The Friendly Daemon, or the Generous Apparition

The Goblins, for this bout, having given over their Pastime, and left their Maygame to take a little repose, that he might in some Measure be refresh'd against their next Sally, My Lord order'd, the same Night, two of his Servants to lie with him, for fear some Devil or other should come and catch him Napping, notwithstanding which, the Butler told his Lordship the next Morning, that the Spirit had again been with him in the likeness of a Quack Doctor, and in his right Hand a wooden Dish-full of grey Liquor, like a Mess of Porridge, at sight of which, he endeavour'd to awake his Bedfellows, but the Spectre told him his attempts were fruitless, for that his Companions were enchanted into a deep Sleep, advising him not to be frighted, for he came as a Friend, and was the same Spirit that caution'd him in the Field against complying with the Company he there met, when he was going for the Cards; adding, that if he had not refus'd to come into their Measures, he had been for ever miserable; also wonder'd he had escap'd the Day before, because he knew there was so powerful a Combination against him; but assur'd him, that for the future there would be no more attempts of the like Nature; further telling the poor trembling Butler, that he knew he was sadly troubl'd with two sorts of Fits, and, therefore, as a Friend, had brought him a Medicine that would Cure him of both, beseeching him to take it, but the poor Patient, who had been so scurvily us'd by these sort of Doctors, and fearing the Devil might be at the Bottom of the Cup, would not be prevail'd upon to swallow the Dose, which made the Spirit Angry; who told him, however, he had a kindness for him, and that if he would bruise the Roots of Plantane without the Leaves, and drink the the Juice thereof, it should certainly Cure him of one sort of his Fits, but as a Punishment for his Obstinacy in refusing the Liquor, he should carry the other to his Grave, then the spiritual Doctor ask'd his Patient if he knew him; the Butler answer'd, No. I am, says he, the wandring Ghost of your old Acquaintance John Hobby, who has been dead and bury'd these seven Years; and ever since, for the wickedness of my Life, have been lifted into the Company of those Evil-Spirits you beheld in the Fields, am hurry'd up and down in this restless Condition, and doom'd to continue in the same wretched State till the Day of Judgment. Adding, that Had you serv'd your Creator in the days of your Youth, and offer'd up your Prayers that Morning, before you were sent for the Cards, you had not been treated by the Spirits that tormented you, with so much Rigour and Severity.

After the Butler had reported these marvellous Passages to my Lord and his Family, the two Bishops, that were present, among other Quality, were thereupon consulted, whether or no, it was proper for the Butler to follow the Spirit's Advice, in taking Plantane Juice for the Cure of his Fits, and whether he had done well or ill, in refusing the Liquid Dose which the Spectre would have given him; the Question, at first, seem'd to be a kind of moot Point, but, after some struggle in the Debate, their Resolution was, that the Butler had acted, through the whole Affair, like a good Christian, for that it was highly sinful to follow the Devil's Advice in any thing, and that no Man should do Evil that Good might come of it; so that, in short, the poor Butler, after all his Fatigue, had no amends for his trouble, but was deny'd, by the Bishops, the seeming Benefit that the Spirit intended him.

I do not introduce this old surprising Story to amuse you, but to let you know, that it is no new thing for Spectres to turn Doctors to such ailing Persons as they retain a Respect for, and that your Genius was not the first Spirit that ever practis'd Physick; therefore, if this Narrative reported by Glanvil, Beaumont, and others, may obtain Credit, upon the Authorities of my Lord Orrery, Mr. Greatrix, and divers Persons, who were in a great measure Eye-Witnesses of the matter, I see no Reason I have to doubt the Truth of your Letter, since I know your Integrity; besides, it has always been allow'd by such Dæmonologers as have Publish'd their Thoughts upon the visibility of Spirits, that Scotland, is never without such a sort of People as they call Second-sighted, who have not only the Power of discerning Apparitions, but, by their frequent Conversation with Spirits, foretel future Events, to the great Astonishment of all Persons that consult them: That there are such sort of Diviners in the World, especially in Scotland, I am throughly convinc'd; of which Number I take your self to be one, but how to account for your mysterious Performances, I readily confess, I know not, and therefore shall submit that Task to such as are qualify'd with a more subtil Penetration.

