Part 19

This superstition passed hence into Christianity; and the Christians took their sortes out of the Old and New Testament. The first passage that presented itself on opening a book of Scripture, was esteemed the answer of God himself. If the first passage that was opened did not happen to be any thing to the purpose for which the _sortes_ were consulted, another book was opened, and so on until something was met with that might, one way or the other, be taken for an answer. This was called _Sortes Sanctorum_.

St. Augustine does not disapprove of this method of learning futurity, provided it be not used for worldly purposes; and, in fact, he owns having practised it himself.

Gregory of Tours adds, that the custom was to lay the Bible on the altar, and to pray the Lord that he would discover by it what was to come to pass. Indeed, instances of the use of the _Sanctum Sanctorum_ are very frequent in history. Mr. Fleury tells us that Heraclius, in his war against Cossoes, to learn where he should take up his winter quarters, purified his army for three days, and then opened the Gospels, and discovered thereby that the place appointed for them was in Albania.

Gilbert of Nogent informs us, that, in his time, viz. about the beginning of the twelfth century, the custom was, at the consecration of bishops, to consult the _Sortes Sanctorum_, to learn the success, fate, and other particulars of their episcopate. This practice is founded on a supposition that God presides over the _Sortes_, and this is strengthened by Prov. chap. xvi. verse 33, where it is said, “_The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord_.”

In fact, many divines have held, and even now many of them still hold, that the lot is conducted in a particular manner by Providence; that it is an extraordinary manner, in which God declares his will by a kind of immediate revelation. The _Sortes Sanctorum_, however, were condemned by the council of Agda, in 506, at the time they were beginning to take footing in France.

This practice crept in among the Christians, of casually opening the sacred books for directions in important circumstances; to know the consequences of events; and what they had to fear from their rulers.

This consultation of the divine will from the Scriptures, was of two kinds:—The first consisted, as I have said, in casually opening those writings, but not before the guidance of heaven had been implored with prayer, fasting, and other acts of religion. The second was much more simple: the first words of the Scripture, which were singing or reading, at the very instant when the person, who came to know the disposition of heaven, entered the church, being considered either an advice, or a prognostic.

St. Austin, in his epistle to Januarius, justly condemns the practice; but St. Gregory of Tours, by the following instance, which he relates as having happened to himself, shows that he entertained a better opinion of it:—“Leudastus, Earl of Tours,” says he, “who was for ruining me with Queen Fredegonde, coming to Tours, big with evil designs against me, I withdrew to my oratory under a deep concern, where I took the Psalms, to try if, at opening them, I should light upon some consoling verse. My heart revived within me, when I cast my eyes on this of the 77th Psalm, ‘He caused them to go on with confidence, whilst the sea swallowed up their enemies.’ Accordingly, the Count spoke not a word to my prejudice; and leaving Tours that very day, the boat in which he was, sunk in a storm, but his skill in swimming saved him.”

The following is also from the same author. “Chranmes having revolted against Clotaire, his brother, and being at Dijon, the ecclesiastics of the place, in order to foreknow the success of this procedure, consulted the sacred books; but instead of the Psalms, they made use of St. Paul’s Epistles, and the Prophet Isaiah. Opening the latter they read these words: ‘I will pluck up the fence of my vineyard, and it shall be destroyed, because instead of good, it has brought forth bad grapes.’ The Epistles agreeing with the prophecy, it was concluded to be a sure presage of the tragical end of Cranmes.”

St. Consortia, in her youth, was passionately courted by a young man of a very powerful family, though she had formed a design of taking the veil. Knowing that a refusal would expose her parents to many inconveniences, and perhaps to danger, she desired a week’s time to determine her choice. At the expiration of this time, which she had employed in devout exercises, her lover, accompanied by the most distinguished matrons of the city, came to know her answer. “I can neither accept of you nor refuse you,” said she, “every thing is in the hand of God: but if you will agree to it, let us go to the church, and have a mass said; afterwards, let us lay the holy gospel on the altar, and say a joint prayer; then we will open the book, to be certainly informed of the divine will in this affair.” This proposal could not with propriety be refused; and the first verse which met the eyes of both, was the following: “Whosoever loveth father or mother better than me, is not worthy of me.” Upon this, Consortia said, “You see God claims me as his own;” and the lover acquiesced.

