THE CLAIRVOYANTE.
For some time past the inhabitants of Berlin had paid a great deal
of attention to the doings of Doctor Binder, and told each other
wonderful stories of the new medical system of this strange
physician. He treated his patients in an entirely novel way, and
performed his cures in a manner bordering strongly on the romantic
and miraculous. He neither felt the pulse of his sick friends, nor
did he examine their tongue; he only gazed on them for a minute with
his sombre, flaming eyes, and the patients then felt as if
fascinated by them. Their pain ceased, their blood burned less
ardently, and an indescribable feeling pervaded their body for a
moment. When the doctor perceived this, he would raise both his
hands, and with the palms softly and repeatedly stroke his subject's
face. Then the sufferer's cheeks colored; a wondrous, long-forgotten
smile played round the lips which, for many months, had opened only
to utter prayers, or sighs and complaints; the dimmed eyes began to
brighten, and fixed themselves with a radiant expression on the face
of the doctor, whose steadfast, piercing glances seemed to penetrate
the sick one's countenance, and reach down into his soul, in order
to divine, in its innermost recesses, his most secret feelings and
thoughts. By and by a sweet peace pervaded the soul of the patient;
his aching limbs relaxed; he folded his hands, which had hitherto
moved convulsively and restively on the counterpane; the eyes, which
had steadfastly rested on the face of the wonderful physician,
closed gradually, and soon his long and regular breathings indicated
that he had at length found the slumber which, during his sickness,
he had so long sought and yearned for.
It is true, the patient awoke after a time, and his sufferings
returned; the end of his slumber was often accompanied by painful
convulsions, an indescribable feeling of depression, and the most
profound sadness, but Dr. Binder was present; his eyes exorcised the
patient's pain, his hands quieted the quivering limbs, and chased
away the tears, and the sufferer fell again into a sweet and
refreshing slumber. This lulling the patient to sleep, this
fascinating gaze, and laying on of hands, were the only medicines
which the doctor administered, and by which he succeeded in freeing
them from their sufferings and diseases. People related the most
wonderful cures which he had performed; they spoke of persons who
had been blind ever since their birth, and whom he had caused to
see--of deaf-mutes, to whom he had given the power of speech and
hearing after a few days' treatment--of lame men, who suddenly,
after being touched by the doctor's hands, had thrown away their
crutches, and walked freely and easily.
But the public's attention was particularly riveted by the case of a
young girl who had been for some time past under Dr. Binder's
treatment. She had come from a distant city to seek a cure at the
hands of the famous physician and pupil of Mesmer. A bad cold had
brought about a paralysis of all her limbs; she was unable to move
her hands and feet, and had for months lain on her bed as
motionless, rigid, and dumb, as a marble statue. Her parents had, in
the anguish of their heart, at length applied to Dr. Binder. The
doctor received her into his house. He publicly invited all the
physicians of Berlin to visit his patient, to examine her condition,
and to satisfy themselves of the efficacy of his cure, he also
requested the public to watch the progress of it, and to come to his
house at the hours when he lulled his patient to sleep. The
physicians had disdainfully refused to have any thing to do with the
"quack doctor," who pretended to cure diseases without medicines;
but the public appeared the more eagerly.
And this public enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing that the
motionless form of the young girl, who at first had lain on the bed
as rigid as stone, very slowly commenced to move. It was seen that,
a few days afterward, she raised her right hand, and, shortly after,
her right foot; gradually life and motion were restored to her
limbs, and at length, at a truly solemn hour, the young girl, at the
doctor's loudly-uttered command, arose from her couch and paced the
room with firm and steady steps. It is true she uttered a piercing
cry, and fell at the feet of the doctor, her limbs quivering as
though she were seized with convulsion, but gradually she grew more
quiet; a peaceful expression beamed from her features, and she
commenced talking in a tone of joyous enthusiasm. She spoke of the
wonderful world on which she was gazing with her inward eyes, of the
visions which burst on her soul, and her lips whispered strange
prophecies. This condition of the patient repeatedly occurred every
day, and with unfailing regularity followed every "crisis."
