could scarcely restrain the patient from seriously injuring himself by dashing his body or limbs against the marble.*

The Demoiselle Fourcroy, alleged to have been suddenly cured, on the fourteenth of April, 1732, by means of these convulsions, of a confirmed 'anchylosis, which had deformed her left foot, and which the physicians had pronounced incurable, thus describes, in her deposition, her sensations:-"They caused me to take wine in which was some earth from the tomb of M. de Pâris, and I immediately engaged in prayer, as the commencement of a neuvaine” (that is, a ninedays' act of devotion). "Almost at the same moment I was seized with a great shuddering, and soon after with a violent agitation of the members, which caused my whole body to jerk into the air, and gave me a force I had never before possessed, so that the united strength of several persons present could scarcely restrain me. After a time, in the course of these violent convulsive movements, I lost all consciousness. As soon as they passed off, I recovered my senses, and felt a sensation of tranquillity and internal peace, such as I had never experienced before." +

It was usually at the moment of recovery from these convulsions, as Montgéron alleges and the certificates published by him declare, that the cures deemed by him miraculous were effected. Sometimes, however, these curcs were gradual only, extending through several days or weeks.

In Montgéron's work fourteen distinct cures are minutely reported, all of persons declared by the attendant physicians to be incurable. Each of these cures, with the documentary evidence in support of it, occupies from fifty to one hundred pages of his book. The greater

* Montgéron, work cited, Tom. II. p. 36. Calmeil, De la Folie, Tom. II. pp. 315, 317.

† For particulars and certificates in this case, see Montgéron, Tom. II. Troisième Démonstration, pp. 1-58.

Montgéron, work cited, Tom. II. Pièces Justificatives de la Troisième Démonstration, p. 4.

number are cases of paralysis, usually of one entire side of the body, in some instances complicated with general dropsy, in others with cancer, in others again with attacks of apoplexy. There are four cases where the eyesight was restored,— one of them of a lachrymal fistula; one of a young Spanish nobleman, who suddenly recovered the use of his right eye, the left, however, remaining uncured; and there is a case in which a young woman, deaf and dumb from birth, is reported to have been suddenly and completely cured on the tomb of M. de Pâris, at the moment the convulsions ceased, immediately repeating, though not understanding, any word that was spoken to her by the bystanders.

My limits do not permit me to follow Montgéron through the details and the documentary proof of these cures. That the patient, in each case, previously examined by some physician of reputation, was pronounced incurable, does not prove that he was so. Yet, unless Montgéron lie, some of the cures are inexplicable, upon any received principles of medical science. One man, (Philippe Sergent,) whose right knee had shrunk to such a degree that the right leg was, and had been for more than a year, three fingerbreadths shorter than the left. was, according to the certificates, cured on the spot, threw away his crutches, and walked home, unaided, followed by a wondering crowd. Another patient, (Marguerite Thibault,) affected by general dropsy, and whose feet and legs were swollen to three times their natural size, is reported to have been cured so suddenly that before she left the tomb her servant could put on her feet the same slippers she had worn previously to ber malady. This woman had also been afflicted, for three years, with paralysis of the left side, so complete as to deprive it of all power of motion. Yet she is stated to have raised herself, unaided, on the tomb, to have walked from the spot, and even to have ascended the stairs of her house on her return. The symptom immediately preceding her cure is said

to have been "a beneficent heat, which diffused itself over the entire left side, so long deadly cold." This was followed by a consciousness of power to move it; and her first effort was to stretch out her paralytic arm.*

But these cures, wonderful as they appear, are far less marvellous than another class of phenomena already referred to.

