To conclude this part of the subject, and to exhibit the state of belief at that period, I shall take the liberty of extracting a portion from the 11th chapter of Dr. Andrewe Boord’s Extravagantes, which “doth shewe of a Demoniacke person, the which is possessed of or with the devyll or devylls.
“Demoniacus or Demoniaci be the Latin wordes. In Greke it is named Demonici. In Englyshe it is named he or they, the whiche be mad and possessed of the devyll or devils, and their propertie is to hurt and kyll them selfe, or els to hurt and kyll any other thynge, therfore let every man beware of them, and kepe them in a sure custody.
The cause of this Matter.
“This matter doth passe all maner sickenesses and diseases, and it is a fearefull and terryble thyng to se a devyll or devylles shoulde have so muche and so greate a power over man, as it is specified of such persons dyvers tymes in the gospell, specyally in the IX. Chapitre of St. Marke. Chryste sendynge his disciples to preache the worde of God, gevynge them power to make sicke men whole, lame men to go, blynde to se, &c. Some of them dyd go by a mans that was possessed of devils and they coud not make him whole. Shortly to conclude, Chryst dyd make hym whole. The dysciples of Chryste asked of him why that they coud not make the possessed man of the devylls whole. And Jesus Chryste said to them: this kynde of devylls can not be cast out without prayer and fastynge. Here it is to be noted, that nowe a dayes fewe or els none doth set by prayer or fastynge, regardyng not gods wordes; in this matter, I do feare that suche persons be possessed of the devil, although they be not starke madde, and to shew further of demoniacke persons the whiche be starke madde. The fyrste tyme that I dyd dwell in Rome, there was a gentilwoman of Germani, the whych was possessed of devyls, and she was brought to Rome to be made whole. For within the precynct of St. Peters church, without St. Peters chapel, standeth a pyller of whyte marble grated round about with iron, to the which our Lorde Jesus Chryste dyd lye in hymselfe unto the Pylates hal, as the Romaynes doth say, to the which pyller al those that be possessed of the devyl, out of dyvers countreys and nacions be brought thyther, and as they say of Rome, such persons be made there whole. Amonge al other this woman of Germany, which is CCCC myles and odde from Rome, was brought to the pyller, (I then there beyng presente,) with great strength and violently with a XX or mo men, this woman was put into that pyller within the yron grate, and after her dyd go in a preeste, and dyd examine the woman under this maner in the Italian tonge. Thou devyl or devyls, I do abjure thee by the potencial power of the father, and of the sonne our Lorde Jesus Christe, and by the vertue of the Holy Ghoste, that thou do shewe to me, for what cause that thou doeste possess this woman: what wordes was aunswered I will not write, for men will not beleve it, but wolde say it were a foule and great lye, but I dyd heare that I was afrayd to tarry any longer, lest that the devyls shulde have come out of her, and to have entred into me; remembrynge what is specified in the viii Chapitre of St. Matthewe, when that Jesus Christ had made two men whole, the whiche, was possessed with a legion of devils. A legion is IX M. IX C. nynety and nyne: the sayd devyls dyd desyre Jesus, that when they were expelled out of the aforesayde twoo men, that they might enter into a herde of hogges, and so they did, and the hogges did runne into the sea and were drowned. I consyderynge this, and weke of faith and afeard, crossed myselfe and durste not heare and se such matters, for it was to stupendious and above all reason yf I shulde wryte it; and in this matter I dyd marvell of an other thynge; if the efficacitie of such makynge one whole, dyd rest in the vertue that was in the pyller, or els in the wordes that the preest dyd speake. I do judge it shulde be in the holy wordes that the prest dyd speak, and not in the pyller; for and yf it were in the pyller, the Byshops, and the Cardinalles that hathe ben many yeres past, and those that were in my tyme, and they that hath bin sence, wolde have had it in more reverence, and not to suffre rayne, hayle, snowe, and such wether to fal on it, for it hath no coverynge, but at laste when that I did consyder that the vernacle, the phisnomy of Christ, and scarse the sacrament of the aulter was in maner uncovered and al St. Peters Churche downe in ruyne, and utterly decayed, and nothing set by, consideringe in olde chapels, beggers and baudes, hoores and theves dyd lye within them, asses and moyles dyd defyle within the precincte of the Churche, and byenge and sellynge there was used within the precinct of the sayde church that it dyd pytie my harte and mynde to come and se any tyme more the sayde place and churche.”—Andrewe Boorde,[2] the seconde Boke of the Brevyary of health, 1557, fol. 4th.
To return from this digression. Dr. Ferriar, whom to mention otherwise than as a man of genius, of learning, and of taste, would be unjust, has adopted the generally accepted division of insanity into mania and melancholia. In mania he conceives “false perception, and consequently confusion of ideas, to be a leading circumstance.” The latter, he supposes to consist “in intensity of idea, which is a contrary state to false perception.” From the observations I have been able to make respecting Mania, I have by no means been led to conclude, that false perception, is a leading circumstance in this disorder, and still less, that confusion of ideas must be the necessary consequence of false perception.
By perception I understand, with Mr. Locke, the apprehension[3] of sensations; and after a very diligent enquiry of patients who have recovered from the disease, and from an attentive observation of those labouring under it, I have not frequently found, that insane people perceive falsely the objects which have been presented to them.
We find madmen equally deranged upon those ideas, which they have been long in the possession of, and on which the perception has not been recently exercised, as respecting those, which they have lately received: and we frequently find those who become suddenly mad, talk incoherently upon every subject, and consequently, upon many, on which the perception has not been exercised for a considerable time.
It is well known, that maniacs often suppose they have seen and heard those things, which really did not exist at the time; but even this I should not explain by any disability, or error of the perception; since it is by no means the province of the perception to represent unreal existences to the mind. It must therefore be sought elsewhere; most probably in the senses.
We sometimes (more especially in the early stages of furious madness) find patients from very slight resemblances, and sometimes, where none whatever can be perceived by others of sound mind, confounding one person with another. Even in this case it does not seem necessary to recur to false perception for the explanation. It is equally probable that the organs of vision are affected in consequence of the disease of the brain, and therefore receive incorrect sensations: and still more likely, from the rapid succession in which objects are noticed, that a very slight trait of countenance would recal the idea [or name] of some particular person.
I have known many cases of patients who insisted that they had seen the devil. It might be urged, that in these instances, the perception was vitiated; but it must be observed there could be no perception of that, which was not present and existing at the time. Upon desiring these patients to describe what they had seen, they all represented him as a big, black man, with a long tail, and sharp talons, such as is seen pictured in books; a proof that the idea was revived in the mind from some former impressions. One of these patients however carried the matter a little further, as she solemnly declared, she heard him break the iron chain with which God had confined him, and saw him pass fleetly by her window, with a truss of straw upon his shoulder.