The young woman had become a clairvoyante; and it was a truly
wonderful fact that she, who, according to the statements of her
relatives, had never cared for politics or public affairs, and to
whom it was entirely indifferent whether Napoleon or any other
sovereign ruled Germany, suddenly, in her clairvoyant state, devoted
her whole attention to political questions, and that she had, as it
were, become a prophetess of the destinies of states.
It was not very strange, therefore, that this phenomenon excited
even the attention of statesmen, and that they too went to see the
clairvoyante in her political ecstasy, and to put to her questions
on public affairs, which she answered always with truly wonderful
tact, and with the most profound insight into all such questions.
Among those who took an interest in her was the chancellor of state,
Minister von Hardenberg. Curiosity had at first induced him to call
upon her; then her clever and piquant remarks struck him as
something very strange, and at last he became a regular visitor. Of
late, at his special request, the room of the patient, during her
crises and clairvoyant trances, had been shut against all other
visitors, and only the chancellor and the physician were present.
The young woman, who, during her trances, regularly announced at
what hour of the following day she would relapse into this
condition, had predicted that she would awake from her magnetic
slumber at eight o'clock in the morning, and would then be in a
state of clairvoyance. This hour had not yet arrived; the clock
which stood in her room on the bureau under the looking-glass
indicated that about ten minutes were still wanting to the stated
time. A profound silence reigned in the room of the young patient.
The physician sat reading on a high-backed chair at her bedside--his
book contained the history and revelations of Swedenborg, the great
Swedish ghost-seer. From time to time, however, he turned his large,
flashing eyes toward the young woman, and seemed to watch her
slumber with searching glances.
The patient was motionless and rigid. A white, neat negligee
enveloped her slender figure, which was stretched out on the bed
without being covered with a counterpane. Her small, beautifully-
shaped hands were folded on her breast, her head was thrown back
sideways, and rested on a pillow of crimson velvet, which contrasted
strangely with her pale face, and black hair, that overhung her
marble cheeks in long tresses. The clock was striking eight. The
doctor cast a quick glance on the patient, and then slowly closed
his book. She began to stir and opened her lips, from which issued a
long, painful sigh. At this moment there was heard the roll of a
carriage on the street. The noise ceased, the carriage seemed to
stop in front of the house. The clairvoyante shuddered, and joy
kindled her countenance. "He is coming! he is coming!" she said, in
a deep, melodious voice. "I see him ascending the staircase. He is
pale and exhausted, and his eyes are dim, for he has slept but
little. Government affairs have kept him awake. Oh, now I am well,
for there he is!"
In fact, the door softly opened, and the chancellor cautiously
entered. By a quick wave of his hand, he ordered the doctor not to
meet him, and then approached the bed softly and on tiptoe.
The young woman did not change her position; her eyelashes did not
quiver, nor did she open her eyes, and yet she seemed to see
Hardenberg, for she said in a mournful and tremulous voice: "Well,
doctor, was I not right? Just see how pale he looks, and how the
sweet smile with which he formerly used to come to us is to-day very
faintly playing round his lips like a little will-o'-the-wisp! But I
told you already he has slept only two hours; he had to be so long
minister of state as to find scarcely two hours' rest for the poor,
exhausted man."
The physician cast an inquiring glance on the chancellor. Hardenberg
nodded smilingly. "You are right. Frederica," he said. "I was
minister of state all day long yesterday."
"No, no," she exclaimed, "not all the day. At the commencement of
Marshal Augereau's supper you were merry, and succeeded in
forgetting your onerous business; and had not the secretary of Count
St. Marsan made his appearance and brought the dispatches, you would
have finished your pheasant's wing with good appetite and in the
best of spirits."
The minister's face assumed an air of astonishment, and almost of
terror. "Ah," he said, "it seems you were present at that supper?"
"Certainly I was, for my soul is accompanying you all the time, and
my soul is the eye of my body. I see all you do, and know all your
thoughts."
"Well, then," said Hardenberg, smiling, "tell me what you saw last
night. Look backward, Frederica, and tell me where I was, and what I
did."
"Then you doubt my words?" she asked, reproachfully. "You want to
see whether I am able to tell you the truth? You know that it makes
my eyes ache to look backward, and that my spirit soars with easier
flight into the future than the past!"
"Do so nevertheless, Frederica," said Hardenberg, imperiously. "I
wish you to do so!" He laid his hand upon her arm, and the contact
made her start as an electric shock.
