revolution left men no leisure for studying it. The _Sociétés de
l'Harmonie_ of Strasbourg, and other great towns lingered for a while,
till sterner matters occupying men's attention, they were one after the
other abandoned, both by pupils and professors. The system, thus driven
from the first two nations of Europe, took refuge among the dreamy
philosophers of Germany. There the wonders of the magnetic sleep grew more
and more wonderful every day; the patients acquired the gift of prophecy;
their vision extended over all the surface of the globe; they could hear
and see with their toes and fingers, and read unknown languages, and
understand them too, by merely having the book placed on their stomachs.
Ignorant peasants, when once entranced by the grand mesmeric fluid, could
spout philosophy diviner than Plato ever wrote, descant upon the mysteries
of the mind with more eloquence and truth than the profoundest
metaphysicians the world ever saw, and solve knotty points of divinity
with as much ease as waking men could undo their shoe-buckles!
During the first twelve years of the present century little was heard of
animal magnetism in any country of Europe. Even the Germans forgot their
airy fancies, recalled to the knowledge of this every-day world by the
roar of Napoleon's cannon and the fall or the establishment of kingdoms.
During this period a cloud of obscurity hung over the science, which was
not dispersed until M. Deleuze published, in 1813, his _Histoire Critique
du Magnétisme Animal_. This work gave a new impulse to the half-forgotten
fancy. Newspapers, pamphlets, and books again waged war upon each other on
the question of its truth or falsehood; and many eminent men in the
profession of medicine recommenced inquiry with an earnest design to
discover the truth.
The assertions made in the celebrated treatise of Deleuze are thus summed
up:[75] "There is a fluid continually escaping from the human body," and
"forming an atmosphere around us," which, as "it has no determined
current," produces no sensible effects on surrounding individuals. It is,
however, "capable of being directed by the will;" and, when so directed,
"is sent forth in currents," with a force corresponding to the energy we
possess. Its motion is "similar to that of the rays from burning bodies;"
"it possesses different qualities in different individuals." It is capable
of a high degree of concentration, "and exists also in trees." The will of
the magnetiser, "guided by a motion of the hand, several times repeated in
the same direction," can fill a tree with this fluid. Most persons, when
this fluid is poured into them from the body and by the will of the
magnetiser, "feel a sensation of heat or cold" when he passes his hand
before them, without even touching them. Some persons, when sufficiently
charged with this fluid, fall into a state of somnambulism, or magnetic
ecstasy; and when in this state, "they see the fluid encircling the
magnetiser like a halo of light, and issuing in luminous streams from his
mouth and nostrils, his head and hands, possessing a very agreeable smell,
and communicating a particular taste to food and water."
[75] See the very clear, and dispassionate article upon the
subject in the fifth volume (1830) of _The Foreign Review_,
p. 96 et seq.
One would think that these "notions" were quite enough to be insisted upon
by any physician who wished to be considered sane; but they form only a
small portion of the wondrous things related by M. Deleuze. He further
said, "When magnetism produces somnambulism, the person who is in this
state acquires a prodigious extension of all his faculties. Several of his
external organs, especially those of sight and hearing, become inactive;
but the sensations which depend upon them take place internally.
Seeing and hearing are carried on by the magnetic fluid, which transmits
the impressions immediately, and without the intervention of any nerves or
organs directly to the brain. Thus the somnambulist, though his eyes and
ears are closed, not only sees and hears, but sees and hears much better
than he does when awake. In all things he feels the will of the
magnetiser, although that will be not expressed. He sees into the interior
of his own body, and the most secret organisation of the bodies of all
those who may be put _en rapport_, or in magnetic connexion, with him.
Most commonly, he only sees those parts which are diseased and disordered,
and intuitively prescribes a remedy for them. He has prophetic visions and
sensations, which are generally true, but sometimes erroneous. He
expresses himself with astonishing eloquence and facility. He is not free
from vanity. He becomes a more perfect being of his own accord for a
certain time, if guided wisely by the magnetiser, but wanders if he is
ill-directed."
