416

On the Art of Healing by Visionary Divination.

for sleep was given, the officiants of the temple extinguished all the lights in the sick mens' chamber; thus involving them in a solemn stillness and obscurity, highly favourable to the work in hand, but in a particular manner to the subterfuge of the priests, who enacted the nocturnal apparition of Esculapius to his sick client. This passage in Plutus is certainly the earliest circumstantial relation we possess of the practice of this species of incubation. The licence permitted to Grecian comedy was such as to authorize the ridicule and contempt of the most popular deities; we are not, therefore, to conclude from these scenes that there were many unbelievers, or that this ancient system of cure had sunk into disrepute; for the history of our comedian's great cotemporary, Hippocrates, informs us, that at this very time Esculapius' temple at Cos abounded in tablets, on which the sick attested the remedies that had been revealed to them during incubation, and that he himself was highly indebted to them for much of his medical knowledge.

We have now travelled through the most celebrated of these oracles, and it would be needless to waste our time in describing a variety of others, to which the infirm resorted in the most prosperous and enlightened ages of Greece. Were it not authenticated by the most undeniable testimonies, it would appear incredible that the impostures of Esculapius' disciples, and the common faith in his regenerative powers, should have survived with equal potency and acceptation during the ages immediately succeeding the Christian era. It must not, however, be forgotten, that these were the tines also, when an infinity of superstitions of every description disgraced the Roman world; although it would have appeared a necessary consequence, that their prevalency should have been checked by the increasing dissemination of learning and science. If at this period the number of dreaming patients had fallen off at Cos and Epidaurus, the deficiency was amply compensated by the growing popularity of Esculapius' shrines at Rome, Pergamus, gæa, Mallos, and other places, where the ancient rituals were faithfully preserved. The highest magistrates in the Roman state not only countenanced, but patronized the superstition: Marcus Aurelius, by the friendship with which he honoured the Paphlagonian impostor Alexander; and Caraccalla, by the journey he un

* Aristoph, Plut, act ii. sc. 6. & iii. sc. 2.

[Dec. 1,

dertook to Pergamus to obtain the cure of a disease which afflicted him. This Alexander, the Cagliostro of his age, whose memoirs have been handed down to us by Lucian, made shift to father a new species of juggling upon the ancient process of Incubation; for he pretends that it was necessary for him to sleep for a night on the sealed scrips, which contained the queries he was to have resolved for those who visited his oracle. During this dormitory interval be dextrously opened the scrips, and sealed them up again; pretending that the responses which he delivered to the que rists in the morning, had been revealed to him by the deity in a dream.

The researches we have waded through have been fully adequate, we should hope, to convey a general idea of the nature, practice, acceptation, and popularity of the Incubatory Art among the ancients. It is somewhat singular, that both Cicero's Treatise on Divination, as well as the works of. Hippocrates and Galen, should be so destitute of information on the subject of a mode of cure which was of such long standing, and so universally esteemed. From the two last, one should at least have expected something more satisfactory, Ces being the birth-place of the one, and Pergamus of the other. This is, however, very far from being the only subject in ancient story, our acquaintance with which is solely drawn from imperfect remains and scattered fragments.

The priests of Esculapius possessed a never-failing source of information on the recipes, or votive tablets, with which their temples abounded. These were sometimes engraven on pillars, as at Epidaurus; of which Pausanias says there were six remaining in his time, and besides these, oue in particular, removed from the rest, on which it was recorded that Hippolytus had sacrificed twenty horses to Esculapius, in return for his having been restored to life by him. Five memorials only of this kind have reached the present age, and they will form a pertinent close to our inquiries. One of them is to be found in the beginning of Galen's Fifth Book de Compos. Medic.: it is taken from the tem ple of Phthas, near Memphis, and is the least interesting of the whole. Its sub ject is the use of the Diktamnus, borrowed from Heras of Cappadocia, a medical writer, frequently quoted by Galen. The remaining four are much more inportant: they were engraven on a mar * Luciani Oper, t. ii, ed Reitzii.

