STUDIES BY A PHYSICIAN ON THE CURIOUS BYPATHS OF HISTORY ED IT I X LIMITED TO 500 COPIES ALL PRESS-NUMBERED AND PRINTED, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, ON VAX GELDER'S vellum paper, numbered from 1 to 500 THE PRESENT COPY IS M 344 'A 4 "R YpAjKJ Chajs.O ARMKqjojf. Lditeujv ft!3L Pathological Studies of in i: I ast. Curious ^lllKllll" Of .\M»llUl| BEING MEDICO-HISTORICAL STUDIES and OBSERVATIONS by Dr. Cabanes Frontispiece by DANIEL VIBRGB Enamel on Copper by F. MASSE [Rights of Reproduction reserved] PARIS LIBRAIRIE DES BIBLIOPHILES CHARLES ClIIIIBTM, E0ITBU8 13, Faubourg Montmartpe, 13 1898 Zo the iRea&er. THIS BOOK FOR MEN ALONE IS .MEANT, BOOK-WORMS, OR BIBLIOPHILES AXENT, OF SOLID MIND, OF SERIOUS BENT, ON CURIOUS, HIDDEN BOOKS INTENT. ON ODD RESEARCH AND LEARNING. SHOULD PASTIME ALL THE THOUGHTS ENGAGE, OR TRIFLES OF THE PRESENT AGE, ITS WORDS WILL NOT THY THIRST ASSUAGE. CLOSE IT AT ONCE, ITS SLIGHTEST PAGE WILL NOT REPAY THY TURNING. FROM MAIDS AND INEXPERIENCED YOUTHS PRITHEE CONCEAL ITS BITTER TRUTHS. PISA XL'S PRAXI. FOREWORD ; Forsitan haec aliquis, nam sunt quoque, parva vocabit : Sod. quae non prosunt singula, multa juvant. OVID. Whoever hesitates to utter that which lie thinks the highest truth, l< should he too much in advance of tho time, may reassure himself by looking at his acts from an impersonal point of view. Let him duly realize the fact thai opinion is the agency through which character adapts external arrangements to itsell that his opinion rightly tonus part of this agency— is a unit of force, constituting, witli other .such units, the general power which works nut social changes, ami he will perceive that he may properly give lull utterance t" his innermost conviction, Leaving it to produce what effect it may.— Herbert Spencer. EDITOR'S FOREWORD. Ten Minutes with ttte Reviewers! The pathology of history is one of the most fascinating studies that can occupy the attention whether of the general reader or the professional man. It contains surprises beside which the revelations of the sensational novel dwindle into commonplace. Studies like these, moreover, derive increased interest from the fact of being based on documentary evidence. Such proofs we admit, are not of a nature always to carry conviction to minds steeped in scepticism, but they are the only kind procurable, and, it must not be overlooked that, life itself is largely made up of a more or less fine balancing of probabilities. The task of the modern historian is less to discover new truths than to strip off the lies that have grown up clustering around the old tradi- tions. We do not pretend that new material is no longer to be found. The contents of the present work would sufficiently refute any such theory. It is with much misgiving that we issue the present book. Its predecessor, entitled "The Secret Cabinet of History", was received with "such a shout", as a Hibernian friend called it, "of ominous Silence" by the English Press that small kindness is expected for the present venture. Liberties of expression which in the French tongue are regarded VIII CURIOUS BYPATHS OF HISTORY as the common currency of conversation were in the more boisterous English toned down to the point of delicacy, while others scarcely capable of such attention were left to languish in their original garb untranslated. But even these precautions were not sufficient for what honest old Doctor Johnson would have stigmatised as, the muck- and gutter-hunters, and copies sent out for review were quietly appropriated without the slightest mention or, in one or two instances, only criticised and attacked. The latter course, we do not deny, is the right of every journa that receives a book for review ; but the principle which will allow the acceptance of a work sent for a specific purpose with- out the least attempt or intention to carry out that purpose, belongs, it appears to our rude mind, to a code of Ethics border- ing on what in thieves' slang is known as "finger-smithing". Not until it was too late for us to withdraw, did we realise how little a fearless handling of history is relished across the Channel. And yet the work in its French dress was received with acclamation by every journalist throughout the Continent, and hundreds of flattering reviews helped to quicken the sale of what constitutes one of the most unique works of historical science. Some English journals, however, less fearful of Mother Grundy than their fellows, gave the book kindly welcome enough. Amongst these we may mention The Star (October 5th) ; The Rochdale Observer (October 9th); The Boston Daily Globe (June 12th). " The Jamaica Post " (July 5th). This ably edited paper devoted a long article to the book and predicted " success for it throughout the British Empire and the United States" comparing it to G. W. M. Eeynold's ' Mysteries of the Court of London', with the difference that the latter was founded on fiction whereas Dr. Cabanes' work is founded on history. " So far as our purview goes," concluded the reviewer, "there is nothing in literature with which it can be compared." EDITOB - FOREWORD IX Compare this with the following splenetic utterance of "The Academy" 1 (Oct. 16th). " The outward form, no less than the contents, of this book inevitably make us think of Browning's 'scrofulous French novel' with it- paper and blunt type'. Dr. Cabanes' notion of secret history comprises onpleasani medical details concerning Louis Quinze and Li .Marie- Antoinette, Marat. Talleyrand, and others. There may have been some reason for writing the book: there was none for translating it. for any historian likely to nse it to profit would certainly be able to read it in the original." The " malice prepense " in this foul and mean attack is so obvious that it defeats its own end. Of course, " any historian would certainly be able to read it in the original " ; always presuming three things (1) if he could read French ; (II) if he had the leisure to come to Paris: and (III) if he knew whereto unearth the documents. One might just as well argue that it is unnecessary to publish the news that appears in the daily news- papers, as people could find it out for themselves. So they could Mr. dog-in-the-manger " Academy 1 ' . if they