I doubt I have tir'd your Patience with too much Prolixity upon familiar Spirits, therefore, to make you amends, I will be but short in my Dissertation upon the Loadstone; which in the first place, is, a very ponderous Fossile, found in different Climates, and seems in its Nature and Qualities to be nearly related to Iron Oar, from whence it is endow'd with a peculiar property of drawing Iron to its self by the Power of Sympathy, or the natural Disposition it has to Embrace that particular Metal. In Ægypt there are large Mines of it, some few Magnets have been found in Æthiopia, which have attracted Iron very forcibly; but two sorts are dug up at the foot of the Sardinian Mountains, of such different Natures, that as one draws Iron, the other will repel it; as you will find it reported by Johannes Jonstonus, in his History of Nature, also by Pliny, in his Second Book, who, for the aforesaid Reason, calls this Stone Theamedes: As to the singular Virtues hitherto discover'd in the common Loadstone, the most admirable of all are the strict Correspondence it maintains with the two Poles, and the wonderful Property it communicates, by a touch, to the Needle, for the Benefit of Mariners. The Power of its Attraction, is thought by some Virtuosos to be owing to a clammy bituminous Substance, by which the Contexture of the more solid Parts are closely semented and confirm'd; to prove this, work a Loadstone in the Fire and it shall cast forth a blewish Flame, like that of lighted Brimstone, and so continue, till it spends its Life and loses the Power of Attraction. There is a great deal of Sulphur in Iron as well as in the Loadstone, which is the principal Cause of their Sympathising with each other, and if you destroy the first in either, the last will fail in course, which is the Reason, why the Loadstone will not attract the Rust of Iron, tho' it will the Filings, because in the former, the bituminous Matter is quite spent and nothing left but a kind of Caput mortuum. The Loadstone hath also two Poles, which answer those in the Heavens, if you touch the Needle with the North Pole of the Stone, it will point to the Artick, if with the South part thereof, as it stood posited in the Mine, it will point to the Antartick, but not with the utmost exactness, except it stands in the Meridian: But to be further satisfy'd in these Mysteries, have recourse to Libavius, Cardanus, Pliny, Bodin, Porta, our own Philosophical Transactions, and such Authors as have treated more largely upon this Subject: for, I suppose, all that you want to know of me is, if ever I have heard from others, or discover'd by my own Experience, any such Physical Virtue in the Loadstone, as may tend to the Cure of any Chronical or other Disease incident to humane Bodies, that may strengthen the Opinion you seem to entertain of it in such Cases, from the Benefit your self has lately receiv'd in so extraordinary a manner.

In answer to this, I confess, I have heard it affirm'd (but not by a Physician) that the Loadstone hath withdrawn the Inflamation and given Ease in the Gout, and by changing the Application of it from one side to the other, has at length chas'd it away, to the perfect recovery of the Patient; but in any other Case, excepting your own, I never heard of a Cure so much as facilitated or attempted to be perform'd thereby; therefore, as the Use of it in any Disease is quite Foreign to the common Practice of Physick, if others, as well as your self, have receiv'd Benefit by this new Discovery, I think not my self oblig'd to account for it, till it becomes practical among my own Fraternity, and then it will be Time enough for any Physician to give his Thoughts thereon; besides, I am a Stranger to the Preparation prescrib'd to you by your Genius, and without the knowledge of that material Secret, it is impossible for any Physician, in your Case, to make a clear Judgment, or to know which of the two your Cure is chiefly owing to, the Powder or the Loadstone; for how far the latter may operate upon a Body prepar'd by Pulvis Martis or other Chalybeates, I shall not pretend to determine, tho', for ought I know, wonderful Cures may be perform'd in that way, but upon what Reason in Nature, such a new System can be founded, seems very remote from my present understanding; but, since you are become sole Master of so wonderful a Secret, my Advice is, that you keep the Recipe to your self, in Obedience to your Genius, and tho' you Assist others, never to do it without Fee or Reward, for all useful Discoveries ought to be render'd Profitable.

