第100章
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  Immediatelyseveralnewcasesofpossessionappeared;younggirlswhohadbeencuredwereagainaffected;theembersthuskindledwerefannedintoaflamebya“mission“whichsundrypriestsheldintheparishtoarousethepeopletotheirreligiousduties——amissioninRomanCatholiccountriesbeingakintoa“revival“amongsomeProtestantsects。Multitudesofyoungwomen,excitedbythepreachingandappealsoftheclergy,wereagainthrownintotheolddisease,andatthecomingofthegoodbishopitculminated。

  Theaccountisgiveninthewordsofaneye-witness:

  “Atthesolemnentranceofthebishopintothechurch,thepossessedpersonsthrewthemselvesonthegroundbeforehim,orendeavouredtothrowthemselvesuponhim,screamingfrightfully,cursing,blaspheming,sothatthepeopleatlargewerestruckwithhorror。Thepossessedfollowedthebishop,hootedhim,andthreatenedhim,uptothemiddleofthechurch。Orderwasonlyestablishedbytheinterventionofthesoldiers。Duringtheconfirmationthediseasedredoubledtheirhowlsandinfernalvociferations,andtriedtospitinthefaceofthebishopandtotearoffhispastoralraiment。Atthemomentwhentheprelategavehisbenedictionastillmoreoutrageousscenetookplace。

  Theviolenceofthediseasedwascarriedtofury,andfromallpartsofthechurcharoseyellsandfearfulhowling;sofrightfulwasthedinthattearsfellfromtheeyesofmanyofthespectators,andmanystrangerswerethrownintoconsternation。”

  Amongtheverylargenumberofthesediseasedpersonstherewereonlytwomen;oftheremainderonlytwowereofadvancedage;

  thegreatmajoritywereyoungwomenbetweentheagesofeighteenandtwenty-fiveyears。

  Thepublicauthoritiesshortlyafterwardintervened,andsoughttocurethediseaseandtodrawthepeopleoutoftheirmaniabysinging,dancing,andsportsofvarioussorts,untilatlastitwasbroughtundercontrol。[406]

  [406]SeeTissot,L’Imagination:sesBienfaitsetsesEgarementssutoutdansleDomaineduMerveilleux,Paris,1868,liv。iv,ch。

  vii,S7:LesPossedeesdeMorzine;alsoConstans,RelationsuruneEpidemiedeHystero-Demonopathies,Paris,1863。

  Scenessimilartothese,intheiressentialcharacter,havearisenmorerecentlyinProtestantcountries,butwiththedifferencethatwhathasbeengenerallyattributedbyRomanCatholicecclesiasticstoSatanisattributedbyProtestantecclesiasticstotheAlmighty。TypicalamongthegreaterexhibitionsofthiswerethosewhichbeganintheMethodistchapelatRedruthinCornwall——convulsions,leaping,jumping,untilsomefourthousandpersonswereseizedbyit。ThesamethingisseenintheruderpartsofAmericaat“revivals“andcampmeetings。NorintheruderpartsofAmericaalone。InJune,1893,atafuneralinthecityofBrooklyn,oneofthemournershavingfallenintohystericalfits,severalothercasesatonceappearedinvariouspartsofthechurchedifice,andsomeofthepatientsweresoseriouslyaffectedthattheyweretakentoahospital。

  Instillanotherfieldtheseexhibitionsareseen,butmoreafteramedievalpattern:intheTigretierofAbyssiniawehaveepidemicsofdancingwhichseekandobtainmiraculouscures。

  ReportsofsimilarmanifestationsarealsosentfrommissionariesfromthewestcoastofAfrica,oneofwhomseesinsomeofthemthecharacteristicsofcasesofpossessionmentionedinourGospels,andisthereforeinclinedtoattributethemtoSatan。[407]

  [407]ForthecasesinBrooklyn,seetheNewYorkTribuneofaboutJune10,1893。FortheTigretier,withespeciallyinterestingcitations,seeHecker,chap。iii,sec。1。ForthecasesinwesternAfrica,seetheRev。J。L。Wilson,WesternAfrica,p。217。

  III。THEOLOGICAL“RESTATEMENTS。”——FINALTRIUMPH

  OFTHESCIENTIFICVIEWANDMETHODS。

  But,happily,longbeforetheselatteroccurrences,sciencehadcomeintothefieldandwasgraduallydiminishingthisclassofdiseases。AmongtheearlierworkerstothisbetterpurposewasthegreatDutchphysicianBoerhaave。FindinginoneofthewardsinthehospitalatHaarlemanumberofwomengoingintoconvulsionsandimitatingeachotherinvariousactsoffrenzy,heimmediatelyorderedafurnaceofblazingcoalsintothemidstoftheward,heatedcauterizingirons,anddeclaredthathewouldburnthearmsofthefirstwomanwhofellintoconvulsions。Nomorecasesoccurred。[408]

