by Dudley Costello (uncredited), William Henry Wills (uncredited) & T.H. Wilson.
Originally published in Household Words (Bradbury & Evans) vol.2 #38 (14 Dec 1850).
It is the fashion—especially among people of fashion—to point with pity to a tale of modern witchcraft, to an advertisement of a child's caul, or to the bonâ fide certificates of cases from the takers of quack medicines, and to deplore the ignorance of their inferiors. Delusions, however, of the grossest kind are not confined to the illiterate. A cloud of dupes have ever floated about in the higher regions of society; while it is quite a mistake to suppose that the refinements and discoveries of the nineteenth century have dispersed them. The reign of Queen Victoria, like that of Elizabeth and of Anne, has its Dr. Dees, and Lillys, and Partridges, who are as successful as their precursors in gaining proselytes who can pay handsomely. Damsel of high degree, fresh from boarding-school, with her head more full of sympathy for the heroes and heroines of fashionable novels, and ideas more fixed upon love affairs than on any legitimate studies, can easily find out, through mysteriously worded advertisements in the Sunday papers, or through the ready agency of friends who have already become victims to the "science" of astrology and magic, the whereabouts of these awful and wonderful beings. There are a number of styles and classes of them, all varying in appearance and mode of operations. There are the old women, who, consoled by the glories of their art, repine not at inhabiting comfortless garrets in the purlieus of the New Cut, Lambeth; and hiding their vocation under the mask of having staylaces or infallible corn-plaisters to sell, receive more visitors from the fashionable cream of Belgravia than from the dross of Bermondsey. Disguises are sometimes resorted to, and parties of titled ladies have been known to meet, and put on the habiliments of "charwomen," and to pass themselves off as dressmakers. There is an old man with unshaven beard and seldom washed face, who lives in more comfortable style with his son, in Southwark (the favoured district of the conjurors), who, to keep up appearances, has "Engineer," hugely engraved on a great brass plate over the door; who casts nativities, and foretells events of the future, for three or five shillings, as the appearance of the visitor will warrant him in demanding; receives all his votaries sitting at a terribly littered table of dirty papers, with a well-smoked clay pipe beside him.—Passing to a higher grade, the "agent," or arranger of matters, legal, pecuniary, or domestic, only practises the black art for the love he bears it and to oblige his friends, but never refuses a few shillings fee, out of respect to the interests of the science. Nearly all his customers are people of title.
But the most successful of these astrological conjurors is the possessor of a certain MAGIC CRYSTAL; to the surface of which he pretends to call up angels, constellations, and heroes of the past, with all of whom familiar conversations are held, to the amazement of large parties of fashionables assembled in elegant salons. Were the rank and numbers of the persons weak enough to be deluded by such exhibitions to be divulged, the revelation would not be credited by the sane part of the world. The Magic Crystal, during the London season last past, became the wonder, the talk, and—with not a few—the belief. Some account of the antecedents of Magic Crystals will not be without interest:—
Those who have passed any time in India, will have become acquainted with the use made of round masses of rough hewn polished glass, designated Divining Crystals, and bear testimony to the superstitious awe with which they are regarded. The High Priest of the Bhuddist and Hindoo Temples in former times, when arrayed in the consecrated garments for the festivals, had one of these round knobs—about the size of a large pendant drop of a chandelier, or the top of a beadle's staif—suspended from his neck by a chain of great value, and of dazzling brilliancy. It was through the agency of this crystal that he was supposed to hold communion with the spirit or spirits to whom he and his followers accorded devotion and made intercessions; and the glass, acting as did the famed oracle of Delphi, gave orders and commands, and settled all great questions that might be submitted to its spiritual master. The priest, although he might be a pattern of purity, and the quintessence of all that was good, having, however, the sin of being in years, and not able perhaps to keep from the spirit inhabiting the crystal all the transactions of his youth, could not hold direct communication with it; to arrange this, a certain number of boys (and sometimes, in some of the temples, young damsels) were retained, who, never having mixed with the world, could not be supposed to be in any way contaminated by its vices. These alone were said to be capable of beholding the spirit when he chose to make his appearance in the divining glass, and interpreting to and fro the questions put, and answers received. Although it was not every boy or "seer" to whom was permitted the gift of spiritual vision, yet in later times, when divining crystals multiplied, little ragged boys would run after the passers in the streets and offer to see—anything that might be required of them—for an anna, or even a cake or sweetmeat. In Egypt, the Divining Glass is superseded by putting a blot of thick black fluid into the palm of a boy's hand, and commanding him to see various people and things, of which practice Lane, in his "Modern Egyptians," gives some curious disclosures.
