 | Isaac Comnenus |  |
Scene IV.
—Precincts of the Palace.—A Eunuch of the Imperial Household and an Exorcist.Exorcist.
He is gone, then?
Eunuch.
Gone! he galloped out of the town as if he had ten thousand Devils in him.
Exorcist.
Well, I am glad he is gone before I came, for to say the truth he is ill to deal with.
Eunuch.
But thou couldst exorcise him?
Exorcist.
Oh! if we come to the matter of science, an evil spirit is no more in one man than in another.
Eunuch.
But tell me, I beseech thee, which saint is the most powerful for freeing the demoniacs?
Exorcist.
That is, look you, according as they are obsessed or possessed; and also according to the order
of the spirit: now for the abruption of evil spirits of
Belphegor's or the ninth order, St. George of Cappadocia
is your only saint. I have known him bring the Devil
clean out of a man's body before ever he knew him to
have been there.
Eunuch.
Ay, indeed!
Exorcist.
Yes; and you may remember Anthemius the Eparch, who was possessed of Leviathan and caused a
dropsy in the Emperor's daughter. I never had a more
obstinate spirit to deal with in all my experience.
Eunuch.
But you succeeded?
Exorcist.
I bless God, by the help of St. George, to say nothing of my own secret receipt for suffumigation,
cured.
Eunuch.
But did she not relapse in the space of a year or so.
Exorcist.
Relapse? Yes, she did relapse; for, look you, there's nothing sneaks back into a man's body so
soon as your villanous evil spirit.
Eunuch.
But Anthemius has not troubled you lately?
Exorcist.
No; the Emperor sent him to the prisons of Lethe on the other side of the water, and the word went
he was strangled.
Eunuch.
So he was, for certain.
Exorcist.
What was it for, then?
Eunuch.
Some idle tongues spake how that all was not as it should be between him and the Princess; but
what plainly appeared against him was, that he stole
the hood of a Benedictine Friar from his cell after eleven
o'clock at night, and being afterwards at the Sabbath of
evil spirits and magicians, did there put it upon Satan's
head, saying, “hoc honore dignus es,” in contempt of
St. Benedict and his holy order.
Exorcist.
God's mercy! it was time he was put out of the way! what will not a man do when once he is
maleficated.
Eunuch.
Ay; and who could bring him round without your help?—Come, we are friends, tell us some of the
secrets of your craft.
Exorcist.
There be things whereon we discourse to
peace.
Eunuch.
Nay but—
Exorcist.
Mark me. There is an inside and an outside to everything. There is a virtue in silence, and
that virtue is discretion, which is the virtue that holds
a man back from babbling. Again—he that saith
nothing doth wisely, for what he knows is more than
you know.
Eunuch.
By St. Peter that is true, and I will seek no further.
Exorcist.
Nevertheless, as it is thou that hast inquired of me touching this matter, I will say somewhat;
for the man that has nothing to say to his friend is too
wise for this world.
Eunuch.
Thou art a true friend to say so.
Exorcist.
Attend then: when the demoniac is brought before you, the first thing is to make sure that he is
bonâ fide possessed: for which end you shall look for the Devil's mark in the form of a hare's foot; and when
you find it, run a lancet half an inch into the flesh; if
the man cries out, it is a mere certainty he is possessed.
The next thing is to bless the instruments, which are
four; that is, water, incense, salt, and oil. Water is
twofold; that is, first, water of ablution, and second,
water of aspersion. Water of ablution is sevenfold; that
is, first—
Eunuch.
But tell us the manner of it.
The manners of it are three; there is the præexorcization, the exorcization, and the
postexorcization. The præexorcizations are fifteen; that is—
Eunuch.
Nay, I see it is past my understanding. But only tell me this,—how do you get the Devil out of a woman?
Exorcist.
You've gravelled me there; if once the Devil gets into a woman—
Eunuch.
But you told me but now, speaking of her Highness—
Exorcist.
Why look you, the Devils that have to do with women are two,—the Incubi and Succubi; now for
the Incubi—
[Trumpets without.
Eunuch.
Hark! the troops are gathering; that is the Imperial march; they are coming this way: we must be
gone.
Exorcist.
I fear some bloodshed will come of this.
Eunuch.
I care not what comes of it; nothing new to this city, we may be sure.
Exorcist.
No, unless it were peace and quietness, which I much mistrust. Farewell; shame the Devil
and renounce his works, and thou wilt never have need
of my craft.
Eunuch.
Easier to keep him out than to cast him out,if I know anything of it. Farewell.
| Isaac Comnenus | |