picture-form, over his house-door, the various sicknesses: a man
attacked by many dogs and gesticulating wildly, through pain. To each
of these dogs was given a name, and each acted accordingly. The dog,
Gout, was biting the man's foot; the dog, Pleurisy, his loins; Stone,
his kidneys; Colic, his belly, and so on. Finally, a great sheep-dog,
representing daily fever, had thrown the man to the ground. The
inventor could easily have known (for that he did not require any
special experience) that sicknesses act upon men in a manner not less
gentle. By the exercise of patience, pain can at length be conquered,
although the soul, so intimately combined with the body, must feel it
not a little. But when the soul is attacked by sickness, patience
always gives way; for bodily, cannot in any way be compared with
mental, suffering. Inner anguish shows itself in restless gestures.
Scripture takes us into a lazaretto of such afflicted persons. Among
others, we meet with a royal and singular patient. Saul is his name.
Of him we read: "The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and he was
vexed by an evil spirit from the Lord." Where God is absent, and the
Evil One present, there must dwell all manner of evil. The hateful
aspect of this man in his paroxysms of pain can readily be imagined.
His eyes turn the wrong way, and sparks of fire, so to speak, dart out
one after the other; his face is so disfigured, that human features
can scarce be recognised; his heart casts forth, as it were, a wild,
stormy sea of foam. Distrust, jealousy, envy, hatred, and fear burst
forth from him. Especially does the javelin, constantly flying from
his hand, show that his heart rages fiercely with anger. To sum up:
his soul-sickness is so great that the marks of hellish tortures can
be clearly traced. At lucid intervals (_lucidis intervallis_) or quiet
hours, the tortured king realises his indescribable evil; and he
therefore seeks after a man who can cure him. But under such
extraordinary circumstances can help be hoped for? From human arts,