Divining mirrors were not confined to the East. Dr. Dee was the first English impostor who vaunted the possession of one of these priceless treasures. He had for the "seer" one Kelly, an Irishman, and to this, doubtless, was attributable the impression that prevailed among the astrologers and amateur spirit hunters, that when the spirits condescended to speak, they always gave speech with a very strong spice o' the brogue. This "beryl," as it is called, was preserved amongst the Strawberry Hill curiosities, and fell under the hammer of George Robins at the memorable sale. It proved to be a globe of cannel-coal. In Aubrey's Miscellany there is an engraving of another larger crystal, and there is with it (as also in other works produced about the same period) many wonderful stories; yet notwithstanding the magic capabilities of these mirrors, they went out of fashion until the beginning of the present year.
This revival and its consequences is like a page out of a silly romance. The story, if told by a disinterested historian, would require authentication as belonging to the year 1850. We therefore turn, by way of voucher, to a publication—which on any other occasion, it would require an apology to our readers for quoting—called "Zadkiel's Almanac for 1851." At page 46 of that farrago, after referring to the existence of Magic Crystals at the present day, the writer says:—"One of large size (four inches in diameter) was a few years since brought over by a friend of Lady Blessington; after the sale of whose effects it recently fell into the hands of a friend of mine; and, having tested its powers, I have resolved on giving my readers an account of this wonderful mode of communicating with the spirits of the dead. The crystal is spherical, and has been turned from a large mass of pure rock crystal. I have been shown some few others, but, with the exception of one shown me by Lord S.[1], they are all much smaller. These are said to be consecrated to the Angels of the planets, and are, therefore, far less powerful than Lady Blessington's Crystal, which, being consecrated to the Archangel of the SUN, Michael, may be consulted during four hours each day, whereas the others can generally be used only for a very brief space of time; nor can very potent spirits be called into them or made to render themselves visible. It will be seen that in this large crystal spirits appeared without being 'called,' as is usual; and that they give us most important information of the actual existence of the soul after death, and of the state in which it exists and will exist until the Judgment. They confirm all the great truths of Revelation and of the Christian religion; and they tell us that we should take the Holy Scriptures as our guide alone, and not rely on the dogmas of any Church, or heed the opinions of any human teachers. They aver that Prayer and Praise are essential to salvation, but that forms and ceremonies are not; and they say that ALL the spirits, and even the highest Angels in Paradise, do pray to God, who is always pleased with earnest prayer."
It is this sort of blasphemy which, unhappily, makes the most dupes, for weak minded people mistake it for religion. The mode in which this delusion was "worked," we learn from a friend who accidentally became acquainted with the imposture. He says:—
"The first intimation that we received of the revival of this notable practice of divination was about six months ago, when we were casually informed that the son of a distinguished officer of the Royal Navy was, at that time, frequently, engaged in developing before a few privileged friends, the extraordinary faculty of being able to hold intercourse with the world of spirits. It was added that the revelations made through the medium of this youth were of so wonderful a nature, and carried such conviction to the minds of those who listened, that they were declared to be the result of more than human power.
"We made inquiry as to the nature of these revelations, and found—as we expected—that they were precisely what might be expected, not from a supernatural intelligence, but from a naval young gentleman who carried to the ceremony a fair proportion of that readiness of belief in supernatural agency which is, more or less, characteristic of all sailors. On the subject in general these gallant officers were imaginative enough, but their specific yearnings—we are forced to admit—did not display any very lofty range. Their questions, instead of turning on
"'Fate, foreknowledge, and free-will,'
were limited to inquiries as to the personal appearance of some of our distinguished naval Commanders, and the spirit who communicated his replies, through the interposition of the son of a Captain in the Royal Navy, must have been somewhat of the chillest capacity if he could not have satisfied the ingenuous interlocutor. One specimen of this sort may serve for a dozen.
"'Ask him,' said Lord --, for such was the rank of the querist, 'ask him to describe Lord Nelson!'
"And, accordingly, the spirit, with an accuracy which was quite astonishing—considering that no portrait, bust, or statue of Nelson is known to exist—gave a full, true, and particular account of England's hero, describing him as a very thin man, in a cocked-hat, with only one eye, one arm, &c.; and the truth of this description was declared to be something truly marvellous.
"What the spirit of Lord Nelson said we were not informed, but we have no great difficulty in believing that it was to the effect that 'England expects every man to do his duty,' if, indeed, those memorable words were not actually used. Something more he might have added of an equally astonishing nature, for we have since discovered that there is a formula in these matters. Whatever it was, his hearers were perfectly satisfied, and the fame of this apparition soon got bruited abroad amongst the relations and friends of the noble and gallant lord already adverted to.
"Another boy, also the son of a naval officer, about thirteen years of age, was a skilful interpreter; and even if he had not been an agent between two worlds, must still have shone forth as something remarkable, for one young lady, the daughter of a dignitary in the Church, declared that 'in her conversation with him, upon metaphysical subjects, she had been particularly struck by the depth and clearness of his reasoning!' The youthful agent had, certainly, the advantage over his principals in this respect, their answers being mostly delivered in the hazy manner which usually characterises communications of an oracular nature.