But about the eighth century, this practice began to lose ground, as soon or late, reason and authority will get the better of that which is founded on neither. It was proscribed by several popes and councils, and in terms which rank it among Pagan superstitions. However, some traces of this custom are found for several ages after, both in the Greek and the Latin church. Upon the consecration of a bishop, after laying the bible upon his head, a ceremony still subsisted, that the first verse which offered itself, was accounted an omen of his future behaviour, and of the good or evil which was reserved for him in the course of his episcopacy. Thus, a Bishop of Rochester, at his consecration by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, had a very happy presage in these words: “Bring hither the best robe, and put it on him.” But the answer of the Scripture, at the consecration of St. Lietbert, Bishop of Cambray, was still more grateful: “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” The death of Albert, Bishop of Liege, is said to have been intimated to him by these words, which the Archbishop, who consecrated him, found at the opening of the New Testament, “And the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought; and he went and beheaded him in the prison.” Upon this the primate tenderly embracing the new bishop, said to him with tears, “My son, having given yourself up to the service of God, carry yourself righteously and devoutly, and prepare yourself for the trial of martyrdom.” The Bishop was afterwards murdered by the treacherous connivance of the Emperor Henry VI.

These prognostics were alleged upon the most important occasions. De Garlande, Bishop of Orleans, became so odious to his clergy, that they sent a complaint against him to Pope Alexander III. concluding in this manner: “Let your apostolical hands put on strength to _strip naked_ the iniquity of this man; that the curse prognosticated on the day of his consecration, may overtake him; for the gospels being opened, _according to custom_, the first words were, _And the young man, leaving his linen cloth, fled from them naked_.”

William of Malmsbury relates, that Hugh de Montaigne, Bishop of Auxerre, was obliged to go to Rome, to answer different charges brought against the purity of his morals, by some of his chapter; but they who held with the bishop, as an irrefragable proof of his spotless chastity, insisted that the prognostic on the day of his consecration was, “Hail, Mary, full of grace.”

I proceed to the second manner of this consultation, which was to go into a church with the intention of receiving, as a declaration of the will of Heaven, any words of the Scripture which might chance to be sung or read, at the moment of the person’s entrance. Thus, it is said, St. Anthony, to put an end to his irresolution about retirement, went to a church, where immediately hearing the deacon pronounce these words, “Go sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor, then come and follow me;” he applied them to himself, as a direct injunction from God, and withdrew to that solitude for which he is so celebrated among the Catholics.

The following passage from Gregory of Tours, is too remarkable to be omitted. He relates that Clovis, the first Christian king of France, marching against Alaric, King of the Visgoths, and being near the city of Tours, where the body of St. Martin was deposited, he sent some of his nobles, with presents to be offered at the saint’s tomb, to see if they could not bring him a promising augury, while he himself uttered this prayer “Lord, if thou wouldest have me punish this impious people, the savage enemy of thy holy name, give me some signal token, by which I may be assured that such is thy will.” Accordingly, his messengers had no sooner set foot within the cathedral, than they heard the priest chaunt forth this verse of the eighteenth Psalm, “Thou hast girded me with strength for war, thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.” Transported at these words, after laying the presents at the tomb of the saint, they hastened to the King with this favourable prognostic; Clovis joyfully accepted it, and engaging Alaric, gained a complete victory.

