FALSE MESSIAHS, PROPHETS, AND MIRACLES.
Susceptibility of the Imagination in the East--Mahomet--His
Origin--He assumes the Title of the Apostle of God--Opposition to
him--Revelations brought to Him by the Angel Gabriel--His Flight
to Medina--Success of his Imposture--Attempt to poison him--His
Death--Tradition respecting his Tomb--Account of his Intercourse
with Heaven--Sabatai Sevi, a false Messiah--Superstitious
Tradition among the Jews--Reports respecting the Coming
of the Messiah--Sabatai pretends to be the Messiah--He is
assisted by Nathan--Follies committed by the Jews--Honours
paid to Sabatai--He embarks for Constantinople--His Arrest--He
embraces Mahometanism to avoid Death--Rosenfeld, a German,
proclaims himself the Messiah--His knavery--He is whipped and
imprisoned--Richard Brothers announces himself as the revealed
Prince and Prophet of the Jews--He dies in Bedlam--Thomas
Muncer and his Associates--Their Fate--Matthias, John of
Leyden, and other Anabaptist Leaders--They are defeated and
executed--The French Prophets--Punishment of them--Miracles
at the Grave of the Deacon Paris--Horrible Self-inflictions
of the Convulsionaries--The Brothers of Brugglen--They are
executed--Prophecy of a Lifeguardsman in London--Joanna
Southcott--Her Origin, Progress, and Death--Folly of her
Disciples--Miracles of Prince Hohenlohe.
The earlier species of superstitious belief are now passed away, and
the remembrance of them only serves to adorn poetic fiction. In eastern
countries, where the imagination is more susceptible, men have yielded
a religious faith to one, the rapid extension of whose tenets, though
subsequent indeed to his death, was as astonishing as the boldness and
effrontery of his attempt; which may be considered without a parallel
in the annals of imposture.
Mahomet, the original contriver and founder of the false religion so
extensively professed in the East, has always been designated, _par
excellence_, “The Impostor.” He was born at Mecca, in the year of our
Lord 571, of the tribe of the Koreshites, the noblest and most powerful
in the country. In his youth he was employed by his uncle, a merchant,
as a camel-driver; and, as a term of reproach, and proof of the lowness
of his origin, his enemies used to call him “The Camel-driver.” When he
was once in the market-place of Bostra with his camels, it is asserted,
that he was recognised by a learned monk, called Bahira, as a prophet;
the monk pretended to know him by a halo of divine light around his
countenance, and he hailed him with joy and veneration.
In his twenty-fifth year Mahomet married a rich widow; this raised him
to affluence, and he appeared at that time to have formed the secret
plan of obtaining for himself sovereign power. He assumed the character
of superior sanctity, and every morning retired to a secret cave,
near Mecca, where he devoted the day to prayer, abstinence, and holy
meditation.
In his fortieth year, he took the title of Apostle of God, and
increased his fame by perseverance, and the aid of pretended visions.
He made at first but few proselytes; his enemies, who suspected his
designs, and perhaps foresaw his bold and rapid strides to power,
heaped on him the appellations of impostor, liar, and magician. But
he overcame all opposition in promulgating his doctrine, chiefly by
flattering the passions and prejudices of his nation. In a climate
exposed to a burning sun, he allured the imagination, by promising
as rewards, in the future state, rivers of cooling waters, shady
retreats, luxurious fruits, and immaculate houris. His system
of religion was given out as the command of God, and he produced
occasionally various chapters, which had been copied from the archives
of Heaven, and brought down to him by the Angel Gabriel; and if
difficulties or doubts were started, they were quickly removed, as this
obliging Angel brought down fresh revelations to support his character
for sanctity. When miracles were demanded of him, in testimony of his
divine mission, he said with an air of authority, that God had sent
Moses and Christ with miracles, and men would not believe; therefore,
he had sent him in the last place without them, and to use a sword in
their stead. This communication exposed him to some danger, and he was
compelled to fly from Mecca to Medina; from which period is fixed the
Hegira, or flight, at which he began to propagate his doctrines by the
sword. His arms were successful. In spite of some checks, he ultimately
overcame or gained over all his foes, and within ten years after his
flight, his authority was recognised throughout the Arabian peninsula.
Among the tribes subjugated by his sword was the Jewish tribe of
Khaibar. He put to death Kenana, the chief, who assumed the title of
King of the Jews; and after the victory, he took up his abode in the
house of a Jew, whose son, Marhab, had fallen in the contest. This
circumstance nearly cost him his life. Desirous to avenge her brother,
Zeinab, the sister of Marhab, put poison in a shoulder of mutton, which
was served up to Mahomet. The prophet was saved by seeing one of his
officers fall, who had begun before him to eat of the dish. He hastily
rejected the morsel which he had taken into his own mouth; but so
virulent was the poison, that his health was severely injured, and his
death is thought to have been hastened by it. On being questioned as
to the motive which had prompted her, Zeinab boldly replied, “I wished
to discover whether you are really a prophet, in which case you could
preserve yourself from the poison; and, if you were not so, I sought
to deliver my country from an impostor and a tyrant.”
Mahomet died at Medina, and a fabulous tradition asserts that his body
in an iron coffin, was suspended in the air, through the agency of two
loadstones concealed, one in the roof, and the other beneath the floor
of his mausoleum.
The success of this impostor, during his life, is not more astonishing
than the extent to which his doctrines have been propagated since his
death. The Koran was compiled subsequent to his decease, from chapters
said to have been brought by the angel Gabriel from Heaven. It is
composed of sublime truths, incredible fables, and ludicrous events;
by artful interpolation he grafted on his theories such parts of the
Holy Scriptures as suited his purpose, and announced himself to be that
comforter which our Saviour had promised should come after him.
