CHAPTER III. The alleged Miracles of Jesus.
If it has now been reasonably shown, !that up to the time when he began to work miracles, Jesus had exhibited no other than a human nature; and if neither the probable object of his
public career, his personal character, nor his religious and moral instructions, give any evidence of his divinity, we are to inquire as to the reality of his alleged miracles, not only without any, previous assumption
or bias in their favor, but with the same suspicion and incredulity that we should feel towards the pretended miracles or any other person, and with a determination to scrutinize them as closely as we would any others, and to
detect their falsehood, if any falsehood can possibly be detected in them. It has been argued that no amount of human testimony can be rational evidence of the reality of an
alleged miracled; because such testimony must always be liable to this objection, viz: that experience has proved that it is more probable that any number of men would lie, or would be deluded, imposed upon, or mistaken, than that
a miracle would be performed. And this objection seems to be a good one, because we do know that persons have, in cases almost innumerable, been imposed upon by pretended miracles, but we do not know that a real miracle
has ever been wrought by the agency of man, or that any miraculous miraculous has ever taken place since the order of nature was established. It probably might also be maintained, that a man's own senses
could not be reasonable evidence of a miracle; because men's senses have, in thousands of instances, deceived them in regard to pretended miracles; but we know certainly of no instance where they ever proved the reality of a
miracle. Nevertheless, the following attempted explanation of the alleged miracles of Jesus will not insist upon these arguments, but will proceed upon the supposition that
human testimony can be sufficient evidence of the reality of a miracle- assuming, however, the soundness of this principle, viz: that we are not to believe a miracle on human testimony, so long as we can discover an
inconclusiveness in that testimony , or can detect
a possibility of mistake or falsity in the witnesses. The correctness of this principle I suppose Christians themselves will face to dispute. One principle, they must admit, viz: that the object, for which the
alleged miracles of Jesus are so to have been wrought, can weigh nothing in favor of their reality; because, if we say that caused them to be wrought for the purpose of proving a Revelation, we thereby assume that a
Revelation exists- which is the very thing in dispute, and which is to be proved by miracles, if proved at all, and therefore is not proved at all until the miracles are established. If we attempt to prove the Revelation by the
miracles, and also the miracles by Revelation, we reason in a circle. The alleged miracles of Jesus therefore must stand exclusively upon the historical evidence, which tends to sustain them, without any
regard being had to the purpose for which they were wrought, if they really were wrought. And they must be supported by evidence as strong as would be necessary to prove the reality of miracles, for the working of which no
reason at all could be assigned. But to proceed with the evidence. It is worthy of special remark, and should be constantly borne in kind, that at the time of Jesus, a miracle was considered, among the Jews, a very
common occurrence. Jesus acknowledges that others could perform some of the same kind of miracles, which he himself did, viz: casting out devils. "If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by [*19] whom do your children cast them out?
Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you, (Mat. 12-27 & 28. Luke 11-19 & 20.) Jesus here impliedly admits, as I understand him, that others
performed deeds similar to some of those, which, by himself possibly, and by his disciples unquestionably, were believed to be miracles, and which he professed to perform for the purpose of proving his Messiahship. He
however would make a distinction between his supposed miracles, and those of others, by pretending that his were done by the help of the spirit of God, and that those of others were wrought by the help of a different power. But the
Pharisees had just been charging him with working by the power of Beelzebub, and how is an impartial person to judge who works by Beelzebub, (supposing there were a Beelzebub,) and who by the power of the almighty, when both
persons perform the same miracles, and each charges the other with working by Beelzebub? or how is an impartial person to know which are real miracles, and which are false, when both are apparently alike? What reason is then there
for supposing that the works of Jesus were any better miracles than the works of others? Jesus also admits (Mark 9-38, 39 and 40) that the man, whom his disciples told him they had found
casting out devils on his own account, was performing the real miracles. True, this man used the name
of Jesus; but be did so without authority- so that the miracles must be considered as much his own, as if he had used his own name, or no name at all. Now, if, as Jesus himself acknowledges,
the miracles of others were real ones, the inference is inevitable from these facts, that the power to cast out devils was no evidence that a man was commissioned by God. But, if these performances were not real miracles,, Jesus,
like the rest of the countrymen, was so ignorant as not to know it, because he expressly acknowledges that they were real. Again Jesus says (Mat. 24-24) that false Christs "
shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that if it were possible, thy should deceive the very elect." Now this is equivalent to acknowledging that false Christ's could perform works so wonderful that it would be
exceedingly difficult to distinguish them from such as he himself wrought. Indeed it is equivalent to acknowledging that an impartial observer would be likely to believe those to be real, as to believe his to be so. But he
evidently believed that there was some supernatural
cause why the "elect" would not be deceived by them, for he says, "if it were possible" they would be. And he found it necessary, by declaring such works to be the works of false Christ's and by cautioning his disciples in the strongest manner against them, to prevent them from regarding, or giving any credit to, those works, which to unbiased minds, would appear equally miraculous with his own, and would furnish equally strong evidence as his, that each of the authors of them was the real Messiah instead of himself.
