and continued eight days. The Crown and the accused had eminent counsel,
and many witnesses were examined. At the conclusion of the inquiry the
presiding magistrate announced that it had been determined by the court
that no case had been made out against the physicians, who had not been
shown to have undertaken any other duty than that of advising the
nurses, and that it did not appear that their advice had been asked. As
to the father and mother the court had decided to send them both for
trial for manslaughter, at the next assizes. In due time they were
arraigned, they pleaded not guilty, but after being defended by able
counsel, the jury, after an absence of about half an hour, returned with
a verdict of guilty against both the prisoners, but with a
recommendation of the mother to the merciful consideration of the court,
on the ground that she was under the control of her husband. The man
protested his innocence, and the woman "buried her face in her shawl and
wept bitterly."
His Lordship, in passing sentence, said: "Prisoners at the bar, you have
been found guilty of a most aggravated offence. I entirely concur with
the verdict which the jury have given, and I shall act upon the
recommendation which they have presented in favor of the female
prisoner, the mother, though, I must say, that I cannot but feel that it
is a greater crime in the mother than the father, since it is more
contrary to the common nature of mothers, to neglect their children in
the manner in which you have treated this unfortunate child. It is
contrary to the nature, even, of a father. But I shall act upon the
recommendation of the jury, upon the ground they have put forward, that
you have been subject to the control of your husband more than has
appeared from the evidence of the case. But the offence is, as I have
said, a serious one, on this ground; that there can be no doubt that
both of you have persisted in this fraudulent deception, upon your
neighbors, and upon the public, and that in order to carry out that
fraudulent deception and to preserve yourselves from detection you were
willing to risk the life of that child. The life of that child has been
lost in that wicked experiment which you tried. Therefore, the sentence
that I shall inflict on you, Evan Jacob, is, that you be imprisoned and
kept at hard labor for twelve calendar months; and that upon you, Hannah
Jacob, will be more lenient in consideration of the recommendation of
the jury, and it is, that you be imprisoned and kept to hard labor for
the period of six calendar months."
Thus ended one of the most remarkable and interesting histories of human
folly, credulity, and criminality which the present day has produced.
Comment upon its teaching is scarcely necessary; but the thoughtful
reader will not fail to perceive how important a bearing it has upon the
whole subject of belief without full and free inquiry, and that how all
the facts which science has gathered during ages of painful labor, go
for naught, even with educated persons, when brought face to face with
the false assertions of a hysterical girl, and of two ignorant and
deceitful peasants. If there is any one thing we know, it is that there
can be no force without the metamorphosis of matter of some kind. Here
was a girl maintaining her weight--actually growing--her animal heat
kept at its due standard, her mind active, her heart beating, her lungs
respiring, her skin exhaling, her limbs moving whenever she wished them
to move, and all, as very many persons supposed, without the ingestion
of the material by which alone such things could be. And yet such is the
tendency of the average human mind to be deceived, that it would be
perfectly possible to re-enact in the city of New York the whole tragedy
of Sarah Jacob, should ever a hysterical girl take it into head to do
so; and there would not be wanting, even from among those who might read
this history, individuals who would credit any monstrous declarations
she might make. Even now in a little town in Belgium, an ecstatic girl
is going through the same performance with extraordinary additions, and
books are written by learned physicians and theologians, with the object
of establishing the truth of her pretensions. To this most remarkable
instance, and one other of similar though perhaps even more remarkable
characteristic, the attention of the reader will presently be invited.
But in view of these things one is almost tempted to say with Cardinal
Carafa, "_Quandoquidem populus decipi vult, decipiatur_."
FOOTNOTES:
[3] "De puella quae sine cibo et potu vitam transigit." Parisiis Ann.
MDXLII.
[4] "{Paratereseon} sive observationum medicarum, rararum, novarum,
admirabilium, et monstrosarum. Volumen, tomis septem de toto homine
institutum." Lugduni 1606, p. 306.
These cases are cited by Wanley in his "Wonders of the Little World,"
but I have taken care in most instances to refer to the originals,
several of which are in my library.