Mahomet was a man of ready wit, and bore all the affronts of his
enemies with concealed resentment. Many artifices were had recourse
to, for the purpose of delusion; it is said a bull was taught to bring
him on its horns revelations, as if sent from God; and he bred up
pigeons to come to his ears, and feign thereby that the Holy Ghost
conversed with him. His ingenuity made him turn to his own advantage
circumstances otherwise against him. He was troubled with the falling
sickness, and he persuaded his followers that, during the moments of
suspended animation, he accompanied the Angel Gabriel, in various
journeys, borne by the celestial beast Alborak, and that ascending to
the highest heavens, he was permitted to converse familiarly with the
Almighty.
His first interview with the angel took place at night, when in bed;
he heard a knocking at the door, and having opened it, he then saw the
Angel Gabriel, with seventy-nine pairs of wings, expanded from his
sides, whiter than snow, and clearer than crystal, and the celestial
beast beside him. This beast he described as being between an ass and
mule, as white as milk, and of extraordinary swiftness. Mahomet was
most kindly embraced by the angel, who told him that he was sent to
bring him unto God in heaven, where he should see strange mysteries,
which were not lawful to be seen by other men, and bid him get upon the
beast; but the beast having long lain idle, from the time of Christ
till Mahomet, was grown so restive and skittish, that he would not
stand still for Mahomet to get upon him, till at length he was forced
to bribe him to it, by promising him a place in Paradise. The beast
carried him to Jerusalem in the twinkling of an eye. The departed
saints saluted them, and they proceeded to the oratory in the Temple;
returning from the Temple they found a ladder of light ready fixed for
them, which they immediately ascended, leaving the Alborak there tied
to a rock till their return.
Mahomet is said to have given a dying promise to return in a thousand
years, but that time being already past, his faithful followers say
the period he really mentioned was two thousand, though, owing to the
weakness of his voice, he could not be distinctly heard.
A pilgrimage to Mecca is thought, by devout Mahometans, to be the most
efficacious means of procuring remission of sins and the enjoyments of
Paradise; and even the camels[3] which go on that journey are held so
sacred after their return, that many fanatical Turks, when they have
seen them, destroy their eyesight by looking closely on hot bricks,
desiring to see nothing profane after so sacred a spectacle.
The early leaning of the Jews towards idolatry and superstition
has been recorded in terms that admit of no dispute, by their own
historians. The same leaning continued to be manifest in them for many
ages. Sandys, in his travels, heard of an ancient tradition current on
the borders of the Red Sea, that the day on which the Jews celebrate
the passover, loaves of bread, by time converted into stone, are seen
to arise from that sea;[4] and are supposed to be some of the bread the
Jews left in their passage.
They were sold at Grand Cairo, handsomely made up in the manner and
shape of the bread, at _the time in which he wrote_; and this was of
itself sufficient to betray the imposture.
The anxiously-expected appearance of their Messiah made the Jews very
easily imposed upon by those who for interested motives chose to assume
so sacred a title. Our Saviour predicted the coming of false Christs,
and many have since his day appeared, though perhaps no false prophet
in later days has excited a more general commotion in that nation than
Sabatai Sevi.
According to the prediction of several Christian writers, who commented
on the Apocalypse, the year 1666 was to prove one of wonders, and
particularly of blessings to the Jews; and reports flew from place to
place, of the march of multitudes of people from unknown parts in the
remote deserts of Asia, supposed to be the ten tribes and a half lost
for so many ages, and also that a ship had arrived in the north of
Scotland, with sails and cordage of silk, navigated by mariners who
spoke nothing but Hebrew; with this motto on their flag, “The twelve
tribes of Israel.” These reports, agreeing thus near with former
predictions, led the credulous to expect that the year would produce
strange events with reference to the Jewish nation.
Thus were millions of people possessed, when Sabatai Sevi appeared at
Smyrna, and proclaimed himself to the Jews as their Messiah; declaring
the greatness of his approaching kingdom, and the strong hand whereby
God was about to deliver them from bondage, and gather them together.
“It was strange,” says Mr. Evelyn, “to see how this fancy took, and how
fast the report of Sabatai and his doctrine flew through those parts of
Turkey the Jews inhabited: they were so deeply possessed of their new
kingdom, and their promotion to honour, that none of them attended to
business of any kind, except to prepare for a journey to Jerusalem.”
Sabatai was the son of Mordechai Sevi, an inhabitant of Smyrna, who
acted as a broker to English merchants. His son, studying metaphysics,
vented a new doctrine in the law; and, gaining some disciples, he
attracted sufficient notice to cause his banishment from the city.
During his exile he was twice married, but soon after each ceremony
he obtained a divorce. At Jerusalem he married a third time. He there
began to preach a reform in the law, and meeting with another Jew,
named Nathan, he communicated to him his intention of proclaiming
himself the Messiah, so long expected, and so much desired by the Jews.
Nathan assisted in this deceit, and as, according to the ancient
prophecies, it was necessary Elias should precede the Messiah, Nathan
thought no one so proper as himself to personate that prophet. Nathan,
therefore, as the forerunner of the Messiah, announced to the Jews what
was about to take place, and that consequently nothing but joy and
triumph ought to dwell in their habitations. This delusion being once
begun, many Jews really believed what they so much desired; and Nathan
took courage to prophesy, that in one year from the 27th of Kislev
(June), the Messiah should appear, and take from the grand signior his
crown, and lead him in chains like a captive.
