To my Deaf and Dumb Friend, Mr. Duncan Campbel, in Answer to his Letter to an anonymous worthy Friend, Physician and Philosopher.
SIR,
I Receiv'd your Letter and read the same, with no less Surprise than Satisfaction; for, as I am greatly pleas'd at your miraculous Recovery, so, I am equally astonish'd at the wonderful Means by which it was obtain'd; I confess, I have been too great a Student in Physick and natural Philosophy, to entertain any extraordinary Opinion of Miracles, no ways accountable to human Reason, except those that concern Religion, which are brought down to our Knowledge well attested and recommended to our Faith by unexceptionable Authorities; not, but, that I am ready to admit, that the Power of Healing is in the Hand of Providence, and that some Patients, when their Distempers, thro' the frailty of humane Judgment, derive their Essence from so obscure an Original that even puzzles the Physician, I am free to acknowledge, especially when the Blessing of God accompanies the Administration, that the most trifling application in the Eyes of Art, may recover such Persons from the most dangerous Infirmities: This, I look upon to be your extraordinary Case, and therefore think not the means to which you ascribe your Cure or the manner of the Recipe's being communicated to you, a proper subject for a Physical Enquiry, unless you had sent me the Prescription of your Genius, which I understand by your Letter, you are oblig'd to conceal, and then perhaps I should have been able to have judg'd, in some measure, which of the Applications are most Essential, the Powder or the Loadstone, also how far your Guardian Angel is a Regular Proficient in the modern Practise of Physick.
However, as you desire my Opinion of the Genii, the Loadstone, the Powder of Sympathy, and the like, I shall not be only willing to give you my own Thoughts, but the Sentiments of others, before I take my leave, who have made the foregoing Particulars their principal Studies, and are therefore better acquainted with the nature of Spirits, than I pretend to be.
As for Genii or familiar Spirits, good and bad, believ'd and reported, by the most Wise and Learned of the Ancients, to attend Mankind, and the various Operations they have had upon humane Minds as well as Bodies, I cannot but confess, seem very wonderful to my defective Understanding; yet, when we observe what innumerable Instances have been handed to us by the most reputable Authors, both Antique and Modern, attested from Time to Time by unquestionable Authorities, who, that, before he div'd into these Mysteries, look'd upon the same to be Whimsy, can forbear staggering in his Opinion?
The most celebrated Instance of a Genius among the Ancients, is that of Socrates, one of the wisest of the Philosophers in the Age he liv'd in, and that he had such a familiar Spirit to attend him, which the Greeks call'd Dæmon, and the Latins Genius, is sufficiently testify'd by three of his Contemporaries, viz. Plato, Xenophon and Antisthenes, also further confirm'd by Laertius, Plutarch, Maximus Tyrius, Dion, Chrysostomus, Cicero, Apuleius, and Facinas; besides others more Modern, as, Tertullian, Origen, Clemens Alexandrinus, &c. but that which is of greater Authority than all the Vouchers aforemention'd, is what Socrates says of himself, in Plato's Theage, viz. By some Divine Lot, I have a certain Dæmon, which has follow'd me from my Childhood, as an Oracle; and this Voice, says he, for so he terms it, whenever it speaks to me, disswades me from engaging in what I am about to put in Action, but never prompts me to attempt any thing. This, I presume, might be the chief Reason, why Socrates persu'd not his own Inclinations, which were naturally Vicious, as himself confess'd to the Physiognomist, but was always accompany'd with a divine Spirit that restrain'd him from it; for, in speaking to Alcibiades, a vicious Noble Man of Athens, but reclaim'd by Socrates; says he, My Tutor (meaning the Spirit that attended him) is wiser and better than you. And to further shew, that what he call'd his Dæmon, was something more than a secret Impulse of the Mind, or Dictates of a good Conscience, Theocritus affirms in Plutarch, that a Vision attended Socrates from his Childhood, going before him and guiding him in all the Actions of his Life, being a constant light to him in such Affairs as lay not within the reach of humane standing, and that the Spirit often spoke to him, divinely governing and inspiring his Intentions. A thousand Instances of the like nature, I could collect from the Ancients, to prove, that what you have reported to me, in your Letter, may be no Delusion, but real Fact, with all it's surprising Circumstances, could the Task be compris'd within the compass of a Letter, but, a Treatise of this nature, being much fitter for a Volume, I shall only proceed to a few familiar Instances of a more modern Date, that your wonderful Cure may gain Credit with the Publick, because I know your Sincerity.
Froissard reports, That in the Time of Edward the Third, there was a certain Knight in France, call'd Corasse, who could tell every thing Transacted throughout the whole World, in a Day or two at the most, were the distance never so remote, and this he did by an invisible Intelligencer or familiar Spirit, which he call'd Orthone, who was always at his Command and brought him News continually for many Years, till, at last, he lost the Benefit of so useful a Companion, through a vain desire of gratifying his Curiousity after the following manner, (viz.) The Knight, having hitherto only heard the Voice of his spiritual Emissary, was now infatuated with an earnest inclination to behold his Shapes, which favour he requested of Orthone; accordingly, whose Answer was, that the first thing he should see on the morrow Morning, after he was risen from his Bed, should be the Object he desir'd, or Words to that effect. The Knight, the next Morning, pursuant to the direction of his Spirit, arose from his Bed, look'd about him, but could not discover any thing worthy of Remark; upon which disappointment, he upbraided Orthone, with being worse than his Word, who reply'd he had kept his Promise, desiring the Knight to remind himself of what he had first observ'd after his rising; the Knight, upon recollection, reply'd, that he saw nothing uncommon, but a couple of Straws tumbling upon the Ground and sporting with one another, as if agitated by the Wind; That was I, saith the Spirit, and therefore I kept my Word. Then the Knight desir'd to see him once more, in such a Shape as might induce him, the next Time, to take more notice of him, to which the Spirit consented, saying, the first thing you see to morrow Morning, after your uprising, shall be me again; accordingly, when the Time appointed was arriv'd and the Knight was risen from his Bed, looking out of his Chamber Window, the first Object he espy'd, was a Lean ill-favour'd Sow, so deform'd and ugly, that he was not able to abide the sight of her; and not expecting Orthone to appear to him in so homely a manner, he set his Dogs upon the Sow, to drive her away, who being highly affronted at such unfriendly usage, immediately Vanish'd, to the Knight's great surprise; and his old acquaintance Orthone, never came near him after. This relation, Froissard asserts he had from the Knight's own Mouth, with whom he was very intimate.