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THE CRADLE
OP THE TWIN GIANTS.
Science airt l^istors.
BY
HENRY CHRISTMAS, M.A., F.R.S., F.S.A.,
LIBRARIAN AND SECRETARY OF SION COLLEGE.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON.
RICHARD BENTLEY,
^uilisfifr in (©rtdnarg to It^er iTOntestg.
M.DCCC.XLIX.
LONDON ;
Printed by S. & J. Benti.ky and Henry Fi.ky,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
6F
TO
v.]
AVILLIA]\I LEAF, ESQ.,
ETC., ETC., ETC.,
OP
PARK HILL, STREATHAM.
My dear Sir,
It is with great pleasure that I inscribe
with your name these volumes. Our acquaintance (let
me say our friendship) is not of old date, but it com-
menced under circumstances peculiarly interesting to both
of us, and every day since has added to the respect and
regard with which I subscribe myself
Very faithfully yours,
Henry CurisTjMas.
SiON College, Londo:< Wall,
November, llnd, 18 JQ.
CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.
BOOK I.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
iNTRODUCTOaT ....•!
16
CHAPTER II.
Astrology .....
CHAPTER III.
Of the Origin of Astrology . . .25
CHAPTER IV.
Of Astrology considered as a Science . .4]
CHAPTER V.
Nativities .... 80
CHAPTER VI.
Conclusion op the Sketch op Astrology . - 97
CHAPTER VII.
Medical Astrology . . . .109
CHAPTER VIII.
Magic. — Introduction . . .121
CHAPTER IX.
Of the Early History of Magic, and par-
ticularly among the Egyptians . . 133
A 3
VI CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER X.
Automata, or Moving Images . . .154
CHAPTER XI.
Arithmetical Magic, or the Magical Opera-
tion OP NUMBERS, AND OF MaGIC SQUARES . 173
CHAPTER XII.
Oneirojiancy. — Sleep and Dreams . . . 184
CHAPTER XIII.
Oneiromanct {continued). — The Interpretation
OF Dreams .... 205
BOOK II.
CHAPTER I.
The Heroic, or Romantic Ages . . . 227
CHAPTER II.
The Heroic, or Romantic Ages . . . 242
CHAPTER III.
The Heroic, or Romantic Ages of Britain . . 258
CHAPTER IV.
The Heroic Ages op Britain . . 266
CHAPTER V.
Ecclesiastical Romance .... 277
CHAPTER VI.
Modern Ecclesiastical Romance . . .311
CHAPTER VII.
Mesmeric Wonders ..... 339
APPENDIX ...... 347
PREFACE.
The volumes here presented to the reader have
been, at intervals, for many years the occupation
of the Author's leisure. The subject is one which
can hardly fail to interest the mind desirous of
investigating the History of Knowledge. Of that
History it forms one chapter, — but a chapter the
most poetical of all.
The Author is well aware both of the difficulties
which attend the topic, and of his own deficiencies ;
and had not the ground been almost unbroken, he
would hardly have undertaken the task.
There are, indeed, books without number on the
subject which these volumes treat on, — but they
are for the most part rare, written in Latin, and
treating each on only one subject, so that a library
must be collected before the whole circle will be
brought under the reader's notice. When the
volumes are obtained, they will be found to be
either controversial, or written by believing stu-
Vlll PREFACE.
dents of the Occult Sciences. The simple facts of
the case from which we may judge of the state of
scientific knowledge at the time, being only to be
gathered from obscure allusions scattered here and
there through works written for other purposes.
It will be necessary to give a list, and that a
very long one, of the works consulted for the pur-
poses of these two volumes ; (they will amount to
between four and five hundred,) even though it may
appear an affectation of recondite, and somewhat
out-of-the-way, reading. It was the knowledge
of the great difficulty of obtaining information on
these subjects, which induced the Author to offer
this work to the public, — for, with a full conscious-
ness of its many imperfections, he is satisfied that
it stands alone of its kind.
It will be observed that, in proportion as any
subject approaches a pneumatological character, in
like proportion will its beginnings be less philoso-
phical in spirit. Astrology is less scientific than
Magic: general Magic less so than Alchemy. Psy-
chology is still the least understood of the sciences,
and those reachings forth of the hand to grasp its
principles, which, in ancient times, gave rise to all
that we now call popular superstition, could hardly
be expected to be as effectual as those which sought
PREFACE. IX
only material truth. Still the investigation is far from
being uninteresting ; and to the student of Ethno-
logy, it presents landmarks of inestimable value.
The subjects of which these volumes treat, belong
chiefly to the past, — we shall see the Twin Giants
in their Cradle, we shall note the might of those
serpents which would fain have destroyed them,
we shall watch the rising energies of truth, and
close the scene by fixing our eyes on the last faint
struggles of its opponents.
" Magna est Veritas, et prevalebit."
LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED.
The following is the List of Authorities referred to in the
Preface, and which will be found cited or digested in
the text. — They are set down as they were read or
consulted, and the reader will not therefore expect to
find them digested into a Catalogue raisonnee.
Sir John Cheke, de Superstitione, ad Regem Henri-
cum ..... Land.
Nicholaus Hemmingius, Admonitio de Superstitionibus
Magicis vitandis . . . Ilafn. 1575.
Gervase of Tilbury. Otia Imperialia . . Lond.
Gasp. Hombergius, de Superstitiosis Canipanarum
Pulsibus, &c.
Joh. Fred. Hervart. Admiranda Ethicee Theologiae
Hysteria ..... Leip.
Fortunius Licetus, de Monstrorum Causis, Xaturae
Differentia ..... Paris.
All the contents to be found in other books.
Antonius van Dale, de Origine ac Progressu Idolo-
latrije ..... Paris.
Louis de Cice. Lettres aux Jesuites sur les Idolatries
et sur les Superstitions de la Chine . Paris, 1700.
John Trenchard. Natural History of Superstition, London.
Pierre le Brun. Lettres pour prouver Fillusion des
Philosophes sur la Baguette. Paris, 3G93. — Re-
printed with many additions, in 3 vols. 1702,
under the title of " Ilistoire Critique des Pra-
J» b
Xll LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
tiques Superstitieuses." In 1737 the Abbe
Granet published a collection of Pieces intended
as a 4th vol. .... Paris.
Jean Fred. Bernard Picart Religious Ceremonies and
Superstitions, Anciennes et Modernes (together
11 vols, fol.) .... Paris.
Jean Louis de Lolme. Histoire des Flagellants
(1783) ..... Paris.
John Christopher Adelung. History of Human
Folly ; or, The Lives of the Necromancers, &c.
Leipsic, 1785-9.
Sextus Empiricus, adversus Mathematicos . Elzevir.
La Charlatanerie des Savans . . . Paris.
Petrus Pomponatius. De Incantationibus (1520) Paris.
Historia Diaboli. Joh. Godf. Mayer Amst., 1777, 1781.
Reginald Scott. Discovery of Witchcraft . 1584.
A most valuable book.
Meric Casaubon. Of Credulity and Incredulity . Lond.
Cicero de Divinatione . . . Ernesti.
Very important as to auguries, sacrifices, &c.
M. J. G. Lindemann. Geschichte der Meinungen ; or,
A History of the Opinions of the Ancient and
Modern Nations, &c. . . . 1784.
Dr. Walsh on Coins and Medals . . London.
A book with some curious information as to talismans
and sigils.
Delrio. Disquisitiones Magica? .
To be read with great advantage as a learned and
satisfactory book.
Henry Howard (Earl of Northampton). Defensive
against the Poison of supposed Prophecies
London, 1620.
Beccher. Physica Subterranea . . Leip. 1703.
A system of Chomical flnology purely scientific —
nothing for this subject.
Cattan. L.i Geomance de . . . Paris, 1577.
LIST OF AUTPIORITIES. xiii
Gaurici Lucre. Tractatus Astrologicus . Veiiet. 1552.
Mich. Maieri. Arcana Arcanissima.
Pancirollus. Rorum Deperditaruin . . Lond,
Bulwer's Chirologia .... Lond. 1644.
Crespet de la Hayne de Sathan, itc. . Paris, 1590.
Francis Hutchinson. Historical Essay on Witchcraft 1718.
Curious and valuable.
Heydon (John). Theomagia . . . 1G64.
Thomas Heywood. Life of Merlin Ambrosius . Lond.
Moreton's Essay on Apparitions . . London, 1738.
Spencer on Prodigies . . London, 1GG5.
A book learned but not novel or important.
Vair (Leonard). Trois Livres de Charmes, &c. Pa?'w, 1583.
Albert! Magni Opera .... Paris.
Michaelis Scoti Opera . . . Edin.
Bekker. Monde Enchante, 5 vols. . Amst, 1694.
Bayle (Fran9ois). Relation de I'Etat de quelques
personnes pretendues possedes . Tholouse, 1682.
Factums et Arrests du Parlement de Paris centre les
Bergiers Sorciers . . . Paris, 1695,
Perreaud. Demonologie . . Geneve, 1653.
La Physique Occulte. (Vallemont) . . Paris.
Suite de la Physique Occulte ou Traite de la Baguette
Divinatoire .... Paris, 1603.
Stengelio de Monstris, &c. . . Lngohtadt, 1647.
Spadacine Miroir de I'Astrologie Naturelle Paris, 1631.
Thyrseus Petrus de Obs. a Spirit. Bern. Horn. Lugd., 1603.
Taillepied, F. N. Traite de I'App. des Esprits, Pouen, 1602.
Vaughan's Magia Adamica . . Land., 1650.
Lengiet du Fresnoi. Recueil de Dissertations sur les
Apparitions, (tc, 4 vols. . . Avignon, 1751.
Vicar's Madness of Astrologers. (Eugenius Philale-
thes) .... London, 1651.
Christopher Heydon. Defence of Astrologie . London.
b 2
XIV LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Obsequentis Julii Prodigorum liber . Basle, 1552.
Moresinus. Deprav. Relig. Orig. . . Lugd.
Jackson's Ma2:ical Practices . . . London.
Cardanus de Vita Propria . . . Paris.
Cornelius Agrippa de Vanitate Scientiarum . Lugd.
Marinus. Life of Proclus . . . London.
Jamblicbus. Life of Pythagoras . . London.
II Chiave de Salomone . . . Paris.
Petrus Mormius. Arcana totius Naturae Secretissima
Avrnt.
Salmasius de Annis Climactericis . . Lugd.
Valuable for its historical account of Astrology.
Dictionnaire Infernale. Par M. Colin de Planey Paris.
Histoire de Magie en France. Par M. Jules Garinet
Paris.
Naude. Instructions to tlie Rosicrucians (this work
is an Apology for Astrology, but I am not quite
sure about the title) .... Paris.
Histoires Admirables et Memorables . Dotuiy, 1604.
Psellus. De Oper. Dsemonuni . . . Lond.
An old and curious book. See Wierus, next page.
Bovet's Pandemonium . . . London.
Piccatrix .... London.
A Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witch-
craft, &c. .... Edln., 1822.
M. Thiers. Superstitions Populaires . . Paris.
Grose. Popular Superstitions . . London.
llaracci ..... Paris.
D'Ohsson ...... Paris.
Famous History of Friar Bacon and Thomas Bungay
London.
Works of Marzio Galeotti . . . Paris.
Giraldus Cambrensis .... Lond.
Clem. Alexand. Stromat. . . . Lond.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES. XV
Camillus Leonardus. Mirror of Stones . . Lond.
Curious, but the whole is to be found in other and
commoner works.
Works of Dr. Antonio de Haen . . Vienna.
His treatise on Demoniacal possession is very va-
luable, and his opinions are singular."
Wierus de Prestig. .... Leijy.
A valuable work against the superstitions of the times.
John Amos Comenius. Lux e Tenebris . Amst.
Tiedman. Disputatio de Quaestione quae fuerat ar-
tium Magicarum Origo . . . Leip.
Kircher. (Edip. Egypt. . . . Leip.
Campanella. Astrologia Purificata ■ . . Lugd.
Camerarius. Horae Subsescivae . . Lugd.
Cbambers' work against Astrology . London.
Macrobius. Saturnalia . . • Lond
Aulus Gellius. Noctes Atticae . . . Lond.
Athenaeus ..... Lena.
Helvetius. Annus Climactericus . . . Lugd.
Works of Van Helmont . . . Lugd,
His chemical works must be read for tlie history of
Alchemy.
Dr. Willis on Nervous Diseases . . London.
Suidas ...... Lond.
Synesius ..... Lond.
Balthus de Oraculis .... Paris.
Boucbet on Oracles .... Paris.
Maebius de Oraculis .... Leip.
Eusebius. Prasparatio Evangelica . . Rome.
De la Place. Pieces Interessantes et peu Connues Paris.
Beaumont's World of Spirits . . . London.
Sir Gilbert Plane. Elements of Medical Logic London.
Talismans Justifies .... Paris.
Thomas Gale. Court of the Gentiles . London.
XVI LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Demonolatreia par Remig. . . Lyons, 1595.
Border Minstrelsy, by Scott . . . Edin.
Curious notes, but the work is valuable chiefly for the
Romance.
Deuce's Illustrations of Sliakspeare . . London.
Martin's account of Second Sight in Scotland . Edin.
Heywood's Hierarchy of Blessed Angels . London.
Grellman's History of the Gipsies . Vienna.
Ribadeneira's Lives of the Saints . . Madrid.
Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints . London.
Rudbeck's Atlantica .... Copen.
Olaus Wormius. Hist. Septent. . . . Loud.
Noted by mistake instead of Olaus Magnus.
Secreti di Diversi Excellentissime Huomini, Milan, 1558.
Christian Forman. De Fascin. ]\Lagic. . . Paris.
Melanges d'Histoire et de Literature. Vigneul Mar-
ville ..... Paris.
This man's real name was Noel d'Argonne.
Donatus. Hist. Med. Mirab. . . . Paris.
Dickenson's Quinta Essentia Philosophorum , Lond.
Memoires Historiques . . . Paris, 1687.
Buhver's (John) Anthropometamorphosis Lond. 1653.
Joco seriorum Natune, &c. Schotti. Gaspar. . Paris.
History of the Ridiculous Extravagances of M. OufBe
London, 1650.
Belle Magie ou Science de I'Esprit . . Lyons, 1669.
Grande Grimoire avec la Grande Clavicule de Solomon
Paris.
Artis Auriferse .... Basle, 1610.
Merely Alchemy, and of no use save for the names
and dates.
Licetus de Lucernis Ant. Reconditis . Uiini, 1652.
Casalius de Veterum Egypt. Ritibus . Rome, 1644.
Censorinus de Die Natali . . . Amst.
Kerchmannus et alii de Annulis . Lug. Bat. 1672.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES. XVll
Monckenius de Charlataneria Eruditorum . Amst. 17-47.
Palingenius Zodiacus Vitse . . . Paris.
His real name was Manzoli.
Whitelock's Memor. of Brit. AfF. from Brute to
James I. . . . . Lond. 1707.
"Waldron's (George) Description of the Isle of Man
London, 1734.
Christie's Disquisition on Etruscan Vases . London, 1806.
Valentine Greatrak's Miraculous Conformist Oxon. 16GG.
Long Livers ; a Curious History of such Persons as
have lived several ages and grown young again
Lond. 1722.
Jovius Paulus. Historia sui Temporis.
Levesques Histoire de Russie, 8 vols. . Paris, 1800.
Mythology of the Sclavi, the Tibetians, the Tartars,
and the Shamans.
Nicholas. Voyage to New Zealand
Contains an account of the New Zealand mytho-
logy and superstitions — valuable.
China in the Edin. Cab. Cyclop. . . London.
Wilkinson on the Egyptians . . {Important).
Pritchard on the Egyptian Mythology . . London.
Adair's Hist, of North American Indians . London.
Golownin's Captivity in Japan . , London.
Jordani Oculus Mysticus . . . Lu(/d. IGi].
Molitoris (Ulrici) Tractatus de Lamiis et Pythonicis
Mulieribus .... Cologne, 1505
Philip Goodwin's Mystery of Dreams . Loyidon, IQoS.
Ogygia. A Chron. Ace. of Irish Events by Rod. O'Fla-
herty .... Dub. 1793.
Speculum Astrologorum. (Moguntirc. Johannis
Scheffer) .... 1508.
Boece's Chronicles of the Kings of Scotland . London.
Very important ; all these works are authorities for
the fabulous or romantic ages.
XVlll LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Chronicles of Eri .... Dublin.
This work is, however, written by an enthusiast,
and must be excepted.
Sammes (Aylett) Brittauia Antiqua Illustrata . Lond.
History of the British Empire.
Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, by Scott, Weber,
and Jameson .... London.
Ritson'^ Life of Arthur . . . London.
And, indeed, form nearly a body of it.
Ellis. History of Madagascar . announced in \SZ%.
Gives a good account of the mythology and magic of
the island.
Dunlop's History of Fiction . . I^ondon.
E-itson's Works, 19 vols. . . London.
Southey's Chronicle of the Cid . London, 1808.
A very important and satisfactory book,
Torquemada (Spanish Mandeville of Miracles V). Trans-
lated by Ferdinando Walker.
W. J. Thorns. Early English Prose Romances . London.
Praetorii. Demonologia Rubinzalii Sclesii, 3rd edit.
12mo. .... Leip. 1668.
Grimms Kinder und Haus Marchen . . Leip.
Very curious and interesting.
Busching's Volksmarchen . . . Leip.
Warton's History of English Poetry . London.
Very valuable for ancient romance.
Tales and Popular Fictions by Keightley . London.
Otmar Volkesagen . . . Leip.
Lockhart's Ancient Spanish Ballads . . London,
El Conde Lucanor . . . Madrid.
Cambray Monumens Critiques . . Paris,
Facetia) Beboliana) . . • Paris.
Cardonnes. Melanges do Literature Orieutale . Paris.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES, XlX
Moore, T. History of Ireland. Lardner's Cab. Cycl., Lond.
Scott, Walter. History of Scotland. Lardner's Cab.
Cycl. ..... London.
Davies. Mythology of the Druids . London.
Davies. Celtic Researches . • • London.
Maurice. Indian Antiquities . • London.
Semler's Commentatio de Dsemoniacis quorum in Nov.
Test, fit mentio . . . Halle, 1779.
A Collection of Engravings from Antique Vases, to.
By Sir William Hamilton. Folio. French and
English. Sixty-three Plates . Naples, 1791.
Milner's Enquiry into the Existence, &c., of St. George
London, 1792.
Doudas. Nenia Britannica. Folio White & Sons,
London, 1793.
Saxo Grammaticus . . • Lond.
Olaus Magnus . . ■ • Lond.
Curious, interesting, and valuable for all four subjects.
Keating's Irish Chronicles . . . London.
Very curious and satisfactory as to Irish Romance.
Archseologia. (Partic. vol. 2, for Sclavonic ]\Iytho-
logy) ..... Lond.
Historical Sketches of the Native Irish, &c. 12 mo.
London, 1830.
Hone on Mysteries and Religious Shows . London.
Dendy's Phenomena of Dreams, &c., 18mo. London, 1832.
Peruvian Tales, with Remarks, &c. (Walker) 24mo.
Lond. 1817.
Jones' Traditions of the N. American Indians. 3 vols.
8vo. Plates • • • London, 1830.
Hyam, Isaac, Ceremonies and Traditions of the Jews
London, 1836.
Swift's Life and Acts of St. Patrick, 8vo. London, 1809.
Sir W. Scott. Sir Tristram . . • London.
Curious and interesting— one reading is sufficient.
b 5
XX
LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Mabinogion. Translated by Lady Charlotte Guest.
First Part appeared in Nov. 1838. Longman &
Co., 8vo. p. 8 . . . London, 1838.
Borlase's Cornwall .... London.
Philo. Life of Moses .... London.
Life of Virgil. This boke treateth of the lyfe of Vir-
gilius, (fee, &c. Antwerp : by John Doesborke,
supposed to be Translated from the French
Mentioned hy Sir W. Scott.
Dr. Shaw's Translation of Boerhaave's Chemistry . London.
The Prolegomena to be read.
Captain Turner's Mission to Ava and Thibet . London.
Humboldt, Baron Von. Researches . . London.
Almost all the matter on these subjects to be found
in Soiithey.
Herbelot. Bibliotheque Orientale . . London.
Suetonius ..... Elzevir.
Full of curious anecdote.
Stanley's Oriental Philosophy . . Avist.
Very valuable in every respect.
Levini Lemnii Occulta Naturae Miracula . Antw.
Curious and valuable.
Stentzelius de Somno . . . FranJcf.
Not an important work. It is written in Greek.
Southey's All for Love, &c. . . . London.
The notes are valuable.
Problemata Durastantis . . . Venice.
Not a book of much importance.
Porphyrins de Divinis et Demonibus . . Lugd.
Curious and important.
Hcrmetis Trismegisti. Pomander et Asclepius Lxigd
Very curious.
Conte de Gabalis et Suite de Conte de Gabalis Paris.
Phlegmon de Mirabilibus . . . Amst.
Causes Cclcbres .... Paris.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES. XXl
Marsilius Ticinus Epistolte . . . Venet.
Alexander ab Alesandro. Genialib. Deer. . Ainst.
Philo. de Gigantibus . . . Paris.
Dr. Pegge's Life of Robert Grossetete . . London.
Dr. Pegge's Life of Roger de Weseham . London.
Wilson's Archseological Dictionary . . London.
Baxter's Certainty of the World of Spirits . London.
Hibbert. Philosophy of Apparitions . . Edin.
The History and Reality of Apparitions, by De Foe,
under the assumed name of Morton . London.
Very common-place collection — not worth noticing.
The Religions of Profane Antiquity, by Jonathan
Duncan, Esq., B.D. . . London, 1839.
Pigot on Scandinavian Mythology. (Pickering) London.
Legend and Romance, African and European. By
Richard Johns . . . London.
Mythology of the Hindoos. By Coleman, 4to. 2^. 2s.
London.
Morgan's Phoenix Britannicus, 4to. . Lond., 1732.
Grahame's Sketches of Picturesque Scenery, &c. Edin.
Harsenet's Declaration of Popish Imposture . London.
Fordun. Scotichronicon . . . Lond.
Satan's Invisible World. By Sinclair . . London.
The Kingdom of Darkness, with seventy-nine several
Relations .... London.
The History of Lapland . . . London.
A Pleasant Treatise of Witches . . London.
Lord Lindsay's Travels in Edom, &c. . . London.
M'Caul's Sketches of Judaism . . Jjondon.
De Erroribus Omnium Populorum. (Trin. Hall. Lib.
Cam.) ..... Lond.
Hurd's History of all Religions . . London.
Dale's Dissertations (Latin) . . . London.
Montfaucon on the Gods of the Scythians . Paris.
XXll LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Dr. Cotton Mather's Magnalia Christi America . Bosf.
Hermippus Redivivus.
Written by Dr. Campbell.
Thaumaturgia. (By an Oxonian).
Demonologia. (An Expose, &c.)
Filled with second-hand learning.
Scott's Demonology and Witchcraft (F.L.)
I was disappointed with this book.
Brewster's Natural Magic. (F. L.)
Sketches of Credulity, Superstition, and Imposture. (F. L.)
Crofton Croker's Fairy Legends. (F. L.)
Ashmole. Theatrum Chemicum Brit.
The Notes and Prolegomena are very good.
Malleus Malcficarum, 2 vols.
A curious collection of Tracts on supernatural matters.
Debrio Disquisitiones Magicae. . {Important).
Sabliere's Varietes Amusantes ( Useful and correct).
I have never seen the second and third volumes.
Cornelius Agrippa. De Occult. Phil.
A book very little understood. .
William Lilly's Christian Astrology.
Ebenezer Sibly's Astrology.
A large quarto, compiled from common books.
Berwick's Philostratus.
Life of ApoUonius of Tyana.
Taylor's Pausauias
The notes contain much curious matter.
Baptista Porta's Natural Magic.
Remarkable chiefly for the name and some disreputable
recipes.
Wilkin's Mathematical Magic
A very curious book.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES. xxiii
Pluche's Histoire du Ciel.
A compilation generally though not always correct.
Dupin's Origine de tous les Cultes . . {Learned).
The small edition abridged.
Webster's Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft.
This book is the most important of all works on the subject.
Lilly's Animse Astrologise.
Mallet's Northern Antiquities.
One of the most valuable works on the antiquities of
nations ever published.
Geoffry of Monmouth.
Batiman's des Citez de France.
A curious little work, giving an account of the pre-
tended origin of the French cities.
Paracelsus. De Occult. Phil.
A work of no consequence, but still curious.
Paracelsus. Archidoxorum, &c.
This last work may be made more use of.
Apuleius. Metam.
The magic of the second century may be seen depicted
in this tale.
Verstegan's Restitution of Decayed Intelligences.
Very erroneous.
Artemidorus de Somniorum Interpret.
Quite the authoritJ^
Howison's Foreign Scenes.
This work contains some curious passages as to the
operation of narcotic poisons.
Stehclin on Jewish Traditions.
Eisenmenger on Rabbinical Fables.
These two works are much alike, and contain almost
all that is required on the subject.
Grosius (Henmiergius) Magica de Spectris.
A good compilation of strange stories.
Bodin's Demonomanie des Sorciers.
The best authority.
XXIV LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Mangetus. Bibliofcheca Chemica Curiosa, fol.
Contains the works of all the chief Alchemists.
Autobiography of Lilly and Ashmole.
Much amusement and information in the fonner.
Spencer on Prodigies.
Spencer of Urim and Thummim.
Very learned but not giving any novel views on
either subject.
Lenglet du Fresnoi. Hist, de la Phil, de Herme-
tique.
Well compiled.
Tracts concerning Dugdale. The Secrecy
Demonise
Tracts concerning Mary Tofts . \ All important,
Tracts concerning Mary Bateman
Tracts concerning Anne Moore
History of Magic and Witchcraft. Purporting to be
by John Locke.
Demonologia Regis Jacobi.
Curious and important, chiefly on account of the
directions given to magistrates.
Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy.
Full of every kind of knowledge.
Thorn's Lays and Legends (W. J.)
These are valuable not only for the legends but for
the learned notes.
Thorn's Hwa Tseen.
The notes contain some curious remarks.
Thorn's Affectionate Pair.
And the same remark may extend to this.
Natalis Comes Mythologia.
Very learned and satisfactory.
Keightley's Fairy Mythology.
Well digested.
Keightley's Greek and Roman Mythology.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES. XXV
Lives of the Alchemistical Philosophers.
A book not respectably published, but well compiled.
Porphyry (Jamblichus de Mysteriis, &c.)
Taylor's translation.
Proclus. Select Works.
Taylor's translation. This volume has some curious notes.
Plotinus. Select Works . . [Not necessary).
Ocellus Lucanus. (By Taylor.)
Very useful.
Julius Firmicus Maternus. (By Taylor.) {Necessary).
Astrology.
Manilius and Aratus.
Astrology and very remarkable.
Maximus Tyrius. (By Taylor.)
The notes are curious.
Mystic Hymns of Orpheus. (By Taylor.)
Here again the notes make the value.
Sallust, the Philosopher. (By Taylor.)
Here again the notes make the value.
Naude's Apologie pour les Grands Hommes, &c.
Very valuable. This book was translated by Davies,
and the title changed to the " History of Magic."
Gaffarelli's Curiositates Inauditte.
Aubrey's Miscellanies concerning Dreams, »fec.
A very unsatisfactory book.
Pegge's Anonymiana.
Containing only one passage a propos to this subject.
Menagiana.
Peck's Desiderata Curiosa.
The same remark may be extended to these two works.
Trial of Richard Hathaway.
Ver3' curious trial before Lord Chief Justice Holt for
charging a woman with witchcraft, and thereby
endangering her life.
Centuries de Nostradamus . . . {Curious).
XXVI LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Peter de Loire on Apparitions.
This work contains a trial for witchcraft, or rather
sorcery before the Parliament of Paris, with the
speeches of the advocates.
Lithotheoricos. By Bishop Thornberg.
The most curious specimen of religious Alchemy extant.
The Book of Fate from the Tamul (Orient. Trans. Fund).
Blondel on the Sybils.
Van Dale on Oracles.
Fontenelle on Oracles.
All these three works are curious and learned.
News from the Invisible World.
A little catch-penny publication, but it contains the
story of Mrs. Veal.
Willis on the Soul of Brutes.
Very learned and worth reading.
Themis Aurea.
A collection of Rosicrucian Statutes.
Revelation of the Secret Spirit.
That is, a Hermetic discourse of spirit of wine.
St. Augustine de Civitate Dei.
Full of learning and superstition.
Sir Thomas Brown (Vulgar Errors).
Containing some matter that will well pay the reader.
Leyden's Remains.
In the notes to this work are valuable extracts from
scarce books.
Les Grands Fableaux.
The notes here also are very valuable.
Pliny Nat. Hist.
Every page of this work is valuable.
Case's Angelic Guide.
It is an account of a system of Geomancy now known
as " Napoleon's Book of Fate."
Glanvill's Sadducismus Triumphatus.
A very curious work.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES. XXVll
De Foe's System of Magic.
An ignorant and indecent book.
Accouut of Certain Spirits. By Dr. Dee.
Very singular, edited by Casaubon.
Codes (Baitli) on Chiromancy and Pliysiognomy.
De Foe's History of the Devil.
A book which gives some sound argument under the
guise of satire.
Blagrave's Astrolosrical Practice of Physic.
Vulgar, but showing the taste of the times.
Ferriar on Apparitions.
A very learned book but suspected of a tendency
towards iMaterialism.
Taylor (Joseph) on Ghosts.
Some light stories, but not well told.
Theory of Dreams (Anon).
Very useful by way of index. The author had
read extensively.
Mrs. Grant's Superstitions of the Highlands.
Written in a pleasing style, and worth reading.
Brand's Popular Antiquities . . (Cttrious).
Newnham's Essay on Superstition.
Arabian Nights . . • London, 1818.
A book necessEiry to be read with great attention.
Brande's Chemistry . . . London, 18^0.
The Preface, or rather Introduction, contains a slight
sketch of the History of Alchemy, which is, how-
ever, much fuller in this work of Dr. Thomson.
Thomson's History of Chemistry . London, 1832.
Hume's Chemical Attraction . Cambridge, 1835.
The Historical Introduction here is worth reading.
Torquatus de Eversione Imperiorum.
This curious work contains some astrological predictions.
XXVlli LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Aurea Legenda. . . . ( Ver^ important).
All the miracles of the saints.
English Martyrologie.
A work of the same description as the foregoing.
Life of St. Francis Xavier. By Tursellinus.
Remarkable for its popish miracles.
Ariosto Orlando Furioso . . Lond. 1810.
Bocardo Orlando Inamorato . . . Lond. 1824.
These works show the ideas of magic, &c., which
prevailed in the Middle Ages.
Wieland, Gescliichte der Abderiten . Leipsic, 1790.
The first part treats of Demoeritus.
Dante Divina Commedia . . . Lond. 1834.
A treasury of every kind of knowledge.
Plutarch on Superstition.
There is a curious edition by Julian Hibbert, with no
less curious notes.
Moor's Hindu Pantheon.
The best authority on this subject.
Sale's Koran.
Not only valuable for itself but for Sale's notes.
Ellis' Polynesian Researches.
A very curious and important book.
Ward's View of Hindu Religion.
As good as such a book can be made.
Savary's Letters on Egypt.
Curious and ingcniou.s account of the Egyptian mythology.
A Novel called Rameses.
Containing some very valuable notes.
Sethos.
This is an old French novel from which Moore took
the idea of his Ejncurnin, which is very correct.
Moore's Epicurean.
Jablonski's Pantheon of Egypt. . . {Curious).
A difficult book to read, but good.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES. XXIX
Creuzer Mythologik.
German, untranslated, perhaps the most learned book
of modem times, but too fanciful.
Herodotus.
Tacitus.
For important anecdotes.
Diodorus Siculus.
Bernal Diaz del Castillo.
Madoc.
For Mexican mythology, of which the notes to Madoc
contain quite a body.
Thalaba.
The notes are fuUofinfonnationon Arab superstitions.
Kehama.
And of this work on Hindu mythology.
Fabus Horse Mosaicse.
Valuable for its cosmogony.
Bryant's Mythology.
Curious and learned, but often fanciful.
Deane on the Worship of the Serpent.
One of the best books on this or any other mytho-
logical subject.
Faber on the Three Dispensations.
Full of curious speculations.
Asiatic Researches.
For Hindu mythology, magic, &c.
Quarterly Review. . . {The earlier numbers).
All the papers on these subjects are very valuable,
most are by Southey.
Brucker. Crit. Hist. Philosophiae .
Very satisfactory, particularly about the New Pla-
tonists.
Dr. Adam Clarke's Notes to the Bible
Full of curious learning.
Nicolai. Memoir read before the Society at Berlin.
A case of spectral delusion.
XXX LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Sharon Turner. History of the Anglo-Saxons.
As to mythology very unsatisfactory.
Soame's History of the Anglo-Saxon Church.
Full of curious and valuable anecdotes in the way of
notes.
Whewel's History of the Inductive Phil.
Contains a valuable chapter on the mj^sticism of the
Middle Ages.
Petrus Bungo. De Mysteriis Numerorum.
This book is quite gutted, though without acknowledg-
ment, by Cornelius Agrippa in his De Occult. Phil.
Ovidii Fasti.
Valuable for its many anecdotes, and for its my-
thological information.
Ovidii Metamorphoseon.
The like may be said of this treasury of fable.
Godwin's Lives of the Necromancers.
An amusing compilation, well written, but exhibiting
no research.
Farmer. Dissertation on Miracles.
Farmer on the Worship of Human Spirits.
These two works are very curious and learned. They
may be depended upon as to facts.
Barret on Magic.
An expensive 4to., with extravagant pictures of devils,
of the same class with Sibley's Astrology.
Astrology of the Nineteenth Century.
A work of the same kind.
Niphi Opera.
Curious and learned. These works are of no great
importance to the student.
Simeon Metaphrastus.
A collection for tlie Greek Church, like that of De
Varasse for tlie Roman.
La Vie de Madame Helyot . . Paris, 1684.
Modern miracles. A very curious book.
Beauties of the Occult Sciences . London, 1784.
A sort of compendium of Astrology of no value.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES. XXXl
Lilly's Almanacs for various years . . London.
Lilly's Starry Messenger . . . London.
Curious, because of many predictions and natinties,
particularly that of Lilly himself, which ditfers from
the one in his Christian Astrology.
Boccaccio's Decameron .... Forenze.
Some light is thrown as to the current opinions,
Helvetius. The Golden Calf , Hague, 1666.
An analysis is given by Brande in his " Chemistry."
Upham. Hist and Doctrine of Budhuism.
This book contains notices of the Kappaism, or Demon
Worship, and Planetary Incantations of the Sin-
gale se.
Barrow's Travels in China.
Has some curious remarks on Ch. Mytholog,
Adam's All Religions.
A selection not devoid of merit, but a mere school-book.
Japan (in the Modern Traveller).
Has a very good account of the religion.
Richardson's Travels in Egypt.
Notices of mythological paintings, with plates.
Homer. Iliad, Odyssey, Hymns.
The Od., xi. lib., and some of the Hymns.
Virgil. Eclog. jEneid.
The Pharmaceut. .Sin., iv. and vi. lib.
Bellorius on the Syrian Mater Deorum, fol. Rome, 1688.
A learned and important work.
Baptista Codronchus de Annis Climactericis.
One passage which I have extracted is the principal.
Lord Macartney's Embassy to China.
One curious anecdote of a goddess, viz. Prusa.
Foreign Quarterly Review. Various articles.
Some by Kcightley. See vol. iv. for Spanish Romance.
Classical Journal.
One paper by Sir William Drumniond in defence of
alchemy.
XXXli LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Autobiography of Jehanguire.
Anecdotes of jugglers.
The She King, or Xi-kim of Confucius. Selections
from, translated . . . {Curious).
Lane's Manners of the Egyptians.
Remarkable account of Egyptian magicians.
Hesiod — Sanchoniathon — Lucan.
Separate passages of tlie first and third, and all the
second.
Albumazar de Magnis Conjunctionibus.
A book of no consequence.
The Dionysiacs of Nonnus.
An anah'sis of this book and the next is to be found
in Dupin's " Or. de tous les Cultes."
The Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius . {Curious).
Hygini Astronomi de Mundi, &c.
Not worth reading,
Mirabilis Annus. Being an account, &c. . Lond. 16G1.
Rather curious.
Barclaii Argenis .... Lond.
One remarkable passage of Astrology.
Chev. Ramsay. Voyages du Jeune Anarcharse Lond.
Alj-thological.
Selden de Diis Syriis.
Not a very pleasant book to read, but learned.
Bell's Pantheon.
A sort of classical dictionary, larger than Lempriere's.
Heliodorus Ethiopica.
This novel, for such it is, has a curious passage on
Witchcraft.
Account of Russia.
Contains a valuable history of the religions prevalent
among the Tartars.
Sir William Drummond's Origines.
On Syrian and Eastern History and Mythology.
LIST OF AUTPIORITIES. XXXlll
Winterbotbam's Account of the Natives at Sierra Leone.
Containing sonic curious remarks on Obeah men.
Liglitfoot's Works.
Full of learning about the Talmud and Jewish super-
stitions.
Josepbi Opera.
These works have some interesting anecdotes on
Occult Subjects.
The Italian Taylor and his Boy.
This is a magical tale, and remarkable only for its
similarity to one in the "Arabian Nights."
Calmet on Apparitions.
An exceedingly well-Avritten, learned, and interesting
work.
Gay's Shepherd's Week.
In this work is an English imitation, not a translation,
of the Pharmaceutria of Virgil.
Burns' Poems and Letters.
Full of illustrations of Scotch superstitions, particularly
valuable for the Poem of Halloween.
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales . . . London.
Very useful and important, both as to Romance and
Occult Science.
Snorro Sturleson, Anecdotes of Olave the Black King
of Man .... Copenhagen.
History.
Mezerai. Histoire de France . . . Paris.
The early chapters give a sketch of the fabulous history
of France.
Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles . . . Paris.
Clever, but indelicate, and of no importance.
Lucani Pharsalia ..... Lond.
Juvenalis SatiriB .... Lond.
Persii Satira) ..... Lond.
Horatii Opera .... Lond.
Valuable for many passages and allusions to Witchcraft
and Occult Science, as the Erychtho of the first and
the Canidia of the last prove : the satirists are full
also of apt allusions.
XXXIV LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Bouterwek's History of Spanish and Portuguese Li-
terature ..... Lond.
Valuable for the extracts from the old Romances and
the account of them.
Bruce's Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile,
8 vols. 3rd Edition. 7th and 8th vols. 4to
Plates .... London, 1813.
Full of information on the mj'thologj-, romance, and
superstitious of Egypt and Abyssinia.
THE CRADLE
OF THE TWIN GIANTS.
BOOK I.
Science.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
To trace the progress of knowledge, and to exa-
mine its influence upon Society, is one of the most
pleasing as well as one of the most important tasks
which the human mind can undertake. Nor has
it been neglected ; the brightest intellects in every
age have laboured at the problem, and nothing has
been left unnoticed that could tend to its solution.
There is, however, one aspect under which it has
not been sufficiently regarded : the greater number
by iar, of those who have been the historians of
Science, have confined their attention to that whicii
they deemed the trutli ; they have despised all that
tended to incorrect scientific conclusions, except so
far as a direct bearing could be established between
B
2 THE TWIN GIANTS.
it and proved facts. Hence the earlier stages of
scientific progress have been scantily recorded, and
the earlier ages of History reviewed only to explode
the fables of which they were evidently composed.
But as power and acuteness of mind belong to no
age, and are confined to no land, it would be absurd
to suppose that an age, whose History and Science
were less accurate than our own, could have given
birth only to fools and charlatans. We shall
find intellects as powerful as any now existing,
engaged in searching after the philosopher's stone,
in casting the nativities of chiefs and princes, in
endeavouring to establish relations with the invisible
world, by means which we should now ridicule for
their absurdity, and condemn for their profanity,
and in searching out points of historical coincidence,
from among what we should call an indiscriminate
mass of fable. The mind of the philosopher is, how-
ever, always the same ; he is " a lover of ■wisdom,"
and searches for it wherever it appears possible that
it may be found. To a certain extent our educa-
tion must be by authority; we acquire the knowledge
of facts by reading or oral information, and proceed
to reason upon them as though we had ourselves
proved the truth ; the school-boy who is told that
the earth is ninety-five millions of miles from the
sun, accepts the doctrine, and any other which can
be shown to follow from it, without ever conceiving
the necessity of entering into the computations by
which the fact is proved ; frequently, indeed most
frequently, he goes through life without the remotest
conception of any means whereby such a result
could be arrived at. He does not see the possibi-
INTRODUCTORY. 3
lity of measuring the distances of stars and planets,
but he implicitly believes the thing to have been
done, because he is told so on authority/, which he
cannot reject, without at the same time overturning
all the rules of evidence. In like manner he takes
the history of Numa Pompilius, and that of Julius
Caesar on the same authority, and they have to him
the same claim to belief These instances are ad-
duced to show that as even now our early education,
and often our sole education, must proceed on autho-
rity, we must expect to find that so it must have
been of old time. Yet few persons have endeavoured
to extract philosophy from an erroneous system, —
have remembered that whatever has been received by
great intellects must have a large portion of essen-
tial truth, and must in all probability be so con-
structed, as that truth shall be, if received under
the right aspect, its prevailing attribute. It is this
principle which is, in the following pages, sought to
be developed : instead of laughing at " the fears of
the brave, and follies of the wise," it will be our aim
to show that when the brave have feared, it was
because something really terrible was present, or at
least that which reasonably appeared so ; that when
the wise have been foolish, it was because follv
presented itself under a guise so like to wisdom, that
even the wise may be pardoned for embracing it.
Who are the Twin Giants by whose aid human
progress has been furthered ? History, that reveals
to us the experience of the past. Science, which
endows us with power over the present; and both
which, in combination, modify out ftiture. But these
mighty Giants were not like the fabled Pallas, they
B 2
4 THE TWIN GIANTS.
did not spring full-grown and armed in panoply, from
the brain of an equally fabled Jupiter; they had
their long and helpless infancy ; they were swathed
in swaddling bands, by which their growth was
retarded, and their free motion prevented, and they
were laid in a cradle where serpents attempted their
destruction as they did with the son of Alcmena.
In these bands, and laid in this cradle, we are to
consider these Twin Giants, watch them while they
strangle the venomous reptiles, observe them as they
cast aside the bands that confined them, and trace
them struggling into full life and activity under the
sun of Truth. This investigation will bring before
our notice their illustrious children, and we shall see
them setting free their glorious sires and aiding in
the enliohtenraent and advancement of the race to
which they belonged. We shall see Astronomy
graduallv set free from the errors of Astrology,
Chemistry from those of Alchemy, History from
those of Fable, and the Romance of Science taking
its proper place beside the Romance of History. The
latter has been treated well; it has been carefully
investigated by scholars and poets, its claims have
been acknowledged, and its study encouraged ; the
stores of ancient libraries, and the songs of semi-
barbarous people have been ransacked on its behalf,
and it has been shown that, if the historic ages of
a nation develope its power and its resources, its
romantic ages have mainly contributed to form its
character. Would the stern rigid virtue of the re-
publican Romans have been kept up so many ages
as it was, if the fables of Junius Brutus, and Lucretia,
and the Tarquins, of Porsenna, and ScKvola, of the
INTRODUCTORY. 5
Horatil and the Curiatii had not formed the pabulum
for the young minds of the land in which they were
deemed to have hved and died. To Rome these men
were no fable ; Niebuhr may disprove their dates and
their doings, but to the INIanKi and the Decii, to the
CamilK and the Cincinnati, to the Lartii and the
Fabii, these men were a truth, an ever hving truth,
breathing patriotism and stern virtue in every breath
of the Roman atmosphere, in every accent of the
Roman tongue. Arthur again and his Paladins,
Orlando and his co-peers, have but a faint and feeble
light in history ; but in the pages of chivalric romance
they stand out as vivid realities, teaching bright
lessons, inculcating brilliant virtues, reforming a bai*-
barous age, and stamping on many a noble heart an
impress of truth which, but for them, would never
have been set there. Truth then comes out to us,
from the regions of fable, in a different guise from
that in wdiich history presents it, but still truth as
valid, and often as important. Milton, speaking in
his History, of the battles of our Anglo-Saxon an-
cestors during the Heptarchy, says that the memory
of them is of no more value than if they had been
combats of kites and crows. Would he have said as
much of the glorious romance of Arthur ? Which con-
tains more absolute truth, — the history of Cunobelinus,
or the play of Cymbeline ? In all these comparisons
we are not depreciating History, which is invalu-
able, but vindicating for another form of the same
illimitable truth its own proper niche in the temple
of worthy knowledge ; — but that claim is admitted, —
pass we therefore to the Romance of Science. Who
now thinks it worth while to dive into the volumes,
6 THE TWIN GIANTS.
and their name is legion, which have been written
on astrology and magic? No writer of credit has
taken the trouble to do so. Books make their
appearance now and then on these topics, but all
alike, — alike in ignorance, presumption, and worth-
lessness, — insolently classing such men as Raymond
Lully, and Cornelius Agrippa, with quacks and
fortune-tellers, and relating wild stories at second-
hand without a shadow of authority. The effect
of such books has been, that the subject on which
they treat has been allowed to fall into contempt,
and that measure has been meted out to the romance
of Science, which should have been the portion only
of those who tampered with it. It is unnecessary
to except from this censure, the work of Eusebe Sal-
verte on the Occult Sciences, which was ably trans-
lated and enriched with many valuable notes by
the late Dr. Anthony Todd Thomson, a man, the
depth of whose researches was only equalled by
the scientific spirit in which they were made ; for
Salverte's book is rather an explanation of the so-
called miracles of antiquity, than a history of the
romantic ages of philosophy. It is too often written
in a scoffing tone, and the evident object of the
author, was to wound Christianity through the side
of superstition, by inferring that the miracles of
the Old and New Testaments were to be classed
with those of which he wrote.
Mere collections of strange tales gathered together
without pains to ascertain on what foundation they
rest, and interspersed Avith a few sagacious reflections
on the darkness of the middle ages, and the supersti-
tion of the wisest who then lived, are not likely to
INTRODUCTORY. 7
benefit the history of Science, and they are likely
to give the very subject a disreputable air.
It is quite true that the theories of physical
science, before Copernicus and Galileo had revived
the Pythagorean system, before Newton had deve-
loped the laws of Gravitation, and Kepler had
investigated those of planetary attraction, before
Priestley had discovered oxygen, and Harvey the
circulation of the blood, must have been strangely
defective ; and I could now tell a school-boy of
twelve years old, truths which Bacon and Aristotle
spent long lives without attaining. But it may be
that the boy, who thus by an hour's conversation is
put centuries in advance of that point occupied by
the master-spirits of antiquity, and who has acquired
by rote both facts and principles, may never rise
to the surface of that society in which he moves :
and is he to be compared then to those who stood
far above the level of their own times, and drew
up to them ages, by the mighty cords of their
magnificent intellects !
In examining such subjects as those treated on in
this book, we must remember that we are opening a
page in the history of the human mind ; we are
investigating systems formed on insufficient data,
theories made without an inductive system ; we are
beholding the natural impatience of the mind to be
informed, seeing many eager snatches made at the
Tree of Knowledge, and now and then some pre-
cious fruit seized and stored up with many dry
branches and worthless berries. We are gazing on
the sun struggling through a cloud in the morning of
the dav, and to i-ecur to our first figure, and that
8 THE TWIN GIANTS.
which gives a title to the book, we are called to look
on the Twin Giants — Sciexce and History — while
yet in their Cradle.
The plan proposed to be followed is to take the
chief branches of Science, sound or unsound, which
were accepted by the sages of antiquity, and first to
sketch the Science as it was thus accepted, pointing
out the philosophical truth developed in it, and ex-
hibiting its connection with other similar branches ;
to touch briefly on the lives and characters of those
who principally followed or professed it, and then to
trace its influence upon the philosophic mind of the
age, and its effects on the advance of true science.
These branches will be found to converofe into As-
trology. Magic, and Alchemy ; and in the search
after the objects which these presented, the grandest
intellects of the middle ages undoubtedly wasted
much time, but also they discovered many truths,
and they did so, let it be observed, in a philosophic
spirit. The religious tone, too, of that period breathes
out in all these works, and it requires far more Chris-
tianity than the savans of the eighteenth century pos-
sessed to comprehend the principles on which they
were written. Accepting, as their authors did, the doc-
trine that God was in all and above all, they held that
the keys of knowledge were in his hand, and that he
rarely gave them save to those who would benefit man-
kind by the results of their labours. Believing that an
Evil Intelligence existed, gifted with far more than
human intellect, and profoundly versed in the laws of
that material universe, at the birth of which he had
been present, they deemed it far from impossible that in
his capacity of Tempter he might offer to man know-
INTRODUCTORY. 9
ledge forbidden by Heaven ; and knowing how deep
and insatiable was the thirst for knowledge in their
own minds, they saw no improbability in the " evil
heart of unbelief" being led thus to seek satisfaction
for its cravings. These, and many reasonings of the
like nature, tended to throw an air of spirituality
over even their natural science, and to account for
the admission, expressed or implied, which meets us
at every turn in their works, of a close connection
between the visible and invisible worlds. It is im-
possible for us to overthrow this foundation, however
clearly a more matured state of philosophy may
show us the fallacy of much that they built upon
it, and it may be worth the inquiry whether their
own mode of viewing truth was not more practically
beneficial in their own day, than ours would have
been, could it have been suddenly transplanted into
that ei*a. We know by experience that political
truth requires the mind of a nation to be prepared
by long education for its reception. Constitutions
are not the growth of a few months ; they are like
the gem of which the poet says,
The diamond's pure unsullied light,
Is not the child of simple years,
A host of ages brings to sight
The crj-stal that the sovereign wears.
And any attempt to force political truth even in
the most constitutional form on minds not prepared
for its adoption, ends only in miscalculation and
abuse. So, doubtless, the giants of our tale have
necessarily grown inch by inch, as much for the
benefit of those among whom their infoncy was
passed, as theirs, who were to witness the wonders
B 5
10 THE TWIN GIANTS.
of their maturer strength. The History of the
Workl affords us one remarkable instance of this
principle, namely, that truth is ever progressive, and
must be so, and that if this be the case, our age
must be as much behind those which shall follow,
in actual development of scientific truth, as it is in
advance of those which are past, and that it is for
the benefit of man that it should be so.
The instance to which we allude is that of Islamism.
Mahomet, unquestionably one of the greatest men
that the world ever saw, attempted, and attempted
successfully, to impose on the world a system both
of law, morals, and theology, infinitely superior to the
corrupt paganized Christianity which he found esta-
blished. The nations which embraced it rose up
at once into a state of civilization, whose growth was
unnatural. Like as by the wand of an enchanter,
arts, arms, and science flourished at once, and the
court of the caliphs became the instructress of the
world. While this fairy fabric was overawing
Europe by its power, and delighting it with its
polish, among the old Christian states improvement
was making slow but sure progress. The East had
far outstripped them at first, but the fable of the
bai*e and the tortoise vvas to receive another attes-
tation to its truth. Ere long, Western civilization
arrived at the same point at which that in the East
had become already stationary ; but it did not rest
here, the principle of progress was one of its essen-
tial elements, and it went on to fulfil its mission.
The whole of our moral and spiritual nature is to
be in a state of constant advance, and the very act of
progress, as well as the results thereof, are necessary
INTRODUCTORY. 11
to accomplish our destiny and to secure our well-
being. Hence, therefore, we are bold to assert that
if we could anticipate the discoveries of the next
century, we should profit by them in a degree very
inferior to that which will be their effect, com-
ing as they will in due time and sequence. But
whether this opinion be correct or not, one thing
is certain, that theories which occupied the minds of
such men as Albertus Magnus and Cardan, must be
worthy of some attention, and a very little will have
been paid before we shall see that these great men
were by no means so far behind us, as we sometimes
imagine. The knowledge of the sciences possessed
by the Egyptian priesthood must have been very
great, and we glean here and there little indica-
tions of their acquaintance with laws supposed to
be of far more modern discovery. On this subject
the work of Salverte, above referred to, is very valu-
able, and not the less so from its being the produc-
tion of an avowed disbeliever in Revelation. In
our own days we have seen many wondrous results
follow the practice of mesmerism ; and though
much imposture has doubtless been mingled there-
with, enough indeed to elicit and almost to justify
the incredulity of thousands, still there are certain
facts resting on competent authority which impera-
tively claim our careful attention. They are aj)pa-
rently anomalous: but theories and histories, which
we shall have to consider, show us that thev do
not now occur for the first time : that centuries
ago similar means were attended by similar conse-
quences ; that the reciprocal power of the soul over
the body, and of the body over the soul, are but
12 THE TWIN GIANTS.
little understood as yet; and that there are chan-
nels of information open in an ahionnal state, in-
dependently of the five senses from which alone
hitherto we have been supposed to derive our ideas.
The age in which we live is less sceptical and more
philosophical than the age which preceded it; we
recognize more readily than our fathers, the many
points of contact between matter and spirit, and
are therefore far more in sympathy with an age like
that of the Alchemists, than with one like that
of the Encyclopsedists. It has ever been remarked,
also, that at a period of gross materialism, and utili-
tarianism almost as gross, spiritual manifesta-
tions, of what kind soever, ai-e few and far between ;
all tends to favour the prevailing influence. Dante,
Sir Thomas Brown, Isaac Taylor, could not have
written at the close of the last century, or in the
beginning of the present : a loftier intellectual atmo-
sphere was necessary to ripen minds like theirs, and
had Palev lived in our dav his ideas would have
been greatly modified by the more believing tenden-
cies of the age, and the higher tone of mental
philosophy prevalent. Tradition, too, is looked upon
with more attention, we reject much that our scep-
tical fathers implicitly believed, but we receive
much which they unhesitatingly rejected. We see
the trace of arts even vet lost, of sciences Avhich
have faded out from among nations, and been redis-
covered in distant climes and remote ages, like frag-
ments of ships sucked in by some tremendous vortex,
and reappearing far from the scene of their watery
entombment. And these phenomena of man's in-
tellectual history explain to us the vast amount of
INTRODUCTORY. 33
truth mixed with the superstitions of science, and
make us look with respect on those who wearied
themselves in separating the false from the true.
Slow, patient investigation, the careful collecting
of facts, the abstaining from making theories to be
overthrown by the next series of facts discovered,
these are virtues of modern students ; theories will
construct, and systems arrange themselves if we only
supply the right materials, and the diligent observation
of one fact is valued more than the putting together
of twenty systems. These, however, w^ere not the
virtues of the ages of whose annals we are here
giving a few pages : the student of that day seized
at once on the treasures of revelation, tradition, and
observation, and what was wanting to round and
complete the whole, he supplied by inference, more
or less founded, and hy conjecture. Those con-
jectures, and those traditions, are what we have
now to examine, and we shall find them alternately
simple in their grandeur, and profound in their com-
plexity ; now rising to the highest strains of poetry,
now again descending into the depths of philosophy ;
but ever bearing the impress of those mighty intel-
ligences with whom they were the instruments of
discoverinsf truth. Like a river whose waters are
coloured by the soil through which they pass ; some-
times bright and sparkling in the sunshine, and so
clear that the pebbles below are all distinctly visible ;
and now turbid with the depositions of an alluvial
soil ; so the stream of scientific tradition necessarily
takes its hue from the intellectual soil through which
it flows. The historv of tlie Mind is involved in the
history of its strangest aberrations, and the history
14 THE TWIN GIANTS.
of Science in that of its most absurd errors. It cannot
then be otherwise than profitable to cast a glance on
the mental tone and temper of periods so interesting
as those of which we treat. There is one point
of view to which allusion has been already made,
and in which our subject assumes an interest all
its own. It is as a collection of facts: undoubtedly
there are many fables mixed with them, but it is
by no means an impossible task to separate these
from the rest, and these facts are of a deeply in-
teresting nature, bearing almost equally upon phy-
sical and metaphysical science. The phenomena of
dreams, apparitions, omens, are all of this descrij)tion,
and take the student as it were to the frontier of
both worlds, to the now debateable land, between
the material and the spiritual ; they point out ab-
normal conditions of humanity, throw a light upon
the sources of insanity, and open the gates of the
soul so that we may descry somewhat of its nature
and properties. If for no other reasons, yet for
these, the magic of the ancients deserves attention ;
and the theologian will hardly be able to understand
the Scriptures, with some knowledge of what it was,
and what it professed.
One of the most deeply interesting narratives on
record is that of the contest of Moses with the
Egyptian magicians, and to read this without feeling
a strong and laudable desire to know more of the
men of whom such extraordinary facts are related,
would indicate a very lethargic state of mind. His-
tories of dreams and their interpretations, of pro-
phecies and their accomplishment, of witchcraft and
its suppression, throng the pages of the Sacred
INTRODUCTORY. 15
Volume, and all require an interpretation far dif-
ferent to that which is frequently fixed upon them,
SauFs visit to the witch at Endor, the powers sup-
posed to be inherent in Teraphim ; the oracles of the
Urim and Thummim, many of the provisions of the
Jewish code, such as that of the waters of jealousy,
are intelligible only to those who have sought in the
cradle of science for the illustration of its earliest
manifestations, and for the limit between the actual
interposition of Divine power, and the exhibition of
human skill. It will be scarcely necessary to say.
more in vindication of a subject like our own. In-
teresting to the Natural Philosopher and to the
Metaphysician, to the Moralist and the Theologian,
the Romance of Science requires only to be known to
be appreciated, and to be equally valued and equally
studied with the Romance of History. It is in the
same Cradle that we must seek the infancv of the
Twin Giants.
16 THE TWIN GIANTS.
CHAPTER II.
ASTROLOGY.
The " Occult Philosophy " began to prevail at so
early a period, continued to flourish so long, was
patronized by so many eminently intellectual charac-
ters, and was professed by so many men of reputa-
tion, that it cannot be considered other than a subject
of great interest. Looking upon it from the station
which at the present day w^e occupy, it offers so
strange a medley of fact and falsehood, of enthusiasm
and imposture, of profundity and absurdity, that we
feel at first inclined to adopt the sentiment thus
forcibly expressed by an old writer ; "It relates
doings which God would not do ; which the devil
could not do ; which none but a liar would assert,
and none but a fool believe." When, however, a
second glance shows us that in this sweejiing censure
of falsehood and folly we include a Democritus, a
Pythagoras, an Hippocrates and a Plato, a Pliny
and a Tacitus, a Sully, a Kircher, a Boerhaave and
a lioyle, we are compelled to restrain our condemna-
tion, and to consider the subject in a fresh point of
view. We see that mental weakness was by no
means a constant concomitant of a belief in its
strange superstitions ; and that it must have had
some plausible points, some splendid theories, some
occasional verisimilitude to recommend it to the
acceptance, more or less complete, of men like these.
ASTROLOGY. 1 7
The history of the Occult Philosophy is the history
of a part of the human mind ; it shows how the love
of the marvellous has in all ages acted on the power-
fill mind as well as the weak ; on the cultivated as
well as on the rude ; and the true importance of the
study consists in developing the influence which it
exerted on the progress of natural and metaphysical
philosophy. We shall see it in one age giving a
tone to these branches of sounder learning, and in
another receiving its own from them ; becoming more
and more assimilated to true science, as true science
became more generally acknowledged ; and at last
becoming extinct when truth had greater wonders to
offer than fiction ; when the love of the marvellous
was more highly excited and more abundantly grati-
fied by Astronomy than by Astrology, by Chemistry
than by Alchemy. The sources from which infor-
mation on these topics is to be obtained, are so
numerous as almost to defy classification ; but they
may be briefly divided into — First, — The writings
of those persons who, treating on Theology and
Mental Philosophy, have argued on the principles
of the Occult Philosophy. Such are many of the
divines of the middle ages, and such were the later
Platonists. Secondly, — Of those who professed to
treat on this Philosophy ; writings, of which few
are worth examining for any purpose whatever.
Thirdly, — Of those who opposed it ; in which may
generally be found the principal arguments of its
supporters, and the cases on which they rely for
illustrations and proofs, more or less fairly stated ;
and — Lastly, of writers on Natural Philosophy and
Medicine. The last are, to a philosophical mind,
18 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the most valuable of all. They form a series be-
ginning with Hippocrates, or even with Thales and
Pythagoras ; and can hardly be said to close with
Boerhaave ; and they exhibit physical science more
or less modified by the Occult Philosophy in pro-
portion as this latter was more or less dominant in
the learned world.
Universally adopted and generally taught by the
ecclesiastics of the middle ages, a belief in the
hidden properties of nature and the continual com-
munion between men and the spirits of good and
of evil, became a part as it were of religion ; a
portion of the received, if not the authorized doc-
trines of the Roman Catholic Church. When by
this means, it had become incorporated with the
opinions and the feelings of the people, and the
lapse of a few generations had enabled it to take
deep root, the force of antiquity was added to the
force of authority, and Science, scarcely more than
in embryo, had no influence strong enough to resist
the giant spirit of Superstition, that then lorded it
over the intellectual world. The doctrines of the
Occult Philosophy were received by implicit faith ;
they were not to be questioned, and were very
rarely examined save by those, who either as dupes
or knaves were predisposed to make these wonders
still greater. Knowledge went on, though but slowly,
for a drag had been fixed to the wheels of her
chariot, and there, by universal consent, it was to
remain. What progress she could make thus im-
peded, she was at liberty to use ; but to remove
the draff was never even dreamed of, nor would it
have been allowed if it had. Perhaps the salt,
ASTROLOGY. 19
which preserved the human mind from corruption
in those days, was the no less universal reception
of the Aristotelian philosophy, — a philosophy, which
is now as unjustly despised as it was then extravar
gantly over-rated. To restore it with all its dog-
matism, in the light of a more advanced day,
would be absurd, but it was then the philosophy
of a better and a purer age ; it produced and en-
couraged habits of close thinking and acute inves-
tigation on subjects, where thought and investigation
were permitted, and to its fostering influence we
probably owe more, both philosophically and politi-
cally than in the pride of our modern superiority
we are always disposed to gTant.
While however we acknowledge the benefits which
the influence of the Stagyrite occasioned, it cannot
be denied, that these benefits were greatly lessened
by the implicit faith reposed in and required for
his opinions ; and this implicit faith exacted also
by the Occult Philosophy, as well as by that of
Aristotle, produced that singular state of mind which
may be observed in the best writers of the middle
ages. Three extensive systems they took upon trust,
supposing themselves bound to believe that each sup-
ported the others. Hence their exertions were not
so much to ascertain truth as to support certain
dogmas ; — rather to elude than to satisfy the inquiries
of a powerful mind. Christianity with its solemn
and mysterious doctrines — its awful sanctions and
its imposing services — cast by its tremendous import-
ance all other systems into the shade ; appealed at
once to all the faculties of the soul, and claimed, if
received at all, to be received by a total subjugation
20 THE TWIN GIANTS.
of body, soul, and spirit to its doctrines and its
duties.
Here however there was a licence for reason. It
was justly observed that in the fields of religion
the reasoning faculty might expatiate at will ; for
though there were many thiugs in the Scriptures
above reason, there were none contrary to it. The
permission was however much clogged by the necessity
of placing the same faith in the Aristotelian and the
Occult philosophers, as in the truths of religion ;
and the distiuction which was made between them,
was rather in favour of the former than the latter.
Although neither would have been very safe, an
individual who declared his dissent from the New
Testament would have run less danger of persecu-
tion, than a philosopher who differed from Aristotle,
or avowed his disbelief in witchcraft and sorcery.
Indeed at a much later period. King James^ roundly
asserts that both Reorinald Scott and Johannes
Wierus ought to have been dealt with as wizards
for denying witchcraft ; shrewdly remarking that
none but those who felt themselves in danger would
have taken such an unscriptural way of shifting the
odium from themselves.
But, besides Christianity, the extensive range of
subjects treated of b}- Aristotle, and the wild doc-
trines of the Occult Philosophy, were to be received
in the same way. The consequences of this may be
easily imagined. Religion was viewed in connection
with a peculiar system of metaphysics, and the voice
of primitive Christianity was neglected for the voice
of primitive Paganism. Religion, however, by the
' Daemonologia, lib. i.
ASTROLOGY. 21
mercy of God, possesses a power of self-purification,
and a vitality, even in a considerably corrupt form,
which has not been granted to Science. The latter
suftered, of course, severely. Anything that had
been already decided by Aristotle was not to be
again called in question, and if any wonderful phe-
nomenon appeared to excite the attention of the
learned, the Occult Philosophy stepped immediately
in, to assign an indubitable cause, and to spare them
the trouble of further examination. The mysteries
of the invisible world, and the occult properties of
Nature, afforded a wide field for the display of in-
genuity. There was but little chance of objectors ;
the subjects were in accordance with the prejudices of
the age, and it was comparatively easy to keep clear
both of Aristotle and the Church. Here, therefore,
the minds of the inquisitive might find ample employ-
ment ; the topic was boundless, and the poetry with
which (particularly when seen at a little distance)
it was invested, added new charms to the pursuit.
There were, as has been already hinted, two
branches into which the Occult Philosophy was
divided. One the investigation of the occult pro-
perties of matter; and one which treats of the
nature, influence, and characters of spiritual beino-s ;
their mode of communion with mortals, and the ways
by which their aid might be obtained. The first
may generally be denominated natural magic, not in
that confined sense in which the term is now under-
stood, but embracing the fabulous as well as the true,
— the pursuits of the Alchemist, as well as those of
the Juggler. To give a well known example. When
it was stated, without making the experiment, that
22 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the diamond could only be cut by applying it to the
blood of a he-goat, and one person after another
repeated the story, the property in the blood by
which this effect was produced, was called an occult
property. Every jeweller knew better : but Roger
Bacon was the first who publicly ascertained the false-
hood of the assertion, and undeceived the learned.
Volume after volume of such occult properties might
be culled from Pliny alone, who, in his " Natural
History," has made a choice collection of them. No
one who believed the story of the goat's blood, sup-
posed that the strange effect was produced by other
than physical causes ; the modus operandi might be
unknown, but the terminus operandi M'as always, in
such cases, referred to the action of matter upon mat-
ter. Again, when on the authority of Pliny it was
asserted, that the odour of aniseed prevented dis-
agreeable dreams, the physician, who adopted the
belief in this effect, always accounted for it by some
soothing operation produced on the sensorium by
the smell of the plant.
From such notions, some true and more false,
arose an Occult Medicine, an Occult Natural His-
tory, an Occult Natural Philosophy.
" The circumambient air," says Hcliodorus, a great
philosopher of his day, " penetrating our bodies,
through our eyes, and mouths, and nostrils, and
infinite porous passages, carries with it the same
<]ualities itself is endowed with, and produces effects
in human bodies, answerable to those qualities.