had the time, and knew where to get it. This semi-learned journal seems to be unaware of the tact that after all Dr. Cabanes is only following in the track of distinguished Frenchmen who have virtually created new laws for the inter- pretation of Modern History. The facile use of such terms as '"Scrofulous", and the petty -napping at the outward form of the book, instead of fixing on the contents, show a deplorable obliquity of moral vision. It means " No case. Abuse plaintiff's attorney."' Taine ; Ste Beuve ; Littre ; Michelet ; all applied the same principles to History as Dr. Cabanes, and " the Academy " should have known it. Before leaving this little interesting subject, I have one other "bone to pick" with these over-clever people. I believe it is the rule, wherever English fair play is understood, to give a man due notice when any sparring is begun against him. The " Academy " did no such thing. Their senseless little "par"' was printed, the paper distributed, and the "Academy's" man no doubt took a X I URIOUS BYPATHS 0) HISTORY short cut to Holywell Street to sell the review-copy of the book he had so ridiculously traduced. Only through a press-cutting channel did we learn of his exploit. Godfrey Higgins, a far greater scholar than all the sciolists of the u Academy " put together, wrote in the Preface to the " Celtic Druids " : — "I take the liberty of saying, that I cannot conceive it possible for any person possessing honourable intentions, to write against me in any way without giving me information of it, or sending me a copy of his publication. To attack, and not to do this, is the act of the midnight assassin." We may add that we do not for a moment contest the right of these gentlemen to attack. Let them come on. But we do protest against being hit "below the belt", or knifed in the back. The notice contributed by ■ The Pall Mall Gazette " (June 5th). was far more just, and correctly interpreted the aim of the book : "The medicine man has of recent years been infected by the cacoiHhes scribendi. Since Dr. Con an Doyle escaped, a good many of his colleagues seem to have broken away invaccinated. Hence they make incursions into fiction, and generally with some success, for the doctor of to-day is. as a rule, a man of a liberal education. We now have the doctor as a historian in M. Cabanes's 'Secret Cabinet of History' (Paris : Carrington), and very interesting he is. The side-lights the man of medicine throws on certain obscure points of French history are of real, if somewhat scurrilous, value. After all. the personal factor — more especially in the mediaeval history — cannot be altogether eliminated. Professor Ihne was fond of saying that if ( 'harles V, at one critical period had not had such a bad attack of gout the history of the Reformation in Germany would probably have been very different. The horrors, too, of the deathbed scene in the (Eil de Bout as painted by a doctor, surpass even Carlyle's lurid picture. Indeed all the essays in this little volume are of interest, full of quaint learning and deep research. The fate of the brain of Talleyrand, "that brain', as Victor Hugo cried, 'which had inspired so many men. built up so many schemes, led two revolutions, deceived twenty monarchs, and had contained the world ', and at the last was thrown into the drain of the Piue Eichepanse, and the quest of the lost eye of Gambetta, are among the striking curiosities of history. At the same time it must be added that the volume is not written EDITOR B FOREWORD XI pueris virginibusqtte. Although the anthor is anxious not to outrage what the translator sweetly culls the ' publicities ', his resolve is .it times swepl away by the interest of his studies. .Moreover, the original was written in French. Lest it fall into the hands of a maiden uncle the 'Secrel Cabinet hi History' should be kept under lock and key along with Balzac's 'Contes Drolatiques'; to which, by the way, it forms a sort of scientific commentary." A pseudo-aristocratic journal. Compare this with the following morceau from a weekly journal of gutter scandal ; professedly devoted to the interests of truth, but, in reality, a heterogeneous collection of all the newest porno- graphic society small talk, and you get a clear idea of the inner workings of pettifogging journalism. The man who runs this paper at an immense profit to himself, has been proved by financial papers to be a rank fraud, and to have given his u tips " to the public with an eye to his own personal fattening. He says, "From a cursory examination of the work I should say that it affords a fresh proof that this particular trade is a fraudulent one." If by w trade " he means the publishing business, he is certainly right, for nothing is more fraudulent for the unwar} T publisher. If he means, as far as the public is concerned, then he simply " bites off his nose to be revenged on his face " for being himself a publisher, he thereby proves himself a '•fraud'', as, in our opinion, he un- doubtedly is, and all the worse for being an old one. We do not record the name of this individual, as for fear of being trapped, he wisely omitted to name our book, though that was the only one sent to him. We take philosophic consolation in the thought that while our book will be consulted by curious and earnest students, his prurient journal will be forgotten, long after we are all mouldering dust. The time has gone by when the saying of Rinconete y Cortadillo, Lo que dice la lengua paga la gorja, had any validity: and insults flung out by low-minded ruffians have now to be treated with the same contempt as snarling curs. "But now chaunce bathe soe served, that I showlde fall into thier liandes, to this intente (I suppose), that I might the better understande how mich affiance I owerht to have in human casualties." XII CURIOUS BYPATHS OF HISTORY The Weekly Sun (June 20th) proved very much fairer, but commits much the same mistake as * The Academy " while proving much more gentlemanly and academic : " The Secret Cabinet of History" (Paris, Charles Carrington) is in some respects a very remarkable book. It is an outcome of that specialising tendency of our age which demands that every important event, whether domestic or historical, shall be treated from