convulsionists

In fine, it is to be remarked, that, when dealing blows on the bodies of the convulsionists, the assistants employed weapons of considerable volume, having flat or rounded surfaces, cylindrical or blunted.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864 Various

In another place, Montgéron says plainly, that "persons accustomed to receive revelations, but not raised to the state of the Prophets, may readily imagine things to be revealed to them which are but the promptings of their own minds," [27] -- and that this has happened, not only to the convulsionists, but (by the confession of many of the ancient fathers [28]) also to the greatest saints.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864 Various

A provincial ecclesiastic, quoted by Montgéron, and who, it should be remarked, found fault with many of the doings of the convulsionists, admits the exalted character of these declamations.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864 Various

Finally, the contact and the repeated impression of the blows produced on the convulsionists the effect of a sort of salutary pounding, and rendered less poignant and less sensible the tortures of hysteria.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864 Various

Most of the convulsionists, however, have not these ecstasies so strongly marked.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864 Various

These accusations of immorality are, probably, greatly exaggerated by the enemies of the Jansenists; yet one may gather, even from the tenor of Montgéron's defence, that there was more or less truth in the charges brought against the conduct of some of the convulsionists, and that the state of ecstasy, whatever its true nature, was by no means confined to persons of good moral character.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864 Various

Let us suppose the skin and fibres of the convulsionists to acquire, in virtue of their peculiar state of excitement, a consistency analogous to that of gum-elastic; then all the facts that astonish us would become as natural as possible.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864 Various

Some convulsionists ran pins into their heads, without suffering any pain; others would have thrown themselves from the windows, had they not been prevented.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864 Various

Some convulsionists have remained in this state two or even three days at a time, the eyes open, without any movement, the face very pale, the whole body insensible, immovable, and stiff as a corpse.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864 Various

The fact that many of the convulsionists were able "to discover the secrets of the heart" is admitted by their principal opponents.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 77, March, 1864 Various