Now, when people disposed to envy, espy good
in others, they taint the air about with noxious
vapors, and breathe a sort of poisonous infection
ASTROLOGY. 23
upon them tliey behold, which being of a subtle,
spirituous nature, pierces into the very bones and
marrow, and from thence envy becomes the cause
of that disease which is not improperly called fasci-
nation, or bewitching. And consider how usual
it is for people to catch blear-eyes and pestilential
distempers without touching any person infected ;
without lying in the same bed, or so much as sitting
at the same table with them ; but only by draw-
ing in the same air.
" We have a notable instance of these spreading
infections in the case of love, which is usually en-
gendered by sight, the parties affected darting beams
of contagion to each other from their eyes, as may
easily be conceived, because the sight, being the
most quick and fiery of any sense, becomes suscep-
tible, upon that account, of every — the least im-
pression ; and through its hot quality, absorbs the
effluvia of love. I might exemplify this, if there
were any need, out of our sacred books that treat
of animals. There we learn that the sight of a
water-fowl, called Charadrius, cures the jaundice ;
and if a person sick of that distemper chance to
look upon her, she shuts her eyes in abhorrence,
and flies away immediately ; not, as some think,
for envy of the cure she works, but because by
seeing the person aifected, the disease is transfused
in her : for that reason she avoids such sights as
she would her death's blow. And perhaps you
have heard of a serpent called the Basilisk, which,
with its eye only, blasts and destroys every creature
that comes in its way. Neither ought we to think
it strange that some people, by this means, bewitch
24 THE TWIN GIANTS.
their best friends and them to whom they mean
no hurt. For, being natm'ally envious, the effect
is more owing to their constitutions than to any
spontaneous act."^
This speech is made by an Egyptian priest ; and
in answer to the question, " What ! do you beheve
in witchcraft, like the vulgar V
These motions were formed into systems, and where
it was found needful to call in the aid of Pneuma-
tology — the other branch of the Occult Philosophy
— it was always competent to do so. That which
could not be explained by the one, always admitted
an easy solution by the other. The whole scheme
may then be divided into two branches, embracing
six sciences : Astrology, Magic, Alchemy, Divina-
tion, Sorcery, Dsemonology. Of these, Magic and
Alchemy belong exclusively to the first branch, —
that which treats of the Occult properties of nature.
Divination, Sorcery, and Dsemonology to the latter,
which may be denominated — Pneumatology ; and
Astrology, the most ancient of the six, partakes of
the nature of both the one and the other. It is
the link which connects Magic and Alchemy with
the other three. It connects the Occult Philosophy
generally with Mythology, and especially with Fa-
talism ; and it is with Astrology, therefore, that we
shall commence our sketch of the Occult Sciences.
' Heliodorus. ^thiopics, b. iii.
ORIGIN OF ASTROLOGY. 25
CHAPTER II.
OF THE ORIGIN OF ASTROLOGY.
Astrology was without doubt the most ancient
of the Occult Sciences. It sprang immediately from
Mythology, if indeed it was not coeval with it. The
words of Maimonides which have been adduced as
pointing out the origin of the one, must certainly,
if we allow their truth, point out that of the other;
and if so, it would seem that three generations had
not passed away before Astrology began to take
root in popular opinion.^
" In the days of Euos, the son of Seth, the sons
of Adam erred with great error : and the council
of the wise men of that age became brutish ; and
Euos himself was of them that erred. And their
error was this : they said, — Forasmuch as God hath
created these stars and spheres to govern the world, and
hath set them on high, and hath imparted honor
unto them, and they are ministers that minister be-
fore Him, it is meet that men should laud and glo-
rify and give them honor. For this is the will of
God that we laud and magnify whomsoever he mag-
nifieth and honoreth, even as a king would honor
them that stand before him. And this is the honor
of the king himself When this thing was come up
into their hearts they began to build temples unto
the stars, and to offer sacrifice unto them, and to
' Maimonides, in Mischna.
C
26 THE TWIN GIANTS.
laud and magnify them with words, and to worship
before them, that they might, in their evil opinion,
obtain favor of their Creator. And this was the
root of idolatry ; for in process of time there stood
up false prophets among the sons of Adam, which
said, that God had commanded them and said unto
them, — Worship such a star, or all the stars, and
do sacrifice unto them thus and thus ; and build a
temple for it, and make an image of it, that all
the people, women and children, may worship it.
And the false prophet showed them the image which
he had feigned out of his own heart, and said that
it was the image of that star which was made known
to him by prophecy. And they began after this
manner to make images in temples, and under trees,
and on the tops of mountains and hills, and assem-
bled together and worshipped them ; and this thing
was spread through all the world to serve images,
with services different one from another, and to
sacrifice unto and worship them. So, in process
of time, the glorious and fearful Name was forgotten
out of the mouth of all livinof, and out of their know-
ledge, and they acknowledged Him not. And there
was found on earth no people that knew aught, save
images of wood and stone, and temples of stone
which they had been trained up from their child-
hood to worship and serve, and to swear by their
names ; and the wise men that were among them,
the priests and such like, thought that there was
no God save the stars and spheres, for whose sake,
and in lohose likeness^ they had made these images ;
but as for the Rock Everlasting, there was no man
that did acknowledge Him or know Him save a few
ORIGIN OF ASTROLOGY. 27
persons in the woi'ld, as Enoch, Methusaleh, Noah,
Shem, and Heber. And in this way did the world
work and converse, till that j^illar of the world,
Abraham our father, was born."
This doctrine of the celestial agencies is amply
elucidated by Proclus, in his commentary on the
Timeeus of Plato, — and from that work it will not
be irrelevant to make a few extracts, both because
they will confirm the statement here made, and
because they will throw some light on the inter-
changeable nature of the Greek deities.
" Because all the gods were in each one, and each
one in the whole being ineffably united into one
great whole (oXoT'/jg), it is not wonderful that the
names of the deities were frequently interchanged,"'"
but a still greater reason was, that each of the
planets, according to the Orphic and later Platonic
Philosophy, was filled with a multitude of gods,
all having a nature analogous to that one who was
the ruler of the sphere, the effects of their wills
and actions was conveyed down to mankind by a
chain of intermediate natures ; but let Proclus speak
for himself. " In each of the celestial spheres, the
whole sphere has the relation of a monad, but the
cosmocralors or planets are the leaders of the mul-
titude in each. The intermediate natures, however,
are concealed from our sense, the extremes being
manifest, one of them through its transcendantly
luminous essence, and the other through its alliance
with us.""^
" But the natures above the moon are, as to
their subject, nearly the same, sustaining only a
' Taylor's Translation, pp. 270, 281,
28 THE TWIN GIANTS.
small mutation. They change, however, aceordhig
to figure, just as a dancer, being one and the same
according to subject, is changed into various forms
by a certain gesture and motion of the hands.
The celestial bodies, therefore, are thus changed,
and different habitudes of them take place between
the motions of the planets, with reference to the
fixed stars, and of the fixed stars with reference to
the planets."^
Accordinof to these theories, the material world
is in a continual state of flowing and formation,
but never possesses real being. It is like the image
of a tree seen in a rapid stream, which has the appear-
ance of a tree without the reality, and which seems
to continue perpetually the same, though constantly
renewed by the renovation of the waters.
On this narration we would observe, first, that
the images worshipped were said to be the images of
the stars and spheres ; but we do not find the ancients
worshipping any spherical images. And though, long
subsequently to the period here alluded to, we find
conical images, yet these last had no peculiar refer-
ence to the heavenly bodies, but to the elements of
fire and water ; a cone upright being the symbol of
the one, and an inverted cone of the other. The
images then spoken of by Maimonides must have
been the pretended figures of the sj)irlts informing
and inhabiting those bodies which were said to be
created to "govern the world." And here then we
have an explicit account of the origin of Astrology.
Common opinion attributes its invention to the Chal-
• Taurus the Platonic Philosopher apud Philoponum. Taylor's
Translation, p. 43.
ORIGIN OF ASTROLOGY. 29
daeans ; and bv a curious coincidence, Dean Prideaux '
has most singularly paraphrased the passage from
Maimonides above quoted, and applied it to that
people. Wheresoever star- worship prevailed, there
existed the germ of Astrology, or rather Astrology
itself in its first stage ; and as soon as a division of
the earth had been made among the deities, as soon
as families and cities had taken to themselves tutelary
gods and goddesses, the science was already complete.
Considering the stars above him as the vicegerents of
the Great Supreme, the Chaldcean shepherd, as he
watched them " pathing the heavens in ceaseless
round,"" — traced something like celestial harmony in
their mystic dance ; and identifying the fate of na
tions with the power and will of the mighty spirits
who inhabited them, he was easily led to imagine that
these continual changes were not without significa-
tion to the inhabitants of the earth. Astronomy and
Astrology thus rose together, and to such extent were
they cultivated, that when Alexander the Great took
Babylon, Callisthenes- who was with him, is said to
have found astronomical observations for one thousand
nine hundred and three years ; that is, as far back as
the one hundred and fifteenth year after the flood,
So skilled were the Chalda?ans in Astrology, that the
very terms Chaldrean-^ and Astrology were synony-
mons. Astrolatry, then, was the first step, and
Chaldsea the cradle of this imposing fiction.
Various opinions were held as to the way in which
the motions of the heavenly bodies aff*ected the earth
■ See my Universal Mythology, pp. 340 — 342.
* Univ. Mythology, p. 115.
^ Tacitus Ann. ii. 27 et passim.
30 THE TWIN GIANTS.
and its inhabitants. Some imagined those vast
globes to be themselves instinct with life and voli-
tion ; and as they floated through the serene aether,
that they radiated their divine influences upon the
distant earth. Others supposed, that though not
divinities themselves, they were the chosen abodes
of those mediate spirits to whom was committed the
rule of mundane affairs, who passed occasionally into
our globe, and there by mighty works, announced
their presence. These beings, lofty as they were
esteemed, were not supposed to be free from the
passions which affect men, and we have thence an-
other internal proof of the mythological origin of
Astrology. The loves and quarrels of the deities
were transferred to the planets ; and terms were
applied to them in various parts of their orbits to
carry out this idea. Thus we hear of conjunction
and opposition. The nomenclature of the pretended
science received continually new additions, till at
length it became mystical enough to erect its pro-
fessors into a distinct class, and important enough
to extend its influence over every nation of the
world.
" And thus," says Firmicus Maternus, " the De-
miurgus exhibited man by the artifice of a divine
fabrication, in such a way that in a small body,
he might bestow the power and essence of all the
elements, Nature for this purpose bringing them
together, and also so that from the divine spirit
which descended from a celestial intellect to the
support of the mortal body, he might prepare an
abode for man, which, though fragile, might be
similar to the world. On this account, the five
ORIGIN OF ASTROLOGY. 31
stars (Mercury, Venus, INIars, Jupiter, and Saturn)
and also the Sun and Moon, sustain man by a fiery
and eternal agitation, as if he were a minor world,
so that the animal made in imitation of the world
might be governed by an essence similarly divine.'"
Manilius also has a similar passage.
" What wonder is it for man to know the world
(the universe) since the world is in him, and that
each one is on a small scale (like the world) the
image of God ! " -
And here will be a fit place to say a few
words on this remarkable astrological poem and its
author.
Of Manilius himself, but little is known ; his very
name is a matter of doubt, some calling him Marcus
Manilius, and others Cains Manlius or IMallius ; his
country is not known, and it is only from some
singularities of expression that he is generally con-
sidered as a foreigner. That he wrote towards the
end of the reign of Augustus is tolerably clear from
internal evidence, but none of the authors flourish-
ing in that age make any mention of JSlanilius, and
Pingre even supposes that the Astronomies being
an unfinished work, was not published by its author,
nor indeed till the reign of Constantine : that the
MS. then fell into the hands of Julius Firmicus
Maternus, and was by him given to the world.
The work itself is a- compendium of Astrology,
for at the period when it was written. Astronomy
imphed very little else. The first book treats of
' Julius Firmicus Matcmus, Math., III.
* — Quid mirum noscere mundum,
Si posseiit homines quibus est ct mundus in ipsis,
Exemplumque Dei quisquis est in imagine parva."
32 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the sphere, and opens with some remarks as to the
earliest astronomers and astrologers.
The poet then speaks of cosmogony, of the ele-
ments and the constellations, proves the existence
of a God by the regular motion of the heavenly
bodies, and concludes by some magnificent descrip-
tions of comets and their disastrous consequences,
descriptions which, however, are as far as possible
from astronomical truth. ^
And sometimes fires flash througli the liquid air,
From thinnest ether sprung : sudden to rise,
And kindle in the sky, and swift to fail, —
Comets, by ages far apart, are seen.
* » » ■ «•
Now like a mane loose-flowing from the neck.
Streams forth the imitative flame, in wreaths
Of thin bright burning hair it pours its light.
* * * *
Such woes portended oft the comet's blaze ;
Death with their lustre comes — they threat the earth
With endless pyres. The world and nature's self,
Sick at the sight, seem but a ready tomb.
In the second book we find the astrological properties
of the signs, aspects, and houses detailed after a similar
plan to that of later astrologers, but rather more
simply. The third book continues these subjects, and
gives a variety of astrological rules, which do not, as
' Sunt etenim raris arti natalibus ignes
Aera per liquidum ; natos que perire cometas,
Protenus, et raptim subitas candcscere flammas,
Rara per ingentes viderunt secula motus.
n * * *
Nam modo ceu longi fluitent de vertice crines
Flamma comas imitiita volat ; tenuesque capillos,
DifFusus Kidiis ardentibus explicat ignis.
* * * »
T.alia significant lucentos sa,'pe Cometae,
Funera cum facibus veniunt, terrisque minantur,
Ardentes sine fine rogos, cum niundus et ipsa
iEgrotet natura novum sortita sepulchrum.
Lib. i. prop, ad fin.
ORIGIN OF ASTROLOGY. .33
might reasonably be expected, add much to the
poetry of the work. The fourth book gives the in-
fluence of the signs on human fortune, and the fifth
that of extra-zodiacal constellations, but as an extract
may be pleasing on these subjects, we take the de-
scription of the sign Sagitta.*
" But see the arrow arising with the eighth de-
gree of the balance. This sign gives the art of
lancing the javelin with the hand, the arrow with
the bow, the stone with the sling, to strike the
bird on its highest flight, or with a triple harpoon
to strike the fish in his fancied security. Under
what constellation can I better place the birth of
Teucer, on what other part of the heaven shall we
seek for thine, oh ! Philoctetes. The first, with
his bow and his arrow, kept off* the torch of Hec-
tor, who was about to cast his devouring fire upon
' Sed parte octava surgentem ceme sagittam
Chelarum, dabit et jaculam torquere lacertis,
Et calamura nervis, glebas et mittere virgis,
Pendentemque suo volucrem deprendere coelo,
Cuspide vel triplici securum figere piscem.
Quod potius dederim Teucro sidusve, geiiusve ?
Teve, Philoctete, cui malim credere parti ?
Hectoris ille faces arcu teloque fugavit,
Mittebat qui atros ignes in mille carinas ;
Hie sortem pharetra Trojee bellique gerebat,
Major et armatis hostis subsederat exul.
Quinetiam ille pater tali de sidere cretus
Esse potest, qui serpentem super ora cubantem,
Infelix, nati, somnumque animumque libentem,
Sustinuit misso petere ac prostemere telo.
Ars erat esse patrem ; vicit natura periclum,
Et pariter juvenem somnoque ac morte levavit,
Tunc iterum natiuu, et fato per somnia raptum.
Lib. V. 293—310.
This last incident has been told in many ways, and I cannot help think-
ing the apple of Tell to be merely a variation of a popular legend. A
similar adventure, however, actually befell a Dutch boor at the Cape of
Good Hope, only a lion took the plaoe of the serpent and a rifle of the
arrow.
c 5
34 THE TWIN GIANTS.
a thousand ships ; the other bore in his quiver the
fate of Troy and of the war, and sat down a
greater foe, though an exile, than armed enemies.
Surely under the arrow was born that father who
had the courage to shoot and the skill to destroy
a serpent stretched on the face of his sleeping son,
and which was at once devouring his sleep and
his life. His art was paternal love. Nature con-
quered the danger, and saved the child at once from
sleep and death, who may then be said to have
been a second time born and snatched in sleep from
fate."
Of all the sciences, "falsely so called," Astrology
is the most poetical ; and the idolatry of which it
forms a part, is of all forms of false worship, the
purest and most rational. Looking to the cloudless
sky of Asia studded with a thousand stars, the Baby-
lonian bowed the knee, though not to the Creator
himself, yet to the most glorious of the Creator's
works. It was something in the darkness of that
age to have selected representations of the Deity so
sublime. It was something to have been so im-
pressed with the greatness and holiness and power
of the One Supreme, as to seek for mediators ; it
was something more, to consider those bright and
beautiful worlds as his ministers, as intelligences of
power and benignity, and as interposing spirits be-
tween the awful and inaccessible Deity, and His
frail perishing creatures. In subsequent times Astro-
logy, like Idolatry, became grosser. It deteriorated
with the star-worship from which it originated. The
forgeries of later ages ever referred to a greater an-
tiquity than the science itself; and Adam, says tra-
ORIGIN OF ASTROLOGY. 35
dition, was the first astrolog-er. To commemorate
the events which hy his skill in this science he had
foretold, Seth^ his son, knowing that everything on
earth should perish, either by a fire, or by a general
deluge, and fearing lest astronomy and philosophy
should be effaced from the remembrance of men and
be buried in oblivion, engraved his father's knowledge
on two columns ; one of brick, and the other of
stone, that if the waters should destro}'^ the former,
the latter might remain ; and if the fire should cal-
cine the latter, the former might endure and in-
struct the human race in astronomical knowledge.
This column of stone, says Josephus, is still to be
seen in the Siridiac land. In the works of Manetho,
who lived three hundred years before Josephus, the
same column is noticed as existing in the same land ;
and Manetho declares that he had seen it ; but he
says that the column was engraved by the first
Thoth^ in the sacred language and in hieroglyphical
characters; that after the deluge, the son of the second
Thoth translated the inscription into the " language
of the priests," and wrote it in sacerdotal characters.
Now Thoth, or Hermes Trismegistus, is said by
many to have been the inventor of Astrology, and
hence we have this same column referred to by the
' " But what was inscribed on the columns of Seth ? The science of
the Heavens, if we credit Josephus ; the prophecy of the antedihivian
worid's destruction, if we agree with Berosus ; a knowledge of curious
things and certain arts of magicians, if we trust to Serenus ; the seven
liberal arts engraven on seven brazen and brick pillars, if we give our
assent to Petrus Comestor." — Olaus Borichius, Dissertation on the Riic
and Progress of C liemistry. — Sec Mangetus, fol. edit. i. 5.
' Thoth, as Jablonski observes, signifies a pillar ; and Galen says,
" Every invention in the arts which is approved by the common consent
of the learned, is engraved on pillars situated in sacred places, but without
any mention of the author's name." — Galen. Cont. Jul., i. I.
36 THE TWIN GIANTS.
writers on the Cabala as preserving all occult know-
ledge, ascribed both to Thotli and Adam.
In times much later than those of Josephus, we
have the same tradition, a little altered, in the
writings of Ammianus Marcellinus.
" It is affirmed, that the Egyptian priests, versed
in all the branches of religious knowledge, and ap-
prised of the approach of the deluge, were fearful
lest the Divine worship should be eifaced from the
memory of man. To preserve the memory of it,
therefore, they dug in various parts of the kingdom
subterranean winding passages, on the walls of
which they engraved their knowledge, under dif-
ferent forms of animals and birds, which they call
hieroglyphics, and which are unintelligible to the
Romans."
Among early Egyptian astrologers, Petosiris and
Necepso, the latter of whom was king of Egypt,
occupy a distinguished place. The former of these
is spoken of in terms of great praise by Manetho,
who acknowledges himself his disciple, and styles
him a most beloved man. Manetho, however, was
his disciple at a great distance of time, for Athengeus^
says, that Petosiris is mentioned by Aristophanes.
So great was his celebrity in subsequent times, that
his name was used as a generic name for astrologers,"
and, indeed, not without cause ; for Ptolemy,^ who
calls him o uoyjxiog^ states that he and Necepso were
the first observers of climacterical years. He wrote a
' Lib. iii. p. 114.
* Juvenal, Sat. vi. 580.
^gra licet jaceat, capiendo nulla videtur
Aptior hora cibo, nisi quam dederit Petosiris.
^ Tetrabibl. Ptolemaei.
ORIGIN OF ASTROLOGY. 37
treatise on the mysteries of the Egyptians,' and so
much weight was attached, in his own time, to his
predictions, that when he had foretold the death
of a contemporary, the individual, feeling sure that
his fate was sealed, hung himself." Together with
his friend and royal correspondent Necepso, he has
received the eulogium of Firmicus Maternus, who
attributes to them the discovery of the planetary
positions at the beginning of the present mundane
period. '^ Those divine men,"" says that writer,
"• Petosiris and Necepso, who deserve all possible
admiration, and whose wisdom approached to the
very penetralia of Deity, scientifically delivered to
us the geniture of the world, that they might de-
monstrate and show that man w^as fashioned con-
formably to the nature and similitude of the w'orld,
and that he is under the dominion of the same
principles by which the world itself is governed and
contained, and is perennially supported by the compa-
nions of perpetuity " (that is the stars). These astro-
logers flourished, according to Fabricius, about the be-
ginning of the Olympiads, — they obtained their know-
ledge from ^sculapius, whose work ^slv^ioyzvisic, is
mentioned by Firmicus,^ but of whom little else is
known, and from Anubius, who, according to Salma-
sius, was a very ancient poet, and wrote an elegy " de
Horoscopo,"^ — these, however, -^sculapius and Anu-
bius, are so ancient that Firmicus^ expressly states
that they were the immediate disciples of Hermes,
who communicated to them by revelation the secrets of
' See Suidas. ^ Antholog. ii. 6.
^ Thema Mundi. Mathesis, iii.
* Salraas. de annis dim. 87, 602, &c.
* Thema Mirndi . see Taylor's Ocellus Lucanus.
38 THE TWIN GIANTS.
astrological science. From the same authority, the
M.v^ioyii/i(Tig seems to have been an attempt to prove
the sameness of planetary rule over mundane periods,
and over the fortunes of men. This was done by
comparing a multitude of genitures, whence the
title of the book.
Here it may be noticed, that, though the testimony
of Manetho be the most ancient, yet that of Josephus
is the most deserving of attention, because he was
in a situation to preserve ]purer accounts of ancient
traditions than Manetho. Before the legend came
into the hands of the other, it had been corrupted
by transplantation, and by the time that it reached
Ammianus, it was yet further corrupted by the
lapse of several centuries. Manetho has unfortu-
nately omitted to state where the Siridiac land was
situated, — an oversight the more to be lamented as
nobody else seems ever to have known. The true
value of the passages, both of Josephus and Manetho,
consists in this, — that it shows the custom to have
prevailed in extreme antiquity of engraving dis-
coveries on pillars. According to Jablonski,^ Thoth
signifies a pillar. This explanation clears away at
once all the difficulty as to Hermes Trismegistus.
It shows us how persons separated by many ages
may have been taught by Thoth. It proves that
this personification of wisdom was not a man, how-
ever wise, but the collective discoveries of the wisest
of mankind, having given to this personification, the
title of " thrice greatest," or Trismegistus.
It was said, that Hermes had written thirty thou-
sand volumes,^ " a circumstance"" which the authors
• Panth. Egypt. ' Art. ' Hermes' Gen. Biogr.
ORIGIN OF ASTROLOGY. 39
of the " Creneral Bioo-raphy "" gravely inform us " we
need not scruple to reckon among the fables of an-
tiquity." It is easy, by the above explanation, to see
why so many volumes were ascribed to him, espe-
cially when we consider, which Galen expressly
asserts, that the discoveries engraven on pillars had
not the names of their authors. The idea which the
writers of the " General Biography " have adopted,
namely that Thoth was a distinguished man, who, by
his learning and inventions, first civilized Egypt, will
appear totally absurd, if we reflect on the discoveries
attributed to him ; for Diodorus says, — " All the
sciences, institutions, and arts were invented by
Thoth." The three Thoths seem to refer to three
eras. The Egyptians placed the most ancient before
the deluge. This marked the infancy of human
knowledge ; for though it can hardly be believed,
that they possessed monuments which had really
survived that tremendous event, yet some of their
pillars bore, no doubt, reference to events which had
happened before the flood, and of which the memory
was preserved by tradition. The second Thoth de-
notes the attainments of that era when chronology
and astronomy began to be studied with success,
when the hieroglyphics were translated into the sa-
cerdotal and enchorial characters, when law and reli-
gion became fixed establishments. The third denotes
the perfection of arts, sciences, and religion ; a state
to which the Egyptians deemed they had attained ;
and to the personified wisdom of their own age they
applied the magnificent epithet, " thrice greatest."
That all knowledge, and particularly all occult know-
ledge, was communicated through xVdam to his imme-
40 THE TWIN GIANTS.
(liate descendants, was afterwards gradually corrupted,
and, at last, entirely lost, was a notion that pre-
vailed extensively among the students of the Cabala.
They, therefore, while they agreed as to the existence
of the before-mentioned columns, ascribed their erec-
tion, not to Hermes, but to Adam, and here is the
solution of the identification of the one with the other
so frequently found in their works. Moses, who was
learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, was
fabled to have been a profound Astrologer, Abraham
and Joseph have had the same reputation attached
to their names, and Solomon, the wisest of men, was
also the most accomplished of Astrologers. The his-
tory of the science, as it is called, we shall pursue in
another chapter ; but it seemed necessary, first, to
state its real and fabulous origin, and then, to give
an account, necessarily brief, but suflftcient for the
present purpose, of Astrology itself, its pretensions and
principles, before speaking of the progress which it
made, and the causes which led to its downfall.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 41
CHAPTER III.
OF ASTROLOGY CONSIDERED AS A SCIENCE.
Although it will not be needful in an age like
the present to expend one argument on the question,
"whether there be any truth in Astrology or not, it
will be both useful and entertaining to give a slight
sketch of the science itself; to show the grounds
upon which it proceeded, and the way in which its
rules were applied. We have already noticed the
influence attributed to the stars, — an influence for
which they were indebted to Mythology, and which
belief was the foundation of Astrology ; yet when
the division^ of the heavens into constellations was
made for astronomical purposes, aud with reference
rather to physical science and Natural history, than
to Astrology; — when the division was made, the
professors of this science found in it much which
might be turned to account ; and with regard to
deities supposed to reside in the planets, they had
but to refer to the heavenly body the character
and inclinations of the deity. This being done,
different nations and different cities being portioned
out among the signs and the planets, and the govern-
ment of every day taken hour by hour by the
planets in turn, it was deemed evident that an in-
dividual born, for instance, under the planetary rule
of Saturn, must be more or less influenced by the
' Univ. Myth. p. 20 ; and Creuzer, SjTnbolik, &c. vol. i.
42 THE TWIN GIANTS.
known dispositions of the spirit informing that
body.
The ISIundi Thema of Julius Firmicus Maternus
is an attempt to fix the geniture of the world, which
having, as he supposes, satisfactorily done, he goes
on to observe that various planets ruled over the
world in order, and in the reverse order over the
several periods of man's life ; the first period was
subject to the government of Saturn,^ and in ac-
cordance with the stern and harsh character of this
god, so the sway of the planet bearing his name
produced a barbarous state of society. " After
Saturn, Jupiter received periodical power." Under
his rule, mankind became gradually assembled
into societies, and subject to laws. Under Mars,
' "For because the first origin of the world was uncultivated, and
rude, and savage through rustic association, and also because barbarous
men having entered on the first vestiges of light, and which were un-
known to them, were destitute of reason in consequence of having aban-
doned humanity, these divine men were of opinion that this rustic and
barbarous time was Saturnian, that, in imitation of this star, the beginning
of life might be characterized by barbaric and inhuman ferocity." —
Taylor's Translations.
This Saturnian period must not be confounded with the golden age,
which was also figured under the rule of Saturn, and which formed a
part of another allegory. The latter Platonists endeavoured to reconcile
the two, and were, if possible, even more unintelligible for the attempt.
See Damascius (apud Phot.) Proclus comment, on Hesiod, and Taylor's
Plato, vol. V. p. G75.
The Treatise de Revol. Nativ. ascribed to Hermes, observes, Lib. i.
p. 215. The dominion of the planets over the ages of man is as follows :
— The Moon governs the first age, which consists of four years. Mer-
cury governs the second, which consists of ten years. Venus the third,
and this extends to eight years. The Sun the fourth, and this age consists
of nineteen years. Mars the fifth, which consists of fifteen years.
Jupiter the sixth, of twelve years; and Saturn governs the remaining
period. Proclus, in his Commentary on the first Alcibiades of Plato,
says the same thing, adding reasons obvious enough for such a distribu-
tion. " And thus much," says he, " we have discussed in order to
procure belief that letters and the whole education of youth are suspended
from the mercurial series."
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 43
the arts, architecture, aud manufactures began to
flourish ; and under Venus, the influence of Phi-
losophy, and the sanctions of religion were added.
" Hence they were of opinion that this time, in
which the manners of men were cultivated by learn-
ing, and naturally formed to rectitude by the several
disciplines, was under the dominion of Venus, so
that being protected by the majesty of this joyful
and salutary deity, they might govern their erro-
neous action by the ruling power of Providence."
The last period is under the rule of Mercury, and
during it mankind, having attained great intellectual
power, became corrupt and wicked.
" And because the noble genius in man could not
preserve uniformly one course of life, the improbity
of evil increased from various institutes, and confused
manners, and the crimes of a life of wickedness pre-
vailed ; hence the human race in this period both
invented and delivered to others more enormous
machinations. On this account these wise men
thought that this last^ period should be assigned
to Mercury, so that, in imitation of that star, the
human race might give birth to inventions replete
with evil."
Maternus himself, however, believed that the world
never had a beginning, and calls " the geniture of
the world " a fabulous device, wishing to be under-
stood as referring, not to the beginning of the uui-
' This last period was to be succeeded by a general purification called
the apocatastasis, and which produced first a conflagration and then a
deluge, which things were of periodical recurrence. Proclus and others
busied themselves to find astronomical causes for these periodical con-
flagrations and floods, and by their theory of the great winter and tlie
great summer, seem to have succeeded to their satisfaction. — See the
Scholia of Olympiodorus on Aristotle's Treatise on Meteors.
44 THE TWIN GIANTS.
verse, but to the commencement of a certain series
of periods, bounded at either end by what was called
the greater mundane apocatastasis. A curious pas-
sage touching the transition from one such period
(not one such series of periods) into another, is
to be found in Plutarch's Life of Sylla.^
The signs, too, were supposed to be equally in-
fluential, and the fixed stars little less so. We shall
now give the effects attributed to the signs and the
planets, and then show in what manner they were
supposed to be ascertained in individual cases.
First, then, as to the signs. It should be stated
that these characteristics and powers are collected
from a great variety of authors ; but if the reader is
desirous of seeing yet more, he may consult Lilly's
" Christian Astrology,"" which has been here used
as a text-book.
Aries r, the house of Mars, and exaltation of the
Sun, or the first sign of the zodiac, is a vernal, dry,
fiery, masculine, cardinal, equinoctial, diurnal, move-
able, commanding, eastern, choleric, violent, and
quadrupedian sign. These epithets will be presently
explained. The native, that is, the person born
under its influence, is tall of stature, of a strong but
spare make, dry constitution, long face and neck,
' But the greatest of all (the signs prior to the civil wars) was the fol-
lowing. On a cloudless and clear day, the sound of a trumpet was heard
80 acute and mournful, as to astonish and terrify by its loudness all who
heard it. The Tuscan wise men and soothsayers, therefore, declared
that this prodigy signified the mutation into, and commencement of,
another age. For, according to them, there are eight ages, dittcring from
each other in lives and manners, (';icli of which is limited by divinity to a
certain time of duration, aiul the number of years in which this time con-
sists, is bounded by the period of the great year. Hence, when one age
is finished and another is about to connnence, a certain wonderful sign
will present itself, either from the earth or tiie heavens.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 45
thick shoulders, piercing eyes, sandy or red hair,
and brown complexion. In disposition he will be
warm, hasty, and passionate. The aspects of the
planets may, however, materially alter these effects.
This sign rules the head and face. Among diseases it
produces small-pox, and epilepsy, apoplexy, head-
ache, hypochondriasis, baldness, ringworm, and all
diseases of the head and face ; paralysis, fevers,
measles, and convulsions. It presides over the fol-
lowing countries : — Enolaud, France, Germany,
Syria, Switzerland, Poland, and Denmark ; and
over the cities of Naples, Capua, Padua, Florence,
Verona, Ferrara, Brunswick, Marseilles, Csesarea,
and Utrecht. Its colors are red and white.
Now to explain this jargon, before examining an-
other sign ; there are said to be four triplicities among
the signs, viz. : the earthy triplicity, including Taurus,
Virgo, and Capricorn. The airy, which includes
Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. The fiery, under which
are reckoued Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius ; and the
watery, which claims Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.
The signs are further divided into diurnal and noc-
turnal : — Aries diurnal, Taurus nocturnal, and soon
alternately, the diurnal signs being all masculine, and
the nocturnals feminine. The terms tropical, equi-
noctial, vernal, &c., need no comment. Fixed, com-
mon, moveable, refer to the weather. Signs which
are named after quadrupeds are of course quadrupedal.
Such as are called after human states or occupa-
tions are humane. Now a person born under a fiery
masculine diurnal sign, is hot in temper, and bold
in character. If it be a quadrupedal sign, he is some-
what like to the animal after which the sign is called.
46 THE TWIN GIANTS.
Thus in Taurus, the native is bold and furious ; in
Leo, fierce and cruel. Cardinal signs are those occupy-
ing the four cardinal points. The first six from Aries
are termed commanding ; and the latter six, obeying
signs. Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, are -called fruit-
ful, or prolific ; and Gemini, Leo, and Virgo, barren.
Sagittarius, because usually represented as a centaur,
is said to be humane, and productive of a humane cha-
racter in the former fifteen degrees, — but of a savage,
brutal, and intractable disposition in the latter.
Having said thus much of the signs, we shall now
proceed with their supposed powers. Taurus is
cold and dry, earthy, melancholy, feminine, fixed
and nocturnal, southern, the night-house of Venus.
When influential in a nativity, it usually produces
a person with a broad forehead, thick lips, dark
curling hair ; of quality rather brutal, melancholy,
and slow to anger ; but when once enraged, violent,
furious, and difficult to be appeased. The diseases
under this sign are all such as attack the throat, scro-
fula, quinsey, imposthumes, and wens. The sign rules
the neck and throat. Places subject to it are stables,
cowhouses, cellars, and low rooms ; and all places
used for, or by cattle. Of kingdoms, Russia, Ireland,
Sweden, Persia, and Parthia ; and of cities, Leipsic,
Parma, Mantua, Novogorod, and eleven others-
Gemini n is masculine and diurnal, aerial, hot, and
moist. The native is tall, and straight of body, with
long arms ; the hands and feet well formed ; the
complexion rather dark, the hair brown, the eye
hazel ; strong and active in person, sound and acute
in judgment; lively, playful, and generally skilful
in business. Diseases under this sign are those to
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 47
which the arms, hands, and shoulders are subject,
with aneurisms, frenzy, and insanity. Places : hillv
and high grounds, the tops of houses, wainscoted
rooms, halls and theatres, barns, storehouses, and
stairs. Kingdoms : Armenia, Brabant, Lombardy,
Sardinia, and Egypt. Cities; London, Bruges, Cor-
dova, Mentz, and seven others. It is the dav-house of
Mercury, and rules the colours red and white. Can-
cer s is the only house of the moon, and the first sign
of the watery northern triplicity. It is a watery,
cold, moist, phlegmatic, feminine, moveable, nocturnal,
solstitial, and exceedingly fruitful sign ; more so than
any other. The native is fair and pale, short and
small ; the upper part of the body larger in propor-
tion to the lower ; a round face, light hair, and blue
or grey eyes ; phlegmatic, and heavy in disposition ;
weak in constitution, and of a small voice. Diseases :
all disorders of the breast and stomach, over which
parts the sign rules ; cancers, consumption, asthma,
dropsy, and surfeits. Kingdoms : Scotland, Holland,
-Zealand, Burgundy, Numidia, and Carthage. Places :
the sea, and all rivers, swamps, ponds, lakes, wells,
ditches, and watery places, Cities : Constantinople,
Tunis, York, and New York, Genoa, Venice, Algiers,
Amsterdam, Cadiz, and sixteen others. The colors
ruled by this sign are green and russet.
Leo 52 is a sign of a very different nature. It
is the only house of the sun ; fiery, hot, dry, mascu-
line, choleric, commanding, eastern, and a very
barren sign. When this sign ascends in a nativity
the individual will be of a tall and powerful frame,
well-shaped, of an austere countenance, of light, yel-
lowish hair, large piercing eyes, commanding aspect,
48 THE TWIN GIANTS.
and ruddy complexion. The character will be fierce
and cruel : but yet open, generous, and courteous.
Such was Richard Coeur-de-Lion. But the latter
part of the ?ign is weaker, and more brutal. This
sign is even more modified by planetary influences
than any others. Among diseases it causes all
aiFections of the heart, over which, together with
the back and the vertebroe of the neck it rules ;
fevers, plague, jaundice, and pleurisy. Of places, it
governs woods, forests, deserts, and hunting-grounds,
fire-places and furnaces. Of kingdoms : Italy, Chal-
d»a, Turkey, and Bohemia. Of cities: Bath, Bristol,
Taunton, Rome, Damascus, Prague, Philadelphia,
and nineteen others. Its colors are red and green.
Virgo y^ is an earthy, cold, dry, barren, feminine,
southern, melancholy, commanding sign. It is the
house and exaltation of Mercurv. The native is
handsome and well-shaped, slender, of middle stature,
and of a clear ruddy or brown complexion, dark
hair and eyes, the face rather round and the voice
sweet and clear, but not strong; the character
amiable and benevolent, witty and studious, but
not persevering ; and if not opposed by planetary
aspects, apt to oratory. This sign rules the viscera,
and is answerable for all diseases affecting them.
Of places : corn-fields and granaries, studies and
libraries. Of kingdoms: Greece, Crete, Mesopo-
tamia and Assyria. Of cities; Jerusalem, Paris,
Corinth, and twelve others. Its colors ai*e blue
and black. Libra £i: is a sign aerial, sanguine, hot,
moist, equinoctial, cardinal, moveable, masculine,
western and diurnal, humane, and the day-house of
Venus. The native is tall and well-made, verv
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 49
handsome, of a fine ruddy complexion in youth, but
■which changes to a deep red with advancing years.
The hair long and flaxen, the eyes grey, the dispo-
sition courteous, and the character just and upright.
Of kingdoms it governs Ethiopia, Austria, Portugal,
and Savoy ; and of cities, Antwerp, Frankfort,
Vienna, Charlestown in America, and twenty-seven
others. The colors which it rules are crimson and
tawny ; and of places, mountains, saw-pits, and
woods newly felled.
Scorpio m, the night-house of Mars, is a cold,
phlegmatic, feminine, nocturnal, fixed, northern, and
watery sign. The native is of a strong, robust,
corpulent body ; of a middle stature, broad visage,
dark but not clear complexion ; dark grey eyes, or
light brown ; black hair or very dark brown, short,
thick legs, and thick neck. Of places it governs
swampy grounds, and stagnant waters ; places which
abound in venomous creatures, orchards and ruinous
houses, especially near water. Of kingdoms : Fez,
Bavaria, Norway, and Mauritania. Of cities : Mes-
sina and eighteen others. Of colors : brown.
Sagittarius ^ is a fiery, hot, dry, masculine, diur-
nal, eastern, common, bicorporeal, obeying sign ; the
day-house and joy of Jupiter. The native is well-
formed and rather above the middle stature, with
fine chestnut hair, but inclining to baldness ; a visage
somewhat long but ruddy and handsome ; the body
strong, stout, and hardy; he is inclined to horse-
manship and field-sports, careless of danger, generous
and intrepid, but hasty and careless. This sign
rules the hips, and is the cause of gout, rheumatism,
and disorders which affect the muscles. Accidents
D
50 THE TWIN GIANTS.
and disorders occasioned by intemperance come
under the government of this sign. Of kingdoms :
Spain, Hungary, Sclavonia, and Arabia. Of places :
stables and parks ; and of colors, green and red.
Capricornus vf is an earthy, cold, dry, feminine,
nocturnal, moveable, cardinal, solstitian, domestic,
southern, quadrupedal sign ; the house of Saturn,
and the exaltation. The native is of slender stature,
long thin countenance, small beard, dark hair and
eyes, long neck, narrow chest and chin, tall usually
though not always ; in disposition, cheerful and col-
lected ; talented and upright. Ruling the knees
and hams, it governs all diseases which afflict them ;
and also all cutaneous diseases, such as leprosy, &c.,
and melancholy diseases such as hypochondriasis and
hysterics. The kingdoms which it rules are India,
Thrace, Mexico, and Saxony; and the cities Oxford,
Brandenburg, and nineteen more. The places over
which it has power are workshops and fallow
grounds, and its colors, black and brown.
Aquarius ro,; is an airy, hot, moist, rational, fixed,
humane, diurnal, sanguine, masculine, western, obey-
ing sign ; the day-house of Saturn. The native is a
well-made and robust person, rather above the middle
stature, long face, but of a pleasing and delicate
countenance, clear, bright complexion, with flaxen
hair, often sandy; of a disposition ftiir, open, and
honest. As this sign rules the legs and ankles, it
causes all diseases which affect them ; lameness,
white swelling, cramp, and gout. Of places, it de-
notes mines and quarries, aerostatic machines, roofs
of houses, wells, and conduits. Of kingdoms : Tar-
tarv, Denmark, and Westphalia; and of cities.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 51
Hamburgh, Bremen, and fifteen more. Its colors
are grey and sky-blue.
Lastly, Pisces 5< is a watery, cold, moist, feminine,
phlegmatic, nocturnal, common, bicorporeal, north-
ern, idle, effeminate, sickly, and extremely fruitful
sign, only less so than Cancer ; the house of Jupiter
and the exaltation of Venus. The native is short and
ill-shaped, fleshy, if not corpulent, with thick, round
shoulders, light hair and eyes, the complexion pale,
and the head and face large ; of a weak and vacil-
lating disposition, well-meaning but devoid of energy.
This sign rules the feet, and causes lameness and
every kind of disorder occasioned by watery humours.
Of places : all such as are under Cancer, save the sea
and rivers. Of kingdoms: Lydia, Calabria, Pam-
phylia, and Normandy. Of cities : Compostella,
Alexandria, Eheims, Eatisbon, and eleven others ;
and of colors, it rules white.
The influence and effects of the planets are still
more important than those of the signs ; and they are
as follows : — we commence with the most remote of
the planets, Uranus Ijl, which, fortunately for the
credit of astrologers, was not discovered till the
science was exploded. The^ days and hours are,
as we have seen, divided among the planets ; but as
none were left vacant, the appropriation of any to
Uranus would, of course, throw out almost all the
ancient calculations. If these then are to be pre-
' The Mexicans were addicted to Astrology, and a curious coincidence
obtained betweeen them and the ancient Egyptians with regard to the
intercalary days. Children bom on any of those five days were considered
unfortunate ; they had no guardian spirit, and were cilled Nemoquichtle, .
or unhappy, in order that these very names might bring to their remem-
brance how little they should trust to their stars. — Humbuldt, 7?es.
vol. i, p. 287.
52 THE TWIN GIANTS.
served, the newly-discovered planet has no influence ;
but if this be the case, by what analogy can any be
assigned to the others 1 However, when this question
was likely to be debated, Uranus was rolling on in
its far-off' orbit, and occasioning no uneasiness what-
ever to astrologers or magicians. Leaving out all
mention of the astronomical elements, we proceed to
notice that Uranus is by nature extremely cold and
dry, melancholy, and one of the infortunes. The
native is of a small stature, dark or pale complexion,
rather light hair, of a highly nervous temperament,
sedate aspect, but having something singular in his
appearance ; light grey eyes, and delicate constitu-
tion. If the planet be well dignified, he is a searcher
into science, particularly chemistry, and remarkably
attached to the wonderful. He possesses an extra-
ordinary magnanimity and loftiness of mind, with an
uncontrollable and intense desire for pursuits and dis-
coveries of an uncommon nature. If ill-dignified,
then the native is weak, sickly, and short-lived,
treacherous, and given to gross imposture, unfor-
tunate in his undertakings, capricious in his tastes,
and very eccentric in his conduct. No planet, save
Saturn, is so actively and powerfully malevolent as
this ; " his effects are truly malefic."^ They are,
however, of a totally unexpected, strange, and unac-
countable character. He rules over places dedicated
to unlawful arts, laboratories, &c. The regions under
his immediate governance are Lapland, Finland, and
the Poles. Professions : Necromancers and Geotic
Magicians. Cities : Upsal and Mexico. The name
of his angel has not been found out, but he is known
' See Lilly's Christian Astrologj-, art. 'Saturn.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 5
o
to be very hostile to the female sex ; and u'hen his
aspects interfere in the period of marriage, the result
is anything but happiness.
Saturn h is by nature cold and dry ; is a melan-
choly, earthy, masculine, solitary, diurnal, malevolent
planet, and the great infortune. When he is lord of
the ascendant, the native is of a middle stature, the
complexion dark and swarthy, or pale ; small black
eyes, broad shoulders, black hair, and ill-shaped
about the lower extremities. When well dignified,
the native is grave and wise, studious and severe, of
an active and penetrating mind, reserved and patient,
constant in attachment, but implacable in resent-
ment, upright and inflexible ; but if the planet be ill-
dignified at the time of birth, then the native will be
sluggish, covetous, and distrustful ; false, stubborn,
malicious, and ever discontented. This planet is said
to be well dignified in the horoscope of the Duke of
Wellington, and to have been ill dignified, but singu-
larly posited, in that of Louis XI. of France. The
diseases he signifies are quartan agues, and such as
proceed from cold and melancholy ; all impediments
in the sight, ear, and teeth ; rheumatism, consump-
tion, disorders affecting the memory, the spleen, and
the bones. Saturn, in general, signifieth husband-
men, day-labourers, monks, Jesuits, sectarians, sex-
tons, and such as have to do with the dead ; gar-
deners, dyers of black, and thirty- three other
professions, which Lilly enumerates. He mentions
also forty-eight plants, including all anodynes and
narcotic poisons, which are under the rule of this
planet. Among animals, the cat, the ass, hare,
mole, mouse, wolf, bear, and crocodile. All serpents
54 THE TWIN GIANTS.
and venomous creatures. Among fishes, the eel,
tortoise, and shell-fish ; among the birds, the bat,
and the owl ; among metals and minerals, lead, the
loadstone, and all dross of metals ; over the sapphire,
lapis lazuli, and all stones that are not polishable, and
of a leaden or ashy colour.
" He causeth the air to be dark and cloudy, cold
and hurtful, with thick and dense vapors. He
delighteth in the eastern quarter, causing eastern
winds ; and in gathering any plant belonging to him
the ancients did observe to turn their faces to the
east in his hour. Those under him do rarely live
beyond fifty-seven years ; and if he be Avell placed,
seldom less than thirty. But his nature is cold and
dry, and these qualities are destructive to man.
Black is the color which he ruleth. Of countries
under his influence are Bavaria, Saxony, and Styria ;
Ravenna, Constance, and Ingoldstadt, among cities.
His friends are Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury; his
enemies, the Sun and Venus. We call Saturday
his day, for then he begins to rule at sunrise, and
rules the first hour and the eighth of that day.^
His angel is Cassel."
' Upham, in his Hist, and Doctrine of Budhuism, gives the following
account of the planetary spirits as represented by the Burmese and
Singalese : —
1. Jupiter is a masculine planet, his houses are Sagittarius and Pisces,
he rules over the point between the cast and north ; he is crowned and
holds in his hands a full pot ; ho rides upon a lion, and is of a golden
color, and nine hundred yodoons high ; his influeufC is benevolent.
2. The Sun is a niastuline planet dwelling in Leo, and ruling over the
east ; he is of a bright copper color, six lacs of yodoons high, holds in his
hand a sirriwesseya (a kind of sword), and rides upon a horse ; he is
crowned and malevolent.
3. Venus is a benevolent and fcm;ilo planet ; she abides in Taurus and
Libra, and rules over the point between the east and south ; slie is
crowned, and holds a yak's tail in her liand, rides on a bull, and is of a
white color; she is twelve lacs of yodoons high.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 55
The next planet is Jupiter U. He is a diurnal,
masculine 2)lauet, temperately hot and moist, airy,
and sanguine. The greater fortune and lord of the
airy triplicity. The native, if the planet be well
dignified, will be of an erect carriage, and tall sta-
ture ; a handsome, ruddy complexion ; high forehead ;
soft, thick brown hair; a handsome shape and com-
manding aspect ; his voice will be strong, clear, and
manly ; and his speech, grave and sober. If the
planet be ill dignified, still the native will be what
is called a good-looking person, though of smaller
stature, and less noble aspect. In the former case,
the understanding and character will be of the
highest possible description ; and in the latter case,
4. Mars is a masculine and malevolent planet ; his houses are Aries
and Scorpio, his point the south ; he is crowned, and rides upon a pea-
cock, is of a red color, nine hundred yodoons high, and bears an un-
it urra.
5. Rahn rules over the point south-west, and is of a malevolent cha-
racter : he is of a fiery color, rides upon an ass, and is thirty-six
lacs of yodoons high ; holds in his hand a weapon like a fish.
6. Saturn is a malevolent planet, neither male nor female ; his signs are
Capricorn and Aquarius, his point west ; he is crowned, and of a black
color, rides upon a raven, and is three thousand yodoons in height ; in
his hand he holds a niandwattee.
7. The Moon is a feminine malevolent planet ; her house is Cancer, and
her point north-west ; she is of a white color, fifteen hundred yodoons
high, and is represented as riding on an elephant, with a crown on her
head, and a riband in her hand.
8. Budha, or Mercury, is a benevolent planet, and, like Saturn, neither
masculine nor feminine ; his signs are Gemini and Virgo, and his point of
the compass, the north: he is depicted as crowned and of a dark blue
color, riding upon a buifalo, and bearing in his hand a chank shell ; his
height is eight hundred yodoons.
9. Ketri, or Kehcttu, is a masculine energy, ruling the centre of the
world ; he is one killa of yodoons high, and is pictured as a vast serpent,
of a smoke color, with a human head crowned ; in his right hand he
holds a chain, and in his left a book ; he rides upon a cloud.
When a man is Uiken ill, and it appears from his iioroscope that his
sickness is to be attributed to planetary influence, then the shape of the
spirit ruling the planet which is the cause of the disease, is made according
to the above description ; the figure is of mud, and is held before the
patient, while certain formulae are repeated.
56* THE TWIN GIANTS.
tbough careless and improvident, immoral and irre-
ligious, he will never entirely lose the good opinion
of his friends. Yet he vrill be, as Sancho Panza
expresses it : — " Haughty to the humble, and humble
to the haughty." The diseases it rules are apoplexy
and inflammation of the lungs ; disorders affecting
the left ear, cramps, and palpitations of the heart.
Plants : the oak, spice, apples, and one hundred and
seventy-two others. Gems : topaz, amethyst, hya-
cynth, and bezoar. Minerals : tin, pewter, and fire-
stone. Animals: the ox, horse, elepbant, stag, and
all domestic animals. W^eather : pleasant, healthful,
and serene west-north, and north-east winds. Birds :
the eagle, peacock, pheasant, &c. Of fishes, he rules
the whale and the dolphin. Of colors : blue, when
well posited. Of professions : the clergy, the higher
order of law students, and those who deal in woollen
goods ; when weak, the dependents on the above,
with quacks, common cheats, and drunkards. Places:
all churches, palaces, courts, and places of pomp and
solemnity. He rules the lungs and blood, and is
friendly with all the j)lanets save Mars. Countries :
Spain, Hungary, and Babylon ; his angel is Zadkiel.
The next planet is Mars S ; a masculine, noctur-
nal, hot, and dry planet ; of the fiery triplicity ; the
author of strife, and the lesser infortune. The native
is short, but strongly made, having large bones,
ruddy complexion, red or sandy hair and eyebrows,
quick, sharp eyes, round, bold face, and fearless
aspect. If well dignified, courageous and invincible,
unsusceptible of fear, careless of life, resolute and
unsubmissive. If ill dignified, a trumpeter of his
own fame, without decency or honesty ; fond of
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 57
quarrels, prone to fightings, and given up to everv
species of fraud, violence, and oppression. Nero was
an example of this planet's influence ; and the
gallows is said to terminate most generally the
career of those born in low life under its government.
This planet rules the head, face, gall, left ear, and
the smell. Disease : plague, fevers, and all com-
plaints arising from excessive heat ; all wounds by
iron or steel, injuries by poison, and all evil effects
from intemperate anger. Herbs and plants: mustard,
radish, with all pungent and thorny plants. Gems :
the bloodstone, jasper, ruby, and garnet. Of mine-
rals : iron, arsenic, antimony, sulphur, and vermilion.
Animals : the mastiff, wolf, tiger, and all savage
beasts. Birds : the hawk, kite, raven, vulture, and
generally birds of prey. Weather: thunder and
lightning, fiery meteors, and all strange phenomena.
Kingdoms : Lombardy and Bavaria. Cities ; Jeru-
salem and Rome. He signifies soldiers, surgeons,
barbers, and butchers. Places : smiths"* shops, slaugh-
ter-houses, fields of battle, and brick-kilns. His
friends are all the planets, save the Moon and Ju-
piter. His color is red, and his angel is Samael.
We now come to the Sun 0, a masculine, hot,
and dry planet, of favorable effects. The native
is very like one born under Jupiter, but the hair
is lighter, the complexion redder, the body fatter,
and the eyes larger. AVhen well dignified, the solar
man is affable, courteous, splendid and sumptuous,
proud, liberal, humane, and ambitious. When ill
dignified, the native is arrogant, mean, loquacious,
and sycophantic ; much resembling the native under
Jupiter, ill dignified, but still worse. Diseases : all
J) 5
58 THE TWIN GIANTS.
those of the heart, mouth, and throat ; epilepsy,
scrofula, tympanitis, and brain fevers. Herbs and
plants : laurel, vervain, St. John's wort, orange,
hyacinth, and some hundreds besides. Gems : car-
buncle, the diamond, the a^tites. Minerals : gold.
Animals : the lion, the boar, the horse. Birds : the
lark, the swan, the nightingale, and all singing birds.
Fish : the star-fish, and all shell-fish. Countries :
Italy, Bohemia, Chaldsea, and Sicily. Of cities :
Rome. Color : yellow. Weather : that which is
most seasonable. Professions : kings, lords, and all
dignified persons ; braziers, goldsmiths, and persons
employed in mints. Places : king's courts, palaces,
theatres, halls, and places of state. His friends are
all the planets save Saturn ; and his angel is Michael.
The influences of the asteroids, Juno, Pallas,
Ceres, and Vesta, have never been calculated, but
they are said by modern astrologers to act benefi-
cially, but feebly.
The Moon ]) is a far more important planet ;
feminine, nocturnal, cold, moist, and phlegmatic.
Her influence in itself is neither fortunate nor un-
fortunate. She is benevolent or otherwise according
to the aspects of other planets towards her ; and
under these circumstances she becomes more powerful
than any of them. The native is short and stout,
with fair, pale complexion, round face, grey eyes,
short arms, thick hands and feet, very hairy but
with light hair ; phlegmatic. If the moon be af-
fected by the sun at the time of birth, the native
will have a blemish on or near the eye. When
the moon is well dignified, the native is of soft en-
gaging manners, imaginative, and a lover of the arts ;
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 59
but wandering-, careless, timorous, and unstable ;
loving peace, and averse from activity. Wben ill
dignified, then the native will be of an ill shape,
indolent, worthless, and disorderly. Diseases : palsy,
epilepsy, scrofula, and lunacy, together with all
diseases of the eyes. Herbs : lily, poppies, mush-
rooms, willow, and about two hundred others.
Minerals and gems : pearls, selenite, silver, and soft
stones. Color : white. Animals : the dos", the
cat, the otter, the mouse, and all amphibious crea-
tures. Birds ; the goose, duck, bat, and water-
birds in general. Fish : the eel, the crab, and the
lobster. Weather : she increases the effect of other
planets. Countries : Denmark, Holland, Flanders,
and North America. Cities : Amsterdam, Venice,
Bergen-op-Zoom, and Lubeck. Places : fountains,
baths, the sea, and all watery places. Professions :
queens and dignified women ; midwives, nurses, all
who have to do with water, save sailors. Her
angel is Gabriel.
Venus ? is a feminine planet, temperately cold
and moist, the author of mirth and sport. The
native is handsome, well-formed, but not tall ; clear
complexion, bright hazel or black eyes, dark brown
or chestnut hair, thick, soft, and shining ; the voice
soft and sweet, and the aspect very prepossessing.
If well dignified, the native will be cheerful, friendly,
musical, and fond of elegant accomplishments ; prone
to love, but frequently jealous. If ill dignified, the
native is less handsome in person and in mind,
altogether vicious, given up to every licentiousness ;
dishonest, and atheistical. Herbs and plants : the
fig-tree, myrrh, myrtle, pomegranate, and about
60 THE TWIN GIANTS.
two hundred and twenty more. Animals : the goat,
panther, hart, &c. Birds : the sparrow, the dove,
the thrush, and the wren. Gems : the emerald,
chrysolite, beryl, ehrysoprasus. Countries : Spain,
India, and Persia. Cities : Florence, Paris, and
Vienna. Mineral : copper. Color : green. Oc-
cupations : all such as minister to pomp and pleasure.
Weather : warm, and accompanied with showers.
Her angel is Hanael.
Mercury $ is the last of the planets which we
have to consider. He is masculine, melancholy,
cold, and dry. The native is tall, straight, and thin,
with a narrow face and high forehead, long straight
nose, eyes black or grey, thin lips and chin, scanty
beard, with brown hair ; the arms, hands, and fin-
gers, long and slender ; this last is said to be a
peculiar mark of a nativity under Mercury. If the
planet be oriental at the time of birth, the native
will be very likely to be of a stronger constitution,
and with sandy hair. If occidental, sallow, lank,
slender, and of a dry habit. When well dignified,
he will be of an acute and penetrating mind, of a
powerful imagination, and a retentive memory ; elo-
quent, fond of learning, and successful in scientific
investigation. If engaged in mercantile pursuits,
enterprising and skilful. If ill dignified, then the
native is a mean, unprincipled character, pretending
to knowledge, but an impostor, and a slanderer,
boastful, malicious, and addicted to theft. Diseases :
all that affect the brain, head, and intellectual facul-
ties. Herbs and ])lants : the walnut, the valerian,
the trefoil, and about one hundred more. Animals :
the dog, the ape, the weasel, and the fox. Weather :
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 61
rain, hailstones, thunder and lightning-, particularly
in the north. Occupations : all literate and learned
professions; when ill dignified, all pretenders, quacks,
and mountebanks. Places : schools, colleges, mar-
kets, warehouses, exchanges, all places of commerce
and learning. Metal : quicksilver. Gems : corne-
lian, sardonyx, opal, onyx, and chalcedony. His
color is purple. His friends are Jupiter, Venus,
and Saturn. His enemies. Mars, the Sun, and the
Moon. His angel is Raphael.
We have gone through all this matter, not only
because it is necessary to the proper understanding
of the groundwork of the science itself, but because
by means of these elements it is easy to show the
ideas with which the scheme has been gradually put
together, and the manner in which it mixed itself
with almost all the sciences cultivated in the middle
ages. To begin with the planet Saturn. His name
is that of a Roman deity, answering to the Greek
Chronos, or Time ; and though much exaggerated,
the effects attributed to the planet are but the
necessary consequences of time. But the deity pre-
sided over husbandmen and was the peculiar patron
of agriculture. For this cause it was that he
was represented with a scythe or sickle ; and
the Saxon divinity, Seterne, the same god under
a very slight change of name, bore not only the
sickle, but also a basket or pail filled with fruit
and flowers. The planet is therefore set over hus-
bandmen and agriculturists. Again, Saturn was in
an especial manner the deity of the aged. He who
superintended the reaping of the earth, reaped also
his own human harvest when fully ripe. This cast
a gloom over his character as an object of worship,
62 THE TWIN GIANTS.
which was increased by an idea of the stern, un-
relenting character of the banished god ; and which
all the fabled happiness of the golden age did not
obviate. We are not surprised then, to find Saturn
ruling old people, sextons, and clmrchyards. The
plants, also, and the animals sacred to the god, were
also consecrated to the planet. The Hindoos,^ repre-
sented the spirit of this planet as of a fierce and
dreadful figure. He rode upon a raven, and wore
a dark turban, loosely twisted round his brows. He
bore the scymitar, trident, bow and shaft of JNIaha-
deva. Yet he is said to be a form of Brahma.
They call him Sani ; and Major Moor observes, that
as the raven is accused of destroying its own young,
it forms a peculiarly appropriate " valian^'' or vehicle,
for the all-devouring Spirit of Time.
Now, there have been European descriptions of
the genius of each planet ; and that of Saturn, will
receive some little light from the Hindoo Sani. The
spirit of Saturn is represented with four faces, and
a human head on each knee (four in number) ; he
is tall, dark, and terrible. Brahma is represented,
when in his own shape, as having four heads ; Sani
has but one. In the European figure, the others
are' restored ; and as Sani is a character compounded
of Brahma and Mahadeva, so the gory human skulls
which Mahadeva bears, are here associated with his
terrible character. This is a coincidence worthy of
notice ; and the more so, as the figures assigned to
the genii of the planets may be found on the Basili-
dian gems. It appears, too, from this, that the name
of Saturn, or of some similar deity, was bestowed on
this planet on account of his distance from the foun-
' Christmas, Univ. Mytliol. p. 88.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 63
tain of light and heat ; and of his dull, cheerless
light ; and it would also seem that this had been
done before the establishment, or at least before
the completion of the Hindoo system ; otherwise,
we should not have had the benevolent Brahma
placed here as the ruler of a planet in which it
was necessary for him to assume the characteristics
of so different a deity as Mahadeva. The planet
governed by Brahma would have been benevolent
instead of the reverse, and Brahma himself might
have kept his character unaltered. The sign of the
planet h is a representation of the sickle borne by
the god from whom it takes its appellation. He
presides, we noticed, over the color black, and over
lead. Why the most gloomy of colors should be
attributed to the most distant of the planets, and
the most cheerless of the gods, may be readily
imagined. Lead, which the old chemists called by
the name, and represented by the character of this
planet, was so distingaiished on account of the black-
ness of surface which it acquired when exposed to
the air, and on account of its want of lustre. Even
now, preparations of lead are called Saturnine pre-
parations. There was a still further reason for this
in the sedative effect of these medicines ; all narcotics
and anodynes were peculiar to this planet. There
is a curious connexion with heraldry which the
planets have by means of their colors. Black, the
color of Saturn, is called on the arms of commoners,
sable; on those of peers, diamond, — a stone under the
rule of this planet ; and on those of princes, Saturn.
All the astrological characteristics of Jupiter may
be traced in the same way. In the figure assigned to
64 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the native, we see that which, amplified and rendered
awful by the genius of a Praxiteles, marked the
god. The same character, too, may be perceived ;
though it must be allowed that the god falls short
in moral grandeur, as much as the native does in
personal dignity and beauty. Whatsoever is grave,
and solemn, and dignified in profession or occupation,
is under the rule of Jupiter ; a planet which bears the
name of the chief among the gods.
At first sight one would be inclined to suppose
that the royal office would be signified by this planet.
But, considering the importance of religion, particu-
larly with regard to the father of gods and men,
there seems much propriety in making him preside
over the saperdotal character rather than the regal.
The bull is one of the animals under his rule, and is
so, on accoimt of the transformation of the god into
a bull, when he carried off Europa. The bull was
sacred to Zeus, and sacrificed to him of old. He
changed lo into an heifer, by which the appropriation
is made still more apposite. The ram is also an
animal which he governs; and an image, ^ under
which the presiding spirit of Jupiter was represented,
is that of a man having a ram's head, and eagle's
feet. Here we have the very figure of Jupiter
Ammon, save only the shape of the feet ; and we
recognise in the admixture of the eagle's form, the
consecration of that bird to the Thunderer. The
' Com. Agrippa, Occ. Phil, li . ii. cap. 39.
The Hindoo spirit of Jupiter is called Virispati, and is said to be a
form of Mahadeva ; yet, as the messenger of the gods, he partakes of the
nature of the Greek Hermes, and his character is benevolent. In fact,
Brahma and Mahavada have exchanged characters, when considered
under the names of Virispati and Sani,
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 65
forms attributed to the planetary Genii are, in fact,
produced by the rebarbarization of those which the
Greeks had given to the gods. Osiris, for instance,
was symbohcally represented by the hawk or eagle,
on account of the clear piercing vision and lofty
flight of that bird ; but when many of the attributes
of Osiris were transferred to Zeus, the Greeks were
too poetic, and too intellectual a people to worship a
bird; and their taste was too pure to mingle the
human and brute forms, as had been done among
the Egyptians. Leaving, therefore, this admixture,
which may be called the second stage of symboliza-
tion, they attributed to the god the most majestic of
human forms, and placed at his feet the symbolical
eagle. When the institution of Christianity had
banished the deities of Greece and Rome from their
temples, they still retained some hold on the imagi-
nation of the people ; and though no longer rever-
enced as deities, were looked upon with awe as
daemons of no common rank. In this change Judicial
Astrology shared ; and many of the angels supposed
to preside over the planets were among those who had
fallen from their allegiance ; but even in the early
ages of Christianity, Astrology grounded much of its
claim to respect upon its antiquity ; and it would
have been contrary to the spirit of a science, which
professed to be founded on eternal truth, to have
enthroned in the planets the rejected deities of the
Pantheon.
As, however, they were in fact the same as the
presiding influences, it became necessary to disguise
them, and this could in no way be better accom-
plished than by adopting the earlier and more symbo-
66 THE TWIN GIANTS.
lical forms. There was another advantage connected
with this ; it aoreed better with the system of
dagmonologj, which was being gradually introduced,
and by its greater degree of mysticism, it well suited
so mystic a science. The oak, as a tree sacred to
Zeus ; the vine, as the peculiar plant of Bacchus,
whose attributes are joined with those of his sire in
the planet ; the ivy, for the same cause ; and the
pine, are trees and plants of Jupiter. The amethyst,
which obtained its name from its supposed property
of preventing intoxication, bears a reference to
Bacchus ; and the sapphire, from its blue color,
may be imagined to represent the blue arch of
Heaven. These gems are, therefore, under the
government of Jupiter. The circumstance, that
some pigments of a bluish purple color have been
obtained from tin, seems the only reason why that
metal is also assigned to the same planet ; but the
color blue, called by heralds azure, on the shield of
commoners, takes the name of sap])hire on those of
peers ; and Jupiter, on those of princes. The
character 2/. was used by the ancient chemists to
signify tin, and preparations of that metal were
called Jovial.
In the character assigned to the person born under
Mars, the reader will find little more than a tran-
script of that given by Homer to Ares himself.