Sabatai meanwhile preached at Gaza repentance to the Jews, and
obedience to himself and his doctrine. These novelties very much
affected the Jews; and they gave themselves up to prayers, alms, and
devotion. The rumour flying abroad, letters of congratulation came from
all parts to Jerusalem and Gaza: and thus encouraged, Sabatai resolved
to travel to Smyrna, and thence to Constantinople, the capital city,
where the principal work was to be performed.
All was now expectation among the Jews; no trade was followed, and
every one imagined that daily provisions, riches, and honour, were
to descend upon him miraculously. Many fasted so long that they were
famished to death; others buried themselves in their gardens up to the
neck; but the most common mortification was to prick their backs and
sides with thorns, and then give themselves thirty-nine lashes.
To avoid the necessity of business, which was even made a fineable
offence, the rich were taxed to support the poor; and, lest the Messiah
should accuse them of neglecting ancient precepts, particularly that to
increase and multiply, they married together children of ten years and
under. Without respect to riches or poverty, to the number of six or
seven hundred couples were indiscriminately joined: but on better and
cooler thoughts, after the deceit was discovered, or expectation grew
cold, these children were divorced or separated by mutual consent.
At Smyrna, Sabatai was well received by the common Jews, but not so
by the chochams or doctors of the law, who gave no credence to his
pretensions. Yet Sabatai, bringing testimonials of his sanctity, holy
life, wisdom, and gift of prophecy, so deeply fixed himself in the
hearts of the generality, that he took courage to dispute with the
grand chocham. Arguments grew so strong, and language so hot, between
the disputants, that the Jews who espoused Sabatai’s doctrine appeared
in great numbers before the Cadi of Smyrna, in justification of him.
Sabatai thus gained ground, whilst the grand chocham in like proportion
lost it, as well as the affection and obedience of his people, and
ultimately he was displaced.
No invitation was now ever made by the Jews, or marriage ceremony
solemnized, where Sabatai was not present, accompanied by a multitude
of followers; and the streets were covered with carpets or fine cloths
for him to tread upon, which the pretended humility of this Pharisee
stooped to turn aside. Many of his followers became prophetic; and
infants, who could scarcely stammer a syllable to their mothers, could
pronounce and repeat his name. There were still, however, numbers bold
enough to dispute his mission, and to proclaim him an impostor.
Sabatai then proceeded with great presumption to an election of
princes, who were to govern the Israelites during their march to the
Holy Land. Miracles were thought necessary for the confirmation of the
Jews in their faith; and it was pretended that on one occasion a pillar
of fire was seen between Sabatai and the cadi: though but few were said
to have seen it, it speedily became the general belief, and Sabatai
returned triumphant to his house, fixed in the hearts of all his
people. He then prepared for his journey to Constantinople, where his
great work was to be accomplished: but, to avoid the confusion of his
numerous followers, he went by sea with a small party, and was detained
thirty-nine days by contrary winds. His followers, having arrived
overland before him, awaited his coming with great anxiety. Having
heard of the disorder and madness that had spread among the Jews, and
fearing the consequences, the vizir sent a boat to arrest Sabatai, and
he was brought ashore a prisoner, and committed to the darkest dungeon,
to await his sentence.
Undiscouraged by this event, the Jews were rather confirmed in their
belief; and visited him with the same ceremony and respect, as if
exalted on the throne of Israel. Sabatai was kept a prisoner two
months, and then removed to the castle of Abydos, where he was so much
sought after by the Jews, that the Turks demanded five or ten dollars
for the admission of each proselyte. At his leisure in this castle, he
composed a new mode of worship.
The Jews now only awaited the personal appearance of Elias, previous
to the glorious consummation. There is a superstition among them, that
Elias is invisibly present in their families, and they generally spread
a table for him, to which they invite poor people; leaving the chief
seat for the Lord Elias, who they believe partakes of the entertainment
with gratitude. On one occasion, at the ceremony of circumcision,
Sabatai took advantage of this credulity, for he exhorted the parents
to wait awhile, and, after an interval of half an hour, he ordered them
to proceed. The reason he gave for this delay was, that Elias had not
at first taken the seat prepared for him, and therefore he had waited
till he saw him sit down.
Having had the history of the whole affair laid before him, the grand
signior sent for Sabatai to Adrianople. On receiving the summons, the
pseudo-Messiah appeared to be much dejected, and to have lost that
courage which he formerly showed in the synagogues. The grand signior
would not be satisfied without a miracle any more than the Jews; but he
wisely resolved that it should be one of his own choosing. He ordered
that Sabatai should be stripped naked, and set up as a mark for the
dexterous archers of the sultan to shoot at, and, if it was found that
his skin was arrow-proof, he would then believe him to be the Messiah.
Not having faith enough in himself to stand so sharp a trial, Sabatai
renounced all title to kingdoms and governments, alleging that he was
merely an ordinary chocham. Not satisfied with this, the grand signior
declared that the treason of the Jew was only to be expiated by a
conversion to Mahometanism, which if he refused, a stake was ready at
the gate of the seraglio, on which to impale him. Sabatai replied, with
much cheerfulness, that he was contented to turn Turk; and that not of
force, but choice, he having been a long time desirous of so glorious a
profession.
When the Jews received intelligence of Sabatai’s apostacy, and found
that all their insane hopes were completely blighted, they were filled
with consternation and shame. The news quickly spread all over Turkey,
and they became so much the common derision of all the unbelievers,
that, for a long time, they were overcome with confusion and dejection
of spirit.
Of subsequent pretenders to the sacred character of the Messiah, it
must suffice to mention two; the one of them a German, the other an
English subject.
