The Virginia Gazette

From a Book Called The Ventriloquist, lately published, by M. de la CHAPELLE, Censor Royal at PARIS.

VENTRILOQUISM, if we may be allowed to use the Term, in Order to avoid Circumlocution, is a peculiar Gift, Art, or Quality, of which certain Persons are and have been possessed, by Means of which they have been enabled to modify the Voice in such a Manner as to make it appear to those present to proceed from the Belly of the Speakers (from which Circumstance it derives its appellation) or rather to make it seem to proceed from any Distance, or in any Direction whatever. Some faint Traces of this Art, or Faculty, are to be found in the Writings of the Ancients; but many more are to be discovered there if we adopt the Author's Opinion, that the Responses of many of the ancient Oracles were actually delivered by Persons possessed of this Quality, so very capable of being applied to the Purposes of Priestcraft and Delusion. Nay it will appear, that an entire Community, even of Priests themselves, in the very Neighbourhood of Paris, were fairly taken in by it, in Consequence of an innocent Piece of Waggery played off upon them, by a Person who possesses this Talent in a very eminent Degree.

The Author of this Performance is known to many of the Curious, by an Invention of his that has lately been announced in some of the foreign Papers, which he calls the Scapbandre, and of which we shall give a short Account. Having brought this useful Piece of Machinery, as he affirms, to its utmost Perfection, his Attention was excited towards a new and very different Object, in Consequence of a Conversation at which he was present about two Years ago, in which some Persons of Learning and Probity related many surprising Circumstances concerning the Talents of a certain Ventriloquist, one M. St. Gille, a Grocer at St. Germain en Laye, not far from Paris; whose Powers in that Way were astonishing, and had given Occasion to many singular and diverting Scenes. The Author was so struck at the marvellous Anecdotes related to him that he immediately formed the Resolution of first ascertaining the Matter of Fact by the Testimony of his own Senses, and then of inquiring into the Cause and Manner in which the Phenomena were produced.

After some preparatory and necessary Steps (for M. St. Gille, he had been told, did not choose to gratify the Curiosity of every one) the Abbé waited upon him, informed him of his Design, and was very cordially received. He was taken into a Parlour on the Ground Floor, when M. St. Gille and himself sat on the opposite Sides of a small Fire, with only a Table between them, the Author keeping his Eyes constantly fixed upon M. St. Gille all the Time. Half an Hour had passed, during which that Gentleman diverted the Abbé with the Relation of many comick Scenes which he had given Occasion to by this Talent of his, when, all on a sudden, the Abbé heard himself called by his Name and Title, in a Voice that seemed to come from the Roof of a House at a Distance. He was almost petrified with Astonishment. On recollecting himself, however, and asking M. St. Gille whether he had not just then given him a Specimen of his Art, he was answered only by a Smile; but while the Abbé was pointing to the House from which the Voice had appeared to him to proceed, his Surprize was augmented on hearing himself answered, "it was not from that Quarter," apparently in the same Kind of Voice as before, but which now seemed to issue from under the Earth, at one of the Corners of the Room. In short, this factitious Voice played, as it were, every Where about him, and seemed to proceed from any Quarter, or Distance, from which the Operator chose to transmit it to him. The Illusion was so very strong, that, prepared as the Abbé was for this Kind of Conversation, his mere Senses were absolutely incapable of undeceiving him, Though conscious that the Voice proceeded from the Mouth of M. St. Gille, that Gentleman appeared absolutely mute while he was exercising this Talent, nor could the Author perceive any Change whatever in his Countenance. He observed, however, at this first Visit, that M. St. Gille contrived, but without any Affectation, to present only the Profile of his Face to him while he was speaking as a Ventriloquist.

The Author then relates at length all the Testimonies that he has been able to collect relating to the few Ventriloquists that have been described by different authors, within the last two or three Hundred Years. From this Collection we shall only extract the Substance of a little History given by Brodeau, a learned Critick in the 16th Century, who relates one of the singular Feats performed by a most capital Ventriloquist and Cheat in his Time; who had not only the Talent of emitting a Voice from any Distance, or in any Direction, but had likewise a particular Knack at counterfeiting the Tone or Manner of speaking of those with whom he had at any Time conversed. He was called Louis Brabant, and was Valet de Chambre to Francis I. Louis, it seems, had fallen most desperately in Love with a young, handsome, and rich Heiress; but was rejected by the Parents, as an unsuitable Match for their Daughter, on Account of the Lowness of his Circumstances. The young Lady's Father dying, he makes a Visit to the Widow, who was totally ignorant of his singular Talent. Suddenly, on his first Appearance, in open Day, in her own House, and in the Presence of several Persons who were with her, she hears herself accosted, in a Voice perfectly resembling that of her dead Husband, and which seemed to proceed from above, exclaiming, "Give my Daughter in Marriage to Louis Brabant. He is a Man of great Fortune, and of an excellent Character. I now endure the inexpressible Torments of Purgatory for having refused her to him. If you obey this Admonition, I shall soon be delivered from this Place of Torment. You will at the Same Time provide a worthy Husband for your Daughter, and procure everlasting Repose to the Soul of your poor Husband."

The Widow could not for a Moment resist this dread Summons, which had not the most distant Appearance of proceeding from Louis Brabant; whose Countenance exhibited no visible Change, and whose Lips were close and motionless, during the Delivery of it. Accordingly she consents immediately to receive him for her Son in Law. Louis's Finances, however, were in a very low Situation; and the Formalities attending the Marriage Contract rendered it necessary for him to exhibit some Show of Riches, and not to give the Ghost the Lie direct. He accordingly goes to work upon a fresh Subject, one Cornu, an old and rich Banker at Lyons, who had accumulated immense Wealth by Usury and Extortion, and was known to be haunted by Remorse of Conscience on Account of the Manner in which he had acquired it.

Passing over the preliminary Steps and Preparations, behold Louis Brabant tête a tête with the old Usurer, in his little back Parlour, preparing him for his ensuing Operations upon him, by artfully turning the Conversation upon religious Subjects, on Demons and Spectres, the Pains of Purgatory, and the Torments of Hell. During an Interval of Silence between them, a Voice is heard which to the astonished Banker seems to be that of his deceased Father, complaining, as in the former Case, of his dreadful Situation in Purgatory, and calling upon him to deliver him instantly from thence, by putting into the Hands of Louis Brabant, then with him, a large Sum for the Redemption of Christians then in Slavery with the Turks; threatening him, at the Same Time, with eternal Damnation, if he did not take this Method to expiate likewise his own Sins.

The Reader will naturally suppose that Louis Brabant affected a due Degree of Astonishment upon the Occasion, and farther promoted the Deception by acknowledging his having devoted himself to the Prosecution of the charitable Design imputed to him by the Ghost.

An old Usurer is naturally suspicious. Accordingly the wary Banker makes a second Appointment with the Ghost's Delegate, for the next Day; and, to render any Design of imposing upon him utterly abortive, takes him into the open Fields, where not a House or a Tree, or even a Bush or a Pit, were in Sight, capable of screening any supposed Confederates. This extraordinary Caution excited the Ventriloquist, on his Part, to exert all the Powers of his Art. Wherever the Banker conducts him, at every Step his Ears are saluted on all Sides with the Complaints and Groans not only of his Father but of all his deceased Relations, imploring him for the Love of God, and in the Name of every Saint in the Kalendar, to have Mercy on his own Soul and theirs, by effectually seconding with his Purse the Intentions of his worthy Companion. Cornu could no longer resist the Voice of Heaven, and accordingly carries his