Here also may be subjoined a passage in the history of St. Louis IX. In the first emotions of his clemency, he had granted a pardon to a criminal under sentence of death; but some minutes after, happening to alight upon this verse of the Psalms, “Blessed is he that doth righteousness at all times;” he recalled his pardon, saying, “The King who has power to punish a crime, and does not do it, is, in the sight of God, no less guilty than if he had committed it himself.”

The _Sortes Sanctorum_ were fulminated against by various councils. The council of Varres “forbade all ecclesiastics, under pain of excommunication, to perform that kind of divination, or to pry into futurity, by looking into any book, or writing, whatsoever.” The council of Ayde, in 506, expressed itself to the same effect; as did those of Orleans, in 511; and Auxerre, in 595. It appears, however, to have continued very common, at least in England, so late as the twelfth century: the council of Aenham, which met there in 1110, condemned jointly, sorcerers, witches, diviners, such as occasioned death by magical operations, and who practised fortune-telling by the holy book-lots.

Peter de Blois, who wrote at the close of the twelfth century, places among the sorcerers, those who, under the veil of religion, promised, by certain superstitious practices, such as the lots of the Apostles and Prophets, to discover hidden and future events: yet this same Peter de Blois, one of the most learned and pious men of his age, in a letter to Reginald, whose election to the see of Bath had a long time been violently opposed, tells him, that he hopes he has overcome all difficulties; and further, that he believes he is, or soon will be, established in his diocese. “This belief,” says he, “I ground on a dream I lately had two nights successively, of being at your consecration; and also, that being desirous of knowing its certain meaning, by lots of human curiosity, and the Psalter, the first which occurred to me were, ‘Moses and Aaron among his priests.’”

Thus, though the ancient fathers, and, since them, others have in general agreed, that the _Sortes Sanctorum_ cannot be cleared of superstition, though they assert that it was tempting God, to expect that he would inform us of futurity, and reveal to us the secrets of his will, whenever the sacred book is opened for such a purpose, though it contain nothing which looks like a promise of that kind from God; though so far from being warranted by any ecclesiastical law, it has been condemned by several, and, at last, in more enlightened times, has been altogether abolished, yet they do not deny, that there have been occasions, when discreet and pious persons have opened the sacred book, not to discover futurity, but to meet with some passage to support them in times of distress and persecution.

SIBYLS.

This word is supposed to be formed of the two Greek words σιου for Θεου _Dei_, and βουλη counsel.

The Sibyllæ of antiquity were virgin-prophetesses, or maids supposed to be divinely inspired; who, in the height of their enthusiasm, gave oracles, and foretold things to come.

Authors are at variance with respect to the number of sibyls. Capella reckons but two; _viz._ Erophyte of Troy, called Sibylla Phrygia; and Sinuachia of Erythræa. Solinus mentions three, _viz._ Cumæa, Delphica, and Erythræa. Ælian makes their number four, and Varro increases it to ten, denominating them from the places of their birth; the Persian, Delphic, Cumæan, Erythræan, Samian, Cuman, Hellespontic or Troiad, Phrygian, and Tiburtine. Of these the most celebrated are, the Erythræan, Delphic, and Cumæan Sibyls.

The sibylline oracles were held in great veneration by the more credulous among the ancients; but they were much suspected by the better informed. The books wherein they were written, were kept by the Romans with infinite care; and nothing of moment was undertaken without consulting them. Tarquin first committed them to the custody of two patrician priests for that purpose.

TALISMANS.

Magical figures, engraven or cut under superstitious observances of the characterisms and configurations of the heavens, are called talismans; to which some astrologers, hermetical philosophers, and other adepts, attribute wonderful virtues, particularly that of calling down celestial influences.

The author of a book, intituled _Talismans Justifies_, pronounces a talisman is the seal, figure, character, or image of a heavenly sign, constellation, or planet, engraven on a sympathetic stone, or on a metal corresponding to the star, &c. in order to receive its influences.