The German, whose name was Hans Rosenfeld, was a gamekeeper. The scene
of his impious or insane pretensions was Prussia and the neighbouring
states. He taught that Christianity was a deception, and that its
priests were impostors. Having thus summarily disposed of spiritual
matters, he proceeded to meddle with temporal in a manner which was
not a little dangerous under a despotic government. Frederick the
Great, who was then on the throne, he declared to be the devil; and, as
it was not fit that the devil should reign, Rosenfeld made known that
he intended to depose him. Having accomplished this difficult feat, he
was to rule the world, at the head of a council of twenty-four elders.
The seven seals were then to be opened. In his choice of the angels who
were to open the seals, he took care to have an eye to his own pleasure
and interest. He demanded from his followers seven beautiful girls, who
were to fill the important office; but that, in the mean while, the
office might not be a sinecure, they held the place of mistresses to
him, and maintained him by their labour.
Rosenfeld was suffered to go on thus for twenty years, with
occasionally a short imprisonment, and he still continued to find
dupes. He might, perhaps, have gone to his grave without receiving any
serious check, had he not been overthrown, though unintentionally,
by one of his own partisans. This man, who had resigned three of
his daughters to the impostor, was tired of waiting so long for his
promised share of the good things which the pseudo-Messiah was to
dispense; it was not his faith, it was only his patience, that was
exhausted. To quicken the movements of Rosenfeld, he hit upon a rare
expedient. As, according to his creed, the king was the devil, he went
to him for the purpose of provoking the monarch to play the devil,
by acting in such a manner as should compel the impostor to exert
immediately his supernatural powers. On this provocation, Frederick
did act, and with effect. Rosenfeld was ordered to be tried; the trial
took place in 1782, and the tribunal sentenced him to be whipped,
and imprisoned for life at Spandau. Against this sentence he twice
appealed, but it was finally executed.
The English claimant of divine honours was Richard Brothers. He was
born at Placentia, in Newfoundland, and had served in the navy,
but resigned his commission, because, to use his own words, he
“conceived the military life to be totally repugnant to the duties
of Christianity, and he could not conscientiously receive the wages
of plunder, bloodshed, and murder.” This step reduced him to great
poverty, and he appears to have suffered much in consequence. His mind
was already shaken, and his privations and solitary reflections seem
at length to have entirely overthrown it. The first instance of his
madness appears to have been his belief that he could restore sight
to the blind. He next began to see visions and to prophesy, and soon
became persuaded that he was commissioned by Heaven to lead back the
Jews to Palestine. It was in the latter part of 1794 that he announced,
through the medium of the press, his high destiny. His rhapsody bore
the title of “A revealed Knowledge of the Prophecies and Times. Book
the First. Wrote under the direction of the Lord God, and published by
his sacred command; it being the first sign of warning for the benefit
of all nations. Containing, with other great and remarkable things, not
revealed to any other person on earth, the restoration of the Hebrews
to Jerusalem, by the year of 1798: under their revealed prince and
prophet.” A second part speedily followed, which purported to relate
“particularly to the present time, the present war, and the prophecy
now fulfilling: containing, with other great and remarkable things, not
revealed to any other person on earth, the sudden and perpetual fall of
the Turkish, German, and Russian Empires.” Among many similar flights,
in this second part, was one which described visions revealing to him
the intended destruction of London, and claimed for the prophet the
merit of having saved the city, by his intercession with the Deity.
Though every page of his writings betrayed the melancholy state of
the unfortunate man’s mind, such is the infatuation of human beings,
that he speedily gained a multitude of partisans, who placed implicit
faith in the divine nature of his mission. Nor were his followers found
only in the humble and unenlightened classes of society. Strange as it
may appear, he was firmly believed in by men of talent and education.
Among his most devoted disciples were Sharpe, the celebrated engraver,
whom we shall soon see clinging to Joanna Southcott; and Mr. Halhed,
a profound scholar, a man of great wit and acuteness, and a member of
the House of Commons. The latter gave to the world various pamphlets,
strongly asserting the prophetic mission of Brothers, and actually made
in the House a motion in favour of the prince of the Jews. Numerous
pamphlets were also published by members of the new sect.
Brothers was now conveyed to a madhouse at Islington; but he continued
to see visions, and to pour forth his incoherencies in print. One of
his productions, while he was in this asylum, was a letter, of two
hundred pages, to “Miss Cott, the recorded daughter of King David, and
future Queen of the Hebrews. With an Address to the Members of his
Britannic Majesty’s Council.” The lady to whom his letter was addressed
had been an inmate of the same receptacle with himself, and he became
so enamoured, that he discovered her to be “the recorded daughter
of both David and Solomon,” and his spouse, “by divine ordinance.”
Brothers was subsequently removed to Bedlam, where he resided till his
decease, which did not take place for several years.
Among the most mischievous of the pretenders to prophetical inspiration
may be reckoned Thomas Muncer, and his companions, Storck, Stubner,
Cellarius, Thomas, and several others, contemporaries of Luther, from
whom sprang the sect of the Anabaptists. Eighty-four of them assumed
the character of twelve apostles and seventy-two disciples. “They state
wonderful things respecting themselves,” says Melancthon, in a letter
to the Elector of Saxony; “namely, that they are sent to instruct
mankind by the clear voice of God; that they verily hold converse with
God, see future things, and, in short, are altogether prophetical and
apostolical men.” Muncer was, of them all, the one who possessed the
highest portion of talents and eloquence, and chiefly by his exertions
a spirit of insurrection was excited among the peasantry. Expelled from
Saxony, he found a retreat at Alstadt, in Thuringia, where the people
listened to his revelations, gave him the chief authority in the place,
and proceeded to establish that community of goods which was one of his
doctrines. The war of the peasants had by this time broken out, but
Muncer hesitated to place himself at their head. The exhortations of
Pfeifer, another impostor, of a more daring spirit, and who pretended
to have seen visions predictive of success, at length induced him
to take the field. His force was, however, speedily attacked, near
Frankhuysen, by the army of the allied princes, and, in spite of the
courage and eloquence which he displayed, it was utterly defeated.
