Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-01-03
New York Tribune. Dec 24.l

a recent aFUIcle IN the IT1OUHe uoSOAAO0u
the faith work of the congregation or the
Rev. Albert Simpson, which holds It's meet
ings in the Grand Opera house at Eighth
avenue and Twenty third street. Iestl-
mony was given of number of those who
claimed to have been cured of long-stand-
ing complaints by the anointment OF oil
and by prayer. The subject has given rise
to a considerable discussion in religions
and other circles. As to the genuine
character of such cures from medical
standpoint, the opinion of several we'll
known physicians of the city have
been obtained. Their position is toll
Grant, while at the same time positive.
Cures of this kind are not regarded by
them as essentially new, but as sort OF
periodic manifestation of peculiar phe-
nomenon of human nature. The diseases
so cured are placed under the general
classification of hysteria, or nervous de-
rangement, producing complaints whose
symptoms take the form of various dis
eases. There is no record, they say, OF an
organic complaint ever having been cured
through prayer or by an ointment.
DE. w. A. HAMMOND,
who has given much attention to these
cures, was seen at his home in West Fifty
fourth street. He has published number
of articles on miracles and faith cures, the
last of which, in the International ReulelU,
has been translated into Spanish and Ital-
ian. '.Faith cures of all kinds" he said,
s'are in direct proportion to the ignorance
and consequent credulity of the people;
but the number Of these miracles is de-
creasing as our knowledge of natural laws
is increased" He had read the recent ar
ticle in the Tribune, describing the faith
work of Mr.. Simpson, with much
interest. Il was, he said, mani
festation of the same kind as other alleged
cures, containing when sifted down moth
ing especially remarkable. faith cure
could be effected by any man, whether a
thorough-going scoundrel or the most re-
Iigious man who had ever lived. The faith
did not consist in, nor was it necessarily
belief in, a supernatural power. 1t was
simply confidence in the person or the
means of effecting the result. He related
a recent incident of lady, devout Ro-
man Catholic, who applied to him for
some Lourdes water, by which so many
miracles have been said to have been per-
formed of late years, and which she knew
him to have She was suffering from
contractionIof the muscles of the neck, so
that her head was twisted to one side and
she could not move ii, but she was conf
dent tina THE Lourdes water would cure her.
He gave her some of the water in vial la
beled aqua Crotones," saying it was just
as good as the Lourdes; but she returned
several days after no better from its ap-
pIication He then gave her some Croton
water labeled 'Lourdes, Feast of the An
nunciation." In a few hours she came
back rejoicing and thoroughly cured by
the application of what she believed to be
Lourdes water.
GLOW do you account for the fact, doc
tor, that the cures of Mr.. Simpson en-
brace so wide a variety of diseaseS!" asked
the reporter.
at is easy to understand. A non-pro-
professional man cannot recognize all dis
eases and assign them their proper names.
Even the best physicians are frequently
deceived. Hysteria, found in women so
often. arising from the troubles they are
most subject to, stimulates all diseases.
such as paralysis, stomach troubles, ague,
and even cancer and consumption. But
CONSUMPTION often passes away Of iteelf,
=
,ence relief at every change of treatment:
very few persons can tell when they have
2 cancer: ague has been shown comfortable
by the will: and scores of limbs have been
amputated by ill-informed surgeons that
might have been restored through proper
treatment for hysteria, which is no more
than a nervous arrangement of the sys-
tenn. There is Catholic priest over in
-y,ro
to cure it, by laying on hands"
elias not magnetism something to do
with these cures?"
=, "No: il is simply such confidence as in
former years led to the preparation Of the
most nauseous mixtures, such as cobwebs
and vermin, to effect such cures; liquors
drank from human skulls, ETC.; and the be-
LEVERS of these cures quite as often apply
to the devil as to the Virgin Mary or
higher power. 1t may be just as well IN
many cases, if the means can cure or effect
any relief from pain, that they should do
it: but the more people become acquaint-
ed with these things the less effective will
be such means and the less frequent will
such miracles become. If they were gen
uine it would be as as easy to effect cure
that would Danish all donbt. A man has
six ingers-many men and women are so
deformed-let the superfuous finger be re-
moved by faith, prayer and annointment,
and no physician would then doubt
further"
DIR. ALLEN MLAEE HAMILTON,
of 4S East Twenty third street, has treated
this subject quite thoroughly in recent
work on the causes of nervous and brain
troubles. Negotiated to the reporter that
the article giving an account of Mr.. Simp-
sons work he had read carefully, as it was
in the line OF his study. There was moth
ing novel in Mr.. Simpsons achievements,
IS such cures had been practiced with moro
or less results since the days of Buddha.
Fifteen or twenty years ago one Newton
produced sensation in New York and
throughout the country by his miraculous
cures, as they were called. He would call
on the lame and the blind to stand forth,
and then in the exhortation that he made
was able to produce such emotion among
them as was able to influence those cases
of hysteria among the number before him.
81 do not doubt that many, if not all, OF
the instances of Mr.. Simpsons cures are
genuine so far as he knows and believes.
There is something akin to what is popu-
larly known as magnetism in the results,
4 ~ hoIi in hT1To