Читать книгу Sketches of Imposture, Deception, and Credulity - R. A. Davenport - Страница 5

Table of Contents

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.