Even the external aspect, when the planet is well
dignified, is very much resembling that of the lord
of war. It is in the works of Homer that the Mars
of the astrologers is to be found, not in those of later
writers. Caraoens in his Lusiad has given a descrip-
tion which combines the attributes of Zeus and Ares.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 67
" Up proudly from his adamantine casque,
The Lord of War his burnish'd vizor threw,
With stately step and voice secure — to ask
Attention ; near the eternal throne he drew,
And on the soil of heaven's etherial blue,
Smote with the thunder's sound his iron lance.
Till even the undying spirits paler grew,
And the bright sun tum'd his replendent glance,
As if alarm'd away, or struck with sudden trance.'"
So majestic and dignified was not the Ares of
Homer. He was rather fierce than stern ; and more
properly the god of battle than of war. The chief
image" under which the presiding spirit of this planet
was depicted, was that of a man fully armed ; having
in his right hand a naked sword erected, riding on a
lion, and carrying in his left hand the gory head of a
man, — a figure and action perfectly suitable to the
savage character of the spirit, and the malefic influ-
ence of the planet. It may be observed, too, that
this planet has been made to preside over the third
day of the week ; and Ares corresponds therefore to
Tyr in the northern mythology. The description
given above by Camoens would do perfectly well for
the "terrible and severe god," Odin, who was pro-
perly the god of war; but not for Tyr, who, like
Ares, was merely a strong, fierce, and resolute
warrior ; neither wise, nor distinguished for other
qualities, than force and personal intrepidity. Beasts
of prey were supposed to be under his government,
all save the royal and magnanimous lion.
With the real character of this animal we have no-
thing to do ; the ancients esteemed him a noble and
generous beast, and accordingly they excepted him
' Lusiad, canto i. s. 1, 37.
' Corn. Agrippa, Occ. Phil. lib. ii. cap. 40.
68 THE TWIN GIANTS.
from the list, when they assigned the rule over pre-
datory animals to Mars. The cock among birds was
always the peculiar property of Ares. Those who re-
member no other instance of proof, cannot forget the
last words of Socrates. The cock, too, as a mark
of war, appeared on the helmet of the Saxon Irmin-
sula, and accordingly this bird is " under Mars."
The story of Alectryon, or, as he is generally called,
Grallus, will not be forgotten, — the confidant who
fell asleep on his post, when the honor of Aphrodite
was concerned in his watchfulness, and who was,
in consequence, changed into a cock by the indig-
nant Ares. Besides the cock, all birds of prey, save
the eagle ; all ravenous fishes, the fabled dragon, and
the no less fabulous cockatrice, are subject to this
violent and evil ])lanet. To him also are given all
places used for war, or making the instruments of
war ; all prickly and pungent herbs, and much
stormy weather. We have noticed that among
gems he rules the ruby, and among metals, iron and
arsenic ; the former on account of its color, which,
as the hue of blood, is appropriately assigned to the
causer of strife ; the latter because of the destructive
qualities of arsenic, and the use made of iron in
war. The character of Mars, c? , is merely an
arrow issuing from a globe ; and the chemists an-
ciently used this same symbol to signify iron, calling
the metal Mars, and preparations of it Martial.
Even now, a regulus of iron is called the martial
regulus ; and the red color of the oxyde forms an
additional reason for its assignment to this planet.
The fiery hue of the planet also agrees with all
these ; and hence of all planets it was the fittest to
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 69
represent in heraldry that color, which, on the coats
of commoners, gules ; on those of nobles, ruby ; takes,
when borne by princes, the name of Mars. The
moss-rose, both on account of its prickles and its
color, has been assigned to this planet, and affords
an instance of great exactness in the names given by
heralds to what they term the tinctures. Gules,
the word used for red, is derived from the Persian
ghul, a rose.
Venus, again, presides over a character which,
when the planet is well dignified, and the native
a female, resembles that given by the poets to
Venus Urania ; when ill dignified, to the more
popular, but licentious Venus Terrestris. The whole
influence of this planet is taken from the history
of the goddess ; for the heavenly body is, according
to astrologers, moderately cold and moist, whereas
the disposition of the native, the diseases, plants,
animals, and influences indicated by Venus, though
well agreeing with the Greek Aphrodite, bear cer-
tainly very little reference to a cold constitution, or
a cold climate. The spirit presiding over this most
beautiful of the celestial orbs, is figured by astro-
logers in three ^ ways ; one was that of a Avoman
with the head and feet of a bird, and holding a dart
in her hand ; another, of a naked female with her
hair loose, and a looking-glass in her hand, — a youth
holds her a willing captive by a chain round the
Beck, and a winged child with an arrow attends
them. The third was that of a maiden with long,
loose hair, clothed in long, white, shining garments,
and holding flowers in her hand. These are all, as is
' Com. Agrippa, Occ. Phil. lib. ii. cap. 42,
70 THE TWIN GIANTS.
evident on the first inspection, merely allegories.
They denote the rapidity and power of that passion
of which Aphrodite was the patroness, and over
which Venus rules. The second and third seem to
exhibit it in its forms, — one of mere voluptuousness,
another of pure attachment. After noticing roses,
and other sweet flowers. Astrologers mention the
mulberry as under the government of Venus. The
fable of Pyramus and Thisbe concludes by stating
that Aphrodite changed the color of that fruit
from white to red, because of the blood of these
lovers, which had been shed at the foot of the tree.
The myrtle was of course transferred from the
goddess to the planet ; and myrrh, on account of
the unhappy fate of Myrrha, was reckoned also
among her plants. Aphrodite may be considered
generally as the personified principle of animal love.
The chariot of Aphrodite was drawn by doves ; she
was attended by her son Eros ; and the idea was
preserved, in the astral images of Venus, as may
be noticed in the quotations above. She abhorred
blood ; and sweet flowers and incense were offered
to her instead of the bodies of animals. We should
expect, therefore, to find fragrant flowers and in-
cense, doves, pigeons, and sparrows, ruled by Venus,
and such is the case ; and when we also see oysters
and shell-fish among the animals which she claims,
we recollect the line of Juvenal :
" Grandia quae mediis jam noctibus ostrea mordet.'"
Green is the color ; coj)per the metal. The eme-
rald, chrysoprasus, chrysolite, and other green stones,
' Sat. vi. 1.301.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 7l
the gems assigned to Venus. The very name of
Aphrodite attests her origin : sprung from the sea-
foam, who could have so good a right to the color
and products of the sea as she ! Coral and similar
marine productions are, therefore, with great reason
apportioned to her; the most refreshing of hues is
given to the most benevolent of planets, and the
most lovely of goddesses. That copper is ascribed
to her, and her character,^ ? , used by the ancient
chemists to denote it, is chiefly on account of the
beautiful green color produced by the oxide of
that metal. The gems abovenamed owe their ap-
propriation to Venus entirely to their color. In
heraldry, the tincture called on the arms of com-
moners vert, is termed emerald when borne by noble-
men, and Venus when seen on the coats of princes.
It must not be forgotten that, among characters
ruled by this planet, that of the gamester appears.
Aphrodite was the patroness of gaming, and the
most fortunate throw with the dice was called after
her, Alma Venus. Among her friends (astrolo-
gically) are all the planets save Saturn ; a fit ex-
ception, when it is considered that Saturn signifies
Time, and is the patron of aged persons, and of old
age, a period of life when love is no longer the most
becoming, nor the most reasonable of all the pas-
sions.
' According to M. Plance, the sign or character of Venus $, repre-
sented the Tau or cross of the Egyptians, suspended from a chain or the
link of one, and that it signified Typhon-bound. This docs not seem a
very natural solution, particularly as the Tau was the emblem of deliver-
ance, and if applied to a chain would signify rather the sotting at liberty
of a captive, than the binding of an individuid before free. The same
writer makes the sign or character of Jupiter 2/- to be the sceptre en-
twined with a serpent, and thus to signify both royalty and life.
72 THE TWIN GIANTS.
Mercury ? , the smallest of the planets, and the
nearest to the Sun, comes next under consideration.
'It indicates, when well jDosited, a graceful and slen-
der person, of the same description as that assigned
by poets to the deity from whom his name is de-
rived. Here it is not in the Greek Hermes, so
much as in the Egyptian Thoth and Anubis, that
we are to look for mythological coincidences. Thoth,
or Hermes Trismegistus, the fabled author of all
learning, is represented in the astrological scheme
by this planet ; who is therefore described as the
giver of wit and eloquence. Under his congenial
rule all learned persons, all logicians, students and
professors of occult science are placed. All diseases
of the brain were referable to him ; and all medi-
cines that were beneficial in such cases. His astro-
logical^ image is merely a copy of the Greek Hermes
with the Caduceus, Petasis, and Talaria. Another
image represented him riding on a peacock, having
eagle's feet, and holding in his left hand a flame.
The dominion of Mercury is chiefly over the mind ;
his power is to cause, to excite, and to destroy
genius ; and he corresponds therein with Hermes,
whose power was over the soul. As the symbol
of his oflSce he bore a wand with serpents twined
round it, and having wings at the top. By this
he commanded the disembodied spirits ; he caused
sleep to fall on the body, and separated the soul
from its material dwelling ; with this he laid to
sleep the watchful Argus; and by this did he bring
spirits into the yet soulless bodies. This wand, the
caduceus, is represented by the astrological cha-
' Com. Agrippa, Oc. Phil. lib. ii. cap. 43.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 73
racter of the planet INIercury $ ; if the stroke be
carried through the whole figure, the resemblance
will be complete ^ thus $ .
The same analogy prevails between Mercury and
Anubis. The dog is under the rule of Mercury, and
points out the connection between the planet and
the dog-headed deity ; but Sirius, the chosen dwell-
ing of Anubis, is a star which astrologers say has
great influence ; and it is of the nature of Mercury,
A greater coincidence is, however, afforded by the
circumstance that Anubis was the constant attendant
of Osiris. Osiris is shown to be the Sun, and hence
we must look in an astrological scheme, founded on
astronomical idolatry, among the planets nearest to
the Sun for the representative of Anubis. Mercury,
who is that representative, is the nearest of all. The
reason that purple is given to this planet, is to be
found in the fact that the ancient purple was scarlet,
and the finest scarlet pigments are mercurial prepara-
tions ; it is also assigned to the Sun, together with
yellow ; Mercury is the name given to the color
now called purple in the arms of princes, which,
borne by peers, is termed amethyst, and by com-
moners, purpure. In the metal assigned to him, —
designated by the old chemists, by his character,
and called by his name, — he has been equally fortu-
nate. The " philosopher's mercury" is that import-
ant and mysterious substance which was the agent
in transmutation, the chief instrument in obtaining
' This caducous is, it seems, merely a copy of the rod of Moses ; but
the serpent and winged circle, in other cases, is to be referred to a differ-
ent source. For further information on this subject, see Univ. Mytho-
logy, section on Serpent Worship ; or, for a fuller disquisition, Deane's
Treatise on Serpent Worship.
74 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the universal medicine, and the first step to those
degrees of angehcal wisdom, which the adepts thought
ever within their reach. The key to physical and
metaphysical knowledge was the gift of Mercury.
Those born under his happy influences could alone
hope to obtain it ; and those towards whom his
aspects were unpropitious, did but strive in vain,
when they wasted their study and their substance
in this visionary pursuit. This is but in other words
repeating the opinions of the Egyptians concerning
Anubis. He was^ the sentinel of the gods, and
placed in the most glorious star to notice all that
passes in heaven and earth. A being so placed
must be infinite in wisdom ; for nothing can be
hid from his eye. He knows the natures of ani-
mals, plants, and stones ; the actions of men, and
the events of kingdoms : he gives notice to the
gods of all that passes, and to him must ultimately
be referred all knowledge.
The Sun was considered as one of the planets
rolling round the earth, and influencing mundane
affairs in the same way as the others. There will
be found the same correspondence between the person
and the mind of the native, and those of the god from
Avhom the astrological character is taken, namely,
the Greek Apollo, which has been noticed in the case
of the other planets. The most glorious of the
Heavenly bodies could only be referred to the most
illustrious of the gods ; and, with many of the pecu-
liar attributes of Apollo, we find blended in the
astrological description of this luminary many proofs
of coincidence with the elder and more important
' See Univ. Myth. p. 42.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 76
divinities, Osiris, Horus, Vishnu, and in fact, the
whole series of supreme gods among all nations.
A volume might easily be filled with these coinci-
dences, but here a few will be sufficient. Two
images are given of the informing spirit of this
great luminary.^ One, that of a king crowned sitting
on a throne, havino- a raven in his bosom, and under
his feet a globe ; he is clothed in saffron-colored
robes ; the other, that of a icoman, crowned and
laughing, standing on a chariot drawn by four horses,
w-ith a buckler in one hand, a staif in the other, and
a flame of fire on her head. The first seems to
denote supremacy over time and space. By the
possession and position of the globe and the raven,
it suits rather with those systems in which the Sun
may be shown to coincide with the chief god, than
with the Greek. The latter is only remarkable from
its presenting a female instead of a male figure, af-
fording an instance of similarity with the Scandi-
navian Mythology. The laurel is given to the Sun,
on account of its having been considered sacred to
Apollo. The love of the Sun-god for the Greek
Daphne was presented under a new form, and the
luminary was supposed to radiate his influences on
the beloved plant. The appropriation of the hya-
cinth had a similar cause ; and were it not for the
fable of Coronis, we should be surprised to find the
crow among the birds under solar rule. The boar
refers to the death of Adonis, who, in the Phoe-
nician Mythology, was the consort of Ashtaroth,
and the dweller in the Sun ; and the horse to the
glowing studs, which were said to draw the chariot
' Com. Agrippa, Occ. Phil. lib. ii. cap. 41.
e2
76 THE TWIN GIANTS.
of Apollo. The character of Phoebus, as the in-
spirer of poetry and the patron of the Muses, shines
out in the assigning of all singing birds to him,
particularly the lark ; nor is it less marked by the
insertion of the swan, a bird fabled to be musical only
in the agonies of death ; but then proverbial for its
powers of song. The heliotrope and the sun-flower
are rendered solar by classical reputation. The St.
John's wort, vervain, and some others, because long
considered hateful to the powers of darkness. The
color ascribed to the Sun is yellow. The gems,
topaz and aetites ; the metal, gold. That the color
most prevalent in a landscape, illuminated with the
sunbeams, should be attributed to the Sun himself
is natural. The topaz owes its distinction to its
color, and the setites to its imaginary power of
attracting gold as the loadstone does iron ; but pur-
ple, as well as yellow, was a solar color, principally,
it would seem, because of the distinction of imperial
power ; and it will be remembered, that Sol was
the planet indicating kings, emperors, and persons
of dignity. But there is a beautiful purple pigment
obtained fi-om gold, which makes the appropriation
of the color remarkable. Of gold, astrologically
represented by the character O, and called by the
name of Sol, we shall speak by and by. It will
be sufficient here to note, that yellow is termed by
heralds topaz, or Sol, according as it appears on
the shields of commoners, peers, and princes. Potable
gold, an imaginary universal medicine, derived its
powers of healing from the rays of this planet ; ^
' Within tlie last four years, Sibly's reanimating solar tincture has been
advertised as a sort of universal medicine, and it has been said that one
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 77
and the bezoar stone, which was deemed singularlv
efficacious in medicine, was under his government.
We shall now note a few of the peculiarities
ascribed to the Moon ; neither the character of the
native, nor, if a woman, the personal appearance
will be found to bear much resemblance to those
of the virgin huntress Artemis : nor to the perso-
nification of Nature adored at Ephesus. These
characteristics of the native are derived from a
consideration of the constant changes of appearance
to be remarked in her. In other respects, the my-
thological coincidences are abundant. The Moon,
like the Sun, had two^ images assigned to her
presiding spirit ; and there is the same pecu-
liarity in one of them that Avas noticed with re-
gard to that luminary. One is a male, the other
a female figure ; the former in accordance with the
Scandinavian, the latter with the southern, mytho-
logy. The latter is the figure of a woman riding
on a bull, having horns on her head and serpents
twined about her : the horns are evidently borrowed
from the phases of the IMoon and coincide with
those of Isis. The placing the cat and the mouse
under Lunar influence still more strongly identifies
her with the same goddess under her names of
Bubastis and Buto ; and by embodying the prin-
ciple of fecundity, for which those animals are re-
markable, they point to her sameness with Cybele,
drop alone cost that noted " Philomath" seven years of labour, in the be-
ginning of his career. Afterwards he found a'readier way of making it,
so as to make it a saleable article. It would be ridiculous to sny" Credat
Judtetis,"" for the Jews in our days are by no means apt to believe ; they
have, too, more rapid means of extracting the tincture of gold.
' Com. Agrippa, Occ. Phil. lib. ii. cap. 44.
78 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the Artemis of Epliesus, and the Syrian Mater
Deorum. The Moon presides especially over women
during the season of pregnancy, and this is another
coincidence established between her and the above-
named goddess, and even with the Roman Diana. ^
White is the lunar color, water her element, pearl
her gem, and silver her metal. Hence we find white
designated argent, when found on the shield of a
commoner ; pearl and lunas according as the bearer
be a noble or a prince. The ancient chemists used
her character as a mark, and her name for an ap-
pellation of silver. Even in the present day we
speak of lunar caustic, meaning a caustic preparation
of silver. The astrological Luna seems to have
little or no connection with sorcery, save by oc-
casionally suffering from incantations. That part,
which, from the strongly marked character of Hecate,
might be expected from the Moon in an astrological
scheme, has been transferred to Saturn ; and the
Moon, were it not for her rule over the ocean,
an attribute which she owes to her effects on the
tide, would be a comparatively insignificant planet.
As the representative of one of the elements, she
becomes invested with greater importance. She is
made good or bad in a nativity as aspected by
other planets, and is the type of every thing weak,
wavering, yielding, watery, and phlegmatic. It must
not be omitted that the palm is under her govern-
ment, because it was supposed to send forth a fresh
twig every time the Moon rose ; and a creature
called the relarus, whose eyes were said to increase and
decrease according to the course of the planet. The
• See Horace, Carmen Saeculare.
ASTROLOGY AS A SCIENCE. 79
waxing and waning of the Moon are still observed
by the superstitious with great care, — that which
is wished to swell and grow is done while the Moon
is increasing ; that which is intended to dry and
wither, during her decrease. Thus turf cut for a
bank is cut during her first quarters , if meant
for fuel, it is cut during the last two.
80 THE TWIN GIANTS.
CHAPTER V.
NATIVITIES.
The cases in which astrological predictions were
chiefly sought, were in Nativities ; ^ that is, — in
ascertaining the fate and fortunes of any individual
from the positions of the stars at the time of his
birth ; and in questions called horary, — which com-
prehended almost every other matter which might
be the subject of astrological inquiry. The event
of sickness, the success of any undertaking, the
reception of any suit, were all objects of horary
questions. A person was said to be born under
that planet, which ruled the hour of his birth. Thus
two hours every day are under the control of Saturn.
The first hour after sunrise on Saturday is one of
them. A person therefore born on Saturday in the
first hour after sunrise, has Saturn for the lord
of his ascendant ; those born in the next hour,
Jupiter ; and so on in order. Venus rules the first
hour on Friday ; Mercury on Wednesday ; Jupiter
on Thursday ; the Sun and Moon on Sunday and
Monday ; and Mars on Tuesday. The next thing
is to make a figure like the subjoined, divided into
twelve portions, which are called houses.
' When Aline of Austria, the wife of Louis XIII., was delivered of the
Dauphin, afterwards Louis XIV., a famous German astrologer was in at-
tendance to draw his nativity, but refused to say more than these three
words, which give a true character of Louis XIV. 's reign: Diii, Dure,
Felicitor, — Limieu's Ilisloiru du lliyiui do Louis XIV.
NATIVITIES.
81
It will be seen, that the twelve houses are equal
to the twelve signs ; aud the planets, being always
in the zodiac, will therefore all fall within these
twelve divisions or houses. The line, which sepa-
rates any house from the preceding is called the
cusp of that house. The first house is called the
ascendant, and the east angle ; the fourth the imum
coeli, or the north angle; the seventh, the west
angle; and the tenth, the medium coeli, or the
south angle. Having drawn this figure, tables and
directions are given for the placing of the signs;
and as one house is equal to one sign when one
is given, the rest are given also. When the signs
and planets are all placed in the bouses, the next
thing is to augur, from their relative position, what
influence they will have on the life and fortunes
b5
82 THE TWIN GIANTS.
of the native. This will be best done by giving
a horoscope, and exhibiting the way in which the
deductions are made.
Before doing this, it will be necessary to make
some observations on these houses. The first, as
we have seen, is the house of life ; and hence im-
plies, all that affects, promotes, or endangers life.
Saturn or Mars in this house denotes a short or
unfortunate life ; while Jupiter and Venus have,
when free from evil aspects, an exactly contrary
effect. The sign ascending will considerably modify
the person and character of the native ; so that to
form an astrological judgment of this, it will be
necessary to combine the indications of the sign
and the planet. In what are called horary ques-
tions, this house relates to all questions of life,
health, and appearance, such as stature, complexion,
shape, accidents, and sickness. It shows the events
of journeys and voyages, with respect to the life,
and health of those engaged in them. ^V^hen the
question is of a political nature, it signifies the
people in general, and being of the same nature a
Aries, all that is said of that sign may be transferred
to this house. The second house, which is of the
same nature as the sign Taurus, is called the house
of riches. It signifies the advancement in the world
with respect to opulence of the querent ; and here
the operations of the planets are, as in other cases,
according to their own nature ; Jupiter, Venus,
Mercury, and the Sun being fortunate, if well as-
pected, only denoting different causes of wealth ;
Saturn, Mars, the Moon, and Uranus, unfortunate.
In horary questions, it signifies the money of the
NATIVITIES. 83
querent, or the success in a pecuniary point of
view, of any expedition or undertaking. It con-
cerns loans, lawsuits, and everything by which riches
may be gained or lost. In political questions it
signifies the treasury, public loans, taxes, and sub-
sidies, — the younger branches of the blood-royal,
and the death of national enemies. The third house
is the house of kindred, particularly of brothers,
and was probably so designated on account of the
third sign Gemini, of which nature it is said to be.
It denotes kindred; and the planets in this house
are full of signification. Saturn signifies coldness
and distrust ; Mars, sudden, violent, and hasty
quarrels; Herschel all unaccountable estrangements;
Jupiter denotes steady friendships ; Venus great love
between brothers and sisters, and good fortune by
means of the latter ; the Sun, warm attachment ;
the Moon, indifl:erence. In horary questions, this
house signifies the health, fortune, and happiness of
the querent's parents ; his own patrimony and in-
heritance, and the ultimate consequences, either good
or bad, of any undertaking in which he may be
engaged. In political cases it denotes the landed
interest of a nation ; the ancient and chartered
rights of all classes, which have been handed down
to them from their ancestors; and all public advo-
cates and defenders of these interests and rights.
The fifth house which has the same government
and partakes of the same character as Leo, is called
the house of children. In nativities, therefore, it
denotes the children of the native, and their success
and also his own success by means of them. It
also has some reference to women. The health and
84 THE TWIN GIANTS.
«
welfare of children, whether present or absent, are
determinable by the planets in this house. It also
denotes all questions relative to amusement, simply,
as it would seem, on account of the fondness of
youth for such pursuits. In political questions con-
sequently, we find this house taken to signify the
rising generation, theatres, exhibitions, public fes-
tivals, and all national amusements ; all increase in
the population ; music and musical taste, sculpture,
painting, and the advancement of the fine arts in
general. The sixth house is that of servants ; but
it also denotes sickness and private enemies. It
is usually considered an evil house, and but few
configurations of the planets which can take place
in it are fortunate. It is of the nature, and shares
the government, of Virgo. When the lord of the
ascendant is placed in this house, it denotes a low
station, and if in addition to this he be ill dignified,
the native will not rise above menial employments.
In horary astrology it points out servants and cattle,
dependants, and small shop-keepers ; uncles and
aunts by the father's side ; tenants, stewards, shep-
herds, and farmers. If, however, the question be
political, then this house indicates the under-ser-
vants of the government ; the common seamen in
the navy ; private soldiers in the army ; and the
general health of the nation. This last refers chiefly
to contagious and epidemic disorders.
The seventh house, which is of the same nature as
Libra, and has the same government, is the house
of Marriage. If Saturn be found here, he denotes
iinhappiness from constitutional causes ; Mars from
difference of temper : Herschel, as usual, from some
NATIVITIES. 85
strange and unaccountable dislike. The other pla-
nets are mostly causers of good, unless an exception
be made in the case of the Moon. In horary ques-
tions, this house denotes love, speculations in business,
partners in trade, lawsuits, and litigation; it is the
house of thieves, and sets forth their conduct and
character. In queries of a political nature, it sig-
nifies the event of any war, and the consequences
of a treaty ; it personates the victorious nation,
army, or navy ; and indicates outlaws, and fugitives,
with the places in which they have taken their
retreat.
The eighth house is the house of death. It
denotes wills, legacies, and all property depending
upon the death of others ; the power, means, and
influence of adversaries ; the opposing parties in
lawsuits. It is of the nature of Scorpio, and has
the same government. If Mars be unfortunately
placed in this house, it portends a violent death to
the native. Saturn is often productive of suicide
and Herschel of the mysterious disappearance of the
unhappy individual, whose horoscope is so marked.
Jupiter, on the contrary, and Venus, point out a late
and quiet departure. In horary questions its sig-
nification has been already noticed ; but it also
denotes the portion or dowry of women, and seconds
in duels. In political questions it has a significa-
tion of a very different character, viz., the privy
council of a king or queen, their friends, and
secrets of state. It does, however, bear some mark
of its appropriation to death, by being made to
denote the rate of mortality among the people.
The ninth house is that of religion, science, and
86 THE TWIN GIANTS.
learning. It has the same government and nature
•as Sagittarius. Jupiter is the most fortunate planet
in it ; and if joined with Mercury, then the native
is promised a character at once learned, estimable,
and truly religious. The Sun and Venus are like-
wise good significators here ; but the Moon denotes
a changeable mind, and frequent alterations in re-
ligious principles. Mars is the worst planet in this
house, and portends an indifference, or even an active
hostility to religion. In horary questions the ninth
house is appropriated to the Church and the Clergy ;
all ecclesiastical matters, dissent, heresy, schism,
dreams, visions, and religious delusions. It also
denotes voyages and travels to distant lands ; and
in questions of a political nature, the religion of
the nation, and all the higher and more solemn
courts of justice, such as Chancery, &c.
The tenth house is one of the most important of
all. It is the house of honor, rank, and dignity ;
of the nature and rule of Capricorn. In this house
the planets are more powerful than in any other, save
only the house of life. They point out the employ-
ment, success, preferment, and authority of the
native. Saturn is here the worst planet ; but the
Moon and Hcrschel are also mischievous ; the latter
by preventing the native from attaining that rank
to which his services, learning, or merit entitle hira ;
and doing this by a series of inexplicable disappoint-
ments. Jupiter and the Sun signify advancement
by the favour of distinguished men, — and Venus,
of distinguished women. In horary questions, the
tenth house signifies the mother of the querist ;
and politically the sovereign. This is a house in
NATIVITIES. 87
which Mars is not unfortunate, if well-placed ; de-
noting warlike achievements, and consequent honors.
The eleventh house is the house of friends : it is
of the nature of Aquarius, and has the same rule.
It denotes, of course, friends, well-wishers, favorites,
and flatterers ; but it is said to be a house in which
evil planets are increased in strength, and good
planets diminished. The Sun is the best planet in
it, and Mars the worst. In horary questions it has
the same signification as in a nativity, and also
denotes the expectations and wishes of the querist.
It is said to be much influenced by the sign which
is in it, and to signify legacies, if the sign be one of
the earthy triplicity, and honor with princes, if it
be one of the fiery triplicity. In political questions,
the eleventh house signifies the allies of the public,
with whom no particular treaty is at the same time
binding ; and also the general council of the nation,
and newly acquired rights.
Lastly, the twelfth house, which, of course, par-
takes the rule and character of Pisces, is the house
of enemies ; and denotes sorrow, sickness, care,
anxiety, and all kinds of suffering. Yet evil planets
are weaker, according to some writers, and good
planets stronger than in certain other houses. Very
few configurations in this house are esteemed good
for the native ; but its evil effects are, of course,
greatly modified by the planetary influences. In
horary questions it signifies imprisonment, treason,
sedition, assassination, and suicide ; and in questions
which are of a political character, it points out de-
ceitful treaties, unsuccessful negotiations, treachery
in the offices of state, captivity to princes, and
88 THE TWIN GIANTS.
general ill fortune. The criminal code, and the
punishment of culprits, dungeons, and circumstances
connected with prison discipline are also denoted by
this house. Saturn is the worst, and Venus the
best, planet to be present in it.
Having taken notice of the signs, the planets, and
the houses, it is next necessary for the Astrologer to
note also the aspects of the planets one towards
another, — which aspects decide whether the planet
is of good or evil signification. These aspects are
as follows, — omitting the less important :
1. The Trine, marked A , when two planets are four signs, or 120° apart.
2. The Sextile, marked ^ , when two planets are two signs, or 60° apart.
3. The Quintile, . ., when two planets are. .72° apart.
These are all fortunate aspects, and are here placed
according to their importance.
4. The conjunction, c^, when two stars or planets are in the same de-
gree of the same sign.
This is a fortunate aspect with fortunate, and evil
with evil planets.
5. The opposition, § , when two planets are six signs or 180° apart.
6. The Quartile, D , when two planets are three signs or 90° apart.
7. The Semi-quartile, when the two planets are 45° apart.
These three last aspects are evil, and evil in the
order in which they are here placed. The explana-
tion of the aspects takes up a large portion of books
written on judicial astrology ; out of about four
hundred aspects we will take two or three to exem-
plify what is meant. The aspects of Saturn to
Mercury will do as the example : the conjunction
shows craft and subtlety in the native ; an inch-
NATIVITIES. 89
nation to dive into hidden things, and a love for
mysteries : it denotes covetousness and pride with
great appearance of gravity. If Saturn be the
significator, the native is eloquent, but if Mercury,
he has an impediment in his speech (^ c$ $). The
trine, sextile, or quintile, marked thus, T^ a $ —
h ^ 5 — ^ Stile 5? are all more or less powerful,
in making the native conceited, full of whims and
contrivances, yet rarely successful in carrying them
into effect ; studious, subtle, and reserved. This is
when Saturn is significator ; but when Mercury is
in that position, the native is peevish and discon-
tented, ingenious, but wilful and obstinate. The
opposition, quartile, or semi-quartile of Saturn and
Mercury, thus b i ?, ^ a $, or ^ ^a $, are all
exceedingly evil configurations. The native will
be cunning, but in a low way ; and whichever planet
be the significator, the effect will be the same ;
he will be poor and perpetually unfortunate, per-
verse, self-willed, evil, malicious, envious, and trea-
cherous, exceedingly deceitful, peevish, and violent,
and very probably a murderer. The nodes of the
moon must not be forgotten, the ascending node
being called the dragon*'s head, and marked ft ; the
decending node denominated the dragon*'s tail, and
being designated by the same character reversed '6 .
The former of these is considered highly fortunate,
and the latter very much the contrary. We shall
in the next chapter have occasion to speak of these
as derived from the astronomical part of the Hindoo
mythology. It will be sufficient here to note, that
their place in the Zodiac is carefully marked by
astrologers and considered as the place of a planet ;
90
THE TWIN GIANTS.
the dragon's head being of the same nature, and
having nearly the same power as Venus ; and the
dragon's tail being very like a conjunction of Mars
and Saturn, only not nearly so dangerous as that
aspect. We now take a Nativity, to point out the
way in which the foregoing rules have been applied ;
just noticing that Nativities of great men are for the
most part made long after their death, and when the
minute of their birth, if ever known, is irretrievably
forgotten.
Scheme of a Nativity.
The following is said to be the scheme of the
Nativity of a celebrated but unfortunate youth,
possessed of great talents, but of few qualities,
either amiable or estimable.
1)27. 37
xt^
-is.ae
THOMAS CHATTERTON,
JBorTV
6h.F.2[.
17S2
\'^Jo.O
NATIVITIES. 91
The native was born under the planet Mercury,
and the sign Gemini, — an exceedingly intellectual
configuration, and promising in cases, where the
planet is well situated, an honorable and distin-
guished literary career ; but in this case, Mercury
is in the sixth house, and within eight degrees of
the Sun, — which is called being combust of that
luminary, — thus showing that the native should not
emerge from his low condition. The houses of life,
kindred, parents, marriage, death, religion, honor,
and friends, are all void of any planetary influence ;
and it is to be noticed, that he received no interest of
any consequence either from parents, relations, or
friends ; he attained to no honour or dignity ; he
professed and possessed no religion ; and he never
married. In the house of enemies we find the Moon,
and the dragon's tail, — a configuration which points
to female influence of the lowest and most disrepu-
table kind ; and not the less dangerous on that ac-
count ; while, in the house of children, is the fiery
and barren planet, Mars; denoting that he should
leave behind him no representative of his name.
The union of Saturn and Venus sio-nifies a dissolute
and depraved character, Avhile the situation of Mer-
cury adds deceit and deliberate imposture. All these
evil aspects are heightened by the Sun and the
dragon's head in the same house ; the IMoon, it will
be noticed, is receding from a sextile with Jupiter,
and advancing to an opposition with the Sun, thereby
adding to the malevolent effect of the other aspects.
The only benevolent planet here is Jupiter ; but,
though in the house of riches, there are so many
overwhelming signs of poverty, disgrace, and early
92 THE TWIN GIANTS.
death, that his influence is almost nullified. It is
said, that this configuration of planets, in connexion
with Saturn, portended suicide hy poison. This
nativity has been taken, because, in the time when
Astrology was credited, it was looked upon as a
very triumphant evidence of the truth of astral pre-
dictions ; but, it appears, first, that the hour of
Chatterton's birth has never been satisfactorily ascer-
tained, and next, a few remarks upon the scheme
itself will lead any one acquainted with the pre-
tended science, rather to see its inapplicability to
the unhappy youth, than the truth of its fulfilment
in his case. Taking for granted, that all the hea-
venly aspects were, at his birth, as they are repre-
sented above, we may see from all the most accredited
astrological writers, that they indicate a character in
every way below that of Chatterton. The very near
approach of Mercury to a conjunction with Saturn,
would cause a cunning, and perhaps an acute turn of
mind, but would effectually prevent that poetical and
imaginative temperament which characterized this
unfortunate young man. But Venus and Saturn
are actually in conjunction, and in the sixth house.
This points out a character sunk in the lowest depths
of infamy, habits which leave ordinary licentiousness
far behind. Now, it appears, from all that can be
gathered of Chatterton's life, that he was by no
means addicted to debauchery ; he was dissipated,
so much so indeed, that he is said to have observed,
that public amusements, such as theatrical represen-
tations, were as necessary to him as food. He had
no very high ideas of moral rectitude ; but he seems
to have been always decent and correct in his per-
NATIVITIES. 9
o
sonal habits. Hence this scheme proves one of three
things ; either that the rules of Astrology are falla-
cious, that the scheme is not that of Chatterton, or
that the astral positions in it are erroneously re-
ported.
There are some singular tales concerning Nativi-
ties. The reader will not be surprised to find, that
those of almost all the remarkable men of antiquity
have been calculated ; for there are many occult ways
of discovering the precise moment of their birth ; and
one way, recommended by many astrologers, is to
frame the scheme according to the life, and place the
planets accordingly. The astrologer is sure to be
right if he does this; because, if any illiberal as-
tronomer should prove that the planets were not in
those signs, the astrologer has it in his power to
prove that their absence was not caused by any fault
of his ; and that, in fact, they ought to have been
there, as his scheme will satisfactorily show. Some-
times, however, a Nativity is handed down from the
middle ages; which, he is obliged, from the same
causes, to deny. That, for instance, of Henry
Cornelius Agrippa,^ which offers a character and
fate totally different from that of the astronomer.
William Lilly gave two Nativities of himself, men-
tioning one time of his birth in his " Ephemeris,"
and another in his "Christian Astrology;" and
calculating the astral positions accordingly. We
shall speak of this more at large when we come
to treat of Lilly as a conspicuous character in the
history of Astrology.
The most remarkable book coimected with the
' Sibly's Astrology, p. 873.
94 THE TWIN GIANTS.
subject of Nativities that is extant, is an octavo
volume, published in 1688 by a Doctor John
Butler, chaplain to the Duke of Ormond, and
Rector of Litchborough. The book is exceedingly
rare, but large extracts from it will be found in
Sibly's Astrology.^ It is an attempt to calculate
a Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, taking for
granted that He was born at midnight on the 25th of
December, and in the year denoted by the ordinary
reckoning. " Now as Christ," says this author, " had
a real body, made of a woman, so it was no small
argument of the reality of that body, in that it
submitted to the impressions of the stars, as those
of other men. For although the immeasurable power
of the Spirit upon Him was able to do, and did sway
all impressions and inclinations of nature, so as to
subject them absolutely in all things to be obedient
unto the commands of His holy Avill, yet not only
were the qualities of His body, but also the com-
plexion of His mind and affections, much of them
pressed and wrought by the power of the heavens ;
only excepted, that whereas He was born without
sin, neither evil planets, nor the evil aspects of any
planet, could have that advantage to work upon
His manners and disposition, so as to incline them
with such command, as they do by others ; but as
for the accidents of His life, in respect to what
befell Him, as for the matter of love and hatred,
sickness and health, life and death, the stars had
as free and full liberty and power over Him, and
His body, as upon any the least of us. For though
He was able, by special authority of His own, to
' Sibly's Astrology, p. 092.
NATIVITIES. 95
force the utmost power of stars or heaven, — yet
herein lay His humility, and His charity in that
humility, in that he voluntarily subftiitted His body
to be ordered according to the course of Nature,
whereas, would He himself, He might have made
it lord over all that Nature can do. And though He
raised the bodies of others from death unto life, in
despite of Nature, yet would He suffer His own
body quietly to be ordered, even as Nature would
herself"
He observes, after having given a short sketch of
our Lord's life, " Now if we may find a time, accord-
ing to the experienced rules of art, to suit fitly with
all these accidents, and such a time as shall aptly
describe Him to be the man, as in Holy Writ He
is set forth to be ; — then, say I, it is a certain argu-
ment that both the day, hour, and even the minute
of our Lord's birth, are demonstratively determined.
And so will all acknowledge, who know what Astro-
logy is."
It is far from our intention to give any extracts on
this subject from Dr. Butler's book. In the present
day, they would seem impious, though there is not
the slightest ground to lay such a charge on his
speculations, in the mind of their author himself. The
book is written throughout in a serious and reveren-
tial style ; and as far as a mere belief in the possi-
bility of ascertaining the events of the past, and
foretelling those of the future, by astrological calcula-
tions, is concerned, he was not at all behind some of
the gi-eatest luminaries of the age. It required a
strong mind indeed to shake off a delusion from
which a Bacon and a Kepler had not been free ;
96 THE TWIN GIANTS.
which a Napier professed and practised, and which
was supposed to be countenanced even in the pages
of inspiration. It may be observed, however, that
though a gTeat deal of miscellaneous learning is dis-
played in this book, it contains a refutation of Astro-
logy in the very case which it professes to elucidate.
If the astral influences are to be taken, then, by Dr.
Butler's own admission, our Lord was a very different
character from what He is represented by the Evan-
gelists. The person shadowed forth by his scheme,
was not only not sinless, but possessed of many evil
qualities ; which adverse fact Dr. Butler labors to
get rid of by some very special pleading. If they are
not to be taken, or if new rules are to be invented,
which amounts to the same thing, then, as far as
Astrology is concerned, the case proves nothing.
But no more need be said of Nativities.
CONCLUSION OF ASTROLOGY.
97
CHAPTER VI.
CONCLUSION OF THE SKETCH OF ASTROLOGY.
Besides nativities, horary questions are subjects
of astrolocfical calculations. Thev are so called,
because the scheme of the heavens is erected for
the hour in which the question is put. Thus, let
a person be sick, and the question be of his reco-
very, the Houses will now signify as follows:^
1.
The patient's person.
7.
His wife and his physician
2.
His estate.
8.
His death.
3.
His kindred.
9.
His religion.
4.
His father or his grave.
10.
His mother and his physic.
5.
His children.
11.
His friends.
6.
His sickness and servants.
12.
His enemies.
And according to the position of the planets the
above particulars are to be judged of. If the ques-
tion be of stolen goods, a distribution of the houses
is again made according to similar rules. And
here the color denoted by the signs is pertinent ;
for let Mercury, ill dignified, signify the- thief;
then the sign in which that planet is found will
denote the personal appearance and complexion of
the thief. If the question be one concerning mar-
riage — then it points out that of the future bride
or bridegroom. The causes which lead to the
names of the signs have been ably investigated," and
afford proof of the Oriental origin of Astronomy
' Blagrave's Astrological Practice of Physic, p. 30.
' Pluche, Hist, du Ciel, vol. i. p. 17.
98 THE TWIN GIANTS.
as well as Astrology ; the characters are merely
hieroglyphic representations as may be understood
at a glance.
T The head and horns of a ram (Aries).
Q The head and horns of a bull (Taurus).
n Two persons standing together (Gemini).
S The pace of the crab, neither backward nor forward (Cancer).
SI The head and mane of the lion (Leo).
iXK The ears of corn held by the reaper (Virgo).
di The beam of a balance (Libra).
111 The scorpion (Scorpio)
f The arrow in the hand of the archer (Sagittarius).
Vt The figure of the goat (Capricornus).
xii. The wavy surface of water (Aquarius).
7^ Fish tied together (Pisces).
Macrobius gives the origin of two of these signs
Cancer and Capricorn ; and as the Abbe Pluche
well observes, has by so doing explained all the
others. " The reasons," says Macrobius/ which
have fixed the names of the Crab and the Goat" on
those two signs, which we call the gates or starting-
places of the Sun''s progress, are these, — the crab
is an animal which walks backwards, and obliquely ;
and the Sun when it has arrived in this sign begins
to retrograde and to descend obliquely. As to the
goat its mode of feeding is always to climb ; and
while browsing to get to the greatest heights. In
like manner, the Sun, when it has reached the sign
Capricorn, leaves the lowest part of his course,
and commences his ascent towards the highest. If
this, then, be the case with two of the signs, we
' Saturnal, lib. i. c. 1 7.
'^ The Ccylonese have four zodiacs, but they differ not much from ours ;
in one a female fiifure is substituted for the Twins, and a Water-rat for
the Scorpion. All, however, Iiave the Makaree, a certain sea-monster
instead of the Goat. The Hurmose replace the sign with the Antelope,
and have the Goat instead of the IJam. The Husband and Wife occupy
the place of the 'i'wins, and the I5ow that of the Centaur. — See Upham,
Hist, and Doct. of Budhisni, p. 7C.
CONCLUSION OF ASTROLOGY. 99
may expect, that the other ten will also typify
that which takes place in the kingdom of Nature
at the seasons which they point out. The progress
of the Sun in the heavens and his effects on the
animal and vegetable creation as he walks the round
of the Zodiac are accordingly set forth in terms
scarcely enigmatical. The sheep produce young
at an earlier period of the year than any other
animal. Thus the winter, which is a season of
rest, is also that of gestation. The young animal
grows with the advancing warmth of the Sun,
and comes to its perfection before another cold
season. The Ram therefore is the first of the
signs ; and the lambing season occurring generally
about March, determines its position. After the
lambing season comes that for calving, and Taurus
occupies therefore the second portion of the Zo-
diac. The third sign Gemini was not originally
known by that name. The Twins here mentioned
are the Dioscuri, the sons of Jove, Castor and
Pollux, but of these the Egyptians^ disclaimed all
knowledge. They could not therefore have figured
in the Egyptian Zodiac as it stood in the begin-
ning. What was there then to supply their place ?
Two Goats. Now the time of the she-goat bring-
ing forth her young is after that of the cow, but
not long after; and two Kids are placed in the
third division of the Zodiac on this account. The
appearance of the Dioscuri is a Greek interpreta-
tion of Egyptian legend. In the astro-mythology
of that country, the progress of the Moon through
the twelve siw'ns is wroug-ht into a series of adven-
' Herodotus, Euterpe, c. 53.
F 2
100 THE TWIN GIANTS.
tures which befall Tsis. Let us look at the sixth
in the parallel drawn by Dupuis/
Sixth division of the Hea-
vens.
The following full Moon falls
in the sign Gemini, in which
are depicted two children, who
preside over the oracles of Di-
dyme, and of whom one is Apollo,
the god of Divination.
Sixth portion of the Legend.
Isis, warned of the death of
Osiris, wanders about to seek the
coffer which holds his remains. She
soon meets some children who had
seen the coffer ; she interrogates
them ; she obtains from them the
information she desires, and gives
them in turn the power of divina-
tion.
It does not appear at what period this adventure
was celebrated by a change in the sign, but the
Kids were represented in the Persian Zodiac ; and
it seems originally in that of the Egyptians. The
Crab has been already noticed ; and the summer
being now at its height, the heat of the Sun, par-
ticularly in hot countries, is well denoted by the
fierce and ardent Lion. Then comes the season of
harvest, typified by a gleaner holding in her hand
ears of corn fully ripe. The subsequent sign, mark-
ing as it does a period of the year when the days
and nights are equal, could not be better pourtrayed
than by the Balance. This, however, is a compara-
tively modern improvement in the West ; for the
Scorpion of old took up two divisions of the Zodiac ;
and this earlier one was occupied by his claws, the
equality of wliich afforded an emblem, though far
inferior to the Balance, of the equilibrium in which
the days and nights were held. It was not, M.
Pluche thinks," until the reign of one of the earlier
lloman emperors that the llomans adopted the
' Aliri'ge de POrigine de tons les Cultes, p. 121.
•^ Hist, du Ciel, vol. i. p. 21.
CONCLUSION OF ASTROLOGY. 101
ancient Oriental division, reduced the Scorpion, and
introduced the Balance.
The sickly season which too often succeeds the
autumnal equinox, and which in warm climates may
be looked for almost as certainly as the equinox
itself, was not ill-denoted by the venomous Scorpion ;
and the period proper for hunting which follows,
was signified by the Centaur, the half-man and half-
horse hunter, a picture almost realized by the active
and energetic sportsman, whose almost only seat is
the saddle. After Capricorn, the signification of
which has been already given, comes Aquarius, the
Water-pot, typical of the winter rains ; and the Fish,
tied together or taken in a net, which indicate the
favourable period for fishing which follows.
These signs show, by their very nature, that they
were not of Indian, nor of Egyptian origin ; they
indicate an order of things quite natural within the
temperate zone, but widely differing from that ob-
served within the tropics. The sign Virgo could
not, according to a tropical climate, point out
the season of harvest ; in Egypt, for instance, the
grain is all " gathered into barns" by the commence-
ment of April. Virgo corresponds with the months
August and September; and did so among the Egyp-
tians, for we find the Sphynx, compounded of the
Virgin and the Lion, marking the period when the
Sun passed from the one to the other of those
signs ; ^ and showing the time of the Nile's over-
flowing. Again, the Water-pot, or the figure hold-
ing it and pouring water from it, would be by no
means an apt emblem of winter in Egypt, a country
' Univ. Myth. p. 25.
102 THE TWIN GIANTS.
ill which no rain fell, and where the compensatory
inundation took place in autumn. Among the most
ancient monuments of Egypt are found traces of
this di^asion in the Zodiac ; the Sphynx itself form-
ing an example : and hence we are led to conclude
that the use of these divisions was brought into
that country by those who first colonized it ; and
that, in fact, we are to look for its origin, if not
in the antediluvian world, at least in the plains of
Shinar.^ The same train of ideas which left none
of the planets without its informing spirit, supplied
presiding intelligences to the constellations of fixed
stars. The cabalistic demonology of the Jews would
in after times furnish names ; and the fetish worship
of Egypt had already bestowed characters. The
half-human, half-brute shapes of the Egyptian my-
thology were soon accommodated to the government
of the signs and assimilated to that of the planets.
The framework of this pretended science has been
constantly receiving additions ; but it seems, that
when for astronomical purposes the Zodiac had been
divided, and the divisions had received their ap-
pellations, the nature of the animals, persons, or
things represented, was the hint upon which astro-
logers spake as to their influences. Thus the man
at whose birth the Ram ascended, was to be rich
' Pluchc, Hist, dii Ciel, vol. i. p. 25. Both Champollion and Letronne
suppose the curious Zodiacs of Egypt, sucli as those at Dendera, to be
mereh' horoscopes, calculated either for the nativity of the Emperor or
the foundation of the luiildinp. " Nous pouvons," says the latter, " re-
gardcr comme un point do fait que tons les Zodiaciucs d'Epypte ont ete
executes k I'cpoquc Romaine. Ces monumens sont tous entierenicnt ou
principalenicnt astrologiques, dresses d'apres le systenie de representation
dont les Egyptiens avait Thabitude, et par les precedes d'un art qui n'avait
pas sensiblement varie."
CONCLUSION OF ASTROLOGY.
103
in flocks. If the Bull was the potent constellation
then his herds would be his staple possessions. The
individual born under Libra would be just ; under
Scorpio, malicious ; under Leo, furious. But after-
wards, when the planets had their influence attributed
also to the signs, each planet having one or two
signs, namely. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and
Saturn, two each ; and the Sun and ]\loou each
one; the effects of the signs became of course much re-
duced by this new arrangement. They became merely
the instruments of somewhat modifying the powers
of the planets. A glance at the following scale
will show how the planets and signs were mingled
with what were called Houses.
HOUSES.
PLJ
. Mars.
LNETS.
SIGNS.
Aries . .
COLORS.
First . .
Saturn.
. White.
Second
. Venus.
Jupiter.
Taurus . .
. Orange, green.
Third . .
. Mercury.
Mars.
Gemini
. Red, white.
Fourth
. Moon.
Sun.
Cancer
. Red, russet.
Fifth
. Sun.
Venus.
Leo . .
. Red, black, white.
Sixth . .
. Mercury.
jMercury.
Virgo . .
Black, blue.
Seventh .
. Venus.
Moon.
Libra . .
^ Crimson, blue,
S black, brown.
Eighth .
. Mars.
Saturn.
Scorpio . .
) Brov.-n, green,
• S black.
Ninth
. Jupiter.
Jupiter.
Sagittarius
. Green, white.
Tenth .
. Saturn.
Mars.
Capricornus
. Brown, red,whitc.
Eleventh .
. Saturn.
Sun.
Aquarius .
. Blue, yellow.
Twelfth .
. Jupiter.
Venus.
Pisces . .
. White, green.
This table will be understood by any one who
will read over the influences of the planets, signs,
and Houses ; and when it is recollected how im-
portant colors may be made in horary questions,
it would seem that a clever prognostieator might
always excuse an erroneous prediction, without at all
endangering the credit either of the science or his
104 THE TWIN GIANTS.
own learning. But besides the mode of erecting a
scheme of the heavens, and judging according to
Houses, there was another way of using Astrology as
a mode of divination, which is treated upon by Dr.
Case in a work called " The Angelical Guide,"^ now
rare and curious. This is by an odd mixture of
Geomancy and Astrology, which he assumes was
well known to all the ancients ; and after tables
and calculations innumerable, he observes,'^ " Now,
Christian reader, this is the method or rule from
which I draw all my judgment ; and have now here
demonstrated it unto you in very plain English,
because it hath been in darkness a long while ; for
I believe the reader thereof was never acquainted
with the Rosi-Crucians. They are a people which
have delivered many arts and sciences to the world.
These men may be compared to the wise men of the
East ; by their beholding the stars, they found out
where our Saviour lay. And it may be you never
knew the Hebrews, Chaldeans, Indians ; their writ-
ings and language are different from ours." After
this the reader is dismissed with some instances, in
which Dr. Case used the angelical loto with won-
derful success. There is a book, now become very
common among children and young people, called
" Napoleon's Book of Fate," containing a number
of questions, and a mode of finding answers to them
by geomantic figures. The method of Dr. Case in
the " Angelical Guide," is exactly the same, only
that the geomantic figures are not to answer ques-
' The Angelical Guide, showing men and women their lot in the Ele-
mcntarj' Life, by John Case, M.D., with a Portrait (1G97).
■•^ Angelical Guide, p. 254.
CONCLUSION OF ASTROLOGY. 105
tions, but to determine the places of signs and planets
in an astrological scheme. The ingenuity of this
scheme consisting in casting lots where the planets
should be ; and then prognosticating as if they had
really been there. This is a step in Astrology,
which Kepler and Napier would hardly have been
persuaded to take, and yet the author of this egre-
gious trifling was possessed of a very fair share of
miscellaneous and ill-digested learning.
Another mode of ascertaining future events by
the stars is greatly recommended by the same writer.
It is by supposing the stars to form letters, and those
letters words. " Thus," he remarks,^ " seeing that
the heavens are books, and at the last day they are
to be rolled together like a book, or rolls, therefore
they must have letters ; and I am willing to give
you the method of the ways of the Old Hebrews,
who searched after the heavenly writers for news."
Then quoting various Rabbinical Cabalists, he ob-
serves, " that the stars vertical over a nation or
city, do signify whatever is like to befal it." As
instances at once to show the method of read-
ing the 'stars, and the truth of his theory, he ob-
serves that before the downfall of Greece, the stars,
that form the constellation Caput Medusa, being
vertical over that country, were in this position :
and on this is traced a resemblance to the word
Charab aiH " desolate or destroyed ;" that the
numbers signified by the letters of this word are
' Angalical Guide, p. 84.
F 5
106 TPIE TWIN GIANTS.
in amount twelve, and that Javan ]V (Greece)
denotes the same number. This same constellation,
which of course had always the same signification,
was, when vertical over Italy, thus noticed by a
certain Italian Astrologer, Junctinus,^ " Illud vero
nunc Apulia? et Neapolitanorum regno est verticale,
moxque Italiam invadet, quibus suam quoque cla-
dem allaturum esse maximopere est verendum."
Another instance Is given in certain stars vertical
over Jerusalem, having formed the annexed figure
shortly before its destruction :
which, with many lines, points, and angles is made
out to be the word nn^i^^n, " rejected or forsaken."
These instances will be sufficient ; but they are
worthy of note, because they display the form which
the Cabalists gave most willingly to Astrology, and
which is most in accordance with the puerilities of
their mystic creed." The Dragon\s head and tail
have been mentioned ; and it will be necessary to say
somewhat about their origin. Their meaning is the
nodes of the Moon''s orbit, their sign has been already
given.'' Among the planets in the Hindoo system
' Angelical Guide, p. 88.
'^ It has been an opinion expressed by many etymologists that the letter
A represents the triangular entrance to a tent ; the question has also been
put, does not the constellation of the celestial triangle ])laced over Aries
signify the entrance of the Sun, or to the Sun's palace, from whence he
comes to pass through the signs.
'■' "The ignorance of European scholars respecting the contents of the
astrological works of the Orientals, causes the author the more to regret
that such imperfect hints as the preceding arc all that can be put to-
gether. They are merely offered as proofs that these schemes are not a
jumble of fictions or the inventions of jugglers. Whatever there may be
CONCLUSION OF ASTROLOGY. 107
are reckoned Ketu^ and Rahu, the head and tail
of the Dragon, — although there is no appearance of a
dragon in their representation, — Rahu being the
body of a dark-coloured man, generally riding on
a tortoise ; and Ketu his head, borne on a froo-
The story of Ketu Rahu is, that he, being an adviser
of mischief, swallowed some of the amreeta, a
beverage of immortality, by which he became like
the gods, deathless. He was, however, while drink-
ing it, cut in half by Vishnu, and he fell to the
ground; the two halves were severally adopted by
two Brahmins, who at last persuaded Vishnu to
readmit them to the firmament, where they now
are. Ketu is the father of water-spouts, Rahu of
crocodiles. This is the astronomical legend ; but
we shall have no difiiculty in giving the origin of the
astrological' influence attributed to the head and
of idle reveries in the fantasies of Astrology, we should reflect that to these
ideal objects we owe much of ancient Astronomy, and that Sabeism, or
planetary worship, is the most attractive of all idolatrous schemes. It is
fair to conclude that the mass of emblems and incantations contains a body
of astronomical calculations on dilTerent juxta-positions of planets. A further
acquaintance with the literature of the Singalese, guided by the valuable
clue of their astrological books, may fill up the void which at present un-
fortunately exists in the astrological system." — Upham's Hist, and Doct.
of Budhuism., near the end.
' Univ. Myth. p. 86,
^ In the more antique aspect of Astrology there is something sublime
and imposing. The more closely we examine it, the less poetical does it
become ; and certainly nothing tends to strip from it tliat mantle of mys-
tic majesty with which antiquity has invested it, than the attempts made
by Messrs. Smith, Brown, and Co., to improve it and make it a practi-
ciible and practised art. There is a sort of unintelligible grandeur about
it when beheld as a creed of remote ages, dimly seen through their long
vista, with such ideas. The Dragon's head and Dragon's tail agree, but in
a work lately* published, occurs the following passage : " These points are
by the author of this work deemed as useless superfluities, the relics of
the superstitious absurdities of the dark ages, invented probably to serve
* A Manual of Astrology, by Raphael, 1828.
108 THE TWIN GIANTS.
tail of the Dragon when we reflect on the great
importance of the Moon ; and that the one, which is
her ascending node, must make her influence favor-
able ; the other, which is her descending node, must
have a contrary effect.
the vacuum in the art created by the non-discovery of Herschel, and can
be dispensed with." Sir William Herschel discovered his planet for as-
tronomers, not for astrologers ; the latter did very well without it, and
ought to have paid no attention to him, even had he discovered fifty
planets.
MEDICAL ASTROLOGY, 109
CHAPTER VII.
MEDICAL ASTROLOGY.
There is no science in which Astrology has had
so great or so mischievous effects, as in medicine.
The benefits which it is sometimes supposed to have
conferred on the world, in exciting the attention
of mankind to Astronomy, have been far outweighed
by the injury it has inflicted on medical science.
Alchemy itself has been less deeply and less exten-
sively prejudicial. The division of the human body
among the signs and planets, and the attributing
peculiar diseases to the diversity of their influences,
though originating in a scheme of divination, were
of course soon amalgamated with the yet infant
art of heahng. Times were sought, in which medi-
cines might be administered and operations per-
formed under favorable stellar aspects ; remedies
were to be prepared, and simples culled in the hours
ruled by the planet under whose government they
were ; and ample reasons were thus supplied by
which the failure of their effect, the unfortunate
result of an operation, or even the death of the
patient might be accounted for on scipntific princi-
ples ; and the physician, even when most unsuc-
cessful, might be accounted most learned. In the
East, this is the case to this day ; and there is
on record a curious instance of an Asiatic prince,
who having for many years been in ill health, his
110 THE TWIN GIANTS.
physicians fearing that he would die, an event
which would involve their own destruction, cun-
ningly discovered that the blame all rested on those
who had superintended the ceremony of his receiv-
ing a name ; and accordingly he was re-crowned by
another designation.
Cornelius Agrippa^ observes, "that man's mind,
when most intent upon any work through its passion
and effects, is joined with the mind of the stars ;
and by this means, whatsoever the mind of him
that is in vehement love affects, hath an efficacy
to cause love ; and whatsoever is dictated by the
mind of him that stronglj hates, hath an efficacy
to hurt and destroy. The like is in other things,
which the mind with strong desire determines. For
all those things which the mind does, and dictates
by characters, figures, words, orations, and gestures,
acquire wonderful virtues from the soul of the ope-
rator, in that hour when the celestial influence
moveth the mind in that manner.*' This is rather
different from the opinion of Roger Bacon concern-
ing characters and talismans. He observes :" " Yet
it is to be allowed, that a skilful physician, and
indeed any one else, who finds it necessary to cause
mental excitement, may with good effect make use
both of charms and fictitious characters (as Con-
stantine the physician observes), not because those
charms and , fictitious characters have intrinsically
any effect, but in order that his medicine may be
the more confidently and eagerly taken, and the
mind of the patient be excited; and he may thus
> Occ. Phil. lib. i. c. C7.
■■' Bacon de Secretis Op. Artis et Naturse, c. 2,
MEDICAL ASTROLOGY. Ill
freely trust, and hope, and rejoice. For the mind,
when so excited, has over its own body a great
power of restoration ; so that from infirmity the
patient, by joy and confidence, may arrive at a
state of convalescence. If therefore a physician, to
magnify his office, that his patient may be excited
to hope and confidence should do anything of
this kind, and not for fraudulent purposes, but that
his patient may recover, he is not to be condemned,
as Constantine says. For he himself, speaking of
those charms which are worn round the neck, defends
them on this principle ; that the mind has, by means
of its strong affections, great power over the body,
Avicenna teaches, and with him all sages agree.'''
This counsel exhibits a melancholy picture of
medical science at the time in which it was offered.
It shows how it was degraded to flattering the
prejudices of the ignorant,^ till the system of such
flattery became a part of medicine itself. That
the appeal to the imagination is not to be neglected,
every physician will willingly admit ; but to give
it in ordinary cases undue prominence, is to make
a free inlet for the abuses of every species of
quackery. Bacon was far from disbelieving the
power of planetary talismans, if properly made ;
for in a passage but a few lines before that
' Of the state in which medical science was in the time of Proclus,
that philosopher gives a convincing proof in his doubts concerning Pro-
vidence. " For when the loins are diseased, physicians cauterize not the
parts which are near, but those which are opposite to the loins ; and when
the liver is impostlmmated, they scarify the epigastrium. Wiien like-
wise tlie hoofs of oxen are extremely tender, they anoint the tips of the
horns, and not the parts which are proximate to the hoofs. For the effect
produced in them is not through the parts which are near, but through
those which from co-passivity are in want of sanation." — Tavlor's
Translutions, p. 66.
112 THE TWIN GIANTS.
above quoted, he says,^ "But they who know in
jit constellations to make their works (talismans)
according to the configurations of the heavens,
may not only dispose characters, but all their
operations, both of nature and art, according to
the celestial virtues ; but because it is difficult
in these things to know the nature of celestials,
there are many errors committed by the major
part of operators and but few know how profit-
ably and truly to order them. And on this
account the multitude of prognosticators, and of
those who operate by virtue of the stars, perform
not much, nor do they anything that is useful,
although those loho are skilled, and have sufficient
science can in fitly elected seasons, both act and pre-
dict to good and useful purpose."" These talismans
which are here mentioned, were the greatest instru-
ments of astrological medicine ; and though many
of them were merely of a magical character, and
had nothing to do with stellar influences, yet in
general they owed their virtue to the figure en-
graved in the hour, and picturing the spirit of some
planet.
Cornelius Agrippa gives many such, stating the uses
for which they are to be made, and in whose
name aid is to be invoked, when they are used.
At a time when many diseases were attributed
to the direct action of evil spirits, the practice
of using such charms would, of course, prevail ;
they were supposed to bring the power of one
spirit in opposition to that of another ; and he,
who was afflicted by a demon, whose nature was
• Bacon, ut supra, c. 2.
MEDICAL ASTROLOGY. US
decided to be like that of Saturn, and whose at-
tacks were exasperated by an unfavourable position
of that planet, could scarce fail of being cured by a
sigil made in the hour, and bearing the character of
Jupiter. Such an instance is related by Lilly in his
autobiography. The first master of that noted per-
sonage married a widow, whose former husband,
lodging one night at a country inn, and sleeping
in the chamber which had been once occupied by a
grazier, who cut his throat there, — the spirit of this
grazier followed the traveller a long while, appear-
ing to him from time to time, and tempting him
to cut his throat. His wife at last prevailed on
him to communicate to her the secret of his dejec-
tion ; and when she knew, she obtained from Dr.
Simon Forman a charm to prevent this in future.
On the death of her husband, she wore the talis-
man always about her person, with not a few
others; for Lilly says,' — "When my mistress died,
she had under her armhole a small scarlet bag,
full of many things, which one that was there de-
livered unto me. There were in this bag several
sigils ; some of Jupiter in trine, others of the nature
of Venus ; some of iron, and one of gold, — of pure
angel gold, of the bigness of a thirty-three shilling
piece of King James's coin. Jn the circumference
on one side was engraven Vicit Leo de tribu Judfc
Tetragrammatori +. Within the middle there was
engraven a holy Lamb. In the other circumference
there was Amraphel and three +. Li the middle,
Sanctus Petrus, Alpha et Omega." Lilly seems to
have had a very exact idea of its value ; for he says,
' Lilly's History of his Life and Times (Bunnan's edition), p. 15.
114 THE TWIN GIANTS.
that he carefully copied the inscription, and then,
utterly regardless of the hour in which it had been
framed, and in which consisted its virtue, he sold it
for thirty shillings, — the value of the metal; — a proof
that however Lilly might think afterwards, he was
no believer in sigils at the beginning.
The plants and minerals, which were under the
rules of particular planets, were supposed to have
double power in the hour of those planets' supre-
macy ; whereas, in the hour of supremacy of a con-
trary planet, they lost their virtues, and became
ineffectual. It was attempted to prove this from
Scripture ; for the blessing of Moses to the tribe of
Joseph is thus rendered by Arias Montanus, and
by our own translation ; " And of Joseph he said,
blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious
things of heaven, for the dew and for the deep that
coucheth beneath, and for the precious things put
forth by the Sun, and for the precious things put
forth by the Moon.""^ This, it is contended, was
an evidence of the solar and lunar influence upon
things animate and inanimate. It was not the mere
ordinary effect of the seasons ; for that was promised
in the earlier part of the verse, and Joseph, who
was endowed with wisdom from above, who had
the power of divining, and was skilled in the secret
arts of the Egyptians, might be supposed able to give
his children a heritage of the secrets of Nature. The
idea was, that the spirits of the planets radiated their
influences as musk or camphor do their odor, and
• " Et ad Joseph dixit, Bencdicta Domini terra ejus, de deliciii coclorum,
de rore et voraginc cukinti deorsuin, et de deliciii proventuum solis et de
delicia ejectionis lunarum." Arias Montanus. Deut. xxxiii. 13, 14.
MEDICAL ASTROLOGY. 115
that, according as those radiations were of u similar
or dissimilar character to that of the human frame,
so they were beneficial or hurtful ; but it might be,
that the effects of a malevolent planet were some-
times good. Thus a cold planet might, though its
influences were generally evil, be advantageous in
fever ; and the plants and minerals which partook
of its nature might then be administered with effect.
To prove this theory, the writers who adopted it,
advanced many arguments. They contended that
the spirits of the planets were far more powerful,
both for good and evil, than men were. If, there-
fore, men had so great influence, merely by their
personal presence over the health and happiness of
others, — if a portion of the same power and often
no small portion, was enjoyed by animals ranking
much lower than man in the scale of creation, —
why should we discredit the power of active and
subtle spirits, when their activity and influence are
concentrated by the use of metals and plants which
they are known to delight in I
Roger Bacon expresses himself very strongly upon
this topic of influences. " We see, that animals
change and alter that which is presented to them.
The basilisk kills by a single look, and the wolf, if
he sees a man, before he be seen, renders a man
hoarse. The hyena does not permit a dog to bark
within her shadow, as Solinus relates."^ Since,
therefore, plants and animals cannot attain to the
dignity of human nature, much more can man cause
to be flung forth from him virtues and appearances
and colors to the change of bodies without him.