  [408]SeeFiguier,HistoiredeMerveilleux,vol。i,p。403。

  Theseandsimilarsuccessfuldealingsofmedicalsciencewithmentaldiseasebroughtaboutthenextstageinthetheologicaldevelopment。TheChurchsoughttoretreat,aftertheusualmanner,behindacompromise。EarlyintheeighteenthcenturyappearedaneweditionofthegreatworkbytheJesuitDelriowhichforahundredyearshadbeenatext-bookfortheuseofecclesiasticsinfightingwitchcraft;butinthiseditionthepartplayedbySatanindiseaseswaschanged:itwassuggestedthat,whilediseaseshavenaturalcauses,itisnecessarythatSatanenterthehumanbodyinordertomakethesecauseseffective。ThisworkclaimsthatSatan“attackslunaticsatthefullmoon,whentheirbrainsarefullofhumours“;thatinothercasesofillnesshe“stirstheblackbile“;andthatincasesofblindnessanddeafnesshe“clogstheeyesandears。”Bythecloseofthecenturythis“restatement“wasevidentlyfounduntenable,andoneofaverydifferentsortwasattemptedinEngland。

  InthethirdeditionoftheEncyclopaediaBritannica,publishedin1797,underthearticleDaemoniacs,theorthodoxviewwaspresentedinthefollowingwords:“Therealityofdemoniacalpossessionstandsuponthesameevidencewiththegospelsystemingeneral。”

  Thisstatement,thoughnecessarytosatisfytheoldertheologicalsentiment,wasclearlyfoundtoodangeroustobesentoutintothemodernscepticalworldwithoutsomequalification。Anotherviewwasthereforesuggested,namely,thatthepersonagesoftheNewTestament“adoptedthevulgarlanguageinspeakingofthoseunfortunatepersonswhoweregenerallyimaginedtobepossessedwithdemons。”Twoorthreeeditionscontainedthiscuriouscompromise;butnearthemiddleofthepresentcenturythewholediscussionwasquietlydropped。

  Science,decliningtotroubleitselfwithanyoftheseviews,pressedon,andtowardtheendofthecenturyweseeDr。RhodesatLyonscuringaveryseriouscaseofpossessionbytheuseofapowerfulemetic;yetmyth-makingcameinherealso,anditwasstatedthatwhentheemeticproduceditseffectpeoplehadseenmultitudesofgreenandyellowdevilscastforthfromthemouthofthepossessed。

  ThelastgreatdemonstrationoftheoldbeliefinEnglandwasmadein1788。NearthecityofBristolatthattimelivedadrunkenepileptic,GeorgeLukins。Inaskingalms,heinsistedthathewas“possessed。”andproveditbyjumping,screaming,barking,andtreatingthecompanytoaparodyoftheTeDeum。

  HewassolemnlybroughtintotheTempleChurch,andsevenclergymenunitedintheefforttoexorcisetheevilspirit。

  UpontheiradjuringSatan,heswore“byhisinfernalden“thathewouldnotcomeoutoftheman——“anoath。”saysthechronicler。”nowheretobefoundbutinBunyan’sPilgrim’sProgress,fromwhichLukinsprobablygotit。”

  Butthesevenclergymenwereatlastsuccessful,andsevendevilswerecastout,afterwhichLukinsretired,andappearstohavebeensupportedduringtheremainderofhislifeasamonumentofmercy。

  WiththisgreatefforttheoldtheoryinEnglandseemedpracticallyexhausted。

  Sciencehadevidentlycarriedthestronghold。In1876,atalittletownnearAmiens,inFrance,ayoungwomansufferingwithalltheusualevidencesofdiabolicpossessionwasbroughttothepriest。Thepriestwasbesoughttocastoutthedevil,buthesimplytookhertothehospital,where,underscientifictreatment,sherapidlybecamebetter。[409]

  [409]SeeFiguier;alsoCollindePlancy,DictionnaireInfernale,articlePosseses。

  Thefinaltriumphofscienceinthispartofthegreatfieldhasbeenmainlyachievedduringthelatterhalfofthepresentcentury。

  FollowinginthenoblesuccessionofParacelsusandJohnHunterandPinelandTukeandEsquirol,havecomeabandofthinkersandworkerswhobyscientificobservationandresearchhavedevelopednewgrowthsoftruth,evermoreandmoreprecious。