According to M. Deleuze, any person could become a magnetiser and produce
these effects, by conforming to the following conditions, and acting upon
the following rules:
"Forget for a while all your knowledge of physics and metaphysics.
"Remove from your mind all objections that may occur.
"Imagine that it is in your power to take the malady in hand, and throw it
on one side.
"_Never reason for six weeks after you have commenced the study_.
"Have an active desire to do good; a firm belief in the power of
magnetism, and an entire confidence in employing it. In short, repel all
doubts; desire success, and act with simplicity and attention."
That is to say, "be very credulous; be very persevering; reject all past
experience, and do not listen to reason," and you are a magnetiser after
M. Deleuze's own heart.
Having brought yourself into this edifying state, "remove from the patient
all persons who might be troublesome to you; keep with you only the
necessary witnesses--a single person if need be; desire them not to occupy
themselves in any way with the processes you employ and the effects which
result from them, but to join with you in the desire of doing good to your
patient. Arrange yourself so as neither to be too hot nor too cold, and in
such a manner that nothing may obstruct the freedom of your motions; and
take precautions to prevent interruption during the sitting. Make your
patient then sit as commodiously as possible, and place yourself opposite
to him, on a seat a little more elevated, in such a manner that his knees
may be betwixt yours, and your feet at the side of his. First, request him
to resign himself; to think of nothing; not to perplex himself by
examining the effects which may be produced; to banish all fear; to
surrender himself to hope, and not to be disturbed or discouraged if the
action of magnetism should cause in him momentary pains. After having
collected yourself, take his thumbs between your fingers in such a way
that the internal part of your thumbs may be in contact with the internal
part of his, _and then fix your eyes upon him_! You must remain from two
to five minutes in this situation, or until you feel an equal heat between
your thumbs and his. This done, you will withdraw your hands, removing
them to the right and left; and at the same time turning them till their
internal surface be outwards, and you will raise them to the height of the
head. You will now place them upon the two shoulders, and let them remain
there about a minute; afterwards drawing them gently along the arms to the
extremities of the fingers, touching very slightly as you go. You will
renew this pass five or six times, always turning your hands, and removing
them a little from the body before you lift them. You will then place them
above the head; and after holding them there for an instant, lower them,
passing them before the face, at the distance of one or two inches, down
to the pit of the stomach. There you will stop them two minutes also,
putting your thumbs upon the pit of the stomach and the rest of your
fingers below the ribs. You will then descend slowly along the body to the
knees, or rather, if you can do so without deranging yourself, to the
extremity of the feet. You will repeat the same processes several times
during the remainder of the sitting. You will also occasionally approach
your patient, so as to place your hands behind his shoulders, in order to
descend slowly along the spine of the back and the thighs, down to the
knees or the feet. After the first passes, you may dispense with putting
your hands upon the head, and may make the subsequent passes upon the
arms, beginning at the shoulders, and upon the body, beginning at the
stomach."
Such was the process of magnetising recommended by Deleuze. That delicate,
fanciful, and nervous women, when subjected to it, should have worked
themselves into convulsions will be readily believed by the sturdiest
opponent of animal magnetism. To sit in a constrained posture--be stared
out of countenance by a fellow who enclosed her knees between his, while
he made _passes_ upon different parts of her body, was quite enough to
throw any weak woman into a fit, especially if she were predisposed to
hysteria, and believed in the efficacy of the treatment. It is just as
evident that those of stronger minds and healthier bodies should be sent
to sleep by the process. That these effects have been produced by these
means, there are thousands of instances to shew. But are they testimony in
favour of animal magnetism?--do they prove the existence of the
magnetic fluid? It needs neither magnetism, nor ghost from the grave, to
tell us that silence, monotony, and long recumbency in one position, must
produce sleep; or that excitement, imitation, and a strong imagination
acting upon a weak body, will bring on convulsions.