The convulsions were often accompanied by an urgent instinctive desire for certain extreme remedies, sometimes of a frightful character, as stretching the limbs with a violence similar to that of the rack, administering on the breast, stomach, or other parts of the body, hundreds of terrible blows with heavy weapons of wood, iron, or stone, -pressing with main force against various parts of the body with sharp-pointed swords,

pressure under enormous weights, exposure to excessive heat, etc. Montgéron, viewing the whole as miraculous, says, "God frequently causes the convulsionists the most acute pains, and at the same time intimates to them, by a supernatural instinct, that the formidable succors which He desires that they should demand will cause all their sufferings to cease; and these sufferings usually have a sort of relation to the succors which are to prove a remedy for them. For instance, an oppression on the breast indicates the necessity for blows of extreme violence on that part; an excessive cold, or a devouring heat, when it suddenly seizes a convulsionist, requires that he should be pushed into the midst of flames; a sharp pang, similar to that caused by an iron point piercing the flesh, demands a thrust of a rapier,† given in the spot where the pain is felt,

• Montgéron, Tom. I. Seconde Demonstra6.

tion, p.

↑ "Un coup d'épée" is the expression employed by Montgéron; but the facts elsewhere reported by himself do not seem to bear out, in most cases, its accuracy. It was not usually a thrust of a sword's point, but only a press are with the point of a sharp sword, often so strong, however, that the weapon was bent by its force.

be it in the throat, in the mouth, or in the eyes, of which there are numerous examples; and let the rapier be pushed as it may, the point, no matter how sharp, cannot pierce the most tender flesh, not even the eye of the patient: of this, in my third proposition, I shall adduce proof the most incontestable." *

To some extent, it would seem, the symptoms themselves, attending the convulsions, appeared, to the observant physician, to warrant the propriety of the remedy desired. Montgéron copies a report of a case made to him, and attested by a gentleman of his acquaintance, a Jansenist, who had persuaded his cousin, Dr. M, at that time a distinguished physician of Paris, and much prejudiced against the Jansenist movement, to accompany him to a house where there was a young girl subject to the reigning epidemic. They found her in a room with twenty or thirty persons, and at the moment in convulsions. The assistants agreed to place the case in the hands of the physician, and he carefully noted the movements of the patient.

"After a time," proceeds the reporter, "he was greatly astonished to observe a sudden convulsive retraction of all the members. Examining the patient closely, touching her breast and limbs, he became aware of a contraction of the nerves, which gradually reached such a degree of violence that the whole body was disfigured in a frightful manner. His surprise was extreme, and it was soon changed to alarm, which induced him to forget his prejudices, and to resort to the very means he had previously condemned as useless or dangerous. He caused us to place ourselves, one at the head and one at each hand and foot, and bade us pull moderately. We did so.

"Not enough,' he said, with his hand on the patient's breast; stronger!' "We obeyed.

666

Stronger yet!' he exclaimed. "We told him we were exerting our entire strength.

"Two, then, to each limb,' he said.

* Montgéron, Tom. III. p. 10.

"It was done, (by the aid of long and very strong pieces of cloth-listing,) but proved insufficient.

"Three to each!' he cried; the child will die; pull with all your force! Stronger still!'

"We cannot.'

"Then four to each!' "He was obeyed.

"Ah, that relieves,' he said; 'the nerves resume their tone; the symptoms improve. But do not relax the tension.' "Then again, after a pause, "Strong! stronger! The contrac-. tions increase. Put all your strength to it.""

Ultimately five persons were assigned to each band; and the nearest aided themselves by bracing their feet against the bed. They continued their efforts during half an hour, sometimes pulling with all their strength, sometimes less strongly, as the physician observed the contraction of the nerves to increase or relax. Finally he ordered the tension to be gradually diminished, in proportion as the convulsion passed off.

After a time this convulsion was succeeded by another, causing a sudden and alarming swelling of the chest. "The girl stood leaning against a wall, and in that position he caused us, as had been our wont, to press with force on her chest. This we did, interposing a small cushion composed of listing. At first, I alone assisted." Then Dr. M- ordered three, four, five, ultimately even a greater number of persons, to aid them. "The convulsion ceased gradually, and in the same proportion he caused us to diminish the pressure."

"Afterwards the physician, having retired to another room, said to us, before going away, 'You would be homicides, gentlemen, if you did not render these succors; for the symptoms require them; and the girl would die, if you refused them. There is nothing but what is natural in the relation between her state and these succors.'

See, for the entire relation, from which I have here given extracts only, Montgéron's

Another example, occurring in 1740, and still more striking, because the case was that of a girl only three years of age, is given by Montgéron on the authority (among other witnesses) of Count de Novion, a near relative of the Duke de Gesvres, Governor of Paris. The Count, having been present throughout this case, testifies from personal observation.

