Researching periodicals this semester has been my favorite part of the course, however I find it somewhat difficult to find a common thread in the articles I brought to class. The three I've chosen to revisit here have elements of sensationalism and skepticism, but mostly…these are my faves. :)
From 10/35: on Witchcraft
You might remember this one-- it's a short little morality tale from The Minerva on January 31, 1824. It's about a woman named Trine Pipers who, because she showed no desire to get remarried after her husband died, and because everyone in the town was envious of her carefree lifestyle, everyone decided was obviously a witch. Oh, and she had a cat, which pretty much sealed the deal. So the townspeople started spreading rumors and stopped associating with her and she eventually became destitute and died in her house after the roof blew off. Aaand then her remains were "refused the rites of sepulture" and they impaled her cat. This quote really drives the "moral of the story" bit home:
"The fact was, that Trine grew old and solitary; she had no children, no relations; the cat was the only thing on earth that really loved her; and the heart, that age had closed to all else, was yet open to this single object of affection. How could it be other wise? But, among the ignorant and superstitious peasantry of a remote village, the report was fatal. The charge of witchcraft, like the imputation of madness, is, with the prejudiced and ignorant, sure to confirm itself; actions, which in others would not be noticed, are so many proofs of the accession with those who have been blighted by its fatal mildew."
From 11/01: on Executions, etc…
This article comes from The American Magazine of Wonders and Marvellous Chronicle, in 1809, and it's titled "Singular Circumstance"….
"In 1747, a man was broken alive n the wheel at Orleans, for a highway robbery….when the executioner concluded he was dead, he gave him to a surgeon, who had him carried to his anatomical theatre, as a subject to lecture on. The thighs, legs, and arms, of this unhappy wretch, had been broken; yet, on the surgeon's coming to examine him, he found him reviving…."
The article goes on to explain that the surgeon fixed up the "executed" man, gave him a cart to get around on, and left him to a life of begging on the street. In a shocking turn of events, the beggar did NOT redeem himself, and instead started brutally murdering and robbing people who passed him on the road and mistook him for an injured soldier. Personally, I was surprised by the amount of detail that the article gave on his crimes…
"The bushes were searched, and a descent discovered into a cave. Here were found three young girls and a boy. The girls were kept for the offices of servants, and the purposes of lust; the boy, scarcely 12 years of age, was son to one of the robbers. The girls in giving evidence deposed, that they had lived three years in the cave; that they had been kept there by force from the time of their captivity; that dead bodies were frequently carried into the cave, stripped, and buried; and that the old soldier was carried out ever dry day, and sat by the roadside for two or three hours."
And the article ends with this very brief conclusion: "On this evidence, the murdering mendicant was condemned to suffer a second execution on the wheel."
Yikes.
From 11/15: on miracles, angels, etc.
This was the week that I searched for "stigmata", and found the "Modern Miracle" article about Holy Sister Emmerich and details about her holy suffering. This is from the New England Galaxy and Masonic Magazine on Dec. 24, 1819.
"Finally, her medical attendants acknowledged that her disorder was beyond the reach of their skill, and God crowned his work by causing Stigmata to appear on her feet and hands. There is also a wound on her side, which is surmounted by a small crucifix: and every Friday, between seven and eight in the morning, her head is encircled by a crown of blood, whence, and also from the wounds above mentioned, the flood flows abundantly till noon."
This article is referencing Anne Catherine Emmerich, who was beatified in 2004 by good ol' Pope John Paul II. What I find the most interesting about this particular article, however, is the conflicting message that the New England Galaxy and Masonic Magazine is sending in its opening statements:
"Superstition and imposer are still in existence in various parts of the continent, as appears from the following curious document…." -- this is the text preceding the story, which is concluded, still within quotations, by saying "The supernatural facts above related, respecting Sister Emmerich, of the Convent of Dulmen, are accurately true. They are corroborated by the Apostolic Nuncio of the Netherlands, who visited Dulmen for the purpose of ascertaining the truth. They are also attested by many respectable eye-witnesses, all worthy of implicit credit."
And this story was quoted from the Atheneum.
Revisiting these articles reminds me of how surprised I was to find such gory details in early American periodicals. Such skepticism and sensationalism seems like a product of our current culture, but clearly sensationalism was alive and well in the early 1800s. I am interested in the way that these stories are presented, the first as a cautionary tale about the dangers of gossip and superstition, the second a cautionary "Once a crazy felon, always a crazy felon" story, and the third is a very serious and "accurately true" account, which is preceded by a skeptical introduction by the editor. I wonder if these stories were all received as they were intended, whether the New England Galaxy readers believed in Sister Emmerich's stigmata, or if the lesson present in the story of Trine Pipers and her cat was well heeded by what might've been a very superstitious readership. There are so many interesting avenues of study here, but as always, I am most interested in what the response may have been, and would like to further research these particular stories to see how they may have been represented elsewhere, and if any responses were printed.
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