If the works of Jesus were so much more wonderful than man could perform as to deserve to be called miracles, was it not nonsense to caution his disciples so strongly
against being deluded by the works of others? What the works of these pretended Messiahs (of whom it is admitted by Christians that there were about
seventy who lived about the time of Jesus), were, I know not- but it is related, on such authority as Christians admit to be true, that some of them got large sects after them. The Rev. John Newton, in his Dissertations on the
Prophecies, (Chap. 19) says that one of them obtained thirty thousand followers. This number is probably many times larger than that of those, who believed in Jesus, during his lifetime. The largest
estimate, which I have found of his followers at any one time, is, about five thousand men, besides women and children," (Mat. 14-21), and this estimate is undoubtedly a great exaggeration. Besides, it would appear that of
those, who sometimes followed him about in the early part of his career, nearly all soon abandoned him. If then, those, those whom Jesus calls false Christs, were so much more successful than himself in gaining
adherents, it is in the highest degree probable that their works gave evidence, to those who saw them, of greater miraculous power than his did. So if we believe there ever was such a being as real as the
Messiah, we ought, judging from the testimony of the witnesses, (whose testimony alone is good for anything), on every principle of reason, as far as the evidence of miracle is concerned, to believe that Jesus was not the
actual one- but that the one, who obtained, during his life time, the greatest number of followers, was the true one; because these followers, were the eyewitnesses whose [*20] testimony constitutes the evidence in either
case, and by following a man they expressed their belief in in the reality of his pretended miracles. Of course, the witnesses must have been more numerous, who could testify to the reality of the miracles of others, than
those of Jesus; and we ought certainly to believe he testimony of a large number than the testimony of a few. The number of those, who were not eyewitnesses, but who might believe
on a particular one of these pretended Messiahs after his death, and simply upon the testimony of others, is o evidence at all that one was the real one; because there might be many circumstances, which had nothing to
do with the realities of these miracles, that would nevertheless make the pretended miracles of one believed after his death, when those of another would be forgotten. For example, if the followers of one should spread the accounts
of his doings, after his death, such an one would continue to be believed after his death, when another whose disciples should neglect this step, would naturally be forgotten, although his works might be even many
times more wonderful of the two. This was the case with Jesus. He had followers, in his lifetime, compared with those of others; but some of his followers circulated the story of his doings, after his death, and that means his
memory was preserved. It appears to me that even what little has now been said, would be sufficient to satisfy men that Jesus never performed any real miracles, if they
would but judge the probabilities on this subject as they do on any other subjects of history. But it is not with the Bible as it is with other books, in respect of being believed. There are few men, and probably no women,
who believe it because it is possible, (for they do not know, nor dare they inquire, whether or not it be probable), or for any other reason that has anything like evidence or argument in it. They believe it, almost universally,
for one, or the other, or both, of these very potent reasons, viz: either simply because it is
the Bible, or because they expect they should be damned if they disbelieve it, however improbable it may be- thus virtually charging their maker with being wicked enough to torture men through eternity, for not having believed in this world, what was improbable. That " he that believeth not shall be damned," appears to be the strongest of all arguments, in the minds of the many, in support of the Bible. It is thus that Christianity, by seizing upon men's fears, and thus making dupes and slaves their understandings, has preserved its credit in their minds, and its power over their reason, has brought down with it, to this day, some of that credibility for the marvelous, in which it was first established, and thus prevented men from inquiring, in a rational manner, as otherwise the enlightened portion of the world probably would have done, as to what was probable, and what improbable, in relation to the designs and government of God.