1814.]

Sir Wm. Drummond's Edipus Judaicus.

ble slab, of later date, at Rome, and are thought with much probability to have belonged to the Esculapian temple in the Insula Tiberina. The present translation, in which some errors either of the artist or copyist are rectified, is extracted from the first volume of Gruter's Corp. Inscriptionum. The narrations are perspicuous and laconic.

1. "In these latter days, a certain blind man, by name Caius, had this oracle vouchsafed to him that he should draw near to the altar after the manner of one who could see; then walk from right to left, lay the five fingers of his right hand on the altar, then raise up his hand and place it on his eyes. And behold! the multitude saw the blind man open his eyes, and they rejoiced, such splendid miracles should signalize the reign of our Emperor Antoniuus."

2. "To Lucius, who was so wasted away by pains in his side, that all doubted of his recovery, the god gave this response: Approach thou the altar; take ashes from it, mix them up with wine, and then lay thyself on thy sore side.' And the man recovered, and openly returned thanks to the god amidst the congratulations of the people."

3. "To Julian, who spitted blood, and was given over by every one, the god granted this response: Draw near, take pine apples from off the altar, and eat them with wine for three days.' And the man got well, and came and gave thanks to the god in the presence of the people."

4." A blind soldier, Valerius Asper by name, received this answer from the god:-that he should mix the blood of a white cock with milk, make an eye ointment therewith, and rub his eyes with it for three days. And lo! the blind recovered his sight, and came, and publicly gave thanks to the god."

The success with which the priests of Esculapius carried on their impostures, and the popularity which their dexterous management, no less than the vulgar credulity obtained for them, will cease to surprise us on maturer consideration. It could not be a difficult task for them to give the minds of their patients whatever bias was best adapted to their purposes. These credulous beings passed several days and nights in the temple, and their imaginations could not fail to be powerfully impressed with what was diligently told them of the prescriptions

It is often called by antiquaries Tabella Marmorea apud Maffaeos, as it was first preserved in that collection,

417

and cures of Esculapius; nor to retain during their slumbers many lively impressions of their meditations by day; their priestly nurses too were neither so blind to their own interests, nor so careless of their reputation, as to omit the prescribing of such modes of diet and medical remedies as were calculated to appease their patients' sufferings. Besides which, however delusive and empirical their outward ceremonials and bold pretensions might have been, we should remember, that priests having some acquaintance with the science of medicine, were generally selected to officiate in those spots where the incubatory process was the order of the day. To this acquaintance were added the results of daily experience, and the frequent opportunities which the incessant demands of the infirm upon their skill afforded them of correcting previous errors and improving their practical knowledge; of gradually ascertaining the various kinds and appearances of human disorders; and of digesting such data as would enable them, with the least possible chance of failure, to prescribe the modes of cure and treatment suitable to the various stages and species of the applicants' maladies. With such means, it would have been not a little singular if the priests of Esculapius had failed in converting the popular veneration to his credit and their own emolument.

DECIUS.

SIR WM. DRUMMOND'S EDIPUS JUDAICUS.
To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine.
SIR,

WHEN I wrote my last letter to you, in defence of the author of the unpublished Edipus Judaicus, and in answer to your correspondent who calls himself CASTIGATOR, I had no suspicion who this person really was, and I endeavoured to express myself in as mild a manner as justice to my friend would permit. A letter addressed to you by the same correspondent, and bearing date Aug. 23, 1814, has convinced me that I ought to have known the author from the first, and that it was very needless on my part to throw away the language of common civility on one who is still sore from the bruises which he received in the combat with Vindex.

This Castigator tells your readers that I have proved my friendship by declining to enter into the merits or demerits of the book in question. There was no occasion for my doing so. He knows to his own cost that this has been already

418

"Anecdote of the Emperor Julian.

done by Vindex and Biblicus; and that many persons have in consequence entirely changed their opinions, not only about the author of the Edipus Judaicus, but about the intentions, the honour, and the honesty of his assailant.