[5] "Wonders of the Little World." London, 1806, p. 375.
[6] Opuscula Medica. Parisiis, 1639, pp. 64, 65, 66.
[7] Observationum et curationum chirurgicarum, centuria secunda. Genevae,
1611, p. 116.
[8] Wonderful Characters: By Henry Wilson and James Caulfield. London.
[9] British Medical Journal, July 16, 1870.
[10] A complete History of the Welsh Fasting Girl (Sarah Jacob,) with
Comments thereon, and Observations on Death from Starvation. London,
1871.
III.
ABSTINENCE FROM FOOD WITH STIGMATIZATION.
One hundred and fifty-three persons have at one time or another,
according to Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre,[11] received the stigmata; that is,
been marked in a miraculous manner with the wounds received by Christ at
the crucifixion. Of these, eight, are according to the same authority
now living, and two assert that they do not eat. I propose to consider
at some length the main points in the histories of these two, Palma
d'Oria and Louise Lateau, and in so doing I shall avail myself of the
works of those, who are firm believers in the miraculous interposition
of God to produce the effects, of which they are said to be the
subjects. These cases are very little known in this country. Instances
of the kind are extremely rare among practical common sense nations,
like those inhabiting the British Isles, and their descendants in
America. Of the whole one hundred and fifty-three cases recorded by Dr.
Imbert-Gourbeyre, but one--Jane Gray--was British, and hers is the most
doubtful case in the list, for the fact rests only on the testimony of
one Thomas Bourchier, an English minor brother, who asserts that she had
the stigmata in the feet. Of the remainder, the very large majority are
of Italy, and as Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre says:
"Quel pays fut jamais si fertile en miracles?"[12]
To the account of a visit made to Oria for the purpose of studying the
phenomena exhibited by Palma, made by Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, I am
indebted for the following details:
Palma, at the time of the visit in 1871, was sixty-six years old,
hump-backed, thin, small, and with light, expressive eyes. For several
years she had not left the house, and was, on account of her sufferings,
scarcely able to walk. Occasionally, when she felt particularly well,
she took a few steps about the room supported by a cane. In her youth
she had been very strong and active.
At the first interview, after some conversation in the course of which
Palma declared that she had often seen Louise Lateau while in ecstasy,
the doctor directed the conversation towards the subject of
hallucination. While thus engaged and seated close to Palma, he felt her
strike him gently on the arm, and at the same time saw the abbe, who had
come with him, fall on his knees. He turned toward Palma; her eyes were
closed, her hands clasped, her mouth wide open, and on her tongue he saw
the host--the body of Christ. Immediately, he fell on his knees also,
and worshipped it. Palma protruded her tongue still farther, as if she
wanted to give him every opportunity of seeing that the host was really
there; then she ate it, closed her mouth and remained perfectly quiet on
the sofa upon which she was reclining. It was then almost four o'clock
in the afternoon, the day was fading, the room was badly lit by a little
window, high from the floor. The miraculous host appeared to him to be
as white as wax, and somewhat thick. On account of the little light, and
the short time that this extraordinary communion lasted, he was unable
to determine whether or not it was marked according to the custom of the
church.
In regard to this wonderful event--that is, if it be not a fact viewed
unequally--it is further to be said that Palma disclosed to Dr.
Imbert-Gourbeyre, that two or three times, the holy element, which be it
remembered is believed by the great majority of Christians to be the
real body of Christ, was brought to her by the devil, and that then she
refused it. Sometimes he had the figure of an angel, but she knew him by
the sign of reprobation which he wore on his forehead--a little horn.
Moreover she saw that the wicked creature hesitated, and was a little
embarrassed. She intoned the _Gloria Patri_, and made the sign of the
cross, and he instantly took flight and disappeared. In order to
ascertain what it all meant, her confessor forbade her to receive the
miraculous communion for eight days. Hardly had that period expired when
Jesus Christ himself brought her the communion. Before giving it to her
he made her recite the _Gloria Patri_ three times. Then he said to her,
"Have I fled as the demon did? No. Therefore reassure yourself. It is
really I."