the well informed standpoint of an expert. A witty judge has been heard to remark that he would unhesitatingly place expert witnesses in the foremost rank of liars; but in this book, entirely devoted to French events, our expert is careful to give chapter and verse for every statement he makes. Doctor Cabanes takes us into all the secret cabinets of history, and treats every case as if he were the medical man in charge, and were taking notes for his own benefit. These notes are given to the world, and if it were a medical man writing for medical men there could be no objection to them, but it is doubtful if the general publication of such details in necessary either for the historical student or the ordinary reader. The historian of course would have to study these matters to arrive at a right understanding of events, but then the same sources of information would be open to him as to Dr. Cabanes. As an instance of the material the book contains, a whole chapter is devoted to the accouchement of Napoleon's Qui en and the anxieties of the Emperor The Saturday Review (6th Nov.) devoted a few lines as follows to the book, which, although brief, are very fair and, coming from such an influential quarter, are all the more weighty. " The Secret Cabinet of History." (By Doctor Cabanes. Paris: Carrington, 1897.) This book, published in Paris and excellently translated by Mr. Costello, is one of the most interesting curiosities for the collector of strange books that has appeared of late years. The interest is purely medical, and ought to produce the most lively emotions among medical men. The several essays of which it is composed are simply accounts, compiled from secret letters and records, of the loathsome diseases of the French kings, and detailed narrations of their wives' accouchements. To the lay mind the book is interesting, because it is so obviously genuine and because it shows with singular and cynical clearness how a pain in the stomach may alter the destinies of a kingdom. EDITOB S FOEEWOED The London medical [tapers, although copies were sent them for review, took absolutely no notice of the book. It was reserved for a far-away American medical journal — "Medicine" (Detroit, Mich. U. S. A.) to gauge the exact aim and object of the work. In their issue of September (1897) they thus delivered themselves: — u Pathology in history is always of interest especially since by affecting the leaders or rulers of a nation it tends to affect the nation as a whole. This volume contains thirteen separate essays on subjects involved in historical pathology. The first one relates to a youthful indiscretion of Louis XIV whereby, as Dr. Cabanes proves, Louis XIV very early contracted gonorrhoea. While it was recognised by his courtly physicians, they concealed the origin of the disorder from interested motives, although describing its clinical features very clearly. The second discusses the fistula of the same king, and mentions all the surgical procedures adopted, as well as the fees paid to surgeons. The disease became fashionable among the courtiers, and one lady of honor was disconsolate because her physician was unable to discover that she had any trace of the royal disorder. The phymosis from which Louis XVI suffered played a large part in determining certain features of the French Revolution. For a while it rendered Louis XVI impotent and this fomented intrigues by the future Louis XVIII, Charles X and the Duke of Orleans, which seriously damaged the moral character of Mario Antoinette. These intrigues undoubtedly aided the general Revolutionary movement, since all three of the intriguants hoped to profit by this movement. Another item of special interest to physicians is the proof given that Marat suffered from both mental, dermic, and other somatic symptoms of diabetes, which doubtless underlay his suspicious and pitiless tendencies. The change recorded in Marat's attitude during the Revolution is readily explained by the tone given to his thoughts through the irritability produced by this disease. The work of which this is the first volume merits purchase and perusal by any physician of literary and historical tastes. The second volume will prove equally interesting, to judge from the table of subjects given in the present work. " We have to apologize to the reader for having taken up his attention so long with matters less of public than personal interest. No one can have greater respect and admiration for English journalists than have we. No other country in the world can boast so large a percentage of talented and fair-minded men as XIV CUniOUS BYPATHS OF HISTORY those who control the London and Provincial press. That the press should, notwithstanding, be sometimes debased by a few black sheep seeking to gratify private malice is not surprising, and the proofs of such malice, we shall, when the occasion arises, disclose in larger detail. Not only has the " Secret Cabinet of History " been proscribed, but other works issued by us have also been placed on the index. The result is invariably to enhance the value of the book and cause it to fetch a price it would not otherwise command. In 1896, for instance, we published a work entitled " The Book of Exposition " x translated from the Arabic, and forming a natural Supplement to Sir Richard F. Burton's famous version of " The Thousand Nights and a Night". Our book was printed in an edition limited to 200 copies on hand-made paper, and issued to private subscribers only, at the prohibitive charge of two guineas per copy. No attempt was made at concealment, as the title- page bore our address (32 rue Drouot), and the work was regis- tered at the Ministere de VIntSriew, Paris, in conformity with the law of copy-right. Yet the Postal authorities, to our astonish- ment, pounced on all copies forwarded by mail, and our equally innocent agents in London were threatened with legal action. We did not dream such high-handed proceedings possible in a country which sanctions the free circulation amongst school children of an uncastrated edition of the Old Testament, and the works of Shakespere. The moral object of our book was distinct enough, and its ethnographical significance clearly defined. It fights against sexual irregularities. Only by knowing them can danger be avoided. 