Since then a further examination of the subject of miracles is necessary, I will go into an examination of the separate evidence of each and every miracle, that Jesus is said to have
performed, and of which their is any particular account in either of the four narratives of his acts and preaching. The number of these is thirty three, and no more. Some of these are mentioned by one of the narrators, some by two,
some by three, and a single one of them by four. There are many other general and indefinite accounts of his miracles, such as that, in particular places, he "cured all manner of diseases," or that "he healed all, who were
vexed with unclean spirits," or "those who were tormented with plagues," &c. But since many of these thirty three were recorded by Mathew thirty years afterwards Many of these supposed miracles will be attempted to be accounted
for, by showing them to have been the work of the imagination. Such ones will be examined first, and others afterward. The influence of the imagination upon sick persons is known to
be very great, and in many cases of modern date, it has been observed and recorded by physicians to have been surprising. There are perhaps few adults, who have ever attended a sick person, that have not observed the sensible
and sudden effect of a newly excited hope upon him. All know the importance of sustaining the hopes of a sick man. The reason of this, is, that his nervous system is vastly more than in health, susceptible to the influence of
particular states of the mind. It is one of the most common observations, in relation to a person dangerously ill, that "if his courage be maintained, and he think he shall recover, he will
recover, but if he think
he shall die, he certainly will die." the frequent expression of such opinions shows that we are al aware of the influence of the imagination upon the sick, although the philosophy of its operation if perhaps not known to all who know of the fact.
There is perhaps no man, even at the present day, who, when sick, although he perfectly well understood everything about the power of the imagination, is not nevertheless in a very [*21] great
degree under its influence. Physicians understand this principle in physiology, and many of them avail themselves of it, by holding out encouragement whenever they can do it without running too great a risk of occasioning an
injurious effect by a disappointment of the expectations this raised. It requires very little of the excitement of hope to string the nerves of a sick man, because they are exceedingly susceptible. Thus many physicians will
often give to a sick man medicines, which are simple and powerless of themselves, merely for the sake of the beneficial influence, to be derived from imagining that he has taken something which is benefiting him.
We all know, too, how little excitement of the feelings, upon a man, who is sick, and apparently destitute of all strength, will occasion insanity, and cause him to exhibit wonderful power. Now he
really has not more strength in his muscles, during his insanity, that he had before; but his nervous system has been excited by the operation of his mind, and his latent strength thus called out. It is by operation of
the same principle, that other excitement of the feelings, as a newly inspired expectation of recovery for example, often calls out the latent strength of a sick man to a considerable degree without making him insane, unless
a man may always be properly called insane in just so far as his imagination deceives him. Further evidence of the power of the imagination to operate upon the sick, and to cure diseases is
furnished by the following extracts, taken from Rees's Cyclopedia- article, Imagination. "In the year 1798, and American of the name Perkins introduced into this country, "(England) a
method of curing diseases, for which he obtained the royal patent, by means of two "small pieces of metal denominated Tractors. These were applied externally near the part "diseased, and moved about, gently touching the
surface only; and thus multitudes of painful "disorders were removed, some speedily, and some after repeated applications of the metallic "points. Pamphlets were published, announcing that wonderful cures were accomplished by this
"simple remedy; and periodical journals and newspapers teemed with evidence of the curative "powers of the Tractors; insomuch that in a few months they were of the subject of general "conversation, and scarcely less general
use. The religious sect of the Quakers, whose "benevolence has sometimes been displayed at the expense of their sagacity, became avowed and "active friends of the Tractors; and a public establishment called the "Perkinean
Institute," was "formed under their auspices, for the purpose of curing the diseases of the poor, without the "pamphlets, in support of the extraordinary efficacy of these new instruments. In somewhat less "than six years
Perkins left the country, in possession, as we have been informed, on good "authority upwards of ten thousand pounds, the contributions of British credulity; and now (1811) "the tractors are almost forgotten. "We by no means intend to impeach the veracity, of those, who attested the many "extraordinary cures performed by the application of the Tractors, on the contrary, we have no "doubt