The child's limbs, as in the previous example, were drawn up by violent convulsive movements, and the muscles became as it were knotted, causing extreme pain. The little creature urgently begged that they would draw her legs and arms. Moderate tension caused no diminution of the pain; violent tension, administered with fear and trembling, relieved her immediately. She complained also of acute pain in the breast, which swelled to an alarming extent. To remove this, nothing proved effectual but excessive pressure with the knee on the part affected.

After a time, however, some of the Anti-Succorist theologians persuaded the mother that the succors ought not to be administered, and even raised doubts in her mind and in that of the Count, as to whether the Devil had not some

agency in the affair. "Who knows," said the latter, "if the Arch - Enemy has no part in this?" So they intermitted the succors for some weeks. During this time the infant gradually sank from day to day, would scarcely eat or drink, seldom slept, and death seemed imminent.

The physician, being called in, declared that the only hope was in resuming the succors, terrible as they appeared, and that, too, promptly. To the father he said, "If you delay, it will be too late. While you are trying all your fine experiments with her, your child will die." They resumed the same violent remedies

work, Tom. III. pp. 24-26. Montgéron, though he vouches for the narrator as a gentleman worthy of all credit, does not give his name, nor that of the physician, except as Dr. M— The occurrence took place in 1732.

But these examples, whatever we may think of them, are but some of the most moderate, which Montgéron himself admits to be explicable on natural principles. He says: "During the first months that the succors commenced, the power of resistance offered by the convulsionists did not appear so surprising, and seemed, indeed, to be the effect of an excessive swelling which was observed in the muscles upon which the convulsionists requested the blows to be given, and of the violent agitation of the animal spirits; so that the succors demanded by the sufferers appeared, in a measure, the natural remedy for the state in which God had placed them. But when, every day, the violence of the blows increased, it became evident that the natural force of the muscles could not equal that of the tremendous strokes which the convulsionists demanded, in obedience, as they said, to the will of God. And here was manifested the miracle."†

I proceed to give, as an example of one of the more violent succors here spoken of as miraculous, a narrative, not only vouched for by Montgéron himself as a witness present, but put forth, in the first instance, by one of the most violent AntiSuccorists, the Abbé d'Asfeld, in his work already referred to,—and put forth by him in order to be condemned as a wicked tempting of Providence, ‡ or, worse, an accepting of aid from the Prince of Darkness himself. It occurred in 1734.

Here," says the Abbé, "is an example, all the more worthy of attention, inasmuch as persons of every station and condition, ecclesiastics, magistrates, ladies of rank, were among the spectators.

*Montgéron, Tom. III. pp. 107–111. ↑ Ibid. p. 688.

"As murderous blows must either wound or kill, but for a miracle, there ought to be a promise or a revelation to warrant their infliction. But God has given no such promise, no such revelation, to justify the demanding or the granting of the succors. It is, therefore, a tempting of God to do so."-Vains Efforts des Discernans, p. 133.

two or twenty-three years of age, standing up with her back resting against a stone wall, an extremely robust man took an andiron,* weighing, as was said, from twenty-five to thirty pounds, and therewith gave her, with his whole force, numerous blows on the stomach. They counted upwards of a hundred at a time. One day a certain friar, after having given her sixty such blows, tried the same weapon against a wall; and it is said that at the twenty-fifth blow he broke an opening through it." †

Dom La Taste, the great opponent of Jansenism, alluding to the same circumstance, says, "I do not dispute the fact, that the andiron sunk so deeply that it appeared to penetrate to the very backbone." +

Montgéron, after quoting the above, adds his own testimony, as to this same occurrence, in these words:

"As I am not ashamed to confess that I am one of those who have followed up most closely the work of the convulsions, I freely admit that I am the person to whom the author alludes, when he speaks of a certain friar who tried against a wall the effect of blows similar to those he had given the convulsionist. As this is an occurrence personal to myself, I trust the reader will perceive the propriety of my presenting to him the narrative in a more exact and detailed form than that in which it is given by the author of the 'Vains Efforts.'