In answer to the last Article of your Request, I shall now proceed to say something of Sympathy, and the Cures reported to have been done thereby. The Sympathetick Powder, so highly esteem'd about a hundred Years since, by Men of Art in this Kingdom, was first brought into Europe by a Religious Carmelite, who in his Travels thro' India, Persia, and China, had made himself Master of this Secret, and from some of those Eastern Countries, came over into Tuscany, where he perform'd many considerable Cures by this occult Method, to the great Astonishment of the most eminent Physicians and Surgeons in those Parts; insomuch that the Duke of Tuscany himself was very desirous of becoming Master of this surprizing Arcanum, but, the honest Fryar by many handsome Excuses brought himself off, and would not be prevail'd upon to communicate his Nostrum to his Highness.

Some few Months after this, our Famous English Virtuoso, Sir Kenelm Digby, happening in his Travels to be at the Grand Duke's Court, an Opportunity fell accidentally in the Knight's way to do the Fryar a Service, which the good old Man took so kindly at his hands, that he recompenc'd the Curtesy with a Discovery of his Secret; and soon after returning into Persia, left no Man in Europe Master of the same but Sir Kenelm, who was the first Person that brought the Recipe into England, and that here wrought Cures by it himself, and recommended it to the Practice of others; so that, in a little Time, every Mother-Midwife, and Country Fleabeard, became topping Surgeons, especially for the Cure of Green-Wounds; for it is not to be trusted to, in other Cases.

This Sympathetick Powder, by which many Miracles have been perform'd at great Distances, is nothing more than the Simple Powder of Roman Vitriol, either Chymically prepar'd, or imperfectly calcin'd in the Beams of the Sun; from whence, 'tis said, it derives a very balsamick Virtue; a little of this apply'd to any Instrument that has done Mischief, or to a Rag dip'd into, or stain'd with, the Blood of a Wound, never fails of Curing the Patient at the widest Distance, provided the Wound be Curable.

Sir Kenelm Digby, to advance the Credit of this surprising Medicine, speaks very largely in Commendation thereof, in a little Treatise of his, written first in French, upon the same Subject; wherein he boasts of a remarkable Cure perform'd by himself, in a most wonderful manner, with only the use of this astonishing Powder; and, therefore, as in religious Cases, Example goes beyond Precept, so, to convince you of the Miracles perform'd by Sympathy, Instances, perhaps, may prove more effectual than Arguments; for which Reason, I shall proceed to furnish you with a notable Experiment of this Magical Powder, and so conclude.

"Mr. James Howel, a trusty Servant to King James the First, famous in those Days for Compiling a Treatise, entitled Dendrologia, and afterwards for his Legacy to the World, call'd, Epistoliæ Ho-Elianæ, happen'd, when he was a Young Gentleman, to accidently come by, when two of his dearest Friends were fiercely Engag'd in a very dangerous Duel, and to prevent the Mischief very likely to ensue, too rashly catch'd hold, with his naked Hand, of his Sword, whose Passion prompted him to be the most desperate; in which attempt, the Weapon, being drawn through Mr. Howel's Palm, cut the Nerves and Muscles thereof to the very Bone, and, as they were thus Scuffling, holding up the same Hand to defend one of his Friends from a Blow upon his Head, receiv'd another cut upon the back of his Hand, cross all the Veins and Tendons, more terrible than the former, which, his Friends perceiving, put a sudden stop to their inebrious Fury, run both to embrace him and to express their sorrow for the unhappy Accident, lending him their Assistance to bind up his Wounds with one of his own Garters, and so conducted him to his Lodgings, where they sent immediately for a Surgeon, who found the Case desperate, for he bled abundantly.