This same Castigator (Calumniator would have been a more appropriate name) calls the Quarterly Reviewers his friends. It is not my business to rescue those gentlemen from this bitter satire. Undoubtedly the article in their journal, to which allusion has been made, wore various marks of having been written by some very intimate friend of the libeller of the author of the Edipus. His blunders, his bad reasoning, and, above all, his malignity, were then so glaringly conspicuous, as to make several readers believe that he himself was the author of that precious morsel of honest criticism, in which he vilifies the character of his adversary, and lauds his own.

I come now to consider a passage in your correspondent's letter, which contains as foul a calumny as the Devil's Advocate ever ventured to promulgate at the suggestion of his client.

In the passage to which I allude, it is more than insinuated, that the author of the Edipus Judaicus had his book surreptitiously conveyed into the library of an illustrious young lady. I am fully authorized by this gentleman to declare in his name, that the charge is entirely false, so far as it concerns him. No copy of the book was ever sent to the young lady in question with his know ledge; nor, indeed, did he ever hear of of the matter, until it was announced in the New Monthly Magazine. Whether the rest of the tale be true-whether, or not, the young lady's father, having discovered it in her library, burned the naughty book, even at the peril of setting fire to the chimneys of W House, is

more than I can pretend to say.

Your correspondent is further pleased to assert, that the book was sent to many, who were not flattered by the distinction. This assertion happens not to be true; because, as the book was not sent to many, many could not be offended by the receipt of it.

Your correspondent tells your readers, that the book" presents nothing but the coarsest transcript from some of the coarsest German infidels." It really becomes this man to talk of coarseness; but I trust your readers are too candid to give credit to his vague, vulgar, and malignant slanders. He accuses the author of the Edipus of being guilty of

[Dec. 1,

blasphemy. What is the truth? That author has ridiculed some passages in the Old Testament, as they are rendered and understood in our translation. He says, that these passages are wrongly explained. Now, that they do not convey the sense of the original Hebrew, will be fully proved, when Mr. John Bellamy publishes his new version of the sacred text. The man who accuses another of blaspheming God, the greatest of crimes, upon such grounds as these, can only be actuated by the most unworthy motives.

As to the threats which Castigator holds out to "the Scotch Knight of ancient line," I believe that the Knight himself holds them in utter derision; but he may rest assured, that he shall not injure, with impunity to himself, the esteemed friend of October, 1814.

ARISTIDES.

We must hint to Aristides, that his expressions and epithets, some of which we have felt ourselves under the necessity of suppressing, exceed the limits of literary controversy, and that by the adoption of them be incurs the risk and imputation of proving too much.

EDITOR.

ANECDOTE of the EMPEROR JULIAN,
To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine.
SIR,

HAVING met with an anecdote respecting the last acts and words of the Ronan Emperor Julian, commonly called the Apostate, in the Rev. Mr. Hervey's works, and which is said to be taken out of Ecclesiastical History, I should feel much obliged to any of your correspondents or readers if they can inform me whether such anecdote is to be depended on, and if any other author who

* Vide first volume of his Theron and Aspasio, Dialogue V. "It is related in ecclesiastical history, that when the Emperor Julian was setting out upon his Parthian expedition, he threatened to persecute the Christians with the utmost severity, as soon as he returned victorious. Upon this occa sion, Libanius the rhetorician asked one of them, with an insulting air, What the carpenter's son was doing while such a storm hung over his followers? The carpenter's coffin for your emperor.' The event proved son, replied the Christian, is making a the answer to be prophetic; for, in an engagement with the enemy, that royal but wretched apostate was mortally wounded, and cried with his expiring breath, Vicisti, O Gallilee. I am vanquished, O Gallilean, thy right hand hath the pre-eminence." "

1814.]