"I had begun, as I usually do, by giving the convulsionist very moderate blows. But after a time, excited by her constant complaints, which left me no

Chenet is the French expression, an andiron, or dog-iron, as it is sometimes called, Montgéron thus describes it: "The andiron in question was a thick, roughly shaped bar of iron, bent at both ends, but the front end divided in two, to serve for feet, and furnished with a thick, short knob. This andiron weighed between twenty-nine and thirty pounds."s."-Montgéron, Tom. III. p. 693.

+ Vains Efforts des Discernans, p. 134. Mémoire Théologique, p. 41. This is admitted also by the Abbé, see Vains Efforts, p. 127, and by M. Poncet, Réponse, etc., p. 15.

room to doubt that the oppression in the pit of the stomach of which she complained could be relieved only by violent blows, I gradually increased the force of mine, employing at last my whole strength; but in vain. The convulsionist continued to complain that the blows I gave her were so feeble that they procured her no relief; and she caused me to put the andiron into the hands of a large and stout man who happened to be one of the spectators. He kept within no bounds. Instructed by the trial he had seen me make that nothing could be too severe, he discharged such terrible blows, always on the pit of the stomach, as to shake the wall against which the convulsionist was leaning.

"She caused him to give her one hundred such blows, not reckoning as anything the sixty I had just administered. She warmly thanked the man who had procured her such relief, and reproached me for my weakness and my lack of faith.

"When the hundred blows were completed, I took the andiron, desirous of trying against the wall itself whether my blows, which she thought so feeble and complained of so bitterly, really did produce no effect. At the twenty-fifth stroke the stone against which I struck, and which had been shaken by the previous blows, was shattered, and the pieces fell out on the opposite side, leaving an opening of more than six inches square.

"Now let us observe what were the portions of the body of the convulsionist on which these fearful blows were dealt. It is true that they first came in contact with the skin, but they sank immediately to the back of the patient; their force was not arrested at the surface.

"I insist unnecessarily, perhaps, upon this fact, since all, even our greatest enemies, admit its truth. But, however incontestable it is, I conceive that I cannot too strongly prove it to those who have not themselves witnessed what happened; inasmuch as the principal objection made by the author of the Mémoire Théologique' consists in supposing that the violence of the most tremendous blows

given to convulsionists is suspended by the Devil, who thus nullifies the effect they would naturally produce."

Montgéron further says, that "the greatest enemies of these miraculous succors admitted the fact that such terrible blows, far from producing the slightest wound, or causing the convulsionist the least suffering, actually cured the pains of which she complained."†

The convulsionist sometimes demanded enormous pressure instead of violent blows. To this also the Abbé d'Asfeld testifies. I translate from his "Vains Efforts."

"Next came the exercise of the plat

* Montgéron, Tom. III. pp. 693, 694. The author takes great pains to disprove a theory which few persons, in our day, will think worth refuting. In this connection, he quotes from a memoir drawn up by a gentleman who had spent much time in examining these phenomena, as follows:-"The force of the action and movement of the instruments employed is not broken or arrested or turned aside. Experience conclusively proves this. One sees the bodies of the convulsionists bend and sink be

neath the blows. One can perceive that the parts assailed are twisted, and receive all the movements which such weapons as those employed are calculated to communicate. And

the violence of the blows is often such that not

only are they heard from the lowest story of a

house to the highest, but they actually communicate to the floor and to the walls of the apartment a shock, which is sensibly felt, and which causes the spectators to start."— p. 686. Montgéron adds his own personal experi-"That has happened freence. He says, quently to myself. I have often been so much impressed with the strong motion communicated to the floor by the terrible blows dealt with stones or billets of wood with which they were striking convulsionists, that I could not restrain a shudder. For the rest, this is an occurrence to the truth of which there are as many to testify as there have been persons, whether friends or foes, who have seen the 'great succors.' One may say, that it is a fact attested by witnesses innumerable." - Montgéron, Tom. III. p. 686.

Independently of the theory of Satanic intervention which the above details are adduced to disprove, they are very interesting in themselves, for the insight they give into the exact character of these terrible probations.

† Montgéron, Tom. III. p. 694.