Mr. Richard Reece was now consulted by Joanna Southcott, on the subject of her pregnancy. It does not appear that he was a proselyte to her religious views, but he was probably deluded and deceived, by the enumeration of physical symptoms. At all events, he was prevailed on to avow his belief of her being pregnant, by some means or other; and a numerous deputation of her followers, who appeared a motley group of all persuasions, waited upon him to receive the happy intelligence from his own lips. By this conduct he seems to have acquired great favour in her sight, for he continued in attendance till her death.
When her supposed time of deliverance from her precious burden approached, Joanna felt alarmingly ill, and her fears, either conquering her fanaticism or awakening her conscience, began to make her suspect that her inspiration was deceptious. A few weeks before her death, her misgivings gave rise to the following scene, which is described by Mr. Reece, who was present. Five or six of her friends, who were waiting in an adjoining room, being admitted into her bed-chamber, “she desired them (says Mr. Reece) to be seated round her bed; when, spending a few minutes in adjusting the bed-clothes with seeming attention, and placing before her a white handkerchief, she thus addressed them, as nearly as I can recollect, in the following words: ‘My friends, some of you have known me nearly twenty-five years, and all of you not less than twenty; when you have heard me speak of my prophecies, you have sometimes heard me say that I doubted my inspiration. But at the same time you would never let me despair. When I have been alone, it has often appeared delusion; but when the communication was made to me, I did not in the least doubt. Feeling, as I now do feel, that my dissolution is drawing near, and that a day or two may terminate my life, it all appears delusion.’ She was by this exertion quite exhausted, and wept bitterly. On reviving in a little time, she observed that it was very extraordinary, that after spending all her life in investigating the Bible, it should please the Lord to inflict that heavy burden on her. She concluded this discourse, by requesting that every thing on this occasion might be conducted with decency. She then wept; and all her followers present seemed deeply affected, and some of them shed tears. ‘Mother,’ said one (I believe Mr. Howe), ‘we will commit your instructions to paper, and rest assured they shall be conscientiously followed.’ They were accordingly written down with much solemnity, and signed by herself, with her hand placed on the Bible in the bed. This being finished, Mr. Howe again observed to her, ‘Mother, your feelings are human: we know that you are a favourite woman of God, and that you will produce the promised child; and whatever you may say to the contrary will not diminish our faith.’ This assurance revived her, and the scene of crying was changed with her to laughter.”
Mr. Howe was not the only one of her disciples whose sturdy belief was not to be shaken by the most discouraging symptoms. Colonel Harwood, a zealous believer, intreated Mr. Reece not to retract his opinion as to her pregnancy, though the latter now saw the folly and absurdity of it; and when the colonel approached the bed on which she was about to expire, and she said to him, “What does the Lord mean by this? I am certainly dying;” he replied, smiling, “No, no, you will not die, or if you should, you will return again.”
Even when she was really dead, the same blind confidence remained. Mrs. Townley, with whom she had lived, said cheerfully, “she would return to life, for it had been foretold twenty years before.” Mr. Sharpe also asserted that the soul of Joanna would return, it having gone to heaven to legitimate the child which would be born. Though symptoms of decomposition arose, Mr. Sharpe still persisted in keeping the body hot, according to the directions which she had given on her deathbed, in the hope of a revival. Mr. Reece having remarked that, if the ceremony of her marriage continued two days longer, the tenement would not be habitable on her return, “the greater will be the miracle,” said Mr. Sharpe. Consent at last was given to inspect the body, and all the disciples stood round smoking tobacco; their disappointment was excessive at finding nothing to warrant the long-cherished opinion, but their faith remained immovable. More than twenty years have elapsed since her death, yet many persons are still infatuated enough to avow themselves believers in her supernatural mission.
The most recent thaumaturgist with whom we are acquainted bears no less a title than that of prince, and worked his wonders within the last thirteen years. The personage in question is Prince Alexander Hohenlohe, whose miracles have made much noise in the world, and given rise to no small portion of angry controversy. His highness, who appears to have previously been practising with much success in Germany, first became generally known in England by an extraordinary cure which he was said to have performed on a nun, at the convent of New Hall, near Chelmsford, in Essex. It must be premised, that it was by no means necessary for him to see or be near his patient; prayers being the sole means which he employed. Accordingly, he did not stir from his residence at Bamberg. The nun at New Hall had for a year and a half been afflicted with an enormous and painful swelling of the right hand and arm, which resisted every medical application. In this emergency, the superior of the convent applied for the aid of Prince Hohenlohe. The answer which he returned seems to prove that he was a pious though a mistaken man. It also affords some insight into the cause of the effect which was undoubtedly sometimes produced. “At eight o’clock on the third of May, I will, in compliance with your request, offer up my prayers for your recovery. At the same hour, after having confessed and taken the sacrament, join your prayers also, with that evangelical fervour, and that entire faith, which we owe to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Stir up from the very bottom of your heart the divine virtues of true repentance, Christian charity, a boundless belief that your prayers will be granted, and a steadfast resolution to lead an exemplary life, to the end that you may continue in a state of grace.” Whatever may be thought of his miraculous pretensions, it is impossible to deny that his exhortation was praiseworthy. The following account of the result is given by Dr. Badelly, the physician to the convent:—“On the third of May (says he) she went through the religious process prescribed by the prince. Mass being nearly ended, Miss O’Connor not finding the immediate relief which she expected, exclaimed, ‘Thy will be done, O Lord! thou hast not thought me worthy of this cure.’ Almost immediately after, she felt an extraordinary sensation through the whole arm, to the ends of her fingers. The pain instantly left her, and the swelling gradually subsided; but it was some weeks before the hand resumed its natural shape and size.”
Other cures, still more marvellous, are said to have followed in rapid succession. Requests for assistance now poured in so rapidly from all quarters, that he was nearly overwhelmed. On an average he received daily fifty letters. As it was physically impossible for him to attend to every individual application, a vast majority of his suitors must have gone without the benefit of his curative powers, had he not fortunately hit upon a plan to accommodate all comers. His new arrangement consisted in “adopting a system of offering his prayers for the relief of particular districts, on particular days.” For instance, seven o’clock in the morning, on the first of August, was appointed for curing all the diseased in Ireland, and notice was given to all the religious communities in that island, that it would be proper for each of them, at the same hour, to perform a mass. This delusion flourished for a considerable time; but it gradually died away, and, for some years past, nothing more has been heard of Prince Alexander Hohenlohe’s miracle-working intercession.
CHAPTER IV.
ROMAN CATHOLIC SUPERSTITIONS, ETC.
Account of Pope Joan—Artifice of Pope Sextus V.—Some Christian Ceremonies borrowed from the Jews and Pagans—Melting of the Blood of St. Januarius—Addison’s opinion of it—Description of the Performance of the Miracle—Miraculous Image of our Saviour at Rome—Ludicrous Metamorphosis of a Statue—Relics—Head of St. John the Baptist—Sword of Balaam—St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins—Self-Tormenting—Penances of St. Dominic the Cuirassier—The Crusades—Their Cause and Progress, and the immense numbers engaged in them.
There appears to have been, on the one hand, an extensive belief in the existence of a female Pope Joan, while, on the other, many eminent writers have been anxious to relieve the papal chair of such a scandal.