Muncer escaped for the moment, but speedily fell into the hands of his
enemies, and, after having been twice tortured, was beheaded. The same
fate befell Pfeifer and some of his associates. Of the unfortunate
peasants, who had been driven to arms by oppression, still more than by
fanaticism, several thousands perished.
Nine years afterwards, consequences equally disastrous were produced by
fanatical leaders of the same sect. In 1534, John Matthias of Haarlem,
and John Boccold, who, from his birthplace being Leyden, is generally
known as John of Leyden, at the head of their followers, among the
most conspicuous of whom were Knipperdolling, and Bernard Rothman, a
celebrated preacher, succeeded in making themselves masters of the city
of Munster. Though Matthias was originally a baker, and the latter a
journeyman tailor, they were unquestionably men of great courage and
ability. As soon as they were in possession of the place, the authority
was assumed by Matthias, and equality and a community of goods were
established, and the name of Munster was changed to that of Mount Sion.
The city was soon besieged by its bishop, Count Waldeck. Matthias, who
had hitherto displayed considerable skill in his military preparations,
now took a step which proved that his reason had wholly deserted him.
He determined, in imitation of Gideon, to go forth with only thirty
men, and overthrow the besieging host. Of course he and his associates
perished.
John of Leyden now became the principal leader. To establish his
authority, he pretended to fall into a trance, and have visions.
Among the revelations made to him were, that he was to appoint twelve
elders of the people, similar to those of the twelve Hebrew tribes,
and that the laws of marriage were to be changed, each person being
henceforth at liberty to marry as many wives as he chose. Of the latter
permission he availed himself to the extent of three wives, one of
whom was the widow of Matthias. A new prophet now started up, who was
a watchmaker by trade. Charged, as he pretended, with a mission from
above, he gathered round him a multitude, and announced it to be the
will of Heaven, that John of Leyden should be crowned king of all the
earth, and should march at the head of an army to put down princes
and unbelievers. John was accordingly enthroned; and, decked in royal
ornaments, he held his court in an open part of the city. Among his
first acts of sovereignty appears to have been the despatching, in
pursuance of a celestial order, twenty-eight missionaries, to spread
the doctrines of his sect through the four quarters of the world. The
twenty-eight apostles were readily found, and they proceeded to execute
his orders. Of these unfortunate enthusiasts all but one endured
tortures and death.
The bishop had by this time increased his force to an extent which
enabled him to hold the city completely blockaded. The citizens
suffered dreadfully from famine and disease; but John of Leyden lost
not one jot of his confidence. One of his wives, having incautiously
expressed her sympathy for the sufferers, was instantly punished by
being beheaded, and her death was celebrated by the multitude with
singing and dancing.
During all this time, John of Leyden displayed a degree of firmness,
vigilance, and prudence in guarding against the enemy, which did credit
to his abilities. Till nearly the end of June 1535, he contrived to
hold the blockading army at bay. But the end of his reign was now
approaching. Two fugitives gave the bishop information of a vulnerable
point; and on the 24th of June a band of picked soldiers effected an
entrance into the city. A desperate struggle ensued, and the king and
his partisans fought with such desperate courage, that the assailants
were on the very verge of defeat, when they contrived to open a gate,
and admit the troops from without the walls. Resistance was speedily
subdued by overwhelming numbers. Rothman was fortunate enough to fall
by the sword; but John of Leyden, Knipperdolling, and another of the
leaders, were taken, and died in the most barbarous torments; their
flesh was torn from their bones by burning pincers, and their mangled
remains were hung up in iron cages.
Passing to the commencement of the eighteenth century, we find a group
of pretended prophets, and miracle-workers, perhaps not less fanatical
than those which have just been described, but certainly less noxious.
They were Protestants, and were known by the appellation of the French
prophets. It was towards the latter end of 1706 that they came to
England, from the mountains of the Cevennes, where their countrymen
had for a considerable time maintained a contest with the troops of
the persecuting Louis XIV. As exiles for conscience sake, they were
treated with respect and kindness; but they soon forfeited all claim to
respect by the folly or knavery of their conduct. Of this group Elias
Marion was the prominent figure; the others acting only subordinate
parts. He loudly proclaimed that he was the messenger of Heaven, and
was authorized to denounce judgments, and to look into futurity. All
kinds of arts were employed by Marion and his associates to excite
public attention--sudden droppings down as though death-struck;
sighs and groans, and then shrieks and vociferations, on recovering;
broken sentences, uttered in unearthly tones; violent contortions;
and desperate strugglings with the Spirit, followed by submission and
repentance; were all brought into the play. The number of the believers
in their power soon became considerable. In proportion as they gained
partisans, they increased their vaunts of miraculous gifts; and at
length they boldly announced that they were invested with power to
raise the dead. They even went so far as to try the experiment; and,
notwithstanding repeated failures, their besotted followers continued
to adhere to them. In vain did the ministers and elders of the French
chapel, in the Savoy, declare their pretensions to be blasphemous and
dangerous. Far from being deterred by this censure, the prophets grew
more strenuous in their exertions to make proselytes, and more daring
in their invectives; prophesying daily in the streets to crowds,
launching invectives against the ministers of the established church,
and predicting heavy judgments on the British metropolis and nation.