* De Sec, Op. Art, et Nat. cap. iii.
116 THE TWIN GIANTS.
" Solinus relates, that in Scythia there are women
having two pupils in one eye — (whence Ovid re-
marks, ' nocet pupilla duplex'), and when they are
angry they kill men with one glance." After this
he proceeds to show, that sickness, and not only sick-
ness but good health, is contagious ; that vice and
virtue are propagated in like manner, a singular gloss
upon St. Paul's quotation from Menander, ^ and states
that if a person afflicted with any contagious disease,
leprosy for instance, were earnestly to desire " ex
desiderio forti et cogitatione et solicitudine vehe-
menti " to infect any other person, even though the
leper touched them not, he would much sooner ac-
complish his diabolical intention, and the party
would become infected much more powerfully and
rapidly than if no such wish existed in the mind of
the diseased person. Indeed, without some such
mental effort, leprosy would only be communicated
by contact.
This notion of radiated influences is the foundation
of Medical Astrology, as that of informing spirits
was the root of Astrology in general ; and when
the science had gradually taken the form which in
the middle ages it presented, there was material
enough for a medical system, which those who pro-
fessed any part of the science could not deny, and
according to which they very rarely refused to
practise. Let it be supposed that an individual is
taken ill. The first thing to be done was to ascer-
tain by an astrological scheme the nature of the
disease. For instance, if the Moon is in Capricorn,
' " Evil communications corupt good manners." 1 Cor. xv. 33.
idelpovffiv >i9t] xpr}rTTa ofiiXiai KUKai Thais of Menander.
MEDICAL ASTROLOGY. 117
and afflicted by Saturn, then the patient suffers
" heaviness at the hreast and stomach, difficulty of
breathing, and dry cough ; the lungs oppressed ; more
pain by night than by day, with intense fever, often
headache and noise in the head. The cause is from
great cold, melancholy, and disorderly diet."^ Then
to ascertain what remedy is indicated, which is found
also by a due consideration of the herbs, plants,
and minerals given in astrological tables ; and next
at what hours they are to be administered. Thus
" When you give medicine, let the moon be in a
watery sign, or let a watery sign ascend, and let the
Moon be aspected by any planet which is direct,
and if swift in motion and under the earth the better.
But by no means let the Moon be aspected of any
retrograde planet, for then the patient will be apt
to vomit."- " When you intend to give a vomit, let
either the Moon or the Lord of the Ascendant be
in an earthy sign aspected by a planet retrograde."^
The author from whom these directions are taken,
gives a recipe for making that celebrated sympathetic
powder* for which Sir Kenelm Digby was famed
" Take Kornan vitriol six or eight ounces, beat it
very small in a mortar, sift it through a fine sieve,
when the Sun enters Leo. Keep it in the heat of
the Sun by day, and dry by night, and marvel-
lous cures may be done by it." Sir Kenelm him-
' Blagrave's Astrological Practice of Physic, p. 85.
^ Id. p. 91. 3 j(j p_ 93_
* The doctrine of sympathetic cures prevailed among the Anglo-
Saxons to a great extent. It appears from the Thirty-first Canon of
Egbert's Penitential that women sometimes took the blood of their hus-
bands as a medicine. "■ This usage was probably founded on some old
heathen superstition and popular credulity was likely to gather strength
from ecclesiastical prohibition." — Soames's Hist. Anylo-Suxon Church,
vol. i. p. 264.
118 THE TWIN GIANTS.
self gives a singular accoiint of its effects. He took
a bandage which had been used by a gentleman
whose hand had been wounded in a duel, and dipped
it in a solution of this sympathetic powder. No
sooner was the bandage wet than the pain in the
hand ceased ; and afterwards, when Sir Kenelm
took the bandage out of the solution, and hung it
by the fire to dry, the gentleman suffered the most
acute pain in his hand, and declared that he felt as
though it were on fire. The bandage was again put
into the solution and kept there till the patient
recovered. Blagrave professed to use a mixture of
two powders ; one the ashes of some plant recom-
mended for the disease, and the sympathetic powder
of Sir Kenelm Digby abovementioned. He bled the
patient, and mixing the two powders with a little of
the blood, he put it into a bag, and caused it to be
constantly worn.
A favorite recipe of the same period (the seven-
teenth century), was to bore a hole in an oak or
other tree, in the hour of certain planets, varying
according to the disease which required a cure ;
laying the sawdust thus procured to the part dis-
eased, and then putting in the hole made in the
tree, cuttings of the hair, and parings of the nails
of the party affected, as the juices of the tree filled
up the hole which had been made, so would the
cure be performed on the party afflicted. He was
not to neglect other remedies, such as proper medi-
cine and judicious diet, and if all proved unsuc-
cessful, then it was evident that the hole had been
bored in the hour of some unfortunate planet ; if
the patient recovered, then the credit was usually
MEDICAL ASTROLOGY.
119
divided between the tree and the planet, unless
the physician were an astrologer. Another very
efficacious remedy was the following ointment : ^
RECIPE :
The moss of a dead man's skidl
3i-
Human fat^
yj-
Mummy
5ss
Human blood . . . .
5SS.
Oil of Linseed , . . .
3SS.
Oil of roses . . . . .
Sij-
Bole arm
. . |ss.
This ointment was supposed to combine all the
virtues of all the planets in cases of wounds; and
its effects were exactly similar to those of the sym-
pathetic powder. When Ave look over remedies
like these, we look at a state of grossness which
prevails now scarcely anywhere but among the Obi
worshippers of Africa ; their charms, both for good
and evil, bear a strong resemblance to such elegant
preparations as the above. But in the West of
England it is by no means an uncommon occurrence
for a druggist to be asked for the "oil of bricks'"
or "oil of swallows," the "oil of stones," or the "oil
' Blagrave, Astrol. Pract. of Phys. p. 1 34.
* These remedies must, it seems, be gathered with great care ; for the
protection of benign planets was here peculiarly necessary, to say nothing
of the astral spirit of the departed person, of which notice will be taken in
due time. Our author in another place has the following words : " Si
acceperis terram cadaverosam cujuscunque viri mulierisve qui notabili quo-
cimque morbo moriabatur eandemque des ullo masculo aut fcEniin;p, eodem
morbo contsmiinabuntur, in morbis aliquibus odore tantum hoc afficitur,
exempli gratia in peste, morbo Gallico, elephantiasi, sive lepra." — Page
135.
The remedy given in the text is also to be found in Baptista Porta, on
Nat. Mag. b. viii. c. 12, where he states that it was an invention of Para-
celsus, and given by him to the Emperor Maximilian. In case of wounds
it was to be applied not to the injured part but to the weapon that caused
the injury, and the effects were very wonderful.
120 THE TWIN GIANTS.
of earthworms," all which have had their virtues
when astrologically made. The idea of Astrology is
now lost among the poor people who require such
medicines, but the virtues of the nostrum are still
traditionally believed.
MAGIC. 121
CHAPTER VIII.
MAGIC. INTRODUCTION.
Next to Astrology in the order of the Occult
Sciences comes Magic ; which has been defined in
various ways according as it has been thought to
be, or not to be, of a supernatural character. To a
certain extent, however, all Magic may be reckoned
supernatural, for even the occult properties of herbs,
animals, and stones, were said to be consequent upon
their astrological government, and only to be made
fully available by those who used them in the propi-
tious planetary hours ; and as spiritual influence is
at the very root of Astrology, Magic, which depends
upon that Science, cannot be supposed free from it.
But if, instead of considering it as a part of that
system called the Occult Philosophy, we examine its
probable origin, it will seem to have arisen from the
accounts of miracles wrought perhaps before the
flood, and handed down by tradition to subsequent
ages. Contemplating these relations, the minds of
men in a state of heathenism would naturally be led
to one of two conclusions. Those wdio looked with
implicit faith upon the religion of the country, who
accepted all its dogmas, and believed all its legends,
would suppose that such wonderful events which
came to their knowledire, were done by means of
superhuman aid. Those on the contrary, who saw
the absurdities of paganism, and especially those
G
122 THE TWIN GIANTS.
who were observant of natural phenomena, would
be led to attribute every miraculous event of which
they had heard, to the power of Science. But as
there would be not a few, who would in some degree
mingle these two characters, and as the inefficacy of
Science in equalling the wonders of traditions, would
become continually more evident, so we might expect
to hear of two kinds of Magic, each prevailing in
turn, as superstition or Natural Philosophy ruled
the taste of the times.
The division of Magic into Natural and Geotic,
was not, however, generally adopted until the Occult
Philosophy was near the term of its extinction. In
the earlier ages, the question was discussed Avith
considerable vehemence, whether the mass of wonder
which was generally admitted, and to which every
succeeding age had made large additions, was all the
work of sorcery, performed by means of a compact
with evil spirits ; or, whether it was all produced by
a profundity of research, and a depth of scientific
knowledge unknown even in this age of Brande and
Faraday, Herschel and Airy, Whewell and Buck-
land.
The doctrines of the Epicureans with respect
to the atoms of which matter is composed, tended
very much to support the position of those who
attributed all the recorded wonders of Mag-ic to
natural causes. That minute particles of matter,
of peculiar form, differing according to the nature
of the object from which they proceed, are flung
ofl' from all kinds of bodies, in the form of ef-
fluvia, and that these operate upon other bodies
by means of their form, and are agreeable or dis-
MAGIC. 1 23
agreeable in their effects, according as the effluvia
of the emittent body are or are not of a similar
shape to the pores of the receiving bodj, — are some
of the maxims upon which their theory is built.
" Thus, there be certain seeds," says De Loire,^
" within the eyes of cocks, which shining and shoot-
ing into the eyes of lions, do so pierce and strike
their eye-lids, and do inflict upon them such pain
and grief, that they are constrained to fly from
them, beino' not able to abide or endure the sight
of the cock."
He afterwards combats this hypothesis and en-
deavours to build a system on the ruins of the Epi-
curean philosophy, ^A'hich shall prove INlagic, Witch-
craft, and Necromancy to be by the devil's aid
attainable. But the consequences of these doctrines
(those of the Epicureans) were, that it was deemed
possible by a diligent study of the laws of
Nature, and the properties of matter, to obtain a
power over those atoms before-mentioned, to control
and influence them in the same way that Nature
does, and by this means, not only to hasten or
retard her operations, but even to suspend their
effect altogether. Thus it was supposed, that, by
the study of Natural Philosophy, the very laws
of the Universe might be contravened. Magic,
as treated of by the writers on Occult Philosophy,
is the imagination of intellects of the very first
order. It is an attempt, though an unsuccessful
one, to analyze creation, and develope the prin-
ciples by which it is ruled. It was founded upon
the sand, and the structure has fallen ; yet we
' Theatre of Spectres, c. iii.
124 THE TWIN GIANTS.
canuot refuse our admiration to the ruins. The
definitions which have been given of JNIagie will
be worth transcribing- as thev show that it was
a sort of transcendental Natural Philosophy, and
not sorcerv, that was recommended to be learned.
Take that of Elias Ashmole ; " Judicial Astrology^
is the key to Natural Magic and Natural Magic
the door that leads to this blessed stone, namely, the
" philosopher's,' howbeit the ignorance and malice
of some times, and the common custom of ours,
hath falsely and abusively called it Necromancy ;
and what acts are raised from the doctrine of
devils. Magic ; without aftbrding that just and
<lue distinction which ought to be made between
them ; and what greater injury to learning than
to confound laudable knowledge with that which
is impious and devilish. For, if there be any-
thing in that which we call Magic, other than
a searchinsf into those hidden virtues which it
hath pleased God to bestow upon created things,
thougli closely locked up by the curse whereby
we aptly apply agents to patients, I say if there
be anything else, they are but subtle falsehoods
that shelter themselves under that title." Para-
celsus speaks with great energy of this confusion,
he inveighs against " such as rank true magicians
with conjurers, necromancers, and witches, those
grand impostors who violently intrude themselves
into Magic, as if swine should enter into a fair
and delicate garden."" It is a most secret and
hidden science of supernatural things in the earth,
so that whatsoever is not to be found out by man's
' Theat. Chem. Brit. p. 4, 43. » De Occult. Pliil. c. 2.
MAGIC. 125
reason may be by this act ; " yet in itself it is
most pure and not defiled with ceremonies nor con-
jurations as necromancy is." Cornelius Agrippa
says, " Magic ^ doth contain the most profound
contemplation of the most secret things, together
with the nature, power, quality, substance, and
virtues thereof ; as also the knowledge of all
Nature that instructs us coucernins: the difi'erence
and agreement of things amongst themselves,
whence it produceth its wonderful effects by uniting
the virtues of things through the application of
them one to the other, and to their inferior
suitable objects."
We must not be misled by these phrases, how-
ever, and suppose that Physics then stood on the
same kind of foundation as it does now. Much
of the supposed knowledge of that day was merely
traditional ; it rested upon the dictum of Aristotle,
or even of Pliny, and very little had been verified
by experiment. While, therefore, so much was
supposed to be in the power of the philosopher,
the directions for obtaining and using that power
partook in no small degree of the mystical charac-
ter. A bold theory had been struck out, and it
was necessary to support its positions with some-
thing like argument, and the mass of magical fable
from Pliny downwards, contained relations, whicli
were received as facts, and which were amply
sufficient to make out any system. But, when
instruction was demanded by the students of this
theory by wliich they might carry it into practice,
the professors were reduced either to transcendeu-
' Occult. Phil. lib. i. c. -2.
126 THE TWIN GIANTS.
talize until they became quite unintelligible, or
to descend to absolute quackery ; and sometimes
they adopted a mixture of both modes. The work
of Cornelius Agrippa is a remarkable instance of
this. When theorizing, he observes : " For^ this
is the harmony of the world, that things super-
celestial be drawn down by the celestial, and
supernatural by natural, because there is one opera-
tive virtue that is diffused through all kinds of
things by which virtue indeed, as manifest things
are produced out of occult causes, so a magician
doth make use of things manifest to draw forth
' Corn. Agrippa de Occult. Phil. lib. i. c. 38. Ashmole enlarges on the
suhject : " And now that I may come closer to what Norton intends, and
bring ]\Iagic nearer to our puqjose, we must understand that the order and
symmetry of the universe is so settled by the laws of creation, that the
lowest things (the sub-celestial or elemental region) should be subser-
vient to the middle ; the middle (or celestial) to those above ; and these,
the supercelestial or intelligible to the Supreme Ruler's beck. With this
it is farther to be known that these superiors and inferiors have an ana-
logical likeness, and by a secret bond have likewise a fast coherence be-
tween themselves through insensible mediums ; freely combining, in obe-
dience to the.Supreme Ruler, and also to the benefit of Nature. Insomuch,
that if we take the same harmony in the reverse, we shall find that things
supercelestial may be drawn down by celestial and supernatural by natu-
ral ; for it is the maxim of Old Hermes, — ' Quod est superius est sicut
id quod est inferius.' And upon this ground wise men conceive it no way
irrational, that it should be possible for us to ascend by tlie same degrees
through eacli world to tlie verj' original world itself, the Maker of all
things, and their First Cause. But how to conjoin the inferiors with the
virtues of the superiors (whicli is marrying elmes to vines) or how to call
out of the hidden phices into open light the dispersed and seminated vir-
tues (i. e. virtutcs iu centro centri latentes) is tlie work of the Mngi or
Hermetic Philosophers onlj^, and depends upon tlic aforesaid hamiony, for
tiiey know that the production of things is natural ; but the bringing
forth of the virtue is not natural, because the things are create, but the
virtues are uncreate. Hence it is that the power and virtue is not in
plants, stones, minerals, &c., though we sensibly perceive the effects from
them ; but it is that universal and all-pervading sfiirit, that one operative
virtue and immortal seed of earthly things, that God in the beginning in-
fused into the chaos, which is everywhere active, and still ilows through
the world in all kinds of things by universal extension, and manifests
itself by the aforesaid production, which spirit a true artist knows so how
to handle, that though its activity be dulled and straightly bound up in
MAGIC. 127
things that are occult, namely, through the rays of
the stars ; through fumes, lights, sounds, and
natural things, which are agreeahle to celestial,
in which besides corporeal qualities, there is a kind
of reason, sense and harmony, and incorporeal and
divine measures and orders."
When giving directions for practice, he gives
way to all the absurdities of the Cabala. The
idea that all things in Heaven were created after
a pattern existing in the Divine mind, and earthly
things after the pattern of heavenly, gave rise
to the theory, which, together with the atomic
doctrines of the Epicureans,^ made up the system
the close prison of close and earthly bodies, he can take it from corporiety,
free it from captivity, and let it loose that it may freely work as it doth,
in the etherial bodies. But the means whereby it is to be done, which is
the first preparation, all philosophers have hitherto concealed, and unless
it please God to reveal it, like the Jewish fire, it must be kept hidden ;
and till he doth, there is no human industry that can forcibly wrest
the knowledge thereof out of that Almighty hand. Si te fata vocant
alitor non (Augurelli). Look not then for it at the hand of man, for it is
the gift of God only. It is, as Norton says, a singular gift and grace of
the Almighty. Man has it not, that is, not to bestow where he will, and
nil dat quod non habet. In fine, if any man be so blest as to discover and
unveil our Diana, he shall find and confess that he was beholden to Na-
tural Magic for directions at the beginning, middle, and end ; and when it
is wrought up to his highest degree of perfection, he shall see things
not fit to be written, for (and I aver it with awful reverence) he shall at-
tain angelical wisdom." — Theat. Chem. Brit. p. 446.
These very words occur in the notes to a body of treatises professing to
explain all these mysteries; it would be difficult to find an instance of a
man exhibiting more acuteness in bolstering up a system of superstition,
in which he devoutly believed, than Elias Aslmiole.
' Dr. Campbell, in his Hermes Redivivus, quotes'a singular book pub-
lished under the title " Melanges d'Histoire et de Literature," par JM. de
Vigneul Marville. Bonaventure d'Argonne was the real name of the
author, who called himself Vigneul de Marville, he was a Chartrenx,
and died about ] 704. The following tale is told by way of exempli-
fying the notions above named. " The day after our arrival in London,
several tradesmen came to our lodgings in order to sell us the commo-
dities and curiosities of their country. Every one of the company fixed
readily his attention on what pleased him most ; some brought gloves,
others ribbons, and others silk-stockings. The merchandise which fell to
my share was several perspective glasses and microscopes ; he who sold
128 THE TWIN GIANTS.
of Magic. The sympathetic union which was sup-
posed to exist between the visible or elemental
creation ; the spiritual or intellectual world and
that plan in the Divine mind which was denomi-
nated the original world, while it accounted for all
the wonders to which the Art Magic might pretend,
at the same time stamped upon it the mark of consi-
derable sublimity. The doctrines of the Epicureans
with regaid to matter communicated somewhat of
a more profound character, and the union of the
two was irresistibly attractive to the savans of the
middle ages. A better illustration of the atomic
theory can hardly be found than the cause assigned
by modern philosophers for the difference of colors,
liight is found to be composed of particles of seven
them was an excellent mathematician, a man of great capacity, and could
speak French tolerably well. I kept him to dinner, and, as he was mighty
well pleased with the entertainment, he told me, after he rose from the
table, that he had a great curiosity to sliow me. He then took out of a
shagreen box an instrument in a tortoiseshell case, which proved to be a
most excellent microscope. I may well bestow this epithet upon it, since
it was so excellent as not only to discover an infinity of bodies impercep-
tible to the naked eye, but even the atoms of Epicurus, the subtle matter
of Descartes, the vapours of the earth, those which flow from our own bo-
dies, and such as bring down to us here the influence of the stars. The
first experiment I made was looking on the person from whom I received
it, at the distance of four or five paces, which gave me an opportunity of
discerning an infinite number of little worms that were feeding most vo-
raciously upon his clothes ; by which I perceived, that, contrary to the
common opinion, it is not we who wear out our clothes, but they are fairly
eaten off our backs by these invisible insects. I changed my situation, and
considered my mathematician in another light. He appeared to be en-
veloped in a dark cloml. He told me that this apjiearance was owing to
his perspiring strongly after dinner, and that this ought to convince me of
the truth of wliat Sanctorius had delivered in respect to the proportion
lietween this and other secretions. We next went into the kitchen where
there was a large piece of beef roasting for the servants, and 1 had the
pleasure of seeing witli the same microscope, how the fire separates all the
parts of the wood upon which it acts, and darts tiiem l)y the violence of
its motion against the beef that turns before it, wounding it, as it were,
with an infinite number of shafts, and so tearing it to pieces, some of which
MAGIC. 1 21)
different colors ; which by their combination pro-
duce every variety of hue. Now the texture of
bodies, not their visible texture, but the construc-
tion of their invisible atoms, is such as to absorb
or to reflect certain of these colors; that is, to
receive into their pores, or to reject the particles
which make those colors. Thus a piece of blue
cloth is of such a texture as to admit into its pores
the particles which produce red, orange, yellow,
green, indigo, and violet, and to reject the blue,
which being thus separated from the rest, becomes
visible. If this cloth be dyed black, the blue will
be admitted into its pores, as well as the other
colors, and the result will be a privation of light ;
the cloth will be black. Again, white cloth, or
any white substance, refuses admittance to any par-
are converted into juice, and others into a delicate kind of smoke or
vapour which filled the kitchen, and was very sensiblj' distinguished by
our nostrils. Going out of the house we saw four young men playing at
ball. I, at first sight, felt a strong inclination in favour of one, and as
strong an aversion against another, whence I began eamestlj' to wish that
this might win, and that might lose. I examined both with the micro-
scope, and thereby easily distinguished the source of these passions. As
the men were extremely heated with their exercise they perspired strongly,
so that clouds of the matter flowing from them reached us ; my glass
shewed me distinctly that the matter perspired by him for whom I felt an
inclination was exactly similar to what was perspired by myself ; whereas,
the matter ilowing from the other person was absolutely unlike to mine in
all respects, and so jagged and bearded that it seemed to wound and pierce
me like so many arrows ; hence I discerned that the true cause of our
sudden inclinations and aversions consists in the figures of the matter per-
spiring from us and from others, and in the similaritj- or contrariety of
these insensible vapours. We went out of the city, and at some miles
distance, we saw some gentlemen diverting themselves in coursing a hare.
As the poor creature passed almost close by us, I had just time to catch
a glance of her with my glass ; she appeared to me like a ball of fire mov-
ing with prodigious rapidity, and leaving a mighty smoke behind her.
This was tiie matter perspired by tlie animal, and I saw that the dogs
followed exactly the tract of that smoke, and were never at all at a loss,
except when the wind dissipated the cloud that issued from the Hying
hare." — Meluitges iniistoirc et de Liltmtun; torn. ii. p. 461. Hermippus
Redivivus, p. 85.
g5
130 THE TWIN GIANTS.
tide of light within its pores, and thus, no part
being separated from the rest, the substance keeps
the color of the mixed rays or particles of light,
namely, white. But the change produced by dyeing,
for instance, is wrought upon the most minute fibres
of which the cloth is composed, fibres of which no
microscope can be made powerful enough to exhibit
the texture, or to trace its change. The dyer
knows, that a certain drug will change the color
of his cloth ; but how this change will be eff'ected,
he has not the slightest idea. The philosopher
would tell him, that the texture of the fibres will
be altered, and the pores made to vary in size
and shape, so that particles of light which were
before rejected, will now be received, and others
received which before were rejected. But there
is a step which the philosopher has not taken, he
cannot tell what is the alteration that has taken
])lace ; how the pores are now shaped, and of what
comparative size they are. Yet investigations far
more subtle than this must be satisfactorily prose-
cuted before the theory of Magic — Natural Magic,
can be reduced to practice.
We speak of chemical and electrical and me-
chanical action ; but there can be no doubt that
were our organs delicate enough to perceive it,
mechanical action would be the only mode of opera-
tion which it would be necessary to admit. The
subtle and invisible fluids, light, heat, galvanism,
magnetism, electricity, whether they be all the same
or whether they are distinct fluids, are unquestion-
ably material, and if so they nmst act by impact.
MAGIC. 131
We cannot see the particles of an acid redden litmus
paper, or oxydate the surface of a metallic plate,
as we can see the tool of a carpenter make in his
hand the block into a box, nor can we see the
particles of heat or caloric unite themselves with
those of water, drive them asunder, and render them
lighter than atmospheric air; it is not possible to
make instruments by which these operations could
be made visible to our eyes. Hence it is highly
probable that the knowledge of such facts will be
all to which we can ever attain. The magician,
however, considered according to the theory which
has been thus illustrated, must be aware of the
manner in which each step of these changes is
taken. He must behold these ultimate atoms, and
examine the effects wrought upon them by these
invisible and imponderable fluids ; he must be ac-
quainted with the laws of life, and be able to
investigate their operation upon organized matter ;
besides this he must be capable of reducing all his
knowledge to practice ; of so using the elements,
so combining and separating them as to be in the
place of Nature ; and in a small circle to rule her
and them at his will.
Tliese were the pretensions of Natural Magic, nor
can we wonder that those who deemed such things
within the grasp of the human intellect, should
declare that the Almighty himself would overrule
the studies pursued by the votaries of such sciences ;
would allow none to become adepts save those who
feared Him, and kept His commandments. This
is the cause of the religious matter found in such
132 THE TWIN GIANTS.
writers as Ashmole and Thoruburgh : that pious
exhortations are sometimes found in astrological and
magical treatises by writers of a very different stamp
must be acknowledged, but it is only in imitation
of earlier and better authors.
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. 133
CHAPTER IX.
OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC, AND PARTICULARLY
AMONG THE EGYPTIANS.
The fabulous ages of Magic, that is, those ages
of whose magical pretensions we have no contem-
porary account, begin, as we might have expected,
with the creation ; and Adam being instructed by
his Creator in all the properties of Nature, all the
mysteries of the planet created for his abode, and
of the system to which it belonged, was of course
the first adept. Here too we find the division of
the wonder-working art into !Magic and Sorcery ;
the one comprising the knowledge how to produce
marvellous effects by natural agents ; the other,
the knowledge of those means, by which power
might be obtained over spiritual essences.* The
earliest account of anything supposed to be con-
nected with Magic, is to be found in the history
of Rachel. When with her sister Leah, and her
husband Jacob, she had left the house of her father.
•' Rachel" had stolen the images that were her
' " Fallax prior et nociva satis diabolum indicat auctorem ; Naturalem
vero legitimainque Magicen cum ca'teris scientiis Adamo Deus largitus, a
quo posteritas docta per manus et orbem earn propagavit ; eo ut Psellus et
Proclus advertere nihil est aliud quam exactior qufcdani arcanoruin Na-
turae cogiiitio qua, cffilorum ac siderum cursu ac influxu ac sympathiis at-
que antipathiis rerum siiigulariim observatis, suo tempore, loco, et mode,
res rebus applicantur ac miritica quajdam hoc pacto perrtciuntur quae cau-
sarum ignaris, priestigiosa vel miraculosa videiitui-." — / )i!if/uisitwiies Ma-
c/iccp, lib. i. c. 3.
^ Gen. xxxi.
134 THE TWIN GIANTS.
father's. . . . Then Laban overtook Jacob . . . and
Laban said . . . yet wherefore hast thou stolen my
gods? . . . and Jacob answered, and said, With
whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live ;
before our brethren, discern thou what is thine with
me and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that
Rachel had stolen them. And Laban went into
Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the
two maid-servants' tent, but he found them not.
Then went he out of Leah's tent and entered into
Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the images
(D''2~in teraphim), and put them in the camel's
furniture and sat upon them. And Laban searched
all the tent but found them not. And she said
to her father, let it not displease my lord that I
cannot rise up before thee, for the custom of women
is upon me. And he searched, but found not the
images." This passage has given no little trouble
to commentators ; but most of them seem to con-
sider these teraphim as something of a magical
nature. The targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel gives
the following version : — And Rachel stole the images
of her father; for they had murdered a man, who
was a first-born son, and, having cut off his head,
they embalmed it with salt and spices, and they
wrote divinations upon a plate of gold, and put it
under his tongue and placed it against the wall,
and it conversed with them, and Laban worshipped
it. And Jacob stole the science of Laban the
Syrian, tliat he might not discover his departure."
The Persian translation gives us astrolabes instead
of teraphim, and implies that they were instruments
used for judicial Astrology; and that Rachel stole them
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. 135
to prevent her father from discovering their route.
At all events the teraphim were means of divina-
tion among believers and unbelievers; they were
known among the Egyptians,^ and among the Sy-
rians. What makes it extremely probable that they
were not objects of religious worship is, that it does
not appear from any other passage of scripture that
Laban was an idolater ; besides which Rachel, who
was certainly a worshipper of the true God, took
them, it seems, on account of their supposed superna-
tural powers. And when Laban inquired for them,
the nature of her reply" evidences, that she could
not have regarded them as invested with any degree
of sanctity. Laban was satisfied with her answer,
and desisted from the search.' It must, however,
be observed that some have supposed these teraphim
to have been talismans for the cure of diseases ; and
others, that being really idols, Rachel stole them
to put a stop to her father's idolatry. There is not
a very dissimilar account related, Judges xviii, of
Micah and his teraphim, which seems sufficient to
prove, that the use of them was not considered
inconsistent with the profession of the true reli-
gion.
The account of the mandrakes mentioned in the
thirtieth chapter of Genesis, can hardly be adduced
as bearing any relation even to Natural JNIagic, though
in subsequent ages, some very extraordinary proper-
ties were attributed to that plant. It was said to
grow in the shape of a man, and to utter a cry
' Spencer, Dissertatio de Urim et Thummira.
'^ See Leviticus, xv. 19.
■' See Dr. Clarke's Commentary in loco.
136 THE TWIN GIANTS.
SO dreadful when pulled from the ground, that
those who heard it would speedily and miserahly
perish. So long and so extensively did these ideas
prevail, that Sir Thomas Browne (Pseudodoxia
Epidemica)^ argues at great length against them ;
noticing that the same effect was by Josephus at-
tributed to the herb Boarus ; by iElian of a plant
called Cynosphastis ; and by Homer of one named
Moly.
M^Xu 01 fiiv xakiouiri hoi KaXivov oi r' o^ufftrtiv
' Avipdiri yi hyirolffi, h/t'i Oi to, 'Xaira ouvavrai.
" Now parallel, or like relations," observes Sir
Thomas, " alternately relieve each other, when
neither will pass separately ; yet they are plausible
together, their mutual concurrences supporting their
solitary instabilities." There seems also no need to
call in the aid of Magic to interpret the incident of
the peeled rods laid by Jacob before the cattle about
to conceive.- The cup of Joseph,^ whereby he
divined, was certainly, according to all the Jewish
accounts, one possessed of wonderful properties.
There was, as far back as any records go, a tradition
extant in the East, touching a cup, which passed
into the hands of several mighty sovereigns, which
represented the whole world in its concavity, and
displayed all actions that were being or had been
performed. When we come to speak of magic mir-
rors, and crystals, we shall again recur to this cup.
It was called the cup of Gianishid, and was said
to have been discovered full of the elixir of immor-
tality, while digging to lay the foundations of Per-
sepolis.
' Inquiry into Vulgar Errors, p. 101 — 9. * Gen. xxx. ' Gen. xliv. 5.
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. 137
The next mention of Magic is in the ease of th
le
Egyptian magicians ; and this requires a little more
extended consideration, because it is not even in
this day considered superstitious to believe the won-
ders wrought by the magicians of Pharaoh to have
been really produced by supernatural means. If the
tenor of Scripture, and the nature of the case, there-
fore, will allow us so to dispose of these wonders
as to dispense with supernatural aid, then the ques-
tion of ]\Iagic may be considered as fairly settled, —
for, surely, if ever there were genuine magicians,
those of Pharaoh had a right to the title. Eeferrins"
then to the Book of Exodus, we find that the Lord
had listened to the cry of his oppressed people, and
was resolved to bring them out of Egypt with an
high hand, and an outstretched arm. Moses, a
Jewish child who had by stratagem been saved from
the general destruction of the male children of the
Hebrews, had been brought up in the palace of the
king, and adopted by the princess his daughter.
i he noblest education which Egypt, then the sole
seat of learning and art, could bestow upon him,
was not thrown away. He distinguished himself
by his mental attainments, and, according to Jo-
sephus,' by his military exploits. Warned by an
oracle, the king, when attacked and harassed by the
Ethiopians, placed Moses at the head of his army.
His choice was justified by the event. Moses repulsed
the Ethiopians, and carried the war into their country,
where he besieged them in the city of Saba. Here
the eyes of Tharbis, the daughter of the Ethiopian
monarch, were attracted towards the Egyptian com-
' Jos. Ant. lib. ii. c. 9.
138 THE TWIN GIANTS.
mancler, and she promised, if he would engage to
marry her, that she would put the city into his
hands. He agreed to the conditions, took the city,
and married the princess,
Jannes and Jarabres, the names assigned by
tradition^ to the chief magicians of the times,
were, according to Abul Faraje (edit. Pococke,
p. 26), the preceptors in Magic of those who
afterwards proved by so many miracles the vanity
of their art. Moses, however, who had so many
titles to Egyptian gratitude Avas the person di-
vinely commissioned to avenge upon that nation
the injuries which they had done to the Israelites.
He made a claim to be the leader of the people,
and proved by a miracle that his claim was autho-
rized by the Almighty. The people were now con-
vinced that he was no impostor, and accordingly
he waited upon Pharaoh, and demanded the libera-
tion of the Israelites, declaring that they were bound
to sacrifice unto the Lord their God in the wil-
derness. The monarch refused his permission ; and
now commenced the struggle between the King of
Egypt and his magicians on the one hand, and the
accredited agent of the living God on the other. To
prove to Pharaoh that he had a divine commission,
Aaron, at his command,- " Cast down his rod before
Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a
serpent. Then Pharaoh called also the wise men
' Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood AIoscs, so do these also resist
the truth. — 2 Tim. iii. 8. Est et alia niagices facti a Mose et Jamne at
Jotape ; sed multis millibus annorum post Zoroastrem. — Pun. A^at. Hist.
\xxx. c. 2. The targiiin of Jonathan Ben Uzziel calls them Janis et
Jamliris — the Babylonian Talmud, Joanni et Mambre — Rabbi Tancum,
Joni.s et J ombres.
* The words are chacamim (D'^DDi'T)
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. 139
and the sorcerers. Now the magicicans of Egypt, they
also did in like manner with their enchantments. For
they cast down every man his rod, and they became
serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods."
Now, for all practical purposes, it would be im-
possible to amend our translation ; yet it may throw
light upon the case to take the etymological signifi-
cation of the words, and to read the verse thus : —
" Then Pharaoh called the men of learning, the re-
vealers."^ Now the decipherers" of Egyjot did so
with their fumigations.^ From this it appears, first,
that these magicians were especially revealers of
hidden things ; and next, that they used lustra!
fires or incense in their " enchantments." What-
ever were the means, the event (we will not say,
the effect) is certain : " and they became serpents ;
but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods." That
there were really serpents on the ground before
Pharaoh, there seems no reason to doubt, any more
than that the serpent into which Aaron's rod was
transformed, swallowed the rest; but the question
is, were the rods of the magicians really transformed
in like manner, or were the serpents dexterously sub-
stituted by the magicians for the rods which they
held, and which they then concealed ?
St. Augustine's opinion on the subject is thus
given : — " Quid ergo dicendumest de virgis magorum,
utrum et ipsaj veri dracones facti fuerant ; sed ea
ratione virga; appellate sunt, qua et virga Aaron;
an potius videbantur esse quod non eraut, ludifi-
catione venefica. — Cur ergo ex utraque parte et
' Cashephini (D'^D'c^^). ' Charetumey OD'J"))!)-
^ Flaliat;m(Q'J>n"'?2)-
1^0 THE TWIN GIANTS.
virgpe dicuntur et dracones, nt de figtnentis illis nihil
ditFerat loquendi modus. Sed demonstrare difficile
est quomodo etiamsi veri dracones facti sunt e virgis
magonim, non fueriiit tamen creatores draconnm, uec
magi, nee angeli mali, quibus ministris ilia opera-
bantur. Insiiut enim corporeis rebus omnia elementa
mundi, quaedam occultas seminarise rationes, quibus
cum data fuerit opportunitas temporalis atque causalis
prorumpunt in species debitas suis modis et finibus.
Et sic non dicuntur angeli qui ista faciuut animalium
creatores, sicut nee agricolse segetum vel arborum
vel quorumcunque in terra gignantium creatores di-
cendi sunt, quamvis novernnt prsebere quasdam
visibiles opportunitates et eausas ut ilia nascantur.
Quod autem faciunt visibiliter, hoc angeli iuvisibiliter.
Deus vero solus verus Creator est, qui eausas ipsas et
rationes seminarias rebus ipsis inseruit. Res breviter
dicta est quee si exemplis et copias a disputatione
explicetur ut facilius iutelligatur longo sermone opus
esset a quo se ratio nostrse .festinationis excusat." —
Quast. sup. Vet. Test. lib. ii. § 21.
Some have thought that merely an appearance of
serpents was produced ; and others, that the serpents
of the magicians were only imitations^ of such rep-
' This was the opinion of Dr. Webster, who says," I shall unriddle the
mvstery as I have sonietinies seen it performed, and is but thus : — The Jug-
gler that is to perform this feat is provided beforehand with a wire so twined
and wrested, that it may be pressed by the little finger into the ball of the
hand, and when let loose it will extend itself like a spring, and make a
pretty motion upon a table. This is fitted with a suitable head, and a
piece of neatlv painted linen perfectly resembling a serpent Avith eyes and
all. This, tluis fitted, he holdeth in his right hand between his little
finger and the ball of his hand. Then with his left hand he t;iketh up a
little white rod which he hath upon the table, with which he maketh peo-
ple believe he perforincth all his feats; and then telling them a story to
amuse ihcm, that he will, like Moses and Aaron, transfonn that rod
into a serpent, he presently beginneth to stare about him, and to utter
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. 141
tiles. But it does not appear, that these opinions
are made out by the narration of Moses. The same
miracle had been wrounht by ]\Ioses before, when he
prayed for a confirmatory sign at the hands of Grod ;
(Exod. iv. 3, 4) ; and it was promised as a sign to
him when in the presence of Pharaoh. Then, also,
we find a command to Moses to prove his divine
mission to his brethren by this very sign. So that
the Egyptian magicians could hardly be supposed
ignorant of so great and so oft-repeated a miracle.
some strauge and nonsensical words as though he were invoking some
spirit or goblin ; and so immediately conveyeth the rod into his lap, if
sitting, or into his sleeve if standing, and then lets loose the serpent
forth out of his right hand, with pushing it forwards, that what with the
wire, and the nimble motion of his hand, he maketh it to move a pretty
space on the table, which he continueth, while otfering with the one hand
to take it by the neck, he nimbly with the other hand pulleth it forwards,
and lurneth it by touching the tail, and in the meanwhile hisseth so cun-
ningly, that the bystanders think it is the serpent itself, and presently
whips it, and conveys it into his pocket.
" And such a trick as this well acted might make Pharaoh and the
beholders believe there was as much done as Aloses and Aaron did ; but
only that Aaron's rod swallowed up their serpents or his serpent theirs,
which they might easily excuse. As for the changing water into blood
and the producing of frogs, they were so easy to be done after the same
manner, that they need not any particular explication ; for by this the
manner of their performance may most easily be understood." " So that
it is very foolish and absurd to bring in a demon from hell, or an angel
from Heaven, or a soul from above, to solve a thing that seems strange
and uncouthly, when the craft and cunning of men, if duly considered
and examined, are sufficient to perform the same, and much more."
Afterwards he speaks in quite a different manner : "• And where our
translators say, the magicians did so with their enchantments, the word
lahatiin should be rendered, suis laminis, that is with their bright plates
of metal ; for the word doth not signify enchantments in any one place in
all the Old Testament. And if truth and reason may bear any sway
at all, it must be understood metalline bright plates, framed under certain
fit constellations, and ensculped with certain figures, by which naturally,
without any diabolical assistance, they did perform strange things and
make the shapes of some things appear to the eye." " U'e must assert
that there hath been a certain lawful act whereby some sorts of metals
might be mixed together under a due constellation, and atter engraven
in like fit planetary times with sundry figures that would naturally work
strange things." — Dr. Webster's Discovery of itupposad Witclicraft, pp.
15-1— 156,
142 THE TWIN GIANTS.
It is, therefore, easy to suppose, that they prepared
themselves with serpents, knowing to what kind of
test their magical powers would be put. Amidst the
fumes of the incense or other fumigations used, they
would have additional facility to effect any dextrous
exchange ; and, in fact, the superiority of JSIoses lay
not so much in the rod of Aaron being changed into
a serpent, as in that serpent swallowing the others,
and becoming again a rod at the command of Moses.
This would have surpassed the limits of the most
wonderful legerdemain ; it would have required some-
thing like the lamina spoken of by Dr. Webster;
but we hear of no such deeds as this from the magi-
cians of Egypt.
Again, there are serpents^ in Egypt quite harm-
less ; so that the experiment would have been at-
tended with no danger ; and when all these circum-
stances are compared with the etymology of the
words, why should Magic be suj^posed necessary?
Why should that which admits of so easy a solution
upon natural principles be referred, as a matter of
choice, to the marvellous. Pharaoh, no doubt, be-
lieved in the powers of the magicians. He did not
consider them as mere jugglers ; and knowing (for
how could he be ignorant of?) the education of
Moses, he referred him to the same class. It may
fairly be asked, — If the Egyptians could rival, or at
least imitate Moses in the infliction of plagues, why
liad they no power to remove them ? They might
have soj)histry enough to satisfy the king, already a
firm believer, but what a tale does the omission tell
against their magical powers I Pharaoh's fault seems
' "Ofu; av^pcuvriuv ouianov SnXr^^ovtj. — Herodotus. Euter})e, c. 74.
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. 143
to have been, that he did not, with sufficient atten-
tion, examine the proofs of miraculous power on both
sides ; otherwise can he be blamed for not hearken-
ing to the voice of one man who supported his claims
by miracles, while many others, also capable of prov-
ing their wisdom by miracles, advised a strenuous re-
sistance I The Egyptian magicians themselves seem
to have considered Moses as one of their own pro-
fession, and to have hoped that in each successive
infliction he had attained the utmost of his power ;
and that the gods of Egypt would not allow their
people to be so grievously plagued by the superior
skill of a foreigner and a captive. They seem to
have felt their own inferiority ; but yet to have been
convinced that Moses exceeded them in the degree,
but not in the nature of his power; and this too
seems to have been the opinion of Pharaoh himself.^
' It may not be foreign to the subject of this first miracle before Pharaoh
to remark, that the word rendered sei-pents, viz, (|''3J1) tannin, has been
variously rendered, and it remains a matter of doubt with many, whether
the rods were changed into serpents or into crocodiles. From the way in
which the word is used in other passages, it seems to imply some large
aquatic or amphibious creature, and hence it is translated whales in Gen.
i. 21. In Exodus iv. 3, the word is not tannin but nachash (Ji^Hi) when
speakinn- of the same miracle, being given as a sign to Moses. Xow, con-
cerning this Ji^n3 nachash, it is by Dr. A. Clarke supposed to be an
ourang-outang ; and such he labours to prove it in his notes to Genesis iii.
The conc'orrent voice of antiquity has decided that the serpent was the
instrument of the temptation, and that consequently nachash signifies
serpent. Mr Deane, in his admirable treatise on serpent- worship has
set this question altogether at rest, and has thrown so much light on that
part of the Scriptures as to merit the thanks of every Biblical student.
In the case under consideration, the manner in which the attributes and
sanctions of Moses have been parcelled out among the divinities of Greece
and Esypt, help us to some decision. The caducous of Mercury may be
shown ijy many arguments to be but a copy of the rod of Closes. Now
we cannot think it mere accident that around this rod serpents should be
twisted, so that the god might take them by the tail. The form in which
thev are twisted is another matter ; and represents the solar-ophite em-
blem ; but the rod has nothing to do with this. The rod was that by
144 THE TWIN GIANTS.
The second sign, the plague of the changing of the
waters into blood, was denounced against the king
and the kingdom the day before it took place ; and
the Eg3'ptian magicians had therefore fair notice and
time enough to make the necessary preparations.
Here, too, their success places the conduct of Pha-
raoh exactly in that point of view which has just
been taken of it. The river and all lakes and pools
of water had been already changed by Moses ; conse-
quently the magicians could only operate upon small
quantities of water, and that operation was therefore,
as Dr. Hugh Farmer observes, as great and as ap-
parently divine in its character, as the transforma-
tion caused by Moses and Aaron. That there were
modes known to the ancients by which Avater or
wine might be made to assume the appearance of
blood is proved by the prodigy' which happened to
Xerxes while he was meditating the invasion of
Greece. The wine poured into his cup one evening
at supper appeared to be suddenly changed to blood ;
and when the magi were asked their opinion of the
omen, they unanimously endeavoured to divert the
king from his intended expedition, but in vain ;
" and if," adds the historian, " there had been left
to him anv vestioe of sense, he would certainlv have
desisted, having been often warned concerning Leo-
nidas and the Spartans."
There is a circumstance connected with this anec-
which darkness was brought over the land, and afterwards death ; and
the caduceus of Mercury had the power of inducing at the pleasure of the
god, sleep or death,
' " Prius quam Athenas delcrct, Lncedemonis invadendte consilium
agitante admi'aliik* inter ca-nani jjindifiiuin iiKi<Iit. Infusum nanique
patene ejus vivuni in sanf;iiineni, ncc seniel nee itcrum et tertio conversum
est." — Val. Max. lib. i. cap. (i.
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. 145
dote, which though worth mentioning, is left un-
noticed. It is well known how often omens, oracles,
and prodigies were produced to suit the occasion,
and it is also well known that Artabanus and many
other persons of rank and influence, were justly
opposed to the projected invasion. If the wisdom
of Artabanus, which has been greatly, and it would
seem not without reason, extolled, suggested this
omen, and there are not wanting grounds for be-
lieving this to have been the case, there is the
greater cause to admire his sagacity, and to deplore
the infatuated obstinacy of the Persian monarch.
Josephus^ remarks, that the water afflicted the
Egyptians with many diseases when so changed ;
but that to the Hebrews it seemed to have under-
gone no alteration. With regard to the second
plague, that of frogs, there is still less difficulty.
This had been announced also beforehand ; and
where there was so great a number of frogs, it
would not require much skill to produce the appear-
ance of a few upon any occasion. Ashmole" has
collected some authorities on this subject in favour
of magic. " To instance the generation of frogs,
lice, worms, insects, &c., the work of a philosopher
is therein only to strengthen the seeds of Nature, for
she alone works, and so to quicken them that they
' The water in the houses of the Egyptians was changed into blood,
" both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone." It may be asked then
— where did the magicians get water to turn into blood before the king ?
But in Exod. vii. 24, 25, we find: "And all the Egyptians digged round
about the river for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water
of the river; and seven days were fulfilled after that the Lord had smitten
the river." The words of Josephus are : — " Such was the river to the
Egyptians ; but it was sweet and fit for drinking to the Hebrews, and no
ways different from what it used to be." — Jos. Ant. lib. ii. cap. 14.
' Notes to the Theat. Chem. Brit. p. 445.
146 THE TWIN GIANTS.
hasten the work of generation ; and by such means
Thomas Aquinas supposes, that Pharaoh's magicians
produced frogs, inasmuch as it seems to the ignorant
not to be the work of Nature, that usually operates
more leisurely, but rather the power of the devil ;
but they who are learned in such arts marvel not
at such working, but glorify the Creator, to whose
honor alone these operations must chiefly tend.
For He is best praised in His works, and we know-
ing him in and by these visible things, may, through
such knowledge, understand His more secret and
invisible things, and thereby be better enabled to
glorify Him than men otherwise can."
The plague of lice was likewise foretold ; but the
attempt on the part of the Egyptian magicians to
imitate it was in vain. " And the magicians did so
with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they
could not; so there were lice upon man and upon
beast. And the magicians said unto Pharaoh, this
is the finger of God."^ Here we have the conclu-
sion of the magicians' miracles. Had they acted by
supernatural aid, there seems no reason to imagine
the production of lice more difficult than that of
frogs ; and according to Natural Magic, the above
passage from Ashmole puts lice and frogs together.
Whatever was the cause, however, they could neither
imitate, nor remove the plague ; and, finding that this
was the case, they frankly declared: "This is the
finger of God." This declaration gives an additional
probability to the opinion, that hitherto the Egyp-
tian magi had supposed the miracles of Moses pro-
duced by the same means as their own. When they
' Exod. viii. 18.
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. 147
found that sleight of hand could not carry on the
series, they acknowledged a higher power. It would
seem, however, that they still continued hostile to
the claims of Moses, and, perhaps, still advised
Pharaoh against them, for the sixth plague afflicted
the magicians especially. " And the magicians could
not stand before Moses, because of the boils ; for
the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the
Egyptians."^ After this, we hear no more of them;
and some commentators suppose that they perished in
this plague.
This is the history of the magicians of Pharaoh.
Now it would seem natural, had they possessed the
powers usually ascribed to them, that if the will of
the Almighty prevented their removing His judg-
ments, they would at least have produced animals
of some other kind, in the formation or creation of
which there could have been less suspicion excited,
than merely by following the steps of Moses, and
doing in a small degree what he had already done in
a large one. They would thus have had an admir-
able opportunity of throwing discredit upon Moses,
of obtaining the favor of the king, and elevating
in the eyes of the people at large their own super-
natural power. It does not seem at all inconsistent
with the acknowledgment, " this is the finger of
God," that Pharaoh and the magicians should still
refuse the demands of Moses. They might, accord-
ing to the general system of heathenism, allow him
full credit for Divine assistance ; but esteeming him
a messenger of the God of Israel, suppose that the
divinities of Egypt would not allow matters to be
' Exod. ix. 11.
h2
148 THE TWIN GIANTS.
carried to extremities with their own people. One
infliction after another they suffered with this hope.
Each time did the judgments of God become heavier
and more fearful, till at one stroke the flower of
Egypt was cut down, — till the Lord went out at
midnight, "and there was a great cry in Egypt ;^
for there was not a house where there was not
one dead." Certainly, had these men believed Moses
to be the messenger of the Omnipotent, they would
not have persevered in the course which they had
adopted. So we find that the Syrians, when routed
with immense slaughter by the children of Israel in
times long after, said: " Their gods~ are gods of the
hills, therefore they were stronger than we ; but let
us fight against them in the plains, and surely we
shall be stronger than they." After the destruction
of the first-born, the hearts of the king and of his
people seem to have been filled with rage. They no
longer heeded the power that bad fallen with so
dreadful a weight of vengeance upon their heads,
but rushed on with a blind fury to the destruction
prepared for them.
From all that has been written on the subject of
Egyptian Magic, it appears to have been of the same
description with those extraordinary feats performed
in all ages by the jugglers of India. There is a
passage of Damascius concerning some supernatural
exhibitions in the Egyptian temples, which is ex-
])lained by M. Salverte and by Sir David Brewster^
to involve no magic, but a concave mirror. In a
manifestation which ought not to be revealed, there
' Exod. xii. 30. » ] Kings xx. 23.
» Nat. Magic, p. 67.
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. U9
appeared on the wall of the temple a mass of light
which at first seemed to be very remote. It trans-
formed itself in coming nearer into a face, evidently
divine and supernatural, of a severe aspect, but mixed
with gentleness, and extremely beautiful. According
to the institutions of a mysterious religion, the Alex-
andrians honoured it as Osiris and Adonis. The old
French romance, Sethos, and that beautiful tale,
" The Epicurean," by Mr. Moore, will be found full
of the wonders of Egyptian temples.
The next instance of incantations mentioned in
Holy Writ is found in the History of Balaam, That
he was in the habit of using enchantments is evident
from the passage. " And when Balaam saw that it
pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not as at
other times to seek for enchantments." This word
is the plural of that singular term nachash ; and our
translators have here rendered nachashim, — enchant-
ments. Whatever rites they were that he was in
the habit of using, two things are evident from the
story, — that he wished to do that which Balak
desired, namely, to curse the children of Israel, —
and that God overruled his wish. It was not an
uncommon practice with the ancients when at war
with any state to have that state solemnly cursed ;
and some such forms of imprecation have been pre-
served to this day. Those' pronounced by the
' They are two . 1. to call over the protecting deities to the side of the
Romans.
Si . Deu3 . si . Dea . est . cui . populus . civitas . que . Carthaginien-
gia . est . in . tutela . te . que . maxima . ille . qui . urbis . hujus . po-
puli . que . tutelam . recepisti . precor . veneror . que . veniam . que .
vobis . peto . ut .vos . populum . civitatem . que . Carthaginiensem . de-
seratis . loca . templa . sacra . urbera . que . eorum . reliuquatis . Absque
. his . abeatis . ei . que . populo . civitati . que . metura . formidinem .
150 THE TWIN GIANTS.
Roman dictator against Carthage, are given by
Macrobius ; and the prevalent opinion was, that no
state could be overthrown till the tutelary divinities
had forsaken it. The Divine inspiration came upon
the prophet, and instead of cursing the people, he
oblivionem . injiciatis . proditi . que • Romam . ad . me . meos • que . ve-
niatis . nostra . que . vobis . loca . templa . sacra . urbs . acceptior . que .
probatior . que . sit . mihi . que . populo . que . Romano . militibus . que
. meis • preepositi . sitis . ut . sciamus . intelligamus . que . si . ita . fece-
ritis . voveo . vobis • templa . ludos . que . facturum.
" Whether it be god or goddess under whose protection the people and
city of Carthage are placed, and they especially who have undertaken to
defend this city and people, I pray, beseech, and earnestly entreat that
you would forsake the people and city of Carthage, and leave their tem-
ples, city, sacred things, and depart from them ; and that you would inspire
this city and people with fear, terror, and forgetfulness, and that coming
out from them, you would pass over to Rome, to me and mine ; and that
our places, temples, sacred things, and city may be more acceptable and
more agreeable to you ; and that you would preside over me, the Roman
people, and ray soldiers; that we may know and perceive it. If you will
do this, I promise to consecrate to your honor both temples and games."
Again, 2nd. — To devote the city to destruction, after it was supposed
that the tutelary gods had abandoned it : —
Dis . Pater . Vejo-\is . Manes . sive . vos . quo . alio . nomine . fas .
est . nominare . ut . omnes . illam . urliem . Carthaginem . exercitum . que
. quera . ego . me . sentio . dicere , fuga . formidine . terrore . que . com-
pleatis . qui . que . adversum . legiones . exercitimi . quas . nostrum . arma
. tela . que . ferent . uti . vos . eum . exercitum . eos . hostes . eos . que .
homines . urbes . agros . que . eorum . et . qui . in . his . locis . regionibus
. <igris . urbibus . ve . habitant . abducatis . lumine . supero . privetis . ex-
ercitum . que . hostium . urbes . agros . que . earum . quos . me . sentio .
dicere . uti . vos . eas . urbes . agros . que . capita . aetates . que . eorum
. devobis . consecratas . que . habeatis , illis . legibus . quibus , quando .
que . sunt . maxirae . hostes . devoti . eos . que . ego . vicarios . pro . me
. fide . magistratu . que . meo . pro . populo . Romano . exercitibus . legio-
nibus . que . nostris . do . devoveo . ut , me . meam . que . fidem . im-
perium . que . legiones . exercitum . que . nostrum . qui . in • his . rebus .
gerundis . sunt . bene . salvos . siritis , esse . Si . haec . ita . faxitis . ut .
ego . sciam . intclligam . que . tunc . quis . quis . hoc . votum . faxit . ut
. ubi . faxit . rocte . factum . esto . ovibus . atris . tribus . Tellus . mater .
te . que . Jupiter ol)testor.
"Dis, Pater, Vejovis, Manes, or by whatsoever name you wish to be
invoked ; I pray you fill this city of Carthage with fear and terror ; and
to put that army to flight which I mention ; and which bears arms or
darts against our legions and army ; and that you may take away this army,
those enemies, those men, her cities, and their country, and all who dwell
in those places, regions, countries, and cities, and deprive them of the light
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. 151
"altogether blessed tliem."^ They continued not
long in the purity of their worship. Intermarrying
with the Gentile nations around them, they soon fell
into the practice of idolatry ; and among its other
ill effects it produced among them a belief in, and
a practice of, Magic and Sorcery.
The opinions of the doctors at that time, when
the Talmud was compiled, are allowed to have great
weight as to the belief of that period ; whatever
credit be reposed in the facts which they relate, they
did but repeat the traditions of much earlier times.
In their comment on the thirty-second chapter of
Exodus, they state their belief that Aaron spoke the
literal truth when he said,' " I cast it into the fire,
and there came out this calf." They contrive to
get rid of the remark that it was fashioned with a
graving tool, and intimate that it was considered of
old that the golden calf had been formed by sign and
spell, or, as our old romancers poetically phrased it,
by word of power.
The case of Micah and his teraphira has already
been noticed. The narrative is creditable neither
above ; and let all their annies, cities, countries, chiefs and people be
held by you consecrated and devoted according to those laws by which
and at what time enemies may be most effectually devoted. I also give
and devote them as vicarious sacrifices for myself and my magistracy ; for
the Roman people, and for all our armies and legions which are employed
in those countries may be preserved in safety. If, therefore, you will do
these things, as I know, conceive, and intend, then he who makes this
vow, whensoever and wheresoever he shall make it, I engage it shall
sacrifice three black sheep to thee. Oh, Mother Earth, and to thee, Oh
Jupiter ! "
When the execrator mentions the Earth, he stoops down, and places
both hands upon it ; and when he names Jupiter he lifts up both his
hands to Heaven ; and when he mentions his vow, he places both his
hands upon his breast. — Macrobius, Saturnalia, lib. iii. cap. 9.
' Numbers xxiv. 10. ' Exod. xxxii. 24.
152 THE TWIN GIANTS.
to the Danites, to Micah, to his mother, or his priest.
The awful character and tremendous miracles of
Elijah, the descent of his power upon Elisha, and
the dread in which the wicked themselves stood of
these prophets kept down for a time the worship of
Baal, and the divinations and magic connected
therewith ; but while the detestable rites of that
pretended god were still practised, the priests " cut
themselves after their manner with knives and lan-
cets, saying, Oh, Baal, hear us .'"^ and seem to have
fully expected a miracle in their behalf. When
the worship of this idol was put down, neither the
perverseness nor the superstition of the Jews was
affected. Magic was still cultivated ; and even to
the time of our Saviour subsisted in full force. The
captivity at Babylon added strength and diversity to
their magical prepossessions, and those who remained
in Babylon were, of course, more deeply tinged than
those who returned with Zerubbabel. Yet they
visited Jerusalem at intervals, and spread and
■strengthened the spirit of superstition.
The traditions concerning the magical power of
Solomon had many of them their origin during that
memorable captivity, and the attachment of the
Chaldeans to the Occult Sciences gave a direction, as
well as an intensity to the similar pursuits of the
Jews. They were now cured of idolatry into which
they never relapsed ; but they so perverted the worship
of the one true God, that it bore in their hands no small
resemblance to heathenism. Not content with the
Mosaic History, they interj)o]ated the lives of the
patriarchs with a number of the most absurd fables ;
' 1 Kings xviii. 26.
EARLY HISTORY OF MAGIC. 153
and began the work with no later a personage than
Adam. They asserted that before the creation of
Eve, Adam had had a wife named Lihs ; that she
being deceived attempted also to seduce Adam to
evil ; but he withstood the temptation, and she
became an evil spirit, animated with a feeling of
hatred, envy, and jealousy. This spirit was, they
declared, particularly hostile to pregnant women
and young children ; and they accordingly insti-
tuted^ some ridiculous ceremonies, by which her
evil designs might be baffled. Among others they
commanded a stool to be placed for the prophet
Elias ; whom they stated to be always, though in-
visibly present at the ceremony of circumcision ; and
on that occasion they cried aloud to Lilis to begone.
So ancient did they consider their Magic, that they
declare Abraham to have been animated by the
spirit of Adam, and to have worn round his neck
a precious stone, of which the sight alone cured every
disease ; and which angels after his death hung*
upon the sun. The Cabala of the Jews, which
treats entirely of spiritual beings, and the means of
obtaining power over them, will be considered when
we speak of Sorcery ; but there was only little pre-
tension among the Jews to that kind of Magic which
forms the subject of this division of our inquiries.
' Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 287 — de Harmonia quatuor Evangelistanim.
* Steheliu'3 Jewish Traditions.
H 5
154 THE TWIN GIANTS.
CHAPTER X.
AUTOMATA, OR MOVING IMAGES.
Much stress has been laid on the moving and
speaking images, constructed by some of the most
noted Magicians ; Friar Bacon, Albertus Magnus,
Robert Grossetete, Henrique de Villena, and many
others, are said to have summoned the powers of
evil to aid them in mimicking the vrorks of the
Creator. I purpose taking a brief view of some
of the principal automata, and, begiunig with times
purely mythic, we find Hephastus skilled in form-
ing the most wonderful moving images : the golden
dogs which guarded the treasures of Alcinous and
the golden maidens who waited on himself, are
proofs of his capacity ; but the most singular of
his automata was the brazen man, Talus, whom he
gave to Minos, king of Crete, as a guard for the
shores of that island. Talus had but one vein in
his body, and this was filled with ichor, the fluid
which circulated instead of blood in the veins of
the immortals ; by means of this ichor Talus lived,
moved, spake, and reasoned. When the Argonauts
came to Crete he pelted them with stones to prevent
their landing, but at last Medea cajoled him as she
did Pelias ; under pretence of making him immortal,
she drew out the brazen stopper which was placed
in his neck to confine the fluid, the mystic ichor
ran out, and the image ceased to move. That there
AUTOMATA. 155
were among the Greeks some automata in the shape
of statues is evident from the notice taken of ani-
mated and inspired images by the Neo-Platonic
philosophers. " The virtues of sacred rites," says
Proclus/ " sometimes cause statues to be animated
and replete with divine inspiration ; " and Hermias *
explains how this divine life was infused ; " The
telestic art of purifying the matter of Avhich the
statue consists, and placing round it characters and
certain symbols, renders it by these means animated,
and causes it to receive a certain life from the world ;
it next prepares it to be illuminated by a divine
nature, through which, so long as it is in a state
of perfect adaptation, it delivers oracles." Proclus, *
again ; " For these things are eiFected by those who
are telestse (initiators) ; in reality, who give com-
pletion to statues through characters and vital names,
and render them living and moving." Sallust,'* too,
calls the characters inscribed round such statues
imitations of supernal ineffable powers : similar opi-
nions were expressed by Jamblicus^ in a work now
lost, but of which a few fragments are preserved.
The Asclepian Dialogue has a singular passage on
this subject : — " But there is no need to wonder at
marvels, since man has been able to find out, and
even to form the divine nature. For our ancestors
erred much, and were unbelieving as to the (soul)
of the gods, and negligent of the divine religion and
worship ; they invented an art by which they framed
' Doubts concerning Providence. — Ta3'lor's Translation, p. 34.
^ Scholia on the Phaedrus of Plato, p. 104.
^ Comment on Timaus.— Taylor's Translation.
* Treatise on the Gods and on the World. — Taj'lor.
^ On statues mentioned by Photius.
156 THE TWIN GIANTS.
(statues of) gods, and added virtues conformable to
the nature of the world incorporating it (with the
statues). And since they could not make souls,
they amalgamated with these holy images the souls
of angels and devils (dtemons), which they had in-
voked for that purpose (or connected them with holy
mysteries), by which these idols alone could have
the power of doing good or ill."^ Daedalus, again,
was a noted maker of automata, and it was necessary
to fasten up the statues which he made to prevent
their running or flying away. Aristotle says this
was done by putting mercury in them ; ■ but Bishop
Wilkins, in his " Mathematical Magic," has the cu-
rious remark, that " this would have been too gross
a way for so excellent an artificer ; it is more likely
he did it with wheels and weights."^ After Dsedalus
comes Archytas, a native of Tarentum, who is said
to have made a wooden dove that could fly, but
having once alighted, was incapable of resuming its
flight. This automaton, according to Aulus Gellius,*
was suspended by balancing, and animated by a
concealed aura, or spirit. Some light may be
thrown upon the manner in which this was done
' I add the original: — " Omnium mirabilium vicit admirationem quod
homo divinam potuit invenire naturam eanique efiicere. Quoniam ergo
proavi nostri multum errabaiit circa deonmi rationem increduli et non
animadvertentes ad cuitum relijjionenique divinam, invenerunt artem qua
deos efficerent, cui invenUe adjunxenint virtutem mundi naturce conve-
nientem eamque miscentes. Et quoniam animas facere non poterant evo-
cantes animas dncmonum vel angclorum eas indiderunt imaginibus Sanctis
divinisque mj'Steriis per quas sola idola et bencfacicndi et malofaciendi
vires habere potuisscnt." The passage is sutticiently ditticult to under-
stand. It serves, however, to establish the writer's belief that the souls
of demons were evoked to animate the sacred images.
' De Animal. lib. i. c. 3. '■' Math. Magic, lib. ii. c. 4.
* See Sir David Brewster's Nat. Magic.
AUTOMATA. 157
by the tract and experiments of Mr. Walker,
the lecturer on Astronomy, &c. ; this gentleman con-
sidered that he had discovered the great secret of
aerostation, namely, the mode of directing the course
of a volant body through the air. His experiments
in the lecture room were certainly, as far as they
went, satisfactory ; he supposed that a bird was
propelled through the sky by the unequal pressure
of the air from beneath upon various parts of the
wings and body, or rather to the unequal resistance
they made to it, the bird striking the air with the
wing, the front of which presented a firm bony ridge;
the air passed along under it, and then upwards over
the thin yielding edge presented by the hinder front,
and the bird was thus driven along. Mr. W. ex-
hibited models made on this principle which by one
stroke were propelled across a large room, coming
gradually to the ground. It would seem, therefore,
from the success of these experiments and from the
terms used in speaking of the dove made by Ar-
chytas, which " was suspended by balancing," that
a similar mode of aerostation was there carried into
effect. Aulus Gellius himself does not suppose that
the aura, or spirit, was anything more than the life-
like effect of the machinery.^
One of the most interesting of all automata was
that mentioned by Cicero " as the work of Ar-
chimedes, a sphere which represented all the motions
of the heavenly bodies, the passage of the Sun
through the Signs, the changes and phases of the
Moon, &c. ; this is said by Claudian to have been
' Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticw, lib. x. c. 12.
" Tusc. Quaist. lib. i. Ue Nat. Ucoruui, lib. ii.
158 THE TWIN GIANTS.
made of glass, and he wrote ^ upon it a well-known
epigram which may be thus translated : —
Jove in the mimic cri/stal saw the Heavens ;
And smiling, thus addressed the powers divine.
" See you how far do mortal cares extend,
To act my labours. This Sicilian sage
Hath to his brittle sphere transferred the laws
Of Nature and of Gods, the thundering pole,
And with a motive spirit hath inclosed
The stars, in orbits regular to move.