1 The full description runs as follows: — " The Book of Exposition" literally translated from the Arabic by an English Bohemian ( ;< Kitab Al-Izah Fi 'Ilm Al-Nikah Bi-T-Tamam W-Al-Kamal"). With Translator's Foreword, numerous important Notes illustrating the Text and several very interesting Appendices, in one large post 8vo Volume. Neatly bound in black cloth with gilt top ; cover decorated with Arabic monogram of tbe title of the work. EDITOR S FOREWORD XV The mural and physical beauties of womankind are brought into prominence, and the passions that war against her proper place in Nature are fiercely combatted. This was the aim of the Arab sheikh who wrote in Arabic some three hundred years ago ; no other aim has been ours in offering an English version for the first time to scholars. Why then pursue and proscribe it ? We leave those who move in certain ranks of English Society to judge whether the translation of the "Book of Exposition " , has any raison d'etre in presence of the scandals that, from time to time, recall the lurid conflagration of Sodom and Gomorrha. The immoral Morality of England will offer a splendid field of research to the future historian. Macaulay has a passage of great power on the subject : * "We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality. In general, elopements, divorces, and family quarrels, pass with little notice. We read the scandal, talk about it for a day, and forget it. But once in six or seven years, our virtue becom< 3 outrageous. We cannot suffer the laws of religion and decency to be violated. We must make a stand against vice. Wo must teach libertines that the English people appreciate the importance of domestic ties. Accordingly, some unfortunate man, in no respect more depraved than hundreds whose offences have been treated with lenity, is singled out as an expiatory sacrifice. If he has children, they are to be taken from him. If he lias a profession, he is to be driven from it. He is cut by the higher orders, and hissed by the lower. He is. in truth, a sort of 'whipping-boy', by whose vicarious agonies all the other transgressors of the same class are, it is supposed, sufficiently punished. We reflect very complacently on our own severity, and compare, with great pride, the high standards of morals established in England with the Parisian laxity. At length our anger is satiated. Our victim is ruined, and heart-broken. And our virtue goes quietly to sleep for seven years more. " " La Pudique Albion " never fails to justify her hard-won name of " Hypocrite " , and America competes with her strongly for the inglorious title. Our Yanl:eo cousins stamped out Slavery ; one day they will unlock the gate and disemprison Liberty. All 1 See MACAULAY'S Review of Moore's Lifk of Bybon, in Essays and Reviews", London, 1886. XVI CUHIOUS BYPATHS OF HISTORY books of any note have been persecuted. The " Age of Reason " was put down by the Police, and men gathered behind hedges to read by stealth copies they had bought with their united pence. If the Bible itself were, by some Magic turn of Fortune's wheel, to fall again under the ban, it would be eagerly read where it is now used in English parlour windows, as a convenient stand for the flower-pot. There was talk of a Treasury prosecution of Burton's Arabian "Nights", to which our book claims to be a sequel. When the worthy Chevalier heard of the intended onslaught, he merely said " Let them come on. I shall go into open Court with the Bible in one hand and the works of Sterne, Shakespere, and the English Dramatists in the other, by way of support and reserve." The authorities wisely refrained. Probably Sir Richard, being one of their own class, knew too much for them. They prefer smaller fry. The works Burton cited may be bought in London for Sixpence apiece. His translation was issued to Private Subscribers only, and not exposed in shop-windows. So was ours. Why then make any difference ? Ernest Vizitelly for Englishing and pub- lishing the French works of Emile Zola was prosecuted by the Solicitor-general. A white haired man of some seventy years of age, he had passed his whole life in the service of Literature, and his very judges admitted the unimpeachableness of his motives. The finding, natheless, of that profound Literary Censorship — a British Jury— (the "Academy" of England)— was "Guilty", and, pecuniarily ruined, away went the old Scholar to " do " eighteen months " hard " ! A few years later, the Great French novelist himself crossed over to England, and was feasted at Guildhall by the Lord Mayor and the worthy Aldermen of the City of London. We quote the following from the "Westminster Gazette" (September 21st 1893) "No man ever receivod a more courteous and respectful greeting than he, in Lincoln's Inn to-day — yet it is only a few years ago since his English publisher, an old man with a name respected in English journalism, EDITOR s FOREWORD XVII was haled to prison for publishing what, at most, was but a bowdlerisod edition of one of the Sago of Modan's most harrowing dissections ol th< moral cancer. How changed to-day!" The worthy " Westminster'' is quite right ; things have changed, and changed considerably to boot. For the respectable firm of Chatto and Windus are at the present moment (Nov. 6th, issuing " The Dram Shop (l'Assommoir) of Zola — one of the most powerful stories he wrote. While, bolder still, " a private issue (?) of all the works " of Master Emile, is announced, " as now for the first time completely translated into English by Arthur Symons, and others." We only trust that the u Lutetian Society " will not get hunted down by the infamous National (ImV)purity Associations, sworn enemies to all unbowdlerised versions. Probably in no other city in Europe could such an inconsistent state of things take place. We have personally no desire to share Vizitelly's martyrdom. Rather do we prefer to hope that London's Lord Mayor will recognise the services our pen has rendered to Literature, and invite us across to the slaying of a *" fatted calf. An old book lays down the dictum that "all things are possible to him that believeth". Our private store of modesty really prevents our doing otherwise. To people with plenty