them. She accordingly made her way to the evening, all combined to produce an ineffacelaughing country girls, who opened their able impression on my mind, and I cannot great eyes with wonder, and getting up upon to the present day hear Madame de Krudea bench, she thus obtained a commanding ner's name mentioned without being reposition, from whence she addressed a hom-minded of that scene." ily to those present, of which I perfectly remember the principal points. “What are you doing there?' she cried out in the dialect of the country people, and with a loud voice. "The girls looked at one another laughingly, and replied that they were washing linen. 66 6 Madame de Krudener only excited public attention once more after this; it was when she went to St. Petersburg to plead the cause of the Greeks. This active Philhellenism met, however, with a very poor success with government, which politely invited her to quit the capital and take herself off to the Crimea thereby indicating the course of her travels. Unfortunately, while at the old capital of the Tartar Khans-Karasu Bazar caught a pestilential fever, of which she died on the 13th of December, 1824. "Very good,' replied Madame de Krudener, you are washing your body linen; but do you think of the stains that lie on or "the market on the Blackwater," she your consciences, of the spots on your celestial clothing, that will drive you one day into confusion and despair, if you appear before God without having washed them? You open your great eyes, and you appear to ask me with surprise how I can know that there are any stains on your celestial vestments? Madame Hommaire de Hell, who travelled with her husband in Southern Russia and the Crimea in 1838-39, gives a somewhat different account of the fate of this remarkable woman: Believe me that I know it most indubitably. "Every one is aware of the mystic influThe souls of all of us are similarly circum-ence which Madame de Krudener exercised stanced, and the best and noblest have their for many years over the enthusiastic temstains; that is why we are ordered to inces- perament of the Emperor Alexander. This santly keep watch over our purification, and lady, who has so charmingly portrayed her to wash off the spots from our souls, as you own character in Valérie, who was predo those from the linen. Neglect to do this, salons of Paris by her beauty, her talents, eminently distinguished in the aristocratic and God will punish you in heaven, as your and her position as an ambassadress, who master will punish you on earth if you neg- was by turns a woman of the world, a herolect the other. But the punishments of God ine of romance, a remarkable writer, and a are as much more terrible than those of man prophetess, will not soon be forgotten in as heaven is higher than the earth.' France. The lovers of mystic poetry will read 'Valérie,' that charming work, the appearance of which made so much noise, not(for it appeared in the most brilliant period withstanding the bulletins of the grand army of the Empire); those who delight in grace, combined with beauty and mental endowments, will recall to mind that young woman who won for herself so distinguished a place in French society; and those whose glowsentiments and religious fervor, united to ing imaginations love to dwell on exalted the most lively faith, cannot refuse their admiration to her who asked of the mighty of the earth only the means of freely exercising charity, that evangelical virtue, of which she was always one of the most ardent apostles. "And thus the discourse was prolonged, in a style that was at once familiar and yet mystical, but always borrowing its metaphors from circumstances of daily life, and that were within reach of the simplest minds. The effect was prodigious. As Madame de Krudener spoke on, these poor girls passed from a state of stupid astonishment to gathering up fragments, and then following every sentence of the address, and as they did so, their former boisterousness changed into an aspect of modest decency. Gradually they left their work, went up to the old lady, and, falling on their knees, they wept, whilst she, elevated above, smiled with the smile of love, and stretched forth her hands to bless them. "The calmness of the spot, a cloudless sky, the inspiration of her words, which were carried away by the enbalmed breeze of the "The Lettres de Mademoiselle Cochelet' made known to us with what zeal Madame de Krudener applied herself to seeking out and comforting the afflicted. Her extreme goodness of heart was such that she was called, in St. Petersburg, the Mother of the Poor. All the sums she received from the emperor were immediately distributed to the wretched, and her own fortune was applied in the same way, so that her house was besieged from morning till night by mujiks and mothers of families, to whom she gave food both for soul and body. "With so much will and power to do good, Madame de Krudener by and by acquired so great an influence in St. Petersburg, that the government at last became alarmed. She was accused of entertaining tendencies of too liberal a cast, religious notions of no orthodox kind, extreme ambition cloaked under the guise of charity, and therewith too much compassion for those miserable mujiks of whom she was the unfailing friend. But the chief cause of the displeasure of the court was the baroness' connection with two other ladies, whose religious sentiments were by all means exceedingly questionable. They were the Princess Galitzin and the so-called Countess Guacher. "The publicity which these ladies affected in all their acts could not but be injurious to the meek Christian enterprise of Madame de Krudener. The princess was detested at court. Too superior to disguise her opinions, and renowned for her beauty, her caustic wit, and her philosophic notions, she had excited