Each year an artificial Sun rolls through
The signs, and every month a feigned Moon
Now gazing on a new created world,
Doth industry grow bold, and fondly deem
The very Heavens her subjects ? Salmoneus
With his false thunders, was, compared to this,
Pure Innocence, for here one little hand
Hath dared to rival Nature's awful self ! "
Lactantius,' however, says that it was composed
of brass, and Bishop Wilkins^ thinks that it was, in
all probability, a glass sphere set in a brazen frame.
To illustrate this remarkable machine the celebrated
maker of it wrote a book* upon its formation, and
though that and another on the same subject have
been lost, the art seems not to have wholly perished.
Cornelius Agrippa^ says that he saw such a sphere in
' Jupiter in parvo quum cemeret athera vitro
Risit, et ad Superos talia dicta dedit,
" Huccine mortalis progressa potentia curse ?
Jam mens mfnujili luditur orbe labor,
Jura poli, rerumque fidem legesque Deorum,
Ecce Syracusius transtulit arte senex.
Inclusus variis faraulatur spiritus astris
Et vivum certis motibus urget opus.
Percurrit proprium mentitus Signifcr annum
Et simulata nova Cynthia mcnsc redit
Jamque suum volvens audax industria mundum,
Gaudet et humana siJcra mcnte regit.
Quid falso insontem tonitru Salmonea miror,
iEmula naturas parva repcrta manus."
2 Instit. lib. ii. c. 5. ^ Math. Magic, lib. ii. c. 3.
* See Pappus.
* De vanitate Scientiarum, cap. 22.
AUTOMATA. 159
his days, — and were there one to be seen now, it
would be no longer a wonder.
Long after this, Miiller, better known by the
name Regiomontanus, made an artificial eagle, which
greeted the Emperor Maximilian by starting up and
clapping its wings when that prince arrived at Nurem-
burg. Afterwards it was stated that it rose from its
place towards him, flew three times round him, and
then returned. The same philosopher is reported to
have made an iron fly, which would return to his
hand after taking a large round in the air. Similar
automata were made by Janellus Turrianus for
Charles V., after his abdication : what is related of
these wonderful images is no doubt greatly exag-
gerated, — we have seen in the case of Regiomontanus
how much was added afterwards to the original ac-
O
count of his inventions, — and we have passages extant
in many ancient writers which may satisfy us that
their automata were greatly inferior to ours. Horace
says —
Nempe
Tu, mihi qui imperitas, aliis servis miser, atque
Duceris, ut nervis alienis mobile lignum.'
What Horace calls " mobile lignum " was a species
of image made so as to move by wires, — in short, a
kind of puppet ; they were called Neurospasta ; and
Heindorf, in commenting on the passage, quotes
Apuleius as follows:" — " They who, in wooden figures
imitate the gestures of men, — when they pull the
' Sat. lib. ii. s. 7, 1. 80.
* lUi qui in ligneolis hominum figuris gestus movent, qiianJo filum
membri quod agitari 8olet traxerint, torquebitur cervix, nutabit caput,
oculi vibrabunt, manus ad ministerium prajsto erunt, nee invcnuste totus
videbitur vivere. — Ap. de Mundo, ed. Elmenhurst, p. 70.
160 THE TWIN GIANTS.
wire of that limb which is usually moved, — the neck
will turn, the head will nod, the eyes will roll, the
hands will be ready for their office, and the whole
will pleasingly seem to live." Nothing of this nature
can equal the extraordinary toy made by M. Camus,
for the amusement of Louis XIV., when a child. It
was^ a small coach containing a lady within, a page
and footman behind, and was drawn by two horses.
When his tiny conveyance was placed at the end
of a table prepared for its reception, the coachman
smacked his whip, the horses galloped, and every-
thing that takes place in the motions of a real car-
riage and horses, was successfully imitated. When
it came opposite the place where the king was sitting,
the coach stopped, the page leaped down from be-
hind, and opened the door, the lady alighted, and
bowing respectfully to the king, presented him a
petition ; she now re-entered the carriage, the page
closed the door, and leaped up again behind, the
coachman whipped on his horses, and the carriage
proceeded : meantime the footman who had alighted
when the coach stopped, ran after it, and jumped up
into his former place. The writer of this paper saw,
when a child, a little carriage of this kind which be-
longed to her majesty (Queen Charlotte), only there
was no jumping on and off of the footmen ; it was,
together with a small snuff-box, which played tunes
by means of little figures striking silver bells, in the
hands of a German watch-maker for repair.
None of the automata, however, which we have
yet mentioned were at all to be compared to the
peacock of Degennes, and the duck of Vaucanson :
' Sir David Brewster, Nat. Magic, p. 257.
AUTOMATA. 161
these were so contrived as to make the sounds pecu-
liar to those birds, to pick up grain, and to pass it
away in an altered state ; the digestion was effected
by chemical solution of the grain in the stomach, and
not by trituration, as in the natural bird. Every
bone in the body was imitated, and performed its
proper functions, and every motion of the real animal
was successfully executed by the automaton. These
things were very ingenious, they exhibited a high
degree of patience, as well as of power, and were
the productions of men who not only were capable of
better things, but also performed them. They sink,
however, into utter insignificance when compared
with the calculating machine of Mr. Babbage. That
an inanimate engine should actually do the mental
work of man, that it should not only compute the
most difficult calculations, but correct its own errors,
and print the corrected result of its operations, would
seem beyond the wildest dreams of magicians them-
selves. That springs and wires should perform that
which men require long and assiduous training to do,
— that they should perform it better and quicker
than man, — is a thing which, had it been related of
Archimedes, we should boldly have pronounced a
moral impossibility. It is done, however, before our
eyes.' This wonderful engine would lead us to notice
automata in the shape of men commonly called An-
droeides: but before we transfer our attention, we will
mention the dog that barked and snarled, the sheep
that bleated, which Mr. Draz made for the king
of Spain, and the little bird constructed by his
son. A gold snuff-box four and a half inches long,
' See Professor Babbage on the (Economy of Manufacture.
162 THE TWIN GIANTS.
three inches broad, and one and a half deep, was
divided into two partitions ; one contained snuif, and
on the other being opened a little bird sprang up and
took its place on a golden perch ; the bird was of
gold, enamelled green ; it was only three quarters
of an inch in length, it wagged its tail, shook its
wings, and opening its beak (of gold, enamelled
white) poured forth a song so full and clear, that it
would have filled a very large room with its melody.
M. Maillardet afterwards exhibited such an one in
Edinburgh. We now turn to the automata in
human shape, between which and those we have
just noticed, the calculating machine forms a link.
It is not an automaton, though far more extra-
ordinary than any automata that ever were ex-
hibited. Davies,^ in his " History of Magic," speaks
thus concerning such things: — " We have now to
refute their error, who are persuaded that brazen
hands made under certain constellations may give
answers, and be, as it were, guides and counsellors
upon all occasions to those that had them in their
possession. Among these is one Yepes, who affirms
that Henry de VjUena made such an one at Madrid,
broken to pieces afterwards by John H. king of
Castile ; the same is affirmed by Bartholomew Sibyl-
lus and the author of the Image of the World, of
Virgil : by William of Malmsbury of Sylvester ; by
John Gower of Robert of Lincoln ; by the com-
mon people of England of Roger Bacon ; and by
Tostatus, Bishop of Avila, George of Venice, Delrio,
' This Book, " The Historic of Magic," by John Davies, is a translation
of Gabriel Naude, Apologie pour les Grands Hommes soupconnes de
Magie. See Notes to Souther's Thalaba.
AUTOMATA. ] 63
Sibyllus Ragusius, Delancre, and others too many
to mention ; of Albertus Magnus, who, as the most
expert, had made an entire man of the same metal,
and had spent thirty years without any interruption
in forming him under several aspects and constel-
lations. For example, he formed the eyes (accord-
ing to the said Tostatus in his Commentary upon
Exodus,) when the Sun was in a part of the Zodiac
corresponding to that part, casting them out of divers
metals mixed together, and marked with the cha-
racter of the same signs and planets, and their
several and necessary aspects ; the same method he
observed in the head, neck, shoulders, thighs, and
legs ; all which were fashioned at several times,
and being put and fastened together in the form
of a man, had the faculty to reveal to the said
Albertus, the solutions of all his principal difficul-
ties. To which they add (that nothing may be
lost of the story of the statue) that it was battered
to pieces by St. Thomas,^ merely because he could
not bear its excess of prating. But to give a more
rational account of this Androeides of Albertus, as
also of all other miraculous heads, I conceive the
original of this fable may well be deduced from
the Seraph of the Hebrews, by which, as Mr. Selden
affirms, many are of opinion that we must under-
stand what is said in Genesis concerning Laban's
gods, and in the First Book of Kings, concerning
the image which Michael put into the bed in David's
place. For Rabbi Eleazcr holds that it was made
of the head of a male child, the first born, and
that dead-born, under whose tongue they applied
' St. Thomas Aquinas.
164 THE TWIN GIANTS.
a lamen of gold, whereon were engraved the cha-
racters and inscriptions of certain planets, which the
Jews superstitiously wandered up and down with,
instead of the Urim and Thummim, or the ephod
of the High Priest. And that this original is true
and well deduced, there is a manifest indicium in
that Henry d'Ossia, and Bartholomaeus Sibillus affirm
that the Androeides of Albertus, and the head made
by Virgil, were composed of flesh and bone, yet
not by Nature, but by art. But this beiug judged
impossible by modern authors, and the virtue of
images, amulets, and planetary sigils being in great
reputation, men have thought ever since (taking
their opinion from Trismegistus affirming in his
Asclepion, that of the gods some were made by
the sovereign God, and others by men, who by
some art had the povver to unite the invisible
spirits to things visible and corporeal as it is ex-
plained at large by St. Augustine), that such figures
were made of copper or some other metal whereon
men had wrought after some favourable aspects of
heaven and the planets. My design is not abso-
lutely to deny that he might have composed some
head or statue of men, like that of Memnon, from
which proceeded a small sound and pleasant noise
when the rising sun came to rarefv and force out
by his heat from certain small conduits the air which
in the cold of the night was condensed within it ;
or haply they might be like those statues of Borthius
whereof Cassiodorus speaking, said, " Metalla mu-
giunt, Diomedes in ajre grues buccinant, aeneus
anguis insibilat, aves simulate fritinniunt, et qua?
propriam voccm nesciunt ab xre dulcedinem pro-
AUTOMATA. 165
bantur emittere cantilenae"/ for such I doubt not
but may be made by the help of that part of
Natural Magic which depends upon the Mathematics."
Thus far Davies. It will hardly be necessary to
mention that brazen head which Roger Bacon is
said to have made, and which his disciple destroyed,
or which, according to other accounts, fell down of
its own accord, and was broken, after having uttered
the momentous sentences, — Tempus fuit, tempus est,
tempus erit.- Taking into consideration the disco-
veries which were hoped to be made by astrological
calculations, we have many wonderful tales of ani-
mated statues. A philosopher who had access to
the Cabalistic volume \\Titten by Alphonso the wise
with his own hand, found out how to make a brazen
image, for which gold should have so great an at-
traction that wheresoever that precious metal was
concealed below the surface of the earth there would
' The metals roar, the brazen cranes of Diomede utter their voice, the
brazen serpent hisses, the imitative birds chirp, and those things which
know not the voice proper to their kind are heard to utter the sweetness
of song from the brass.
' Sir Thomas Browne's remarks on the brazen head of Roger Bacon
throw a new and clear light on this mystified subject. " E\ery year,"
says he, " is filled with the story of Friar Bacon that made a brazen head
to speak these words, ' Time is.'; which tho' there want not the like
relations, is surely too literally received, and was but a mystical fable con-
cerning the philosopher's great work wherein he eminent!}' laboured.
Implying no more by the copper head than the vessel wherein it was
wrought, and by the words it spake, the opportunities to be watched about
the Tempus ortus or birth of the mystical child or philosophical King of
LuUius, the rising of the Terra foliata of Amoldus, when the earth, suffi-
ciently impregnated with the water ascendeth white and splendent,
which, not observed, the work is irrecoverably lost, according to that of
Petrus Bonus : ' Ibi est operis perfectio aut annihilatio, quoniam ipsa die
immo hora oriuntur elcmenta simplicia de purata qutE egent statira com-
positione antequam volcnt ab igne.' Now, lotting slip this critical oppor-
tunity he missed the intended treasure, which had he obtained he might
have made cut the tradition of making a brazen wall about England; that
is, the most powerful defence, and strongest fortification which gold could
have effected." — Enquiries into Vulgar Errors, Book viL ch. 1 7. sec. 7.
166 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the statue remain immoveable as if rooted, till the
gold was taken up. For this purpose he hired a
workman, and caused him to labour only at the
propitious planetary hours, and without informing
him as to the occult properties of the statue which
he was making. The smith however ascertained the
intent of the philosopher, and one day, when alone,
he determined to finish it, even without orders ; he
did so ; the moment was fortunate, and the com-
pleted image instantly leaped from the table to the
ground. The smith dug and discovered a treasure,
and now finding how truly valuable was the work of
his hands, the demon of avarice spoke powerfully to
his heart, he seized upon the statue and fled. Italy,
where the figure had been made, was not a safe
place, nor were there, he fondly imagined, treasures
sufficient for his wishes to be found within her con-
fines. The gold of the new world, then just dis-
covered, tempted him, and he set sail in a fast-sailing
ship for Mexico ; but alas ! the sea has treasures,
and while passing over one of its many hoards, the
winged talisman sprang from the hands of its dis-
appointed maker, and disappeared beneath the
waves.
To come to the writings of Cardan, we have an
account of a statue holding a beautiful golden apple
adorned with jewels, but if any one adventured to
take hold of the apple, he immediately was killed by
the figure : touching the apple served to discharge
several short bows, tubes, or such instruments con-
cealed within the body of the image.^ Bishop Wil-
' Cardan. Rcr. Bar. lib. xii. c. 58, and Wilkins' Math. Mag. lib. ii.
c. 4.
AUTOMATA. 167
kins in his " Mathematical Magic," when speaking of
the mode by which articulate sounds may be pro-
duced from automata says : ^ " But now about arti-
culate sounds there is much greater difficulty. Wal-
chius thinks it possible entirely to preserve the voice,
or any words spoken in a hollow trunk or pipe, and
that this pipe being rightly opened, the words will
come out of it in the same order wherein they were
spoken, somewhat like that cold country where the
people's discourse doth freeze in the air all winter,
and may be heard in the next summer or at a great
thaw; but this conjecture will need no refutation.""
Vaucanson, whose duck has been already mentioned,
constructed a flute-player, and afterwards an image
which played on the pipe and tabor in the manner
of the Proven9al peasantry. The younger Le Droz
made the figure of a man about the natural size which
was capable both of drawing and writing. It held
in its hand a metallic pencil, and when a piece of
vellum was laid under the point, and a certain spring
touched, the automaton began to draw. On the first
card, it traced " elegant likenesses'" of the king and
the queen, and at every stroke carefully lifted up the
pencil: it was never known to spoil any card pro-
perly placed under its hand. When this was finished
it rested, and afterwards drew five other designs on
separate cards. One by M. Maillardet not only made
several designs, but executed four pieces of writing,
first tracing exactly all the letters, and theu bringing
back the hand to dot the i's and cross the t's. These
last are well ascertained to have been truly auto-
mata, i. e. moved only by machinery. When the
' Lib. ii. c, 4.
168 THE TWIN GIANTS.
flute-player of M. Yaucanson was first exhibited at
Paris, it was looked upon with considerable distrust,
for a little while before an automaton pianist was
brought to that city, and excited the Avonder and
admiration of the court by the exactness of its per-
formances. The curiosity of the king, who insisted
upon seeing the interior of the image, put an end
to the imposition : he discovered a child concealed
within who executed the pieces in question. This
circumstance caused M. Vaucanson's automata to be
at first regarded as probably tricks, and it was not
until he had exhibited the interior of his flute-player,
and had sent a memoir to the Academy describing it,
that he gaioed the confidence of the public. With
regard to Regiomontanus, it is singular that his auto-
mata should not have been noticed by any of his
contemporaries. Peter Ramus, who visited Nurem-
burg in 1571,^ just a hundred years after the death of
Regiomontanus, appears to have collected the reports
even then current about him, but before that, we hear
of him only as a mathematician. In 1769, the cele-
brated automaton chess-player was constructed by
M. Kempelen, and brought to England in 1 783.
The figure, which was of the natural size, was clothed
in a Turkish dress, and seated behind a chest about
thirty inches high on a chair attached to the chest.
On the chest was a chess-board, and in the hand of
the figure, a pipe, which was however removed when
the game was about to commence ; before playing,
the chest was opened and exhibited to the spectators,
' Schol. Math. lib. ii. p. G5. There is a misprint of some importance
in Sir David Brewster's Natural Magic, p. 2()G. The visit of Maximi-
lian to Nuremt)iirg, is said to have taken place June 7th, 1740, it should
be June 7th, 1470.
AUTOMATA. 169
it was full of wheels and springs, the clothes were
lifted from the figure, and the interior of the Turk
himself also displayed. It was then wheeled about
the room, the chest closed, and the Turk reclothed.
The figure always took the first move ; at every move
the noise of the wheels was heard, and when it gave
check to the king, it shook its head thrice ; check
to the queen was denoted by two shakes, and if a
false move was made, it replaced its adversary's piece
and played itself. This image was exhibited in all
the capital cities of Europe, and though among
those who examined it were mechanicians, chess-
players, and mathematicians, yet it was many years
before the secret was discovered. It was afterwards
shown by M. Freyhere that a slender youth might
be so placed within it as to move the arm, and then
the whole wonder ceased. There appears to have
been much ingenuity in the contrivance, and the
high character of Baron Kempelen, together with the
absence of pretension which was observable in him,
added respectability to the exhibition. As a work
of art, however, it must rank very much below those
of Vaucanson. The reader who is curious to have
an exact account of this celebrated piece of mechan-
ism, may find one in that delightful volume, the
Natural Magic of Sir David Brewster.^ Attempts
have been made to give the faculty of speaking to
images of this kind, but they have hitherto either
wholly failed, or at best but partially succeeded. M.
Kratzenstein gained a prize proposed by the Aca-
demy of Sciences at St. Petersburgh, for a trial
which was not altogether a failure ; he showed how
' Page 269.
170 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the vowel sounds could be produced by blowing
through tubes of various shapes and dimensions. Kem-
pelen succeeded in producing some consonant sounds
also, and Professor Willis, of Cambridge, has gone on
with still further success. The science of Acoustics is
being prosecuted with vigour, — new discoveries have
been made with regard to the human voice, — and
talking and singing machines will be " numbered
among the conquests of science." ^ Meantime, preten-
sions have not been wanting; and as the quackery of
the present time seems to have run into another
channel, we must have recourse for our instances to
antiquity. In the fourth century, when Theophilus,
Bishop of Alexandria, broke to pieces the images of
the gods which were in that city, he found many
of them hollow, and placed against the wall in such
a manner that the priests could slip behind them,
and speak to the people through their mouths.""
The noted impostor Alexander established an
oracle of -^sculapius, under the name of Glycon :
the mode of consulting this new god was by a
billet, which Alexander contrived to open, and the
answer was given from the mouth of the statue.
Lucian has unveiled the imposture. Alexander,
says this lively writer, took the gullet of a crane
instead of a pipe, and transmitted the voice through
it to the mouth of the statue. Bishop Wilkins says,
" a substantial way to discover how articulate sounds
may be framed so as to ])roceed from images, is by
marking how Nature herself doth employ the several
instruments of speech : the tongue, lips, throat, teeth,
&e. : to this purpose the Hebrews have assigned
' Nat. Magic, p. 211. * Theodoret, Hist. Eccl. lib. v. c. 22.
AUTOMATA. 171
each letter unto its proper instrument. And be-
sides, we should observe what inarticulate sounds
do resemble any of the particular letters. Thus we
may note the trembling of water to be like the
letter L, the quenching of hot things to the letter Z,
the sound of strings unto the letters N G, the jerk-
ing of a switch to the letter Q ; by an exact obser-
vation of these particulars, it is perhaps possible to
make a statue speak some words. ^ It will be
amusing to see a few of the speculations of this
remarkable writer, and as he has classed under the
head of automata his design for vessels to pursue
their voyages under the surface of the water, we
can here bestow a few moments' notice upon them.
After remarking upon some of the difficulties, of
which the getting fresh air is not the least, he says :
" For the resolution of this difficulty, though I
will not say that a man may by custom (which
in other things doth produce such strange incredible
effects) be enabled to live in the open water as the
fishes do, the inspiration and expiration of water serv-
ing instead of air, this being usual with many fishes
that have lungs, yet it is certain that long use and
custom may strengthen men against many such in-
conveniences of this kind, which, to inexperienced
persons, may prove very hazardous, and so it will
not be perhaps unto these so necessary to have the
air for breathing so pure and defecated as is required
for others ;" he then quotes (not without expressing
his suspicions of the truth of what he quotes) a story
from Mersennus of a French diver who could con-
tinue under water six hours with one cubic foot of
' Book ii. c. 4.
l2
1/2 THE TWIN GIANTS.
air, and keep a candle burning all the time. He
concludes thus : — " All kinds of arts and manufac-
tures may be exercised in this vessel, the observations
made by it may be both written, and, if need were,
printed here likewise. Several colonies may thus
inhabit, having their children born and bred up
without the knowledge of land, who could not
choose, but be amazed, with strange conceits upon
the discovery of this upper world. I am not able
to judge what other advantages there may be sug-
gested, or whether experiment would fully answer
to these notional conjectures ; but, however, because
the invention did seem unto me ingenious and new,
being not impertinent to the present inquiry, there-
fore I thought it might be worth the mentioning."^
These passages give us some idea of the state of
science at the time, and they are not without their
value as testifying what an undoubtedly learned man
thought might be practicable, and on what grounds.
Almost all his schemes have been carried into ex-
ecution, though in many cases the very reasons from
which he thought them practicable have been shown
to be incorrect.
' Book ii. c. 5.
ARITHMETICAL MAGIC. 173
CHAPTER XL
ARITHMETICAL MAGIC, OR THE MAGICAL OPERATION
OF NUMBERS, AND OF MAGIC SQUARES.
This species of Magic forms the subject of the
second book of Cornelius Agrippa's " Occult Philo-
sophy," and in it he contrives to epitomize nearly all
that had been said or written on the subject. He
speaks in the first chapter in a very moderate tone,
so much so that the reader is led to expect a treatise
very much like that of Sir David Brewster. " The
doctrines of Mathematics are so necessary to Magic,
and have so great an affinity therewith, that those
who profess Magic without them, are quite out of the
right path, and labor in vain, nor will they be at
all able to attain the effects which they desire. For
whatsoever things exist and are performed in these
inferior natural virtues, are all performed by number,
weight, measure, harmony, motion, and light."" He
then goes on to speak of automata, alluding to the
dove of Archytas, the images made by Vulcan and
Daedalus, and the wonders of which Cassiodorus
makes mention ; he refers to the strange effects
which may be produced by optics, and states that he
himself could so construct mirrors as to reflect objects
which were strongly illuminated by the rays of the
sun even at many miles' distance. Thus a " magi-
cian" well acquainted with arithmetic, music,
geometry, mechanics, optics, and other natural
174 THE TWIN GIANTS.
sciences may, " without wonder, do such extraor-
dinary things as to excite the admiration of the
wisest men."" To prove this he instances many
wonders, some of which existed, and others had no
being but in poetical fiction : the catalogue is curious,
however, as showing the opinion of a learned and
able man, for such Agrippa really was, as to the
powers of art : he mentions the Pillars of Hercules,
and the draining of fens ; mountains built in the sea,
and the digging of mines ; the brazen gates of Caspia
which no force could break, and the formation of
canals. All these, he says, seem to be against
Nature, and, therefore, are attributed by the ignorant
to the de\'il, a circumstance not very probable, when
we reflect that the human agency employed in the
fens, canals, and mines could not be concealed, nor
would any attempt be made to do so, and conse-
quently similar works of ancient times would be
necessarily attributed to similar causes ; but after
having thus spoken for a page or two, he commences
a very different strain, and says, "All things that are,
and are made, receive their virtues from numbers.
For time consists of number, and all motion and
action, and all things which are subject to time and
motion." To prove this, which it is charitable to
suppose had some meaning, he quotes Pythagoras,
Proclus, Plato, Boethius, Themistius and Averroes ;
Jerome, Augustin, Origen, Ambrose, Gregory of
Nazianzen, Athanasius, Hilary, ]3asilius, Eubanus,
Bede, Raban, and lastly St. John. To do him
justice, the doctrine which he inculcates was no new
one, nor did it, save for the cabbalistic trash under
which it was buried, deserve ridicule. It was, that
ARITHMETICAL MAGIC. 175
one principle of harmony prevailed throughout the
universe, according to the laws of which, all bodies
had their situation in space, and their appointed
motion, and all combinations of natural things took
place. It was that great general principle of which
the laws which govern the heavenly bodies, — che-
mical affinity, — and the moral fitness of things, were
but branches ; it was, if we may be permitted to use
the expression, the leading idea of that plan after
which the Supreme Being formed his spiritual and
material creation, and in consequence of which alone,
moral fitness and rectitude have any existence.
This subject is at the bottom of much of the
" Occult Philosophy," and we must be permitted here
to examine the nature of this foundation. We as
Christians, for to such only do we write,^ "through
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God, so that things which are seen were
not made of things which do appear." But in that
prior eternity in which God dwelt in his own awful
solitude, absorbed in his own divine essence, there
could have been no law, consequently no " right " and
no " wrong," for there were none capable of obligation.
Afterwards, when it pleased him for his glory to call
into existence spiritual and earthly creatures, he was
pleased at the same time to create the abstract prin-
ciple of right, and according to that newly-created
principle to establish laws for their governance. This
principle, which may be called abstract truth, — truth
in Moral, and truth in Natural, Philosophy, explains
the Divine nature, and the Divine works, in so far as
we are capable of understanding both, and in that
' Heb. xi. 3.
176 THE TWIN GIANTS.
light in which it has pleased God to reveal to us the
former. The works of God we know by themselves
and from their examination we gradually and imper-
fectly deduce an unity of principle, we obtain a dim
acquaintance with physical truth ; the nature of God
we know only through his works, and through his
word, which by means of this principle are adapted
to our state and capacities. We know it only there-
fore through the medium of a principle in accordance
with which the universe, moral, intellectual, and
physical, is constructed. It is exhibited to us in a
certain light, and this light the only one in which
our understanding is capable of apprehending it.
The theory of Agrippa — which may be found also in
Plato, the most acute and highly gifted of men — is
that God being a spirit, and therefore without parts,
all the perfections of the Divine nature coincide in
one, that consequently the physical fitness which pre-
vails throughout Nature, and the moral fitness which
applies to the actions of intelligent creatures, are but
radiations from that great sun of harmony, are but
exemplifications of that principle of abstract truth
which exists in the will of the Eternal. The words
of Dante —
Vuolsi cosi cola dove si puote
Cio che si vuole e pui non demandare,'
apply to moral truth as well as to the obedience of
God's creatures to his immediate commands. — " Sic
volo, — sic jubeo — stat pro ratione voluntas" is but
another expression of the same idea. And the Hin-
doos, when they say,^ " Worship and sacrifice are
' Inferno, canto iii. linos 95, 96.
' Christmas, Univ. Mythology, p. 56.
ARITHMETICAL MAGIC. 177
good because they are pleasing to God : it is from
this they derive their goodness ; they are not good in
themselves, and therefore pleasing to him,'''' add their
testimony to the same doctrine.' Let us now, after
this explanation, show that such was the idea which
Agrippa had derived from Plato, Pythagoras, and
others," — " Now that they speak of a rational, formal
number, not of a material, sensible, or vocal, as of
the number of merchants buying or selling, of which
the Pythagoreans, Platonists, and our Augustin
make no reckoning, but apply their remarks to the
proportion resulting from this common numei*ation,
which proportion they call natural, rational, and
formal, from which great mysteries flow as well in
natural as divine and heavenly things. By it is there
a way made for the searching out and understanding
of all things Jcnowahle. By it the next access to
natural prophesying is had, and the Abbot Joachim
proceeded no other way in his prophecies than by
formal numbers." It is here evident that he speaks
of a principle of harmony which may be deduced
from numbers, but not of numbers themselves, — an
' May it not save some trouble in investigating that most difficult and
abstrase subject, the origin of Evil, to recollect the " nature of evil " which
is implied in this theory, namely, anything that is opposed to that prin-
ciple which forms the law of universal creation ; — in this investigation, as
in many others, " ce n'est pas le premier pas qui coute.''^ The cause of the
first existence of evil being ascertained, the rest presents no difficulty.
The following sentences are offered with diffidence. Was it not possible
that God, without creating Evil, could endow his angelic creatures with a
power to obey or to disobey those laws which had been made for their
rule of conduct, and could this power (the freedom of the will) be called
Evil ? From this power, however, arose evil in the minds of those angels
who kept not their first estate. From their interference evil arose in the
mind of our first parents, and as a punishment for their transgression the
earth, the animal kingdom, and mankind, were cursed. Was not Evil then
the spontaneous production of the minds of the first rebellious angels ?
* 1)6 Occulta Philosophia, lib. iii. cap. 2.
I 5
178 THE TWIN GIANTS.
Opinion which, when we reflect on the discoveries
which have been made by mathematical science, of
which numbers are the primary elements, will seem,
if not correct, at least excusable. The laws which
prevail among the heavenly bodies, and have been
ascertained to prevail even at distances too remote
for calculation,^ are also those which obtain in chemis-
try, electricity, and every other known science. It
was not without reason that he says, " By it there is
a way made for the searching out and understanding
of all things knowable." But the fault into which
he and many others fell, was a too rapid generaliza-
tion, taking for granted the abstract principle of truth
was the same in Natural and Moral Philosophy, for
which he had good reason; he applied mathematical
science to investigate moral and religious truth p he
deemed that no mysteries could resist this key, and
accordingly fell into gross absurdities ; he too greatly
multiplied the number of things knowable, and, for
want of understanding the doctrine of limits (not
the differential calculus, but the limits set by Nature
to man's power of investigation), he gained an ill
repute in his own day, and is now little known,
except as the hero of some extravagant tales. As a
' See Herschel's Observations on Double Stars.
'^ Some such idea was thus illustrated by Proclus in his Commentary
on the Timffius of Plato : —
" Each element will be in a greater degree conjoined to, than separated
from, the element which is near to it, and one world will be perfectly
affected through all of them, and one hanuonioiis order through the pre-
dominance of analogy. Thus also of the two cubes 8 and 27, the medium
12 being placed next to 8, will have two sides of this, but one side of 27,
for 12 is produced by 2x2x 3, but it is vice versa with 18, for this is
produced by 3x3x2, and the side of 27 is 3, in the same manner as 2
is the side of 8. The physical dogmas, therefore, of Plato about the
elements of the universe accord with mathematical speculations.
ARITHMETICAL MAGIC. 179
specimen of the mode of speculating not only on
numbers, but on everything else which was adopted
in that day, we will take his remarks on the number
three ; he treats all numbers from one to twelve in
the same way :^ —
" The number three is an uncompounded number,
a holy number, a number of perfection, a most
powerful number ; for there are three persons in
the Godhead and three theological virtues. Hence
this number conduces to the ceremonies of religion,
and hence it is that prayers and sacrifices are thrice
repeated."
He then quotes Virgil, particularly the " Phar-
maceutria," and adds, " And Pliny says that it was
the custom in every use of medicine to spit with
three deprecations, and hence to be cured. The
number of three is perfected with three argumen-
tations, long, broad, and deep, beyond which there
is no progi'ession of dimension, whence the first
number is called square. Hence it is said that to
a body that has three dimensions, and to a square
number, nothing can be added. Wherefore Aristotle,
in the beginning of his discourse concerning hea-
ven, calls it, as it were, a law, according to which
all things are disposed ; for corporal and spiritual
things consist of three things, — namely, beginning,
middle, and end ; by three, as Trismegistus saith, the
world is perfected by the concurrence of causes or
fate, by execution and distribution." The whole
measure of time is concluded in three, — namely, past,
present, and to come ; and after twenty-five more
triplicities, for which Nature, theology, alchemy, my-
' De Occulta Phil. cap. 6, lib. ii.
180
THE TWIN GIANTS.
thology, and astrology are ransacked, he gives us
what he calls the scale of the number three. There
are-
In the
Original
World
Three Persons
in the Trinity,
The Name of
God with
three letters :
The Father,
The Son, 0\i;
The Holy
Ghost.
In the
Intellectual
World
Three
Hierarchies of
Angels :
Supreme,
Middle,
Lowest.
Three degrees
of Saints :
Innocents,
Martyrs,
Confessors.
In the
Celestial
World
3 Quaternions
of Signs :
Moveable,
Fixed,
Common.
3 Quaternions
of Houses :
Comers,
Succeeding,
Falling.
3 Lords of the
Triplicities :
Diurnal,
Nocturnal,
Partaking
of both.
In the
Elementary
World
Three
degrees of
Elements :
Simple,
Compound,
Thrice
compounded.
In the
Lesser
World,
Three parts
answering to
the three-fold
world :
The head,
in which the
Intellect grows
answering to
the Intellectual
World,
The breast,
in which is the
heart, the seat
of life
answering to
the Celestial
World,
The belly,
answering
to the
Elemental
World.
In the
Infernal
World
Three Infernal
Furies :
Alecto,
Megara,
Tisi phone.
Three Infernal
Judges :
Minos,
^acus,
Rhada-
manthus.
Three degrees
of damned .
Wicked,
Apostates,
Infidels.
ARITHMETICAL MAGIC. 181
Similar edifying information is extended over
fifty quarto pages. Of the number two, he says
that it is evil, and so inherently bad, that God did
not pronounce his work done on the second day of
creation, " good," so evil was the day, and for
this cause, namely, the badness and uncleanness of the
number. All the unclean beasts were ordered to
go into the ark by twos. He subsequently speaks
of geometrical figures, which we learn have very
much the same powers. A circle, for instance,
being a line without beginning or end, is an emblem
of infinity, and on account of this perfection, is most
proper for conjurations, and hence those who invoke
spirits should be careful, whatever other figures they
use, not to omit this. A pentangle also, because it
has five obtuse angles within, has great power over
evil spirits, and the cross, because it contains four
right angles : the exorcisors of the Catholic church,
whatever might be the success of their practice, had
at least a better reason than this for the virtues of the
cross, and, indeed, so add the old Egyptians, among
whom it was esteemed a very sacred sign. "But,"^
he says, " whatever wonderful things figures may effect
when engraved upon papers, plates, or images, they
do only, by the virtue acquired from figures more
sublime, by the natural fitness which their resem-
blance procures, and which depends upon the exact-
ness of their configuration, — as an echo is caused
by a wall opposite, and the solar rays are collected
in a concave mirror, which if then reflected upon
a combustible body burn it, or as a harp causes a
resonance on another harp, and as if two strings be
' De Occulta Phil. lib. ii. cap. 23.
182 THE TWIN GIANTS.
of the same tone or in unison, if one be struck the
other vibrates also." This is curious, as showing
with how much show of philosophy, the wildest
reveries of the Occult Philosophy was accompanied.
Of the same nature is his speculation on harmony
of sounds. In the last instance we have seen a
farrago of nonsense attempted to be illustrated and
made plausible by undoubted facts in Natural Phi-
losophy. We shall now see an unsound but ingeni-
ous theory made use of to support another mass of
absurdity.' " Sound," he says, " is made sensible
through the medium of the air, so also is light, and
so is the scent of flowers, yet the air is no more
sound, than it is vision, or the power of smelling.
Air is the substance of the sensitive soul,^ and that
air which is thus taken into connection with it is
vivified, and thus endowed with life, the air perceives
and lays hold on sights, sounds, and odors. We have
an old poet who has taught us better philosophy : —
Sound is nought but air y-broken.
And each word that is y-spoken.
Soft or harsh, or rough or fair,
In its substance ne is but air."
But if the theory which we have noticed be as
obscure as those of some German metaphysicians,
what shall we say to the facts adduced to prove it,
and the inferences drawn from it ? " The entrails of
sheep and of wolves could never be brought to agree
so as to be used in the same instrument, by reason
of their natural dissonance," and " no man can make
the roaring of lions, the lowing of oxen, the neighing
of horses, the grunting of hogs, to be harmonious."
' De Occulta Phil. cap. 2'.. ^ See vol. ii.
ARITHMETICAL MAGIC. 183
Now if this be true of any of these animals, it
certainly is of the last, and by order of Louis
the Eleventh, a concert was made of hogs, which,
though not quite equal to a good modern band, pos-
sessed much more harmony, at least so we are told,
than the reader would think at all possible.
184 THE TWIN GIANTS.
CHAPTER XII.
ONEIROMANCY. SLEEP AND DREAMS.
One branch of the Egyptian and Babylonian Magic,
and one upon which great stress was laid, was Onei-
romancy, or the interpretation of dreams. That the
visions of the night were the means by which the
gods conversed with men, instructed them as to the
Divine will, and informed them of their own fate, was
a doctrine as ancient as the creation. It was handed
down by tradition from the very earliest ages ; and
when we find it prevailing in Memphis and Babylon,
we see it in a corrupt form, and made the foundation
of an absurd species of divination; we treat of it here
as a part of the Magic practised in those countries,
founded, indeed, upon that tradition of which we
have spoken, but arranged into a system by specula-
tions on the nature of the soul, and the properties of
the body. On reading the accounts preserved in the
sacred writings, we are struck with a circumstance
which at once does away with all suspicion of im-
posture on the part of ovzi^oz^irizoi. They were
sent for by Pharaoh,^ who related to them his
dreams, and demanded an interpretation. This was
an office which they were evid(;ntly in the habit of
j)erforming; for dreams were then of as common
occurrence as now, and every dream was supposed
to have its particular meaning. " And it came to
' Gen. xli. 8.
ONEIROMANCY. 185
pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and
he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt,
and all the wise men thereof; and Pharaoh told them
his dreams, but there were none who could inter-
pret them unto Pharaoh." A similar case is found
in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. In the first dream
of this monarch the vision was forgotten, and the
interpreters were required first to tell the king what
he had dreamed, and next, what was the interpreta-
tion of it. This, therefore, is not exactly a case in
point ; for so strong was the impression made by the
divinely- caused dream upon the mind of Nebuchad-
nezzar, that though the circumstances were, for the
moment, lost, yet there wanted but a hint to bring
them all back in their original force, and no false
account of the matter could have satisfied him. Yet
as the interpreters could not know that this dream
had been the effect of inspiration, and could not
judge how deep had been the impression which it
had left, it looks well that they attempted no im-
position, but calmly and respectfully reasoned with
the infuriate king on the extravagant nature of the
demand. " The king answered and said to the
Chaldeans, the thing is gone from me ; if ye will not
make known unto me the dream with the interpreta-
tion thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces and your
houses shall be made a dunghill. * * The Chaldeans
answered before the king and said. There is not a
man upon the earth that can show the king's matter;
therefore, there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that
asked such things at any magician, or astrologer,
or Chaldean ; and it is a rare thing that the king
requireth, and there is none other that can show it
i86 THE TWIN GIANTS.
before the king except the gods, whose dwelling is
not with flesh," ^ This was not the first time that
such an answer had been returned to the royal
demand, and so great was the king's anger in con-
sequence, that he ordered his savage decree to be put
in execution ; and all the " wise men " of Babylon
would have been slain, leaving, of course, only fools
alive. Daniel, however, interfered and saved himself
and his brethren.
After this, we find the " wise men," the Chaldeans,
the soothsayers, &c., are still patronized by Nebu-
chadnezzar ; and at a subsequent period called on to
interpret another dream of Nebuchadnezzar's. This
time the dream was related, and the interpretation
alone required ; and the king himself, giving an
account of the transaction, said, " Then came in the
magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the
soothsayers, and I told the dream before them ; but
they did not make known unto me the interpretation
thereof."^ Daniel again solved the difficulty.
From this we may gather, first, that the inter-
preters of dreams were no impostors — for, had they
been such, they would not have frankly acknowledged
their inability to expound the dreams of Pharaoh and
of Nebuchadnezzar. To an impostor, one dream is
the same as another ; his only concern would be to
conciliate the favor of the king, and at the same
time so to manage his predictions as to save his own
credit, whatever might happen. But the interpreters
were not in the habit of leaving a dream uninter-
preted : so extensively were their services employed,
that we find the chief butler and the chief baker very
' Dan. ii. * Dan. iv. 7.
ONEIROMANCY. 187
much perplexed ^ because they could not have their
dreams expounded ; and great were their professions of
gratitude when Joseph took upon him the task. The
interpretation of a dream was, therefore, as common
an occurrence as any extraordinary dream itself; and
we may be sure that few dreams of princes were not
related and interpreted. Why was it, then, that
those who had been in the habit of explaining other
visions should be so puzzled with these ? The answer
is obvious. They interpreted dreams according to a
system : whatsoever could be reduced within the rules
of that system, admitted of an exposition, but at once
acknowledged that the boundaries of their art did not
extend to these visions. Let us, therefore, examine
the system itself, as far as we are able to do so.
The more ancient the nation the more uncorrupted
the tradition ; and we must, therefore, instead of
attributing a grosser superstition to an earlier age,
consider that the belief then prevailing was more pure
than that which afterwards prevailed. This we shall
find to be the case in all mythological systems, and
this we may reasonably presume to be the case here.
The Egyptians and Chaldeans believed the immor-
tality of the soul, and its separate existence from the
body ; that the vital powers resided in the former,
though in our earthly state they were only available
by the organs of the body ; the eye was the organ of
seeing, but the soul was all sight ; the ear was the
organ of hearing, but the soul was all perception, and
thus, when the bodily organs were destroyed by
death, the vital powers enjoyed an unlimited range.
These notions were extended to sleep, and it was
• Gen. xl. 8.
188 THE TWIN GIANTS.
imagined that the soul then enjoyed a temporary
freedom, during which, if not gifted with the power
of seeing into futurity, it was enabled to make more
accurate deductions, and to form clearer anticipations,
than when clogged with the weight of the body.
Then too, it was enabled to hold converse with those
numerous spiritual beings of which all the universe
was held to be full. These doctrines were taught by
the peripatetic philosophers, and there is every reason
to believe that they were known in Egypt. It was
upon a belief in this theory that Zeno founded his
opinion, " that a man might, from the nature of
his dreams, judge of his improvement in virtue, — for
if he found himself delighted with that which is
vicious, he must have much cause for vigilance when
awake ; whereas if vicious engagements did not
afford him gratification, but if his powers of mind,
enlightened by reason, shone out like a calm and
waveless sea, for the reflection of pure images, he
might have ground for self-approbation."" ^ " When
we are awake," observes Plutarch, " if vice appears
it accommodates itself to the opinions of men, —
does not entirely give itself up to its own impulses,
but restrains and contends with them; whereas in
sleep, flying beyond opinions and law, and trans-
gressing all modesty and shame, it excites every
lust, and stirs its evil propensities, aiming even at
the most dreadful crimes, and enjoying illegal things
and images, which terminate in no pleasure, but
promote disorder," ■ Acting upon this principle,
when Dionysius heard that ]\Iarsyas had dreamed
' Plutarch (Wyttcnbacli), vol. ii. p. 316.
» Plutarch, vol. i. p. 3'Jii.
ONEIROMANCY. 189
of cutting his (Dionysius''s) throat, he said had
he not been in the habit of thinking upon it, he
would never have dreamed it ; " he shall therefore
be put to death," which was accordingly done.
Plato, too, entertained an idea that so complete
might be the government of reason over the mind,
as to influence it even during sleep, and prevent
dreams not of a virtuous character. If, then, the
soul of a virtuous man, free from vicious impressions,
be liberated from the influence of the body, allowed
to range through the wonders of creation, and
enabled to perceive somewhat more of its own nature
and that of other spiritual beings, than when im-
prisoned in the flesh, it became, they thought, ad-
visable to treasure up the reminiscences of those
glimpses into another state, and, if possible, to turn
them to a good account in this. Hence they divided
dreams into the oracular and the non-oracular :'
those which were the visions of the soul in this
state of freedom, those conversations with other
spiritual essences, and those glances of futurity which
it then enjoyed, and those which were merely the
effect of physical circumstances ; taking note of the
one as displaying the will of the gods and the fate
' Macrobius more fancifully divides dreams into five sorts — the dream,
the vision, the ocular dream, the insomnium, and the phantasm. The
first is a figurative and mysterious representation, which requires an in-
terpretation ; the second was an exact representation of a future event in
sleep ; the third was a dream representing some priest or divinity, who
declared to the sleeper things to come ; the fourth was a common dream,
not deserving of attention ; and the fifth was a disturbed, half-awake
sort of dreaming, from which no information could be derived, and among
which the incubus or night-mare is to be placed. Of all these he gives
instances ; and, as among our illustrations some of each kind may be
found, the reader is requested, if he thinks proper, to separate and distin-
guish them for himself.
190 THE TWIN GIANTS.
of mankind, and of the other as exhibiting, in a
manner highly useful to physicians, the state of the
body. But before we proceed to speak of the
manner in which dreams were interpreted, it will
be well to notice what evidence we have of this
separation of the soul and body, or rather of those
effects said to be produced by it.
The learned and eloquent Sir Thomas Browne in his
" Religio Medici,*''' says, — " Sleep is a death whereby
we live a middle moderating point between life and
death, and so like death, I dare not trust it without
my prayers, and an half adieu unto the world, and
take my farewell in a colloquy with God ; after which
I close my eyes in security, content to take my leave
of him and sleep unto the resurrection."^ And a
little before, speaking of the state of the soul during
sleep, he seems to intimate that then, during the
slumber of the senses, the reason is awake the most ;
not that faculty of comparing and concluding which
we generally call reason, but that instinct of the soul
whereby it concludes without comparing, knows with-
out syllogising, by an instantaneous operation of its
own innate faculties, and which instinct transcendental
philosophers call the pure reason as distinguished
from the undcrstanding."
" At my nativity," says Sir Thomas, " my ascend-
ant Avas the watery sign of Scorpius. I was born in
the planetary hour of Saturn, and I think 1 have a
piece of that leaden planet in me, I am no way
facetious, nor disposed for the mirth and galUardise
of company ; yet in one dream I can compose a whole
' Book ii. sect. 12.
^ See Kant, Kritik der Rciiien Vcmunft.
ONEIROMANCY. 191
comedy, behold the action, apprehend the jests, and
laugh myself awake at the conceits thereof. Were
my memory as faithful as my reason is then fruitful,
I would never study but in my dreams, and this time
also would I choose for my devotions ; but our grosser
memories have then so little hold of our abstracted
understandings, that they forget the story, and can
only relate to our awakened souls a confused and
broken tale of that which hath passed : and men do
sometimes, upon the hours of their departure, speak
and reason above themselves — for then the soul about
to be freed from the body, begins to reason like her-
self, and to discourse in a strain above mortality. " ^
The annals of medicine furnish us with cases of a
double consciousness, if we may use the term, of
persons who, having been subject to fits of derange-
ment and intervals of sanity, lost in the one state the
memory of all that had been done to or by them in
the other state ; but retained a perfect recollection of
events that had taken place when their minds were
in the same condition. Thus, on the temporary
return of sanity, the patient knew all that had been
done in his sane intervals ; and on the periodical
attack of derangement he lost all memory of what
had transpired during his previous periods of sanity,
while he recollected well the events which had
marked the seasons of his madness. It has been
argued that such a difference exists between the
states of sleep and waking ; and although the remem-
brance of our dreams much militates against it, it
does not altogether overthrow the theory upon which
it is founded. It proves only that if there be such a
' Relig. Med. b. ii. sect. 11.
192 THE TWIN GIANTS.
separate existence, the separation is not so complete
as in the morbid state before noticed. A stronger
argument may be adduced by the denial of Dr.
Darwin's supposition, that surprise is never felt in
dreams. A gentleman distinguished in the medical
profession dreamed that he was about to take off his
clothes, and w^as much surprised at finding himself
attired in various articles of dress to which he was
not accustomed, and against which he felt consider-
able objections. At another time, being out with a
friend shooting, a covey of partridges was started :
one flew against a tree and was killed. The dreamer
was surprised as he had never heard of such a thing
occurring, though he had often considered it as very
likely to happen. The writer of this, when an under-
graduate at Cambridge, spent some time on a visit
at the house of a relation in Suftblk ; on his return to
Cambridge, on the eve of an important examination,
he dreamed that he was still in Suffolk (and in a
room which, by the bye, was at Ely). Exceedingly
surprised at his supposed carelessness in being absent
at such a time from the university, and vexed at the
probable consequences, it was some time before he
could satisfy himself that he was really in his own
chambers in college.
In all these cases (and they might easily be multi-
plied) the surprise was on account of things con-
nected with the waking life, thought, and habits of
the individual ; showing, consequently, that the
standard by which things are measured in dreams
— when they are measured at all — is one taken from
the ideas and occurrences of this waking world. It
seems, however-, that the feeling of surprise is rare in
ONEIROMANCY. 193
the dreamiDg state, because the faculty of compari-
son, upon which surprise depends, and which is one
of the reasoning, not the imaginative faculties, is
seldom then in a state of activity. To return, how-
ever, to the anecdotes upon which the theory of the
soul being set at liberty during sleep depends for
evidence.
Dr. Cheyne gives an account of a Colonel Towns-
hend, who had the power of throwing himself into
a state resembling death whenever he pleased, and of
coming to himself again at pleasure. On one occa-
sion he exercised this power in the presence of Dr.
C, Mr. Skrine, and Dr. Baynard at Bath. He
placed himself on his back ; his respiration became
gradually insensible, his pulse ceased, no motion of
the heart was to be felt ; and a mirror held to his
lips was not clouded by his breath. After continuing
in this state about an hour he recovered.^ We are
not told anj^thing of his dreams or his sensations
during this period ; but Augustine in his De Civitate
Dei has been more particular. Speaking of a similar
case, that of the Presbyter Restitutus, he says that,
when in this state of apparent death, the presbyter
heard loud voices." Cardan,^ too, boasted a similar
power. He then had a faint hearing of those who
conversed about him ; but he lost all sense of pain,
even w^hen affected with the gout. With regard to
long, trance-like sleep, we have many strange stories,
some well, some ill authenticated. Among the latter,
we may place the anecdote told by Diogenes Laer-
tius, of Epimenides, who slept for one-and-fifty
' Dr. Cheyne on English Maladies. * Lib. xiv. cap. 54.
^ De Varietate Rerum, lib. viii. cap. 43.
194 THE TWIN GIANTS.
years; unless, as Barthellmj supposes, the account be
meant to be allegorically taken ; and the notice
taken by Crantz ^ of a German student who slept
seven years without intermission. None of these,
however, will bear any comparison with the Seven
canonised Sleepers, who, taking a siesta in a cave
while Decius was persecuting the Christians, slept on
for 196 years, and never thought of waking till the
storms of Pagan persecution were entirely passed,
and the empire had long been altogether Christian in
profession. This waking was in the thirtieth year of
the Emperor Theodosius ; they were accompanied
by their dog, who slept and woke with them. This
tale is believed by Mahommedans as well as Chris-
tians ; and it is among them a proverbial expression
for a grudging, avaricious man, — he would not throw
a bone to the dog of the Seven Sleepers. But to
come nearer our own time, and to reports which
require belief, M. Gualtear drew up, at the request of
the King of Sweden, an account of a woman named
Guasser, who for a long time was regularly taken
with catalepsy twice a-day ; during which time she
sank into a profound sleep, and was deprived of all
external and internal sensation ; her limbs grew hard
and rigid like stone, and her pulse became almost
imperceptible ; her respiration, however, was not
affected. This fit came on regularly every morning
about eight o'clock, and continued till twelve, when
she gradually and by convulsive movements, reco-
vered the use of her limbs. After allowing her time
enough to dine, the fit came on again and lasted till
eight : from which time she remained awake till
' Vandal, lib. viii. cap. 39.
ONEIROMANCY. 195
eight the next morning. She reached the age of
eighty, having survived her disorder nearly twenty
years.^ The most extraordinary instance, however,
of sleep, during which a kind of separation took
place between the soul and the body, is related by
Mr. Howison, in his " Foreign Scenes." The part
which relates to himself no one can doubt, and it is
certainly important. The relation of his German
friend, Engel, we abridge, as a curiosity ; its evidence
may go for what it is worth. Mr. H. says : —
" I returned to Holo-uin in the course of the dav,
and on the succeeding morning set out for Guibara
harbour, having learned that the sloop was ready to
pursue her voyage. However, on going on board, I
found she would not leave port till the next night ;
and as the time hung rather heavy I accepted an
invitation from the master of a schooner that lay
near us to pay him a visit and see his collection of
shells. When the evening was pretty far advanced,
he conducted me to the cabin, which was almost full
of large packages, and pointing out where I was to
sleep left me alone. I felt a heavy suffocating smell,
but did not think of examining the contents of the
bales ; and immediately went to bed. Soon after-
wards, I was harassed by wild and frightful dreams,
and suddenly awaked about midnight bathed in a
cold dew, and totally unable to speak or move ; how-
ever I knew perfectly well where I was, and recol-
lected everything that had occurred the preceding
day, only I could not make any bodily effort what-
ever, and tried in vain to get up or even to change
' Considerations sur un Sommeil Extraordinaire ; M^moires de I'Aca-
demie de Berlin.
196 THE TWIN GIANTS.
my position. The watch on deck struck four-bells,
and I counted them, though it seemed to me that I
did not hear the beats, but received the vibrations
through my body. About this time, a seaman came
into the cabin with a light, and carried away an
hour-glass that hung upon a nail without observing me,
though I made several efforts to arrest his attention.
Shortly after, a pane in the skylight was broken in
by accident, and I saw the fragments of glass-drop
on the floor. These circumstances actually oc-
curred, as I found on inquiry next day ; and I men-
tion them to prove that the sensations I describe
were realities, and not the offspring of perturbed
dreams. My inability to move was not accompanied
with pain or uneasiness, but I felt as if the principle
of life had entirely departed from my frame. At
length, I became totally insensible and continued so
till an increase of the wind made the sea a little
rough, which caused the vessel to roll. The motion,
I suppose, had the effect of awakening me from
my trance, and I managed somehow or other, to
get up, and go on deck. My memory was
totally lost for about a quarter of an hour, and
I had no ideas connected with anything that was
not present before me ; I knew that I was in
a ship, but nothing more. While in this state,
I observed a man drawing water from the sea in
buckets, and requested him to pour one upon my
head. After some hesitation, he did so, and all my
faculties were immediately restored. / acquired a
most vivid recollection of a vast variety/ of ideas and
events which appeared to have passed through my mind
and occupied me during the time of my supposed insen-
ONEIROMANCY. 197
sibiUty. All this singular constitutional derangement
had arisen from a copious inhalation of the fumes of
tobacco ; for on examining the cabin, I found that
the piles of packages there, consisted of that narcotic
plant, and that quantities of it lay even under my
bed ; in short, that the sloop contained almost nothing
else. I should not have been so particular," adds
Mr. H., " in mentioning these circumstances, had I
not heard something analogous to them from a
German oculist whom I met in Havannah. This old
man (named Engel), who Avas altogether a singular
character, told me that the digitalis or foxQ-love, the
belladonna or night-shade, and several other plants of
a similar kind, possessed peculiar properties which
were not generally known even by the medical pro-
fession. When administered, he said, in a certain
way (query how?), they could be made to act so
powerfully and directly as sedatives, as to destroy all
sensibility and voluntary motion, without affecting
the animal life or impeding its necessary and healthy
actions and functions ; but with this remarkable
peculiarity that the mind or soul did not participate
in the comatoseness which affected its mortal tene-
ment, but was more than usually active and ex-
cursive. On these occasions, however, the individual
to whom it belonged had no perception of anything
of the kind. His body enjoyed an animal existence
as it were, without sensation, and nothing more.
But when the effect of the narcotic was dispelled
either by counter-agents or by time, he recovered
from his lethargy, and active life, memory, will, and
intelligence returned, with a perfect (?) knowledge of
all the operations which his mind had gone through
198 THE TWIN GIANTS.
from the time of his losing his perceptions to that of
his reviving and their being restored. The German
explained all this in the following way: — Life and the
soul, he said, are separate essences though intimately
connected together ; and when the powers of the
former have been enfeebled to a certain degree the
latter disengages itself from the body, and continues
its agency unlimited and unembarrassed by the en-
cumbrance of corporeal matter. However, on the
animal functions beginning to recover their natural
vigor, their immortal inmate is attracted back by a
peculiar sympathy to its earthly tenement ; and the
human being which they jointly compose awakes to
intelligence, and suddenly recollects all the ideas that
have passed through his mind during the period of
his suspended animation. These my friend described
as often being vivid, original, and marvellous beyond
description, and such as entirely exceeded the concep-
tions of man in his natural state of existence.^
" After this he goes on to relate the way in which
he first became aware of this singular property of
narcotic plants. It appears that, during his youth,
he had lodged in the suburbs of a town which was
the seat of one of the minor universities ; and in
the same house lodged a student named Meidenvold,
whose pursuits were medical. A certain degree of
intimacy soon sprang up between Engel and Meiden-
vold. The latter was a singular personage, and was
occasionally in the habit of expressing himself in a
remarkably mystical manner. But he had a practice
of retiring on a certain night every week to a
building, of which he kept the key, and into which
' Howison's Foreign Scenes, vol. i. p. 279, et seq.
ONEIROMANCY. 199
he allowed none but himself to enter. Here he
remained till the middle of the following day. When
he left the place he was pale and ghastly, and
seemed also in a state of deep dejection. But he
commenced diligently writing, and then pursued
his usual studies. After making many attempts to
gain the confidence of this mysterious student, but
in vain, Engel detei-mined to watch him. This he
accordingly did, by climbing up to one of the windows
of his secret study, and there, by the light of a
lamp in the apartment, he beheld Meidenvold lying
on a board placed in a sloping position, and apparently
dead. His first idea was to force the door and
hasten to his assistance ; but on a further view of
the apartment, and the position of the student, he
became convinced that the whole was designed.
He watched again another night, and made his
way into the chamber; from which, however, he
could not get out. He found the surface of Meiden-
vold's body cold, the pulsation of the heart scarcely
perceptible, and the breathing very feeble and con-
tracted. Engel, by accident, put out the light, and
could not continue his observations minutely ; but
after three hours, he heard a succession of deep-
drawn sighs, and soon after, by the imperfect light
of the windows, he observed the student raise him-
self up and lean his head on his hand. He gradually
gained an erect position, staggered across the room,
and plunged into a bath. After a little altercation
as to Engel's intrusion, Meidenvold told him that
the state in which he had been was produced by the
use of night-shade, hemlock, and other narcotic
herbs ; and that during the continuance of the
200 THE TWIN GIANTS.
cataleptic fit thus occasioned, he partook of a sort
of superhuman existence, of which, after a little
interval, he had a vivid and distinct recollection.
He stated that many of his ideas and feelings thus
caused he had written in a book, which he promised
to show Eugel ; but the latter found him one day
dead in his private study, and the book was never
found.*" The tale is admirably told by Mr. Howison,
who seems to have placed some faith in it ; and
it may very probably have had a substratum of
truth. ^ That most captivating book, " The Con-
fessions of an English Opium Eater," will furnish
' The following curious anecdote is told by Lady Fanshawe, in her
Memoirs: —
" My mother's funeral cost my father above a thousand pounds, and
Dr Howlsworth preached her funeral sermon, in which, upon his own
knowledge, he told before many hundreds of people this accident follow-
ing: — that my mother being sick to death of a fever three months after
I was born, which was the occasion she gave me suck no longer, her
friends and servants thought that, to all outward appearance, she was
dead, and so lay almost two days and a night ; but Dr. Winston, coming
to comfort my father, went into my mother's room, and looking earnestly
on her face, said ' she was so handsome, and now looks so lovely, I can-
not think she is dead, and suddenly took a lancet out of his pocket, and
with it cut the sole of her foot, which bled. Upon this he immediately
caused her to be laid upon the bed again and to be rubbed, and such
other means to be used as brought her to life, and opening her eyes she
saw two of her kinswomen stand by her, my Lady Knollys and my Lady
Russell, both with great wide sleeves, as the fashion then was, and said,
' Did you not promise me fifteen years, and are you come again ? ' which
they not understanding, persuaded her to keep her spirits quiet in that
great weakness wherein she was ; but some hours after she desired my
father and Dr. Howlsworth might be left alone with her, to whom she
said, ' I will acquaint you that during the time of my trance I was in
great quiet, but in a place 1 could m'ither distinguish or describe ; but
the sense of leaving my girl, who is dearer to me than all my children,
remained a trouble on my spirits. Suddenly I saw two by me in long
white garments, and methought I fell down with my face in the dust,
and they asked why I was troubled in so great happiness. I replied.
Oh! let me have the same grant given to llczekiah, that I may live
fifteen years to see my daughter a woman ; to which they answered, ' It
is done ; ' and then, at that instant, I awoke out of my trance ; and
Dr. Howlsworth did there affirm, that that day she died, just fifteen
years from that time." — Memoirs, p. 28.
ONEIROMANCY. 201
an excellent commentary on it ; and we have an
instance in the life of Mr. Coleridge, not very
dissimilar. He slept, and very probably under the
influence of opium, and during this sleep composed
more than two hundred lines of exquisite poetry.
Part he committed to paper immediately, and would
have finished them, but an untimely visitor took
him oif; and when he returned to the task all
traces of the lines following what he had written were
passed away from his mind. They are the lines
commencing thus : —
In Cambalu did Khubia Khan,
A stately pleasure-dome decree,
Where A If, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man,
Down to a sunless sea.
All these effects might very well have taken place
without that separation of the soul and body for
which many Germans, even in the present day,
contend, and for which they adduce many argu-
ments, rather more profound than poetical. The
theory has been noticed here because there seems
reason to believe that it is a very ancient one;^
and if taken as the principal part of oneiromancy,
and considered as based on the tradition of dreams,
undoubtedly divine in their origin, it will rescue
the idea of interpreting dreams from being necessarily
absurd, though it will still be open to the imputation
of incorrectness. As practised in the earliest ages,
it was certainly not ridiculous, though it soon became
so in succeeding times. We will, before we turn
to the rules by which dreams were expounded, take
' See the Epistle of Hippocrates to Philopoemen quoted in the next
chapter.
K 5
202 THE TWIN GIANTS.
a glance at the more rational system, which supposes
them to be often caused by external impressions.
This is abundantly made out by experience. Every
one knows that if a person be subjected to the
action of cold, either by being uncovered or other-
wise, the dreams will be corresponding : the indi-
vidual will suppose himself to be travelling over
bleak mountains or across snowy plains. If a noise
be made (not loud enough to wake him), he will
be immediately furnished with a visionary cause ;
and it is worthy of remark that in cases like this,
where the external impression is sudden, the whole
dream will be fi-equently suggested at the moment,
though it will seem to take some time in passing
before the mind ; and the noise from without, ap-
pearing to take place in its proper order at last,
will sometimes wake the sleeper. For example,
a door is shut with some violence by the side
of a person sleeping ; forthwith there rises up in
his mind the phantasm of an army. He is in
connexion with it, and is well aware of all his
relations to it, and its designs. The order is given
to charge ; and a discharge of artillery precedes the
attack. He awakes, and finds himself awakened by
the shutting of the door, which suggested the last
circumstance of his dream. Now, it cannot be said
that these things are only accidental coincidences —
the shutting of the door, and the visionary discharge
of cannon — for they are of too frequent occurrence
for this ; and indeed if, at any time, a sudden
impression on the sensorium be the means of awaken-
ing a dreamer, a train of prior circumstances will
so arrange themselves in his mind, that the actual
ONEIROMANCY. 203
sensation from without shall exactly coincide with
the visionary sensation from within. If this be
true, and there is very little to be said against it,
it would seem that the sleeping mind is not cog-
nizant of time, or of periods of duration, and this
non-recognition of periods of duration, seems to be
one of those things in which an eternal disembodied
spirit differs from one in the flesh. This is a subject
upon which speculation would lead us we know not
whither. There are things which, in this world, we
see through a glass darkly, and these are, perhaps,
of them.
One more slice of metaphysics before we conclude
this chapter. The circumstance of :aan dreaming
has been adduced as a proof of the immateriality and
immortality of the soul. Cicero has take this ground
of argument : and the dreaming of beasts has been
mentioned by Lucretius as a proof to the contrary ;
for he implies if men have souls and you know it by
their dreaming, so have beasts, for they dream ; but
you deny souls to beasts, therefore your argument
falls to the ground with regard to men. Such would
have been his language had Lucretius been a logician
instead of a poet. Now, in the first place, we are
told, in answer to this, that brutes have souls, whether
immortal or not. " The spirit of the beast goeth
downwards," says the Scriptures ; and the following
argument has been offered in proof of their immor-
tality. Death came into the world by sin ; there-
fore if man had not sinned there would have been
no death in the world, consequently, animals
would not have died. From this we judge that
they were created in the first place immortal, espe-
204 THE TWIN GIANTS.
dally as they were not intended for man*'s food while
he was in a state of innocence. But if by the sin
of man (not their own) they suffered death, is it not
reasonable to believe that a happy state of existence
will be awarded to them in a future state? We
leave this argument without comment — valeat quan-
tum. It has been attributed to the late learned
and excellent Dr. Adam Clarke. Pre-Adamite death
however, so abundantly proved by the geologist,
cannot be accounted for on this theory.
Fulgosius, who has preserved a great number of
similar relations, says, that a certain Carthaginian
physician, whose name was Gennadius, doubted of
the immortality of the soul. He saw in a dream a
youth who showed him a beautiful city and departed.
On the following night he returned again, and asked
Gennadius whether he recollected him. The physi-
cian replied, that he did, and also the city which he
had showed him. " What are you about 'i *" said the
youth. " Sleeping," replied Gennadius. Then the
youth a second time departed, leaving him quite con-
vinced of the immortality of the soul ; for he argued
if his mind beheld a city, when the eyes of his body
were closed, and his whole frame dormant, so might
his soul continue to live and exercise those wonderful
powers with which it was endowed, though the body
might moulder away in the tomb.
ONEIROMANCY. 205
CHAPTER XIII.
ONEIROMANCY {coiltimied). THE INTERPRETATION OF
DREAMS.
Having so far treated upon the theories by which
Oneiromancy was supported, and beheld it, if it has
one, upon its philosophical side, we must now reverse
the picture, and look at the silly rules by which the
signification of dreams was decided. Of these rules
we must first remark that, comparatively speaking,
they are of late date. We have no treatise on the
subject earlier than that of Artemidorus, and he pro-
fesses to have had recourse to no guide but experience.