It was at last thought necessary to put a stop to their career, and
they were consequently prosecuted as impostors. They were sentenced
to be exposed on a scaffold, at Charing Cross and the Royal Exchange,
with a paper declaring their offence; to pay each of them a fine of
twenty marks; and to find security for their good behaviour. After a
time the sect which they had formed died away, but its ruin was less
to be attributed to the punishment of the prophets, or the recovery of
reason by their votaries, than by a report which was spread that they
were nothing more than the instruments of designing men, who wished to
disseminate Socinianism, and destroy orthodoxy.
About twenty years after the freaks of the French prophets had been put
down in England, scenes occurred in the French capital which degrade
human nature, and appear almost incredible. Those scenes arose out
of the contest between the Jansenists and their antagonists, and the
dispute respecting the celebrated Bull Unigenitus, which the Jansenists
held in abhorrence. One of the oppugners of the bull was the deacon
Paris, a pious and charitable man, whose scruples on the subject
prevented him from taking priest’s orders, and who relinquished his
patrimony to his younger brother, and lived by making stockings, the
gains arising from which humble occupation he shared with the poor.
His benevolence, his piety, and his austere life, gained for him
admiration and affection; and when he died, in 1727, his grave in
the churchyard of St. Medard was visited by crowds, as that of a
saint. Some of his votaries, who were diseased or infirm, soon began
to imagine that a miracle was worked on them by the influence of the
blessed deceased. Blind eyes were said to be restored to their faculty
of seeing, and contracted limbs to be elongated. As faith increased,
cures increased, and so did the multitudes which thronged from all
parts, and consisted of the highest as well as the lowest ranks. The
votaries now began to exhibit the most violent convulsionary movements,
and to utter groans, shrieks, and cries. As such movements are readily
propagated by sympathy, the number of persons affected grew daily
greater. At length, the matter beginning to wear a serious aspect, the
government shut up the churchyard; a proceeding which gave birth to a
witty but somewhat profane distich, which was written upon the gate:
“De par le Roi, defense à Dieu
De faire miracle en ce lieu.”
But though the votaries were expelled from the churchyard, they did not
discontinue their practices. The scene of action was only removed to
private houses. Miracles, too, were still worked by means of earth from
the churchyard, and water from the well which had supplied the deacon’s
beverage. Pushing their frenzy to extremity, the convulsionaries, as
they were called, invented a system of self-torture, not exceeded by
that of the Hindoos. Their purpose was to obtain the miraculous aid of
the beatified deacon. To be beaten with sticks, to bend the body into
a semicircle, and suffer a stone of fifty pounds’ weight to be dropped
from the ceiling down on the abdomen, and to lie with a plank on the
same part, while several men stood upon it, were among the trials to
which even women submitted, apparently with delight. In some instances
their insanity prompted them to still more horrible displays; some
being tied on spits and exposed to the flames, and others nailed to a
cross by the hands and feet.
In this case, as in many others, we are astonished to find that men
of learning and acute intellect are to be met with in the list of
believers. There were also many who, notwithstanding they shrank from
the irreverence of making the Deity a party to such deeds, believed
the miracles to be really performed, and were, of course, under the
necessity of giving the credit of them to the devil. It might naturally
be supposed so insane a sect as that of the convulsionaries would
speedily die away, but this did not happen; in spite of ridicule, and
punishment, it maintained its ground to a certain extent for a long
series of years, and there is some reason to doubt whether it is yet
wholly extinct.
Two insane fanatics, of Brugglen, in the canton of Berne, did not
escape with so slight a penalty as those who have already been
recorded. They were brothers, named Rohler, and, in the year 1746,
they proclaimed themselves to be the two witnesses mentioned in the
eleventh chapter of the Revelations, and selected a girl of their
acquaintance to fill the part of the woman who was to be clothed with
the sun, and have the moon under her feet. The advent of Christ to
judge the world, they fixed for the year 1748, after which event the
kingdom of Heaven was to commence in their village. One of the brothers
gave a sufficient proof of his being mad, by declaring that he would
ascend in the flesh to heaven before the assembled multitude. He had,
however, cunning enough to attribute his failure to the circumstance
of numbers of his followers holding by his garments, that they might
take the journey with him. These lunatics were followed by crowds,
who abandoned all their usual occupations, thinking it useless to
work, when the final day was at hand; and many of the believers in
their mission indulged in licentious pleasures, perhaps under the idea
that, as little time was left, they ought to make the most of it. The
government of Berne at length began to apprehend danger from this
frenzy, and it averted the evil by dooming the brothers to death.
While the Bernese peasants were thus blindly yielding to superstitious
delusions, a circumstance occurred which proved that the enlightened
citizens of the British capital were as liable as the Swiss boors to
the same species of folly. In 1750, on the 8th of February, and the 8th
of March, two rather severe shocks of earthquake were felt in London.
As exactly four weeks had elapsed between the two shocks, it was
sagaciously concluded that a third would occur at a similar period. The
fear which this idea excited was raised to the highest pitch by a mad
life-guardsman, who went about exhorting to repentance, and predicting
that, on the 5th of April, London and Westminster would be wholly
destroyed. His predictions had at least one beneficial effect, that
of filling the churches and emptying the gin-shops. When the supposed
fatal hour arrived, the roads were thronged with thousands, who were
flying into the country; so numerous were the fugitives that lodgings
could hardly be obtained at Windsor, and many were obliged to sit in
their coaches all night. Others, who had not the means of retiring to
a distance, or whose fears were less violent, lay in boats all night,
or waited in crowds in the open fields round the metropolis, till the
dreadful moment was passed by, till the broad daylight showed them at
once the city still uninjured, and the disgraceful absurdity of their
own conduct.
