of 
 their office. 
 
 Boeotia was also a country famous for the number 
 
'8 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 of its oracles, and from its localities was well suited 
 for such impostures, being mountainous and full of 
 caverns, by means of which sounds and echoes, appa- 
 rently mysterious, could be easily multiplied to excite 
 the astonishment and terror of the supplicants. 
 
 Herodotus informs us, that one of the first oracles 
 in Greece was imported from the Egyptian Thebes. 
 It happened, says Mr. Mitford, in his History of 
 Greece, that the master of a Phenician vessel carried 
 off a woman, an attendant of the temple of Jupiter, at 
 Thebes on the Nile, and sold her in Thesprotia, a 
 mountainous tract in the north-western part of Epirus, 
 bordering on the Illyrian hordes. Reduced thus un- 
 happily to slavery among barbarians, the woman, 
 however, soon became sensible of the superiority which 
 her education in a more civilised country gave, her 
 over them ; and she conceived hopes of mending her 
 condition, by practising upon their ignorance what 
 she had acquired of those arts which able hands im- 
 posed upon a more enlightened people. She gave 
 out that she possessed all the powers of prophecy to 
 which the Egyptian priests pretended ; that she could 
 discover present secrets, and foretel future events. 
 
 Her pretensions excited curiosity, and brought 
 numbers to consult her. She chose her station under 
 the shade of a spreading oak, where, in the name of 
 the god Jupiter, she delivered answers to her ignorant 
 inquirers ; and shortly her reputation as a prophetess 
 extended as far as the people of the country them- 
 selves communicated. 
 
 These simple circumstances of her story were after- 
 wards, according to the genius of those ages, turned 
 into a fable, which was commonly told, in the time 
 of Herodotus, by the Dodonaean priests. A black 
 pigeon, they said, flew from Thebes in Egypt to 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. V 
 
 Uodona, and, perching upon an oak, proclaimed with 
 human voice, " That an oracle of Jupiter should be 
 established there." Concluding that a divinity spoke 
 through the agency of the pigeon, the Dodonseans 
 obeyed the mandate, and the oracle was established. 
 The historian accounts for the fiction thus : the woman 
 on her arrival speaking in a foreign dialect, the Dodo- 
 naeans said she spoke like a pigeon ; but afterwards, 
 when she had acquired the Grecian speech and accent, 
 they said tha pigeon spoke with a human voice. 
 
 The trade of prophecy being both easy and lucra- 
 tive, the office of the prophetess was readily supplied 
 both with associates and successors. A temple for 
 the deity and habitations for his ministers were built ; 
 and thus, according to the evidently honest, and appa- 
 rently well-founded and judicious, account of Hero- 
 dotus, arose the oracle of Jupiter at Dodona, the very 
 place where tradition, still remaining to the days of 
 that writer, testified that sacrifices had formerly been 
 performed only to the nameless god. 
 
 The responses of the oracles, though given with 
 some appearance of probability, were for the most 
 part ambiguous and doubtful ; but it must be acknow- 
 ledged that the priests were very clever persons, since, 
 while they satisfied for the time the wishes of others, 
 they were so well able to conceal their own knavery. 
 A fellow, it is said, willing to try the truth of Apollo's 
 oracle, asked what it was he held in his hand— Jiold- 
 ing at the time a sparrow under his cloak — and 
 whether it was dead or alive — intending to kill or 
 l)reserve it, contrary to what the oracle should answer — 
 but it replied, that it was in his own choice whether 
 that which he held should live or die. 
 
 Many of the sages and other great men evidently 
 paid no regard, or real veneration, to the oracles, 
 
10 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 beyond what policy dictated to preserve their influence 
 over others. 
 
 The researches of modern antiquaries and travellers 
 have discovered the machinery of many artifices of 
 the priests of the now deserted fanes, which sufficiently 
 account for the apparent miracles exhibited to the 
 eye of ignorance. There remain many instances of 
 this kind to show how general this system of impos- 
 ture has been in all ages ; and, as may be supposed, 
 the priests did not fail to exact a liberal payment in 
 advance. 
 
 Cyrus, — according to the apocryphal tradition, — a 
 devout worshipper of the idol Bel, was convinced by 
 the prophet Daniel of the imposture of this supposed 
 mighty and living god, who was thought to consume 
 every day twelve measures of fine flour, forty sheep, 
 and six vessels of wine, which were placed as an off^er- 
 ing on the altar. These gifts being presented as 
 usual, Daniel commanded asVies to be strewed on the 
 floor of the temple, round the altar on which the offer- 
 ings were placed ; and the door of the temple to be 
 sealed in the presence of the king. Cyrus returned 
 on the following day, and seeing the altar cleared of 
 what was placed thereon, cried out " Great art thou, 
 O Bel, and in thee is no deceit! " but Daniel point- 
 ing to the floor, the king continues, " I see the foot- 
 steps of women and children I" The private door at 
 the back of the altar leading to the dwellings of the 
 priests was then discovered; their imposture clearly 
 proved, they were all slain, and the temple was de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 The circumstance of fire being so frequently an 
 object of veneration amongst pagans, is thought to 
 have arisen thus : the sun, as a source of light and 
 heat, was the most evident and most benignant of the 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 11 
 
 natural agents ; and was worshipped, accordingly, as 
 a first cause, rather than as an effect ; as however it 
 was occasionally absent, it was typified by fire, which 
 had the greatest analogy to it. 
 
 This element, first respected only as the representa- 
 tive of the sun, in time became itself the object of ado- 
 ration among the Chaldeans; and Eusebius relates the 
 following circumstance with respect to it. The Chal- 
 deans asserted that their god was the strongest and 
 most powerful of all gods ; since they had not met 
 with any one that could resist his force ; so that when- 
 ever they happened to seize upon any deities, which 
 were worshipped by other nations, they immediately 
 threw them into the fire, which never failed of con- 
 suming them to ashes, and thus the god of the Chal- 
 deans came to be publicly looked upon as the con- 
 queror of all other gods : at length a priest of Canopus, 
 one of the Egyptian gods, found out the means to de- 
 stroy the great reputation which fire had acquired. 
 He caused to be formed an idol of a very porous 
 earth, with which pots were commonly made to 
 purify the water of the Nile ; the belly of this statue, 
 which was very capacious, was filled with water, the 
 priest having first made a great many little holes and 
 stopped them with wax. He then challenged the fire 
 of the Chaldeans to dispute with his god Canopus. 
 The Chaldeans immediately prepared one, and the 
 Egjrptian priest set his statue on it ; no sooner did the 
 fire reach the wax than it dissolved, the holes were 
 opened, the water passed through, and the fire was 
 extinguished. Upon this a report was soon spread, 
 that the god Canopus had conquered and destroyed 
 the god of the Chaldeans. As a memorial of their 
 victory, the Egyptians always afterwards made their 
 idols with very large bellies. 
 
12 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 The celebrated sphinx, still more interesting as a 
 wonderful production of art, is said to have been 
 made by an Egyptian king, in memory of Rhodope of 
 Corinth, with whom he was passionately in love : yet 
 it was subsequently considered as an oracle, which, if 
 consulted at the rising of the sun, gave prophetic 
 answers. There has lately been discovered a large 
 hole in the head ; in which the priests are supposed 
 to have concealed themselves, for the purpose of de- 
 luding the people. At sunrise music was said to be 
 heard. The latter might even occur from natural 
 causes. Messieurs Jomard, Jollois, and Devilliers 
 heard at sunrise, in a monument of granite, placed in 
 the centre of that spot on which the palace of Karnak 
 stood, a noise resembling that of a string breaking ; 
 this was found on attentive examination to proceed 
 from a natural phenomenon, occurring near the si- 
 tuation of the sphinx. Of this circumstance the in- 
 genuity of the priests would no doubt be sure to avail 
 themselves ; and this may also account for the hour 
 of sunrise being chosen for the oracular responses. 
 
 To confirm the probability of this solution of the 
 mystery, it may be mentioned that Baron Humboldt 
 was informed, by most credible witnesses, that subter- 
 ranean sounds, like those of an" organ, are heard to- 
 wards sunrise by those who sleep upon the granite 
 rocks on the banks of the Oroonoko. Those sounds 
 he philosophically supposes may arise from the dif- 
 ference of temperature between the external air and 
 that contained in the narrow and deep crevices of the 
 rocks ; the air issuing from which may be modified by 
 its impulse against the elastic films of mica projecting 
 into the crevices ; producing, in fact, a natural and 
 gigantic eolina, the simple but beautiful arrangement 
 of musical chords which is now so commonly heard, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 13 
 
 A somewhat similar phenomenon, which gives rise 
 to an Arab superstition, occurs about three leagues 
 from Tor, on the Red Sea. The spot, which is half 
 a mile from the sea, bears the name of Nakous, or the 
 Bell. It is about three hundred feet high, and eighty 
 feet wide, presents a steep declivity to the sea, and is 
 covered by sand, and surrounded by low rocks, in the 
 form of an amphitheatre. The sounds which it 
 emits are not periodical, but are heard at all hours 
 and at all seasons. The place was twice visited 
 by Mr. Gray. On the first visit, after waiting a quar- 
 ter of an hour, he heard a low continuous murmuring 
 sound beneath his feet, which, as it increased in loud- 
 ness, gradually changed into pulsations, resembling the 
 Peking of a clock. In five minutes more it became 
 
 ) powerful as to resemble the striking of a clock, and, 
 by its vibrations, to detach the sand from the surface. 
 \Vhen he returned, on the following day, he heard the 
 sound still louder than before. Both times the air 
 was calm, and the sky serene ; so that the external air 
 could have had no share in producing the phenomenon ; 
 nor could he find any crevice by which it could pene- 
 trate. The noise is affirmed by the people of Tor to 
 frighten and render furious the camels that hear it ; 
 and the Arabs of the desert poetically ascribe it to the 
 bell of a convent of monks, which convent they believe 
 ^o have been miraculously preserved under ground. 
 Scetzen, another visitor, attributes the phenomenon to 
 the rolling down of the sand. 
 
 Rufinus informs us that, when it was destroyed by 
 order of Theodosius, the temple of Serapis at Alex- 
 andria was found to be full of secret passages, and 
 machines, contrived to aid the impostures of the 
 priests ; among other things, on the eastern side of 
 'he temple, was a little window, through which, on a 
 
 ertain day of the year, the sunbeams entering fell on 
 
14 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the mouth of the statue of Memnon. At the same 
 moment an iron image of the sun was brought in, 
 which, being attracted by a large loadstone fixed in 
 the ceiling, ascended up to the image. The priests then 
 cried out, that the sun saluted their god. 
 
 This Memnon was said to be the sun of Tithonus 
 and Aurora, and a statue of him in black marble was 
 set up at Thebes. It is also related that the mouth 
 of the statue, when first touched by the rays of the 
 rising sun, sent forth a sweet and harmonious sound, 
 as though it rejoiced when its mother Aurora ap- 
 peared ; but, at the setting of the sun, it sent forth a 
 low melancholy tone, as if lamenting its mother's de- 
 parture. 
 
 On the left leg of one of the colossal figures 
 called Memnon are engraved the names of many cele- 
 brated personages, who have borne witness, at difi'erent 
 times, of their having heard the musical tones which 
 proceeded from the statue on the rising and setting of 
 the sun. Strabo was an ear-witness to the fact that 
 an articulate sound was heard, but doubted whether 
 it came from the statue. 
 
 The oracle which held the greatest reputation, and 
 extended it over the world, was Delphi ; yet upon 
 what slight grounds were the minds of people led cap- 
 tive by the love of the marvellous and a proneness to 
 superstition I Of this celebrated place so many fables 
 are related, some of them referring to times long 
 before any authentic account of the existence of such 
 an oracle, that it is difiicult to decide upon the real 
 period. 
 
 On the southern side of Mount Parnassus, within 
 the western border of Phocis, against Locris, and at 
 no great distance from the sea-port towns of Crissa 
 and Cirrha, the mountain-crags form a natural amphi- 
 theatre, difficult of access, in the midst of which a 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 15 
 
 deep cavern discharged from a narrow orifice a vapour 
 powerfully affecting the brain of those who came 
 within its influence. Ihis was first brought into 
 public notice by a goatherd, whose goats, browsing on 
 the brink, were thrown into singular convulsions ; 
 upon which the man, going to the spot, and en- 
 deavouring to look into the chasm, became himself 
 agitated like one frantic. These extraordinary cir- 
 cumstances were communicated through the neigh- 
 bourhood ; and the superstitious ignorance of the 
 age immediately attributed them to a deity residing in 
 the place. Frenzy of every kind among the Greeks, 
 even in more enhghtened times, was supposed to be 
 the effect of divine inspiration ; and the incoherent 
 speeches of the frantic were regarded as prophetical. 
 This spot, formerly visited only by goats, now became 
 an object of extensive curiosity. It was said to be 
 the oracle of the goddess Earth. The rude inha- 
 bitants from all the neighbouring parts resorted to it, 
 for information concerning futurity ; to obtain which 
 any one of them inhaled the vapour, and whatever he 
 uttered in the ensuing intoxication passed for prophecy. 
 This was found dangerous, however, as many, be- 
 coming giddy, fell into the cavern and were lost ; and 
 in an assembly it was agreed that one person should 
 alone receive the inspiration, and render the responses 
 of the divinity. A virgin was preferred for the sacred 
 office, and a frame prepared, resting on three feet, 
 whence it was called tripod. The place bore the 
 name of Pytho, and thence the title of Pythoness, or 
 Pythia, became attached to the prophetess. By de- 
 grees a rude temple was built over the cavern, priests 
 were appointed, ceremonies were prescribed, and sa- 
 crifices were performed. A revenue was necessary. 
 All who would consult the oracle henceforward must 
 
16 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 come with offerings in their hands. THe profits pro- 
 duced by the prophecies of the goddess Earth begin- 
 ning to fail, the priests asserted that the god Neptune 
 was associated with her in the oracle. The goddess 
 Themis was then reported to have succeeded mother 
 Earth. Still new incentives to public credulity and 
 curiosity became necessary. Apollo was a deity of 
 great reputation in the islands, and in Asia Minor, 
 but had at that time little fame on the continent of 
 Greece. At this period, a vessel from Crete came to 
 Crissa, and the crew landing proceeded up Mount 
 Parnassus to Delphi. ^ It was reported that the vessel 
 and crew, by a preternatural power, were impelled to the 
 port, accompanied by a dolphin of uncommon magni- 
 tude, who discovered himself to be Apollo, and who 
 ordered the crew to follow him to Delphi and become 
 his ministers. Thus the oracle recovered and in- 
 creased its reputation. Delphi had the advantage of 
 being near the centre of Greece, and was reported to 
 be the centre of the earth ; miracles were invented to 
 prove so important a circumstance, and the navel of 
 the earth was among the titles which it acquired. 
 Afterwards vanity came in aid of superstition, in 
 bringing riches to the temple : the names of those 
 who made considerable presents were always regis- 
 tered, and exhibited in honour of the donors. 
 
 The Pythoness was chosen from among mountain 
 cottagers, the most unacquainted with mankind that 
 could be found. It was required that she should be a 
 virgin, and originally taken when very young; and once 
 appointed, she was never to quit the temple. But, 
 unfortunately, it happened that one Pythoness made 
 her escape ; her singular beauty enamoured a young 
 Thessalian, who succeeded in the hazardous attempt 
 to carry her off. It was afterwards decreed that no 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 17 
 
 Pjrthoness should be appointed under fifty years of 
 age. 
 
 This ofSce appears not to have been very desirable. 
 Either the emanation from the cavern, or some art of 
 the managers, threw her into real convulsions. Priests, 
 entitled prophets, led her to the sacred tripod, force 
 being often necessary for the purpose, and held her on 
 it, till her frenzy rose to whatever pitch was in their 
 judgment most fit for the occasion. Some of the Py- 
 thonesses are said to have expired almost irfimediately 
 after quitting the tripod, and even on it. The broken 
 accents which the wretch uttered in her agony were 
 collected and arranged by the prophets, and then pro- 
 mulgated as the answer of the god. Till a late period, 
 they were always in verse. The priests had it always 
 in their powder to deny answers, delay them, or render 
 them dubious or unintelligible, as they judged most 
 advantageous for the credit of the oracle. But if 
 princes or great men applied in a proper manner for 
 the sanction of the god to any undertaking, they sel- 
 dom failed to receive it in direct terms, provided the 
 reputation of the oracle for truth was not liable to im- 
 mediate danger from the event. 
 
 Theophrastus, bishop of Alexandria, showed the 
 inhabitants of that town the hollow statue into which 
 the former priests of the pagan oracle had privately 
 crept whilst delivering their responses ; and a modern 
 traveller corroborates this fact, by a similar discovery 
 made among the excavations at Pompeii. *' In the 
 temple of Isis," says Dr. J. Johnson, " we see the 
 identical spot where the priests concealed themselves, 
 whilst delivering the oracles that were supposed to 
 proceed from the mouth of the goddess. There were 
 found the bones of the victims sacrificed^ and in the 
 refectory of the abstemious priests were discovered 
 
18 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the remains of ham, fowls, eggs, fish, and bottles of 
 wine. These jolly friars were carousing most merrily, 
 and no doubt laughing heartily at the credulity of 
 mankind, when Vesuvius poured out a libation on 
 their heads which put an end to their mirth*." 
 
 "To cut the Gordian knot" has long been pro- 
 verbial for an independent and unexpected way of 
 overcoming difficulties, however great. It took its rise 
 from a circumstance related with some variations by 
 several anxiient authors, and with great simplicity by 
 Arrian ; it is the more a curiosity as coming from a 
 man of his eminence in his enlightened age. 
 
 At a remote period, says he, a Phrygian yeoman, 
 named Gordius, was holding his own plough on his 
 own land, when an eagle perched on the yoke and re- 
 mained whilst he continued his work. Wondering at 
 a matter so apparently preternatural, he deemed it ex- 
 pedient to consult some person among those who had 
 reputation for expounding indications of the divine 
 will. In the neighbouring province of Pisidia the 
 people of Telmissus had wide fame for that skill ; it 
 was supposed instinctive and hereditary in men and 
 women of particular families. Going thither, as he 
 approached the first village of the Telmissian territory, 
 he saw a girl drawing water at a spring ; and making 
 some inquiry, which led to further conversation, he re- 
 
 * At the moment of writing this chapter, there is arrived in*" 
 London a specimen of this species of manufacture ; it is a singular 
 relic, consisting of a very elaborate carving in wood of the Cruci- 
 fixion, and is a ludicrous evidence of monkish trickery. A hole is 
 perforated from behind, through which, by the application of a 
 sponge dipped in blood, a stream was made to travel to the front, 
 where it was seen to discharge itself from a crevice in the Saviour's 
 side, which stands for the spear-wound, so that the figure had the 
 appearance of shedding real blood, and the drops so dischai-ged were 
 sold to the devotees at an enormous price. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 19 
 
 lated the phenomenon. It happened that the girl was 
 of a race of seers ; she told him to return immediately 
 home, and sacrifice to Jupiter the king. Satisfied so 
 far, he remained anxious about the manner of per- 
 forming the ceremony, so that it might be certainly 
 acceptable to the deity; and the result was that he 
 married the girl, and she accompanied him home. 
 
 Nothing important followed till a son of this match, 
 Darned Midas, had attained manhood. The Phrygians 
 then, distressed by violent civil dissensions, consulted^ 
 an oracle for means to allay them. The answer was, 
 ** that a cart would bring them a king to relieve their 
 troubles." The assembly was already formed to receive 
 official communication of the divine will, when Gordius 
 and Midas arrived in their cart to attend it. Presently 
 the notion arose and spread, that one of those in that 
 cart must be the person intended by the oracle. Gor- 
 dius was then advanced in years. Midas, who already 
 had been extensively remarked for superior powers of 
 both body and mind, was elected king of Phrygia. 
 Tranquillity ensued among the people ; and the cart, 
 predesigned by heaven to bring a king the author of 
 so much good, was, with its appendages, dedicated to 
 the god, and placed in the citadel, where it was care- 
 fully preserved. 
 
 llie yoke was fastened with a thong, formed of the 
 bark of a cornel tree, so artificially that no eye could 
 discover either end ; and rumour was become popular 
 of an oracle, which declared that whosoever loosened 
 that thong would be lord of Asia. The extensive 
 credit which this rumour had obtained, and the re- 
 ported failure of the attempts of many great men, 
 gave an importance to it. Alexander, in the progress 
 of his campaign in Asia, arrived at Gordium, and of 
 course visited the castle in which was preserved the 
 c2 
 
20 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Gordian knot. While, with many around, he was ad- 
 miring it, the observation occurred that it being his 
 purpose to become lord of Asia, he should, for the 
 sake of popular opinion, have the credit of loosening 
 the yoke. Some writers have reported that he cut 
 the knot with his sword ; but Aristobulus, who, as one 
 of his generals, is likely to have been present, related 
 that he wrested the pin from the beam, and so, taking 
 off the yoke, said that was enough for him to be lord 
 of Asia. 
 
 Thunder and lightning on the following night, says 
 Arrian, confirmed the assertion that Alexander had 
 efi*ected what the oracle had declared was to be done 
 only by one who should be lord of Asia. Accord- 
 ingly on the morrow he performed a magnificent 
 thanksgiving sacrifice, in acknowledgment of the 
 favour of the gods, thus promised : a measure as full 
 of policy as devotion. 
 
 In Cornwall are to be found enormous piles of 
 stone, which bear the name of Ambrosian, Logan, or 
 Rocking Stones. Structures of this kind, as they may, 
 perhaps, reasonably be called, are of very great anti- 
 quity, being represented on medals of Tyre. They 
 appear to have been composed of cones of rock let 
 into the ground, with other stones adapted to their 
 points, and so nicely balaneed, that the wind could 
 move them ; and yet so ponderous, that no human 
 force, unaided by machinery, could displace them. 
 The figures of Apollo Didymus, on the Syrian coins, 
 are placed sitting on the point of the cone, on which 
 the more rude and primitive symbol of the Logan 
 stone is found poised ; and we are told, that the oracle 
 of the god near Miletus existed before the emigration 
 of the Ionian colonies, more than eleven hundred 
 years before Christ. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 21 
 
 Pliny, in his second book, relates, that there was 
 one to be seen at Harpasa in Asia, exactly answering 
 the description of those found in Cornwall. " Lay one 
 finger on it, and it will stir ; but thrust against it with 
 your whole body, and it will not move." Hephaestion 
 mentions the Gigonian stone, near the ocean, which 
 may be moved with the stalk of an asphodel, but 
 cannot be removed by any force. Several of these 
 stones may be seen in the neighbourhood of Helio- 
 polis, or Baalbeck, in Syria; and one in particular has 
 been seen in motion by the force of the wind alone. 
 
 The famous Logan stone, commonly called Min- 
 amber, stood in the parish of Sithney, Cornwall. The 
 top stone was so accurately poised on the one beneath, 
 that a little child could move it ; and all travellers 
 went that way to see it ; but in Cromwell's time, one 
 Shrubsoll, Governor of Pendennis, with much ado 
 caused it to be undermined and thrown down, to the 
 great grief of the country : thus its wonderful property 
 of moving so easily to a certain point was destroyed. 
 — The cause which induced the Governor to over- 
 throw it appears to have been that the vulgar used 
 to resort to the place at particular times, and pay the 
 stone more respect than was thought becoming good 
 Christians. 
 
 A similar destructive act was committed, a few 
 years since, by one of his majesty's officers, the com- 
 mander of a revenue cutter. His achievement had, 
 however, not even the excuse of a mistaken religious 
 feeling to plead in its behalf ; it seems to have been 
 prompted merely by the spirit of mischief. Having 
 landed a part of his crew, he, with infinite labour, 
 succeeded in overturning the most celebrated Logan 
 stone in Cornwall. But such was the odium with 
 which he was visited in consequence of his exploit, 
 
22 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 that he undertook the gigantic task of restoring the 
 stone to its original situation ; and he was fortunate 
 or skilful enough to succeed. A description of the 
 situation and magnitude of the enormous mass which 
 he had to raise will give some idea of the diffi-^ 
 culty which he had to encounter. It is situated " on 
 a peninsula of granite, jutting out two hundred yards 
 into the sea, the isthmus still exhibiting some remains 
 of the ancient fortification of Castle Treryn. The 
 granite which forms this peninsula is split by perpen- 
 dicular and horizontal fissures into a heap of cubical 
 or prismatic masses. The whole mass varies in height 
 from fifty to a hundred feet; it presents on almost 
 every side a perpendicular face to the sea, and is 
 divided into four summits, on one of which, near the 
 centre of the promontory, the stone in question lies. 
 The general figure of the stone is irregular : its lower 
 surface is not quite flat, but swells out into a slight 
 protuberance, on which the rock is poised. It rests 
 on a surface so inclined, that it seems as if a small 
 alteration in its position would cause it to slide along 
 the plane into the sea, for it is within two or three 
 feet of the edge of the precipice. The stone is seven- 
 teen feet in length, and above thirty-two in circum- 
 ference near the middle, and is estimated to weigh 
 nearly sixty-six tons. The vibration is only in one 
 direction, and that nearly at right angles to the length. 
 A force of a very few pounds is sufficient to bring it 
 into a state of vibration ; even the wind blowing on its 
 western surface, which is exposed, produces this effect 
 in a sensible degree. The vibration continues a few 
 seconds.'* 
 
 Such immense masses being moved by means so 
 inadequate must naturally have conveyed the idea of 
 spontaneous motion to ignorant persons, and have 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 23 
 
 persuaded them, that they were animated by an ema- 
 nation from the Deity or Great Spirit, and, as such, 
 might be consulted as oracles. 
 
 " Behold yon huge 
 And unhewn sphere of living adamant, 
 Which, poised by magi'?, rests its central weight 
 On yonder pointed rock ; firm as it seems, 
 Such is its strange and virtuous property. 
 It moves obsequious to the gentlest touch/' 
 
 It cannot be doubted that those Logan stones are 
 druidical monuments ; but it is not certain what par- 
 ticular use the priests made of them. Mr. Toland 
 thinks that the Druids made the people believe, that 
 they could only be moved miraculously, and by this 
 pretended miracle they condemned or acquitted an 
 accused person. It is likely that some of these stones 
 were of natural formation, and that the Druids made 
 and consecrated others; by such pious frauds increasing 
 their private gain, and establishing an ill-grounded 
 authority by deluding the common people. The 
 basins cut on the top of these stones, had their part 
 to act in these juggles ; and the ruffling or quiescence 
 of the water was to declare the wrath or testify the 
 pleasure of the god consulted, and somehow or other 
 to confirm the decision of the Druids. 
 
24 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FALSE MESSIAHS, PROPHETS. AND MIRACLES. 
 
 Susceptibility of the Imagination in the East — Mahomet — His Ori- 
 gin — He assumes the Title of the Apostle of God — Opposition 
 to him — Revelations brought to Him by the Angel Gabriel — His 
 Flight to Medina — Success of his Imposture — Attempt to poison 
 him — His Death — Tradition respecting his Tomb — Account of 
 his Intercourse with Heaven — Sabatai Sevi, a false Messiah — Su- 
 perstitious Tradition among the Jews — Reports respecting the 
 Coming of the Messiah— Sabatai pretends to be the Messiah — He 
 is assisted by Nathan — Follies committed by the Jews — Ho- 
 nours paid/ to Sabatai — He embarks for Constantinople — His 
 An-est — He embraces Mahometanism to avoid Death — Rosenfeld, 
 a German, proclaims himself the Messiah— His Knavery— He is 
 whipped and imprisoned — Richard Brothers announces himself 
 as the revealed Prince and Prophet of the Jews — He dies in 
 Bedlam — Thomas Muncer and his Associates — Their Fate — Mat- 
 thias, John of Leyden, and other Anabaptist Leaders — They are 
 defeated and executed — The French Prophets — Punishment of 
 them — Miracles at the Grave of the Deacon Paris — Horrible 
 Self-inflictions of the Convulsionaries — The Brothers of Brug- 
 glen — They are executed — Prophecy of a Lifeguardsman in 
 London — Joanna Southcott — Her Origin, Progress, and Death — 
 Folly of her Disciples — Miracles of Prince Hohenlohe. 
 
 The earlier species of superstitious belief are now 
 passed away, and the remembrance of them only 
 serves to adorn poetic fiction. In eastern countries, 
 where the imagination is more susceptible, men have 
 yielded a religious faith to one, the rapid extension of 
 whose tenets, though subsequent indeed to his death, 
 was as astonishing as the boldness and effrontery of his 
 attempt ; which may be considered without a parallel 
 in the annals of imposture. 
 
 Mahomet, the original contriver and founder of the 
 false religion so extensively professed in the East, has 
 always been designated, par excellence^ *' The Im- 
 postor." He was born at Mecca, in the year of our 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 25 
 
 Lord five hundred and seventy-one, of the tribe of 
 the Koreshites, the noblest and most powerful in the 
 country. In his youth he was employed by his uncle, 
 a merchant, as a camel-driver ; and, as a term of re- 
 proach, and proof of the lowness of his origin, his 
 enemies used to call him " The Camel- driver/* When 
 he was once in the market-place of Bostra with his 
 camels, it is asserted, that he was recognised by a 
 learned monk, called Bahira. as a prophet ; the monk 
 pretended to know him by a halo of divine light around 
 his countenance, and he hailed him with joy and 
 veneration. 
 
 In his twenty-fifth year Mahomet married a rich 
 widow ; this raised him to affluence, and he appeared 
 at that time to have formed the secret plan of obtain- 
 ing for himself sovereign power. He assumed the 
 character of superior sanctity, and every morning re- 
 tired to a secret cave, near Mecca, where he devoted 
 the day to prayer, abstinence, and holy meditation. 
 
 In his fortieth year, he took the title of Apostle of 
 God, and increased his fame by perseverance, and the 
 aid of pretended visions. He made at first but few 
 proselytes ; his enemies, who suspected his designs, 
 and perhaps foresaw his bold and rapid strides to 
 power, heaped on him the appellations of impostor, 
 liar, and magician. But he overcame all opposition 
 in promulgating his doctrine, chiefly by flattering the 
 passions and prejudices of his nation. In a climate 
 exposed to a burning sup, he allured the imagination, 
 f)y promising as rewards, in the future state, rivers of 
 ooling waters, shady retreats, luxurious fruits, and 
 immaculate houris. His system of religion was given 
 out as the command of God, and he produced occa- 
 sionally various chapters, which had been copied from 
 the archives of Heaven, and brought down to him by 
 
26 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the Angel Gabriel ; and if difficulties or doubts were 
 started, they were quickly removed, as this obliging 
 Angel brought down fresh revelations to support his 
 character for sanctity. When miracles were demanded 
 of him, in testimony of his divine mission, he said with 
 an air of authority, that God had sent Moses and 
 Christ with miracles, and men would not believe ; 
 therefore, he had sent him in the last place without 
 them, and to use a sword in their stead. This com- 
 munication exposed him to some danger, and he was 
 compelled to fly from Mecca to Medina ; from which 
 period is fixed the Hegira, or flight, at which he 
 began to propagate his doctrines by the sword. His 
 arms were successful. In spite of some checks, he 
 ultimately overcame or gained over all his foes, and 
 within ten years after his flight, his authority was re- 
 cognised throughout the Arabian peninsula. Among 
 the tribes subjugated by his sword was the Jewish 
 tribe of Khaibar. He put to death Kenana, the chief, 
 who assumed the title of King of the Jews ; and after 
 the victory, he took up his abode in the house of a 
 Jew, whose son, Marhab, had fallen in the contest. 
 This circumstance nearly cost him his life. Desirous 
 to avenge her brother, Zeinab, the sister of Marhab, 
 put poison in a shoulder of mutton, which was served 
 up to Mahomet. The prophet was saved by seeing 
 one of his officers fall, who had begun before him to 
 eat of the dish. He hastily rejected the morsel which 
 he had taken into his own mouth ; but so virulent 
 was the poison that his health was severely injured, 
 and his death is thought to have been hastened by it. 
 On being questioned as to the motive, which prompted 
 her, Zeinab boldly replied, "I wished to discover 
 whether you are really a prophet, in which case you 
 could preserve yourself from the poison ; and, if you 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 27 
 
 were not so, I sought to deliver my country from an 
 impostor and a tyrant." 
 
 Mahomet died at Medina, and a fabulous tradition 
 asserts that his body, in an iron coffin, was suspended 
 in the air, through the agency of two loadstones con- 
 cealed, one in the roof, and the other beneath the 
 floor of his mausoleum. 
 
 The success of this impostor, during his life, is not 
 more astonishing than the extent to which his doctrines 
 have been propagated since his death. The Koran 
 was compiled subsequent to his decease, from chapters 
 said to have been brought by the Angel Gabriel from 
 Heaven. It is composed of sublime truths, incredible 
 fables, and ludicrous events ; by artful interpolation 
 he grafted on his theories such parts of the Holy 
 Scriptures as suited his purpose, and announced him- 
 self to be that Comforter which our Saviour had pro- 
 mised should come after him. 
 
 Mahomet was a man of ready wit, and bore all the 
 affronts of his enemies with concealed resentment. 
 Many artifices were had recourse to, for the purpose 
 of delusion ; it is said a bull was taught to bring him 
 on its horns revelations, as if sent from God ; and he 
 bred up pigeons to come to his ears, and feign thereby 
 that the Holy Ghost conversed with him. His inge- 
 nuity made him turn to his own advantage circum- 
 stances otherwise against him. He was troubled with 
 the falling sickness, and he persuaded his followers 
 that, during the moments of suspended animation, he 
 accompanied the Angel Gabriel, in various journeys, 
 borne by the celestial beast Alborak, and that ascend- 
 ing to the highest heavens, he was permitted to con- 
 verse familiarly with the Almighty. 
 
 His first interview with the angel took place at 
 night, when in bed; he heard a knocking at the 
 
28 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 door, and having opened it, he then saw the Angel 
 Gabriel, with seventy-nine pair of wings, expanded 
 from his sides, whiter than snow, and clearer than 
 crystal, and the celestial beast beside him. This beast 
 he described as being between an ass and mule, as 
 white as milk, and of extraordinary swiftness. Ma- 
 homet was most kindly embraced by the angel, who 
 told him that he was sent to bring him unto God in 
 heaven, where he should see strange mysteries, which 
 were not lawful to be seen by other men, and bid him 
 get upon the beast ; but the beast having long lain 
 idle, from the time of Christ till Mahomet, was grown 
 so restive and skittish, that he would not stand still for 
 Mahomet to get upon him, till at length he was forced 
 to bribe him to it, by promising him a place in Para- 
 dise. The beast carried him to Jerusalem in the 
 twinkling of an eye; The departed saints saluted 
 them, and they proceeded to the Oratory in the 
 Temple ; returning from the Temple they found a 
 ladder of light ready fixed for them, which they imme- 
 diately ascended, leaving the Alborak there tied to a 
 rock till their return. 
 
 Mahomet is said to have given a dying promise to 
 return in a thousand years, but that time being already 
 past, his faithful followers say the period he really 
 mentioned was two thousand, though, owing to the 
 weakness of his voice, he could not be distinctly 
 heard. 
 
 A pilgrimage to Mecca is thought, by devout Ma- 
 hometans, to be the most efficacious means of procuring 
 remission of sins and the enjoyments of Paradise ; and 
 even the camels* which go on that journey are held 
 
 * " The camels which have had the honour to hear presents to 
 Mecca or Medina, are not to he treated afterwards as common 
 animals. They are considered consecrated to Mahomet, which 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 29 
 
 SO sacred after their return, that many fanatical Turks, 
 when they have seen them, destroy their eyesight by 
 looking closely on hot bricks, desiring to see nothing 
 profane after so sacred a spectacle. 
 
 The early leaning of the Jews towarsd idolatry 
 and superstition has been recorded in terms that 
 admit of no dispute, by their own historians. The 
 same leaning continued to be manifest in them for 
 many ages. Sandys, in his travels, heard of an 
 ancient tradition current on the borders of the Red 
 Sea, that the day on which the Jews celebrate the 
 passover, loaves of bread, by time converted into 
 stone, are seen to arise from that sea * ; and are sup- 
 posed to be some of the bread the Jews left in their 
 passage. 
 
 They Were sold at Grand Cairo, handsomely made 
 up in the manner and shape of the bread, at the time 
 in which he wrote ; and this was of itself sufficient to 
 betray the imposture. 
 
 The anxiously-expected appearance of their Mes- 
 
 exempis tliem from all labour and service; they have cott^es 
 built for their abodes, where they live at ease and receive plenty 
 of food, and the most careful attention." — Travels of Father 
 Strope. 
 
 • **The rising of dead men's bones every year in Egj-pt is a 
 thing supcrstitiously believed by the Christian worshippers, and by 
 the priests out of ignorance, or policy. Metrophanes, patriarch of 
 Alexandria, thought the possibility of such an occurrence might be 
 proved out of Isaiah, c. 66, v. 24, ' and they shall go forth, and 
 look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against 
 me.* A Frenchman at Cairo, who had been present at the ro- 
 snrrcction of these bones, showed me an arm from thence ; the 
 flesh was shrivelled and dried like the mummies. He observed 
 the miracle to have been always performed behind him, and once 
 casually looking back, he discovered some bones carried privately 
 by an Egyptian, under his vest, whence he understood the mystery.** 
 — Swidyi* Tnvelt. 
 
30 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 siah made the Jews very easily imposed upon by 
 those who for interested motives chose to assume so 
 sacred a title. Our Saviour predicted the coming of 
 false Christs, and many have since his day appeared, 
 though perhaps no false prophet in later days has ex- 
 cited a more general commotion in that nation than 
 Sabatai Sevi. 
 
 According to the prediction of several Christian 
 writers, who commented on the Apocalypse, the year 
 1 666 was to prove one of wonders, and particularly 
 of blessings to the Jews ; and reports flew from place 
 to place, of the march of multitudes of people from 
 unknown parts in the remote deserts of Asia, supposed 
 to be the ten tribes and a half lost for so many ages, 
 and also that a ship had arrived in the north of Scot- 
 land, with sails and cordage of silk, navigated by 
 mariners who spoke nothing but Hebrew ; with this 
 motto on their flag, " The twelve tribes of Israel.'* 
 These reports, agreeing thus near with former predic- 
 tions, led the credulous to expect that the year would 
 produce strange events with reference to the Jewish 
 nation. 
 
 Thus were millions of people possessed, when Sa- 
 batai Sevi appeared at Smyrna, and proclaimed him- 
 self to the Jews as their Messiah; declaring the 
 greatness of his approaching kingdom, and the strong 
 hand whereby God was about to deliver them from 
 , bondage, and gather them together. 
 
 " It was strange," says Mr. Evelyn, " to see how 
 this fancy took, and how fast the report of Sabatai 
 and his doctrine flew through those parts of Turkey 
 the Jews inhabited : they were so deeply possessed of 
 their new kingdom, and their promotion to honour, 
 that none of them attended to business of any kind, 
 except to prepare for a journey to Jerusalem." 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 31 
 
 Sabatai was the son of Mordechai Sevi, an inhabit- 
 ant of Smyrna, who acted as a broker to Enghsh 
 merchants. His son, studying metaphysics, vented a 
 new doctrine in the law ; and, gaining some disciples, 
 he attracted sufficient notice to cause his banishment 
 h*om the city. During his exile he was twice married, 
 but soon after each ceremony he obtained a divorce. 
 At Jerusalem he married a third time. He there be- 
 gan to preach a reform in the law, and meeting with 
 another Jew, named Nathan, he communicated to him 
 his intention of proclaiming himself the Messiah, so 
 long expected, and so much desired by the Jews. 
 
 Nathan assisted in this deceit, and as, according to 
 the ancient prophecies, it was necessary Elias should 
 precede the Messiah, Nathan thought no one so pro- 
 per as himself to personate that prophet. Nathan, 
 therefore, as the forerunner of the Messiah, announced 
 to the Jews what was about to take place, and that 
 consequently nothing but joy and triumph ought to 
 dwell in their habitations. This delusion being once 
 begun, many Jews really believed what they so much 
 desired ; and Nathan took courage to prophesy, that 
 in one year from the 27th of Kislen (June), the Mes- 
 siah should appear, and take from the Grand Signor 
 his crown, and lead him in chains like a captive. 
 
 Sabatai meanwhile preached at Gaza repentance to 
 the Jews, and obedience to himself and his doctrine. 
 These novelties very much affected the Jews ; and 
 they gave themselves up to prayers, alms, and de- 
 votion. The rumour flying abroad, letters of con- 
 gratulation came from all parts to Jerusalem and 
 Gaza : and, thus encouraged, Sabatai resolved to 
 travel to Smyrna, and thence to Constantinople, the 
 capital city, where the principal work was to be per- 
 formed. 
 
32 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 All was now expectation among the Jews ; no trade 
 was followed, and every one imagined that daily pro- 
 visions, riches, and honour, were to descend upon him 
 miraculously. Many fasted so long that they were 
 famished to death ; others buried themselves in their 
 gardens up to the neck ; but the most common mor- 
 tification was to prick their backs and sides with 
 thorns, and then give themselves thirty-nine lashes. 
 
 To avoid the necessity of business, which was even 
 made a fineable offence, the rich were taxed to sup- 
 port the poor; and, lest the Messiah should accuse 
 them of neglecting ancient precepts, particularly that 
 to increase and multiply, they married together 
 children of ten years and under. Without respect to 
 riches or poverty, to the number of six or seven hun- 
 dred couple were indiscriminately joined: but on 
 better and cooler thoughts, after the deceit was dis- 
 covered, or expectation grew cold, these children 
 were divorced or separated by mutual consent. 
 
 At Smyrna, Sabatai was well received by the com- 
 mon Jews, but not so by the chochams or doctors of 
 the law, who gave no credence to his pretensions. 
 Yet Sabatai, bringing testimonials of his sanctity, holy 
 life, wisdom, and gift of prophecy, so deeply fixed him- 
 self in the hearts of the generality, that he took cou- 
 rage to dispute with the grand chocham. Arguments 
 grew so strong, and language so hot, between the dis- 
 putants, that the Jews who espoused Sabatai's doctrine 
 appeared in great numbers before the Cadi of Smyrna, 
 in justification of him. Sabatai thus gained ground, 
 whilst the grand chocham in like proportion lost it, as 
 well as the affection and obedience of his people, and 
 ultimately he was displaced. 
 
 No invitation was now ever made by the Jews, or 
 marriage ceremony solemnised, where Sabatai was 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 33 
 
 not present, accompanied by a multitude of followers ; 
 and the streets were covered with carpets or fine 
 cloths for him to tread upon, which the pretended humi- 
 lity of this Pharisee stooped to turn aside. Many of 
 his followers became prophetic ; and infants, who 
 could scarcely stammer a syllable to their mothers, 
 could pronounce and repeat his name. There were 
 still, however, numbers bold enough to dispute his 
 mission, and to proclaim him an impostor. 
 
 Sabatai then proceeded with great presumption to an 
 election of princes, who were to govern the Israelites 
 during their march to the Holy Land. Miracles were 
 thought necessary for the confirmation of the Jews in 
 their faith ; and it was pretended that on one occa- 
 sion a pillar of fire was seen between Sabatai and the 
 cadi : though but few were said to have seen it, it 
 speedily became the general belief, and Sabatai re- 
 turned triumphant to his house, fixed in the hearts of 
 all bis people. He then prepared for his journey to 
 Constantinople, where his great work was to be 
 accomplished : but, to avoid the confusion of his nu- 
 merous followers, he went by sea with a small party, 
 and was detained thirty-nine days by contrary winds. 
 His followers, having arrived overland before him, 
 awaited his coming with great anxiety. Having heard 
 of the disorder and madness that had spread among the 
 Jews, and fearing the consequences, the vizir sent a 
 boat to arrest Sabatai, and he was brought ashore a 
 prisoner, and committed to the darkest dungeon, to 
 await his sentence. 
 
 Undiscouraged by this event, the Jews were rather 
 confirmed in their belief; and visited him with the 
 same ceremony, and respect, as if exalted on the 
 throne of Israel. Sabatai was kept a prisoner two 
 months, and then removed to the castle of Abydos, 
 
34 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 where he was so much sought after by the Jews, that 
 the Turks demanded five or ten dollars for the admis- 
 sion of each proselyte. At his leisure in this castle, 
 he composed a new mode of worship. 
 
 The Jews now only awaited the personal appearance 
 of Elias, previous to the glorious consummation. 
 There is a superstition among them, that Elias is in- 
 visibly present in their families, and they generally 
 spread a table for him, to which they invite poor 
 people ; leaving the chief seat for the Lord Elias, who 
 they beUeve partakes of the entertainment with grati- 
 tude. On one occasion, at the ceremony of circum- 
 cision, Sabatai took advantage of this credulity, for he 
 exhorted the parents to wait awhile, and, after an in- 
 terval of half an hour, he ordered them to proceed. 
 The reason he gave for this delay was, that Elias had 
 not at first taken the seat prepared for him, and there- 
 fore he had waited till he saw him sit down. 
 
 Having had the history of the whole affair laid be- 
 fore him, the grand seignor sent for Sabatai to 
 Adrianople. On receiving the summons, the pseudo 
 Messiah appeared to be much dejected, and to have 
 lost that courage which he formerly showed in the 
 synagogues. The grand seignor would not be satisfied 
 without a miracle any more than the Jews ; but he 
 wisely resolved that it sliould be one of his own 
 choosing. He ordered that Sabatai should be stripped 
 naked, and set up as a mark for the dexterous archers 
 of the sultan to shoot at, and, if it was found that his 
 skin was arrow-proof, he would then believe him to be 
 the Messiah. Not having faith enough in himself to 
 stand so sharp a trial, Sabatai renounced all title to 
 kingdoms and governments, alleging that he was 
 merely an ordinary chocham. Not satisfied with this, 
 the grand seignor declared that the treason of the Jew 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 35 
 
 was only to be expiated by a conversion to Mahomet- 
 anism, whicb if he refused, a stake was ready at the 
 gate of the seragho, on which to impale him. Sa- 
 batai replied, with much cheerfulness, that he was 
 contented to turn Turk ; and that not of force, but 
 choice, he having* been a long time desirous of so 
 glorious a profession. 
 
 When the Jews received intelligence of Sabatai's 
 apostacy, and found that all their insane hopes were 
 completely blighted, they were filled with consterna- 
 tion and -shame. The news quickly spread all over 
 Turkey, and they became so much the common deri- 
 sion of all the unbelievers, that, for a long time, they 
 were overcome with confusion and dejection of spirit. 
 
 Of subsequent pretenders to the sacred character 
 of the Messiah, it ,must suffice to mention two; the 
 one of them a German, the other an English subject. 
 
 The German, whose name was Hans Kosenfeld, was 
 a gamekeeper. The scene of his impious or insane 
 pretensions was Prussia and the neighbouring states. 
 He taught that Christianity was a deception, and that 
 its priests were impostors. Having thus summarily 
 disposed of spiritual matters, he proceeded to meddle 
 with temporal in a manner which was not a little dan- 
 gerous under a despotic government. Frederick the 
 Great, who was then on the throne, he declared to be 
 the devil ; and, as it was not fit that the devil should 
 reign, Rosenfeld made known that he intended to de- 
 pose him. Having accomplished this difficult feat, he 
 was to rule the world, at the head of a council of 
 twenty-four elders. The seven seals were then to be 
 opened. In his choice of the angels who were to open 
 the seals, he took care to have an eye to his own plea- 
 sure and interest. He demanded from his followers 
 seven beautiful girls, who were to fill the important 
 d2 
 
86 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 office ; but that, in the mean while, the office might 
 not be a sinecure, they held the place of mistresses to 
 him, and maintained him by their labour. 
 
 Rosenfeld was suffered to go on thus for twenty 
 years, with occasionally a short imprisonment, and he 
 still continued to find dupes. He might, perhaps, 
 have gone to his grave without receiving any serious 
 check, had he not been overthrown, though uninten- 
 tionally, by one of his own partisans. This man, who 
 had resigned three of his daughters to the impostor, 
 was tired of waiting so long for his promised share of 
 the good things which the pseudo Messiah was to dis- 
 pense ; it was not his faith, it was only his patience, 
 that was exhausted. To quicken the movements of 
 Rosenfeld, he hit upon a rare expedient. As, accord- 
 ing to his creed, the king was the devil, he went to 
 him for the purpose of provoking the monarch to play 
 the devil, by acting in such a manner as should com- 
 pel the impostor to exert immediately his supernatural 
 powers. On this provocation, Frederick did act, and 
 with effect. Rosenfeld was ordered to be tried ; the 
 trial took place in 1782, and the tribunal sentenced 
 him to be whipped, and imprisoned for life at Spandau. 
 Against this sentence he twice appealed, but it was 
 finally executed. 
 
 The English claimant of divine honours was 
 Richard Brothers. He was born at Placentia, in 
 Newfoundland, and had served in the navy, but re- 
 signed his commission, because, to use his own words, 
 he "conceived the military life to be totally repugnant 
 to the duties of Christianity, and he could not con- 
 scientiously receive the wages of plunder, bloodshed, 
 and murder." This step reduced him to great po- 
 verty, and he appears to have suffered much in con- 
 sequence. His mind was already shaken, and his 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 37 
 
 privations and solitary reflections seem at length to 
 have entirely overthrown it. The first instance of his 
 madness appears to have been his belief that he could 
 restore sight to the blind. He next began to see 
 visions and to prophesy, and soon became persuaded 
 that he was commissioned by Heaven to lead back the 
 Jews to Palestine. It was in the latter part of 1794 
 that he announced, through the medium of the press, 
 his high destiny. His rhapsody bore the title of " A 
 revealed Knowledge of the Prophecies and Times. 
 Book the First. Wrote under the direction of the 
 Lord God, and published by his sacred command ; it 
 being the first sign of warning for the benefit of all na- 
 tions. Containing, with other great and remarkable 
 things, not revealed to any other person on earth, the 
 restoration of the Hebrews to Jerusalem, by the year 
 of 179B : under their revealed prince and prophet." 
 A second part speedily followed, which purported to 
 relate " particularly to the present time, the present 
 war, and the prophecy now fulfilling : containing, with 
 other great and remarkable things, not revealed to 
 any other person on earth, the sudden and perpetual 
 fall of the Turkish, German, and Russian Empires." 
 Among many similar flights, in this second part, w^as 
 one which described visions revealing to him the in- 
 tended destruction of London, and claimed for the 
 prophet the merit of having saved the city, by his 
 intercession with the Deity. 
 
 Though every page of his writings betrayed the 
 melancholy state of the unfortunate man's mind, such 
 is the infatuation of human beings, that he speedily 
 gained a multitude of partisans, who placed implicit 
 faith in the divine nature of his mission. Nor were 
 his followers found only in the humble and unen- 
 lightened classes of gociety. Strange as it may appear, 
 
38 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 he was firmly believed in by men of talent and edu- 
 cation. Among hi^ most devoted disciples were 
 Sharpe, the celebrated engraver, whom we shall soon 
 see clinging to Joanna Southcott ; and Mr. Halhed, a 
 profound scholar, a man of great wit and acuteness, 
 and a member of the House of Commons. The 
 latter gave to the world various pamphlets, strongly 
 asserting the prophetic mission of Brothers, and 
 actually made in the House a motion in favour of 
 the prince of the Jews. Numerous pamphlets were 
 also published by members of the new sect. 
 
 Brothers was now conveyed to a madhouse at 
 Islington ; but he continued to see visions, and to pour 
 forth his incoherencies in print. One of his produc- 
 tions, while he was in this asylum, was a letter, of two 
 hundred pages, to " Miss Cott, the recorded daughter 
 of King David, and future Queen of the Hebrews. 
 With an Address to the Members of his Britannic 
 Majesty's Council." The lady to whom his letter 
 was addressed had been an inmate of the same recep- 
 tacle with himself, and he became so enamoured, that 
 he discovered her to be " the recorded daughter of 
 both David and Solomon,'' and his spouse, " by divine 
 ordinance." Brothers was subsequently removed to 
 Bedlam, where he resided till his decease, which did 
 not take place for several years. 
 
 Among the most mischievous of the pretenders to 
 prophetical inspiration may be reckoned Thomas 
 Muncer, and his companions, Storck, Stubner, Cel- 
 larius, Thomas, and several others, contemporaries of 
 Luther, from whom sprang the sect of the anabap- 
 tists. Eighty- four of them assumed the character of 
 twelve apostles and seventy-two disciples. " They 
 state wonderful things respecting themselves," says 
 Melancthon, in a letter to the Elector of Saxony ; 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 39 
 
 namely, that they are sent to instruct mankind by 
 he clear voice of God ; that they verily hold converse 
 ith God, see future things, and, in short, are alto- 
 _ether prophetical and apostolical men." Muncer 
 was, of them all, the one who possessed the highest 
 portion of talents and eloquence, and chiefly by his 
 exertions a spirit of insurrection was excited among 
 the peasantry. Expelled from Saxony, he found a 
 retreat at Alstadt, in Thuringia, where the people 
 listened to his revelations, gave him the chief autho- 
 rity in the place, and proceeded to establish that com- 
 munity of goods which was one of his doctrines. The 
 war of the peasants had by this time broken out, but 
 iMuncer hesitated to place himself at their head. The 
 xhortations of Pfeifer, another impostor, of a more 
 daring spirit, and who pretended to have seen visions 
 predictive of success, at length induced him to take 
 the field. His force was, however, speedily attacked, 
 near Frankhuysen, by the army of the allied princes, 
 and, in spite of the courage and eloquence which he 
 displayed, it was utterly defeated. Muncer escaped 
 for the moment, but speedily fell into the hands of his 
 nemies, and, after having been twice tortured, was 
 (headed. The same fate befel Pfeifer and some 
 t his associates. Of the unfortunate peasants, who 
 id been driven to arras by oppression, still more than 
 >y fanaticism, several thousands perished. 
 
 Nine years afterwards, consequences equally disas- 
 rous were produced by fanatical leaders of the same 
 sect. In 1534, John Matthias of Haarlem, and John 
 Boccold, who, from his birth-place being Leyden, is 
 generally known as John of Leyden, at the head of 
 their followers, among the most conspicuous of whom 
 iRere Knipperdolling, and Bernard Rothman, a cele- 
 brated preacher, succeeded in making themselves 
 
40 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 masters of the city of Munster. Though Matthias 
 was originally a baker, and the latter a journeyman 
 tailor, they were unquestionably men of great courage 
 and ability. As soon as they were in possession of 
 the place, the authority was assumed by Matthias, and 
 equality and a community of goods were established, 
 and the name of Munster was changed to that of 
 Mount Sion. The city was soon besieged by its 
 bishop. Count Waldeck. Matthias, who had hitherto 
 displayed considerable skill in his military prepa- 
 rations, now took a step which proved that his reason 
 had wholly deserted him. He determined, in imita- 
 tion of Gideon, to go forth with only thirty men, and 
 overthrow the besieging host. Of course he and his 
 associates perished. 
 
 John of Leyden now became the principal leader. 
 To establish his authority, he pretended to fall into a 
 trance, and have visions. Among the revelations 
 made to him were, that he was to appoint twelve 
 elders of the people, similar to those of the twelve 
 Hebrew tribes, and that the laws of marriage were to 
 be changed, each person being henceforth at liberty 
 to marry as many wives as he chose. Of the latter 
 permission he availed himself to the extent of three 
 wives, one of whom was the widow of Matthias. A 
 new prophet now started up, who was a watchmaker by 
 trade. Charged, as he pretended, with a mission 
 from above, he gathered round him a multitude, and 
 announced it to be the will of Heaven, that John of 
 Leyden should be crowned king of all the earth, and 
 should march at the head of an army to put down 
 princes and unbelievers. John was accordingly en- 
 throned ; and, decked in royal ornaments, he held his 
 court in an open part of the city. Among his first 
 acts of sovereignty appears to have been the de- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 41 
 
 spatching, in pursuance of a celestial order, twenty- 
 eight missionaries, to spread the doctrines of his sect 
 through the four quarters of the world. The twenty- 
 eight apostles were readily found, and they proceeded 
 to execute his orders. Of these unfortunate enthu- 
 siasts all but one endured tortures and death. 
 
 The bishop had by this time increased his force to an 
 extent which enabled him to hold the city completely 
 blockaded. The citizens suffered dreadfully from 
 famine and disease ; but John of Leyden lost not one 
 jot of his confidence. One of his wives, having in- 
 cautiously expressed her sympathy for the sufferers, 
 was instantly punished by being beheaded, and her 
 death was celebrated by the multitude with singing 
 and dancing. 
 
 During all this time, John of Leyden displayed a 
 degree of firmness, vigilance, and prudence in guard- 
 ing against the enemy, which did credit to his abilities. 
 Till nearly the end of June 1535, he contrived to 
 hold the blockading army at bay. But the end of his 
 reign j^as now approaching. Two fugitives gave the 
 bishop information of a vulnerable point ; and on the 
 24th of June a band of picked soldiers effected an 
 entrance into the city. A desperate struggle ensued, 
 and the king and his partisans fought with such des- 
 perate courage, that the assailants were on the very 
 verge of defeat, when they contrived to open a gate, 
 and admit the troops from without the walls. Resist- 
 ance was speedily subdued by overwhelming numbers. 
 Rothman was fortunate enough to fall by the sword ; 
 but John of Leyden, KnipperdoUing, and another of 
 the leaders, were taken, and died in the most barba- 
 rous torments ; their flesh was torn from their bones 
 by burning pincers, and their mangled remains were 
 hung up in iron cages. 
 
42 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Passing to the commencement of the eighteenth 
 century, we find a group of pretended prophets and 
 miracle-workers, perhaps not less fanatical than those 
 which have just been described, but certainly less 
 noxious. They were protestants, and were known by 
 the appellation of the French prophets. It was 
 towards the latter end of 1706 that they came to 
 England, from the mountains of the Cevennes, where 
 their countrymen had for a considerable time main- 
 tained a contest with the troops of the persecuting 
 Louis XIV. As exiles for conscience sake, they were 
 treated with respect and kindness ; but they, soon 
 forfeited all claim to respect by the folly or knavery 
 of their conduct. Of this group Elias Marion was 
 the prominent figure ; the others acting only subor- 
 dinate parts. He loudly proclaimed that he was 
 the messenger of Heaven, and was authorised to 
 denounce judgments, and to look into futurity. All 
 kinds of arts were employed by Marion and his asso- 
 ciates, to excite public attention — sudden droppings 
 down as though death-struck ; sighs and groans, and 
 then shrieks and vociferations, on recovering ; broken 
 sentences, uttered in unearthly tones ; violent contor- 
 tions ; and desperate strugglings with the Spirit, fol- 
 lowed by submission and repentance ; were all brought 
 into play. The number of the believers in their 
 power soon became considerable. In proportion as 
 they gained partisans, they increased their vaunts of 
 miraculous gifts ; and at length they boldly annc^unced 
 that they were invested with power to raise the dead. 
 They even went so far as to try the experiment ; 
 and, notwithstanding repeated failures, their besotted 
 followers continued to adhere to them. In vain did 
 the ministers and elders of the French chapel, in the 
 Savoy, declare their pretensions to be blasphemous 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 43 
 
 and dangerous. Far from being deterred by this 
 censure, the prophets grew more strenuous in their 
 exertions to make proselytes, and more daring in their 
 invectives ; prophesying daily in the streets to crowds, 
 launching invectives against the ministers of the esta- 
 blished church, and predicting heavy judgments on 
 the British metropolis and nation. It was at last 
 thought necessary to put a stop to their career, and 
 they were consequently prosecuted as impostors. 
 They were sentenced to be exposed on a scaffold, at 
 Charing Cross and the Royal Exchange, with a paper 
 declaring their offence ; to pay each of them a fine of 
 twenty marks ; and to find security for their good 
 behaviour. After a time the sect which they had 
 formed died away, but its ruin was less to be attributed 
 to the punishment of the prophets, or the recovery of 
 reason by their votaries, than by a report which was 
 spread that they were nothing more than the instru- 
 ments of designing men, who wished to disseminate 
 Socinianism, and destroy orthodoxy. 
 
 About twenty years after the freaks of the French 
 prophets had been put down in England, scenes 
 occurred in the French capital which degrade human 
 nature, and appear almost incredible. Those scenes 
 arose out of the contest between the Jansenists and 
 their antagonists, and the dispute respecting the cele- 
 brated Bull Unigenitus, which the Jansenists held in 
 abhorrence. One of the oppugners of the bull was 
 the deacon Paris, a pious and charitable man, whose 
 scruples on the subject prevented him from taking 
 priest's orders, and who relinquished his patrimony to 
 his younger brother, and lived by making stockings, 
 the gains arising from which humble occupation he 
 shared with the poor. 
 
 His benevolence, bis piety, and his austere life, 
 
44 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 gained for him admiration and affection ; and when he 
 diedjin ITSy^his graveinthe church-yardof St. Medard 
 was visited by crowds, as that of a saint. Some of his 
 votaries, who were deceased or infirm, soon began to 
 imagine that a miracle was worked on them by the 
 influence of the blessed deceased. Blind eyes were 
 said to be restored to their faculty of seeing, and 
 contracted limbs to be elongated. As faith increased, 
 cures increased, and so did the multitudes which 
 thronged from all parts, and consisted of the highest 
 as well as the lowest ranks. The votaries now began 
 to exhibit the most violent convulsionary movements, 
 and to utter groans, shrieks, and cries. As such 
 movements are readily propagated by sympathy, the 
 number of persons affected grew daily greater. At 
 length, the matter beginning to wear a serious aspect, 
 the government shut up the church-yard ; a proceed- 
 ing which gave birth to a witty but somewhat pro- 
 fane distich, which was written upon the gate : 
 
 '* De par le Roi, defense a Dieu 
 De faire miracle en ce lieu." 
 
 But though the votaries were expelled from the 
 church-yard, they did not discontinue their practices. 
 The scene of action was only removed to private 
 houses. Miracles, too, were still worked by means of 
 earth from the church-yard, and water from the well 
 which had supplied the deacon's beverage. Pushing 
 their frenzy to extremity, the convulsionaries, as 
 they were called, invented a system of self-torture, 
 not exceeded by that of the Hindoos. Their purpose 
 was to obtain the miraculous aid of the beatified 
 deacon. To be beaten with sticks, to bend the body 
 into a semicircle, and suffer a stone of fifty pounds' 
 weight to be dropped from the ceihng down on the 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 45 
 
 abdomen, and to lie with a plank on the same part, 
 while several men stood upon it, were among the trials 
 to which even women submitted, apparently with 
 delight. In some instances their insanity prompted 
 them to still more horrible displays; some being tied 
 on spits and exposed to the flames, and others nailed 
 to a cross by the hands and feet. 
 
 In this case, as in many others, we are astonished 
 to find that men of learning and acute intellect are to 
 be met with in the list of believers. There were also 
 many who, notwithstanding they shrank from the 
 irreverence of making the Deity a party to such deeds, 
 believed the miracles to be really performed, and 
 were, of course, under the necessity of giving the 
 credit of them to the devil. It might naturally be 
 supposed so insane a sect as that of the convulsionaries 
 would speedily die away, but this did not happen ; in 
 spite of ridicule, and punishment, it maintained its 
 ground to a certain extent for a long series of years, 
 nnd there is some reason to doubt whether it is yet 
 holly extinct. 
 
 Two insane fanatics, of Brugglen, in the canton of 
 Berne, did not escape with so slight a penalty as those 
 who have already been recorded. They were brothers, 
 named Rohler, and, in the year 1746, they proclaimed 
 themselves to be the two witnesses mentioned in the 
 eleventh chapter of the Revelations, and selected a 
 girl of their acquaintance to fill the part of the woman 
 who was to be clothed with the sun, and have the 
 moon under her feet. The advent of Christ to 
 judge the world, they fixed for the year 1748, after 
 which event the kingdom of Heaven was to com- 
 mence in their village. One of the brothers gave a 
 sufficient proof of his being mad, by declaring that 
 he would ascend in the flesh to heaven before the 
 
46 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 assembled multitude. He had, however, cunning 
 enough to attribute his failure to the circumstance of 
 numbers of his followers holding by his garments, 
 that they might take the journey with him. These 
 lunatics were followed by crowds, who abandoned all 
 their usual occupations, thinking it useless to work, 
 when the final day v/as at hand ; and many of the 
 believers in their mission indulged in licentious plea- 
 sures, perhaps under the idea that, as little time was 
 left, they ought to make the most of it. The govern- 
 ment of Berne at length began to apprehend danger 
 from this frenzy, and it averted the evil by dooming 
 the brothers to death. 
 
 While the Bernese peasants were thus blindly 
 yielding to superstitious delusions, a circumstance 
 occurred which proved that the enlightened citizens of 
 the British capital were as liable as the Swiss boors 
 to the same species of folly. In 1750, on the 8th of 
 February, and the 8th of March, two rather severe 
 shocks of earthquake were felt in London. As 
 exactly four weeks had elapsed between the two 
 shocks, it was sagaciously concluded that a third would 
 occur at a similar period. The fear which this idea 
 excited was raised to the highest pitch by a mad life- 
 guardsman, who went about exhorting to repentance, 
 and predicting that, on the 5th of April, London and 
 Westminster would be wholly destroyed. His pre- 
 dictions had at least one beneficial eff"ect, that of fiUing 
 the churches and emptying the gin-shops. When the 
 supposed fatal hour arrived, the roads were thronged 
 with thousands, who were flying into the country ; so 
 numerous were the fugitives that lodgings could hardly 
 be obtained at Windsor, and many were obliged to sit 
 in their coaches all night. Others, who had not the 
 means of retiring to a distance, or whose fears were 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 47 
 
 less violent, lay in boats all night, or waited in crowds 
 in the open fields round the metropolis, till the dread- 
 ful moment was passed by, till the broad daylight 
 showed them at once the city still uninjured, and the 
 disgraceful absurdity of their own conduct. 
 
 Considering the period at which it took place, when 
 the failure of Brothers was yet recent, and the success 
 which it nevertheless met with, the imposture of 
 Joanna Southcott may be deemed as remarkable as 
 any that has occurred. Though her claims to inspi- 
 ration have been trampled in the dust by death, there 
 are still some who insanely look forward to the com- 
 pletion of prophecies as ridiculous as they were blas- 
 phemous. 
 
 Notwithstanding thousands, from all parts of Eng- 
 land, looked on Joanna Southcott with reverence and 
 gratitude, as the. means through which salvation would 
 be effected, there does not appear anything remarkable, 
 in her character or her history, to give a colour to 
 her extraordinary pretensions. Joanna was born 
 in April 1730, the daughter of a small farmer in 
 Devonshire ; for many years she lived as a servant in 
 Exeter, and her character was irreproachable; from 
 her early years she delighted in the study of the 
 scriptures, and was accustomed on all interesting occa- 
 sions to apply directly to Heaven for advice ; and she 
 affirmed that, sooner or later, an answer was always 
 returned by outward signs or inward feelings. During 
 her probationary state, as it may be called, she had 
 many temptations, which she was strengthened to 
 ^ist and overcome. ' 
 
 After she had drawn the attention qf the world by 
 r prophecies and writings, great pains were taken 
 » ascertain the truth of her commission. " From 
 end of 1792," says Mr. Sharpe,the most devout 
 
4» SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 of her believers, " to the end of 1794, her writings 
 were sealed up with great caution, and remained secure 
 till they were conveyed by me to High House, Pad- 
 dington; and the box which contained them was 
 opened in the beginning of January 1803. Her 
 writings were examined during seven days, and the 
 result of this long scrutiny was, the unanimous deci- 
 sion of twenty-three persons appointed hy divine 
 command^ as well as of thirty-five others that were 
 present, that her calling was of God. '* They came 
 to this conclusion from the fulfilment of the prophecies 
 contained in these writings, and to which she appealed 
 with confidence and triumph. It was a curious cir- 
 cumstance, however, that her handwriting was illegi- 
 ble. Her remark on this occasion was, " This must 
 be, to fulfil the Bible. Every vision John saw in 
 heaven must take place on earth ; and here is the 
 sealed book, that no one can read !" 
 
 A protection was provided for all those who sub- 
 scribed their names as volunteers, for the destruction 
 of Satan's kingdom. To every subscriber a folded 
 paper was delivered, endorsed with his name, and se- 
 cured with the impression of Joanna's seal in red wax : 
 this powerful talisman consisted of a circle enclosing 
 the two letters J. C, with a star above and below, and 
 the following words, " The sealed of the Lord, the 
 Elect, Precious, Man's Redemption, to inherit the 
 tree of life, to be made heirs of God and joint-heirs of 
 Jesus Christ." The whole was authenticated by the 
 signature of the prophetess in her illegible characters, 
 and the person thus provided was said to be sealed* 
 Conformably, however, to the 7th chapter of the 
 Revelations, the number of those highly protected 
 persons was not to exceed 144,000. 
 
 The great object of her mission was to bring forth 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 49 
 
 a son, the Shiloh, promised to be born of a virgin : and 
 this event had been looked forward to by her followers 
 with unbounded enthusiasm and credulity. Disap^ 
 pointraent, more than once, appeared inevitable ; the 
 period, liowever, at last was said to draw nigh, she 
 being sixty-four years of age. As she laboured under 
 more than the usual indisposition incidental to preg- 
 nancy, and it was deemed necessary to satisfy worldly 
 doubts, medical men were called in, to give a pro- 
 fessional opinion, as to the fact, from a consideration 
 of all the symptoms, and without reference to mi- 
 raculous agency. Some asserted their belief that she 
 was pregnant; others disbelieved and ridiculed the 
 idea. 
 
 One of these gentlemen, Mr. Mathias, published 
 his view of the case. He was informed that Joanna 
 was sixty-four years old, a virgin and pregnant with 
 the expected son. Appearing incredulous, as he well 
 might, he was asked " If he would believe when he saw 
 the infant at the breast ?" He protested against opini- 
 ons so blasphemous, and cautioned them to be wary 
 how they proceeded, and to consider the consequences 
 of attempting a delusion so mischievous upon the ig- 
 norant and credulous. His further attendance was 
 declined, as she had been answered, '* That he had 
 drawn a wrong judgment of her disorder." In Mr. 
 Mathias's opinion, notoriety, ease and affluence, ap- 
 peared to be the prevailing passions of Joanna's mind, 
 and the means she adopted to fulfil her desires would 
 seem, and actually proved, well calculated to answer her 
 end. She passed much of her time in bed in downy in- 
 dolence, she ate much and often, and prayed never ; 
 when she would have it she was with child, she, like 
 other ladies in that situation, had longings ; on one oc- 
 casion she longed for asparagus, when it was by no 
 
 E 
 
50 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 means a cheap article of food; and so strong- was he^ 
 longing, that she is said to have eaten one hundred and 
 sixty heads before she allayed it. At this period, shoals 
 of enthusiasts, with more money than wit, poured into 
 the metropolis, to behold this chosen vessel. 
 
 Mr. Richard Reece was now consulted by Joanna 
 Southcott, on the subject of her pregnancy. It does 
 not appear that he was a proselyte to her religious 
 views, but he was probably deluded and deceived, by 
 the enumeration of physical symptoms. At all events, 
 he was prevailed on to avow his belief of her being 
 pregnant, by some means or other ; and a numerous 
 deputation of her followers, who appeared a motley 
 group of all persuasions, waited upon him to receive 
 the happy intelligence from his own lips. By this 
 conduct he seems to have acquired great favour in her 
 sight, for he continued in attendance till her death. 
 
 When her supposed time of deliverance from her 
 precious burthen approached, Joanna felt alarmingly 
 ill, and her fears, either conquering her fanaticism or 
 awakening her conscience, began to make her suspect 
 that her inspiration was deceptions. A few weeks be- 
 fore her death, her misgivings gave rise to the follow- 
 ing scene, which is described by Mr. Reece, who was 
 present. Five or six of her friends, who were waiting 
 in an adjoining room, being admitted into her bedi 
 chamber, " she desired them (says Mr. Reece) to be 
 seated round her bed ; when^, spending a few minutes 
 in adjusting the bed clothes with seeming attention, 
 and placing before her a white handkerchief, she thus 
 addressed them, as nearly as I can recollect, in the 
 following words : ' My friends, some of you have 
 known me nearly twenty-five years, and all of you 
 not less than twenty ; when you have heard me speak 
 of my prophecies, you have sometimes heard me say that 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 51 
 
 I doubted my inspiration. But at the same time you 
 would never let me despair. When I have been alone, 
 it has often appeared delusion ; but when the com- 
 munication was made to me, I did not in the least 
 doubt. Feeling-, as I now do feel, that my dissolution 
 is drawing near, and that a day or two may terminate 
 my life, it all appears delusion." — She was by this ex- 
 ertion quite exhausted, and wept bitterly. On re- 
 viving in a little time, she observed that it was very 
 extraordinary, that after spending all her life in investi- 
 gating the 13ible, it should please the Lord to inflict 
 that heavy burthen on her. She concluded this dis- 
 course, by requesting that everything on this occasion 
 might be conducted with decency. She then wept ; 
 and all her followers present seemed deeply affected, 
 and some of them shed tears. * Mother,' said one, (I 
 believe Mr. Howe) * we will commit your instructions 
 to paper, and rest assured they shall be conscientiously 
 followed.' They were accordingly written down with 
 much solemnity, and signed by herself, with her hand 
 placed on the Bible in the bed. This being finished, 
 Mr. Howe again observed to her, < Mother, your feel- 
 ings are human : we know that you are a favourite 
 woman of God, and that you will produce the 
 promised child ; and whatever you may say to the 
 contrary will not diminish our faith.* This assurance 
 revived her, and the scene of crying was changed 
 with her to laughter." 
 
 Mr. Howe was not the only one of her disciples 
 whose sturdy belief was not to be shaken by the most 
 discouraging symptoms. Colonel Harwood, a zealous 
 believer, intreated Mr. Ileece not to retract his opi- 
 nion as to her pregnancy, though the latter now saw 
 the folly and absurdity of it ; and when the colonel 
 
 proached the bed on which she was about to expire, 
 E 2 
 
52 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 and she said to him, " What does the Lord mean by 
 this ? I am certainly dying ;" he rephed, smiHng, " No, 
 no, you will not die, or if you should, you will return 
 again." 
 
 Even when she was really dead, the same blind con- 
 fidence remained. Mrs. Townley, with whom she had 
 lived, said cheerfully, " she would return to life, for it 
 had been foretold twenty years before." Mr. Sharpe 
 also asserted that the soul of Joanna would return, it 
 having gone to heaven to legitimate the child which 
 would be born. Though symptoms of decomposition 
 arose, Mr. Sharpe still persisted in keeping the body 
 hot, according to the directions which she had given 
 on her death-bed, in the hope of a revival. Mr. Reece 
 having remarked that, if the ceremony of her marriage 
 continued two days longer, the tenement would not be 
 habitable on her return, " the greater will be the mi- 
 racle," said Mr. Sharpe. Consent at last was given to 
 inspect the body, and all the disciples stood round 
 smoking tobacco ; their disappointment was excessive 
 at finding nothing to warrant the long cherished 
 opinion, but their faith remained immoveable. More 
 than twenty years have elapsed since her death, yet 
 many persons are still infatuated enough to avow 
 themselves believers in her supernatural mission. 
 