that many of them were actually accomplished at least temporarily; after what we have "already stated, when treating of animal magnetism (such as the sudden cure of artist's head-ache "on the bridge, by M. Sigualts gestures)
and what we shall proceed to state respecting the effects "of counterfeit tractors, it were impossible not to admit the truth and veracity of the accounts of "the efficacy of Perkinism. We must observe, however,
that the efficacy was founded on the "delusion; and had not the scientific world been at that time in a state of comparative ignorance "respecting the principle of which Galvani had recently obtained at a glance; had they
been in "total ignorance of that principle, or possessed of more than that "little knowledge" of it, which "is a dangerous thing," such an imposture would certainly have gained ground for a day among "those who were acquainted with
the proceedings of the French commissioners in the affairs of "Mesmer. "But, Dr. Haygarth, to who his profession and his country are deeply indebted for more "important services, suspected the true source of the phenomena produced by the tractors from "the
first promulgation of the subject. Recollecting the development of animal magnetism, he "suggested to Dr. Falconer, about the end of the year 1798, when the tractors had already "obtained a high reputation at Bath, even among
persons of rank and understanding, that the "nature of the operation of the tractors might be correctly ascertained by a pair of false tractors, "resembling the real one, and it was resolved to put the matter to the test of
experiment in the "general hospital of that city. They therefore contrived two wooden tractors , as nearly same
"On the 7th of January, 1799, the wooden tractors were employed. All five patients except "one, assured us that their pain was relieved; and three much benefited by application of this "remedy.
One felt his knee warmer, and could walk much better, as he showed us with great "satisfaction. One was easier for nine hours, and till he went to bed, when the pain returned. One "had a tingling sensation for two
hours. The tractors were drawn over the skin so as to touch it in "the slightest manner. Such, wonderful force of the imagination. "Next day, January 8th, the true metallic
tractors of Perkins were employed exactly in like "manner, and with similar effects. All the patients were in some measure, but not more relieve by "the second application, except one, who received no benefit from
the fort, operation, and who "was not a proper subject for the experiment, having, no existing Pain, but only stiffness in her "ankle. They felt, (as they fancied) warmth, but in no greater degree than on the former
day." Of "the imagination as a cause, and as a cure of the disorders of the body, exemplified by fictitious "tractors and epidemical convulsions. By John Haygarth, M. D. F. R. S. &c. Bath
1800. "Such were the experiments attempted with the view of ascertaining the nature of "Perkinism. But Dr. Haygarth's pamphlet contained an account of still
more decisive trials "made in the Bristol infirmary, by Mr. Smith, one of the surgeons to that establishment. This
"On the 27th," Mr. Smith continues, "in the presence of Dr. Lovell and Mr. J. P. Noble, "two common iron nails, disguised with sealing wax, were substituted for the pieces of mahogany "before used. In
three minutes the same patient felt "something moving from his arm to his hand, "and soon after he touched the board of the rules, which hung a foot above the fireplace. This "patient so far at length recovered that he could carry
coals, &c. and use his arm sufficiently to "assist the nurse; yet previous to the use of the spurious tractors, "he could no more lift his hand "from his knee than if a hundred weight were upon it, or a nail driven
through it," as he declared "in the presence of several gentlemen. The fame of this case brought about applications in "abundance, indeed it must be confessed, that it was more than sufficient to act upon weak "minds,
and induce a belief that these pieces of wood and iron were endowed with peculiar "virtues." See Dr. Haygarth's Pamphlet, p. 8. "Many other equally striking instances of the
curative operation of the elimination, when "excited by the sham tractors, might be quoted from the pamphlet in question. * * * * "After having perused this abundant
evidence of the powers of the imagination, not only in "producing various affections of the body, but in removal, others which exist, we can have no "difficulty in crediting many relations of cures performed by persons supposed to
be gifted with "extraordinary powers, or employing other pretended agents, all of which may be referred to the "same common principle. One of the most similar instances of this kind, both from the number "of
cures performed, and the rank, learning and character of the persons, who attested them, is to "be found in the person of Valentine Greatraks, who flourished in the latter part of the 17th "century.