Considering the period at which it took place, when the failure of
Brothers was yet recent, and the success which it nevertheless met
with, the imposture of Joanna Southcott may be deemed as remarkable
as any that has occurred. Though her claims to inspiration have been
trampled in the dust by death, there are still some who insanely look
forward to the completion of prophecies as ridiculous as they were
blasphemous.
Notwithstanding thousands, from all parts of England, looked on
Joanna Southcott with reverence and gratitude, as the means through
which salvation would be effected, there does not appear any thing
remarkable in her character or her history, to give a colour to her
extraordinary pretensions. Joanna was born in April, 1750, the daughter
of a small farmer in Devonshire; for many years she lived as a servant
in Exeter, and her character was irreproachable; from her early years
she delighted in the study of the Scriptures, and was accustomed on all
interesting occasions to apply _directly_ to Heaven for advice; and
she affirmed that, sooner or later, an answer was always returned by
outward signs or inward feelings. During her probationary state, as it
may be called, she had many temptations, which she was strengthened to
resist and overcome.
After she had drawn the attention of the world by her prophecies
and writings, great pains were taken to ascertain the truth of her
commission. “From the end of 1792,” says Mr. Sharpe, the most devout
of her believers, “to the end of 1794, her writings were sealed up
with great caution, and remained secure till they were conveyed by me
to High House, Paddington; and the box which contained them was opened
in the beginning of January, 1803. Her writings were examined during
seven days, and the result of this long scrutiny was, the unanimous
decision of twenty-three persons _appointed by divine command_, as
well as of thirty-five others that were present, _that her calling
was of God_.” They came to this conclusion from the fulfilment of the
prophecies contained in these writings, and to which she appealed with
confidence and triumph. It was a curious circumstance, however, that
her handwriting was illegible. Her remark on this occasion was, “This
must be, to fulfil the Bible. Every vision John saw in heaven must take
place on earth; and here is the sealed book, that no one can read!”
A protection was provided for all those who subscribed their names as
volunteers, for the destruction of Satan’s kingdom. To every subscriber
a folded paper was delivered, endorsed with his name, and secured with
the impression of Joanna’s seal in red wax: this powerful talisman
consisted of a circle enclosing the two letters J. C., with a star
above and below, and the following words, “The sealed of the Lord,
the Elect, Precious, Man’s Redemption, to inherit the tree of life,
to be made heirs of God and joint-heirs of Jesus Christ.” The whole
was authenticated by the signature of the prophetess in her illegible
characters, and the person thus provided was said to be _sealed_.
Conformably, however, to the 7th chapter of the Revelations, the number
of those highly protected persons was not to exceed 144,000.
The great object of her mission was to bring forth a son, the Shiloh,
promised to be born of a virgin: and this event had been looked
forward to by her followers with unbounded enthusiasm and credulity.
Disappointment, more than once, appeared inevitable; the period,
however, at last was said to draw nigh, she being _sixty-four_ years
of age. As she laboured under more than the usual indisposition
incidental to pregnancy, and it was deemed necessary to satisfy worldly
doubts, medical men were called in, to give a professional opinion,
as to the fact, from a consideration of all the symptoms, and without
reference to miraculous agency. Some asserted their belief that she was
pregnant; others disbelieved and ridiculed the idea.
One of these gentlemen, Mr. Mathias, published his view of the case.
He was informed that Joanna was sixty-four years old, _a virgin_ and
pregnant with the expected son. Appearing incredulous, as he well
might, he was asked “If he would believe when he saw the infant at the
breast?” He protested against opinions so blasphemous, and cautioned
them to be wary how they proceeded, and to consider the consequences of
attempting a delusion so mischievous upon the ignorant and credulous.
His further attendance was declined, as she had been answered, “That he
had drawn a wrong judgment of her disorder.” In Mr. Mathias’s opinion,
notoriety, ease, and affluence, appeared to be the prevailing passions
of Joanna’s mind, and the means she adopted to fulfil her desires would
seem, and actually proved, well calculated to answer her end. She
passed much of her time in bed in downy indolence, she ate much and
often, and prayed never; when she would have it she was with child,
she, like other ladies in that situation, had longings; on one occasion
she longed for asparagus, when it was by no means a cheap article of
food; and so strong was her longing, that she is said to have eaten one
hundred and sixty heads before she allayed it. At this period, shoals
of enthusiasts, with more money than wit, poured into the metropolis,
to behold this chosen vessel.
Mr. Richard Reece was now consulted by Joanna Southcott, on the subject
of her pregnancy. It does not appear that he was a proselyte to her
religious views, but he was probably deluded and deceived, by the
enumeration of physical symptoms. At all events, he was prevailed on
to avow his belief of her being pregnant, by some means or other; and
a numerous deputation of her followers, who appeared a motley group of
all persuasions, waited upon him to receive the happy intelligence from
his own lips. By this conduct he seems to have acquired great favour in
her sight, for he continued in attendance till her death.
When her supposed time of deliverance from her precious burden
approached, Joanna felt alarmingly ill, and her fears, either
conquering her fanaticism or awakening her conscience, began to make
her suspect that her inspiration was deceptious. A few weeks before
her death, her misgivings gave rise to the following scene, which is
described by Mr. Reece, who was present. Five or six of her friends,
who were waiting in an adjoining room, being admitted into her
bed-chamber, “she desired them (says Mr. Reece) to be seated round her
bed; when, spending a few minutes in adjusting the bed-clothes with
seeming attention, and placing before her a white handkerchief, she
thus addressed them, as nearly as I can recollect, in the following
words: ‘My friends, some of you have known me nearly twenty-five
years, and all of you not less than twenty; when you have heard me
speak of my prophecies, you have sometimes heard me say that I doubted
my inspiration. But at the same time you would never let me despair.
