Thaumaturgia; Or, Elucidations of the MarvellousOxonian
Religion
Thaumaturgia; Or, Elucidations of the Marvellous
Oxonian
Occultism
figures to be searched for, till he had released the virgin, for fear he
should seem to have intercourse with incantations in performing the cure
or to believe that a devil could even speak truth. He observed only that
demons are always liars, and cunning to deceive.
De Haen imputes to the power of magic the miracles,[3] as they are
called, of the famous Apollonius Thyanaeus. He seems to entertain no
scruple about their authority. As several of the enemies of revelation
have held forth Thyanaeus as a rival of Jesus Christ, a specimen of his
performances may amuse our readers. During an assembly of the people at
Ephesus, a great flight of birds approached from a neighbouring wood;
one bird led all the rest. "There is nothing wonderful," says Thyanaeus,
to the astonished people, "in this appearance. A boy passing along a
particular street has carelessly scattered in it some corn which he
carried; one bird has tasted the food, and generously calls the rest to
partake the repast." The hearers repaired to the spot, and found the
information true.
Being called to allay a pestilence which raged at Ephesus, he ordered an
old beggar to be burned under the stones near the temple of Hercules, as
an enemy to the gods. He commanded the people again to remove the
stones, that they might see what sort of animal had been put to death.
They found not a man, but a dog. The plague, however, ceased.
A married woman of rank being dead, was carried out to be burned in an
open litter, followed by her husband dissolved in tears. Apollonius
approaching, requests him to stop the procession, and he would put an
end to his grief. He asked the name of the woman, touched her, and
muttered over her some words. She immediately revived, began to speak,
and returned again to her own house. Fleury, who relates the miracle,
remarks that some people doubted whether the woman had been really dead,
as they had observed something like breath issue from her mouth. Others
imagined she had been seized only with a tedious faint, and that the
operation of the cold dews and damps upon her body might naturally
recover her. On Fleury's remark de Haen most sagely observes, that the
persons who observed the woman breathing could not surely have
suppressed the joyful news, and would certainly have stopped the
procession before the philosopher arrived.
De Haen's second attempt is to recite all the objections that have been
made against sorcery, and to subjoin to each a distinct refutation.
There is nothing in this part of the work that merits any attention. He
concludes in these words: "I may then with confidence affirm, that the
art of magic most certainly exists. History, sacred and prophane;
authority human and divine; experiments the most unquestionable and
unexceptionable, all concur to demonstrate its reality."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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