of leisure and a paucity of cerebral tissue desiring something to do, we respectfully submit the fol- lowing recommendation of Sir R. F. Burton: " These Vigilants and Purifiers, with that hypocritical severity which ever makes the worst sinner in private the most rigorous judge in public, lately had the imprudent impudence to summons a publisher who had reprinted the Decameron with the " objection- able passages" in French. Mr. Alderman Faudell Phillips had the good sense contemptuously to dismiss the summons. English- men are no longer what they were if they continue to tolerate this ignoble espionnage of vicious and prurient virtuous " Asso- ciations". If they mean real work why do they commence by condemning scholar-like works, instead of cleansing the many foul cesspools of active vice which are a public disgrace to London." A few words more, and we will bring our rambling remarks xvrn CURIOUS BYPATHS OF BISTORY to ;i close. The present work is a sequel to the " Secret Cabinet of History", already mentioned, and the fore-runner of a third volume which will appear later and contain further pathological studies of the same kind. We foolishly imagined that the earlier book would meet with an open-arm welcome and be quickly clasped to the scholar's breast. Alas, how short-lived was our fancy, how sad the dis- illusion. Book-sellers would not stock it ; in fact seemed to take a dislike to the poor bantling. " I do not like thee Dr. Fell The reason why I cannot tell". We were left to push the sale for ourselves and sent out the following letter: — "Paris, August, 1897. " Dear Sir 'The Secret Cabinet of History'. 8 1 may take it for granted that you have seen a mention made in the English papers concerning this work, some favourable, some otherwise. The 'Pall Mall Gazette' whose notice is ap- pended, led me to believe that the work would be fit to be placed in the hands of a select public. My offer of an agency to one or two large English publishers, however, met with a courteous refusal and I cite one of these as follows : — " Dear Sir, We received your work and have now read "a copy of the ' Secret Cabinet of History'. Although the " work is of much interest, yet we fear that it is not one we " could take up. People in England are very prudish, and " if we were known to be publishers of this they might be * disinclined to buy the novels and classical reprints which u are the bulk of our trade. Thanking you nevertheless for " the opportunity afforded us, We are, etc.'" "I am therefore constrained to go to my public direct, and, as 1 save an Agent's commission, I shall be glad to deliver to you i;ii| I OR S 1 OREWORD XIX a copy at the rate of Half-a-guinea (English postal order) carriage prepaid. The work forms a handsome volume, and apart from its contents, which cannot fail to interest you, it is a hook which every Amateur and Student would like to handle. k I am, dear Sir. Yours obediently " This had good effect and the work has since commanded a steady sale, more especially amongst medical, and other profes- sional men. Thinkers and scholars are. after all, the only people we work for, or care to serve. The searcher after scenes of lubricity to excite sensual passions will find nothing here to excite his perverted brain. Our old friend, Isidore Liseux, once said of a certain book, issued under his auspices: — "Certes, nous ne voudrions pas conseUler cette lecture a la virginite ignorante, mats peut-Stre la recommanderions nous mains a la caducite en quite d'excitations erotiques. Les vieillards qui demandent d une liltirature spSciale le stimulus veneris. ne t rou r, run , it pas ici ce qu'ils cherchent* We appropriate these words because admirably expressing the character of the present studies. We owe undeserved thanks to Dr. Cabanes for his permission to add our article on Flagellation in France at the end of his studies ; a permission of which we have not availed ourselves. It is no easy thing to deal with live authors. In fact, between the double fire of the Author and the Critics, the publisher has a pretty nice time of it. When, as a mere act of courtesy, and not because we cared a " tinker's benediction " about his precious permission, we asked our friend for consent to insert the article named, he raised a host of difficulties about his " responsibility " and made such a huge "mountain out of our molehill", that on receiving the doctor's written acquiescence the following day, we rapidly made up our mind, now that the point was gained, to send this meticulous little man to the "devil', and XX CURIOUS BYPATHS OF HISTORY do without the famous "permission". Pray take no alarm, kind reader ! You are not to be swindled out of your " flagellation " article. It has been printed uniform with the present volume, paged on its own account, provided with a special cover and title page, and issued gratuitously to every purchaser of " The Curious Bypaths of History". A word of warning to the critics; in handling these studies, put on a pair of white gloves, after the fashion of the brave douaniers of Spain when turning over ladies' trunks, as, should our fiery little doctor call you out, a strong wrist will be needed to beat down his guard. In any case, count upon our services. We hardly owe any apology to the reader for the appearance of this article. Indeed, many people wrote, begging us to put forth something more definite on this subject than has yet seen the light. We have here taken only a step in that direction. Later we may find time to dovetail together in systematic order the curious revelations and other documents that we have had sent to us, and which deal particularly with fustigation in all its Protean shapes and forms. The study is needed and already numbers many amateurs. In fact the rage for whipping is in England very great, since even the humble author of these lines has been menaced — if we are to believe a certain public journal— with a " horse-whipping " by an irrationally irascible father smarting under an imaginary wrong. * We are glad to assure our alarmed readers that, as this feverish gentleman has not yet appeared on the horizon, there may be still some chance of our bringing out a new work before his advent. 