"I will obey," she whispered, in an humble tone. "I see you sitting
at the table of Marshal Augereau. You are in excellent spirits; you
are just telling the marshal that the betrothed of the crown prince
with a princess of the house of Napoleon will take place before
long; Count Narbonne is complaining of the political conversations
with which you are spicing the supper in too piquant a manner;
dispatches arrive and disturb your mirth."
"From whom do these dispatches come?" asked Hardenberg.
"From Marshal Macdonald, who addressed them to the French
ambassador, Count St. Marsan."
"Do you know their contents?"
"I am reading them. There is, in the first place, a letter from
General York--"
"Hush!" interrupted Hardenberg; "we will speak of that hereafter; do
not allude to it now. Tell me what else I did last night."
"After reading the dispatches, you hastened to the king to inform
him of the dreadful news. Scarcely had you been with him for a few
minutes, when a courier from General York arrived and delivered
dispatches concerning the same subject to which the others had
referred. After a protracted interview with the king, you went to
the French ambassador, and informed him of the sentiments and
resolutions of his majesty. The count declared himself satisfied
with what you told him, and you then hastened back to the king. You
there met Major Natzmer, whom the king intended to dispatch as a
courier to Murat and General York. You entered the king's room and
had another protracted interview with him. Thereupon you returned to
your residence."
"With whom did I speak there first of all?"
The clairvoyante was silent for a moment. "I do not see it," she
said, "the night is so dark."
"Open your eyes until you see!"
"Ah, I see now!" she exclaimed. "Your excellency spoke with old
Conrad. He accompanied you to your bedroom and handed you two
letters."
"She is right," muttered the chancellor, loudly enough to be heard
by the young woman and the physician. "Yes, she is right; it is all
precisely as she says." He then asked aloud: "Did I speak with any
one else than Conrad?"
"No," she said; "I do not see anybody else. Conrad told you that I
would open the eyes of my soul and see at eight o'clock this
morning. You ordered him to awaken you at seven o'clock, and went to
bed."
"What did I do before falling asleep?"
"You read the two little notes," she said, with a coy smile.
The chancellor turned his eyes toward the physician, who witnessed
this scene in silent and solemn earnestness. "Doctor Binder," he
said, "all that this young lady told me just now is strictly true.
All my doubts are henceforth dispelled, and from this hour I am one
of the believers. No; I say this is no deception, no imposition; it
is a mystery of nature, which I am unable to explain, but in which I
am compelled to believe. It is given to this young lady to look with
the eyes of her soul into the past, as well as into the future, and
to perceive and penetrate the most secret things. I believe in her,
and shall henceforth allow myself to be directed and instructed by
her revelations. I thank you for having brought this wonderful girl
to my notice, and you may always count on my heart-felt gratitude."
"Belief in the high art of my science and doctrines is the only
gratitude I am yearning for, and my only desire is not to be
prevented from healing poor patients and making suffering humanity
happy by my holy science."
"No one shall be allowed to prevent you from doing so as long as _I_
am minister, I pledge you my word," said Hardenberg, gravely. "Take
heart, therefore, and do not be afraid. I am your disciple, and at
the same time your protector. But now grant me a request: I should
like to put to our charming seer yet a few questions in regard to
last night's events. She shall, in her inspired and prophetic
prescience, give me her advice and tell me what course I must
pursue; but, in doing so, I shall have to allude to state secrets,
and to speak of affairs which no one is allowed to know but the king
and his ministers, and--"
"I pray your excellency to permit me to leave you alone with our
young seer," interrupted Doctor Binder, with a polite smile. "I have
to see several patients, and my presence is required at the 'Hall of
Crises' below, for my two young assistants are scarcely able to
restrain our female patients when the crisis sets in."
"Go, then, to your patients," said Hardenberg; "I shall stay here
with our clairvoyante until she awakes."
"If your excellency needs any thing," said the doctor, approaching
the door, "it will only be necessary for you to ring the bell; the
nurse is in the reception-room, and will immediately call my
assistants."
He bowed to Hardenberg, bent once more with a searching glance over
the couch of his patient, drew with his hands a few circles over her
head, and left the room with noiseless steps. The chancellor and the
clairvoyante were alone.