M. Deleuze's book produced quite a sensation in France; the study was
resumed with redoubled vigour. In the following year, a journal was
established devoted exclusively to the science, under the title of
_Annales du Magnétisme Animal_; and shortly afterwards appeared the
_Bibliothèque du Magnétisme Animal_, and many others. About the same time,
the Abbé Faria, "the man of wonders," began to magnetise; and the belief
being that he had more of the mesmeric fluid about him, and a stronger
will, than most men, he was very successful in his treatment. His
experiments afford a convincing proof that imagination can operate all,
and the supposed fluid none, of the results so confidently claimed as
evidence of the new science. He placed his patients in an arm-chair; told
them to shut their eyes; and then, in a loud commanding voice, pronounced
the single word, "Sleep!" He used no manipulations whatever--had no
_baquet_, or conductor of the fluid; but he nevertheless succeeded in
causing sleep in hundreds of patients. He boasted of having in his time
produced five thousand somnambulists by this method. It was often
necessary to repeat the command three or four times; and if the patient
still remained awake, the abbé got out of the difficulty by dismissing him
from the chair, and declaring that he was incapable of being acted on. And
it should be especially remarked that the magnetisers do not lay claim to
universal efficacy for their fluid; the strong and the healthy cannot be
magnetised; the incredulous cannot be magnetised; those who reason upon it
cannot be magnetised; those who firmly believe in it can be magnetised;
the weak in body can be magnetised, and the weak in mind can be
magnetised. And lest, from some cause or other, individuals of the latter
classes should resist the magnetic charm, the apostles of the science
declare that there are times when even _they_ cannot be acted upon; the
presence of one scorner or unbeliever may weaken the potency of the fluid
and destroy its efficacy. In M. Deleuze's instructions to a magnetiser, he
expressly says, "Never magnetise before inquisitive persons!"[76]
[76] _Histoire Critique du Magnétisme Animal_, p. 60.
Here we conclude the subject, as it would serve no good purpose to extend
to greater length the history of Animal Magnetism; especially at a time
when many phenomena, the reality of which it is impossible to dispute, are
daily occurring to startle and perplex the most learned,
impartial, and truth-loving of mankind. Enough, however, has been stated
to shew, that if there be some truth in magnetism, there has been much
error, misconception, and exaggeration. Taking its history from the
commencement, it can hardly be said to have been without its uses. To
quote the words of Bailly, in 1784, "Magnetism has not been altogether
unavailing to the philosophy which condemns it: it is an additional fact
to record among the errors of the human mind, and a great experiment on
the strength of the imagination." Over that vast inquiry of the influence
of mind over matter,--an inquiry which the embodied intellect of mankind
will never be able to fathom completely,--it will at least have thrown a
feeble and imperfect light. It will have afforded an additional proof of
the strength of the unconquerable will, and the weakness of matter as
compared with it; another illustration of the words of the inspired
Psalmist, that "we are fearfully and wonderfully made."
[Illustration]
INFLUENCE OF POLITICS AND RELIGION ON THE HAIR AND BEARD.
Speak with respect and honour
Both of the beard and the beard's owner.
_Hudibras_.
The famous declaration of St. Paul, "that long hair was a shame unto a
man," has been made the pretext for many singular enactments, both of
civil and ecclesiastical governments. The fashion of the hair and the cut
of the beard were state questions in France and England, from the
establishment of Christianity until the fifteenth century.
We find, too, that in much earlier times, men were not permitted to do as
they liked with their own hair. Alexander the Great thought that the
beards of the soldiery afforded convenient handles for the enemy to lay
hold of, preparatory to cutting off their heads; and, with a view of
depriving them of this advantage, he ordered the whole of his army to be
closely shaven. His notions of courtesy towards an enemy were quite
different from those entertained by the North American Indians, and
amongst whom it is held a point of honour to allow one "chivalrous lock"
to grow, that the foe, in taking the scalp, may have something to catch
hold of.
At one time, long hair was the symbol of sovereignty in Europe. We learn
from Gregory of Tours, that, among the successors of Clovis, it was the
exclusive privilege of the royal family to have their hair long and
curled. The nobles, equal to kings in power, would not shew any
inferiority in this respect, and wore not only their hair, but their
beards of an enormous length. This fashion lasted, with but slight
changes, till the time of Louis the Debonnaire; but his successors, up to
Hugh Capet, wore their hair short, by way of distinction. Even the serfs
had set all regulation at defiance, and allowed their locks and beards to
grow.