 The most recent thaumaturgist with whom we are 
 acquainted bears no less a title than that of prince, 
 and worked his wonders w^ithin the last thirteen years. 
 The personage in question is Prince Alexander Ho- 
 henlohe, whose miracles have made much noise in the 
 W'Orld, and given rise to no small portion of angry 
 controversy. His highness, who appears to have pre- 
 viously been practising with much success in Ger- 
 many, first became generally known in this country 
 by an extraordinary cure which he was said to have 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 53 
 
 performed on a nun, at the convent of New Hall, 
 near Chelmsford, in Essex. It must be premised, 
 that it was by no means necessary for him to see q;* 
 be near his patient ; prayers being the sole means 
 which he employed. Accordingly, he did not stir 
 from his residence at Bamberg. The nun at New 
 Hall had for a year and a half been afflicted with an 
 enormous and painful swelling of the right hand and 
 arm, which resisted every medical application. In 
 this emergency, the superior of the convent applied 
 for the aid of Prince Hohenlohe. The answer which 
 he returned seems to prove that he was a pious though 
 a mistaken man. It also affords some insight into 
 the cause of the effect which was undoubtedly some- 
 times produced. *' At eight o'clock on the third of 
 May, I will, in compliance with your request, offer up 
 my prayers for your recovery. At the same hour, 
 after having confessed and taken the sacrament, join 
 your prayers also, with that evangelical fervour, and 
 that entire faith, which we owe to our Redeemer, 
 Jesus Christ. Stir up from the very bottom of your 
 heart the divine virtues of true repentance. Christian 
 charity, a boundless belief that your prayers will be 
 granted, and a steadfast resolution to lead an exem- 
 plary life, to the end that you may continue in a state 
 of grace.*' Whatever may be thought of his miracu- 
 lous pretensions, it is impossible to deny that his 
 exhortation was praiseworthy. The following ac- 
 count of the result is given by Dr. Badelly, the phy- 
 sician to the Convent : — " On the third of IMay (says 
 he) she went through the religious process prescribed 
 by the prince. INIass being nearly ended. Miss 
 O'Connor not finding the immediate relief which she 
 expected, exclaimed, * Thy will be done, O Lord ! 
 thou hast not thought me worthy of this cure/ Al- 
 
54 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 most immediately after, she felt an extraordinary 
 sensation through the whole arm, to the ends of her 
 fingers. The pain instantly left her, and the swelling 
 gradually subsided ; but it was some weeks before the 
 hand resumed its natural shape and size." 
 
 Other cures, still more marvellous, are said to have 
 followed in rapid succession. Requests for assistance 
 now poured in so rapidly from all quarters, that he 
 was nearly overwhelmed. On an average he received 
 daily fifty letters. As it was physically impossible for 
 him to attend to every individual application, a vast 
 majority of his suitors must have gone without the 
 benefit of his curative powers, had he not fortunately 
 hit upon a plan to accommodate all comers. His new 
 arrangement consisted in '* adopting a system of offer- 
 ing his prayers for the relief of particular districts, on 
 particular days." For instance, seven o'clock in the 
 morniug, on the first of August, was appointed for 
 curing all the diseased in Ireland, and notice was 
 given to all the religious communities in that island, 
 that it would be proper for each of them, at the same 
 hour, to perform a mass. This delusion flourished 
 for a considerable time ; but it gradually died away, 
 and, for some years past, nothing more has been heard 
 of Prince Alexander Hohenlohe's miracle-working in- 
 tercession. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC SUPERSTITIONS, &C. 
 
 Account of Pope Joan — Artifice of Pope Sextus V. — Some Chris- 
 tian Ceremonies borrowed from the Jews and Pagans — Melting 
 of the Blood of St. Januarius — Addison's opinion of it — De- 
 scription of the Performance of the Miracle — ^liraculous Image 
 of our Saviour at Rome — Ludicrous Metamorphosis of a Statue 
 
 — Relics Head of St. John the Baptist— Sword of Balaam — 
 
 St. Ursula and the lyeven Thousand Virgins— Self- Tormenting 
 — Penances of St. Dominic the Cuirassier — The Crusades — 
 Their Cause and Progress, and the immense numbers engaged in 
 them. 
 
 There appears to have been, on the one hand, an 
 extensive belief in the existence of a female Pope 
 Joan, while, on the other, many eminent writers have 
 been anxious to relieve the papal chair of such a scan- 
 dal. 
 
 By the believers in her existence, Joan is affirmed 
 to have worn the tiara between Leo IV. who died 855, 
 and Benedict III. who died 858. Anastatius the 
 library keeper, in that age, does not appear to have 
 made mention of this she-pope ; but Marianus Scotus 
 observes, under the year 855, that, Joan a woman, 
 succeeded Leo IV. during two years five months and 
 four days. 
 
 Joan, whose original name, we are told, was Gil- 
 berta, is said to have been a native of Mentz, in Ger- 
 many, and to have received an excellent education. 
 I'alling in love with a young Englishman, a monk at 
 I'ulda, she assumed male attire to obtain admittance 
 into the monastery where he resided. They subse- 
 (juently eloped, and travelled through many coun- 
 tries. 
 
 Their time, however, was not wholly devoted to 
 " love and love's disport ;*' for they are said to have 
 
56 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 omitted no opportunity of acquiring knowledge, and, 
 among other places, to hav^ studied at Athens. Her 
 lover having died, she repaired to Rome, still dis- 
 guised as a man : she was extremely witty, and had a 
 graceful way of arguing at disputations and public 
 lessons ; so that many were equally surprised at her 
 learning, and delighted by her manner. She gained 
 such friendship and goodwill, that, after the death of 
 Leo, she was chosen Pope, and performed all the acts 
 and ceremonies Popes are wont to do. 
 
 Whilst she was Pope, she became pregnant by one 
 of her chaplains ; and as she was going in solemn pro- 
 cession to the Church of the Lateran, she was de- 
 livered, in the midst of the city, in the great square, 
 and in the presence of all the people. She died on 
 the spot, and was buried without papal pomp, or any 
 of the usual honours. Her sudden death was said by 
 some to be a judgment for her crime ; and it was 
 added, that, by a divine notification sent down to her, 
 she had the choice of undergoing such a public ex- 
 posure here, and obtaining pardon hereafter, or pass- 
 ing through life tranquilly, and incurring a future 
 dreadful responsibility. 
 
 It has been maintained by others that Pope John 
 the Eighth manifesting much imbecility and coward- 
 ice, the people thought he should rather be called a 
 woman than a man ; thence arose the unfounded 
 report, that a w^oman was in reality elected Pope. 
 The general belief, however is, that the whole story 
 is an utterly groundless fabrication. 
 
 Pope Sixtus the Fifth, when he first came to Rome, 
 was constrained to beg alms, but, by his abilities, he 
 at last raised himself to the Popedom. When he first 
 aspired to that dignity, while he was yet a Cardinal, 
 he counterfeited illness and old age for fifteen years. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 57 
 
 During the conclave which was assembled to create a 
 Pope, he continually leaned on his crutch, and very 
 frequently interrupted the sage deliberations of the 
 conclave by a hollow cough and violent spitting. This 
 scheme took so well that the Cardinals fell into the 
 trap ; and every one thinking that, by electing Sixtus, 
 he might himself stand a chance of being in a short 
 time elected, he was unanimously chosen. As soon 
 as the election was concluded, the new Pope performed 
 a miracle ; his legs became vigorous, his body, that 
 had been before curved, became firm and erect, his 
 cough was dissipated ; and he showed, in a short time, 
 of what he was capable. 
 
 It cannot be denied but that Christianity is adorned 
 with the spoils of Judaism and Paganism ; our best 
 authors are of that opinion ; among others Duchoul, 
 at the end of his treatise concerning the religion of 
 the old Romans, ingenuously owns the conformity there 
 is between the ceremonies of the Christians and those 
 of the Romans and Egyptians. Such being the case, 
 it will not be thought extraordinary that many of the 
 modern miracles, so famed in Italy, should be the 
 identical prodigies of former times ; for, in order to 
 accelerate the conversion of the Gentiles, the first 
 Popes found it necessary to dissemble, and to wink at 
 many things, so as to effect a compromise between 
 the original superstition and the modern creed. 
 
 The melting of the blood of St. Januarius, at Naples, 
 when with great solemnity, it is applied to his head, 
 on the day of his festival — whilst at other times it 
 continues dry in the glass — is one of the standing and 
 authentic miracles of Italy ; yet Mr. Addison, who 
 twice saw it performed, says that, instead of appearing 
 to be a real miracle, he thought it one of the most 
 bungling tricks he had ever seen, and believed it to be 
 
58 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 copied from a similar heathen miracle, the melting of 
 the incense, without the help of fire, at Gnatia, as 
 described by Horace in his journey to Brundusium : 
 
 Dum, flamma sine, thura liquescere limine sacro 
 Persuadere cupit. 
 
 Another eye-witness to the same miracle, Dr. 
 Duan, says, " he approached through the crowd till 
 he got close to the bust of St. Januarius. The 
 archbishop had been attempting to perform the miracle, 
 and an old monk stood by, w^ho was at the utmost 
 pains to instruct him how to handle, chafe, and rub 
 the bottle which contained the blood. He frequently, 
 also, took it in his own hands, but his manoeuvres 
 were as ineffectual as those of the archbishop^ who 
 w^as all over in a profuse sweat with vexation and 
 exertion, fearing lest the people might interpret so 
 unpropitious an omen against him. The old monk, 
 with a genuine expression of chagrin, exclaimed, 
 ' Cospetto di Bacco, e dura come una pietra.* An 
 universal gloom overspread tlie multitude. Some 
 were in a rage at the saint's obstinacy, and called his 
 head an ungrateful yellow-faced rascal. It was now 
 almost dark, and, when least expected, the signal was 
 given that the miracle was performed. A Roman 
 catholic, who remained close by the archbishop, assured 
 me this miracle failed altogether ; the bottle was 
 turned with a rapid motion before the eyes of the 
 spectators, who would not contradict that which they 
 were all expecting to see." 
 
 An image of our Saviour is shown at Rome, which, 
 some time before the sacking of that city, wept so 
 heartily, that the good fathers of the monastery were 
 all employed in wiping its face with cotton ; thus fol- 
 lowing the example of the statue of Apollo, which, 
 according to Livy, wept for three days and nights 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 50 
 
 successively. This phenomenon resembles another, 
 which is recorded respecting a statue of Orpheus, in 
 Libethra, which was made of cypress wood. When 
 Alexander the Great was on the point of setting out 
 upon his expedition, various omens occurred ; among 
 them, this statue was in a profuse sweat for several 
 days. Aristander, the soothsayer, gave a favourable 
 interpretation to this apparent indication of fear, by 
 saying it was emblematic of the labour the poets and 
 historians would have to undergo, to celebrate the 
 actions of the Macedonian monarch. 
 
 Mrs. Piozzi mentions a ludicrous metamorphosis of 
 one statue at Rome. " A beautiful statue of Diana," 
 says she, " with her trussed up robes, the crescent 
 alone wanting, stands on the high altar to receive 
 homage in the character of St. Agnes, in a pretty 
 church dedicated to her, (fuor della porte) where it 
 is supposed she suffered martyrdom, and why ? for 
 not venerating that very goddess Diana, and for re- 
 fusing to walk in her processions at the new moons. 
 * Such contradictions put one from oneself,* as Shak- 
 speare saith." 
 
 The incredible absurdities of some of the assertions 
 Qiade by the possessors of sacred relics, ought to have 
 been sufficient, in the name of common sense, to con- 
 vict them of imposture. What can be at once more 
 ridiculous and irreligious than the following? The 
 monastery of St. Benedict, in France, had for time 
 immemorial been supposed to possess that invaluable 
 relic, the head of John the Baptist. Many years since, 
 however, the monastery of St. Francis overthrew 
 their claim, by declaring, that in their dormitory, they 
 had discovered the genuine caput: and one of the 
 friars testifying to its being the real head, in the most 
 solemn manner asserted that when, in a holy fervour, 
 
60 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 he frequently kissed the Hps, he found they still re- 
 tained the flavour of locusts and wild honey. So 
 strong a proof there was no withstanding ; the claim 
 of St. Francis was admitted, and established by the 
 conclave. The recital of one forgery only recals 
 another, and it would be easy to recount w^ell authen- 
 ticated tales, which would fill a volume. An exhi- 
 bitor of holy relics showed with much veneration the 
 sword with which Balaam smote his ass."^ Being re- 
 minded that scripture only recorded Balaam's wish 
 for such a weapon, he adroitly replied, " Aye, and 
 this is the sword he wished for." 
 
 Those who have through motives of curiosity visited 
 many of the shrines abroad may have remarked an in- 
 credulity often lurking about the countenances of the 
 holy men who exhibit them : the bolder, indeed, wdll 
 openly laugh, when questioned as to their own belief 
 on these subjects. 
 
 The vulgar^ however, have generally too much cre- 
 dulity to be sufficiently competent to judge of the 
 truth or falsehood of what is set before them, and too 
 many evidences still exist of their folly with regard to 
 relics. 
 
 Cologne, on account of its numerous religious houses, 
 
 * Balaam's Ass, may remind the reader of the " Feast of the 
 Ass." In several churches in France they used to celebrate a 
 festival, in commemoration of the Virgin Mary's flight into Egypt. 
 It was called the Feast of the Ass. A young girl richly dressed, 
 with a child in her arms, was set upon an Ass superbly caparisoned. 
 The Ass was led to the altar in solemn procession, High Mass was 
 said with great pomp, the Ass was taught to kneel at proper places, 
 a hymn, no less childish than impious, was sung in his praise, and 
 when the ceremony was ended, the priest, instead of the usual 
 words with which he dismissed the people, brayed three times like 
 an Ass; and the people, instead of the usual response, '* We bless 
 the Lord," brayed three times in the same manner. Vide Du 
 Gange, voc. Festum, Vol. 3, p. 424. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 61 
 
 relics, &c. was called the Holy City. The chapel of 
 St. Ursula there became very famous, for being the 
 depositary of her bones and those of the eleven thou- 
 sand virgins, her companions, who came from England 
 in a little boat to convert the Huns, who had taken 
 possession of Cologne in 640, and who, unmoved by 
 the sweet eloquence of so many virgins, quickly 
 silenced their arguments by putting them all to death. 
 Some doubt arose many years since, whether any 
 ountry could have spared so many virgins : and a 
 sturgeon, somewhat of a wag, upon examination of 
 the consecrated bones, declared that most of them 
 were the bones of full grown female mastiffs — for 
 which discovery he was expelled the city. 
 
 Tlie horrors of Hindoo penance may be thought 
 equalled by the voluntary sufferings of some of the 
 earlier saints in the calendar, when fanaticism and 
 ignorant credulity went hand in hand. The most 
 remarkable of these early fanatics was, perhaps, St. 
 Dominic the Cuirassier, thus named from an iron 
 cuirass which he wore next his skin, and which was 
 never taken off, till it was necessary to replace it by a 
 new one. Conceiving that he had incurred the guilt 
 of simony, he not only refrained from performing 
 mass, but resolved to do penance the rest of his life ; 
 the result of this determination is so well described in 
 the pages of a leading periodical,* that it is trans- 
 ferred with slight condensation. 
 
 The first step towards this perpetual penance was, 
 to enter into the congregation of Santa Croce Fonte 
 Avellana, whose exercises were so rigorous that one 
 of their amusements was to flog each other after the 
 services. It was a general belief that the pains of 
 
 • Quarterly Review, July 1819; art. <* British Monacljism, 
 by D. Foftbrooke/' 
 
62 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 purgatory might be mitigated by certain acts of 
 penance and an indulgence from the Pope. 
 
 The monks of Santa Croce determined that thirty 
 psalms, said or sung, with an obUgato accompaniment 
 of one hundred stripes to each psalm, making in all 
 three thousand, would be received as a set off for 
 one year's purgatory : the whole psalter, with fifteen 
 thousand stripes, would redeem five years from the 
 vast crucible, and twenty psalters, with three hundred 
 thousand stripes fairly entered, would be equal to a 
 receipt in full for one hundred years. 
 
 This Dominic the Cuirassier, being very ambitious, 
 tasked himself generally at ten psalters, and thirty 
 thousand lashes a day, at which rate he would have 
 redeemed three thousand six hundred and fifty years 
 of purgatory per annum. In addition to this, how- 
 ever, he used to petition for a supplementary task of 
 a hundred years. Being, as he hoped, already a cre- 
 ditor to a large amount in the angel's books, and as 
 no good works can be lost, he recited and lashed away 
 for the benefit of the great sinking fund of the 
 catholic church, with more spirit than ever. During 
 one Lent he entreated for, and obtained, the imposition 
 of a thousand years ; and St. Pietro Damiano affirms 
 that, in these forty days, he actually recited the 
 psalter two hundred times, and inflicted sixty millions 
 of stripes ; working away with a scourge in each hand. 
 In an heroic mood he once determined to flog him^ 
 self, in the jockey phrase, against time, and at the 
 end of twenty-four hours had gone through the 
 psalms twelve times, and begun them the thirteenth, 
 the quota of stripes being one hundred and eighty- 
 three thousand, reducing purgatory stock sixty-one 
 years, twelve days, and thirty-three minutes. It still 
 remains to be proved, how he could recite verses and 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 63 
 
 count lashes at the same time, or consistently have 
 continued to wear his cuirass, which would have nul- 
 lified the infliction of so many stripes. 
 
 Tliere is no event in the history of the religious 
 opinions of mankind more singular than that of the 
 Crusades; every circumstance that tends to explain, 
 or give any rational acccount of, this extraordinary 
 frenzy of delusion in the human mind is interesting. 
 In the account which follows, that which is given 
 from the elegant pen of Dr. Robertson, in his Life 
 of the Emperor Charles V. has been taken advan- 
 tage of. 
 
 The Crusades, or expeditions to rescue the Holy 
 Land out of the bands of Infidels, seemed to be the 
 first event that roused Europe from the lethargy in 
 which it had been long sunk, and that tended to in- 
 troduce any considerable change in government, or in 
 manners. It is natural to the human mind to view 
 those places which have been distinguished by being 
 the residence of any illustrious personage, or the scene 
 of any great transaction, with some degree of delight 
 and veneration. To this principle must be ascribed 
 the superstitious devotion with which Christians, from 
 the earliest ages of the church, were accustomed to 
 visit that country, which the Almighty had selected 
 as the inheritance of his favourite people, and in 
 which the Son of God had accomplished the redemp- 
 tion of mankind. 
 
 As this distant pilgrimage could not be performed 
 without considerable expense, fatigue, and danger, it 
 appeared the more meritorious, and came to be con- 
 sidered as an expiation for almost every crime. An 
 opinion which spread with rapidity over Europe, 
 about the close of the tenth and beginning of the 
 eleventh century, and which gained universal credit, 
 
64 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 wonderfully augmented the number of credulous pil- 
 grims, and increased the ardour with which they 
 undertook this useless voyage. 
 
 The thousand years, mentioned by St. John in the 
 twentieth chapter of Revelations, were supposed to be 
 accomplished, and the end of the world to be at hand. 
 A general consternation seized mankind : many re- 
 linquished their possTessions ; and abandoning their 
 friends and families, hurried with precipitation to the 
 Holy Land, where they imagined that Christ would 
 quickly appear to judge the world. 
 
 This belief was so universal, and so strong, that it 
 mingled itself with civil transactions. Many charters, 
 in the latter part of the tenth century, began in this 
 manner : "^ Appropinquante mundi termino," &c. — 
 " as the end of the world is now at hand, and by va- 
 rious calamities and judgments the signs of its ap- 
 proach are now manifest." 
 
 While Palestine continued subject to the caliphs, 
 they had encouraged the resort of pilgrims to Jeru- 
 salem ; and considered this as a beneficial species of 
 commerce, which brought into their dominions gold 
 and silver, and carried nothing out of them but relics 
 and consecrated trinkets. But the Turks having 
 conquered Syria, about the middle of the eleventh 
 century, pilgrims were exposed to outrages of every 
 kind from these fierce barbarians. 
 
 This change, happening precisely at the juncture 
 when the panic terror above mentioned rendered 
 pilgrimages most frequent, filled Europe with alarm 
 and indignation. Every person who returned from 
 Palestine related the dangers which he had encoun- 
 tered in visiting the holy city, and described with 
 exaggeration the cruelty and vexations of the Turks. 
 
 \Vhen the minds of men were thus prepared, the 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 65 
 
 zeal of a fanatical monk, who conceived the idea 
 of leading all the forces of Christendom against 
 the infidels, and of driving them out of the Holy 
 Land by violence, was sufficient to give a beginning 
 to that wild enterprise. Peter the Hermit, for that 
 was the name of this niartial apostle, ran from 
 province to province, with a crucifix in his hand, ex- 
 citing princes and people to this holy war, and 
 wherever he came he kindled the same enthusiastic 
 ardour for it with which he himself was animated. 
 The council of Placentia, where upwards of thirty 
 thousand persons were assembled, pronounced the 
 scheme to have been suggested by the immediate 
 inspiration of Heaven. In the council of Clermont, 
 still more numerous, as soon as the measure was pro- 
 posed, all cried out with one voice, "It is the will of 
 God ! " Persons of all ranks caught the contagion ; 
 not only the gallant nobles of that age, with their 
 martial followers, whom we may suppose apt to be 
 allured by the boldness of a romantic enterprise, but 
 men in more humble and pacific stations in life, ec- 
 clesiastics of every order, and even women and 
 children, engaged with emulation in an undertaking 
 wliich was deemed meritorious and even sacred. 
 If we may believe the concurring testimony of con- 
 mporary authors, six millions of persons assumed 
 iiie cross, which was the badge that distinguished such 
 as devoted themselves to this holy warfare. All 
 Europe, says the Princess Anna Comnena, torn up 
 from the foundation, seemed ready to precipitate 
 itself in one united body upon Asia. Nor did the 
 fumes of this enthusiastic zeal evaporate at once : 
 the frenzy was as lasting as it was extravagant. Du- 
 ring two centuries Europe seems to have had no ob- 
 '*»f*t but to recover, or keep possession, of the Holy 
 
 F 
 
66 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Land, and through that period vast armies continued 
 to march thither. 
 
 As Constantinople was the place of rendezvous for 
 all the armies of the crusaders, this brought together 
 the people of the East and West as to one great in- 
 terview ; and several authors, witnesses of this singular 
 congress of people, formerly strangers, describe with 
 simplicity and candour the impression which that new 
 spectacle made upon their own minds. 
 
 The first efforts of valour, animated by enthusiasm, 
 were irresistible ; part of the Lesser Asia, all Syria, and 
 Palestine, were wrested from the infidels ; the banner 
 of the cross was displayed on Mount Sion ; Constan- 
 tinople, the capital of the Christian empire in the 
 East, was afterwards seized by a body of those adven- 
 turers who had taken arms against the Mahometans : 
 and an Earl of Flanders and his descendants kept 
 possession of the imperial throne during half a cen- 
 tury. But, though the first impression of the cru- 
 saders was so unexpected that they made their con- 
 quests with comparative ease, they found infinite 
 difiiculty in preserving them. Establishments so 
 distant from Europe, surrounded by warlike nations 
 animated with fanatical zeal scarcely inferior to that 
 of the crusaders themselves, were perpetually in dan- 
 ger of being overturned. Before the expiration of the 
 thirteenth century the Christians were driven out of 
 all their Asiatic possessions, in acquiring of which 
 incredible numbers of men had perished, and immense 
 sums of money had been wasted. The only common 
 enterprise in which the European nations ever en- 
 gaged, and which they all undertook with equal 
 ardour, remains a singular monument of human folly. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 67 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HINDOO AKD OTHF.R ORIENTAL SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 Gross Superstition of the Hindoo Religion — The Bramins and their 
 Privileges — Immolation of Widows — Ceremonies and fanatical 
 Sacrifices at Jaggemaut — Pilgrimages to Hurdwar — Sacred Cha- 
 racter of the Waters of the Ganges — Follies committed by Hin- 
 doo Devotces-^Tortures which they inflict on themselves— A 
 Youth induced to sacrifice himself to Bhyroo by a supposed 
 Vision — Mutilation to propitiate the Goddess Kali-Ghat — Wild 
 Superstitions of the Malays — Spirits in which the Malays believe 
 — Pontianaks — Tuju Jindang — The Polong — Mode of exer- 
 cising the Polong — The Penangalam — Charms to obtain Re- 
 venge on Enemies — The Tuju and the Tuju Jantong — The 
 Panaw, a Charm of the Mahometan Malays — Desperate Conduct 
 of a Man who wore a Panaw — Incantations of the Shamans, 
 or Priests, in Siberia. 
 
 The religion of India has, from time immemorial, 
 been based on the grossest superstition, and has never 
 varied in its character. The unchangeable nature of 
 this, like all the other Indian institutions, is to be 
 ascribed to the division of the people into castes, and 
 the penalties of excommunication, attached to the loss 
 of caste, rendering each extremely cautious of for- 
 feiting its privileges. 
 
 The Brahmins, or order of priests, exerted an ex- 
 traordinary influence on all the other castes ; and so 
 conscious were they of their own pre-eminence both in 
 rank and sanctity, that they deemed it degradation 
 and pollution to eat of the same food with their 
 sovereign. Their persons were sacred, and even for 
 the most heinous crimes they could not be capitally 
 punished ; their blood was never to be shed ; and in 
 some accounts preserved in India, princes are men- 
 tioned, who, having violated the privileges of the 
 castes, and disregarded the remonstrances of the 
 F 2 
 
68 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Brahmins, were deposed by their authority, and put 
 to death. 
 
 The descriptions given by Alexander's officers, two 
 thousand years since, exactly delineate customs now 
 prevalent in India ; namely, that the inhabitants, for 
 the most part, lived on vegetable food, and that the 
 widows burned* themselves on the funeral piles of 
 their husbands ; and many other particulars equally 
 accordant. Numerous attempts have been made to 
 abolish, or at least check, the horrid custom of burn- 
 ing widows alive, and in some instances the intended 
 victims have been saved ; the interference of the 
 priests has doubtless been less direct and efficacious 
 when under the eye of the English authorities, but in 
 a multitude of cases they have goaded the widow to 
 self-immolation by the promises of eternal happiness 
 hereafter, by the refusal of which she was also warned 
 that she would doom herself to the contempt and neg- 
 lect of all her former associates. 
 
 One of the most celebrated of the Hindoo shrines 
 is that at Jaggernaut, to which an immense throng of 
 pilgrims resort, at the time of the annual festival, in 
 honour of the deity to whom the temple is conse- 
 crated, in some years to the number of more than one 
 hundred and fifty thousand. The Ruth Jatra, or 
 riding of the gods, is at once cruel and indecent. 
 Their carriage, of immense height and size, supported 
 on sixteen wheels, is drawn along by thousands of fa- 
 natics, many of whom fall down voluntarily before its 
 wheels, and are crushed to death ; thus instantly, as 
 they believe, entering a blessed immortality. 
 
 Through all parts of India the waters of the 
 Ganges are considered sacred, and Hurdwar, the 
 spot where its stream first issues from the mountains 
 into the plains, is particularly sacred ; and every year 
 at the full of the moon of April, but more especially 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 69 
 
 every twelfth year, an immense concourse of people 
 assemble near it for the purpose of ablution in the 
 holy stream. The year 1783 was one of the twelfth 
 years, deemed peculiarly propitious, and the body of 
 pilgrims collected was unusually great, amounting, as 
 was supposed, to between one and two millions. The 
 custom of the pilgrims is to repair to the bed of the 
 river, where they pass the night with Kttle or no 
 shelter, though the temperature is variable. From 
 such exposure, and the privations attendant on such 
 multitudes collected together, a species of cholera 
 broke out, which in less than eight days cut oflF above 
 twenty thousand victims. 
 
 Many thousands of people are employed in carrying 
 the water of the Ganges, at Hurdwar, to princes and 
 ])ersons of distinction in all parts of India, and it is 
 drunk at feasts as well as on religious occasions. 
 When a sick person's life is despaired of, he is carried 
 to the bank of this sacred stream, exposed to storm 
 or sun, his mouth, nose, and ears closely stuffed with 
 mud, and thus suffocated. 
 
 More individual cases of absurd and disgusting 
 fanaticism occur in the Hindoo religion than, pro- 
 Ijably, in all the other religions in the world. The 
 number and rigour of the mortifications, the excru- 
 
 iating penances which these Indian devotees volun- 
 tarily undergo, and the high opinion which the people 
 entertain of their sanctity, have struck all travellers 
 who have visited India. In making a pilgrimage to 
 Hurdwar, one zealous devotee performed a journey of 
 some hundred miles, prostrating himself, and mea- 
 suring everj' inch of the way, with his body, as he 
 advanced ; some will remain so long in one position as 
 
 ') be incapable of moving their limbs ever after. At 
 • Me annual ceremonies which take place, all over In- 
 
70 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 dia, numbers swing themselves on a rope by means of a 
 hook passed through the muscles of the back, continu- 
 ing this exercise for a long time. Some, having erected 
 poles to form a sort of gibbet over a pit, wherein they 
 have lighted a fire, ascend the poles, after many cere- 
 monies ; then, twisting ropes about the feet, suspend 
 themselves with their head downwards, their face 
 towards the flame, and thus swing themselves up and 
 down, like a bell, increasing the fire by throwing wood 
 into it, placed within their reach ; this they keep up for 
 half-an-hour together, at each time swinging directly 
 over the flames. It would be almost impossible to 
 conceive the tortures which these maniacs inflict on 
 themselves, from a mistaken principle of religion 
 conjoined with pride ; as they are the more esteemed 
 in proportion to the austerities and tortures they 
 endure. 
 
 A striking instance of the fanaticism which inspires 
 the votaries of the Hindoo deities was exhibited about 
 ten years ago, at the annual fair of Ooncar, near the 
 river Nerbuddah. A youth, not more than twenty 
 years of age, came from Ougein, to devote himself at 
 the shrine of Bhyroo, by leaping from a rock which 
 impends over the Nerbuddah. He stated as the 
 cause of his resolution that, six weeks previously to 
 his visiting Ooncar, while he was sleeping near a 
 temple in the neighbourhood of Ougein, a smart blow 
 on the shoulder awoke him ; he looked round, and saw 
 a cocoa-nut, a knife, and a looking-glass. Casting 
 his eye on the glass, he became conscious of the pre- 
 sence of Bhyroo, who commanded him to sacrifice 
 himself at Ooncar, and told him that this was the last 
 time he would be called upon. In obedience to this 
 mandate, the deluded victim proceeded to the fatal 
 spot. Some of the East India Company's officers en- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 71 
 
 deavoured to dissuade him from his purpose, but he 
 was deaf to their arguments, even though they were 
 backed by an offer of a provision for life. So deter- 
 mined was he to immolate himself, that, fearing force 
 would be used to prevent him, he declared that he 
 would destroy himself with a knife, which he con- 
 stantly carried about him. 
 
 On the morning which he had fixed upon for this 
 suicidal act, he went early to the temple of Bhyroo, 
 whefe the deity is typified by a huge stone, daubed 
 with red paint. Here he went through the usual 
 ceremonies, and made an offering of money. Another 
 attempt was now made to prevail on him to desist. 
 But all intreaties were unavailing. With a firm and 
 rapid step, and an unaltered countenance, he pro- 
 ceeded to the summit of the rock. Standing on the 
 brink of the precipice, he made a few wild gestures to 
 the crowd below, and then threw down the knife, the 
 cocoa-nut, and the glass. Having done this, he drew 
 back a few paces, rushed forward, and sprang into the 
 air. In a moment his lifeless and shattered remains 
 were stretched at the foot of the rock. 
 
 Nearly at the same time, another sacrifice to the 
 same sanguinary deity was voluntarily made, at By- 
 rooghur, near Ougein. But, in this instance, the 
 mode adopted was different ; as the infatuated being 
 chose to bury himself alive. 
 
 Mutilation, in order to propitiate the goddess Kali- 
 Ghat, is no uncommon occurrence ; though the 
 practice has somewhat diminished of late years. The 
 little finger is the customary offering to this amiable 
 deity ; but, a few years since, a Hindoo, ambitious 
 to obtain the superiority over his less courageous 
 brethren, cut out his tongue with a knife before the 
 altar of the goddess. 
 
72 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 The superstitions of the Malays are of a wild, fe- 
 rocious, and sanguinary character, in unison with that 
 of the Malays themselves. That, filled as they are 
 with ungovernable passions, they should be firm be- 
 lievers in the existence of malignant spirits, cannot be 
 a matter of wonder. Two or three specimens of 
 these demons may not be unamusing. 
 
 The spirits called Pontianaks are supposed to be 
 the children of people born after death. The shape 
 which they assume is usually that of a bird ; some- 
 times white, at other times marked like a magpie ; 
 but in Java always entirely black. Hair, not feathers, 
 forms their covering. They have the power of as- 
 suming the shapes of animals, and even of man ; and 
 often by this means entrap their unsuspecting victims. 
 Each Pontianak has two servants, an owl and a species 
 of caterpillar, which they send on their ungodly er- 
 rands. A moon-light night is the time which the 
 Pontianak chooses for its mischievous excursions. 
 It then pursues men who are walking alone, and kills 
 young children, and sucks their blood : women, how- 
 ever, it never molests. To hurt or catch them is 
 nearly impossible ; but a man is said to have once ob- 
 tained, by some means or other, a single hair of one 
 of them, his possession of which compelled the spirit to 
 bring him as much gold as he wanted. The cunning 
 fiend contrived to get back the hair, and the gold which 
 he had given to the man immediately disappeared. 
 
 Another Malay demon is the Tuju Jindang, which 
 is made subservient to Malay revenge. This minia- 
 ture fiend takes the form of a silk-worm, is reared in 
 a new vessel, and fed upon roasted paddy. When 
 any one wishes to injure his enemy, he performs the 
 needful mysteries, and says to the creature, " go and 
 eat the heart and entrails of such an one." The in- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 73 
 
 sect then flies on its mission. It usually eflFects an 
 entrance into its victim on the back of the hand, or 
 between the shoulders, and the spot turns blue. No- 
 thing is visible when it first strikes, and the feeling 
 which it causes is merely like the touch of a bird 
 flying against a man. It soon, however, inflicts the 
 fiercest torments on the suff'erer, gradually eats out 
 his internal parts, and the body becomes blue all over. 
 Having accomplished its work of mischief, it returns 
 to its keeper, to wait for another task. 
 
 Two fiends of a similar nature are described by a 
 writer in the Indo-Chinese Gleaner ; they are deno- 
 minated the Polong and the Panangalam. With res- 
 pect to the Polong, the Malays say that it is conveyed 
 down from parents to children. According to their 
 own laws it is death to keep one. It is believed to be 
 invisible, and is kept in a small earthen bottle with a 
 neck, and a hole large enough to admit a finger. Hu- 
 man blood is its food. About once or twice a- week, on 
 the night of either Monday or Friday, the keeper cuts 
 the tip of his finger, puts it into the vessel, and lets 
 the Polong suck his fill. It is rather dangerous to 
 neglect doing this; for, in such a case, the Polong 
 issues from his concealment, and indemnifies himself 
 for his fast by sucking the body till the skin becomes 
 black and blue all over. The fiend is generally kept 
 by females, seldom by males. Women have, indeed, 
 a strong temptation to harbour him ; for he has the 
 valyable property of making his possessor, even 
 though she be ugliness itself, seem surprisingly beau- 
 tiful in the eyes of all who behold her. 
 
 When the keeper of the Polong, or his friend, or 
 the person who bribes him, is desirous of tormenting 
 an enemy, the spirit is let loose upon the object. 
 " The marks of possession are many. As soon as 
 
74 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the Polong enters the man, he first falls down scream- 
 ing, unconscious to himself and to everything about 
 him; sometimes he becomes speechless and like a 
 dead man ; sometimes there is no appearance of ail- 
 ment, but his conversation is incoherent; sometimes 
 he falls to beating all about him. Sometimes, as soon 
 as he enters into any one, the person possessed dies. 
 The Polong always adheres exactly to his orders, and 
 inflicts that punishment which is commanded him. 
 Sometimes, though but seldom, it proves infectious, 
 viz., in the following way, when the possessed falls 
 down in a fit, and another asks him saying, * What I 
 what is the matter ? what, have you got a Polong ? * 
 The person asking is affected, falls down insensible, 
 and remains in the same state with the other till the 
 Polong is expelled. A person seriously assured the 
 writer that he had seen men and women, to the 
 number of twenty, thus affected at the same time. 
 
 '' The people are so well acquainted with the power 
 of this Polong, that as soon as they see any one suf- 
 fering they send immediately for the physician, an 
 adept in the occult sciences, who with an air of im- 
 portance and learning, administers some medicine, or 
 more frequently makes use of a charm. He draws 
 a fantastical figure, which, as he pretends, is that of 
 the demon, upon the inside of a white bason, pours 
 water into it, and gives the sufferer to drink. Then 
 he takes hold of the thumb (for fear the Polong 
 should make his escape, that being the door by which 
 he enters the body), and interrogates the man in the 
 following manner. * Why do you torment him ? ' 
 Then the Polong, speaking through the man, replies, 
 
 * My Jather (for so he calls his keeper) has a grudge 
 against him,' &c. — * Who is your father?' ' .' 
 
 * What has he told you to do? ' — * To eat heart and 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 75 
 
 entrails' (this is a general term for torment). Some- 
 times the evil spirit braves all means, and refuses to 
 speak ; sometimes he tells lies, and confesses another 
 name. When the soothsayer has prevailed against 
 the evil spirit, and has heard his confession, he then 
 tries to detect him (though a spirit, he has yet dimen- 
 sions and shape) ; he feels the body all over, for he 
 lurks between skin and flesh. Sometimes he finds 
 him in an arm, sometimes behind the ear. Now for 
 his expulsion. The soothsayer first exacts an oath of 
 him that he has spoken nothing but truth, and also 
 that he will never come again. Sometimes the phy- 
 sician has such power that he sends him back to tor- 
 ment his own keeper.*' 
 
 The Penangalam is an anomalous being, corporeal 
 in its texture, yet possessed of supernatural powers. 
 The literal meaning of its name is, *' that which is 
 pulled out." It is supposed to consist of a human 
 head, neck, and intestines, joined to the trunk and 
 limbs of a human body, which it can detach itself 
 from, and return to, at pleasure. It is always in 
 women that this demon dwells, and she by whom it is 
 inhabited is supposed to be a friend of the devil, a 
 witch, and by no means gifted with a love of chastity. 
 The dehght of the spirit is, when unobserved, to 
 leave the trunk and legs behind, roam through the 
 air, prey upon all manner of garbage, which is its 
 favourite food, and suck the blood of those who have 
 given it offence. 
 
 Among the superstitious practices by which the 
 Malays strive to destroy their enemies are the Tuju, 
 and tne Tuju Jantong. The first of these words sig- 
 nifies " to point," and refers to the mode which is 
 employed to perpetrate the mischief. The perpetrator 
 makes, with certain mysterious ceremonies, a kind of 
 
76 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 dagger, and recites over it a prayer. He then takes 
 hold of the handle of the dagger, and thrusts towards 
 the place where his enemy lives, as though he were 
 stabbing an antagonist. As soon as this is done his 
 enemy becomes sick, and blood appears on the point 
 of the dagger, which he sucks, exclaiming, "Now 1 
 am satisfied." The victim is finally rendered speech- 
 less and dies. 
 
 The other superstition takes its name from the 
 heart-shaped top of a newly opened branch of plan- 
 tains, which bears the name of Jantong. He who 
 seeks for revenge looks for a newly opened plantain 
 top, performs under it the appropriate mystery, ties 
 the plantain, recites a prayer, and burns the point. 
 The fire which consumes the plantain acts magically 
 on the heart of the adversary, who consequently 
 undergoes intolerable torture. When the avenger 
 has satiated his revenge by keeping his foe a sufficient 
 time in agony, he cuts the plantain, the heart of the 
 devoted object falls down into his body, and he dies, 
 with the blood gushing from his mouth. 
 
 Men who imagine themselves to be exposed to such 
 attacks naturally endeavour to ward them off by coun- 
 ter-charms. Among these charms is one called the 
 Panaw, which is implicitly confided in by the Malayan 
 Mahometans. Panaw is the name given to light- 
 coloured blotches on the skin of the orientals ; and 
 the charm in question, which is in the form of a roll, 
 and on paper, pretends to contain a representation of 
 such blotches on the body of Mahomet. They may 
 be had of all prices, from one to twenty dollars, ac- 
 cording to the portion of good fortune which they 
 ensure to' the purchasers. 
 
 About ten years ago, a Panaw was found on the 
 body of a Malay, who had attempted to murder two 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. >7 
 
 persons. It was about four yards long, and two 
 inches and a half broad, and was enclosed in a cloth 
 case, to tie upon some part of the body. It contained 
 many painted squares, representing the blotches of 
 Mahomet, and was surmounted with rude figures of 
 the temple of Mecca, the double-biaded sword of Ali, 
 and other similar emblems of Islamism. Alternately 
 with the painted squares were inscribed eighteen 
 written paragraphs, promising to the wearer blessings 
 of every kind in the utmost profusion. The cost of 
 this scroll was eight dollars, and certainly never 
 were the most important benefits sold at a cheaper 
 rate. Of these benefits, a small specimen will per- 
 haps be enough to satisfy the reader. " This," says 
 the scroll, "is a Panaw of the superiority of the 
 Apostle of God, peace be upon him ! whoever looks 
 at this Panaw of his superiority morning and evening, 
 verily he will be beloved by all men, both high and 
 low, and will be for ever happy, and his enemies will 
 not be suflfered to injure him ; and God will finally 
 take him to heaven without account. God is omni- 
 scient." , 
 
 The man on whom this curious roll was found was 
 a Malay merchant, Malim Dubalong by name, who 
 had gained the appellation of Malim by his strict 
 observance of all devotional exercises. Being accused 
 of having robbed his guest to the amount of a thou- 
 sand rupees, he was ordered to find bail. He was 
 allowed to go home, but, it being discovered that he 
 was preparing to abscond, he was again ordered to be 
 brought before the magistrate. Determined to take 
 vengeance, he wrapped his naked kris or dagger in a 
 handkerchief, concealed his kurumbi, a semicircular 
 knife, under his head dress, went to the river to wash, 
 pray, and recite his incantations, and then bound his 
 
78 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 roll of charms upon his arm. As this roll promised 
 that, if the bearer looked at it night and morning, 
 "none of his enemies would be permitted to injure 
 him," he probably flattered himself that he would be 
 able to accomplish his purpose without danger. He 
 was, however, mistaken. As he was descending the 
 stairs, at the magistrate's house, he suddenly fell on 
 his accuser, and gave him, as he thought, a mortal 
 stab with his kris. He then rushed up stairs again, 
 and furiously assailed the magistrate. A severe 
 struggle ensued, the assassin and the magistrate grap- 
 pled each other, and, thus twined together, they rolled 
 down stairs. Malim was immediately killed by the 
 servants, whom the noise of the scuffle had brought 
 to the spot; the magistrate escaped with only a few flesh 
 wounds. 
 
 To give even the slightest sketch of the multifarious 
 superstitions which exist in Asia would require a 
 volume, instead of the few remaining pages of a 
 chapter. One instance more must suffice. It is 
 curious, not only as relating to tribes of which com- 
 paratively little is known, but also in consequence of 
 the rite bearing, in some points, a striking resem- 
 blance to that of the Scape-goat of the Mosaic 
 economy. The religion of various Siberian tribes is 
 known by the name of Shamanism, its priests being 
 called Shamans. Its sole object seems to be to pro- 
 cure temporal good or avert temporal evil. The cere- 
 mony in question, which is termed " the letting loose of 
 the goat," was witnessed by Mr. Swan, a missionary 
 at Selenginsk, in Siberia, in company with three of 
 his assistants. " There were,'' says he, "two Shamans, 
 men, present, or, as they are called. Boo, and two 
 female Shamans or Odagan. A young man was sit- 
 ting by the wall of the tent dressing the goat, that 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 79 
 
 is, fastening little brass rings, corals, and other orna- 
 ments, to its legs, neck, ears, &c. This occupied 
 upwards of half an hour; two or three lighted lamps 
 were placed on a table, at the west side of. the tent, 
 before the sheep-skin images. Before the table were 
 placed the two Shaman sticks, called horses, being 
 ornamented with the figure of a horse's head on the 
 top, and hung round with a number of iron rings and 
 flat slips of the same metal, which make a tinkling 
 noise when the stick is moved. A sword was stuck 
 into the ground beside them. 
 
 " The younger Shaman began the service by play- 
 ing on a Jew's harp, the instrument the Shamans 
 use to invoke the objects of their worship, and, as 
 they say, to bring their minds into a fit state to hold 
 intercourse with them. The harp was then handed to 
 one of the Odagans, who began to play in the same 
 strain. In the mean time the younger Shaman rose, 
 laid aside his girdle, and hung a circular plate of 
 brass round his neck. He then turned towards the 
 table where the lamps were burning, and taking a 
 taper in his hand, and waving it with a slow con- 
 tinued motion over the table, began to mutter, in a 
 low tone, a kind of prayer or incantation. This was 
 in the Mongolian language, but pronounced so indis- 
 tinctly, that I could not understand a single word. 
 This lasted fifteen or twenty minutes, and then seizing 
 the two sticks, one in each hand, holding also the 
 sword in his left hand, with its point to the ground, 
 he turned towards the fire in the middle of the tent, 
 muttering all the while his invocations. A wooden 
 cup was then given him, and a man stood by with a ves- 
 sel containing some milk. The milk was poured, in 
 small portions, into the cup, and the Shaman threw 
 the first part into the fire, then repeated portions out 
 
80 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 of the hole in the tent, towards the east, west, south, 
 and north. The Shaman then began to utter words 
 in a louder tone, and to use more violent gesticulations. 
 His whole frame became agitated, and after reeling 
 about the tent for some time, he sat down in his place. 
 
 " The old Shaman, who was quite blind, and appa- 
 rently very infirm, then rose, took the two sticks 
 (omitting the sword) and began his prayers ; at first 
 his voice was low, and his motions were gentle, but as 
 he continued to strike the ground with his two 
 rattling sticks, he gradually became more active, and 
 began to make strange noises, hissing like a cat, and 
 growling like an angry dog ; his legs then began to 
 tremble, his whole body shook violently, and at last 
 he began to jump with an agility and force which 
 1 did not think so feeble a man was capable of. This 
 exertion lasted till he was quite exhausted, and he 
 sank down upon the floor. 
 
 *' The other Shaman rose a second time, and took 
 his two sticks and sword. The people, who were 
 crowded all round the tent, now drew back as far as 
 possible, and the wooden posts, which partly supported 
 the roof of the tent, were removed to allow more space 
 for going round the fire. The man appeared now 
 wrought up to a higher ecstacy : he walked, or rather 
 staggered, round the fire, leaning on the two sticks, 
 and now and then jumping violently, and, to appear- 
 ance, unconscious of the presence of any one. In the 
 midst of these feats, he threw off" his boots, and began 
 to rake out the burning cinders from the fire with his 
 hands, and spread them by the side of the fire-place. 
 He took up a piece of live charcoal, and held it for 
 some time in his hand, but, as I could perceive, in a 
 way that could not burn him. Next he began to 
 dance upon the glowing embers with his naked feet, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 81 
 
 but neither did this seem very extraordinary, for the 
 quickness of the motion soon scattered the ashes, so 
 that he could not be burnt. 
 
 " The last part of the farce, for such I consider it 
 to be, was his laying down the two sticks, and reeling 
 about with the* sword in his hand, setting the point of 
 it first against his side, and then against his breast. 
 He had staggered towards the door, and placing the 
 hilt of the sword against the wall, with the point of it 
 to his breast, leaned and pushed against it, as if he 
 had been forcing it into his body ; at last it seemed 
 to go in, and he writhed and twisted his body, as if 
 he had been really pierced through, and was making 
 efforts to draw the weapon out. To assist him in 
 this, he went towards the young man, who had been 
 all this while holding the goat; and the lad, taking 
 hold of the handle of the sword, drew it with all his 
 might. I observed, however, that the Shaman was 
 holding it by the blade, and, after various struggles 
 and contortions, he let it slip through his fingers, and 
 so it seemed to be extracted from his body with a 
 jerk. All this was performed with his back to 
 the people present, and not one of them could see 
 whether the sword entered the body or not ; but I am 
 persuaded the whole was mere trick ; and Gendang, 
 my writer, did not scruple openly to say so before 
 thorn all, and taking the sword went through the 
 whole ceremony of stabbing himself in the way of fun. 
 Thi.s produced nothing but a smile from the spec- 
 tators ; and during the whole performances the people 
 
 ntinued talking, laughing, and smoking their pipes 
 
 th the greatest indifference. 
 
 '* The old Shaman again rose, and went through 
 his part much in the same way as before, but not so 
 violently ; sometimes he suddenly stopped, and turn- 
 
82 , SKETCHES OF. IMPOSTURE, 
 
 ing round his blind eyes as if he wished to see some- 
 thing, mentioned a number of names, and inquired if 
 such and such a one was well and happy. The other 
 Shaman replied in a low voice, *well.' Then were 
 pronounced the names of their dead friends, and the 
 old man pretended to see and converse with the spirits 
 who had the charge of them in the invisible state. 
 
 " All these ceremonies were only preparatory to the 
 letting loose of the goat ; and now they began to talk 
 of getting a horse provided for *the fit man,* by 
 whom the goat was to be sent away into the wilder- 
 ness. Two other men were to go along with him, 
 and the place to which the animal was to be taken 
 was several versts distant, where there were no tents. 
 On some occasions, they told me, the Shaman strikes 
 the goat with a sword, but they never kill it, and 
 after it is let loose they never inquire after it ; nor is 
 it ever more seen, as no doubt it soon becomes the 
 prey of the wolves. 
 
 '* I wished to wait till the whole was concluded, but 
 I understood that the Shamans were to repeat their 
 tricks till day-break, and not till then was the animal 
 to be sent away. I therefore returned home with my 
 companions, not a Uttle struck with these singular 
 ceremonies. I could not learn that these Shamans 
 had any reference to the expiation of sin in this ser- 
 vice, nor that this scape-goat was considered as 
 bearing away their iniquities. Their view of it rather 
 is, that it is an offering very acceptable to the Ongoon, 
 or spirits they worship — renders them propitious, 
 and procures blessings upon their cattle and all their 
 undertakings," 
 
» 
 
 DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 83 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ROYAL IMPOSTORS. 
 
 Pretenders to Royalty numerous— Contest between the Houses of 
 York and Lancaster gives rise to various Pretenders — Insur- 
 rection of Jack Cade — He is killed — Lambert Simnel is tutored 
 to personate the Elarl of Warwick. — He is crowned at Dublin. 
 He is taken Prisoner, pardoned, and made Scullion in the Royal 
 Kitchen — Perkiu Warbeck pretends to be the murdered Duke 
 of York — He is countenanced by the King of France — He is 
 acknowledged by the Duchess of Burgundy — Perkin lands in 
 Scotland, and is aided by King James — He is married to Lady 
 Catherine Gordon — He invades England, but fails — His Death 
 — Pretenders in Portugal — Gabriel de Spinosa — He is hanged — 
 The Son of a Tiler pretends to be Sebastian — He is sent to the 
 Gallies — Gonyalo Alvarez succeeds him — He is executed — 
 An Individual of talents assumes the Character of Sebastian — His 
 extraordinary Behaviour in his Examinations — He is given up to 
 the Spaniards — His Sufferings and dignified Deportment — His 
 Fate not known — Pretenders in Russia — The first false Deme- 
 trius — He obtains the Throne, but is driven from it by Insurrec- 
 tion, and is slain — Other Impostoi-s assume the same Name — 
 Revolt of Pugatscheff. — Pretendere in France — Hervegault and 
 Bruoeau mssume the Character of the deceased Louis XVII. 
 
 The seductions presented by a throne, and some 
 ircumstances which seemed to give a chance of suc- 
 <ss, have, in various ages and countries, stimulated 
 individuals to personate the descendants of sovereigns, 
 and, in some instances, deceased sovereigns them- 
 • Ives. To mention all of them, even briefly, within 
 he narrow limits of a chapter would be impossible ; 
 and, therefore, passing over the false Smerdis, the 
 Alexanders, and others of ancient times, we will se- 
 lect a few specimens from modem history. 
 
 During the reigns of Henry the Sixth and Seventh, 
 
 infinite carnage and misery were caused by the contest 
 
 between the houses of York and Lancaster. That 
 
 contest also gave rise to several remarkable im- 
 
 g2 
 
84 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 postures on the part of the Yorkists. The Duke of 
 York, in the time of Henry the Sixth, animated one 
 Jack Cade, a native of Ireland, to personate Mor- 
 timer, and, in consequence of this, a formidable 
 insurrection actually burst out in Kent during the 
 Whitsuntide week. On the first mention of the popu- 
 lar name of Mortimer, the common people of that 
 county, to the number of twenty thousand, flocked to 
 Cade's standard. He marshalled the vast multitude 
 that followed him, and marched to Blackheath, and, 
 shortly after, to London. Having served in the 
 French wars, he was enabled to encamp them with 
 some military skill. He presented two petitions to 
 the King, in the name of the people, and his de- 
 mands, not in themselves unreasonable, were sup- 
 ported even by some of the King's friends. In spite 
 of his attempts to maintain discipline, some of his fol- 
 lowers pillaged a few houses in London, and thus 
 alarmed the city, which at first had favoured him. 
 The citizens consequently rose against him, and a 
 sharp conflict ensued, which terminated to his dis- 
 advantage. A pardon being offered to his men, they 
 accepted it, and immediately dispersed. He himself 
 took horse, and fled towards Lewes, in Sussex ; but he 
 was overtaken, and discovered in a garden, by an 
 esquire, named Alexander Iden, who slew him after a 
 desperate combat. 
 
 The discontentment of the Yorkists against the 
 House of Lancaster shewed itself more remarkably 
 during the reign of Henry the Seventh, whose in- 
 creasing unpopularity, about the year 1486, induced 
 the opposite party to attempt some singular impos- 
 tures, and set up pretenders to the crown. 
 
 The first fictitious prince was introduced to the 
 world, by one Richard Simon, a priest, possessed of 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 85 
 
 -ubtilty and enterprise. The youth was in reality 
 one Lambert Simnel, the son of a baker ; endowed 
 with understanding above his years, and address above 
 his condition, he seemed well fitted to personate a 
 prince of royal extraction. 
 
 A report had been spread, and received with great 
 avidity, that Richard, Duke of York, second son to 
 Edward the Fourth, had secretly escaped from con- 
 finement, saved himself from the cruelty of his uncle, 
 and lay concealed somewhere in England. Taking 
 advantage of that rumour, Simon had at first in- 
 structed his pupil to assume that name ; but hearing 
 afterwards that Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, 
 was reported to have made his escape from the Tower, 
 he changed the plan of his imposture, that Simnel 
 might personate that unfortunate prince. 
 
 From his being better informed of circumstances 
 relating to the royal family, particularly of the Earl 
 of Warwick's adventures, than he could be supposed 
 to have learned from one of Simon's condition, it was 
 conjectured that persons of higher rank, partisans of 
 the House of York, had laid the plan of the conspi- 
 racy, and had conveyed proper instructions to the 
 actors. 
 
 The first scene opened in Ireland, a country zealously 
 attached to the House of York. No sooner did Sim- 
 nel present himself to Thomas Fitzgerald, Earl of 
 Kildare, and claim his protection as the unfortunate 
 ^^'arwick, than the credulous nobleman, not suspect- 
 
 ir so bold an imposture, paid him great attention, 
 ntid consulted some persons of rank on a matter so 
 extraordinary. 
 
 These parties were more sanguine in belief than 
 
 even himself, and in proportion to the circulation of 
 
 *ho story, it became the object of greater enthusiasm 
 
 1 d credulity, till the people of Dublin with one con- 
 
86 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 sent, tendered their allegiance to Simnel as the true 
 Plantagenet. 
 
 Simnel was lodged in the castle of Dublin, and was 
 crowned with a diadem taken from the statue of the 
 Virgin^ and publicly proclaimed king by the appella- 
 tion of Edward the Sixth. 
 
 In order to prove the imposture of Simnel, Henry 
 the Seventh ordered that Warwick should be taken 
 from the Tower, led in procession through the streets 
 of London, conducted to St. Paul's, and exposed to 
 the view of the whole people. This expedient put a 
 stop to the credulity of the English ; but in Ireland 
 the people still persisted in their revolt, and even re- 
 torted on the king the reproach of propagating an 
 imposture, and of having shewn to the populace a 
 counterfeit Warwick. 
 
 Simnel landed in England and opposed the king in 
 battle ; but his faction having been routed, he was 
 soon reduced to his original insignificance. He was 
 pardoned by the king, was made a scullion in the 
 royal kitchen, and was subsequently raised to the 
 rank of a falconer. 
 
 Notwithstanding the failure of Lambert Simnel, 
 a second attempt was, six years afterwards, made 
 to disturbthe government; it introduced one of the 
 most mysterious personages recorded in English his- 
 tory. 
 
 The Duchess of Burgundy, it seems, full of resent- 
 ment at Henry the Seventh, propagated a report that 
 her nephew, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, had 
 escaped from the Tower. To personate the duke, a 
 youth, named Perkin Warbeck, was discovered, fit for 
 her purpose. He is asserted to have been the son of 
 one Osbeck or Warbeck, a renegado Jew of Tournay. 
 This Jew had been to London in the reign of Edward 
 the Fourth, and during his stay his wife brought him a 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 87 
 
 on: being in favour at court, he prevailed with the 
 ing to stand godfather to his son, though it was 
 iiinted that there was, in reality, a much nearer con- 
 nexion between the King and the youth ; and by 
 this, people accounted for the resemblance which 
 was afterwards remarked between young Perkin and 
 that monarch. 
 
 Having been well tutored by the Duchess of Bur- 
 gundy, Perkin repaired to Ireland, which was chosen 
 as the proper place for his first appearance. He 
 landed at Cork, assuming the name of Richard, Duke 
 of York, son of Edward the Fourth, and drew around 
 him many partisans from among that credulous people. 
 The news soon reached France ; and Charles of France, 
 then on the point of war with Henry, sent Perkin an 
 invitation to repair to him, at Paris. On his arrival, he 
 was received with all the marks of regard due to the 
 Duke of York, as the rightful heir to the British 
 throne. Perkin, both by his deportment and personal 
 qualities^ supported the opinion which was spread 
 abroad of his royal pedigree; and the whole kingdom 
 was full of the accomplishments, as well as the singular 
 adventures, of the young Plantagenet. 
 
 Wonders of this nature are commonly augmented 
 by distance. From France, the admiration and credu- 
 lity diffused themselves into England. Sir George 
 Neville, Sir George Taylor, and above one hundred 
 gentlemen more, went to Paris in order to offer their 
 services to the supposed Duke of York, and to share 
 his fortunes. Alarmed by the pretender having gained 
 80 powerful a friend, Henry the Seventh signed a 
 treaty of peace with Charles, who immediately ordered 
 the adventurer to retire from his dominions. Perkin 
 now solicited the protection of the Dowager Duchess 
 of Burgundy. She gave him a warm reception, and 
 bestowed on him the appellation of the White Rose of 
 
88 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 England. This behaviour of hers induced numbers 
 to give credence to his story, as it was thought im- 
 possible that the aunt could be mistaken as to the 
 personal identity of her nephew. 
 
 In consequence of the great communication between 
 the Low Countries and England, the English were 
 every day more prepossessed in favour of the impos- 
 tor. Disgusted with Henry's government, men of 
 the highest birth and quality began to turn their eyes 
 to the new claimant, and even opened a correspond- 
 ence with him. 
 
 Sir Robert Clifford, with others, went over to Bur- 
 gundy and tendered to Perkin their services. Clifford 
 even wrote back to say that he knew perfectly the 
 person of Richard, Duke of York, and that this 
 young man was undoubtedly that prince himself. 
 The whole nation was in suspense, and a regular con- 
 spiracy was formed against the king's authority. 
 
 Henry shewed great ingenuity in detecting who 
 this wonderful person was that thus boldly advanced 
 pretensions to his crown. His spies insinuated them- 
 selves amongst the young man's friends, and bribed 
 his retainers and domestic servants — nay, sometimes 
 his confessor himself; and, in the end, the whole con- 
 spiracy was laid before him, and many of the chief 
 conspirators were condemned and executed. 
 
 Perkin, however, continued at large, and made a 
 descent on Kent, where he w^as repulsed. He then 
 returned to Flanders, whence he sailed to Cork, but 
 the Irish were no longer disposed to espouse his cause. 
 In Scotland, however, to which he next proceeded, he 
 was more fortunate. James, the monarch of that 
 country, recognized him as " the true prince," and 
 not only gave to him in marriage a near relation, 
 Lady Catherine Gordon, but also took up arms in his 
 behalf, But, faihng in tvyo iiicursions into England, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 89 
 
 James grew tired of the contest, and consented to 
 treat with Henry. Either fearing that he might be 
 given up, or having received an intimation to with- 
 draw, Perkin quitted Scotland with four ships and 
 eighty followers, made a vain attempt at Cork to ob- 
 tain aid from the Earl of Desmond, and finally landed 
 in Cornwall, the men of which county had recently 
 been in rebellion. Six thousand Cornishmen joined 
 him, and at their head he assaulted Exeter, but was 
 defeated by the citizens. Finding that Henry, with 
 an overwhelming force, was now at hand, his courage 
 failed him, and he took refuge in the sanctuary of 
 BeauHeu, in Hampshire. He gave himself up on a 
 promise of pardon, but was committed to the Tower. 
 He was subsequently executed, on a charge of having, 
 while imprisoned in the Tower, formed a treasonable 
 plan with the Earl of Warwick to effect their escape, 
 and raise the standard of insurrection. 
 
 Pretenders to royalty have not been of uncommon 
 occurrence in other countries. In Portugal, the 
 doubts respecting Sebastian having been really slain 
 at the battle of Alca9ar, gave rise to several attempts 
 to personate that chivalrous but rash monarch. Five 
 or six impostors succeeded each other ; of one claimant 
 to the name and title of the Portuguese sovereign, 
 however, the pretensions were so plausibly or so truly 
 supported, that serious doubts have been entertained 
 whether he was not " the true prince," and no " false 
 thief." 
 
 Of the most conspicuous of these pretenders, the 
 first is said to have been a pastry-cook of Madrigal, 
 Gabriel de Spinosa by name. He was tutored to act 
 his part by Father Michael de los Santos, an Au- 
 gustin friar, who had been chaplain to Don Sebastian. 
 The friar had spoken so freely in Portugal against 
 tlic Spanish usurpation, that Philip of Spain removed 
 
90 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 him out of the country, and made him confessor to a 
 convent of Nuns, at Madrigal. Donna Anna of 
 Austria, Philip's niece, was one of the inmates of this 
 convent. To this princess the friar introduced the 
 pretended Sebastian, who played his assumed cha- 
 racter so well that she gave him some rich jewels to 
 raise money. While he was endeavouring to dispose 
 of these valuables privately at Madrid, he was appre- 
 hended as a thief. He declared his real profession, 
 and that the jewels belonged to Donna Anna, and he 
 would perhaps have been released, had not his plot 
 been betrayed by the intercepting of a letter, in which 
 he was addressed with the title of majesty; The 
 result was that he and the friar were hanged, and the 
 princess was removed to another convent, and rigor- 
 ously confined for the rest of her life. 
 
 The pertinacious belief of the Portuguese, that 
 Sebastian would yet return, and their hatred of the 
 Spanish domination, soon encouraged others to follow 
 the example of Spinosa. The son of a tiler at Alco- 
 ba^a, who, after leading a loose life, had turned 
 hermit, next came forward to personate the much- 
 desired monarch. He was accompanied by two com- 
 panions, one of whom assumed the name of Don 
 Christopher de Tavora, and the other took the title 
 of the bishop of Guarda. They began to raise money, 
 and to collect partisans round them. Their career 
 was, however, cut short by the archduke, who caused 
 them to be apprehended. The pseudo Sebastian was 
 ignominiously paraded through the streets of Lisbon, 
 and then sent to the galleys for life ; the self-appointed 
 bishop was sentenced to be hanged. 
 
 Undeterred by this failure, no long time elapsed 
 before another pretender started up, to supply the 
 place of the tiler's son. This was Gon9alo Alvarez, 
 the son of a mason. His first act of royal power 
 
DECVTION, AND CREDULITY. 91 
 
 was to give the title of Earl of Torres Novas to Pedro 
 Alonso, a rich yeoman, whose daughter he intended 
 to marry. He succeeded in raising a body of eight 
 hundred men, and it was not until some blood had been 
 shed that he could be put down. He was hanged and 
 quartered at Lisbon, with his newly-created earl. 
 
 In spite of these examples, several new Sebastians 
 arose. Only one of them, however, deserves mention ; 
 but this one, if an impostor, was at least an extra- 
 ordinar}' character. It was at Venice that he made 
 his first appearance, about twenty years after the 
 battle of Alca9ar. Of the manner in which he 
 escaped from the slaughter, and of all his subsequent 
 wanderings, he gave a minute and seemingly well 
 connected account. The Venetian senate, on com- 
 plaint being made to it, ordered him to depart. He 
 sought a refuge at Padua, but, being expelled from 
 that city by the governor, he returned to Venice. 
 The Spanish ambassador now called loudly for the 
 arrest of the supposed Sebastian. He accused him 
 not only of imposture, but also of many atrocious 
 crimes. The wanderer was in consequence seized, 
 and thrown into prison. The ordeal to which he was 
 subjected was no slight one. He underwent twenty- 
 eight examinations before a committee of nobles ; and 
 he is said to have fully cleared himself of all the 
 crimes attributed to him, and even to have given so 
 accurate a statement of the former transactions be- 
 tween himself and the republic as to excite the wonder 
 of his hearers. His apparent firmness, piety, and 
 patience, also gained him many friends. 
 
 The senate refused to examine the charge of im- 
 posture, unless some allied prince or state would re- 
 quest such an investigation. The request was made, 
 and a solemn inquiry was instituted. No decision, 
 however, followed; all that was done was to order 
 
92 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the asserted Sebastian to quit the Venetian territories 
 in three days. He bent his course to Florence, where 
 he was arrested by order of the Grand Duke, who 
 deUvered him up to the Count de Lemos, the viceroy 
 of Naples. The count died some time after ; and his 
 successor appears to have forgotten the claimant to 
 the Portuguese throne, who, for several years, suffered 
 the severest hardships, as a prisoner in the castle of 
 del' Ovo. It is probable that attention was at length 
 called to him by attempts to excite, at Lisbon, an in- 
 surrection in his behalf. Be this as it may, he was 
 brought out of his dungeon, led disgracefully through 
 the city, and proclaimed to be an impostor. On this 
 occasion, he did not belie his pretensions, nor display 
 any want of courage. Whenever the public officer 
 exclaimed, " this is the man who calls himself Sebas- 
 tian," he calmly said, " and Sebastian I am." When 
 the same individual declared him to be a Calabrian, 
 he exclaimed, " it is false." When the exposure of 
 him was over, he was shipped as a galley slave ; he 
 was next imprisoned at St. Lucar ; and was subse- 
 quently removed to a castle in Castile. From that 
 moment his fate is buried in oblivion. 
 
 In Russia, the seductive hope of ascending a throne 
 has tempted various individuals to simulate deceased 
 princes, and to stake life on "the hazard of the die," 
 for the chance of obtaining their object. One only, 
 with more ability and better fortune than the rest, 
 succeeded in grasping for a short time the prize. On 
 the death of Feodor, son of Ivan the Terrible, the 
 throne was occupied by Boris Godunoff, who had 
 contrived to procure the murder of Demitri, or De- 
 metrius, the younger brother of Feodor. For a while 
 Boris governed wisely, and acquired much popularity 
 with the multitude ; but it was not long before the 
 nobles began to plot against him ; the affections of the 
 
DECEPTION^ AND CREDULITY. 93 
 
 populace were alienated, and universal confusion 
 ensued. This state of affairs was favourable to im- 
 posture, and an individual soon appeared who had 
 talents to turn it to his advantage. There was a 
 monk named Otrefief, who bore an almost miraculous 
 Ukeness to the murdered Demetrius. He was also 
 possessed of qualities well calculated to win the suf- 
 frage of the crowd ; for his figure was fine, his man- 
 ners prepossessing, and his eloquence forcible. 
 
 Relying on his personal likeness to the deceased 
 prince, the love which the people cherished for the 
 old royal stock, and the hatred to which they had 
 been roused against Boris, the hardy adventurer spread 
 abroad a report that he was Ivan, who had been saved 
 from the assassins, by the substitution of another 
 youth in his place. Leaving this to work on the minds 
 of the Russians, he withdrew into Poland, where his 
 arts, his eloquence, and his promises, soon gained 
 for him numerous allies. Sendomir, a wealthy and 
 powerful Boyard, promised him his daughter in mar- 
 riage whenever he should become czar ; and, through 
 the influence of Sendomir, the support of the king of 
 Poland was obtained. Boris denounced him, in pro- 
 clamations, as an impostor, and sent spies t6 seize and 
 put him to death ; but both were unavailing. The false 
 Demetrius advanced into Russia, in 1604, at the head 
 of a small army of Cossacks and Poles. Boris de- 
 spatched a much larger force to meet him, and a des- 
 perate battle ensued. The spirit-stirring language of 
 the pretender to his troops, and his own signal intre- 
 pidity, turned the scale of victory in his favour. 
 Numbers immediately espoused his cause ; Boris 
 every day found his subjects and his troops deserting 
 him ; and at length he poisoned himself in despair. 
 f victor entered Moscow, and was crowned there. 
 Demetrius began his reign in a manner which 
 
94 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 seemed to promise that it would be lasting. He was 
 prudent, just, amiable, and accessible even to his 
 poorest subjects. But the possession of power seems to 
 have exercised on him its usual intoxicating influence. 
 His virtues vanished, and he began to excite disgust. 
 But the circumstances which most contributed to 
 alienate from him the Russians were his impolitic 
 lavishing of honours upon the Poles, and his equally 
 impolitic contempt of the national religion. These 
 were two inexpiable ofiPences in the eyes of those whom 
 he governed. A conspiracy was formed against him 
 by Prince Schnisky, the palace of the pseudo Dem'e- 
 trius was stormed, and he perished by the weapons of 
 the revolters. 
 
 Several other Demetriuses subsequently started up. 
 The first of these was a Polish schoolmaster, who, 
 with the help of the Poles, obtained possession of 
 Moscow ; but he soon sunk into obscurity. The rest 
 were still less lucky; some of them perished on 
 the gibbet. The last of the species appeared in 1616, 
 and pretended to be the son of Demetrius. He was 
 seized and strangled, and with him terminated all 
 attempts to personate a prince of the race of Ivan the 
 Terrible. 
 
 A century and a half elapsed before another adven- 
 turer of this kind was seen in Russia. His name was 
 Pugatscheff", and he was a coarse and ferocious speci- 
 men of impostor princes. He was a Don Cossack, 
 and had served against the Prussians and Turks. A 
 trifling circumstance was the cause of his aspiring to 
 a throne. He was sent with a despatch to a general, 
 whom he found surrounded by his staff" officers. On 
 seeing Pugatschefl^, all the officers at once expressed 
 their surprise at the striking likeness which he bore 
 to the murdered Emperor Peter. 
 
 This was sufficient to awaken ambition in his mind. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 95 
 
 He deseited, and took refuge in Poland, where he 
 spent some time in acquiring the information which 
 was requisite for carrying his plan into effect. He 
 then entered Russia, spread his forged tale among the 
 Cossacks, and at length collected sufficient followers 
 to enable him to take the field. He began his opera- 
 tions in 1773, by seizing some fortresses in the 
 government of Orenbourg, swelled his numbers ex- 
 ceedingly, baffled the government forces, and, it is 
 thought, might have made himself master of Moscow 
 had he pushed boldly forward. . Count Panin having 
 brought together a considerable army, succeeded in 
 driving him beyond the Ural mountains ; but, in spite 
 of every effort that was made against him, he contrived 
 to keep up a harassing warfare for more than twelve 
 months. It is probable that he might have held out 
 longer had he not disgusted even his partisans by his 
 acts of wanton and brutal cruelty. This, and the 
 temptation offered by a reward of a hundred thousand 
 roubles, induced some of his followers to betray him. 
 He was carried to Moscow in an iron cage, and was 
 executed there in January, 1775. 
 
 France, within the last forty years, has had no less 
 than three or four false dauphins ; one of whom, of 
 very recent date, was a German watchmaker. The 
 most conspicuous of them were, however, Jean Marie 
 Hervegault, and Maturin Bruneau. The former of 
 these was the son of a tailor, at St. Lo. The strong 
 resemblance of his features to those of Louis XVI. 
 was doubtless that which inspired him with the hope 
 of passing for the son of that monarch. He had a 
 good address, much art, and a large stock of impu- 
 dence, and succeeded in making numerous proselytes, 
 even among people of education and fortune. He 
 was several times imprisoned, but his blind admirers 
 
96 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 still persisted in paying him royal honours. He died 
 in the Bicetre in 1812. His successor, Maturin 
 Bruneau, had neither equal skill nor equal success 
 with Hervegault, yet he found a considerable number 
 of credulous dupes. His career was stopped in 1818, 
 by a sentence of seven years imprisonment, two years 
 of which were imposed for his daring insolence to the 
 court by which he was tried. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DISGUISES ASSUMED BY, OR IN BEHALF OF, ROYALTY. 
 
 Disguise of Achilles — Of Ulysses — Of Codrus — Fiction employed by 
 Numa Pompilius — KingAlfred disguised in the Swineherd's Cottage 
 His Visit, as a Harper, to the Danish Camp — Richard Coeur de 
 Lion takes the Garb of a Pilgrim — ;He is discovered and impri- 
 soned — Disguises and Escape of Mary, Queen of Scots — Escape 
 of Charles the Second, after the Battle of Worcester — Of 
 Stanislaus from Dantzick — Of Prince Charles Edward from 
 Scotland — Peter the Great takes the Dress of a Ship Carpenter — 
 His Visit to England — Anecdote of his Conduct to a Dutch 
 Skipper — Siratagem of the Piincess Ulrica of Prussia — Pleasant 
 Deception piactised by Catherine the Second of Russia — Joan of 
 Arc — Her eaily Life — Discovers the King when fir^t introduced 
 at Court — She compels the English to raise the Siege of Orleans 
 — Joan leads the King to be crowned at Rheims — She is taken 
 Prisoner — Base and barbarous Conduct of her Enemies— She is 
 burned at Rouen — The Devil of Woodstock — Annoying Pranks 
 played by it — Explanation of the Mystery — Fair Rosamond. 
 
 " Uneasy lies the head which wears a crown," are 
 the emphatic words of Shakspeare ; and that a penalty 
 of no light sorrow is often attached to the pomp and 
 grandeur of royalty, is a fact which receives confirma- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 97 
 
 lion from the earliest traditionary accounts we have 
 of the histories of kings and princes *. 
 
 To avoid the dangers inseparable from war; or, 
 during war, to overpower an enemy by guile, as well 
 as by force of arms ; or, in political troubles, to seek a 
 temporary concealment; have been occasionally the 
 objects of men celebrated in after-times as heroes, and 
 as examples worthy and proper to be followed by such 
 as aimed at future conquest or greatness. 
 