  AmongthemanyfactsthusbroughttobearuponthislaststrongholdofthePrinceofDarkness,maybenamedespeciallythoseindicating“expectantattention“——anexpectationofphenomenadweltuponuntilthelongingforthembecomesmorbidandinvincible,andthecreationofthemperhapsunconscious。

  Stillotherclassesofphenomenaleadingtoepidemicsarefoundtoarisefromamorbidtendencytoimitation。Stillothergroupshavebeenbroughtunderhypnotism。Multitudesmorehavebeenfoundundertheinnumerableformsandresultsofhysteria。

  Astudyoftheeffectsoftheimaginationuponbodilyfunctionshasalsoyieldedremarkableresults。

  And,finally,tosupplementthiswork,havecomeinanarrayofscholarsinhistoryandliteraturewhohaveinvestigatedmyth-makingandwonder-mongering。

  Thushasbeenclearedawaythatcloudofsupernaturalismwhichsolonghungovermentaldiseases,andthushavetheybeenbroughtwithinthefirmgraspofscience。[410]

  [410]Togointoevenleadingcitationsinthisvastandbeneficentliteraturewouldtakemefarbeyondmyplanandspace,butImayname,amongeasilyaccessibleauthorities,BrierredeBoismontonHallucinations,Hulme’stranslation,1860;alsoJamesBraid,ThePoweroftheMindovertheBody,London,1846;Krafft-

  Ebing,LehrbuchderPsychiatrie,Stuttgart,1888;Tuke,InfluenceoftheMindontheBody,London,1884;Maudsley,PathologyoftheMind,London,1879;Carpenter,MentalPhysiology,sixthedition,London,1888;LloydTuckey,FaithCure,inTheNineteenthCenturyforDecember,1888;Pettigrew,SuperstitionsconnectedwiththePracticeofMedicineandSurgery,London,1844;Snell,HexenprocesseundGeistesstorung,Munchen,1891。Foraveryvaluablestudyofinterestingcases,seeTheLawofHypnotism,byProf。R。S。Hyer,oftheSouthwesternUniversity,Georgetown,Texas,1895。

  Astomyth-makingandwonder-mongering,thegeneralreaderwillfindinterestingsupplementaryaccountsintherecentworksofAndrewLangandBaring-Gould。

  Averycuriousevidenceoftheeffectsofthemyth-makingtendencyhasrecentlycometotheattentionofthewriterofthisarticle。Periodically,formanyyearspast,wehaveseen,inbooksoftravelandinthenewspapers,accountsofthewonderfulperformancesofthejugglersinIndia;ofthestabbingofachildinasmallbasketinthemidstofanarena,andthechildappearingaliveinthesurroundingcrowd;ofseedsplanted,sprouted,andbecomingwell-growntreesunderthehandofthejuggler;ofropesthrownintotheairandsustainedbyinvisibleforce。CountdeGubernatis,theeminentprofessorandOrientalscholaratFlorence,informedthepresentwriterthathehadrecentlyseenandstudiedtheseexhibitions,andthat,sofarfrombeingwonderful,theyweremuchinferiortothejugglerysowellknowninallourWesterncapitals。

  Conscientiousmenstilllingeronwhofindcomfortinholdingfasttosomeshredoftheoldbeliefindiabolicpossession。

  ThesturdydeclarationinthelastcenturybyJohnWesley,that“givingupwitchcraftisgivinguptheBible。”isechoedfeeblyinthelatterhalfofthiscenturybytheeminentCatholicecclesiasticinFrancewhodeclaresthat“todenypossessionbydevilsistochargeJesusandhisapostleswithimposture。”andasks,“Howcanthetestimonyofapostles,fathersoftheChurch,andsaintswhosawthepossessedandsodeclared,bedenied?”

  AndastillfainterecholingersinProtestantEngland。[411]

  [411]SeetheAbbeBarthelemi,intheDictionnairedelaConversation;alsotheRev。W。Scott’sDoctrineofEvilSpiritsproved,London,1853;alsothevigorousprotestofDeanBurgonagainsttheactionoftheNewTestamentrevisers,insubstitutingtheword“epileptic“for“lunatic“inMatthewxvii,15,publishedintheQuarterlyReviewforJanuary,1882。

  But,despitethisconscientiousopposition,sciencehasintheselatterdayssteadilywroughthandinhandwithChristiancharityinthisfield,toevolveabetterfutureforhumanity。Thethoughtfulphysicianandthedevotedclergymanarenowconstantlyseenworkingtogether;anditisnottoomuchtoexpectthatSatan,havingbeencastoutoftheinsaneasylums,willerelongdisappearfrommonasteriesandcampmeetings,eveninthemostunenlightenedregionsofChristendom。

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