1 He pretended that a circular had been sent to his address in a closed envelope and opened, in his absence, by his daughter " aged fifteen " ! But what are we to think, even if the story be true, of a young female of this tender age who opens her father's letters while he is out. Suppose the letter had been from his "lady-friend"? Would he have horse-whipped her? CHARLES CARRINGTON. Paris, November, 1897. TABLE OF CONTENTS ANY CRITICISMS OF REAL VALUE, THAT SCHOLARS MAY OFFER ON THE SUBJECTS DEALT WITH IN THE PRESENT VOLUME, WILL APPEAR IN THE THIRD SERIES. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE editor's FOREWORD v TABLE OF CONTENTS XXI THE PHYSICIAN OF LOUIS XI 1 THE PEREGRINATIONS OF THE BODY OF RICHELIEU 15 THE TEETH OF LOUIS XIV 27 THE CLANDESTINE ACCOUCHEMENTS OF MDLLE DE LA VALLIERE . 41 THE FIRST ACCOUCHEUR TO THE COURT OF FRANCE. — THE ACCOUCHEMENTS AND THE DEATH OF MME DE MONTESPAN . . 57 ILLUSTRIOUS REMAINS AND ANATOMICAL RELICS. — THE SKELETON OF MME DE MAINTENON AND THE SKULL OF MME DE SEVIGNE 75 THE PHYSICIAN OF MME DE POMPADOUR 95 THE INFIRMITIES OF SOPHIE ARNOULD Ill WAS DR. GUILLOTIN THE INVENTOR OR THE GOD-FATHER, OF THE GUILLOTINE? 121 I. THE REAL CHARLOTTE CORDAY. — HER PERSONAL APPEARANCE 131 II. THE PROLOGUE TO THE DRAMA. -CHARLOTTE CORDAY^s ADMIRERS 149 III. THE EPILOGUE TO THE DRAMA. — THE ITEAPSM AN's BUFFET 165 XXIV TABLE OF CONTEXTS PAGE . . 177 IV. THE NECROPSY OF CHARLOTTE COKDAY THE PRIVATE LIFE OF ROBESPIERRE WHILE RESIDING WITH THE Dl'PLAY FAMILY 1°" THE SUPERSTITIONS OF NAPOLEON I 221 THE CASE OF MME. KECAMIER 273 A ROMANCE WITH THREE ACTORS: ALFRED DE MUSSET, GEORGE SAND, AND DOCTOR PAGELLO 301 The Article ON "FLAGELLATION IN FRANCE' IS GIVEN AWAY WITH THIS ROOK AND, BEING OF UNIFORM TYPE AMI SIZE. BOTH VOLUMES MAY BE BOUND CI' TOGETHER. THE PHYSICIAN LOUIS XI. 3 eocr £abe Stubieb OtjaSic, tfjrouojj mljid) Secret art, $n turning o'er authorities 3 (jauc, loQetfjer nritfj mn practice, mabc familiar, lo me anb to ml) aib tfjc McSt infusions ifjat bmctt in ocQctiocS, in metals, Stones; %no 3 can s})eaf of tlje biSturbanccs Ifjat nature worts, anb of Ijer cures ; wind) botlj ajoc me 91 more content in course of true beliajt Iljan to be tfjirsttj after tottering fjonour, £)r tie mi) treasure uo in silfen bags Zq OleaSe ttjc fool ano bcatl) Pericles, Act. Ill, Sc. 1. ,V:'ra^— :•■■': /■•"«;&„ iHr S^2 THE PHYSICIAN OF LOUIS XL |^1 p| f led by idleness or curiosity, you had a few years ago turned your steps to the Rue Saint - Andre-des-Arts, a few paces from the Cour du Commerce, so rich in historical associations connected with the Revo- lution , you would have noticed an edifice of modest archi- tecture, purposely simple in style, the construction of which was being actively pursued. On enquiry, you would have been informed that the building then being con- structed on this spot, was destined to be a college for girls, to be named, after the " Swan of Cambrai : " the Lycee Fenelon. If you pushed your researches further you would evoke an entire epoch of long-forgotten history. Let us for a moment carry our thoughts four centuries back, and endeavour, with the patience of an archaeologist, to reconstitute this corner of ancient Paris, now menaced by the pickaxe of the demolisher. In this quarter, called in the XVth century the Faubourg-Saint-Germain; let us 4 <£ufftott3 %$\)pati)$ of $ietoti). draw an irregular square, bounded by the Rue des Fosses- Saint-Germain, the Rue de l'Ecole de Medecine, the Rue du Paon, the Rue de TEperon and the Rue Saint-Andre- des Arts. A long, narrow street, called the " Cour de Rouen, " cut this irregular square diagonally into two nearly equal parts. In that part of the square nearest to the Rue du Paon, was situated the " Palace of the Arch- bishop of Rouen," in the other part touching the Rue Saint- Andre-des-Arts, as far as the eye could reach, stretched out gardens, marshy fields and tumble-down hovels. This entire quarter wae called the ''Sejour de Navarre." After having been for many years an appanage of the crown, the Sejour de Navarre passed into the hands of Louis XII, then only Duke of Orleans. On the eve of setting out on his expedition to Brittany, the young Duke, who wanted to turn all he could into money, sold the mansion of his sires. The purchasers are now known to have been: Guillaume Ruze, a counsellor to the Par- liament ; and Nicolas Violle, lord of the manor of Noizeau a corrector of the Chamber of Accounts. Jean Hurot, an advocate of the Parliament, bought the third lot, which he very soon hastened to dispose of, on the 27th January 1489 to Jacques Coitier, late first physician to Louis XI and his intimate adviser. Coitier, whose name is variously spelled, by different historians Coictier, Coittier, Coctier, and lastly Coitier, retired there, quite at the end of the town, near to the ramparts, after having made his fortune. It was not, as the legend for a long time had it, in order to flee from the fury of %\)c $Ity3iciatt of SouiS XI. 5 the monarch, that he had thought of retiring. The aimer of Louis XI was no longer to be feared, he having already been six years in his grave, when Coitier purchased the grounds, situated opposite the Buci postern, nearly touching the rampart of Philippe-Auguste. Scarcely had the new owner taken possession, than the workmen were busily employed. In a few months, arose the two wings of a mansion, with crenellated front, behind which was a closed gallery, resting on pillars such as may be often seen in lordly mansions of the Middle Ages. At the angle formed by the meeting of the two wings was a court, with a winding-staircase; — a medley of incongruous buildings, forming a small mansion. A second court contained a well, which deserves to draw our attention for a moment. This well, which could still be seen a few years ago, was more exactly a cistern with a low coping, on the middle of which there stood a dolphin's head. Let us not forget to mention two gardens, a pleasure- garden and a fruit-garden, and lastly a Gothic chapel. Over the principal entrance Coitier caused an elephant with a tower on its back to be sculptured. Upon a turret over one of the doors, a shield had been sculptured, in the field of which were represented a tree bear- ing fruit, an orange-tree and an apricot-tree, * and