"Mr. Howel, being a Gentleman much respected by the Quality, the News of his Misfortune soon reach'd the Court; and his Majesty, having, also, a great regard for him, sent one of his own Surgeons to attend him, who found the Case to be so very bad that he seem'd doubtful of a Cure, without cutting off his Hand, which occasion'd Mr. Howel, about five Days after the Hurt receiv'd, to apply himself to his good Friend and Neighbour, Sir Kenelm Digby, who, at that Time was famous for the Sympathetick-Powder, begging his Assistance in that painful Extremity, telling him, that his Surgeons were apprehensive of a Gangrene.

"Sir Kenelm, opening the Wounds, found a terrible Case of it, and a dangerous Inflamation upon the Part, which, Mr. Howel acknowledg'd, gave him such intolerable Pain as was scarce supportable; the Knight, ask'd him, if he had any Bandage with the Blood upon it, Mr. Howel answer'd, Yes; accordingly sent his Servant for the bloody Garter which had first bound up his Wounds, and deliver'd it to Sir Kenelm, who, calling for a Bason of Water, went into his Closet for a handful of his Powder, which he infus'd therein, and then soak'd the Garter in the same Liquor; whilst Mr. Howel was talking with another Gentleman, at the further End of the Room, not knowing in the least what Sir Kenelm was doing, who, after he had bath'd the Garter in the Bason about a Minute, call'd to his Patient and ask'd him how he found himself, who answer'd, So wonderful Easy that the Inflamation seems to be totally Extinguish'd, the Pain quite gone off, and my Hand I find as cool and as much refresh'd, as if it was wrap'd up in a wet Napkin. Then, reply'd the Knight, fling off your Dressings, meddle no more with Plasters, only keep your Wounds clean and from the Air, and I doubt not, but in a few Days Time, I shall effectually Cure you, without putting you to any further Trouble. Much Comforted with this Assurance, Mr. Howel took a thankful Leave of Sir Kenelm, and so departed.

"Mr. Howel, had not been gone above a Quarter of an Hour, but the Knight took the Garter out of the Liquor, to dry it before the Fire, and carelesly hanging it a little too near, the extraordinary Heat, by the Concatination of Effluvia's, had such an Effect upon the Patient, that he made as many wry Faces as a Cook that had burnt his Fingers; dispatching his Servant, with all imaginable Expedition, to let his Doctor know what a Condition he was relaps'd into.

"Sir Kenelm, who presently conjectur'd the Cause of this Disaster, smiling at the Message the Servant had deliver'd, and snatching the Garter from the Fire, told him, that his Master should be very Easy by the Time he could return to him, which the Footman, by the acknowledgment of his Master, found to be true accordingly; Sir Kenelm, doing nothing more to work this change, than cooling the wreaking Garter by a speedy Repetition of his former Application; so that, without any further Accident interposing, the Patient was thoroughly cur'd, in five or six Days Time, by this extraordinary Method, to the inexpressible Admiration of all his Majesty's Surgeons."

SIR,

This is all, at present, I am at Leisure to say in Answer to your Letter, and I doubt you will think it enough too, except more to the purpose: What extraordinary Cures you happen to perform by your new Method, I desire you will communicate to me as soon as you can conveniently, for to hear of your Success, will be no little Satisfaction to,

Sir,Your assured Friend,and humble Servant.FINIS

POSTSCRIPT

THE Powder, communicated to Doctor Campbel by his Genius, together, with the Use of the Loadstone, having wrought many wonderful Cures upon other Patients as well as himself; this Postscript is to acquaint the Publick, that any Person labouring under one or more of the following Calamities, viz. Hypochondriacal, Hysterical, Epileptical, Convulsive, or any other sort of Fits that either Sex can be subject to, may be reliev'd, after the same manner as aforemention'd; at Doctor Campbel's House, in Buckingham-Court, over against Old Man's Coffee-House at Chairing-Cross, where they may be readily furnish'd with his Pulvis Miraculosus, and the finest sort of Ægyptian Loadstones, ready arm'd and fitted for the purpose, which if apply'd and continu'd according to Direction never fail of Success.