 Thetis, knowing that her son Achilles was doomed 
 to perish, if he went to the Trojan war, privately sent 
 him, it is said, to the court of Lycomedes, where he 
 was disguised in a female dress ; but, as Troy could 
 not be taken without him, Ulysses went to the same 
 court in the habit of a merchant, and exposed jewels 
 and arms for sale. Achilles, neglecting the jewels, 
 generally more attractive to female eyes, and display- 
 ing a certain skill in handling the weapons, inadver- 
 tently discovered his sex, and, challenged by Ulysses, 
 was obliged to go to the war, in which he ultimately 
 perished. The truth of this story cannot perhaps be 
 safely asserted, especially as the introduction of the 
 goddess Thetis is evidently poetical, but the tradition 
 of it and the two following are quoted, to show that 
 such impostures and concealments were not considered 
 derogatory to the courage or good conduct of the 
 greatest heroes of antiquity ; and it is also probable 
 
 • In Candidc, or the Optimist, there is an admirable stroke of 
 Voltaire's ; eight travellers meet in an obscure inn, and some of 
 them with not sufficient money to pay for a scurvy dinner. In 
 the course of conversation they are discovered to be eight monarchs 
 in Europe, who had been deprived of their crowns. What gave 
 point to this satire was, that these eight monarchs were not the 
 fictitious majesties of the poetic brain; imperial shadows, like thove 
 that appeared to Macbeth ; but living monarchs, who were wan- 
 ing at that moment about the world. 
 
98 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 that such facts, stripped of their poetical dress, did 
 really take place. 
 
 Ulysses had pretended to be insane, that he might 
 not be obliged to leave his beloved Penelope ; and had 
 yoked a horse and bull together, ploughing the sea- 
 shore, where he sowed salt instead of corn. This dis- 
 simulation was discovered by Palamedes, who placed 
 Telemachus, the infant son of Ulysses, before the 
 plough, and thus convinced the world that the father 
 was not mad ; as he turned the plough from the fur- 
 row, to avoid injuring his son. 
 
 Codrus, the last king of Athens, from a nobler 
 motive concealed his dignity, and saved his country, 
 by sacrificing his own life ; for, when the Heraclidae 
 made war against Athens, the Delphian oracle was 
 consulted about the event : the Pythoness declared, 
 that the Peloponnesians would be victorious, pro- 
 vided they did not kill the Athenian king. This re- 
 sponse being promulgated, Codrus, in the heroic spirit 
 of the age, determined to sacrifice his own life for the 
 benefit of his country. Disguising himself, therefore, 
 as a peasant, he went to the outpost of the enemy, 
 and, seeking an occasion to quarrel, he was killed. 
 When the real quality of the person slain became 
 known, the Heraclidse, believing their fate sealed if 
 they remained, quickly retreated to their own country. 
 
 Numa Pompilius, at the death of Romulus, was 
 unanimously elected king of Rome, and accepted the 
 office after the repeated and earnest solicitations of the 
 senate and people. Not, like Romulus, fond of war and 
 military expeditions, he applied himself to tame the 
 ferocity of his subjects, by inculcating a reverence 
 for the deity. He had the discretion to see that, if 
 he could bring them to the belief that he was aided by 
 higher powers, his own regulations would be better 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 99 
 
 attended to. He, therefore, encouraged the report 
 which was spread, of his paying regular visits to the 
 goddess-nymph Egeria ; and he made use of her name 
 to give sanction to the laws and institutions, which he 
 had introduced, and he informed the Romans that the 
 safety of the empire depended upon the preservation 
 of the sacred ancyle, or shield, which it was generally 
 believed had dropped from heaven. 
 
 King Alfred, during the unsettled times of the 
 Saxon heptarchy, is an example of a reverse of for- 
 tune successfully overcome by temporary disguise and 
 concealment. Striving with the Danes for the pos- 
 session of his own country, he was worsted, and 
 compelled to provide for his safety by flying to a 
 small island in Somersetshire, in the midst of marshes. 
 This little oasis in the desert afterwards obtained the 
 name of Ethelingey, or Prince's Island. From a 
 swineherd who resided there the king received shelter, 
 and under his roof he remained for some months. It 
 happened one day that the swain's wife placed some 
 loaves on the hearth to be baked. The king was at 
 the moment sitting by the fire, trimming his arrows. 
 The woman, who was ignorant of his rank, said to 
 him, "Turn thou those loaves, that they burn not; 
 for I know that thou art a great eater." Alfred, 
 whose thoughts and time were otherwise engaged, 
 neglected this injunction, and the good woman, find- 
 ing on her return the cakes all burnt, rated the king 
 very severely ; upbraiding him that, though he was so 
 negligent in watching her warm cakes, he always 
 seemed very well pleased to eat them. Alfred, it is 
 said, subsequently munificently rewarded the peasant, 
 whose name was Denulf, recommended him to apply 
 himself to letters, and afterwards made him Bishop of 
 Winchester. 
 
 h2 
 
100 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Some fugitives of Alfred's party, at length, coming 
 to the same place, recognised him, and remained with 
 him, forming the nucleus of his future army. After 
 six months passed in this retreat, he sought to sur- 
 prise the main army of the Northmen, which was still 
 encamped in Wiltshire. But, before striking any blow, 
 he resolved to inspect the camp of the enemy in per- 
 son. His early predilection for Saxon poetry and 
 music qualified him to assume another disguise, that 
 of a harper, and in this character he went to the 
 Danish camp. His harp and singing excited notice ; 
 he was admitted to the king*s table, heard his con- 
 versation with his generals, and contemplated their 
 position unsuspected. He then returned to his own 
 troops in safety, and, taking advantage of his know- 
 ledge of the place, conducted them to the most un- 
 guarded quarter of the enemy's camp, who were soon 
 put to flight with great slaughter. This success 
 paved the way for his ultimately regaining his crown 
 and kingdom. Such is the story which has been 
 handed down to us by some writers ; but it was 
 unknown to Asser, the biographer and contemporary 
 of Alfred, and its truth is more than doubtful. 
 
 Richard Coeur de Lion, at the close of those chi- 
 valrous adventures which made his name so renowned 
 in the crusades, having left the Holy Land, on his 
 way home, sailed to Corfu. On his arrival at that 
 island, he hired three coasting vessels to carry him 
 and his suite to Ragusa and Zara. Aware of the 
 danger to which he was exposed from the animosity 
 and machinations of his enemies, he concealed his 
 dignity under the name of Hugh the Merchant. The 
 beards and hair of Richard and his companions had 
 grown long from neglect, and they wore the garments 
 of pilgrims. Driven by a storm on the Istrian coast, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 101 
 
 they landed between Venice and Aquileia, and pro- 
 ceeded toward Goritz, where it was necessary to 
 solicit passports from the governor. He happened to 
 be Maynard, the nephew of that Conrad who was 
 stabbed in the streets of Tyre, and whose death was 
 maliciously ascribed to Richard. Richard had pur- 
 chased three rubies from a merchant at Pisa, and one 
 of them was fixed in a gold ring. Consulting his 
 native liberality, rather than remembering his as- 
 sumed character, Richard sent this ring as a pre- 
 sent to the governor, when he asked his protection. 
 Startled at the value of the gift, Maynard asked who 
 were the persons that wished for passports. He was 
 answered that they were pilgrims from Jerusalem; 
 but the man who sent the ring was Hugh the Mer- 
 chant. " This is not the gift of a merchant, but of a 
 prince," said he, still contemplating the ring : " this 
 must be King Richard ;" and he returned a courteous 
 but evasive answer. 
 
 Richard felt that, in a country where he had so 
 many bitter enemies, suspicion was equivalent to dis- 
 covery, and that, if he remained, his safety was com- 
 promised. He quitted therefore his party, and by the 
 assistance of a German youth, as his guide, travelled 
 three days and nights without food. Pressed at last 
 by hunger, he rested near Vienna, where his enemy 
 the Duke of Austria then was. A second incautious 
 liberality again excited suspicion ; and he was obliged 
 to remain in a cottage whilst the youth procured 
 necessaries for him. Richard supplied his messenger 
 with so much money, that the ostentatious display of 
 it in the market by the youth excited curiosity. On 
 his next visit to the market he was seized, and put to 
 the torture, by which he was compelled to reveal the 
 name and the asylum of the king. The Duke sur- 
 
102 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 rounded the cottage with his soldiers, who called oh 
 Richard to surrender, but the monarch refused to 
 yield to any one but to the Duke himself. A cruel 
 imprisonment followed his arrest, but he was at last 
 restored to his kingdom. 
 
 The romantic story of his favourite Blondel, seek- 
 ing him throughout Europe in the disguise of a 
 minstrel, and discovering his prison, by singing his 
 favourite air under the walls of it, is believed to have 
 no other foundation than the lay of some sentimental 
 troubadour. 
 
 The beautiful and unfortunate Mary Queen of 
 Scots excited a romantic interest and affection in her 
 immediate followers, which has scarcely diminished 
 at this distance of time ; and in the attempt to escape 
 from her evil fortune, in which she was strenuously 
 aided by those followers, she was more than once 
 obliged to assume a disguise to impose on the ever- 
 wakeful vigilance of her enemies. 
 
 It is well known that this celebrated beauty, through 
 the political, as well, as it is believed, the personal 
 jealousy of Queen Elizabeth, was imprisoned in 
 Lochleven Castle, situated in the midst of a lake, 
 which, being thus cut off from all communication with 
 the surrounding country, was thought sufficiently 
 secure, for the purposes of safe custody. But her 
 beauty, and pitiable misfortunes, rendered her an 
 object of compassion to many about her, and several 
 attempts were made to rescue her from her rigorous 
 confinement. 
 
 Mary had one day nearly succeeded in making her 
 escape from the castle, disguised as a laundress. She 
 had actually seated herself in the boat, when she was 
 betrayed by inadvertently raising to her cheek a hand 
 of snowy whiteness ; her beauty in this instance, as in 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 103 
 
 many others, proving the greatest source of her 
 misery. 
 
 William Douglas, soon after, had the address to 
 steal the keys of the gates, from the hall in which 
 Sir William Douglas his father, and his mother, were 
 sitting at supper. The Queen, apprised of the cir- 
 cumstance, once more descended to the edge of the 
 lake, where a boat was waiting, and having entered it, 
 her maid assisted in rowing ; as they approached the 
 shore, VV^illiam Douglas flung the keys into the lake. 
 Having quitted the boat, the Queen mounted a palfrey, 
 and rode to Middry, the residence of Lord Seaton, 
 where she was surrounded by her friends. She did 
 not, however, long enjoy this respite from her mis- 
 fortunes, the defeat of her army, at the fatal battle of 
 Langside, in 1568, consigning her to a long and bar- 
 barous imprisonment, and, ultimately, to the scaffold. 
 
 History records few princes who have been com- 
 pelled to assume such a series of disguises, or met 
 with such hair-breadth escapes, as fell to the lot of 
 Charles the Second, after his overthrow at Worcester, 
 which apparently crushed for ever the hopes of the 
 royalist party. By the victors no means were left 
 untried to seize upon his person, and had not the 
 fidelity of his followers been even more than equal to 
 the animosity of his enemies, he must undoubtedly 
 have fallen a victim. A reward of a thousand pounds 
 was offered for his apprehension, the formidable terrors 
 of a traitor's death were fulniinated against all who 
 should dare to shelter him, the country was scoured 
 in all directions by numerous parties, and the magis- 
 trates were enjoined to arrest every unknown indivi- 
 dual, and to keep a vigilant eye on the sea-ports. All, 
 however, was to no purpose ; his flight remained un- 
 traceable, his fate was involved in profound mystery, 
 
 * 
 
104 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 and it at length began to be supposed that he had 
 perished obscurely by the hands of the peasantry. 
 Forty-four days elapsed before the republicans received 
 the unwelcome news that he not only still lived, but 
 that he had eluded their pursuit, and gained a secure 
 asylum in France. 
 
 On the night which followed the decisive defeat 
 at Worcester^ the Earl of Derby recommended Bosco- 
 bel House to the prince, as a place of refuge, and at an 
 early hour in the morning Charles reached White-ladies, 
 twenty-five miles off. There the prince retired to 
 assume his first disguise ; his hair was closely cropped, 
 his face and hands were discoloured, hfs clothes changed 
 for those of a labourer, and a wood-bill was put into 
 his hand, that he might personate a woodman- Under 
 the escort of two peasants named Pendrel, he reached 
 Madely, where he remained concealed till night, when 
 he again sought his way to Boscobel. Here he found 
 Colonel Careless, who was acquainted with every 
 place of concealment in the country, and by his per- 
 suasions Charles consented to pass the day with him, 
 amid the branches of a lofty oak, from which they occa- 
 sionally saw the republican soldiers in search of them. 
 
 Night relieved them, and they returned to a con- 
 cealment in the house. From thence Charles got to 
 Mosely the following day on horseback, and there 
 assumed the character of a servant ; for the daughter 
 of Colonel Lane, of Bentley, had a pass, to visit her 
 aunt near Bristol, and Charles departed on horseback 
 with his mistress behind him. On stopping for the 
 night, he was indulged with a separate chamber under 
 the pretence of indisposition, but he was recognised 
 on the following morning by the butler, who, being 
 honoured with the royal confidence, endeavoured to 
 repay it with his services. No ship being found at 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 105 
 
 Bristol, it was resolved that Charles should remove 
 to Trent, near Sherburn, and at Lyme a ship was 
 hired to transport a nobleman and his servant^ Lord 
 Wilmot, and Charles, to the coast of France. But 
 again disappointment attended them. They then 
 rode to Bridport, and in the inn the ostler challenged 
 Charles, as an old acquaintance whom he had known 
 at Mr. Potter's of Exeter. The fact was, Charles had 
 lodged there during the civil war. He had sufficient 
 presence of mind to avail himself of this partial mis- 
 take, and said, '* I once lived with IVIr. Potter, but, as 
 I have no time now, we will renew our acquaintance 
 on my return to London, over a pot of beer." 
 
 A second ship was at length procured by Colonel 
 Phillips at -Southampton, but of this resource Charles 
 was deprived by its being vseized for the transport of 
 troops to Jersey : a collier was, however, soon after 
 found at Shoreham, and Charles hastened to Brighton, 
 where he supped with the master of the vessel, who 
 also recognised him, having known him when, as 
 Prince of Wales, he commanded the royal fleet in 
 1648. The sailor, however, faithfully set him ashore, 
 on the following evening, at Fecamp, in Normandy, 
 where all his perils ended. 
 
 Equal dangers have been encountered by a few 
 other princes, in flying from their foes. The escape of 
 King Stanislas Lecszinski, from Dantzic, in 1734, 
 was accomplished under circumstances of extraordi- 
 nary difficulty. The city was closely invested, all its 
 immediate vicinity was inundated by the Vistula, and 
 the whole of the surrounding country was in the 
 hands of inveterate enemies, who were on the watch, 
 and eager to seize him. ITie night before the fortress 
 capitulated, he quitted it, disguised, in a boat, accom- 
 panied by some peasants, and one of his generals. 
 
106 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 The night was spent in vain attempts to find the bed 
 of the river, and the dawn compelled him to seek a 
 precarious shelter in a hut within sight of the Rus- 
 sians. In the evening they departed, and at midnight 
 the general and two peasants proceeded to search for 
 a practicable route, leaving the king with onljr two pea- 
 sants, of whose fidelity he was doubtful. The general 
 did not return. Again Stanislas was obliged to take 
 refuge in a hut, where he was every moment in dread 
 of being discovered by the Cossacks. The Cossacks 
 did, in reality, enter the house, but they left it without 
 being aware that he was in it. At night, with his 
 guides, he made a painful march, for some miles, 
 through boggy ground, into which he often sunk knee 
 deep. On reaching the Vistula, where he had ex- 
 pected to find a boat, it was gone, and he had to make 
 his way back through the marsh. At the house 
 where he now arrived, he was instantly recognised ; 
 but the owner was friendly, and promised to provide 
 him with a boat. While the king was waiting, he 
 was joined by one of the peasants who had accom- 
 panied the general, who informed him that the Cos- 
 sacks were searching for him in every part of the 
 neighbourhood. The boat was at length procured, 
 and the king set out to embark ; but his guides were 
 so much frightened by seeing the fires of the enemy's 
 flying camps on all sides, that they refused to proceed. 
 It was only by a great exertion of firmness on his 
 part that they were prevailed on to move forward. 
 At length they reached the boat. The king wished 
 to force on the finder of it a handful of gold, but the 
 noble-spirited peasant could hardly be prevailed on to 
 accept even a couple of ducats. Landing at a village 
 to hire or purchase a vehicle, Stanislas was in the 
 utmost danger of being discovered, in consequence of 
 
DECEPTION, AND CKEDU1.1TY. 107 
 
 the drunkenness of his guides. He succeeded, how- 
 ever, in reaching the Nogat, on the other side of 
 which he would be in safety. But here again his 
 hopes were on the point of being wrecked by the 
 stupid obstinacy of his companions, who insisted on 
 his going round by Marienburgh, to cross the bridge 
 there ; a measure which would have been fatal. 
 Stanislas peremptorily refused to consent to this mad 
 scheme ; and he was lucky enough to procure a boat, 
 by means of which he was conveyed to the Prussian 
 territory, where he met with a hospitable reception. 
 More protracted sufferings were experienced by the 
 Pretender, Prince Charles Edward, after the battle of 
 CuUoden. Pursued by numerous foes, some of whom 
 were rendered inveterate by their political feelings, 
 while others were stimulated by the enormous reward 
 of thirty thousand pounds which was offered for his 
 apprehension, he was, for six months, in hourly ex- 
 pectation of falling into their hands. He was hunted 
 by land and water, from island to island, from cave 
 to cave, and from the abode of one partisan to that of 
 another, with a perseverance which nothing but his 
 own presence of mind, and the fidelity of his followers, 
 could have rendered ineffectual. During the hot 
 chase to which he was exposed, he was subjected to 
 privations of the severest kind ; hunger, thirst, ex- 
 posure to the elements, and incessant fatigue. Among 
 his many disguises was the dress of a female. It 
 seems that he now and then forgot the demeanour 
 which belonged to his garb. On one occasion, in 
 crossing a stream, he held up his petticoats so in- 
 delicately high, that his conductor expressed fear that 
 suspicion would be excited ; upon which the prince 
 went to the opposite extreme, and allowed his clothes 
 to float on the water, till he was reminded that this 
 
108 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 also might draw attention to him. The battle of Cul- 
 loden was fought on the sixteenth of April, and it was 
 not till the nineteenth of September that Charles 
 Edward was at last rescued from the perils which en- 
 vironed him, by the arrival of two French vessels, in 
 one of which he embarked for France. Even in the last 
 scene of his adventures danger threatened him ; for the 
 British fleet was then cruising off the French coast, 
 and he actually sailed through it in his way to Mor- 
 laix, but was hidden from it by a thick fog. 
 
 One of the most meritorious disguises ever put on 
 by a monarch, as it had its origin solely in good in- 
 tentions and anxiety for the welfare of his subjects, 
 is described in the history of Peter the Great, czar of 
 Muscovy ; who, though his education was defective, 
 was endowed with a strong mind, and felt how much 
 was still to be acquired before he could realize the vast 
 projects which he was eager to execute. To counteract 
 the formidable power of the Strelitzes, who were far 
 more inclined to dispute than obey the commands of 
 their superiors, he resolved to introduce a new disci- 
 pline, and to re-organise his army ; and, in order to set 
 the example of subordination, he himself entered as a 
 private in one of his corps, which was disciplined in 
 the German manner. In this corps he gradually rose 
 to command by his services, and by sharing the toils 
 and privations of the military life. 
 
 In 1695, he laid siege to AzofF; but the enterprise 
 failed from a want of shipping to block the harbour : 
 this circumstance^ among others, forced on his atten- 
 tion the necessity of improving his navy. His fond- 
 ness, however, for naval architecture is dated from 
 1691, when accidentally taking notice of a decayed 
 sloop near Moscow, and being told that it was of 
 foreign construction, and able to sail to windward, he 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 109 
 
 caused it to be repaired by a Dutch shipwright, and 
 was highly dehghted to observe its manoeuvres, which 
 he afterwards learned to regulate himself. Perhaps 
 the most interesting and extraordinary circumstance 
 in the history of mankind, is, that the despotic monarch 
 of a mighty dominion should descend from his throne, 
 and travel as a private person, in the train of his own 
 ambassador sent to Holland. When Peter arrived 
 there, he first took up his abode in the Admiralty at 
 Amsterdam, and afterwards enrolled himself among 
 the ship-carpenters, and went to the village of Sar- 
 dam, where he wrought as a common carpenter and 
 blacksmith, with unusual assiduity, under the name 
 of Master Peter. He was clad and fed as his fellow- 
 workmen, for he would not allow of vain distinctions. 
 
 The next year he passed over to England, where, in 
 four months, he completed his knowledge of ship 
 building. After receiving every mark of respect 
 from William the Third, he left this country accom- 
 panied by several English ship-builders and carpen- 
 ters, whom he employed with great liberality, in his 
 naval dock-yards, and he is said to have subsequently 
 written several pieces on naval affairs 
 
 John Evelyn, the author of the Sylva, gives rather a 
 curious account of the emperor in his Diary be 
 writes " 1698, January. The czar of Muscovy beings 
 come to England, and having a mind to see the build- 
 ing of ships, hired my house at Say's Court, and made 
 it his court and palace, new furnished for him by the 
 King." 
 
 Whilst the czar was in his house, Mr. Evelyn's 
 servant thus wrote to him : " There is a house full of 
 people, and right nasty. The czar, lies next your 
 library, and dines in the parlour next your study. 
 I le dines at ten o'clock and six at night, is very seldom 
 
110 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 at home a whole day, very often in the king's yard, 
 or by water, dressed in several dresses. The king is 
 expected here this day ; the best parlour is pretty clean 
 for him to be entertained in. The king pays for all he 
 has." 
 
 Such a noble mind, employed in the acquisition of 
 knowledge, for the benefit of his country and his peo- 
 ple, may well be pardoned for any deficiencies in the 
 accomplishments or embellishments of life. 
 
 In Carr's Tour round the Baltic is related an anec- 
 dote of the czar s partiality towards those connected 
 with maritime afiairs. A Dutch skipper hearing that 
 Petersburg was building, and that the emperor had a 
 great passion for ships and commerce, resolved to try 
 his fortune there, and accordingly arrived with the 
 first merchant vessel that ever sailed on the Neva, 
 and was the bearer of a letter of introduction to the 
 captain of the port from a friend of his in Holland, re- 
 questing him to use his interest to procure a freight 
 for him. Peter the Great was working like a common 
 labourer in the Admiralty as the galliot passed, and 
 saluted with two or three small guns. The emperor 
 was uncommonly delighted, and having been informed 
 of the Dutchman's business, he resolved to have some 
 frolic with him, and accordingly commanded the 
 port captain to see the skipper as soon as he landed, 
 and direct him to the emperor, as a merchant just 
 settled there, which character he intended to personate. 
 Peter repaired to his original cottage on the Neva, 
 with his empress, who, to humour the plan, dressed 
 herself in a plain bourgeois habit, such as suited the 
 wife of a merchant. The Dutchman was introduced 
 to the emperor, who received him with great kind- 
 ness, and they sat and ate bread and cheese, and 
 smoked together for some time, during which the 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. Ill 
 
 Dutchman's eye examined the room, and began to 
 think that one who Uved in so mean a place could be 
 of no service to him.: presently the empress entered, 
 when the skipper addressed her, by observing that he 
 had brought her a cheese, a much better one than she 
 had ever tasted, for which, affecting an awkward man- 
 ner, she thanked him. Being much pleased with her 
 appearance, he took from his coat a piece of linen, and 
 begged her acceptance of it for shifts. " Oh," exclaimed 
 the emperor, taking the pipe from his mouth, " Kate, 
 you will now be as fine and proud as an empress." 
 This was followed by the stranger begging to have a 
 kiss, which she coyly indulged him in. At this mo- 
 ment Prince Menzikof, the favourite and minister of 
 Peter the Great, covered with all his orders, stood be- 
 fore the emperor uncovered. The skipper began to 
 stare with amazement, whilst Peter, making private 
 signs, induced the prince to retire. The astonished 
 Dutchman said, " Why, you appear to have great ac- 
 quaintance here." " Yes," replied Peter, *'and so may 
 you, if you stay here but ten days ; there are plenty 
 of such needy noblemen as the one you saw ; they are 
 always in debt and very glad to borrow money ; but 
 beware of these fellows, and do not be dazzled by 
 their stars and garters, and such trumpery.*' This 
 advice put the Dutchman more at his ease, who 
 smoked and drank very cheerfully, and had made his 
 bargain with the imperial merchant for a cargo, when 
 the officer of the guard entered to receive orders, and 
 stood with profound respect, addressing Peter by the 
 title of Imperial Majesty. The Dutchman sprang 
 from his chair, and fell on his knees, imploring for- 
 giveness for the liberties he had been taking. Peter, 
 laughing heartily, raised him up and made him kiss 
 the empress's hand, presented him with fifteen hun- 
 
112 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 dred rubles, gave him a freight, and ordered that his 
 vessel, as long as her timbers remained together, 
 should be permitted to enter all the Russian ports free 
 of duty. This privilege made the rapid fortune of the 
 owner. 
 
 The marriage of Ulrica, sister of Frederick the 
 Great, with Adolphus Frederick of Sweden, was the 
 fruit of a stratagem, rather unfairly played off on her 
 sister. The court and senate of Sweden sent an am- 
 bassador incognito to Berlin, to watch and report 
 upon the characters and dispositions of Frederick's 
 two unmarried sisters, Ulrica and Amelia ; the former 
 of whom had the reputation of being very haughty, 
 crafty, satirical, and capricious; and the Swedish 
 court had already nearly determined in favour of 
 Amelia, who was remarkable for the attraction of her 
 person and sweetness of her mind. The mission of 
 the ambassador was soon buzzed abroad, and Amelia 
 was overwhelmed with misery, on account of her in- 
 superable objection to renounce the tenets of Calvin 
 for those of Luther. In this state of wretchedness she 
 implored the assistance of her sister's councils, to pre- 
 vent an union so repugnant to her happiness. The 
 wary Ulrica advised her to assume the most insolent 
 and repulsive deportment to every one, in the pre- 
 sence of the Swedish ambassador, which advice she 
 followed, whilst Ulrica put on all those amiable quali- 
 ties which her sister had provisionally laid aside : every 
 one, ignorant of the cause, was astonished at the 
 change ; and the ambassador informed his court that 
 fame had completely reversed their reciprocal good 
 and bad qualities. Ulrica was consequently preferred, 
 and mounted the throne of Sweden. 
 
 At the village of Zarsko-Zelo, at which is situated 
 the most magnificent of the imperial country palaces in 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 113 
 
 Russia, there were no inns, but the hospitality of Mr. 
 Bush, the English gardener, prevented that incon- 
 venience from being felt by visiters properly intro- 
 duced to him. When Joseph II., Emperor of Ger- 
 many, to whom every appearance of show was 
 disgusting, expressed his intention of visiting Cathe- 
 rine II., she offered him apartments in her palace, 
 which he declined. Her Majesty, well knowing his 
 dislike to parade, had Mr. Bush's house fitted up as 
 an inn, with the sign of a Catherine wheel, below 
 which appeared in German characters ** The Falken- 
 steiu Arms;" Falkenstein being the name which the 
 emperor assumed. His Majesty knew nothing of 
 the ingenious and attentive deception, till after he had 
 quitted Russia. When the emperor once went to 
 Moscow, he is said to have preceded the royal carriages 
 as an avant-courreur, in order to avoid the obnoxious 
 pomp and ceremony which an acknowledgment of his 
 rank would have awakened. 
 
 About the year 1428, there arose in France, in the 
 person of Joan of Arc, commonly called the Maid of 
 Orleans, a heroine, who by her enthusiasm stimulated 
 the French to resist the domination of the English. 
 She appears to have been simple, chaste, modest, and 
 inoffensive. During her youth, she was frequently 
 seen kneeling devoutly in a corner of her village 
 1 lurch : piety, indeed, seems to have produced its 
 U'vating effects on her mind, and to it may be 
 ascribed the largest portion of her success. There was, 
 in truth, nothing about her brief but brilliant day of 
 public action which looked like wilful imposture in 
 herself. We must therefore suppose she was prac- 
 tised upon by others, or that her young and enthusi- 
 astic imagination, by being continually worked upon, 
 became afflicted with a permanent, though partial, de- 
 I 
 
114 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 rangement ; a species of madness which is not im-- 
 common. The latter supposition is supported by her 
 own language; she declared that, at the age of thirteen^ 
 she had been instructed, by a voice from God, how to 
 govern herself, and that she saw St. Michael several 
 times, who ordered her to be a good girl ; and that 
 God would assist her, and that she must go to the 
 succour of the king of France. 
 
 Before she became a public character, she used to 
 amuse herself with her companions in running, and 
 fighting with a kind of lance, and also on horseback ; 
 which accounted for her subsequent excellent manage- 
 ment of weapons, and skill in. riding. 
 
 There was a popular tradition, that France was to 
 be delivered by a virgin from the borders of Lorraine. 
 This might have suggested or assisted her pretensions ; 
 and, having once fixed popular attention, and excited 
 popular interest, public feeling both supported and 
 carried her to the completion of her wishes. 
 
 Joan, when first presented at court, is said to have 
 known the king, who was standing promiscuously 
 among the nobles, and to have revealed to him a 
 secret unknown to any one else. It has beert very 
 much canvassed what this secret could be ; but^ it 
 seems the Chevalier de Boissy, who was a favourite 
 of Charles the Seventh during their youth, and was 
 at that time his bedfellow, was in possession of it. 
 Charles told him that he had one day prayed, without 
 utterance, that Heaven would defend his right ; Joan 
 reminded him of this prayer. Such an incident leads 
 to a suspicion that some persons near the king, and 
 acquainted with his private thoughts, were secretly 
 instructing the maid of Orleans, and practising, by 
 these means, on the credulity of the nation. But of 
 still more consequence did her assumptions prove to 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 115 
 
 the English, who, under the administration of the 
 Duke of Bedford, were masters at that time of the 
 capital and almost all the northern provinces of 
 France. During her interview with the French king, 
 Joan, in the name of the Supreme Being, offered to 
 raise the siege of Orleans, and to conduct him to 
 Rheims, to be there crowned and anointed ; and she 
 demanded, as the instrument of her future victories, a 
 particular sword, which was kept in the church of St. 
 Catherine of Fierbois, and which, though she had 
 never seen it, she described by all its marks, and by 
 the place in which it had long lain neglected. 
 
 An assembly of grave doctors and theologians 
 cautiously examined Joan's mission, and pronounced 
 it undoubtedly supernatural. She was sent to the 
 parliament and interrogated before that assembly ; 
 and the presidents and counsellors, who had come 
 persuaded of her imposture, went away convinced of 
 her inspiration. All the English affected to speak 
 with derision of the maid, and of her heavenly com- 
 mission ; and said that the French king was now 
 reduced to a sorry pass, when he had recourse to such 
 ridiculous expedients ; but they felt their imagination 
 secretly struck with the vehement persuasion which 
 prevailed in all around them ; and waited with 
 anxious expectation for the issue of these extraordi- 
 nary preparations. 
 
 The inhabitants of Orleans now believed themselvei 
 invincible under her influence, and the Count of Du- 
 nois himself, perceiving such an alteration both in 
 friends and foes, consented that the next convoy, 
 which was to march in a few days, should enter by the 
 side of Beausse, where the English were most nume- 
 rous. The convoy approached ; no sign of resistance 
 I 2 
 
116 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 appeared in the besiegers ; it passed without interrup- 
 tion between the redoubts of the EngUsh, and a dead 
 silence and astonishment reigned among those troops 
 which were formerly so elated with victory. The siege 
 of Orleans was speedily raised, the English army being 
 unable to continue its operations. 
 
 The raising of the siege was one part of the maid's 
 promise to Charles ; the crowning him at Rheims was 
 the other ; and she now vehemently insisted that he 
 should set out on that enterprise. Rheims lay in a 
 distant quarter of the kingdom, and was then in the 
 hands of a victorious enemy ; the whole road which 
 led to it was also occupied by their garrisons ; and no 
 man could be so sanguine as to imagine that such an 
 attempt could so soon come within the bounds of pos- 
 sibility. Charles, however, resolved to follow the 
 exhortations of his warlike prophetess, and to lead his 
 army upon this promising adventure. He set out for 
 Rheims at the head of twelve thousand men. Troyes 
 opened its gates to him, Chalons imitated the ex- 
 ample, Rheims sent him a deputation with its keys, 
 and he scarcely perceived, as he passed along, that he 
 was marching through an enemy's country. The 
 ceremony was performed with the holy oil, which a 
 pigeon had brought to King Clovis from heaven on 
 the first establishment of the French monarchy. The 
 maid of Orleans stood by his side in complete armour, 
 displaying the sacred banner. The people shouted 
 with the most unfeigned joy, on viewing such a com- 
 plication of wonders. The inclinations of men swaying 
 their belief, no one doubted of the inspirations and 
 prophetic spirit of the maid ; the real and undoubted 
 facts brought credit to every exaggeration ; for no 
 fiction could be more wonderful than the events which 
 were known to be true. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 117 
 
 The maid was soon after taken prisoner by the 
 Burgundians, while she was heading a sally upon the 
 quarters of John of Luxembourg. The service of 
 Te Dewn was publicly celebrated, on this fortunate 
 event, at Paris. The Duke of Bedford fancied that, 
 by her captivity, he should again recover his former 
 ascendency over France ; and, to make the most of the 
 present advantage, he purchased the captive from 
 John of Luxembourg, and instituted a prosecution 
 against her. The Bishop of Beauvais, a man wholly 
 devoted to the English interests, presented a petition 
 against Joan, and desired to have her tried by an ec- 
 clesiastical court, for sorcery, impiety, idolatry, and 
 magic. The university of Paris was so mean as to join 
 in the same request. In the issue, she was condemned 
 for all the crimes of which she had been accused, 
 aggravated by heresy ; her revelations were declared 
 to be inventions of the devil to delude the people ; 
 and she was sentenced to be delivered over to the 
 secular arm. Her spirit gave way to the terrors of 
 that punishment to which she was sentenced, and she 
 publicly declared herself ready to recant; she ac- 
 knowledged the illusion of those revelations which 
 the church had rejected, and promised never more to 
 maintain them. Her sentence was then mitigated : 
 she was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and to 
 be fed during life on bread and water. 
 
 But the barbarous vengeance of Joan's enemies was 
 not satisfied with this victory. Suspecting that the fe- 
 male dress which she now consented to wear was dis- 
 agreeable to her, they purposely placed in her apartment 
 a suit of men's apparel, and watched for the effects of 
 that temptation upon her. On the sight of a dress in 
 which she had acquired so much renown, and which 
 she once believed she wore by the particular appoint- 
 
118 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 ment of Heaven, all her former ideas and passions 
 revived, and she ventured in her solitude to clothe 
 herself again in the forbidden garments. Her insidious 
 enemies caught her in that situation ; her fault was 
 interpreted to be no less than a relapse into heresy. 
 No recantation would now suffice ; no pardon could be 
 granted her ; she was condemned to be burnt in the 
 market-place of Rouen ; and the infamous sentence * 
 was accordingly executed. "* 
 
 During the time of the commonwealth, commis- 
 sioners, appointed by Oliver Cromwell, were sent to 
 Woodstock for the purpose of surveying the royal 
 demesne ; but they speedily found themselves obliged 
 to quit it, in consequence of the great alarm occa- 
 sioned them by circumstances which could only hap- 
 pen, as they supposed, through the agency of means 
 which were considered in those days to be quite 
 supernatural ; though the knowledge of later times 
 creates a surprise at the credulity of the commis- ' 
 sioners being so easily worked upon by tricks, which 
 would now be regarded as almost beneath the capacity 
 of a schoolboy. The Woodstock devil is the name 
 by which the supposed spirit is known. 
 
 The strange events which are the subject of this 
 article, happened in the months of October and No- 
 vember, 1649. The commissioners arrived on Octo- 
 ber the 13th, taking up their residence in the king's 
 own apartments, turning his dining-room into their 
 wood-yard, and supplying themselves with fuel from 
 a famous oak, called the Royal Oak *, that nothing 
 might be left with the name of king about it. 
 
 The first supernatural appearance that disturbed the 
 equanimity of these worthy commissioners was that 
 
 • This Avas not the tree which gave the name to " Roval Oak 
 Day." 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 119 
 
 of a large black dog, which entering one of the 
 rooms overturned two or three chairs, and then disap- 
 peared under a bed. The next day noises were heard 
 overhead, as of persons walking, though they knew 
 that all the doors were locked. The wood of the 
 king's oak was brought by parcels from the dining- 
 room, and thrown with great violence into the pre- 
 sence-chamber. Giles Sharpe, their secretary, was 
 active in attempting to discover the causes of these 
 disturbances, but his inquiries were unsuccessful. On 
 unlocking the door of the room, in the presence of 
 the commissioners, the wood was found all thrown 
 about in different directions. The chairs were tossed 
 about, the papers torn, and the ink spilt ; which mis- 
 chief, it was argued, could only have been perpetrated 
 by one who must have entered through the key-hole. 
 
 At night the beds of Giles Sharpe and two other 
 servants were lifted up, and 'let down violently, so as 
 to throw them out ; again, on the nineteenth, when in 
 bed, the candles were blown out, with a sulphureous 
 smell, and the trenchers of wood hurled about the 
 room. 
 
 On the twentieth the commissioners themselves, 
 when in bed, were attacked with cruel blows, and the 
 curtains drawn to and fro with great violence. This 
 *tort of attack upon the peace and safety of the com- 
 missioners was repeated almost every night. They 
 were also assaulted from without, for a vast number 
 of stones and horses' bones were thrown through 
 the windows, to the great risk of those within. 
 
 A servant, who was rash enough to draw his sword, 
 perceived that an invisible hand had hold of it too, 
 which, pulling it from him, struck him a violent blow 
 on the head with the pommel of it. Dr. Plot concludes 
 his relation of this affair with observing, that '* many 
 
120 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 of the circumstances related are not reconcileable to 
 juggling-," and he adds, " all: which being put together, 
 perhaps may easily persuade some man, otherwise 
 inclined, to believe that immaterial beings might be 
 concerned in this business, provided the speculative 
 theist be not after all a practical atheist." 
 
 " The secret History of the good Devil of Wood- 
 stock,** a pamphlet published not long after these 
 events, unravelled these mysteries. It appears that 
 one Joe Collins, commonly called *' Funny Joe," was 
 that very devil. He hired himself as a servant to the 
 commissioners, under the name of Giles Sharpe, and, 
 by the help of two friends, an unknown trap-door in 
 the ceihng of the bedchamber, and a pound of gun- 
 powder, played all these amazing tricks. 
 
 The sudden extinguishing of the candles was con- 
 trived by inserting gunpowder into the lower part of 
 each candle, destined to explode at a certain time. 
 The great dog was no other than a bitch, that had 
 whelped in that room shortly before, and which made 
 all that disturbance in seeking her puppies, and which, 
 when she had served his purpose, Giles Sharpe let out, 
 and then pretended to search for. 
 
 The circumstance that had most effect in driving 
 the commissioners from Woodstock was this : — they 
 had formed a reserve of a part of the .premises to 
 themselves, and having entered into a private agree- 
 ment among themselves, they hid the writing in the 
 earth, under the roots of an orange-tree, which grew 
 in a tub in the corner of the room. In the midst of 
 dinner one day this earth took fire, and burned 
 violently with a blue flame, filling the room with a 
 strong sulphureous stench ; the explanation of which 
 phenomenon may be found in modern books of expe- 
 rimental chemistry, under the head of " receipt tq 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 121 
 
 make an earthquake." This last attack so completely 
 terrified the commissioners, that, fearing the very- 
 devils from hell were rising against them, they speedily 
 took to flight. 
 
 So early as the reign of Henry the Second, Wood- 
 stock was famed for being the residence of the beau- 
 tiful Rosamond, and it is thus quaintly described by 
 Speed. " Henry the Second built an intricate laby- 
 rinth at Woodstock, and therein he stowed this pearl 
 of his esteem (Rosamond), unto whose closet, for the 
 inexplicate windings, none could approach but the 
 king, and those instructed by him. Notwithstanding, 
 his jealous queen, Eleanor, favoured by accident, thus 
 discovered the privacy of the favourite, for a clewe 
 of silk having fallen from Rosamond's lap, as she sat 
 to take the air, and was suddenly fleeing from the 
 sight of the searcher, the end of silk fastened to her 
 foot ; the clewe, still unwinding, remained behind, 
 which the queen followed up till she had found what 
 she sought, and upon Rosamond so bestowed her 
 spleen, that the gentle ladye lived not long after." 
 
122 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MILITARY * STRATAGEMS. 
 
 Characteristic Mark of a skilful General — Importance anciently 
 attached to -military Stratagems —The Stratagem of Joshua at 
 Ai, the first which is recorded — Stratagem of Julius Caesar in 
 Oaul — Favourable Omen derived from Sneezing — Artifice of Bias 
 at Priene — Telegraphic Communication — Mode adopted by 
 Hystiaeus to convey Intelligence — Relief of Casilinum by Grac- 
 chus — Stratagem of the Chevalier de Luxembourg to convey 
 Ammunition into Lisle — Importance of concealing the Death of 
 a General — The manner in which the Death of Sultan Solyman 
 was kept secret — Stratagem of John Visconti — Stratagem of 
 Lord Norwich at AngouliJme — Capture of Amiens by the 
 Spaniards — Manner in which the Natives of Sonia threw off the 
 Yoke. 
 
 The part of a skilful general does not only consist 
 in the capability of gaining a great battle, but also in 
 knowing when to avoid the risk of an engagement. 
 So numerous, and so variable, are the chances of war, 
 that a commander of even the best appointed army 
 should be prepared to meet all emergencies, in the 
 event of its strength being destroyed, or its numbers 
 diminished, by famine, fatigue, or desertion ; so that, 
 notwithstanding these adverse circumstances, he may 
 still have a chance of overcoming by poUcy those 
 enemies whom he had hoped to subdue by the sword. 
 
 Discretion is always the better part of valour, and, 
 in some cases, a handful of men may decide the event 
 of a campaign, in which, otherwise, the blood of thou- 
 sands might be spilt in vain. The old writers on the 
 art of wat did not fail to attach great importance to 
 those stratagems, by which much was effected, or 
 attempted, when one side was reduced to the necessity 
 of maintaining a defensive system of warfare. 
 
 The earliest account of recourse being had to mili- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 123 
 
 tary stratagem is that recorded in the eighth chapter 
 of Joshua, where that leader of the Israelites, besieg- . 
 ing the city of Ai, said, " Behold ye shall lie in wait 
 against the city, even behind the city : go not very 
 far from the city, but be ye all ready: and I, and all 
 the people that are with me, will approach unto the 
 city : and it shall come to pass, when they come out 
 against us, as at the first, that we will flee before 
 them. For they will come out after us, till we have 
 drawn them from the city; then ye shall rise up from 
 the ambush, and seize upon the city : for the Lord 
 your God will deliver it into your hand." 
 
 Thus fell the city of Ai into the hands of Joshua, 
 and a similar kind of stratagem has since frequently 
 turned the day between contending armies. Julius 
 Caesar did not consider it beneath a general or warrior 
 to have recourse to almost a similar stratagem, when 
 part of the army under Q. Cicero, in Gaul, was 
 besieged. By the apparent flight of his troops, 
 Julius Caesar drew the enemy into a convenient spot 
 for an engagement, and, turning, overcame them. 
 
 A circumstance most trifling in itself, when it has 
 been ushered in by superstition, as a good omen, has 
 often raised the spirits of an army. Xenophon relates, 
 in the Anabasis, that when the Greeks in some alarm 
 were consulting, previous to the celebrated retreat of 
 the ten thousand out of Asia, an accident, which in 
 itself was even ridiculous, did nevertheless, through 
 the importance attributed to it by the Grecian super- 
 stition, assist not a little to infuse encouragement. 
 Xenophon was speaking of that favour from the gods 
 which a righteous cause entitled them to hope for, 
 against a perjured enemy, when somebody sneezed : 
 immediately, the general voice addressed ejaculations 
 to protecting Jupiter, whose omen it was supposed to 
 
124 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 be, a sacrifice to the god was proposed, a universal 
 shout declared approbation, and the whole army in 
 chorus sang" the paean. 
 
 Bias, by the following artifice, induced Alyattes, 
 king of Lydia, to raise' the siege of Priene, where he 
 was born. That city was pressed by famine, which 
 circumstance being suspected by the besiegers gave 
 them great hopes ; Bias, however, caused two mules 
 to be fattened, and contrived a way to have them pass 
 into the enemy's camp. The good condition they 
 were in astonished the king, who thereupon sent 
 deputies into the city, under pretence of offering 
 peace, but really to observe the state of the town and 
 people. Bias, guessing their errand, had ordered the 
 granaries to be filled with heaps of sand, and those 
 heaps to be covered with corn. When the deputies 
 returned, and made their report to the king, of the 
 great plenty of provisions they had seen in the city, 
 he hesitated no longer, but concluded a treaty and 
 raised the siege. 
 
 The invention of telegraphic communication has 
 proved of the greatest utility in modern warfare, both 
 for despatch and security. In ancient times, the 
 bearer of messages had both an important and dan- 
 gerous duty to perform, and one which was very 
 uncertain in its execution. A singular and ingenious 
 method of communication, is attributed to Hystiaeus, 
 who, desiring to write to Aristagoras, shaved the head 
 of his trustiest servant, and wrote upon his scalp, 
 in certain brief characters, what he would impart to 
 his friend, and keeping him in his house till the hair 
 was grown as thick as before, then sent him on his 
 errand*. 
 
 * The hair has often been found very useful as a means of con- 
 cealment for other purposes. The Indian lavadorcs, whilst washing 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 125 
 
 By the policy of Gracchus, the Roman general, the 
 Campanian city of Casilinum was for a considerable 
 time prevented from falling into the hands of Annibal. 
 Gracchus was encamped in the vicinity of the city, 
 but, though the garrison was reduced to the most 
 dreadful extremity by famine, many of the soldiers 
 having been driven to commit suicide, he did not dare 
 to make a movement to relieve the besieged, the dic- 
 tator having imperatively enjoined him not to stir from 
 his position. In this emergency he had recourse to 
 stratagem. - 
 
 The Vulturous ran through the place, and Gracchus 
 resolved to make it the channel by which to convey 
 succours. " He therefore," says Livy, " collected corn 
 from all parts of the country round, and having filled 
 therewith a great number of casks, sent a messenger 
 to Casilinum to the magistrate, desiring that the peo- 
 ple should catch the casks which the river would 
 bring down. The following night was passed in at- 
 tentively watching for the completion of the hopes 
 raised by the Roman messenger, when the casks, 
 being sent along the middle of the stream, floated 
 down to the town. The same stratagem was practised 
 with success on the following night and on the third ; 
 but the river being afterwards rendered more rapid 
 by the continued rains, an eddy drove them across to 
 the side where the enemy's guards were posted, and 
 they were discovered sticking among osiers which 
 grew on the banks. This being reported to Annibal, 
 
 th« tand, for the grains of gold, were observed by the overseers to 
 be continually scratching their heads, or passing their fingers 
 tlirough their thick woolly hair. A suspicion arising, the hair 
 vas combed, and was found full of the gold grains. On keeping 
 ' heir hair quite short it was discovered that the necessity for such 
 froqaent application to the bead had ceased. 
 
126 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 care was taken for the future to guard the Vulturnus 
 with greater vigilance, so that no supply sent down by 
 it to the city should pass without discovery. Not- 
 withstanding which, quantities of nuts being poured 
 into the river at the Roman camp, and floating down 
 to Casilinum, were stopped there with hurdles. The 
 scarcity, however, at last became so excessive, that 
 tearing oiF the straps and leathern coverings of their 
 shields, and softening them in boiling water, they en- 
 deavoured to chew them ; nor did they abstain from 
 mice or any other kind of animal. They even dug up 
 every sort of herb and root that grew at the foot of 
 the ramparts of the town ; and when the enemy had 
 ploughed up all the ground round the wall, that pro- 
 duced any herbs, they sowed it with turnip seed, 
 which made Annibal exclaim, * Am I to sit here be- 
 fore Casilinum until these grow T Although he had 
 hitherto refused to listen to any terms of capitulation, 
 yet he now allowed overtures to be made to him, re- 
 specting the redeeming of the men of free condition. 
 An agreement was made, that for each of these a 
 ransom should be paid of seven ounces of gold ; add 
 then the garrison surrendered." 
 
 A still more daring, and almost equally successful 
 stratagem was employed, early in the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, to protract the defence of Lisle, which was then 
 besieged by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince 
 Eugene. Ammunition beginning to be scarce in the 
 city, the Chevalier de Luxembourg formed a plan 
 for introducing into the fortress a supply, not only of 
 powder, but also of men and arms. Having succeeded 
 in keeping his project a secret from the enemy, the 
 chevalier began his march at the head of two thou- 
 sand five hundred selected cavalry ; a part of whom 
 were carbineers and dragoons. Each horseman car- 
 
DECEPTION^ ANI> CREDULITY. 127 
 
 ried behind him a sack, containing sixty pounds of 
 powder ; and each dragoon and carbineer had three 
 muskets, and a large quantity of gun-flints. Be- 
 tween nine and ten in the evenitig, the band reached 
 the barrier of the lines of circumvallation. In 
 front of the detachment was an officer who could 
 speak Dutch well, and knew all the Dutch regiments 
 which were employed in patrolling. On being chal- 
 lenged by the guard, he unhesitatingly replied, " Open 
 the gate quickly ; I am bringing powder to the be- 
 siegers, and am pursued by a French detachment." 
 The barrier was promptly opened. Nineteen hun- 
 dred of the party had passed through, when a French 
 officer, seeing that his men were straggling, impru- 
 dently exclaimed, in his native language, "' Close up ♦ 
 close up !" This gave the alarm to the allied officers, 
 and a fire was opened upon the French. The powder 
 of some of the horsemen exploded, and sixty of them 
 were immediately blown to pieces. The rear of the 
 party now took flight towards Douay ; but of those 
 who had been fortunate enough to pass the barrier, 
 eighteen hundred reached Lisle, to which they brought 
 a supply of twelve hundred muskets and eighty thou- 
 sand pounds of powder. 
 
 The well-being of an army, and the spirits of the 
 troops during an engagement, depend so much on the 
 safety of their favourite general, that any sudden 
 rumour of his being slain would in all probability 
 entirely change the fortune of the day. In the event 
 of such a catastrophe his death has been often studi- 
 ously concealed from the main body of the troops, 
 till it was no longer necessary or possible to withhold 
 such intelligence. The following instance, related by 
 Ward, in his Art of^War, is perhaps the most remark- 
 
128 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 able, if correctly given, for the length of time this 
 secret was preserved. 
 
 Solyman, the Ottoman emperor, dying at the siege 
 of Sigeth, in Hungary, his death was cunningly con- 
 cealed by Mahomet Bassa twenty days before the 
 Janizaries knew of it ; and when any of them inquired 
 for him, he would show them the emperor sitting in 
 his horse litter, as if troubled with the gout ; but the 
 soldiers, suspecting something, began to be mutinous, 
 whereupon he promised that they should see the em- 
 peror the next day, for which purpose he apparelled 
 the corpse in the large royal robes, and placed him in 
 a chair at the end of a long gallery ; a little boy was 
 placed behind, to move the emperor's hand, and to 
 stroke his beard, as it seems his manner was. Which 
 sign of life and strength the soldiers perceiving were 
 well contented, so that his death was concealed for 
 forty days more till the siege was ended. 
 
 John Visconti, Archbishop, as well as Governor of 
 Milan, in the fourteenth century, was a very ambitious 
 character, and excited the jealousy of the pope by his 
 show of temporal authority, and by his aiming at 
 becoming master of all Italy. The pope, who resided 
 at that time at Avignon, sent a nuncio to John Vis- 
 conti, to demand the city of Bologna, which he had 
 purchased, and to choose whether he would possess 
 the spiritual or temporal power, for both could not be 
 united. The archbishop, after hearing the message 
 with respect, said he would answer it the following 
 Sunday, at the cathedral. The day came, and, after 
 celebrating mass in his pontifical robes, he advanced 
 towards the legate, requiring him to repeat the orders 
 of the pope, on the choice of the spiritual or the tem- 
 poral : then taking a cross in one hand, and drawing 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 129 
 
 forth a naked sword with the other, he said, " Behold 
 my spiritual and my temporal, and tell the holy father 
 from me, that with the one I will defend the other." 
 The pope, not content with this answer, commenced a 
 process, and summoned him to appear in person, on 
 pain of excommunication. The archbishop received 
 the brief, and promised to obey it ; he sent immedi- 
 ately to Avignon one of his secretaries, ordering- him 
 to retain for his use all the houses and stables he 
 could hire in Avignon, with provisions for the subsist- 
 ence of twelve thousand horse, and six thousand foot. 
 The secretary executed his commission so well that 
 the strangers, who came on business, could find no 
 place to lodge in. The pope, being informed of this, . 
 asked the secretary if the archbishop required so 
 many houses. The latter answered, that he feared 
 those would not be sufficient, because his master was 
 coming with eighteen thousand troops, besides a great 
 number of the inhabitants of Milan, who would 
 accompany him. Terrified at this account, the pope 
 paid immediately the expense the secretary had been 
 at, and dismissed him, with orders to tell the arch- 
 bishop, that he dispensed with his making a journey 
 to Avignon. 
 
 In the wars between Edward the Third and Philip 
 of France, Angouleme was besieged by the Duke of 
 Normandy. After a brave and vigorous defence, 
 the governor, Lord Norwich, found himself reduced 
 to such extremities, as obliged him to employ a stra- 
 tagem, in order to save his garrison, and prevent his 
 being reduced to surrender at discretion. He ap- 
 peared on the walls, and desired a parley with the 
 Duke of Normandy. The duke told Norwich that he 
 supposed he intended to capitulate. " Not at all," 
 
130 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 replied he ; " but as to-morrow is the feast of the 
 Virgin, to whom I know that you, sir, as well as my- 
 self, bear a great devotion, I desire a cessation of arms 
 for that day." The proposal was agreed to, and 
 Norwich, having ordered his forces to prepare all 
 their baggage, marched out next day, and advanced 
 towards the French camp. The besiegers, imagining 
 that they were to be attacked, ran to their arms ; but 
 Norwich sent a messenger to the Duke, reminding 
 him of his engagement. The duke, who piqued him- 
 self on faithfully keeping his word, exclaimed, " I see 
 the governor has outwitted me, but let us be content 
 with gaining the place ;" and the English were allowed 
 to pass through the besieging army unmolested. 
 
 By the following stratagem on the part of the 
 Spaniards, in 1597, Amiens was taken. Soldiers, dis- 
 guised like peasants, conducted a cart loaded with 
 nuts towards the gate of the town, and let them fall, 
 as if accidentally, just as the gate was opened ; and 
 while the guard was busied in gathering them up, the 
 Spaniards entering, secured the gate, and thus gave 
 their countrymen the opportunity to come up, and 
 become masters of the town. 
 
 According to the testimony of the natives of Con- 
 go, says Mr. Maxwell, the country of Sonia, amongst 
 other tribes, at no great distance of time, formed part 
 of the kingdom of Congo, and the people of Sonia 
 were obliged to carry burdens of white sand, from the 
 beach to Banza-Congo, one hundred and fifty miles 
 distant, to form pleasant walks at the royal residence. 
 This servitude greatly exasperated the men of Sonia, 
 whose warlike and independent spirit is now feared 
 and respected by all the neighbouring nations ; and, 
 having concealed their weapons in the several burdens 
 of sand, they were by this contrivance enabled to 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 131 
 
 avenge themselves of the indignity put upon them, and 
 to plunder the city, killing many of the queen's peo- 
 ple. Having thus shaken off their yoke, Sonia has 
 since been governed by native princes. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MALINGERING, OK SIMULATION OF DISEASES. 
 
 r .rmer Prevalence of Malingering in the Army ; and the Motives 
 for it — Decline of the Practice — Where most Prevalent — The 
 means of Simulation reduced to a System — Cases of simulated 
 Ophthalmia in the 50th Regiment — The Deception veonderfully 
 kept up by many Malingerers — Means of Detection — Simulated 
 Paralysis— Impudent Triumph manifested by Malingerers — Cu- 
 rious case of Hollidge — Gutta Serena, and Nyctalopia counter- 
 feited — Blind Soldiers employed in Egypt — Cure, by actual 
 cautery, of a Malingerer — Simulation of Consumption and other 
 Diseases — Feigned Deafness — Detection of a Man who simu- 
 lated Deafness — Instances of Self-mutilatioa committed by 
 Soldiers — Simulation of Death. 
 
 A VERY serious evil has existed in the army, re- 
 sulting from a very general practice of idle and 
 dissolute soldiers in barracks, and even in more active 
 service^ feigning diseases and disabilities ; for the 
 purpose of either escaping duty, or in the hopes of 
 being altogether discharged from the service, and 
 procuring a pension. This imposture has been termed 
 Malingering, or the simulation of diseases, and the 
 unsuccessful or suspected impostors have been 
 usually called Malingerers. In vulgar English, the 
 trick is called Shamming Abram. 
 
 Remarkable ingenuity, and a very considerable 
 
 knowledge of the powers and effects of medicinal 
 
 agents, have been shown by those who, a priori^ 
 
 would not be suspected of such information : and the 
 
 K 2 
 
132 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 pertinacity shown by the impostors, when the object 
 was to procure their discharge, has been often won- 
 derful. 
 
 The reasons which call for, or privilege a soldier 
 to expect, his discharge, are chronic and incurable 
 rather than acute diseases. It is natural, therefore, 
 to find the malingerers most expert in simulating the 
 former, though, at the same time, the more acute 
 diseases have not been less faithfully represented, 
 when the object in view was only a temporary evasion 
 of duty. 
 
 This practice has prevailed to a greater or less 
 extent at different periods of our medical military 
 history ; and it is gratifying to learn, from authentic 
 sources, that in the present period of highly improved 
 discipline in the British army, there are not probably 
 two malingerers for ten who were found in the mili- 
 tary hospitals thirty or forty years since. It also 
 occurs more or less according to the manner of form- 
 . ing a regiment. In some of the cavalry regiments, 
 and some of the Highland and other distinguished 
 infantry battalions, in which, along with a mild but 
 exact discipline, there is a strong attachment to the 
 service, and remarkable esprit du co7'ps, there is 
 scarcely an instance of any of those disgraceful at- 
 tempts to deceive the surgeon ; while in regiments 
 which have been hastily recruited, and under circum- 
 stances unfavourable to progressive and complete dis- 
 cipline, the system of imposition is perfectly understood. 
 Among those who counterfeit diseases, it has been 
 observed that the Irish are the most numerous, the 
 Scotsmen less so, but malingering seems least of all 
 the vice of English soldiers. 
 
 There appears to be a species of free-masonry 
 among soldiers, and thus these methods of imposture 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 133 
 
 have been systematised, and handed down for the 
 common benefit. A case occurred of a man having 
 a rupture, which on inspection was found to be arti- 
 ficially formed from some written directions, " How 
 to make a rupture," which were produced. The man 
 was discharged by his commanding officer, but the 
 discharge not being backed by the surgeon's recom- 
 mendatory certificate, he lost his pension ; the com- 
 manding officer after his return from Corunna met 
 this man perfectly well, following the laborious occu- 
 pation of a porter. 
 
 In the year 1804, the great increase of ophthalmia 
 in the 50th regiment, and the reported detection of 
 frauds in other regiments, led to a suspicion in the 
 mind of the surgeon of that corps, and a consequent 
 investigation, by which a regular correspondence was 
 detected between the men under medical treatment 
 and their parents or friends. Those suflFering from 
 ophthalmia, within the walls of the hospital, requested 
 that those without would forward to them corrosive 
 sublimate, lime, and blue stone ; and by the application 
 of these acrid substances to their eyes, they hoped to 
 get them into such a state of disease, as would enable 
 them to procure their discharge, with a pension. And 
 they mentioned the names of men who had been suc- 
 cessful by similar means. Proofs of guilt having been 
 established, the delinquents were tried by a court- 
 martial, convicted, and punished. 
 
 It is hardly possible to beUeve, that men would 
 endure not only the inconvenience of a severe oph- 
 thalmia, than which, perhaps, nothing is more pain- 
 ful, but would even risk the total loss of sight, for the 
 uncertain prospect of a trifling pension, and with the 
 conviction, that even if they gained it, they reduced 
 themselves to a helpless dependence on others through 
 
134 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 life. But it is nevertheless certain that whole wards 
 have been filled with soldiers labouring under this 
 artificially excited disease ; this inflammation of the eye 
 having been produced, and maintained, by quicklime, 
 strong infusions of tobacco, Spanish flies, nitrate of 
 silver, and other metalUc salts. The inflammation 
 thus caused is most painful, yet it has been kept up 
 under every privation which can make life miserable. 
 
 Wonderful indeed is the obstinacy some malin- 
 gerers evince ; night and day, they will remain, with 
 the endurance of a fakir, in positions most irksome, 
 for weeks and months ; nay, many men for the same 
 period have, with surprising resolution and recol- 
 lection, sat and walked with their bodies bent double, 
 without forgetting for one moment the character of 
 their assumed infirmity. 
 
 These impostors are most easily discovered by a 
 retaliating deception on the part of the surgeon ; he 
 should conceal his suspicions, and appear to give 
 credit to all that is related to him of the history of 
 the disease, and propose some sort of treatment ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 The nervous disorders that are simulated are such 
 as to require a constant and unceasing watchfulness, 
 on the part of the impostor, lest he should betray 
 himself. 
 
 Paralysis of one arm was feigned, with great per- 
 severance and consistency, for months ; the soldier 
 pretending that he had jPallen asleep in the open air, 
 and awoke with his arm benumbed and powerless. 
 This farce he kept up with such boldness, that, being 
 suspected, a court martial was held on him, and he 
 was even tied up to the halberts to be punished ; but 
 the commanding ofiicer thought the evidence not suf- 
 ficiently convincing. Having, however, subsequently 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 135 
 
 undergone very severe treatment, and there being no 
 prospect of a pension, he at last gave in. 
 
 The unprincipled obstinacy of some individuals even 
 triumphs openly in the success of their imposture. A 
 trooper in the 12th pretended that he had lost the 
 use of his right arm, and after resisting, for a great 
 length of time, severe hospital discipline, he procured 
 his discharge. When he was leaving the regiment, 
 and fairly on the top of the coach, at starting, he 
 waved his paralytic arm in triumph, and cheered at 
 the success of his plan. Another soldier, who pre- 
 tended that he had lost the use of his lower extre- 
 mities, was reported unfit for service, and was dis- 
 charged. When his discharge was obtained, he caused 
 himself, on a field day, to be taken in a cart to the 
 Phoenix park, and in front of the regiment, drawn up 
 in a line, he had the cart driven under a tree ; he 
 then leaped out of the cart, springing up three times, 
 insulted the regiment, and scampered off at full 
 speed. 
 
 A third soldier, of the name of Hollidge, pretending 
 to be deaf and dumb after an attack of fever, never for 
 one moment forgot his assumed character, till his pur- 
 pose was attained. Being useful as a tailor, he was kept 
 for five or six years, subsequent to this pretended ca- 
 lamity, and carried on all communication by writing. 
 On one occasion, whilst practising firing with blank 
 cartridge, an awkward recruit shot Hollidge in the ear, 
 who expressed pain and consternation by a variety of 
 contortions, but never spoke. Not having been heard 
 to articulate for five years, he was at last discharged ; 
 he then recovered the use of speech, and a vacancy 
 occurring shortly after, he offered himself to fill the 
 situation, namely, as master tailor to the re^mentt 
 
136 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 That species of blindness, thus feelingly described 
 by Milton, 
 
 " So thick a drop serene hath quenched these orbs," 
 
 and which is that in which no manifest alteration takes 
 place in the eye, has been produced by the application 
 of bella donna. Nyctalopia, or nig-ht blindness, was fre- 
 quently feigned in Egypt, and nearly half of a corps 
 were, or pretended to be, afflicted with it : as the troops 
 were employed in digging and throwing up fortifica- 
 tions, this state of vision was found of not so much 
 consequence. In transporting the earth, a blind man 
 was joined to, and followed by, one who could see; 
 and when the sentries were doubled, a blind man and 
 one that could see were put together, and not perhaps 
 without advantage, as^ during the night, hearing, upon 
 an outpost, is often of more importance than sight. 
 
 One unprincipled wretch, in an hospital^ pretending 
 to be afflicted with a hopeless complaint, which was a 
 subject of offence to the whole ward, being detected, 
 it was determined to apply the actual cautery. On the 
 first application of the red-hot spatula, this fellow, who 
 for eleven months had lost the use of his lower limbs, 
 gave the man who held his leg so violent a kick, that 
 he threw him down, and instantly exclaimed that he 
 was shamming, and would do his duty if released; but 
 the surgeon declared that he would apply the iron to 
 the other hip, on which he roared out, that he had 
 been shamming to get his discharge. To the amuse- 
 ment of all around, he walked to his bed, and when 
 the burned parts were healed, he returned to his duty. 
 
 Spitting of blood and consumption are rather fa- 
 vourite diseases with soldiers who seek their discharge 
 from the service through imposture ; yet an acute phy- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 137 
 
 sictan may easily detect the imposition. Palpitation 
 and violent action of the heart the impostors know how 
 to produce, by the juice of hellebore ; vomiting by se- 
 cret pressure on the stomach ; tympany, or distention 
 of the body by air, is produced by swallowing, on phi- 
 losophical and chemical principles, chalk and vinegar. 
 
 The acute diseases have many symptoms which are 
 easily simulated, but as easily detected. The appear- 
 ance of the white tongue is created by rubbing it with 
 chalk, or whitening from the wall ; but washing the 
 mouth with water at once proves the deceit. Dr. 
 Hennen, in his Military Surgery, says, " Profligates 
 have, to my knowledge, boasted that they have often 
 received indulgences from the medical officers in con- 
 sequence of a supposed febrile attack, by presenting 
 themselves after a night's debauch, which they had 
 purposely protracted, to aid the deception. Febrile 
 symptoms are also produced by swallowing tobacco- 
 juice. One man, if unwilling to be cured secundum 
 artem, was at least anxious to enumerate his symp- 
 toms in an orthodox manner, for he had purloined some 
 pages from Zimmerman's Treatise on Dysentery, (the 
 disease he had thought proper to simulate,) from one 
 of the medical officers ; and from which he was daily 
 in the habit of recounting a change of symptoms. 
 Stoical indifference to their frequently painful impos- 
 ture and hardihood in maintaining its character, are 
 the necessary qualifications of malingerers, who have 
 frequently evinced a constancy and fortitude under 
 severe pain and privations, worthy of a better cause." 
 
 A patient permitted all the preparatory measures 
 for amputation before he thought proper to relax his 
 knee-joint ; and another suffered himself to be almost 
 drowned in a deep lake, into which he was plunged 
 from a boat, before he stretched out his arm to save 
 
138 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 himself by swimming, an exercise in which he was 
 known to excel. 
 
 Those who affect deafness*, are frequently caught 
 in a snare by opening the conversation with them in a 
 very high tone of voice, but gradually sinking it to 
 its usual compass ; when, thrown oif his guard, the 
 impostor will reply to such questions as are put to 
 him. A recruit, unwilling to go to the East Indies, 
 feigned deafness ; he was admitted into the hospital, 
 and put on spoon-diet : for nine days no notice was 
 taken of him. On the tenth the physician, having 
 made signs of enquiry to him, asked the hospital ser- 
 geant what diet he was on ? the serjeant answered, 
 " Spoon-diet." The physician, affecting to be angry, 
 said, " Are you not ashamed of yourself, to have kept 
 this man so long on spoon-meat ? the poor fellow is 
 nearly starved ; let him have a beef-steak and a pint 
 of porter." Murphy could contain himself no longer ; 
 he completely forgot his assumed defect, and, with a 
 face full of gratitude, cried, " God bless your honour I 
 
 * A rather whimsical scene once took place in a provincial hospital, 
 where a patient presented himself for admission. According to the 
 usual custom of that institution, the physician of the week asked the 
 man what his complaint was, hut he could get no answer ; after several 
 ineffectual attempts, the physician passed him over to the surgeon ; 
 he, also, became exhausted in the vain attempt. The pupils, who 
 were present to learn the art of prognosis and diagnosis, had now a 
 good opportunity of initiating themselves in the practice of the usual 
 preliminary enquiries ; but the united eloquence of this medical 
 staff could only elicit from the patient the remark that " he was 
 deaf, and hard of hearing." " Yes," replied one and all, " that is 
 clear enough ; but,'' shouting once more into his ear, "what's the 
 matter with you .^" This unfortunate person was on the point of 
 being sent back as a hopeless subject, when a conviction came over 
 one of the party, that this obnoxious deafness was the very com- 
 plaint for which he sought a remedy. The clue once gained, the 
 proper inquiries were set on foot, and the disease went off by beat 
 of drum. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 139 
 
 you are^4he best gentleman I have seen for many a 
 
 During the insurrection in the Kandian country, in 
 1818, a private belonging to the 19th regiment was 
 sentry at a post, and was occasionally fired at by the 
 enemv from the neighbouring jungle. Availing him- 
 self of what appeared a favourable opportunity for get- 
 ting invalided and sent home, he placed the muzzle 
 of his musket close to the inside of his left leg, and 
 discharging the piece, he blew away nearly the whole 
 of his calf. He asserted, to those who came to his 
 assistance, that the wound had proceeded from a shot 
 of the enemy's from the jungle ; but the traces of 
 gunpowder found in the leg, told a different tale, as 
 well as his musket, which was recently discharged. 
 
 A sergeant in the 62nd regiment purchased a pistol, 
 and hired a person to shoot him through the arm; 
 hoping, by these means, to make it appear that he had 
 been fired at by one disaffected to the military, and 
 that he should be discharged with a large pension. 
 In this, however, he was disappointed. 
 
 Even death itself has been simulated. When some 
 officers, in India, were breakfasting in the comman- 
 der's tent, the body of a native, said to have been 
 murdered by the sepoys, was brought in and laid 
 down. The crime could not be brought home to any 
 one of them, yet there was the body. A suspicion, 
 however, crossed the adjutant's mind, and, having the 
 kettle in his hand, a thought struck him that he would 
 pour a little boiling water on the body ; he did so ; 
 upon which the murdered remains started up, and 
 scampered off. 
 
140 SKETCPIES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS IMPOSTORS AKD IMPOSTURES. 
 
 Mary Tofts, the Rabbit Breeder, of Godalming — Progress and De- 
 tection of her Impostures — Poisoning of St. Andre — The Bottle 
 Conjuror, — Advertisements on this Occasion — Riot produced by 
 the Fraud — Squibs and Epigrams to which it gave rise — ^Case 
 of Elizabeth Canning — Violent Controversy which arose out of 
 it — She is found guilty of Perjury and transported — The Cock 
 Lane Ghost — Public Excitement occasioned by it — Detection of 
 the Fraud — Motive for the Imposture — The Stockwell Ghost— 
 — The Sampford Ghost — Mystery in which the Affair was in- 
 volved — Astonishing Instance of Credulity in Perigo and his Wife 
 —Diabolical Conduct of Mary Bateman — She ishangedfor Murder 
 — Metamorphosis of the Chevalier d'Eon — Multifarious Disguises 
 of Price, the Forger — Miss Robertson — The fortunate Youth— 
 The Princess Olive — Caraboo — Pretended Fasting — Margaret 
 Senfrit — Catherine Binder — The Girl of Unna — The Osnaburg 
 Girl — Anne Moore. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1726, one of the 
 most extraordinary and impudent impostures on re- 
 cord was carried into execution by a woman named 
 Mary Tofts, the wife of a poor journeyman cloth- 
 worker at Godalming, in Surrey. She is described as 
 having been of " a healthy strong constitution, small 
 size, fair complexion, a very stupid and sullen temper, 
 and unable to write or read." Stupid as she was sup- 
 posed to be, she had, however, art enough to keep up 
 for a considerable time the credit of her fraud. She 
 pretended to bring forth rabbits ; and she accounted 
 for this monstrous deviation from the laws of nature, 
 by saying, that " as she was weeding in a field, she 
 saw a rabbit spring up near her, after which she ran, 
 with another woman that was at work just by her; 
 this set her a longing for rabbits, being then, as she 
 thought, five weeks gone with child ; the other woman 
 perceiving she was uneasy, charged her with longing 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 141 
 
 for the rabbit they could not catch, but she denied it. 
 Soon after, another rabbit sprung up near the same 
 place, which she endeavoured likewise to catch. The 
 same night she dreamt that she was in a field with 
 those two rabbits in her lap, and awaked with a sick 
 fit, which lasted till morning ; from that time, for 
 above three months, she had a constant and strong 
 desire to eat rabbits, but being very poor and indigent 
 coujd not procure any." 
 
 At first sight, it would seem that so gross an im- 
 position, as that which was attempted by Mary Tofts, 
 must have been unanimously scouted. But this was 
 by no means the case. So well did she manage, and 
 80 roady are some people to be deceived, that she 
 actually deluded her medical attendant, Mr. Howard, 
 a man of probity, who had practised for thirty years. 
 There can be no doubt of his belief that, in the course 
 of about a month, he had aided her to bring forth 
 nearly twenty rabbits. 
 
 The news of these marvellous births spread far and 
 wide, and soon found numerous believers. It at- 
 tracted the attention of even George the First, who 
 sent down to Godalming his house surgeon, Mr. 
 Ahlers, to inquire into the fact. Ahlers went back 
 to London fully convinced that he had obtained 
 ocular and tangible proof of the truth of the story ; 
 so much so, indeed, that he promised to procure for 
 Mary a pension. Mr. St. Andre, the king's surgeon 
 and anatomist, was despatched in the course of a day 
 or two, to make a further examination. He also 
 returned to the metropolis a firm believer. The rab- 
 bits, which he and Ahlers carried with them, as testi- 
 monies, had the honour of being dissected before his 
 majesty. An elaborate report of all the circumstances 
 -elative to their production and dissection, and to 
 
142 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 his visit to Godalming-, was published by St. Andre, 
 and the public mind consequently began to be agitated 
 in an extraordinary manner. A furious controversy 
 arose between the credulous and the incredulous, in 
 which Whiston is said to have borne a part, by writ- 
 ing a pamphlet, to show that the miracle was the 
 exact completion of a prophecy in Esdras. On the 
 other hand, the caricaturists of the incredulous faction 
 exerted themselves to cast ridicule on their opponents. 
 Among these was Hogarth, who published an engrav- 
 ing called Cunicularii, or the Wise Men of Godliman. 
 
