officially recorded, is connected with the death of Pope Ganganelli. The
latter heard that a number of persons in various parts of Italy had
predicted that he would soon end his life by a violent death. He
attached sufficient importance to these reports to hand the matter over
to a special commission previously appointed to examine grave charges
which had been brought against the Jesuits, perhaps suspecting that the
Order of Jesus was not unconnected with those predictions. Among the
persons who were thereupon arrested was a simple, ignorant peasant-girl,
Beatrice Rensi, who told the gendarme very calmly: "Ganganelli has me
arrested, Braschi will set me free," implying that the latter would be
the next pope. The priest at Valentano, who was arrested on the same
day (12th of May, 1774), exclaimed quite joyously: "What happens to me
now has been predicted three times already; take these papers and see
what my daughter (the Rensi) has foretold." Upon examination it appears
that the girl had fixed the pope's day upon the day of equinoxes, in the
month of September; she announced that he would proclaim a year of
absolution, but not live to see it; that none of the faithful would kiss
his foot, nor would they take him, as usual, to the Church of St. Peter.
At the same time she spoke of a fierce inward struggle through which the
Holy Father would have to pass before his death. Soon after these
predictions were made officially known to the pope, the bull against the
order of Jesuits was laid before him; the immense importance of such a
decree, and the evident dangers with which it was fraught, caused him
great concern, and when he one night rose from his bed to affix his
signature, and, frightened by some considerations, threw away the pen
only to take it up at last and sign the paper, he suddenly recalled the
prophecy of the peasant-girl. He drove at once to a great prelate in
Rome, who had formerly been the girl's confessor, and inquired of him
about her character; the priest testified to her purity, her unimpeached
honesty, and her simplicity, adding that in his opinion she was
evidently favored by heaven with special and very extraordinary powers.
Ganganelli was made furious by this suggestion, and insisted upon it
that his commission should declare all these predictions wicked lies,
the inspirations of the Devil, and condemn the sixty-two persons who had
been arrested to pay the extreme penalty in the Castle of St. Angelo on
the 1st of October. In the meantime, however, his health began to
suffer, and his mind was more and more deeply affected. Beatrice Rensi
had been imprisoned in a convent at Montefiascone; on the 22d of
September she told the prioress that prayers might be held for the soul
of the Holy Father; the latter informed the bishop of the place, and
soon the whole town was in an uproar. Late in the afternoon couriers
brought the news that Ganganelli had suddenly died at eight o'clock in
the morning; the body began to putrefy so promptly that the usual
ceremonies of kissing the pope's feet and the transfer to St. Peter's
became impossible! The most curious effects of the girl's predictions
appeared however, when the Conclave was held to elect a successor. Many
Cardinals were extremely anxious that Braschi should not be elected,
lest this should be interpreted as a confirmation of the prediction, and
hence as the work of the Evil One; others again looked upon the girl's
words as an indication from on high; they carried the day. Braschi was
really chosen, and ascended the throne as Pius VI. The commission,
however, continued the work of investigation, and finally acquitted the
Jesuits of the charge of collusion; Beatrice Rensi's predictions were
declared to be supernatural, but suggested by the Father of Lies, the
accused were all set free. The Bishop of Montefiascone, Maury, reported
officially in 1804 that the girl had received a pension from Rome until
the French invasion, then she left the convent in which she had
peacefully and quietly lived so long, and was not heard of again.
The famous predictions of Jacques Cazotte, a man of high literary renown
and the greatest respectability, were witnessed by persons of
unimpeachable character and have been repeatedly mentioned as authentic
by eminent writers. Laharpe--not the tutor of the Russian Emperor
Alexander--reports them fully in his _OEuvres choisies_, etc. (i. p.
62); so do Boulard, in his _Encycl. des gens du Monde_, and William
Burt, who was present when they were made, in his "Observations on the
Curiosities of Nature." It is well known that Cazotte had joined the
sect of Martinists, and among these enthusiasts increased his natural
sensitiveness and his religious fervor. With a mind thus predisposed to
receive strong impressions from outside, and filled with fearful
apprehensions of the future, it was no wonder that he should fall
suddenly into a trance and thus be enabled by extraordinary magical
influences to predict the horrors of the Revolution, the sad fate of the
king and the queen, and his own tragic end.