His experience, however, was not his own merely,
but he had collected the opinions of many others,
from the time of Hippocrates downwards. He was
born at Ephesus, in the reign of Antoninus Pius ;
and took the surname of Daldianus, from Daldis, in
Lydia, the birthplace of his mother. He travelled
a great deal ; and wherever he went he collected
stories and opinions concerning dreams. Some doubts
have been thrown on the o-enuineness of the " Oneiro-
critica," on account of the absurdities it contains ; but
it appears, without much reason, for if a man could
spend a long life in investigating so futile a subject,
he may well be thought capable of writing a silly
book near the close of it. With rerard to the work
itself it has its value. Gerard Vossius says of it,
" If we look at the matter which it contains, nothing
206 THE TWIN GIANTS.
can be more vain than that book ; yet the reading
of it is useful, on account of the varied information
which he has mingled in it concerning ancient rites
and human nature in general.""
" Dreams," says this visionary, " which represent
anything as happening to the individual himself, and
which are called 'propria,** do for the most part
signify events that shall happen to that individual.
Yet this rule is not universal, for sometimes the
events have occurred to the parents or the children
of the dreamer. Thus a certain person dreamed of
his owTi death, and it happened that his father de-
parted this life, who was, indeed, another person,
but yet a partaker of the same body and soul with
the dreamer. Again another seemed in a dream to
be beheaded, and his father also died, who to him
had been the cause of life and light, even as the head
is to the body. So also it happened to one who
imagined that he was blinded ; he lost not his sight,
but his son, who was dear to him as his eyes."
On the other hand, dreams which refer to others
generally, are tokens of some events about to happen
to others. Yet this is not always the case : —
" A person dreamed that his father was burned,
and he himself very shortly after died ; as though on
account of the sorrow which the event must cause
him, the father would be consumed. Again, an in-
dividual dreamed of the death of his mistress, and be
soon after died himself, the dream signifying that he
should, by some means or other, be deprived of her
pleasant society. So the head refers to a father, the
foot to a slave ; the right hand to a mother, to a son,
to a friend, to a brother ; the left hand to a wife, a
ONEIROMANCY. 207
mother, a mistress, a daughter, a sister ; the calf of
the leg, to a wife or a mistress. And other things in
like manner are to be considered."^
All these rules are to be considered as having
reference only to private persons ; for the dreams of
princes relate to the commonwealth, and are no
longer merely matters that concern themselves. The
author gives directions for interpreting four hundred
and nine kinds of dreams, many of them such as
could never occur to a Christian of our day, and
which exhibit, perhaps, the darkest picture of ancient
Koman morals that is anywhere to be found. Vices
even more hideous than the foulest pages of Martial
mention, are in this work spoken of as matters of
common occurrence in dreams, and here we are cer-
tainly at liberty to adopt the reasoning of Dionysius,
and say, that if such things were not practised they
would not be dreamed of.
As a specimen of the mode of reasoning- which
Artemidorus adopts, we take at random the fifty-
fourth and fifty-fifth chapters of the third book : —
'■'■ Of a key"' — A key seen in dreams, by one about
to marry, signifies that his wife will be faithful, and
a good housekeeper : to one about to purchase a
female slave, it predicts a good servant. It forbids
travelling, inasmuch as it signifies detention and
exclusion, for a key is made not for open, but for
closed doors [by permission, it is made to open the
one and to close the other], otherwise there is no
need of a key nor of doors ; but now, when no guard
is present, then the doors being made fast, a key is
used. Justly, therefore, a key seen in a vision is an
' Book i. chap. 2. ^ ^^p^ 54
208 THE TWIN GIANTS.
obstacle to those about to travel. To those who are
about to manage and administer the property of
others, it signifies fidelity and authority.
" Of a cooJc} — To see a cook in one's house in a
dream is good for one proposing to marry, for a cook
is needed at a marriage ; and even the poor, who on
such occasions lengthen out their feasts, need then a
cook. But to sick persons it signifies an increase of
their disease and inflammation on account of roasting
and various other modes of applying heat used by
cooks, by which the humors become sharp, as the
most celebrated of those who exercise that art relate.
The dream also signifies tears, on account of the
smoke which is excited by a cook. It signifies the
revealing of hidden things and the bringing to light
transactions done in private, since the works of a
cook are openly brought forth to the guests, and
appear as they are."
A specimen of an unfortunate dream, and a singular
mode of reasoning, may be found in his decision con-
cerning dreams of marriage : — "
"Since wedlock is like to death, and dreams of
death signify marriage, I shall here speak of nuptials
[the foregoing chapters are of a very funereal charac-
ter]. For a sick person to dream of marrying a virgin
portends death ; for the same things which happen
to one married happen to one dead. It is, however,
a good dream to one about to enter upon some new
negotiation, for it signifies that he will succeed; and
to one hoping for some good thing, it foretells that
all will turn ont as he desires, for he who marries
certainly receives some property which his wife brings
' Cap. 55. ^ Lib. ii. cap. 70.
ONEIROMANCY. 209
as her marriage-portion. To other persons it sig-
nifies troubles and perturbations, for without such,
marriages are not brought about. But if any man
shall dream of marrying a widow, he shall set about
some already commenced business, and that with
good success. But if any one dreams that his wife
is married to another, it portends either a change in
his own plans or a separation from his wife ; and if a
woman, during her husband's life, imagines that she
is married to another man, it signifies that she shall
bury her husband, or in some way or other be
separated from him. But I have observed that this
does not always take place, but only when the wife
has no children, no immediate expectation of any, and
is occupied in no commercial business. If she has a
daughter she shall give her in marriage. If about to
give birth to a child, that child shall be a daughter,
who shall be brought up and married ; and thus, not
exactly herself, but a part, as it were, of her own
person shall be given in marriage to another man. If
she be engaged in any commercial transactions, it
signifies that she shall contract a partnership with
some man in such business."^
After five books of such information, he gives a
great number of dreams, to bear out the truth of the
premises ; of which we will take one or two, before
we dismiss this most celebrated of interpreters : —
" A certain person, trying to fly, was kept back
by a friend, whose name was Julius, and who held
him by the right foot. Shortly after, he was about
' " For the same things happen to those who marry, and to those who
die ; for there is a gathering together of friends, as well male as female,
and crowns, and aroraatics, and ointments, and deeds of settlements."
Book ii. chap. 59.
210 THE TWIN GIANTS.
to depart from Rome, and had prepared everything
for his departure. The month of July was now at
hand, and he was delayed by some inconvenience
[it ought, of course, to have been the gout in his
right foot], yet he was not delayed to the end of the
month, because, in his dream, it was a friend by
whom he had been delayed." ^
" A certain sick person went into the Temple of
Jupiter, and, in his dream, asked the god whether he
should recover. Jupiter nodded to him, looking
downwards. The next day he died, which was
clearly indicated by the god looking downwards."
That this was not contrary to rule, we shall see by
another example : —
" A certain woman, being ill, dreamed that she
asked Venus whether she should recover ; and the
goddess shook her head, looking upwards ; yet the
woman got well. This is the converse of the pre-
ceding instances, for the looking upwards of a god or
goddess portends a favorable issue."*
" An individual, dreaming that he drank powdered
mustard, was tried for his life and condemned to
death, for he was not accustomed to drink mustard ;
nor is it at all potable, as may be learned by the
proverb, ' Who ever drank mustard ? ' Therefore^
lis
the judge condemned him to death
" An individual, against whom a law-suit was
brought, dreamed that he had lost all the notes and
memorials that he had prepared for his justification.
The next day he was set free from all disagreeable
consequences of the action ; which was the meaning
' Book V. chap. 70. * Book v. chap. 71, 72.
•* Book V. chap. 5.
ONEIROMANCY. 211
of the drenm ; for when an action is finished, notes
and memorials are of no further use to the parties.*" ^
From all this we see that any dream might signify-
any event. The train of argument is not particularly
clear to modern eyes ; but there is no doubt that it
was completely satisfactory to those who consulted
Artemidorus or his disciples. This does not appear
to have been the sort of reasoning that prevailed
among the sages of Egypt or Babylon ; for, by these
rules, any dream might be interpreted, and by these
instances any interpretation might be justified.
A Latin translation of this work was published
in 1537, by Oornarius, an Italian physician, who
prefaced it with a dedicatory letter to Pucheynurus
and Megobacchus, two eminent physicians of the
time. In the course of this letter, he excuses the
art from the charge of absurdity, and states his
own opinion that it may be made subservient to
medicine. He quotes Hippocrates to the following
effect :
" When the body is at rest, the mind is in motion,
and permeating all parts of the body, governs its
habitation, and performs itself all the actions of
the corporeal frame. For the sleeping body feels
not ; but the spirit, being awake, knows and sees
visible things ; hears audible things ; moves, touches,
sorrows, observes. In fine, whatever be the functions
of the body, and whatever those of the soul, the
latter in sleep, performs them all. He, therefore,
' Book V. chap. ] 0. An instance of a ridiculous dream is thus given
in a note : — " Visas est sibi quis in podice os habere, et dentes magnos
et pulchros, ac voceni per ipsuni edere ac cibum capere, et qucecunque per
OS fieri solent omnias iniiliter habere. Ob petulantiam linguje patriam
suam reliquit, et in exilium expulsus est: proetermitto dicere causas
verisimiles, eiiim et rationabiles erant eventus." Lib. v. cap. 68.
212 THE TWIN GIANTS.
who knows riglitly how to judge of these things,
has attained a great part of wisdom ; and those
who judge concerning things of this sort, have an
art that is not fallacious."
Cornarius, as may be supposed by his translating
the work of Artemidorus, was himself a great be-
liever in the significancy of dreams, and like him,
had had no small experience ; for he says that
he should write at very great length, indeed, were
he to mention the instances in which intimate friends
of his own, men of eminent talent and high rank,
had been so divinely warned in dreams as to become
greatly serviceable to their countries. Instead, how-
ever, of giving any account of these interpositions
of Providence, he relates a dream of that eminent
father of medicine, whose opinions he had before
quoted. In his epistle to Philopoemeu, Hippocrates
says :
" I was anxious and thoughtful concerning Demo-
critus, to visit whom the Abderites had sent for me
when falling asleep. I saw towards morning, ^scu-
lapius before me, and lo ! we were at the gates
of Abdera ; but ^'Esculapius did not appear mild
and gentle as his statues represent him, but fierce
in aspect, and rough in manner : vast dragons, a
kind of reptiles, followed him, leaving a long train
behind them, and hissing as though in woods and
deserts ; his attendants bore boxes full of medicines
carefully sealed. Then the god offered me his hand
which I willingly took, and prayed him that I
might go on, and that he would not forsake me
in the cure ; but he replied, ' At present you have
no need of me ; but this, the common goddess of
ONEIROMANCY. 2l3
mortals and immortals, will conduct you, being a
stranger,' and I turned round and beheld a woman,
tall and beautiful, splendidly but simply adorned,
the spheres of whose eyes shone with a pure light,
so that you would think it to be the brightness
of the stars. The god then disappeared, but that
woman, taking me by the hand, led me benignly,
with a slow step through the city, and when we
were near to the house in which a lodging had
been prepared for me, she vanished like a spectre,
merely saying, ' To-morrow will I meet thee at
the house of Democritus ; ' but while she was turn-
ing round, I said, " I beseech thee, excellent lady,
tell me who thou art, and by what name thou
wilt be called ? ' ' Truth,"" replied she ; ' but who
is this approaching?' for, of a sudden, another
woman approached, with an evil countenance, bolder
and more hasty. ' Opinion,' said she ; ' and she
dwells with the Abderites.' I therefore arose from
sleep, and interpreted the dream to myself — that
Democritus needed not a physician, since the god
of medicine itself had departed, in token that there
was no necessity nor business for the healing art ;
but Truth herself, to show how sound was the mind
of Democritus, dwelt with him. On the other hand,
the vain opinion that his intellects were affected,
dwelt with the Abderites. And these things, my
friend Philopoemen, I believe to be true, and cer-
tainly they are so ; nor do I despise dreams, par-
ticularly when they preserve so good a consistency
as this. Medicine and divination are sister arts,
since the father of both is one, even Apollo, our
progenitor ; who perceives both present and future
214 THE TWIN GIANTS.
diseases, who heals those who are, and those who
are about to be, sick. FarewelL*"^
This dream of the venerable father of medicine,
was in all probability intended to be received as
an instructive and amusing allegory, just as Cicero
relates the dream of Scipio, and Xeuophon that
of Hercules.
We will now take a brief review of some of the
relations of dreams which have reached us, and this
may be divided into
1. Dreams which are said to have been instru-
mental in doing good.
2. Dreams which are said to have been verified,
but of which we can discern no useful purpose.
3. Dreams which are said to have caused their
own fulfilment.
4. Dreams which have apparently failed of their
effect.
1. We are told by Plutarch'- that Themistocles,
when approaching the city of Leontocephalus, fell
asleep in the middle of the day. In a dream he
beheld the goddess Cybele, who told him that if
be did not wish to fall into the lion's jaws, he
must avoid the lion's head (Leontocephalus signi-
fies lion's head). In return for this caution, the god-
dess demanded of him the dedication of his daughter
Mnesiptoleme, as her priestess. The information
was not lost. Themistocles took another route,
and thereby avoided falling into the hands of
the Pisidians who were lying in waiting for him at
that city, being bribed by Epixia, the Persian,
to kill him. In remembrance of this he built a
' Ded. Epist. to Comar. Tran. Artem. ^ Plut. in Them.
ONEIROMANCY. 215
temple to Cybele, at Magnesia, and according to
the divine command, caused his daughter to offi-
ciate as priestess. Another dream of his is said to
have been equally fortunate in its results. It must
be remembered, however, that Plutarch had the
faculty of dreaming with his eyes open, to an im-
mense extent, and when writing in this state he was
not very particular about authorities. Alexander was
the hero of a tale no less marvellous. His friend
Ptolemy had been wounded in a battle, and Alex-
ander sleeping in the same room with him, saw in a
dream the serpent beloved by his mother Olympias,
and, according to her account, the divine father of
Alexander himself. In his mouth the serpent held an
herb, which, he said, was a sure vulnerary, and, if
applied to the wound of Ptolemy, he would recover.
On awakening, the king gave so accurate a descrip-
tion of the plant, that it was soon found, and the
effects were just as he anticipated.^ An interesting
coincidence, which Cicero himself treated as such,
may be found in his own works, and in Valerius
Maximus. •■' Being obliged, by a conspiracy of his
enemies, to quit Rome, he was spending some time
at Atina; and there sleeping, he imagined himself,
wandering through desert places, to have met Caius
Marius, who was arrayed in the consular ornaments,
and preceded by the lictors. Marius, taking him by
the hand, asked him the cause of his dejection, and
being told, gave him in charge to one of the lictors,
who was commanded to place him in the tomb of
Marius ; for there, said the aged consul, is placed the
' Quintus Curtius, lib. ix. c. 27.
2 De Diviii. lib. ii. c. 68. Val. Max. lib. i. c. 7, § 5.
216 THE TWIN GIANTS.
hope of safety and better fortune ; and so it hap-
pened, — a unanimous decree of the senate, passed in
the Marian temple of Jupiter, recalled Cicero to
Home. One more instance of a dream being the
instrument of good, may be found in Valerius Maxi-
mus, and this will suffice. The night before the battle
of Philippi,^ Minerva appeared in a dream to Arto-
rius, the physician of Augustus, and directed him to
tell that prince on no account to be absent from the
battle ; but in the course of the fight the camp fell
into the hands of Brutus, and he would have shared
the same fate, had he not obeyed the intimation of
the divine will given by Artorius. None of these
anecdotes require any comment, the three former rest
on very doubtful authority. Cicero believed the
fourth to be merely a singular coincidence ; and with
regard to Ai'torius, his advice seems to have been
dictated by a desire to keep up the spirits of the
army.
St. Augustine speaks of some dreams of which he
heard. One he relates is, that a claim having been
made upon a person to pay a debt contracted by his
father, the father himself appeared in a dream to the
young man and pointed out to him where was the
receipt ; this being produced, the claim was of course
abandoned. This is adduced, says St. Augustine, as
a proof that the father cared still for his son, and
appeared to him in sleep to save him from trouble
and vexation. He then observes that this could not
be the case in another instance which he relates, in
which Eulogius, a quondam disciple of his, and who
had met with some difficulties in the works of Cicero,
' Val. Max. lib. i. c. 7.
ONEIROMANCY. 217
had them cleared up by Augustine himself; who, or,
as he observes, something like him, appeared and ex-
plained the passage to Eulogius. Augustine was at a
distance, he knew nothing of the matter, and was
therefore, he infers, no party to the transaction. He
asks then,^ ^'hy, if a person thus living, be the subject
of an instructive vision, why may not one dead be so
also, without the interference of the spirit itself?
2. Dreams which are said to have been verified,
but of which we can discern no useful purpose.
Alcibiades imagined in a dream that he was wrapped
round with the cloak of his mistress, and shortly
afterwards he was slain, and his dead body being
cast out naked, she did cover it with that very
cloak. This is called by Valerius Maximus no fal-
lacious omen." Hamilcar, the Carthaginian com-
mander, when besieging Syracuse, heard in a dream,
a voice declaring that he should the next day sup in
that city. Greatly rejoiced, and imagining that such
a vision could only be a presage of victory, he brought
up his troops the next day with double confidence ;
but a dissension having taken place between the
Carthaginians and the Sicilians in his army, the
Syracusans took advantage of their want of union,
made a desperate attack upon the besiegers, and
carried away among others Hamilcar himself. So
that in that very city in which he had expected to
sup as a victor, he was necessitated to sup as a
captive.
' Quoinodo fiant ista nescio, sed quomodo libet fiaiit, cur non eodem
modo fieri crodimus, iit in somnis quisque vidcat mortuuni, quomodo fit,
ut videat et vivniin ambobus utique nescientibus neque curantibus ; quis
vel quando vel ubi eorum imagines somniet ? — Aigustine, deCurapro
Morluis gerenda.
* Val. Max. lib. i. c. 7.
218 THE TWIN GIANTS.
" While Dionysius, the celebrated tyrant of Syra-
cuse, was yet in a private station, a lady of noble
family, Himera by name, dreamed that she was ad-
mitted into heaven, and there saw a powerful man,
of a swarthy and freckled complexion, bound with
iron chains to the throne of Jupiter. She asked the
youth who conducted her, who this being was, and
was told that he was the dire fate of Sicily and Italy,
and that when loosed from his chains, he should
occasion the destruction of many cities. This dream
she published the next day. After that, fortune,
hostile to the liberty of the Syracusans, and injurious
to the lives of the innocent, had hurled Dionvsius,
freed from the celestial custody, like a thunderbolt
upon their ease and tranquillity ; Himera beheld him
entering the city in which she dwelt, attended with
a great crowd ; she immediately exclaimed, ' This is
the man whom I saw in my dream.'' "'"'
As soon as the tyrant heard this, he put her to
death.
Aterius Rufus^ was about to give a great exhibi-
tion of gladiators at Syracuse, and dreamed the night
before that he had been pierced by the hand of one
of them. He went, however, to the theatre, and
one of the retiarii being placed near him, excited his
attention ; and on looking at the man closely, he
declared that that was he whom he had seen in his
dream, and that he feared he should, by his hand,
lose his life. His proposition to depart was, however,
overruled ; but that same evening he was accidentally
slain by the object of his fear. A singular dream,
with its no less singular fulfilment, is related in the
' Val. Max. lib. i. c. 7. " Ibid.
ONEIROMA^'CY. 219
" Memoirs of the Duchess of Abrantes," vol. i. p. 270.
The evening before the battle of Lonate, Junot,
having been on horseback all the day, and ridden
above twenty leagues in carrying the orders of the
general-in-chief, lay down overwhelmed with fatigue,
without undressing, and ready to start up at the
smallest sio'nal. Hardlv was he a.^leep when he
dreamed he was on a field of battle, surrounded
by the dead and the dying. Before him was a
horseman clad in armour, with whom he was en-
gaged ; but instead of a lance, he was armed with a
scythe, with which he struck Junot several blows,
particularly one on the left temple. The combat was
long, and at length they seized each other by the
middle ; in the strusfule the vizor of the horseman
fell off, and Junot perceived that he was fighting
with a skeleton. Soon the armour fell off, and
Death stood before him armed with his scythe. " I
have not been able to take you," said he, " but I will
seize one of vour best friends. Beware of me !"
Junot awoke in a cold perspiration. The morning
was beginning to dawn, and he could not sleep from
the impression he had received. He felt convinced
that one of his brother aides-de-camp, Muiron or
Marmont, would be slain in the approaching fight.
In effect it was so. Junot received two wounds, one
on the left temple, which he bore to the grave, and
another on the breast, but IMuiron was shot through
the heart !
These are but specimens of a very numerous class
of dreams. They were verified, but, except in the
last case, the meaning was only known when the
prediction had been accomplished. The same obser-
L 2
220 THE TWIN GIANTS.
vation we may also see applies with an equal degree
of force to oracles.
8, Dreams which are said to have caused their
own fulfilment.
When the mother of Archbishop Abbott was very
near her confinement,^ she dreamed that, though a
poor woman herself, if she could eat a pike, her son
would be a great man. She sought accordingly with
much zeal, till at last she saw one in some water that
ran near her house at Guilford ; she seized upon it
and immediately devoured it. This circumstance
being much talked about, several persons of wealth
and influence offered to be sponsors to the child when
born ; and those who did so kept him both at school
and at the University, till he arrived at distinction.
The following, unless it were a political contrivance,
may be placed in the same class. Antigonus, king
of Macedonia, dreamed that he sowed gold in a field,
and that the seed sprang up, flourished, and ripened ;
but that soon after the golden harvest was reaped,
and nothing left but the worthless stubble : and that
then he heard a voice proclaim that Mithridates was
fled to the Euxine Sea, carrying with him all the
harvest. The king being now awakened, was exceed-
ingly terrified ; he resolved to cut off" Mithridates,
and communicated his intention to Demetrius, exact-
ing from him a j)revious oath of silence. Demetrius,
who was favorably disposed towards Mithridates,
was only prevented by a reverence for his oath from
telling him the dangei- in which he stood. Taking
him, however, aside, he wrote on the sand with the
point of his spear, " Fly, Mithridates ! " Warned
' Tlaory of Dreams, vol. ii. p. G.
ONEIROMANCY, 221
by the counsels of his friend, Mithridates fled, and
founded in Oappadocia, a kingdom^ which long sur-
vived that of Macedonia." This relation is taken
from Plutarch.
4. Dreams which have apparently failed of their
effect.
Among such may be classed that very curious
relation given by Cicero, of the two Arcadian friends
who, travelling together, arrived at Megara, and
there one lodged at an inn, the other at a friend's
house. The latter in his first sleep appeared to
behold his friend supplicating for aid against the inn-
keeper, who was preparing to murder him. He
started up in alarm, but not thinking the dream
merited attention, he again composed himself to sleep.
His friend again appeared, telling him that assist-
ance was now useless, for the intended murder had
been committed ; but conjured him that, although he
had afforded no succour to the living, he at loast
would not permit the crime to go unavenged. The
murdered person also stated that the body had been
thrown into a cart, and covered with dung, and that
it was in contemplation to carry it out of the city
very early the next morning. These instructions were
obeyed, the cart was stopped, the body found, and
the inn-keeper brought to justice. Here supposing
the truth of the relation, the object of the dream was
not to cause the execution of the inn-keeper, but to
save the life of the traveller ; and if we divide the
vision into two parts, and contend that the object of
the latter was accomplished, we must grant that
the former altogether failed of its effect.
' That of Pontus. * Tlieory of Dreams, vol. i. p. 62.
222 THE TWIN GIANTS.
" The dreams of avarice," says the author of the
" Theory of Dreams," quoting Holinshed, " have sel-
dom been productive of much good. A rich man in
Wales having dreamed three nights successively that
there was a chain of gold hidden under the headstone
of a well named St. Barnard's Well, went to the
place, and putting his hand in the hole was bitten by
an adder ; and not many years since, as the interest-
ing recluses of Llangollen would testify, a deluded
cobbler was digging, in consequence of a dream,
among the ruins of the castle of Diuas Brune, which
overhangs the vale, in search of gold."
Two curious dreams, showing the effect of an evil
conscience on the sensorium, are related by Proclus
in his '■ Doubts concerning Providence :" they may be
found at pp. 63 and 64 of Taylor's translation.
•' For they say, that Apollodorus the tyrant saw
himself in a dream scourged and boiled by certain
persons, and his heart exclaiming from the kettle,
' I am the cause of these thy torments ;' but Ptolemy,
who was called Thunder (Ceraunus), thought he was,
in a dream, called to judgment by Seleucus, and
that vultures and wolves sat there as his judges.
Such are the preludes to the wicked of impending
punishment."
These examples will suffice, and for the most part
they require no comment. Generally speaking, we
shall find that any remarkable coincidence between
dreams and real transactions may be accounted for
by the fact well known to all — that we are most
likely to dream of that which has the greatest share
of our waking thoughts. It will hardly be quite
fair to the author of the " Theoi-y of Dreams," not to
ONEIROMANCY. 223
state what that theory is. The book is an amusino-
collection of anecdotes, and the writer says : " The
general theory to which the author is inclined is,
that no dreams, excepting- those involved with the
history of revelation, can have any necessary con-
nection with, or can afford any assistance towards,
discovering the secrets of futurity."" ^
We must not dismiss the subject of dreams, with-
out noticing the means to which the ancients had
recourse in ortler to obtain prophetic dreams. The
skins of animals offered in sacrifice belonged to the
priest. This was the case under the Mosaic law,"
from which many of the most interesting ceremonies
among the heathen were borrowed. It is probable
that the Jews, in the days of their apostasy, and
it is quite certain that the heathens put these skins to
a superstitious purpose. Yirgil gives an instance of
this in the following lines : —
First on the fleeces of the slaughtered sheep,
By night the sacred priest dissolves in sleep ;
When in a train before his wondering eye,
The airy forms and wondrous vision fly ;
He calls the powers who guard the infernal floods,
And talks, inspired, familiar with the gods :
To this dread oracle the prince withdrew.
And first a hundred sheep the monarch slew ;
Then on their fleeces lay, and from the wood
He heard distinct these accents of the god.
Pitt's Alneid, b. vii.
" The Highlanders of Scotland,^' says Sir Walter
Scott, in his notes to the " Lady of the Lake.'""
" like all rude people, had various superstitious
modes of inquiring into futurity. One of the most
noted was the togharm. A person was wrapped up
' Vol. i. p. 152. » Levit. viii. 1.
224 THE TWIN GIANTS.
in the skin of a newly-slain bullock, and deposited
beside a waterfall, or at the bottom of a precipice,
or in some other strange, wild, and unusual situation,
where the scenery around him suggested nothing but
objects of horror. In this situation he revolved in
his mind the question proposed, and whatever was
impressed upon him by his exalted imagination
passed for the inspiration of disembodied spirits who
haunt these desolate recesses. * * Mr. Alexander
Cooper, minister of North Uist, told me that one
John Erach, in the Isle of Lewis, assured him that
it was his fate to be led by his curiosity with some
who consulted this oracle, during which time he felt
and heard such terrible things that he could not
express them. The impression made on him was
such as would never go off ; and he said for a thou-
sand worlds he would not again be concerned in the
like performance, for it had disordered him to a high
deg-ree."''
Such superstitions might be expected from a race
of men so imaginative as the Highlanders; nor will
it appear very surprising that similar means, only less
terrific, should have been occasionally resorted to in
the convent.^ The Franciscans, among whom super-
natural visions w^ere peculiarly abundant, used to
note with great care the mat upon which any
brother had lain while in a state of ecstasy. A
' Somniandi modus Franciscanoruin hiiic ducit originem antiqui moris,
fuit oracula et futiironuii pnescicntiain, quihusdaiu adhibitis sacris, per
insoinuia dari, qui mos talis erat, ut victimas caidereiit, mox sacrificio
pcracto, sub pellibus cajsarum ovium incubantes somnia captarent, eaque
IjMiiphatica somnia verissinios exitus sortiri. Et monachi super storea
cubant, in qua alius frater exstaticus fuerat somniatus sacrificat missara,
praeces et jejunia adhibet, inde ut communiter fit de amoribus per somnia
consulit, redditque responsa pro occurrentibus spectris. — Atoresinide Rrav.
lid. Oruf. p. 162.
ONEIROMANCY. 225
portion of the spirit which rested upon him was be-
lieved to hallow the very straw upon which he lay,
and those who afterwards slept upon it expected
to be visited with celestial dreams. Pliny, in his
" Natural History," mentions several ways of obtain-
ing or repelling peculiar dreams. The shoulder of
a chameleon,^ for example, enabled a person who
possessed it to dream of whatsoever he pleased.
Anise,* hung about a bed, drove away disagreeable
visions; and on the contrary, an herb called pycno-
comon,^ caused them. Nor must the recipe of
Robert Burton be forgotten; which cannot however
be easily recommended. "Piso commends frications,
Andrew Borde a good draught of strong wine before
one goes to bed. I say a nutmeg and ale, or a
good draught of muscadine, with a toast and nut-
meg ; or a posset of the same, which many use in
a morning ; but methinks for such as have dry
brains, are much more proper at night."* After-
wards, he quotes a story rather more to the purpose.
Ptolemy, king of Egypt, asked one of the seventy
interpreters what was the best way of securing
pleasant dreams, and was told to use celestial medi-
tations, and honest actions when awake. ^ It will
hardly be necessary to make any recapitulation of
the contents of these two chapters. We have seen
that there was and still is, a metaphysical theory
well known to the ancients and embraced by some
very distinguished men, even among moderns ; that,
according to this theory, it is possible that dreams
may be the expatiations of a spirit for a season
' Book xxxviii. c. 8. » Book xx. c. 17. ^ Book xxvi. c. 8.
* Anatomy of Melancholy, part ii. sect ii. memb. v. * Ibid.
226 THE TWIN GIANTS.
disembodied, possibly capable of having some glances
into futurity, and therefore not to be despised.
Knowing this, however different our opinions may
be, we shall hesitate before we visit with our con-
tempt, those among the ancients who believed in
oneiomancy. The practice was, no doubt, always
fallacious, and often contemptible, but we must not
confound the theories of philosophers with the prac-
tices of mountebanks. In many respects we are
not much better informed as to the nature of spirit,
or the properties of matter, than the ancients ; that
we are free from many of their errors is to be
attributed quite as much to our greater knowledge
of the limits set to human science, as to our more
successful investigation of natural phenomena. We
shall now pause in our remarks on the Romance of
Science, and treat briefly on that of History, touch-
ing, as we pass, on those subjects which form, as it
were, the confines of the two kingdoms — and then
resume, in the third Book, our scientific researches,
with the theories and practice of the Alchemists.
BOOK IL
CHAPTER I.
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES.
The history of the heroic, or romantic ages, may
well be called " the superstition of history." The
examination, however, of these fabulous records will
well repay the time it will occupy, for it gives us
the truest picture of national character, and throws
much and important light upon Mythology.
Before treating of the Eomance of History it will
be necessary to say a few words upon history itself!,
its origin and progress ; and it then will be easy to
see how truth became corrupted into fiction, and the
severity of history degenerated into fable. The
earliest historians, among all nations, have been
poets, either, as in Wales and the Highlands, at-
tached to persons or clans, or singing such songs as
would be most likely to flatter the prejudices of
the people. In the former case, as well as in the
latter, though we may find sublimity of conception,
and splendor of expression, we shall look in vain for
fidelity. Yet where the circumstances which pre-
clude this truth cease to act — as, for example, in
disputes among the same body, or in trifling circum-
228 THE TWIN GIANTS.
stances whei-e the passions of no party are concerned
— we may reasonably look for, and shall commonly
find correctness. Thus, when Homer magnifies to
a superhuman extent the power and greatness of
Achilles, the Greek, as well as the Englishman,
took the description with the recollection, that
this was the hero of the poem, and the favorite
object of the author's eulogy. But when he casually
hints that the fleet of Salamis was under the di-
rection of the Athenians, the Amphictyonic Coun-
cil considered him as affording direct historical
testimony, and awarded that city to the Athenian
Republic in consequence, nor did their antagonists
(and these antagonists were Spartans) dispute the
justness of the decision. The same remark holds
good when applied to the bards of England and
Scotland, of Norway, Denmark, or, indeed, to the
historical songs of any early period of history. The
object of the poet, however, was rather to delight
than to instruct, rather to magnify the achievements
of his hero, than to record his real actions ; and
hence, when the ostensible purpose of the bards was
not fulfilled, the graver historian stepped in, claim-
ing the merit of impartiality ; and casting aside those
splendors of imagination with which it had been the
chief labor of the poet to decorate his subject.
Here, then, arose at once a new era in writing ;
the poet no longer laid claim to historical accuracy,
and the historian renounced for ever the glory of
invention. Setting aside the historical books of
the Old Testament, which, from many causes,
come not within the pale of our argument at pre-
sent, the first who thus separated these essentially
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 229
distinct species of writing was Herodotus, and with
him, emphatically called the " Father of History,"
did she spring into existence in full and perfect
beauty, like Minerva from the brain of Jupiter.
The ease and flowing grace of his style, his great
erudition, and his indefatigable exertions to obtain
full and correct information, set him far above all
praise ; nor are we to tax him with credulity for
admitting into his works so many improbable and
romantic accounts. We ought to remember that
this great man had no written documents to refer to ;
that he was necessitated to take tradition as it was
delivered to him : and if, by his time, it had become
corrupt, it was not the fault of the collector. In-
deed the history of Herodotus may be very fairly
considered as a valuable picture of the opinions of
the times concerning those periods and nations of
which he treats. It bears the stamp of truth on the
grand chain of events; and if here and there we
have an episode, or a scientific digression, which bears
with equal plainness the seal of fiction, we never
have it upon the authority of Herodotus, but that
he was told so, and sometimes that he cannot ask
the reader to credit that whereof he decidedly doubts
himself. Of his works we shall have occasion to
take further notice before the close of our present
investigation, and of no other Greek historian's pro-
ductions: for though Thucydides be, according to
an eminent writer, a great romancer, it is in a
different and less useful way, inasmuch as a forger
of speeches is doing far less service to the cause
of literature than a collector of traditions.
We must, to find the root of those curious parti-
230 THE TWIN GIANTS.
culars which have been at one time or other taken and
credited as true history, refer first to the set of ideas
which Mythology instilled into the minds of men :
those wild legends of giants and spiritual essences,
with which their religious creeds were crammed;
and next, to the mere invention of men, who have
either devised marvellous tales out of pure love for
the wonderful, or else allegorized simple facts, till they
have made them wear an appearance so monstrous
as to require an effort of faith to believe them —
Avhich the better informed have uniformly declined
to exert. To take a view of the nature and stream
of romance, which, though widely different, yet runs
constantly parallel to that of history, it will be
necessary to begin, not with the Antediluvian period,
or that which immediately succeeded the flood, —
for these seem more expressly to belong to Mytho-
logy, — nor with the history of the Patriarchs, which
more concerns ecclesiastical than civil history, but
with the romance of Jewish story; and one of the
first persons with whom that romance has much to
do, is the very celebrated character, Og, King of
Bashan.
The traditions of the Jews tell us that Sihon, King
of the Amorites, and Og, the King of Bashan, were
brethren ; that Og was born before the Deluge ; that
his father was the angel Schamchiel and the giants
were the posterity of the fallen angels. " Now Og,""
says the Talmud, "perished not in the Flood, but rode
upon the ark, and was as a covering thereof; and he
was fed with the provisions which Noah gave him ;
for Noah bored a hole in the side of the ark, and handed
out to him his daily food, to wit, one thousand oxen,
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 231
one thousand of every kind of game, and the same
number of measures of hquid for drink. And this
did Noah give Og, and Og consented to be the
servant of Noah and his children after him." This
very much tends to increase our notion of the ca-
pacity of the ark, and the prodigious bulk of Og.
We find Og pursuing his agreement, and acting in
his capacity of servant to the descendants of Noah
with laudable fidelity for some ages ; and Eliezer,
the servant of Abraham, was, we are told, the same
personage. As to his size, the Talmud writers very
much differ: one tells us that the soles of his feet
were forty miles long, and he hid Abraham in the
hollow of his hand. "And it came to pass that
when Abraham did one day rebuke Og, that Og
greatly trembled, and by reason of his exceeding
fear a tooth fell out of his head, so Abraham made
an easy chair of the tooth, and sat thereon all the
days of his life." Og had been the servant of
Nimrod, and Nimrod gave him to Abraham, and he
obtained his liberty and the kingdom of Bashan from
the latter upon the following occasion : — When
Eliezer (that is, Og) came into Mesopotamia to
Bethel, being sent by Abraham on account of
Rebecca, " Laban seeing the ear-rings, and beino-
moved by covetousness, did mean to slay Eliezer ;
but he, by means of the holy word ' Shemhamphorash,'
raised the camels into the air, and stood upon the
camels, so Laban saw his face beaming with bright-
ness, and thought it was Abraham, so he said, ' Come
in, thou blessed of the Lord.' Now still he meant to
poison Eliezer, inasmuch as he dared not fight hand
to hand with him, for Laban saw Eliezer take the
232 THE TWIN GIANTS.
camels in his hand, and carry them over the river.
But when the dish in which the poisoned food was,
was placed before Eliezer, God, through love to
Abraham, changed it. So Eliezer escaped ; but
Bethuel did eat thereof and died." Eliezer, there-
fore, satisfactorily performed his mission, and his
reward was freedom and a kingdom.
He now resumed his old name, and with it his
hatred to the people of God. During the war which
the Israelites waged with the Canaauites — a war of
extermination — Og was one of those who made the
most desperate resistance : and we are told, as a
matter of history, of his great size. What follows is
not quite accordant with the dimensions of this noted
giant, as preserved in Holy Writ ; still less, how-
ever, with the outrageous proportions which I before
stated. " When (says one of the Talmud treatises)
the children of Israel pitched their camp before the
city of Edrei, Moses said, ' To-morrow will we enter
the city ; ' and the next day, before it was well
light, before the people came nigh into the city,
Moses opened his eyes and beheld Og sitting on the
walls of the city ; so Moses wist not what it was,
and he said — ' So, now the people have built a new
wall in one night ;' but the Lord said to Moses, ' It
is Og whom thou seest, and his feet are eighteen ells
in length.' So Og went forth and built sixty cities,
and the smallest of them was sixty miles high."
This remnant of the Antediluvian Nephilim was,
however, now approaching the termination of his
career ; his opposition to the Israelites was doomed
to be fatal to himself. One of the Talmud treatises
favors us with the following account of his death : —
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 2o3
He inquired of what extent was the camp of the
TsraeHtes, and being told six miles, he resolved to
tear up a rock of equal dimensions, and cast it upon
the camp. " So he went and plucked up a rock of
six miles extent, and put the same on his head ; but
God caused ants to come upon it, and they made a
hole in it, so that it fell about his neck, for the hole
was directly over his head ; and when he tried to
remove it, the Lord caused his teeth to grow into it,
so that he could not disengage his neck. So, when
Moses saw him thus encumbered, he took an axe,
whereof the handle was ten ells long, and jumped ten
ells high, and then, since Moses was ten ells in stature,
he could reach thirty ells high ; so he struck Og on
the ancle bone that he died." After this we shall be
prepared for the story of the hunter, who, according
to the treatise Nidda, once pursued a buck into the
shin-bone of a man ; the hunter continued the chase
for three miles up the bone, and then, not being able
either to catch the buck or to see the end of the bone,
returned disappointed. Can we wonder that this
turned out to have been one of the legs of Og, King
of Bashan 1 We pass over the stories which are told
of many other individuals, because they are merely
admeasurements of monstrous animals, and accounts
of incredible feats of strength, set off with such
particulars as this — " When Samson shook himself,
his hair clattered together, and the sound was heard
from Dan to Beersheba."
We pass over these : we merely may state, that it
requires no genius to invent fiction of this kind.
Unicorns a hundred miles high, on the horns of one
of which David was lifted up to heaven : men with
234 THE TWIN GIANTS.
feet forty miles long, and cities sixty miles high, are
not objects, of which, in the present day, it will be
necessary to relate all the adventures. It has been
supposed that the Jewish Rabbis were aware of the
existence of the fossil elephant, and the kraken of
Norway ; but it may be objected — and it seems with
great reason — that they who invented the animals
we have just mentioned, and birds so big that when
an egg by chance broke, the white of it overflowed
three-score villages, would be very likely to magnify
fishes in the same way, without supposing them to
be acquainted with that immense creature of which
naturalists are yet debating the existence. The
fabulous simorg,' the roc of the "Arabian Nights,"
the cock of the Moslem heaven, parallel creations,
are the only creatures with which to compare these
monstrous and useless fictions.
At the time of Solomon a new era opens, a cha-
racter is brought forward on which all the poets and
romancers of the East have ever loved to dwell.
Pre-eminently wise, and highly- favored by the Su-
preme Being, he stood alone among the potentates
of his age : his fame filled the then civilized world,
and princes from the furthest regions thronged round
his throne to offer their choicest treasures, to acknow-
ledge his immeasurable superiority and to hear the
lessons of wisdom which, like a stream of honey,
flowed from his inspired lips. And on account of
this universal fame, the legends of other eastern
nations are as full of his power and magnificence as
those of the Jews. In science, in art, in riches, in
wisdom, and in power the era of Solomon shone with
such surpassing lustre, that the previous age looked
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 235
dim — even the reign of his glorious and far more
excellent father, and the succeeding — " Oh ! what a
falling off was there ! " The peculiar circumstances
in which Solomon was placed, and the fact of his
wisdom and knowledge being not the product of
study and experience, but the express gift of the
Deity, cast around him an undefined awe. A great
and learned man is, after all, but a man. Solomon
seemed somewhat more, and the cold sternness of his
character added to the distance which his greatness
placed between him and other men. The influx of
treasure, and of those luxuries which are ever the
most costly, was so great, and their influence and
effects so remarkable as to invest the earlier period
of his reign with the character rather of a gorgeous
vision than of a story of real life. We cannot
be surprised that the ancients should attribute to
a prince so distinguished, magical power ; and as
we know that they considered Magic as a science,
and which by long study a man might attain, it must
be evident, that for them to have thought Solomon
ignorant of Magic, would have been an impossibility.
Accordingly we find spirits and genii, fairies and
demons acknowledging his power and executing his
commands. We find him absolute over the elements,
and ruling them and their spiritual inhabitants and
movers with the same cold, proud, stern control
which he evinced towards men. The character, both
real and fabulous, of vSolomon, is ever consistent, and
there is not a single action related of him in either
character which can be called amiable.
The fall and the dimmed glory of his reign before
its close, the removal of God's favor, the complaints
236 THE TWIN GIANTS.
of his oppressed people, and the successful hostilities
of his warlike neighbours, are passed over lightly
in the pages of tradition. He was a favorite hero,
and thej have been tender of his fame. The reader
will, of course, recollect the frequent allusions made
to his seal and his power over spirits, in the " Arabian
Nights C the Talmudic history, touching how he
became possessed of that seal, and how he was once
cast out of his kingdom for three years, and how he
built the Temple by Magic, will, perhaps, be interest-
ing, as their decidedly Oriental character show the
great change that had taken place since the periods
of which we last quoted the legends.
By the time of Solomon the East appears to have
reached a state not very unlike that in which the era
of Haroun Alraschid found it ; and the history which
we are now about to relate, would seem perfectly in
good keeping were it in the " Arabian Nights :" —
" King Solomon spoke unto the Rabbis and said,
' What order shall I take that the stones of the
Temple maybe split without iron tools T and they
said, the ' sJiamir'' must be obtained wherewith Moses
made the sacred breastplate and tunic. So Solomon
called up devils and commanded them to tell him
where the shamir was to be found ; they came and
stood around him, but, unable to answer the king*'8
question, at length they said, ' Ashmedai, the
prince of the devils, knows it.'" Solomon next
inquired where this fiend was to be found : on a
certain hill, which they named, he had dug himself
a pit and filled it with water, and every day the
demons said he went there to drink. " Then was
Solomon exceeding glad, and sent lienaiah, the son
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 237
of Jehoiada, and gave him a chain on which was
engraven the mystic word ' shemhamphorash,'' and a
ring on which it was engi*aven, with a bundle of
wool, and several casks of wine. So, when Benaiah
came to the pit, he dug a hole and caused the
water to run out, then he stopped up the hole
with the wool ; he next dug a hole at the top and
poured in the wine, and then stopped up the hole so
dexterously that no one could see that any one had
been there. Now when Benaiah had done this, he
climbed up a tree and waited for the coming of the
devil ; but when he came, and found wine and not
water, he was very much enraged, and said, ' Strong
drink is raging, wine is a mocker, and whosoever is
deceived thereby is not wise,' so he would not drink,
though extremely thirsty ; but after a little time, he
could no longer refrain, but drank, and that so freely,
as to be intoxicated, and lay down to sleep. Then
did Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, descend from the
tree, and bound Ashmedai, and brought him to
Solomon. Yet Ashmedai strove greatly, but Benaiah
was too strong for him." " The demon, however,
did some mischief in the passage, and when brought
into the presence of the king, he haughtily exclaimed,
'When you are dead, you shall have but earth enough
to cover you; now have you conquered the whole
world, vet you were not satisfied till you have
brought me into subjection.' But Solomon said, ' I
want nothing from thee, but I will build the Temple,
and I want shamir.'' Then said Ashmedai, ' He is
not committed unto me, but unto the prince of the
sea, and he trusts him to none but his turkey, who
is faithful to him.' ' What does the turkey do with
238 THE TWIN GIANTS.
it r inquired Solomon. Aslimedai answered, ' He
takes it along with him on mountains that are deso-
late, and on which grows neither herb nor tree; he
holds it against the rocks of the mountains, and
they split, so he goes his way : afterwards takes
a load of trees and casts it there, and the place
becomes fertile and fit to be inhabited: and trees
and other things do grow and thrive there ; for this
reason is shamir called ''tiaQgar trira^ that is, the
rock-worker. This shamir is an insect which nothing
is hard enough to withstand ; but the hardest rocks
split before it like soft wood before the wedge.'' "
Solomon immediately sent his messengers to seek
the nest of this turkey, which they were fortunate
enough to find, and in it were the young ones,
which, with the nest, they immediately covered
with a cucumber- frame. " So, when the turkey
came to the nest, she essayed to get at her young,
but could not for the glass ; therefore she brought
shamir to set him upon the glass, whereat Benaiah
made a great shout, which caused the turkey to drop
shamir, and Benaiah took him up. But the turkey
strangled herself because of the oath which she had
sworn to the prince of the seas.*" Possessed of this
insect, which, to increase its importance, was said
to have been created on the first Sabbath — aided by
the powders of light, and served, though reluctantly,
by those of darkness, the zenith of Solomon's fame
drew nigh ; he built that sublime and stupendous
Temple, upon which nations gazed with wonder, and
even Deity deigned to rest visibly.
And now comes the tale which will, indeed, vie
with any of the Thousand-and-one. D'Israeli, in his
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 239
" Curiosities of Literature," quotes one version, but
there is another more fanciful and more interesting.
In the treatise, " Emek Hammelek," is preserved the
story which we quote : — " In the height of his pros-
perity, the king was accustomed every day at noon
to convey himself into the firmament to hear the
secrets of the universe from the mouths of the spirits
Asa and Asael, and no fear was on him. At length
Ashmedai prevailed upon Solomon to grant him his
liberty, and to give him possession of the ring Avhich
had the shemhamphorash engraven upon it. Once
possessed of the talismanic gem which had been to
Solomon the sceptre of his supernatural power, the
fiend suddenly changed his tone, and dilating him-
self to a gigantic size, swallowed the now alarmed
monarch; spreading his broad wings, he flew two
hundred leagues, and then spat out the king- in a
distant and idolatrous country. Then he took the
ring and flung it into the sea, where it was swallowed
by a fish. Meantime Ashmedai told Solomon that
he was thrust out from the peaceable enjoyment of his
kingdom, because he had disobeyed the Lord and
broken three commandments ; he had multiplied unto
himself horses, wives, and gold and silver, all which
things he was forbidden, as king of Israel, to do.
Ashmedai now, in the likeness of Solomon, sat on
the throne of Israel for three years, and truly, to
judge from the extreme difiiculty which there is in
ascertaining which were the three years in question,
the devil seems to have been about as good a king as
this wisest of monarchs. While the demon was thus
ruling, Solomon was an exile and u wanderer. In
the course of his peregrinations, he passed through
240 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the land of the Amorites, begging from door to
door, and saying, ' I, the preacher, was king in
Jerusalem.** "
In the capital city, to which the legend gives the
name of Mashkemen, he was hired as an assistant
by the chief cook, and employed in the palace, where
he distinguished himself, and gained the favor of the
king by his proficiency in the gastronomic art. The
chief cook was obliged to yield to superior science,
and the quondam sovereign of Jerusalem was elevated
to the post. At length Naama, the king's daughter,
saw Solomon, and soon became deeply enamoured ;
her passion was speedily discovered, and, as may
readily be supposed, met with no small opposition.
Solomon's story was, of course, disbelieved, and
though Naama was allowed to become his, they were
driven into the desert, and left without food, tent, or
water ; aided, however, by unseen spirits, and sup-
ported by mutual love, they reached a city by the
sea-coast, and Solomon became a fisherman. The
denouement of the story becomes now quite according
to the received style ; Solomon catches the fish that
swallowed the ring, and again recovers his power
and kingdom. After the conviction and expulsion
of Ashmedai, Solomon sent for the king of the
Amorites, proved his identity with the late chief
cook, and introduced Naama to her father as Queen
of Israel.
There is a story, partly taken from this, in the
" Arabian Nights,"" wherein we are told how a
certain prince, being, by magical means, cast out of
his kingdom, established himself as a pastry-cook in
a distant city, whither he was taken by a genie very
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 241
much against his will, and was at last discovered
and restored to his rank by his extraordinary skill
in cheese-cakes. We will take the present oppor-
tunity of noticing that many of the tales of that
enchanting collection are taken from the Talmud.
M
242 THE TWIN GIANTS.
CHAPTER 11.
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES.
One more instance from the " Arabian Nights."
A young man is taken to a city of enchantment,
and marries queen Labe, the Circe of the place. In
the midst of the night the sorceress leaves the
arms of her husband, supposing him to be asleep,
lays across the chamber a train of yellow powder,
and, by a spell, changes it into a river ; with the
water she then kneads some more of the said powder
into a cake, which she dresses, and the next day
presents to her husband. He, in the meantime,
is made aware of her malefic intentions, and fur-
nished with the means of frustrating them, he eats
a cake which he had secreted, and though Labe
threw water over him, and commanded him to
take the shape of a horse, her charm was power-
less. He, then, seeing she attempted to turn it
into a joke, said, " If it be so, to coiwince me, eat
some of my cake." No sooner had the sorceress
done so, than her husband commanded her to take
the shape of a marc, which she was accordingly
forced to do, and he took her to a distant country ;
here he sold her to one who was aware of the
enchantment, and who restored her to her former
shape. These two now turned the tables, and the
unfortunate young gentleman was some time before
he escaped tlieir vengeance.
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 243
Now let us turn to the treatise " Sanhedrim,""
and we there find the embryo of this tale. True,
the Arabian romancer has decked it with all the
gorgeous splendors of poetry and all the wild interest
of deep passion — has magnified the little, and digni-
fied the mean: but the tale is the same. "Jannai"
(says the treatise in question,) "came to an inn, and
said to them : ' Give me some water to drink,' but
they brought him water beaten up with flour, called
shethita ; and he perceived that the lips of the
woman who brought it did move : he also observed
that she was an enchantress. He therefore poured
a httle of it out, and it turned to scorpions; then
said he : 'I have drunken of your liquor, drink
you, I pray you, of mine.' And when he had
given the woman to drink, she was transformed
into an ass, upon which he seated himself and rode
to market. But there came one of her companions,
who, as soon as she saw her, broke the enchant-
ment, and there stood in the market a woman instead
of an ass."" It may be worth while to notice, that
the Thousand and One tales were, by the medium
of minstrels and troubadours, well known (at least,
many of them) in Europe, long before the first
direct translation from the eastern originals. With
altered names, and an admixture of European chi-
valry and character, the same stories which beguiled
the hours of the Caliphs of Bagdad, served to lull
to repose the returned crusaders. The very com-
mencement of the " Arabian Nights,"' the vengeance
of the justly incensed, but too cruel Shahriar, and
the history of his equally unfortunate, but less san-
guinary brother, are told with a variation of names
M
244 THE TWIN GIANTS.
and a trifling alteration of catastrophe, by Ariosto,
in his twenty-eighth canto. The Italian poet is
more facetious than moral, more laughable than
decorous, and prefaces his tale by the remarkable
caution —
Donne, e voi che le donne avete in pregio
Per Dio, non date a questa istoria orecchia.
Ariosto wrote before there was any translation of
the One Thousand and One nights, and must have
taken the circumstances of that canto from some of
the lays of the period. Le Grand has made a curious
collection of fabliaux which will well repay the at-
tention of any one who washes to investigate the
romances of the troubadours. There is a very scarce
and valuable tract, printed at Rome in the year 1506,
called " II Sartore de Milano et il suo Ragazzo,"
which was shortly after translated into English, and
entitled " The Italian Tailor and his Boy." In the
year 3810 this was re-printed, in a facsimile, I be-
lieve by the Roxburgh club. The tale is an altered
version of the latter part of one of the " Arabian
Nights' Entertainments," namely, the history of the
second Calender. The English translation is in verse,
and beautifully executed. This again was earlier
than the first French translation, which was published
in the middle of the sixteenth century. To the tra-
ditions of the Jews must we also look for confirma-
tion of those very extravagant adventures of Tobit
and of Judith, of Bel and the Dragon, — books which
are at war alike with probability, with chronology,
and with history.
Passing away to another country, to another peo-
ple, from the wide and desert plains of Arabia, to the
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 245
classic islands and sacred mountains of Greece, we
find the same spirit ruling, differing only in exterior.
In the Talmud, tradition appears ridiculous, present-
ing us only with monstrous impossibilities, puerile
reasonings, and absurd ceremonies. In India and
Arabia we see fiction elevated and sublimed, and
we shudder at her mighty and fearful countenance.
Spirits of power and knowledge arise at her call ; her
dwelling is in vast and stately palaces. The exhaust-
less East showers upon her " barbaric pearl and
gold," gems potent and priceless are her crown,
and her sceptre is the talisman at which even the
fiends fall down in trembling obedience.
In Greece she sits upon a throne of beauty ; grace
and loveliness, poetry and music, are her handmaids.
If she speaks, it is by the voice of a Homer ; she
leads captive our feelings, and our reason comes
biassed to the work of judgment ; yet, amid all the
beauty and the romantic poetry of Greek fable, shall
we often find the nucleus of a glorious emanation of
genius in the dull, heavy narration of a rabbinical
author. The derivation is mostly through the In-
dian and Egyptian mythology ; but the Rabbi gives
us the tradition which, many centuries before him,
the Indian or Egyptian naturalized in his own sys-
tem, and the Greek thence transplanting it into the
soil of poetry, it grew up and became more beau-
tiful, producing flowers worthy of being inwoven
with the legends of that most intellectual of people.
For example, that most outrageous bandit, Pro-
crustes, whose name has passed into a proverb, did
not himself invent the bed whereupon he laid the
weary travellers who were unlucky enough to fall
246 THE TWIN GIANTS.
into his hands : he took the idea from the people
of Sodom, who, according to the treatise " Sanhe-
drim," had a bedstead of iron on which they laid
all travellers to rest ; if any was too long for it,
they cut off his legs ; if he was too short, they dis-
located his joints, and stretched him to the requisite
degree of longitude.
We now turn to that fascinating author who has
so often, and it seems so unjustly, been accused of
want of fidelity, Herodotus. In the earlier part of
this investigation, I have already given my own
opinion of his writings. He is usually so scrupu-
lous in telling us what were his sources of infor-
mation, and of forewarning us where he did not
deem the authority sufficient, that we ought rather
to thank him for his historical romances, than to
distrust his genuine history. When he speaks of
an event as having certainly happened, it would
seem that few historians may be more imphcitly
believed. Should we, because he has preserved
many most interesting traditions, deny him the
credit, which, had he been less liberal, we should
certainly have conceded ? I take two specimens, one
of perverted history, one of pure invention, not on
the part of Herodotus, but on that of the Egyptian
priests.
" The successor of this prince was Sethos, a priest
of Vulcan ; he treated the military of Egypt with
extreme contempt, and as if he had no occasion for
their services. Among other indignities, he deprived
them of their arura;, or fields of fifty feet square,
which, by way of reward, his predecessors had given
each soldier : the result was, that when Sennacherib,
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 247
King of Arabia and Assyria, attacked Egypt witli
a mighty army, the warriors whom he had thus
treated, refused to assist him. In this perplexity,
the priest retired to the shrine of his god, before
which he lamented his danger and misfortunes.
Here he sank into a profound sleep, and his deity
promised him, in a dream, that if he marched to
meet the Assyrians, he should experience no injury,
for that he would furnish him with assistance. The
vision inspired him with confidence ; he put himself
at the head of his adherents and marched to Pelu-
sium, the entrance of Egypt : not a soldier accom-
panied the party, which was entirely composed of
tradesmen and artisans. On their arrival at Pelu-
sium, so immense a number of mice infested by night
the enemy's camp, that their quivers and bows,
together with what secured their shields to their
arms, were gnawed in pieces. In the morning, the
Arabians finding themselves without arms, fled in
confusion, and lost great numbers of their men.
There is now to be seen in the Temple of Vulcan,
a marble statue of this king, having a mouse in
his hand, and with this inscription, ' Whoever
thou art, learn from my fortune to reverence the
gods.' "
Not recollecting; at the time this was written what
was the reason for the introduction of mice, I applied
to my friend, the Eev. George Stanley Faber, and
gladly enrich my pages with a part of his reply.
" I am happy to be able to point out to you the
true interpretation of these same mice : and I have
the greater pleasure in doing it, because it brings
out one of the most remarkable Gentile attesta-
248 THE TWIN GIANTS.
tions to Scriptural verity with which I am ac-
quainted.
" Herodotus has faithfully given the history in
hierog-lyphics : and the whole stands correct, save the
matter of national appropriation, by transmuting
Hezekiah into Sethos.
" With the Egyptians, a mouse was the hiero-
glyphic of utter destruction.
" Hence, when they would describe the destruction
of Sennacherib''s host, they depicted it by an army
invaded by mice. The gnawing of the bow-strings
and shield-straps, constituted the very rationale or
principle on which the mouse was made the hiero-
glyphic of utter destruction. Thus, in truth, the
account of Herodotus is purely a description of an
hieroglyphical painting ; explained to him by the
priests, so far as the personality of Sennacherib was
concerned ; but involved in mystifying fable, so far
as respected their mode of exhibiting a true literal
history.
" With the most perfect freedom from all in-
tention of explaining a Scriptural narration, or,
indeed, of even elucidating Herodotus, you have
the solution simply given by Harapollo, in regular
course, and in a perfectly business-like manner.
" I subjoin his own precise words, which you
may fully rely upon, as I copy them from his work,
which is one of the sundry out-of-the-way books
that decorate my somewhat miscellaneous library.
''A<paiii<r/u.ov di ^riXouvris, flU" ^wy^a^cuffiV i^tiSii, vavra iirBiciy, fiCiaivti xai
' HoRAPOLL. Hierog., lib. i., c. 50, p. 64. — Trajecti ad Rhen. a. d.
1727.
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 249
" It is somewhat singular that not one of Horapollo's
commentors, neither Mercer nor Hoeschel, nor Cans-
sin, nor De Pauro, take the least notice of this
curious hieroglyphic, save that one of them remarks
that the mouse has a very fine taste.
" To the best of my recollection, Mr. Milman, in
his ' History of the Jews,' has hit upon the same
application of the hieroglyphical mouse : but I have
not got his book, and I speak from memory. How-
ever, at all events, I have given you the ipsissima
verba of Horus Apollo.
" I was formerly very fond of your subject ; and
I have entered somewhat into it in a large book
of mine, entitled ' The Origin of Pagan Idolatry.'
Both romance, and ultimately nursery tales, have
largely, in the way of adaptation, borrowed from
old Mythology. The same remark applies to the
saintly legends of Popery. Hence the whole fabu-
lous part of the history of our Durham saint, Cuth-
bert, is a mixture of the various myths of Osiris and
Bacchus and Cadmus and Ilus. In like manner,
St. George and the Dragon, and the fair Egyptian,
Sabra, are a mere plagiarism from Perseus and the
monster, and the Ethiopian, Andromeda. The
queerest thing is, how the heretic George in real life
ever came to be erected into a saint ; and still more
unaccountable is it, how he came to be adopted
as the patron saint of merry England.
" Believe me yours truly,
'' G. S. Faber."
M S
250 THE TWIN GIANTS.
The next story from Herodotus is contained in
the same book : ^ —
" The same instructors further told me, that Pro-
teus was succeeded by Rhampsinitus : he built the
west entrance of the temple of Vulcan ; in the same
situation he also erected two statues, twenty-five
cubits in height. That which faces the north the
Egyptians call Summer, the one to the south, Winter :
this latter is treated with no manner of respect, but
they worship the former, and make offerings before
it. This prince possessed such abundance of wealth,
that so far from surpassing, none of his successors
ever equalled him in afiluence. For the security of
his riches he constructed a stone edifice, connected
with his palace by a wall. The man whom he em-
ployed, with a dishonest view so artfully disposed
one of the stones, that two or even one person might
remove it from its place. In this building, when
completed, the king deposited his treasures. Some
time afterwards, the artist found his end approach-
ing ; and having two sons, he called them both before
him, and informed them in what manner, with a view
to their future emolument and prosperity, he had
built the king''s treasury. He then explained the
particular circumstances and situation of the stone,
gave them minutely its dimensions, by observance of
which they might become the managers of the king's
riches.
On the death of the father, the sons were not long
before they availed themselves of their secret. Under
the advantage of the night, they visited the building,
discovered and removed the stone, and carried away
Capp. 121, 122, 123.
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 251
with them a large sum of money. As soon as the
king entered the apartment, he saw the vessels which
contained his money materially diminished ; he was
astonished beyond measure, for, as the seals were
unbroken, and every entrance properly secured, he
could not possibly direct his suspicion against any
one ! This was several times repeated ; the thieves
continued their visits, and the king as regularly saw
his money decrease. To effect a discovery, he or-
dered some traps to be placed round the vessels
which contained his riches. The robbers came as
before ; one of them proceeding, as usual, directly to
the vessels, was caught in the snare : as soon as he
was sensible of his situation, he called his brother
and acquainted him with it ; he withal intreated him
to cut off his head without a moment's delay, as the
only means of preventing his own detection and
consequent loss of life. He approved and obeyed
his advice, and replacing properly the stone, he
returned home with the head of his brother. As
soon as it was light the king entered the apartment,
and seeing the body secured in the snare without a
head, the building in no part disturbed, nor the
smallest appearance of any one having been there, he
was more astonished than ever. In this perplexity
he commanded the body to be hanged from the wall,
and having stationed guards on the spot, he directed
them to seize and bring before them whoever should
discover any symptoms of compassion or sorrow at
sight of the deceased. The mother being much exas-
perated at this exposure of her son, threatened the
surviving brother, that if he did not contrive and
execute some means of removing the body, she would
252 THE TWIN GIANTS.
immediately go to the king and disclose all the cir-
cumstances of the robbery.
" The young man in vain endeavoured to alter the
woman's determination ; he therefore put in practice
the following expedient : he got together some asses
which he loaded with flasks of wine ; he then drove
them near the place where the guards were stationed
to watch the body of his brother. As soon as he
approached, he secretly removed the pegs from the
mouths of two or three of the skins, and when he saw
the wine running about, he began to beat his head
and cry out vehemently with much pretended con-
fusion and distress. The soldiers, perceiving the
accident, instantly ran with vessels, and such wine as
they were able to catch, they considered as so much
gain to themselves. At first, with great apparent
anger, he reproached and abused them, but he gra-
dually listened to their endeavours to console and
pacify him : he then proceeded at leisure to turn his
asses out of the road and to secure his flasks. He
soon entered into conversation with the guards, and,
affecting to be pleased with the drollery of one of
them, he gave them a flask of wine ; they accord-
ingly sat down to drink, and insisted upon his bearing
them company : he complied with their solicitations,
and a second flask was presently the effect of their
civility to him. The wine had soon its effect : the
guards became exceedingly drunk, and fell fast asleep.
Under the advantage of the night, the young man
took down the body of his brother, and in derision
shaved the right cheeks of the guards ; lie placed the
body on one of the asses, and returned home, having
thus satisfied his mother. When the king heard of
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 253
what had happened, he was enraged beyond measure ;
but still determined on the detection of the criminal,
he contrived this, which to me seems a most impro-
bable part of the story ; he commanded his daughter
to exercise the profession of a courtezan, taking
no other reward from her visitors than that each
should tell her the most artful, as well as the most
wicked thing he had ever done : if any one should
disclose the circumstance of which he wished to
be informed, she was to seize him and prevent his
escape. The daughter obeyed the injunction of her
father. The thief, knowing what was intended, pre-
pared still farther to disappoint and deceive the king.
He cut otF the arm near the shoulder from a body
recently dead, and concealing it under his cloak, he
visited the king's daughter. When he was asked
the same question as the rest, he replied, ' that the
most wicked thing he had ever done was the cutting
oif the head of his brother, who was caught in a snare
in the king's treasury ; the most artful thing was his
making the guards drunk, and by that means effect-
ing the removal of his brother's body.' On hearing
this, she endeavoured to apprehend him ; but he,
fa'ored by the night, put out to her the dead arm,
which she seizing, was thus deluded whilst he made
his escape. On hearing this also, the king was
equally astonished at the art and audacity of the
man ; he was afterwards induced to make a pro-
clamation through the different parts of his dominions,
that if the offender would appear before him, he
would not only pardon, but reward him liberally.
The thief, trusting to his word, appeared. Ehamp-
sinitus was delighted with the man, and, thinking
254- THE TWIN GIANTS.
his ingenuity beyond all parallel, gave him his
daughter. The king conceived the Egyptians su-
perior in subtlety to all the world, but he thought
this man superior even to Egyptians.
" After this event, they told me that the same
king descended alive beneath the earth to what the
Greeks call the infernal regions, where he played at
dice with the goddess Ceres, and alternately won and
lost. On his return, she presented him with a napkin
embroidered with gold. The period of his return
was observed by the Egyptians as a solemn festival,
and has continued to the time of my remembrance :
whether the above, or some other incident was the
occasion of this feast, I will not take upon me to
determine. The ministers of this solemnity have a
vest woven within the space of the day; this is
worn by a priest whose eyes are covered with a
bandage. They conduct him to the path which leads
to the temple of Ceres, and there leave him. They
assert that two wolves meet the priest thus blinded
and lead him to the temple, though at the distance of
twenty stadia from the city, and afterwards conduct
him back again to the place where they found him.
" Every reader must determine for himself with
respect to the credibility of what I have related ; for
my own part I heard these things from the Egyp-
tians, and think it necessary to transcribe the result
of my inquiries. The Egyptians esteem Ceres and
Bacchus as the great deities of the realms below;
they are also the first of mankind who have defended
the immortality of the soul. They believe, that on
the dissolution of the body the soul immediately
enters some other animal, and that, after using as
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 255
vehicles every species of terrestrial, aquatic, and
winged creatures, it finally enters a second time
into a human body. They affirm that it undergoes
all these changes in the space of three thousand
years. This opinion some amongst the Greeks have
at different periods of time adopted as their own ;
but I shall not, though I am able, specify their
names."