"There was, however, on the occasion of a matinée at the retired naval officer's, who was and is, the Arch-Priest of this mystery, one Spirit who spoke plainly enough, but whose attributes and revelations were at once so comic and appalling, that we are almost afraid to transcribe them; still, for the benefit of our readers, we will venture:—
"A demand was made that the spirit of a deceased brother of one of the querists should be summoned to appear.
"The lieutenant's son averted his face, and bent over the crystal.
"Presently he said, 'I see him—he has red, curly hair, and stoops a good deal. I can't exactly see his features, but I think squints.'
"This account of her late brother's personal appearance, though not very nattering, satisfied the lady as far as it went; but being, like Macbeth—
"'--bent to know,
By the worst means, the worst,'
she required further proof of her relative's identity.
"There was a pause for a minute or two, and then the Spirit-seer spoke again:
"'He has got a scroll in his hand, which he unfolds; there is this inscription on it, in letters of fire:
"'I AM TOM!!!'
We were assured that this sublime revelation was received with a degree of solemn awe, which caused our informant to shake with suppressed throes of well-bred laughter.
"Besides the particular cases of 'Tom' and "Lord Nelson," others, not a whit less marvellous, have been described, and with perfect good faith on the part of the narrators, who could not be reasoned out of their absurdity, and who insisted, moreover, that there could be no deception in the matter, on account of the means employed, and the evident sincerity of the employés! These means, they said, required that the person who looked into the crystal should be perfectly pure; that is to say, a child free from sin (and by no means given to lying, as sometimes happens with the best of children), and that the form of adjuration used was, 'In nomine Domini,' &c.; Latin being, as is well known, the language which spirits of all denominations, 'red, black, and grey,' are most accustomed to. When interrogated after this fashion, the spirit, if evil, fled away, howling (inaudibly); if good, it came, when called, unless particularly engaged in the Sun; for it appears that it is to that planet almost all spirits go when their term of purgatory is over."
Thus far we are lighted on our amusing way by private information; but for more evidence of the balderdash by which educated persons are capable of being deluded, we must revert to the Almanac. According to this veracious record, the first spirit who favoured Zadkiel with a visit (it was on the 29th of January last) was Orion, of whom such frequent mention is made in the fathers. He is described as "a TALL man, with a helmet on, and in armour; a bear on its hind legs near him! He is fierce-looking, but has a pleasant smile."
Zadkiel indulges the readers of his Almanac with woodcuts of the various spirits as they are said to have appeared in the Crystal. They were drawn by one of the seers—a young gentleman having a knack with the pencil. The bear "on his hind legs" does not appear; but Orion himself is, in the guise of a knight, precisely like those theatrical heroes clear to the eyes of youth, and sold at a "penny plain, and twopence coloured." What renders this portrait quite authentic, is a sentence in a letter which our friend showed us, from the author of the Almanac to an old retired officer, in which he speaks of the young seer and draughtsman, as a recreant, and denounces him for having owned that what he had seen in the glass was—nothing. That the portraits he took, the visions he declared he saw, the answers he pretended he heard from the glass, were simply of his own invention. That in short he had perpetrated an egregious hoax. After the date of the letter in which this is dolorously communicated, the young artist's drawings are published in the Almanac as authentic likenesses of what appeared in the extraordinary glass of spirits.
The substance of Orion's communication is as follows, commencing with the caution that what he tells is not to be published "for the first half of this year," that is to say, till the Almanac is ready. All his communications are evidently copyright.
He says that the Crystal in which he appears was made in the year 657 B.C.; that any questions may be asked, "except wicked ones;" that the querist "cannot always be told;" and that he comes "from the atmosphere." Being out of breath with talking—though he says little besides the above—Orion has recourse to the expedient of "letters of fire" which, observes Zadkiel, in a note, "appear written in various ways in the Crystal; sometimes on flags, which the Spirits hold up; but sometimes they are in print" In these letters of fire, Orion thus counsels the querist: "Be merry. Quarrel not. Keep your temper, and your children, too. You are a good man, but try to be better. I am wanted. Let me go."
Besides Orion, there is a spirit whom we never had the advantage of hearing of before—his name is GEGO. He is not quite so clever as Orion, or the Egyptian magicians. However we learn from him that in the Pre-adamite era the world did not go round the Sun, which is something worth knowing, and would be satisfactory information for Dr. Cullen. He also says, that "The Babylon mentioned in the Revelations did not allude to Rome but to London."
Without troubling Orion or Gego any further, we turn to a few deceased celebrities who were at different times summoned into the Crystal, and hear what they have to tell us.