 Though the report, by St. Andre, contained many 
 circumstances which were palpably calculated to excite 
 a suspicion of fraud, the multitude was as blind to 
 them as he had been. The delusion continued to 
 spread, and even the king himself was enrolled among 
 the believers. The rent of rabbit warrens, it is 
 affirmed, sunk to nothing, as no one would presume 
 to eat a rabbit. The trick was, however, on the 
 point of being found out. To Queen Caroline, then 
 Princess of Wales, is ascribed the merit of having 
 been active in promoting measures to undeceive the 
 people. 
 
 The miraculous Mary Tofts was now brought to 
 town, where she could be more closely watched than at 
 Godalming, and prevented from obtaining the means of 
 carrying on her imposture. Among those who took 
 a part on this occasion, the most conspicuous was 
 Sir Richard Manningham, an eminent physician and 
 Fellow of the Royal Society ; and he had at length 
 the satisfaction of detecting her. She held out, how- 
 ever, till her courage was shaken by a threat to 
 perform a dangerous operation upon her, which threat 
 was backed by another from a magistrate, that she 
 should be sent to prison. She then confessed, that 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 143 
 
 the fraud had been suggested to her by a woman, who 
 told lier, that she could put her into a way of getting 
 a good livelihood, without being obliged to work for 
 it as formerly, and promised continually to supply her 
 with rabbits, for which she was to receive a part of 
 the gain. The farce terminated by the Godalming 
 miracle-monger being committed to Tothill Fields' 
 Bridewell. 
 
 The reputation of St. Andre, who had previously 
 been much in favour at court, was greatly injured by 
 his conduct in this affair. The public attention had 
 once before been directed to him by a mysterious cir- 
 cumstance ; and his enemies did not fail now to advert 
 to that circumstance, and to charge him with having 
 himself played the part of an impostor. It appears that 
 iu February, 1724, he was summoned to visit a patient, 
 whom he had never before seen. The messenger led 
 him, in the dark, through numerous winding alleys 
 and passages, to a house in a court, where he found 
 the woman for whom he was to prescribe. The man, 
 after having introduced him, went out, and soon re- 
 turned with three glasses of liquor on a plate, one of 
 which St. Andre was prevailed on to take ; but, 
 ** finding the liquor strong and ill-tasted, he drank 
 very little of it." Before he reached his home he 
 began to be ill, and soon manifested all the symptoms 
 of having taken poison. The government offered a 
 reward of two hundred pounds for the detection of 
 the offender, but he was never discovered. It was 
 now asserted, by the enemies of St. Andre, that the 
 story of having been poisoned was a mere fabrication, 
 for the purpose of bringing him into practice. This, 
 however, could not have been the case ; for the report, 
 signed by six eminent physicians, who attended him, 
 abundantly proves that he was, for nearly a fortnight. 
 
J44 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 in the utmost danger, and that, according to all ap- 
 pearance, his sufferings were caused by poison. We 
 may, therefore, conclude that, though he was an egre- 
 gious dupe, -with respect to Mary Tofts, he was not, 
 in this instance, an impostor. 
 
 " For when a man beats out his brains, 
 The devil's in it if he feigns." 
 
 In 1749, three-and-twenty years after the exposure 
 of Mary Tofts, there appeared, about the middle of 
 January, the ensuing advertisement, which seems to 
 have been intended to try how far the credulous folly 
 of the town might be worked upon. 
 
 " At the new theatre in the Haymarket, on Monday 
 next, the 16th instant, is to be seen, a person who 
 performs the several most surprising things following : 
 viz. first, he takes a common walking-cane from any 
 of the spectators, and thereon plays the music of 
 every instrument now in. use, and likewise sings to 
 surprising perfection. Secondly, he presents you 
 with a common wine-bottle, which any one present 
 may first examine ; this bottle is placed on a table, in 
 the middle of the stage, and he (without any equivo- 
 cation) goes into it, in the sight of all the spectators, 
 and sings in it ; during his stay in the bottle, any person 
 may handle it, and see plainly that it does not exceed a 
 common tavern bottle. Those on the stage or in the 
 boxes may come in masked habits (if agreeable to 
 them), and the performer (if desired) will inform 
 them who they are." The display of these wonders 
 was to occupy two hours and a half. The advertise- 
 ment also promised that the conjuror, after the per- 
 formance, would show to any gentlemen or ladies, for, 
 as Trapbois phrases it, a proper '< con-si-de-ra-tion," 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 145 
 
 the likeness of any deceased friend or relative, with 
 which they might also converse ; would tell their most 
 secret thoughts ; and would give them a full view of 
 persons, whether dead or alive, who had injured them. 
 
 At the same time with the above advertisement, 
 there came forth another, which may have either been 
 intended to put the public on their guard by its out- 
 heroding Herod, or to make their credulity, if possible, 
 still more glaring, in case they should accept the in- 
 vitation of the Bottle Conjuror. It purported to be 
 issued by Signor Capitello Jumpedo, lately arrived 
 from Italy, " a surprising dwarf, no taller than a to- 
 bacco-pipe," who could perform many wonderful equi- 
 libres on the tight and slack rope, transform his body 
 into above ten thousand different shapes and postures, 
 and who, after having diverted the spectators two 
 hours and a half, would " open his mouth wide, and 
 jump down his own throat." This most "wonderfullest 
 wonder of all wonders as ever the world wondered 
 at,** expressed his willingness to join in performance 
 with the Bottle Conjuror Musician. 
 
 Though one might suppose that nothing short of 
 insanity or idiocy could bring spectators on such an 
 occasion, yet it is certain that the theatre was 
 thronged with people of all degrees, from the highest 
 ranks of the peerage down to such of the humblest 
 class as could raise two shillings for admission to the 
 gallery. That nothing might be wanting to try the 
 patience of the spectators, not a single fiddle had 
 been provided to amuse them. At length, tired of 
 waiting, they became restive ; cat-calls, vociferations, 
 and beating of feet and sticks on the floor, were 
 heard in discordant chorus. At this moment a man 
 came from behind the scenes, bowed, and announced 
 that, if the performer did not appear, the money 
 
 L 
 
146 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 should be returned. This annunciation was suc- 
 ceeded by another person starting up in the pit, and 
 stating that, if double prices were given, the conjuror 
 would get into a pint bottle. This seems to have 
 brought the multitude to the use of the small portion 
 of sense which nature had bestowed on them. They 
 discovered that they had been cheated, and they pre- 
 pared to take vengeance on the cheater. The throw- 
 ing of a lighted candle from one of the boxes into 
 the pit was the signal for riot. All who thought 
 that, in such cases, the better half of valour is dis- 
 cretion, now became anxious to secure their retreat. 
 A rush accordingly took place towards the doors, and 
 numerous were the wigs, hats, swords, canes, and 
 shoes, that were lost in consequence. As the more 
 timid part of the crowd forced their way out, the mob 
 which surrounded the house forced their way in. 
 Joined by these allies, the party which had remained 
 behind began, and speedily completed, the work of 
 destruction. The benches were torn up, the boxes 
 pulled down, and the scenes broken to pieces ; the frag- 
 ments were then taken into the street, a huge bonfire 
 was made of them, and the stage- curtain was hoisted 
 on a pole, as a standard, above the fire. The guards 
 were at last sent for, but before their arrival the mob 
 had disappeared, leaving nothing but smoking embers 
 and a dismantled theatre. 
 
 Foote and others were accused of having originated 
 or shared in this trick ; but they disavowed any par- 
 ticipation in it, and there seems no reason to doubt 
 their veracity. Some thick-skulled bigots gravely 
 asserted, that it was invented by a Jesuit, " to try 
 how ripe the nation was to swallow the absurdities of 
 transubstantiation." With more likelihood, it was 
 »aid that, in order to win a wager which he had laid 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 147 
 
 respecting the extreme gullibility of the public, the 
 scheme was contrived by a mischievous young noble- 
 man. 
 
 For some time after the event, the newspapers were 
 filled with squibs and epigrams. Among the adver- 
 tisements in ridicule of the bottle-conjuror's, one of 
 the best purported to be from " the body-surgeon of 
 the Emperor of Moiioemungi." He thus terminated 
 the description of his budget of wonders : " He opens 
 the head of a justice of peace, takes out his brains, 
 and exchanges them for those of a calf; the brains of 
 a beau, for those of an ass ; and the heart of a bully, 
 for that of a sheep ; which operations render the per- 
 sons more rational and sociable creatures than ever 
 they were in their lives." 
 
 In the next instance of imposture which occurred, 
 those who were misled could hardly be considered as 
 blameworthy, the circumstances being such as to ac- 
 count for their erroneous judgment. The case to 
 which allusion is here ratide, was that of Elizabeth 
 Canning, in the year 1753. This female, who was 
 about eighteen years of age, after having been absent 
 twenty-eight days, returned home in a squalid and 
 apparently half-starved condition. The story which 
 she told was that, as she was proceeding at night from 
 her uncle's to the house of the person with whom she 
 lived as servant, she was attacked by two men, in 
 Moorfields, who first robbed her, gave her a blow on 
 the temple, and then dragged her along, she being 
 part of the time in fits, till they reached a house of 
 ill-fame, kept by Susannah Wells, at Enfield Wash. 
 
 On her arrival there, she was accosted by a gipsey, named 
 
 Mary Squires, who asked her if she would " go their 
 
 way ; for if she would, she should have fine clothes." 
 
 Supposing that Squires alluded to prostitution, Can- 
 
 L 2 
 
148 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 ning replied in the negative ; Squires, upon this, ripped 
 up the lace of her stays with a knife, took away the 
 stays, and thrust her into a back room like a hayloft, 
 the window of which was boarded inside. In that 
 room she was imprisoned for twenty-seven days ; her 
 only subsistence being a scanty portion of bread, 
 some water, and a small mince-pie, which she chanced 
 to have in her pocket. At last, she bethought her of 
 breaking down the board, after which she crept on a 
 penthouse, whence she dropped on the ground. She 
 then made the best of her way home. 
 
 Universal pity was excited by the tale of her suf- 
 ferings, and a subscription was raised for her. The 
 most violent public indignation was expressed against 
 the two criminals; and, while this ferment was at its 
 height. Wells and Squires were brought to trial. The 
 evidence of EUzabeth Canning was corroborated by 
 that of Virtue Hall, and by various circumstances, 
 and the jury found both of the prisoners guilty. 
 Squires was condemned to death, and Wells was 
 ordered to be branded, and imprisoned for six months. 
 
 Squires would certainly have suffered had not Sir 
 Crisp Gascoyne, who was then Lord Mayor^ fortu- 
 nately interposed in her favour. Squires herself 
 solemnly declared that she could bring many witnesses 
 to prove that she was in the West of England during 
 the whole of the time that was sworn to by Canning. 
 There were besides some startUng discrepancies be- 
 tween Canning's evidence and the real situation of 
 places and things ; and, to render the matter still more 
 doubtful, Virtue Hall, the main prop of Canning's 
 story, retracted her evidence. Sir Crisp Gascoyne 
 succeeded in obtaining a respite for Squires, during 
 which time so much testimony was obtained in her 
 behalf, that a free pardon was granted to her. Such, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 149 
 
 however, was the general prejudice in Canning's 
 favour, that the benevolent exertions of Sir Crisp 
 rendered him extremely unpopular. Floods of ink 
 were expended in pamphlets by her defenders, among 
 whom was the highly gifted author of Tom Jones. 
 Her opponents were equally active. 
 
 The mass of evidence against Canning at length 
 became so enormous, that it was resolved to put her 
 upon her trial for perjury. The trial lasted five days, 
 and more than a hundred and twenty witnesses were 
 examined. Upwards of forty of them were brought 
 forward to testify as to the movements of Squires, 
 and they traced her journeyings day by day, and 
 proved, by a chain of evidence of which not a single 
 link was wanting, that during the whole of the time 
 charged against her by Canning she was far distant 
 in the west of England. The story told by Canning 
 was also shown to be in some parts contradictory, and 
 in others at variance with the facts. In conclusion, 
 she was found guilty, and was sentenced to seven 
 years transportation. In August 1754, she was con- 
 veyed to New England, where she is said to have 
 married advantageously. Some time before her depar- 
 ture, she published a declaration in which she repeated 
 her charge against Squires, in spite of the triumphant 
 manner in which that charge had been refuted; and, 
 blindly faithful to her cause, many of her partisans 
 obstinately persevered in asserting her innocence. 
 
 A few years subsequently to the affair of Elizabeth 
 Canning, there occurred an event, which amply proved 
 that superstition and credulity were as flourishing as 
 ever. In January, 1762, the whole town was thrown 
 into a state of excitement by the imposture which bears 
 the name of " the Cock-lane Ghost," so called from 
 the place where the mummery was performed, and the 
 
130 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 supposed agent in the performance. The scene in 
 which the farce commenced was the house of one 
 Parsons, the parish clerk of St. Sepulchre's. As a 
 preliminary to the proceedings, it was reported that, 
 nearly two years before the affair gained notoriety, 
 alarming knockings and scratchings had been heard 
 by the daughter of Parsons, a girl about twelve years 
 old, and that she and others had seen, at her father's 
 house, the apparition of a woman, surrounded by a 
 blazing light. The girl, on being questioned as to 
 whom the apparition resembled, said it was like Mrs. 
 Kent, who had formerly been a lodger there, and had 
 died of the smallpox since her removal. The next 
 step was to throw out mysterious hints that Mrs. Kent 
 had been murdered. 
 
 These rumours were soon spread abroad, and the 
 credulous and the curious rushed with headlong haste 
 to witness the new marvels. The knockings and 
 scratchings had by this time become exceedingly vio- 
 lent. It was now sagely resolved that several gentlemen, 
 among whom a clergyman acted a prominent part, 
 should sit up by the bed-side of Miss Parsons, to 
 question the supposed ghost. As the ghost, it was 
 imagined, might be dumb, or have forgotten its native 
 tongue, the clergyman settled that it should reply by 
 knocks ; one knock being an affirmative answer, and 
 two knocks a negative. This arrangement having 
 been made, the ghost was interrogated, and it replied, 
 that it was the spirit of a woman named Kent, who had 
 been poisoned. 
 
 As some persons suspected imposture, the girl was 
 removed from her home, and was successively put to 
 bed at several houses ; the number of watchers was 
 increased to nearly twenty, several of whom were 
 clergymen and ladies. Stjll the knockings and scratch- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 151 
 
 ings were continued, and the same answers as before 
 were made to questions. At length, on being pressed 
 to give some proof of its veracity, the ghost consented 
 to attend one of the gentlemen into the vault, where 
 the body was buried, and manifest its presence by a 
 knock upon the coffin. 
 
 When the appointed hour arrived, " the spirit was 
 very seriously advertised, that the person to whom 
 the promise was made of striking the coffin, was then 
 about to visit the vault, and that the performance of 
 the promise was then claimed. The company, at one, 
 went into the church, and the gentleman to whom the 
 promise was made, went, with one more, into the vault. 
 The spirit was solemnly required to perform its pro- 
 mise, but nothing more than silence ensued. The 
 person supposed to be accused by the ghost then 
 went down, with several others, but no effect was 
 perceived. Upon their return they examined the girl, 
 but could draw no confession from her. Between two 
 and three she desired, and was permitted, to go home 
 with her father." 
 
 This want of punctuality in the ghost gave a fatal 
 blow to its reputation. Even the most besotted of 
 the believers were staggered by it. A flimsy attempt 
 was therefore made to restore the ghost's credit, by 
 asserting that the coffin and corpse had been removed, 
 which, of course, had prevented the spirit from giving 
 the signal ; but on examination they were found to be 
 safe in the vault. Stricter precautions were now 
 taken to guard against deception being practised by 
 the girl ; her bed was slung like a hammock, in the 
 middle of the room, and she was closely watched. 
 Driven to her last shifts, she contrived to secrete, but 
 not unseen, a bit of board previously to her being put 
 to bed, and having, as she thought, secured the neces- 
 
152 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 sary materials for carrying" on the trick, she rentured 
 to declare that she would bring the ghost at six the 
 next morning. In the morning she accordingly began 
 to make the accustomed sounds, and, on being asked 
 if she had in the bed any wood to strike upon, she 
 positively denied the fact. The bed-clothes were then 
 opened, the board was found, and this simple process 
 annihilated the Cock-lane Ghost. 
 
 Mr. Kent, the accused person, had, in the mean 
 while, proved his innocence, by certificates from the 
 physician and apothecary who attended upon the 
 deceased female. The base attack upon his character 
 appears to have been prompted by revenge. While 
 lodging with Parsons he had lent him some money, 
 w^hich, after much forbearance, he was compelled to 
 recover by a suit at law. The malignant offender, 
 however, did not escape punishment; he, with others 
 who had lent themselves to his imposture, being ulti- 
 mately brought to trial, and found guilty of a conspi- 
 racy. 
 
 In 1778, the Stockwell ghost, as it was deno- 
 minated, spread terror in the village from whence it 
 derived its name, and was for some time a subject of 
 general conversation and wonderment. Its pranks 
 have been described in Sir Walter Scott's amusing 
 " Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft/' and conse- 
 quently it is unnecessary to dwell upon them here. 
 
 For a long period after this, it would seem that 
 ghosts were either out of fashion, or, had become 
 averse from exhibiting before multitudes, and were 
 determined to confine their efforts to the scaring of 
 country bumpkins. It was not till 1810 that a super- 
 natural case of any importance occurred. This case 
 was, it must be owned, far more interesting and start- 
 ling- than its predecessors ; it having been managed 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 133 
 
 with such consummate skill as to baffle all attempts to 
 penetrate the mystery. The house of Mr. Chave at 
 Sampford Peverell, in Devonshire, was the scene on 
 which the wonders were acted for several months. 
 The spiritual agent appears to have occasionally as- 
 sumed the form of some non-descript animal, which 
 always eluded persuit, and to have had an extreme 
 dislike of women, whom it always pummelled unmer- 
 cifully. The Rev. C. Colton, the author of Lacon, 
 who endeavoured, but in vain, to find out the cause 
 of the disturbance, tells us, that he examined several 
 females who had slept in the house, many of whom 
 were on oath, and they all, without exception, agreed 
 in affirming, that " their night's rest was invariably 
 destroyed by violent blows from some invisible hand, 
 by an unaccountable and rapid drawing and withdraw- 
 ing of the curtains, by a suffocating and almost inex- 
 pressible weight, and by a repetition of sounds, so 
 loud as at times to shake the whole room." Numerous 
 other respectable witnesses also testified, and offered 
 to do so on oath, to various astonishing circumstances. 
 •Suspicions having been expressed that the whole was a 
 juggle, carried on by Mr. Chave and his servants, 
 they made an affidavit denying, in the most explicit 
 terms, any knowledge whatever of the manner in which 
 the sights and sounds were produced. A reward of 
 250/. was at length offered to any one who would 
 throw light on this obscure subject. Tempting as 
 thiu bait was, no one came forward to seize it. After 
 a while the hubbub ceased; but, like Junius, the mis- 
 chievous disturber of Sampford Peverell remains to 
 this day undiscovered. 
 
 In another part of the country, a few years before 
 the Sampford ghost began his vagaries, a fatal ex- 
 ample of excessive credulity was afforded by a man and 
 
154 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 his wife, named Perigo. The wife being ill, Perigo 
 applied to one Mary Bateman to cure her. Bateman 
 declined the task, but said that she had a friend at 
 Scarborough, a Miss Blyth, who could " read the stars," 
 and remove all ailments whether of body or mind. To 
 enable this reader of the stars to gain a knowledge of 
 the disease, it was said to be necessary that the sick 
 woman should send her petticoat ; it was accordingly 
 delivered to Bateman. There was, in truth, no such 
 person as Blyth ; but a pretended answer From her 
 was read to the credulous Perigos, in which they were 
 told that they must communicate with her through the 
 medium of Bateman. As a commencement, they were 
 directed to give Bateman five guinea notes, who would 
 return an equal number in a small bag ; but they were 
 informed that, if curiosity induced them to look into 
 the bag, the charm would be broken, and sudden 
 death would ensue. In this manner forty guineas 
 were at various times obtained, all of which, they were 
 assured, would be found in the bag when the moment 
 came for its being opened. Demand followed demand 
 without intermission, and still the poor deluded beings 
 continued to satisfy them. Clothing of all kinds, bed- 
 ding, a set of china, edible articles, and thirty pounds 
 more, were among the sacrifices which were made to 
 the rapacious impostor. On one occasion the ficti- 
 ^ tious Miss Blyth ordered Perigo to buy her a live 
 goose, for the purpose of being offered up as a burnt 
 offering to her familiar, for the purpose of destroying 
 the works of darkness. 
 
 The work of darkness was, indeed, approaching to 
 its consummation. Beggared by the repeated calls on 
 his purse, Perigo began to be anxious to open the 
 bags, and regain possession of the contents. Unable 
 any longer to put him off, the female fiend brought a 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 155 
 
 packet, which she said came from Scarborough, and 
 contained a potent charm. The contents were to be 
 mixed in a pudding, prepared for the purpose, and of 
 that pudding no one was to eat but Perigo and his 
 wife. They obeyed, and the consequences were such 
 as might be expected. The husband ate sparingly, for 
 he disUked the taste, and he escaped with only suffer- 
 ing severe torture ; the wife fell a victim. 
 
 It will scarcely be believed that, so deeply rooted 
 was her credulity, the unfortunate woman, even when 
 she was almost in her death agony, extorted from her 
 husband a promise to follow the directions of the 
 murderess. Two or three days after the wife had 
 ceased to exist, a letter came, pretending to be from 
 Miss Blyth, which seemed more hke the composition 
 of an incarnate demon than of a human being. In- 
 stead of expressing the slightest sorrow, it attributed 
 the death of the woman to her having dared to touch 
 the bags ; and it added a threat which was not un- 
 likely to send a weak-minded man to join his murdered 
 partner: "Inasmuch as your wife," said the writer, 
 *'has done this wicked thing, she shall rise from the 
 grave ; stroke your face with the cold hand of death ; 
 and you shall lose the use of one side." 
 
 Had his blood been anything but snow-broth, so 
 much injury and insult must have roused him. But 
 the wretched gull long persisted to yield a blind obe- 
 dience to his infamous deceiver, who fleeced him with- 
 out mercy. It was not till he was rendered desperate 
 by the threats of his creditors, that he ventured to 
 open the bags. He, of course, found them filled with 
 trash. His neighbours, to whom he bewailed his hard 
 fate, were possessed of more courage and sense than 
 he was, and they carried Mary Bateman before a 
 magistrate. She was committed for the murder of the 
 
156 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 wife, was found guilty at York assizes, and suffered on 
 the gallows the penalty of her crime. 
 
 The next character who claims our attention, though 
 living for a great part of his life under a disguise, 
 must not be branded as an impostor. The person al- 
 luded to is the celebrated Chevalier, generally known 
 as Madam, D*Eon. This remarkable individual, who 
 was born at Tonnerre, in France, in 1728, was of a 
 good family. D'Eon was a man of brilliant, parts, a 
 writer by no means contemptible on various subjects, 
 an accomplished diplomatist, and a brave officer. At 
 one period he was minister plenipotentiary to the 
 British court. A bitter quarrel with the Count de 
 Guerchy, who succeeded him as ambassador, is assigned 
 as the reason for his not returning to France. It is 
 probable, however, that the real cause of his stay in 
 this country was his acting as private agent of Louis 
 the Fifteenth, by whom he was allowed a pension. 
 D'Eon continued to reside in London for fourteen 
 years, and was in habits of friendship with the most 
 distinguished persons. 
 
 Now comes the mystery ; which still remains, and 
 perhaps must ever remain, unsolved. Rumours, at 
 first faint, but daily acquiring strength, had long been 
 floating about, that D'Eon was a woman. There 
 were certain feminine indications in his voice and per- 
 son, and he was known to be averse from all affairs of 
 gallantry, and to manifest extreme caution with 
 respect to females. At length it began to be general- 
 ly believed, both in England and France, that he had 
 no title to wear the dress of a male. Wagers, to a 
 large amount, were laid upon this subject ; and, in 
 1777, one of them produced an indecent trial before 
 Lord Mansfield. '* The action was brought by Mr. 
 Hayes, surgeon, against Jacques, a broker and under- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 157 
 
 writer, for the recovery of seven hundred pounds ; 
 Jacques having, about six years before, received pre- 
 miums of fifteen guineas per cent., for every one of 
 which he stood engaged to return a hundred guineas, 
 whenever it should be proved that the Chevalier 
 D'Eon was actually a woman." In this cause, three 
 seemingly unexceptionable witnesses, two of whom 
 were of the medical profession, positively swore that 
 they had obtained such proof as admitted of no contra- 
 diction that D'Eon was of the female sex. A verdict 
 was in consequence given for the plaintiff; but it 
 was afterwards set aside on a point of law. 
 
 The humiliating manner in which, by this trial, he 
 was brought before the English public induced D'Eon 
 to quit England. But it is a singular circumstance 
 that IM. de Vergennes, one of the French ministers, 
 in a letter which he wrote to D'Eon, declared it to be 
 the king's will that he " should resume the dress of 
 his sex," — meaning the dress of a woman — and that 
 this injunction was repeated on the Chevalier arriving 
 in France. It was obeyed, and, till the end of his long 
 life, D'Eon dressed, and was looked upon, as one of 
 the softer sex. Early in the French revolution, he 
 returned to England, still as a female, and remained 
 here till his decease in 1810. Death proved the folly 
 of those who had forced him into petticoats ; for his 
 manhood was placed beyond all doubt by an ana- 
 tomical examination of the body. Why he was meta- 
 morphosed, and why he continued to acquiesce in the 
 change when he might have safely asserted his sex, 
 there appear to be no means of discovering. 
 
 A being of a far different stamp comes next before 
 lis ; Charles Price, nicknamed Patch, a man who 
 applied talents of no common order to the vilest pur- 
 poses. He was possessed of courage, penetration. 
 
158 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 foresight, and presence of mind, and he degraded all 
 these qualities by rendering them subservient to fraud. 
 No man ever was so perfect a master of the art of 
 disguise. Price, who was the son of a clothesman in 
 Monmouth street, was not out of his boyhood when he 
 b/egan to manifest his skill in cheating. When he was 
 an apprentice, he put on the garb of a gentleman, as- 
 sumed the name of Bolingbroke, and defrauded his 
 master of a large quantity of goods. So well did he 
 act his part, that his master did not know him, and, 
 when Price returned home, he was ordered to carry 
 the goods to the pretended Mr. Bolingbroke. His 
 dishonest practices were at last detected, and he ran 
 away. For this conduct his father disinherited him. 
 
 Price was afterwards a valet, and went the tour of 
 Europe with Sir Francis Blake Delaval. While he 
 was at Copenhagen, he wrote a pamphlet in vindica- 
 tion of the unfortunate Queen Matilda. He was sub- 
 sequently a brewer, a distiller, an inmate of the king's 
 bench for having defrauded the revenue, a lottery- 
 office keeper, and a gambler in the Alley. His plau- 
 sible manners gained for him a wife with a conside- 
 rable fortune, but he soon dissipated the money. 
 About 1780, he began to forge upon the Bank. To 
 detect him was difficult, for he made his own paper, 
 with the proper water-marks, manufactured his own 
 ink, engraved his own plates, and, as far as possible, 
 was his own negotiator- His career, in spite of every 
 effort to arrest it, was continued for six years ; in the 
 course of which time he is said to have assumed no 
 less than forty-five disguises ; he was by turns thin, 
 corpulent, active, decrepit, blooming with health, and 
 sinking under disease. At last, in 1786, he was com- 
 mitted to Tothill-fields Bridewell, where, to escape 
 the shame of a pubhc execution, he put a period to 
 his existence. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 159 
 
 Numerous instances might be adduced of individuals, 
 gifted with abilities far inferior to those of Price, who 
 have levied contributions to an enormous amount upon 
 the credulity of the public. It must suffice to give a 
 specimen of them ; — one was Miss Robertson, of 
 Blackheath, who, by representing herself as having 
 had a large estate bequeathed to her, contrived to 
 make a multitude of egregious dupes ; another was an 
 adventurer known as *' The Fortunate Youth," who 
 employed a similar pretence, and was equally success- 
 ful. A third, whose pretension took a higher flight, 
 must not be forgotten. The late Mrs. Serres, who 
 assumed the title of Princess Olive of Cumber- 
 land, and pretended also to be descended from a line 
 of Polish princes, has secured for herself a conspicuous 
 place in the annals of imposture. 
 
 The most amusing, and perhaps the least noxious, 
 >i' modern cheats, was a female, who assumed the 
 name of Caraboo. She pretended to be a native of 
 .I.ivasu, in the Indian Ocean, and to have been car- 
 led off by pirates, by whom she had been sold to the 
 iptainofa brig. Her first appearance was in the 
 -pring of 1817, at Almondsbury, in Gloucestershire. 
 Having been ill used on board the ship, she had jumped 
 overboard, she said, swam on shore, and wandered 
 about for six weeks before she came to Almondsbury. 
 The deception was tolerably well sustained for two 
 months ; but, at the end of that time, she disappeared, 
 probably being aware that she was on the point of being 
 detected. It was found that she was a native of Wi- 
 theridge, in Devonshire, where her father was a 
 cobbler. Caraboo appears to have taken flight to 
 America. How she fared in that quarter of the 
 world is not known; but, in 1824, she returned to 
 England, and hired apartments in New Bond-street, 
 
160 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 where she exhibited herself to the pubHc. She seems 
 to have excited little attention, and was soon for- 
 gotten. 
 
 A very frequent case of imposture has been that of 
 women pretending to have the power of going with- 
 out food, and to have fasted for two, or three, or more 
 years. Irksome and distressing as such a deceit 
 must be, it has often been carried on, for a short time, 
 so dexterously as to lull the suspicions of those around, 
 who, being thus thrown off their guard, were satisfied 
 that the abstinence, which perhaps was really perse- 
 vered in for a short time, could be prolonged to any 
 indefinite period. 
 
 Margaret Senfrit, the girl of Spires, was believed 
 to have fasted three years. Catherine Binder, after 
 continuing an alleged fast for five years, was sepa- 
 rated from her parents, and placed under the care of 
 four women, who affirmed that she had not eaten or 
 drunk anything for fourteen days, but had washed 
 her mouth with brandy and water, to comfort her head 
 and heart. 
 
 A young girl of Unna, who was said to have re- 
 mained without eating or drinking for six months, 
 was closely watched ; the first night after her removal 
 she was caught drinking a large cup of ale. 
 
 About 1800, the Osnaburggirl created great specu- 
 lation. She had fasted, by report, a long time. 
 Doubts arising, she was watched, and escaped the 
 ordeal with her integrity unimpeached ; but, a second 
 watching having been undertaken by two medical 
 men, her tricks were soon discovered. 
 
 Between 1808 and 1813, considerable interest was 
 excited by various notices, in the newspapers and 
 journals, respecting a woman of the name of Moore, 
 living at Tutbury, in Stafi'ordshire, who, from long 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 161 
 
 illness and other causes, was reported to have lost all 
 desire for food, and at length acquired the art of 
 living without any nourishment at all. No great 
 alteration was visible in her appearance, her memory 
 was very strong, and her piety extremely edifying. 
 Being backed by medical testimony, the account was 
 received as entitled to some credit; but all doubts 
 were removed by watching the patient for sixteen 
 days and nights, which took place in September, 
 1803. From that time she attracted crowds of 
 visiters, from all parts of the country, who witnessed 
 her condition with a sort of religious awe, and seldom 
 quitted her without exercising their generosity towards 
 her. Dr. Henderson visited her in 1812, in com- 
 pany with Mr. Lawrence. She was in bed, with a 
 large Bible before her ; -she asserted she had tasted no 
 solid food for upwards of five years, and no drink for 
 four, and had no desire for either ; and that she had 
 not slept or lain down in bed for more than three. 
 They left her, fully satisfied, from certain circum- 
 stances, that the history of her long fasting was a 
 mere fabrication ; and Dr. Henderson adduced many 
 arguments to prove the absurdity of the imposture. 
 The greatest wonder in the history was the blind infa- 
 tuation of those who could for an instant entertain an 
 idea of its truth. 
 
 Her dread of the repetition of the watching was a 
 very suspicious circumstance, and seemed to imply 
 that she had narrowly escaped detection ; she said, 
 that for nobody in the world would she undergo a re- 
 petition : her attendant styled it '' a trial for her life." 
 Yet watching her for a fortnight, though sufiiciently 
 irksome, could have had nothing alarming, unless it 
 involved the risk of starvation, which, it was after- 
 wards proved, it did in reality. 
 
 M 
 
162 SKETCHES OF IxMPOSTUREy 
 
 At the earnest solicitation of the Rev. Legh Rich- 
 mond, she, however, consented to undergo another 
 watching, assenting to its propriety as necessary to 
 the estabUshment of truth. In April 1813, the watch 
 was commenced by a committee of nineteen gentle- 
 men, four remaining at one time in the room. She 
 caught a severe cold whilst removing her from her 
 bed, and at the end of a week she had a very serious 
 attack of fever. On the ninth day she thought her- 
 self dying, and was very anxious to make an affidavit 
 as to her innocence of all imposition. With great 
 solemnity, she said, " In the face of Almighty God, 
 and on my dying bed, I declare that I have used no 
 deception, and that for six years I have taken nothing 
 but once, the inside of a few black currants ; for the 
 last four years and a half, nothing at all." In spite of 
 this protestation, strong suspicions of fraud were ex- 
 cited, and, finally, evidence of guilt and falsehood were 
 discovered. Concealment was now useless, and at 
 last she publicly expressed her contrition for her long- 
 continued imposture. 
 
 At one time, two hundred pounds, from the contri- 
 butions of a wondering and credulous population, was 
 placed for her in the hands of two respectable persons 
 in the town ; but this sum was subsequently with- 
 drawn. The total amount of what she received was 
 not known ; but, as her children and one or two at- 
 tendants lived with her during the six years of decep- 
 tion, it must have been pretty considerable. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 163 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 LITERARY IMPOSTORS! AND DISGUISES. 
 
 Controversy respecting the Works of Homer; Arguments of the 
 Disputants — Controversy on the supposed Epistles of Phalaris — 
 Opinion of Sir William Temple on the Superiority of the An- 
 cients — Dissertation of Dr. Bentley on the Epistles of Phalaris — 
 He proves them to be a Forgery — Doubts as to the Anabasis 
 being the Work of Xenophon — Arguments of Mr. Mitford in 
 tlie Affirmative — Alcyonius accused of having plagiarised from, 
 and destroyed, Cicero's Treatise " De Gloria" — Curious Mistake 
 as to Sir T. Moro*8 Utopia — The Icon Basilike — Disputes to 
 which it gave rise — Arguments, pro and con, as to the real Au- 
 thor of it — Lauder^s Attempt to prove Milton a Plagiarist — Re- 
 futation of him by Dr. Douglas — His Interpolations — George 
 Psalmanazar — His Account of Formosa — His Repentance and 
 Piety— Publication of Ossian's Poems by Mr. Macpherson — 
 Their Authenticity is doubted — Report of the Highland Society 
 on the Subject — Pseudonymous and anonymous Works — Letters 
 of Junius — The Drapier's Letters— Tale of a Tub — Gulliver's 
 Travels — The Waverley Novels — Chatterton and the Rowley 
 Poems — W. H. Ireland and the Shakspearian Forgeries — Dam- 
 berger's pretended Travels — Poems of Clotilda de Surville — 
 Walladmor — Hunter, the American — Donville's Travels in 
 Africa. 
 
 The history of literature, from the earliest times, 
 has recorded singular instances of imposture and un- 
 acknowledged plagiarism ; in many of which, the talent 
 necessary to design, as well as the perseverance to 
 develop, the proposed fraud, were worthy of a better 
 direction. 
 
 In the opinion of the learned critic, Dr. Bentley, 
 the practice of writing spurious books is almost as old 
 as letters themselves ; but that it chiefly prevailed 
 when the kings of Pergamus and Alexandria, rivalling 
 one another in the magnificence and copiousness of 
 their libraries, gave great prices for treatises that had 
 Oie names of celebrated authors attached to them. 
 M 2 
 
164 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Modern critics have, with much learned ingenuity, 
 reasoned upon the possibilities and probabilities of the 
 celebrated poems of the Iliad and Odyssey not being 
 the performance of one man. Though, at this dis- 
 tance of time, the question must be settled rather by 
 individual conviction, than received as a decided point 
 in the history of literature ; yet still it may not be 
 uninteresting to state the arguments which have been 
 brought forward against the authenticity of Homer's 
 poems, or rather against the existence of Homer him- 
 self. 
 
 Fabricius has collected a number of fragments and 
 accounts of authors who have been supposed more 
 ancient than Homer ; most of these, however, have 
 been regarded by the learned as forgeries, originating 
 in the love of gain, and encouraged by the credulity 
 of the Greeks. 
 
 It has been maintained, that neither the Iliad nor the 
 Odyssey is the work of a single mind, but a collection 
 of the songs of the wandering rhapsodists, as they were 
 called, and, for the first time, completely arranged at 
 Athens under the inspection of Pisistratus, or his son. 
 Pisistratus is mentioned by i^lian as the compiler of 
 the Iliad and the Odyssey. This theory reduces 
 Homer to a name merely ; or, at best, as only one 
 bard more celebrated than the rest, or, perhaps, as 
 nothing more than a successful reciter. This idea 
 respecting the authenticity of the above poems, was 
 again started, about the close of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, by Perrault and others, but was received with 
 derision by the learned world. 
 
 More recently, it has been again advocated, with 
 great learning, by Heyne ; and, with wonderful acute- 
 ness, by Professor Wolf, of Berlin. 
 
 It appears from -the best accounts, that these poems, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 165 
 
 said to be the production of Homer, were first brought 
 into Greece by Lycurgus ; who had heard them in 
 the course of his travels among the Chians, by means 
 of the recitation of their rhapsodists; nor were they 
 then in that perfect form in which they were after- 
 wards presented by Pisistratus, to whom the credit of 
 the arrangement appears to have been generally given 
 by Cicero and others. 
 
 The arguments used by Wolf and Heyne are, 
 firstly, the improbability that in such a dark age, as 
 that in which Homer is reputed to have lived, and of 
 which so few traces are left, one man should have 
 been capable of composing works of such extent, con- 
 sistency, and poetical elevation, as the lUad or Odyssey. 
 
 Secondly, that poems of such a length should have 
 been composed, and preserved entire, without being 
 committed to writing. Now there is not the least trace, 
 even in tradition, of any complete copy of Homer's 
 works, till the existence of the Athenian edition, or 
 at least of that of Lycurgus. No notice is taken in 
 the poems of any epistolary correspondence, though 
 in the Odyssey many opportunities occur where such 
 might have been introduced. 
 
 Thirdly, the Greek alphabet was not received at 
 Athens till the ninety-fourth Olympiad, that is, about 
 four hundred and three years before Christ, whereas 
 the works of Homer were dated from the nine hun- 
 dred and seventh year before Christ. The writing 
 materials also must have been scanty and inadequate 
 to the preservation of a poem of fifteen thousand 
 lines; stone and metal being the only materials on 
 which, in early times, characters were imprinted. 
 
 Fourthly, in these ancient poems, no reference is 
 ever made to written treaties ; treaties being then 
 only verbal, and ratified by superstitious rites. 
 
166 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Fifthly, the rhapsodists flourished in the earliest 
 times, answering to the Celtic bards in our history ; 
 and all who followed this profession recited from 
 memory ; by the exercise of which faculty they 
 derived honour and emolument. Without the modern 
 aids to composition, how, it was asked, could any poet 
 keep the plan, or previous part of his design, in his 
 recollection ? or, if that were possible, could he have 
 ever expected to procure an audience, to wham such 
 a work should be submitted ? 
 
 It is more than probable, that the original poems,, 
 or series of poetical sketches, were exposed to perpe- 
 tual variation, from passing through the heads of the 
 rhapsodists ; many of whom were> doubtless, also 
 poets, and who, in the w^armth of recitation, would 
 make changes unconsciously, or, perhaps, purposely 
 introduce them, to produce greater effect on their 
 hearers. From ^lian we learn that anciently the 
 books of the Iliad or Odyssey were never recited in 
 the order in which they now stand. 
 
 The above form the chief grounds of argu- 
 ment used by those who are anxious to disturb 
 our natural belief, as it were, of the integrity 
 of Homer*s poems. On the contrary side, it is as- 
 serted, that other untaught poets have arisen, who, 
 without the aid of external culture, have breathed the 
 tenderest and most beautiful thoughts in poetry ; and 
 it is also urged, that, granting the sublimity of 
 Homer's poems as they stand, it is necessary, if we 
 adopt the opponent system, to come to the belief that, 
 in a barbarous age, instead of one being marvellously 
 gifted with poetical powers, there were man^, a com- 
 plete race of bards, such as has never been since seen. 
 The objection arising from the ignorance of letters, 
 and want of writing materials, has been considered 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 167 
 
 more formidable ; but so mucb uncertainty attends 
 the account of the introduction of letters into Greece, 
 that it must undoubtedly have been of high antiquity. 
 
 That the memory of the reciter should be capable 
 of retaining the whole poem does not appear so incre- 
 dible in those times, when the minds of men were 
 not distracted by the attempt to attain a variety of 
 knowledge ; for it is well known, that the constant and 
 sole exercise of a single faculty gives it a great per- 
 fection. 
 
 The great uniformity of style in these poems has 
 been considered as strong internal evidence that they 
 were the production of an individual genius ; the same 
 epithets and similes prevail throughout. Interpo- 
 lation may have occurred, but not sufficiently to af- 
 fect the authority of the whole. Pindar, and other 
 early poets, speak of Homer as one man, as do also 
 the historians Herodotus and Thucydides. 
 
 It has, indeed, been maintained by some, that the 
 Odyssey is the work of a different poet, because the 
 images and descriptions evidently belong to a later 
 period than those of the Iliad; and from allusions 
 made to the arts it appears that they must have made 
 a greater progress than could reasonably have taken 
 place during the life of one man, even granting the 
 supposition that the Ihad was the work of Homer's 
 youth, and the Odyssey that of his maturer years. 
 This is proba!)ly one of the most forcible objections 
 which has been urged against the belief that the Iliad 
 and the Odyssey are the work of one poet. As is 
 often the case, however, in these doubtful questions, 
 where direct evidence cannot possibly be obtained, 
 much may be said on both sides ; and the matter 
 must probably ever remain a matter of curious literary 
 speculation. 
 
 The following ancient literary fraud was investi- 
 
168 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 gated and exposed by the extraordinary learning- and 
 diligence of Dr. Bentley, who, in the year 1697, com- 
 menced the famous controversy about the epistles of 
 Phalaris, and the fables of ^sop. 
 
 Sir William Temple, in comparing the intellectual 
 pretensions of the ancients and moderns, declared for 
 the ancients, and fortified his judgments by alleging, 
 that the epistles of Phalaris, and the fables of ^sop, 
 were proofs that the older parts of literature were the 
 best ; though, even at that time, these works had been 
 challenged as forgeries. The Honourable Charles 
 Boyle at this period having resolved to undertake an 
 edition of the Epistles of Phalaris, as an academic ex- 
 ercise, Wotton, who was preparing a second edition of 
 his work on " Ancient and Modern Learning," re- 
 quested Dr. Bentley to write a paper, to expose the 
 spurious pretensions of Phalaris and iEsop. This 
 paper met with violent opposition from Mr. Boyle, 
 which determined Dr. Bentley to set about the refu- 
 tation in good earnest. It will be impossible, within 
 the narrow limits of this sketch, to follow the learned 
 criticism, discussion, and wordy war, between Mr. 
 Boyle and Dr. Bentley, in proof of, and against, the 
 authenticity of the above epistles. It must be suffi- 
 cient to state, that Dr. Bentley's arguments rest upon 
 many grammatical niceties and anachronisms, and 
 on the use of certain Doric and Attic dialects, which 
 came into use later than the supposed period of their 
 composition. His arguments, all supported by innume- 
 rable quotations, which form an immense mass of 
 evidence, have not failed to convince most persons of 
 his profound erudition, as well as of the justness of his 
 opinion. 
 
 It may be worth while, in this place, to mention a 
 doubt, that has been promulgated by some modern 
 critics, whether the Anabasis, or retreat of the ten 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULItY. 169 
 
 thousand Greeks, is really the work of Xenophon, to 
 whom it has most generally been attributed ; or, 
 whether it is the composition of one Themistogenes. 
 In Xenophon's Annals of Grecian History, instead of 
 giving any account of the expedition of Cyrus, and 
 the return of the array, he refers the reader to the ac- 
 count which he ascribes to Themistogenes of Syracuse. 
 Such an account might then possibly be extant, though 
 the mention by Xenophon is the sole evidence that it 
 was so ; but it by no means follows that the Anabasis 
 itself was written by Themistogenes ; and, from the 
 age of Xenophon to that of Suidas, no mention of 
 such an author occurs in any remaining work, nor 
 was any doubt expressed as to Xenophon being the 
 author of the Anabasis, till Suidas thought proper to 
 controvert the generally received opinion. 
 
 The problem is well solved by Mr. Mitford. "Why 
 then, it will of course occur to ask," says he, " did Xe- 
 nophon, in his Grecian Annals, refer to the work of 
 Themistogenes ? Plutarch, in his treatise on the Glory 
 of the Athenians, has accounted for it thus : * Xe- 
 nophon,' he says, *was a subject of history for himself. 
 But when he published his narrative of his own 
 achievements in military command, he ascribed it to 
 Themistogenes of Syracuse ; giving away thus the 
 literary reputation to arise from the work, that he 
 might the better establish the credit of the facts re- 
 lated.' 
 
 " This explanation, though I give it credit as far as 
 it goes, is, however, not by itself completely satisfac- 
 tory. Nevertheless, I think every reader of the Ana- 
 basis, attending, at the same time, to the general 
 history of the age, may draw, from the two, what is 
 wanting to complete it. He cannot fail to observe, 
 that it has been a principal purpose of the author of 
 
170 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the Anabasis to apologise for the conduct of Xenophon. 
 In the latter part of the work, the narrative is con- 
 stantly accompanied with a studied defence of his 
 conduct ; in which, both the circumstances that pro- 
 duced his banishment from Athens, and whatever 
 might give umbrage or excite jealousy against him 
 at Lacedsemon, have been carefully considered. But 
 there are passages in the work, speeches of Xenophon 
 himself on delicate occasions, particularly his commu- 
 nication with Oleander, the Lacedaemonian general, 
 related in the sixth book, which could be known only 
 from himself or from Cleander. That these have not 
 been forgeries of Themistogenes, is evident from the 
 testimony of Xenophon himself, who refers to the 
 'work, which he ascribes to Themistogenes,, with en- 
 tire satisfaction. 
 
 " One, then, of these three conclusions must follow ; 
 either, first, the narrative of Themistogenes, if such 
 ever existed, had not in it that apology for Xenophon, 
 which we find interwoven in the Anabasis transmitted 
 to us as Xenophon's, and consequently was a different 
 work ; or, secondly, Themistogenes wrote under the 
 direction of Xenophon ; or, thirdly, Xenophon wrote 
 the extant Anabasis, and, for reasons, which those ac- 
 quainted with the circumstances of his life, and the his- 
 tory of the times, will have no difficulty to conceive 
 may have been powerful, chose that, on its first pub- 
 lication, it should pass by another's name. The latter 
 has been the belief of all antiquity ; and indeed, if it 
 had not been fully known that the ascription of the 
 Anabasis to Themistogenes was a fiction, the concur- 
 rence of all antiquity, in stripping that author of his 
 just fame, so completely that, from Xenophon himself 
 to Suidas, he is never once named as an author of 
 merit, in any work remaining to us, while, in so many, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 171 
 
 the Anabasis is mentioned as the work of Xenophon, 
 would be, if at all credible, certainly the most extra- 
 ordinary circumstance in the history of letters." 
 
 A fraud, which perhaps occasioned the greatest 
 regret that ever was felt in the literary world, has 
 been attributed to Peter Alcyonius, one of the learned 
 Italians who cultivated literature in the sixteenth 
 century. He had considerable knowledge of the Greek 
 and Latin tongues, and wrote rhetorical treatises. He 
 was a long time corrector of the press at Venice, in 
 the house of Aldus Manutius, and ought to participate 
 in the praises given to that eminent printer and clas- 
 sical scholar. He translated some treatises of Aristotle 
 into Latin ; but the execution of them was so severely 
 criticised by Sepulveda, that Alcyonius, at a great 
 expense, bought up the criticisms of his Spanish 
 enemy to bum them. Paul Jovius says of him, in 
 his quaint language, that he was a man of downright 
 plebeian and sordid manners, and such a slave to his 
 appetite, that in one and the same day he would dine 
 three or four times, but always at the expense of 
 another; nor was he altogether so bad a physician in 
 this beastly practice, since, before he went to bed, he 
 discharged the intemperate load from his stomach. 
 
 Alcyonius published a treatise, ** De Exilio,'* con- 
 taining many fine passages ; so elegant in fact was it, 
 that he was accused of having tacked several parts of 
 Cicero " De Gloria'* to his own composition, and 
 then, to prevent being convicted of the theft, thrown 
 tlie manuscript of Cicero, which was the only one in 
 the world, into the fire. Cicero, in his twenty-seventh 
 epistle, fifteenth book, writing to Atticus, says, " I 
 will speedily send you my book, * De Gloria.' " That 
 the manuscript was extant till nearly the period in 
 question would seem to be indubitable, as it was enu^ 
 
17*2 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURJfe, 
 
 merated by Bernard Giustiniani, the learned governor 
 of Padua, among the works which he possessed. Along 
 with the rest of his library, it is said to have been 
 bequeathed to a convent of nuns, but from that time 
 it could never be found. It was believed by many, 
 that Peter Alcyonius, who was physician to the mo- 
 nastery, and to whom the nuns entrusted the manage- 
 ment of the library, having copied into his own treatise 
 all that suited his purpose, from that of Cicero, had 
 secretly made away with it. This charge was first 
 brought against Alcyonius by Paul Manutius, and was 
 repeated by Paul Jovius, and subsequently by other 
 writers ; but Tiraboschi seems to have demonstrated 
 that it is a calumny. It is probable that it was pro- 
 voked by the excessive vanity and propensity to sar- 
 casm and satire which distinguished Alcyonius, 
 
 When the Utopia of Sir Thomas More was first 
 published, it occasioned a pleasant mistake. This 
 political romance represents a perfect but visionary 
 republic, in an island supposed to have been recently 
 discovered in America. " As this was the age of 
 discovery (says Granger), the learned Budacus, and 
 others, took it for a genuine history, and considered 
 it highly expedient that missionaries should be sent 
 thither, in order to convert so wise a nation to Chris- 
 tianity." 
 
 No literary performance has ever been the occasion 
 of more discussion or dispute, as to its authenticity, 
 than one which was published by the roj^alist party to 
 excite the public pity for Charles I. On the day 
 after that monarch's execution appeared a volume, 
 called Icon Basilike, or the Portraiture of his Sacred 
 Majesty, in his Solitude and Suff'erings. It professed 
 to be from the pen of Charles himself, and a faithful 
 exposition of his own thoughts on the principal events 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 173 
 
 of his reign, accompanied with such pious effusions as 
 the recollection suggested to his mind. 
 
 It was calculated to create a strong sensation in 
 favour of the royal sufferer, and is said to have passed 
 through fifty editions in the course of the first year. 
 
 During the Commonwealth, Milton made an at- 
 tempt to disprove the king's claim to the composition 
 of the book, but his arguments were by no means 
 conclusive, as the subsequent publications on the 
 same subject proved. After the restoration, Dr. 
 Gauden, a clergyman of Bocking in Essex, came for- 
 ward, and declared himself the real author; but he 
 advanced his pretensions with secresy, and received 
 as the price of his silence, first, the bishopric of 
 Exeter, and subsequently, when he complained of the 
 poverty of that see, the richer one of Worcester. 
 
 After his death, these circumstances transpired, 
 and became the subject of an interesting controversy 
 between his friends, and the admirers of Charles the 
 First. The subsequent publication of the Clarendon 
 papers, has, in the opinion of Dr. Lingard, firmly 
 established Gauden*s claim ; but Dr. Wordsworth, in 
 the year 1824, adjudged it to the king, in his work 
 called ** W'ho wrote Eikon Basilike ?" In this, he 
 learnedly combats the opinions of all the late contro- 
 versialists on that subject. This drew forth replies 
 from the Reverend Henry Todd, and " additional 
 reasons" from the Reverend Mr. Broughton, in 
 favour of Gauden's claim. 
 
 Dr. Wordsworth, in a " postscript," again answered 
 bis antagonists, and summed up the evidence by say- 
 injf, that not any convincing arguments in favour of 
 (iauden's claim had been brought forward against his 
 — Dr. Wordsworth's — but which, by negative evi- 
 dence, rather strengthened his side of the question. 
 
174 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 In a short abstract or analysis of so voluminous a 
 subject it can only be stated, that it seems hardly 
 credible, that Gauden could have proposed to write, 
 or could have completed, the Icon^ labouring under 
 the disadvantages he did. He was not a royal chap- 
 lain, nor appears to have been much connected with 
 the court ; nor ever to have had intercourse with the 
 king, but once, when he preached before him ; yet, in 
 a sudden fit of zeal, he took upon himself the com- 
 position of a series of reflections in the name of the 
 king, on the events of the last seven years of his 
 reign ; and that without even any communication 
 being made to the royal party ; or any suggestion re- 
 ceived from them that it would be acceptable ; whilst 
 any discovery made by the opposite party would be 
 followed by his certain ruin. 
 
 The evidence found in the book itself seems of a 
 nature to disprove its being composed on the 'spur of 
 the moment, or during the last act of the fatal drama, 
 three fourths of it being devoted to events having 
 no near connection with the emergency of the time ; 
 in fact, only the last six chapters treat of those sub- 
 jects which were likely to have occupied the public 
 attention at that period. 
 
 The tone of observation in general is such as, 
 judging from his other works, it does not appear pro- 
 bable Gauden would have ventured to indulge in ; 
 habitual caution being visible in his other political 
 writings. His fraudulent claim for remuneration after 
 royalty was restored, being recompensed by a moderate 
 promotion, does not, of necessity, prove its justice ; as 
 many reasons concurred, why the royal party should 
 wish to hush up any reports that might tend to reflect 
 upon the late king's memory ; nor at that time could 
 the fact be susceptible of actual proof. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 175 
 
 These several circumstances, in Dr. Wordsworth's 
 opinion, make it more than probable that Gauden's 
 claim was, in reality, what so many other learned 
 persons have concurred in supposing, a literary 
 imposture, which at the time met with undeserved 
 success. 
 
 Literary imposture, in our own times, appears to 
 have flourished most from the middle to the latter 
 end of the eighteenth century ; for, within forty years 
 of that period, various very remarkable frauds in the 
 commonwealth of letters were ushered into day, and 
 the attention of the public was solicited to them, with 
 all the boldness that a perfect conviction of their real 
 worth and genuine authenticity, on the part of those 
 who promulgated them, could possibly have inspired. 
 
 The first of these, in point of time, and intensity of 
 malignant and selfish audacity, was the unpardonable 
 attack made, about the year 1750, by a Mr. Lauder, 
 on the poetical character and moral candour of Milton. 
 
 The first regular notice the public received of his 
 intention was from the following circular, which deve- 
 loped his plan of attack : 
 
 " I have ventured to publish the following observa- 
 tions on Milton's imitation of the moderns ; having 
 lately fallen on four or five modern authors in 
 Latin verse, which I have reason to believe Milton 
 haid consulted in composing his Paradise Lost. The 
 novelty of the subject will entitle me to the favour 
 of the reader, since I in no way intend unjustly to 
 derogate from the real merit of the writer. The first 
 author alluded to was Jacobus Masenius. He was 
 a professor of rhetoric, in the Jesuits* College, at 
 Dlogne, about 1650, and he wrote Sarcotis, in 
 i \ e books ; which, said he, in the preface, is not so 
 much a complete model, as a rough draught of an 
 
176 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 epic poem. Milton follows this author tolerably 
 closely through the first two books. In it Adam and 
 Eve are described under the single name of Sar- 
 cothea, or human nature, whose antagonist, the in- 
 fernal serpent, is called Lucifer. The infernal council, 
 or Pandemonium, Lucifer's habits, and the fight of 
 the angels, are too obvious not to have been noticed ; 
 Milton's exordium appears to have been almost di- 
 rectly taken from Masenius and Ramsay." I^auder 
 goes on to state that the Paradise Lost was taken 
 from a farce, called Adamo Perso, and from an Italian 
 tragedy, called Paradiso Perso ; and that even Mil- 
 ton's poem itself was said to have been written for a 
 tragedy. 
 
 " Having procured," continues he, " the Adamus 
 Exul of Grotius *, I found, or imagined myself to find 
 the first draught, the prima stamina^ of this wonder- 
 ful poem ; and I was then induced to search for the 
 collateral relations it might be supposed to have con- 
 
 * This learned man, embracing and svipporting tlie doctrines of 
 Arminius, was doomed, among other divines, at the national synod 
 of Dort, in 1618, to perpetual imprisonment in the castle of Lou- 
 vestein, Grotius found consolation in literary occupation ; and, 
 though his confinement was rigorous, he derived evxry comfort from 
 the attentions of his wife, who after some difficulty was allowed to 
 visit him. The fond care of this woman at last procured his deli- 
 verance, after a captivity of two years ; for, on pretence of removing 
 his books, which she declared had proved injurious to his health, 
 she was permitted to send away a chest, three feet and a half long, 
 in which he had concealed himself, and was thus carried by two 
 soldiers from the fortress. It is curious that their suspicions should 
 not have been excited ; for, whilst carrying the chest, they com- 
 plained one to the other of the weight, saying jestingly, that it was 
 as heavy as if an Arminian had been in it. From Louvestein the 
 chest was carried to Gorcum, to the house of a friend, where the 
 learned prisoner was set at liberty, and he immediately escaped 
 from thence to Antwerp, disguised as a mason with a rule and 
 trowel. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 177 
 
 tracted in its progress to maturity." The A damns 
 Exul of Grotius was never printed with his other 
 works, though it passed through four editions ; and 
 it was by very great labour that Mr. Lauder was at 
 last able to get a copy from Gronovius, at Leyden. 
 Milton is charged with having literally translated, 
 rather than barely alluded to, this work. 
 
 The severe affliction which Milton endured, in the 
 loss of sight, obliged him to have recourse to filial aid, 
 in consulting such authors as he had occasion to refer 
 to ; and Lauder, wishing to prove that he feared de- 
 tection and exposure, asserted, that he taught his 
 daughters only to read the several languages, in which 
 his authorities were written, confining them to the 
 knowledge of words and pronunciation, but keeping 
 the sense and meaning to himself. 
 
 Apparently feeling a momentary shame at his con- 
 duct, Lauder, in a kind of apology, added, ** As I am 
 sensible this will be deemed most outrageous usage of 
 the divine, immortal Milton, the prince of English 
 poets, and the incomparable author of Paradise Lost, 
 I take this opportunity to declare, that a strict regard 
 to truth a lonely — and to do justice to those authors 
 from whom Milton has so liberally gleaned, without 
 acknowledgment,— have induced me to make this 
 attack upon the reputation and memory of a person 
 
 This lover of truth, at the conimenceTiient of his pamphlet, 
 
 !i consummate assurance thus proposes himself as a pnvate 
 
 tutor : ** Gentlemen who are desirous to secure their children from 
 
 ill example, by a domestic education, or arc themselves inclined to 
 
 gain or retrieve the knowledge of the Latin tongue, may be waited 
 
 on at their houses, by the author of the following essay, upon the 
 
 rfceipt of a letter directed to the publisher or author— N.B. Mr. 
 
 ■ler's abilities, and industry in his profession, can be well at- 
 
 t d by persona of the first rank in literature in this metropolis '* 
 
 N 
 
178 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 hitherto so universally applauded and admired for his 
 incomparable poetical abilities." 
 
 Dr. Douglas, to whom the world is indebted for 
 investigating and detecting Lauder's baseness, vindi- 
 cated Milton from the injustice of the charge, in an 
 answer full of diligent research of those authors who 
 were said to have furnished Milton with materials for 
 his poem. 
 
 Dr. Douglas commences by saying, " Our Zoilus 
 charges Milton with having borrowed both the plan 
 of his poem, and also particular passages, from other 
 authors. Should these charges even prove true, will 
 it follow that his pretensions to genius are disproved ? 
 The same charge might be brought against Virgil ; 
 as there is scarcely a passage in his JEneid but is 
 taken from the Iliad or Odyssey. There is no shadow 
 of truth in the assertion made by Lauder, that infinite 
 tribute of veneration had been paid to Milton, through 
 men's ignorance of his having been indebted to the 
 assistance of other authors, when, on the contrary, 
 those very persons who gave him the greatest praise 
 were the principal discoverers of many of his imitations. 
 
 " It did not enter my head," continues Dr. Douglas, 
 " that our critic could have the assurance to urge false 
 quotations in support of his charge ; and therefore 
 did I, and, as I imagine, did every other person, be- 
 lieve, that the authors he quoted really contained 
 those lines which he attributed to them, and which 
 bear so striking a resemblance to passages in Paradise 
 Lost, that the reader cannot avoid concluding, with 
 Lauder, that Milton had really seen and imitated 
 them. Will it not, therefore, be thought extra- 
 ordinarily strange, and excite the utmost indignation 
 in every candid person's breast, if the reverse of all 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 179 
 
 this shall appear to be the case ; if it can be clearly 
 proved that our candid conscientious critic, whose 
 notions of morality taught him to accuse Milton of 
 the want of common probity or honour for having 
 boasted that he sung things yet unattempted in prose 
 or rhyme, has, in order to make good his charge 
 against Milton, had recourse to forgeries, perhaps the 
 grossest that ever were obtruded on the world ?" 
 
 It first occurred to Dr. Douglas to search for those 
 authors, from whom Lauder asserted that Milton had 
 borrowed his ideas. Many were scarce, and not to 
 be found ; but he succeeded in getting one, Staphor- 
 stius, a Dutch poet and divine, who, says Lauder, 
 " never dreamt the prince of English poets would 
 condescend to plume himself so liberally with his — 
 Staphorstius' — feathers ;" and he quotes certain pas- 
 sages in proof of this assertion, — an entire quotation 
 of thirty-two lines, besides shorter ones. " I was," says 
 Dr. Douglas, " at a loss where to turn for these lines ; 
 for it is remarkable, that through his whole work, 
 Lauder omits to tell his readers where the quotations 
 are to be found : with great labour, however, I found 
 some allusion to the subject, and also, with great sur- 
 prise, discovered that eight lines quoted as from Sta- 
 phorstius have no existence in that author ; and which 
 eight lines are in Lauder's essay printed in Italics, as 
 having the strongest resemblance to those in Paradise 
 Lost, and it will be impossible for Lauder to clear him- 
 self from the charge of having corrupted the text of 
 Staphorstius, by interpolating the eight lines not to 
 be found there. A more curious circumstance still 
 is, that this interpolated passage is taken from a Latin 
 translation of Paradise Lost itself, made by one Hogaeus, 
 or Hog, printed in the year 1690, without the vari- 
 ation of a single word : it must be thought therefore 
 N 2 
 
180 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 extremely hard that Milton should be run down as a 
 plagiarist for having stolen from himself, yet this is 
 strictly the case. Hog translated the Paradise Lost 
 into Latin : Lauder interpolates some of Hog's lines 
 in Staphorstius, and then urges these very lines as a 
 demonstration that Milton copied him. There is 
 equal testimony to prove that Lauder interpolated 
 Phineas Fletcher, and others, in the same way ; but 
 the most extraordinary part of the forgery is yet to be 
 mentioned : this interpolating critic has even forged 
 Milton himself, and interpolates the Paradise Lost, 
 however ridiculously improbable this may seem. In 
 1747, Lauder makes his first appearance as the Zoilus 
 of Milton, in the Gentleman's Magazine, where, to 
 prove that Milton had copied from the Adamus Exul 
 of Grotius, he quotes, professedly from the Paradise 
 Lost, one line and a half, beginning 
 
 ' And lakes of living sulphur ever flow, 
 And ample spaces.' 
 
 " After the most careful search, I can safely pro- 
 nounce that the above line and a half have no existence 
 in the Paradise Lost." 
 
 From the difficulty of rebutting Lauder's evidence 
 against Milton, he had acquired some merit in the eyes of 
 men of learning, which procured him the countenance 
 of the great, and encouraged him to open a subscription 
 for the publication of a new edition of those authors 
 who, according to him, had held the torch to Milton. 
 
 Upon the publication of Dr. Douglas's remarks on 
 Lauder, the booksellers, who had undertaken his 
 work, thought proper to prefix the following notice to 
 each copy of it : — 
 
 " After ten months' insolent triumph, the Rev. Dr. 
 Douglas has favoured the world with a detection of 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 181 
 
 this scene of villany, and has so powerfully urged his 
 proofs, that no hope was left of invalidating them ; an 
 immediate application to Lauder was necessary, and a 
 demand, that the books, from whence he had taken 
 the principal controverted passages, should be put 
 into our hands. He then with great confidence ac- 
 knowledged the interpolation, and seemed to wonder 
 at the folly of the world, for making such an extraor- 
 dinary rout about eighteen or twenty lines. As this 
 man has been guilty of such a wicked imposition on 
 us and the public, and is capable of so daring an 
 avowal of it, we declare that we will have no further 
 intercourse with him, and we now sell his book, only 
 as a curiosity of fraud and interpolation, which all the 
 ages of literature cannot paralleL 
 
 *' John Payne, 
 
 " Joseph Bousuet." 
 
 In a letter addressed to the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, Lauder says, " I own the charge of Dr. Dou- 
 glas to be just, and I humbly profess my sorrow, but 
 I cannot forbear to take notice, that my interpolating 
 hese authors proceeded rather from my being hurried 
 away by violent passions, and rash imprudence, with- 
 out duly weighing the case, and chiefly from a fatal 
 anxiety not to fall short of my proof in that arduous 
 undertaking; excusing myself on the score, that 
 Pope's criticisms had spoilt the sale of my edition of 
 Dr. Anthony Johnston's elegant paraphrase of the 
 Psalms in Latin verse : and I bethought me of this 
 only way left of enhancing his merit by lessening that 
 of Milton, even as Pope had endeavoured to raise 
 Milton by lessening Johnston's ; and I thought, if I 
 could strip Milton of his chief merit, fertility and 
 sublimity of thought, I should at once retrieve John- 
 ston's honour, and convict Pope of pronouncing sq 
 
182 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 erroneous a judgment, in giving- so vast a preference 
 to Milton above Johnston : a task in every way ardu- 
 ous and unpopular, had not necessity in a manner 
 compelled me, as the author whom I highly value, 
 and on whose reputation my subsistence in life in a 
 great measure depended, was lately discredited by 
 Pope, both in North and 3outh Britain, in his Dunciad ; 
 and in consequence of those remarks, the sale of my 
 edition of Johnston fell considerably, and was thought 
 nothing of." 
 
 Lauder wrote also to Dr. Douglas in the following 
 curious strain : — '* I resolved to attack Milton's fame, 
 and found some passages which gave me hopes of 
 stigmatising him as a plagiarist ; the further I carried 
 my researches, the more eager I grew for the dis- 
 covery; the more my hypothesis was opposed, the 
 more was I heated with rage*." 
 
 Lauder had been sanguine in his hopes that the 
 unreserved confession would atone for his guilt, and 
 that his subscription for a new edition of " Sarcotis," 
 and " Adamus Exul/' would meet with the same en- 
 couragement as at first ; but the anxiety of the public 
 to see them was at an end, and the design of reprint- 
 ing them met with little or no success. Thus, grown 
 desperate by disappointment, with equal inconsistency 
 and impudence he renewed his attack upon the author 
 of Paradise Lost, and then gave the world, as a reason 
 which excited him to continue his forgeries, that 
 Milton had attacked the character of Charles the 
 First ; by saying, that that king had interpolated 
 
 * " Dr. Johnson, who had been so far imposed upon bj Lauder, 
 as to furnish a preface and postscript to his work, now dictated a 
 letter for him, addressed to Dr. Douglas, acknowledging his fraud 
 in terms of suitable contrition. This extraordinary attempt of 
 Lauder*s was no sudden effort ; he had brooded over it for years, 
 and it is uncerta,in what his princijial motive was.'* — BosweU's 
 Life of Johnson. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 183 
 
 Pamela's prayer from the Arcadia, in the Icon Basi- 
 like. He also scrupled not to abuse most unjustifiably 
 Dr. Douglas, as the first exposer of his own forgery. 
 
 Lauder afterwards went to Barbadoes, and died 
 there in great poverty in the year 1770. 
 
 Early in the eighteenth century (1704) there was 
 published, in London, a history of the island of For- 
 mosa, off the coast of China, accompanied by an ex- 
 traordinary narrative of the author, who went under 
 the name of George Psalmanazar, and who, from the 
 idolatries of his own country, represented himself to 
 have become a convert to Christianity. 
 
 The description of Formosa was given with such 
 apparent fidelity, the manners and customs were illus- 
 trated with so many engravings of the houses, modes 
 of travelling, and shipping, and specimens of the lan- 
 guage and written character so philologically explained, 
 that, though some few persons of superior penetration 
 looked upon the work as an imposture, the belief was 
 almost general of the truth of the history, which was 
 considered the more interesting, as the country des- 
 cribed in the volume had hitherto been so imperfectly 
 known. There appeared subsequently, by the same 
 author, " A Dialogue between a Japanese and Formo- 
 -an," about some points of the religion of the times. 
 
 Psalmanazar was much noticed, and his ingenuity 
 had several ordeals to undergo, from the severe ex- 
 aminations and investigations which the curiosity of 
 his supporters, and the suspicion of his adversaries, 
 prompted them to make. He had actually invented a 
 I'ormosan language and grammar, into which he 
 translated several prayers and short sentences ; also 
 a vocabulary for the benefit of those who should visit 
 that island. With this, his native language^ he was 
 naturally supposed to be familiar, and be must have 
 
184 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 had an extraordinary and tenacious memory, not to 
 have laid himself open to more suspicion, in the seve- 
 ral repetitions of his examinations, which were taken 
 down for the satisfaction of others : he at last, how- 
 ever, confesssed that the whole was a forgery from 
 beginning- to end. 
 
 He was a man of very great general knowledge, 
 together with natural talent, and appears by his will 
 to have deeply regretted this imposture. His will 
 thus commences: " The last will and testament of me, 
 a poor simple and worthless creature, commonly known 
 by the assumed name of George Psalmanazar." After 
 a devout prayer to the Supreme Being, and directing 
 that he may be buried in the humblest manner, he 
 says, " The principal manuscript that I felt myself 
 bound to leave behind was a faithful narrative of ray 
 education, and sallies of my wretched youthful years, 
 and the various ways by which I was, in some mea- 
 sure unadvisedly, led into the base and shameful im- 
 posture of passing upon the world for a native of For- 
 mosa, and a convert to Christianity, and backing it 
 with a fictitious account of that island, and of my own 
 travels, conversion, &c., all or most part of it hatched 
 in my own brain, without regard to truth or honesty. 
 It is true I have long since disclaimed even publicly 
 all but the shame and guilt of that vile imposition ; yet 
 as long as I knew there were still two editions of that 
 scandalous romance remaining in England, besides the 
 several versions it had abroad, I thought it incumbent 
 upon me to undeceive the world, by unravelling that 
 whole mystery of iniquity in a posthumous work." He 
 concludes by once more thus branding his work — " It 
 was no other than a mere forgery of my own devising, 
 a scandalous imposition on tne public, and such as I 
 think myself bound to beg God and the world pardon 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 185 
 
 for writing, and have been long since, as I am to this 
 day, and shall be as long as I live, heartily sorry for, 
 and ashamed of." This document bears date in 1752, 
 when he was in the 73rd year of his age. 
 
 In the posthumous memoirs, above alluded to, he 
 studiously concealed who he really was. It appears, 
 however, that he was born, about 1679, in the south 
 of France, either in Provence or Languedoc; and 
 having been guilty of some great excesses in the uni- 
 versity where he was receiving his education, — though 
 he does not explain the nature of them, — he found it 
 necessary to take to flight, and wandered clandestinely 
 through a great part of Europe. Finding it both 
 troublesome and hazardous to preserve his incognito as 
 an European, he determined on the plan of imposture 
 which ultimately led him to write his fictitious history 
 of the Island of Formosa. The latter part of his life 
 was spent in the practice of the most unfeigned piety. 
 He supported himself by his literary labours, and was 
 the author of a considerable portion of the Ancient 
 Universal History. His death took place in 1763. 
 
 About the year 1760, much speculation was excited 
 in the literary world by the publication of a series of 
 poems purporting to have been translated, by a Mr. 
 Macpherson, from the original Gaelic of the famous 
 poet Ossian, whose compositions had been handed 
 down from his own times by oral tradition. The oc- 
 casion of Mr. Macpherson's giving them to the world 
 was as follows : — Mr. Home, author of '* Douglas," in 
 company with other gentlemen, being at Moffat in the 
 summer of 1759, met there Mr. Macpherson, then 
 tutor to Mr. Graham ; and from him they heard some 
 specimens of Gaelic poetry, which so much pleased 
 them, that they begged Mr. Macpherson to publish 
 them in a small volume. He complied, and this spe- 
 
186 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 cimen having attracted a good deal of attention, he 
 proposed to make a tour, by subscription, through the 
 Highlands, for the purpose of collecting more com- 
 plete specimens of the ancient poetry. This journey 
 he performed in 1760, and speedily published the 
 poems in a more complete form. They were received, 
 however, by many with suspicion ; it being thought, 
 from the remoteness of the period at which they were 
 said to have been produced, that they could not be 
 genuine. 
 
 In 1763, Dr. Hugh Blair wrote a dissertation on 
 the poems of Ossian. This he sent to his friend 
 David Hume, and requested to have his opinion as 
 to the authenticity of the poems. In reply, Hume 
 said, that he never heard the dissertation mentioned, 
 where some one or other did not express his doubt 
 with regard to the antiquity of the poems which were 
 the subject of it ; and that he often heard them totally 
 rejected with disdain and indignation, as a palpable 
 and impudent forgery. 
 
 The absurd pride and consequence of Macpherson, 
 scorning, as he pretended, to satisfy any body that 
 doubted his veracity, tended much to confirm the 
 general scepticism : and, added Hume, " if the poems 
 are of genuine origin, they are in all respects the 
 greatest curiosities that were ever discovered in the 
 history of literature." 
 
 The first regular attack on the authenticity of 
 Ossian's poems was made, in 1781, by Mr. Shaw, 
 the author of a Gaelic Dictionary and Grammar ; and 
 it was a vigorous one. He contended, from internal 
 evidence, that the poems were forgeries ; he asserted 
 that many of the Highland persons who had vouched 
 for their genuineness had never seen a line of the 
 supposed originals, and that Macpherson himself had 
 
DECEPTION, AKD CREDULITY. 187 
 
 constantly evaded showing them to him; and he 
 maintained, that both the fable and the machinery of 
 the principal poems were Irish ; and that if, as a blind, 
 any manuscripts had ever been shown, they must have 
 been in the Irish language, the Earse dialect of the 
 Gaelic never having been written or printed till, in 
 1754, Mr. Macfarlane printed a translation of Bax- 
 ter's " Call to the Unconverted." An answer was 
 attempted by Mr. Clarke, a member of the Scottish 
 Antiquarian Society ; but, though he succeeded in 
 some points, he failed in his principal object. 
 