The talismans of the Samothracians, so famous of old, were pieces of iron formed into certain images, and set in rings, &c. They were held as preservatives against all kinds of evils. There were other talismans taken from vegetables, and others from minerals.

Three kinds of _Talismans_ were usually distinguished, _viz._ _Astronomical_, which are known by the signs or constellations of the heavens engraven upon them, with other figures, and some unintelligible characters. _Magical_, which bear very extraordinary figures, with superstitious words and names of angels unheard of. And _mixt_, which consist of signs and barbarous words; but have no superstitious ones, or names of angels.

It is maintained by some rabbins, that the brazen serpent raised by Moses in the Wilderness, for the destruction of the serpents that annoyed the Israelites, was properly a _Talisman_.

All the miraculous things wrought by Apollonius Tyanæus are attributed to the virtue and influence of _Talismans_; and that wizard, as he is called, is even said to have been the inventor of them.

Some authors take several Runic medals,—medals, at least, whose inscriptions are in the Runic characters,—for talismans, it being notorious, that the northern nations, in their heathen state, were much devoted to them. M. Keder, however, has shewn, that the medals here spoken of are quite other things than talismans.

PHILTERS, CHARMS, &c.

A drug, or other preparation, used as a pretended charm to excite love. These are distinguished into true and spurious: the spurious are spells or charms supposed to have an effect beyond the ordinary law of nature, by some inherent magic virtue; such are those said to be possessed formerly by old women, witches, &c.—The true Philters were supposed to operate by some natural and magnetical power. There are many enthusiastic and equally credulous authors, who have encouraged the belief in the reality of these Philters; and adduce matter in fact in confirmation of their opinions, as in all doubtful cases. Among these may be quoted Van Helmont, who says, that by holding a certain herb in his hand, and afterwards taking a little dog by the foot with the same hand, the animal followed him wherever he went, and quite deserted his former master. He also adds, that Philters only require a confirmation of Mumia[51]; and on this principle he accounts for the phenomena of love transplanted by the touch of an herb; for, says he, the heat communicated to the herb, not coming alone, but animated by the emanations of the natural spirits, determines the herb towards the man, and identifies it to him. Having then received this ferment, it attracts the spirit of the other object magnetically, and gives it an amorous motion. But all this is mere absurdity, and has fallen to the ground with the other irrational hypothesis from the same source.

HELL,

A place of punishment, where, we are told in Scripture, the wicked are to receive the reward of their evil deeds, after this life. In this sense, hell is the antithesis of HEAVEN.

Among the ancients hell was called by various names, Ταρταρος, Ταρταρᾶ, _Tartarus_, _Tartara_; Ἁδης, _Hades_, _Infernus_, _Inferna_, _Inferi_, &c.—The Jews, wanting a proper name for it, called it _Gehenna_, or Gehinnon, from a valley near Jerusalem, wherein was Tophet, or place where a fire was perpetually kept.

Divines reduce the torments of hell to two kinds, _pœna damni_, the loss and privation of the beatific vision; and _pœna sensus_, the horrors of darkness, with the continual pains of fire inextinguishable.

Most nations and religions have a notion of a hell. The hell of the poets is terrible enough: witness the punishment of Tityus, Prometheus, the Danæids, Lapithæ, Phlegyas, &c. described by Ovid, in his _Metamorphosis_. Virgil, after a survey of Hell, _Æneid_, lib. vi. declares, that if he had a hundred mouths and tongues, they would not suffice to recount all the plagues of the tortured. The New Testament represents hell as _a lake of fire and brimstone_; and _a worm which dies not_, &c. Rev. xx. 10, 14, &c. Mark ix. 43, &c. Luke xvi. 23, &c.

The Caffres are said to admit thirteen hells, and twenty-seven paradises; where every person finds a place suited to the degree of good or evil he has done.

There are two great points of controversy among writers, touching hell: the first, whether there be any local hell, any proper and specific place of torment by fire? the second, whether the torments of hell are to be eternal?