Bryant remarks on this passage, that the Kings of
Egypt had many names and titles ; these have been
branched out into persons, and inserted in the lists of
monarchs. Osiris, Orus, Adonis, Thamuz, Tulus or
Thoulos, and Rhampsinitus, are represented as having
died, and again appeared on earth. " I mention this
(says Bryant) to show that the whole is one and the
same history, and these names of the same person."
The making these the names of different persons has
occasioned no little confusion in Egyptian, and, in-
deed, every chronology. I would here remark, en
passant^ that the story of Rhampsinitus is to be found
in that very extraordinary collection of tales, " The
Seven Wise Masters;" but it is there related of a
Roman Emperor, called Octavian ; and this is a work
of decidedly Eastern origin, and is referred by Ellis
to one hundred years before Christ, and to an Indian
philosopher, Sandahar. Alexander's Indian expedi-
tion will show us how this Egyptian fable became
naturalised in that country ; and we just notice that
no mention is made of Octavian in the Oriental copies.
Indeed, this romance may be traced through six
forms, in all of which the persons, and in most the
title of the work is changed.
Would our space permit, we would willingly have
256 THE TWIN GIANTS.
examined some of the wonders, and the ancient his-
tory of Livy ; but we must hasten nearer home.
Virgil and Livy pretty well agree, as far as regards
Italy and the parentage of the Csesars, but both
unluckily forgot to account for the Trojan origin of
the Britons — a defect which it was reserved for
English romancers to supply. The original cause of
this supplement to Livy and Virgil is thus beautifully
developed by Ellis in his Preface to Way's transla-
tion of those fabliaux, which Le Grand had selected,
modernised, and illustrated. After a description of
chivalry, which, like Bracebrldge Hall, Is too good to
be true, he thus continues : — " To the possession of
all that sweetens life, religion added the promise of
pure and unceasing happiness hereafter. The holy
wars broke out and produced the golden age of
chivalry, and the order of knighthood, endowed with
all the sanctity and religious awe that attended the
priesthood, became au object of ambition to the
greatest sovereigns. At the time when chivalry ex-
cited universal admiration, and when all the efforts of
that chivalry were directed against the enemies of
religion, it was natural that literature should receive
the same impulse, and that history and fable should
be ransacked to furnish examples of courage and
piety that might excite Increased emulation." Arthur
and Charlemagne were the two heroes selected for
this purpose. Arthur's pretensions were that he was
a brave though not always a successful warrior —
that he was certainly a Christian — that he had with-
stood with great valor the arms of the pagan Saxons,
or as the Eomancers, with a want of tact which dis-
covers their era, call them, the Saracens, and that
THE HEROIC, OR ROMANTIC AGES. 257
his memory was held in the highest respect by his
countrymen, the Britons. They carried with them
into Wales and Armorica the memory of his exploits
which their national vanity insensibly exaggerated,
till the little prince of the Silures was magnified into
the conqueror of England, of Gaul, and, indeed, of all
Europe.
258 THE TWIN GIANTS.
CHAPTER III.
THE HEROIC, OB ROMANTIC AGES OF BRITAIN.
When a hero becomes the popular theme of
poetical composition, he will soon be adorned with
the aggregate merits of many collective warriors ;
and it is probable that Arthur inherited every
unclaimed panegyric that was to be found in the
fragments of Welsh poetry. His genealogy was
carried up to an imaginary Brutus, and to the period
of the Trojan war, and a sort of chronicle was com-
posed in the Welsh, or Armorican, language, which,
under the pompous title of the " History of the
Kings of Britain," was brought over from Brittany
about the year 1100, by Walter Mapes, archdeacon
of Oxford, and communicated by him to Geoffrey of
Monmouth, by whom, with many alterations, it was
translated into Latin. The same afterwards appeared
in French, and was continued under the title " Roman
de Rou," and into English, by Robert of Gloucester,
about the beginning of the fourteenth century, who
afterwards writes as good history as one could desire
to see in rather rough rhymes. This, then, is the
book on which we must bestow a little attention ;
not that it is the earliest account, but that it is the
most noticed and the most connected. Ellis brings
what seems to be proof sufficient of the identity of
Gildas and Anevvrin ; and as our business now is not
with poetry, but romance, we may be excused if we
THE HEROIC AGES OF BRITAIN. 259
totally omit any notice of his writings. It is, indeed,
only that species of romance which has been credited
as true, that falls within the pale of our argument ;
and such is the history of Geoffrey. There is much
diversity in MSS., and, indeed, in printed copies : we
therefore may as well remark, that for these papers
we have consulted the Paris edition of 1508, from the
press of Stephens. We are there told of the oracles
concerning Brutus, of the taking of Troy, of the
escape of ^neas, of the settlement of the Trojans in
Italy, of the birth of Brutus the son of Silvius ; we
find him, having lost his mother at his birth, and
afterwards accidentally slain his father, and thus
fulfilled the predictions of the oracles concerning him,
taking refuge in Greece, rescuing the posterity of
Helenus from a state of slavery, and repeatedly
defeating Pandrasus, the King of Greece, in battle.
Pandrasus marries his daughter, Ignoge, to Brutus ;
and giving him a navy as a bridal present, Brutus sets
out in the style of a true knight-errant in quest of
adventures. He sails to an island named Legervia,
where he finds a country laid waste by pirates, and
totally uninhabited : he and his companions amuse
themselves by hunting, and in the eagerness of the
chase they penetrate into the interior of the country,
and find a Temple of Diana, with an image that
answered any questions respectfully put to it. We
are then told the ceremonies with which he performed
sacrifices, by the aid of Geriones, his augur, and in
the presence of his companions ; and that, pouring
out to the goddess a vessel of wine mixed with the
blood of a white stag, he, lifting up his head, broke
silence in these words : —
260 THE TWIN GIANTS.
Diva potens nemorum, terror sylvestribus apris,
Cui licet anfractos ire per aetherios,
Infemasque domos, terrestria jura resolve,
Et die qiias terras nos habitare velis ?
Die certam sedem qua te venerabor in sevum.
Qua libet virgineis templa dicabo choris ?
Huntress divine, of sylvan boars the dread,
Who passest through the blue and pathless sky,
Summon thy powers, our anxious doubts resolve,
And say what realms shall we, thy suppliants, gain ?
Where shall we fix thy seat, adore thy name.
And thy pure shrine with virgin choirs surround ?
My translation is not equal to the Latin of Geof-
frey, which Milton says is too good to have been
written in his time ; if so, it must have been written
at a period considerably later ; for had it been much
earlier, we should have found it in other tomes as well
as in that of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and it is extant
in the earliest manuscripts ; so that it is perhaps the
safest j)lan to attribute it to Geoffrey himself. Be
this, however, as it may, we are told that Brutus
recited these verses nine times, performed divers other
ceremonies, and then lay down and went to sleep.
In the night the goddess appeared to him, and
answered him in as good Latin as his own, of which
I again offer a translation : —
Brute, sub occasum soils trans Gallica regna,
Insula in oceano est undique clausa mari,
Insula in oceano est, habitata gigantibus olim.
Nunc deserta quidem, gentibus apta tuis,
Hanc pete, namque tibi scdes erit ilia perennis ;
H.xc fiet natis altera Troja tuis ;
Hie, do prole tuii reges nascentur, et ipsis
Totius terrae subditus orbis erit.
Far in the west, beyond the Gallic realms,
Circled about by ocean, stands an isle,
Once 'mid the desert waves, l)y giants ruled,
But lonely now, and suiting well thy hosts —
This shall be thine, and here thy race shall rest :
Here, at thy nod, another Troy shall spring ;
THE HEROIC AGES OF BRITAIN. 261
Here, from thy seed, shall kings arise, and reign
Over the round globe of the subject world.
Brutus, on awaking, called forthwith a council of
his officers, and they made their way to Aquitaine :
here they find France governed by an oligarchy of
twelve peers, and rejoicing in a code of game-laws.
Here Brutus meets with another Trojan, named Oori-
nseus, whose forte is in giant-killing ; and, after a
few battles in France, the conquest of a king named
Groifrareus, and building towns, "as Homer testifies"
(it seems, in some books which modern scholars know
not of), Brutus and Corinseus sail for England.
Either Diana or Geoffrey made a sad blunder in
saying that Albion was uninhabited ; for no sooner
do they land than they have enough on their hands.
The British giants do great mischief, and Corinseus
is obliged to exert himself to extirpate that vile and
sinful race ; which office seems to jump so well with
his humor, that we find him taking up his abode in
Cornwall on account of the sport. One combat is
related at full length, how he threw over a cliff a
huge giant named Goemagot, and how the place is
called to this day Goemagofs Leap. We are now
told how he built the city of Caer Lud, and gravely
assured that all this took place while Eli, the priest,
possessed the chief authority in Judea, the sons of
Hector at Troy since the sons of Antenor had been
expelled, and Silvius iEueas, the uncle of Brutus, in
Italy. All this time, so many things have to be
thought of, that the historian had altogether for-
gotten Ignoge. He now suddenly returns to that
lady, and tells us that she made ]3rutus the father of
three sons, the elder of whom, somewhat against his
262 THE TWIN GIANTS.
will, had married the daughter of Corinseus : her name
was Guendolen ; and from the occurrence of this very
name the whole book takes an air of British romance.
Brutus, being now done with, dies, and is buried in
his new city ; his sons divide the empire between
them, and Locrinus, the husband of Guendolen, defeats
Humber, King of the Picts or Hunns, who is drowned
in the river that takes its name from him ; and among
the spoils which fall into the hands of Locrinus on
this occasion was a young lady named Estrilda, the
daughter of a German prince whose country had
been ravaged by Humber. Struck with the charms
of this lady, Locrinus wished to make her his wife ;
but Corinseus soon rectified his majesty^s notions on
that score, and taking up an axe, made a speech very
eloquent and very apposite. It would seem that
Locrinus and Guendolen were not married, but merely
betrothed at the time this event took place ; and the
former, awed by the axe of Corinseus, espoused
Guendolen forthwith. His love for Estrilda was,
however, only concealed, and he kept her secretly
for seven years, allowing the place of her retreat to
be known only to a chosen few. During this time
he had by her a daughter named Habren, or Sabrina,
as it is Latinized. When he went to visit this proto-
type of the Fair Rosamond, he did so under a pretext
of offering sacrifices at a distance, and thus all con-
tinued undivulged during the life of Corinaus ; but,
on the death of that hero, Locrinus, no longer in-
fluenced by the fear of the axe, took Estrilda from
her concealment and made her the partner of his
throne by the divorce of the queen. Guendolen,
whose character was not a little tinged with what
THE HEROIC AGES OF BRITAIN. 268
Geoffrey calls the mad fury of her father, instantly
threw herself into the arms of her Cornish subjects,
and assembling a considerable army, made a bold
and successful attack upon Locrinus. The king lost
his life in the engagement, and Estrilda with her
dauohter fell into the hands of her incensed rival.
Their doom was soon decided and as quickly exe-
cuted : they were thrown into the river Severn,
which from that derived its Latin name Sabrina, and
its British name Habren. It is to this fact that the
noted line refers, —
Or Severn swift, guilty of maiden's death.
And Sabrina herself is introduced in " Comus" as a
river divinity with exquisite effect. " So Locrinus
died and Guendolen reigned."
After this we have a long history of her descend-
ants, among whom we must not omit that one so
immortalized by the genius of Shakspeare — " King
Lear." We are expressly told that Lear was re-
stored to his kingdom, and died quietly in the enjoy-
ment of it ; and that afterwards the warlike Britons,
disliking the mild government of Cordelia, threw her
into prison, where she destroyed herself. In all other
respects, Geoffrey and Shakspeare agree, except in the
introduction of the subsidiary characters of the drama.
We have the invasion of Csesar given us in a
new and entertaining light, and the history of the
three other princes made so familiar to our minds
through the splendid fiction of the same mighty poet.
It will scarcely be necessary to name Cymbeline,
Guiderius, and Arviragus, all in turn kings of Bri-
tain. Shakspeare and the chronicles have here little
in common, save the names. Pursuing the tale we
264 THE TWIN GIANTS.
find England converted to Christianity in the reign of
Lucius, son of Coillus, and a regular hierarchy of
archbishops and bishops. Then the daughter of a
subsequent prince married to Maximian ; and a little
before this, a strange tissue of history and romance
in which Severus, Bassianus, and Carausius, Con-
stantine and Helen, are mingled with heroes never
heard of save in these wonderful chronicles. A few
uninteresting reigns bring us to that of the far-
renowned Uther Pendragon. We must not, how-
ever, pass over the able prince according to romance,
or the feeble prince according to history, who, in the
minority of Uther, seized upon the throne — to wit,
Vortigern. As far as Vortigern and Vortimer are
concerned, Geoffrey almost forgets his romance ; or,
perhaps, finding history romantic enough, leaves it,
with one exception, to itself.
The era of Vortigern produced, perhaps, the most
remarkable character enshrined in the pages of ro-
mance — the wizard prophet, the Christian enchanter.
Merlin. Hengist and Horsa, Cerdic and Henric,
Rowena, her charms and their effect, are not matters
of fable. Vortigern, besieged by the Saxons, perishes
in the flames of his castle ; Vortimer is poisoned by
Rowena, and Aurelius succeeds, who after a brief but
brilliant reign, is poisoned by a Saxon in the disguise
of a monk (some centuries before monachism was
introduced into England), and to the vacant throne
Uther Pendragon succeeded. It is a matter upon
which the learned seem pretty well agreed, that the
legends of saints were frequently compounded, in
cloisters from the classic stories of gods, demigods,
and heroes ; and that in this improving pursuit, the
THE HEROIC AGES OF BRITAIN. 265
contents of many valuable MSS. have been destroyed
to make way for these new readings of old authors.
It appears to me that kings and queens have been as
kindly accommodated with adventures as saints and
bishops. If we turn back to the history of Locrinus
and Estrilda, we shall find a not distant resemblance
to the tale of Hercules, lole, and Dejanira.
In the reign of Uther Pendragon, we have the
British Amphitryo ; the king named Pendragon,
or Dragon's Head (because he had, in obedience to
a vision, made a golden dragon the standard of
England), after his conquest of Scotland, called to
his court all his nobles. Fascinated with the charms
of Igerna, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, and
finding her proof against all his entreaties, the
monarch picks a quarrel with Gorlois, and besieges
him in the fortress of Divulioc, and Igerna, in the
far-famed Tintagel. Force proved as vain as prayers,
till, wearied out with the length of the siege, Uther
consulted Merlin, who transformed the kinof into the
shape of Gorlois, and himself into a Cornish knight.
An interview with the virtuous Igerna was now a
matter of no difiiculty : she fell of course unsuspect-
ingly into the snare, and became the mother of
Arthur. The death of Gorlois soon after followed,
and Uther, returning to Tintagel, carried away
Igerna and made her Queen of England. Uther
at length, like many of his predecessors, fell a victim
to poison, and, like many of them, was buried at
Stonehenge.
N
266 THE TWIN GIANTS.
CHAPTER IV.
THE HEROIC AGES OF BRITAIN.
Before treating of the reign of Arthur, we must
saj a little of that renowned enchanter with whose
name his glory is so closely twined. There is not
a romantic poet of any country who does not occa-
sionally refer to this paragon of magicians, as well
as to the king, that paragon of knights. Ariosto,
who says much more of them in other parts, enume-
rates as four knights without peers —
Lancilotto, Galasso, Artii, Galvano.
Caraoen says —
Os doze de Inglaterra e o seu magrico.
Merlin, the son of a demon by a mortal maiden,
was, immediately after his birth, baptized by St.
Blaise by the name of Merlin. No sooner was he
baptized than he began to prophesy, and before he
was six years old had settled many difficult and
disputed cases of legitimacy, which appeared to be
rather a favorite exercise with the infant magician.
His interview with Vortigern during his childhood,
his prophecies to that prince, and the result of that
meeting, are too generally known to require repeti-
tion. His services to Uther have been already
mentioned ; and we will observe, that it was during
Uther's reign and by Merlin's counsel, that that
earliest and most accomj)lislied of all orders of chi-
THE HEROIC AGES OF BRITAIN. 267
valry, the Order of the Bound Table, was instituted.
There were, it appears, two Merlins, one called
Merlin the Wild, and one, of whom we now speak.
Merlin Ambrosius. Of the Order of the Round
Table, Geoffrey of Monmouth makes no mention,
though he enumerates many of its most distinguished
knights.
From two romances, therefore, — one the story of
the noted chronicler we have so often mentioned, and
the other the metrical romance entitled " Merlin,"
which Ellis supposes to have been merely a part of
the "Brut" of Wace, 'oith interpolations— we must
take materials for the first part of Arthur's life, and
from the " Morte d' Arthur," with some collateral aid,
record the closing years of this hero. From hence
we learn that at the death of Uther there was no heir
to claim the crown, but that Arthur, who had been
privately educated, and in ignorance of his real birth,
appeared as esquire to a young knight, Sir Kay. A
sword was caused miraculously to appear, in answer
to the prayers of Dubricius, then archbishop of
Chester, and it was unanimously agreed on, that Avho-
soever could draw that sword should be acknowledged
king. Arthur draws the sword without being at all
aware of the previous determination, and gives it to
Kay, who thereupon claims the crown ; but Sir
Antour, his father, insisted upon his repeating the
feat, which, failing to do, Arthur, by Sir Antour's
aid, is raised to the throne, and Merlin, in the mean
time, communicated to the archbishop the secret of
Arthur's birth. And now, whatever authority we
take, we meet alone with the most extravagant ad-
ventures. Army after army, king after king, dis-
N 2
26S THE TWIN GIANTS.
appear before the stroke of the favoured Arthur. At
his council-board presides the most potent of magi-
cians and the wisest of sages, the most skilful
advisers surround him ; at his right hand and at his
left hand, stand heroes of whom each man's single
arm is worth a legion ; in his court are all the bar-
baric splendors of the earliest ages, joined tv'ith all
the refined courtesy of the most civilized period.
Hosts of thousands and hundreds of thousands of
Saracens are raised up, but for the purpose of falling
before his invincible lance. The wild and mysterious
grandeur of magic, the poetry and pomp of chivalry,
with its tournaments, its titles, and its humanizing
influence ; the lofty solemnity of religion administered
according to the most imposing rites of the Romish
church ; knights of superhuman prowess, and dames
and damsels of superhuman beauty — all shed a halo
round this bright age of fable. Thus born, thus
nurtured, was the Arthur of British romance. The
conclusion of his reign will present a dimmer picture.
Unhappy in his family, the beautiful Guenever, his
queen, preferred to her lord the knight Sir Lancelot
du Lac, who, but for this one slip (and this he deeply
lamented), is represented as in every respect, the
most perfect of mortals ; and though so very perfect,
Ave yet feel a wonderful interest in him, — a thing not
common in romance with monsters of perfection.
Conjugal fidelity seems to have been a virtue quite
exploded at the court of Arthur : it appears that
tliere was but one lady who kept her marriage vows ;
and as to the knights, Scott, in his " Bridal of
Triermain," justly states that when all the rest of the
knights of the Bound Table, married or single, fought
THE HEROIC AGES OF BRITAIN. 269
for the hand of Gyneth, three only refrained, and the
reason was,
There were two who loved their neighbours' wives,
And one who loved his own.
And since but one in all that court
Was true to wedlock's shrine.
Brand him who will with base report,
He shall go free from mine.
This one was Sir Caradoe. To return, however, to
Arthur. Geoffrey of JMonmouth gives him a glorious
campaign against a certain Lucius Tiberius, Emperor
of Rome, and states that he was prevented from
following up his conquests by the news that, during
his absence, Modred, his nephew, to whom he left
the lieutenancy of the kingdom, had commenced
treasonable practices, both on the queen and on the
crown. The " Morte d' Arthur "'"' gives a different
version. We ai-e there told that the undue intimacy
between Guenever and Sir Lancelot du Lac having
been discovered, and Lancelot having carried off the
queen, to save her from the stake, open war between
the injured Arthur and the knight, himself a sove-
reign prince, ensued. Arthur was warmly seconded
by Gawain, whose brothers Lancelot had accidentally
killed. Previously to engaging the royal army,
Lancelot distributed sundry crowns with all the mag-
nificence of a Mark Antony ; among others, upon
Sir Lionel he bestowed the crown of France. During
the war that ensued so many valiant deeds were
done, so many knights slain, that the Pope himself
interfered, and commanded Lancelot to restore the
queen, and the king to receive her kindly, and to
cease the war.
These terms were accepted ; but upon Lancelot
270 THE TWIN GIANTS.
retiriue to Brlttanv. his own dominions, Arthur fol-
lowed, and the strife continued, till Arthur was
suddenly compelled to come hack to England on the
account already mentioned.
During the whole of this war the character of
Arthur, — constantly changing as his impetuous
knights require, all but conniving, in the first place,
at his own dishonor, and when compelled to know
it, driven by. them, rather than by a sense of wound-
ed honor, to redress the insult and injury, — is finely
contrasted with that of Lancelot : in him we see a
lofty and eminently noble mind, deeply sensible of
his own guilt, seeking by every possible means to
give satisfaction, offering to retire to the Holy Land,
and, though in the prime of life, to give up the rest
to acts of devotion ; yet when, after submitting to
numberless insults, he is driven into the field, he
displays such prowess, that the boldest shrink be-
fore him, and all are compelled to acknowledge
Lancelot du Lac the mirror of knighthood. On
Arthur's return, the queen is liberated from the
Tower, whither she had retired to defend herself
against Modred, and a negociation is set on foot
between the king and his nephew. They met at the
head of their armies ; and one of the oflficers appoint-
ed to settle the terms being stung by an adder, drew
his sword to kill it. The action was seen and mis-
understood by both armies, and a general engagement
ensued ; the result was, the death of !Modred on the
field, and of Arthur shortly afterwards, of his wounds.
His death the legend makes poetically interesting,
as a sort of counterbalance to the faded glory of his
closing years. Before he died he called Sir Bedwer
THE HEROIC AGES OF BRITAIN. 271
to him, and delivering his sword, Ex-Calibore or
(Jahburu, to that hero, commanded him to cast it
into the sea. Bedwer promised to obey ; but,
tempted by the beauty and excellence of the work-
manship, he concealed it, and informed the king that
the commission had been executed. — " And did you
see anything more than natural V — " No," was the
reply, " I nothing saw, save waters deep and billows
blue." Again, though severely reprimanded, he per-
formed but half the commission, throwing the scab-
bard only into the water. At length he performed
his promise. Scarcely was the sword out of the
hands of Sir Bedwer than a hand came from the sea,
caught the falling weapon, and away " like the
glenting of the lightning," to use the antiquated
phrase of the romance. At the command of the
now-dying monarch, Sir Bedwer led hira to the shore,
where was waiting a rich ship, and many lovely
maidens on board, who received the king, and sailed
away. Sir Bedwer then wandered about in the forest
till he espied a bright light issuing from the windows
of a small chapel ; on entering, he found a certain
pious archbishop, who had been much persecuted by
Modred, on his knees before a newly-erected tomb of
grey marble, on the top of which was an empty bier,
surrounded by an hundred wax-torches. How it
came there he knew not, save that it had been
brought by a company of ladies ; that they had
buried the body, left rich offerings, and commanded
him to pray incessantly. Hereupon Sir Bedwer ex-
amines the bier, and found, by an inscription in golden
letters, that it was the tomb of Arthur. He now
wished to share the pious labors of the archbishop,
272 THE TWIN GIANTS.
and entered into the holy order, of which the prelate
had just taken the habit. Lancelot and Guenever
again meet. Guenever had taken the veil at a
nunnery at Ambresbury, and after a parting, pious,
penitent, and affectionate, Lancelot betakes himself
to the monastery in which Bedwer is already ; and
in the course of a few years many of the Round Table
forsake the world, now that the palmy days of their
glory were past, and employ in prayer and fasting
the remnant of their existence. Lancelot at length
became the superior, and after some years, during
which his holy demeanor greatly edified his brethren
once in arms, now in piety, died in the odor of
sanctity ; and the excellent archbishop beheld in
a vision the glorified spirit ascending to heaven, es-
corted by thirty thousand and seven angels. This
monastery, once the most magnificent in its state-
liness, and now the most magnificent in its ruins,
stands a beautiful but shattered monument of the
past : consecrated by poetry, and immortalized in the
pages of history, as well as those of fiction, there
are few more interesting edifices than Glastonbury
Abbey.
Here concludes the chapter of British romance.
The few remaining reigns are uninteresting ; and
over those plains which a Csesar had rather civilized
than subdued, Saxons were lords — Thor and Odin
divinities.
The change was beneficial, in fact, but the brilliant
fictions upon which the mind loved to dwell —
Le doiine, i c.ivali(!r, ramie, gramori,
Le cortesic, gPaudiici imprese,
were over. The curtain had dropped over the most
THE HEROIC AGES OF BRITAIN. 273
splendid drama tJiat the mind of poet ever con-
ceived, and for five hundred years this island was
almost a barren field for romance. The sublimities
of the Edda were not of British origin, and until the
troubadours and minstrels found their way in the
train of Norman princes, there was none to illustrate
the middle period. The wild before — their national
prejudices led Britons to honor ; the comparative
cultivation that succeeded — the same feelings led
them to despise. Long before the second age of
English history, which Romance has decked with
her flowers, we come to the period in which France,
under the guidance of Charlemagne, took the chief
place among nations. And as it has been supposed
that there were two Arthurs, one the son of Uther
Pendragon, a fabulous hero ; the other, the son of
Meyrig ap Tewdrig, and prince of the Silures, a real
and valiant, but unfortunate commander; so likewise,
it appears that the histories of Charles Martel and
Charles the Great were incorporated, and attributed
to the latter by the writers of romance, and to these
were added whatever troveurs and minstrels jjleased
to invent.
For a history of the fabulous Charlemagne, we
are principally indebted to a monk of the eleventh
century, who wrote an account of him and his twelve
peers ; and thinking it would answer his purpose
well to attribute the work to a contemporary of the
king, boldly ascribed it to Turpin, Archbishop of
Rheims, who occupied that see about 770. Bojardo
and Ariosto continually quote this work ; and the
former, in the very outset of his " Orlando Inamo-
rato," has the following somewhat singular passage —
N 5
274 THE TWIN GIANTS.
Questa historia finor poco palese This history has been hitherto
E stata, per industria di Turpino, little known, through the care of
Che di lasciarla uscir sempre con- Turpin, who always endeavoured
tese, to prevent its publication, lest it
Per non injuriar al Paladino, should injure the Paladin, who,
II qual poiche ad amor prigion si when he gave himself up a prisoner
rese to love, went near losing his wits.
Quasi a perderse stesso ando vicino. Wherefore he was a wise and pru-
Pero fu lo scrittor sasojio ed accorto, dent writer, who did not wish to
Che far non volse al caro amico do harm to his friend.
torto.
It seems evident, both from the general similarity
which pervades the stories of Arthur and Charle-
magne, that one age gave rise to both ; and the
constant anachronisms of the former would alone
suffice for evidence. The two fictions have one base
— a wild and extravagant yet beautiful picture of
chivalrous virtue, valor, and devotion ; deviating,
however, from the first and last of these attributes,
whenever the interest of the romance requires. Upon
this base, we have nearly the same superstructure in
both instances — a monarch of strong hand, but of
comparatively feeble head, led by a turbulent nobility
at their will ; and satisfied with having been in his
youth a hero, settles down quietly in his old age to
be a dupe. To Arthur the bards might, without
charge of injustice, give what character they liked,
provided they granted him valor; and the fall of
himself and his chivalry, the establishment of a new
dynasty, and the extinction or expulsion of the
nation he governed, somewhat favored their tale.
The Charlemagne of romance is, however, a very
inferior person to the Charlemagne of history. The
court of this great prince was a nursery of warriors
and legislators, not of gladiators and madmen.
Almost the contemporary of our own Alfred, the
THE HEROIC AGES OF BRITAIN. 275
latter freely borrowed many of his wisest institutions
from the French monarch ; and Egbert, the uniter of
the Heptarchy, was a sovereign of all England only
by the tact and discipline he had acquired in the
court of Paris.
It will be useless to give anv romances of this
time : they are of the same character as those I have
already mentioned. There is this only difference, —
that there is a greater admixture of truth with per-
haps yet more absurd fables than those of the earlier
period. In the meantime, the perpetual combats
between the Christians and the Moors, in Spain,
engendered a spirit of mingled patriotism and religion,
which, in a race inhabiting so fine a climate, and for
the most part possessing so romantic a character,
polished as they were by intercourse with the more
civilized Moors, soon divested warfare of manv of its
most disgusting attributes. Cherished by poetry,
which was cultivated by^princes as well as by private
individuals, lofty and noble sentiments arose in the
breasts of the Spanish Christians ; confidence in a
generous enemy inducing a freer intercourse, the
remnant of the Goths strove after, if they equalled
not, the excellence of their Moorish conquerors. At
the final expulsion of this interesting people, Spain
had acquired a very high rank in the now falling
honors of chivalry. Contests with Saracens were
now over for ever, for the unhappy attempt of Se-
bastian of Portugal was alike unwise, unnecessary,
and inglorious. The great object for which chivalry
had been instituted was accomplished in part, and in
part had failed, never more to be revived. Europe
was free from the Moor, but the Turk reigned in
276 THE TWIN GIANTS.
Constantinople. An institution in its origin so glo-
rious, and in its nature so fascinating, could not,
however, sink suddenly into neglect. Charles VIII.
and Francis I. were knights in France : James IV.
was a knight in Scotland, and perished as a knight
at Flodden ; but the policy of Louis XI. had damped
the spirit of chivalry, nor did it ever fully recover
the shock ; and the same spirit pervaded that of
Henry VII. in England. From this period knight-
hood became a court form ; and so fully was its day
passed, that the matchless Cervantes quenched with
a romance, the last sparks of that fire which, with-
out illumining, was still mischievously smouldering,
and Don Quixote, the latest of knights-errant, closes
the page of chivalry.
To the enchanting pages of Ariosto and Tasso ;
to Bojardo, the favorite of Milton ; to the Italian
novelists, and the English chronicles ; to Way, Sir
H. Ellis, and Le Grand ; we must refer for a more
extended view of that subject which we have so
briefly sketched. In the next chapter we shall touch
upon another branch of fable — Ecclesiastical Ro-
mance ; and shall show how saints have been made
like knights, and celestial mansions bestowed like
earthly crowns.
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 277
CHAPTER V.
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE.
Antiquaries have ever delighted to trace the
stream of Historical Romance to its source ; to in-
vestigate the legends, ballads, and traditions in which
it is embodied ; to discuss their authenticity, and
to examine what portion of historical truth they
may contain. The adventures of an Arthur and a
Brute, of an Orlando and a Lancelot, have been
subjects which have attracted the attention of men
whose reputation for scholarship was of the highest
order. The slightest fragment of a ballad, the most
obscure allusion in a monkish writer, would be, and
is, eagerly seized upon and closely examined, if it
bear any allusion to the heroes of fabulous ages.
And it is, indeed, with good reason that all this
pains is taken. It is impossible thoroughly to under-
stand history, unless we also understand its contem-
porary romance. The one sets forth the facts, the
other the feelings and prejudices of the age; nor
can we observe the vast diftereuce between Eastern
and Western traditions, without at the same time
perceiving the difference, both in character and edu-
cation, of the races among whom they prevailed.
But while this fact has been universally admitted
and as universally acted upon, it is strange that one
great branch of Historical Romance has excited
scarcely any attention among the learned and the
278 THE TWIN GIANTS.
philosophical. The Romance of Civil History has
been continuously studied ; the yet more important
Romance of Ecclesiastical History has been left almost
without notice. Yet if these studies are to be esti-
mated by the effect their objects have had upon
society, it will appear that the latter must hold by
far the more prominent position, and require, as well
as repay, the more intense and continued study.
The point of view in which they are relatively to be
regarded may, we think, be briefly expressed thus :
that the one — the Romance of Civil History — has
been little more than the expression of popular
opinion, or the outpouring of popular feeling, or
the writingrs of those who have been subservient to
its influence ; while the other has been an instru-
ment in crafty and able hands to work changes upon
popular opinion itself. We do not mean to assert
that the one has been less implicitly believed than
the other, in times long subsequent to its origin ;
but that Ecclesiastical Romance has been a system
of fraud, while the Romance of Civil History has
been simply a succession of fables. Nor would we
even wish to fix the stigma of dishonesty on the
writers of church fable. Many of them were un-
doubtedly good and great men ; yet even with a
Jerome and an Athanasius, we have only to choose
between gross self-deception or gross falsehood. Like
a giant whose power, vast and colossal, has been
excited for evil and for evil only, Superstition laid
a Titan hand on the very sources, not only of Pro-
fane, but even of Sacred History ; allowed them to
flow only at intervals, and then, when the stream
was corrupted, let it loose like a torrent, to the
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 279
extinction of almost all the remnants of philosophy
and Church History.
A ^rapid and cursory glance at the traditions of
the Church may, we think, if conducted with a
proper regard to their ohject and effects, he pecu-
liarly heneficial at a season like the present ; and
the more so, if it tend to promote the spirit of
inquiry into Catholic Antiquity. We shall add no
more about the Talmud, with its multifarious mon-
sters and its heterogeneous creeds, and confine our-
selves to those inventions which, springing up within
the bosom of the early Church, Greek as well as
Latin, sanctioned by the influence of bishops and pa-
triarchs, and going forth to the world as component
parts of religion, were widely spread and devoutly
believed. These traditions consist of the acts and
deeds of Saints and Martyrs ; and surpass in extra-
vagance and absurdity every other kind of fiction,
save that found in the Rabbinical writers. We need
not have recourse to the theory of Jortin, — that the
loves and the adventures of Greek Divinities were
enrolled in the legends of Catholic Saints: for
though this was in a certain degree true, it will not
account, in the first place, for the character of Mar-
tyrological tradition ; nor, in the second place, was
it the case to the extent that Jortin supposed. We
well know that the students in monasteries did
exercise their talents in " amplification ; " and we
are perfectly willing to believe that the Fathers
allowed some of these flowers of elocution to remain
for the edification of posterity ; but the tales told
by Greek bards of Greek Divinities were not, for
the most part, to be attributed to the macerated
280 THE TWIN GIANTS.
anchorets of the Syrian and Egyptian deserts ; and
the unity of purpose displayed in the long " catena
martyrum " will not allow us to suppose in it a large
admixture of youthful imagination. The excuse
made by some Protestants, " that these stories were
mere rhetorical efforts and not intended to be be-
lieved," ^ will appear to be frail indeed, by whom-
soever they were invented. They were made public
as authentic history. There might be some, and
doubtless there were, who withheld their assent from
these monstrous fictions ; but they were too politic
or too fearful to promulgate their unbelief; and had
they done so, it would have been without effect, for
the world was not in a condition to canvass the
grounds of their rejection. New saints, new legends,
new miracles were every day given forth, till the
task of wading through the huge folios which contain
them, the " Martyrologia," the "Acta Sanctorum,""
and " Lives of the Fathers," becomes almost too much
for mortal patience. For the most part, we shall
find that these miraculous accounts were not pub-
lished till many years after the death of the indi-
viduals to whom they are ascribed. There are,
however, exceptions to be met with in all ages ;
these are, in the Ante-Nicene church, the case of
anchorets whose lives were spent in privacy, and to
whom, consequently, any wondrous M'ork might be
safely attributed. In the thick darkness of the
Middle Ages, when fraudulent miracles were at-
tempted, and in the later ages of Popery, when
nothing could be gained by delay, those inclined to
believe would believe at once, and the sceptical
1 Jortin.
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 281
would as soon reject the records of past miracles as
the pretensions of present ones.
It is a startling assertion, but one which the mind
will acquiesce in more fully, the more the subject is
investigated, that though the early church — we mean
not the primitive Church — vigorously combated and
at last entirely suppressed the heresy of Gnosticism
as a system^ she was yet eminently gnostic in her
own feehngs. She denied, indeed, the wild theory of
Manes, as to the difference between the unknown
Father and the demiurge or Mundane Creator ; she
rejected his system of male and female ^ons ; and
reprobated his unscriptural notions of the Logos —
Redeemer; but at the same time she encouraged the
doctrine of abstraction, which was the foundation of
the Manichfean heresy ; and which it shared with
the system of the Persian Magi, and of the Indian
Budha. She taught that there was a positive merit
in lifting ourselves above the conditions of this mor-
tal life ; she extolled virginity as a state more holy
than matrimony ; a contemplative life as more excel-
lent than an active one ; recommended mortification
of the bodily appetites, not so much as a matter of
penance as the means intrinsically efficacious in at-
taining a nearer approach to God ; and uniformly
spoke of those who acted according to this theory
as " terrestrial seraphs," and deserving of an eternal
reward/
This approximation to the Divine nature was exhi-
bited, as was said, by the miraculous gifts of the Holy
Spirit poured out uj)on such persons, nearly in pro-
• Basil de Vera Virginitate, Chrysostom on Fasting, Ambrose and
Tertullian passim.
282 THE TWIN GIANTS.
portion as they withdrew themselves from the habits,
wants, and affections of ordinary men, — a theory
precisely the same as that of the Budjiists, the Magi,
and the Manichees ; and it is worthy of all notice,
that this theory of abstraction, with all its necessary
consequences, prevailed most in those very spots
where the Gnostic heresy had been most powerful ;
and from these spots, as from centres, did the Gnos-
ticised Christianity spread to the weakening in the
first place, and afterwards very near to the extermina-
ting of a purer and more Apostolic system. Those
who would see this subject treated of at full length,
may consult with advantage Taylor on " Ancient
Christianity;" and they will there find, amidst many
and great misconceptions, not only an able exposition
of it, but sufficient references to the Fathers to save
much time and labor. Another work, which may be
more implicitly relied on, is Crosthwaite*'s Modern
Hagiology.
We are not, however, now about to examine the
Gnostic feeling of the early church ; but to show how
this feeling led to a peculiar style of fiction when
embalming in Ecclesiastical History the deeds of her
Fathers, Confessors, and Martyrs. We shall see
that this style, with a modification hereafter to be
noticed, prevailed in the western as well as the
eastern Church ; and legends of similar character
encouraged the cultivation of similar habits, we
dare not call them virtues, though the theory upon
which they rested was one of a different nature and
deriving its origin from a different nation.
There are two collections, which comprise the
greater part of these Ecclesiastical Romances ; one
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 283
is the "Oalenclarium," published in the tenth century ;
the other the "Goklen Legend," — the " Aurea Le-
genda " of James de Varasse, or Jacobus de Voragine,
as in compHance with the taste of his times he chose
to be called. The first-named is the work of Simeon
Metaphrastes ; and contains the history of the saints
for every day in the year. The work was published
for the Greek Communion, and the Saints are Greek
saints. The second is the Roman collection, and the
heroes of its pages are, with some few exceptions,
Martyrs and Confessors of the Western Church.
These two are not only the first, and, consequently,
the most venerable and venerated collections, but
they are also the most authentic and the most com-
prehensive. Additions have been made to them age
after age ; and as far down as the period of the Re-
formation, care was taken that by repeated editions
these books should be kept " au courant du jourr
We purpose to select from these works specimens
of monastic sanctity, and of Ecclesiastical Romance.
Our object is to note the unii^ of purpose which runs
through the whole, and lest any suspicion should
attach to extracts made only from two authors, we
shall call into evidence Athanasius and Augustine,
and Ambrose, and Gregory Nazianzen, and Bede, and
French writers so late as the era of Louis XIV.
Jaques de Varasse wrote his great work about the
year 1270. He was no obscure monk, but a man
high in esteem and authority. He was Vicar-
General of the Dominicans, and died Archbishop of
Genoa in the year 1298. From such a writer we
may, at least, expect a due regard to himself, and
his elevated station ; a freedom from vulgar pre-
284 THE TWIN GIANTS.
jiidices, and tlie boldness of a man no longer a can-
didate for preferment. It must be remembered also,
that, whoever invented the legends of the Golden
Collection, De Varasse certainly did not ; he was but
the faithful transcriber of tales, venerable for their
age in his day. That many of these had received
successive additions as they floated down the stream
of time, it would be folly to deny ; but it would be
equal folly to tax De Varasse with inventing all that
cannot be shown to have existed in previous collec-
tions. He was a man of undoubted respectability ;
and bearing these things in mind let us look to his
account of the Saints of the first century. " Quod
semper, quod uhique, quod ah omnibus,'''' shall be our
motto ; and we shall take examples from each cen-
tury, from each division of the Church, and from
nearly every country in the world ; verifying, if not
the letter, at least the spirit of the " Romancero
General " of the Dominicans, as we go on, by re-
ferences to earlier writers. Our theory will fail once,
and once only ; and this is exactly where such an
event might be apprehended ; namely, on the very
threshold of the subject, in the lives and actions of
our blessed Lord's companions and immediate fol-
lowers. It would, indeed, be a hopeless task to
exhibit the Apostles and Evangelists, as retiring into
the desert, abstaining from marriage, renouncing an
active life, and " elevating themselves above the
conditions of this mortal state." We may, how-
ever, expect that if nothing can be proved either
from their preaching or their practice in favor of
an ascetic life, at least invention will add nothing
contrary to it, and this we shall find to be the case.
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 285
Now then to the " Golden Legend."^ Let us open
the book that we have been so long holding up to our
reader. See, we have opened upon the history of
John the Baptist, and " truly the lines have fallen
unto us in pleasant places," for the tale is an " owre
strange " one. His father Zacharias was, it seems, a
bishop. Nay, start not. Christian reader, the " Ro-
mancero General " systematically calls the priests of
the Jewish law by this Christian title ; and very
grotesque is the air which it gives the narrative.
" Now it is written in the ' Historia Scholastica "*
[a book which De Varasse quotes a great deal] how
St. John shewed his head in the year of our Lord
353, to two monkes, who were come to Jerusalem.
They went to the palace which belonged to Herod,
and there they founde the heade of St. John the Bap-
tiste wrapped up in an hayre cloth, which was, as I
suppose, the vestment wherewith he was clad in the
wildernesse. But when they went their wayes, a
poore man was warned to goe to them ; and take the
heade, and flee away, and carry it to the citye of
Emysene ; and so long as he lived, he worshipped the
head in a cave, and alway had great prosperity. A
long while after this the holy saint made revelation of
his heade to St. Marcel after this mannere. St. Marcel
was y'dwelling in this cave, and he saw in a vision
many men singing, and certain angels said, — Lo !
here is the blessed head of St. John the Baptiste.
And when Marcel came to him, he toke him up, and
toke him by the chinne, and kissed him. So Marcel
said, My lord, fro whence art thou come ? and he
said, From Sebastyne ; then when he slept the next
' We quote Wynkyn de Worde's edition of 1510.
286 THE TWIN GIANTS.
niglite, there came to him a man which awaked him,
and he saw a clear star shining thro*" the midst of the
cell, thro' the house ; so he arose, and woulde have
toched it ; but it turned suddeynly on the other
side, and he went and ranne after it, till it rested on
the spot where the holye heade of St. John was.
Then began Marcel to delve, and he found a^ potte
with the blessed head therein."
Marcel, of course, could have no doubt as to the
genuineness of the relic thus discovered ; and the
contrivance, whereby St. John the Baptist is made to
give his posthumous sanction to monkery and miracle-
working relics is by no means destitute of ingenuity.
But a miracle was wanted, to prove that the head
was really the head of the Baptist. Most opportunely,
however, therefore, a monk is introduced, who " ex-
ceedingly doubted the fact :" his punishment is as
follows : — " Then laid he his hand upon the potte
and forthwith his hand brenned and clave to the
potte, so that he coulde not in any way withdrawe
it ; but his fellows praied for him ; and the blessed
St. John appeared and saide unto him ; ' When my
heade is placed in a church, then thou shalt be
whole ;' so he toke away his hande but it was sorr
and brenned ; but when the head was put into the
church, then the monke toched the potte with his
hand, and was made whole as before. Likewise also
when the daughter of Herodias toke in her handes
the heade of John after his beheading, the heade did
blow into the face of the damsel, so that she died
forthwith."
After this singular piece of authentic history, the
author goes back to posthumous miracles ; and these
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 287
iu the case of St. John are particularly pertinent.
They establish the doctrines of asceticism ; of the
power of relics, and the necessity and advantage of
praying to saints. Take an instance, — " First Gobert
saith, there was a much devoute ladye towards the
blessed St. John in France ; and she much praied to
our Lord, that he would give her some relic of St.
John ; when she sawe that it profited her not in
praying to God, she began to take affiance, and
vowed she woulde never ete mete, but continually
fast, till she had some relic. So when she had fasted
certayne dayes, she sawe upon the table before her a
fyngere of marvellous brightnesse, and she received
the gift of our Lord with exceeding joy. Then after-
wards came thither three bishojjpes, each of whom
woulde have part of the fyngere. Then the fyngere
dropped three drops of blood upon the cloth ; by
which they knew that they had each deserved to
have a drop."
But this, though wonderful enough, is neither
sufficient for the glory of the Baptist, nor to establish
the advantage of praying to him. For this end we
have another legend, — much too long to be tran-
scribed, but of which the substance is this. A
certain deacon, named Sanctyn, was about to be
beheaded, having been convicted of the crime of
having allowed a Christian brother to escape. In
this extremity, he prayed earnestly to St. John the
Baptist, beseeching aid, when he should be brought
out for execution. " They had chosen a stronge
tyraunte to doe it, making no doubte to smyte off
his head at a single stroke. Bote when Sanctyn
sayde, ' St. John, receive my spirit,' the arm of
288 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the great bocher, wliyche was uppe lifted with the
swerde, became so styffe that he cokle not bringe
it down, ne bowe it in no mannere. So the bocher
vowed, that he woulde never more beheade a Chris-
tian man. Then the good Sanctyn praied for him,
and his arm came down and was made whole."
" Let us therefore," continues and concludes the
legend, " pray unto this holy and mighty St. John
the Baptiste to be a mediator between us and God,
that we may so live virtuously in this life, that when
we depart hence, we may come to life everlasting,
in heaven. — Amen."
It will be seen that with the exception of the
death of the daughter of Herodias, this legend refers
to times much later than those of its hero. We
must take, therefore, examples of wonders wrought
by the personal and living ministrations of those
saints of whom they are related. And here we may
observe, at once, that in quoting Simeon Meta-
phrastes, and Jaques de Varasse, we use the old
black letter translations, and need not make re-
ferences to pages, because the life of each saint will
be found under the day of his or her festival. Let
us see what the old Greek martyrologist says of St.
Thomas the Apostle. He refers to St. John, Ohry-
sostom, and still older writers, as his authorities ;
and tells us, that having baptized the three Kings
of Cologne, Caspar, Melchiar, and Balthazar, he
set out on his Indian mission. " He entered into
that country poore and humble, with his hair long
and curled up, a pale face, a weak and feeble body,
so that he seemed to be but the shadow or picture
of a man, and a garment all torn."'" A little asceti-
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 289
cism even here. " When he came to the city of
Calamina, he found the people worshipping the Sun ;
wherefore he preached unto them the Gospel ; but
the king was indignant, that he denied the Sun to
be (rod, saying it was the workmanship of God,
and that a man was of more dignity than the
Sun, seeing that a man hath the use of reason,
which the Sun hath not. So the king caused many
torments to be given him, whereof this was one.
They put plates of iron upon his naked skin, and
then cast him into an oven ; but since this did him
no hurt, the king commanded that they should
lead him to the temple and there compel him to
adore the Sun. And when they did this, the holy
Apostle cried with a loud voice, and besought God
to break that statue ; so that the people, knowing
the small power of their god, might be delivered
from the evil in which they were wrapped. And
when he had thus prayed, the idol fell down and
broke in pieces. Then the ministers of the idol,
enraged with exceeding fury, ran the Apostle through
with lances and killed him."
There is one very remarkable circumstance con-
nected with the history of St. Thomas, as related
by Simeon, which requires a particular notice. The
following anecdote is told of him ; that a rude and
violent person having struck the Apostle, he declared
that he would not leave the place till the hand
that had struck him should be in a dog's mouth,
" which came to pass, for the fellow, going for water
to a spring, was seized and devoured by dogges, and
one came to the Apostle with the hande in his
mouthe."" This, it must be acknowledged, is any
o
290 THE TWIN GIANTS.
thing but an edifying story ; but the commentary
upon it is still less so. The tale itself, with sundry
others of the same character, is declared to have
no truth ; but to have been invented by heretics,
as a precedent for revenge and evil tempers. The
natural inference is, that if a collector has any ob-
jection to the tendency of a legend, he has only to
declare it to be the invention of heretics. Fortunatelv,
however, there was an infallible church to decide
all these matters ; and as Simeon was an author
approved by the Church, of course the story of St.
Thomas and the dogs need not be believed. Very
different is the ca?-e with the history of St. Matthew,
and the nunnery which he founded, and over which
he placed as abbess, Iphigenia, the daughter — not of
Agamemnon — but of a certain King of Ethiopia. St.
Simon and St. Jude were partners in their death ;
and, in the day of their festival, it seems, they had
their good works also very much in common. They
were very skilful in settling questions of legitimacy.
Indeed, they managed these things quite a la Merlin.
Here is an instance in point ; and wonderfully to
the advancement of religion.
A certain lady, " the daughter of a nobleman of
Jiabylone," quite unexpectedly enriched the family
with a grandson ; and unwilling for the credit, as it
^v-ould seem, of her taste, to bestow the honors of
])ateniity where they really belonged, she chose to
attribute her treasure to the intervention of a staid
and pious old deacon, who, of course, denied his co-
operation. His protestations were not believed; he
was seized and thrown into prison. This untoward
circumstance soon reached tlie ears of our two saints.
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 291
who hastened to remove the stigma which rested not
only on the deacon, but on the foith. Calling for the
child, they demanded, after suitable prayers, whether
the deacon were his father. To this question the
child replied, to the astonishment and satisfaction of
all the Church, " No ! nor hath he at any time com-
mitted such sin." They then proceeded to ask who
toas his father, but the infant replied with equal
sense and good feeling, " It is always necessary to
exculpate the innocent. It is not always necessary
to accuse the o-uilty."
Some of these relations are absurd, most absurd ;
but those which relate to heahng the sick, raising the
dead, and casting out devils, are not, when we reflect
that they are told of apostles, in themselves incon-
sistent. Such adventures, related of the first teachers
of Christianity, may be destitute of authority ; they
may have been written by way of " amplification ; "
but when collected and made known to the world, it
is no reproach to the public good sense, that they
were generally believed. The small circles to wdiich
the learning of that age, or those ages, was confined ;
the almost total absence of the spirit of inquiry in
spiritual matters ; the despotism of the dominant
Church ; and the increasing influence of the monastic
orders, pi-evented the too scrutinizinsf investiq-ation
of the records of wonder, which proceeded from the
monasteries. Thus then in the spirit of asceticism,
either penitential or abstractive — and we shall have
by-and-by to note the difference — which joined its
fictions to the traditions of mighty works, some per-
haps true, and others partly so, handed down from
the Apostolic age, we find the great fount of Ecclesi-
o 2
292 THE TWIN GIANTS.
astical Fable. But this fount was not like the
diamond of the desert, one which strayed not from its
source, but flinging up into the sunshine its gem-like
drops, refreshed with its cool waters the hot and
exhausted traveller. Far otherwise, it went on in-
creasing as it went, its volume from the streams of
superstition and imposture, till it rolled a vast and
dark river, undermining the Truth and corrupting
the religion of the world.
Not a few of the most marvellous legends of the
Apostolic age were written in the time of Con'stantine,
— a period which had a great influence in dete-
riorating the practice, as well as of mystifying the
doctrines of Christianity. Converted, as he declared
by a miracle, that prince brought miracles though
out of season, into fashion ; yet his character and
actions would suffer greatly by a comparison with
those of the better sort among his Pagan predeces-
sors. How greatly does Constantine sink when
placed by the side of a Vespasian, a Trajan, an
Antoninus, or an Alexander Severus. Proud, jealous,
cruel, but wary and politic, this clear-sighted monarch
saw at once by how slight a hold the ancient religion
of the empire maintained its supremacy. He saw,
that his favor, cast into the scale of heathenism,
would scarcely balance the numerical superiority, and
the devoted fervor of the Christians ; and he knew
from the experience of three centuries, during which
every measure had been tried in vain, that there was
no hope of their suppression. AVe do not mean to
assert, that he wished to suppress them. His whole
life shows liini to have been entirely indifferent to
religion. His deeds were as far from Christianity as
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 293
his creed was from Paganism. He followed that
religion, which most tended to his own advancement ;
and he knew that while neither favor nor force
would bind the followers of Christ to worship idols,
his declaration in favor of the Christian faith would
bring with him nine-tenths of his Pagan subjects.
The fabric of Greek Mythology, in spite of its Eo-
man adoption, had been long tottering. One by one
the props which supported it in the popular opinion,
gave way. Christianity became better and more
generally known ; and consequently more justly appre-
ciated. The sufferings of the martyrs, during ten
persecutions, had inspired pity towards themselves ;
respect for their constancy, admiration for the faith,
which in such trying circumstances could so well
support them, and hatred towards their persecutors.
Nor let this be considered inconsistent with the
spirit of religious difference. There was nothing
exclusive in the religion of Greece and Rome. New
gods were frequently adopted from alien systems ;
and bigotry was a feeling almost unknown. The ob-
jections against Christianity were made by the priests
who perceived that it was not a system that could go
hand-in-hand with their own ; that so far as it pre-
vailed theirs must perish : as it rose idolatry must
fall ; and hence they put into motion every power to
which they had access to effect its extirpation. This
feeling they succeeded in exciting at times among
the people ; but it was not indigenous to their minds ;
it was a fire which required continual stirring, and
for want of this unceasing excitement it not unfre-
quently went out. Besides this, there were thou-
sands who were only prevented by the fear of punish-
294 THE TWIN GIANTS
ment from avowing themselves Christians. It was at
this critical moment, under cover of a miracle, which,
whether true or not, was generally believed, in the
very hour of splendid victory, Constantine embraced
the profession of Christianity ; flung the overwhelm-
ing influence of the Imperial Power on the side of the
Church ; and thus overturned a system which had
continued for two thousand years. By this master-
stroke of policy he extinguished at once and for ever
the hopes of Paganism through his vast dominions.
We say at once and for ever ; because the short
reign of Julian was but an unsuccessful struggle
against confirmed and correct religious principle.
But that revolution which placed Christianity on the
throne of the Caesars placed likewise the Christian
priesthood in the seats of the pontifi'and the flamens;
and the Church, which during three centuries of
almost unremitted persecution had maintained the
purity of her doctrines, now gave way to the tempta-
tions which the glory and pomp of the court pre-
sented, and became rapidly assimilated in spirit
to the world.
It would appear that the temper of mind and order
of character, necessary and glorious in times of perse-
cution and difficulty, is not altogether adapted to
seasons of prosperity and repose ; that sternness,
which in the one case is heroism, degenerates in the
other into harshness, and something like stoic apathy;
and that spirit of combativeness — to borrow a phre-
nological term — which in the persecuted exile is but
a prompt and active opposition to the attacks of
artifice, becomes too often in the governing dignitary
as active a spirit of persecution. Calvin, when at the
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 295
head of a numerous and powerful sect, exhibited him-
self, not only cruel, but even relentless and perfidious
towards those whose creed differed from his own.
Cranmer, when ruling the spiritual aifairs of this
country, employed more than once the stake and the
prison as his weapons ; and the Christian bishops in
the reign of Constantine, soon occupied themselves
with bitter sectarian persecutions. Among the argu-
ments employed, miracles were sometimes claimed;
and by the followers of the party which claimed
them, believed. We find such an one in the history
of the death of Arius. Such tales were, however,
scarce, when related of contemporaries ; unless, in-
deed, those contemporaries were ascetic monks of the
desert. But by the tenth century, there had sprung
up like mushrooms a vast number of Saints of the
Apostolic age, whose histories are to be found in the
"Golden Legend ;" histories, some more than a thou-
sand years old ; all marvellous and all true. We shall
once more recur to the era of the twelve, and select,
not the legend of an Apostle or a Deacon, but that of
St. Thecla, the virgin-companion of St. Paul.
It appears from De Voragine, that the persecu-
tions, which the Apostle underwent at Iconium,
were on account of the conversion of this young
lady ; who, living in that city, and hearing the
preaching of St. Paul, embraced the Christian faith,
and determined to lead a life of celibacy. Her ac-
cepted lover, — for she was betrothed, and the time
appointed for her marriage was fast approaching, —
urged her, by all the arguments he could make use of,
to change her resolution. The attempt was vain ;
but the fact being represented to the magistrates, she
296 THE TWIN GIANTS.
was condemned as a Christian to death. The stake
was prepared, the virgin-confessor bound to the
stake, and the fire kindled. But when all expected
her destruction, there came so great a storm of rain
and wind, that the fire was extinguished ; and Thecla
was set at liberty. She betook herself immediately
to the house where St. Paul was staying. He bap-
tized and instructed her ; and knowing that her trials
had but commenced, he recommended her earnestly
to the Church before his departure. His anticipations
were fulfilled. Thecla fell again into the hands of the
civil power, and was condemned to be thrown to
fierce lions ; " but they, made suddenly meek and
tame, did but lick the feet of the holy virgin, so that
all marvelled." The fury of her persecutors was,
however, not even vet satisfied. She was thrown
into a ditch filled with serpents and scorpions; and
as the elements had before saved her from the fire, so
they now saved her from these venomous reptiles.
The wind and the rain destroyed the snakes and the
scorpions ; and, wearied out by these repeated disap-
pointments, the Eoman magistrates at last set her at
liberty; "and she did go in the company of St. Paul,
and would have put on man's attire, but he would
not sufter her."
This is a tradition related o/", not in, the first cen-
tury. The punishment of being thrown to lions was
a very common one among the Romans of that period ;
and very numerous tales are extant in which the fierce
animals became meek and lamblike before the holy
virgin daughters of the Church. This, indeed, is the
origin of that superstition, nowhere more beautifully
expressed than in the " Siege of Corinth."
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 297
'Tis said that a lion will turn and flee
From a maid in the pride of her purity.
Pass we on to the second century ; and let us see
how Ribadeneira, in his lives of the Saints, treats that
mighty wonder-worker of Christendom, Gregory
Thaumaturgus. "■ He that believeth in me, says
Christ,"" — we quote Ribadeneira — "shall do the
works and miracles that I do, and greater also. This
sentence was most plainly veriiied in the life of St.
Gregory, Bishop of Neo-Cesaraa, which, is now called
Trebizond. Of him it is written, that he made a
huge great rock, as big as a hill, to go from one place
to another; and also that he made a lake, which
caused great discord between two brethren, to be
dried up ; how also he stayed a great river, that it
should not overflow or hurt the inhabitants by the
banks thereof. We do not read that our Saviour
Christ did any of these things ; we doubt not that he
could have done them ; yet he did them not, — that
his words might be fulfilled when he said that his
faithful servants should (after a certain manner) do
greater things than he did."
So much for the reasonings of the Spanish com-
piler. The first-named miracle must not be passed
over without specific mention ; for it was attended
by many marvellous circumstances. It is, in fact,
one of the favorite legends of Ecclesiastical Romance.
Travelling from Amasia to Neo-Cesarsea to take
possession of his bishopric, he and his companions
were benighted. Gregory, by making the sign of
the Cross, inadvertently dislodged a large company
of devils ; for they — that is, the saint and his retinue
— had taken shelter in a temple of Apollo. These
o
298 THE TWIN GIANTS.
devils had been in the habit of answering questions
put to them, and thus estabhshed an oracle in the
place. In the morning, after the departure of Gre-
gory and his friends, the priests came to the temple.
They were not a little surprised to find the oracle
speechless ; but their surprise was changed into rage,
when they found to whom they were indebted for
the removal of the demons. They immediately set
out in pursuit of the Christians, for they found that
the spirits, though abundantly willing, were utterly
unable to establish themselves again in their old
quarters, without the permission of the saint. They
soon overtook him, and attacked him with some
heat. His reply was, " Be not offended, for I serve
so great a God, that as I turned them all out, so
will I cause them again to enter." The priests of
Apollo took him at his word, and required him to
do so. He tore a blank leaf from a paper book
which he had with him, and wrote upon it, — " Gre-
gory to Sathanas, — Enter."" This note he gave to
the chief priest, who laid it upon the altar, and
offered sacrifices, " whereupon the devils immediately
returned and gave answer as heretofore." But a
subject of thought had been given to the priests
of Apollo, seeing the evident superiority of the God
worshipped by Gregory over their own. They went
to him with all speed, and became listeners to the
Gospel. They required another miracle, and point-
ing out a huge rock, desired him, as a proof of his
truth, and of the divine authority of that religion
which he preached, to cause that rock to be removed
into another place. Without the slightest hesita-
tion, Gregory accepted their challenge ; and address-
ECCLESIASTICAL ROiMAXCE. 299
ing the rock, " as if," observes Ribacleneira, " it had
been a reasonable creature," commanded it to go
where the priest had appointed. The retinue of
priests, with their wives, servants, and children,
were now at once baptized ; and the Temple of
Apollo became a Christian Church.
In the third century we have St. Anthony and
St. Hilarion, both, but especially the former, cele-
brated for their contests with devils in the wilderness.
Now, it so happens that instead of going to De
Varasse or Simeon Metaphrastes for our accounts of
these eminent men, we shall go to a saint of the
fourth century, and the most learned, moreover, of
the Fathers — Jerome himself. St. Anthony — for we
shall take a legend out of his life — was once in
danger of thinking too highlj of himself; but it was
revealed to him, that in the depths of the desert was
one who far exceeded him in that peculiar holiness in
which monkery consists, — as far even as he exceeded
the rest of his order. He left his monastery, though
now in his ninetieth year, and wandered forth into
the desert to find this paragon of sanctity. After
no small fatigue he met with a centaur, of whom,
having first devoutly crossed himself, he inquired
" whereabouts does the servant of God live?" The
reply was more satisfactory than could have been
expected, and was no sooner given than the centaur
shot off with the swiftness of a bird. A little
fiirther on he meets with a satvr ; and lest the
reader should be incredulous, he is gravely informed
that one had been pickled and sent to Antioch to
be examined by the emperor. From this being did
St. Anthony obtain a still more exact direction, and
300 THE TWIN GIANTS.
soon arrived at the cave of Paul the hermit, who had
been revealed to him as holier than himself. Utterly
forgotten by man, this anchoret had passed nearly a
century in the deepest seclusion. His only garment
was a mat of palm-leaves ; his only food the fruit
of the palm-tree, and when this failed, bread was
brought to him daily by a raven.
St. Anthony entreated to be made the companion
of this holy man. Long did he wait, and earnestly
did he beseech, before his prayer was granted.
" You receive beasts, why repel a man ? If I obtain
not admission, I will die here before your doors ;
at least you will bury my wretched body." This
supplication prevailed. The door was opened, and
delightful was the converse of two persons so emi-
nently holy. The daily bread was miraculously
doubled ; and the hermit at length informed St. An-
thony that the time of his — the hermit's — departure
was at hand. He enjoined on his friend the duty of
burying him ; and sent him back to his monastery to
fetch the cloak of St. Athanasius. He was stopped
by a difficulty which he had not foreseen; he had
no spade. In this dilemma he was about — as the
best resource that occurred to him — to lie down and
die. But, oh ! wonder of wonders ! scarcely had he
formed this Avise resolution, when two lions, tamer
than lions before or since, made their appearance,
and having first wagged their tails and licked the
feet of St. Anthony, forthwith dug a grave of pre-
cisely the due dimensions for the departed hermit.
When their task was finished, they again licked the
hands and feet of St. Anthony, — rather a severe
penance for the saint, be it observed en passant^ —
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 301
then threw back their heads, went down on their
knees, and made signs that they desired his bles-
sing ! This, of course, he was too grateful to
refuse ; and away went the blessed beasts into the
wilderness.
In the same century, Britain was not behind the
most apostolic of countries; since she boasts of St.
Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins ; nor does it
seem to have detracted materially from their sanctity,
that they were on their way to be married when they
sufl'ered martyrdom. In the fifth century lived
St. Augustine, St. Nicholas, and St. Patrick. St. Ni-
cholas shall furnish us with a legend or two, and
Simeon Metaphrastes shall tell them. This holy
man was born at Patara, and seemed to have an
intuitive perception of the fitness of fasting. For
even before he was weaned, he piously abstained
from his natural food on Wednesdays and Fridays ;
a precocity of self-denial only recorded of this great
man and St. Dominic. As he grew older he took
vast delight in mortifying the flesh with hair-
cloths, ashes, and similar applications. He gave
away all his patrimony, which was considerable ;
and was made by his uncle, though sorely against
his will, the superior of a religious house. Some
time after this he had occasion to make a voyage ;
but finding that the devil had entered the ship
with a sword in his hand, menacing to kill all the
seamen, — the first act of our Saint was to send
him out, and furnish him with some better employ-
ment. " Go, Satan," said St. Nicholas, " and blow
into the sails of our ship till we arrive at our des-
tined haven."" Satan, of course, obeyed. Indeed,
802 THE TWIN GIANTS.
he could not help himself ; and accordingly studied
only how he might indulge his inclinations for mis-
chief during this unexpected season of good works.
An opportunity was not long in offering. One of
the seamen standing in the rigging, just before the
now invisible devil, the latter gave him so severe a
puff as to dislodge him, and the consequence was,
whether from the noxious character of the blast, or
the violence of the fall, cannot be determined, — that
the man lay lifeless upon the deck. St. Nicholas, how-
ever, was not a man to be overcome by the devil.
Indeed, the devil always did get the worst of it in
his contests with mortals, at least if we may believe
the legends of antiquity. The man was speedily
restored to life, and secured by a blessing from such
accidents in future.
On the arrival of the ship at that port in the Holy
Land, to which she was bound, the Saint had an inti-
mation from Heaven that his vocation was not to the
desert, but to an active life. He went in conse-
quence of this to Myrrhsea a populous city, and there
labored quietly in an obscure station among the poor ;
but here again he vvas the subject of celestial inter-
ference. An angel in a dream appeared to the bishop
of that city, and commanded him to lay down his
high office, not on account of any demerit of his, but
merely of the superior qualifications of St. Nicholas.
He was to go to the church, and wait at the door
till some one should enter named Nicholas. This he
did. The Saint was the first person bearing that
name who entered ; and he was accordingly invested
with the episcopal dignity and authority. He under-
took, though unwillingly, the duties of the see ; and
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE, 303
performed them in an exemplary manner. On two
occasions his miraculous gifts were the means of
saving the city from destruction ; once, by appearing
in a vision, at a time when a famine was raging in
Myrrh^a, to a corn-merchant, who immediately sailed
thither and brought food ; and at another time by
multiplying a ship-load of corn, in imitation ofElisha.