The report of his predictions as made by Jean de Laharpe, who only died
in 1823, and with his well-established character and high social
standing vouched for the genuineness of his experience, is substantially
as follows: He had been invited, in 1788, to meet at the palace of the
Duchess de Gramont some of the most remarkable personages of the day,
and found himself seated by the side of Malesherbes. He noticed at a
corner of the table Cazotte, apparently in a deep fit of musing, from
which he was only roused by the frequent toasts, in which he was forced
to join. When at last the guests seemed to be overflowing with fervent
praises of modern philosophy and its brilliant victory over old
religious superstitions, Cazotte suddenly rose and in a solemn tone of
voice and with features agitated with deep emotion said to them:
"Gentlemen, you may rejoice, for you will all see that great and
imposing revolution, which you so much desire. You, M. Condorcet, will
expire lying on the floor of a subterranean prison. You, M. N., will die
of poison; you, M. N., will perish by the executioner's hand on the
scaffold." They cried out: "Who on earth has made you think of prisons,
poison, and the executioner? What have these things to do with
philosophy and the reign of reason, which we anticipate and on which you
but just now congratulated us?" "That is exactly what I say," replied
Cazotte, "in the name of philosophy, of reason, of humanity, and of
freedom, all these things will be done, which I have foretold, and they
will happen precisely when reason alone will reign and have its
temples." "Certainly," replied Chamfort, "you will not be one of the
priests." "Not I," answered the latter, "but you, M. de Chamfort, will
be one of them and deserve to be one; you will cut your veins in
twenty-two places with your razor, and yet die only several months
after that desperate operation. You, M. Vicque d'Azyr, will not open
your veins, because the gout in your hands will prevent it, but you will
get another person to open them six times for you the same day, and you
will die in the night succeeding. You, M. Nicolai, will die on the
scaffold, and you, M. Bailly, and you, M. Malesherbes." "God be
thanked," exclaimed M. Richer, "it seems M. Cazotte only deals with
members of the Academy." But Cazotte replied instantly: "You also, M.
Richer, will die on the scaffold, and they who sentence you, and others
like you, will be nevertheless philosophers." "And when is all this
going to happen?" asked several guests. "Within at most six years from
to-day," was the reply. Laharpe now asked: "And about me you say
nothing, Cazotte?" The latter replied: "In you, sir, a great miracle
will be done; you will be converted and become a good Christian." These
words relieved the company, and all broke out into merry laughter. Now
the Duchess of Gramont also took courage, and said: "We women are
fortunately better off than men, revolutions do not mind us." "Your sex,
ladies," answered Cazotte, "will not protect you this time, and however
careful you may be not to be mixed up with politics, you will be treated
exactly like the men. You also, Duchess, with many ladies before and
after you, will have to mount the scaffold, and more than that, they
will carry you there on the hangman's cart, with your hands bound behind
your back." The duchess, perhaps looking upon the whole as a jest,
said, smiling: "Well, I think I shall at least have a coach lined with
black." "No, no," replied Cazotte, "the hangman's cart will be your last
carriage, and even greater ladies than you will have to ride in it."
"Surely not princesses of the royal blood?" asked the duchess. "Still
greater ones," answered Cazotte. "But they will not deny us a
confessor?" she continued. "Yes," replied the other, "only the greatest
of all who will be executed will have one." "But what will become of
you, M. Cazotte?" asked the guests, who began at last to feel thoroughly
uncomfortable. "My fate," was the reply, "will be the fate of the man
who called out, Woe! over Jerusalem, before the last siege, and Woe!
over himself, while a stone, thrown by the enemy, ended his life." With
these words Cazotte bowed and withdrew from the room. However much of
the details may have been subsequently added to the prediction, the fact
of such a prophecy has never yet been impugned, and William Burt, who
was a witness of the scene, emphatically endorses the account.