I. The locality of hell, and the reality of the fire thereof, have been controverted from the time of Origen. That father, in his treatise Περι Αρχαν, interpreting the scripture account metaphorically, makes hell to consist not in eternal punishments, but in the conscience of sinners, the sense of their guilt, and the remembrance of their past pleasures. St. Augustine mentions several of the same opinion in his time; and Calvin, and many of his followers, have embraced it in ours.

The retainers to the contrary opinion, who are much the greatest part of mankind, are divided as to situation, and other circumstances of this horrible scene. The Greeks, after Homer, Hesiod, &c. conceived hell, τοπον τινα ὐπο την γην μεγσν, &c. a large and dark place under the earth.—Lucian, _de Luctu_; and Eustathius, _on Homer_.

Some of the Romans lodged in the subterranean regions directly under the lake Avernus, in Campania, which they were led to from the consideration of the poisonous vapours emitted by that lake. Through a dark cave, near this lake, Virgil makes Æneas descend to hell.

Others placed hell under Tenarus, a promontory of Laconia; as being a dark frightful place, beset with thick woods, out of which there was no finding a passage. This way, Ovid says, Orpheus descended to hell. Others fancied the river or fountain of Styx, in Arcadia, the spring-head of hell, by reason the waters thereof were mortal.

But these are all to be considered as only fables of poets; who, according to the genius of their art, allegorizing and personifying every thing, from the certain death met withal in those places, took occasion to represent them as so many gates, or entering-places into the other world.

The primitive Christians conceiving the earth a large extended plain, and the heavens an arch drawn over the same, took hell to be a place in the earth, the farthest distant from the heavens; so that their hell was our antipodes.

Tertullian, _De Anima_, represents the Christians of his time, as believing hell to be an abyss in the centre of the earth: which opinion was chiefly founded on the belief of Christ’s descent into _hades_, hell, Matt. xii. 40.

Mr. Wiston has lately advanced a new opinion. According to him, the comets are to be conceived as so many hells, appointed in the course of their trajectories, or orbits, alternately to carry the damned into the confines of the sun, there to be scorched by his flames, and then to return them to starve in the cold, dreary, dark regions, beyond the orb of Saturn.

The reverend and orthodox Mr. T. Surnden, in an express _Inquiry into the nature and place of Hell_, not contented with any of the places hitherto assigned, contends for a new one. According to him, the sun itself is the _local hell_.

This does not seem to be his own discovery: it is probable he was led into it by that passage in Rev. xvi. 8, 9. Though it must be added, that Pythagoras seems to have the like view, in that he places hell in the sphere of fire; and that sphere in the middle of the universe. Add, that Aristotle mentions some of the Italic or Pythagoric school, who placed the sphere of fire in the sun, and even called it Jupiter’s Prison.—_De Cælo_, lib. ii.

To make way for his own system, Mr. Swinden undertakes to remove hell out of the centre of the earth, from these two considerations:—1. That a fund of fuel or sulphur, sufficient to maintain so furious and constant a fire, cannot be there supposed; and, 2. That it must want the nitrous particles in the air, to sustain and keep it alive. And how, says he, can such fire be eternal, when by degrees the whole substance of the earth must be consumed thereby?

It must not be forgot, however, that Tertullian had long ago obviated the former of these difficulties, by making a difference between _arcanus_ and _publicus ignis_, secret and open fire: the nature of the first, according to him, is such, as that it not only consumes, but repairs what it preys upon. The latter difficulty is solved by St. Augustine, who alleges, that God supplies the central fire with air, by a miracle.

Mr. Swinden, however, proceeds to shew, that the central parts of the earth are possessed by water rather than fire; which he confirms by what Moses says of _water under the earth_, Exod. xx. from Psalm xxiv. 2, &c.

As a further proof, he alleges, that there would want room in the centre of the earth, for such an infinite host of inhabitants as the fallen angels and wicked men.