Such were the actions of St. Nicholas during his
life ; and few Saints were more active after their
departure. To relate the number of cases in which
he interfered, either by visions or dreams, or prayers,
or by the efficacy of his relics, would fill a volume.
One leg-end must suffice.
Upon the spot where once had stood a temple of
Diana, St. Nicholas had built a church. The wor-
shippers, too, had been converted by St. Nicholas
from the service of that goddess ; and here he was
himself buried. Satan, who seems to have imagined
that when once the Saint was under ground, the
good he had done might be undone, took the form of
a nun, and made his appearance at a sea-port town
opposite the coast on which Myrrhaea was situated.
In his or her hand was a vessel of oil, " oyle of
hellyshe sorte of that kinde that will devour and
burn both stones and water. Then cometh she to
certayne of the schyppemeu who were departyng
from the porte of Tanais. ' I knowe that ye goe
to the sepulclu'e of the holie Nicholas. I woulde
alsoe goe, but cannott nowe. Take, therefore, this
oyle fro me to brenne in the lampes as a gyfte.' Soe
they toke tlieir departure and caryed with them the
oyle ; thinkynge her to be a moste devoute woman.
So when they had been some time at sea there arose
S04 THE TWIN GIANTS.
a greate storme and the schyppe was like to sink.
Then there appeared au aged nianne, verri venerable,
who sayde unto them, that he was Nicholas ; and
also he told them of the devylish oyle ; whereupon
they threw it into the sea ; and lo ! where it falle, it
kyndled a greate fire and caused a uglie stenche.
Then the auncient old manne disappeared out of
their sight,"
These legends afford matter for much remark.
They are somewhat curious instances of that spirit
of adaptation which runs throughout Ecclesiastical
Romance. Every good story and every indifferent
story, it mattered very little which, was seized upon
as lawful prey, and enrolled in the lives of the Saints
with the most reckless carelessness. Not only were
the heroes of antiquity despoiled of their good deeds ;
but the very gods were stripped of their miracles, and
rifaccimento applied to a Saint, who not unfrequently
was himself a mere creature of the imagination. The
holy napkin and the holy nail were converted into
St. Suaire and St. Clou ; and a long string of
miracles were attributed to the person thus created.
But this was not all. The legend that had done for
one Saint was made to do duty again for another and
another ; as if the whole Hagiarchy had a stock of
sermons and wonderful works, in common. The
story of St. Nicholas being elected at the church-door
is told of several other saints. Something not very
dissimilar occurs in the life of St. Ambrose. The
legend of the " hellyshe oyle " bears a strong resem-
blance to a story told by Olaus Wormius, of an
ancient King of Denmark, much anterior to the date
of this legend. The incident is altered, and intro-
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 305
duced with great effect by Sir Walter Scott in his
" Bridal of Triermain."
In the same century with St. Nicholas lived St.
Bridget, who, herself the offspring of an illicit inter-
course, took upon her to repeat the miracle which we
have already related of St. Simon and St. Jude.
The child, however, in this case was less discreet ;
for, like a wise child, he knew his own father, and
pointed him out ; perhaps it was necessary, as the
party accused of paternity was a Bishop. St. Bridget
also instituted a company of vestals to guard a fire
which was miraculously fed, and to profane which
was inevitably attended by miraculous punishments.
Of St. Bridget, too, as well as of many other female
Saints, the tale is told, that, finding her beauty a
temptation both to herself and others, she prayed
that it might be removed. Her prayer was granted.
One of her eyes became diseased, and was productive
of so much deformity that all her suitors forsook her;
and no further objection was then made by her
family to her entering a nunnery, a step which pre-
viously had been strongly opposed. Once professed,
her eye recovered, and her loveliness became more
radiant than ever.
In the sixth century, foretold by St. Patrick,
appeared St. David, the tutelary saint of Wales. Of
him, among other miracles, it is related, that preach-
ing on one occasion against the Pelagian heresy and
being seen but by few of his auditory, the ground
suddenly rose up under him, " so that he was clearly
discerned of all." Contemporary with St. David was
the still more renowned St. Benedict, and some hun-
dreds of minor saints. In the seventh century we
306 THE TWIN GIANTS.
find St. Columba, so extensively reverenced in the
north ; Gregory the Great ; and St. Cuthbert, the
most celebrated of British saints. To him, therefore,
we shall devote a little more attention than was
necessary in other cases; for there never lived a
saint of whom greater miracles have been reported,
or in the tale of whose achievements greater faith has
been reposed. Our authority, too, is that of a great
and good man ; no less eminent a person than the
Venerable Bede. Yet the legends, related by Bede
of St. Cuthbert, rival in absurdity those told of
Anthony by Jerome. " While yet a child, he was,""
says his venerable biographer, "just like another
child, fond of sport and games," — how different to
St. Nicholas ! — " thus he continued till the age of
eight years ; when a little child, about three years
old, showed him how great things he should do, and
how holy a bishop he should be. Thereupon, Cuth-
bert, by way of further warning, was afflicted by a
boil in his knee ; which was shortly afterwards cured
by an angel. He now went and engaged himself as a
shepherd ; and one night, while watching his flock,
he saw the soul of St. Aldan, Bishop of Lindisfarne,
borne up to heaven on the wings of angels. And he
watched till the heaven opened, and received the
train out of sight. This glorious revelation deter-
mined him to a monastic life ; and he accordingly
set out for the abbey of Melrose. On his way he
abstained from food, because it happened to be
Friday ; and having ridden hard all day, took np his
abode for the night in a forsaken cabin. Here there
was neither bread for himself, nor hay for his horse ;
but the angels, as we shall see by-and-by, seemed to
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 307
have a standing order not to let Cutlibert starve ; and
accordingly we find more miracles in the commissariat
department, attributed to St. Cuthbert, than to any
other saint in the calendar.
In the present case, his horse pulling down some
thatch for his own supper, drew out a cloth which
contained a very satisfactory provision for his master.
In the cloth was half a loaf, hot, and a sufficient
portion of meat. It was a rather singular coincidence
that on his arrival at Melrose the abbot seemed to
have some intuitive perception of the point in which
Outhbert's genius lay. He sent him to a dependent
monastery to purvey provisions, and to receive and
entertain strangers. Here, like Abraham and Lot,
he entertained angels unawares ; one of whom made
the Saint a characteristic present of three milk-white
loaves of a most sweet odor. These loaves had, it
seems, the singular property of making the eater talk
about himself, his gifts, and his graces, — in excuse for
which Bede pleads the example of the Apostle Paul.
St. Cuthbert soon returned to Melrose, and under-
took several missionary expeditions among his Pictish
neighbours. On one of these excursions he and his
party were weather-bound in a creek, and their pro-
visions began to run short ; but St. Cuthbert, who for
these expeditions had been miraculously cured of the
plague, was a person very little likely to let his com-
panions suffer from hunger. He well knew that it
formed no part of the scheme of Providence that he
should perish in that way. Leading them, therefore,
to a bank, he prayed for direction in these difficulties;
and when their devotions were finished, told them to
dig under the bank ; and there they found, wrapped
308 THE TWIN GIANTS.
in a cloth again, three pieces of dolphin's flesh, ready
cut to be boiled. With this they satisfied their appe-
tite, and then changed their prayers into praises.
The next incident in this Saint's career was, that
going on a journey in company with a little boy, — the
latter began to cry because there was no food. Outh-
bert was accustomed to this kind of thing. " See
you that eagle," said he to his young companion, as
they wound along the serpentine course of a river, —
"by that eagle shall our necessities be relieved." And
so it happened ; for that eagle, striking a fish, brought
it and laid it on the ground before Cuthbert, who
generously divided it, — leaving one half for the eagle ;
and with the remainder made a meal for himself
and the child. We now find him raising the dead,
healing the sick, and casting out devils ; then re-
forming the monks of Lindisfarne ; then, ejecting the
devils from the little island of Farnen, where he lived
a solitary life in a mud cottage. Here he obtained a
spring by a miracle, in imitation of Moses and St.
Benedict ; was miraculously fed with bread and
flesh, in imitation of Elijah and St. Paul the hermit ;
and the corn which he sowed was miraculously
preserved from the birds. The crows, indeed, ex-
hibited a deplorably hard and reprobate spirit ;
for they even attempted to tear the thatch off his
cottage, probably instigated thereto by the ejected
devils. Cuthbert gravely rebuked them ; and they
mended their manners forthwith. Nay, the vener-
able biographer assures us that " one came to the
holy man, who, lamentably spreading her wings
abroad, seemed by all signs possible to entreat par-
don," which the Saint granted, and gave her leave to
ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 309
return. She presently did so, bringing with her a
mate, and for a present to the Saint, " a hog's grease^''''
which the holy man was wont afterwards to show to
the monks his brethren ; and to give them part of it
to grease -their hoots and shoes. In commanding the
services of the crows, St. Cuthbert did as St. Benedict
had done before him.
From this time, till many centuries after his death
the Saint was always making use of his miraculous
gifts. The very elements were subject to him, and
the devils trembled at the sound of his name. He
was made Bishop of Liudisfarne ; but he soon re-
linquished this high station to enjoy once more his
beloved solitude. Here he died ; here he was buried,
and here it was that pilgrims came to be healed of
their diseases by his wonder-working relics. His
shoes, greased as they were with the miraculous fat,
were a sovereign cure for palsy ; his cloak for
dysentery. For many years he rested in peace ; but
when the Danes invaded England, the monks of
Lindisfarne fled, taking with them the body of their
canonized Bishop, as their greatest treasure. Wan-
dering about from place to place with their Bishop
Edrid at their head, and finding no opportunity of
establishing themselves in England, they resolved to
pass over into Ireland. Two miracles occurred during
the progress of this attempt. The water that dashed
over the ship became red as blood ; and when they
were driven back by a storm to the English coast,
while they were yet about three miles distant, a book
of the Gospels fell overboard. The sea immediately
retired, so that the book was taken up uninjured.
The wanderers at length settled with their precious
310 THE TWIN GIANTS.
burden at Cumcacestre ; but from thence, after an
hundred and thirteen years, they were driven by a
new invasion of the Danes. At last, while on their
passage back to Lindisfarne, the body of the Saint
became immovably fixed near Durham ; nor could it
be removed, till it was revealed that at Durham it
should finally rest. This was done; a magnificent
church was built, and the see removed from Lindis-
farne to the city which soon sprung up about the
new Cathedral.
As far as the death of St. Cuthbert, his history
was written by the Venerable Bede ; what follows
was added by Nicholas Harpsfield, in the time of
Henry the Eighth ; and who declares, that he saw
the yet uncorrupted body of the saint, which, by
the order of that prince, was taken from the shrine
and found entire, saving the end of the nose. He
adds a long list of miracles done by the relics at
Durham.
Thus ends the first era of Ecclesiastical Komance ;
which may be said to comprise the wonderful works
performed by saints and martyrs, from the beginning
of the first to the end of the seventh century, when-
ever and wherever collected and related.
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 311
CHAPTER YI.
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE.
Throughout the Middle Ages the wonders of
Ecclesiastical Romance remain with but little altera-
tion. The same class of miracles, having the same
tendency, and promulgated with evidently the same
object, make up their staple. Here and there, as
of old, we have an exotic, all the more valuable
from its rarity and its incongruity with the rest,
such is the beautiful tale told of St. Martin of
Tours, that in one of his daily peregrinations for
the purpose of seeking out and relieving the afflicted,
he was accosted by a mendicant scarcely protected
by his torn and scanty garment from the inclemency
of the season. St. Martin, who was wrapped in a
warm and ample cloak, immediately divided it into
two parts, and gave half to the beggar, retaining
the other for himself. In his slumbers that nig-ht
the Saint was visited by a blessed vision. The
Lord appeared to him, and showing him the half
of the divided garment, told him that it was He
who had been thus relieved, and reminded St.
Martin of the import of that passage " whoso doeth
it to one of the least of these my brethren, doeth
it unto me." It is difficult to imagine a more exqui-
sitely beautiful legend than this, at once appealing
to the highest faculties of human nature and the
loftiest phase of poetical taste. This is undoubtedly
312 THE TWIN GIANTS.
to be reckoned as an allegory, as well as another
adventure said to have befallen the same Saint,
that he beheld Satan seated on a beam in a church,
where he was preaching, and taking an account on
a strip of parchment of all the sins of inattention
committed by the congregation. The writing was
small and the strip was long, but it was filled, even
to the very margin, and the fiend was sorely puzzled
how to take notes of the continually increasing sinful-
ness which he beheld, unwilling that any act of
inattention should escape him, he took the parch-
ment, one end in his claws, and the other be-
tween his teeth, and pulled in order to stretch
it. In the attempt the parchment broke, and the
arch-enemy gave his horned head so severe a blow
against the beam above that on which he was sitting,
that the church resounded again with the noise,
and the Saint, unable any longer to keep his coun-
tenance, burst into a loud laugh. On being asked
the cause of this apparently unseasonable cachin-
nation, he related what he had seen, and the result
was perceptible in a more reverential and attentive
demeanour at church on the part of the people.
But quitting these legends we come to a period
which appears to connect the ancient romance of
ecclesiastical history with the more modern wonders
of Mesmerism. We allude to the miracles said to
be performed at the tomb of the Abbe Paris, and
others of the same class which about the same time
attracted so much attention in the ca])ital of France.
That the facts were faithfully reported there can be
no doubt ; the actors were too closely watched to
leave any possibility of fraud in this respect, and the
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 313
more accurate was the investigation as it assumed the
character of a war between religious parties. The
Abbe Paris appears to have been a sincere and worthy
man, but a bigoted Jansenist. He, though brought
up to fulfil the offices of the church, never thought fit to
receive other orders than those of deacon, he gave up
his patrimonial property, and retired into one of the
most abject and squalid parts of Paris — the Fau-
bourg St. Marceau, where he maintained himself by
the labor of his hands, and divided his ofains with his
poorer neighbours. His austere mode of living acting
on a constitution naturally feeble, accelerated his
death, and his grave was visited continually by those
whom he had comforted and relieved while yet
living. It was no very wonderful event, that they
who venerated their deceased pastor far more than
the saints of the middle ages, should attribute equal
efficacy to his relics. Accordingly it was not long
before reports were bruited about of cures said to be
performed at the tomb of this excellent man, and, at
length, one somewhat more remarkable than the rest
attracted in an unusual degree the public attention.
It was said that a young girl born blind and deaf,
had been gifted with sight and hearing at the shrine
of the new saint. The Archbishop of Paris ordered
that the matter should be investigated, and the result
of the investigation was the discovery that the girl
had never been either blind or deaf Another case
soon occurred in which a certain Abbe Becheraud
claimed to have been cured of a diseased leg, and
though he was unable to give any satisfactory proof
that the fact was as he related it, yet he continued
his assertions, and the government, in order to stop
p
314 THE TWIN GIANTS.
the delusion, confined Beeheraud in the prison of St.
Lazare. A martyr had been all that was wanted,
and this desideratum being now obtained, the persua-
sion spread more rapidly than ever, and scenes
utterly destructive of all devotion, not to say of all
decency, were now of so common occurrence, that
the churchyard was closed by royal authority, and
the wits of the day immediately put forth the well-
known couplet :
" De par le Roi — defense a Dieu,
De faire miracle en ce lieu."
The Romish Church vaunts its unity ; but, in fact,
there have been as great differences in religious
opinion and as acrimoniously carried on, as any
which have occurred in the Protestant churches.
Gregoire, in his " History of Religious Sects,"
gives an account of follies quite as extravagant, and
of fanaticism in societies (not to call them sects)
which have arisen within the pale of Romanism,
equalling in error, violence, knavery, or madness,
any that have arisen in Protestantism.
The history of the Society which especially worships
the "Sacre Cceur de Jesus," ^ will be an instance in
point. The Cordicoles was its first title ; and its origin
was ascribed to Thomas Goodwin, the President of
Magdalen College, Oxford, under Cromwell. This
fierce English puritan was considered the author
of a great superstition in the Romish Church from a
tract which he published, entitled, " The Heart of
' The volumes in which the history of the Cordicoles is contained, and
also the " Revelations de la saur Natii-itt,''' are now extremely rare, the
autiior of this work has not been able to obtain a sight of them, and the
account here given, is derived from some of the earlier numbers of the
" Quarterly Review," where a much fuller account will be found than
the space here allotted would all ow.
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 31. *)
Christ in Heaven tovrards Sinners upon Earth." But
M. Gregoire does not agree in this opinion, he de-
clares that all Goodwin says is, that as our Saviour
has taken upon himself the human form, his heart is
susceptible of those affections which have nought to
do with sin and infirmity. It is said the Jesuit P.
La Colombiere, chaplain and confessor to the Duchess
of York, discovered in London a sect, whose de-
votions were addressed to the Heart of Jesus ; this
was under the spiritual direction of Goodwin ; and
La Colombiere, having seen their pastor and learnt
from him his own ideas on the subject, transported
these' into France, and it may be probable, after all,
for the fanatics of that time approached as nearl)'^
to the Jesuits in some other points, as they did in
the theory and practice of deposing monarchs and
depriving them of life. The Kosary, the Scapulary,
and the Agnus Dei were toys of ancient date ; these
bethought themselves of bringing the heart into
vogue ; and hoped to make it as popular and useful,
at least such was the idea of Father La Corbi^re,
and he was ably assisted by an inspired nun, called
Marguerite ^Marie Alacoque, of the order of Visi-
tandines ; this woman asserted that our Saviour had
appeared to her when she was engaged in her devo-
tions, and showing her his heart, he said that as it
had exhausted itself in every proof of love for man-
kind, it was his desire that a certain day should be
set apart for its worship, charging her to address her-
self to Father La Corbi^re, his faithful servant, and
order him to do his utmost to establish this act
of devotion. She also assured him that the Saviour
expected a great deal from the Jesuits.
p 2
316 THE TWIN GIANTS.
But at the close of the seventeenth century so
flagitious au imposture could not be so daringly car-
ried on as in darker ages. They did not publish the
revelations of this nun until both herself and her
confessor were dead, as detection was not then pos-
sible, and it was pretended that the account was
found among his papers.
The legend is a composition of absurdity and
monkish deceit. In one of her colloquies with the
Saviour, he asked her to give him her heart,
and with her consent, he extracted it from her
side, put it in his own, and then replaced it.
From that hour she suffered continual pains in her
side, and was told to be bled when the pain was too
violent, so she was bled on the first Friday in every
month till she died, being a hundred and ninety-two
times. After this, the legend proceeds to recount a
promise of marriage with the Saviour, the betrothal,
and the espousal. But the imposture did not flourish ;
the Bishop of Soissons, who in 1729 published the
life of this nun, found it necessary to withdraw the
work from sale, so great was the indignation it ex-
cited, and an Italian translation was instantly sup-
pressed by Pope GanganelH. However, the devotion
it was designed to introduce prevailed, being ap-
proved at Rome by the Congregation of Rites, and
Pope Clement XIII. authorised the Festival of the
Heart of Jesus, indeed, it became quite a rage, and
while the Court of Rome vainly represented this new
worship as purely spiritual, the language of the de-
votees was carnal in the extreme.
This abuse gave rise to another, for they thought
that the heart of the Virgin Mary ought to be wor-
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 317
shipped ill like manner, as being after GocFs own
heart, and one with the heart of Christ ; nay, a
Friar Minim, in one of his Sermons, to recommend
this devotion, said that the foohsh virgins could not
enter when they knocked at the gate, because they
exclaimed, " Lord ! Lord !" whereas had they cried,
" Lady ! Lady ! "" they would immediately have been
admitted.
And thus have superstitions arisen in the Christian
Avorld, from the abuse of terms, and mere types have
degenerated into objects of idolatry, though Home
has become more cautious in encouraging such things
than in former times, and now exposes frauds which,
ages ago, would have been sanctioned by the policy
of the Church. In distant ages some advantages
would have been obtained from the Society of Vic-
tims, who had this connection Mith the Cordicoles,
that they wore silver medallions representing the
hearts of the Saviour and the Virgin. This applica-
tion of the word Victim had been introduced by the
foundress of the perpetual worshippers of the most
Holy Sacrament of the altar, an order of nuns which
rapidly gained ground in France, towards the end of
the seventeenth century. The nuns, in turn, each
acted as the Victim, rejMratrice of the day ; then she
secluded herself from the hours of matins, and when
they went to the refectory, came the last with a rope
round her neck and a torch in her hand ; when thev
were seated at table she reminded them of their
duties as victims in the place of their Saviour, and
then went back to the choir, still fasting, and staid
there till after vespers, as a lamb set apart for
sacrifice.
318 THE TWIN GIANTS.
There were two persons in France who disti'n-
gnished .themselves at that time by their reh'gious
zeal, — Mademoiselle Brolion, a girl of eighteen,
whose attractions and talents gained considerable
notice at Paris. She had written some novels, but
her life having been saved, as she believed, by a
miracle, she repented of having written them, and
devoted her pen to religious subjects, which produc-
tions were published anonymously by her admirers ;
the language is pure and well chosen, but they are
a kind of romance, embodying the dreams of her wild
imagination ; but they displayed talent, and certainly
seduced many. She required that a college should
be established, called the College of Victims, con-
sisting of six men and six women : she affirmed
that our Saviour had Himself condescended to be
her Confessor, and chosen her as the institutrice of
this new order, saying to her, " Seek me no longer
upon the Cross ; I yield that place to thee : I shall
no more be crucified, but my victims shall be cruci-
fied for me !""
There were many other things too blasphemous
to be brought forward here ; but she said the honour
of beginning this mission was given to the female
sex for three reasons. First, as a mark of our Lord''s
affection for his blessed Mother ; secondly, to reward
the fidelity shown to him by women during his life
and sufferings ; and thirdly, to humble men and
make them jealous of women, as the weaker vessel.
She fixed twelve for the number of Victims, in
imitation of the twelve Apostles. She adjured Louis
XV. to make Mademoiselle Victoire one of the
society, and prophesied innumerable evils to France,
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. o]9
unless this society were allowed to flourish there ;
heavy calamities were to fall upon the capital, the
clergy to be abased, the provinces lost, and a foreign
prince would ravage and subjugate the country,
and Avhen all was fulfilled the Victims would them-
selves form the sole body of the Church in the reign
of the Redeemer, while their presidents were to be
Enoch and Elias.
This prediction of calamity to France gained credit
for these dreams of her imagination during the ter-
rible progress of the Revolution.
In 1779, Mademoiselle Labrousse, another unmar-
ried woman, as madly fanatic as Mademoiselle Bro-
hon, began to prophesy also, and when the horrors of
the Revolution advanced, believed that her predic-
tion were thus fulfilled. It was her idea also, that
the Lord would select Victims most pleasing to Him-
self, that the actual ecclesiastical system should be
set aside to make way for two grand Societies, male
and female, to take its place ; and she took the
trouble of going to Rome to tell the Pope that his
downfall was near. In return she was shut up in
the Castle of St. Angelo, and liked her abode so
well that when the Directory required her liberation
she chose to remain where she was; but at length
she returned to Paris, and Gregoire affirms that both
these crazy female fanatics had in his day still
followers in that city, and those not among the
uninformed and vulgar.
Then there is another sect, called the Convul-
sionnaires, which, till of late, counted some members
in Paris, Lyons, and different parts of France.
Their origin was connected with the well-known ques-
320 THE TWIN GIANTS.
tion of Jansenism, which occupied the general atten-
tion at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It
was said during the persecution brought upon Port
Royal, that miracles were performed in favour of the
persecuted. One of the most wonderful of these
miracles was the cure of ^ fidula lacliryraalis^ which
was healed on the patient's kissing a thorn from the
holy crown, in full faith of its healing power ; now
this was so strongly attested that the Archbishop of
Paris admitted it, though he was in opposition to
Port Royal ; and even the court believed, who would
gladly have discovered fraud in that community
which they would destroy ; but in consequence the
proceedings against Port Royal were stayed for a
time, and Pascal, on whose niece the miracle was
wrought, cited it triumphantly and energetically, and
his great name in this case carries with it high autho-
rity. For, though the able " Lettres Proviuciales "
are exceedingly disingenuous, and the writer might
well be suspected of acting unfairly, where the inter-
ests of his party were concerned, yet on the other the
facts of the case were well attested.
Mademoiselle Perrier was the young lady in ques-
tion. She was a child in her eleventh year, and a
scholar residing in the monastery of Port Royal.
For three years and a half she had been afflicted
Avith a fistula laxlirymalis. The adjacent bones had
become carious, and the most loathsome ulcers dis-
figured her countenance. All remedies had been
tried in vain : the medical faculty had exhausted
their resources. One desperate experiment remained
— it was the actual cautery. For this the day was
appointed, and her father set out on a journey to be
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 321
present at the operation. M. de la Potlierie, who
was a Parisian ecclesiastic, and an assiduous collector
of relics, had possessed himself of one of the thorns
composing the crown of which mention is made in the
Evangelists. Great had been the curiosity of the
various convents to see it, and the ladies of Port
Royal had earnestly solicited that privilege. Accord-
ingly, on the 24th of March, in the year 1656, the
day of the week being Friday, and the week the third
in Lent, a solemn procession of nuns, novices, and
scholars, moved along the choir of the monastic church,
chanting appropriate hymns, and each one, in her
turn, kissing the holy relic. When the turn of Ma-
demoiselle Perrier arrived, she, by the advice of the
schoolmistress, touched her diseased eye with the
thorn, and the malady disappeared ! The cure was
instantaneous and complete. So strict, however, was
the silence of the abbey, especially in Lent, that, ex-
cept to the companion who shared her chamber, jNLi-
demoiselle Perrier did not at first divulge the miracle.
On the following day the surgeon appeared with his
instruments. The afflicted father was present ; exhor-
tations to patience were delivered ; every preparation
was complete ; when the astonished operator for the
first time perceived that every symptom of the disease
had disappeared. All Paris rang with the story.
It reached the ears of the queen- mother. By her
command, M. Felix, the principal surgeon to the
king, investigated and confirmed the narrative. The
royal conscience was touched. Who but must be
moved with such an attestation from on high, of the
innocence of a monastery divinely selected as the
theatre of so great a miracle? Anue of Austria
p 5
322 THE TWIN GIANTS.
recalled her lieutenant. Again the recluses returned
to their hermitages ; the husy hum of schoolboys
was heard once more at Port Royal ; and in his
ancient retreat Arnauld was permitted to resume his
unremitting labours.^
Nothing, unless it be the alleged miracle itself,
can be more improbable, than that a man gifted with
such abilities should have ventured upon a fraud
likely to be closely scrutinized and detected. But
the sincerity of his opinion is proved by his austerity
of life after his conversion, and it was this very cir-
cumstance which led to it : from that time he used
the device of a crown of thorns for his seal, and the
motto was Scio cui credidi. The effect of this cir-
cumstance, which is one of those equally difficult to
view as true or untrue, or to account for, paved the
way for the surprising exhibitions Avhich ensued at
the death of the Deacon Paris.
To that shrine other patients, besides those whom
we have named, came in rapid succession to deceive
and be themselves deceived. One woman went to
have a short leg elongated by dancing upon the
gi'ave, and it was calculated that by continuing this
same exercise for fifty-four years the cure would
be perfected. A man whose eye had received a blow
applied the remedy prescribed by the apothecary with
a fragment of the Deacon's shirt, and, of course, the
cure was ascribed to the relic. The churchyard became
a scene of disgusting extravagance : long-robed magis-
trates, men and women of quality, and even doctors
of the Sorbonne, might be seen mixed with the lowest
rabble, really admiring and credulous spectators, while
' Edinburgh Review, vol. Ixxii. p. 338. [July, 1841.]
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 323
charlatans and dupes exhibited themselves on his
tomb in all the contortions of real or pretended con-
vulsive movements. In addition to folly and fana-
ticism, which are always contagious enough, there
was a secret aid to this moral endemic ; for the
Deacon had been staunch in the cause of Jansenism,
and the Jansenists, like the Jesuits, wished to pro-
mote any delusion which was in their own favor.
At last government, as we have seen, shut up the
cemetery ; but though this might have done good in
the earlier stage of the mania, it had now been too
long delayed, for even earth from the churchyard, and
water from the well, of which the Deacon used to
drink, were now reported to operate miraculous cures.
The prisons were filled with persons who, defying
the police, persisted in presenting themselves at the
cemetery, and now infinitely worse extravagances
were committed in private houses. That which had
begun in enthusiasm, had now passed into the hands
of persons in whom it was difficult to say wdiich pre-
dominated, madness or villany. It was no longer
sufficient for the convulsionnaires to implore the aid
of the blessed Deacon, and expect relief by means
of convulsions produced by their fervent devotion ;
but thev now required the aid of human succour to
benefit by his miraculous assistance. These succours
were administered by men, and consisted of blows
with powerful weapons, such as a stick, a stone, a
hammer, or even a poker and a sword. A w^oman
would lie down and be threshed like a bundle of
wheat, while another would stand on her head, and
another forming a half-circle, by bending her body
back, remained in that painful position while a heavy
324 THE TWIN GIANTS.
stone, fastened to a pulley, was repeatedly let fall
upon her ; and another of these mad devotees would
have a plank placed across her, she lying on her
back, and supporting the weight of as many men as
could stand upon the plank.
These disgusting practices were now reduced to a
system — they had the great and the little succours —
and in the former was classed the exercise of the spit.
It is asserted that one woman was actually fastened to
a spit, with a pullet tied on behind her, and a brother,
as they called the male assistants, kept turning the
spit before a fierce fire, until the bird was thoroughly
roasted. That such a thing is possible, is shown by
those who have displayed their art in England ; but
the marvel is that any female could be so lost to all
womanly feeling. But even the best and indubitable
accounts of all these self-inflictions could hardly make
us credit the fact that women pressed forward to
undergo crucifixion in these horrible displays of fana-
ticism and impiety, were it not confirmed beyond any
possibility of doubt. And we read in Baron Grimm's
Memoirs, a description of these horrible exhibitions,
from notes taken on the spot, by M. de Condamine
and M. de Gustel.
Sister Rachel and Sister Felicite, both between
thirty and forty years of age, being moved in spirit to
offer the lively image of the passion of our Saviour,
suffered themselves to be nailed through their hands
and feet to two wooden crosses, and remained thus for
more than three hours. It was apparent that they
endured great agony, especially when the nails were
driven in, and again when they were taken out, which
occasioned shrinking of the muscles, and writhing.
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 325
though every indication of torture over which the
mind had control, was suppressed with Indian for-
titude. Not only so, but to aid the delusion of those
who admired them, and the deception of their spi-
ritual directors, who affirmed that they felt exquisite
delight : they sometimes pretended to slumber, as if
in a trance of beatitude. When they were taken
down, the wounds, which bled profusely, were washed
and bandaged, and that done, the Sisters Rachel and
Felicite sat down quietly to eat in the midst of those
assembled there. Fraud in all this there was not, or
deception on the part of the women, otherwise than
in encouraging the belief that they felt pleasure in-
stead of pain, while suspended. They were fanatics,
and to be pitied, for they were guided by consum-
mate deceivers. Could any fraud have been suspected
in such a case, the second exhibition put its reality
beyond suspicion. In this also two women were
crucified, named Sisters Fran^oise and Marie. The
nails were examined by M. de Condamine, both
when driven in and taken out ; these were rough and
square, more than three inches long, and entered the
wood of the cross at least half-an-inch. Sister Marie
could not hide the excruciating pain she felt when
the nails were driven in, and within an hour cried
out to be taken down, for she could no longer endure
it : being unfastened, they carried her away senseless,
to the great confusion of those associated with her.
Sister Fran^oise being more strongly constituted, re-
mained attached to the cross for more than three
hours, though its position was frequently changed.
This same woman had declared that she had received
a Divine command to have her gown burnt oft" her
326 THE TWIN GIANTS.
back on that day, and was assured that she should
receive much spiritual comfort from the operation.
The directors, unless indeed they were as mad as
herself, must have supposed that she had suitably
prepared herself for the occasion, and she was set on
fire accordingly ; but on her part there was no in-
tended fraud ; it was all fanatical insanity, and
against this ordeal no mental illusion could fortify
her ; she shrieked for help, was deluged with water,
and carried away half scorched and half drowned,
extremely ashamed, and sufficiently punished for her
folly.
We have already seen that miracles were generally
adapted to favour some peculiar doctrine which was,
for the most part, only capable of being so supported.
In the earlier ages of the Church this might be intel-
ligible enough, but it becomes strange indeed when
we find it adopted almost in our own days. The
" Revelations of Sister Nativite " will, however,
furnish us with such an instance.
Jeanne le Rover, as she was called before enterinor
a nunnery, was born at a small village named Beaulot,
within a short distance of Fougeres. Her parents
were humble, so much so, that, upon the death of her
father, which hai)pened when she was about sixteen,
she was obliged to support her mother by her labour,
and upon the death of her remaining parent, which
took place shortly afterwards, was left entirely desti-
tute. Her person was interesting and her health
good ; and having from an early age an inclination
for a religious life, she passed through the dangers
and temptations of youth uninjured. Her wish and
the continued subject, as wc arc told, of her petitions
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 827
to the Virgin was to enter some convent in a menial
capacity, that she might he the better able to pre-
serve herself from the world and be in a sure path to
heaven. There are in Roman Catholic Coinitries
houses named Houses of Retreat, for the reception of
any who wish to enter upon a course of spiritual
training, under the guidance of a confessor, more ri-
gorous than can be done in a private house. Jeanne,
being informed that a house of this description was
being opened near Fougeres, applied for admittance ;
and, notwithstanding a great opposition made by
some of its inmates, was received without a dowry,
and, upon taking the usual vows, received the name
of Sister Nativite. She now entered into with zeal
the duties of her new life, frequently adding to the
rigor of the usual rules and observances, by the
imposition of voluntary humiliations and denials.
Sometimes she laid nettles in her bed, and on one
occasion was found to have mingled gall with her
beverage in order to render it unpalatable.
She soon made some extraordinary disclosures re-
specting revelations vouchsafed to her concerning the
fate of the Universal Church ; but frightening her
director by some predictions about that of France
being shaken and her pillars thrown down, he de-
clared she was either a dupe to her imagination or
in danger of heresy, and the sister, alarmed at this,
prevailed upon him to burn his notes of what she
had said. This did not, however, preserve her from
persecution : she was exposed to many mortifications
from the nuns, who regarded her as either a hypocrite
or a visionary. Bodily sufferings and the seeming
abandonment of heaven were now added to these
o28 THE TWIN GIANTS.
trials. An enormous tumor arose in her knee, and
being removed by an operation, it left a cancerous
sore and deprived her of the use of the limb. Having,
however, prevailed upon her director to say in her
behalf two masses, one in honor of our Lord's Pas-
sion and the other of the Grief of the Virgin, and upon
the nuns to perform a " novene" for her, during the
"novene" she was miraculously healed.
Thirty years passed by. She became convinced
that she had not been deceived by her imagination.
In the record of her Revelations, Sister Nativite
gives an account of the end of the world, introducing
it with the statement that she was so terrified by the
thought of having to repeat what she had witnessed,
that a command from the Almighty vras required
to make her take courage. No sooner were all dead,
than a confused noise, an universal complaint from
all inanimate beings was heard, in an eloquent but
dreadful language. The sun, the moon, the stars,
and the earth, each in turn lifted up its voice, de-
nouncing and calling for vengeance upon those who
had abused them, and sullied them by committing
crimes in their i^resence ; all nature took up the
cry, and called for justice on the guilty race. An
Almighty voice w^ent forth, which declared that the
time had arrived when a new heaven and earth
should be made, and that it should be done in the
twinkling of an eye. Immediately fire issued from
the heaven, and consumed and purified everything,
so that earth and air w^ere renovated and no impurity
remained. She now had a view of purgatory, when
she saw a multitude of souls plunged in the fire.
Some suffered torture as painful as that of the lost,
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 329
save that they had not prospect of eternal suffering.
The first alleviation of their pain was the announce-
ment that their pain would at one time have an end,
which was imparted when God was softened either
hy the length of their purgation or the suffrages of
the church. Others there were who were there for
smaller sins, and even imperfections ; all that had
fallen short in zeal or perseverance was there to be
made up by suffering. Towards the close of the world
the shortness of the time is to be counterbalanced by
the intensity of the suffering ; the angels, however,
are to comfort them by explaining the causes, and
when the signal for the resurrection is given, angels
will conduct the now purified souls to join those of
the faithful who have just expired, and others will take
charge of the lifeless bodies that remain in Eden.
In the new heaven the sun and stars far surpassed
the lustre of this present one ; and the earth was
transparent, resembling crystal, but without its hard-
ness. All things were renewed save the bodies of
the reprobate, which were changed so as to add to
their misery. An innumerable number of angels
flew to the corners of the earth, and with their
trumpets sounded the signal for the resurrection.
When the reunion of body and soul had taken place,
she saw the blessed stand up radiant with youth and
beauty, and gloried, as Christ in his resurrection ; for
their''s is but an emanation of his ; a stream of enjoy-
ment flows in through all their senses, and the prin-
ciple of immortality is for ever fed by the juice
which circulates within them.
The sheep had already been arranged separately
in three flocks. One of those who had been the most
330 THE TWIN GIANTS.
earnest followers of Christ, are with him in the
heavens, attend him in his triumph, and re-descend
upon the earth with him. The next are ranged in
the sky ; they make ready the way, and adorn it
with the triumphal arches, strewing flowers along the
path, and raising songs of victory. The last with
rejoicing, not unmingled with fear, remain upon the
earth, waiting for his expected advent.
On the other hand, how dreadful is the spectacle.
Hell vomits forth its victims ; the devils also come
with them ; a reunion is hy force eftected between
the souls and their bodies, which being saturated
with all kinds of disease and pain, is a hell for even
the damned to endure. The Almighty then opens
the portals of eternity, and Time expires. The cross
is reflected with a dazzling brilliancy in the sky. The
Judge appears on his throne, resting on a cloud, from
which issue thunders and lightnings. It stops at about
thirty feet from the earth, and is surrounded by the
whole host of heaven. About the judgment seat
are arranged thrones, upon which seat themselves the
apostles and all the ministers of Christ through all
ages. The only other person seated is the Virgin
Marv, who is, as the mother of the Redeemer, ac-
knowledged the queen of the universe. The Book
of Conscience is opened ; Christ tells his ministers
they are now to sit in judgment with him upon their
enemies, and demands what punishment is due to
these, and what they will have him to do. They,
rising from their thrones, exclaim with an unanimous
voice, " O Lord, our God, we demand justice and
vengeance upon these wretches who have outraged
thee I " The spirits of the just cry Amen ; and all
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL EOJIAN'CE. 331
nature re-echoed the terrible cry of justice and ven-
geance ; let the wicked be confounded for ever.
As might well be supposed, Demoniacal possession
occupied no small share in the thoughts of those
whose views were like those jnst mentioned. The
annals of earlv monkerv were ransacked to find
parallel cases to those at the time we speak of of
common occurrence.
The Devil is said to have entered into possessed
persons in different ways. St. Gregory tells of his
having seated himself upon a salad, and being swal-
lowed with it. At another time he flew down the
throat of a deacon, in the shape of a bat, because he
refused to believe in the miracles of St. Virgilius.
The manner of their expulsion was as vtiried as
that of their entrance. We will mention a case or
two. St. Appianus cured a woman who had found
no assistance, even at Eome, and she vomited the evil
spirit in smoke and blood. Relics possessed great
efficacy, those of St. Hidulphus, Bishop of Triero,
had even greater than praying or crossing ; the pos-
sessed were generally cured by them ''a quocwnque
spiritu vexahantur,'''' for many of the spirits were of
a verv obstinate temper. Once a peasant was pos-
sessed bv so powerful a demon that he withstood all
attempts to exorcise him. He was present at mass,
even ioined in the service, was not scared at the
sight of the cross, and, although plunged in a vessel
filled vnih aqua exorcitata, which generally possessed
great efficacy in such cases, it was all without effect.
The Monk who occupied the confessional, began to
read the Gospel of St. Johu. which was usually of
great potency, but the Devil told him to look for
o32 THE TWIN GIANTS.
something better than that, for he knevr the gospel
and its mystery better than he did. The Monk
then fetched the Httle shrine, -uhich contained the
holy relics, out of the church, upon which the Devil
cried out, " Away with my enemy, away I'"* This
encouraged the Monk, and he put the casket upon
the peasant's head. " Ah I" screamed the spirit,
" Miserable wretch that I am ; take it away, I
beseech you." The Monk now continued with more
vehement conjurations, and the fiend exclaimed with
increased energy, " Away with my enemies ! " Being
asked, " Who are they ? " He replied, " St. Lau-
rentius and St. Stephauus, for I must now go out
through their merits."' He then came out of the
man's mouth in the form of a scarabeus, crawled
slowly to the church door, and then flew away into
the air.
One of the most remarkable of fanatics connected
with the history of monachism was Dominic, named
the Cuirassier, from an iron cuirass •nbich he always
wore next his skin, and which he never removed but
to exchange when out for another. He was in-
tended for the priesthood, but fancying he had
committed simony, by presenting the bishop who
ordained him a furred robe, he determined to do
penance for the crime as long as he lived. He
entered the Congregation of Santa Croce de Fonte
Avellana, the Order whose discipline was the most
severe of any produced by reforming the system of
Saint Benedict. The Monks never spoke, save on
Sundays, for a short period, and then only on
spiritual things ; their fare was bread and water
during five days of the week ; they were barefooted ;
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 333
and every dav, after seryice, thev floof<Ted one
another. The belief of the virtue of thi-; exercise,
not only as a means of propitiating heaven, but also
of the actual value of the stripes themselves, deserves
explanation. The price they were valued at in the
treasury of sfood works was settled with the grreatest
minuteness. Mortal sin*, sav the Romanists, make a
man liable to eternal punishment : but if he repents
and confesses, it is commuted for temporal ; the
time, however, of this has not been revealed. The
Popes have, however, granted indulgencies. remittinor
some a portion, and others the whole term of purga-
tory. The Congregation of Fonte Avellana settled
that thirty psalms, with one hundred lashes to each
psalm, were equivalent to one year of purgatory; the
whole psalter and fifteen thousand lashes, five years,
and so on in proportion, and if the scale was not
formerly approved, it was sanctioned by the Popes.
Dominic tasked himself at two psalters and thirty
thousand lashes every day, making three thousand
six hundred and fifty years of pura^atorv redeemed
every year. In Lent, however, he imposed upon
himself an additional year, and then he used to
recite two psalters and a half, and intlict thirty-four
thousand five hundred lashes. Even this did not
content him. He continued to macerate himself for
the benefit of his fellow-men, for of course all the
merits above those required for his own redemption
from purgatory went into the treasury of the Church.
During another Lent he imposed a thousand years, and
St. Pietro Domiano affirms, that in addition to this
regular task, he recited, during these forty days, the
psalter two hundred times, and inflicted three mil-
334 THE TWIN GIANTS.
lions of lashes, using during the recitation a scourge
in each hand. Once he so far outdid himself that,
beginning in the evening, he continued for twenty-
four hours, and went through the psalter twelve
times, and then as far as the thirty-second Psalm,
making one hundred and eighty-three thousand
stripes, and remitting sixty-one years, twelve days,
and a fraction. The question naturally arises in the
reader's mind, whether Dominic wore his cuirass all
the while ? Damiano says that he stripped himself.
What, then, becomes of the assertion, that the
cuirass was never taken off till worn out ?
Nearly all relics seem to have been endowed with
the power of healing and working miracles : and
even the oil used in the church has been known to
cure the sick, especially in fevers. Upon one occa-
sion it restored sight to the blind. Even simpler
remedies than these were not without effect. A
story is related of Bishop Fortunatus, that, during
the war of the Goths, the Goth refused to let two
boys, whom he had taken prisoners, be ransomed; the
Bishop told him he would repent this refusal. As
the barbarian rode on he passed a church dedicated
to Saint Peter, the horse stumbled, and he fell,
breaking his hip-bone, so that the bone was divided
into two parts. This convinced him of his error,
and he immediately returned the boys to the Bishop,
who gave to his deacon some consecrated water to
pour over the body of the patient. This immediately
had the desired effect, for no sooner did the con-
secrated water touch the body of the Goth than the
fracture was healed, and he continued his journey as
if no such accident had befallen him. This water
MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL ROMANCE. 385
was perhaps of the same kind as that which was
once used instead of oil, when there happened to
be a deficiency, and wiiicli burned quite as well.
Another tale is also told of the virtue of a buskin,
which the freedman of St. Houoratus used always to
carry in his bosom. He was met one day whilst
ridino- by a woman bearing the lifeless body of her
son in her arms, who, recognising him as a servant
of God, implored his relief, and would not permit
him to continue his journey until he granted her
request. He dismounted, laid the buskin upon the
child, and it was restored to life.
A work published in 1796^ gives a very curious
account of some INIiracles, which were said to have
taken place in Italy during the French occupation
of that country ; —
" The Virgin Mary, who is the patroness of An-
cona, opened her eyes repeatedly, and the miracle
took place not only upon this picture, but also on
others in Italy at the same time. Three eminent
painters were called to attest to this miracle, and
greatly to their wonder, find that the painted
sockets in the picture were occupied by sensible and
natural eyes. Three fleur-de-lis suspended around
the painting of the Virgin, which had withered from
the length of time they had been there, now budded
afresh suddenly. Upon the annunciation of this
prodigy, a miracle still greater was to take place.
Nor were conversions wanted, for six Jews, a Turk,
and an Englishman joined the Church. Other saints
besides the Vii-gin had it in their power to work
miracles. At Viterbo, St. Rose was covered with
' Miraculous Events established by Authentic Letters from Italy.
336 THE TWIN GIANTS.
an abundant perspiration. An illuminated cross,
surmounted by three Jleur-de-lis, was observed to rest
on the holy chapel of Loretto, near Mandolo; nor
could this be the effect of the imagination, for Mr.
Stephen Green, a convert to Rome, in giving the
relation of the wonder to Dr. Milner, states that it
continued for twelve days ; therefore all were able to
examine it with the utmost circumspection."
An examination of the above account was after-
wards published by the Rev. John Berrington, a
Roman Catholic priest, in which he examines into
the pretended miracles and detects their fallacy.
They originated from superstition, were fostered by
the priesthood, and the painters were hired to be-
lieve in the reality of the prodigy. The astonishing
renovation of the lilies was a trick of a wag upon his
fellow-citizens. The appearance in the air had poli-
tical allusion to France. The conversions arose from
other causes, and what was the miracle which was
to take place is not known.
I
MESMERIC WONDERS. 339
CHAPTER VII.
MESMERIC WONDERS.
The style of some of the revelations made in the
last chapter will remind the reader of the most
romantic passages in the history of Mesmerism ; and
as the next volume will commence with an account
of that extraordinary agency, and of the wonders
wrought by, and attributed to it, so the present may
well close with a narrative given to the world by M.
Alexander Dumas, which seems to hang between
history and fable, and may, perchance, partake of
the nature of both.
The experiments of M. Dupotet were the means of
convincing Dr. Elliotson of the truth of Mesmerism ;
another convert, through the same means, was the
gentleman just named, and he relates an instance of
clairvoyance attested by himself on the part of the
celebrated Alexis.
In the case in question M. Dumas states himself
to have been the operator. The friend on whom
he relied for that purpose, M. Marcillet, being at
that time absent, and the '■'■mental travelling'''' re-
lated is the more interesting, as having been per-
formed at the request, and in the presence of, M.
Lesseps.
A very large party was assembled at the house of
M. Dumas, near Paris, and as his guests knew that
340 THE TWIN GIANTS.
lie interested himself in the exhibitions of M. Mar-
cillet, with a young man named Alexis, the conversa-
tion turned upon the subject of Magnetism, and some
persons present expressed a wish to see Alexis. This
M. Dumas told them was impossible at that time, as
the youth had requested him to permit him to per-
form a part at the theatre of St. Germain that very
evening. However, not long after they saw Alexis
in the garden. They invited Alexis to join the
company, and some one asked him to exhibit some
proofs of his extraordinary powers. The youth
replied, that he would do so most willingly could
any present put him into a magnetic sleep. A friend
whispered to M. Dumas, that he had better try and
perform this ; but Dumas replied, "• that although he
knew very well how to send people to sleep at the
theatres with his plays, and in the reading-rooms
with his novels, he knew not the art of magnetising
them to sleep." But his friend observed that by the
force of his will alone, he could magnetise the youth,
he had only to say to himself, " I wish to put Alexis
to sleep" to effect it. After a little more conversa-
tion concerning this point, Dumas folded his arms
and, concentrating all the might of his will, looked
at Alexis, saying to himself, " I will have him sleep."
Alexis shook as though with terror, and fell down
on the sofa — uttering a shrill cry ; he was agitated
by a nervous tremor, and his eyes rolled. Dumas
was alarmed, and took his hand — Alexis recognised
him, and exclaimed, " Ah ! never do such a thing
again without forewarning me — it might kill me."
Dumas asked him what his sensations were — he
replied, " a severe nervous shock, but you may calm
MESMERIC WONDERS. 841
it by taking away the fluid which oppresses my
stomach"''' (q. chest?).
" How can that be done?" — " You must drive it
back with both hands."
Dumas succeeded in doing this, and Alexis then
rephed to several questions which were asked him,
his eyes being bandaged previously ; but all present
were amazed, and while this was passing, M. Dumas
was told that some one down stairs wished to speak
to him — he left the room and found that it was his
old friend the Abbe Villette, chaplain of the School
of St. Cyr. They went up stairs together, the Abbe
was in plain clothes, and had nothing in his external
appearance to show that he was of the clergy.
Dumas placed the Abbe's hand in that of Alexis,
and asked, —
" Can you tell me who and what this gentleman
is V — " Yes, for he has faith, and is, moreover, an
excellent Christian."
" Well, but what is his profession ?" — " He is a
doctor."
" Ah ! there you are wrong, Alexis." — " Oh ! I
know what you mean — but there are doctors of
the body, and doctors of the soul. This gentleman
is a physician of the soul — he is a priest."
They then asked Alexis where the gentleman per-
formed his duties, and in reply, he minutely de-
scribed the School of St. Cyr, and also the pupils,
and the number of them. Being pressed to state the
name of the building, he said the College of St. Cyr.
They then made a variety of experiments, such as
requesting him to describe persons far from them,
and to read papers so carefully enveloped that it was
Q 2
342 THE TWIN GIANTS.
impossible for the eye to see them, and these experi-
ments were all accompanied by satisfactory results.
At length they asked Alexis if he would travel in
his sleep, and Avhere he would like to go ? he
answered, the place was quite indiiferent to him ;
thereupon j\I. Dumas beckoned to M. Lesseps, and
that gentleman went to him.
" We are going yonder," cried Dumas — now by
" yonder," in his mind and in that of M. Lesseps, was
meant Tunis, where M. Lesseps had lived twenty
years, and giving his hand to Alexis, he said, " let
us start r**
" Ah !" cried Alexis, " we are now in a sea-port —
we embark — oh ! — we are going to Africa, it seems —
it is hot."
" Yes, we are in the roadstead, do you see it V —
" Clearly ; the shape is that of a horse-shoe, and a
Cape at the right — it is neither Algiers nor Bona —
it is a town, but I do not know its name."
" What do you see V — " Something resembling a
port on the right, and a town to the left — now we
are on a canal, and here is a bridge — let us stoop."
Dumas and a friend looked at each other, for the
arches of the bridge, under which Alexis had re-
quested them to stoop, were so very low, that when
he and M. Boulanger went through them once, they
were nearly killed.
" You are right, Alexis," cried Boulanger, Lesseps,
and Dumas: "let us advance." — The youth then
said, " I thought we were arrived, but we re-embark,
— the town is still three or four leagues distant.
Ah ! now we have gained it."
" Shall we go into the town or walk about the
MESMERIC WONDERS. 34o
environs?" said M. Lesseps. — "Just as you will,"
replied Alexis.
" To the Bardo," whispered Dumas to M. Lesseps,
and he made a sign that he was leading Alexis
thither. The Bardo is the palace of the Bey.
" Let us leave the town to the right and continue
our walk," said M. Lesseps. — " Oh !"" cried Alexis,
" how dusty it Is ! we have walked a league, or a
league and a half, and now it appears we are passing
under an archway. I can see a monument : what
singular architecture ! one might say it was a large
tomb " (now it is well knovvn that Turkish palaces
do look very like tombs).
" Let us go in," said M. Lesseps. — " I cannot, be-
cause of a black sentinel who prevents our passing,"
" Tell him you are with me," replied M. Lesseps.
— " He moves away, and now we are in the court —
going up several steps. AVhere next must I go?" —
" To the Eeception Hall."—" I am in it."
"Describe it." — "There are arcades, and it is
sculptured like the Arabian Room of M. Dumas,
only in several parts the sculpture is painted."
" Well, lift your eyes to the ceiling — w^hat do you
perceive?" — "A sculptured ceiling, of wood appa-
rently."
"Isitpainted?"— " Yes."
" Of what colour."—" Red and blue."
" Do you not see something remarkable ?" — " Yes,
I do, there are stripes of gold, which run from the
centre, extending in all directions." — " That is it, it
is so," said ]\L Lesseps, and a more exact description
of the Port of Tunis, the Bay of Goletta, and the
Reception Hall cannot possibly be given.
o
44 THE TWIN GIANTS.
It is needless to say that many readers will put
this down in the same categor}' with the Count of
Monte Christo, and add it to the Hst of Dumas's
romances ; but M. Lesseps is no romance writer, and
it is hardly likely that his name would be introduced
into such a narrative, unless it had at least some
foundation in fact.
In the '• Critical History of Superstitious Prac-
tices," Pere Lebrun cites a letter from Hviygens to
the Abbe Marsenne, bearing date November 26th,
1640, in which he states, that there was a prisoner
at Antwerp who possessed the faculty of seeing
through stuffs and all kinds of clothing, if only they
were not red. Several charitable women came to
him in his prison, intending to comfort him in his
misfortune, but while they were discoursing very
piously, he laughed, and on being asked the cause
of this rude behaviour, he replied, without reserve,
" Because one of your party is without under-
clothing." Had this lady been fortunately clothed
in a red cloak, she would not have been thus discon-
certed. Debrio, in his " Disquisitiones Magicae,"
edition of Mayence, 1606, says, there is a class
of men in Spain who are called Zahuris. When
he was staying at Madrid in 1575, a boy of that
kind was there. These persons were said to be able
to spy out what was concealed in the earth, sub-
terraneous waters, metals, hidden treasure, or dead
bodies. The thing was generally known, and its
possibility believed in, not only by poets but philo-
sophers.
We quote the following concerning a lady from
the " Mercure de France." of 1728;— "She per-
MESMERIC WONDERS. 345
ceives what is hid in the earth, distinguishing stones,
sand, springs, to the depth of thirty or forty fathoms.
Into the human body she cannot see, except when it
is unclothed, but when the body is naked, she dis-
cerns the heart, the stomach, and other viscera, is
aware of abscesses, if such there be, and detects the
seeds of disease lurking in the juices.
APPENDIX.
In the Chapters on Magic, mention is made of the
art of making gems, and more will be said on the
subject nnder the title of Alchemy. In modern days
gems have been made by means of electricity, and
the following statement by Andrew Crosse, Esq., of
Broomfield, Somerset, will show how far he had
succeeded twelve years ago ; he has since prosecuted
his experiments with increased success :- —
Broomfield, March 23rd, 1837.
In the neighbourhood of this place is Hoi well cavern,
situate in a limestone rock, the roof of which is partially
lined with arragonite and carbonate of lime in crystals of
great beauty. The water which percolates the roof has been
found to hold, in solution, about ten grains of carbonate of
lime and a small quantity of sulphate of lime in each pint.
Having had an idea, for upwards of twenty years, that all
minerals were formed by long continued electrical action of
low intensity, I procured some of this water, and filled a
wine-glass with it, and subjected it to the action of two
hundred pairs of five-inch single plates in porcelain troughs,
the cells of which I filled with, common water. The
electric fluid was passed through the water by platina
wires. For nine days no alteration took place, but on the
tenth day I plainly perceived, by means of a lens, rhom-
boidal crystals of, what proved to be carbonate, of lime,
surrounding the negative wire, whilst no change took place
at the positive, except the separation of oxygen gas and
some sulphuric acid. In the course of three or four weeks
348 APPENDIX.
the negative wire was completely encrusted with similar
crystals, but perfectly transparent and refracting the pris-
matic colors. These crystals were about the size of the
head of a small pin. I performed this experiment a few
days after Christmas, 1835.
Having an idea that it would answer better in the dark,
I repeated tlie same with a water-battery of thirty-nine
pairs of two-inch plates, passing the electric fluid through
a glass vessel of the cavern water, containing a pint and a
quarter. The negative platina wire was coiled round a
piece of limestone. This apparatus I placed in my cellar.
At the end of six days the crystals made their appearance
at the negative pole, and at the expiration of six weeks
all the crystallizable matter was deposited at that pole, as
the water, when tested, gave no trace of lime. I then
removed the old, and poured in fresh water, and suffered
the electricity to go on as before. This continued for the
space of eight months, during which time I only changed
the water twice, having operated on three portions, or
three and three quarter pints of water. This neglect of
mine originated in having my mind distracted by domestic
illness. On examining the wires, I found no deposit on the
positive pole, but the negative was thickly covered with
calcareous spar quite hard ; some of it as white as snow,
and some of a brown color, which extended partly over
the limestone on which the wire was coiled ; some of the
crystals were perfect rhomboids, but mostly rather rounded
at the edges, and generally translucent. Having next
considered that the carbonate of lime in the cavern was
formed with access of air, I contrived an insulated filter,
through which I caused to drop factitious water of the
same nature as that of the cavern, but holding much more
carbonate of lime in solution : successive drops of tliis
were received for many weeks on a piece of common
ArrENDix. 349
scouring brick, which was thus kept wetted by the solution,
and across which, by platina wires, I passed the electric
cui-rent from one hundred pairs of five-inch plates in water.
The brick was supported by a glass funnel, which conveyed
the water into a bottle below, which, when full, was emp-
tied back again into the filter above. At the expiration
of four or five months the brick was partially covered with
carbonate of lime, more or less crystallized, and very fine
prismatic crystals of arragonite were deposited on that part
of the brick and adjoining portion of the glass funnel which
lay contiguous to, but did not touch, the positive pole, the
common carbonate of lime being confined to the negative.
I next determined to repeat these experiments on other
substances, and accordingly, formed a water-battery of
eleven large zinc and copper cylinders, in glass vessels,
each cylinder being nine inches high, and four in diameter.
I exposed to the action of this a piece of the same scour-
ing brick, standing in a glass bason, partly filled with
fluosilicic acid, but which did not cover the brick. A
small hole was made at the opposite ends of the brick for
the insertion of platina wires connected with the poles of
the battery. Soon after the action commenced lead
(which the acid contained) was deposited at the negative
pole ; and at the end of three weeks, all the lead being
deposited, minute crystals of silica made their appearance
on the extremity of the lead formation ; I then lifted up
the negative wire, and carefully removed the lead, after
which, when the action recommenced, the silica was deposited
at the positive instead of the negative pole. At the end
of between two and three months time I perceived some
crystalline matter at the bottom of the piece of brick, and
removed with a small wire a perfectly transparent hex-
ahedral prism, terminated with an hexahcdral pyramid — to
all appearance perfect quartz. I found, however, to my
350 APPENDIX.
disappointment, that it was too soft to scratcli glass, and
laid it aside ; at the end of two or three months it lost its
transparency, but maintained its figure. After waiting
another month, or between three and four months from the
commencement of the experiment, I removed a second
crystal from the lower part of the brick, and after putting
it in a dry place for one or two months more, I found that
it would scratch glass readily. This crystal measures
3-16th's of an inch in length, and 1-1 6th in diameter, is
perfectly transparent, and well formed. As there were
many more crystals at the bottom of the brick, apparently
in a rather soft state, and as the liquor had very much
evaporated, I refilled the glass bason with fresh fluosilicic
acid, and being called from home for a day or two, had the
mortification to find, on my return, all the crystals dis-
solved, and lead deposited at the negative pole as at first.
However, I allowed the action to continue, and after the
lead Avas all deposited, siliceous matter in the form of
mamillated chalcedony was separated, first at the negative,
and afterwards at both, poles. In the course of this ex-
periment I observed that although the fluosilicic acid
evaporated pretty rapidly, and carried the silica with it
into the atmosphere, when the silica was determined to the
negative alone, yet when it was separated at the positive
pole, it did not evaporate with the liquid, but remained
concentrated in it. This certainly appeared to me to be
the case, but the experiment should be many times re-
peated before one should come to a certain conclusion.
I next exposed to the action of a water-battery contain-
ing one hundred and sixty pairs of two inch plates, a solu-
tion of silicate of potash, with a piece of scouring brick in
the middle, and standing above the fluid. In three weeks'
time siliceous matter encrusted the positive wire, and a few
days afterwards, fifteen or twenty hcxahedral figures in the
APPENDIX. 351
form of somewliat raised outlineSj made their appearance
between the two wires on the surface of the brick. In a few
days more the angles of each of these figures were connected
with the centre by means of similar lines, and shortly after-
wards the whole figure was filled up by other lines, and
running parallel with each of the six sides, presenting an
appearance extremely similar to that of a spider's web.
These lines were evidently siliceous, and some of the figures
partially raised an hexahedral pyramidal summit above the
surface of the brick. I had great hopes that each would
have formed a complete crystal of quartz, but I was sorely
disappointed at their remaining stationary until they were
finally nearly obscured by other irregular formations. There
are, however, at the present time, some minute, but well-
formed crystals growing on the surface of the brick.
In another experiment I suspended a piece of clay slate
by platina wires in a solution of silicate of potash, and
observed in the course of time hexahedral gelatinous masses
of silica about the positive pole. These, however, finally
disappeared, and at the present time a very evident chal-
cedonic formation is taking place at the positive end of the
clay slate. I fear a very long time will be requisite to
form crystals of any size, either of quartz or of the other
earths, though I have every reason to believe that a process
will be discovered of expediting artificial crystallization,
and avoiding failures, and I think it more than possible
that every mineral substance which Nature produces in
such infinite variety and abundance, may, by hitting on
the right solution, and hy the 'proper application of the
electric action, sufficiently long continued, be produced, not
excepting the diamond itself.
The following is a list of mineral substances which I
have formed by electric action : — Carbonate of Lime ; Ar-
ragonite ; crystallized Quartz ; Arborescent Gold, Silver,
352 APPENDIX.
Copper, &c. ; Metallic Zinc ; Red Oxide of Copper in octo-
hedrous, opaque and transparent, very fine ; crystallized
Metallic Copper and Silver, in cubes, and octo-hedrons ;
crystallized Arseniate of Copper : crystallized blue carbon-
ate of ditto ; Malachite ; Phosphate of Copper ; Sulphuret
of ditto (grey) ; crystallized Carbonate of Lead ; Sulphuret
of Silver ; Mamillated Carbonate of Zinc ; Chalcedony ;
Oxide of Tin ; Yellow Oxide of Lead ; Sulphuret of Anti-
mony, (Kermis mineral) ; Mamillated black Oxide of Iron ;
Sulphuret of Iron ; crystallized Sulphur, &c.
As allusion has been very properly made to M. Bec-
querel's experiments, I think it right to state that, when I
commenced experimenting on crystallization, I had not
heard of them. A few weeks afterwards I heard from a
friend that M. B. had produced sulphurets of lead and
silver by the electric action, but had not seen his account
of the mode of conducting such experiments. I was led
years ago, partly from Sir H. Davy's splendid discoveries,
and partly from my own ideas, to imagine the possibility
of what has since proved to be fact. It is but due to my-
self to add that I attended the meeting at Bristol without
the least intention of intruding on the time of the Asso-
ciation, well knowing how incomplete my experiments were
then, and that had it not been for the advice of some
highly scientific gentlemen, I should not have presumed to
make any communication until I had gone further into
the matter.
Between three and four years ago I made a set of experi-
ments on the voltaic battery, and found what Dr. Faraday
has observed, the power to be considerably increased when
each copper plate of the one pair was brought into all but
contact with the zinc plate of the other pair, but that the
best mode of increasing the power of a battery was, in
addition to the first, the insulation of each separate pair of
APPENDIX. S53
plates. I have put together one thousand two hundred
pairs of zinc and copper cylinders on this plan filled with
water alone, and find the effect as follows, the average size
of the cylinders being about equal to a four-inch plate.
Four pairs communicate a change to an electrical battery
sufficient to cause iron wire barely to scintillate, and will
just decompose water.
One hundred pairs cause the gold leaves of an electro-
meter to diverge one eighth of an inch. Two hundred
pairs open the same two thirds of an inch. Three hundred
pairs cause the same to strike their sides and fire gun-
powder loosely placed on a brass plate, the opposite poles
being connected with an electrical battery. Five hundred
pairs give a smart shock, fire powder readily, give a visible
stream of fire to the dry fingers, and cauterize the skin as
though with a red hot wire. Twelve hundred pairs, being
connected with an electrical battery, fuse the point of a
pen-knife, deflagrate brilliantly metallic leaves, tin foil,
and even stout silver sheeting, &c. I have observed that
every morning, or nearly so, these batteries give to the
human body from three to five times the shock, between
the hours of seven and ten, that they do at any other time,
but that if the window- shutters be opened before the hour
of seven, this apparent increase does not take place. I am
about to investigate this more closely. I have used a bat-
tery of this kind for eighteen months without any sensible
diminution of power. These batteries are just calculated
for electrical crystallization, and from ten to fifty pairs of
insulated cylinders, I think, would answer every purpose of
that sort. There was another subject which I noticed at
the Bristol meeting, viz., Atmospheric electricity. I have
for many years paid considerable attention to this part of
the science, and have taken great pains in extending on
lofty poles, and insulating with all possible care, a copper
354 APPENDIX.
wire one-fifteentli of an incli iu diameter, and three
thousand feet long. The experiments made with this, as I
stated to the meeting, resemble those made on a smaller
scale by other experimenters. I have, however, observed
that the electric fluid resides in a thundercloud in a man-
ner wholly different from its residence in other bodies.
It is well known that if an insulated conducting plate be
electrified the electricity radiates from the centre to the
circumference, increasing in power as the squares of the
distance from the centre. Now, in the thundercloud it is
nearly, if not quite, the reverse — the greatest power resides
in the centre, and the least at the circumferences.
A thundercloud is also divided into zones of alternate
positive and negative electricity. It appears as though a
nucleus were first formed of one electricity, then a layer or
zone of the opposite, &c., and so on, weaker and weaker,
till it extends to the circumference. There are occasionally
electric fogs nearly as powerful as a small thundercloud,
and I have seen, during five hours, a stream of alternate
positive and negative electricity pour from the atmosphe-
rical conductor, during a fog, and driving rain sufficient to
fuse a considerable length of stout wire. These electrical
fogs are composed of alternate positive and negative
columns. Neither the Aurora Borealis nor the sheet-
lightning, common in summer, affect the atmospherical
conductor.
END OF VOL. I.
London: S. A; J. Buntlev and HtNKY Fley, Biingor House, Shoe I.anc.
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