Plagiarism of the Rev. Mr. Eustace.

is no way interested, and whose autho-
rity is undoubted, has recorded it.
I am, yours, &c.

London, Nov. 4, 1814.

VERITAS.

DETECTION of a PLAGIARISM of the REV.

MR. EUSTACE.

To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine.
SIR,

IN your number for October, Mr. Elmes has, with a spirit becoming a professor of the fine arts and au Englishman, vindicated the master-piece of the genius of Sir Christopher Wren against the misrepresentations of the Rev. Mr. Eustace in his derogatory com→ parison of St. Paul's Cathedral with that of St. Peter at Rome. That a catholic should feel a prepossession for the metropolitan temple of his religion, cannot appear surprizing; neither ought we to be astonished that a person who has not professedly devoted himself to the study of a particular science should fall into errors, when writing on subjects which require an acquaintance with the practice as well as theory of that science.. But it may, perhaps, excite some wonder, that an author who has demonstrated that he possesses ample stores of his own to draw upon, should be guilty of so gross a plagiarism as that to which I here call the attention of your readers, The passage which justifies this charge, forms part of his late publication under the title of A Letter from Paris. The author from whom he has, without acknowledgment, borrowed the ideas, and in a great measure the words also, of that passage, is M. de Chateaubriand; who, in his Genie de Christianisme, thus concludes his beautiful and highly elo quent description of the once venerable, but now ruined, Abbey of St. Denis; for many centuries the burial place of the royal family of France.

"Those renowned sepulchres are now no more. Little children have played with the bones of mighty monarchs: St. Denis is laid waste; the bird has made it ber resting-place; the grass grows on its shattered altars; and instead of the eternal hymn of death which resounded beneath its domes, nought is now heard save the pattering of the rain that enters at the roofless top, the fall of some stone dislodged from the ruined walls, or the sound of the clock, which still runs its wonted course among empty tombs and plundered sepulchres."

The Beauties of Christianity, by F. A. de Chateaubriand, Translated from the

419

Mr. Eustace, after briefly describing the same edifice as it appeared in 1790, winds up his account of it with this parody of the preceding passage :

"In 1802, I revisited it. The ruins of the abbey strewed the ground. The church stood stripped and profaned; the wind roared through the unglazed windows, and murmured round the vaults; the rain dropt from the roof, and deluged the pavement; the royal dead had been torn from the repositories of departed greatness; the bones of heroes had been made the playthings of children, and the dust of monarchs had been scattered to the wind. The clock alone remained in the tower, tolling every quarter, as if to measure the time permitted to the abomination of desolation, and record each repeated act of sacrile gious impiety."

That this coincidence cannot be acci

dental, must, I think, be the opinion of every unbiassed reader, as well as of Yours, &c. DETECTOR.

London, Oct. 5, 1814.

MEDICAL QUACKERY.
To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine.
SIR,

OF all branches of human science, medicine is one of the most interesting to mankind; and, accordingly as it is erroneously or judiciously cultivated, is eminently conducive to the prejudice or welfare of the public. Of how great consequence is it, then, that our endeavours should be exerted in stemming the propagation of errors, whether arising from ignorance, or prompted by motives of base cupidity; and in giving assistance to the dissemination of useful truths, and to the perfection of ingenious discoveries! These thoughts occurred to me on the perusal and comparison of two works lately written on the same subject: viz. the diseases of tropical climates; one of them by a surgeon who holds a high office in the naval service of this country, and who has seen the disease in all its various forms; and the other by a person who keeps a druggist's shop in Piccadilly, and professes to pack up medicine chests adapted to the speedy cure of the afflicted. The mode of treatment recommended by these two authors is diametrically opposite to each other; the one recommending a stimulating plan; the exhibition of wine, bark, and

French, by Frederic Shoberl.
p. 49 and 50.

Vol. IIF.,

Letter from Paris, p. 11 and 12.

Medical Quackery-Noise in the Head.