"The proceedings of this pious and apparently sincere man are very interesting, as "affording a history of the power of imagination and confidence over certain disorders of the
"body. He was the son of all Irish gentleman of good education and property, who died in his "We shall not extend this article by quoting the histories of cases certified by several "physicians, as well as by divines and philosophers; among whom were the names
of Robert "Boyle, Dr. Cudworth, Dr. Whichcot, &c. We may remark, that some of the cases of headache "About the same period, a Capauchian friar, whose name was Francisco Bagnon, was "famous in Italy, for the same gift of healing, by the touch of the
hands only; and was attended "where ever he went by great multitudes of sick people, upon whom he operated numerous and "surprising cures, which were deemed true miracles. So general was the belief in his curative "But it is unnecessary to enumerate the individuals, the De Mainadues, the Prescotts,
&c. "who have at various time been distinguished by the possession of various occult methods of the "sick. The practice has occasionally prevailed in almost all ages; and we have seen, in the details "of experiments
above related, that the faculty of the imagination, in certain habits and "conditions of the body, and especially, in the irritable female constitution, is actually capable of "producing all those effects of the
corporeal frame, which have been deemed the result of occult "agency and extraordinary powers." "Admitting this, then, as an established principle of the human constitution,
and making "due allowances for the exaggerations and misrepresentations of ignorance and superstition, we "are enable to give a rational explanation of many historical relations, which have been "considered as altogether
fabulous, or as direct violations of truth. We are well aware of the "facility with which the imagination is excited in an uninformed person, and more particularly in "an age of profound ignorance, which is, for that
reason, commonly an age of superstition. We "know, too, that in the middle ages, when every form of science was almost unknown, and the "laws of nature had not been investigated, the smallest discovery in natural philosophy,
chemistry, "or astronomy, was deemed the result of supernatural communications with the world of spirits; "and the discoverer or possessor of the knowledge was looked upon as being gifted with "supernatural powers. In such a state
of the human mind, when natural philosophy, as meager as it "was, was disguised with the name, and clothed with all the supposed agencies of magic; and "when every person with a little more knowledge than his neighbor, was
master of so many "magnets, so many tractors, by which he could rule the imagination of the multitude, it cannot be "the subject of our wonder, that the magician's rod (or the philosopher's cane) should produce "such
mighty operation, or that a scrap of his writings should be the a remedy for many maladies. "These only executed what was afterwards performed by M. Deslon's extended fingers, and "Valentine Greatrak's glove! The effects,
then, of the incantations, amulets, and all the arts of "magic, witchcraft and astrology, by which the more artful pretenders to superior knowledge "imposed upon the people, maybe allowed to have actually
occurred, and to have been the result of [*24] natural causes and they are plainly referrible to one common source, with those of animal magnetism, Perkinism, and various other modifications of the imagination in fetters. "It is scarcely necessary to add that during the same period of ignorance and superstition, those "extremely pious and comparatively learned persons, who have been enrolled in the catalogue of
"saints, must necessarily have obtained the most complete veneration and confidence from the "multitude; and hence, after their death, every relic of their bodies or clothing, the shrines in "which they were entombed,
fragments of the instruments of their execution (in the case of "martyrdom,) and every other object that could excite, by association those reverential feelings, "usually called up by a contemplation of their characters, would
become so many agents upon the "imaginations, by which all the extraordinary changes in the animal economy above described, "might be effectually produced. Thus we cannot doubt that there is much foundation for the "histories of
recovery from various diseases, occasioned by removing the sick from the tombs of "the celebrated worthies, or placing them before the statues and images of these persons, or by "touching them with nails taen from the collins
or rings from the figers, or the bones of the fingers "themselves, of these saints, or by the influence of an infinity of relics of this sort, which cannot be "supposed to possess les power over a superstitious mind, than the
painted tractors of a surgeon, "or the gloves of an enthusiast." In New Edinburgh Encyclopedia, (Am. Ed.) in the article on animal magnetism, we find the following, among other
testimony to the power of the imagination in curing diseases. The pamphlet of Dr. Hygarth, on the metal tractors, "amply confirms the general principle, "that the power of the imagination in