At the time of the invasion of England by William the Conqueror, the
Normans wore their hair very short. Harold, in his progress towards
Hastings, sent forward spies to view the strength and number of the enemy.
They reported, amongst other things, on their return, that "the host did
almost seem to be priests, because they had all their face and both their
lips shaven." The fashion among the English at the time was to wear the
hair long upon the head and the upper lip, but to shave the chin. When the
haughty victors had divided the broad lands of the Saxon thanes and
franklins among them, when tyranny of every kind was employed to make the
English feel that they were indeed a subdued and broken nation, the latter
encouraged the growth of their hair, that they might resemble as little as
possible their cropped and shaven masters.
This fashion was exceedingly displeasing to the clergy, and prevailed to a
considerable extent in France and Germany. Towards the end of the eleventh
century, it was decreed by the pope, and zealously supported by the
ecclesiastical authorities all over Europe, that such persons as wore long
hair should be excommunicated while living, and not be prayed for when
dead. William of Malmesbury relates, that the famous St. Wulstan, Bishop
of Worcester, was peculiarly indignant whenever he saw a man with long
hair. He declaimed against the practice as one highly immoral, criminal,
and beastly. He continually carried a small knife in his pocket, and
whenever any body offending in this respect knelt before him to receive
his blessing, he would whip it out slily, and cut off a handful, and then,
throwing it in his face, tell him to cut off all the rest, or he would go
to hell.
But fashion, which at times it is possible to move with a wisp, stands
firm against a lever; and men preferred to run the risk of damnation to
parting with the superfluity of their hair. In the time of Henry I.,
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, found it necessary to republish the
famous decree of excommunication and outlawry against the offenders; but,
as the court itself had begun to patronise curls, the fulminations of the
Church were unavailing. Henry I. and his nobles wore their hair in long
ringlets down their backs and shoulders, and became a _scandalum magnatum_
in the eyes of the godly. One Serlo, the king's chaplain, was so grieved
in spirit at the impiety of his master, that he preached a sermon from the
well-known text of St. Paul before the assembled court, in which he drew
so dreadful a picture of the torments that awaited them in the other
world, that several of them burst into tears, and wrung their hair, as if
they would have pulled it out by the roots. Henry himself was observed to
weep. The priest, seeing the impression he had made, determined to strike
while the iron was hot, and pulling a pair of scissors from his pocket,
cut the king's hair in presence of them all. Several of the principal
courtiers consented to do the like, and for a short time long hair
appeared to be going out of fashion. But the courtiers thought, after the
first glow of their penitence had been cooled by reflection, that the
clerical Delilah had shorn them of their strength, and in less than six
months they were as great sinners as ever.
Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been a monk of Bec, in
Normandy, and who had signalised himself at Rouen by his fierce opposition
to long hair, was still anxious to work a reformation in this matter. But
his pertinacity was far from pleasing to the king, who had finally made up
his mind to wear ringlets. There were other disputes, of a more serious
nature, between them; so that when the archbishop died, the king was so
glad to be rid of him, that he allowed the see to remain vacant for five
years. Still the cause had other advocates, and every pulpit in the land
resounded with anathemas against that disobedient and long-haired
generation. But all was of no avail. Stowe, in writing of this period,
asserts, on the authority of some more ancient chronicler, "that men,
forgetting their birth, transformed themselves, by the length of their
haires, into the semblance of woman kind;" and that when their hair
decayed from age, or other causes, "they knit about their heads certain
rolls and braidings of false hair." At last accident turned the tide of
fashion. A knight of the court, who was exceedingly proud of his beauteous
locks, dreamed one night that, as he lay in bed, the devil sprang upon
him, and endeavoured to choke him with his own hair. He started in
affright, and actually found that he had a great quantity of hair in his
mouth. Sorely stricken in conscience, and looking upon the dream as a
warning from heaven, he set about the work of reformation, and cut off his