 After a lapse of nearly twenty years, a more power- 
 ful antagonist of Ossian took the field. This was Mr. 
 Malcolm Laing, author of a History of Scotland. To 
 that history he added an elaborate dissertation, in 
 which he skilfully investigated the claim of the poems 
 to antiquity. The principal grounds on which he de- 
 cided against it were, the many false and inaccurate 
 allusions to the history of Britain while the country 
 was under the dominion of the Romans ; the flagrant 
 diflference between Highland manners as described in 
 the poems and by historians ; the many palpable imi- 
 tations from the classics and the Scriptures ; the fact 
 that all the Highland traditionary poems yet known 
 referred to the ninth and tenth centuries, and that 
 there existed no Gaelic manuscript older than the fif- 
 teenth century ; the resemblance which the strains of 
 the pretended Ossian bore to The Highlander, one of 
 Macpherson*s acknowledged compositions ; and, lastly, 
 certain startling expressions, used in print by Mac- 
 pherson, which seemed almost to render it certain that 
 he was not the translator, but the author, of the works 
 which he had given to the world under the name of 
 Ossian. 
 
 Anxious that the truth should be elicited on a sub- 
 
188 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 ject SO interesting to them as their national poetry, 
 the Highland Society had already, as far back as 
 1797, appointed a committee to inquire into the nature 
 and authenticity of Ossian*s poems. Mr. Laing's 
 Dissertation, of which a second edition was published 
 in 1804, seems to have quickened the movements of 
 the committee. To assist in elucidating the subject, 
 a series of queries was circulated throughout the High- 
 lands and the Scottish islands. The series consists 
 of six articles, of which the first is the most important. 
 ** Have you ever heard repeated or sung any of the 
 poems ascribed to Ossian, translafed and published 
 by Mr. Macpherson? By whom have you heard 
 them so repeated, and at what time or times ? Did 
 you ever commit any of them to writing, or can you 
 remember them so well as to set them down ?" The 
 same answer was requested as to any other ancient 
 poems of the same kind ; and the committee likewise 
 expressed a wish to obtain as much information as 
 possible " with regard to the traditionary belief of 
 the country concerning the history of Fingal, and his 
 followers, and that of Ossian and his poems." 
 
 It was not till 1810 that the society published the 
 result of the inquiry which it had set on foot. The 
 answers to the queries were certainly by no means 
 satisfactory. The Report, which was drawn up by 
 Henry Mackenzie, stated that the committee had di- 
 rected its inquiry to two points ; firstly, what poetry, 
 of what kind, and of what degree of excellence, 
 existed anciently in the Highlands of Scotland, 
 which was generally known by the denomination of 
 Ossianic; and, secondly, how far that collection of 
 such ,poetry, published by Mr. James Macpherson is 
 genuine. On the first point the committee spoke 
 decidedly. It declared its firm conviction that such 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 189 
 
 poetry did exist ; that it was common, general, and in 
 great abundance ; that it was of a most striking and 
 impressive sort, in a high degree eloquent, tender, 
 and sublime." On the second point, there was a 
 woeful falling-off in confident assertion. " The com- 
 mittee," says the reporter, "is possessed of no do- 
 cuments to show how much of his collection Mr. Mac- 
 pherson obtained in the form in which he has given 
 it to the world. The poems, and fragments of poems, 
 which the committee has been able to procure, contain, 
 as will appear from the article in the Appendix, 
 No. 15, often the substance, and sometimes almost 
 the literal expression (the ipsissima verba) of passages 
 given by Mr. Macpherson, in the poems of which 
 he has published the translations. But the committee 
 has not been able to obtain one poem the same in 
 title and tenor with the poems published by him. 
 It is inclined to believe that he was in use to supply 
 chasms, and to give connection^ by inserting passages 
 which he did not find^ and to add what he conceived 
 to he dignity and delicacy to the original compo- 
 sition, by striking out passages, by softening inci- 
 dents, by refining the language; in short, by changing 
 what he considered as too simple or rude for a mo- 
 dern ear, and elevating what in his opinion was 
 below the standard of good poetry. To what degree, 
 however, he exercised these liberties, it is impossible 
 for the committee to determine. The advantages he 
 possessed, which the committee began its inquiries too 
 late to enjoy, of collecting from the oral recitation of 
 a number of persons, now no more, a very great 
 number of the same poems, on the same subjects, 
 and then collating those different copies, or editions, 
 if they may be so called, rejecting what was spurious or 
 corrupted in one copy, and adopting, from another. 
 
190 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 something more genuine and excellent in its place, 
 afforded him an opportunity of putting together what 
 might fairly enough be called an original whole, of 
 much more beauty, and with much fewer blemishes, 
 than the committee believe it now possible for any 
 person or combination of persons to obtain." 
 
 This Report, published as it was by persons who 
 were anxious to establish the authenticity of the 
 poems, seems decisively to prove that Macpherson was, 
 in fact, the fabricator of the works attributed to Os- 
 sian, or, at the least, that he formed a cento from frag- 
 ments of ballads and tales, blended with interpolations 
 of his own. The controversy was, however, continued 
 for some time longer, and much ink was shed by the 
 believers and infidels ; the presumed Gaelic originals 
 were also at length published ; but the believers, 
 nevertheless, daily lost ground, the public ceased to 
 take an interest in the dispute, and the question seems 
 now to be finally set to rest. 
 
 The Letters of Junius, though not so strictly to be 
 considered as a literary imposture, have yet excited so 
 much attention and speculation, both by their matter 
 and the impenetrable mystery in which they have 
 hitherto been involved, that a brief notice of that 
 which 1 consider to be the most successful attempt to 
 discover the real author may not here be unacceptable. 
 
 Mr. G. Chalmers wrote a dissertation, to prove 
 that the author of the Letters of Junius was a Mr. 
 M^Aulay Boyd ; and, certainly, as far as circumstan- 
 tial evidence goes, short of direct proof, there appears 
 much reason for supposing him not far from the truth 
 in his conjectures. 
 
 M^Aulay Boyd was born in April, 1746, at his 
 father's house, Ship Street, Dublin, and in 1761 was 
 received as a fellow-commoner in the university of 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 191 
 
 that city. He came to London in 1766, to study the 
 law ; but his propensities carried him oftener to St. 
 Stephen's than to Westminster Hall, and he exhibited 
 a wonderful retention of memory, by reciting per- 
 fectly the speeches of the night to his associates in 
 his club. He became intimate with Burke, Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds, Garrick, and many other members of the 
 Literary Club. 
 
 At the time of an election in Antrim, he addressed 
 twelve letters to the independent electors, under the 
 appellation of " The Freeholder," to gain their votes 
 for a constitutional candidate — Wilson ; and these 
 letters are known to have contributed to the raising 
 of that wild clamour, which carried Wilson's election 
 by an enthusiastic blast of momentary madness. The 
 style of The Freeholder is strongly impregnated with 
 the essence of Junius. A great deal of evidence is 
 adduced in continuation by Chalmers, which seems to 
 l>ear him out in his conjectures ; and it may be briefly 
 recapitulated, that, firstly, the letters of Junius appear 
 to have been written by an Irishman ; secondly, that 
 they are the work of an inexperienced or juvenile 
 pen ; and if Boyd wrote them, it must have been 
 when he was between his twenty-third and twenty- 
 fifth years; thirdly, they were published by one 
 ** who delighted to fish in troubled waters," a propen- 
 sity which Boyd frequently gratified: fourthly, the 
 author was a constant attendant on both houses of 
 parliament ; fifthly, compared with The Freeholder, 
 Boyd's acknowledged work, there is a wonderful 
 sameness in all the faults and excellences of the two. 
 
 Boyd took a particular interest in Junius, and talked 
 as if he knew the author, but that he never would be 
 generally known : his wife often suspected him to be 
 
192 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the writer. He never disclaimed the imputation, or 
 
 claimed the honour. 
 
 The public, says Mr. Chalmers, has an interest in 
 
 exposing this mystery ; and the relatives of those 
 
 respectable persons who were said to be the writers 
 have also an interest, if it is known where the appli- 
 cation could be made, in placing the seditious pen of 
 Junius in the proper hands. 
 
 Almon, a bookseller, imagined that he had clearly 
 detected Boyd as the author. In 1769, at a meeting 
 of the booksellers and printers, H. S. Woodfall read 
 a letter from Junius, because it contained a passage 
 relating to the business of the meeting. Almon saw 
 the hand-writing of the manuscript, without dis- 
 closing his thoughts to the meeting ; but the next 
 time he saw Boyd at his shop, in Piccadilly, Almon 
 said; " I have seen a part of one of Junius's Letters in 
 manuscript, which I believe is your hand-writing." 
 Boyd instantly changed colour, and, after a short 
 pause, replied, " The similitude of hand-writing is not 
 a conclusive fact." Now, Boyd was by nature confi- 
 dent, and by habit a man of the world, a sort of cha- 
 racter not apt to blush. From this time Almon used 
 to say that he suspected Junius was a broken-down 
 gentleman without a penny in his pocket. 
 
 The anonymous publication of a series of letters 
 was, before this time, had recourse to for a political 
 purpose. About the year 1722, when Charles, Duke 
 of Grafton, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, William 
 Wood, a hardwareman and bankrupt, alleging the 
 great want of copper money in that kingdom, pro- 
 cured a patent for coining one hundred and eight 
 thousand pounds, to pass there as current money. This 
 measure was thought by some persons to be a vile job 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 193 
 
 from beginning to end, and that the chief procurers 
 of the patent were to be sharers in the profits. Some 
 anonymous letters were, therefore, written in 1724, 
 under the assumed name of the Dvapier^ or Draper, 
 warning the people wot to receive the coin which was 
 then sent over. 
 
 The real author of these letters, as afterwards ap- 
 peared, was the celebrated Dr. Swift, Dean of St. 
 Patrick's, who, indignant at the scheme, boldly with- 
 stood the designs of the grasping projector. 
 
 Wood's project was, by virtue of a patent fraudu- 
 lently obtained, to coin halfpence for Ireland, at about 
 eleven parts in twelve under their real value; but 
 which, even if ever so good, no man could have been 
 obliged to receive in any payment whatever. 
 
 The first letter convinced all parties in Ireland that 
 the admission of Wood's money would prove fatal to 
 the nation ; some passages in the fourth, being thought 
 to reflect upon the people in power, were selected for 
 prosecution, and three hundred pounds offered, as a 
 reward for the discovery of the author ; but no clue 
 was ever given by which such discovery could be 
 made. The copies were always sent to the press by 
 some obscure messenger, who never knew the person 
 from whom he received them. The amanuensis alone 
 was trusted, to whom, two years afterwards, the author 
 gave an employment that brought him in forty pounds 
 a-year. 
 
 The purpose of the letters was completely an- 
 swered, Wood was compelled to relinquish his patent, 
 and his halfpence were totally suppressed. 
 
 That the letters of " Junius," " The Drapier,' 
 and other political tracts, should have been published 
 anonymously cannot be considered a very extraor- 
 dinary caution on the part of the authors ; though 
 
194 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the public are always anxious to know the writers of 
 such pamphlets as have been cleverly executed. But 
 many authors of works purely literary, and which, 
 after a perusal by the public, have been deservedly 
 praised, have for a time kept themselves studiously 
 concealed, as if unwilling to receive any public tribute 
 of admiration ; or, perhaps, amused by the variety of 
 speculations afloat concerning them. 
 
 Dean Swift, at first, published his " Tale of a 
 Tub/' anonymously ; it speedily excited very consi- 
 derable attention, some applauding others reprobating 
 its tendency and design. Fourteen years after this, 
 " Gulliver's Travels '* appeared, which acquired a still 
 more extended popularity. Even Swift's most inti- 
 mate friends were unacquainted with its origin ; 
 though many suspected who the author was. Gay 
 wrote to him, saying, " About ten days ago, a book 
 was published here of the travels of one Gulliver, 
 which has been the conversation of the whole town 
 ever since : the whole impression sold in a week, and 
 nothing is more diverting than to hear the different 
 opinions people give of it ; though all agree in liking 
 it extremely. It is usually said you are the author ; 
 but, I am told, the bookseller declares he knows not 
 from what hand it came." 
 
 In the summer of 1814, there appeared, anony- 
 mously, a novel, bearing the title of " Waverley." It 
 vi3iS written in a fascinating style, and was read with 
 avidity by every one. It was speedily followed by 
 other historical novels, as interesting, or more so, 
 from the pen of " the Author of Waverley." They 
 succeeded each other with such prolific and astonish- 
 ing rapidity, and were executed in such a masterly 
 manner, that, at last, the curiosity of the public 
 became extreme, to discover to whom they were in- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 195 
 
 debted for them. Pamphlets on the subject, and 
 speculations in periodicals, were abundant. Various 
 persons were named ; but the majority leaned to the 
 opinion that Sir Walter Scott was the writer. It was 
 not, however, till many years afterwards, that circum- 
 stances, arising out of the bankruptcy of his pub- 
 lishers, compelled him to throw aside the veil, and to 
 stand forth the avowed author of productioiis which 
 have spread his fame to the farthest limits of civilised 
 society, and which can never cease to retain a strong 
 hold upon the human mind. 
 
 From this brief notice of one extraordinary genius, 
 who lived long to enjoy his fame, we must go back, 
 nearly half a century, to make mention of another, 
 who perished, unpraised and unfriended, before he 
 reached the age of manhood. In the annals of lite- 
 rature there is no example recorded of precocious talent 
 which can vie with that of Thomas Chatterton. He 
 was born at Bristol, in St. Mary Redcliffe parish, on 
 the 20th of November, 1752, and was the posthu- 
 mous son of an individual who had been successively 
 writing master to a classical school, singing man in 
 Bristol Cathedral, and master of the Pyle-street Free- 
 school. At the age of five years, he was apparently 
 so stupid as to be deemed incapable of learning his 
 letters. It was not till his latent powers were roused, 
 by being shown the illuminated capitals of an old 
 French manuscript, that he became anxious to acquire 
 learning. Henceforth he needed no stimulant. Be- 
 fore he was eight years old, he was admitted into 
 Colson's school, the Christ's Hospital of Bristol, 
 where he read much in his intervals of leisure, and 
 began to try his poetical skill. When he was some- 
 what under fifteen, he was apprenticed to Mr. Lam- 
 bert, an attorney. It was while he was in this situa- 
 o 2 
 
196 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 tion, and early in October, 1768, when the new bridge 
 at Bristol was completed, that he gave to the world 
 the first article of that series of literary forgeries 
 which has immortalised him. It was sent to Farley's 
 Bristol Journal, and was called " a description of the 
 Friars first passing over the old bridge : taken from an 
 ancient manuscript." He subsequently, from time to 
 time, produced various poems of pre-eminent beauty, 
 clothed in antique language. The language, however, 
 was not that of any one period ; nor was the style, 
 nor in many instances the form of composition, that 
 of the fifteenth century, the age to which he assigned 
 them. He pretended that they were written by 
 Thomas Rowley, a priest, and Thomas Canynge^ and 
 that they were copied from parchments, which his 
 father had found in a large box, in a room over the 
 chapel on the north side of RedclifFe church. While 
 he was engaged in composing these poems, he was 
 also a liberal contributor of prose and verse to the 
 Magazines. Having, in his moody moments, avowed 
 an intention of committing suicide, his master released 
 him from his indentures, and Chatterton repaired to 
 London, where he resolved to depend upon his pen 
 for subsistence. At the outset, his hopes were raised 
 to a high pitch ; but they were soon blighted. In 
 spite of his wonderful fertility, and his persevering 
 exertions, he seems to have been unable to provide for 
 the day that was passing over him. Privations and 
 wounded pride drove him to despair, and, on the 25th 
 of August, 1770, he put an end to his existence by 
 poison. Editions of the pretended poems of Rowley 
 were published by Mr. Tyrrwhit and Dean Milles ; 
 and a controversy was long and vehemently maintained 
 on the question of their antiquity. There are now 
 few persons who doubt that they are the work of 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 197 
 
 Chatterton. That he was capable of producing them 
 is sufficiently proved by his acknowledged poems. 
 
 We come now to a much more daring forgery, per- 
 petrated by an individual whose talents were far 
 inferior to those of Chatterton. Mr. Malone, in the 
 preface to his edition of Shakspeare, had shown that 
 Shakspeare died at the age of fifty-two in April 1616, 
 leaving his daughter, and her husband Dr. J. Hall, 
 executors. The will demonstrates, that he died pos- 
 sessed of *' baubles, gewgaws, and toys to mock apes, 
 &c." Dr. Hall died in 1633, leaving a will, and be- 
 queathing his library and manuscripts to J. Nash. 
 " Here," says Mr. Malone, ** is a proof that the 
 executor of Shakspeare's will left a library and manu- 
 scripts behind him.*' In a satisfactory manner did Mr 
 Malone trace down, from the public records, the legal 
 transmission of the personal property of Shakspeare's 
 decendants to a recent period, from which he inferred, 
 that, amongst the present generation of them, frag- 
 ments might be found, if curiosity would prompt dili- 
 gence to search the repositories of concealment. The 
 search proved successful, and from the appearance of 
 the manuscripts of Shakspeare in 1790, every moment 
 was expectancy of more arrivals ; in fact discovery 
 succeeded discovery so fast, that Mr. Malone obtained 
 documents enough to fill a folio. A painting of Shak- 
 speare was also found, the very painting that enabled 
 Droeshout to engrave the effigies of Shakspeare which 
 was prefixed to the folio edition of his dramas, and of 
 which Ben Jonson affirmed that 
 
 " The Grarcr had a strife 
 
 With nature, to outdo the life; '* 
 
 and every thing concurred to evince the genuineness of 
 this ancient painting. 
 
198 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 A new discovery of Shakspearian papers was an- 
 nounced for exhibition in Norfolk-street, in 1794, and 
 curiosity was again roused. 
 
 Mr. Malone, from some private reasons, seemed 
 indifferent about these papers in Norfolk-street ; and 
 he was urged by his scepticism to contradict that pro- 
 bability which he had taught the imaginative world 
 to entertain in favour of the discovery of Shakspearian 
 fragments. Many other learned persons being, how- 
 ever, convinced by examination of the authenticity of 
 these miscellaneous papers, the publication of them 
 was undertaken by subscription, and four guineas: 
 a copy were freely paid by the subscribers. 
 
 When the book came out, and not till then, did 
 Mr. Malone condescend to look at it, and examine its 
 pretensions ; and he quickly decided it to be a pal- 
 pable and bold forgery. This he demonstrated by a 
 learned and critical examination of each particular 
 paper ; his inquiry was drawn up in the form of a 
 letter, and addressed to the Right Honourable James, 
 Earl of Charlemont, in the year 1796. 
 
 The editor of them, Mr. Ireland, in his preface, had 
 assured the public, that all men of taste who had viewed 
 them previous to publication unanimously testified in 
 favour of their authenticity, and declared that there 
 was on their side a mass of irrefragable evidence, ex- 
 ternal and internal ; that it was impossible, amid such 
 various sources of detection, for the art of imitation to 
 have hazarded itself without being betrayed ; and, 
 consequently, that these papers could be no other 
 than the production of Shakspeare himself. 
 
 The editor, in continuation, said, that these papers 
 came into his hands from his son, Samuel William 
 Henry Ireland, a young man nineteen years of age, 
 by whom the discovery was accidentally made, at the 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 199 
 
 house of a gentleman of considerable property, amongst 
 a heterogeneous collection of family papers. 
 
 The legal contracts between Shakspeare and others 
 were, it was said, first found by the junior Ireland, 
 and soon afterwards, the deed of gift to William Henry 
 Ireland, described as the friend of Shakspeare, in con- 
 sequence of his having saved the dramatist's life. In 
 pursuing this research, he was so fortunate as to meet 
 with some deeds very material to the interests of the 
 gentleman at whose house he was staying ; and such 
 as established, beyond all doubt, his title to conside- 
 rable property, of which he was as ignorant as he was 
 of possessing these interesting manuscripts of Shak- 
 speare. In return for this service, the gentleman 
 promised him every paper relative to Shakspeare. 
 
 Fully satisfied with the honour and liberality shown 
 to him, the finder of these treasures did not feel justi- 
 fied in importuning or requesting a gentleman, to 
 whom he was known by obligation alone, to subject 
 himself to the impertinence and licentiousness of lite- 
 rary curiosity and cavil, unless he should voluntarily 
 come forward. He had applied to the original pos- 
 sessor of them for his permission to print them, and 
 only obtained it under the strongest injunctions of 
 secrecy. 
 
 ** It is to be observed," says Mr. Malone, " that we 
 are not told where the deed was first discovered ; it is 
 said in a mansion-house, but where situated is not 
 tated. Another very remarkable incident is men- 
 ioned : the discoverer met the possessor, to whom he 
 was unknown, at a coffee-house, or some public place, 
 and the conversation turning on old autographs, of 
 which the discoverer was a collector, the country gen- 
 tleman said to him, * If you are for autographs, I am 
 your man ; come to my chambers^ any morning, and 
 
200 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 rummage my old deeds, and you will find enough of 
 them/ Accordingly the discoverer goes, and taking 
 down a parcel, in a few minutes lighted on the name 
 of Shakspeare. The discovery of the title to a con- 
 siderable estate was so fortunate and beneficial a cir- 
 cumstance to this unknown gentleman, that we cannot 
 wonder at his liberality in giving up all his right to 
 these valuable literary curiosities ; but one naturally 
 wishes to know in what county this estate lies, or 
 whether any suit has been instituted within the last 
 year or two, in consequence of such a discovery of 
 title-deeds so little dreamt of." 
 
 According to Mr. Malone, the great objections, 
 critically speaking, to be brought against the manu- 
 scripts are, firstly, the orthography ; this is not only 
 not the orthography of Elizabeth or her time, but for 
 the most part of no one age whatever. The spelling 
 of the copulative and^ and the preposition ybr, ande — 
 forre, is unprecedented. " I have," says Mr. Malone, 
 " perused some thousands of deeds and manuscripts, 
 and never once found such a spelling of them ; the 
 absurd way in which almost every word is overladen 
 with both vowels and consonants, will strike every 
 reader who has any knowledge on the subject." 
 
 Quotations from manuscripts are made by Mr. 
 Malone, from Chaucer downwards to the end of the 
 sixteenth century, showing the progressive changes in 
 the mode of orthography ; and they certainly appear to 
 prove, most satisfactorily, that the papers, in which such 
 laboured and capricious deformity of spelling is intro- 
 duced, are an entire forgery. For example, the word 
 masterre^ at that period, was spelt maister. There is 
 not a single authority for Londonne. So early as the 
 time of Edward the First, Robert of Gloucester 
 said, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 201 
 
 * And now me clepet it London, that is lighter in the mouth.' 
 
 Leycesterre for Leycester is as incorrect. 
 
 Secondly, the phraseology is equally faulty, parti- 
 cularly in the letter, supposed to be written and di- 
 rected by Queen Elizabeth, to William Shakspeare. 
 This letter, in particular, it is very easy to prove a 
 forgery ; as, by an anachronism, it is directed to Wil- 
 liam Shakspeare, at the Globe by the Thames. Now 
 the Globe was a theatre which did not open till the 
 year 1594 ; yet, in the same letter, mention is made 
 of the expected presence of Leicester, who died in 
 September 1588, when this theatre ,did not exist." 
 
 The deeds and miscellaneous papers were exhibited 
 in Norfolk street, long before their pubHcation, and 
 they were submitted to the critical examination of any 
 one willing to question them ; nor, from their appear- 
 ance of venerable antiquity, was a doubt of their 
 genuine authenticity allowed to be entertained. When 
 the elder Mr. Ireland afterwards published his *' Vin- 
 dication," he showed how readily the most discerning 
 persons yielded their faith to this imposture. Mr. 
 Boaden, he says, thus wrote to G. Steevens after 
 having seen the manuscripts. " In some instances 
 credulity is no disgrace, strong enthusiasm is always 
 eager to believe ; I confess that, for some time after 
 I had seen them, I continued to think they might be 
 genuine ; they bore the character of the poet's writing, 
 the paper appeared of sufficient age, the water-marks 
 were earnestly displayed, and the matter diligently 
 applauded ; I remember that I beheld the papers with 
 the tremor of utmost delight, touched the invaluable 
 relics with reverential respect, and deemed even ex- 
 istence dearer as it gave me so refined a satisfaction." 
 
 Similar and even stronger impressions were made 
 
202 . SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 on James Boswell, one of those literary characters 
 who, in company with Dr. Parr, signed a certificate 
 expressing their belief of the authenticity of the 
 papers. Previous to signing his name, Boswell fell 
 on his knees, and, in a tone of enthusiasm and ex- 
 ultation, thanked God that he had lived to witness 
 their discovery, and that he could now die in peace. 
 In proportion to this strong belief, therefore, was the 
 public indignation excited against the inventors of 
 that monstrous,— and to the subscribers expensive — 
 forgery, which the critical acumen of Mr. Malone 
 had so clearly exposed. The blame of the transaction 
 was imputed as much to Mr. Ireland, the father, as 
 to William Henry, the son, who was in reality sole 
 contriver of this imposture. In an exculpatory pam- 
 phlet, he says, " In justice to the memory of my father, 
 I think it necessary to give a true account of the 
 publication of these manuscripts. After dinner my 
 father would read different accounts of Shakspeare, 
 and remark how wonderful it was that no vestige of 
 his signature remains, except that at Doctors' Com- 
 mons. Curiosity led me to look at the signature, in 
 Steevens' edition of his plays, and it occurred to me, 
 that if some old writing could be produced, and passed 
 off for Shakspeare's, it might occasion a little mirth, 
 and show how far credulity would go in search of an- 
 tiquities. I first tried an experiment by writing a 
 letter, as from the author of an old book in my pos- 
 session, in dedication of it to Queen Elizabeth : I 
 showed it to my father, who thought it genuine. This 
 encouraged me to proceed till the whole work was 
 completed, and published with the following title page : 
 ' Miscellaneous papers and legal instruments under 
 the hand and seal of William Shakspeare, including 
 the tragedy of King Lear, and a fragment of Hamlet, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 203 
 
 folio, London, 1796/ And subsequently, * Free 
 reflections on the miscellaneous papers, etc., in the 
 possession of S. Ireland, to which are added extracts 
 from the Virgin Queen, a play/ 
 
 The story of the country gentleman was told to 
 silence the numerous enquiries as to where they came 
 from. In conclusion, Mr. S. Ireland says, " I most 
 sincerely regret any offence I may have given the 
 world, or particular individuals, trusting at the same 
 time, that they will deem the whole the work of a boy, 
 without any evil or bad intent, but hurried on, 
 thoughtless of any danger that awaited to ensnare 
 him/' 
 
 The drama of Vortigern, which formed one portion 
 of the forgery, was brought out at Drury-lane theatre, 
 and was unanimously damned. 
 
 The art of counterfeiting old deeds and manuscripts 
 has often been had recourse to for the purpose of 
 fraud. Some curious evidence of such practices was 
 given in the case of " Mossam v. Dame Theodosia 
 Joy/* which may be found at large in the State Trials, 
 vol. 7, p. 371. This lady was proved to have forged 
 the title deeds of an estate to which she laid claim. 
 Serjeant Stringer, in the course of the trial, enquired 
 of Mrs. Duffet, one of the witnesses, " Pray what did 
 they do to the deeds to make them look like ancient 
 true deeds ?" The witness replied, " For the making 
 of the outsides look old and dirty, they used to rub 
 them on the windows that were very dusty, and wear 
 them in the pockets, to crease them, for weeks to- 
 gether. According as they intended to make use of 
 them, when they had been rubbed and made to look 
 dirty, and they were to pass for deeds of many years* 
 standing, it was used to lay them in a balcony, or any 
 open place, for the rain to wet them, and the next 
 
^04 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 clear day they were exposed to the sun, or placed 
 before the fire, to dry them hastily, that they might 
 be shrivelled." 
 
 The introduction of the Inquisition into Portugal, 
 has been stated to have resulted from the admirable 
 skill in counterfeiting signatures, v^^hich was possessed 
 by a monk named Saavedra. About the year 1540, 
 this monk forged apostolic bulls, royal decrees, and 
 bills of exchange, with so much accuracy that they 
 passed for genuine. He also succeeded so well as to 
 pass himself off for a knight, commander of the mili- 
 tary order of St. Jago, the income of which amounted 
 to three hundred ducats, which he received for a year 
 and a half. In a short time he acquired, by means of 
 the royal deeds which he counterfeited, three hundred 
 and sixty thousand ducats. He might have remained 
 undetected through life, had not his successes tempted 
 him to undertake a still more hazardous fraud, which 
 led to his detection ; falUng in with a Jesuit traveUing 
 to Portugal with an apostolical brief for the foundation 
 of a Jesuit's College, he concerted a plan for intro- 
 ducing the inquisition. Saavedra forged letters from 
 Charles V. to the King of Portugal, and a papal bull 
 for establishing the inquisition there. This bull ap- 
 pointed Saavedra legate. Following up his deception, 
 he assumed the character of a Roman cardinal, and 
 made a visit to Portugal. The king dispatched a dis- 
 tinguished nobleman to receive him. Saavedra spent 
 three months at Lisbon, after which he travelled 
 through the kingdom ; but he was at last detected by 
 the Inquisitor General of Spain, and was sentenced to 
 the galleys for ten years. 
 
 The eighteenth century was closed with a literary 
 fraud, concocted in Germany, to which circumstances 
 gave a temporary success. So little is known of the 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 205 
 
 interior of Africa, that any thing" which seems likely 
 to add to our knowledge upon this subject can hardly 
 fail to excite attention. Public curiosity was, there- 
 fore, raised to the highest pitch, when a work was 
 announced, with the captivating title of " Travels in 
 the Interior of Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope 
 to Morocco, from the years 1781 to 1797; by 
 Christian Frederick Bamberger." Translations of a 
 work which promised to remove the veil, that had so 
 long covered central Africa, were immediately under- 
 taken in England and in France ; and each translator 
 laboured indefatigably, in the fear of the market being 
 forestalled by his rival. The delusion, however, was 
 quickly dispelled ; the work being discovered to be 
 the manufacture of a printer of W ittemberg, by name 
 Zachary Taurinius, who had before tried his skill in 
 forging a Voyage to the East Indies, Egypt, &c. and 
 a Voyage and Journey to Asia, Africa, and America. 
 A literary imposition similar to that which was 
 practised in England by Chatterton, was effected in 
 France, in 1804. A small volume was published, at 
 Paris, edited by M. Vanderbourg, and professing to 
 be the " Poems of Margaret Eleanor Clotilda de 
 Vallon-Chalys, afterwards Madame de Surville, a 
 French poetess of the fifteenth century." They were 
 said to have been discovered, in 1782, among the 
 dusty archives of his family, by a M. de Surville, a 
 descendant of the fair authoress, who had a transcript 
 of them made. The originals were unfortunately de- 
 gtroyed by fire, and M. de Surville lost his life during 
 the French revolution, but the copy of the poems was 
 saved, and, with much difficulty, was procured by the 
 editor. Madame de Surville is represented as having 
 displayed singularly precocious abilities ; to have been 
 married in 142 1 ; and to have lived at least to the 
 
206 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 age of ninety, exercising her poetical talent to the 
 last. Serious doubts as to the truth of this story are 
 entertained by the literary men of France. But, 
 though the authenticity of these compositions may be 
 disputed, there can be no dispute respecting their 
 merit. There is a grace, sweetness, and spirit, in 
 them, which are exceedingly delightful. From the 
 following translation of the supposed Madam de Sur- 
 ville's " Verses to My First Born," which appeared 
 in an early number of the New Monthly Magazine, 
 some idea may be formed of her poetical talents : 
 
 My cherished infant ! image of thy sire ! 
 
 Sleep on the bosom which thy small lip presses ; 
 Sleep little one, and close those eyes of fire, 
 
 Those eyelets which the weight of sleep oppresses. 
 
 Sweet friend ! dear little one ! may slumbers lend thee 
 
 Delights which 1 must never more enjoy ! 
 I watch o'er thee, to nourish and defend thee, 
 
 And count these vigils sweet, for thee, my boy. 
 
 Sleep, infant, sleep ! my solace and my treasure ! 
 
 Sleep on my breast, the breast which gladly bore thee ! 
 And though thy words can give this heart no pleasure, 
 
 It loves to see thy thousand smiles come o'er thee. 
 
 Yes, thou wilt smile, young friend, when thou awakest, 
 Yes, thou wilt smile, to see ray joyful guise; 
 
 Thy mother's face thou never now mistakest. 
 And thou hast learned to look into her eyes. 
 
 What ! do thy little fingers leave the breast. 
 
 The fountain which thy small lip pressed at pleasure ? 
 
 Couldst thou exhaust it, pledge of passion blest, 
 
 E'en then thou couldst not know my fond love's measure. 
 
 My gentle son ! sweet friend, whom I adore ! 
 
 My infant love ! my comfort ! my delight ! 
 I gaze on thee, and gazing o'er and o'er, 
 
 I blame the quick return of every night. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 207 
 
 His little arms stretch forth — sleep o'er him steals — 
 His eye is closed — he sleeps — how still his breath ! 
 
 But for the tints his flowery cheek reveals, 
 He seems to slumber in the arms of death. 
 
 Awake my child ! — I tremble with affright! — 
 Awaken ! — Fatal thought, thou art no more! — 
 
 My child ' — one moment gaze upon the light, 
 And e'en with thy repose my life restore. 
 
 Blest error ! still he sleeps — I breathe again — 
 May gentle dreams delight his calm repose ! 
 
 But when will he^ for whom I sigh — oh when 
 Will he,'beside me watch thine eyes unclose ? 
 
 When shall I see him who hath given thee life, — 
 
 My youthful husband, noblest of his race ? 
 Methinks I see, blest mother, and blest wife ! 
 
 Thy little hands thy father's neck embrace. 
 
 How will he revel in thy first caress, 
 
 Disputing with thee for thy gentle kiss ! 
 But think not to engross his tenderness, 
 
 Clotilda too shall have her share of bliss. 
 
 How will he joy to see his image there ; 
 
 The sweetness of his large cerulean eye ! 
 His nolle forehead, and his graceful air, 
 
 Which Love himself might view with jealousy. 
 
 For me — I am not jealous of his love. 
 
 And gladly I divide it, sweet, with thee ; 
 Thou shalt, like him, a faithful husband prove, 
 
 But not, like him, give this anxiety. 
 
 I speak to thee— thou understand'st me not — 
 
 Thou couldst not understand though sleep were fled — 
 
 Poor little child ! the tangles of his thought, 
 His infant thought, are not unravelled. 
 
 We have been happy infants as thou art ; 
 
 Sad reason will destroy the dream too soon ; 
 Sleep in the calm repose that lulls thy heart, 
 
 Ere long its very memory will be gone. 
 
208 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 In 1823, a visit to England was made by a singular 
 individual, named Hunter, a native of America, v^rho, 
 though it appears certain that he professed to be what 
 he was not, was undoubtedly a man of considerable 
 abilities. During his stay in this country, he pub- 
 lished his own adventures, under the title of " Memoirs 
 of a Captivity among the Indians of North America, 
 from Childhood to the Age of Nineteen ; with Anec- 
 dotes descriptive of their Manners and Customs." 
 The work contains a highly-interesting narrative of his 
 alleged wanderings with various tribes of the Red Men, 
 and was at first much prized as a faithful picture of 
 Indian life. The society of Hunter was eagerly sought 
 by many eminent literary and philanthropic characters, 
 who were eager to assist him iu' that which he pro- 
 fessed to be his grand object ; namely, to devote him- 
 self to the civilisation of the red race, in order to 
 avert the destruction which seems to impend over it. 
 After his departure from England, however, strong 
 evidence was brought forward, to demonstrate that his 
 story was, in great part, if not wholly, a fabrication. 
 That Hunter had had some intercourse with the In- 
 dians, is not improbable ; but the romantic tale which 
 he tells of his peregrinations must henceforth be 
 classed among works of fiction. 
 
 In the following year, 1824, the extraordinary po- 
 pularity which Sir Walter Scott's novels had acquired 
 in Germany, gave occasion to an audacious fraud on 
 the part of some German booksellers. A novel was 
 got up by them, with the title of Walladmor, and was 
 ushered into the world, at the Leipsic fair, as the 
 translation of a new production by Sir Walter. This 
 spurious Simon Pure subsequently made its appear- 
 ance in an English dress. Though the author must 
 undoubtedly be classed among knaves, it must in jus- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 209 
 
 tice be owned, that he was not a fool ; there being 
 some parts of his work which are by no means con- 
 temptible. 
 
 The last instance of literary imposture dates no 
 further back than the year 1832. A M. Douville 
 was the perpetrator, and the title which he gave to 
 it was, " A Journey in Congo and the Interior of 
 Equinoctial Africa," M. Douville had probably vi- 
 sited some of the Portuguese settlements on the coast, 
 but his astonishing discoveries in the interior must, 
 like the captivity of Hunter, be considered as deserv- 
 ing of equal credence with the travels of Gulliver. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MASTERPIECES AND DECEPTIONS IN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE. 
 
 Early Practice of Painting and Sculpture — Deception not the pur- 
 pose of Painting — Deceptive Powers of early Painters : Zeuxis, 
 Parrhasius, Apellcs, and Protogenes — Anecdote of Vandyke and 
 Frank Hals — Apellcs and the shoemaking Critic — Apelles at 
 Alexandria — Instances of the Skill of Apelles and Panhasius, 
 and of some modern Artists — Effects of Chance in Painting — 
 Origin of the Corinthian Capitil — Origin of Gothic Architecture 
 — Admirable Copy ef Raphael by Del Sarto — Imitative Powers 
 of Sebastian Ricci ; Speech of La Fosse to him— Ingenious Stra- 
 tagem of Lord Northwick — Laughable Cheat by Mabuse — 8u- 
 r>erstitious Stories respecting Pictures — Presentation Picture by 
 'Itibens — Juan de Pereja, the Mulatto Slave of Velasquez — 
 t 'icture-dealing ; Tricks of Picture-dealers— Secret of the Vene- 
 lu St\l. (if Colouring — Anecdote of a Picture Collector — 
 <)r. f, ^ iiii',taken for Copies — Imitations of Painting.— The 
 I' , 'laphic Society — Mosaic — Mexican Feather Pictures — 
 : i.em of an Architect — Michael Angelo^s Cupid-^tatue 
 ( i ulesL; of Charles II. 
 
 The arts of painting; and sculpture appear to have 
 been practised, with more or less skill, from the ear- 
 liest times, and probably made continual advances 
 p 
 
210 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 towards excellence from the idolatrous worship of 
 graven inaages, both " in the likeness of things above, 
 the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth;" 
 but they certainly reached perfection anoongst the 
 Greeks and Romans. " Who/' says Mr. Shee, in 
 his Elements of Art, " that contemplates the Apollo 
 or the Venus, the Hercules or the Laocoon, the 
 Gladiator or the Antinous, can point out a means of 
 their improvement, or entertain a hope to see them 
 surpassed?" or who, that has Byron's poetical de- 
 scription in his memory, or has had the felicity to 
 
 ** View the Lord of the unerring bow, 
 The God of life, and poesy, and light,'* 
 
 or see 
 
 " Laocoon's torture dignifying pain," 
 
 can cease to regret that the paintings of the same 
 era can now be appreciated only through the pages 
 of history? 
 
 A learned professor of the art of painting — Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds— ^has drawn a distinction between 
 deception, as he terms it, and the more laudable at- 
 tempts at excellence. " Deception/' says he, " which 
 is so often recommended by writers on the theory 
 of painting, instead of advancing the art, in reality 
 carries it back to its infant state : the first essays in 
 painting were certainly nothing more than mere 
 imitations of individual objects, and when these 
 amounted to deception, the artist had accomplished 
 his purpose." 
 
 Historical records furnish us with some anecdotes 
 of the deceptive powers of the earliest painters, which 
 prove them to have been possessed of great delicacy 
 and exactness of execution. Parrhasius disputed 
 with Zeuxis the honour of being the best painter in 
 the age in which they lived; and, to decide this 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 211 
 
 point, they agreed that each should produce a pic- 
 ture, of which the world should judge. Zeuxis ac- 
 cordingly painted some grapes, and Parrhasius a 
 curtain. The work of Zeuxis being exposed, birds 
 came and pecked at it : he being proud of the judg- 
 ment of the birds, desired Parrhasius to draw his 
 curtain and show his picture; but, finding himself 
 outwitted, ingenuously confessed himself overcome. 
 Zeuxis afterwards painted a boy carrying grapes ; 
 and seeing the birds come to it, he confessed that, if 
 the grapes were well done, the boy must be as ill 
 done, since the birds were not afraid of him. Like 
 many others of his profession, he was doubtless an 
 eccentric character ; for, it is said, the last picture he 
 painted was that of an old woman, which, when he 
 had finished, he was so pleased with, that he laughed 
 himself to death at her comical figure. 
 
 Apelles was one of the most distinguished of the 
 iicient painters, and he sought an intimacy with 
 Protogenes, a painter, who lived retired in the isle 
 of Rhodes, whither Apelles went to see him. When 
 he arrived there, he found only an old woman at the 
 house, who, asking Apelles his name, he answered 
 that he would write it on the canvas; and taking 
 his pencil, with some colour he designed something 
 with great delicacy, and then retired. Protogenes 
 coming home shortly after, the old woman told him 
 what had passed. Observing the beauty of the out- 
 line, he said it was the work of Apelles, he believing 
 that no one else could do it. Then, with another 
 colour, he drew on the first lines a second outline, 
 more correct and delicate, and went out, bidding his 
 servant show that to the person if he returned. 
 Apelles going back, was astonished to see himself 
 p2 
 
21^ SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 outdone ; but with a third colour he finished the 
 design with all the subtilty of his art. Prdtogenes 
 returning, and seeing this last addition, gave up the 
 dispute, and ran in haste to find Apelles. Pliny says, 
 he saw this fragment before it was consumed at the 
 burning of the emperor's palace., and that there were 
 scarce any lines to be distinguished, yet it was more 
 valuable than any other painting. 
 
 An anecdote somewhat similar to this is related of 
 Vandyke, who had so high an opinion of the genius 
 of Frank Hals, that he went to Haerlem, for the sole 
 purpose of visiting him. He introduced himself as a 
 gentleman on his travels, who had but two hours to 
 spare, and wished in that time to have his portrait 
 painted. Hals commenced with all possible celerity ; 
 after he had proceeded some time, Vandyke desired 
 to look at his progress, and jokingly observed, that 
 the work seemed so very easy, he thought he could do 
 the same. Then, taking up the palette, he requested 
 Hals to sit down, and painted his portrait in a 
 quarter of an hour. The moment Hals saw it, 
 he exclaimed that no one but Vandyke could have 
 achieved such a wonder, and he embraced him with 
 transport. 
 
 Apelles had recourse to an artifice to learn the 
 sentiments of the public respecting his pictures. He 
 exposed them to the general view, and remained be- 
 hind the canvas, to hear the remarks of the passers 
 by. A shoemaker coming by one day, criticised the 
 sandal of a figure, and it was in consequence altered ; 
 but passing on the following day, and proud to see 
 his criticism noticed, he censured the leg, which was 
 not faulty ; on which Apelles came from behind, and 
 told him his judgment went no higher than the san- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 213 
 
 dal, whence came the proverb, " Let not the shoe- 
 maker go beyond his last." 
 
 Another painter, it is said, desirous of putting- 
 public criticism to a surer test, exposed his picture 
 with a brush and some paint, and a request that each 
 critic would mark that part of it he thought defective ; 
 returning in the evening, he found the original picture 
 obliterated, its place being quite usurped by the 
 various and repeated marks of disapprobation. 
 
 Apelles was once wrecked on the coast of Alex- 
 andria, where he had formerly been well received ; 
 but the then reigning monarch treated him with 
 neglect. The courtiers, who owed Apelles a spite, 
 sent him a fictitious invitation to the king's table, by 
 one of their attendants : it was gladly accepted by 
 Apelles. The king, offended at his presumption, 
 asked him which of his court had invited him. The 
 painter extricated himself like a man of wit; taking 
 a piece of charcoal from a chaffing-dish, with three or 
 four strokes on the wall, he sketched the person who 
 bore the message to him, to the great astonishment 
 of Ptolemy, who from the first few lines knew the 
 face of the impostor. This adventure reconcile^ the 
 king to the painter, who was afterwards loaded with 
 honours*. 
 
 Another instance of off-hand portrait painting, is 
 that recorded of Luco Giordano, who, painting before 
 the queen of Spain, was asked by her what sort of 
 
 ' Mr. Cruiluhankf whoae works in illustration of humorous 
 
 ' i< cts are so well known, lately applied the powers of his j)Ciu:il 
 'n I iK.lar purpose, when ap[)caling to a magistrate for proti i titm 
 .'i^Miiirt all impostor who assuuicd his name, and procured 8iil*scii])- 
 tioHB and contributions to forthcoming works, from strangers newly 
 arrived in the metropolis ; for, when asked to describe the person of 
 this man for the information of the police, Mr. Cruikshank instantly 
 sketched his likeness, to the amuscnicut of all present. 
 
214 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 woman his wife was ; when he immediately painted her 
 on the spot, introducing her into the picture he was 
 at work upon ; this witty reply so pleased the queen, 
 that she gave him a pearl necklace for his wife from 
 her own person. 
 
 The most extraordinary graphic power of Apelles's 
 pencil was evinced by the fact related by Appian — 
 if, indeed, it can he believed, — that a certain physiog- 
 nomist and fortune-teller, by looking on his portraits, 
 foretold the very time of the death of those per- 
 sons whom those pictures represented, or at what 
 time their deaths had happened, if they were already 
 dead. 
 
 In common also with many other celebrated 
 painters, Apelles so admirably imitated animals as to 
 deceive the species which he represented ; in parti- 
 cular, he is said to have so well painted a horse, that 
 when seen by real horses they neighed, snuifed and 
 kicked at it, to provoke it to fight. Parrhasius also, 
 succeeded so well in painting a partridge, that the 
 real birds flew to it. 
 
 The more modern artists have followed the example 
 of the ancients with equal success. Barnazano, an 
 excellent painter of landscapes, painted a strawberry 
 so exactly that peacocks snapped at it, supposing it 
 to be natural. Andrea de Mantegna deceived his 
 master with a fly, painted on the brow of a lion. 
 Holbein proposed to quit Basil for a time, to raise 
 the value of his works, which were growing too nu- 
 merous there ; but before he went, he intimated that 
 he should leave a specimen of the power of his 
 abilities. A portrait of one of his patrons was at his 
 house ; on the forehead he painted a fly, and sent the 
 picture to the owner of it : the gentleman, struck 
 with the beauty of the piece, went eagerly to brush 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 215 
 
 off the fly, and then found the deceit. The story 
 soon spread, and, as such trifling" deceptions often do, 
 made more impression than greater excellences* 
 Orders were given to prevent the city being deprived 
 of so wonderful an artist, but in the meanwhile Hol- 
 bein had withdrawn himself privately. A Roman 
 cardinal, it is said, even presented a paper to a por- 
 trait of Pope Leo, for him to sign it. 
 
 Chance has sometimes effected that which the skill 
 of the artist in vain endeavoured to perform. A 
 lucky hit of this sort is attributed to Protogenes, who 
 had for a long time endeavoured to represent the foam 
 about the mouth of a horse. Getting at last impa- 
 tient, he threw the sponge with which he wiped off 
 his colours at the horse, when he found that his long 
 wished-for design had been thus most happily 
 executed. 
 
 Many excellent designs doubtless owe their origin 
 to chance. Leonardo da Vinci says, " the spots 
 which are seen on an old wall, forming confused 
 masses of different subjects, may excite genius, and 
 help it to produce something ;" and it has often been 
 an amusing exercise of the ingenious to develop the 
 irregular and fanciful lines in veined marbles into 
 perfect and intelligible pictures. 
 
 The idea of the elegant Corinthian capital was first 
 suggested by an accidental circumstance, which is 
 thus recorded : A young maid of Corinth dying, her 
 mother or nurse collected in a basket the toys of 
 which she had been fond, and carried them to her 
 grave, where she left the basket, covered with a tile. 
 It happened to be set upon an acanthus, which, being 
 thus depressed in the middle, spread its leaves and 
 stalks outwards, and grew up the sides of the basket, 
 till, reaching the tile placed on the top, they were 
 
216 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE^ 
 
 again depressed; at whirh time Callimachus, the 
 sculptor, chanced to pass the grave, and, pleased with 
 
 the graceful appearance of the foliage, applied it to 
 the formation of the capital, afterwards called Corin- 
 thian. 
 
 The Gothic style of architecture, especially the 
 windows, 
 
 " Slender shafts of shapely stone. 
 By foliaged tracery combined," 
 
 sprang, it has been imagined, from the beauty and 
 simplicity observed in the interlacing of the lighter 
 branches of appropriate trees. For another origin of 
 it, we are indebted to Sir James Hall, of Dunglass. 
 In his Essay on Gothic Architecture, he has with 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 217 
 
 great ingenuity and plausibility traced the Gothic 
 order through its various forms, and seemingly eccen- 
 tric ornaments, to an architectural imitation of wicker- 
 work ; of which, as we learn from some of the legends, 
 the earliest Christian churches were constructed. In 
 such an edifice, the original of the clustered pillars is 
 traced to a set of round posts, begirt with slender 
 rods of willow, whose loose summits were brought to 
 meet from all quarters and bound together artificially, 
 so as to produce the frame-work of the roof; and the 
 tracery of our Gothic windows is displayed in the 
 meeting and interlacing of rods and hoops, affording 
 an inexhaustible variety of beautiful forms of open 
 work. As Sir Walter Scott has beautifully de- 
 scribed it — 
 
 " Thou would'st have thought some fairy's hand, 
 'Twixl poplars straight the osier wand, 
 In many a freakish knot, had twined ; 
 Then framed a spell, when the work was done, 
 And changed the willow wTeaths to stone." 
 
 As the older masters often repeated their best 
 pieces, the circumstance of there being two or three 
 of the same subject, is no argument against their 
 genuineness. At the same time, some copies have 
 deceived the most skilful judges. The following is, 
 perhaps, the best instance of the fidelity and masterly 
 execution of a copy. Frederick II. Duke of Mantua, 
 going through Florence on his way to Rome, paid a 
 visit to the Medici palace ; over one of the doors he 
 saw the portrait of Pope Leo X. between Cardinal de 
 Medici and Cardinal de Rossi ; the heads were painted 
 l»y Raphael, and the drapery by Julio Romano, and 
 altogether it was an admirable painting. The duke 
 looked earnestly at it, and became so much in love 
 with it, that he could not forbear begging it of Pope 
 
218 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Clement VII. when he reached Rome. His holi- 
 ness very graciously gave it to him, and ordered his 
 secretary, Octavian de Medicis, to put the picture in 
 a case and send it to Mantua. Octavian, who was a 
 lover of painting", and loath to deprive Florence of 
 such a rarity, invented an excuse to defer sending it, 
 pretending that the frame was not rich enough, and 
 that he would get another fitted up for it ; this delay 
 gave him time to have it copied hy Andrea del Sarto, 
 who imitated even the little spots on it. The copy 
 was so like the original, that Octavian could hardly 
 distinguish one from the other ; and that he might 
 not be deceived, he put a private mark on the back 
 of it, and sent it to Mantua. 
 
 The duke received it with great satisfaction, not 
 doubting but that it was the work of Raphael and 
 Julio Romano : the latter was then in the service of 
 the duke, and had no suspicion of its being a copy; 
 but Vasari, who had seen it whilst painting, disabused 
 him ; for going to Mantua he was well entertained by 
 Julio Romano, who showed all the duke's rarities, 
 saying, the finest was still to be seen, naming the 
 painting of Leo X. Vasari said it was very fine, but 
 not Raphael's, Julio looking attentively said, " How ! 
 not Raphael's I do I not know my own work, do I 
 not see the strokes of my pencil ? " Vasari replied, 
 " You do not observe it closely enough ; I saw Andrea 
 del Sarto draw that very picture, and you will see 
 behind a mark, to distinguish it from the original." 
 Julio finding this to be true, held up his hands with 
 astonishment, and said, " I value it as much as if it 
 was Raphael's, and am even more pleased, for it is 
 very surprising to see so excellent a master so well 
 imitated." 
 
 Sebastian Ricci excelled particularly in imitations 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 219 
 
 of Paul Veronese, many of which he sold for originals, 
 and even once deceived La Fosse. When the latter 
 was convinced of the imposition, he gave this severe 
 but just reprimand to Sebastian — " For the future, 
 take my advice, paint nothing but Paul Veroneses, 
 and no more Riccis." 
 
 At the time when the French army were on their 
 triumphant march through Italy, many Italians, who 
 dreaded being plundered, were anxious to dispose of 
 the valuables they possessed ; so that the finest pro- 
 ductions of art were everywhere offered for sums far 
 below their value. To such an extent did this pro- 
 ceed, that the Pope at last issued his edict to forbid 
 the exportation of all works of art, except with the 
 permission of a committee learned in these matters, 
 who had positive directions to let no works depart 
 which might be considered a loss to the collections of 
 the city. Lord Northwick was then at Rome, when, 
 not a little to his surprise, an offer was made to him 
 of the St. Gregory of Annibal Caracci ; but it was 
 added, that the transaction must be a secret, as the 
 sending away of the picture would be prevented. 
 What was to be done ? A happy thought was hit 
 upon. A poor dauber was sent for, who was ordered 
 to paint in body colour over it, a copy of the Arch- 
 angel Michael, of Guido. This was done, and a vile 
 affair it was. When it was finished, a learned car- 
 dinal on the committee was requested to see it. He 
 came, and not a little did he smile at the taste of the 
 purchaser ; a gentle hint was given, that it was hardly 
 worth the cost, but my lord was all raptures. When 
 it arrived in England, several of the first collectors 
 were invited to see the unpacking of it. Soon a 
 humble imitation of the Michael of Guido stood be- 
 fore them. At first they stared at the picture, then 
 
220 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 at each other, then at my lord. "Really," said he, after a 
 time, "you hardly admire the picture so much as I had 
 imagined persons of your judgment would have done. 
 Give me a sponge, for the dust, I see, has destroyed 
 some of the brilliancy of the colouring." A sponge 
 was brought, and my lord began rubbing away at the 
 picture. Not long had he rubbed, before to their 
 surprise out peeped the head of St. Gregory ; another 
 rub, and the attendant angels appeared ; again, and 
 the whole of the magnificent picture was visible, to 
 their great admiration and delight. Lord Northwick 
 afterwards parted with it, and it is now one of the 
 finest in the splendid collection of the Marquis of 
 Stafford. 
 
 A laughable species of imposture was practised by 
 a painter named John Mabuse, who lived in the ser- 
 vice of the Marquis of Veren. Being informed that 
 Charles V. intended to come and lodge with him, 
 this noble, that he might receive him the more mag- 
 nificently, ordered all his domestics to be dressed 
 in^white damask, Mabuse among the rest. Instead 
 of being measured by the tailor, as were the other 
 servants, the painter desired to have the silk, pre- 
 tending that he would make it up in a whimsical 
 form, whereas his intention was to sell the stuif to 
 raise money for the tavern. This he did ; and know- 
 ing that the emperor was to come by night, he thought 
 he could manage the matter well enough during the 
 dusk. He sewed therefore white paper together, and 
 painted it damask with great flowers, and then took 
 his place in the train of the marquis. Though the 
 emperor saw the train by torch-light, he was so 
 pleased that next day he would have them march again 
 before him, more attentively to view them. He took 
 particular notice of the painter s robe, saying he never 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 221 
 
 saw so fine a damask before ; the marquis sent for 
 Mabuse, and the cheat was discovered. ^ The emperor 
 laughed heartily ; but the marquis, fearing it would 
 be thought that he dressed his men in paper, threw 
 Mabuse for some time into prison. 
 
 A singular instance of religious credulity exists, 
 says Mr. Cumberland, in his Lives of the Spanish 
 Painters, concerning a picture of the Immaculate 
 Conception, by Juanes, and which was in the late 
 college of Jesuits in Valencia. This picture is the 
 object of general veneration, and by the devout and 
 credulous is considered almost equal to the Virgin 
 herself ; for tradition reports, that it was painted by 
 order of Father Martin Alberto, to whom the Blessed 
 Virgin condescended to appear on the eve of the 
 Assumption, and required of the holy father to cause 
 her portrait to be painted in the dress she then wore. 
 Alberto committed to Juanes the honourable office 
 of fulfilling the command which he was himself 
 unable to execute. After many unsuccessful trials, 
 Juanes at last succeeded ; and by means of elaborate 
 acts of penance and great contrition, the work was 
 sanctified and the pencil — like a sword, blessed and 
 made invincible by the Pope — never missed its stroke. 
 It is said, that Juanes being one day seated on a 
 scaffold at work upon the upper part of the picture, 
 the frame gave way, and the painter being in the act 
 of falling, the holy personage, whose portrait he had 
 fortunately finished, stepped suddenly from the canvas, 
 and seizing his hand preserved him from the fall ; 
 this being done and Juanes safely landed on the floor, 
 the gracious lady with all composure returned to her 
 post. 
 
 Mr. Evelyn, in his " Diary," notices a celebrated 
 picture in the Annunciata at Florence, by Dartolomeo, 
 
222 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 who spent his utmost skill on the face of the angel 
 Gabriel, and being troubled that he could not exceed 
 it in that of the Virgin, he left it till the following 
 morning ; when, drawing away the cloth from before 
 it, an admirable and ravishing face was found ready- 
 painted ; at which miracle all the city came to wor- 
 ship it. It is reported that those who have the honour 
 of looking at it never lose their sight. 
 
 The celebrated presentation picture by Rubens, 
 given to Charles I. acted a great political part at the 
 time, and was an ingenious artifice of the painter to 
 further his views as a diplomatist. The fame of 
 Rubens was long known to Charles, who had invited 
 him to his court ; his talents were of a superior class, 
 and had already been employed at some of the courts 
 of Europe. Having received instructions from Philip 
 IV. of Spain how to act, Rubens arrived in England. 
 Although the real object of his mission was diplo- 
 matic, he concealed it under the character of the 
 painter, he being desirous of sounding how matters 
 stood. Charles, an admirer of Rubens's works, received 
 him with attention and respect: the artist painted a 
 picture, in which all the blessings of peace are repre- 
 sented in glowing colours^ and Minerva is exhibited 
 driving away Mars, with the concomitant miseries of 
 war. This picture he presented to the king, and 
 took an opportunity of alluding to the then state of 
 Europe, and the benefits which might result from an 
 arrangement between England and Spain. The king 
 listened with attention, and expressed himself dis- 
 posed to accede to a compromise ; Rubens, who had 
 hitherto abstained from showing the true cause of his 
 visit to England, nDw produced his credentials as 
 envoy, and a treaty was shortly after concluded. 
 
 The Spanish painter, Velasquez, had a mulatto 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 223 
 
 slave, Juan de Pareja, who was employed in mixing- 
 his colours ; and who, catching- some of the inspira- 
 tion of his master's art, became ambitious of trying- 
 his skill. The disqualification of his condition was 
 such, that to touch the most liberal of the arts with 
 the hand of a slave was danger in the extreme. The 
 castes in India do not stand at a greater distance from 
 each other, than degrees of men in Spain ; and Ve- 
 lasquez, of all men, was least likely to brook a viola- 
 tion so presumptuous as that which Pareja meditated. 
 The temptation was ever present, and the impulse of 
 genius in the end was irresistible : in stolen moments, 
 Pareja, by the force of talent, became an accom- 
 plished artist. Ambition now inspired him with 
 higher wishes, and he meditated on a method of 
 making his skill known to the monarch, Philip IV., 
 who was accustomed, on visiting the studio of Velas- 
 quez, to order the pictures that stood with their faces 
 to the wall, to be turned that he might see them. 
 This suggested to Pareja the hint of substituting one 
 of his own ; and the experiment happily succeeded. 
 The king coming, ordered the frame to be turned ; 
 Pareja eagerly obeyed, and presented to the royal 
 view a piece composed by a slave and a mulatto, and 
 which, in point of excellence, would have done honour 
 to a free artist. It was not easy to appeal to a bet- 
 ter judge than the king. Pareja fell on his knees, 
 avowing the guilt of the performance, and implored 
 protection. ** Velasquez," said the king, " you must 
 not only overlook this transgression, but also observe 
 that such talents ought to emancipate the possessor." 
 This generous decree was obeyed ; but the grateful 
 freedman persisted to serve bis former master, and, 
 iifter the death of Velasquez, he continued his ser- 
 vices to his daughter. 
 
224 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Picture- dealing", as a trade, is as open to imposition 
 as horse-dealing, and those purchasers who are but 
 indi fife rent judg-es, become every day victims to this 
 successful mode of imposture. 
 
 Nicholas Laniere, an Italian painter in the time of 
 Charles L, seems to have been an adept in all the 
 arts of picture-craft. Sanderson speaks of him as the 
 first who passed oiF copies for originals ; by tempering 
 his colours with soot, and then rolling his works up, 
 he made them crackle and contract an air of antiquity. 
 The same appearance has been produced in more 
 modern times, by using a dark varnish to new pic- 
 tures, and baking them in a slow oven. Thus, in a 
 short time, they acquired the venerable appearance of 
 age, provided, that is to say, they were not over- 
 baked. 
 
 The author of the *' Elements of Art " alludes to a 
 pretended discovery of the Venetian secret of colour- 
 ing, which occasioned, a few years since, no small 
 sensation in the world of taste. The degree to 
 which enthusiasm may get the better of discretion, 
 was strikingly exemplified on that occasion. 
 
 This supposed secret method of colouring was 
 found among the manuscripts of a Captain Morley, 
 who had travelled in Italy. It was said to be the 
 process used by Titian, Bassano, and others of the 
 Venetian school. Several of our artists and con- 
 noisseurs were so certain that this was the fact, that 
 they gave the possessor of the papers a valuable con* 
 sideration for the secret they contained, which was 
 communicated to them under an obligation not to 
 divulge it : the process, however, has never answered 
 the expectations that were previously entertained con- 
 cerning it. 
 
 Where vanity without judgment induces any one 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 225 
 
 to purchase copied pictures for originals at great 
 prices, it is often dangerous to endeavour to convince 
 them of their infatuation. A noted collector in the 
 reig-n of George II. consulted Richardson, the painter, 
 respecting a picture which he had purchased for a 
 Ciuido. " There is," said he, " little Hugh Howard, 
 
 ho says it is a copy ; the next time he says so, I will 
 certainly knock him down. Now pray, Mr. Richard- 
 son, favour me with your candid opinion ! " 
 
 With regard to forming a judgment on pictures, it 
 is a most;^ curious circumstance that inexperienced 
 persons, even with good taste, may mistake an ori- 
 ginal for a copy ; for it is by no means a very rare 
 occurrence that a genuine and valuable picture shall 
 have been disguised and disfigured by being in part 
 painted over again, in an inferior style, either for the 
 fraudulent purpose of more effectually concealing it 
 for a time, or from the mistaken vanity of the painter. 
 One well versed in the art and mystery of picture- 
 cleaning can instantly detect the superiority of the pic- 
 ture, though in disguise, and can ingeniously remove 
 all the parts more recently painted, leaving its ori- 
 ginal beauty uninjured. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds, in his "Journey through 
 Flanders and Holland," brings serious charges against 
 ^he picture-cleaners, who, by their injudicious at- 
 
 rapts to repair the injuries of time, had very much 
 
 isfigured or spoilt some of the most valuable paint- 
 
 :.g8. 
 
 Between forty and fifty years since, a society 
 
 started with great pretensions, and, in one of the 
 
 • ports it published, it gave the following account of 
 
 self: — "The novelty of the Polygrapbic Society 
 
 /onders it necessary to inform those still ignorant, 
 
 that it is a new art for multiplying and taking pic- 
 
 Q 
 
226 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 tures from the original, in oil colours, by a chemical 
 and mechanical process. This art was, after many- 
 years' labour and experience, invented by Joseph 
 Booth, a portrait painter, and oiFered to the public 
 under the name of Polyplasiasmos. He communi- 
 cated his project to a few gentlemen of respectability, 
 who, convinced that an invention of such merit, if 
 properly countenanced, would be an object of national 
 advantage, and do honour to our age and country, by 
 introducing more accurate pictures than has hereto- 
 fore been done at so low a price, united themselves 
 for its support, under the title, of the Polygraphic 
 Society. They propose a public exhibition of the 
 copies of the best paintings of the old and 
 modern masters, when the original, with the poly- 
 graphic pictures produced from them, will be pre- 
 sented together, to convince the patron of the fine 
 arts how nearly their productions approach the ori- 
 ginal. They have resolved, to prevent their becom- 
 ing too common, to limit the number of each subject, 
 so that, at the utmost, there will not be more than 
 one of any subject in each county. Some of the 
 prices demanded, as compared with the original, are 
 as follows : — A Claude ; a * Seaport,* valued at one 
 hundred guineas, for ten guineas. Van Ostade ; ' A 
 Gale ' and ' Calm,' a pair, for the same sum. A 
 Claude ; * Seaport,' which cost the society four hun-» 
 dred guineas, (when the copies have been a little mel- 
 lowed by time they will possess an air of antiquity), 
 twenty guineas." 
 
 The society affirmed that, by this *' secret process," 
 the correctness of the drawing and the spirit, colour- 
 ing, and effect, of the best masters, either old or 
 modern, were so closely imitated as to render those 
 pictures scarcely distinguishable from the originals 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 227 
 
 themselves, even when hung in the same room. At 
 least eij^ht exhibitions of the copies took place ; but 
 the society did not long exist, and nothing more has 
 been heard of the process which it employed. " Not- 
 withstanding its attempt to force itself into fame, and 
 with all its claims to ingenuity," says Mr. Buchanan, 
 " it proved a meteor only for a moment, to surprise 
 and be forgotten." 
 
 A process, no doubt somewhat analogous, has re- 
 cently been applied to working engravings in oil 
 colours. Numerous blocks are used, and the effect 
 produced is striking. The art is yet in its infancy, 
 but it seems capable of becoming highly useful and 
 ornamental. 
 
 An intermediate kind of art, between painting and 
 sculpture, is the manufacture of mosaics. Some 
 ancient pieces remain, and that which is called the 
 Furietti Doves, now in the Museum of the capital, 
 is a most beautiful specimen of the art. It repre- 
 sents four doves, perched on the rim of a vase, and 
 was found in the ruins of Adrian's villa at Tivoli. 
 Pliny mentions a worker in mosaic, who represented, 
 I a pavement, the relics and scraps of a supper, with 
 iiich admirable precision and exactness, that the floor 
 of the room seemed never to be cleansed, but always 
 to be covered with bones, parings, and similar refuse. 
 In this case the skill of the artist is certainly more 
 deserving of praise than the choice of a subject. 
 
 The true mode of working in mosaic was first dis- 
 seminated in Italy, in the thirteenth century, by 
 Andrea Taffi, a Florentine, who learned it from a 
 Cireek artist, named Apollonius, who, with some of 
 his countrymen, was employed to decorate the church 
 of St. Mark, at Venice. His greatest work is a Dead 
 Christ. 
 
 q2 
 
228 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 The portrait of Paul V., in the Borghese palace, 
 was executed by Marcello Piovenzale, in mosaic, in 
 imitation of the antique> if not in a superior style. 
 The face alone consists of two million pieces, many of 
 which are not larger than a grain of sand. 
 
 In the manufacture of mosaics, at Rome, it is stated 
 that seventeen thousand tints of colour are employed 
 in imitating the finer paintings. But in the amusing 
 work of the celebrated Goethe, *' Winkelman, und 
 sein yahr hundert," it is asserted, that about fifteen 
 thousand varieties of colour are employed by the same 
 workers, and that there are fifty shades of each variety 
 from the darkest to the palest. It would be ima- 
 gined that, with the command of seven hundred and 
 fifty thousand tints, the most beautiful and varied 
 paintings might be perfectly imitated ; but even with 
 all these a want is sometimes experienced. 
 
 The Mexicans had the power of most ingeniously 
 imitating paintings in a mosaic of feathers ; a minia- 
 ture of the Crucifixion, containing many figures, is 
 thus executed, " and is preserved," says Mr. Dalla- 
 way, "in the Ashmolean Museum." The labour 
 employed in these pieces was immense. To obtain 
 the materials, birds of the finest plumage were reared, 
 and at certain seasons the feathers were collected and 
 sold to the artists. When a mosaic was to be exe- 
 cuted, several artists combined their talents. A 
 design having been agreed upon, each artist charged 
 himself with the performance of a certain part of it. 
 Almost the patience of Job was necessary for such a 
 task. A whole day is said to have been frequently 
 spent in the adjustment of a single feather. Feather 
 after feather was rejected, till one was found which 
 was exactly suitable in size and hue. The feather 
 was taken up with delicate pincers, and was fastened 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 229 
 
 on wood or copper with a glutinous substance, and 
 carefully smoothed. If the least derang-ement took 
 place, the work of it was again gone over. Nothing 
 less than the most perfect smoothness and correctness 
 would satisfy the workman. When each artist 
 had completed his portion, the whole of them met 
 to form the complete image ; and here again the 
 diflBculty and expense of time and skill must have 
 been great. " These images," says Acosta, " are 
 deservedly admired ; for it is wonderful how it was 
 possible, with the feathers of birds, to execute works 
 so fine and so equal, that they appear the performance 
 of the pencil ; and, what neither the pencil nor the 
 colours in painting can effect, they have, when 
 viewed from aside, an appearance so beautiful, so 
 lively and animated, that they give delight to the sight. 
 Some Indians, who are all artists, copy whatever is 
 painted with a pencil so perfectly with plumage, that 
 they rival the best painters in Spain." 
 
 Paintings have been imitated, with more or less 
 success, in silk and other materials. The most suc- 
 cessful imitator of the works of the pencil is un- 
 doubtedly our countrywoman. Miss Linwood, whose 
 productions, in coloured wool, almost rival the ori* 
 inal pictures. 
 
 In the convents of Brazil, flowers are imitated by 
 means of feathers, in such a manner as to emulate 
 nature. The lightness, the gloss, and the brilliant 
 tints of feathers, give them a great advantage over 
 the coarser substances which are commonly used in 
 the making of artificial flowers. 
 
 A very ancient fraud, connected with architecture, 
 
 > mentioned by Sandys, in the curious and rare 
 
 narrative of his travels in the East. One of the 
 
 Ptolemies caused a tower to be built, of a wonderful 
 
 height, at Pharos, having many lanterns at the top 
 
230 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 for the use of ships at sea during the night. It was 
 reputed the seventh wonder of the world, and was 
 named after the island on which it stood. Sostratus 
 of Cnidos, the amhitious architect, was refused by 
 the king the satisfaction of setting his name to the 
 work. This, however, the artist effected, by cutting 
 an inscription on a block of marble to the following 
 effect : " Sostratus of Cnidos, the son of Dexiphanes, 
 to the gods protectors, for the safeguard of Sailors." 
 This he encrusted over with a fictitious stone, on 
 which was engraved a pompous inscription, in honour 
 of the king, that the external crust might decay in a 
 few years, leaving the inscription in honour of the 
 artist fair and indelible. 
 
 Michael Angelo, to try how far he could impose 
 upon the curious in sculpture, carved a statue of 
 Cupid. Having broken off the arm, he buried the 
 rest of the figure under a certain ruin, where they 
 were wont to dig in search of marbles. It was soon 
 after discovered, and passed among the learned anti- 
 quaries for an invaluable and undoubted piece of 
 ancient sculpture, till Michael Angelo produced to 
 them the arm previously broken off, which fitted so 
 exactly as to convince them of their too easy credu- 
 lity, and the vanity of their speculations. 
 
 In the year 1678 was erected the animated statue 
 of Charles I., at Charing-cross. It was cast in brass, 
 in 1633, by Le Soeur, it is believed, by order of that 
 munificent encourager of the arts, Thomas Howard, 
 Earl of Arundel. The Parliament, in Cromwell's 
 time, ordered it to be sold, and broken to pieces ; but 
 J. River, the brazier who purchased it, having more 
 taste than his employers, or seeing with the pro- 
 phetic eye of good sense that the powers which were 
 would not remain rulers very long, dug a hole in his 
 garden in Holborn, and buried it unmutilated. To 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 231 
 
 prove his obedience, he produced to his masters seve- 
 ral pieces of brass, which he told them were parts of 
 the statue ; and, in the true spirit of trade, he cast a 
 number of handles for knives and forks, offerings them 
 for sale as composed of the brass which had formed 
 the statue. This pleased all parties ; they were 
 eagerly sought for, and purchased by the loyalists 
 from affection to their murdered monarch, and by the 
 other party as trophies of the triumph of liberty over 
 tyranny. When the second Charles was restored, 
 the statue was brought forth from its place of con- 
 cealment. 
 
 There was also a statue erected to Charles II. by 
 Sir Robert Viner, in 1675, as is recorded by Stowe 
 in his Survey of London, in a place called the Stocks- 
 market, now the site of the Mansion House, which 
 underwent a metamorphosis. This equestrian statue 
 was originally made for John Sobieski, king of Poland; 
 but, by gome accident, had been left on the workman's 
 hands. To save time and expense, the Polander was 
 converted into a Briton, and, to complete the compli- 
 ment to Charles, a Turk, which was underneath the 
 horse, was converted into Oliver Cromwell. Unfor- 
 tunately, the turban on the Turk's head was over- 
 looked, and was an undeniable proof of the truth of 
 the story*. When the present Mansion House was 
 about to be built, Robert Viner, Esq., applied to the 
 Court of Common Council, to have this statue erected 
 by his ancestor delivered to him, and the court com- 
 plied with his request. 
 
 * It need not excite much Burprise, to find a Turk's head on 
 'liver Cromweirs shoulders ; for it was not long ago, that an itine- 
 
 it showman had drawn up his caravan at the comer of High-street, 
 M ark -le- bone, and wa« reaping a rare hanrest by exhibiting the very 
 : Icnlical skull of Oliver Cromwell when a boy I 
 
232 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 IMPOSTURES IN ENGRAVING. 
 
 Fashion of decrying modern Artists — M. Picart asserts the Merit 
 'of modern Engravers — Means employed by him to prove the 
 Truth of his Assertions — "The innocent Impostors" — Golt- 
 zius imitates perfectly the Engravings of Albert Durer — Marc 
 Antonio Raimondi is equally successful — Excellent Imitation 
 of Rembrandt's Portrait of Burgomaster Six — Modern Tricks 
 played with respect to Engraved Portraits — Sir Joshua Reynolds 
 metamorphosed into '•' The Monster." 
 
 About a century since, it was the fashion, among 
 the would-be pretenders in matters of taste, to decry 
 the works, and depreciate the talents, of the engravers 
 of that time, in comparison with the earlier artists. 
 This induced M. Picart, an ingenious engraver, to 
 undertake the task of exposing the fallacious rea- 
 soning of these cognoscenti, who asserted that they 
 could easily distinguish the works of the earlier 
 painters, which had been engraved by themselves ; 
 and, secondly, that, as an engraver could never attain 
 the picturesque style, they could easily distinguish 
 whether an engraving was the work of a painter, or 
 of merely an engraver; and, thirdly, that the modern 
 engravers could not copy the paintings of the older 
 masters so well as the contemporary engraver. 
 
