BEGBLE'S SUPERNATURAL ILLUSIONS.'

TRIS publication is based upon a work by Dr. Branner, a German writer who was born about the middle of the seventeenth century, and published a large compilation on sorcery, witchcraft, ghosts, and supernatural or unnatural matters in general, which has now become very rare. Brainier himself; like many older writers on the subject, had philosophy enough to doubt some of the particu- lars he had to record, to suspect imposture in others, and to en- deavour to explain what seemed to admit of a natural solution, at the same time that he entertained a firm belief in ghosts, and the possibility of man exercising supernatural powers by dint of compact with the Evil One—for magic proper was not much at- tended to by Brauner. His work appears to be a large storehouse of narratives connected with the various superstitions of the mid- dle ages, and which are still a matter of faith in many Conti- nental districts, undisturbed by railways or modern improve- ments. His topics are classified and arranged with some degree of order ; and though he was not distinguished by much strength or grace of composition, his style was equal to that of many other writers on demonology and witchcraft. Some of the topics he had to handle, and some of the stories he thought fit to tell, involved a plainness of matter and language, which, however usual even in England upwards of a century ago, are by no means adapted for "ears polite" in the present day : a circumstance that has induced considerable expurgation, or ig- noring, by Major Begbie.

This necessity involves the omission of some strange stories, as well as the softening of curious subjects to nothing,—as the crimi- nal intercourse of witches with the Devil. For a popular work, indeed for any work to be published in the present day, such de- licacy was indispensable ; but the Major should have avoided filling-up those omissions by slight matter of his own, chiefly con- sisting of efforts after smartness and indifferent attempts at wit. Doctor Brauner's style, like that of many other collectors of the supernatural, is rather flat; not so much diffuse, as weak or in- sipid. It should have been the task of the translator to strengthen and enliven the oldfashioned prosiness of his original—to give the reader the pith of the labour and learning of the German doctor clothed in the fashion of the day-. Major Begbie, on the contrary, has written down to Branner and his authorities, rather than up to the age ; and though his additions to the original are proper, mere writing would have been better away.

The subjects of the work are numerous : were wolves, witchcraft, and witches in various aspects; divining by the cup and the mir- ror; sortilegious nights, love-philtres, the wishing or divining rod, and hidden treasures ; with a variety of matters purely fabulous— as the mandragora, or natural objects perverted by superstition— as the ignis fatuus. Ghosts and apparitions are treated of under various circumstances, as well as the diablerie peculiar to Germany : there are besides a good many miscellaneous topics, occasionally

rather like travellers' lies than superstitions in relation to the black arts.

Some of the examples are not of a very striking kind in them- selves; but more may seem rather flat from the manner of telling them, or because they do not very cogently illustrate the class of the supernatural under which they are ranged. The simple narra- tion, however, very often throws up the philosophy of the subject. It is easy enough to see how the following accusation originated.

"In Ill;rtholomocusSpinteits, qurest. de strigib, chap. 6, we find a precious anecdote of a young girl Who was residing at Bergom with her mother, but was found one morning in a state of primitive simplicity in the bed of her bro- ther-in-law,. at Venice. The young girl accounted for the awkwardness of her situation by stating that she had seen, the previous night, her mother rise from the bed, and, after having besmeared herself all over with oint- ment, fly out of the windows. As the pot of ointment had been left behind, she followed her example, and was transported to the place where she had been found, and discovered her mother in the act of attempting to kill her brother-in-law. On her crying out, her mother, she said, had fled ; and on this very equivocal testimony was the unfortunate woman apprehended, and handed over to the ten3er mercies of Father Bergominsius, of the Inquisi- tion; who, after due inquiry, consigned her to the stake."

The voluntary confession of alleged witches to the clear impos- sibility of riding through the air to their nocturnal meetings, is aseribed by several old writers to dreams produced by the scan- niferous drugs with which they used to anoint themselves. So far as regards a guilty animus of witchcraft, the anointing is clearly an "overt act": the persons, whether wicked or insane, imagined they had entered into a compact with Satan, and no doubt expe- rienced what they took for certain ceremonies of initiation. Whether the anointing always preceded the supposed journey through the air, may be questioned : it is still more doubt- ful whether the drugproduced the dreams—they were most probably the result of imagination. The experiment of Ports is conclusive as to the fact.

"John Baptista Porta, who also appears to have had some little more eommon sense than fell to the lot of the generality of writers in those days, also states, in the twenty-sixth chapter of his second book on Natural Magic, that the imagination and fancy of foolish people, especially of weak women, works so powerfully, that, after having anointed themselves with a certain ointment which induces deep sleep, they imagine that they are carried away • aupematnral illusions. By Major P. I. Begbie, of the Madras Artillery. In two volumes. Published by Newby. to a princely meal, to magnificent assemblies, &c.; which,' says he, 'is clear delusion,' and then continues= whilst I now WU diligently inquiring into these matters, and pondering deeply over them, because I was much distracted with doubt-thereanent, an old1icgar woman came to me, and TO-• Unitarily promised and vowed to me that aim would very quickly s'olve my doubts and give me an answer thereon. She allowed me and some others who were with me as witnesses, to retire into the room whilst she went out and anointed herself all over. Now there hoppened to be a chink in the_ panel of the door, through which we peeped, and observed that she fell down in a profound slumber through the power of that somniferous ointment. We opened the door and stole out ; when we observed that her skin had turned per- fectly blue, and that she was so fast asleep that blows made not the slightest impression upon her, whilst she continued unconscious of our presence. At length the effect of the ointment gradually ceased to operate; when. the wo- man woke up, and. began to tell us many wonderful stories, as to how, she had travelled over hills and vallies, and all manner of streams. We stoutly con- tradicted her ; and although we pointed out to her the marks of the stnpes on her body which we had inflicted on her in her sleep, she-remained obstinate in her assertions, persisting therein, and continuing impervious to all our arguments and declarations.' "

The allusions of Shakspere to the mandrake have rendered the name familiar : -what the mandrake was may not be so generally known. The following account of it is clear and close, and illus- trates the line of the poet, " Could curses kill as doth the man- drake's groan." .