Even the stern Calvinists have had their religious prophets, among whom
Du Serre is probably the most interesting. He established himself in
1686 in the Dauphine, but extended his operations soon into the
Cevennes, and thus prepared the great uprising of Protestants there in
1688, which led to fearful war and general devastation. Special gifts of
prophecy were accorded to a few generally uneducated persons; but in
these they appeared very strikingly, so that, for instance, many young
girls belonging to the lowest classes of society, and entirely
unlettered, were not only able to foretell coming events, but also to
preach with great eloquence and to interpret Holy Writ. These phenomena
became numerous enough to induce the _camisards_, as the rebellious
Protestants of the Cevennes were called, finally to form a regular
system of inspiration. They spoke of four degrees of ecstasis: the first
indication, the inspiring breath, the prediction, and the gifts; the
last was the highest. The spirit of prophecy could be communicated by an
inspired person to others; this was generally done by a kiss. Even
children of three and four years were enabled to foretell the future,
and persevered, although they were often severely punished by their
parents, whom the authorities held responsible for their misconduct, as
it was called. (_Theatre Sacre des Cevennes_, p. 66.)
Nor has this gift of prophesying been noticed only in men of our own
faith and our race.
An author whose trustworthiness cannot be doubted for a moment, Jones
Forbes, gives in his "Oriental Memoirs" (London, 1803), an instance of
the prophesying power of East Indian magicians, which is as well
authenticated as remarkable. A Mr. Hodges had accidentally made the
acquaintance of a young Brahmin, who, although unknown to the English
residents, was famous among the natives for his great gifts. They became
fast friends, and the Indian never ceased to urge Hodges to remain
strictly in the path of duty, as by so doing he was sure to reach the
highest honors. In order to enforce his advice he predicted that he
would rise from the post he then occupied as Resident in Bombay to
higher places, till he would finally be appointed governor. The
prediction was often discussed among Hodges' friends, and when fortune
favored him and he really obtained unusually rapid preferment, he began
to rely more than ever on the Indian's prediction. But suddenly a severe
blow shattered all his hopes. A rival of his, Spencer, was appointed
governor, and Hodges, very indignant at what he considered an act of
unbearable injustice, wrote a sharp and disrespectful letter to the
Governor and Council of the Company. The result was his dismissal from
the service and the order to return to Europe. Before embarking he sent
once more for his friend, who was then living at one of the sacred
places, and when he came informed him of the sad turn in his affairs and
reproached him with his false predictions. The Indian, however, was in
no way disconcerted, but assured Hodges that although his adversary had
put his foot on the threshold, he would never enter the palace, but that
he, Hodges, would, in spite of appearances, most surely reach the high
post which he had promised him years ago. These assurances produced no
great effect, and Hodges was on the point of going on board the ship
that was to carry him to Europe, when another vessel sailed into the
harbor, having accomplished the voyage out in a most unusually short
time, and brought new orders from England. The Court of Directors had
disapproved of Spencer's conduct as Governor of Bengal, revoked his
appointment, dismissed him from service, and ordered Hodges to be
installed as Governor of Bombay! From that day the Brahmin obtained
daily more influence over the mind of his English friend, and the latter
undertook nothing without having first consulted the strangely gifted
native. It became, however, soon a matter of general remark, that the
Brahmin could never be persuaded to refer in his predictions to the time
beyond the year 1771, as he had never promised Hodges another post of
honor than that which he now occupied. The explanation of his silence
came but too soon, for in the night of the 22d of February, 1772, Hodges
died suddenly, and thus ended his brilliant career, verifying his
friend's prophecy in every detail.
THE DIVINING ROD.
The relations in which some men stand to Nature are sometimes so close
as to enable them to make discoveries which are impossible to others.
This is, for instance, the case with persons who feel the presence of
waters or of metals. The former have, from time immemorial, generally
used a wand, the so-called divining rod, which, according to Pliny, was
already known to the ancient Etruscans as a means for the discovery of
hidden springs. An Italian author, Amoretti, who has given special
attention to this subject, states that at least every fifth man is
susceptible to the influence of water and metals, but this is evidently
an overestimate. In recent times many persons have been known to possess
this gift of discovering hidden springs or subterranean masses of water,
and these have but rarely employed an instrument. Catharine Beutler, of
Thurgovia, in Switzerland, and Anna Maria Brugger of the same place,
were both so seriously affected by the presence of water that they fell
into violent nervous excitement when they happened to cross places
beneath which larger quantities were concealed, and became perfectly
exhausted. In France a class of men, called _sourciers_, have for ages
possessed this instinctive power of perceiving the presence of water,
and others, like the famous Abbe Paramelle, have cultivated the natural
gift till they were finally enabled, by a mere cursory examination of a
landscape, to ascertain whether large masses of water were hidden
anywhere, and to indicate the precise spots where they might be found.