against her a host of enemies, who were sure to take the first opportunity of injuring her with the emperor. As for the Countess Guacher, her rather equivocal position at the court furnished a weapon against her, when, suddenly issuing from the extreme retirement in which she had previously lived, she became one of Madame de Krudener's most enthusiastic adepts.. cused of being held in leading-strings by three half-crazed women, the emperor signed the warrant for their exile, to the great joy of the envious courtiers. The victims beheld in the event only the manifestation of the divine will, that they should propagate the faith among the followers of Mahomet. In a spirit of Christian humility they declined receiving any other escort than that of a non-commissioned officer, whose duty should be only to see to their personal safety, and transmit their orders to the persons employed in the journey. Their departure produced a great sensation in St. Petersburg; and every one was eager to see the distinguished ladies in their monastic costume. The court laughed, but the populace, always sensitive where religion is concerned, and who, besides, were losing a most generous protectress in Madame de Krudener, accompanied the pilgrims with great demonstrations of respect and sorrow to the banks of the Neva, where they embarked on the 6th of September, 1822... "The apparition of these ladies in the Crimea threw the whole peninsula into commotion. Eager to make proselytes, they were seen toiling in their béguine costume, with the cross and the Gospel in their hands, over mountains and valleys, exploring Tartar villages, and even carrying their enthusiasm to the strange length of preaching in the open air to the amazed and puzzled Mussulmans. But as the English consul had predicted, in spite of their mystic fervor, their persuasive voices, and the originality of their enterprise, our heroines effected few conversions. They only succeeded in making themselves thoroughly ridiculous, not only in the eyes of the Tatars, but in those also of the Russian nobles of the vicinity, who instead of seconding their efforts, or at least giving them credit for their good intentions, regarded them only as feather-witted illuminate, capable at most of catechizing little children. The police, too, always prompt to take alarm, and having besides received special instructions respecting these ladies, soon threw impediments in the way of all their efforts, so that two months had scarcely elapsed before they were obliged to give up "At first the scheme was met with deri- their roving ways, their preachings, and all sion, then alarm was felt, and at last, by dint the fine dreams they had indulged during of intrigues, the emperor, whom these ladies their long and painful journey. It was a had half made a proselyte, was forced to sore mortification to them to renounce the banish them from court, and confine them hope of planting a new Thebaid in the mounfor the rest of their days to the territory of tains of the Crimea. Madame de Krudener the Crimea. It is said that this decision, so could not endure the loss of her illusions; contrary to the kind nature of Alexander, her health, already impaired by many years was occasioned by an article in an English of an ascetic life, declined rapidly, and newspaper, in which the female trio and his imperial majesty were made the subjects of most biting sarcasms. Enraged at being ac "When the Princess Galitzin returned to St. Petersburg after a journey to Italy, the emperor, who sincerely admired her, took upon himself to make two ladies acquainted whom he thought so fitted to appreciate each other. As he had foreseen, a close intimacy grew up between them, but to the great mortification of the court, this intimacy was, through Madame de Krudener's influence, the basis of an association which aimed at nothing less than the conversion of the whole earth to the holy law of Christ. within a year from the time of her arrival in the peninsula, there remained no hope of saving her life. She died in 1823, in the arms of her daughter, the Baroness Breck-versed in the literature and the arts of heim, who had been for some years resident France, speaking the language with an enon the southern coast, and became possessed tire command of all that light, playful railof many documents on the latter part of a lery that made it so formidable of yore; life so rich in romantic events; but unfortu- having been a near observer of all the events nately these documents are not destined to and all the eminent men of the empire; see the light. possessing, moreover, a power of apprehension and discernment that gave equal variety and point to her conversation; a man in mind and variety of knowledge, a woman in grace and frivolity, the Princess Galitzin belonged by her brilliant qualities and her charming faults to a class that is day by day becoming extinct. "Princess Galitzin, whose religious sentiments were perhaps less sincere, thought no more of making conversions after she had installed herself in her delightful villa on the coast. Throwing off forever the coarse béguine robe, she adopted a no less eccentric costume, which she retained until her death. It was an Amazonian petticoat, with a cloth vest of a male cut. A Polish cap trimmed with fur completed her attire, that accorded well with the original character of the princess. It is in this dress she is represented in several portraits still to be seen in her villa at Koreis. "The caustic wit that led to her disgrace at the court of St. Petersburg, her stately manners, her name, her prodigious memory, and immense fortune, quickly attracted round her all the notable persons in Southern Russia. Distinguished foreigners eagerly cov. eted the honor of being introduced to her, and she was soon at the head of a little court, over which she presided