These miraculous circumstances had been going on for about two years
when Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre made his visit to Palma. Sometimes it was
brought to her by Christ, as in the instance specified, or by some
saint, as St. Peter, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Francis d'Assisi, in the
company of her guardian angel, and other saints and angels. At other
times it was brought by priests and confessors of the olden time, long
since dead.
An Italian bishop stated, that at the moment of the miraculous sacrament
on one occasion, he had seen the host flying through the air before
entering Palma's mouth, but the doctor questioned her attendant on this
point, and she declared that she had not seen that, and she assured him
that the host was never seen by any one till it rested on Palma's
tongue. The doctor inclines to the belief that the attendant was right,
but he states that nevertheless a French apostolic missionary had
asserted that he had seen the same thing.
Well, if the consecrated bread be really the body of Christ that was
given for the salvation of the world, what horrible blasphemy to state
such things of it, what vileness to believe them, what a barefaced
imputation on the reason of man to spread these shocking details before
him and ask him to accept them as true of the God he worships!
After witnessing the communion, Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre was requested to
withdraw into the adjoining room, while Palma got ready for her other
performances. In a few minutes he was informed that all was in order.
One of the women went in first and returning immediately, the others
were invited to enter. The stigmatization had already begun on the
forehead. He saw a stream of blood flowing from the left frontal
eminence along the side of the nose. A handkerchief was given to Palma;
she held it to her nose for a moment and the haemorrhage soon stopped. He
examined the blood and found that it did not differ in appearance, color
or temperature from ordinary blood. He then examined the handkerchief,
and besides numerous rotund spots he perceived other figures resembling
hearts, with stains of blood proceeding from them, indicating the flames
of love. All this appeared to him to be very extraordinary, for though
he had often seen people bleed from the nose, he had never seen them
bleed like that.
After this incident Palma continued the performances--_actions de grace_
he calls them--her hands clasped and her eyes closed. In the lower
limbs, especially the left, there was a tremor like a nervous trembling
which was soon quieted. After a few minutes she rubbed her hands
together, made the sign of the cross and returned naturally to the
conversation. He then examined her forehead and endeavored to ascertain
where the blood had come from. The skin was intact without the least
opening. She showed him above the right frontal eminence a hole in the
cranium, from which at a former period, five little pieces of bone had
been discharged. The opening was entirely covered over by the scalp, and
he was surprised to find that there was no cicatrix. It was round, the
end of his index finger entered it readily, and it was just such an
opening as would have been produced by the crown of a trephine. At the
time it was made, the skin opened to allow of the exit of the pieces of
bone; then it closed without leaving the trace of a scar. It was the
same with the stigmata. They closed at once without there being any
marks to indicate the place whence the blood had flowed. This hole in
the skull had been caused by some particular circumstances that no one
was willing to reveal to him, but which he says are reported in the
journal of the directors of this woman, and which will soon be
published. Most medical men will come to the conclusion that it was due
to caries and necrosis of the bone, of syphilitic origin.
During another visit Palma told Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre that she had eaten
nothing for seven years, but that she was obliged to drink frequently on
account of the great internal heat, which like a fire consumed her. She
then drank in his presence two carafes of water at one time, and the
doctor states that "this water became so hot in her stomach that it was
vomited boiling. She also had often ejected from her mouth oil, and
another fluid of a balsamic character, in which, on standing for some
time, bodies resembling the consecrated host were formed."