 In direct opposition to these frivolous conceits, M. 
 Picart asserted that the plates engraved by Signor 
 Contarini, after Guido, were much preferable to those 
 incontestibly engraved by Guido himself; and alsoj 
 that the works of Gerard Audran, an engraver by 
 profession, were touched with as much spirit as could 
 possibly have been given by a painter. 
 
 To put it to the test of experiment, however, Pi- 
 
DECF.PTION AND CREDULITY, 233 
 
 cart chose some designs of the earlier painters, which 
 had not been engraved, worked at them in secret, 
 stamped some of them on old paper, and dispersed 
 them quietly ; and no one ventured to doubt but that 
 they had been both engraved and printed in Italy. 
 Having by this artifice sufficiently disproved the validity 
 of those assertions which tended to depreciate the 
 modern engravers, M. Picart collected in one volume 
 all the plates he had so circulated, and they were 
 afterwards published under the name of " Picart's 
 innocent Impostors." 
 
 Goltzius, a celebrated engraver of an earlier period, 
 had recourse to a somewhat similar artifice, to con- 
 vince the world of the malevolent detraction of cer- 
 tain rival artists, who, to humble Goltzius, were 
 accustomed to say that his works were not to be 
 compared with those of Albert Durer, or Lucas of 
 Leyden. He, therefore, engraved the Circumcision, 
 after the manner of Albert Durer, stamped below 
 with his own name and mark ; some impressions were 
 taken off on old and discoloured paper, and his name 
 was burnt out, or otherwise effaced. This plate went 
 thus in masquerade to Rome, Venice, and Amsterdam, 
 and was received by all the amateurs and curious 
 with astonishment and pleasure, and was purchased at 
 a very high price by those who esteemed themselves 
 too happy to have found an opportunity of possessing 
 themselves of an engraving by Albert Durer. Soon 
 after, the same plate appeared entire, and freshly 
 stamped with the name and mark of Goltzius; the 
 connoisseurs were of course greatly confused and 
 extremely angry, and the malevolent jealousy of his 
 rivals was exposed to the world. 
 
 >T'— " Antonio Rairaondi raised himself into notice 
 
234 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 in the following manner : many engravings by Albert 
 Durer were brought to Venice for sale, and llaimondi 
 was so much struck by the style and execution, that 
 he purchased them, and set to work to copy them, 
 counterfeiting Albert Durer's mark, A. D. These 
 copies appeared so similar, that they w^ere believed to 
 be the genuine works of Albert, and, as such, were 
 exposed to sale, and became speedily purchased. This 
 made Albert so indignant, that he quitted Flanders, 
 and came to Venice, to make a complaint against 
 llaimondi to the Government; and he was forbidden 
 in future to make use of Albert's name or mark. 
 
 The engraving of the Burgomaster Six, the patron 
 of Rembrandt, was so much valued, and so scarce, 
 that Beringhen could not obtain it for any money ; 
 and he, therefore, procured a copy of it to be made 
 with a pen, and afterwards washed with Indian ink, 
 which was in the French king's cabinet at the time 
 M. Gersaint wrote Rembrandt's life, and was so excel- 
 lent an imitation, that it deceived several good judges. 
 
 The tricks of transmutation which are often played 
 with copper-plate engravings are well known. At the 
 time when the person so justly execrated and branded 
 with the name of '* The Monster,'* made such a noise, 
 the dealer in one of the catchpenny accounts of his 
 life and adventures was very desirous of giving to the 
 public some representation of him. Not being able 
 suddenly to procure one, it was necessary for him to 
 find a substitute. An old plate, which had been en- 
 graved for a magazine, and intended to pass for a^ 
 likeness of Sir Joshua Reynolds, was luckily obtained, 
 and was made to answer the purpose. As the print 
 bore no resemblance whatever to Sir Joshua, and had, 
 indeed) a most unprepossessing appearance, the original 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 235 
 
 inscription was erased, " The Monster** substituted, 
 and it did very well. In the ephemeral publications 
 which daily issue from the press similar metamor- 
 phoses are by no means uncommon. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FORGED INSCRIPTIONS AND SPL'RIOUS MEDALS. 
 
 Ancient Memorials of Geographical Discoveries — Mistakes arising 
 from them — Frauds to which they gave occasion — Inipostnre of 
 Evcmcrus — Annius of Viterbo wrongfully charged with forging 
 Inscriptions — Spurious Works given to the World by him — 
 Foiled Inscriptions put on Statues by ignorant modern Sculptors 
 — Spurious Medals — Instances of them in the Cabinet of Dr. 
 Hunter — Coins adulterated by Grecian Cities — Evelyn's Direc- 
 tions for ascertaining the Genuineness of Medals — Spurious Gold 
 Medals — Tricks of the Manufacturers of Pseudo- Antique 
 Medals — Collectors addicted to pilfering Rarities — Medals swal- 
 lowed by Vaillant — Mistakes arising from Ignorance of the 
 Chinese Characters. 
 
 It appears to have been the practice of the early 
 ( J reek navigators to leave memorials on shores dis- 
 covered for the first time, and to take possession of 
 them by a dedication to one of their gods or heroes ; 
 as modern navigators in their discoveries have usually 
 named prominent headlands, islands, or secure har- 
 bours, from some statesman or hero of the day. 
 
 These ancient inscriptions being found among bar- 
 barous nations by succeeding navigators, when the 
 original discoverers were forgotten, it might be con- 
 cluded that those heroes, to whom the shores had 
 been merely dedicated in the first instance, had actually 
 been there. 
 
 The probability of such circumstances led the way 
 in after times to a species of fraud, for conferring a 
 
236 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 spurious antiquity on certain places and things by 
 persons, producing, as authentic and ancient, histories 
 and monuments of their own manufacture. 
 
 Evemerus, a Messenian, or according to some 
 writers, a Sicilian, a cotemporary of Cassander, king 
 of Macedon,' seems to have been the first who at- 
 tempted this kind of fraud ; for he pretended to have 
 found on a golden column, in an ancient temple in 
 the island of Panchaea, a genealogical account of a 
 family that had once reigned there, in which were 
 comprised the principal deities then worshipped by 
 the Greeks. Not only were their lives recorded, but 
 also their deaths ; and thus a deadly blow was aimed 
 at their divinity. This fable was translated into Latin 
 by Ennius. 
 
 Annius of Viterbo, who was born at Viterbo, in 
 1432, and whose real name was John Nanni, has been 
 charged with framing inscriptions from his own imagi- 
 nation, and burying them in certain places, that, when 
 they had acquired an appearance of antiquity, he 
 might pretend to fin'ti, and might vend them. He is 
 also said to have manufactured medals of an early 
 date. Both these charges are, however, erroneous. 
 It is nevertheless certain that, accompanied by his own 
 commentaries, he presented to the w^orld, as genuine, 
 the pretended works of several exceedingly ancient 
 authors ; for this he has incurred much odium, but it 
 is believed, by many learned men, that, instead of 
 being a forger, he was himself deceived by forged 
 manuscripts. This fraud gave rise to a violent con- 
 troversy, in which many of the most eminent literary 
 men were engaged. 
 
 The great uncertainty relative to the genuineness 
 of inscriptions on ancient statues originated in the 
 ignorance or fraud of those who restored them. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 237 
 
 Even Phaedrus, in the application of a fable at the 
 beginning" of his fifth book, alludes to this practice in 
 his time by mercenary artists. " The name of Apollo- 
 dorus, on the plinth of the Venus de Medicis," says 
 Mr. Dallaway," has been detected as a modern forgery. 
 The statues which have been dug up in a mutilated 
 -tate, and placed in the hands of venal or ignorant 
 rtists, have always had the name of some eminent 
 character given to them. Doubts of genuineness are 
 at least allowable, and often justified, of those statues 
 the hands of which have been evidently engrafted." 
 
 The*^ fabrication of spurious coins for the market 
 was neither a modern contrivance nor of unfrequent 
 occurrence. The collection of medals belonging to 
 Dr. Hunter affords some examples. One of a 
 leaden coin, cased in silver, as remote as the time of 
 Seleucus, king of Syria, may be seen in that cabinet ; 
 lid also a similar coin of the city of Naples. In the 
 ii-oman series, Neumann makes mention of a re- 
 markable instance from Schulzius, of a leaden coin of 
 Nero, which had been anciently circulated for brass, 
 in which metal it was enclosed. In Dr. Hunter's 
 cabinet are two examples of leaden coins covered with 
 gold ; one of the Emperor Trajan, the other of his 
 successor. 
 
 Demosthenes relates, on the authority of Solon, 
 that several cities in Greece adulterated their coins ; 
 and Dion Cassius states, that the Emperor Caracalla, 
 instead of gold and silver, issued brass and leaden 
 coins, which were merely washed or cased with silver 
 or gold, to conceal the fraud. 
 
 Evelyn, in his " Numismata," exposes many of the 
 tricks of those who, at the period at which he wrote, 
 supplied the market with spurious coins and medals. 
 ** The most likely means," says he, ♦* for procuring ge« 
 
238 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 nuine coins or medals, are from country people, who 
 plough and dig about old walls, mounds, &c., where 
 castrametations have formerly been. The composi- 
 tion or grouping" of the figures should also be well 
 considered, that it be with judgment ; for the ancients 
 seldom crowded many figures together. A perfect 
 medal has its profile and out-strokes sharp, and by no 
 means rugged; the figures clean and well polished, 
 and an almost inimitable spirit of antiquity and ex- 
 cellence, in the most ancient. Yet after much re- 
 search, travel and diligence, cost and caution, one is 
 perpetually in danger of being deceived, and ?hiposed 
 upon, by cheaters and mercenary fourbes ; and even 
 the country people, in Italy and Holland, often de- 
 ceive the less wary medallist. Where a series of 
 ancient medals is known to be imperfect, suspicion 
 should always attach to him who pretends to supply 
 the chasm, and complete the series. 
 
 '* All medals of gold, Greek or Roman, that are 
 not of the best alloy, are to be considered impos- 
 tures. 
 
 " The manufacturers of pseudo-antiques, will raise 
 and carve the effigies of one emperor out of another 
 antique head of a less costly and rare description ; for 
 instance, an Otho out of a Nero ; and also the re- 
 verses : nay, they have the address to slit and divide 
 two several medals, and,with a certain tenacious cement, 
 join the reverse of one to the head of the other, and 
 so repair and trim the edges that it is impossible to 
 discover the ingenious fraud. A partial deceit is often 
 practised on the unwary, by taking off" a part of a 
 relievo, and applying it to another medal ; by the 
 same artifice and dexterity, the title of a genuine 
 medal may be entirely altered, where there are but 
 few letters, by pinching up a letter in one part, or 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 239 
 
 removing superfluous matter in another, so that in 
 process of time the metamorphosis is complete." 
 
 Mr. Obadiah Walker accuses the Jews of being 
 most industrious in putting off spurious metals. Some 
 persons purposely bury medals near the remains of 
 some Roman works,- and then pretend to have found 
 them by chance ; as is also reported of a certain 
 statuary, who carved the pseudo Hercules, and sold 
 it at a great price, before the justly-admired original 
 statue was discovered. 
 
 Rival collectors have been known to prey on each 
 other's rarities, by clandestinely swallowing the most 
 precious gem in a collection ; at least an anecdote to 
 this effect is related on the continent, of Baron Storch, 
 a celebrated gem collector. 
 
 The Abbe Barthelemi, taught by experience, was 
 very careful how he exposed to visitors the rarities in 
 the French cabinet of medals, of which he was the 
 keeper ; for in his account of the duties of his office 
 he says, ** Such a depositary as this cabinet of medals 
 cannot safely be made public ; several persons might 
 put their hands on them at one time, and it would be 
 easy to carry them off, or substitute such as are 
 spurious or common. I had no other resource, after 
 I had got rid of the groups, but to examine the shelves, 
 at which they had been looking." 
 
 Vaillant, the celebrated numismatist, when pursued 
 at sea by Algerine pirates, is said to have swallowed a 
 whole series of Syrian kings. When he landed at Mar- 
 seilles, he hastened to his friend, physician, and brother 
 antiquary, Dufour, groaning horribly, with the trea- 
 sures in his belly. Dufour was only anxious to know, 
 whether the medals were of the higher empire ; Vail- 
 lant showed him two or three, of which nature had 
 
240 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 relieved him : a bargain was immediately struck, and 
 on that very day an Otho was safely delivered. 
 
 The almost universal ignorance in Europe of the 
 Chinese alphabet, and written character, has been the 
 cause of some curious mistakes in deciding on the 
 merits of certain coins. So little was a professor of 
 Chinese, at Rome, versed in the language he professed 
 to know, that he is said, by Mr. Pauw, to have mis- 
 taken some characters found on a bust of Isis for 
 Chinese ; which bust and characters were afterwards 
 proved to be the work of a modern artist of Turin, 
 made after his own fancy. 
 
 In Great Britain, we have, till recently, known still 
 less of the Chinese language and literature than on 
 the continent. ^^ It is not many years since," says 
 Mr. Barrow, *' that one of the small copper coins of 
 China, stamped in the reign and with the name of the 
 late Tchien-lung, was picked up in a bog in Ireland, 
 and, being considered as a great curiosity, was carried 
 to an indefatigable antiquary, whose researches have 
 been of considerable use in investigating the ancient 
 history and language of that island. Not knowing 
 the Chinese character, nor their coin, it was natural 
 enough for him to compare them with some language 
 with which he was acquainted ; and the conclusion he 
 drew wasj that the four characters on the face were 
 ancient Syriac, and that the reverse appeared to be 
 astronomical or talismanic characters, of which he 
 could give no explanation. The Mantchoo Tartar 
 characters of another coin he supposed to signify p^ 
 u, r, which he construed into sors, or lot ; and it was 
 concluded, that these coins must either have been 
 imported into Ireland by the Phoenicians, or manu- 
 factured in the country ; in which case the Irish must 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 241 
 
 have had an oriental alphabet. In either case, these 
 medals," it was sagely observed, " contribute more to 
 authenticate the ancient history of Ireland than all 
 the volumes that have been written on the subject." 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SEPULCHRAL AND PERPETUAL LAMPS. 
 
 Belief in ever-burning sepulchnil Lamps — Such Lamps supposed 
 to have originated with the Egyptians — Reason of their Origin- 
 Various Shapes of Egyptian Lamps — Description of one — Lamp 
 aaid to have been found in the Tomb of Pallas — Its unex- 
 tinguishable Nature — Lamp and embalmed Body mentioned by 
 PanciroUus — Observation of FeiTarius — Perpetual Lamps in 
 the Temple of Jupiter Ammon and at Edcssa — Kirchcr on the 
 Formation of perpetual Lamps — Trithemius*s Recipes to make 
 them — Why such Lamps were supjtosed to be possible in Egypt 
 — Sir Thomas Browne's Conjectures respecting them — Modem 
 Philosophers anxious to form perpetual Lamps — Suggestions of 
 Dr. Plott respecting the Method of making them. 
 
 Many learned and ingenious authors, who have writ- 
 ten concerning sepulchral lamps, have believed, and 
 strenuously asserted, that they have burned for seve» 
 ral hundred years ; and would have continued burning, 
 perhaps for ever, had they not been broken by the 
 accidental digging into the tombs where they were, by 
 husbandmen and others. There are not many, who 
 affirm that they were eye-wit7iesses of the fact, but 
 they give abundance of instances on the report of others. 
 The origin of these lamps seems to have been with 
 he Egyptians, who, through a firm belief of the me- 
 cmpsychosis, endeavoured to procure a perpetuity to 
 tlie body itself, by balsams or embalming, and security 
 to it afterwards, by lodging it in pyramids or cata- 
 combs: so also, they endeavoured to animate the 
 
 R 
 
242 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 defunct by perpetual fire, the essence of which 
 answered to the nature of the soul in their opinion ; 
 for with them fire was the symbol of an incorruptible, 
 immortal, and divine nature. 
 
 They signified life by a lamp, and the bodies being 
 deposited in subterranean caves, they provided lamps 
 to burn perpetually, to the end that their souls 
 might not lie miserably imprisoned in darkness, or 
 thereby any hurt befal them ; but, on the contrary, 
 enjoy eternal light: or, that when the soul should 
 wander — which it appears to have had the option of 
 doing — it might not mistake its residence, but, guided 
 by its lamp, safely return to its old quarters. 
 
 Kircher, in his " History of Egyptian Antiquities," 
 relates that many lamps were found in the shape of 
 dogs, men, bulls, hawks, &c., evidently in allusion to 
 the ancient Egyptian worship. One of them he 
 thought very prettily emblematic of life, death, and 
 the resurrection : the lamp itself signified life ; when 
 extinguished, death ; and the foramen in the middle, 
 wherein they poured the oil, was covered with a helio- 
 trope inverted, — *' a flower," says he, " that is so called 
 from its ever inclining towards the course of the sun ; 
 in the morning turning towards the east, at noon is 
 erect, towards evening faces the west, and at night 
 inclines to the earth, inquiring as it were for the sun 
 buried under ground ; and waiting for its resur- 
 rection the next morning : hence, seeming to intimate 
 the night of death which bodies sufl'er under ground, 
 and withal to show, according to the opinion of the 
 ancients, that the souls of the deceased tarry with 
 their bodies in the grave *." 
 
 * "^0^(^*1, in Greek, signifies both the human soul and a butter- 
 fly ; so forcibly were the ancients struck with the analogy between 
 t'he wonderful transformation of the insect, and the survival and 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. ^43 
 
 One of the most remarkable of the sepulchral lamps 
 has been thus described as found in the tomb of Pallas. 
 In the year 1501, a countryman, digging deep into 
 the earth, near Rome, discovered a tomb of stone, 
 wherein lay a body, so tall that, being erected, it 
 overtopped the walls of that city, and was as entire 
 as if newly buried, having a very large wound on the 
 breast, and a lamp burning at the head, which could 
 neither be extinguished by wind nor water ; so that they 
 were forced to perforate the bottom of the lamp, and 
 by that means put out the flame. This was said to 
 be the body of Pallas, slain by Tumus ; the following 
 verses being inscribed on the outside of the sepulchre : 
 
 " Filius Evandri Pallas, quctn lancea Tumi 
 Militis occidit; more suo jacct hie." 
 
 This extraordinary lamp is said to have burned two 
 thousand five hundred and eleven years ; and perhaps 
 would have continued to burn to the end of the world, 
 had it not been broken, and the liquid spilt I 
 
 It need hardly be remarked, at the present day of 
 intellectual advancement, that this story of the size of 
 Pallas, and of the lamp whose contumacious flame, 
 well befitting such a giant, defied both the light of 
 
 liberty of the soul after its separation from the body. The rc- 
 •cmblance between our livingsoul, this ** animula, vagula, blandula,'* 
 md that mysterious insect, appeared to them so strong that it is one 
 '.f the most common and favourite emblems exhibited on their 
 medals. The idea of the resurrection both of soul and body has 
 always been very general, whether we nmy consider it the tra- 
 ditionary remains of the Scripture or the reasonings of natuial 
 religion. Some of the people of America have preserved notions, 
 which lead insensibly to the immortality of the soul, and even the 
 resurrection of the body. The Peruvians observing that the Spa- 
 niards dug up the bodies of the Incas. to plunder them of the riches 
 buried with them, instantly Iwsought them not to disperse their 
 bones, for fear it should prevent their resurrection. 
 
 r2 
 
244 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 day and blasts of wind, exceeds all belief, however 
 gravely related. Yet the time was, when, instead of 
 exciting contemptuous laughter, it was implicitly cre- 
 dited. 
 
 PanciroUus, with somewhat less of exaggeration, 
 informs us, that in one of the monuments adorning 
 the Appian Way, in the time of Paul III., there was 
 found the body of a young lady, swimming in a kind 
 of bath of precious oil or liquor, fresh and entire as if 
 she had been living; neither her face discoloured, nor 
 her hair disordered : at the feet burned a lamp, which 
 suddenly expired at the opening of the vault, having 
 flamed, as was computed, for fifteen hundred years; 
 an inscription on the outside testifying that the fair 
 inhabitant of the tomb was TuUia, the daughter of 
 Cicero. 
 
 Ferrarius, in his time, very justly observed, that 
 " such foolish and absurd stories, committed to print 
 and posterity, are fit only for the hands of boys, or 
 cucumber-headed men/' 
 
 The existence of similar lamps from the same ma- 
 nufactory, has been as credulously related by other 
 historians, addicted to the marvellous. The lamp in 
 the Temple of Jupiter Ammon was reported by the 
 priests to have burned continually, yet it consumed 
 less oil each succeeding year ; though burning in the 
 open air, neither wind nor water could extinguish it. 
 A similar lamp also burned in honour of Venus. 
 Cedrenus describes a lamp at Edessa, hid at the top 
 of a certain gate, which burned five hur^dred years. 
 
 " The manufacture of these lamps," says Kircher, 
 " was ordered divers ways ; firstly, miraculously, as 
 that one at Antioch, which burned fifteen hundred 
 years, in an open .and public place, preserved by that 
 divine power who hath made so infinite a number of 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 245 
 
 stars to burn with perpetual light ; secondly, by the 
 wiles of the devil, as St. Austin tells us, deceiving 
 those who, out of avarice or curiosity, consult oracles, 
 or worship false gods, the devil representing a flash 
 or flame of light to them at their first entering into 
 subterranean caves. Others assign natural causes, 
 viz., a kind of ignusfatuus^ or pellucid matter shining 
 in the dark ; such glimmering coruscations are fre- 
 quently seen in churchyards, and marshy grounds, 
 especially at the breaking up of old tombs ; miners 
 also observe, that, at the first opening of a new vein 
 of ore, such flames break forth/* 
 
 Trithemius obliges his readers with two long re- 
 cipes for the artificial manufacture of these lamps, 
 yet seems to doubt their efficacy. 
 
 The possibility of such eternal lamps being manu- 
 factured in Egypt has been attributed to the existence 
 of the bituminous wells or fountains, from which the 
 learned in those days laid secret canals or pipes to the 
 subterranean caves, where, in a convenient place, they 
 set up a lamp with a wick of asbestos ; thus the supply 
 of oil or combustible matter was perpetual, the wick of 
 asbestos inconsumable, and, of necessity, the light also 
 endured perpetually. 
 
 Sir Thomas Browne, who exposed, in his " Pseu- 
 doxia Endemica," so many vulgar errors, thought he 
 had arrived at the solution of the problem, " why 
 some lamps, included in close vessels, have burned 
 many hundred years, as that discovered in the sepul- 
 chre of Tullia, sister to Cicero, — as he has it,— or 
 that of Olybius, many years after, near Padua ? 
 namely, because whatever their matter was composed 
 of, either a preparation of gold or naphtha, their du- 
 ration proceeded from the purity of the oil, which 
 yielded no fuliginous exhalations to Suffocate the fire." 
 
246 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 But as the learned author has neglected to describe 
 the nature of the oil, we are likely to descend into our 
 graves, and remain in posthumous darkness. 
 
 It seems, indeed, to have been thought a great 
 desideratum in the arts to invent a perpetual lamp, 
 or to discover, if possible, in what the ancient sepul- 
 chral lamps consisted ; for the accounts of such ap- 
 pear to have been generally believed authentic up to 
 the end of the seventeenth century ; and philosophers 
 were anxious to find out methods of preparing per- 
 petually-burning lamps for the tombs ; though for what 
 earthly or unearthly reason it would be difficult to 
 guess, unless as a complimentary and perpetual illu- 
 mination to the manes of the departed, or from some 
 foolish desire to strike wonder, in after times, in some 
 casual beholder, unwittingly violating the tomb. 
 
 The philosophic Dr. Plott, in the year 1684, read, 
 before the society of Oxford, a discourse concerning 
 the sepulchral lamps of the ancients, showing the 
 possibility of their being made divers ways ; and he 
 received the commands of the society to make experi- 
 ments, with wicks of asbestos, gold wire, &c., but he 
 placed most dependence on the first. The perpetual 
 oil seemed a less difficulty, and, in his report, " he 
 trusted the society would not judge him far from 
 effecting the matter." 
 
 For home consumption he proposed the use of a 
 naphtha, or liquid bitumen, found in and near Pitch- 
 ford, in Shropshire, which was to be conveyed with 
 care to any lamp fitted with the asbestos wick, and 
 into which it should perpetually distil : ** thus have 
 we," says he, " an oil as everlasting as our wick, nor 
 need we fear extinction if enclosed in a tomb or vault, 
 in never so damp or moist a place." 
 
 Dr. Plott was unwilling to disbelieve the accounts 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 247 
 
 of those lamps which were said to have burned one 
 thousand or fifteen hundred years ; and, far from 
 thinking the exclusion of the air a disadvantage, he 
 only considered it an advantage, that such would burn 
 as well in the open air, for that they best nourished 
 their flame where there was most want of it. 
 
 In corroboration of the truth of such tales, he alluded 
 to the air extricated from the fissures in mines, now 
 called fire-damp, and the occasion of so many disastrous 
 explosions in them. This air therefore, added he, is the 
 fittest for sepulchral lamps. Yet the greatest difficulty 
 still remained ; how he could apply the air, or convey 
 it from its original situation. This being apparently 
 impracticable, the only remaining resource was, the 
 production of a luminous appearance, and he concluded 
 by saying, " now, let an exhausted recipient, with the 
 included phosphorus, be placed in a tomb or vault, 
 which is commonly dark, and, if ever found, and the 
 outer glass broken, as usually such things are, by 
 ignorant men employed in digging, possibly there will 
 appear, upon immission of the air, as good a perpetual 
 lamp as some said to have been found in the sepul- 
 chres of the ancients." This is a conclusion certainly 
 as satisfactory as the object of the doctor's inquiries 
 was useful ; in the words of Rasselas, " a conclusion 
 in which nothing is concluded." 
 
248 SKETCHES OF liMPOSTURE, 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PANTOMIMIC DELUSIONS. 
 
 The Art of Mimicry in ancient and modern Times — Superiority of 
 the Ancients in that Art — Advice given by Periander — Fable of 
 Proteus — Education required by a Professor of the Pantomimic 
 Art — Herodotus — Personation of the insane Ajax — Timocrates — 
 Archimimes employed at Funerals — Demetrius the Cynic 
 converted — Striking Effect of Pantomime on two Barbarian 
 Princes — Pleasure felt by the Roman People on ihe Recal of 
 Bathyllus — Contest of Bathyllus and Hylas — Anecdote of John 
 Kemble — Pantomime in Italy — Acting of Portraits and historical 
 Pictures in Italy— -The Harlot's Progress represented as a Pan- 
 tomime — War Dances of the American Indians. 
 
 Though the art of mimicry is, in its confined and 
 modern sense, that of mere imitation of manners, and 
 that not often of the most laudable species, yet, in 
 former times, by the excellence of its action, did it 
 impose on the imaginations of the spectators, and per- 
 suade them into a belief of the reality of what was 
 represented, even as it were against conviction. A 
 slight notice of such an art may therefore not be out 
 of place, even in a record of the more prominent 
 delusions of the human mind. 
 
 The endeavour of one or more individuals to express, 
 or relate, in conjunction^ any story by mere action, 
 was carried to much greater perfection among the 
 ancients than now appears to be possible ; though, in 
 a less degree, the modern ballet endeavours to relate 
 some story or episode, by the joint means of music 
 and action. 
 
 Gestures, says Lord Bacon, are transitory hiero- 
 glyphics. They became a species of rhetoric, and 
 much information and meaning were often couched 
 under actions apparently insignificant. Periander, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 249 
 
 for instance, being* consulted how to preserve a tyranny 
 newly usurped, bade the messengers attend, and repeat 
 to those who sent them what they saw him do ; where- 
 upon he went into his garden, and topped the highest 
 flowers, signifying that it consisted in cutting off and 
 keeping low the nobility and grandees. 
 
 According to Lucian, a single dancer or mime was 
 able to express all the incidents and sentiments of a 
 whole tragedy or epic poem, by action, accompanied 
 with music, as in the ancient recitation ; and the fable 
 of Proteus, he seemed to think, meant no more than 
 that he was an accomplished pantomime. 
 
 The education of a mime would — by the same 
 writer's description of his qualities — seem to have 
 required his whole life to make himself master of his 
 profession ; for, says he, I shall now unfold the qua- 
 lities which a good dancer ought to have, to show 
 that this art is none of the easiest ; for the pantomime, 
 or dancer of the ballet, must know several things, as 
 poetry, geometry, music, and philosophy ; he must 
 also have the secret of expressing the passion and 
 motion of the soul which rhetoric teaches, and borrow 
 from painting and sculpture the different postures and 
 faces ; above all, he has need of a memory ; like Chal- 
 chas, in Homer, he must know the past, the present, 
 and what is to come, and have them always ready in 
 his mind ; in short, as the Pythian oracle said, the 
 spectator must understand the dancer though dumb, 
 and hear him though silent. 
 
 Herodotus says, " The eyes are more faithful than 
 thfe ears, because you sooner believe what you see 
 than what you hear.** 
 
 Lucian mentions a famous mime, who played Ajax 
 the madman so well, and raged in such a way, that 
 one would have said he did not counterfeit, but was 
 
250 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 mad in reality; and the spectators were so ravished 
 with the extravagance they beheld, that they made a 
 hundred ridiculous postures, as if they had been mad 
 themselves. 
 
 Timocrates, a tutor in philosophy, and who, from 
 conscientious motives, had declined being present at 
 such games, by accident seeing a pantomime, cried 
 out, '^ what admirable sights have I lost by a phi- 
 losophical modesty I" and ever afterwards attended 
 them. 
 
 This kind of scenic representation was given at 
 funerals, and the actors were called archimimes ; they 
 went before the coffin, and imitated the gestures and 
 actions of the deceased ; his virtues and vices were 
 exhibited, but the propensity to raillery inclined the 
 mimes rather to reveal the frailties, than paint the 
 virtues, of the departed. 
 
 Demetrius the cynic, a disciple of Apollonius Ty- 
 aneus, disdained and railed at the art, as an absurd 
 and useless motion, and that all the success of the 
 mimes was derived solely from the music ; but a 
 famous mime, in Nero's time, invited him to see him 
 dance, and, having witnessed his performance, then 
 to find fault with him. Having imposed silence on 
 the music, he danced the story of the amours of Mars 
 and Venus, the discovery of them by the Sun, and 
 Vulcan catching them in his steel net ; in short, so 
 well was it done, that Demetrius, transported, cried 
 out aloud, " I hear, my friend, what you act ; I not 
 only see the persons you represent, but methinks you 
 speak with your hands." 
 
 A barbarian prince having come to Rome from 
 Pontus, and witnessing the performance of this same 
 man, begged him as a present from Nero, who asked 
 the use he wanted to make of him. The prince re- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 231 
 
 plied, that he had many nations bordering on his, all 
 of which spoke different languages, and that he found 
 it difficult to procure interpreters to them all ; which 
 difficulty would be removed by the possession of this 
 man ; since, by his movements and gesticulations, he 
 could inform him of all the others had to negotiate. 
 
 Another barbarian, coming to see a piece which 
 seemed to require five actors, and finding only one, 
 inquired who would personate the other four ; but, at 
 the end of the exhibition, he said, '* I was mistaken in 
 you, my friend ; who, though you have but one body, 
 have five souls." 
 
 Aajrustus, by recalling Pyladcs, a banished panto- 
 mimist, greatly gratified the Roman people, and di- 
 verted their attention from popular ebullitions; for 
 which reason, amongst others, it is said, they ceased 
 to be angry with some inconvenient laws which that 
 emperor had made. 
 
 The great rival of Pylades was Bathyllus ; but he 
 had another rival, one Hylas, a former pupil of his. 
 Backed by the public, which had taken offence at an 
 indiscretion committed by Pylades, Hylas ventured to 
 challenge his former tutor to a trial of skill. The 
 character of Agamemnon was that in which the com- 
 petitors were to exhibit their talents. The better to 
 personate the great leader of the Greeks, Hylas wore 
 high buskins, and stood upon tiptoe. This mistake 
 of physical for moral greatness was loudly applauded 
 by the prejudiced spectators. Pylades at length came 
 forward. His attitudes were noble and striking. His 
 arms were crossed over his chest; his eyes were some- 
 times fixed in deep meditation on the ground, and 
 sometimes turned to heaven. Every gesture and 
 every look marked a sovereign who was pondering 
 on the most important affairs. So expressive was his 
 
252 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 action, that his enemies were not proof against the 
 charm of it, and the theatre echoed with tumultuous 
 acclamations. Turning to his baffled rival, Pylades 
 coolly said, " Young man, we had to represent the 
 king of kings ; you made him tall, and I made him 
 great." 
 
 John Kemble is said to have ironically confounded 
 these distinctions, on the appearance of a new candi- 
 date for public approbation on the London stage, 
 who exceeded the military standard considerably in 
 height. After the performance, a critic asked 
 
 Kemble what he though of Mr. C ; alluding, 
 
 of course, to his histrionic talent. " Why, sir," replied 
 Kemble, in his dignified manner, " 1 think Mr. 
 Q a very tall man." 
 
 There is less to be said of this art in its present 
 state, though pantomime, considered distinct from 
 harlequinade, now receives great attention in Italy. 
 The splendour of the getting up, and the decorations 
 of the ballets, at the grand theatre of " La Scala," 
 at Milan, exceed anything of the kind at other capi- 
 tals ; and the first dancers in such pieces receive con- 
 tinued applause for their exertions, though belonging 
 rather to the department of the posture-master, than 
 to that of descriptive imitation. 
 
 The " Somnambulist," however, as performed a 
 few seasons since in England, was a fine specimen of 
 dumb action. Some of the personifications or portraits 
 of Mr. Ducrow, on horseback, were also executed 
 with great cleverness"^. 
 
 • It is a fortunate circumstance, both for Mr. Ducrow and his 
 intelligent horses, that they live in the age they do ; for, about the 
 year 1690, a horse, that had been taught a few surprising pranks, 
 was condemned to die for his profound learning, as an impious 
 practitioner of the black art, by that supreme judge of the Chris- 
 tian faith, the Court of the Holy Inquisition. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 253 
 
 The acting of portraits and historical pictures, ex- 
 hibited with the greatest fidelity of costuHie and atti- 
 tude, by amateurs at Florence, is another species of 
 ingenious deception, which is almost perfect; and, 
 having lately been made instrumental to the general 
 purposes of the drama, is likely to become a fruitful 
 source of attraction at our theatres, where it com- 
 menced with the exact representation of Wilkie's 
 " Rent-day," and " Distraining for Rent.'* This 
 idea, if followed up, will make our best artists scene- 
 painters, in spite of themselves. This is not the first 
 time that favourite subjects from the pencil of the 
 artist have beeu adapted to the stage ; for Mr. 
 Ireland, in his " Illustrations of Hogarth," informs 
 us, that the first series of that painter, " The Harlot's 
 Progress," excited so much attention and expectation, 
 that above twelve hundred names were entered in the 
 subscription-book for the engravings : the whole 
 series were copied on fan-mounts, three on one side, 
 and three on the other. It was transferred from the 
 copper to the stage, in the form of pantomime, by 
 Theophilus Gibber, and again represented in a ballad 
 opera, entitled " The Jew decoyed." 
 
 The war dance, among the native Americans, is 
 most striking. It is the representation of a complete 
 American campaign. The departure of the warriors 
 from their village, their march into the enemy's coun- 
 try, the caution with which they encamp, the address 
 with which they stcition some of their party in am- 
 bush, the manner of surprising the enemy, the noise 
 ind ferocity of the combat, the scalping of -those who 
 ire slain, the seizing of the prisoners, the triumphant 
 return of the conquerors, and the torture of the 
 victims, are successively exhibited. The performers 
 enter with such enthusiastic ardour into their several 
 
254 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 parts ; their gestures, their countenance, their voice, 
 , are so wild, and so well adapted to their various situ- 
 ations, that Europeans can hardly believe it to be a 
 mimic scene, or view it without emotions of horror. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 MYSTERY OF THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK. 
 
 The man with the Iron Mask proved to be Matthioli— Who Mat- 
 thioli was — He is bribed by Louis XIV. to obtain the Surrender 
 of Casale — He violates his Engagement with the French Monarch 
 — Louis resolves to take Vengeance on him — Matthioli is lured 
 into the Hands of the French Agents — He is made Prisoner — In- 
 structions given by Louis, relative to the Treatment of the Prisoner 
 — Matthioli is compelled to wear a Mask — A mad Jacobin Monk 
 is confined with him —He is removed to Exilles — Again removed 
 to the Island of St. Margaret — Manner in which he travelled 
 — Anecdotes respecting him — He is again removed to the Bastile 
 — His death — Precautions taken after his Death to preserve Se- 
 crecy. 
 
 The curiosity of the public, says Mr. Agar Ellis, 
 from whose clear and satisfactory work on this subject 
 the following account has been condensed, has been, for 
 above one hundred years, so much excited by the mystery 
 which enveloped the name of the Man of the Iron 
 Mask, that numerous papers have been written, and 
 conjectures hazarded, in favour of different theories ; 
 all with some semblance of probability, yet all unsatis- 
 factory. M. Delort, by consulting the archives of the 
 French government, found the correspondence of the 
 French ministers of that time, which proved, beyond 
 a doubt, that the Man of the Iron Mask was an 
 Italian of the name of Matthioli. 
 
 He entered into the service of Charles, third Duke 
 of Mantua, by whom he was much favoured, and was 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 2o5 
 
 made secretary of state. Towards the end of the 
 year 1677, the Abbe D'Estrades, ambassador from 
 Louis the Fourteenth to the republic of Venice, was 
 anxious to induce the Duke of Mantua to allow of the 
 introduction of a French garrison into Casale ; which 
 place was, in a great measure, the key of Italy. 
 D'Estrades sought a channel of communication to the 
 Duke through Matthioli, who fell into his schemes, 
 and, in a letter, offered to devote himself to Louis, 
 whom, he said, he regarded and revered as a demigod. 
 He had a terrible reason, afterwards, for altering his 
 opinion of that implacable monarch. 
 
 In the further course of the treaty, between Louis 
 and the Duke, it was proposed to send Matthioli to 
 the French court. This it seemed D'Estrades was 
 not anxious for, and he resolved to obstruct the de- 
 parture of Matthioli for France as long as it was pos- 
 sible. Matthioli, however, of his own accord deferred 
 his journey from the spring to the autumn, and 
 arrived at Paris about the end of November, 1678. 
 He had the honour of an interview with Louis, who 
 gave him a ring of value, and promised greater things 
 after the ratification of the treaty. He soon after 
 returned to Italy. 
 
 Suspicions being, however, excited in the neigh- 
 bouring states, at the report of the French troops 
 assembling so near the territories of the Duke of 
 Savoy, remonstrances were made to the proper 
 authorities, and the agents of the French government 
 became anxious to have the treaty ratified ; but in 
 the same j)roportion did Count Matthioli find fresh 
 excuses for delay. 
 
 These excuses appear to have given the French 
 court a suspicion of his fidelity, but it is not known 
 
256 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 whether he was bribed by the Spaniards," or not suf- 
 ficiently so by the French. 
 
 > Reproaches and threats were now made by D'Estrades, 
 and the treachery of Matthioli became every day more 
 apparent ; and it subsequently appeared ^tliat he had 
 received a sum of money for his information from 
 Turchi, one of the ministers of the Duchess of Savoy. 
 
 Matthioli informed the French agent, that the Duke 
 of Mantua had been obliged to conclude a treaty with 
 the Venetians, the object of which was directly op- 
 posed to that entered into with the French. M. Pin- 
 chesne, charge d'affaires at Venice, though convinced 
 of the perfidy of Matthioli, did not break with him, 
 but advised him to go to confer with D'Estrades at 
 Turin : Matthioli followed this advice, to his own 
 ruin. 
 
 The vindictive Louis had, meanwhile, determined 
 to satisfy his wounded pride and frustrated ambition, 
 by taking signal vengeance on Matthioli, and he ac- 
 cordingly sent orders to D'Estrades to try and arrest 
 and guard him in such a manner " that not only may 
 he not have communication with any one else, but 
 that he may have cause to repent of his own bad 
 conduct." Matthioli complaining to D'Estrades of 
 want of money, favoured the plan proposed by which 
 to arrest him, as he was recommended to meet Catinat 
 at the French frontiers near Pignerol ; where also 
 D'Estrades would be present. 
 
 Three miles from the place of rendezvous, they 
 were stopped by a river, the bridge over which had 
 been broken down by an inundation. Matthioli him- 
 self assisted to repair the bridge, over which he was 
 to be conveyed into captivity. 
 
 Being questioned at the conference with Catinat, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 257 
 
 he informed those present where all the original papers 
 relative to the delivery of Casale would be found, 
 though it seems this confession of his was false, as 
 they were afterwards discovered, concealed in a wall 
 at Padua. 
 
 He was then without ceremony arrested, and after 
 his arrest no one was permitted to approach him : 
 the most extraordinary precautions were taken against 
 discovery, particularly that of obliging him to wear a 
 mask during his journey when he saw any one, to 
 conceal this violent breach of the law of nations ; 
 Matthioli being at this time plenipotentiary of the 
 Duke of Mantua, for concluding a treaty with France : 
 and the same reasons for concealment existed till his 
 death, since that event happened while both Louis 
 and the Duke of Mantua were still alive. This ac- 
 counts for his confinement being always solitary and 
 secret ; one act of diplomatic treachery, however, 
 could never warrant the infliction of the most horrible 
 of all punishments, solitary confinement for twenty- 
 four years in a dungeon ; but Louis, whether as a man 
 or a sovereign, was one of the most cruel and tyran- 
 nical characters transmitted to us in history. 
 
 By direction of D'Estrades, Matthioli was at first 
 well treated, but his gaoler afterwards received the 
 following instructions : — " It is not the intention of 
 the king that the Sieur de Lestang," — the name given 
 to him, — *' should be well treated, nor that, except the 
 absolute necessaries of life, should he have any thing 
 given to him, that may make him pass his time 
 agreeably." Repeated injunctions, to this effect, are 
 a proof how much importance the rancorous Louis 
 attached to his victim being compelled to drink his 
 bitter draught of captivity to the very dregs. The 
 harshness and hopelessness of his prison seem to have 
 
258 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 affected the intellects of Matthioli ; — nor can that 
 excite much wonder, — for his gaoler, St. Mars, reports 
 that in his frenzy and despair he used violent lan- 
 guage, and wrote abusive sentences with charcoal on 
 the walls of his prison. Being threatened with the 
 blows of a cudgel, he became more quiet, and, to pro- 
 pitiate the man who attended him, he took a valuable 
 ring from his finger and offered it to him, which, how- 
 ever, the attendant gave to St. Mars. 
 
 In the same prison was a Jacobin monk, who was 
 also mad, probably from ill-usage and long confine- 
 ment, and St. Mars put him with Matthioli, that the 
 same priest might serve them both, Matthioli at first 
 thought his companion was placed there as a spy, but 
 was soon undeceived, as the monk started up naked, 
 and began to preach. " I and my lieutenants," re- 
 ported St. Mars, " saw all their manoeuvres through 
 a hole over the door ;" and they appear to have de- 
 rived much entertainment from such a miserable 
 spectacle. 
 
 With regard to clothing, St. Mars was desired to 
 make the clothes of such men as Matthioli last three 
 or four years, which orders sufiiciently refute the 
 absurd stories of the richness of the lace, and fineness 
 of the linen, worn by the man of the iron mask. 
 
 St. Mars was appointed to the government of 
 Exilles, and was desired to take his two prisoners along 
 with him ; but the repairs requisite in the new prison, 
 for the sake of secrecy, were done as if at the expense 
 of St. Mars, the king allowing him privately one thou- 
 sand crowns for that purpose. At Exilles, the pri- 
 soners were able to hear the persons who passed along 
 the road, at the foot of the prison ; but they could not 
 be heard from the road. 
 
 No report appears to have been made of them till 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 259 
 
 1685, when it was said that the prisoners were still 
 ill, but tranquil. 
 
 After a time the Jacobin died, and St. Mars, 
 finding his own health fail, petitioned for a removal, 
 and was appointed to the islands of St. Margaret and 
 St. Honorat, on the coast of Provence. He was 
 ordered to take Matthioli along with him. 
 
 During his journey the prisoner was conveyed in a 
 chair covered with oil-cloth, and without its being 
 possible for any one to see or speak to him. It 
 seems, too, that the poor wretch was stinted even of 
 the breath of heaven ; for St. Mars sent the following 
 report : " I was only twelve days on the journey, in 
 consequence of the illness of my prisoner, occasioned, 
 as he said, by not having air enough ; and the man- 
 ner in which he was guarded made every body try to 
 conjecture who he was." 
 
 It was, probably, during this journey that St. Mars 
 first made use of a mask to hide his prisoner's fea- 
 tures. This mask was not made, as has been erro- 
 neously supposed, of iron, but of black velvet, 
 strengthened with whalebone, and fastened behind 
 by a padlock. It did not prevent his eating or 
 drinking. 
 
 The identity of the man in the iron mask and the 
 unfortunate Matthioli is very satisfactorily proved by 
 the evidence of the several reports and letters before 
 referred to, as discovered in the archives of the 
 French government, and which, for the further satis- 
 faction of his readers, Mr. Agar Ellis has inserted 
 in an appendix ; but it has not been thought necessary 
 to quote them more at large in this sketch of his mis- 
 fortunes. 
 
 Matthioli's valet died at St. Margaret's, and a wo- 
 man was engaged to wait upon him ; but she declined 
 s 2 
 
260 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 when she found she would never be permitted to see 
 her family again. 
 
 Among the anecdotes given of this prisoner, and 
 to enhance the romantic interest which has always 
 been excited about his fate, it has been mentioned 
 that this mysterious person wrote his name and qua- 
 lities with the point of a knife on a silver plate, and 
 threw it out of his window, and that it was picked up 
 by a fisherman, who brought it to St. Mars. The 
 fisherman, having asserted that he could not read, 
 was released. Again, it is said that he covered one 
 of his shirts with writing, and threw it also out of 
 the window. A monk, having found it, took it to the 
 governor, with a declaration that he had not read it ; 
 but two days after he was found dead in his bed. 
 
 These stories evidently spring from one of St. Mars' 
 reports, in which he says, he has been obliged to in- 
 flict corporal punishment on a protestant minister 
 named Salves, because he would write things upon 
 his pewter platter and his linen, in order to make it 
 known that he was unjustly imprisoned for his faith. 
 
 After eleven years' confinement at St. Margaret's, 
 Matthioli accompanied St. Mars to the Bastile. The 
 same secrecy as before prevailed during his journey 
 to Paris. At dinner, he sat with his back to the 
 light ; and St. Mars opposite to him, with a brace of 
 pistols on the table. 
 
 While he was in the Bastile, if he was ever allowed 
 to go to mass, the Invalids who kept guard there were 
 ordered to fire upon him if he spoke to any one. 
 
 At length he died, after five years* captivity in the 
 Bastile. He was sixty-three years old ; but he told 
 the apothecary that he thought he was sixty — an in- 
 accuracy easily to be believed in ar man so long and 
 rigorously confined. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 261 
 
 After his death, every thing was done that could 
 destroy all traces of his former existence i his clothes 
 were burned, as well as the furniture of the room, all 
 the plate of every kind was melted down, the walls of 
 his chamber were scraped, and then fresh whitewashed, 
 the floor was new paved, the old ceiling taken down, 
 the doors and windows burnt, and every corner most 
 narrowly searched. 
 
 It has been stated, on more than one authority, 
 that Louis the Fifteenth well knew who the celebrated 
 state prisoner really was ; and affirmed more than 
 once, that he was the minister of one of the Italian 
 princes ; but this confession was considered at the 
 time only to be an evasion, to put a stop to a more 
 rigid inquiry. But let the unhappy victim be whom 
 he might, such atrocious and persevering revenge 
 deserves the execration of all who have not forgotten 
 their feelings as men. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. 
 
 General Infatuation with respect to the South Sea Bubble — Lite- 
 rary Men caught the Infection — Gay, the Poet, loses all his Pro- 
 perty — Chandler is ruined, and forced to become a Bookseller — 
 Origin of the South Sea Strhcnie — The House of Lords is hostile 
 to it — Difference of the South Sea and Mississippi Schemes — 
 Lying Reports spread by Sir John Blunt, to raise the Price of 
 Stock — Consequence of them — Change-alley is crowded by all 
 Classes — Numerous Bubbles — Ludicrous Impudence of some of 
 them — DoMmfall of the South Sea Scheme — Escape of Knight, 
 the Treasurer — Bribes to Members of the Administration, &c. — 
 Parliamentary Measures against the Guilty — The Bubbles put 
 down by Proclamation— Sir R. Steele's Multiplication Table- 
 Speculations in 1825. 
 
 Public credulity, founded on the inordinate desire 
 of gain, was perhaps never exhibited in a stronger 
 
262 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 point of view than by the fatal belief in the South 
 Sea scheme, which, to the credulous adventurer, was 
 made to appear a royal road to El Dorado. 
 
 The first act of this fearful drama passed off with 
 the greatest eclat. The wand of the enchanter not 
 only seemed to, but really did, for a time, instantly 
 convert whatever it touched into gold. Waiving all 
 the financial particulars in detail, this account will be 
 confined to an outline of the imposture, which had 
 such lamentable success through the g^-eedy credulity 
 of the public. 
 
 The South Sea project continued throughout it8 
 whole course to be applauded to the skies, by the un- 
 principled and unthinking, until its catastrophe 
 plunged thousands into one common abyss of ruin. 
 It was patronised by persons of both sexes, and in 
 the highest ranks of society ; nay, even by royalty 
 itself, if the authority of ihe Duchess of Ormonde in 
 a letter to Swift, may be deemed sufficient to authen- 
 ticate the fact. Prior said in one of his letters, " I 
 am tired of politics, and lost in the South Sea ; the 
 roaring of its waves and the madness of the people 
 are justly put together." 
 
 Men of letters were not more exempt than others 
 from the reigning infection. The poet Gay had a 
 present of some South Sea stock given to him, and 
 he once supposed himself worth twenty thousand 
 pounds ; his friends advised him to dispose even of a 
 share of it, but, filled with dreams of wealth, he re- 
 plied, that he could not bear to diminish his own for- 
 tune. He even refused to purchase an annuity of one 
 hundred pounds, " which," said Fenton, " will make 
 you sure of a clean shirt and a shoulder of mutton 
 every day." At last, however, with the general 
 wreck, every thing he had possessed was totally lost, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 263 
 
 and Gay himself had nearly sunk under the cala- 
 mity. 
 
 Chandler, the learned non-conformist divine, lost 
 his whole fortune ; and for subsistence was obliged to 
 open a bookseller's shop in the Poultry. 
 
 The history of this famous, or rather infamous spe- 
 culation was this : — the South Sea Company origi- 
 nated in the reign of queen Anne, in the year 1711 ; 
 a fund being formed on the chimerical supposition 
 that the English would be allowed to trade to the 
 coast of Peru. Nine years elapsed until the projec- 
 tion of the great scheme, and 1720 witnessed the 
 infancy, maturity, and decay of that celebrated delu- 
 sion. Sir John Blunt, who was bred a scrivener, 
 devised the scheme, and communicated it to Mr. 
 Aislabie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The 
 pretence of this scheme was, to discharge the national 
 debt, by reducing all the funds into one. The Bank 
 of England and the South Sea Company vied with 
 each other ; but the South Sea Company ultimately 
 offered such high terms that the proposal of the Bank 
 was rejected: whilst this was in agitation, the stock 
 of the company rose considerably. 
 
 Both houses of parliament debated the question, 
 and the House of Lords opposed the bill, on the 
 ground tbat it was calculated for enriching the few 
 and impoverishing the many, and that it counte- 
 nanced the fraudulent practice of stock-jobbing, which 
 diverted the genius of the people from trade and in- 
 dustry, and that it would also give foreigners the 
 opportunity to double and treble the vast sums they 
 had in the public funds, with which they might with- 
 draw to other countries, and England would thus be 
 drained of its gold and silver. 
 
 This South Sea scheme produced a kind of national 
 
264 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 delirium in England, and was, in a manner, a second 
 act to one which took place a short time before on 
 the Continent. Sir John Blunt, in fact, took his hint 
 from Law's famous Mississippi scheme, which, in the 
 preceding years, had raised such a ferment in France, 
 and entailed ruin on thousands of families there. 
 Law's scheme was as follows : — A royal bank was 
 erected by subscription, and, having a fund in hand to 
 answer bills on demand, the scheme began to take, 
 and established its credit by its punctual discharge, 
 till it increased to such an extraordinary magnitude 
 astopay bills for one million and a quarter sterlingaday. 
 
 In this project of Law's, however, there was some- 
 thing substantial ; an exclusive trade to Louisiana 
 promised advantage, though the design was defeated 
 by the frantic eagerness of the people. Law himself 
 had become the dupe of the Regent, who transferred 
 the burden of fifteen hundred millions of francs of 
 the king's debt to the shoulders of the people, while 
 the projector was sacrificed as the scapegoat of poli- 
 tical iniquity. 
 
 The South Sea scheme promised no commercial 
 advantage of any consequence ; it was buoyed up by 
 nothing but the folly and rapacity of individuals, who 
 became so blind and extravagant, that Blunt, with 
 moderate talents, was able to impose on the whole 
 nation, and make tools of the other directors to serve 
 his own purpose. 
 
 When the projector found that the South Sea stock 
 did not rise to his expectation, he circulated reports 
 that Gibraltar and Port Mahon would be exchanged 
 for some places in Peru, by which means the South 
 Sea trade would be protected and enlarged. This 
 report acted like a contagion : in five days the direc- 
 tors opened their books for a subscription of one 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 265 
 
 million, at the rate of three hundred pounds for every 
 hundred pounds of capital ; persons of all ranks 
 crowded to the house. The first subscription soon 
 exceeded two millions of the orig^inal stock ; in a few 
 days the stock advanced to three hundred and forty 
 pounds, and afterwards to one thousand pounds. 
 
 The Exchange-alley was filled with a strang-e con- 
 course of statesmen, clergymen, dissenters, whigs, 
 tories, physicians, lawyers, &c. &c., and even females. 
 All other professions and employments were neglected, 
 and the attention of people was wholly engrossed by 
 this and other chimerical schemes, which subsequently 
 obtained the appropriate name of bubbles*. 
 
 New companies started up every day, and all met 
 with encouragement ; an obscure projector, pretend- 
 ing to have formed a very advantageous scheme — 
 which, however, he did not explain — published pro- 
 posals for a subscription, in which he promised, that 
 
 • Bubble wa8 a name given to all the extravagant projects for which 
 subscriptions were raised, and negotiated at vast premiums in Change- 
 alley, in the year 1720 ; a name, which alluded to their production 
 by the boiling ferment of the South Sea scheme, and not to their 
 splendour, emptiness, or inutility, for it did not become a name of re- 
 proach in this case till time completed the metaphor, and the bubble 
 broke. 
 
 Bulls and Bears, those terms now so common on 'Change, are an- 
 other legacy of the South Sea speculation. He who sells that of which 
 he is not possessed, is proverbially said to sell the skin before he 
 has caught the bear. It was the practice of 8tock-jobbci*8, in 1720, 
 to enter into contracts for transferring South Sea stock at a future 
 time for a certain price ; but he who contracted to sell, had frequently 
 no stock to transfer, nor did he who bought, intend to receive any in 
 consequence of his bargain ; the seller was therefore called a bear, 
 in allusion to the proverb, and the buyer a bull, perhaps only as a 
 distinction. The contract was merely a wager, to be determined by 
 the rise or fall of stock ; if it rose, the seller paid to the buyer the 
 difference proportioned to the sum determined by the same compu- 
 tation to the seller. 
 
266 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 in one month the particulars would be disclosed ; in 
 the mean time, each person paying- two guineas would 
 be entitled to a subscription of one hundred pounds, 
 which would produce that sum yearly. In one after- 
 noon the advertiser received one thousand subscrip- 
 tions, and in the evening he set out for another 
 kingdom. 
 
 There were some shares of a fictitious company, 
 called Globe permits^ each of which came at last to 
 be currently sold for sixty guineas and upwards ; and 
 yet were nevertheless only square bits of card, on 
 which were the impression of a seal in wax, having 
 the sign of the Globe tavern. A burlesque upon 
 this reigning madness appeared as an advertisement ; 
 in which it was set forth, that at a certain fictitious 
 place on the following Tuesday, books would be opened 
 for a subscription of two millions, for the invention 
 of melting down sawdust and chips, and casting them 
 into clean deal boards without knots. 
 
 The public infatuation lasted till the 8th of Sep- 
 tember, when the South Sea stock began to fall, and 
 some of the adventurers awoke from their delirium. 
 The number of sellers now daily increased ; on the 
 29th the stock had sunk to one hundred and fifty 
 pounds ; several eminent goldsmiths and bankers who 
 had lent money, were obliged to stop payment and 
 abscond ; and the ebb of this portentous tide was so 
 violent that it carried everything in its way, and an 
 infinite number of families were overwhelmed with 
 ruin. Public credit sustained a terrible shock ; the 
 nation was thrown into a dangerous ferment, and 
 nothing was heard but the ravings of disappointment, 
 grief, and despair. 
 
 Some of the principal members of the"ministry were 
 deeply concerned, and employed their interest with the 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 267 
 
 Bank of England to support the credit of the South Sea 
 scheme. This, for a time, favoured the sale of the 
 shares ; and those who contrived it seized the oppor- 
 tunity to realise theirs. 
 
 On the hursting of the bubble, George I. was sent 
 for from Hanover; parliament met, and bills were 
 passed with the hopes of alleviation ; one measure, 
 which it was hoped would contribute to restore public 
 credit, was the engrossment of nine millions of the 
 capital stock of the South Sea Company into the 
 capital of the Bank of England and East India 
 Company. 
 
 Knight, the treasurer of the South Sea Company, 
 withdrew from the kingdom ; he was followed to the 
 Continent, but escaped arrest. Secret committees of 
 investigation were formed in the House of Commons, 
 and they discovered a train of the deepest villany and 
 fraud that was ever contrived to ruin a nation. The 
 persons of the actors, directors, and principal officers, 
 were consequently secured. 
 
 On inquiry, it appeared that large sums had been 
 given to persons in the administration and House of 
 Commons, for promoting the passing of the act, and 
 a fictitious stock of five hundred and seventy-four 
 thousand pounds had been disposed of by the directors 
 to facilitate the passing of the bill, the greater part of 
 which had been distributed amongst the directors. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer was expelled the 
 house, and committed to the Tower; the evidence 
 against him appeared so conclusive that it was re- 
 solved, " that he had promoted the destructive execu- 
 tion of the South Sea scheme, with a view to his own 
 exorbitant profit, and had combined with the directors 
 in their pernicious practices, to the ruin of public 
 credit." The estates of many of the directors, those 
 
268 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 most implicated in the villany of the transaction, were 
 confiscated for the benefit of the sufferers. The 
 directors, in obedience to the orders of the house, de- 
 livered in inventories of them ; a certain allowance 
 from each estate being deducted for each director, ac- 
 cording- to his conduct and circumstances. 
 
 On the 11th of June, 1720, the king- issued a pro- 
 clamation relative to those projects named bubbles, 
 which, for a few days, gave some check to that fatal 
 traffic ; yet, in the face of all authority, it soon re- 
 vived, and even increased more than ever ; and whilst 
 the shares daily advanced every one was a gainer, so 
 that the lower classes fell into luxury and prodigality, 
 as well as others. From morning till evening pur- 
 chasers applied in such crowds in Change-alley, as to 
 choke up the thoroughfare ; and such was the wild 
 confusion in the multitude, that the same project or 
 bubble was known to have been sold, at the same 
 moment, ten per cent, higher at one end of the alley 
 than the other. 
 
 The mania was so great at that time, that no fewer 
 than two hundred and forty bubbles, of different de- 
 scriptions, were blown by needy and knavish pro- 
 jectors ; which shortly burst, and left but a wreck 
 behind. 
 
 The government now determined to put them 
 down ; fatal writs of scire facias were issued on the 
 18th of August, and the crown lawyers were ordered 
 strictly to prosecute all such as had opened books of 
 subscription, and all who subscribed to them. 
 
 In the series of essays called the Guardian, Mr. 
 Addison alludes to Steele's " Multiplication Table," 
 a species of lottery which was proved illegal ; further 
 notice of it is to be found in No. 413 of the Spec- 
 tator, in a letter addressed by Steele himself to Mr. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 269 
 
 Addison, wherein he says, " this scheme of gain is 
 called the multiplication table, and is so far calculated 
 for the immediate service of her majesty, that the 
 same persoq who is fortunate in the lottery of the 
 state, may receive yet further advantages. The man- 
 ner of executing the design is by giving out receipts 
 for half-guineas received, which shall entitle the for- 
 tunate bearer to certain sums in the table, as is set 
 forth at large in the proposal." 
 
 Soon after, Steele sent the following advertisement 
 to a subsequent number of the Spectator : " Whereas 
 the proposal called the Multiplication Table is under 
 an information from the Attorney-General, in humble 
 submission and duty to her majesty, the said under- 
 taking is laid down, and attendance is given at the 
 office, in order to repay such sums as have been paid 
 in the said table, without deduction.** 
 
 In 1825, the general feeling was again led captive 
 by the unreasonable hopes of speculation. In January 
 of that year there existed no less than one hundred 
 and twenty speculations, carried on, as it was termed, 
 by companies, under the heads of Railroad Compa- 
 nies, Bank and Loan Companies, Gas Companies, 
 British and Irish Mines' Companies, Foreign Com- 
 panies, Ship and Dock Companies, and Miscellaneous 
 Companies ; which often consisted of only the pro- 
 jector and his clerk. Though great misery, and fre- 
 quent ruin, were the undoubted consequences of 
 these speculations, yet no such extensively disastrous 
 results occurred as those which followed the infamous 
 South Sea Bubble. 
 
270 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ATTEMPT TO STEAL THE REGALIA FROM THE TOWER. 
 
 First Opening of the Regalia to public Inspection — Edwards ap- 
 pointed Keeper — Plan formed by Blood to steal the Regalia — 
 He visits the Tower with his pretended Wife — Means by which 
 he contrived to become intimate with Edwards— His Arrange- 
 ments for carrying his Scheme into Execution — He knocks down 
 Edwards, and obtains Possession of the Jewels — Fortunate Chance 
 by which his Scheme was frustrated — He is taken — Charles II. 
 is present at his Examination — Blood contrives to obtain a Pardon, 
 and the Gift of an Estate from the King. 
 
 Bayley, in his History of the Tower of London, 
 has very circumstantially related the attempt made by 
 a desperado, named Blood, to steal the regalia from 
 thence ; though it failed in the execution , this scheme 
 was most ingeniously planned. The subsequent in- 
 genuity of the culprit, on his examination before the 
 king, also saved him from a just punishment, and not 
 only procured him pardon for his offence, but even a 
 handsome reward in the form of an annuity. 
 
 Soon after the appointment of Sir Giles Talbot to 
 the office of Master of the Jewel- House in the Tower, 
 the regaha first became the object of public inspec- 
 tion. The privilege of showing them was granted by 
 Charles II. to the keeper, in consequence of certain 
 reductions in the emoluments of the office. The per- 
 son appointed to take charge of them was a con- 
 fidential servant, named Talbot Edwards ; and soon 
 after, in 1673, the attempt of the notorious Blood was 
 made. 
 
 Three weeks before the execution of his plan. 
 Blood went to the Tower, in the canonical habit of a 
 clergyman, accompanied by a woman whom he called 
 his wife. They desired to see the regalia, and just as 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 271 
 
 their wishes had been gratified, the lady feigned indis- 
 position ; this circumstance called forth the kind 
 offices of Mrs. Edwards, who courteously invited her 
 into the dwelling-house. The lady, however, soon 
 recovered, and, on departing, professed great grati- 
 tude. 
 
 A few days after this. Blood came again, bringing 
 Mrs. Edwards four pair of white gloves, as a present 
 from his pretended wife. This civility opened a way 
 to a more intimate acquaintance, and, at length. Blood 
 offered a proposal of marriage between his nephew, 
 (whom he represented as possessing two hundred 
 pounds per annum in land), and Miss Edwards, if 
 agreeable to all parties, on a longer acquaintance. A 
 treaty was entered into, and the young gentleman was 
 to come in a day or two to be presented. 
 
 At the time appointed, Blood went with three 
 others to the Jewel- House, armed with rapier-blades 
 in their canes, and every one had a dagger, and a 
 brace of pistols. Two of the friends, to fill up the 
 time whilst the daughter was adorning herself, ex- 
 pressed a wish to view the regalia before dinner, and 
 it was arranged, that, together with Blood, they 
 should accompany old Mr. Edwards for that purpose, 
 whilst the anxious lover should wait below for the com- 
 ing of his mistress, but in reality to watch lest inter- 
 ruption should take place. When the three had 
 entered with Edwards into the room, a cloak was 
 thrown over him, a gag was placed in his mouth, and 
 he was threatened with death if he made the least 
 noise ; but, as he was not intimidated, and made at- 
 tempts to sound an alarm, he was silenced by some 
 blows on the head with a mallet, and a stab in the 
 belly, when he lay as if dead. 
 
 They then proceeded to secrete the booty about 
 
272 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 their persons. One of them, named Parrot, put the 
 orb into his pocket, Blood held the crown under his 
 cloak, and the third was about to file the sceptre into 
 two pieces, to place it in a bag, when fortunately the 
 son of Mr. Edwards visited his father, and, regardless 
 of the opposition made by the watchful pretended 
 lover, persisted to force his way in. The scuffle be- 
 low was heard, and, this unexpected incident spreading 
 confusion among them, they instantly decamped, leav- 
 ing the sceptre undivided. The aged keeper, re- 
 covering, forced the gag from his mouth, and cried 
 " Treason ! " The alarm was given, and parties were 
 sent to the several gates to stop them. They escaped, 
 however, out at St. Catherine's gate, where horses 
 were waiting for them, but were speedily overtaken. 
 Under Blood's cloak was found the crown, and, even 
 when a prisoner, he had the impudence to struggle 
 for his prize, and said it was a gallant attempt, how- 
 ever unsuccessful, as it was for a crown. 
 
 In the struggle the great pearl, and a large diamond, 
 with a few smaller jewels, were lost from the crown, 
 but fortunately they were afterwards found and re- 
 stored. 
 
 Blood being carried before Sir Gilbert Talbot, the 
 king went to hear his examination and confession. 
 This was a fortunate circumstance for the culprit, who 
 artfully worked at once on the vanity and the appre- 
 hensions of the monarch. He told him that he had 
 formerly been engaged with others to kill his majesty, 
 while he was bathing at Battersea, and had concealed 
 himself in the reeds to effect his purpose ; but that 
 when he had taken aim the awe inspired by the royal 
 presence unnerved his hand, and he desisted from his 
 sanguinary design. He added, that he was but one 
 of three hundred, who were sworn to revenge each 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 273 
 
 other's fall ; that the king might do with him as he 
 pleased, but that, by dooming him to suffer, he would 
 endanger his own life, and the lives of his advisers ; 
 while, on the contrary, by displaying clemency, he 
 would win the gratitude and the services of a band of 
 fearless and faithful followers. Either won over by 
 the boldness and candour of the ruffian, or alarmed by 
 his threats, Charles not only pardoned Blood, but 
 likewise gave him an estate in Ireland, worth 300/. a 
 year. Poor Edwards (who suffered severely from his 
 injuries), was less fortunate ; he had only a grant of 
 two hundred pounds, and his son one hundred, and 
 even of these trifling sums the payment was so long 
 deferred, that they were obliged to sell the orders at 
 half price for ready money* 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 TAMPYRISX. 
 
 Horrible nature of the Supcratition of Vampyrism — Persons at- 
 tacked by Vampyres become V^ampyres themselves — Signs by 
 which a Vampyre was known — Origin of one of the signs — Effect 
 attributed to Excommunication in the Greek church — Story of an 
 excommunicated Greek — Calmet's theory of the origin of the Su- 
 perstition respecting Vampyres — St. Stanislas — Philinnium — The 
 Strygis supposed to have given the idea of the Vanipyrc — Capitu- 
 lary of Cliarieinagne — Remedy against attacks from the Demon 
 — Anecdote of an impudent Vampyre— Story of a Vampyre at 
 Mycono— Pr«Talence of Vampyrism in the north of Europe — 
 Walachian mode of detecting Vampyres. 
 
 Among the many superstitions which have terri- 
 fied and degraded mankind, that which has received 
 the name of Vampyrism is, perhaps, the most horrible 
 and loathsome. The Vampyre, or Blood-sucker, has 
 
274 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 been forcibly described as " a corporeal creature of 
 blood and unquenchable blood-thirsty, — a ravenous 
 corpse, who rises in body and soul from bis grave, 
 for the sole purpose of g-lutting- his sanguinary appe- 
 tite with the life-blood of those whose blood stag- 
 nates in his own veins. He is endowed with an 
 incorruptible frame to prey on the lives of his kin- 
 dred and his friends — he re-appears among them from 
 the world of the tomb, not to tell its secrets of joy or 
 of woe, not to invite or to warn by the testimony of 
 bis experience, but to appal and assassinate those 
 who were dearest to him on earth — and this, not for 
 the gratification of revenge or any human feeling, 
 which, however depraved, might find something in 
 common with human nature ; but to banquet a 
 monstrous thirst, acquired in the tomb, and which, 
 though he walks in human form and human linea- 
 ments, has swallowed up every human motive in its 
 brutal ferocity." 
 
 It is manifest that a being of this kind must be 
 infinitely more terrible than the common race of 
 ghosts, spectres, and fiendish visitants. But there 
 was another circumstance which inexpressibly height- 
 ened the horror excited by the dread of being at- 
 tacked. Wasting illness, closed by death, was not 
 all that the victim had to endure. He who was 
 sucked by a Vampyre was doomed to become in his 
 turn a member of the hideous community, and to 
 inflict on others, even on those who were nearest 
 and dearest to him^ the same evils by which he had 
 himself suff'ered and perished. 
 
 When a grave was opened in order to search for 
 one of these pests, to put a stop to his career, the 
 sanguinary offender was recognised by the corpse 
 being fresh and well preserved, the eyes open or half 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 275 
 
 closed, the face of a vermilion hue, the limbs flexible, 
 the hair and nails long, and the pulse beating-. 
 
 The idea of this unchanged state of the corpse 
 seems to have originated from a superstition of the 
 Cireek church. It was believed that excommunica- 
 tion, inflicted by the Greek priests, had the power of 
 preventing the. lifeless remains of the excommuni- 
 cated person from sinking into decay. An instance 
 of this effect being produced is mentioned by Ilicaut, 
 in his History of the Greek Church. A young man, 
 of Milos, who had been put under the ecclesiastical 
 ban, was buried in a remote and unconsecrated 
 ground. He became a Vampyre, or, as the modern 
 Greeks term it, a Vroucolaca. The corpse was dis- 
 interred, and displayed all the signs of Vampyrism. 
 The priests were about to treat it as was usual in 
 such cases ; but the friends of the deceased solicited 
 and obtained a cessation of hostilities, till a messen- 
 ger could be sent to Constantinople, to pray for ab- 
 solution from the Patriarch. The corpse, meanwhile, 
 was placed in the church, and masses were daily and 
 nightly said. One day, while the priest was reading 
 the service, a crash was heard from the coffin; the 
 lid was opened, and the body was found as entirely 
 (lecayed as though it had been buried for seven years. 
 When the messenger arrived with the absolution, it 
 uus ascertained that the Patriarch had affixed his 
 .-'ignaturc to it at the exact moment when the crash 
 was beard in the coffin ! 
 
 The superstition relative to Vampyres is supposed 
 by Calmet to be derived from ancient legends. The 
 first of these legends is the story of St. Stanislas rais- 
 ing a man, who had been dead three years, and whom 
 he called to life that he might give evidence, in the 
 saint's behalf, in a court of justice. After having 
 T 2 
 
276 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 given his testimony, the resuscitated raan returned 
 quietly to his grave. A second is to be found in 
 Phlegon de Mirabilibus, who relates that a girl of 
 the name of Philinnium, a native of Tralles, in Asia 
 Minor, not only visited, ate, and drank, with her 
 lover, after her death, but even cohabited with him. 
 But in neither of these cases do we find a trace of 
 the diabolical malignity which characterizes the Vam- 
 pyre. A more congenial origin may perhaps be 
 found in the Strygis, of which Ovid makes mention ; 
 and this origin appears the more probable when we 
 consider that, in the middle ages, the Strygis had an 
 established place among the demon tribe ; and, in 
 the shape of suspected males and females, was often 
 burnt, among other sorcerers and magicians, by the 
 Lombards and Germans. There is extant a capitu- 
 lary of Charlemagne, which shows how prevalent the 
 belief was in the existence of the Strygis, and how 
 strong a resemblance the fiend bore to the Vampyre 
 of modern times. It enacts that " if any person, de- 
 ceived by the devil, shall believe, after the manner 
 of the Pagans, that any man or woman was a Strygis, 
 or Stryx, and was given to eat men, and for this cause 
 should burn such person, or should give such person's 
 flesh to be eaten, or should eat such flesh, such man 
 or woman should be capitally punished." 
 
 From the capitulary it is clear, that eating the 
 flesh of the delinquent Stryx was supposed to be a 
 remedy for the evils which the demon inflicted. 
 There is a somewhat similar circumstance connected 
 with the Vampyre, which strengthens the idea that 
 it is a legitimate descendant of the Stryx. In a 
 French work, published nearly a century and a half 
 ago, is an account of the Upiers or Vampyres, which 
 infested Poland and Russia. " They appear," says the 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 277 
 
 EuthoF, from mid-day to midnight, and suck the blood 
 of men and beasts in such abundance, that it often 
 issues again out of their mouth, nose and ears ; 
 and the corpse sometimes is found swimming in the 
 blood with which its cere-cloth is filled. This Redi- 
 vive, or Upier (or some demon in his form) rises 
 from the tombs, goes by night to hug and squeeze 
 violently his relations or friends, and sucks their 
 blood, so as to weaken and exhaust them, and at 
 length occasion their death. This persecution is not 
 confined to a single person, but extends throughout 
 the family, unless it is arrested by cutting off the head, 
 or opening the heart, of the Upier, which they find 
 in its cere-cloth, soft, flexible, tumid, and ruddy, 
 although long ago dead. A large quantity of blood 
 commonly flows from the body, which some mix up 
 with flour and make bread of it ; and this hread^ 
 when eaten, is found to preserve them from the vex- 
 ation of the spectre'' It is singular, however, that 
 though the Vampyre himself might thus be rendered 
 edible, he was imagined to communicate an infectious 
 quality to whatever he fed on ; so that, if any one 
 were unlucky enough to eat the flesh of cattle which 
 had been sucked, he would, after death, be sure of 
 becoming a member of the blood-sucking fraternity. 
 In one part of his statement this author is incor- 
 rect. Vampyres were not to be so easily got rid of 
 as he imagined. Nothing short of burning would, at 
 least in a majority of cases, put an end to'their dia- 
 bolical visitations. Some of them had the audacity 
 to make a jest of driving a stake through them. Of 
 this class was a peasant, of the village of Blow, in 
 Bohemia, who had long been most mischievously 
 active. ** At last they dug him up, and drove a stake 
 through bim, during which be had the impudence to 
 
278 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 laug-h and jeer at his executioners, and thank theu. 
 for giving him a stick to defend himself against the 
 dogs. This procedure did not answer at all. He 
 became still more troublesome than ever. Then they 
 delivered him over to the hangman, who placed him 
 in a cart, to carry him out of the village and burn him. 
 But in this new situation he kicked and struggled 
 like a man in a frenzy, and, when they again drove 
 stakes into him, uttered loud shrieks, and gave a 
 large quantity of fine healthy blood. At last they 
 burnt him : and the village at the moment ceased to 
 be infested as before." 
 