images * We adopt the version of the abricotier (Apricot-tree) in order not to give denial to the legend which says that Coitier wished to play upon words, by a sort of sign or rebus. In this case A Vabri Coder would mean that the doctor deemed himself fortunate to have retired, like the sage, to a safe shelter from all importunate annoyances. But it is equally probable that it is an orange tree, the arms of the arch-physician hearing " An orange tree or." 6 @uvity3iri>tstm% " Two ships were fitted out to fetch something for the health of the King". Something! Some exotic drug apparently, from which marvellous results were anticipated A surgeon of the name of Sixtus was sent for from Ger- many. A noted physician of Reims, Gerard Cochet, was also called in, as well as a matron or sirurgienne, Guille- merhte Duluys. But all was of no avail, and did not prevent the King, as Comynes says, from " passing where others have passed." Despite all the surgeons and apothecaries, Louis XI breathed his last on the 30th of August 1483. His physician survived him for twenty-three years, and did not die until the 29th October 1506. As Coitier, during his life, had sinned not a little, on approaching the portals of eternity, his sole thought was to redeem his former errors. Two churches and sixteen congregations had a share in his posthumous liberality: all his godchildren, and they were numerous, poor orphans and servants, received their share in his inheritance, and to crown his good works, the repentant sinner requested to be buried in the chapel of Saint-Nicholas in the church of Saint- Andre- des- Arts, which thenceforward was known as the Chapel of the Coitiers. Finally, by his will, Coitier bequeathed his library to the Chapter of Poligny, and founded in the church of the %\)c W)\)%ic\an of SouiS XI. 18 same place, a mass to be daily said in perpetuity for the repose of his soul. Could he more worthily have ended his career of scheming and unrest.* * For the biography, properly speaking, of Coitier we have closely followed the excellent, though rather compendious study, of Dr. Chereau, which appeared in the Union mSdicale of 1861. We have however considerably condensed it, retaining only the essential points. THE PEREGRINATIONS OF CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU'S BODY. 3 3om o potter at tji§ 2Borf to=ban, 2Btt() rnbe§t £anb tjc Sljapcb IjiS ijtclbttio (*Ian, "£)lj gciith), 23rotfjcr, bo not treat me tfjnS, 3 too, toa§ once a Won," 3 tjcarb it §ai). 28e all arc $uWctS of tfjc ©ft), toe run W tt>ill§ tlje planer till tlje (§amc is bone, s )tnb toljen tl)c planer wcaricS of tlje ©port, £e tfjrotoS us into $artite38 One on Dnc. SBfjateOer i8, bn Sate maS er§t beSipeb, 2f)e Wafer nolo IjiS Sabor Ija* re§ia,ncb, 9lnb all onr Striuina, can aoail nS 9iaua,t)t, Ivor alt our 5lct3 were long ap befineb. Omar Khayyam. / THE PEREGRINATIONS OF THE MORTAL REMAINS OF RICHELIEU. t is always profitable to ransack a collection of old Reviews; from them it is more than often possible to exhume interesting documents which gain from being once more brought into full light. It was thus that in shaking the dust form some old papers we chanced upon a number of a provincial archaeo- logical journal, called the Revue du Bas Poitou. At the first glance, this title did not seem attractive, but urged by the demon of curiosity, we decided to cut the leaves, and, as the following will show, without having cause to regret so doing. We there discovered a gem worthy to be set in our collection of curious documents: nothing less than a notice on the necropsy of Richelieu, according to the minute, perhaps official, account of the opening of the body of the great cardinal. Not to submit the curiosity of our readers to a longer ordeal, we will at once place before them in extenso the most diverting passage — all the worse if the words loudly protest at being so coupled together — of this necropsy. * * 17 \ ', IS UnviouZ SBIjJmtP of $mot% " Illustrious men " — let us bear in mind that this document is signed by two advocates of the Parliament— " illustrious men almost always have some singularities in the composition of their temperament. We have a recent example in the person of the great Cardinal de Richelieu, first minister of State. " We learned from his surgeon in ordinary, that after the Cardinal's death, he had orders to embalm the body, which he did in the presence of several persons of distinc- tion and of the highest quality. He found in the interior parts of the body a very fine conformation, corresponding to that of the members and of the external figure. When he opened the head to extract the brain, he noticed the most extraordinary singularities. " He first remarked that the two plates of the skull were thin and porous, and that at the thickest parts there was but little of that spongy bony substance called diploe {sic), so that a blow with the fist might easily have fractured this part of this skull, extremely hard and thick in other persons, so as to be able to resist exterior impressions when not too violent." All this is but quite superficial observation, but what more could be expected in the XVIIth century? But what follows quits the scientific domain to approach the limits of the grotesque : ..." Having opened the brain"— it is always the person who performed the autopsy who is speaking — "I found it all greyish, and of a firmer consistence than usual. It had a soft and agreeable odour, instead of being as usual whitish in colour, soft, aqueous, and of a rather fetid odour." This brain that emits an agreeable perfume, is it not a genial discovery, an act of posthumous adulation, worthy to be admired? %\)C Sicmcuit* of 9ttd)dtctt. 