The doctor then relates the following details, which I give in his own
words, in further illustration of the character of his mental
organization and of the pretensions put forth by the woman, whose word
seems to have been sufficient to convince him of anything at all, no
matter how preposterous. Four years previously he had been so
unfortunate as to lose by death his eldest child:
"A year after his death, I had met a woman of great renown for piety,
and who was even regarded as a receiver of celestial communications. I
had commended my poor Joseph to her. Some time after she assured me that
my son was saved, and that he was in paradise. She declared that in a
vision she had seen him near our Lord; he was happy. Various
circumstances, which it is useless to mention here, had caused me to
believe in the truth of this asserted revelation. Being in Oria, I
wished to have as much certainty as possible in regard to the matter,
and as I knew that Palma was in spiritual communication with many pious
souls scattered over the earth, I said to her in the course of our
conversation, 'tell me, Palma, do you know M. ---- de X----,' giving her
the baptismal name of the woman in question. 'No sir,' she answered. I
then related to her my history in detail, taking care not to ask her
opinion in advance, although I felt sure that she would explain the
thing to me. She listened with the utmost attention to the superioress
who translated my words, and when Mother Becaud came to say that the
woman had had a vision of my son, and that he was in paradise, Palma
stretched out her arm in a solemn manner as a sign of negative, and said
to me, 'He is saved, but he is still in purgatory.'
"'Is it possible? Palma,' I cried, profoundly moved: 'Since you tell me
this, you are in conscience bound to get him out of that place of
expiation as soon as possible, and I commend him immediately to your
prayers.'
"'Yes, sir,' she said, 'I will pray for him, and when I am sure of his
deliverance, I will send you word by Father de Pace.'
"The following morning at my visit I again commended my poor child to
Palma, and on the following Friday evening on taking leave of her, I
asked if she had prayed that morning for my son, 'No sir,' she answered.
'I will only do so on the day of All Saints.' 'Then,' said I to Palma,
'will you allow madame the superioress to take the answer?' 'Very
willingly,' said the seeress. On the 7th of November, I received at Nice
the following letter:
"'SIR,
"'I have fulfilled the promise which I made to you in accordance
with your wish to go to Palma on All Saints Day, in order to
ascertain whether or not your wishes in regard to your son had been
granted. That good soul assured me twice that he had gone to heaven
that very morning, God be praised a thousand times!
"'Thus sir, I have done what I could for your consolation.
"'I have the honor to be, etc.
"'Sister Marie Becaud.'
"This letter was post marked at Oria, November 2d."
I should not venture to insult the intelligence of the reader with these
idiotic details but for the reasons stated, and additionally, that they
carry conviction with them to thousands of minds, honest doubtless, but
which are accustomed to grovel in superstition, and falsehood, which
they are unable to test by right standards.
A phase in Palma's spiritual pathology has been alluded to cursorily,
but has not yet been considered with the fulness proper in connection
with stigmatization, and that is the occurrence of haemorrhagic spots on
various parts of her body, and which she so managed as to convey the
idea that they were symbolical of various holy things. On the back of
her hand she convinced Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre that she bled in the shape
of the cross, and he gives a wood-cut representing a cross on the dorsum
of the hand, a little above the space between the first and second
fingers. This is surrounded by other rectilinear figures. On her breast
and back, other figures were obtained by placing handkerchiefs on the
parts. The doctor thus procured several mementoes of his visit, in the
shape of pieces of linen stained with spots of blood somewhat resembling
hearts, with flames coming out of them, suns, roses, crosses, etc. He
gives several plates in his book representing these figures, of the
reality of the miraculous formation of which he has not the slightest
doubt.
Another phenomenon has also been mentioned incidentally, and that is the
intense heat which Palma declared she felt, and which the doctor refers
to as the "divine fire." He had brought with him from Paris, a
thermometer to use in determining the extraordinary temperature of this
fire. He examined her with this instrument while she felt this divine
fire, but failed to find any abnormal increase; her pulse at the time
was 72. "I made this experiment," he says, "to satisfy my scientific
conscience, [God save the mark!] but I ought to say that I was ashamed
of myself for presuming to measure this divine fire by such an
instrument." He is right, science is not for him, or those like him.
On one occasion while Palma was in ecstasy, Antonietta, who was near
her, laid bare her chest a little, and cried with enthusiasm, "she is
burning!" Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre approached and smelt something like the
burning of linen. The dress was opened and her chemise was found to be
burnt on the left side just over the collar bone, and immediately below
this, scorched in the shape of "a magnificent emblem representing a
monstrance. The fire was invisible, but its traces were very evident."