When I have been alone, it has often appeared delusion; but when the
communication was made to me, I did not in the least doubt. Feeling, as
I now do feel, that my dissolution is drawing near, and that a day or
two may terminate my life, it all appears delusion.’ She was by this
exertion quite exhausted, and wept bitterly. On reviving in a little
time, she observed that it was very extraordinary, that after spending
all her life in investigating the Bible, it should please the Lord to
inflict that heavy burden on her. She concluded this discourse, by
requesting that every thing on this occasion might be conducted with
decency. She then wept; and all her followers present seemed deeply
affected, and some of them shed tears. ‘Mother,’ said one (I believe
Mr. Howe), ‘we will commit your instructions to paper, and rest assured
they shall be conscientiously followed.’ They were accordingly written
down with much solemnity, and signed by herself, with her hand placed
on the Bible in the bed. This being finished, Mr. Howe again observed
to her, ‘Mother, your feelings are _human_: we know that you are a
favourite woman of God, and that you will produce the promised child;
and whatever you may say to the contrary will not diminish our faith.’
This assurance revived her, and the scene of crying was changed with
her to laughter.”
Mr. Howe was not the only one of her disciples whose sturdy belief was
not to be shaken by the most discouraging symptoms. Colonel Harwood,
a zealous believer, intreated Mr. Reece not to retract his opinion as
to her pregnancy, though the latter now saw the folly and absurdity of
it; and when the colonel approached the bed on which she was about to
expire, and she said to him, “What does the Lord mean by this? I am
certainly dying;” he replied, smiling, “No, no, you will not die, or if
you should, you will return again.”
Even when she was really dead, the same blind confidence remained. Mrs.
Townley, with whom she had lived, said cheerfully, “she would return
to life, for it had been foretold twenty years before.” Mr. Sharpe
also asserted that the soul of Joanna would return, it having gone to
heaven to legitimate the child which would be born. Though symptoms of
decomposition arose, Mr. Sharpe still persisted in keeping the body
hot, according to the directions which she had given on her deathbed,
in the hope of a revival. Mr. Reece having remarked that, if the
ceremony of her marriage continued two days longer, the tenement would
not be habitable on her return, “the greater will be the miracle,”
said Mr. Sharpe. Consent at last was given to inspect the body, and all
the disciples stood round smoking tobacco; their disappointment was
excessive at finding nothing to warrant the long-cherished opinion, but
their faith remained immovable. More than twenty years have elapsed
since her death, yet many persons are still infatuated enough to avow
themselves believers in her supernatural mission.
The most recent thaumaturgist with whom we are acquainted bears no
less a title than that of prince, and worked his wonders within the
last thirteen years. The personage in question is Prince Alexander
Hohenlohe, whose miracles have made much noise in the world, and
given rise to no small portion of angry controversy. His highness,
who appears to have previously been practising with much success in
Germany, first became generally known in England by an extraordinary
cure which he was said to have performed on a nun, at the convent of
New Hall, near Chelmsford, in Essex. It must be premised, that it was
by no means necessary for him to see or be near his patient; prayers
being the sole means which he employed. Accordingly, he did not stir
from his residence at Bamberg. The nun at New Hall had for a year and
a half been afflicted with an enormous and painful swelling of the
right hand and arm, which resisted every medical application. In this
emergency, the superior of the convent applied for the aid of Prince
Hohenlohe. The answer which he returned seems to prove that he was a
pious though a mistaken man. It also affords some insight into the
cause of the effect which was undoubtedly sometimes produced. “At eight
o’clock on the third of May, I will, in compliance with your request,
offer up my prayers for your recovery. At the same hour, after having
confessed and taken the sacrament, join your prayers also, with that
evangelical fervour, and _that entire faith_, which we owe to our
Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Stir up from the very bottom of your heart the
divine virtues of true repentance, Christian charity, _a boundless
belief that your prayers will be granted_, and a steadfast resolution
to lead an exemplary life, to the end that you may continue in a state
of grace.” Whatever may be thought of his miraculous pretensions,
it is impossible to deny that his exhortation was praiseworthy. The
following account of the result is given by Dr. Badelly, the physician
to the convent:--“On the third of May (says he) she went through the
religious process prescribed by the prince. Mass being nearly ended,
Miss O’Connor not finding the immediate relief which she expected,
exclaimed, ‘Thy will be done, O Lord! thou hast not thought me worthy
of this cure.’ Almost immediately after, she felt an extraordinary
sensation through the whole arm, to the ends of her fingers. The pain
instantly left her, and the swelling gradually subsided; but it was
some weeks before the hand resumed its natural shape and size.”
Other cures, still more marvellous, are said to have followed in
rapid succession. Requests for assistance now poured in so rapidly
from all quarters, that he was nearly overwhelmed. On an average he
received daily fifty letters. As it was physically impossible for him
to attend to every individual application, a vast majority of his
suitors must have gone without the benefit of his curative powers, had
he not fortunately hit upon a plan to accommodate all comers. His new
arrangement consisted in “adopting a system of offering his prayers for
the relief of particular districts, on particular days.” For instance,
seven o’clock in the morning, on the first of August, was appointed for
curing all the diseased in Ireland, and notice was given to all the
religious communities in that island, that it would be proper for each
of them, at the same hour, to perform a mass. This delusion flourished
for a considerable time; but it gradually died away, and, for some
years past, nothing more has been heard of Prince Alexander Hohenlohe’s
miracle-working intercession.