19 But a far more astounding fact, is "that in this brain, there was double the usual number of ventricles, each one having another above it, forming two stages, both in front and behind, and particularly in the middle, in which are formed the purest spirits of the discursive power, serving the operations of the intellect, the front ventricles furnishing the imagination and those at the back furnish in;/ movement, sentiment and memory. " It would be rather risky to pretend, that in these few lines Broca's theory of cerebral localisation had been foreseen. It may perhaps, if one chooses, be considered as an invol- untary forecast of the theories which are current at present, and which in fact may still be judged too far-fetched. But what strange peregrinations this great Cardinal had to be subjected to after his death ; he who had been so dreaded during his lifetime, and whose head had thence- forth to roam so long about the earth like a spectre escaped from the realm of shadows ; for by an inconceivable fatality, the man before whom the mightiest had trembled, was doomed to have no repose from the day that he had entered into eternal peace. On the very morrow of his death his tomb * nearly suffered a first profanation. The Minister had accumulated around him, during his lifetime, such an amount of hatred, that the common people talked of nothing less than of casting his remains into the common sewer; a threat which they would undoubtedly have executed if the doctors of * The tomb, placed in the centre of the choir of the church, had been originally placed on the spot previously occupied by the privies of the College de Cluny. 20 auriottS <&i)pati)$ of $mov\). the Sorbonne bad not deemed it prudent to cause his coffin to be concealed for a time. The tomb of Richelieu was respected until the Revolu- tion. But on the 19th Frimaire of the year II (19th Decem- ber 1793), an order was given to search the tombs in the Sorbonne, on the decla>ation of a certain Leblane, a member of the Convention, that " a supposed treasure was suspected of having been deposited there in the former church". The tombs were then opened and officially searched on the 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd of the same month. While the search was being carried on, an individual, "whose name," said one of the commissaries in his report, " he did not remember, but who was provided with an order from the department", caused the tomb of Richelieu to be opened, descended into it and came up again " without taking anything away ", and then caused the tomb to be closed again. But what is also mentioned in the report, is that an hour was given every day to the workmen " for their dinner", and that during that time there was no supervision. Was it at this moment that the robbery, of which we are about to relate the circumstances, took place, or was it during the visit of the " individual " mentioned above ? This appears rather difficult to determine. But at all events the head of the cardinal was stolen * and probably by a man named Cheval, known to be one * This was not the only robbery committed. In the Bibliotheque Mazarine by the side of the bronze bust of Richelieu in a crystal casket is a little finger of the great Cardinal, which finger had been stolen by one of the workmen employed in the researches, and wbo had cut it off in order to more easily remove the rings which encircled it. This human digit became afterwards the property of Mr. Petit-Radel, brother of the librarian of that name, who gave it to the Bibliotheque Mazarine. %\)c ftcmaittS of SRitytUeu* 21 of the most ardent patriots of the section of the Thermes. * * Cheval was a hosier in the Rue de la Harpe, or in the Rue Saint-Jacques, at a stone's-throw from the Sorbonne. One day, that an honourable ecclesiastic, the Abbe Armez had gone to this man's shop to make some purchase, the tradesman led his client into a back-room, and there con- fided to him that he possessed the head of Richelieu ! On saying this he exhibited to the astounded gaze of his visitor the features of the Cardinal, still enveloped in a stained piece of strong cloth, an authentic fragment of the shroud in which he had been wrapped. At the request of the Abbe Armez, Cheval several times consented to show the relic he possessed. After the 9th Thermidor, fearing to be looked after on account of his advanced opinions, and also that the rob- bery might one day be discovered, Cheval begged ami prayed the Abbe Armez to disencumber him of a possession he deemed to be compromising. Later on, the Abbe made a present of the precious relic to his brother. On the return of the Bourbons, Mr. Armez wrote to the Duke of Richelieu, then Minister of Foreign Affairs. Did this letter go astray, or was it that the noble duke cared but little to possess this family souvenir?, At all events Mr. Armez received no reply. The relic now came by right of inheritance into the possession of the son of Mr. Armez. This gentleman, who afterwards became a member of the French legislative assembly, took all sorts of steps to be enabled to restore the relic that had been confided to his care. 22 GuviottS ©Watp of %mot% In June 1846, at a meeting of the Historical Committee of Arts and Monuments, Mr. Francois Grille informed the President, the Count of Montalembert, of the intentions of Mr. Armez ; but notwithstanding the efforts of the Society, the head still remained sorrowing for its body. In 1840 the head of Richelieu served as a model to a historical painter, Mr. Bonhome, who was thus enabled to make from nature, the portrait of the cardinal destined for one of the rooms of the Council of State. It was not until 1866, that Mr. Armez, writing to the Prefect of the Cotes-du-Nord, charged him to cause the skull of the eminent prelate, to be placed in the hands of Mr. Duruy, then minister of Public Instruction. On the 5th December of the same year 1866, the Minister presented in grand pomp, at the Sorbonne, to the Arch- bishop of Paris, Monseigneur Darboy, " what remained of the great Statesman." After the usual speeches and prayers, the casket con- taining the precious remains was lowered into the tomb excavated beneath the mausoleum, which had been erected there in 1694 by the heirs of the cardinal. As might be expected, the authenticity of the treasure of Mr. Armez was contested ; one collector of curiosities went so far as to maintain that he alone possessed the head of the great Minister. * * When the celebrated publisher Dentu, died in 1884, there was found in his collection of "rare and precious objects", a head, or rather a fragment of a head, which seems to have been the posterior part of the skull of Richelieu : duly authenticated documents attest that this well-known amateur obtained this lugubrious relic from Mr. Armez. %f)c 9tcm