In a note he states that it was affirmed that Palma's temperature on
similar occasions had reached 100 deg. centigrade, (212 deg. Fahrenheit) a fact
which he does not doubt, although his thermometer did not show it. "That
her chemise," he says, "burnt by invisible fire, which escaped the
thermometer, was more extraordinary than if the instrument had indicated
a temperature of 100 deg.."
I shall not stop now to comment further on the circumstances detailed by
Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, and of which I have cited but a small part. I will
only say at present that science and common sense would conclude in
regard to Palma d'Oria,
1st. That she had probably at a former period contracted syphilis.
2d. That she was strongly hysterical.
3d. That she was the subject of purpura haemorrhagica.
4th. That she was a most unmitigated humbug and liar.
And now we come to the consideration of a case of stigmatization which
has greatly stirred both the theological and the scientific world of
Europe--that of Louise Lateau--and here again I shall draw largely,
though by no means exclusively, from the works of the believers in the
miraculous production of the phenomena manifested.[13]
Louise Lateau was born at Bois-d'Haine, a small village in Belgium, on
the 30th of January, 1850. She was reared in the utmost poverty, was
chlorotic, and did not menstruate till she was eighteen years old. She
loved solitude and silence, and when not engaged in work--and she does
not appear to have labored much--she spent her time in meditation and
prayer. She was subject to paroxysms of ecstasy, during which, as many
other ecstasies, she spoke very edifying things, of charity, poverty,
and the priesthood. She saw St. Ursula, St. Roch, St. Theresa, and the
Holy Virgin. Persons who saw her in these states declared that, while
lying on the bed, her whole body was raised up more than a foot high,
the heels alone being in contact with the bed.
The stigmatization ensued very soon after these seizures. On a Friday
she bled from the left side of her chest. On the following Friday this
flow was renewed, and in addition, blood escaped from the dorsal
surfaces of both feet; and on the third Friday, not only did she bleed
from the side and feet, but also from the dorsal and palmar surface of
both hands. Every succeeding Friday the blood flowed from these places,
and finally other points of exit were established on the forehead and
between the shoulders.
At first these bleedings only took place at night, but after two or
three months they occurred in the daytime, and were accompanied by
paroxysms of ecstasy, during which she was insensible to all external
impressions, and acted the passion of Jesus and the crucifixion.
M. Warlomont, being commissioned by the Royal Academy of Medicine of
Belgium to examine Louise Lateau, went to her house, accompanied by
several friends, and made a careful examination of her person. At that
time, Friday morning at six o'clock, the blood was flowing freely from
all the stigmata. In a few moments the sacrament would be brought to
her, and then the second act of the drama would begin. The scene that
followed can be best described in M. Warlomont's own words:
"It is a quarter-past six. 'Here comes the communion,' said M. Niels [a
priest], 'kneel down.' Louise fell on her knees on the floor, closed her
eyes and crossed her hands, on which the communion-cloth was extended. A
priest, followed by several acolytes, entered; the penitent put out her
tongue, received the holy wafer, and then remained immovable in the
attitude of prayer.
"We observed her with more care than seemed to have been hitherto given
to her at similar periods. Some thought that she was simply in a state
of meditation, from which she would emerge in the course of half an hour
or so. But it was a mistake. Having taken the communion, the penitent
went into a special state. Her immobility was that of a statue, her eyes
were closed; on raising the eyelids the pupils were seen to be largely
dilated, immovable, and apparently insensible to light. Strong pressure
made upon the parts in the vicinity of the stigmata caused no sensation
of pain, although a few moments before they were exquisitely tender.
Pricking the skin gave no evidence of the slightest sensibility. A limb,
on being raised, offered no resistance, and sank slowly back to its
former position. Anaesthesia was complete, unless the cornea remained
still impressionable. The pulse had fallen from 120 to 100 pulsations.
At a given moment I raised one of the eyelids, and M. Verriest quickly
touched the cornea. Louise at once seemed to recover herself from a
sound sleep, arose and walked to a chair, upon which she seated herself.
'This time,' I said, 'we have wakened her.' 'No,' said M. Niels, looking
at his watch, 'it was time for her to awake.'"