like a real sovereign. But being by nature very capricious, the freak sometimes seized her to shut herself up for whole months in total solitude. Although she relapsed into philosophical and Voltairean notions, the remembrance of Madame de Krudener inspired her with occasional fits of devotion that oddly contrasted with her usual habits. It was during one of these visitations that she erected a collossal cross on one of the heights com manding Koreis. The cross being gilded is visible to a great distance. "Her death in 1839 left a void in Russian society which will not easily be filled. Reared in the school of the eighteenth century, well "Now that conversation is quite dethroned in France, and exists only in some few salons of Europe, it is hard to conceive the influence formerly exercised by women of talent. Those of our day, more ambitious of obtaining celebrity through the press than of reigning over a social circle, guard the treasures of their imagination and intellect with an anxious reserve that cannot but prove a real detriment to society. To write feuilletons, romances, and poetry, is all very well; but to preside over a drawing-room, like the women of the eighteenth century, has also its merit. But we must not blame the female sex alone for the loss of that supremacy which once belonged to French society. The men of the present day, more serious than their predecessors, more occupied with positive, palpable interests, seem to look with cold disdain on what but lately commanded their warmest admiration." The so-called Countess Guacher, who shared the exile of Princess Galitzin and of Madame de Krudener, and who died in obscurity in 1823, was the Countess de La mothe, who had been whipped and branded on the Place de Grève as an accomplice in the scandalous affair of the diamond necklace. "No PENT-UP UTICA."-Everybody has heard the lines "No pent-up Utica contracts our powers, But the whole boundless continent is ours." But very few people know the author, or in what poem they occur. They were written by Jonathan Mitchell Sewell, a New Hampshire poet, as an epilogue to Addison's play of Cato, on the occasion of its performance by an amateur company in Portsmouth in 1788. The whole production was one of decided power. The spirit of the Revolution entered into every expression. We give a few lines : "And what now gleams with dawning rays at home Once blazed in full-orbed majesty at Rome. Did Rome's brave Senate nobly strive t' oppose The mighty torrent of domestic foes, "Rise, then, my countrymen, for fight prepare, eral principles are asserted on the evidence of the most doubtful and scanty facts; and From Fraser's Magazine. HOMEOPATHY. A LETTER TO J. S. S., ESQ. BY SIR BENJAMIN the reasoning on them for the most part is BRODIE, BART. thoroughly puerile and illogical. I do not DEAR SIR,-You desire me to give you ask you to take all this for granted, but my opinion of what is called Homeopathy. would rather refer you to the books themI can do so without any great labor to my-selves; being satisfied that any one, though self, and without making any exorbitant de- he may not be versed in the science of medmand on your patience, as the question really lies in very small compass, and what I have to say on it may be expressed in very few words. The subject may be viewed under different aspects. We may inquire, first, whether Homœopathy be, of itself, of any value, or of no value at all? secondly, in what manner does it affect general society ? and thirdly, in what relation does it stand to the medical profession ? I must first request of you to observe that, whatever I may think at present, I had originally no prejudice either infavor of or against this new system: nor do I believe that the members of the medical profession generally were in the first instance influenced by any feelings of this kind. The fact is, that the fault of the profession for the most part lies in the opposite direction. They are too much inclined to adopt any new theory or any new mode of treatment that may have been proposed; the younger and more inexperienced among them especially erring in this respect, and too frequently indulging themselves in the trial of novelties, disregarding old and established remedies. For myself, I assure you that, whatever opinion I may now hold, it has not been hastily formed. I have made myself sufficiently acquainted with several works which profess to disclose the mysteries of Homœopathy, especially that of Hahnemann, the founder of the Homeopathic sect, and those of Dr. Curie and Mr. Sharpe. The result is, that, with all the pains that I have been able to take, I have been unable to form any very distinct notion of the system which they profess to teach. They all, indeed, begin with laying down, as the foundation of it, the rule that similia similibus curantur; or, in plain English, that one disease is to be driven out of the body by artificially creating another disease similar to it. But there the resemblance ends. Hahnemann treats the subject in one way, Dr. Curie in another, and Mr. Sharpe in another way still. Gen icine, who possesses good sense, and who has any knowledge of the caution with which all scientific investigations should be conducted, will arrive at the same conclusions as myself. But, subordinate to the rule to which I have just referred, there is another, which, by some of the Homœopathic writers, is held to be of great importance, and which is certainly the more remarkable one of the two. The doses of medicine administered by ordinary practitioners are represented to be very much too large. It is unsafe to have recourse to them, unless reduced to an almost infinitesimal point; not only to the millionth, but sometimes even to the billionth of a grain. Now observe what this means. Supposing one drop of liquid medicine to be equivalent to one