Milton relates that the idea of "Paradise Lost" was suggested to him in a dream, by his guardian angel. Homer was born in Athens, and knows Virgil. Tacitus, who is eminently modest, prefers Caesar's account of the Britons to his own, and says that the Druids were "stupid fellows in general." Sir Isaac Newton says, that "Electricity is partly the cause of the moon's motions," and that "the nature of light will be discovered, but not for a long time."
The following specimens of colloquies heard by large parties of amazed, titled, and believing listeners, are copied from the Almanac literatim:—
"Are you Pharaoh, that was King of Egypt?—Yes. Where do you dwell now?—In Jupiter. How long have you been there?—About thirty years. Where did you dwell till then?—In the Atmosphere, and was undergoing punishment till then. Were you King of Egypt when Moses was there?— Yes, and Aaron too. Did you build the Pyramids?—Some. Were any built before your time?—Yes. Do you know how long the first was built before Christ?—About three hundred years after Adam; it was building then. Do you mean that it was built before the flood?—No, it was not finished; the flood destroyed them. What was the principal object of them?—To hold the Kings of Egypt. Were there Kings of Egypt so soon after the Creation?— Yes; that was the first country Kings were in. Were you drowned in the Red Sea?—Yes."
"On a certain Sunday Alexander the Great appeared—on horseback—in armour; the horse also in armour, &c. He is undergoing his punishment, but looks to be released next Sunday. Deeply regrets killing Clitus, and all the murders he perpetrated. Has seen his father once only; not allowed intercourse with any Spirit till after next Sunday. Amuses himself in fighting his battles over again."
In another Crystal dialogue, Emmanuel Swedenborg objects to capital punishments, and also to paying tithes to clergymen. He volunteers information about Sir John Franklin, which Zadkiel says he should like to see "for his wife's sake," and not at all with any hope of reward from the Admiralty!
"What do you wish?" asks Swedenborg. What is the best way to communicate with him? replies Zadkiel. "By the natives; they speak to him sometimes."—Will he be home next summer?" No."—Why? "Because he he cannot help himself; he is stopped by ice, but his heart does not fail him; he wants to explore."—How will he do for provisions? "He will find bears, dogs, and wolves."—Will he find the passage?" No; there is a continent there."—But there is also a passage? "There is one, but he will not find it." What latitude does it lie in chiefly?" I do not know; good bye."
It appears odd that Swedenborg, who knew so much, did not know this; but we learn in another place, that "Spirits do not well understand about latitude and longitude." Orion seems to have been a trifle more explicit, for he places the expedition "to the north-east of Melville Island," where certain young gentlemen of Zadkiel's acquaintance had just killed a bear. The voyagers, we are further told, get "a kind of wolves" (to eat) and "a kind of turf full of gas" (perhaps to drink).
According to the seer Socrates, for he has rather a French taste in dress, came forward in this guise: "A tall, middle-aged man, rather bald, dressed with striped coarse trowsers, very loose at the top and tight near the feet; a kind of frock, open in the front, and without sleeves." He is generally employed in "singing praises," but was not quite happy. Like no other Spirits, he is very polite, for when going, he said, "Many happy returns of your Birthday." ("It was," says Zadkiel, "the seer's thirteenth birthday.") It was this young gentleman who proved a traitor, and proclaimed that he had imposed on Zadkiel and all his friends.
It may be objected that the miserable stuff which we have quoted must prove its own antidote; but, when we find that its author boasts of the scores of thousands which he has sold of his vapid publication, and sets forth the example set by the higher classes with the view of selling more—an example which always finds a certain number of imitators—we hold, that the pernicious tendency of the publication calls for exposure. Observe the direct effect of the following paragraph, with which Zadkiel sums up the nature of the success he has experienced in the course of a few months—the italics are his own:—
" In concluding this account, I may remark that numerous children have seen these visions, some of them the sons and daughters of persons of high rank; and that several adults have also seen visions, one of them a lady of title, another a member of one of the highest families in England. It will be easily seen that delicacy prevents my publicly naming individuals; but I can assure my readers that above one hundred of the nobility, and several hundreds of other highly respectable ladies and gentlemen, have examined this wonderful phenomenon, and have expressed the highest gratification and astonishment."
What is likely to be the future career of "children" who have been trained to a system of imposture? And what may not be the influence upon persons of weak minds, of the opinions expressed by "hundreds of highly respectable ladies and gentlemen," in a community who hold "respectability" in so much reverence? If "above one hundred of the nobility" are not likely to find imitation, amongst their dependents alone, why do we see daily the shrewdest, money-making tradesmen of London advertising the "nobility" as encouragers of their professions, or purchasers of their wares? The answer is obvious.
1. For which his lordship, we arc told, paid Zadkiel's friend £50.