 The belief in Vampyrism prevailed in Greece, where, 
 as we have already stated, the demon was known by 
 the name of Vroucolaca, or Broucocolas. Tournefort 
 relates an amusing story of one that woefully annoyed 
 the inhabitants of Mycone. Prayers, processions, 
 stabbing with swords, sprinklings of holy water, and 
 even pouring it in large doses down the throat of the 
 refractory Vroucolaca, were all tried in vain. An 
 Albanian, who chanced to be at Mycone, objected to 
 two of these remedies. It was no wonder that the 
 devil continued in, he said, for how could he possibly 
 come through the holy water ! and as to the swords, 
 they were equally effectual in preventing his exit ; 
 for, their handles being crosses, he was so much terri- 
 fied that he dared not pass them. To obviate the 
 latter objection, he recommended that Turkish scyme- 
 tars should be used. The scymetars were accordingly 
 put in requisition, but the pertinacious devil still 
 retained his hold of the corpse, and played his pranks 
 with as much vigour as ever. At length, when all 
 the respectable inhabitants were packing up, to take 
 flight to Syra or Tinos, an effectual mode of ousting 
 the Vroucolaca was fortunately suggested. The body 
 
• DECEPTION, AND CREDUI.ITY. 279 
 
 was committed to the flames, on the first of January, 
 1701, and the spirit, being- thus forcibly ejected from 
 his abode, was rendered incapable of doing farther 
 mischief. He, however, left behind him a legacy of 
 vexation to the Myconians ; for, as a punishment for 
 having had doings with the evil one, a fine was im- 
 posed upon them by the Turks, when they next visited 
 the island to receive the capitation tax. 
 
 But though Vampyrism was known in Greece, it 
 was far more prevalent in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, 
 Poland, Hungary, and Walachia. In those countries 
 it raged particularly from 1725 to 1735. There was 
 scarcely a village that was not said to be haunted by 
 one of the blood-sucking demons ; and the greatest 
 part of the population was a prey to terror. The 
 belief was not confined to the vulgar; all classes par- 
 ticipated in it ; military and ecclesiastical commissions 
 were appointed to investigate the facts ; and the 
 press teemed with dissertations and narratives from 
 the pens of erudite individuals, whose learning was at 
 least equalled by their inveterate credulity. 
 
 In the mode which was employed by the Wala- 
 chians for the detection of Vampyres, there is a touch 
 of the romantic. On a jet black horse, which had 
 never approached the female, they mounted a young 
 boy, and made them pass up and down in the church- 
 yard by all the graves ; and wherever the animal 
 refused to proceed, they, concluded that particular 
 grave to be inhabited by a vampyre. " They then 
 open it," says the narrator, " and find within it 
 corpse equally fat and fair as a man who is quietly 
 sleeping." By cutting off the head, and filling up 
 the trench, all danger was removed, and those who 
 bad been attacked were gradually restored to their 
 strength and faculties. 
 
280 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 JUGGLING. 
 
 Feats of Jugglers formerly attributed to witchcraft — Extract from 
 Ady's Candle in the Dark— Anglo-Saxon Gleemen — Norman 
 Jugglers or Tregetours — Chaucer's Description of the Wonders 
 performed by them — Means probably employed by them — 
 Recipe for making the Appearance of a Flood — Jugglers fashion- 
 able in the Reign of Charles II Evelyn's Account of a Fire- 
 eater— Katterfel to — Superiority of Asiatic and Egyptian pre- 
 tenders to magical Skill — Mandeville's Account of Juggling at 
 the Court of the Great Khan — Extraordinary Feats witnessed 
 by the Emperor Jehanguire— Ibn Batata's Account of Hin- 
 dustanee Jugglers — Account of a Bramin who sat upon the Air 
 — Egyptian Jugglers— Mr. Lane's Account of the Performance 
 of one of them — Another fails in satisfying Captain Scott. 
 
 The mountebanks who now exhibit on the tra- 
 velling stage or cart, and whose buffoonery pleases 
 only the clown, were formerly thought to practise 
 witchcraft, or deal with some unlawful powers. One 
 Thomas Ady censures them severely, in a book which 
 he published in the year 1656, called "A Candle in 
 the Dark, against Witches and Witchcraft." In this 
 book he says, " The craft of juggling, to them that are 
 not acquainted with it, breeds great admiration in the 
 beholders, and seemeth to silly people to be miracu- 
 lous, and yet, being known, is but deceit and roguery; 
 so that the beholder cannot but blush and be ashamed 
 to think he was so easily cozened, and did so much 
 admire a ridiculous imposture. I will speak of one 
 more excelling in the craft than others, that went 
 about in King James his time, who called himself the 
 King's most excellent Hocus Pocus, because that, at 
 the playing of every trick, he used to say, ' hocus 
 pocus tout us talontus vade celeriter jubeo,' a dark 
 composure of words, to blind the eyes of the beholders. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 281 
 
 to make every trick pass the more currently, without 
 discovery ; because, when the eye and ear are both 
 earnestly busied, the trick is not so easily discovered, 
 nor the imposture discerned. The going about of 
 this fellow was very useful," continues Mr. Ady, " to 
 the wise, to see how the people among the heathen 
 were deceived in times and places of ignorance ; as 
 Pharaoh and his servants were imposed upon by 
 magicians, and the Samaritans by Simon the sorcerer, 
 ' to whom all gave heed/ " 
 
 But, however disparagingly Mr. Ady may speak of 
 the art of juggling, it is impossible to deny that many 
 of the professors of it have been men of great clever- 
 ness. Even the commonest of the tricks to which he 
 alludes continued for ages to amuse and astonish the 
 people. The trick of throwing several balls and knives 
 into the air, and regularly catching and returning 
 them, is as old as the time of our Anglo-Saxon ances- 
 )rs. In Strutt's Sports and Pastimes of the People 
 t England, there is a representation of **a gleeman," 
 or merry-maker, keeping up and catching three knives 
 and three balls. 
 
 But the joculators, jugglours, or tregatours, of the 
 Normans, were men of much higher pretensions than 
 the gleemen. Some of the delusions which they 
 practised could not have been performed without con- 
 siderable scientific knowledge. We have the authority 
 of Chaucer for the fact, that they '< cheated the eyes 
 with blear illusion," in a manner which may excuse 
 ignorant spectators for having attributed the effect to 
 supernatural means. *^ In a large hall they will," says 
 he, " produce water with boats rowed up and down 
 upon it. Sometimes they will bring in the similitude 
 of a grim lion, or make flowers spring up in a meadow ; 
 sometimes they cause a yine to flourish, bearing white 
 
282 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 and red grapes ; or show a castle built with stone, and 
 when they please they cause the whole to disappear." 
 He tells us, too, of a " learned clerk, who showed to a 
 friend forests filled with wild deer, where he saw an 
 hundred of them slain, some with hounds and some 
 with arrows ; the hunting being finished, a company 
 of falconers appeared upon the banks of a fair river, 
 where the birds pursued the herons and slew them. 
 He then saw knights jousting upon a plain," and, which 
 was a more attractive sight, " the resemblance of his 
 beloved lady dancing, which occasioned him to dance 
 also." But when " the maister that this magike 
 wrought thought fit, he clapped his hands together, 
 and all was gone in an instante." Another feat, which 
 he describes as having himself witnessed, is still more 
 striking : 
 
 • " There saw I Coll Tregetour, 
 Upon a table of sycamour, 
 Play an uncouth thing to tell ; 
 I saw him cary a wynde mell 
 Under a walnote shale." 
 
 It i's probable that the deceptive effect was produced 
 by the magic lantern, and the concave mirror. With 
 respect to the method '^ to make the appearance of • 
 a flode of water to come into a house," the following 
 recipe has been gravely handed down to us from our 
 ancestors : — steep a thread in the liquor produced 
 from snakes' eggs bruised, and hang it up over a bason 
 of water in the place where the trick is to be per- 
 formed. Recipes of this kind were perhaps meant 
 to mislead those who wished to penetrate the 
 mystery. 
 
 In the reign of Charles the Second, jugglers ap- 
 pear to have been in much repute with the great. 
 In the " Diary" of Evelyn, under the date of Oct. 8, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 283 
 
 1672, we find the following" notice: "I tooke my 
 leave of my Lady Sunderland ; she made me stay 
 dinner at Leicester House, and afterwards sent for 
 Richardson, the famous tire-eater. He melted a 
 beer-glass, and eat it quite up ; then, taking" a live 
 coal on his tongue, he put on it a raw oyster ; the coal 
 was blown on with bellows, till it flamed and sparkled 
 in his mouth, and so remained, till the oyster gasped 
 and was quite boiled ; then he melted pitch and wax 
 with sulphur, which he drank down as it flamed ; I 
 saw it flaming in his mouth a good while. He also 
 took up a thick piece of iron, like an ironing heater, 
 and, when fiery hot, held it between his teeth, then 
 m his hand, and threw it about like a stone ; but this, 
 I believe, he cared not to hold very long." Lady 
 Sunderland seemed fond of such exhibitions, as Mr. 
 Evelyn recounts on another occasion, that " dining 
 with Lady Sunderland, I saw a fellow swallow a knife, 
 and divers great pebble stones, which could make a 
 plain rattling one against another ; the knife was in 
 sheath of horn." 
 
 Katterfelto, described by Cowper, as 
 
 " With his liair on end, at his own wonders 
 Wondering for his bread," 
 
 IS a compound of conjuror and quack-doctor, and 
 seems at one time to have enjoyed a great repute in his 
 way. He practised on the people of London, during 
 the influenza of the year 1782, and added to his nos- 
 trums the fascination of hocus-pocus. Among other 
 philosophical apparatus, he employed the services of 
 some extraordinary black cats, with which he asto- 
 nished the ignorant, and confounded the vulgar. 
 He was not so successful out of London ; as he was 
 
284 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 committed, by the Mayor of Shrewsbury, to the com- 
 mon house of correction, as a vagrant and impostor. 
 
 But, though European jugglers have manifested 
 great skill in the various branches of their art, they 
 appear to be far exceeded by those of other parts of 
 the world. Clavigero describes many of the perform- 
 ances of Mexican professors ; and adds that " the 
 first Spaniards who were witnesses of these and other 
 exhibitions of the Mexicans were so much astonished 
 at their agility, that they suspected some supernatural 
 power assisted them." 
 
 It is, however, in the Asiatic and African quarters 
 of the globe that the art of deluding the eye by false 
 presentments is to be found in its perfection. Sir 
 John Mandeville gives an account of an exhibition, 
 which took place before the Great Khan ; " And be 
 it done by craft, or by nicromancy," says he, " I wot 
 not." That, in an unenlightened age, he should doubt 
 w^hether " nicromancy " had not something to do 
 with such wonders is not astonishing. " They 
 make," he tells us, "the appearance of the sun and 
 the moon in the air ; and then they make the night 
 so dark, that nothing can be seen ; and again they 
 restore the daylight, and the sun shining brightly. 
 Then they bring in dances of the fairest damsels of 
 the world, and the richest arrayed. Afterwards they 
 make other damsels to come in, bringing cups of 
 gold, full of the milk of divers animals, and give 
 drink to the lords and ladies ; and then they make 
 knights joust in arms full lustily, who run together, 
 and in the encounter break their spears so rudely, 
 that the splinters fly all about the hall. They also 
 bring in a hunting of the hart and of the boar, with 
 hounds running at them open-mouthed ; and many 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 285 
 
 other things they do by the craft of their enchant- 
 ments, that are marvellous to see." 
 
 Mandeville has the reputation, not justly in every 
 instance, of being such " a measureless liar," that his 
 evidence in this case may, perhaps, excite incredulity ; 
 but we must hesitate to disbelieve the old traveller, 
 when we find that similar, or even greater, wonders 
 are attested by an unexceptionable witness, no less a 
 personage than Jehanguire, the Emperor of Hin- 
 dustan. In his Autobiography, that monarch enu- 
 merates no less than twenty-eight tricks, which were 
 played by Bengalee jugglers before him and his 
 court, and at which he expresses, as well he might, 
 the utmost astonishment. One of them, that of 
 cutting a man in pieces, and then producing him alive 
 and perfect, resembles a trick which Ibn Batuta saw 
 long before in China. Another was the putting of 
 seeds of curious trees into the earth, which speedily 
 grew to the height of two or three feet, and bore fruit. 
 This was repeated at Madras, not many years ago, 
 on the lawn before the Government-house. A mango 
 stone was put into the ground, which, to all appear- 
 ance, rapidly sprung up into a fruit-bearing tree. 
 Another of the tricks exhibited before the emperor is 
 equally marvellous : " They produced a chain fifty 
 cubits in length, and in my presence threw one end 
 of it towards the sky, where it remained, as if fastened 
 to something in the air. A dog was then brought 
 forward, and, being placed at the lower end of the 
 chain, immediately ran up, and, reaching the other 
 end, immediately disappeared in the air. In the 
 same manner, a hog, a panther, a lion, and a tiger, 
 were alternately sent up the chain, and all equally 
 disappeared at the upper end of the chain. At last, 
 they took down the chain and put it into a bag, no 
 
286 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 one ever discerning in what way the diflFerent animals 
 were made to vanish into the air, in the mysterious 
 manner above described. This, I may venture to 
 affirm, was beyond measure strange and surprising." 
 
 Ibn Batuta (the celebrated traveller, who has been 
 called the Mahometan Marco Polo of the fourteenth 
 century), to whom a reference has already been made, 
 narrates delusions of the same kind, of which he was 
 an eye-witness. 'He informs us that, when he was 
 once in the presence of the Emperor of Hindustan, 
 two Yogees came in, whom the monarch desired to 
 show him what he had never yet seen. They said, 
 " < We will.' One of them then assumed the form of 
 a cube, and arose from the earth, and, in this cubic 
 shape, he occupied a place in the air over our heads. 
 I was so much astonished and terrified at this, that I 
 fainted and fell to the earth. The emperor then or- 
 dered me some medicine which he had with him, and, 
 upon taking this, I recovered and sat up ; this cubic 
 figure still remaining in the air just as it had been. 
 His companion then took a sandal, belonging to one 
 of those who had come out with him, and struck it 
 upon the ground as if he had been angry. The san- 
 dal then ascended until it became opposite in situation 
 with the cube. It then struck it upon the neck, and 
 the cube gradually descended to the earth, and at 
 last rested in the place it had left. The emperor 
 then told me that the man who took the form of a 
 cube was a disciple to the owner of the sandal. * And/ 
 continued he, * had I not entertained fears for the 
 safety of thy intellect, I should have ordered him to 
 show thee greater things than these.' From this, 
 however, I took a palpitation of the heart, until the 
 emperor ordered me a medicine, which restored me." 
 It is not more than seven years since a Bramin 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 287 
 
 died at Madras, who was accustomed to perform 
 apparently the difficult feat of sitting- on the air. He 
 did not exhibit for money, but merely as an act of 
 courtesy. Forty minutes is said to have been the 
 longest time that he ever remained in this extraor- 
 dinary situation ; the usual time seems to have been 
 about twelve minutes. An eye-witness thus describes 
 the act and the preparation for it : " The only appa- 
 ratus seen is a piece of plank, which, with four pegs, 
 he forms into a kind of long stool ; upon this, in a 
 little brass saucer or socket, he places, in a perpendi- 
 cular position, a hollow bamboo, over which he puts a 
 kind of crutch, like that of a walking-crutch, covering 
 that with a piece of common hide; these materials he 
 carries with him in a little bag, which is shown to 
 those who come to see him exhibit. The servants of 
 the house hold a blanket before him, and, when it is 
 withdrawn, he is discovered poised in the air, about 
 four feet from the ground, in a sitting attitude, the 
 outer edge of one hand merely touching the crutch; 
 the fingers of that hand deliberately counting beads ; 
 the other hand and arm held up in an erect posture. 
 The blanket was then held up before him, and they 
 heard a gurgling noise, like that occasioned by wind 
 escaping from a bladder or tube, and, when the screen 
 was withdrawn, he was again standing on terra fiima. 
 The same man has the power of staying under water 
 for several hours. He declines to explain how he 
 does it, merely saying he has been long accustomed to 
 
 do 80." 
 
 The Bramin died without communicating his secret, 
 
 nd though attempts were made to explain it, none of 
 
 : hem were satisfactory. It was asserted by a native 
 
 that it is treated of in the Shasters, and depends upon 
 
 the art of fully suppressing the breath, and of cleans- 
 
288 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 ing the tubular organs of the body, joined to a peculiar 
 mode of drawing, retaining, and ejecting the breath — 
 an explanation which leaves the mystery as dark as 
 ever. 
 
 Egypt, which, more than thirty centuries .ago, 
 produced men so confident of their magical skill as to 
 venture to emulate the miracles of Moses, still has 
 pretenders to preternatural powers. The modern 
 magicians seem by no means to be a degenerate race. 
 One of their modes of delusion is " the magic mirror 
 of ink," and the address with which they manage the 
 trick is really wonderful, and, indeed, inexplicable. 
 It is performed by pouring ink into the hand of a boy 
 not arrived at puberty, an unmarried woman, or a 
 woman who is "as ladies wish to be who love their 
 lords." The boy is told to look into the ink, and to 
 say what he sees. Mr. Lane, in his recent valuable 
 work on Egypt, has described the operation, and he 
 declares his utter inability to account for the result. 
 ** After some preliminary ceremonies had been gone 
 through, the magician," says he, " addressed himself 
 to me, and asked me if I wished the boy to see any 
 person who was absent or dead. I named Lord Nel- 
 son, of whom the boy had evidently never heard ; for 
 it was with much difficulty he pronounced the name, 
 after several trials. The magician desired the boy to 
 say to the Sooltan, * My master salutes thee, and de- 
 sires thee to bring Lord Nelson : bring him before my 
 eyes, that I may see him, speedily.' I'he boy then said 
 so ; and almost immediately added, * A messenger is 
 gone, and has returned, and has brought a man, dressed 
 in a black* suit of European clothes : the man has lost 
 his left arm.* He then paused for a moment or two, 
 
 • Dark blue is called, by the modern Egyptians, eswed, which 
 properly signifies black, and is therefore so translated here. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 289 
 
 and, looking more intently and more closely into the 
 ink, he said, * No, he has not lost his left arm, but it is 
 placed to his breast.' This correction made his de- 
 scription more striking than it had been without it ; 
 since Lord Nelson generally had his empty sleeve at- 
 tached to his coat : but it was the right arm that he 
 had lost. Without saying that I suspected the boy 
 had made a mistake, I asked the magician whether 
 the objects appeared in the ink as if actually before 
 the eyes, or as if in a glass, which makes the right 
 appear left. He answered, that they appeared as in 
 a mirror. This rendered the boy's description fault- 
 less." Mr. Lane adds, " A short time since, after 
 performing in the usual manner, by means of a boy, 
 he prepared the magic mirror in the hand of a young 
 English lady, who, on looking into it for a little while, 
 said that she saw a broom sweeping the ground with- 
 out any body holding it, and was so much frightened 
 that she would look no longer." To make this ap- 
 pearance understood, it must be mentioned, that the 
 first thing seen in the mirror is the sweeping of the 
 ground by a broom. In the case of Lord Nelson, 
 however, the broom was in the hands of a man. The 
 boy is said not to have been a confederate of the 
 magician. 
 
 The same experiment was tried, at another time, in 
 the presence of Captain Scott ; but, in this instance, 
 the conjuror seems to have been less of a proficient in 
 his trade than the one who was employed by Mr. 
 Lane, and the result was unsatisfactory to the captain. 
 
290 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PRODIGIES. 
 
 Hold taken on the public Mind by Prodigies — Dutch Boy with 
 Hebrew Words on the Iris of each Eye — Boy with the word Na- 
 poleon in the Eye — Child with a Golden Tooth — Speculations 
 on the Subject — Superstition respecting changeling Children in 
 the Isle of Man — Waldron's Description of a Changeling — Cases 
 of extraordinary Sleepers — The Seven Sleepere of Ephesus — 
 Men supposed, in the northern Regions, to be frozen during the 
 Winter, and afterwards thawed into Life again — Dr. Oliver's Case 
 of a Sleeper near Bath — Dr. Cheyne's Account of Colonel Town- 
 shend's power of voluntarily suspending Animation — Man buried 
 alive for a Month at Jaisulmer — The Manner of his Burial, and 
 his Preparation for it. 
 
 Prodigies of every kind, moral or physical, have 
 ever taken hold of the imag-ination of the public, nor 
 has the better education of some prevented them 
 from lending: a greedy ear to accounts of such phe- 
 nomena, and the belief of the vulgar has thus been 
 sanctioned and streng-thened. Many, from interested 
 speculation, have pretended to underg-o most extra- 
 ordinary privations, or to be independent of the es- 
 tablished laws of nature; such impostures met with 
 a very flattering reception in the earlier part of the 
 eighteenth century. 
 
 Mr. Evelyn mentions a Dutch boy, eight or nine 
 years old, who was carried about by his parents as a 
 show. He had about the iris of one eye the words 
 Deus mens, and about the other Eloihira, in the 
 Hebrew characters. How this was done by artifice 
 none could imagine, and his parents affirmed he was 
 born so. Three years before this period, in 1699, 
 Mr. C. Ellis wrote to Dr. Edw. Tyson, that he had 
 seen the Friesland boy, " round the pupils of whose 
 eyeS; they pretend, are naturally engraved the above 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY 291 
 
 words. This is looked upon as a prodig-ious miracle 
 in these parts, but, upon more nicely surveying" it, I 
 could perceive it was only the iris not circularly 
 joined, but lashed into fimbriae, which mig;ht be 
 thoug-ht to form imaginary letters ; there is some- 
 thing- like D. J. and V., but not a footstep for the 
 strong-est fancy to work out any more. But it was 
 like to have been of danger to me to have discovered 
 this trick ; for acquainting a gentleman in English of 
 this cheat, one of the mob happened to understand it, 
 and I was forced to make the best of my way." It 
 is hardly three years since a lad was exhibited in 
 London, who is said to have had " Napoleon," in 
 distinct letters, written in his eye. There is little 
 doubt, if this was really the case, but it was the re- 
 sult of artificial, rather than natural, causes. 
 
 The eyes are not the only part of the head in which 
 miraculous appearances have been supposed to be 
 manifested. In 1593, it was reported that a child of 
 seven years old, in Silesia, having shed its teeth, a 
 double tooth had been replaced by one of gold. This 
 phenomenon soon brought a number of learned men 
 into the field, to dissertate upon the wonder. Horst, 
 more generally known under his Latinized name of 
 Horstius, who was a professor of medicine, and really 
 a man of abilities, wrote in raptures upon the subject. 
 According to his idea, the production of the tooth was 
 partly a natural and partly a miraculous event, and 
 was intended by Heaven to console the Christians 
 for the perils to which they were exposed from the 
 'I'urks. How consolation was to be derived from 
 ich a source, it would not be easy to discover, 
 iiorst was followed by Martin Kuland, another phy- 
 sician, who published a treatise called " Nova et om- 
 ni Memoria omDino inaudita Hist, de Aureo Dente>" 
 u2 
 
292 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 &c. Two years after Ruland had given his tract to the 
 world, the opinions, which it broached, were contro- 
 verted by Ingestetems ; and were immediately de- 
 fended, in another dissertation, by Ruland. Lastly, 
 the pen was taken up by Libavius, an eminent che- 
 mist and physician, the first proposer of the trans- 
 fusion of blood. Unhappily, all this labour and 
 erudition were thrown away. Some one had, at last, 
 the good sense to institute an inquiry as to the reality 
 of the miracle ; and, to the great discomfort of the 
 literary and non-literary believers, it was discovered 
 that the tooth was gilt. 
 
 Waldron, in his Description of the Isle of Man, 
 says, " The old story of infants being changed in 
 their cradles is here in such credit, that mothers are 
 in continual terror at the thoughts of it. I was pre- 
 vailed on," says he, " to go and see a child, who, as 
 they told me, was one of these changelings, and in- 
 deed I must own I was not a little surprised and 
 shocked at the sight. Nothing under heaven could 
 have a more beautiful face ; though between five and 
 six years old, and seemingly healthy, he was so far 
 from being able to walk, that he could not so much 
 as move a joint; his limbs were vastly long for his 
 age, but smaller than an infant's of six months ; his 
 complexion perfectly delicate, and he had the finest 
 hair in the world. He never spoke or cried, ate 
 scarce any thing, and was very seldom seen to smile ; 
 but if any one called him fairy elf he would frown, 
 and fix his eyes so earnestly on those who had said 
 it, as if he would look them through. His mother, 
 or supposed mother, being poor, frequently went out 
 a-charing and left home a whole day together; the 
 neighbours, out of curiosity, have often looked in at 
 the window to see how he behaved alone, which 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 293 
 
 whenever they did, they were sure to find him laugh- 
 ing^ and in the utmost deh'ght. This made them 
 judge that he was not without company, more pleasing 
 to him than any mortal ; and what made this seem 
 more reasonable was, that if he was left ever so 
 dirty, the woman, at her return, saw him with a clean 
 face, and hair combed with the utmost exactness." 
 
 Instances have been often recorded of extraordi- 
 nary sleepers, which, supposing them to have been 
 true, have puzzled physiologists to account for. So 
 many eccentricities in the animal economy have been 
 proved by a careful investigation to be impostures, 
 that it is but natural to suppose them all to have 
 been feigned, to accomplish some particular purpose. 
 
 The popular tale of the Seven Sleepers has had a 
 most extended circulation, and, as a divine revelation, 
 was extensively believed among the Mahometans, 
 When the emperor Decius persecuted the Christians, 
 seven noble youths of Ephesus concealed themselves 
 in a spacious cavern, the entrance to which the tyrant 
 ordered should be firmly secured with a pile of stones. 
 They immediately fell into a deep slumber, which 
 was miraculously prolonged, without injuring the 
 powers of life, during a period of one hundred and 
 eighty- seven years. After this slumber, as they 
 thought, of a few hours, they were pressed by tlic 
 calls of hunger, and it was resolved that Jamblichus, 
 one of them, should secretly return to the city for 
 bread. The youth could hardly recognise his native 
 city, and, to his surprise, a large cross was triumph- 
 antly erected over the principal gate of Ephesus. 
 His singular dress and obsolete language confounded 
 the baker, to whom he offered an ancient medal of 
 Decius^ as the current coin of the empire. Taken 
 
294 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 up on suspicion, he found that two centuries had 
 nearly elapsed, since his escape from the tyrant. The 
 hishop of Ephesus, the clergy, and others, hastened 
 to visit the cave of the seven sleepers, who bestowed 
 their benediction, and peaceably expired. 
 
 Arg-uing from analogy, it was supposed that the 
 inhabitants of the colder regions hybernated, as cer- 
 tain smaller animals are known to do. Baron Her- 
 berstein,, in his Commentaries on Russian History, 
 asserts, that there are in the northern parts of Mus- 
 covy, near the river Oby, on the borders of Tartary, 
 a people he calls Leucomori, who sleep from the 
 27th day of November till the 23rd of April, like 
 tortoises, under ground, and then come to life again, 
 though quite frozen all the winter. This gentleman 
 was a creditable sort of person, and twice ambassador 
 in Russia, from Ferdinand the emperor. It is most 
 likely, however, that, in points of this nature he was 
 contented to rely on the reports of others. 
 
 Dr. Oliver has given to the world " a relation of 
 an extraordinary sleeping person, at Finsbury, near 
 Bath ;" the truth of which he seemed not to doubt. 
 Samuel Chilton, in May, 1694, fell into a profound 
 sleep, out of which no art could rouse him, till after 
 a month's time : during this time, food and ^rink 
 were put before him, which always disappeared, though 
 no one ever saw him eat or drink. 
 
 Two years afterwards, he slept seventeen weeks, 
 and in the following year for five months, with only 
 one intermission for a few minutes. It does not 
 appear, from the relation, that there was reason to 
 suspect any imposture ; yet it was rather remarkable 
 that the stimulus of hunger should have induced him, 
 though asleep, to eat and drink whatever was put 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 295 
 
 before him, and yet the most powerful stimuli applied 
 in other forms should have made no impression upon 
 him. 
 
 This protracted sleep, strang-e as it is, does not, 
 however, appear so wonderful as the power of volun- 
 tarily suspending- animation, and returning to life, 
 after a considerable time has elapsed. A remarkable 
 case of this kind is recorded by the celebrated Doctor 
 Cheyne, in his '* English Malady." The patient was 
 a Colonel Townshend, " a man of great honour and 
 integrity," who had long been suffering under an 
 acute nephritic disorder, attended with constant 
 vomitings, which made life a burden to him. Early 
 one morning, he sent for his two physicians, Dr. 
 Cheyne and Dr. Baynard ; they went, accompanied 
 by Mr. Skrine, his apothecary, and found his senses 
 clear, and his mind perfectly collected. He had, he 
 said, sent for them that they might give him " some 
 account of an odd sensation which he had for some 
 time observed and felt in himself, which was, that 
 composing himself, he could die or expire when he 
 pleased, and yet, by an effort, or somehow, he could 
 rome to life again, which (says Cheyne) it seems he 
 had sometimes tried before he had sent for us." 
 
 The physicians were naturally surprised at this 
 communication, and reluctant to believe a fact which 
 was seemingly so improbable. Yet they hesitated to 
 allow of his making the experiment before them, lest, 
 in his debilitated state, he might carry it too far. He, 
 however, insisted so strongly on their seeing the trial 
 made, that they at last consented. " We all three," 
 pays Cheyne, " felt his pulse first ; it was distinct, 
 though small and thready ; and his heart had its 
 usual beating. He composed himself on his back, 
 and lay in a still position some time; while I held his 
 
296 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 right hand, Dr. Baynard laid his hand on his heart, 
 and Mr. Skrine held a clean looking-glass to his 
 mouth. I found his pulse sink gradually, till at last 
 I could not feel any by the most exact and nice touch. 
 Dr. Baynard could not find the least motion in his 
 heart, nor Mr. Skrine the least soil of breath on the 
 bright mirror which he held to his mouth ; then each 
 of us by turns examined his arm, heart, and breath, 
 but could not, by the nicest scrutiny, discover the 
 least symptom of life in him. We reasoned a long 
 time about this odd appearance as well as we could, 
 and all of us judging it inexplicable and unaccount- 
 able, we began to conclude that he had indeed carried 
 the experiment too far, and at last were satisfied 
 he was actually dead, and were just ready to leave 
 him. This continued about half an hour, by nine 
 o'clock in the morning, in autumn. As we were 
 going away we observed some motion about the body, 
 and, upon examination, found his pulse and the 
 motion of his heart gradually returning ; he began 
 to breathe gently, and speak softly ; we were all asto- 
 nished to the last degree of astonishment at this 
 unexpected change, and after some farther conversa- 
 tion with him, and among ourselves, went away fully 
 satisfied as to all the particulars of this fact, but 
 confounded and puzzled, and not able to form any 
 rational scheme that might account for it. He after- 
 wards called for his attorney, added a codicil to his 
 will, settled legacies on his servants, received the 
 sacrament, and calmly and composedly expired about 
 six o'clock that evening." 
 
 A case of voluntary death and resuscitation, still 
 more remarkable, because the individual by whom 
 the act was performed was buried alive, and remained 
 for a month in his tomb, has recently occurred in 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 297 
 
 India. The fact appears to be authenticated by un- 
 exceptionable evidence. The account is given in a 
 letter, by Lieutenant A. H. Boileau, an officer of 
 engineers, who is employed on the extensive trigo- 
 nometrical survey of India. " I have (says he) just 
 witnessed a singular circumstance, of which I had 
 heard during our stay at this place, but said nothing 
 about it before, the time for its accomplishment not 
 being completed. This morning, however, the full 
 month was over, and a man who had been buried all 
 that time, on the bank of a tank near our camp, was 
 dug out alive, in the presence of Esur-La), one of 
 the ministers of the Muhar-wull of Jaisulmer, on 
 whose account this singular individual was voluntarily 
 interred a month ago. 
 
 " The man is said, by long practice, to have ac- 
 quired the art of holding his breath by shutting the 
 mouth, and stopping the interior opening of the nos- 
 trils with his tongue ; he also abstains from solid food 
 for some days previous to his interment, so that he 
 may not be inconvenienced by the contents of his 
 stomach, while put up in his narrow grave ; and, 
 moreover, he is sown up in a bag of cloth, and the 
 cell is lined with masonry and floored with cloth, 
 that the white ants and other insects may not easily 
 be able to molest him. The place in which he was 
 buried at Jaisulmer is a small building about twelve 
 feet by eight, built of stone ; and in the floor was a 
 bole about three feet long, two and a half feet wide, 
 and the same depth, or perhaps a yard deep, in which 
 he was placed in a sitting posture, sewed up in his 
 shroud, with his feet turned inwards towards the 
 stomach, and his hands also pointed inwards towards 
 the chest. Two heavy slabs of stone, five or six feet 
 lon^, several inches thicks and broad enough to cover 
 
298 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the mouth of the grave, so that he could not escape, 
 were then placed over him, and I believe a little 
 earth was plastered over the whole, so as to make the 
 surface of the grave smooth and compact. The door of 
 the house was also built up, and people placed out- 
 side, that no tricks might be played nor deception 
 practised. At the expiration of a full month, that is 
 to say, this morning, the walling of the door was 
 broken, and the buried man dug out of the grave ; 
 Trevelyan's moonshee Only running there in time to 
 see the ripping open of the bag in which the man had 
 been enclosed. He was taken out in a perfectly 
 senseless state, his eyes closed, his hands cramped and 
 powerless, his stomach shrunk very much, and his 
 teeth jammed so fast together, that they were forced 
 to open his mouth with an iron instrument to pour a 
 little water down his throat. He gradually recovered 
 his senses and the use of his limbs ; and when we 
 went to see him was sitting up, supported by two 
 men, and conversed with us in a low, gentle tone of 
 voice, saying that ' we might bury him again for a 
 twelvemonth, if we pleased.' " 
 
 Thac his powers of abstinence are great, there can 
 be no doubt ; as Cornet Macnaghten once suspended 
 him for thirteen days, shut up in a wooden box. 
 During the time that he is buried, his hair ceases to 
 grow. Previously to his being buried he lives en- 
 tirely upon milk, regulating the quantity in such a 
 manner as to be just sufficient for sustaining life. 
 After his release, and on his first taking food, he is 
 said to feel some anxiety, till he has ascertained that 
 the faculties of his stomach and bowels are not 
 injured. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 BOTANICAL SUPRRSTITION8 AND DELUSIONS. 
 
 Botanical Absurdities numerous— Shepherds study the Nature of 
 Plants — The Doctrine of Signatures described— Supposed Qua- 
 lities of Plants, according to that Doctrine — Maidenhair, QuinceSt 
 Balm, Woodsorrcl, Walnut — The Shamrock an Emblem of 
 the Trinity — Method of gathering and digfring up Plants — 
 Veneration in which the Misletoe was held — Fern- seed rendered 
 the Bearer invisible — The Enchanter's Nightshade — The Man- 
 drake — Mode of obtaining it — 1 he Mandrake mentioned in 
 Genesis — Pliny's Mention of it — The Root counterfeited by 
 means of the Briony Root — Its soporific Virtues — The Tartarian 
 Lamb, or Barometz, described — Poetical Descriptions of it by 
 De la Croix and Darwin — Holy Trees — ELarly-budding Oaka 
 in the New Forest — Glastonbury Thorn — Miraculous Walnut 
 Tree at Glastonbury — Early Blackthorn at Qnainton — The 
 Groaning Tree at Badesly — Hazel used for the Divining Rod — 
 Vindication of the Belief in the Divining Rod — Various Super- 
 stitions respecting Trees and Plants — The Peridexion, 
 
 There is, perhaps, no branch of natural history, 
 that has been more fruitful in superstitious fears and 
 observances, or that has longer been an object of 
 attention to the inquiring- eye of philosophy, than 
 botany ; and in times of ignorance this science har- 
 vested a full crop of absurdities. Much good as well 
 .'IS much evil has been attributed, in all ages, and by 
 -ill nations, to the supernatural agency supposed to 
 reside in certain roots or plants. As the Arabians 
 living in the desert, from the uninterrupted view of 
 the heavens, became great proficients in astronomy, 
 and, by the eternal and unvarying celestial compass, 
 traversed the pathless sands, so, in like manner, 
 shepherds, the earliest inhabitants of most countries, 
 employed the leisure of a pastoral life, in studying 
 the natures and properties of plants ; and, doubtless, 
 
300 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 often amused themselves in filling up the outline of 
 their botanical systems with the help of imagination. 
 
 Thus the doctrine of signatures was invented, with- 
 out any sufficient reason, but that it pleased them to 
 imagine that a fancied resemblance in the shape of the 
 root, leaf, or fruit of any plant, to any particular part 
 of the human body, must indicate its possessing some 
 beneficial or hurtful power, over such corresponding 
 part. For example, a decoction of maidenhair was 
 thought good to wash the head, and to make the hair 
 grow ; a similar preparation of quinces, which are a 
 downy hairy fruit, was also accounted good for re- 
 producing hair that had fallen ofl'. Macassar oil and 
 bears' grease now usurp their place among modern 
 beaux, with perhaps as much claim to efficacy. 
 
 Balm, and wood- sorrel, representing the heart in 
 figure, were, as a natural consequence, cardiacal ; but 
 the walnut was a most perfect type, bearing the signa- 
 ture of the whole head ; the outward green cortex 
 answering to the pericranium, the harder shell within 
 representing the skull, and the kernel in its figure 
 like to the lobes of the brain ; and, therefore, clearly, 
 good for mental diseases. " Thus," says Mr. Hey- 
 don, in his Rosicrusian Physics, " did Divine Pro- 
 vidence, by natural hieroglyphics, read lectures to the 
 rude wit of vulgar man, and the disciples of the 
 seraphically illuminated fraternity of Rosicrusian 
 Christians, being sufficiently illuminated from these, 
 found out the rest." 
 
 The shamrock, or trefoil, which was used by the 
 Druids to cure diseases, and is the national badge of 
 the Irish, acquired the latter distinction by its having 
 been made an emblem of the Trinity, by St. Patrick. 
 When the Pagan Irish were unable to understand the 
 doctrine of three Gods in one, he plucked a trefoil, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 301 
 
 and asked them, '* Is it not as possible for the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, to grow upon one stalk, as it 
 is for these leaves to do so ?" The argument was 
 deemed conclusive by his hearers. 
 
 Each plant or root required a different method of 
 gathering or digging up, and if the prescribed method 
 was not religiously adhered to, both in hour and season, 
 its virtue would be sure to fail at the greatest need. 
 
 The Druids held the oak in extreme veneration, 
 and most particularly the misletoe, which was to be 
 cut with a golden knife, to be gathered when the 
 moon was six days old ; the priest clothed in white ; 
 the portion cut off was to be received on a white 
 napkin ; and, lastly, two white bulls were to be sacri* 
 ficed ; and thus solemnly consecrated, the raisletoe 
 was an antidote to poison, and prevented sterility. 
 
 Fern-seed was thought to have the power of con- 
 ferring invisibility ; in allusion to which power, one 
 asks in an old play " Had you Gyges' ring, or the 
 herb that gives invisibility ?" and in Ben Jonson's 
 " New Inn" — 
 
 I had 
 
 No medicine. Sir, to get invisible ; 
 No fera-seed in my pocket." 
 
 The ancients, who often paid more attention to 
 preconceived opinions than to the evidence of their 
 senses, believed that the fern bore no seed ; our an- 
 cestors gained one step, and believed it bore seed, 
 which was invisible ; hence, from an extraordinary 
 mode of reasoning, founded on the aforesaid doctrine 
 of signatures, it was thought that they who possessed 
 the secret of wearing this seed about them would 
 become invisible. Fern-seed was said to possess great 
 magical powers, but it must be gathered on Mid- 
 
302 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 summer's Eve. One who went to gather it reported, 
 that the spirits whisked by his ears, and sometimes 
 struck his hat, and different parts of the body, and at 
 length, thinking he had got a sufficient quantity of it, 
 he secured it in papers and a box, but when he came 
 home he found all empty. 
 
 At the period when the belief in witchcraft was a 
 matter of faith, there was scarcely any plant but had 
 some share in its mysteries, especially where its habitat 
 at all corresponded with the baneful effects attributed 
 to it. Thus the Circaea, or Enchanter's Nightshade, 
 which was celebrated for the purpose of raising the 
 devil, grew among the mouldering bones and decayed 
 coffins in ruinous vaults. 
 
 But beyond all in power was the mandrake ; this 
 root was fabled to grow under a gallows or place of 
 execution, and arose from the fatty matter dropping 
 from the body of the dead, which gave it the shape of 
 a man ; a fable somewhat similar to that of the ser- 
 pent's teeth sowed by Cadmus. It is affirmed, by old 
 authors, that mandrakes do make a noise, or give a 
 great shriek, upon being pulled out of the earth, 
 
 " Where the sad mandrake grows, 
 Whose groans are deathful." 
 
 Thus there was great hazard of life to them that 
 pulled up this root. Pliny saith, " When they in- 
 tended to take up the root of this plant, they took the 
 wind thereof, and with a sword describing three circles 
 about it, they digged it up, looking towards the west." 
 Another more cautious authority directs, that he 
 who would take it up, in common prudence should tie 
 a dog to it, to accomplish his purpose, as, if he did it 
 himself, he would shortly die. What promoted these 
 strange conceptions might be the tradition, that this 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 303 
 
 root was of great use to Circe, who, by the magic of 
 simples, wrought so many wonders. 
 
 The mention made of mandrakes in the thirtieth 
 chapter of Genesis, has proved the source of much 
 discussion ; though it is quite evident that some other 
 species of plant was spoken of, as being a thing much 
 prized. St. Augustine, who has commented on this 
 passage, says, " It was a great curiosity to behold, as 
 it was very beautiful to the eye ;" but wondered why 
 Rachael should set so high a value upon it, unless for 
 its scarceness. 
 
 Pliny says, that Pythagoras composed a book on 
 the magical virtues of plants, and first called the man- 
 drake anthropomorphous, or man-shaped ; this gave 
 rise to the common practice of imposing on the igno- 
 rant by cutting the roots of briony into such a form. 
 ** There are many," says Mr. Martyn, "in several 
 parts of Europe, who carry about and sell roots to 
 ignorant people, which handsomely make out the 
 shape of a man or woman ; hut these are not the pro- 
 duction of nature, but contrivances of art, as divers 
 have noted, and Matthiolus plainly detected and ex- 
 posed. He learned this way of trickery from a va- 
 gabond cheater under his care ; his words are, * that 
 is vain and fabulous which ignorant people and simple 
 women believe, for the roots which are carried about 
 l>y impostors, to deceive unfruitful women, are made 
 <jf the roots of briony, and other plants ; for in these, 
 vet fresh and virent, they carve out the figures of men 
 aid women, first sticking therein the grains of barley 
 or millet, where they intend the hair should grow ; 
 then bury them in sand until the grains shoot forth 
 their roots, which at the longest will happen in twenty 
 days ; afterwards they clip and trim those tender 
 
304 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Strings in the fashion of beard, and other hairy tegu- 
 ments */ " Though much out of repute, even in 
 Martyn's time, he says, "I have had them very 
 gravely offered me for sale." 
 
 Another virtue of this root was the power of pro- 
 curing sleep. Cleopatra thus asks for it, — 
 
 " Give me to drink mandragora. 
 
 Charmian. Why, Madam? 
 
 Cleopat. That I may sleep out this great gap of time my 
 Antony is away." 
 
 And lago, having basely deceived Othello, with a ma- 
 lignant joy, adds, — 
 
 " Not poppy nor mandragora, 
 Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world, 
 Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep 
 Which thou ow'dst yesterday." 
 
 The plant which in its natural form more faithfully 
 represents an animal is the Scythian or Tartarian 
 Lamb, or Barometz, in the language of the country ; 
 and, as it grows, it might, at a short distance, be taken 
 for an animal rather than a vegetable production. It 
 is one of the genus Polypodium : root decumbent, 
 thick clothed with a very soft close wool, of a deep 
 yellow colour, stipes from one foot and a half in length, 
 appearing above the ground. It is well known to be 
 a root which, from the variety of its shape, is easily 
 made to take the form of a lamb, which the Tartars 
 call Barometz. In China it is known by the name of 
 Rufous Dog. Towards one end of the root, it fre- 
 
 • There is an admirable specimen of this species of imposture, 
 still to be seen, the property of a gentleman, who was applied to for 
 permission to have it copied, but he refused his consent. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 
 
 305 
 
 quently becomes narrower, and then thicker, so as to 
 give the resemblance of head and neck, and has some- 
 times two pendulous hanging excrescences, resembling 
 cars ; at the other end is a short root, resembling a 
 tail. 
 
 Mr. Bell, in his " Journey to Ispahan," thus des- 
 cribes a specimen he saw : ** It seemed to be made by 
 art to imitate a lamb. It is said to eat up and devour 
 all the grass and weeds within its reach. Though it 
 may be thought that an opinion so very absurd could 
 never find credit with people of the meanest under- 
 standing, yet I have conversed with some who were 
 much inclined to believe it ; so very prevalent is the 
 prodigious and absurd with some part of mankind. 
 Among the more sensible and experienced Tartars, I 
 found they laughed at it as a ridiculous fable." Lou* 
 
S06 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 reiro affirms that the fresh root when cut yields a 
 tenacious gum, like the blood of animals, and is 
 used as a styptic to stop the bleeding of wounds. 
 
 De la Croix, in his " Connubia Florum/' gives the 
 following classical description of it : — ■ 
 
 Surgit Immo Baroraes. Praecelsa in stipite fructns, 
 
 Stat quadrupes. Olli Vellus. Duo Cornua fronte 
 
 Lanea, nee desiint oenli ; riulis accola credit 
 
 Esse animal, dormire die, vigilare per umbram, 
 
 Et circum exesis pasci radicitiis herbis 
 
 Carnibus ambrosia, sapor est succiqne rubentes 
 
 Post habeat quibns aliena suum Bnrgundiae nectar, 
 
 Atque loco, referre pedem, natura dedisset, 
 
 Balatu si posset, opem implorare voracis 
 
 Ora lupi contra, credas in stirpe sedere 
 
 Agnum equidem, gregibusque agnorum albescere colics. 
 
 Dr. Darwin, in his " Loves of the Plants," with poetic 
 licence, adopting the fable says — 
 
 " E'en round the pole the flames of love aspire, 
 And icy bosoms feel the sacred fire : 
 Cradled in snow, and fanned by arctic air, 
 Shines, gentle Baromes, thy golden hair ; 
 Rooted in earth, each cloven hoof descends, 
 And round and round her flexile neck she bends, 
 Crops the gray coral moss, and hoary thyrao, 
 Or laps with rosy tongue the melting rime, 
 Eyes with mute tenderness her distant dam, 
 Or seems to bleat, a Vegetable Lamb." 
 
 The rare but occasional occurrence of vegetation 
 in certain trees and shrubs, happening to take place 
 about the period of our Saviour's birth, induced the 
 superstitious peasant to believe, that such trees threw 
 out their leaves with a holy joy, to commemorate 
 that anniversary ; as in like manner oxen and stags 
 were supposed, and had been seen^ to kneel down at 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 307 
 
 midnight on Christmas Eve, in humble adoration. 
 Shakspeare has beautifully described this tradition, 
 when the Ghost in Hamlet disappears at the crowing 
 of the cock : 
 
 *' It faded on the crowing of the cock.* 
 Some say, that ever 'gainst that season comes 
 Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated. 
 The bird of dawning singeth all night long : 
 -And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad : 
 The nights are wholesome ; then no ])lanets strike, 
 No fairy takes ; no witch hath power to charm ; 
 So hallowed, and so gracious is the time. 
 
 An oak of the early-budding species has, for two 
 centuries, enjoyed a fame for pious gratitude, for it 
 was considered a matter of fact with many, that it 
 shot forth its leaves on every Old Christmas-day, and 
 that no leaf was to be seen before, or even after, that 
 day during winter. A lady, in 1786, curious to 
 prove the truth of this assertion, proceeded to Ca- 
 denham, in the New Forest, where the oak grew. On 
 the third of January, the usual guide was ready to 
 attend her ; and on being desired to climb the oak, 
 and search whether there were any leaves, he said, 
 it would be to no purpose, but if she came on the 
 Wednesday following she might see a thousand. He 
 was prevailed on, however, to climb up, and on the 
 first branch he reached, there appeared several new 
 leaves, fresh sprouted from the buds, nearly half an. 
 inch long. The guide was more astonished than the 
 lady at this premature production, for so strong was 
 hh belief in the truth of the whole tradition, that he 
 
 • The sudden departure of ghosts from the earth at that perioil 
 ©f ibc moniiog is a matter of ancient belief. Pliilostratus, giving an 
 account of the apparition of Achilles' shade to Apollonius Tyancus, 
 luiys, that it vanished with a little glimmer as soon as the cock 
 « rowed. 
 
 x2 
 
308 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE^ 
 
 would have pledged his life, that not a single leaf 
 was to be seen before the usual hour ; but, no leaves 
 were to be found aftey^wards, because it was stripped 
 by the numerous parties that were accustomed to 
 visit it on Old Christmas-day. It is a curious fact 
 in botany, that such a budding should take place 
 about that season in this, as well as some other trees. 
 
 There appears to be another early-sprouting oak, 
 near the spot where Rufus's monument stands. This 
 seems to authenticate the account Camden gives of 
 the scene of that prince's death ; for he speaks of the 
 premature vegetation of the very tree on which the 
 arrow of Tyrrell first glanced, and the present tree 
 may be a descendant of that one. 
 
 On Christmas eve, 1753, a vast concourse of peo- 
 ple attended the noted thorn at Glastonbury, which 
 was thought to have similar impulses with the New 
 Forest oak; but, to their great disappointment, there 
 was no appearance of its blowing, which made them 
 watch it narrowly on the 5th of January, Old Christ- 
 mas day, when it blew as usual. This famous Glas- 
 tonbury hawthorn was said to be sprung from the 
 staff of Joseph of Arimathea, who having fixed it 
 in the ground with his own hand on Christmas day, 
 the staff took root immediately, put forth leaves, and 
 the next day was covered with milk-white blossoms, 
 and that it continued to blow every Christmas day 
 during a series of years. 
 
 Besides the Holy Thorn, there was likewise, at 
 Glastonbury, another miraculous tree. This was a 
 walnut tree; which was said never to shoot forth its 
 leaves before the 11th of June, the feast of St. Bar- 
 nabas. It has long ceased to exist ; but while it was 
 standing it was held in high respect by the credulous. 
 
 At Quainton, in Bucks, also,, above two thousand 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 309 
 
 persons on one occasion went with lanterns and 
 candles to view a blackthorn in that neighbourhood ; 
 which was remembered to be a slip from that of 
 Glastonbury. 
 
 Mr. Gilpin relate? a curious story of the groaning- 
 tree at Badesly. About the middle of the last century, 
 says he, a cottager who lived in the middle of the 
 village of Badesly, two miles from Lymington, fre- 
 quently heard a strange noise behind his house, like 
 a person in extreme agony. Soon after, it caught 
 the attention of his wife, a timorous woman ; by 
 degrees the neighbours heard it, and it was noised 
 abroad through all the country. It was then plainly 
 discovered to proceed from an elm, which grew at 
 the end of the garden ; it was young and vigorous, 
 and to all appearance perfectly sound. All persons 
 flocked to hear it, and it attracted the notice of the 
 Prince and Princess of Wales, who then resided at 
 Pilewell, the seat of Sir J. Worsley, for the advan- 
 tages of sea-bathing ; many causes were assigned, but 
 none appeared equal to the explanation of it. For 
 about twenty months it was an object of astonish- 
 ment, and a pamphlet was drawn up descriptive of it. 
 
 It was made also the groundwork of a political 
 equib, reflecting on the ministry of that time, in 
 which it was said, the tree had been heard to groan* 
 
 articulately, " O Walp O Walp it is thou 
 
 that makest not only me, but the whole nation to 
 
 * \ t'roaning-board was exhibited to the public in 1682 ; the 
 
 t respecting it ran thus : " At the sign of the Wool- 
 
 .':ite-niarket, i« to be seen a strange and wonderful 
 
 iH, an dm board ; being touched with a hot iron, it 
 
 doe* expreva itself, a4 if it were a man dying, with groans and 
 
 trembling, to the great admiration of all hearers. It hatK been 
 
 presented before the king and bis Doblet, and hath given great 
 
 tstisfactioti.'* 
 
310 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 groan/' The owner of the tree at last making- too 
 rash an experiment, to discover the cause of its 
 suiFering-s, hored a hole in the trunk ; after this ope- 
 ration it ceased to groan ; it was then rooted up, but 
 nothing appeared to account for it, and it was gene- 
 ra"tty believed that there was no trick in it, but that 
 it was the result of natural causes. 
 
 The hazel has been much celebrated for its powers 
 of discernment ; a twig- of which formed the divining 
 rod for the discovery of mines. An old author on 
 divination describes it as " a strange kind of explo- 
 ration, and peculiar way of rhabdomancy, used in 
 mineral discoveries. The method of proceeding is 
 to take a forked hazel, commonly called Moses his 
 rod, which freely held forth, will stir and play if any 
 mine be under it ; and though many have attempted 
 to make it good, yet, until better information, we are 
 of opinion with Agricola, that in itself it is a fruitless 
 exploration, strongly scenting of pagan divination," 
 
 It was used also to discover any hidden spring of 
 water, and, though one may seem as incredible as the 
 other, there have not been wanting persons who have 
 lately given evidence in favour of this property, and 
 of that respectability as at least to suspend a judg- 
 ment upon so extraordinary a phenomenon. In the 
 twenty-second volume of the Quarterly Review will 
 be found the following well authenticated history :--.. 
 "It is just fifty years since Lady N.*s attention was 
 first called to this subject ; she was then sixteen years 
 old, and was on a visit, with her family, at a chateau 
 in Provence, the owner of which wanted to find a 
 spring to supply his house, and for that purpose had 
 sent for a peasant, who could do so with a twig. The 
 English party ridiculed the idea, but still agreed to 
 accompany the man, who, after walking some way, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. ^11 
 
 pronounced that he had arrived at the object of his 
 search, and they accordingly dug and found him cor- 
 rect. He was quite an uneducated man, and could 
 give no account of the faculty in him, or of the 
 means which he eraployeS ; but many others, he said, 
 could do the same. The English party now tried 
 for themselves, but all in vain, till it came to the 
 turn of Lady N., when, to her amazement and alarms 
 she found that the same faculty was in her as in the 
 peasant, and on her return to England she often 
 exerted it, though in studious concealment ; she was 
 afraid lest she should be ridiculed, or get the name 
 of a witch : in either case she thought she should 
 never get a husband. 
 
 ** Of late years her scruples began to wear away. 
 When, in 1803, Dr. Hutton published Ozanan's Ma- 
 thematical Recreations, where the effect of thedivining 
 rod is treated as absurd, she wrote a long letter, signed 
 X. Y. Z., stating the facts which she knew. At 
 Dr. Hutton's particular request, she went to see him 
 at Woolwich, and she then showed him the experi- 
 ment, and discovered a spring in a field which he had 
 lately bought near the New College, then building, 
 which field he afterwards sold to the College for a 
 larger sum, in consequence of the spring. Lady N. 
 afterwards showed the experiment to others in the 
 park at W. She took a thin forked hazel twig, about 
 sixteen inches long, and held it by the end, the joint 
 pointing downwards ; when she came to a place where 
 water was under the ground, the twig immediately 
 bent, and the motion was more or less rapid as she 
 approached or withdrew from the spring; when just 
 over it, the twig turned so quick as to snap, breaking 
 near her fingers, which, by pressing it, were indented, 
 
S12I SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 heated, and almost blistered. A degree of agitation 
 was also visible in her face. 
 
 '* When she first made the experiment, she says, 
 this agitation was great, but has gradually decreased. 
 She repeated the trial several times in different parts 
 of the Park, and her indications were always correct. 
 
 " It is extraordinary that no effect is produced 
 at a well or ditch, or where earth does not interpose 
 between the twig and the water ; the exercise of the 
 faculty is independent of volition.'* 
 
 The reviewer concludes by saying, " So far our 
 narrator ; in whom, we repeat, implicit confidence 
 may be placed.'' 
 
 It would be an endless task to attempt to give an 
 account of the various superstitions which are at- 
 tached to trees and plants. A glance at a few may 
 suffice to give an idea of the whole. In some parts 
 it is firmly believed that weak, rickety, or ruptured 
 children may be cured by drawing them through a split 
 tree, if the tree be afterwards so bound as to reunite; in 
 other parts a remedy for the hooping cough is found 
 in passing a child thrice before breakfast under'a black- 
 berry bush, of which both ends grow into the soil. 
 Onions were formerly, and perhaps are now, used by 
 rustic girls, to divine the name of the man whom 
 they are to marry. Various names were formed upon 
 onions, which were then placed in the chimney 
 corner, and the onion which sprouted first bore the 
 sought-for name. The plant mouse-ear, given in any 
 manner to horses, was believed to prevent them from 
 being hurt in shoeing; mugwort put into a'man's shoes 
 kept him from being weary on a long journey ; 
 moon-ear would open locks and bolts, and undo the 
 shackles and shoes from horses* feet, a quality which 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 313 
 
 must have rendered it very valuable to burglars and 
 horse-stealers ; and houseleek would shield from 
 lightning any house in which it grew ; this privilege 
 of being thunder-proof, it shared with the classical 
 bay-tree. The mountain ash, rowan tree, or, as it is 
 called in the northern counties, the wiggen tree, was 
 of sovereign virtue as a preservative against the 
 rtiachinations of witchcraft. 
 
 Similar follies are to be observed in all countries. 
 Here is a specimen from the East: — "There is a 
 tree in India called peridexion, whose fruit is sweet 
 and useful, so that doves also delight to tarry in it; 
 and the serpent fears this tree, so that he avoids 
 the shadow of it ; for if the shadow of the tree 
 go towards the east, the serpent flies towards the west ; 
 and if the shadow of the tree reach towards the west, 
 the serpent flies towards the east ; and the serpent 
 cannot hurt the doves, because of the virtue of the 
 tree; but if any of them straggle from the tree, the 
 serpent, by its breath, attracts it and devours it. 
 Vet when they fly or go together, neither the serpent 
 nor the spar-hawk can, or dares, hurt them. There- 
 fore, the leaves or bark of the tree, suff'umigated, 
 avert all evil that is of venomous beasts." This, 
 though a fiction, is at least a poetical one. 
 
314 SKETCHES OF IMrOSTURE, 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE DELUSIONS OF ALCHEMY. 
 
 Origin of Alchemy — Argument for Transmutation — Golden Age of 
 Alcbemy — Alchemists in the 13th century — Medals metaphori- 
 cally described — Jargon of Dr. Dee — The Green Lion — Roger 
 Bacon — Invention of Gunpowder — Imprisonment of Alchemists 
 —Edict of Henry VI.— Pope John XXIL— Pope Sixtus V.— 
 Alchemy applied to Medicine — Paracelsus — Evelyn's hesitation 
 about Alchemy — Narrative of Helvetius — Philadept on Alchemy 
 — Rosicrucians — A Vision — Hay don's description of Rosicrucians 
 — Dr. Price — Mr. Woulfe — Mr. Kellerman. 
 
 The subject of Alchemy occupies so larg-e a space 
 in the humiliating history of the misapplication of 
 talent, as to justify a particular enquiry into the 
 causes of its origin, the grounds of its success, and 
 the reason of its gradual decline. So much mj^sti- 
 cism and fondness for ambiguity exist in the writings 
 of the hermetic philosophers, as they were called, 
 that it will not be surprising to find accounts of the 
 origin of the science wrapped in equally extraordinary 
 language. 
 
 To begin with Adam : he is said to have foreseen 
 the deluge, and, for the purpose of providing against 
 that catastrophe, to have erected two tables of stone, 
 which contained the foundation of this wisdom. One 
 of them, after the flood, was found (m Mount Ararat. 
 Alchemy has as frequently been called the hermetic 
 art, as it is more generally supposed to have been 
 invented by Hermes, King of Egypt, and master of 
 this science, when Egypt was the garden of God. 
 According to chronologers, his rera was before that of 
 Moses. This was the true philosopher's stone, which 
 so enriched that kingdom, and by means of which all 
 the arts flourished ; but in quest of which so many 
 persons of all nations and ages have since fruitlessly 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 315 
 
 consumed both their fortunes and lives. Unlike their 
 baffled successors, the Eg^yptians increased their 
 wealth to that immense degree, that they studied 
 means how to expend their exuberant stores in the 
 erection of pyramids, obelisks, colossuses, monu- 
 ments, pensile gardens, cities, and the labyrinth, and 
 in forming the immense lake Mceris, and the like 
 stupendous works, which cost so many millions of 
 talents. "All these (say the believers in the science) 
 are sufficient arguments of their skill in alchemy, 
 whence they received so vast a supply of riches ; 
 for, since no authors mention any gold mines in the 
 time of Osiris, or Hermes, whence could they have 
 acquired such exceeding great wealth, but from the 
 chemical art of transmuting metals ?" 
 
 The Egyptian priests, under a promise of secrecy, 
 communicated the knowledge they possessed to the 
 Alexandrian Greeks. The actual possession of much 
 lucrative knowledge, and the reputation of still more 
 valuable secrets, would attract the notice of the cre- 
 dulous and ignorant. With many the extent of the 
 science was confined to the refining of metals, and 
 preparations of chemical compounds ; but the theo- 
 retical alchemist having in view a certain mysterious 
 and unattainable object, despised the occupation of 
 the mere chemist, and from policy, or want of clear 
 ideas on the subject, the language of his art became 
 more and more obscure. Knaves and impostors crept 
 in, and, by impositions on the unwary and credulous, 
 indemnified themselves for the ill success of their 
 experiments. 
 
 Those chemists, who assumed the pompous title of 
 alchemists, were persuaded that all metals were no 
 other than nature's rude unfinished essays towards 
 the making of g^old ; which, by means of due coction 
 
316 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 in the bowels of the earth, advanced gradually to- 
 wards maturity, till at last they were perfected into 
 that beautiful metal. Their endeavours, therefore, 
 were to finish what nature had begun, by procuring- 
 for the imperfect metals this much desired coc- 
 tion ; and upon this grand principle all their pro- 
 cesses were dependent. 
 
 The golden age of alchemy commenced, properly 
 speaking, with the conquests of Arabian fanaticism 
 in Asia and Africa, about the time of the destruction 
 of the Alexandrian Library, and the subjection of 
 Europe to the basest superstition. The Saracens, 
 lively, subtile, and credulous, intimate with the fables 
 of talismans and celestial influences, admitted, with 
 eager faith, the wonders of alchemy. The rage of 
 making gold spread through the whole Mahometan 
 world ; and in the splendid courts of Almansor and 
 Haroun Al Raschid, the professors of the hermetic 
 art found patronage, disciples, and emolument. 
 
 About the thirteenth century, Albertus Magnus, 
 Roger Bacon, and Raymond Lully, appeared as the 
 revivers of this science, which had been nearly 
 lost in the interval from the tenth century ; their 
 writings again raised alchemy to a very high degree 
 of credit, and their adventures as well as those of 
 their disciples partake more of the character of orien- 
 tal romance than the results of philosophic study. 
 The most celebrated of the alchemic philosophers 
 were not only the companions of princes, but many 
 of them were even kings themselves, who chose this 
 royal road to wealth and magnificence. 
 
 No delusion in the world ever excited so exten- 
 sive and long-continued an interest, or rather it 
 might be called madness ; though it now seems won- 
 derful how the fallacy of it should have escaped de- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 317 
 
 tection during a period of seven or eight hundred 
 years, when so many causes for suspicion and dis- 
 appointment must have occurred amongst its profes- 
 sors ; but the fond idea seems to have been strength- 
 ened by this want of success, which was attributed 
 to any cause rather than the proper one. 
 
 An alchemist, in his writings, complains of the 
 diflSculties attending the search after the Immortal 
 Dissolvent, as the grand agent in the operations was 
 sometimes called ; and very feelingly asserts, that the 
 principal one is the want of subsistence or money, as 
 without a supply of the latter to buy glasses, build 
 furnaces, etc., the operations cannot go on. 
 
 The several metals were described metaphorically, 
 as planets, animals, &c., and mystical allusions were 
 made to the sacred Scriptures, in confirmation of the 
 truth of the science, by the most forced interpreta- 
 tions of certain passages: as for instance — ** He 
 struck the stone and water poured out, and he poured 
 oil out of the flinty rock ;" and the whole composi- 
 tion of the philosopher's stone was thought to be 
 contained in the four verses, beginning, " He 
 stretched forth the heavens as a curtain, the waters 
 stood above the mountains." 
 
 The descriptions of the several necessary processes 
 partook of such figurative language, as none but the 
 adepts could possibly understand. Dr. Dee, in the 
 fulness of his wisdom, thus instructs his disciples : 
 " The contemplative order of the Uosie-cross have 
 presented to the world angels, spirits, plants, and 
 metals, with the times in astromancy and geomancy 
 to prepare and unite them telosniatically. This is 
 the sulnitance which at present in our study is the 
 cliild of the sun and moon, placed between two fires, 
 
818 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 and in the darkest night receives a h'ght from the 
 stars and retains it. The angels and intelligences 
 are attracted by a horrible emptiness, and attend the 
 astrolasras for ever. He hath in him a thick fire, by 
 which he captivates the thin genii. That you may 
 know the Rosicrusian philosophy, endeavour to 
 know God himself, the worker of all things ; now I 
 will demonstrate in what thing, of what thing, and 
 by what thing, is the medicine or multiplier of metals 
 to be made. It is even in the nature, of the nature, 
 and by the nature, of metals ; for it is a principle of 
 all philosophy that Nature cannot be bettered but in 
 her own nature. Common gold and silver are dead, 
 and except they be renewed by art, that is, except 
 their seeds, which are naturally included in them, be 
 projected into their natural earth, by which means 
 they are mortified and revived, like as the grain of 
 wheat that is dead." This is somewhat worse than 
 what Mr. Burke denominated a gipsy jargon. 
 
 The powder of transmutation, the grand means of 
 projection, was to be got at by the following process, 
 in which it was typified as the Green Lion : <' In the 
 Green Lion's bed the sun and moon are born, they 
 are married, and beget a king ; the king feeds on the 
 lion's blood, which is the king's father and mother, 
 who are, at the same time, his brother and sister. 
 I fear I betray the secret, which I promised my 
 master to conceal in dark speech from every one 
 who does not know how to rule the philosopher's 
 fire." One would imagine, in the present day, that 
 there was very little fear of being accused of too 
 rashly divulging the important secret by such expla- 
 nations. Our ancestors must have had a much 
 greater talent than we have for finding out enigmas. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 
 
 319 
 
 if they were able to elicit a meaning from these mys- 
 tical, or rather nonsensical, sentences. 
 
 Roger Bacon was the first English alchemist. He 
 was born in 1214. Popular belief attributed to him 
 the contrivance of a machine to rise in the air, and 
 convey a chariot more speedily than by horses ; and 
 also the art of putting statues in motion, and drawing 
 articulate sounds from brazen heads. From this it 
 appears, that he had made considerable progress in 
 the formation of automata. There can be no doubt 
 that he discovered the mode of making gunpowder ; 
 in his works the secret may be found, veiled under an 
 anagram. The discovery has, however, on doubtful 
 authority, been ascribed to Berthold Schwartz, a 
 Cierman Benedictine friar, who lived about the middle 
 of the fourteenth century. In an old print, the merit 
 
 of the invention is ascribed to the devil, who is re- 
 presented as prompting the friar's operations, and 
 enjoying their success. 
 
320 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Can we be surprised, that in an ag-e of ignorance, 
 the wonderful doings of Bacon obtained for him the 
 name of a magician, and the friars of his own order 
 refused to admit his works into their library, as 
 though he was a man who ought to be proscribed by 
 society ? His persecution increased till 1278, when he 
 was imprisoned, and obliged to own that he repented 
 of the pains he had taken in the arts and sciences ; 
 and he was at last constrained to abandon the house 
 of his order. 
 
 The credulity and avarice of princes often caused 
 them to arrest alchemists, and, by means of the tor- 
 ture, endeavour to force them to multiply gold, or 
 furnish the powder of projection, that it might be 
 ready for use at any time ; but it was generally found 
 that, like poetical composition, perfect freedom of 
 thought and action were necessary to so desirable 
 an end. 
 
 There is an edict of Henry VI. king of England, 
 in letters patent to lords, nobles, doctors, professors, 
 and priests, to engage them in the pursuit of the 
 philosopher's stone, especially the priests, who having 
 power (says the pious king) to convert bread and 
 wine into the body and blood of Christ, may well 
 convert an impure into a perfect metal. 
 
 Even Pope John XXH., the father of the church, 
 was weak enough to become an adept ; he worked at 
 the practice of hermetic philosophy in Avignon, and 
 at his death were found eighteen millions of florins in 
 gold, and seven millions in jewels and sacred vases. 
 Notwithstanding his writing a treatise on alchemy, 
 and making transmutations, yet such was the mis- 
 chief arising in his times from the knavery of pre- 
 tended alchemists, that he issued a bull, condemning 
 all traders in this science as impostors. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 321 
 
 Pope Si.xtus V. bad a true idea of the real value 
 of this science; for, when one presented to him a 
 book on alchemy, his holiness gave tho author an 
 empty purse, emblematic of the vanity of the study. 
 
 In the fifteenth century this science was applied to 
 medical uses, and the preparations of mercury, anti- 
 mony, and other metals, were used with the happiest 
 success. The unexpected success which attended 
 the first exhibition of chemical preparations awakened 
 a new hope in the minds of the alchemists, which 
 was no less than the discovery of a universal medi- 
 cine, an elixir vitae, for conferring immortality and 
 perpetual youth and health. Paracelsus and Van 
 Helmont entertained these visionary speculations; 
 and the hopes of possessing a universal solvent long 
 haunted the imaginations of writers on chemistry. 
 
 Paracelsus was born in 1494 ; he practised physic 
 in Basle, and the following circumstance induced 
 him to leave it. A canon was in extreme sickness, 
 and the physicians forsook him, as incurable: Para- 
 celsus saw him, and promised to restore him to 
 health. The canon expressed himself gratefully, as 
 one who would feel the obligation, and make him a 
 suitable recompense. Two pills performed the cure ; 
 which was no sooner effected, than the canon under- 
 valued it, and contended against the claim of the doc- 
 tor: he had been cured too soon. The magistrates 
 were applied to, and they awarded Paracelsus a very 
 moderate fee, proportioned to his short attendance ; 
 ^o, in disgust, he quitted the city, and declared that 
 he would leave the inhabitants of Basle to the eternal 
 destruction which they deserved. He then retired 
 to Strasburg, and thence into Hungary, where he 
 took to drinking ; he died in great poverty, at Saltz- 
 burg, in 1541. Oporinus, who served him as his pupil, 
 
322 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 said, he often saw him in great want borrowing- money 
 of carmen and porters, and the next day he would 
 repay them double from a fund that could not be dis- 
 covered. His proper name was, Philip Aureolus Theo- 
 phrastus Paracelsus Bombastus, of Hohenheim ; and 
 his disciples add, ** Prince of Physicians, Philosopher 
 of Fire, the Trismegistus of Switzerland, Reformer 
 of Alchemistical Philosophy, Nature's faithful Secre- 
 tary, Master of the Elixir of Life, and Philosopher's 
 Stone, Great Monarch of Chemical Secrets." 
 
 The ingenious Mr. Evelyn, both a sensible and 
 learned man, seems to have been unwilling to deny 
 the truth of what had so often been asserted to him ; 
 in his entertaining " Diary," he says, " June 4th, 
 1705, the season very dry and hot ; I went to see 
 Dr. Dickenson, the famous chymist ; we had a long 
 conversation about the philosopher's elixir, which he 
 believed attainable, and himself had seen it performed, 
 by one who went under the name of Mundanus, who 
 sometimes came among the adepts, but was unknown 
 as to his country or abode. The doctor has written 
 a treatise in Latin, full of astonishing relations ; he 
 is a very learned man, formerly of St. John's, Oxford, 
 where he practised physic." 
 
 Being in Paris, Mr. Evelyn visited Marc Antonio, 
 an ingenious enameller, who told him two or three 
 stories of men who had the great arcanum, and who 
 had successfully made projection before him several 
 times. *^ This," says Evelyn, who obviously hesi- 
 tated between doubt and belief, *' Antonio asserted 
 with great obtestation ; nor know I what to think of 
 it, there are so many impostors, and people who 
 love to tell strange stories, as this artist did ; who 
 had been a great rover, and spake ten different lan- 
 guages." 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. S'2S 
 
 The most celebrated history of transmutation is 
 that given by Helvetius, in his " Brief of the Golden 
 Calf." It is thus given by Mr. Brande. *' The 27th 
 day of December, 1666, came a stranger to my house 
 at the Hague, in a plebeick habit, of honest gravity 
 and serious authority, of a mean stature, and a little 
 long face, black hair not at all curled, a beardless chin, 
 and about forty-four years of age, and born in North 
 Holland. After salutation, he beseeched me, with 
 great reverence, to pardon his rude access, for he 
 was a lover of the pyrotechnian art, and having read 
 my treatise against the sympathetic powder of Sir 
 Kenelm Digby, and observed my doubt about the 
 philosophic mystery, induced him to ask me if I 
 really was a disbeliever as to the existence of an uni- 
 versal medicine, which would cure all diseases, unless 
 the principal parts were perished, or the predestinated 
 time of death come. I replied, I never met with an 
 adept, or saw such a medicine, though I had fervently 
 prayed for it. Then I said, * Surely, you are a learned 
 physician.* * No,' said he, * I am a brass-founder, 
 and a lover of chemistry.' He then took from his 
 bosom-pouch a neat ivory box, and out of it three 
 ponderous lumps of stone, each about the bigness of 
 a walnut. I greedily saw and handled this most 
 noble substance, the value of which might be some- 
 where about twenty tons of gold ; and having drawn 
 from the owner many rare secrets of its admirable 
 effects, I returned him this treasure of treasures with 
 a most sorrowful mind, humbly beseeching him to 
 bestow a fragment of it upon me, in perpetual memory 
 of him, though but the size of a coriander seed. 
 * No, no,' said he, ' that is not lawful, though thou 
 wouldest give me as many golden ducats as would fill 
 this room ; for it would have particular consequences, 
 y2 
 
324 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 and if fire could be burned of fire, I would at tbis 
 instant rather cast it into the fiercest flames.' He 
 then asked if I had a private chamber, whose pro- 
 spect was from the public street ; so I presently con- 
 ducted him to my best furnished room backwards, 
 which he entered, (says Helvetius, in the true spirit 
 of Dutch cleanliness,) without wiping his shoes, 
 which were full of snow a^nd dirt. I now expected 
 he would bestow some great secret upon me, but in 
 vain. He asked for a piece of gold, and opening his 
 doublet, showed me five pieces of that precious metal, 
 which he wore upon a green riband, and which very 
 much excelled mine in flexibility and colour, each 
 being the size of a small trencher. I now earnestly 
 again craved a crumb of the stone, and at last, out of 
 his philosophical commiseration, he gave me a morsel 
 as large as a rape-seed, but I said, * This scanty por- 
 tion will scarcely transmute four grains of lead/ 
 
 * Then,* said he, * deliver it me back ;' which I did, 
 in hopes of a greater parcel; but he cutting ofl" half 
 with his nail, said, ' Even this is sufficient for thee.' 
 