luxuriant tresses the same night. The story was soon bruited abroad; of
course it was made the most of by the clergy, and the knight, being a man
of influence and consideration, and the acknowledged leader of the
fashion, his example, aided by priestly exhortations, was very generally
imitated. Men appeared almost as decent as St. Wulstan himself could have
wished, the dream of a dandy having proved more efficacious than the
entreaties of a saint. But, as Stowe informs us, "scarcely was one year
past, when all that thought themselves courtiers fell into the former
vice, and contended with women in their long haires." Henry, the king,
appears to have been quite uninfluenced by the dreams of others, for even
his own would not induce him a second time to undergo a cropping from
priestly shears. It is said, that he was much troubled at this time by
disagreeable visions. Having offended the Church in this and other
respects, he could get no sound, refreshing sleep, and used to imagine
that he saw all the bishops, abbots, and monks of every degree, standing
around his bed-side, and threatening to belabour him with their pastoral
staves; which sight, we are told, so frightened him, that he often started
naked out of his bed, and attacked the phantoms sword in hand. Grimbalde,
his physician, who, like most of his fraternity at that day, was an
ecclesiastic, never hinted that his dreams were the result of a bad
digestion, but told him to shave his head, be reconciled to the Church,
and reform himself with alms and prayer. But he would not take this good
advice, and it was not until he had been nearly drowned a year afterwards,
in a violent storm at sea, that he repented of his evil ways, cut his hair
short, and paid proper deference to the wishes of the clergy.
In France, the thunders of the Vatican with regard to long curly hair were
hardly more respected than in England. Louis VII., however, was more
obedient than his brother-king, and cropped himself as closely as a monk,
to the great sorrow of all the gallants of his court. His queen, the gay,
haughty, and pleasure-seeking Eleanor of Guienne, never admired him in
this trim, and continually reproached him with imitating, not only the
head-dress, but the asceticism of the monks. From this cause a coldness
arose between them. The lady proving at last unfaithful to her shaven and
indifferent lord, they were divorced, and the kings of France lost the
rich provinces of Guienne and Poitou, which were her dowry. She soon after
bestowed her hand and her possessions upon Henry Duke of Normandy,
afterwards Henry II. of England, and thus gave the English sovereigns that
strong footing in France which was for so many centuries the cause of such
long and bloody wars between the nations. When the Crusades had drawn all
the smart young fellows into Palestine, the clergy did not find it so
difficult to convince the staid burghers who remained in Europe, of the
enormity of long hair. During the absence of Richard Coeur de Lion, his
English subjects not only cut their hair close, but shaved their faces.
William Fitz-osbert, or Long-beard, the great demagogue of that day,
reintroduced among the people who claimed to be of Saxon origin the
fashion of long hair. He did this with the view of making them as unlike
as possible to the citizens and the Normans. He wore his own beard hanging
down to his waist, from whence the name by which he is best known to
posterity.
The Church never shewed itself so great an enemy to the beard as to long
hair on the head. It generally allowed fashion to take its own course,
both with regard to the chin and the upper lip. This fashion varied
continually; for we find that, in little more than a century after the
time of Richard I., when beards were short, that they had again become so
long as to be mentioned in the famous epigram made by the Scots who
visited London in 1327, when David, son of Robert Bruce, was married to
Joan, the sister of King Edward. This epigram, which was stuck on the
church-door of St. Peter Stangate, ran as follows:
"Long beards heartlesse,
Painted hoods witlesse,
Gray coats gracelesse,
Make England thriftlesse."
When the Emperor Charles V. ascended the throne of Spain he had no beard.
It was not to be expected that the obsequious parasites who always
surround a monarch, could presume to look more virile than their master.
Immediately all the courtiers appeared beardless, with the exception of
such few grave old men as had outgrown the influence of fashion, and who
had determined to die bearded as they had lived. Sober people in general
saw this revolution with sorrow and alarm, and thought that every manly
virtue would be banished with the beard. It became at the time a common
saying,--
"Desde que no hay barba, no hay mas alma."
We have no longer souls since we have lost our beards.