"This root was largely used as a means of sorcery; either for, obtaining wealth by unsanctified means, or removing the curse of sterility, or, in

short, to procure good fortune of any kind. * *•

" This root, called in Latin by botanists Mandragora, is affirmed by Zorn, in Botonologea, page 420, to be a root of excellent virtues. It is supposed to be generated by the droppings from the corpse of a malefactor left to swing to and fro on the gallows ; whence its name of Galgen-tnatanleitt, which people in former times were wont to give large sums for, and with it wor-

ship the Devil to a great extent. * * *

"Its figure resembles that of a man, and it has broad leaves with yellow flowers. The digging it up was supposed to be attended with no ordinary peril ; for, on being torn from the ground, it shrieked and howled fearfully, so that the man who was venturesome enough to procure it in this fashion died on the spot. To avoid this catastrophe, the following precautions were necessary : the person must on a Friday, before the sun was risen, stop his ears carefully either with cotton, wax, or pitch ; (we apprehend that -this last substance would give Tom the barber t some trouble;) and, on reaching the spot where it grew, make the sign of the cross over it : it was then to be carefully dug round, so as not to leave the smallest fibre in the ground. After this it was to be tied with a thread to a dog's tail, and the person was to run before the dog holding a piece of bread in his hand. As the dog ran alter.-the bread with the root dangling at his tail, the shrieks of the root would have such a powerful effect upon him that he would fall suddenly dead to the ground. The unfortunate dog having been thus converted into a e the noxious powers of the root were so far destroyed as to allow it to be handled with safety. It was then washed in wine, wrapped up in red and white silk, and afterwards put, rolled up in white linen, into a wooden box for four weeks, leaving only the head uncovered. These cere- monies being duly observed, it would then answer any question put to it, and frequently declare things future."

There can be no doubt that the practice or reputation of witch- craft was often made a means of carrying out licentious object's: perhaps, as Major Begbie observes, supernatural excuses were often advanced for causes purely natural ; both sexes charging upon- the Devil or his imps the consequences of their own conduct. "Who's the dupe ? " of the following tale, may not be so readily resolved as the innocence of the Devil. The story is set forth by Antonio Torquemada, to show "how the Devil shamefully deceived a noble maiden at Calaris or Cagliari."

"This young lady, possessed of great beauty, and endowed with many virtues, amongst which, however, that of controlling her affections does not appear to have been numbered, fell in love with a cavalier in her neigh- bourhood, without his having betrayed any corresponding affection for her. The young lady 'never told her love,' but she allowed it to take undue posr session of her ; thereby of course giving a footing for the Devil, who ac- cordingly simulated the person of the cavalier, and introduced himself to her. After a short period, he had so ingratiated himself with her that she consented to a private marriage • the Devil persuading her at the same tinie never to send a messenger to him, nor to recognize nor speak to him in public when they met. By these means, often as the damsel met the real cavalier, the secret was preserved for several months ; and the true state of the ease would never have been discovered, had not her mother hung one day around her neck some precious relic or other. Now, all good Roman Catholics know that the Devil cannot withstand a relic, and, consequently, our feigned cavalier took such a disgust to the same that he took himself off altogether; and if the relic was, as is most likely, some old saint's bone, or rotten clout, we can hardly accuse him of fastidiousness. "Time rolled on, the lady kept her relic, the Devil kept at home, and the real cavalier fell in love in another quarter ; which, of course excited the violent rage and jealousy of her who considered herself entitled to all his

love. She therefore broke through the Devil's injunction, and sent a e to the cavalier, earnestly requesting him to call upon her. He, being a

courteous gentleman, paid her the desired visit, although quite ignorant of what she could want with him. Of course tears and reproaches for his shameful desertion of her were the order of the day; and, on the cavalier's protesting ignorance and innocence, the lady became more and more im- petuous, refreshing, as she thought, his memory, and desiring him to publicly avow their marriage, or she would expose him to the world. "The gentleman, in utter amazement, declared that she was talking Greek to him ; on which the young girl became furious, and reverted to .her wed- ding-day, reminding him of certain occurrences thereon with a great deal more circumstantiahty than we intend to deal in, but one point was that it was a high festival of the church. "The astonished cavalier replied, that not only on the day in question; but for three weeks previously, so far from being in his house or even in the city, he had been fifty miles off; which he offered to prove by unquestionable witnesses, and that, therefore, be he who he might that had imposed him- self upon her he neither would nor could be responsible. "On this the lady began to recall to mind a variety of circumstances, which went to prove that her visiter of bygone times was more than mortal man, and concluded that it was the Devil ; whereon she entered a mast* where she passed the remainder of her days."

+ It is part of the duties of this functionary in India to clean the ears of his cus- tomen