 * Sir,' said I, with a dejected countenance, * what 
 means this ?' And he said, * Even that will transmute 
 half an ounce of lead.' So I gave him great thanks, 
 and said, * I would try it, and reveal it to no one.* 
 He then took his leave, and said he would call again 
 next morning at nine. I then confessed, that while 
 the mass of his medicine was in my hand the day 
 before, 1 had secretly scraped off" a bit with my nail, 
 which I projected in lead, but it caused no transmu- 
 tation, for the whole flew away in fumes. * Friend, 
 said he, < thou art more dexterous in committing theft, 
 than in applying medicine. Had'st thou wrapped up 
 thy stolen prey in yellow wax, it would have pene- 
 trated, and transmuted the lead into gold.* 1 then 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 325 
 
 asked, if the philosophic work cost much, or required 
 long time, for philosophers say, that nine or ten 
 months are required for it. He answered, * Their 
 writings are only to be understood by the adepts, 
 without whom no student can prepare this magistery. 
 Fling not away, therefore, thy money and goods in 
 hunting out this art, for thou shalt never find it/ 
 To which I replied, * As thy master showed it thee, 
 so mayest thou, perchance, discover something thereof 
 to me, who know the rudiments, and therefore it may 
 be easier to add to a foundation than begin anew.' 
 * In this art,' said he, * it is quite otherwise ; for, 
 unless thou knowest the thing from head to heel, thou 
 canst not break open the glassy seal of Hermes. But 
 enough: to-morrow, at the ninth hour, Iwill show thee 
 the manner of projection.* But Elias never came 
 again ; so my wife, who was curious in the art whereof 
 the worthy man had discovered, teazed me to make 
 the experiment with the little spark of bounty the 
 artist had left. So I melted half an ounce of lead, 
 upon which, my wife put in the said medicine ; it 
 hissed and bubbled, and in a quarter of an hour the 
 mass of leatl was transmuted into fine gold, at which 
 we were exceedingly amazed. I took it to the gold- 
 smith, who judged it most excellent, and willingly 
 offered fifty florins for each ounce.' 
 
 The accumulatedrflisappointments of several centu- 
 ries, in the prosecution of this science or discovery, did 
 not erd<Hcate the behef in its practicability ; and, so 
 lute as the year 161)8, one, humbly styling himself 
 IMiiladept, wrote a book concerning adepts, not 
 proving that they did exist, but leaving the onus 
 probandi to those who were sceptical on the subject, 
 indeed, it was a generally received opinion, in the 
 seventeenth century, that the philotjopher's stone 
 
326 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 did really exist ; and the gravity and sincerity of the 
 authors who dicoursed of it, prove this. Philadept 
 says, *' It is evidently unreasonable to assert or deny 
 any thing without reason ; no man can give any 
 good reason, importing that there is no such thing 
 as the philosopher's stone. On the contrary, there 
 are many reasons to believe there is such a thing. 
 There is a tradition of it in the world : there are 
 many books on that subject, written by men that 
 show an extraordinary gravity, sincerity, and fear of 
 God, and who solemnly and sacredly protest they 
 have wrought it with their own hands ; and, besides,^ 
 they have, at several times, shown the effects of it 
 before divers witnesses, whereof there are too many 
 instances to reject this proof. Then, they lay down 
 principles which appear rational to any one that con- 
 siders them. There have been, also, too many great 
 cures performed by philosophers, to be reasonably 
 questioned by them who are acquainted with those 
 matters. Those that are not^ ought not, in reason, 
 to determine against it. My intention is not to 
 dispute about the principles of hermetic philosophy, 
 they have been established by many authors beyond 
 dispute, but most clearly and invincibly by the 
 learned Gasto Claveus of any I know." 
 
 Passages in Scripture, as has been stated above, 
 were often brought forward in corroboration of the 
 theory of alchemy, and it resulted, in the course of 
 time, that a religious sect arose, who blended the 
 mysteries of the Christian religion with the several 
 processes of alchemy towards the grand regeneration 
 of metals ; a species of allegory understood and to 
 be interpreted only by the disciples of that order, 
 known by the name of Rosie Cross ; its symbol being 
 four red roses arranged in a crucial form. In a book. 
 
DECEPTIOK, AND CREDULITY* 327 
 
 intitled " The famous celebrated Nuptials of the thrice 
 great Hermes, allegorically describing- the mystical 
 union and communion of Christ with every regenerate 
 soul, composed by C.R., a German, of the order of the 
 Rosie Cross," and published by him in 1559, this 
 victim of mysticism and fanciful romance thus de- 
 scribes one of his hallucinations : — " On Easter eve 
 I was in meditation, and being* now ready to prepare 
 in heart, together with ray dear Paschal lamb, a small 
 unleavened undressed cake, all on a sudden ariseth 
 so horrible a tempest, that I imagined no other but, 
 that through its mighty force, the hill whereupon my 
 house was founded, would fly in pieces. But, inas- 
 much as this and the like, from the devil — who had 
 done me many a spite — was no new thing to me, I 
 took courage and persisted in my meditations till 
 somebody, after an unusual manner, touched me on 
 the back, whereupon I was so hugely terrified that I 
 durst hanlly look about me; yet, I shewed myself as 
 chearful as, in the like occurrences, human frailty 
 would permit. The same thing twitched me several 
 times ; I looked, and beheld a fair and glorious lady, 
 whose garments were all sky -colored, having a bundle 
 of letters in all languages in her hands. She selects 
 a small one and lays it on the table, and, without a 
 word, departed with so mighty a blast, that for a 
 quarter of an hour I could not hear my own words. 
 The note was sealed with a curious cross, having this 
 inscription — In hoc signo ^ vinces : within the 
 note was writteu — 
 
 This day, Tins day, this, this, 
 The royal nuptials is ; 
 Art thou thereto by birth inclined, 
 And unto joy of God detignc<l ? 
 
328 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Then may'st thou to the mountain tend, 
 Whereupon three stately temples stand, 
 And there see all from end to end ; 
 Keep watch and ward, thyself regard." 
 
 Having prayed for advice how to act, he is in- 
 structed in a vision what will happen to him ; he then 
 wakes and prepares for his journey, " putting on a 
 white garment, girding his loins with a blood-red 
 ribbon, bound crosswise over his shoulders, and in his 
 hat were stuck four red roses, that he might be the 
 sooner taken notice of by this token among the 
 throng." 
 
 This sect became a secret society ; it originated in 
 Germany, and attracted the attention of all Europe 
 for twenty-five years. Part of their mystery con- 
 sisted in an almost miraculous method of curing dis- 
 eases. Some of their pretensions were explained by 
 one John Hayden, servant of God and secretary of 
 nature, in a book, intitled, '* A new method for the 
 cure of all diseases, freely given to inspired Chris- 
 tians." In an " Apologue for an Epilogue," he 
 saith, **I shall here tell you what Rosiecrusians are, 
 and that Moses was their father, and he was the 
 child of God. Some say they were of the order of 
 Elias, some of Ezechiel, others define them to be 
 the officers of the generalissimo of the world ; that 
 are as the eyes and ears of the great king, seeing 
 and hearing all things, for they are seraphically illu- 
 minated as Moses was, according to this order of the 
 elements, earth refined to water, water to air, air to 
 fire/' Such is the gibberish which could once not 
 only find readers, but even dupes to follow in the 
 train of the writers. 
 
 In later times there have been a few believers in 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 329 
 
 transmutation. In the year 1782, Dr. Price, of 
 Guildford, by means of a white and red powder, pro- 
 fessed to convert mercury into silver and gold ; and 
 he is said to have convinced many disbelievers of the 
 possibility of such a change. His experiments were 
 repeated seven times before learned and intelligent 
 persons, who themselves furnished all the materials 
 except the powders, which were to operate the trans- 
 mutation. These powders were in very small quan- 
 tity. Bv whatever means it may have been accom- 
 plished, it is certain that gold and silver were pro- 
 duced. But, admitting that, with respect to its pro- 
 duction. Price was an impostor, it is indubitable that 
 he must have been in possession of one valuable 
 secret, that of fixing mercury, so as not to evaporate 
 in a red heat. Price published an account of these 
 expt^riments, but stated that he had expended the 
 whole of his powder, and that he could not obtain 
 more, except by a tedious process, which had already 
 injured his health, and which, therefore, he would 
 not repeat. He died in the following year, and his 
 death was attributed to his having swallowed laurel- 
 water, in order to evade further scrutiny and the 
 detection of his imposture. The fact of his having . 
 poisoned himself is at least doubtful. 
 
 Another true believer in the mysteries of this art, 
 says Mr. Brande, was Peter Woulfe. He occupied 
 chambers in Barnard's Inn, when he resided in Lon- 
 don. His rooms, which were extensive, were so 
 filled with furnaces and apparatus, that it was difficult 
 to reach his fireside. A gentleman once put down 
 his hat, and never could find it again, such was the 
 confusion of boxes, packages, and parcels, that lay 
 about the chamber. Woulfe had long vainly searched 
 for the elixir, and attributed his repeated failures to 
 
880 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the want of due preparati<*)n by pious and charitable 
 acts. Some of his apparatus is said to have been 
 extant since his death, upon which are supplications 
 for success, and for the welfare of the adepts. He 
 had an heroic remedy for illness ; when he felt him- 
 self seriously indisposed, he took a place in the 
 Edinburgh mail, and, having reached that city, im- 
 mediately came back in the returning- coach to Lon- 
 don. He died in 1805. 
 
 The last of the English alchemists seems to have 
 been a gentleman of the name of Kellerman, who, 
 as lately as 1828, was living at Lilley, a village 
 between Luton and Hitchin. He was a singular 
 character, who shunned all society, carried six loaded 
 pistols in his pockets, barricaded his house, and filled 
 his grounds with spring-guns. The interior of his 
 dilapidated mansion was a complete chaos. He pre- 
 tended to have discovered the universal solvent, the 
 art of fixing mercury, and the powder of projection. 
 With the last of these he had, he said, made gold, 
 and could make as much as he pleased. He kept 
 eight men for the purpose of superintending his cru- 
 cibles, two at a time being employed, who were 
 relieved every six hours. He had one characteristic 
 af a disturbed intellect, that of believing that all the 
 world was in a confederacy against him, and that 
 there was a conspiracy to assassinate him. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 331 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ASTROLOGY. 
 
 Supposed Origin of Astrology — Butler on the Transmission of 
 Astrological Knowledge — Remarks on Astrology by Hcrvey — 
 Petrarch *8 Opinion of Astrology — Catherine of Medicia — Casting 
 of Nativities in England — Moore's Almanack — Writers for and 
 against Astrology — Horoscope of Prince Frederick of Denmark 
 —Astrologers contributed sometimes to realize their own Pre- 
 dictions — Caracalla — Mr. Tunier — Woman who foretold, from 
 a Portrait, the time when the Original would die — Stiff tlie 
 Fortune Teller and his Foolish Pupils — Expulsion of the Cho- 
 lera from Jeypore — Cingalese Astrological Instructions. 
 
 Astrology has been divided into natural and 
 judiciary, or judicial ; but it is only the latter division 
 which will come under present consideration, and its 
 definition has been said to be the art of foretelling 
 future events, from the aspects, positions, and influences 
 of the heavenly bodies. 
 
 The idea that they should have any influence, direct 
 or indirect, on our actions in this nether world, or 
 that they obliged us to the performance of any act, 
 however extraordinary, may have been originally sup- 
 posed, by those who were familiar with the figurative 
 language of the Prophets, to receive confirmation 
 from the facts, and the style of the predictions, re- 
 corded in sacred history. They would find, for in- 
 stance, that the Star in the East was foretold, which 
 at its coming was to announce peace and goodwill 
 towards men ; and the later and more solemn reve- 
 lations, concerning the final consummation of all 
 things, typified that awful event by signal appearances 
 in the heavens. 
 
 Traditionary knowledge of these events and pre- 
 dictions, coupled with ignorance of the causes of me- 
 teorological phenomena, now better understood, might 
 
332 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 easily lead the timid and superstitious to forebode 
 evil, from the disastrous twilight of the eclipse, or to 
 impute a favouring influence to the rising of certain 
 stars at particular seasons. The universal custom of 
 traversing the deserts, or navigating ships across the 
 pathless ocean, by the observation of the stars, pre- 
 viously to the discovery of the compass, led the im- 
 aginative to conceive, that the moral path of life was 
 equally to be regulated by astral indications. It must 
 be owned, too, that it was not unnatural for simple 
 unreasoning- minds thus to connect the glorious sun, 
 the moon, when walking in brightness, queen of hea- 
 ven *, and the host of stars, with the destinies of 
 man. 
 
 Fear, it is said, first deified the ancient heroes. It 
 was a storm and an eclipse that first consecrated Ro- 
 mulus; nor had Jupiter himself been master of heaven, 
 or worshipped on earth, if the terrors of his thunders 
 had not advanced the conceit of his divinity. It is 
 quite certain that, by degrees, a system was formed, 
 which took hold of the imaginations of all classes of 
 
 * The queen of heaven is a. more poetical idea than the man in 
 the moon ; though it must be confessed, in indulgence to the po- 
 pular opinion, the appearances on the surface of the moon do not 
 unaptly suggest such an outline. In Ceylon, however, they place 
 a hare instead of a man in the moon ; and thus very satisfactorily 
 account for this circumstance : — " Buddha, their deity, when a 
 hermit on earth, lost himself in a wood, when he met a hare, who 
 showed him the way ; B'lddha thanked the animal, and added, 
 
 * Mr. Hare, I am both hungry and poor, and cannot reward you.' 
 
 * If yovi are hungry,' replied the hare, * I am at your service ; make 
 a fire, kill, and roast me.' Buddha made the fire, and the hare 
 instantly jumped into it, but Buddha caught hold of it, and 
 flung it into the moon, where it still remains." A French gentle- 
 man, returned lately from Ceylon, says, **The Cingalese would 
 often beg permission to look at the hare through my telescope, and 
 would exclaim in raptures that they saw it." 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 333 
 
 persons ; and the truth of such a doctrine, and its de- 
 cisions, it was heretical to doubt. J. Butler, one of 
 the devout believers in astrology, far from thinking it 
 a remnant of Pagan superstition, calls it a divine sci- 
 ence. He pretended, with many others, " that Adam, 
 after his fall, communicated it out of his memories of 
 the state of innocency, to Seth. He in his turn made 
 impressions of the same in certain permanent pillars, 
 able to withstand fire and water, by which means the 
 science passed to Enoch and Noah. Shem was in- 
 structed by his father, and communicated his know- 
 ledge to Abraham, who carried it into Chaldea and 
 Egypt. Moses, " skilled in all the learning of the 
 Egyptians, was also thought to have been an able 
 astrologer." 
 
 Thus was the vanity of the more modern professors 
 of the art encouraged, and they maintained that the 
 heavens were one great volume, wherein God had 
 written the history of the world ; and, of course, it 
 was to be understood, that the astrologers were the 
 high-priests, who alone could expound its mysterious 
 pages. 
 
 The author of the " Contemplations on the Starry 
 Heavens" has, with great propriety, made the follow- 
 ing remarks on this science : — " The pretenders to 
 judicial astrology talk of I know not what mysterious 
 efficacy, in the different aspects of the stars, or the 
 various conjunction .ind opposition of the planets. 
 Let those who are unacquainted with the sure word 
 of revelation give ear to these sons of delusion and 
 dealers in deceit. For my own part, it is a question 
 of indifference tome, whether the constellations shone 
 with smiles, or lowered in frowns, on the hour of my 
 nativity. Can these bodies advertise me of future 
 events, which are unconscious of their own existence? ** 
 
334 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 In the time of Petrarch, though astrologers had 
 great credit, that learned man only laughed at their 
 pretensions. Of one of them, in particular, he says, 
 " The astrologer was older and wiser than I was ; I 
 loved him, and should have been still more attached 
 to him if he had not been an astrologer. I sometimes 
 joked, and sometimes reproached him, about his pro- 
 fession. One day, when I had been sharper than 
 usual with him, he replied, with a sigh, * Friend, you 
 are in the right ; I think as you do, but I have a wife 
 and children.' This answer touched me so much, 
 that I never spoke to him again on that subject." 
 
 Queen Catherine of Medicis, though a woman of 
 strong mind, was deluded with the more ignorant, by 
 the vanity of astrological judgments ; the professors of 
 the science were so much consulted in her court, that 
 the most inconsiderable act was not to be done without 
 an appeal to the stars. 
 
 In England, William Lilly, John Gadbury, and 
 others, set up for prophets ; and nativities were cast 
 for all who could afford to pay for the privilege of 
 ■ searching into futurity. It was but natural that the 
 inquirers should have to reward such intelligence in 
 proportion to the distance it was brought, or its flat- 
 tering nature ; events, however, soon proved it to be 
 far-fetched and nothing worth. 
 
 The volumes of tiresome absurdity, written on this 
 subject, about the beginning and middle of the seven- 
 teenth century, would exceed present belief; and 
 nothing but a thorough though unaccountable con- 
 viction, in their readers, that they spoke the language 
 of truth, could have ever made the perusal of them 
 tolerable. 
 
 Moore's " Prophetic Almanack," with its astrolo- 
 gical predictions and "hieroglyphic for the year," is 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. SSo 
 
 the only legacy left to us of this species of composition 
 and imposition. It would be beneath the dignity of 
 such a philosopher to be guilty of a pun ; though the 
 more irreverent of his readers might naturally have 
 suspected him of such an intention, when, a few years 
 since, he prophesied that, " Towards the close of the 
 year Turkey will be much embroiled." 
 
 Some writers, in the more fortunate era of astro- 
 logy, ventured to impugn the truth of the doctrine, 
 and to ridicule its professors, particularly in the per- 
 sons of Lilly and Gadbury, who retorted with acri- 
 monious and arrogant vulgarity. Further curiosity 
 on this subject may be gratified, by turning to such 
 works as " Supernatural Sights and Apparitions, seen 
 in London by William Lilly ;** or the reply to it, 
 '* Black Monday turned White, or a Whip at Star- 
 gazers." 
 
 One of the opposers of this science argued, natu- 
 rally enough, that God had assigned the stars their 
 scite and course, which no power of man or angel was 
 able to alter ; but man's fancy had built us imaginary 
 houses in the heavens, to which were attached such 
 qualifications, affections, &c. as the framers pleased. 
 
 These houses were twelve in number; in one or 
 other of which, according to the hour and season of 
 the person's birth, did he take his position, as pointed 
 out in the horoscope. An outline of a general horo- 
 scope is annexed, and, in explanation of it, Mr. Wil- 
 liam Lilly is pleased to say, " When I speak of the 
 tenth house, I intend somewhat of kings or persons 
 represented by that house, which is also called me- 
 dium ccelif the mid-heaven ; when mention is made of 
 the first house, ascendant or horoscope, I intend the 
 roramonalty in general. Die et cris mihi raagnus 
 Apollo." 
 
336 
 
 SKETCHES OF IxMPOSTURE, 
 
 Pan of a |^otoscope» 
 
 
 U 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 
 \^ Friends in general. /^ \. y^ 
 
 \ Servants in particular; /Kings. \ Clergymen. / 
 
 \ -their aid or / Emperors. \ I^°"« •^''"'•-y^ / 
 
 \ service. / Princes. Generals.X ^'^^'«^''" / 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Great Cattle. \ 
 
 / 
 
 / Death. 
 N^^ Inheritance, 
 
 
 Envy. / 
 
 
 
 Sorcery. / 
 
 THE SIGNIFICATION OF 
 THE TWELVE HOUSES OF 
 
 \ 
 
 
 / Ascendant. 
 
 HEAVEN, IN AN ANNUAL 
 
 Women. \^ 
 
 1 
 
 y/ Commonalty. 
 
 \^ Vulgar Life of 
 
 N. every Man. 
 
 REVOLUTION, BY WHICH 
 EVERY ONE IS DIRECTED 
 TO THE KEY OF THE 
 BOOIC 
 
 Wars. / 
 Lawsuits. / 
 Suitors. / 
 
 
 Wealth. \^ 
 Riches. Estate.\ 
 
 
 / Servants, 
 
 / Small Cattle. 
 
 \^ Sickness. 
 
 2 
 
 Moveable / 
 Goods, y^ 
 
 N,^ Fathers. Towns. / 
 
 
 / \ Castles. / \ 
 
 / Kindred. \ ,^. , ,,^. / Children. X 
 
 / ^, , , \King's Wives. / X 
 
 / Neighbours. \ / Ambassadors. \ 
 
 
 / Small Journeys. \^^ / Commissioners. ^v 
 
 Mr. Gadbur}^ also, in the nativity cast for the illus- 
 trious Prince Frederic of Denmark, informs us, that 
 *'It is an aphorism nearly as old as astrology itself, 
 that if the lord of the ascendant of a revolution be 
 essentially well placed, it declares the native to be 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 337 
 
 pleasani, healthful, and of a sound constitution of 
 body, and rich in quiet of mind all that year ; and that 
 he shall be free from cares, perturbations, and trou- 
 bles. — The nativity of Frederick Prince of Denmark, 
 astrologically performed by John Gadbury, 1660." 
 
 It often happened, with regard to the responses 
 given by the oracles, that they in some measure cor- 
 responded with the subsequent events ; in like man- 
 ner did the astrological casters of nativities seem to 
 have their presumptuous pretensions verified by after 
 circumstances. Caracalla lost his life by seeking to 
 preserve it from supposed treachery ; for, while in 
 Mesopotamia, being jealous of a plot against him, he 
 sent to the Roman astrologers for the particulars of 
 it. They accused Macrinus, his faithful prefect, of a 
 conspiracy, which nothing but his death could frus- 
 trate. This answer coming while the emperor was 
 intent on some sport, he gave it to Macrinus to read ; 
 who, finding his innocent life in danger by this trick 
 of the astrologers, secured it by the murder of Ca- 
 racalla, of which, even in thought, he had before been 
 innocent ; though the result proved the apparent truth 
 of the prediction of the astrologers. 
 
 Mr. Gadbury might be considered partly incidental 
 to the death of a Mr. Turner, of Winchington, about 
 the year 1700. It is thus recorded by John Cole- 
 batch : — " I shall presume to take notice of a thing 
 that happened, which was a kind of preludium to Mr. 
 Turner's death, and, for aught I know, the thoughts 
 of it might deject his spirits, and have a fatal influence 
 upon him. About April last, Mr. Gadbury came to 
 him and told him, that he would die in the country 
 during the summer, of a surfeit of drinking. He re- 
 ceived this intelligence with a smile, and replied, * / 
 die of drinking, who am the soberest man in England : 
 
338 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 that's impossible !' Some time afterwards, he went 
 to Winchington. Just as he was going, one of his 
 friends bid him remember what Mr. Gadbury had 
 said, and beware of drinking. As soon as he was 
 taken ill, remembering, I suppose, Mr. Gadbury's 
 w^ords, he told his son he should not recover. Mr. 
 Turner had sat down to drink, but nothing extraor- 
 dinary, two days previously to his being taken ill, with 
 other gentlemen, and had related what had passed 
 between Mr. Gadbury and himself; and that it is 
 true, I can produce several persons of undoubted 
 reputation to testify." Whether Mr. Turner died 
 from a prepossession of the truth of Mr. Gadbury's 
 prediction, or from a disease calculated to destroy 
 life, there is no other document to prove ; at all events, 
 it shows the general belief and impression, at that 
 period, in favour of such prophetic sagacity. 
 
 Mr. William Lilly, who encouraged the prevailing 
 credulity by absurd fictions, relates, with great apparent 
 good faith, how a poor woman had the singular gift of 
 foretelling the death of any one, from the bare in- 
 spection of their portraits. Such renown had she, 
 that, about the year 1615, King James, when at 
 Hampton Court, sent for this poor woman, to a house 
 in one of the Moulseys. There were provided pur- 
 posely the pictures of King James, Queen Ann, Pals- 
 grave and his lady, the Duke of Richmond, and 
 Marquis Hamilton. 
 
 The poor woman no sooner entered the room, and 
 had performed her homely compliments, but she 
 looked seriously on every picture, and, with great 
 silence, took down the portrait of Queen Ann, and 
 laid it gently under the table, making signs with her 
 fingers the number of years she should live, and so of 
 King James, the duke, and the marquis. Not one 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 339 
 
 of those exceeded the number of years limited by her, 
 but died precisely at the time. She then took the 
 Palsgrave and his Lady, threw them on the ground, 
 and with her stick did nothing but beat the pictures, 
 and at last tore them in pieces. A young man 
 coming into the room, and calUng her a witch, she 
 muttered, and signified he should be hanged in two 
 years and a half ; and so he was for coining of silver. 
 The latest account extant, of an astrologer prac- 
 tising his profession with success, is to be found in 
 the reports at Union Hall, June 21, 1832, when an 
 application was made at that office for a warrant 
 against a Mr. Stiff, far famed for casting nativities 
 with the greatest accuracy. The applicant for the 
 warrant said he had a valuable book stolen from him, 
 and, to find out the thief, he went to Mr. Stiff, who, 
 after some apparent study, exclaimed, " I have it ! '* 
 and described with admirable minuteness the features, 
 figure, and dress, of a female, to whom the applicant 
 was paying his addresses, adding, that the person 
 whom he so described was the thief. This descrip- 
 tion so agreed with that of the young lady he at one 
 time loved sincerely, that, from the day he first con- 
 sulted Mr. Stiff, he had broken off all acquaintance 
 with her. Indeed, he was so convinced that she was 
 the thief, upon hearing Mr. Stiff pronounce the fact, 
 that he discarded her from that moment, not feeling 
 inclined to proceed against her. The magistrates 
 could scarcely refrain from loud laughter at the cre- 
 dulity evinced by this sim})leton'8 visit to the wise 
 man. It was not in consequence of the loss of his 
 book, or his mistress, that the present complaint was 
 made ; but because he had given Mr. Stiff ten pounds, 
 to teach hira the art of astrology, which sum he 
 z2 
 
340 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 w ished to recover, because in the end he found him- 
 self as ignorant as ever. 
 
 In many parts of the world, particularly in the 
 East, astrolog-y still reigns with undiminished sway. 
 Among the Hindus, it exercises a powerful influence 
 upon all their actions. No affair of consequence is 
 undertaken without the astrologer being consulted. 
 W^hen, about ten years ago, the cholera raged at Jey- 
 pore, the astrologers hit upon the following curious mode 
 of ejecting it from the city. They and the singers 
 attended, and the state band commenced playing. 
 A Bramin lighted a row of lamps, and selected four 
 goats. After killing two of them at two of the gates, 
 and a third at the burying-ground, he lighted a wisp 
 of straw, ran with it to another gate, and killed there 
 the fourth goat. He next drew in a brass pot some 
 water from a sacred well, muttered a charm over it, 
 and sprinkled a portion on the walls, from which si- 
 multaneously issued four snakes (no doubt pre- 
 viously secreted there), and fled towards the west. 
 When they were gone, the Bramin declared that they 
 were the spirits of pestilence, in the form of serpenjs, 
 that they were now expelled, and that, to prevent their 
 return, the people must repair, on a certain day, to 
 the temple of Hanuman. 
 
 That astrology is not less prevalent in Ceylon than 
 on the Indian continent is manifest from the following 
 curious directions for storing grain, and celebrating a 
 festival. " In the 1746th year of the glorious aera 
 of Saka, being the present year, designated Taaruna, 
 appropriate to the sun, and belonging to the first 
 division, over which Brahma presides, of the cycle of 
 sixty years, the commencing year of which is deno- 
 minated Prebhava, on the twelfth day of the sun in 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 341 
 
 Capricorn, month of Nawan Mase, third day of the 
 increasing moon, Saturday. At the completion of 
 the fifteenth hour of the morning *, at the propitious 
 moment when the prevaiUng constellation shall be 
 Seeva Wase, and the sign of Arise, and the hour 
 influenced by Lunies. Viewing the month (at this 
 propitious moment), it will be good, and conducive of 
 a happy result, to deposit the new corn and rice in 
 the Royalty Gabadawe, which is comparable to the 
 <all desires-fulfilling tree,' the Kalpa Warksha, in 
 order to induce plenitude of grain and of riches 
 therein. 
 
 " On the fourteenth day of the sun in Capricorn 
 above mentioned, on the fifth day of the increasing 
 moon, Monday, f at the completion of three quarters 
 of the first hour of the night, the propitious moment 
 when the prevailing constellation shall be Uttrapo- 
 tupe, and the sign Capricorn, and the hours under 
 the denomination of the sun, viewing the north-east 
 (at the propitious moment), in order to induce ex- 
 emption from sickness, and. constant prosperity to 
 his excellency the eminent governor of the three 
 divisions of Ceylon, and who is comparable to the 
 mighty royal lion, the vanquisher of all his foes, it 
 will be good to enjoy the five nectareous viands 
 with the first produced grain — Success 1 Prosperity ! 
 Health !'* 
 
 It will be seen, from this specimen, that the 
 Cingalese astrologers are by no means behind their 
 European brethren in the use of an unintelligible 
 jargon ; and that they are as determined flatterers 
 of the great as the most voracious devourer of flat- 
 
 * This answers to twelve at noon. 
 -f A Cingalese hour is equal to twenty-four minutes ; cense - 
 qucntlj, eighteen minutes after dark. 
 
342 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 tery eould desire. The reader will not fail to observe, 
 likewise, that, when they are singing the praises of 
 " the eminent governor," they find no difficulty in 
 expressing themselves so as to be clearly understood. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 MEDICAL DELUSIONS AND FRAUDS. 
 
 State of Medicine in remote Ages — Animals Teachers of Medieine — 
 Gymnastic Medicine — Cato's Cure for a Fracture — Dearness of 
 ancient Medicines and medical Books — Absurdity of the ancient 
 Materia Medica : Gold, Bezoar, Mummy — Prescription for a 
 Quartan — Amulets — Virtues of Gems — Corals — Charms — 
 Charm for sore Eyes — Medicine connected with Astrology — 
 Cure by Sympathy — Sir Kenelm Digby — The real Cause of the 
 Cure — The Vulnerary Powder, &c The Royal Touch — Eve- 
 lyn's Description of the Ceremony^ — Valentine Grcatrakes — 
 Morley's Cure for Scrofula — Inoculation — \'accination — Dr. 
 Jenner — Animal Magnetism — M. Loewe's Account of it — Mes- 
 mer, and his Feats — Manner of Magnetizing — Report of a Com- 
 mission on the Subject — Metallic Tractors — Baron Silfver- 
 hielm and the Souls in White Robes — Mr. Loutherbourg — Em- 
 pirics — Uroscopy — Mayersbach — Le Febre — Remedies for the 
 Stone — The Anodyne Necklace. — The Universal Medicine — 
 Conclusion. 
 
 The history of the art of medicine begins with 
 fable and conjecture, and rests on dubious tradition. 
 Fifty years prior to the Trojan war, Escnlapius is 
 said to have been deified, on account of his medical 
 skill ; and Machaon and Podalirius, his sons, formed 
 the medical staff of the Grecian army before Troy. 
 In the temples of the gods diseases and cures were 
 registered, and engraved on marble tables and hung 
 up, for the benofit of others. The priests, at that 
 time, prepared the medicines, and made it a lucrative 
 trade ; and fables were invented to increase the re- 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 343 
 
 nown, of the oracle, for difficult cases were stated to 
 be caused by the immediate wrath of Heaven, in 
 which the only remedies were prayer and sacrifices, 
 fear urging the trembling- patients to follow whatever 
 course was prescribed. 
 
 From the sacred writings little medical information 
 is derived : Moses gave precautionary directions for 
 the prevention or cure of leprosy, consisting chiefly of 
 cleanliness ; and religion was called in to enforce the 
 medicinal ordinances. In Babylon, we are told by 
 Herodotus, that the sick were carried out to the 
 public roads, that travellers might converse with 
 them, and acquaint them with any remedies they 
 had seen used in such complaints with success. In 
 Egypt, each physician applied himself to one disease ; 
 and Prosper Alpinus, in his History of Egyptian 
 Medicine, reports that they took the hints of curing 
 divers diseases from brute beasts : thus phlebotomy 
 was taken from a practice noticed in the hippopo- 
 tamus, or river-horse, which bleeds itself when ple- 
 thoric, by pressing its thigh on a sharp-pointed reed. 
 Dogs and cats are known, when sick, to vomit them- 
 selves by eating grass ; swine, when ill, refuse meat, 
 and so recover by abstinence. In like manner from 
 numerous bodies, as flies, locusts, &c., being enclosed 
 in amber, it is thought the art of embalming was 
 first suggested. 
 
 Gymnastic medicine was founded by Herodicus ; 
 games and sports had been early instituted in the 
 Grecian states, and were divided into religious, mili- 
 tary, athletic, and lastly medical gymnastics, particu- 
 larly adapted for the prevention or cure of diseases. 
 Herodicus, from his observations on its advantages, 
 commenced practising as a physician, and it was his 
 only panacea. After him came Hippocrates, who 
 
344 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 made the first successful attempt to separate the 
 medical profession from rash empiricism, and the fri- 
 volous dreams of philosophers. He compared the 
 body to a circle, in which an universal sympathy of 
 parts existed ; his g-reat repute arose from his skill 
 in predicting crises, which he was enabled to do with 
 perfect precision. 
 
 Pliny says Rome was inhabited six hundred 
 years before any physicians established themselves 
 there ; and for some time the medicine of the Romans 
 consisted of charms, fascinations, incantations, and 
 amulets. The book of Cato de Re Rustica, is a 
 proof of the gross superstition and ignorance of those 
 times. He proposed, in a case of fracture to have 
 it bound up, and the following words sung every 
 day — ** Huat, Hanat, ista pista, fista, dominabo, dam- 
 nastra et luxata." 
 
 When the religious frenzy of the Mahometans 
 was abated, and they became enriched by commerce, 
 arts and literature, after ages of barbarism, were 
 again cultivated with great industry, and the medical 
 profession, in particular, was rewarded and encouraged 
 with rank and bountiful endowments. iEtius com- 
 plained in his time of the general use of quack medi- 
 cines, nostrums, &c., and of the immense price 
 demanded for those which were fortunate enough to 
 rise into general repute. Danaus, he tells us, sold 
 his collyriura, at Constantinople, at the astonishing 
 price of one hundred and twenty pieces of gold to 
 each patient, and sometimes could scarcely be per- 
 suaded upon to sell it at any price. Nicostratus 
 demanded no less than two talents for his celebrated 
 isotheosis, or antidote against the colic. 
 
 The works of the Grecian and Arabian physicians, 
 when they became to be more generally known in the 
 
DECRPTION, AND CREDULITY. 345 
 
 fifteenth century, were most highly prized. In the 
 year 1471, Louis XI. borrowed the works of Rhazes 
 from the Paris faculty, but was obliged, previously, 
 to deposit a quantity of plate, and find a nobleman 
 to join with him, as an additional security for the care 
 and safe return of thebook. Jew physicians were at that 
 time employed by the Pope, and most of the crowned 
 heads in Europe. John of Gaddesden was the first 
 Englishman appointed Court Physician in London. 
 His idea of the treatment of diseases was rather dif 
 ferent from the theories of the present day ; for when 
 attending the king's son for small-pox, he directed 
 the room to be hung with scarlet cloth, and the 
 patient to be rolled up in similar stuff. 
 
 The rationale of the Materia Medica one hundred 
 and fifty or two hundred years since was very extra- 
 ordinary, as well with respect to the nature of the 
 substances proposed as remedies, as to the number of 
 ingredients, sometimes thirty or forty, which were 
 congregated together in each composition^ upon the 
 principle that if one did not reach the disorder another 
 might. 
 
 The nature of the substances used was, often, 
 even more extraordinary and disgusting than their 
 variety ; many of them were thought to act by a 
 charm, or by the strong sensation of disgust which 
 their exhibition excited, rather than by any more 
 direct appeal to the disordered part. The more pre- 
 cious also the article, the more certain was thought 
 the cure. 
 
 The aurum potabilcy and other preparations of gold, 
 were conceived to have many virtues. Gold, by the 
 chemical writers, was styled the sun and king of 
 metals. Kings and princes were thus amused and 
 defrauded, and their lives made shorter than those of 
 
346 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 their subjects who were beneath the use of gold. 
 The chickens they ate were fed with gold, that they 
 might extract the sulphur, and prepare the metal by 
 their circulation ; the physicians were contented to 
 collect all the gold, which passed unaltered and un- 
 diminished through the poultry, into their pockets. 
 
 Bezoar denotes an antidote, from a Persian word, 
 and is generally applied to medicinal stones, gene- 
 rated in the stomach and other viscera of animals. 
 Bezoars usually attain the size of acorns or pigeons' 
 eggs, the larger the more valuable. A stone of one 
 ounce was sold in India for one hundred livres, and 
 one of four ounces and a quarter for two thousand ; 
 they were very scarce, and few of the genuine ever 
 came into the European market, the greater number 
 that were sold being artificial compounds. The hog 
 bezoar, or Pedra del Porco, was first brought into 
 Europe by the Portuguese ; it is found in the gall- 
 bladder of a boar in the East Indies; the Indians 
 attribute infinite virtues to it, as a preservative 
 against poison, cholera, &c. The porcupine and 
 monkey bezoars were held in such esteem by the 
 natives of Malacca, that they never parted with them 
 unless as presents to ambassadors and princes ; single 
 stones have been sold for sixty or eighty pounds 
 sterling. In 1715, bezoar was thought equal in value 
 to gold. Dr. Patin says of it, the most visible ope- 
 ration it hath is when the bill is paid ; and he calls it 
 the scandalous stone of offence, and lasting monu«» 
 ment of perseverance in imposture. 
 
 The most loathsome preparations were recom- 
 mended, and eagerly used by the sick. Mummy had 
 the honour to be worn in the bosom, next the heart, 
 by kings and princes, and all those who could bear 
 the price. It was pretended, that it was able to 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 347 
 
 preserve the wearer from the most deadly infections, 
 and that the heart was secured by it from the inva- 
 sion of all malignity. A dram of a preparation 
 called treacle of mummy, taken in the morning, pre- 
 vented the danger of poison for all that day. Thus 
 decayed spices and gums, with the dead body of an 
 Egyptian, were thought to give long life. 
 
 To cure a quartan, or the gout, " take the hair and 
 nails, cut them small, mix them with wax, and stick 
 them to a live crab, casting it into the river again." 
 The moss from a dead man's scull was held to be of 
 sovereign virtue in some cases. 
 
 Amulets were much used formerly, not only to 
 cure but to prevent disease, and also were thought 
 to have a wonderful power over the moral qualities 
 and affections. The onyx, worn as an amulet, 
 strengthened the heart, and refreshed phantasms. The 
 ruby resisted poisons, and preserved from the plague. 
 If a man was in danger it changed colour, and be- 
 came dim, but recovered its brightness when the 
 danger was past. Hence, perhaps, was the origi- 
 nal motive for carrying jewels and precious stones, 
 set in rings or in seals. 
 
 Corals, says Paracelsus, " are of two sorts : one, a 
 clear bright shining red ; the other, a purple dark 
 red. The bright is good to quicken phansie, and is 
 against phantasies, or nocturnal spirits, which fly 
 from these bright corals, as a dog from a staff, but 
 they gather where the dark coral is. A spectre 
 or ghost is the starry body of a dead man : now these 
 ethereal or starry bodies cannot endure to be where 
 the bright corals are, but the dark-coloured allures 
 them; the operation therefore is natural, not magi- 
 cal, or superstitious, as some may think. Bright 
 coral restrains tempCNts of thunder and lightning, 
 and defends us from the cruelty of savage monsters, 
 
348 SKETCHES Ol? IMPOSTURE, 
 
 that are bred by the heavens contrary to the course 
 of nature ; for sometimes the stars pour out a seed, 
 of which a monster is begotten ; now these monsters 
 cannot be where corals are." 
 
 The use of charms in medicine was a very ancient 
 practice, and, when once commenced, each succeed- 
 ing' charm became more ridiculous. Pierius mentions 
 an antidote against the sting- of a scorpion ; the pa- 
 tient was to sit on an ass, with his face to the tail, for 
 by this means the poison was transmitted from the 
 man to the beast. Sammonicus, a poetical physician, 
 recommended the fourth book of Homer's Iliad to 
 be laid under the patient's head to cure a quartan 
 ague. The efficacy of scriptural sentences was de- 
 duced from the custom of the Jews Avearing phy- 
 lacteries. 
 
 An approved spell for sore eyes was worn as a 
 jewel about many necks : it was written on paper, 
 and enclosed in silk, " never failing to do sovereign 
 good when all other helps were helpless. No sight 
 might dare to read it, but at length a curious mind, 
 while the patient slept, by stealth ripped open the 
 mystical cover, and found in Latin, Diabolus effodiat 
 tibi oculos, im pleat foramina stercoribus.'* 
 
 When astrology was in repute, physic was gene- 
 rally practised with some reference to the stars, and 
 the astrological judgments became a very common 
 object of inquiry amongst physicians. A. Dr. Saun- 
 ders, who wrote very fully on this branch of the 
 science, thus commences : — 
 
 " From hence 
 Withdraw all carping critics that deny 
 Tlie great art of sublime astrology. 
 Which, unto such as have attained the key, 
 Shows the true cause of a disease, and may 
 Direct the doctor, expeditiously, 
 The nearest way to cure the malady." 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 349 
 
 But, says he, " the firm and steadfast confidence in the 
 Almit^hty is quite essential to the happy conclusion 
 of all expectionates ; for, if thou presumest other- 
 wise, no doubt but that will be verified on thee 
 which the prophet sayeth to the Chaldeans, ' Sapien- 
 tia et scientia te decepiet,' for either, by thy own 
 ignorance and mistaking, thou wilt be seduced, or 
 else Heaven itself shall yield unto thee so ambiguous 
 an answer, that thou shalt not be able to conclude 
 any certainty. 
 
 " The Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Arabians, do 
 observe many curieus observations in this art, as 
 translation of light, prohibition, contraradiation, res- 
 titution, frustration, obsession, cursuvacation, cursu- 
 tardation, ferality, augedescention, meridiodescentia, 
 himiniminution, numeriminution, via combusta, &c., 
 which, although I wish not to deny to have some 
 small effect, yet I have often proved, that overmuch 
 curiosity doth rather deviate a man from concluding 
 anything certainly. 
 
 " if thou findest the cusp of the ascendant to fall 
 in the very latter end of a sign, then, doubtless, the 
 querent comes but to tempt thee ; or if the question 
 be not radical, if the lord of the ascendant or the 
 liour be not of one triplicity, it signifies the careless- 
 ness of the querent, and that he cares not whether 
 
 ou hit or miss.*' 
 Among the more remarkable of subsequent medical 
 delusions were, the cure by sympathy, royal touch, 
 and animal magnetism. Sounder views of medical 
 practice were entertained by degrees ; but enough of 
 the old leaven of folly and superstition has, at diflferent 
 times, shown itself, to prove that human nature will 
 never be free from the imputation of lending itself, 
 
 ither from vanity, indolence, or ignorance, to forward 
 
350 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 the views of ridiculous or unprincipled empiricism ; 
 the disciples of which would, nevertheless, be the 
 first to disbelieve or dispute similar assertions or ar- 
 guments, when applied to the exercise of other pro- 
 fessions or trades. 
 
 The first medical delusion which claims our notice 
 is the cure by sympathy. What is now the common 
 method of healing- wounds, appeared most unnatural 
 to the surgeons at the end of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury ; and their legitimate and only cure proved such 
 torture to the unhappy patients, that, in those days, 
 nothing- was to be heard in the hospitals^ at the 
 time of dressing, but howling and cries. A man 
 proposing the romantic doctrine of adhesion of wounds 
 by union of their edges, would have been despised ; 
 but, if he were bold and cunning enough to give an 
 air of incantation to his cures, or declare that they 
 were performed by a secret philosophical sympathy, 
 he was sure of success. No surgeon in Europe ven- 
 tured to unite wounds directly, without pretending to 
 have learnt, from some eastern sage, or to have dis- 
 covered, by abstruse studies in philosophy and al- 
 chemy, a sympathetic or philosophical mode of cure. 
 
 The first inventor of the sympathetic powder was 
 the celebrated Paracelsus, and the Paracelsian doc- 
 tors flourished in England when Dr. Charleton wrote 
 his ternary of paradoxes, chiefly on the magnetic or 
 attractive power of wounds. This fanaticism lasted 
 no short time, and was hardly to be paralleled, except 
 by the study of the perpetual elixir, and the universal 
 solvent. 
 
 Sir Kenelm Digby, secretary to Charles I., was 
 driven into exile during the civil wars. In a discourse 
 upon the cure by sympathy, pronounced at Mont- 
 pelier before an assembly of nobles and learned men, 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 351 
 
 he g-ave the curious case of Mr. Howell, who, whilst 
 endeavouring: to part Iwo of his friends who were 
 fighting, had his hand cut to the bone. Sir Kenelm 
 was applied to for assistance. " I told him," says 
 he, " 1 would willingly serve him ; but if, haply, he 
 knew the manner how I would cure him, without 
 touching- or seeing him, it may be he would not ex- 
 pose himself to my manner of curing, because he 
 would think it, peradventure, either ineffectual or 
 superstitious." He replied, " The wonderful things 
 which many have related unto me of your way of 
 medicinement makes me nothing doubt at all of its 
 efficacy ; and all that I have to say unto you is com- 
 prehended in the Spanish proverb — Hagase el milagro 
 y hagalo Mahoma — Let the miracle be done, though 
 Mahomet do it." 
 
 " 1 asked him then for anything that had the 
 blood upon it ; so he presently sent for his garter, 
 wherewith his hand was first bound, and dissolving 
 some vitriol in a basin of water, I put in the garter, 
 observing in the interim what Mr. Howell did. He 
 suddenly started, as if he had found some strange 
 alteration in himself. I asked him what he ailed? 
 ' 1 know not what ails me, but I find that I feel no 
 more pain ; methinks that a pleasing kind of fresh- 
 ness, as it were a wet cold napkin, did spread over 
 my hand, which hath taken away the inflammation 
 that tormented me before.' 1 replied, * Since then that 
 you feel already so good effect of my medicament, I 
 advise you to cast away all your plaisters, only keep 
 the wound clean, and in a moderate temper betwixt 
 heat and cold.' To be brief, there was no sense of 
 pain afterward; but within five or six days the 
 wounds were cicatrized and entirely healed." 
 
 The king obtained from Sir Kenelm the dis- 
 
352 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 covery of his secret, which he pretended had been 
 taught him by a Carmelite friar, who had learned it 
 in Armenia or Persia. 
 
 The fact was, the sympathetical physician under- 
 stood the cure of wounds by adhesion more perfectly 
 than others ; but it was necessary to cheat the world 
 into this safe method of cure, and they declined the 
 use of it altogether, where they foresaw, from the 
 nature of the wound, it could not succeed. The 
 public opinion would have been so strong* ag-ainst 
 any open innovation, that the sympathetic doctors 
 got credit for something like witchcraft, and conde- 
 scended to dress axes and swords, that the wounds 
 might have leave to lie at rest till they healed. All 
 cures by adhesion were mysteriously performed, and 
 one in particular, called the secret dressing, in which 
 great pains were taken, before laying the lips of the 
 wound together, to suck out all the blood. This was 
 chiefly used by drummers in regiments, to conceal 
 the quarrels of the soldiers. 
 
 The trick of this way of cure consisted in making 
 grimaces and contortions, signing their patients with 
 the cross, and muttering between their teeth some 
 unintelligible jargon. Their care was to keep the 
 profession among themselves, and it was from the 
 profanation of the sign of the cross that there arose 
 a hot war between the priests and the suckers ; the 
 former refusing confession, extreme unction, or any 
 sacrament to those who had undergone the magical 
 or diabolical ceremonies of the suckers, who, on the 
 other hand, refused to suck those connected in any 
 way with the priests, being anxious to preserve their 
 trade, which was not without its emoluments ; for 
 Verduc observes that they were still more skilful in 
 sucking gold than blood. 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 353 
 
 The ** Vulnerary Powder, and Tincture of the 
 Sulphur of Venus," performed wonders, one of whicb 
 Dr. Colebatch relates of a Mr. Pool, who was run 
 through the body with a sword, and lost four quarts 
 of blood. The medicines being applied, the bleeding 
 stopped ; on the following day he " was gnawing 
 tough ill-boiled mutton," and drank a quart of ale ; 
 and in the course of five days he returned to duty in 
 the camp. " A Mr. Cherry also, serjeant of gre- 
 nadiers at the attack of the castle of Namur, was 
 wounded in twenty-six places, twenty-three with 
 bullets, and three large cuts on the head with a sword. 
 He lay forty-eight hours stripped naked upon the 
 breach, without a bit of bread or drop of drink, or any 
 thing done to his wounds ; yet this man was cured 
 by the vulnerary powder and tincture alone, and never 
 had any fever*." 
 
 The materials of the sympathetic powder were 
 more heterogeneous and horrid than those which the 
 witches used to drop into the caldron ; human fat, 
 human blood, mnmmy, the moss that grows in dead 
 men's sculls, or hogs' brains; and the chief schism 
 among the great masters of the sympathetic school 
 arose from the question, whether it was necessary that 
 the moss should grow absolutely in the scull of the thief 
 who had hung on the gallows, and whether the medi- 
 
 • Mr. Matthews, the comedian, in his " Humours of a Country 
 FHir,** has hardly exaggerated, in describing a quack thus reading 
 acknowledgments from those cured by his specific. ' Sir, — I was 
 cut in two in a saw-pit, and cured by one bottle.* * Sir, — By the 
 bursting of a powder-mill, I was blown into ten thousand anatomies. 
 The first bottle of your incomparable collected all the parts together ; 
 the second restored life and animation — before the third was finished, 
 I was in my usual state of health.' This hardly exceeds a reason- 
 able satire on the presumptuous promises that still frequently ac- 
 company each bottle or box, licensed from the Stamp Ojfflce ! 
 A A 
 
354 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 cine, while compounding, was to be stirred with a 
 murderer's knife ? 
 
 Some, anxious to avoid the damnable charges which 
 were urged against this practice, defended it on phi- 
 losophical principles, and from the analogy of other 
 natural operations. Any lute, said they, being tuned 
 in unison with another, is aifected when the other is 
 struck, the magnet turns by sympathy to the Pole, 
 amber attracts light bodies, loadstones hung to the 
 breast make us cheerful and merry, and the wearing 
 of jewels secures chastity. 
 
 All acknowledged sympathetic cures were success- 
 ful, and the established surgeons of that day refused 
 to practise the treatment, only because it was impious 
 and unlawful ; for, said they, how can we contradict 
 matters of fact ? 
 
 We come now to the second of the great medical 
 delusions, that which attributed to the royal touch a 
 sanative power in scrofulous cases. This is supposed 
 to have been a monkish invention, to increase the 
 reverence for kings, and was practised in England 
 and France. 
 
 Becket, a writer in the time of Charles II., fully 
 describes the royal gift of touching for the evil, 
 which gift had been confirmed and continued for six 
 hundred and forty years. It is proved out of Corin- 
 thians i. chap. 12. ver. 9. " To another the gift of 
 healing by the same spirit," and they must needs be 
 allowed no good subjects who dare deny this sanative 
 faculty, when so many thousands had received benefit I 
 
 Clovis I., the fifth king of France, who reigned 
 about five hundred years after the birth of Christ, is 
 reputed to have been the first who had the gift of 
 curing this disease. William of Malmesbury states, 
 that Edward the Confessor was the first in England 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 355 
 
 who healed strumous patients by the touch. Dr. 
 Plott describes a piece of gold of this monarch, found 
 in St. Giles's Fields, near Oxford, having E. C. over 
 the head, as well as two small holes through it by 
 which it was hung on a riband, and used at the cere- 
 mony of touching for the evil. Some have considered 
 this gift as the most efficacious part of the cure ; some 
 imagined that the success was principally owing to 
 the sign of the cross made on the swellings. 
 
 The power of healing by the royal touch does not 
 seem to have been very frequently practised till the 
 time of Charles I. and II., after which it almost ceased. 
 
 Mr. Evelyn gives a full description of the ceremony. 
 '* His majesty, says he, began to touch for the evil 
 according to custom, thus : — His Majesty sitting under 
 his state in the Banquetting House, the chirurgeons 
 cause the sick to be brought or led up to the Ihrone, 
 where, they kneeling, the king strokes their faces or 
 cheeks with both his hands at once, at which instant 
 a chaplain, in his formalities, says, ' He put his hands 
 upon them and he healed them :' this is said to every 
 one in particular. When they have all been touched 
 they come up again in the same order, and the other 
 chaplain kneeling, and having angels of gold strung 
 on white ribands on his arm, delivers them one by one 
 to his majesty, who puts them about the necks of the 
 touched as they pass, whilst the first chaplain repeats, 
 * That is the true light who came into the world.' 
 Then follows an Epistle with the Liturgy, and prayers 
 for the sick with some alteration ; lastly the blessing. 
 Then the lord chamberlain and comptroller of the 
 household bring a basin, ewer, and towel, for his 
 majesty to wash. John Bird says, the king expresses 
 his belief in the cure being effected through the grace 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 of God, saying, at the time of the ceremony, ^ I touch, 
 God heals/ " 
 
 One of the historians of the royal touch gives a 
 numerical table of the number of persons touched by 
 Charles II., from May 1660 to 1680, distinguishing the 
 exact number of each year ; the grand total amounts to 
 the incredible number of ninety-two thousand one 
 hundred and seven, at the average of twelve every 
 day ! 
 
 Others, besides those of royal extraction, set up 
 pretensions of curing certain diseases by touch. The 
 seventh sons of seventh sons had a more than usual 
 virtue inherent in them. But the one who attracted 
 public attention most was Mr. Valentine Greatrakes, 
 called, par excellence^ " The Stroker." He was an 
 Irish gentleman, and came to England, invited by the 
 Earl of Orrery, to cure the Viscountess Conway of an 
 inveterate headache ; and though he failed in that at- 
 tempt, he is said to have wrought many surprising 
 cures, not unHke miracles. He was born in 1628, 
 seemed very religious, his looks grave but simple. He 
 had felt a strange persuasion, or impulse, that he had 
 the gift of curing the evil, which suggestion becoming 
 very strong, he stroked several persons and cured 
 them. During an epidemical fever, he cured all who 
 came to him, his power of curing extending over divers 
 maladies. He performed such extraordinary cures 
 that he was cited into the Bishop's Court, at Lismore, 
 for not having a licence to practise. He arrived in 
 England in 1666 ; and, as he proceeded through the 
 country, magistrates of the cities and towns through 
 which he passed begged him to come and cure their 
 sick. Having arrived in London, he every day went 
 to a particular part, where a prodigious number of 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 357 
 
 sick of all ranks and both sexes assembled. His fame 
 did not lafst, however. He returned to Ireland in 
 1667, and lived many years, but no longer kept up 
 the reputation of performing strange cures. On the 
 strictest inquiry, no sort of blemish was ever thrown 
 on his character. 
 
 A Mr. Morley wrote on the virtues of the vervain 
 root, as an effectual cure for scrofula. " I recom- 
 mend," says he, ** a piece of the root of common 
 purple vervain, fresh, about three or four inches long, 
 all the fibres to be cut off, and it is to be always worn 
 at the pit of the stomach, tied with one yard of white 
 satin riband half-inch wide ; no other colour is proper, 
 because the dye may be prejudicial." 
 
 It is the fate of all useful discoveries or improve- 
 ments to meet with bigoted or "interested opposition 
 from those who would willingly remain in the beaten 
 path of habit, rather than acknowledge any change 
 to be profitable. 
 
 lliat most important discovery of the circulation of 
 the blood by Harvey was at first furiously opposed, 
 and was proved, according to the laws of hydrauHcs, 
 to be both impossible and absurd ; yet, when it was 
 in vain to dispute the fact, it was undervalued, as one 
 almost known long before ! 
 
 Inoculation, it is well known, as a means of rendering 
 small-pox Itss severe, was introduced into England 
 by Lady 2Iary Wortley Montague, who had frequent 
 opportunities of seeing the operation performed, when 
 residing at Constantinople with her husband, the Eng- 
 lish ambassador there. She was so thoroughly 
 convinced of the safety of this practice, that she re- 
 solved to submit her only son to it ; a boy about six 
 years of age. The operation succeeded perfectly ; 
 this happened in 1717. After her return to England, 
 
358 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 she set the first and great example, by having her 
 httle girl, then five years old, also inoculated. 
 
 Mr. C. Maitland, who had accompanied the family 
 of Mr. Wortley, and had inoculated the son and 
 daughter of that gentleman, performed the operation, 
 by royal command, on six condemned criminals at 
 Newgate, in the presence of several eminent phy- 
 sicians and surgeons, and they all did well. Mr. Mait- 
 land, however, was not prepared to find this species 
 infectious, and was much surprised that the disorder 
 was caught by six servants, who were wont to hug 
 and caress a little child, sick of the inoculated dis- 
 ease. 
 
 So great a novelty, as the inoculation of a disease, 
 produced much astonishment and dread, and it was 
 opposed professionally and theologically. Mr. Edmund 
 Massey preached a sermon, at St. Andrew's, Holborn, 
 July 8, 1722, against the dangerous and sinful prac- 
 tice of inoculation. His text was Job, chap. ii. v. 7, 
 '* So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, 
 and smote Job wdth sore boils, from the sole of his foot 
 unto his crown." From this text he argued that the 
 disease with which Job was smitten was neither more 
 nor less than the confluent small-pox. " With this 
 view, I shall not," said he, " scruple to call it a dia- 
 holical operation, usurping an authority founded nei- 
 ther in nature nor religion. This practice also tends 
 to promote vice and immorality, inasmuch as it dimi- 
 nishes the salutary terror which prevails respecting 
 the uncertain approach of the disease." 
 
 Inoculation has doubtless been of infinite benefit to 
 society, but it is now superseded by a much greater 
 improvement, namely, that of vaccination. This is, 
 beyond all comparison, the most valuable and the 
 most important discovery ever made ; it strikes out 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 359 
 
 one of the worst in the catalogue of human evils ; it 
 annihilates a disease which has ever been considered 
 as the most dreadful scourge of mankind. 
 
 Dr. Edward Jenner, the inventor of vaccination, 
 was born in Gloucestershire, in 1749, and, being 
 educated for the medical profession, was placed under 
 the immediate tuition of Mr. John Hunter, with whom 
 he lived two years, as a house pupil. After finishing 
 his studies in London, he settled at Berkeley. His 
 inquiry into the nature of cow-pox commenced about 
 the year 1776. His attention to this singular disease 
 was first excited by observing, that among those whom 
 he inoculated for the small-pox many were insus- 
 ceptible of that disorder. These persons, he was in- 
 formed, had undergone the casual cow-pox, which had 
 been known in the dairies from time immemorial, and 
 a vague opinion prevailed that it was a preventive of 
 the small-pox. He instituted a series of experiments, 
 and several persons were successively inoculated from 
 each other with vaccine matter, and then exposed to 
 the infection of small-pox, which they all resisted. 
 When these facts were communicated to the world 
 envy assailed his fame, his discovery was depreciated, 
 then denied. Truth, however, ultimately prevailed, 
 vaccination obtained a complete triumph, and the foes 
 of Jenner and humanity were covered with confusion. 
 Dr. Mosely, one of his opponents, asks if any person 
 can say, " What may be the consequences of intro- 
 ducing a bestial humor into the human frame, after 
 a long lapse of years ?" He was asked, in return, 
 '* What may be the consequences, after a long lapse of 
 years, of introducing into the human frame cow's 
 milk, beefsteaks, or a mutton chop ?" Dr. Jenner had 
 numerous presents of plate, &c., honours were con- 
 ferred on him by different societies ; and a grant of 
 
360 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 ten thousand pounds was voted to him by Par- 
 liament. 
 
 The phenomena of Animal Magnetism, when an- 
 nounced to the world, excited the greatest sensation 
 on the Continent, particularly in France ; for some 
 years the subject filled their " Journals'* and " Mer- 
 curies," and employed some of their best pens and 
 brightest wits. 
 
 M. Mesmer, the inventor, was a native of Switzer- 
 land, of great talents, but enthusiastic fancy. He 
 undertook to defend the old doctrine of the influence 
 of the planets on the human frame, and he searched 
 for some means of communication between them. 
 Electricity did not answer his expectations, and he 
 turned his attention to magnetism. Iron becomes 
 magnetic after being rubbed with a magnet ; he there- 
 fore rubbed the human body with the loadstone. The 
 phenomena which resulted he attributed, at first, to 
 the magnetic influence ; but experience proved to him 
 that the application of the bare hand produced the 
 same eff'ect, yet he called this animal magnetism. 
 
 M. Loewe, a supporter, says, '' On a certain appli- 
 cation of the palm of the. hand and tips of the fingers, 
 made by the magnetiser, without, however, touching 
 the person, or even at the distance of two or three 
 inches, the magnetised individual feels an increase 
 of warmth, at times a chilliness or uneasiness within 
 him, particularly near the pit of the stomach. After 
 repeated applications, the eyelids become heavy, and 
 the patient falls into a sleep, from which he cannot 
 be aroused by sense of hearing, or by any other of 
 the external organs of sense. There was one instance 
 of a magnetised person, who had only occasion to 
 enter the house of the magnetiser, in order to fall into 
 a profound and magnetical sleep. A very rare result 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 361 
 
 of this state is that of clairvoyance, when it has been 
 observed, that the internal sense seems to present 
 itself wholly unconfined, and all nature appears to be 
 disclosed to it ; the body being, as it were, completely 
 numbed, eyelids open, pulse soft and hardly percep- 
 tible, the countenance is transformed, and exhibits the 
 picture of innocence. They are in fervent prayer to 
 the Creator, or perhaps they describe scenes and pas- 
 times at the antipodes. A female, who had never been 
 in America, and had never read geographical descrip- 
 tions, described that continent, its inhabitants, &c., 
 very accurately." 
 
 Meeting with but little encouragement in Germany, 
 Mesmer went to France, where he was exceedingly 
 successful. His cures were numerous, and of the 
 most astonishing nature. He was obliged to form a 
 number of pupils, under his inspection, to administer 
 his process. His house, at Creteil, was crowded with 
 patients, and a numerous company was daily assem- 
 bled at his house at Paris, where the operation was 
 publicly performed. 
 
 One evening, M. Mesmer walked with six persons 
 in the gardens of the Prince de Soubise. He per- 
 formed a magnetical operation upon a tree, and, a 
 little after, three ladies of the company fainted away. 
 The duchess, the only remaining lady, supported her- 
 self upon the tree, without being able to quit it. The 
 
 Count of , unable to stand, was obliged to 
 
 throw himself upon a bench. The effects upon M. 
 
 A , a gentleman of muscular frame, were more 
 
 terrible ; and M. Mesmer*s servant, who was summoned 
 to remove the bodies, and who was inured to these 
 scenes, found himself unable to move. The whole 
 company were obliged to remain in this situation for 
 a considerable time. 
 
362 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 The public method of magnetising was performed in 
 a large room, in the centre of which stood a circular 
 box, large enough to admit of fifty persons standing 
 round it. Out of the lid came numerous branches of 
 iron, one to each patient. The patients applied this 
 branch to the part affected, and a cord, passed round 
 their bodies, connected one with the other, and each 
 patient pinched the thumb of his neighbour. A piano- 
 forte played different airs, with various rapidity, the 
 sound of which was also a conductor of magnetism. 
 The bucket in the centre w^as the grand reservoir, 
 from which the fluid was diffused through the branches 
 of iron inserted in the lid. All this was purely ima- 
 ginary, for, on being tested with an electrometer and 
 needle of iron, it was evident the bucket contained no 
 substance either electric or magnetical. By degrees, 
 however, the several ranks of patients round the 
 bucket became affected with drowsiness, convulsions, 
 or hysterics, and nothing was more astonishing than 
 the combination of effects at one view. The patients 
 appeared entirely under the government of the person 
 who distributed the magnetic virtue. 
 
 This system at length was thought to deserve the 
 attention of government, and a committee, partly 
 physicians and partly members of the royal academy of 
 sciences, with Dr. Benjamin Franklin at their head, 
 were appointed to examine it. M. Mesmer refused 
 communication with them, but M- Deslon, the most 
 considerable of his pupils, consented to disclose to 
 them his principles. The result of the investigation 
 was made known by a report from the commissioners. 
 They decided that, instead of being a novelty, Mes- 
 mer 's was merely an ancient and worthless system, 
 which had long been abandoned by the learned. 
 
 The commissioners afterwards made experiments 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 363 
 
 on sing-le subjects, and upon themselves. After repeated 
 experiments, not one of the commissioners felt any 
 sensation that could be ascribed to the action of mag- 
 netism. Of fourteen sick persons, operated upon in 
 private, five only appeared to feel any effect from the 
 operation. In fact, magnetism did not appear to them 
 to have any existence for those subjects who submitted 
 to it with any degree of incredulity. 
 
 M. Sigault, by pretending to possess the magnet- 
 ising power, had all the success of Mesmer himself. 
 He detailed, in a letter to the commissioners, the 
 results, as follows : — " The magisterial tone and serious 
 air I affected, together with certain gestures, made a 
 very great impression on the woman of the house, 
 which she was desirous to conceal, but, having guided 
 my hand upon the region of the heart, I felt it palpi- 
 tate. Her face became convulsed, her eyes wandered ; 
 she at length fell into a swoon, and was reduced to a 
 state of weakness and sinking perfectly incredible. I 
 repeated the same trick upon others, and succeeded 
 more or less, according to their different degrees of 
 sensibility and credulity. A celebrated artist com- 
 plained for several days of an extreme headache, and 
 acquainted me with it on the Pont- Royal. Having 
 persuaded him that I was initiated in the mysteries 
 of Mesmerism, I expelled his headache, almost instan- 
 taneously, by means of a few gestures, to his great 
 astonishment." 
 
 From numerous experiments made by the com- 
 missioners, it was quite clear that those who were 
 most susceptible of the magnetic influence, if mag- 
 netised unknown to themselves^ were not in the least 
 affected ; whereas, when they suspected the operation 
 was performing, they exhibited all the usual pheno- 
 mena attributed to that power, though in reality 
 nothing was done. 
 
364 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 Metallic tractors, as the agents of animal magnetism, 
 under the superintendence of Dr. Perkins, for a time 
 produced a sensation equally extraordinary in Eng- 
 land ; but it was satisfactorily proved that the 
 imagination of the patient alone gave virtue to the 
 tractors. Dr. Thornton found a wooden skewer had 
 all the power of the tractors in removing pain when 
 clandestinely used instead of them. 
 
 The Baron Silfverkielm, of Uleateog, in Finland, 
 was a great proficient in Mesmerism. He imagined 
 the souls of those magnetically asleep were translated 
 to the regions above, where the souls of the departed 
 were all dressed in white robes, and enjoyed constant 
 scenes of delight. He would interrogate the sleepers, 
 concerning the white robes. Paradise, and the Elysian 
 Fields. He was also desirous to receive intelligence 
 from his ancestors, and, in general, they very kindly 
 sent him their compliments by the mouths of the 
 couriers in white jackets. 
 
 By directly attacking the imagination did Mr. 
 Loutherbourg cure vast numbers of patients. He be- 
 came impressed with the idea that he had a commis- 
 sion from above to cure diseases, and his door was 
 soon crowded with patients all day. Amongst others, 
 a respectable man, from the country, had been af- 
 flicted with great pains and swellings, particularly 
 about the loins, so that he could not walk across the 
 room. On entering, Mr. Loutherbourg looked stead- 
 fastly at him, and said, " I know your complaint, sir, 
 look at me." They continued looking at each other 
 some minutes ; then Mr. L. asked, if he did not feel 
 some warmth at his loins. The man replied that he 
 did. *' Then you will feel in a few minutes much greater 
 warmth." After a short pause, the man said, " 1 feel as 
 if a person was pouring boiling water upon me." 
 Still looking him in the face, Mr. L. said, " How 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 365 
 
 did vou come here, sir ?'* " In a coach." " Then go 
 and discharge your coach, and walk back to town" 
 (from Hammersmith Terrace, where Mr. L. resided). 
 The coach was discharged, and the patient walked to 
 town, and next day he walked five hours about town 
 without fatigue. He oflFered ten pounds ; but Mr. L. 
 would not take a farthing. 
 
 The easy manner in which people have become a 
 prey to illiterate and dangerous pretenders, in the 
 medical art, has been long known. Many thousand 
 volumes would attest the truth of this observation, 
 which has been often repeated. Cotta, in 1612, 
 says, " There is no place or person ignorant how all 
 sorts of vile people and unskilful persons, without re- 
 straint, make gainful traffic by botching in physic ; and 
 hereby numbers of unwotting innocents daily enthrall 
 and betray themselves to sustain the riot of their ene- 
 mies and common homicides.'' The late Dr. Buchan 
 exclaimed, " As matters stand at present it is easier 
 to cheat a man out of his life than a shilling, and al- 
 most impossible to detect or punish the offender." 
 The case is still the same. 
 
 Uroscopy, or water-casting, was once very much 
 practised, and those who professed to cure diseases by 
 such inspection, simply, were consulted by all classes 
 of persons. The absurdity of these pretensions was 
 forcibly exposed by Dr. Kadcliffe, on the following 
 occasion. A shoemaker's wife applied to him to re- 
 lieve her husband, who was very ill, presenting him 
 with a phial of his water for inspection. The doctor 
 exchanged the contents, and bade her take that back, 
 and tell her husband to make a pair of shoes, by the 
 same instructions. 
 
 A Dr. Meyersbach started, about 1770, as a water 
 doctor ; he had arrived from Germany in a starving 
 
366 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, 
 
 statej and was first an ostler at a riding- school. Not 
 making" money fast enough, he set up as a doctor, 
 and was consulted by all classes. Dr. Lettsom took 
 great pains to expose the ignorance and knavery of 
 Meyersbach, whose violent medicines, if they some- 
 times cured, more often aggravated, his patients* suf- ' 
 ferings. It is believed that he acquired a good for- 
 tune, with which he retired to his native country. 
 
 Le Fevre, another German, a broken wine-mer- 
 chant, set up for a gout doctor, and was much no- 
 ticed by the nobility. Under pretence of going to 
 Germany for more of his powders, he quitted this 
 country, and had the prudence never to return. He 
 carried over above ten thousand guineas, obtained by 
 subscription and otherwise. Living in the style of 
 a prince, he drank daily, as his first toast, " To the 
 credulous and stupid nobility, gentry, and opulent 
 merchants, of Great Britain." 
 
 Calculous disorders are so painful in general, that 
 people suffering from such causes eagerly fly to what 
 promises relief. Many specifics for this disease, 
 lithontriptics as they were called, had their day. In 
 1771, a Dr. Chittick advertised such a remedy, and 
 made use of a very unusual expedient to keep it 
 secret. He would not intrust it to any one un- 
 mixed. The vehicle in which it was to be taken was 
 weak veal broth, which was sent him from day to 
 day. Each of his patients sent him three pints of 
 broth in a tin bottle, padlocked, to prevent curious 
 persons from prying, the doctor and patient each 
 having a key. His terras were two guineas a week, 
 regularly paid, besides which he expected a consider- 
 able premium for his pains. Mr. Blackrie, who ex- 
 posed this species of fraud, detected by analysis a 
 solution of alkaline salts and quicklime ; yet the 
 
DECEPTION, AND CREDULITY. 367 
 
 doctor greatly exclaimed against the use of those 
 salts, as highly mischievous. 
 
 A Mrs. Joanna Stephens was the proprietor of a 
 lithontriptic, which for a longtime had a great repute, 
 and was even thought worthy the attention of par- 
 liament, who voted her five thousand pounds for 
 making known the composition of it, a favourable 
 report of its efficacy having been given by the gen- 
 tlemen who were appointed trustees to examine 
 into its pretensions. Subsequent experience has 
 shown that it is not so well adapted to the ends 
 proposed, being a medley of soap and ill- prepared 
 alkaline substances, very nauseous and oppressive to 
 the stomach. 
 
 The recent and valuable discovery of lithotrity, 
 now practised by Baron Heurteloup ^nd others, 
 namely, the application of mechanical power for the 
 iestruction of the stone, without the use of the 
 knife, is likely to be of more signal advantage than 
 internal remedies, and, though it is candidly stated by 
 its supporters not to be applicable in every case, yet 
 it may frequently be performed without either pain 
 or inconvenience. 
 
 The Anodyne necklace, which was the result of 
 some ridiculous superstition respecting the efficacy 
 of Sir Hugh's bones, is still gravely offered for sale, 
 o facilitate the cutting of the teeth. In 1717, a 
 philosophical treatise" was published, wherein it 
 says, " The effluvia and atoms, driven off by the heat 
 of the body, bear such a tendency to the ailing part, 
 as the loadstone does to iron, and that they will never 
 leave off acting till they have given ease, and conse- 
 fjuently it is a thing most capable of curing sympa- 
 thetically the diseases of a human body, of any thing 
 in the whole world. Since this famed necklace has 
 
368 SKETCHES OF IMPOSTURE, &C. 
 
 been published, the bills of mortality have so decreased, 
 as to be less than ever they have been known to be.'' 
 
 But the summum bonum^ with which this series of 
 medical deceptions may appropriately be closed, was 
 the ** universal medicine, or virtues of the magnet- 
 ical antimonial cup, addressed to the houses of par- 
 liament by John Evans, minister and preacher of 
 ( joil's word. It is warranted to be alone the phoenix 
 and miracle of all physical miracles : the elixir of life, 
 balsam of nature. It containeth mystically and essen- 
 tially the quintessence of all minerals and vegetables, 
 and magnetically sympathiseth with all animals." 
 
 In spite, however, of such admirable never-failing 
 specifics, which, it would seem, ought to have exter- 
 minated every malady from the face of the earth, 
 diseases, hydra-headed, still baffle their assailants, and 
 return to the charge with renewed force and pro- 
 voking obstinacy. But the matter is too serious for 
 the subject of a joke. If even practitioners who have 
 conscientiously studied their profession are unavoid- 
 ably in some degree open to the old charge of '^ pour- 
 ing medicines, of which they know little, into a body 
 of which they know less," what must be said, or what 
 ought to be the punishment, of such villanous pre- 
 tenders as those who have been described in this 
 chapter,, — men without talent or education, and who 
 seem to think that, like charity, impudence covers a 
 multitude of sins I 
 
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