the cure of diseases is almost without limits; so that except a "complete and sudden alteration of physical structure, or the restoration of lost parts, there is "scarcely any change so considerable, which may not be effected
through its intervention. It not "only possesses an indefinite power over what are styled nervous diseases, where the primary "affection consists, as far as we can judge, in some change in the action of the brain and its
"appendages; but even diseases of the sanguiferous system, and of the different organic functions, "appear to be by no means excepted from its influence." * * * * * *
" In proof of his hypothesis, and of the power of magnetism over the human body, Mesmer" (the pretended discoverer of animal magnetism,) "and his adherents confidentially "appealed to
their success in the cure of diseases; and so great did this appear, and so "unquestionable was the evidence, on which it seemed to be founded, that, for some time, "scarcely any opposition was made to it, an it was regarded
as the most unreasonable scepticism "to doubt of its reality." And yet after this method of curing diseases had had this astonishing success, and had obtained this astonishing
reputation, it was completely ascertained by experiments made upon persons blindfolded, and upon those who doubted the system, (whose imaginations of course would not be so easily affected), that the previous cures had all been but
the work of the imagination. These experiments were conducted by nine commissioners, men of learning and science, appointed by the French king in 1784 to investigate the matter. Of this board of Commissioners, Dr. Franklin, then
American Minister at Paris, was one. Many other cases, of wonderful cures wrought by the imagination, are cited in this article in Rees's Cyclopedia, from which a part of the
foregoing extracts are taken. But enough have been quoted to establish, beyond eavil I trust, that the imagination is capable of exerting a sudden and very exciting power over the nervous system, and thus of producing, what, by the
ignorant and superstitious, would be considered miraculous effects in the restoration of the sick. Now, there probably have seldom, if ever, been causes in existence calculated
to operate so strongly upon the imagination of a sick man, without making him actually insane, as were those which must have operated upon such as, for the time, thought themselves cured by Jesus; and perhaps the
would never furnished a people more easily to be operated upon by the method and pretensions of Jesus, than were those among whom he preached. They were simple and superstitious to a degree hardly to be conceived by us, as is
proved by the fact of their running all agog after so mane of those pretended miracle workers, that infested Judea at the time. The nation of the Jews, at large believed themselves the
peculiar favorites of God; they believed that God often sent messengers to them, and in order to prove such to be his messengers, gave them miraculous powers. About the time of Jesus they expected a remarkable one to be
called Messiah. They supposed he would possess those powers in an unusual degree . Those, who followed Jesus, and supposed themselves benefited by him, believed him to be this Messiah. It was evidently necessary, in order to be
benefited by his power, that they should believe, in advance, that he possessed it, as appears from Matthew 18-58, "and he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." At another time, (Mat 9-28 and 29)
when two blind men wished to be cured, he asked them, "Believe ye that I am able
to do this? They said "yea, Lord." Then says he, "according to your faith, be it unto you." The same inference is fairly deducible from numerous other passages and circumstances. [*25]
"shape as the metallic, and painted to resemble them in color. Five cases were chosen of chronic
"rheumatism, in the ankle, knee, wrist, and hip: one of the patients also had gouty pains. All "affected joints, except the last, were swelled, and all of them had been ill for several months.[*22]
"gentleman first operated with two leaden tractors,
on Tuesday April 19th, on a patient who had "been some time in the infirmary, "with a rheumatic affection of the shoulder, which rendered
"his arm perfectly useless." In the course of six minutes
no other effect followed the application "of these pieced of lead than a warmth upon the skin; nevertheless, the patient informed Mr. "Smith, on the following day, that "he had received so much benefit, that it
had enabled him to "lift his hand from his knee, which he had in vain several times attempted on the Monday evening, "as the whole ward witnessed." But although it was thus proved that the patent tractors possessed "no specific
powers independent of simple metals, he thought it advisable to lay aside metallic "points, lest the proofs might be deemed less complete. Two pieces of wood, properly shaped "and painted, were next made use of; and in
order to add solemnity to the farce, Mr. Barton held "in his hand a stop watch, while Mr. Lax minuted the effects produced. In four minutes the man "raised his hand several inches, and he had lost also the pain in his
shoulder, usually experienced "when attempting to lift anything. He continued to undergo the operation of daily, and with "progressive good effect, for on the 25th, he could touch the mantle-piece.