Why water and metals should almost always go hand in hand in connection
with this peculiar gift, is not quite clear; but the staff of Hermes,
having probably the form of the divining rod, was always represented as
giving the command over the treasures of the earth, and the Orphic Hymn
(v. 527) calls it, hence, the golden rod, producing wealth and
happiness. On the other hand, the _Aquae Virgo_, the nymph of springs,
had also a divining rod in her hand, and Numa, inspired by a water
nymph, established the worship of waters in connection with that of the
dead. For here, also, riches and death seem to have entered into a
strange alliance. Del Rio, in his _Disquisitiones magicae_, mentions thus
the Zahuri of Spain, the lynx-eyed, as he translates the name, who were
able on Wednesdays and Saturdays to discover all the veins of metals or
of water beneath the surface, all hidden treasures, and corpses in their
coffins. There is at least one instance recorded where a person
possessed the power to see even more than the Zahuris. This was a
Portuguese lady, Pedegache, who first attracted attention by being able
to discover subterranean springs and their connections, a gift which
brought her great honors after she had informed the king of all the
various supplies of water which were hidden near a palace which he was
about to build. Shafts were sunk according to her directions, and not
only water was found, but also the various soils and stones which she
had foretold would have to be pierced. She also seems to have cultivated
her talent, for we hear of her next being able to discover treasures,
even valuable antique statues, in the interior of houses, and finally
she reached such a degree of intuition, that she saw the inner parts of
the human body, and pointed out their diseases and defects.
Savoy seems to be a specially favorable region for the development of
this peculiar gift, for if in Cornwall one out of every forty men is
believed to possess it, in Savoy the divining rod is in the hands of
nearly every one. But what marks the talent in this case as peculiar is
that it is by no means limited to the discovery of water, but extends to
other things likewise. A very wealthy family, called Collomb, living in
Cessens, boasted of more than one member who was able, by the aid of the
rod and with bandaged eyes, to discover not only pieces of money, but
even needles, evidently cases of personal susceptibility to the presence
of metals, aided by electric currents. Once, at least, the gift was made
useful. A number of bags filled with wheat had been stolen from a
neighboring house, and the police were unable to discover the
hiding-place. At the request of his friends one of the Collombs
undertook the search with the aid of the divining rod; he soon found the
window through which the bags had been handed out; he then followed the
track along the banks of the river Cheran, and asserted that the thief
had crossed to the other side. At that time nothing more was discovered;
but soon afterwards a miller living across the river was suspected, the
bags were found, and the culprit sent to the galleys. (_Revue
Savoisienne_, April 15, 1852.) Dr. Mayo mentions, mainly upon the
authority of George Fairholm, a number of instances in which persons
belonging to all classes of society have exhibited the same gift, but
ascribes its efficacy to the presence of currents of Od.
The divining rod, originally a twig of willow or hazel, is often made of
metal, and the impression prevails that in such cases an electric
current, arising from the subterranean water or metals, enters the
diviner's body by the feet, passes through him, and finally affects the
two branches of the rod, which represent opposite poles. It is certain
that when the electric current is interrupted, the power of the divining
rod is suspended. Dr. Mayo tells us of a lady of his acquaintance in
Southampton, who at his request used a divining rod of copper and iron
wire, made after the fashion of the usual hazel rod; it answered the
purpose fully, but when the ends touched by her hands were covered with
sealing-wax, it became useless; as soon as she put her fingers in
contact with the unprotected wire, the power instantly returned. This
certainly seemed to be strong evidence of the existence of an electric
current. Nevertheless, many believe that the divining rod acts in all
cases simply as an extension of the arms, and thus serves to make the
vibrations of the muscles more distinct. It is by this theory they
explain the fact which has caused serious trouble to careful inquirers
like Count Tristan and Dr. Mayo, that the gift of using the divining rod
varies with the state of health in the individuals in whom it has been
discovered.
VII.
POSSESSION.
"Thereupon St. Theophilus made a pact with the Devil."
--ACTA, S. S., 4 February.