grain, then, in order to obtain the millionth part of that dose, you must dissolve that drop in thirteen gallons of water, and administer only one drop of that solution; while, in order to obtain the billionth of a grain, you must dissolve the aforesaid drop in 217,014 hogsheads of water. Of course, it is plain that this could not practically be accomplished, except by successive dilutions; and this would be a troublesome process. Whether it be at all probable that any one ever undertook to carry it out, I leave you to judge. At any rate, I conceive that there is no reasonable person who would not regard the exhibition of medicine in so diluted a form as being equivalent to no treatment at all. But however this may be, I may be met by the assertion that there is undoubted evidence that a great number of persons recover from their complaints under Homœopathic treatment, and I do not pretend in the least degree to deny it. In a discourse addressed by myself to the students of St. George's hospital, in the year 1838, I find the following remarks: "There is another inquiry which should be always made, before you determine on the adoption of a particular method of treatment; what will happen now and then, from which, when they do occur, it profits to a still greater extent. Humanun est errare. From the operation of this universal law medical practitioners are not exempt, any more than statesmen, divines, lawyers, engineers, or any other profession. There are cases in which there is a greater chance of too much than too little being done for the patient; and if the patient under such circumstances becomes the subject of Homœopathic treatment, this being no treatment at all, he actually derives benefit from the change. in this case, if no remedies whatever be em- | athy. But other circumstances occur every ployed, if the patient be left altogether to nature or to the efforts of his own constitution? . . . The animal system is not like a clock or a steam-engine, which, being broken, you must send to the clockmaker or engineer to mend it; and which cannot be repaired otherwise. The living machine, unlike the works of human invention, has the power of repairing itself; it contains within itself its own engineer, who, for the most part, requires no more than some very slight assistance at our hands." This truth admits, indeed, of a very large application. If the arts of medicine and surgery had never been invented, by far the greater number of those who suffer from bodily illness would have recovered nevertheless. An experienced and judicial medical practitioner knows this very well; and considers it to be his duty, in the great majority of cases, not so much to interfere by any active treatment, as to take care that nothing should obstruct the natural process of recovery; and to watch, lest in the progress of the case, any new circumstance should arise which would make his active interference necessary. If any one were to engage in practice, giving his patients nothing but a little distilled water, and enjoining a careful diet, and a prudent mode of life otherwise, a certain number of his patients would perish from the want of further help; but more would recover; and Homœopathic globules are, I doubt not, quite as good as distilled water. But this does not account for all the success of Homœopathy. In this country there is a large proportion of individuals who have plenty of money, combined with a great lack of employment; and it is astonishing to what an extent such persons contrive to imagine diseases for themselves. There is no animal machine so perfect that there may not at times be some creaking in it. Want of exercise, irregularity as to diet, a little worry of mind-these, and a thousand other causes, may occasion uneasy feelings, to which constant attention and thinking of them will give a reality which they would not have had otherwise; and such feelings will disappear as well under the use of globules as they would under any other mode of treatment, or under no treatment at all. What I have now mentioned will go far towards explaining the success of Homœop In a discourse to which I have already alluded, I thought it my duty to offer the following caution to my pupils: "The first question which should present itself to you in the management of a particular case is this: Is the disease one of which the patient may recover, or is it not? There are, indeed, too many cases in which the patient's condition is so manifestly hopeless, that the fact cannot be overlooked. Let me, however, caution you that you do not in any instance arrive too hastily at this conclusion. Our knowledge is not so absolute and certain as to prevent even well-informed persons being occasionally mistaken on this point. This is true, especially with respect to the affections of internal organs. Individuals have been restored to health who were supposed to be dying of disease in the lungs or mesenteric glands." ... "It is a good rule in the practice of our art, as in the common affairs of life, for us to look on the favorable side of the question, as far as we can consistently with reason do so." I might have added that hysterical affections are especially a source of error to not very experienced practitioners, by simulating more serious disease; seeming to resist for a time all the efforts of art, and then all at once subsiding under any kind of treatment, or, just as well, under none at all. Now, if it should so happen that a medical practitioner, from want of knowledge, or from a natural defect of judgment, makes a mistake in his diagnosis, and the patient whom he had unsuccessfully treated afterwards recovers under the care of another practitioner, it is simply said "Dr. A. was mistaken;" and it is not considered as any thing very remarkable that the symptoms should subside while under the care of Dr. |