"childhood. Disgusted with the religious and political contentions of his country in the time of "Cromwell, he retired
from the world, apparently in a state of melancholy derangement and bad "health, which had nearly terminated fatally. On recovering, he because one of the puritans of the "day, and after having acted sometime as a magistrate,
he had an "impulse of strange persuasion" "in his mind, which continued to present itself, whether he was in public or in private, sleeping or "walking, "that God had given him the blessing of curing the kings evil."
Accordingly he "commenced the practice of touching for this disease about the year 1662, which he continued "for three years; at this time the ague became very epidemical, and the same impulse within him "suggested
"that there was bestowed upon him the gift of curing the ague," which he also "practiced with success, by laying his hands on his patients. At length he found his power
"extended to epilepsy and paralytic disorders, &c.;
but he candidly acknowledges that mane were "not cured by his touch [*23] nevertheless the unbounded confidence in his powers, and "consequently the facility with which the imaginations of the ignorant would be acted upon,
must "be manifest by the following statement which he sent to Mr. Boyle. "Great multitudes from "divers places resorted to me, so that I could have no time to follow my own occasions, nor enjoy "the company of my family and
friends; whereupon I set three days in the week apart (from six in "the morning till six at night,) to lay my hands on all that came, and so continued for some months "at home. But the multitudes which came daily were so great,
that the neighboring towns were "not able to accommodate them; whereupon for the goods of others, I left my home and went to "Youghall, where great multitudes resorted to me, not only of the inhabitants, but also out of "England;
so that the magistrates of the town told me, that they were afraid that some of the sick "people that came out of England might bring infections into the place: whereupon I retired again "to my house at affaine, where (as
Youghall,) I observed three days, by laying my hands on all "that came, whatsoever the diseases were (and many were cured, and many were not;) so that my stable, barn, an malt house were filled with sick people of all
diseases almost, &c."
"and rheumatism resemble most accurately those which were cured by the spurious tractors "abovementioned; and that the hand
of Greatraks can only be conceived to have operated in the "same way. The influence of the imagination was likewise obvious in several convulsive "affections, in the same manner as in the woman at Passy, who fell into the crisis
before the "magnetism was applied. Greatraks mentions several poor people that from England to him, "and "amongst the rest, two that had the failing sickness, who no sooner saw me than they fell into "their fits
immediately;" and he restored them, he affirms, by putting his hands upon them. Nay, "he tells us, that even the touch of his glove had driven many kinds of pains away, and removed "the strange fits in women; and
that the stroking of his hand or his glove, had, in his opinion, and "that of other persons present, driven several devils, or evil spirits, out of a woman, one after the "other, "every one having, been like to
choke her (when it came up to her throat,) before it went "forth." Now this whole description contains a pretty accurate picture of an ordinary hysterical "fit, with its attendant globus
, terminating with the discharge of flatus.
"powers, that
even a prince of Parma, who had labored under a febrile disease for the space of "six months, was induced to apply to him, and was immediately cured by his voice only. The "prince himself, and many others that were present,
afterwards bore public testimony to the fact. * * * * * * * *