Many forms of insanity, it is well known, are accompanied by the fixed
idea that the sufferer is continually associated with another being, a
friend or an enemy, a man, an animal, or a mere shadow. Somnambulists,
also, not unfrequently fancy that they obtain their exceptional
knowledge of hidden things, not by intuition or instinct, but through
the agency of a medium, whom they look upon as an angel or a demon.
There is, however, a third class of cases, far more formidable than
either of those mentioned, in which the mind is disturbed, and magic
phenomena are produced by an agency apparently entirely independent of
the patient himself. Such are possession, vampirism and
zoanthropy--three frightful forms of human suffering, which are
fortunately very rare, being limited to certain localities in space, to
a few short periods in time, and to men of the lowest grade only.
Possession is that appalling state of mind which makes the patient
believe that he is in the power of a foreign evil being, which has for
the time full control over his body. This power it abuses by plaguing
the body in every imaginable way, by distorting the features till they
assume a scornful, diabolical expression, and above all, by causing the
sufferer to give utterance to cynical remarks and horrible blasphemy.
All these phenomena are based upon the division of the patient's
individuality, which cannot be remedied by any effort of his own, and
which makes him look upon the evil principle in his nature as something
outside of himself, and no longer under his control. The phenomena which
accompany possession are too fearful in their nature, and yet at the
same time too exceptional to keep us altogether and easily from
believing, as many thoughtful and even pious men have thought, that in
these cases a real demon takes possession of the afflicted. The bitter
hatred against religion, which is always a symptom of possession, would
naturally tend to enforce such a presumption. The possessed know not
only their own sins, but also those of the bystanders, and use this
knowledge with unsparing bitterness and cruel scorn; at the same time
they feel the superiority of others with whom they may come in contact,
as the demoniacs of the Bible never failed to recognize in Christ the
Son of God. From the numerous cases of modern possession which have been
investigated, we derive the following information as to its real nature.
Possession is invariably a kind of insanity, which is accompanied by
exceptional powers, producing magic phenomena; it is also invariably
preceded by some grave disorder or dangerous disease. The former may be
of purely mental nature, for violent coercion of will, sudden and
subversive nervous shocks or long-continued enforcement of a hateful
mode of life, are apt to produce the sad effect. Hence its frequent
occurrence in monasteries, orphan asylums and similar institutions,
where this kind of insanity is, moreover, liable to become epidemic. At
other times the cause is a trivial one, and then a peculiar
predisposition must be presumed which only needed a decisive act to
bring the disturbed mind to its extremity. But possession is not merely
an affection of the mind, it is also always a disease of the body, which
in the bewildered and disordered imagination of the patient becomes
personified in the shape of a demon; hence the graver the disease, the
fiercer the demon. As sickness worries the patient, robs him of his
appetite and makes all he used to like distasteful to him, so the demon
also suffers no enjoyment; interferes with every pleasure, and
consistently rages especially against religion, which alone could give
consolation in such cases. The outbursts of rage in demoniacs, when
efforts are made to exorcise or convert them, even although nothing but
prayers may be attempted, is ascribed to an instinctive repugnance of
the sufferers for means which they feel to be utterly inappropriate to
their case--very much as if men, mad with hunger, were to be fed with
moral axioms. Possession is finally sometimes limited to parts of the
body; as when a demoniac is spoken of who was dumb (Matt. ix. 32), and
another who was blind and dumb (Matt. xii. 22). In other cases the body
is endowed with supernatural strength, and four or five powerful men
have been known to be scarcely able to hold a frail girl of fifteen.
A peculiar feature in possession is, that during the most violent
attacks of apparent fury, accompanied by hideous cries and frightful
contortions, the pulse is not quickened and the physical strength of the
patient does not seem in the least diminished. The disease, however,
naturally affects his whole system and exhausts it in time. The
possessed man, who unlike somnambulists retains, during the paroxysms,
full control over all his senses, never speaks of the demon that
possesses him, but the demon speaks of him as of a third person, and at
the same time of himself, a feature which powerfully contributes to the
popular belief of actual demons dwelling in these unfortunate persons.
And yet, after the paroxysm is over, the poor sufferer knows nothing of
the horrible things he has done, and of the fearful words he has
uttered; if he is told what has occurred, he is terribly shocked, and
bitterly repents his misdoings.